Another tournament, another Novak Djokovic win. The Serbian is 18-0 this year and doesn't seem to be letting up for anyone. This BNP Paribas Open was particularly impressive as he cruised to the semi's by bageling his opponents left and right. When he looked up from the beatings he was giving, he found himself on a collision course to face Federer and Nadal on back to back days.
And... he handled them with relative ease. Despite Nole dropping the first set in each of the respective matches, his confidence is at such an all time high that he dominated the next two sets. This is no easy feat against Federer and it's near impossible against Nadal. While Federer rarely takes his foot off his opponent's throats, Nadal never does. He goes for the kill every time and it takes someone playing unbelievable tennis to get out of this sticky situation. So the only conclusion can be that Djokovic is playing ridonkulous.
So where does Novak go from here? Djokovic is clearly playing the best tennis of anyone on the tour. He's beaten Federer 3 straight times and is taking care of top players like only the best do, so I expect him to win in Miami to continue his tear on the tour. But the real question for me is what will happen to him on clay? He's not a bad clay player, but he is definitely a much more complete hard court player. I expect him to win a clay tourney or two this season, but when it comes down to any important clay match, there's little hope of dethroning Rafa. While this might be the year of Novak, the clay court season is Nadal's and until proven otherwise, all hail Rafa.
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