[Sham Kay]

I think we need a seperate thread for an honest assessment from his haters

[stewietennis]

Even if we forget about his amazing 2011 season, this season has been an incredible year for Novak. It only looks "average" because of his previous amazing season, Rafa's before that and Roger's a few years earlier. But if you place his season in the early 1990s to 2000s people would be saying he's the GOAT.

[guga2120]

Originally Posted by EliSter

Nadal is huge favorite for RG ofc, and if he plays at his best no one will be even close, but behind him is Nole and that makes him a fav too, maybe next year Nadal crushes early too at RG? Its possibile, not likely but it is...

The only way Rafa loses a 5 set match on clay right now is if he's injured or the clay is like it was in 2011, which was not normal, clearly. Novak is the second best clay court player, and injuries are apart of tennis, and especially clay tennis b/c of the how close the tournaments are together. Looking at what Federer did in 2009, and Novak is better than that on clay. If Rafa was out of the way, he could go through without a doubt. He will get Roland Garros, eventually, he is too good of clay player, not to take it.

[Tag]

one slam, one final, 2 sfs

couple of masters, year end no 1 ranking more or less, possible year end championship

it's an excellent year, no doubt

very similar to one of sampras' in the 90s

[sco]

We, as fans, expect too much out of these guys. After a GS win, it seems like the winner is unbeatable which is not the case. Novak is fine - he'll challenge at every GS for a while. I suspect that Murray (now that he's gotten over his mental block) will too. Great summer for Murray - a W final, Olympic and USO wins.

[Mountaindewslave]

good season obviously but a farcry from his abominally good 2011. I'm not a fan of his BUT his fans should honestly be happy. if he was slamless it would be a different story

[grahampros]

Originally Posted by Yolita

I am a fan and of course I would have liked Novak to have another year as good as 2011. But Novak's 2011 was one of the best seasons in the open era, so it would have been unrealistic to expect him to repeat it. But yes... I was unrealistic and I was expecting him to repeat it.

This year has not been bad at all: he hasn't lost to any player outside the top 10, he made the RG final for the first time, he won one grand slam and made the finals of 2 others and he's the leader of the race, with a good shot at ending the year as #1 for a second consecutive year.

There were some missed opportunities, and perhaps the most disappointing event was the Olympics, which was very important for him, but grass is not his best surface. Bad luck.

Taken in isolation (without comparing it to 2011), this year has been very good for Novak. As you say, the other three really fought back, as they were bound to do, and still Novak's won more points than anybody else in Grand Slams (5120 points) and also in Masters Events (4340 points).

If Novak manages to end the year as #1, 2012 will be an incredibly successful season, but even if he doesn't, ending the year as #2 cannot be considered as a bad season at all.

Having said that, I've been a Nole fan since 2005. I was happy with him being a one-slam wonder and the eternal #3. Everything else has been a bonus. I'm in heaven.

Sorry there is no getting around it has been a bad year for him, and it's mostly been mental lapse. No question he has the talent but just failed at critical moments this year.

[stewietennis]

^
Not really. In his eight years on tour this year has been his second most successful. If you call this a bad year then he's only really had one good year on tour. When you look at all the other players who have had one slam seasons – this one compares favourably well against all of them.

[hipolymer]

I'm definitely disappointed. I don't mind RG final loss because everything was against him in that match, but the US Open final was a joke.

All I have to say is that if Nole played like he did in 2011 he would have won all 4 slams this year. The quality of the field this year was piss poor compared to 2011. Even Nadal was absent for the majority.

[grahampros]

Originally Posted by stewietennis

^
Not really. In his eight years on tour this year has been his second most successful. If you call this a bad year then he's only really had one good year on tour. When you look at all the other players who have had one slam seasons – this one compares favourably well against all of them.

I'm pretty sure that's not hows view it himself. He's not comparing himself to folks who managed to have one good year. He sets Natal and Fed as his standard against which he will be measured, not to one season wonders of the past.

[hipolymer]

Originally Posted by stewietennis

^
Not really. In his eight years on tour this year has been his second most successful. If you call this a bad year then he's only really had one good year on tour. When you look at all the other players who have had one slam seasons – this one compares favourably well against all of them.

In 2008 he had a slam, olympic bronze, and a YEC. So it depends if you value slam finals over those things.

[stewietennis]

Originally Posted by hipolymer

In 2008 he had a slam, olympic bronze, and a YEC. So it depends if you value slam finals over those things.

It's rather subjective which combination is more important – two major finals vs WTF and bronze. However, looking at the tier below that:
In 2008 - he won two Masters and had one other finals appearance
This year he won two Masters and had three other finals appearances; he's also within striking distance of the #1 ranking

[HKz]

Still his second best year in terms of slam performance, so his fans certainly can be proud of Novak for that, and he can certainly still make an even better year with the last couple tournaments, perhaps a WTF win and year end #1.

[J99]

If you wanted it to be for his fans only, then you should not have posted this on the main board.

[r3d_d3v1l_]

Novak screwed his RG chances by playing Monte Carlo.