The first of the competitive season has had its conclusion in Miami with an outstanding Roger Federer on top. Now, it's time to shift focus on the clay having a bit of warm-up this week with the Davis Cup featuring some big names. By far, Novak Djokovic is the name to watch closer. The Serb withdrew from Miami in order to deal with an elbow injury. According to ESPN, he feels fit for competing again, and he'll try to help his country in the quarterfinals against Spain.
Djokovic, the world no. 2, is then set to take on the clay court and the battles ahead having soo much to defend from last season.
Djokovic's seat in danger
By taking a close look at the ranking, it seems that the Serb may even be thrown away from the top 4 in a not so far future. He owns 7915 ranking points while Wawrinka (3 ATP) has 5785. Of course, there is also Roger Federer with his pile of 5305. And both Swiss players have so little to defend while the Serb's total toll on clay is around 3600. This value represents the sum of the French Open's prize (2000), the title in Madrid (1000) and also the runner-up status in Rome (600).
So, there are a lot of things on the table for the 12 times Grand Slam champion. He also has stopped winning titles recently. That's another weight on his shoulder. His sole success in 2017 occurred in Doha back in January when he defeated Andy Murray in the final. The last significant title was a Masters 1000 he won last summer in Cincinnati.
His monopoly is over
Between 2013 and the summer of 2016, Novak Djokovic's pace transformed the men's circuit into his own business. But those days are far behind, and the scene is quite unpredictable now. Except for the old dogs like Nadal, Federer, Murray or Wawrinka, there are other younger faces like Kyrgios or Zverev who are willing to force out the door of success.
For those watching from the sideline is the perfect recipe that ensures some level of entertainment and high-yielding tennis. To put it in other words, the authoritarian regime is over allowing an individual sense of democracy to survive which also brings a more equitable distribution of power.