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So Djokovic has been struggling to reach his former level of dominance ever since losing to Querrey at Wimbledon last year, who by the way defeated Obnoxious Nick 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the semis of Acapulco.

As usual, Kyrgios can’t follow through when he defeats a top player. Same as he did when he defeated Nadal and Federer. I guess he didn’t feel like winning. Querrey mustn’t be ‘good’ enough to deserve Kyrgios’ best effort.

To get back to Djokovic, I was wondering what it would take for people to feel like he is ‘back’, and what that means exactly. I mean it’s highly unlikely that he will return to his dominance of 2015.

That was insane dominance which had to end sooner rather than later. And once you lose a couple of matches and lose that edge it can be tricky to get it back. Tennis is a confidence game and winning is a habit.

We have seen Federer and Nadal having the same problems many times and finding confidence again. No player can dominate indefinitely. A tennis career is a series of ups and downs, of peaks and valleys.

After Federer lost to Donskoy Wednesday Djokovic followed him in Acapulco yesterday when he lost 7-6(9), 7-5 to Kygios. I thought Djokovic played great except for the final game where he wilted under the pressure and dropped serve to love.

Up until that point, there was nothing in this very high-quality match. Kyrgios has now won his first match against Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic. Ever since I saw him play against Nadal at Wimbledon I knew he was a special talent.

I actually like his game a lot. The problem is his attitude stinks so much that he is impossible to like. He is the most obnoxious jerk you can possibly imagine. By far the most unlikeable tennis player I have ever come across.

And I’m not saying this because he beat my favorite player. I have disliked him for some time now. Who would ever forget the incident where totally disrespected Stan, one of the nicest guys on tour?

World #116 and qualifier Evgeny Donskoy scored a sensational 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory over current Australian Open champion Federer yesterday in Dubai after saving three match points. Donskoy also came back from 2-5 in the second set tiebreak, 2-5 in the third set, and 1-5 in the third set tiebreak.

A truly remarkable turn of events after I assumed Federer would roll over Donskoy in no time. Kind of like I assumed Djokovic would roll over Istomin in Melbourne. But since when does Federer lose after having so many opportunities to finish his opponent?!

You can call it enormous choking from Federer or superb play from Donskoy when he was down. I guess it is a bit of both. But I was really impressed with Donskoy. He reminded me a bit of Djokovic the way he returned and played from the baseline.

He was fearless and stayed positive despite facing terrible odds. It was a fresh and entertaining changeup from the lower ranked players who usually implode in that situation against Federer. In fact, Donskoy was imploding until 1-5 in the third set tiebreak but then made a miraculous comeback.

Federer suffers first loss to a player outside the Top 100 since Delbonis in Hamburg 2013. First on hard since Indy 2000 to James Sekulov.

Tendremos al ·¸2️⃣, al ¨¦4️⃣, al ª¸6️⃣, al ­·7️⃣, al ¦¹8️⃣ y al §ªŸ del #Top10. ¡El mejor cartel de toda nuestra historia! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/7Uylc6KkZK

— #AMT2017 (@AbiertoTelcel) February 23, 2017

Some good news here for Djokovic- and tennis fans in general although I’m not so sure it is good news for Nadal fans. Nadal will play in Acapulco too and has lost his last 15 sets against Djokovic, including the 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 beatdown at his favorite French Open.

I thought the break until Indian Wells will do Djokovic well but obviously, he feels he doesn’t need it. It sure makes things more interesting for next week!

Next week there is the Dubai 500 event as well where Murray and Federer will make their first appearances since Melbourne. Dubai and Acapulco will both be strong events. Here are the top eight seeds:

The answer to this question is not a no-brainer which means that Djokovic fans will say the answer is Djokovic while Federer fans will say the opposite. That is just how the minds of fans work. It’s an annoying little thing in tennis called bias.

Everyone who is a fan of any particular player has it. I have it too, but unlike most fans, I admit that I am biased. And once you admit to bias you can’t really be biased because bias is in many ways a form of denial.

That said if you think I am not qualified to make this post because I am a Djokovic fan you are welcome to stop reading here. Or you can continue reading because I am a tennis expert and know what I am talking about.

As you can see the numbers are very close with Federer having the added French Open final but Djokovic has more Masters titles, more overall titles, and a significantly better head-to-head record against Nadal.

Djokovic also made four French Open semi-finals as opposed to Federer’s two, that 2013 semi-final being the most memorable one where he was a break up in the fifth against Nadal while Federer has never been able to stretch Nadal to five sets on clay.

I don’t usually make many predictions because tennis is too unpredictable and I am a bit superstitious but this prediction is not that Djokovic will win the French Open this year. Just that he will win it again at some point.

With the Australian Open hype having settled down a bit and Fedfans getting their fairytale ending it is time to get back to reality and look ahead to the future. Currently, things have quieted down a bit in tennis with none of the big four back in action since Melbourne.

Since the first major of the year, Dimitrov has continued his good form with a title in Sofia while Alex Zverev continued to show why he is the most promising young talent on tour right now with his second title in Montpellier.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I was a Federer fan I could never see where his 18th slam title would come from but since I became a Djokovic fan I felt it was almost inevitable that he would win another slam.

The only reason that he wasn’t winning #18 was because of how well Djokovic was playing. I knew Federer was still playing at an incredibly high level and that all the talk of decline from his fans was just sour grapes that he kept losing to Djokovic.

The grand slams are the biggest events in tennis that come around only four times in a year which is why I always make one post to look back at what transpired over the past fortnight and look at how it affected the tennis landscape.

The 2018 Australian Open obviously had great significance because of the fact that Federer, at last, bagged that elusive 18th slam title which put him further ahead of the field in the GOAT debate.

When Djokovic was going through the most dominant run in tennis history from the beginning of 2015 to the French Open in 2016 I had in the back of my mind the idea that at some point there must be some kind of response from Federer.

I am particularly referring to Djokovic completing the personal slam at the French Open. That was something Federer could never achieve and on top of that he had lost four very significant slam matches against Djokovic since 2014.

It was due, wasn’t it? Federer has been knocking hard at the door of his 18th slam title in in his last four slams but Djokovic kept denying him. So all credit to him for not losing hope and keeping the faith.

When he called it a season last year after Wimbledon things weren’t looking promising. Some feared the end was near. But then he comes back after six months off and wins his 18th slam in his first tournament back.

And that against his nemesis Nadal with a scoreline of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. It seems too good to be true. Going into the match I actually felt Federer had a chance because it felt like he was due after all the near misses in his last four slams.

Especially the final losses against Djokovic at Wimbledon and the US Open. You felt like he was playing well enough to win a slam but Djokovic was just taking tennis to a whole new level. But credit to Federer for taking advantage of the early loss of Djokovic.

He had the same opportunity at Wimbledon last year but there Raonic stopped him. I guess the break did Federer really well and was exactly what he needed. It’s a ridiculous story and I still find it hard to believe.

I’ve already written my thoughts about this match on Facebook but I will say a few more things here. This match was a great disappointment to me despite the scoreline. Neither player looked like they wanted to win.

It’s incredible how Stan’s body language changes when he faces Federer. He is unwilling to play the bad guy which is the role assigned to anyone who dares to defeat Federer on a regular basis. At least when it comes to Fedfans.

Stan is not a warrior. He doesn’t want to win at all costs. He would rather be the nice guy that doesn’t spoil the party than the villain who gets what he wants. That is in stark contrast to Djokovic and Nadal who have received endless criticism simply because they dare to defeat Federer on a regular basis.

Take for instance the MTO incident in the first semi-final. Federer took an MTO after Wawrinka took one earlier and afterward he admitted it was a tactical ploy. There was no criticism. But if Djokovic or Nadal does it all hell breaks loose.

#Federer breaks #Wawrinka and it’s back on serve in the 4th set #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/rV6QLT2P34

Everyone still enjoying the tennis?! I sure am. It’s not the tournament I hoped for with the early exit of Djokovic but it is a fresh change nonetheless with the return of Federer and Nadal to grand slam semi-finals.

Federer got there on Tuesday when he defeated Zverev 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 in a masterclass performance while Nadal got there today after defeating third seed Raonic 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-4. I wouldn’t call it a masterclass from Nadal because Raonic should have won the second set before choking with a double fault on set point in the second-set tiebreak.

But it was a very good performance nonetheless.

Federer was impeccable against Zverev from the get-go and despite strong attempts from Zverev in the second set to turn things around, Federer kept shutting the door time after time.

I don’t think Zverev’s level dropped at all after upsetting Murray. The quality of opposition was just that much better. It was really up to Murray to stand up to Federer and Nadal when Djokovic lost but he failed miserably.

After Djokovic’s shock loss to Istomin in round two Murray has now followed him after losing 5-7, 7-5, 2-6, 4-6 to world number 50 Mischa Zverev in the fourth round. Another huge upset!

Murray has historically suffered quite a few upsets in slams but because of his recent rich run of form and ascendancy to the top of the world rankings, I’m not sure which is the bigger upset between him and Djokovic.

Zverev’s best previous result at a slam was at Wimbledon in 2008 when he made the third round after the withdrawal of 28th seed Ferrero. And now he is in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open where he will play Federer.

This is turning into quite a story because Zverev was top 50 at one point after which he fell all the way to #1067 in the rankings due to injury. I think he was on the verge of quitting and now he is back up to a career high #35.

Mischa’s DONE IT! #Zverev knocks out #Murray in four sets! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/q3Eu5wG1lm

It looks like the old Nadal may be back after a trademark 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 marathon win over teen sensation Zverev yesterday. I started watching in the first set after Zverev was a break up and what a match it turned out to be.

Zverev was the better player for most of the match but in the end, Nadal physically outlasted him. As we know Nadal never gets tired and his fitness was the only way he was going to win this match because Zverev was the aggressor.

The third set tiebreak was a key moment in the match and Zverev won it because he took the initiative. But from there on Nadal simply outlasted him physically. The turning point came at 2-2 and 40-40 in the fifth set where Zverev won a 37-shot rally.

WHAT. A. POINT. #Zverev #Nadal pic.twitter.com/i7X0dMDNCZ

— BreakPointBR (@BreakPointBR) January 21, 2017

This has to go down as one of the biggest upsets in recent years probably only surpassed by Nadal’s French Open loss to Soderling in 2009. Djokovic had won the Australian Open five out of the last six years.

It is his best tournament and after returning to form in London last year and Doha this year you’d thought he is for sure the favorite to win the title. I didn’t even bother to watch the match because of the hours, thinking Istomin would hardly provide resistance.

How wrong I was. But any player around the top 100 can have a day like Istomin did where they just can’t miss and basically play flawless tennis. That’s just tennis and upsets happen. Djokovic didn’t even play badly in the 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 defeat.

CPA Australia Shot of the Day: Watch Novak Djokovic master the art of court coverage.@cpaaustralia #ausopen #beheardberecognised pic.twitter.com/1R1V1W5C7w

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2017

Djokovic: ‘When I saw the draw, I thought to myself this is the only match to focus on because my tournament could finish early.’ #AusOpen

— George Bellshaw (@BellshawGeorge) January 17, 2017

As you can see Djokovic was as nervous about this match as I was as a fan. Verdasco is not the name you want to see next to your name in the first round of the Australian Open. When his game is on he is top five material.

But he is mentally extremely fragile which is why he never consistently performed. That said, Djokovic did extremely well to defeat him 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2. The first set was very good from Djokovic while Verdasco appeared nervous as he kept shanking forehands.

In the second set, Verdasco seemed to settle down a bit as he went a break up twice but couldn’t consolidate on either occasion. This was a dangerous time for Djokovic because had Verdasco held onto a break and won the second set there was no telling what could happen.

The Australian Open 2017 draw was always going to be an interesting one with Federer as the 17th seed and Nadal as the 9th seed. Federer ended up getting a pretty good draw while Nadal got the tough draw with Zverev in the third round.

Federer also got two consecutive qualifiers which seems shady because he also got qualifiers in 66 out of the 68 slams he played so far. Nadal had no such luck but he will probably make the third round where there could be a blockbuster third round awaiting us between him and Zverev.

The two have met once before in Indian Wells last year where Nadal only just prevailed 7-5 in the third. If that match happens Zverev is good enough to win it and he may also be ready to make a big move at a slam.

If the Doha final was a taste of what’s to come in the 2017 tennis season then it is going to be one hell of a year. Djokovic got his revenge over Murray 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in maybe their best match yet.

Djokovic appeared nervous at the beginning which was understandable after what happened in London but he soon found his rhythm from the ground and he went through a stretch where he won 16 consecutive points on serve which put pressure on Murray’s serve.

The pressure eventually got to Murray as Djokovic broke in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Djokovic continued to exert pressure on Murray in the second set with that incredible baseline consistency and broke serve again at 3-3 after a Murray double fault.

At 5-4 he was serving for the match which looked like it would be a masterclass win but Murray saved three match points in the game and broke back. I didn’t feel like Djokovic choked but he wasn’t quite convincing in putting Murray away either.

#Djokovic pic.twitter.com/P7qezi5rBp

So we got the final I’m sure most people have been hoping for after Djokovic saved five match points in his 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 win over Verdasco and Murray defeated Berdych 6-3, 6-4.

I couldn’t watch the Djokovic match due to my poor Internet quality but on the highlights, I saw Djokovic was 2-6 and 6-7 down in the tiebreak. He was also up 4-2 in the first set after which he slumped badly to lose the first set and go down 0-2 in the second set.

It’s not every day that you see Djokovic get broken three consecutive times. It must have been a bad day at the office but what matters is that he won with the help of his characteristic mental strength.

Losing to Verdasco would have been a pretty big setback at this point and I am still not sure how first of all he got into that situation and second of all found a way out. But it is not the first time we see Djokovic save match points.

Since my last post, Djokovic and Murray won their next two matches to make the semi-finals stage in Doha and will play against Verdasco and Berdych in the semis respectively.

Interestingly, Djokovic has been the one who has been looking more comfortable since that slow start in his first round match which was understandable as it was his first match of the year.

Since then he defeated Zeballos 6-3, 6-4 and Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 today. The match against Stepanek was played in windy conditions and he did well against the oldest player at 38 years of age to make the quarterfinals of an event since Connors in 1995.

Djokovic seems to be carrying on where he left off last year before he lost to Murray at the World Tour Finals. Obviously, he was not very pleased with that loss and has been training his ass off in the offseason.

Had a great warm up with @andy_murray today ª» pic.twitter.com/hM2sV06iSR

Ultimate Tennis Blog wishes everyone a happy, healthy, and successful new year full of memorable tennis moments. Yesterday the new tennis season got underway in Doha, Brisbane, and Chennai.

The 2017 tennis season is a new beginning in the sense that Federer and Nadal are back while Djokovic is trying to reassert his dominance which he lost in the second half of 2016.

That attempt almost had a disastrous beginning when Djokovic went down 0-4 to Struff in his opening match in Doha. Struff was blasting winner after winner while Djokovic was hitting short and making one unforced error after the other.

It was a very shaky start to the year, to say the least, but Djokovic recovered very well as he won the first set 7-1 on the tiebreak. After the Becker breakup, I feared the worst but it was nice to see Djokovic find his rhythm as he won the second set 6-3 after getting the second break at 5-3.

I already made posts where I emphasized the significance of Djokovic’s personal slam which he completed this year at the French Open but I haven’t dedicated a post to that specifically and I think it is due.

And the reason I think it is due is because of the lack of attention it received in the mainstream media. One reason it did not receive the attention it deserved in the mainstream media is because Federer and Nadal are their favorites and the fact that Djokovic achieved something neither of them ever could, was upsetting to the mainstream ‘pundits’.

Djokovic is viewed as the outsider because he is from Serbia and because he is a serious threat to Federer and Nadal. Of course, there isn’t any legitimate reason for him not getting the recognition he deserves.

It is simply because of bias and because the mainstream western media is one of the worst evils this world has ever seen. That goes for all things, not just tennis. It is also because the mainstream media are not true tennis fans.