{"id":1311970,"date":"2019-06-30T22:44:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T04:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon\/"},"modified":"2019-06-30T22:44:01","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T04:44:01","slug":"quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Quite a difference\u2019 for Djokovic from year ago at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8053475935829\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-982732-810\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Serbia's Novak Djokovic laughs during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic laughs during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2.jpg\" alt=\"Serbia's Novak Djokovic laughs during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Serbia's Novak Djokovic leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-1.jpg\" alt=\"Serbia's Novak Djokovic leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic plays a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-2.jpg\" alt=\"Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | United States' Cori Gauff smiles as she leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>United States&#8217; Cori Gauff smiles as she leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-3.jpg\" alt=\"United States' Cori Gauff smiles as she leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, left, and United States's Frances Tiafoe, right, laugh during a break at a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><strong>Canada&#8217;s Felix Auger-Aliassime, left, and United States&#8217;s Frances Tiafoe, right, laugh during a break at a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/06\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_36402-8aae2-4.jpg\" alt=\"Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, left, and United States's Frances Tiafoe, right, laugh during a break at a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">WIMBLEDON, England \u2014 A year ago, Novak Djokovic arrived at Wimbledon in a rut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Still working his way back from elbow surgery, still fine-tuning a new service motion, he was more than 24 months removed from his most recent Grand Slam title. His ranking had tumbled out of the top 20 for the first time in over a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One fortnight later, Djokovic was all the way back to his best. When he enjoys the defending male singles champion\u2019s honor of being the first to play at Centre Court on Monday, facing unseeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, Djokovic will be ranked No. 1 and beginning his bid for a fifth title at the All England Club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He\u2019ll also be seeking a 16th major championship overall, and fourth in the past five Slam tournaments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cQuite a difference,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cComing off from the surgery, being unable to have a consistency with the results, this was a huge springboard for me, the win at Wimbledon last year. That\u2019s what kind of gave me that push \u2014 and also a huge relief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOne Grand Slam,\u201d he said, \u201ccan definitely change anyone\u2019s career in a few weeks. Even after winning 15 Slams, I still value these tournaments very much and understand the importance they have, importance of winning them on my entire career, my confidence, my future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After defeating Kevin Anderson in the Wimbledon final last July, Djokovic beat Juan Martin del Potro in the U.S. Open final in September and Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final in January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He wound up running his Grand Slam winning streak to 26 matches before losing a five-set tussle against Dominic Thiem at the French Open in early June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So now it\u2019s time to start a new run. Djokovic does not hide the fact that he would love to catch the only two men with more major trophies: Roger Federer with 20, and Nadal with 18.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At 32, Djokovic is the youngest member of the Big Three that has ruled tennis for the past 15-plus years; Federer is 37, Nadal 33. They have won 53 of the last 64 Grand Slam titles, including 10 in a row.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They also have won Wimbledon in 14 of the past 16 years; Andy Murray was the champion the other two times in that span.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cFunny enough, you always think somebody takes away something from the other. Probably we have. At the same time, we also pushed each other to greater heights,\u201d Federer said. \u201cWe definitely became better because of one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He is seeded No. 2, and Nadal is No. 3, and they could meet in the semifinals. They\u2019re on the opposite side of the draw from Djokovic, so they play their first-rounders Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Others in Day 1 action include Venus Williams, at 39 the oldest woman in the draw, against Coco Gauff, at 15 the youngest; two-time major champion Naomi Osaka against Yulia Putintseva; Anderson against Pierre-Hugues Herbert; and 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is seeded 21st, against 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil in an all-Canadian matchup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Federer has won a men\u2019s-record eight Wimbledon titles and owns the best grass-court winning percentage in the Open era at .874, Djokovic is building an impressive resume at the place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Serb has been to at least the semifinals eight of the past 12 years, and five of the last eight finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So what\u2019s the most important thing he does well on grass?<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEverything,\u201d three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka said Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI just believe that when Novak is at his best, on any surface,\u201d Wawrinka said, \u201che\u2019s really tough to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One key to Djokovic\u2019s success at the All England Club \u2014 and, really, anywhere \u2014 is an ability to return even the most dangerous serves. Another is his relentless, body-contorting defense. His effortless groundstrokes help, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like many players, Djokovic didn\u2019t play on grass until his late teens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI did struggle a little bit at the beginning, in the first couple of years of my career, on the grass,\u201d he said, \u201cto really understand how I need to move on the court, how I need to adjust my swing and my game in general, tactically what I need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Now he does just fine on the turf and gets to keep enjoying his ritual of plucking a few blades to shove in his mouth after winning the Wimbledon final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He\u2019s been busy with more than just his game in the run-up to Monday\u2019s tournament start, though, spending 7 hours in a meeting Friday night as president of the ATP Player Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Djokovic has been at the center of some messy internal politics that became public, including the decision not to renew the contract of ATP chairman Chris Kermode and the resignations of four members of the council this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a system and a structure that keeps on failing us,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cI did consider also stepping down. I think my team wants me to step down, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">More AP Tennis: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/apf-Tennis\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/apf-Tennis<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP%E2%80%94Sports\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP\u2014Sports<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/quite-a-difference-for-djokovic-from-year-ago-at-wimbledon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic laughs during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)AP | AP Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic leaves after playing a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ben Curtis)AP | AP Serbia&#8217;s Novak Djokovic plays [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1311970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 21:35:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1311970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1311970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1311970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1311970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}