The No. 1-ranked Djokovic wrapped up his first title in Abu
Dhabi on Saturday and afterward stated that he was feeling better than he did
at this time last season. That does not bode well for the second-ranked Nadal
and third-ranked Federer who were often on the losing end as the 24-year-old
Serb won three Grand Slams on his way to amassing a record of 70 wins and six
losses.
Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in the US Open and Wimbledon
finals in 2011, said players expect the Serb to dominate again this season.
"Everybody thinks that Djokovic will be difficult to
beat, no?" Nadal said. "Not just myself." The 25-year-old
Spaniard, who is the tournament's top seed, has a first-round match Tuesday
against Philipp Kohlschreiber while Federer faces a tricky encounter against
Nikolay Davydenko of Russia whom he beat in the final last year. Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga of France plays Malek Jaziri of Tunisia while Gael Monfils faces Rui
Machado of Portugal.
Nadal suggested he had come to terms with the prospect of
being a distant second to Djokovic — at least in the near term.
"You know in the sport ... you cannot be every time in
the top," Nadal said. "I think I played fantastic for seven, eight
months in the 2011 season.
"I lost against Djokovic in all the finals, but I
almost only lost against him. So that's a really positive thing, play almost
every final in all the difficult and important tournaments." Looking
ahead, Nadal wouldn't say whether he can reverse the trend that saw him fall to
Djokovic in six finals in 2011. He has recently said that he felt his tennis in
2011 was sometimes too predicable and has started using a heavier racket to
increase his power.
But he also has had his preparations for this season
curtailed by a left shoulder injury that he says has healed.
"The only thing I know is I have to practice to improve
my tennis. For the rest of my career, I don't know if that's gonna be enough to
beat him (Djokovic) or to lose to him 100 more times," Nadal said.
"I don't even know, but I cannot predict that," he
said. "What I can predict is I gonna work hard to try to be enough
competitive to play with good chances against everybody, not only against him
because the first thing, you have to be in the finals. That's a very difficult
thing to do, not only win that once." Federer, too, couldn't avoid
questions about Djokovic, who beat the Swiss in the Abu Dhabi exhibition
tournament last week. He lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open and US Open
but exacted some revenge in ending Djokovic's 43-match winning streak at the
French Open semifinals.
"He was definitely the most consistent player of this
last year, and he looks like he's in good shape again for this upcoming
season," Federer said.
"So it's obviously someone who is going to be followed
very closely not just by the media but also by the players," he said.
"I think we're also all feeling pretty well, as well, so it's going to be
interesting for all of us to see who's going to have the best start to the
season." Federer said his strong finish last season — a 17-match winning
streak that culminated in a record sixth title at the year-end championships in
London — has given him hope that he can do well this year.
"You can definitely take confidence from the end of the
year and sort of just carry it over because you're in a good mindset,"
Federer said. "You know, you just believe that you're doing the right
things on the court. You're not second guessing yourself. From that standpoint,
confidence is ... it's a huge part of our, you know, life sometimes as a tennis
player." As for the chances of regaining the top ranking or winning
another major this season, the 16-time Grand Slam champion said it was too
early to make bold predictions. He was just taking things one tournament at a
time.
"You have to go step by step, and right now focus is on
Doha, my first round. It's a tough one against Davydenko," Federer said.
"Then I do hope I can move on and defend my title here
and then go to sort of Australia and make my move over there," he said.
"Then I have a lot coming up in February, as well, for me. So it's going
to be an interesting next two months for me, because I will be playing a lot of
tennis. So I hope that I will hold up well physically."
