Novak Djokovic, Yokozuna

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Novak Djokovic established himself as the leading force in mens' tennis, driving Rafael Nadal off the Wimbledon center court 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic played fabulous tennis at times, especially in the second set, when he outplayed, outthought and outmuscled Nadal (!) from the baseline (!) with unbelievable ease. With the exception of a weaker interlude in the third set, Djokovic was clearly the dominant man on the court.

Dominating the game is what is expected from a Yokozuna (=Grand Champion), and a Yokozuna Djokovic is now: the 16th male Yokozuna of the open era, owing to a series WIN AO11 - SF FO11 - WIN WB 11. Djokovic joins the illustre company of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, John Newcombe, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

In the (almost) four years prior to making it to Yokozuna, Djokovic was a highly consistent Ozeki (=Champion), a rank he had gained at the US Open 2007 when he reached his first grand slam final, then losing in straight sets to Roger Federer. Djokovic never gave up Ozeki rank in 15 slams and gradually closed the gap to the intimidatingly dominant Yokozuna duopoly of Federer and Nadal. In the past 10 months or so Djokovic made his final push. In the final of the 2010 US Open he looked competitive with but still clearly inferior to a Rafael Nadal at the peak of his game. This time roles were reversed.

With his third grand slam title Djokovic also edges forward in our open era rankings. He is now #17 on the list - behind Guillermo Vilas, but overtaking Arthur Ashe and Ilie Nastase. Compare this to #31 at end-2010. Rafael Nadal remains #6, Roger Federer #2.

The state of the mens' game is such that behind the three Yokozuna there is steady Ozeki Andy Murray, who made his third consecutive Wimbledon semifinal, and afterwards - not very much. Well, seemingly. Ex-Sekiwake Robin Soderling and ex-Ozeki Tomas Berdych (now a Sekiwake, i.e., Junior Champion I) had their moments in the past few years but have fallen back recently. Ex-Sekiwake Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - now a Komusubi (Junior Champion II) - produces occasional sparkles of brilliance, but lacks the consistency to seriously challenge the big 3 (or 4).

But then, ex-Ozeki Juan Martin del Potro is on the comeback trail and has impressed at both Roland Garros (where he lost to Djokovic, but only after a fight) and Wimbledon (to Nadal, dito). He may get the results back soon. And during this tournament a young man named Bernard Tomic - Australian, German born, of Croatian decent - caught the tennis world's attention by dominating Soderling in the third round, and then in the quarterfinals giving Djokovic more to think than maybe any other opponent.

These are interesting times for mens' tennis. And for now they are the times of the new Yokozuna Novak Djokovic.

Here are the men's sanyaku (=championship) ranks following the 2011 Wimbledon Championships:

Men

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Rafael Nadal	Y1	Roger Federer	Y
Y	Novak Djokovic	Y2	-	-
O	Andy Murray	O	-	-
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Tomas Berdych	S	-	-
S	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	K	-	-

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
* Kadoban

A New Wimbledon Queen

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Petra Kvitova, a tall, lanky, powerful 20-year old from the Czech Republic, became the 17th lady to win the Wimbledon Singles Championships in the open era, overpowering and outplaying the 2004 winner Maria Sharapova in two sets, 6-3, 6-4. Sharapova did not play poorly at all, trying to match Kvitova stroke for stroke from the baseline, but often fell just half a step short against a harder and more accurately hitting opponent.

Ladies' tennis has seen quite a bit of turmoil and inconsistency in the past few years, with no less than 10 different players winning the last 15 slams, and several players reaching the #1 WTA ranking without ever having won a slam (Jankovic, Safina, Wozniacki). Especially whenever the Williams sisters were unfit, the field seemed wide open. And more recently grand slam winners tended to be of relatively elevated tennis ages (Schiavone, Li, Clijsters, the Williams sisters).

But whoever saw Kvitova saw taking control of the final today, without a hint of shaky nerves, may wonder whether this may not be a champion to stay. This tournament saw also other talent leaving a mark, most notably semi-finalists Viktoria Azarenka and Sabine Lisicki.

Kvitova gets promoted to Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) as a result of this tournament victory. Sharapova returns to Ozeki (=Champion), a rank she held 2004-08. Serena Williams, who missed most of last year's post-Wimbledon season with injuries and came back only just before this tournament, loses active Yokozuna (=Grand Champion) status, but can regain it with a semifinal at the U.S. Open.

Here are the ladies' sanyaku ranks following the 2011 Wimbledon Championships:

Women

Career rank 1/	East	Current Rank	West	Career rank 1/
High Sanyaku (Senior Champion Ranks)
Y	Kim Clijsters	Y	Venus Williams	Y
Y	Serena Williams	Y (ia)	-	-
O	Maria Sharapova	O	Na Li*	O
Lower Sanyaku (Junior Champion Ranks)
O	Vera Zvonareva	S1	Petra Kvitova	S
S	Marion Bartoli	S2	-	-
S	Francesca Schiavone	K1	Victoria Azarenka	K
K	Sabine Lisicki	K2	-	-

1/ Highest sanyaku rank achieved in a player's career
(ia) inactive
* Kadoban

Djokovic Again Only One Match Away from Being a Yokozuna

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By out-thinking and out-hustling the charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon final for the first time in his career. Besides taking over the #1 ATP ranking after the tournament, this grants the long-standing Ozeki (=Champion) another chance at a Yokozuna (= Grand Champion) promotion [with a series W(AO)-SF (FO)-W(WB)]. He was also lacking only one win at the French Open, but at Roland Garros Djokovic was stopped somewhat surprisingly by Dai-Yokozuna Roger Federer in the semis. Thus far this is Djokovic's only defeat in 2011.

In Wimbledon the man in Djokovic's way is none other than Dai-Yokozuna Rafael Nadal, Djokovic's predecessor as world #1. In 2011 Djokovic has beaten Nadal already four times. But he 0-2 against Nadal on grass, and Nadal is known for his unique mental strenght that turns him into a near-unbetable force in big matches. It should be interesting.

Were Djokovic to lose the final match, his Yokozuna run would come to an end for now - he would need at least one victory and one final at the upcoming U.S. and Australian Open to make the highest rank.

Nadal reached the final by ending once more the hopes of British Ozeki Andy Murray, who played the 7th Grand Slam semifinal of his career. Murray is arguably the best player of the open era to never have won a slam (yet). Ex-Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga enthused the audience by wrestling Federer into submission in a quarterfinal 5-setter. He returns to the sanyaku (=championship) ranks as a Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) after the tournament. Other than that, the only player with a sanyaku rank is 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, who will be demoted to Sekiwake after the tournament for failing to reach a grand slam quarterfinal for the second tournament in a row. Ex-Sekiwake Robin Soderling drops out of the sanyaku ranks altogether.

In the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic-Murray era, there just isn't much space for many other champions.