People are worrying about Novak now, coming-up on mid-December, rumors flying and Becker sent packing. I even hear die-hard fans now starting to come to terms with Novak’s limits. First of all, what took you so long? You can read my blog for free. With just a few clicks you can stay hydrated on ATP commentary and conjecture with a bit of history mixed-in. Again, folks, what took you so long. Secondly, don’t count-out Djokovic yet. This slow to the table/reactionary sports intelligence is pretty sophomoric.

I wrote this three months ago. Included in that post is a link to my 2016 predictions, which have turned-out pretty well though I didn’t anticipate Lendl’s return.

I wrote a couple of follow-ups to my post-USO commentary to clarify my views.

This one is actually called Follow-up to My “Novak is Doomed” Article. Again, one should see these things. One should see other things, too. Life is complicated. Complicate it back. Stick around and listen because this is my favorite thing to do and it lends itself pretty favorably to reading certain things. Novak could win the AO and reinvent his dominance in a more reserved kind of scheduling that extends his relevance, a scary proposition for the tour.

But in real time, when watching the men hit the ball around the court, one should be able to see certain developments that might have more serious consequences. You know, like when I said the Pouille v Nadal USO match would be maybe match of the tourney a week before that affair. Pay attention, folks. Or read my blog.

I wrote this post, Djokovic’s Run (here’s an excerpt) back on November 1. Again, I try to clear the window for the interested tennis fan. People were missing the plot back then, as well. All of the dipshits at Tennis.com, Tennis Channel, Twitter, all the fanboys: it was all about Andy back in November. But as I said, we should talk about Nole:

And yet there’s another run we should be talking about: Novak’s run at #1. How will Novak be remembered at the top, finally fulfilling his destiny by becoming that next Great Number One, in the mode of Federer and Sampras?

What I was trying to say after the USO concerned a bit of a misperception about this “destiny,” that this is now Novak’s time to shine. He’s been shining is how my argument went. He’s been at and around the top for years now, grinding it out against some of the stiffest competition the tour has ever seen. So for tennis fans to assume that he’s now completely clear of Federer (35) and Nadal (30 and completely broken) and going to reel-off another 2-3 years of winning majors seems, to me, overly optimistic or pretty ignorant (meaning ignoring the evidence). Tennis fans, Novak is perhaps not just burned-out on his 2015-16 run, on his Nole Slam summit. As my argument went, here comes Andy, not just here as in 2016, but in 2017; and Novak, a guy who has waged all-time great physical back-court clashes with some of the greats for years turns 30 in May. Folks, the Serb may be getting oh so very close to that point where Pete said “good-bye” and Roger has said “well, hello, I’m still here.” This, I would argue, is Novak’s last stand (the beginning of this chapter coming a bit early: at the end of 2016).

I have said nothing about Becker in this post. Sure I wrote about that break-up. I also said his ridiculous comment about Novak not having any competition sounded like a guy re-applying for a job.

But here’s my real take on the Becker Djokovic split. It didn’t factor into my thoughts of Djokovic back in September and it still doesn’t. Becker can’t make Djokovic younger. That’s the ultimate reality. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life.

If it was a snake it would’ve bit you.

Can’t see the forest through the trees.

No, this is not that he’s cheating on his wife, or not practicing (although that doesn’t help). He’s going to be 30 years-old in six months and he has the body, most likely, of a guy older than that. Not rocket science. Same thing when this blog burnt to the ground that idiotic claim that Federer was playing the best tennis of his career in 2015. Can you believe that horse shit? Maybe I’ll dig-up those posts, those conversations. Roger is better in 2015 than he was in 2007. Wow.

Back to Novak. He’s no spring chicken (and in one of those posts above I mention how Novak’s peak was more realistically 2011).

In other words, none of this is shocking.

I really hope you’re enjoying the blog. Things are going to get interesting in 2017, hopefully with the tour and the blog.

Stay-tuned.