The 2008 Novak Djokovic tennis season commenced on January 14 with the start of the 2008 Australian Open.
Yearly summary
Early hard court season Djokovic started his preparations for the season by playing the Hopman Cup with fellow Serbian world No. 3 Jelena Janković where he won all of his four singles matches, including in the final against the United States, where he beat Mardy Fish in a deciding set tiebreak to level the tie, but then losing the decisive mixed doubles rubber, in which he faced former WTA No. 1 Serena Williams in a competitive event for the first time.
Australian Open
At the Australian Open, Djokovic reached his second consecutive Grand Slam final, this time without dropping a set, including a victory over two-time defending champion Federer in the semifinals. By reaching the semifinals, Djokovic became the youngest player in the Open Era to have reached the semifinals in all four Grand Slam events. In the final, Djokovic defeated unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets to earn his first Grand Slam singles title. This marked the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that a Grand Slam singles title was not won by Federer or Nadal.
Djokovic became the first Serbian player to win a Grand Slam men's singles title.
Indian Wells Open
At the Indian Wells Open, Djokovic won his ninth career singles title, defeating Mardy Fish in the final.
Clay court season Italian Open
Djokovic won his tenth career singles title and fourth Master Series singles crown at the Italian Open in Rome after defeating Wawrinka in the final.
French Open
At the French Open, Djokovic was the third-seeded player behind Federer and Nadal. He lost to Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets.
Grass court season Wimbledon
On grass, Djokovic once again played Nadal, this time in the Artois Championships final in Queen's Club, where he lost in two sets. Djokovic entered Wimbledon seeded third but lost in the second round to Marat Safin, ending a streak of five consecutive majors where he had reached at least the semifinals.
Fall hard court season Cincinnati Open
Djokovic then failed to defend his 2007 singles title at the Canadian Open in Toronto, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Andy Murray. The following week at the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic advanced to the final, beating Nadal in the semifinals, which not only ended the Spaniard's 32-match winning streak, but also delayed Nadal's first ascension to world No. 1 by a week. In the final, he again lost to Murray in straight sets.
Olympic Games
In August, Djokovic represented Serbia in the tennis tournament of the 2008 Summer Olympics, his first Olympics. He and Nenad Zimonjić, seeded second in men's doubles, were eliminated in the first round by the Czech pairing of Martin Damm and Pavel Vízner. Seeded third in singles, Djokovic lost in the semifinals to Nadal. Djokovic then defeated James Blake, the loser of the other semifinal, in the bronze medal match.
US Open
After the Olympics, Djokovic entered the US Open seeded third, where he defeated Roddick in the quarterfinals. To a smattering of boos in a post-match interview, Djokovic criticized Roddick for accusing him of making excessive use of the trainer during matches and for suggesting that he was faking his injuries. His run at the US Open ended in the semifinals when he lost to Federer in four sets, in a rematch of the previous year's final. In November, Djokovic was the second seed at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, beating Juan Martín del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko in the round-robin stage, and Gilles Simon in the semifinals. In the final, Djokovic defeated Davydenko to win his first title at the year-end championship.
All matches This table lists all the matches of Djokovic this year, including walkovers (W/O)
Singles matches
Source
Doubles matches
Source Yearly records Finals Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-up) CategoryGrand Slam (1–0)ATP Finals (1–0)Masters 1000 (2-1)500 Series (0–0)250 Series (0–2)Titles by surfaceHard (3–2)Clay (1–0)Grass (0–1)Titles by settingOutdoor (3–2)Indoor (1–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 8–3Australian Open, AustraliaGrand SlamHard4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2)Win 9–3Indian Wells Masters, United StatesMastersHard Mardy Fish6–2, 5–7, 6–3Win 10–3Italian Open, ItalyMastersClay Stan Wawrinka4–6, 6–3, 6–3Loss 10–4Queen's Club Championships, UK250 seriesGrass Rafael Nadal6–7(6–8), 5–7Loss 10–5Cincinnati Masters, United StatesMastersHard Andy Murray6–7(4–7), 6–7(5–7)Loss 10–6Thailand Open, Thailand250 seriesHard (i) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga6–7(4–7), 4–6Win 11–6ATP Finals, ChinaTour FinalsHard (i)6–1, 7–5
See also 2008 ATP Tour 2008 Roger Federer tennis season 2008 Rafael Nadal tennis season References
External links
ATP tour profile