Novak Djokovic wasn't playing his sharpest game in the first five matches of this tournament. It wasn’t the sweetest kickoff for his summer hard-court campaign at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. But his game sort of clicked in just a little bit since that first game. It would only take the usual two sets to send home Nikolay Davydenko, Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils. By the semifinals it was all looking a bit too easy for the Djoker. Wilfried Tsonga quit after going down a set and a break in the semifinals, saying his arm was tired. Stanley fish put up a better fight in the finals, but it wouldn’t be enough to outplay Novak Djokovic. Despite a good comeback in the second set, Stanley Fish just couldn’t keep up his good rhythm and Djokovic took a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win. As one would expect Djokovic claimed a victory in his first tournament as world No. 1 and a record five Masters wins this season. Some were wondering if Djokovic had lost his momentum after the Wimbledon break. Well, get ready, because the Djoker is just getting started. Even if you are not that into professional tennis, you’ve got to give it up for Serb Novak Djokovic. Let’s put this into the right perspective. We are talking about a guy who has only lost one game since winning the finals of last year’s Davis Cup. Djokovic is 53-1 for the season, just short of equaling John McEnroe's 54-1 start to the year in 1984. The one game he lost came at the semifinals of the French Open, on the clay surface of Roland Garros, a terrain that we all know is his weakest playing surface. And yet there is a bit more to be said about Djokovic’s only defeat this season. He lost to the guy who had dominated the tour for the better part of the last decade and was just short of matching the guy we all expected him to defeat for the Roland Garros Title: Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The King of Clay had been invincible at Paris. We had quite the impression that he was going to turn it around. Djokovic had only to do what he had done in the previous two clay-court tournaments: defeat Nadal in the final. Perhaps what many weren’t expecting was to see the Djoker leaving Paris a round too early. Now we are back to the fast courts of North America. We are all getting ready for the final stretch, for the last Grand Slam of the season: the US Open. Djokovic certainly wants to keep on winning, getting close to breaking McEnroe’s record. On the other hand, he also should consider taking some rest. Although Djokovic said he would play Cincinnati as planned, he looked a little tired at times during the Montreal final. Not only that but this summer has been extremely hot this year, and he could be vulnerable in the heat after some long matches. Only Patrick Rafter in 1996 and Andy Roddick in 2003 have won in Canada, in Cincinnati and at Flushing Meadows at one stretch. I guess we would have to wait just a bit more to see if that is yet another record Djokovic can break.
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