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Why doesn't Novak Djokovic vulture 250s and should he start vulturing?

7K views 83 replies 55 participants last post by  worldcitizen 
#1 · (Edited)
I just don't understand why Novak Djokovic doesn't play 250s! Roger, Rafa and Andy play two-three 250s every year which they usually end up winning thus increasing their titles count, whereas Novak has played just two 250s in the last five years - one in 2011 and one this year.

Roger has won 24 250s, Andy 16 and Rafa 9. Novak? Just 6! He could have so easily added 6-7 more titles to his name had he played some 250s in the last five years! Is not vulturing 250s and adding easy titles to your resume something that Novak will one day regret?

What could be the reason behind Novak being such an anti-vulture? Is it because he's too lazy to play 250s? Or is it because he loves spending time with his family & friends and can't be bothered? Or is it because being the #1 player in the world he thinks it would be shameful if he vultures small tournaments which ideally should be won by young and upcoming players?
 
#52 · (Edited)
This is too funny. Why would Nole need to play small MM tournaments? They are for lower ranked and developing players. Fed, Rafa and Murray play them when they try to get their form back.

Djoko doesn't need money. He doesn't need points.

However, one interesting thing that the OP mentioned was Connors. Times have changed so much. Tennis was so different and not that 'physical' at that time. Players were paid so much less prize money. Connors was greedy. The only player I truly dislike. Complete jerk.

I don't think that anybody will manage to beat his record. I also don't think that any top players care about it.
 
#54 ·
This is too funny. Why would Nole need to play small MM tournaments? They are for lower ranked and developing players. Fed, Rafa and Murray play them when they try to get their form back.

Djoko doesn't need money. He doesn't need points.

However, one interesting thing that the OP mentioned was Connors. Times have changed so much. Tennis was so different and not that 'physical' at that time. Players were paid so much less prize money.

I don't think that anybody will manage to beat his record. I also don't think that any top players care about it.
Thats one thing I kinda like abt this guy .. he isnt a sellout to the corporate culture the way other top players have !

No Wilson, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz, Gillette and Moet & Chandon and such for our home grown #1 Kudos
 
#55 ·
Slams will always be way more important than anything else. Blame Pete Sampras for that. He made it clear back in the late 90s he was after Roy Emersons record of 12. From that time the focus has been on who has the most being considered the best ever.

I personally dont just consider slams. But who you beat in your time. No disrespect to Federer. But beating the likes of a 35 year old Agassi or Baghdatis in a slam final. Doesnt compare to Nadal beating Federer and Djokovic. Or vice versa.

This is where head to heads come in. And why I consider Federer the most successful player in slam history. But not the best player. I know this is not his fault because he can only play whoever makes the final in the other half of the draw. But it is what it is. He was very fortunate to be in his prime in that era.

Djokovic is heading for a similar error but later in his career. So it will be harder for him to reap the rewards.
 
#57 ·
Murray and Federer have more 250´s then Rafa. So i dont see where you guys get off calling Rafa a volture.

But one that hes been so damm good until 2014 that anywhere he enters hes always the favorite. Except on grass. But he will never admit hes the favorite.


As for nole getting more 250, its like this , he doesnt need then for money or titles. And now with his kid he will play 2 or max 3 a year.

After hes 30 and no longer nº1 sure maybe he starts volturing those. Same as Rafa in a uear or 2.
 
#61 · (Edited)
Not sure how serious this thread is or if it's just an attempt to insult Federer and Murray for playing 250s, but no he shouldn't start.

As for why he doesn't while the other players do - well, I am not as familiar with Federer's schedules as I am not a fan, but let's look at the case of Murray:

In the years where he was an upcoming player he played and won many 250s, as is normal. Up to the end of 2008 (when Murray joined Djokovic as an established top player) Murray won 6 250 level tournaments while Djokovic won 4 - pretty similar numbers.

In the years since then Murray won 10 250 titles - but most of them were either pre-AO warm-ups (1 Doha, 2 Brisbane) or pre-Wimbledon warm-ups (3 Queens). Those tournaments are the major options for top players before the slams that don't have Masters in the weeks before them (similarly Federer has won a lot of Halle 250 titles). Since 2011 Djokovic has, for whatever reason, mostly not bothered with pre-AO or pre-Wimbledon warm-ups (until Doha tempted him with enough money, I guess) and clearly it has worked out well for him so there's no reason to change it now.

The other 250s Murray won were generally additions to his schedule meant to better prepare him or give him momentum for particular parts of the season - and they seem to have worked pretty well, with him winning Tokyo and Shanghai masters in the Asian swing after Thailand (2011) and the Madrid masters on clay after Munich (2015), while Shenzen and Vienna (2014) helped him regain his ranking and qualify for the WTF.

Djokovic has never really had a slump in his ranking to recover from, and he is the favourite for almost every masters or slam - it would be crazy for him to waste his energy on 250s when he could potentially win every big event he plays. The exceptions would be warm-ups before AO and Wimbledon, but it obviously works well for him not to bother with them most of the time, and now Halle and Queens have been made 500s he wouldn't even need to play a 250 if he wanted a grass tournament before Wimbledon.

In the next couple of years if Djokovic slips down to being a top 4 or 5 player, in the mix for big titles but not necessarily the favourite for every one, then it might make sense for him to schedule 250s for match practice, confidence and some ranking points at strategic parts of the season. But for now, when he is number 1 and can count on himself to come in cold to any slam or masters and have a huge chance of winning it, and when his few favourite small tournaments that he likes to play (Beijing, Dubai) are 500s, there's definitely no need for him to add many 250s.
 
#62 ·
I'm sure they all have their reasons to play more 250 than Djoko. I think though he really prefers the tough competition, he always talks about beating the top players in interviews and less about getting match practice and building confidence - much more than other players do. Also, he found out that he is well prepared without taxing himself too much in small tourneys; and let's be honest - he barely bombs early in the bigger tourneys - I think less than any other player - so he has plenty of mileage every season
 
#63 ·
:haha:

Hilarious thread. Some of the haters here. :lol: :spit:

Novak has worked out the best possible schedule for him according to his needs and his level of play. He's usually the player with fewest tournaments played in the top 80-100... And that's enough to keep him with a lead of 4000+ points over the #2... When he needs to change his schedule in order to maximise his results, I'm sure he will.

But I am sure he's aware that if he had played a couple more tournaments in 2013, he might have ended the year as #1, Nadal's lead was about 600 points, IIRC. So he has paid the price for being an anti-vulture. :p
 
#64 ·
He plays Qatar, Dubai and Beijing doesn't he?

He goes on enough vulture missions as the norm (apart from vulture kings Nadal and Ferrer)
 
#67 ·
He's too good to play in 250s and that comes from someone who is anti-Novak
 
#70 ·
And people still dare to call Rafa a vulture. :lol::lol::lol: Seriously you haters, do you consciously choose to act delusional or do you have no choice? :cuckoo:
 
#73 · (Edited)
when/if he becomes as good as haas is, he will.
 
#74 ·
Novak is saving his body and his energy for big tournaments. He has played only 10 tournaments so far this year while everyone else in the top 20 has played at least 12. Yet he still has a 3700 point lead over Murray who is in second place. I suspect the trend of him picking important tournaments only will continue for the next few years.
 
#75 ·
Start vulturing? He's been circling on this weak era and mercilessly preying on it for god knows how long now
 
#76 ·
He has no need to vulture because he's the #1 with a large lead over the rest so he doesn't need the points nor waste his physique playing smaller tournaments.
 
#81 ·
23-10 is irrelevant. Germany has horrible record against Italy in soccer, yet has won as many World Cups, never having met Italy in either of those runs. Does that mean Germany's achievements are inferior? Of course not..
going off topic here(signature), you seriously compare an Individual sport 1vs1 H2H/ towards 11vs11 throughout centuries H2H?:facepalm: that statement is flawed in logic its embarrassing.
 
#77 ·
Since 2011 he is basically No.1 most of the time - going deep in slams and Masters 1000, doing great at WTF + Dubai, Beijing from 500s - so no need to play small events - to be exhausted for bigger ones. Also this prooves he is not greedy - he could have earned few millions in last few years if he played those small 250s - just from apperance fees
 
#78 ·
Djokovic is the people's champion, Federer and Nadal are greedy thugs.
 
#84 ·
This thread is still going because everybody who sees the question posed by the op feels that he can answer this question sensibly. And *All* of them then give the exact same answer. It's like 1 question, 100 answers where each answer is written by a different person but has exactly the same content :)


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App
 
#80 · (Edited)
No, he has already such a big lead in ranking points that it doesn't matter and it takes too much energy for him to play all these small events he barely even enters 500's, besides people are already so butthurt that he is winning so much, no need to rub salt into the wounds even more.:devil:
No1e will let rafa do what he does best vulturing minors.:devil:
 
#82 ·
It's most likely because he's not required to play 250's, they won't really help him points wise, titles and money yes, but he makes money in other ways.
 
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