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MTF experts: Rate Novak's future success in 2018.

MTF experts: Rate Novak's future success in 2018.

3K views 33 replies 31 participants last post by  slamjunky 
#1 ·
In your own words, proclaim your opinion of Novak's future level of success in 2018.

With so much rest, there are many that feel he will have the strength, energy, and mental freshness to dominate and sweep the slams in one season. Do you agree?

Will he take at least 5 masters 1000 titles?

Will No1e reach #1 by the end of Wimbledon?

Will the 2018 World Tour Finals be Novak's for the taking?

Is the sky the limit for the dominant and complete player of the roaring 2010's?




Or is all that talk premature and over the top?

Are the expectations too high and unfair based on the recent success of Federer and Nadal?
Is recency bias making some of us too confident of a practically certain Novak wave of destruction?
Are there still doubts about Nole's physical and mental fitness? Do we need to first validate them?

There are those that might question his ability to win titles in 2018 after so much time away from the game, and his renewed focus on his family.
Is he seriously motivated to return to the top of the game, or is it just lip service for his fans and sponsors?
Is Pepe still a powerful part of the team and a big influence on Novak's mentality?
Can Novak dedicate himself to the tour and his family?
Have the conditions of the game changed too much while he has been gone?.
Is his advancing age going to prevent him continuing with a game so highly reliant on movement?
Will he have to become even more aggressive?

I'll add a multiple choice poll with the pertinent success markers and let's see how many MTF experts get it right.

Oh, by the way, nothing is forcing you to give your opinions in this thread. If you are not serious or just interested in trolling, stay out, or make a similar thread in the Ruins.
Not liking Novak is not an insufficient reason not to ever make negative insignificant comments.

There is little doubt that Nole is one of the game's greats. Let's validate this by being as respectful and supportive as he deserves no matter your personal opinion.


Respectfully,
masterclass

P.S. Maybe an Andy fan will create a Sir Andy success thread... :)
 
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#3 ·
Some people are forgetting that Nole won 4 slams in a row, broke the points record, and had the most dominant period EVER as recently as 1 year ago.

The biggest reason for his struggles was the elbow injury, according to Nole and his team.

Nole was quoted recently that he will be on top again and wants to win much more, and Nole's dad said that Nole will be #1 for years to come.

And when Nole is healthy and in form, he's on another level and nobody else comes close.

3 slams in 2018 minimum plus back to #1.
 
#14 ·
Some people are forgetting that Nole won 4 slams in a row, broke the points record, and had the most dominant period EVER as recently as 1 year ago.

The biggest reason for his struggles was the elbow injury, according to Nole and his team.

Nole was quoted recently that he will be on top again and wants to win much more, and Nole's dad said that Nole will be #1 for years to come.

And when Nole is healthy and in form, he's on another level and nobody else comes close.

3 slams in 2018 minimum plus back to #1.
I wish things happened just by saying I SO WISH
 
#4 ·
i think he will get an another WTF, 2-3 masters and maybe a slam. a can see him getting back to no1 but not before the end of the summer.
 
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#5 ·
It's difficult to predict. We've seen Nadal and Murray come back from injuries and return to their best, but this is the first time Novak's took a long break from the sport.

Honestly though it would be great if he won a slam, I hope when he returns it's not this peace and loving bullshit, I want to see killer Djokovic on the court.
 
#10 ·
This is an unproven quantity. When has DJ returned from injury and taken the tour by storm? dull did it twice, 2010,2013, thrice if you count 2017.
IIRC in 2009 etc DJ had breathing issues so once he sorted that he was playing like a beast in 2011. It wasn't an actual injury so nobody can really predict since he could play even worse than 2016/2017 or he could play lights out like Fed did from AO - Miami.

Either way, it's crucial for faker to make a dent in 2018 otherwise he'll no longer be feared by other players which means he'll no longer dominate. 1 slam is mandatory in 2018, 2 slams esp RG/USO means he's definitely back.
 
#12 ·
I don't think there's any chance he'll be as dominant as he was in 2015. He'll be 3 years older & the other Big 4 players should be playing better than they did in 2015, plus there finally seem to be some younger players making their move. But he could win a slam or two and return to No. 1 - in the best-case scenario. Worst-case scenario, he'll return to the Top 10 with 2 or 3 titles and a slam semi or two. I can't see him doing worse than that because even when he's out of form and unmotivated, his game is too solid for most players to make an impression on. Whether he does any better depends on his motivation, which means his fans will have to hope he breaks with that ridiculous Imaz guy.
 
#13 ·
HE need to be fit at the start of season to be a slam contender at any slam , if he miss AO then probably lack of momentum + lack of dedicated pre season practice would cost him rest of the slam...Hopefully AO GOAT return in his best slam... and send MTF to ruins
 
#17 ·
how do you 'rate something' when everything is practically an unknown? if you prefaced the question with "rate how you think Novak will do when he returns if he's healthy" that'd be one thing. But we don't know if he's going to be 100% again physically or mentally, how focused he is on tennis, what other ambitions he's involved in.

I really don't understand these threads. And there have been so many. If Novak had played through the season and just struggled but looked like he was certain to return normal at 110% effort then that'd be one thing, ala a Nadal 2015 or whatever when he struggled, but he's currently taking time off and we don't even know with certain when exactly he will return.

Predicting "he'll win nothing" is equally as dumb as predicting "he'll win all 4 slams" because it's based on nothing.

Again, we haven't seem him play in a while and he struggled for 12 months. Give it at least one tournament back for people to be able to reasonably judge and guess if he's 'back' or if he's 'not back'.

It's like there are a load of people with crystal balls around here
 
#21 · (Edited)
Of course this thread has been created with the hope and expectation that Novak is going to be healthy and well-prepared when the season starts. It's obviously meant to be a positive thread and wouldn't make much sense otherwise. Note that "Healthy and well-prepared" means that he will be free of injury and had good training and preparation. For example, it says nothing about his degree of motivation. That is part of the prediction.

Given that, this thread is for the "MTF experts" who enjoy and want to make their long term predictions here, not the faint of heart.

Please don't derail the fun or the thread if you don't fit that category. :)

If you think your expert opinion requires you to wait until just before the AO begins, simply wait.

Thank you for your feedback,
masterclass
 
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#23 · (Edited)
It's pretty safe to say he will win 0 to 4 slams next year.
I'll wait until his first tournament of 2018 to make some predictions.
 
#26 ·
It would just be too weird if Djokovic had the perfect comeback, capturing AO again after Federer did it - and Nadal almost did it - this season.

I feel safer selecting 2-3 Masters (lots of hard court three setters to feast on) and capturing Wimbledon when he's played himself back to peak. He'll spoil the Federer love-in at SW19.

Djokovic is too good a player not to hit top form again when healthy. And just look at the state of the tour currently, with only a few young players knocking on the door...
 
#28 ·
Well if he doesn't win three slams next year the likes of nolevolent and vjmtz have some explaining to do me thinks:nerd:.

Let's just hope first that he's fit and motivated. If he returns like that come 2018 I'll be happy. Because that means the hard part is done for him. He's good enough to play himself into rhythm, no doubt about that. But motivation is a different story and fitness sometimes can be coupled with bad luck through setbacks. For now I'll set for a competing Djokovic, after that nobody can tell really.
 
#30 ·
While I greatly respect the OP (one of the few normal ones here), a couple of things:

There should be a poll option that says "Novak will win nothing important in 2018".

"Is Pepe still a powerful part of the team and a big influence on Novak's mentality?"

Pepe Imaz: 'Thanks to me, Novak Djokovic won for years'

As I have said all year long, he runs the WHOLE show, including the tennis and this proves it (Andre is nothing more than a figurehead and should have quit a while ago).
 
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