Misunderstood?

Thanks for these Yolita!

I haven’t taken the time to verify them, but I’m guessing the figures will be fine (considering they were produced by a mathematician – *ulp*).

Below are the ATP points accumulated at Masters events by the top ten over the course of 2009.

Nadal 5280
Djokovic 4480
Murray 3600
Federer 3360
Del Potro 1880
Davydenko 1640
Roddick 1100
Verdasco 1100
Soderling 565
Cilic 470

Only Nadal fares better than Djoko – with Djoko a full 24.44% ahead of his nearest competitor.

Four finals, two semis and of course that title he picked up at the end of the year in Paris, hardly suggest he’s dragging his feet.

And yet for some reason I just don’t remember it that way!!

I remember Djoko having an faultless clay court season (which also accounts for two of those finals) - outside of that I’ll be the first to admit things begin to get a little hazy.

What’s probably contributed to this skewed and incredibly unfair perception are the very tame performances he’s delivered in the finals of hard court events.

He barely seemed to trouble Murray in Miami, and Federman virtually swept the court with him (and Murray) in Cincinnati.

Maybe that’s what bothers me – the old consistency vs. quality debate – Djoko’s commitment to reaching those finals has been admirable but his performances upon making them rather subdued.

It all falls rather short of what I’ve come to expect from him.

And yet the facts are irrefutable: barring Nadal, Djoko performed consistently better than anyone else – better than anyone you probably had down as a high performer.

But it’s in interesting question is it not, why Djoko -- his tennis, and the man behind the tennis -- remain so very misunderstood.