The young Serb has had a great 2007 but in the Shanghai Masters he was uninspiring in defeat to Richard Gasquet. But Djokovic will be back to muscle in on the Federer-Nadal monopoly. Novak Djokovic and Richard Gasquet have both played in matches this year that showed off their own brands of elegant tennis. Gasquet's trademark one-handed backhand has become the de facto symbol for his finesse play, while Djokovic's text-book shots from both the forehand and backhand side characterise his very successful approach to the game. The two met on Tuesday in the Tennis Masters Cup, in a critical match (both were 0-1 in round-robin play heading in) that had the potential to be a memorable contest. Unfortunately, we didn't see on the day any of the elegance that each player used to get them to Shanghai. In a match that was more a display of Djokovic's fatigue than Gasquet's execution, Richard won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, all but eliminating Djokovic from the year's final tournament. Gasquet had a number of highlight reel shots, but a majority of the points ended as a result of Djokovic being unable to deliver on his side of the court. Djokovic has played in a few lopsided matches this year, but rarely has he been on the receiving end. Yesterday was one of those anomalies. Novak's play in Shanghai may have been uninspiring, but his play in 2007 has been nothing short of amazing. Coming into the year, the tennis world consisted of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and everyone else. Twelve months later, Djokovic has made significant inroads on this duopoly by not only separating himself from the pack as the clear No.3 in the world, but by taking down these two giants on big stages. Djokovic defeated Nadal in Key Biscayne in the spring, and once again in the Montreal semi-finals in August. In the very next match he played at the Rogers Masters, Novak then upset Federer in a classic three-set final. The tennis pundits (myself included) talked about the group of so-called "young guns" ad nausea in 2006. I expected one or a few of them to make leaps this year. I didn't expect to see a long jump worthy of an Olympic medal, which is what Djokovic accomplished in 2007. Djokovic's accolades this year are what many players would dream of achieving in an entire career. He won two Masters Series shields (Miami and Canada), reached the finals of another (Indian Wells), and went to the semi-finals or better in three of the four Grand Slams (SF French Open, SF Wimbledon, F U.S. Open). Djokovic has earned his rest - which he'll need to come back next year with the same vigour - and has earned his spot in the sport's elite. 2007 was the third straight year of the main course that is Federer/Nadal, but Djokovic added a tantalising third option to the meal. At times, he was even the centrepiece.
