True though that he is off the radar recently, but in 2010/11 he mostly underperformed. French 1st rd loss; London 1st rd loss, US 3rd rd loss.

<It wasn’t supposed to be his time, but he cut the strings of fate himself and made it his anyway. After years of being weaned on a Federer-Nadal rivalry that showed no signs of slowing up, Djokovic’s greatness came as such a surprise that only the immediate reaction—erupting into applause or conceding any once-held doubts in dumbfounded silence—seemed the right one.>

<If the description above paints a picture of Djokovic as some kind of impudent young upstart, then his game evinces a level of point-winning logic typically associated with a grizzled veteran. He wins like a specially engineered victory machine, ruthlessly pulverizing his opponents until they submit. It’s neither a defensive or offensive style, but some unholy hybrid of the two. If his game has a weakness, I haven’t seen it. He’s so good, in fact, that his victories can seem perfunctory, his structural advantage so apparent from the get-go that the rest of the match becomes a slightly more formal version of tennis garbage time.> True if you look at how machine-like Djokovic disposed of his three earlier round opponents; they were lucky if they were allowed one, possibly two games a set. Many bagles even in those.

But what I find disapponting in this no doubt talented writer and analyst is that he doesn't have his match facts straight, especially where he describes the Nadal miraculous hold in the 4th set at 4-3 and love-40 triple breakpoint for Djokovic, potentially about to serve out the match:

"With a 4-3 lead in the fourth set, Djokovic held a love-40 lead at a time when one more point would have given him a chance to serve for the match. <He blew the opportunity, thanks to a bit of classic Nadal toughness>" - nothing could be further from the truth. I went to my videoplayer and checked if my completely contrary to Eric's recollection was true-- Novak didn't "blow the opportunity" because Nadal's retrieving skills forced errors off Novak...

The 5 points in succession that had Nadal hold that game to go 4-4 were as follows:

1 A blistering inside-out FH landing within a foot of the baseline followed by a direct winner inside out angled FH blast;

2 Unreturnable serve

3 Weird looking wrongfooting of Djokovic with a highish trajectory BH landing within a foot of the base & sideline, Djokovic unable to get his racquet on it

4 Serve winner

5 Serve winner

Why did he write that? - that game being one of <the> outstanding ones in the match, let alone set? Perhaps the only game with Nadal "scoring" 5 points in a row by hitting winners.

Very fine "narrator", Eric Freeman, but he seems to have watched different tennis in that game than millions did.

That first set though against Delpo was something ... Fed did not <shank> a single BH and literally blasted it in court, many off the bounce, that is how good his footwork was... Really the best when he is at his best. Only Nadal can really get under his skin and make him drop his level by as much as 30%, and have him walk around uncomfortable and without that freedom of movement, thought and inspirational shot making.

Perhaps the 2012 Djokovic can keep the lit on Fed, but I doubt it. Roger is too good at his best. But even against Delpo in the R'dam final, at some point the level dropped, not that outer-wordly zone anymore, and the 2nd set could have gone either way.

"People often don't get this; but the game of Tennis is all about <Match-ups> -- it doesn't matter who is three or four, or even 10 places ahead of the other on the ranking; matches are decided by recurring patterns and memories from previous "match-ups", and by looking closely at the two styles in particular and how those may nullify that particular other's strengths... That's what determines the nature of the battle, and often the outcome." - paraphrased from memory.

And you are right, I haven't seen Federer this well in many years, some say this is a better Federer than in 2005. I agree, regarding his all round skills and perfected game; but I do think he will remain vulnerable mentally, especially against Nadal, to drive home the dagger when it is clutch time, as Djokovic has become the man in that department, and Nadal is his worst nightmare in that regard.

I see Ivanovic defeated Wozniacki, which must be her biggest win in a while. I'd like to see her come back, as her descent the past few years has been due to lack of confidence and nothing else.

Novak also dropped a set, but high quality play there as well.

Jimmy Connors might actually come close.

In other words: Nadal is <always> ready, and will be cooking. Exception may be last year's ATP finals in London, when he was clearly not 100% fit.