Novak Djokovic

[Annie]

You would not believe it but the quaterfinal match was postponed due to.....WIND!!!!

I was watching it on TV and clay was flying like a huge cloud and everything was all over the place.....it was incredible

[sonya]

NOVAK REACHES THE SEMIFINAL IN UMAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE FINAL RESULT:6-1,3-6,7-5.DJOKOVIC MEETS CARLOS MOYA NEXT.

[Annie]

Novak won first set against Moya 6:1 and is playing some amazing tennis!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

[sonya]

YAY!!!

thanx for the information annie!

[Annie]

6:1, 7:5 ;D ;D ;D ;D WOOOOHOOOOOOOO NOLE!!!!!!!!!!

He meets Wawrinka in the final tomorrow

COME ON NOVAKITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sonya]

[sonya]

Djokovic Chases Second Consecutive Title in Umag Final

One week after winning his first ATP title in Amersfoort, 19-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic will play 21-year-old Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Studena Croatia Open in Umag.

On Saturday Djokovic reached the final after 'double duty.' Djokovic's day begin with his quarterfinal with Czech Jiri Vanek - a match that had been suspended Friday night with the Serb leading 6-1, 1-2. Djokovic dropped the second set - the only time he has conceded a set during his current nine-match winning streak - but rallied to win 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

In the evening semifinal Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead against four-time champion Carlos Moya, winning 21 of the first 27 points of the match as Moya struggled to put a first serve into play. The Spaniard put up more of a fight in the second set and broke Djokovic when he served for the match at 5-4.

But Djokovic broke back in the next game for a 6-5 lead and then served out the match 6-1, 7-5.

Djokovic, who is at a career-high No. 28 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, improved to 28-11 on the year. The Belgrade resident has been in sizzling form of late. In his past four tournaments he has won Amersfoort, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon (where he pushed Mario Ancic to five sets), the second round of 's-Hertogenbosch and the quarterfinals of Roland Garros (l. eventual champion Nadal).

The last player to win his first and second ATP titles in back-to-back fashion was Paul-Henri Mathieu in 2002 (Lyon and Moscow).

Wawrinka will chase his first ATP title in the final. On Saturday the Swiss No. 2 (behind Roger Federer) defeated Italian Filippo Volandri 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 to reach his second ATP final. In his previous two semifinal appearances in 2006 at Auckland and Barcelona Wawrinka fell in straight sets.

Wawrinka is currently No.69 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings and reached a career-high of No.46 earlier this season. He reached his lone career ATP final last season in Gstaad (l. Gaudio).

www.atptennis.com/

[sonya]

Wawrinka wins Umag final

Umag, Croatia (Sports Network) - Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka won his first ATP title at the Studena Croatia Open Sunday when Serbian star Novak Djokovic retired in the first tie-break with respiratory problems.

The unseeded Wawrinka was trailing 1-2 in the tiebreaker when Djokovic, the fourth seed from Serbia, quit.

Wawrinka knocked off eighth-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri in the semifinals to reach Sunday's final. He also denied Volandri his third trip to the final here in four years.

The 21-year-old Wawrinka was playing in just his second final. He and Djokovic broke each other twice in the first set.

The 19-year-old Djokovic had been showing good form after winning his first career title last week in the Netherlands at Amersfoort. He was on a nine- match winning streak -- losing only one set -- heading into Sunday's final.

www.sportsnetwork.com/


btw,djokovic played every day during last two weeks,and on saturday,he had to play 2 sets of his quaterfinal match,and his semifinal match as well.

[sonya]

WELL DONE NOLE!!!

TO STAY HEALTHY IS MOST IMPORTANT!A LOT OF AMAZING MOMENTS IN FUTURE WILL BE YOURS!

[pau]

It was a really sad moment when he retired....!!! but I most say Wawrinka is a real gentleman!!! yes Sonya, I'm sure he'll have amazing moments in the future, he is very very talented!!!

[Annie]

He wept like a baby, his whole family wept like babies....when he collapsed at 3.1 on a tie-break in the 1 st set, I thought he had a heart attack or something, I got sooooooo scared He started to frantically waving his hands asking for help. Wawrinka ran up to him, all the officials, doctors, they took him to his chair and that's where he sat and started sobbing in a few seconds because he realised he cannot continue Stanislas brought him a towel to wipe off his tears and then Nole announced to the umpire he is retiring and went up to Wawrinka and they hugged for like more than a minute and Nole sobbed on Stan's shoulder....it was all so sad, Wawrinka had tears in his eyes himself I almost cried

Great run Nole!!!!!!!! Beautiful tennis and a great performance!!!!!!!! Congrats to Stan too on his first title!!!!!!!!! ;D

[sonya]

omg,i didn't have the idea it was that bad! really nice of wawrinka!
i've read in some article that nole got a great applause from the croatian crowd,and that's really nice,considering the things that had happend before,and still happens occasionally..nice to see that sport still has its main value-too bad some people don't understand it.
i don't know if you guys know that,but nole used to have some breathing problems before.last year,i think,he had a small,routine operation,and after just a few days,he played his exsibitional match with ana ivanovic,so obviously,that wasn't a serious problem.hope he'll be better!


anyway,here's the article from his offcal site:

Wawrinka wins his first ATP title after Djokovic retirement

Stanislas Wawrinka won his first ATP title here in Umag when Novak Djokovic was forced to retire with respiratory problems leading 3:1 in the first set tiebreak.

It was a sad way to see a match end, particularly in a final with so much at stake. Djokovic who also won his first title in Amersfoort last week was aiming to be just the third man after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year to win back to back titles, but it was not to be.

Wawrinka started nervously dropping his serve as the Serbian number 1 struck a forehand crosscourt winner on his fourth break point.

The Swiss number 2 broke back to level at 3:3 with a backhand winner down the line that has punctuated his performances all week.

Djokovic broke again with a forehand winner down the line, but Wawrinka stayed in touch with an immediate re-break when Djokovic netted an attempted drop shot.

When Wawrinka held for 5:4, Djokovic took a medical time-out at the changeover for a stomach muscle complaint. The treatment did the trick as he held onto his serve to love.

Having saved five set points when serving at 5:6, Djokovic reached 3:1 in the tiebreak when he collapsed after hitting a backhand winner, and had to be escorted to his chair. After an examination by the tournament doctor, a tearful Djokovic was forced to retire because of respiratory problems.

After the presentation ceremony, there followed an impressive firework display worthy of a new year's celebration.

Djokovic spoke of the medical time-out he took at 4:5:

"It was for my breathing problems; I had to give up in the tiebreak because of this problem, It's unfortunate that it finished this way even though I didn't want it to. It's the third match this year where it had finished like this with me giving up. Usually anyone that gets to the final fights to the end which is why I'm a bit disappointed, but on the other hand it was a wise decision to retire because I don't want to risk this season and the future of my career. It was more serious than it looked; I was feeling very dizzy for a couple of minutes. The doctor told me that I shouldn't play and I accepted his advice."

Djokovic admitted that he is not currently on medication for the respiratory complaint:

"I will speak to my doctor and ask him what should I do and what should I take, but the main thing to do right now is to rest. I've had two very difficult and exhausting weeks; two ATP finals in a row on this surface is a big success for me."


CONGRATULATIONS WAWRINKA!!!


btw,nole is ranked 24 in the world now!

[sonya]

Djokovic exhausted, in for rest, back on court in Cincinnati


Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic is not injured, he is simply exhausted from constant play, which is why he will be resting during this entire week, as player's father Srdjan Djokovic told to the agency Beta.

"He is fine, there is no injury, it has simply to do with physical and mental fatigue. It's all natural and normal, Novak is still very young and never in his career did he play tournaments week after week, he's not used to such efforts", said Srdjan Djokovic.

Serbian tennis player retired from the final of Umag tournament, where he played against the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, due to, as it was said, respiratory problems. Earlier in the course of the tournament Djokovic experienced shoulder troubles.

"The shoulder is also caused by the fatigue. He played under this pain since the quarterfinals, and eventually it all boiled up. He will undergo some light shoulder therapy, but he will take a good week of rest before he continues playing", said Srdjan Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic will miss next week's tournament in Toronto. Our young sports star will spend this entire week in Belgrade, where he has started with the rehabilitation of his arm and elbow. He plays his next tournament in less than two weeks time, in Cincinnati.

[sonya]

some pics from amersfoort:











all of them are from www.gettyimages.com and offical amersfoort site

[sonya]

NOVAK IS BACK NOW!!!GOOD LUCK!!!

he'll play nieminen in the first round of cincinatti!hope he feels better now!