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Young Serbian Novak Djokovic was one of the players to beat in the first three months of 2007. Novak broke into the top-10 and lifted his first Masters 1000 title in Miami. Djokovic lost to Roger Federer at the Australian Open and in Dubai and was among the favorites at Indian Wells in March.
Novak advanced to the final without dropping a set to set up the title clash against Rafael Nadal. In the first round, Robby Ginepri broke Djokovic three times. Still, the Serb responded with a strong performance in the second leg and scored a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Novak looked strong against Evgeny Korolev and Julien Benneteau to find himself in the quarterfinals. The teenager dropped seven games in those four sets, and he carried that form into the clash against David Ferrer and beat the Spaniard 6-3 6-4 to earn a spot in the first semi-final of a Masters 1000.
There, Djokovic lived another relaxed day in the office, defeating his contemporary and good friend Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 in 63 minutes. It was a big match for both of them, but only one of them was ready to show 100% after Murray battled Tommy Haas for nearly three hours the night before and sprained his ankle.
With nothing else in the tank, Andy did his best to keep in touch with Novak, but it was not to be, suffering five breaks and propelling the Serb to his first Masters 1000 final. Speaking about his rivals, Djokovic mentioned Roger Federer and how he performs on the court to perfection, knowing how to deal with pressure and making every challenge effortless.
Novak only played one tournament in 2022
Novak Djokovic has expressed his view that talent counts for only a "small percentage" of the end result in life, while arguing that the rest is determined by one's "workload." The World No.
1 highlighted David Ferrer, Radek Stepanek and Gilles Simon as examples of tennis players who illustrate this belief. "People tend to forget," Djokovic said. "They say to themselves: 'He has talent.' What is talent? Yes, I believe in talent.
Some people don't believe in talent, I do. Let's say it's a genetic advantage, but talent is only a small percentage of the end result. The rest is workload. 'Hard works beats talent every day', as [people] say in the United States.
And that's true. We have plenty of examples in tennis," the 34-year-old continued. "David Ferrer, we all knew what an incredible worker he was. Watch Radek Stepanek. When you saw his game, you could see some limitations. His flat forehand, the fact that he doesn't master the topspin.
But his game intelligence, his willpower and his clever work enabled him to reach the heights. And Gilles Simon, yet another example. Top 10. Incredible."