News

Novak Djokovic is the forgotten man of the Big Three of men’s tennis, dwarfed by the holy duality of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

But since the middle of August, he has been the most consistent player on tour, going 19-3 at Cincinnati, the US Open, Beijing, Shanghai and, this week, in Federer’s hometown of Basel.

His only losses have been twice to Federer – Cincinnati final and the US Open semis – and to Nikolay Davydenko in the semis of Shanghai. He lost that one 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) to the inexorably efficient Russian, battling as best he could despite playing his ninth match in 11 days – he had won the Beijing event the previous week.

On Thursday in Basel, he recorded the fifth “double bagel” on the ATP tour in 2009, defeating No. 59-ranked Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-0.

In the final game, he showed his sense of fair play by conceding a Hernych ace, which had been called out at 15-30, by simply walking over to the deuce side to play the next point.

Afterward, at the net, Djokovic didn’t offer any bogus “aw shucks” sympathy, or smile at Hernych, feigning compassion. There was just a business-like clasping of the hands that appeared in no way to reference the one-sidedness of the contest. “It’s hard to talk about a 6-0, 6-0 result,” he said later. “The win is what counts. He didn’t play very well today. Actually he made a lot of unforced errors and didn’t put any pressure on me, so I just kind of cruised through the match.”

Djokovic started 2009 by trying unsuccessfully to defend his Australian Open title. He was beaten by Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals when he had to retire because of heat-related issues.

The Serb, 22, had been complaining a lot at the time about his trouble adjusting to his new Head racquet after accepting a big-bucks deal to switch from his former Wilson model.

But he has gradually got back his old form and posted a tour-best 68 wins, which includes titles in Dubai, Belgrade (an event owned by his family) and Beijing. He has also regained the No. 3 ranking from Andy Murray.

In keeping with his reputation for being fun-loving and mischievous, Djokovic memorably declared in Shanghai three weeks ago, “nothing, nothing, nothing is better than sex. It is what God created us to do.”

While he looked strangely resigned in his losses to Federer in Cincinnati and at the US Open, lately there has been a renewed confidence and spark in his game. It indicates that things could be different if he is to meet the great Swiss in Sunday’s final, even if it’s in front of the Federer faithful at an event where he used to be a ballboy.

The one-year suspension to US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer, announced on Thursday by a Belgian anti-doping tribunal, brought to mind a story Daniel Nestor told during Flushing Meadows. Wickmayer, who can appeal, was suspended for not making herself available for three different drug tests.

Nestor recalled how this past summer, after being awake at about five o’clock in the morning with his seven-month old daughter, he took his phone off the hook to try to get some sleep.

A representative of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) drug testers showed up at his downtown Toronto condominium but could not reach him by phone. He was disappointed that the representative stayed in the lobby and did not make the effort go up to his condo and knock on the door.

The result: Nestor has one mark against his record for not being available for testing. He is only

allowed a total of three before being suspended.

Mike Bryan, half of the top-ranked Bryan brothers doubles team, has twice failed to be available for ITF drug testing. Once, according to him, it happened when he got up early and went out to have breakfast at an eatery in his hometown of Camarillo, Calif.