Tennis expert Nikola Pilic speaks for Blic on Serbian players
‘Ana, Novak, Jelena’s decline was expected’
Author: Z. Kecman | 03.07.2009 - 01:05
None of the three Serbian tennis stars have managed to reach the final of the
2009 Wimbledon, the competition popularly labeled the unofficial world tennis
championships. The “Serbian wave” – which was at its pinnacle in 2008 –
seems to be losing its force.
Although the ongoing season is far from finished, it can already be said that
Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic will not be able to repeat
their achievements of last season. In July last year, in the Wimbledon
aftermath, the three of them held the first, second and third positions in the
women’s and men’s rankings respectively. As of Monday, their positions are
bound to be considerably lower. When the latest WTA and ATP rankings are
published after the Wimbledon, Novak will be fourth, Jelena sixth, while Ana
Ivanovic will be 11th at best.
Nikola Pilic, a renowned tennis expert and former Croatia and Germany Davis Cup
teams coach, believes the Serbian trio still has not said the last word, but
warns the golden year of 2008 will be hard to match, even in the case of
nations with a much more enduring tennis tradition than Serbia. A big plus for
the Serbian tennis stars is that they are all very young and that many more
professional years lie ahead of them. Jankovic is 24, while Djokovic and
Ivanovic are 22.
- “Djokovic is still very young, but he already has consistent quality of
performances. He is still holding on in the men’s top flight, has played a few
great tournaments – won the Dubai Open – and played phenomenally well against
Nadal in Madrid. At 22 he still has five or six seasons to rule the world
tennis. I know him must better than Ana and Jelena, as Novak was once in my
academy. I think Djokovic still hasn’t showed all he can do,” said Nikola
Pilic.
As for the women’s representatives, the situation is much more complex.
Ivanovic and Jankovic together reached the world number one position in the
same season, but failed to hold on to it, and are now sliding down the list.”
- “Ana and Jelena are not playing as well as they did last year, but it would
be a miracle if they could stay on top for that long in such a fierce
competition. The Williams sisters are displaying their full potential here at
Wimbledon, then there are the mighty Russians – Safina and Kuznetsova – and
there some other upcoming stars, such as Wozniacki and Lisicki. It’s hard to
always maintain a winning streak. Ivanovic may soon return to the top ten,
where she belongs, and we may see Jankovic back in the top 5. We should bear in
mind that this season is still not over – we’re halfway through – with
tournaments such as Cincinnati, Toronto, US Open still to be played. They all
carry a great number of points. If they play well, they can improve immensely.
We don’t have a clue what the final rankings will look like come the end of
season,” says Pilic.
The element of psychological pressure is present with all three tennis players,
the fact they themselves have pointed out. The importance of entering a big
event unburdened and relaxed is perhaps best illustrated with the example of
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who unexpectedly reached the quarter-finals in
London.
- “Ferrero has done something remarkable. The guy didn’t even want to play on
grass, but I told the organizers of the Queens event to give him a wild card.
He got one for the Wimbledon event and, as you can see, he reached the
quarter-finals in a relaxed manner without many expectations. All other Spanish
players have underachieved, and the same thing happened at the French Open.”
Pilic had anticipated the quarter-final clash between Novak Djokovic and Tommy
Haas would be a close one.
- “In an interview for German media I said I couldn’t possibly give any of
the two players 51 per cent chances of winning the match. Haas is experiencing
a renaissance of his career. I’ve talked recently to him and he’s sorted out
his private life and dedicated himself to tennis entirely. He is an exceptional
player, he beat Novak at Halle and he can achieve a lot. Novak has a greater
potential than Haas, but it’s not always the better player who eventually
wins, but the one who is in better shape at the moment,” said Nikola Pilic in
an interview for Blic.
http://www.blic.rs/sports.php?id=4753
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Janko Tipsarevic, Gilles Simon, Novak Djokovic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray
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