Rafael Nadal said this about Novak Djokovic moments after Djokovic beat him at the 2011 Madrid Open final.
"I came up against a great player obviously -- he's having a monster year,".When you've just beaten the top ranked tennis player in the men's tour, the greatest clay court tennis player in history, in straight sets and in his home soil, that clinches it. Djokovic is looking like a monster on the tennis court.
[Thanks, Rafa. I'm running out of apt adjectives for blog titles about Djokovic.]
Novak Djokovic's season remained perfect but beating Rafael Nadal for a title on the clay surface is the better headline. Djokovic won the Madrid Open title by dealing a rare loss to Nadal on clay, 7-5, 6-4.
The way he's playing and the confidence of beating Nadal on their last 3 finals clash, augurs well for Djokovic' chances at this year's French Open. The way I see it, Djokovic has better chance of toppling Nadal on his favorite grand slam tourmanent than Federer had on his prime.
Djokovic remains unbeaten in 2011 (30-0). He defeated Nadal for the third straight time in a finals. The Madrid Open is his 6th title of the year including the Australian Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, BNP Paribas Open, Sony Ericsson Open and the Serbia Open. It includes three straight wins against Nadal and Federer.
Tennis fans should look forward to Djokovic matching or breaking John McEnroe's record of 42 straight wins at the start of the 1980 tennis tour.
To match the record, Djokovic should capture his next tournament, Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, and reach the semifinals of the French Open. Coincidentally, Djokovic can break it by winning the French Open.
By then, I need to come up with another adjective.
* Somewhere out there, I know that Ate Gigie is smiling pretty because she's a big Novak Djokovic fan.
