From N0.10 to No.1 in a months time - Djokovic at Race to London 2014

I have always loved the concept "Race to London", for the first time I see too much anomaly at the start of the year, yes its just 2 month but lot of interesting things already, who expected Wawrinka to top the Race by the end of 2nd month and who expected Djoko to lie on 10th place. Even if Djoko wins the upcoming masters IW he might still find himself at 5th place in the race. Is the consistency of other players slowly catching up with him?

Great to see Grigor Dimitrov and Cilic in the list.

Had Federer won the last set tie breaker against Djoko he would have been the No.1 in race to London and Djoko would have been in No.6.

Updated List after Miami Masters [Federer and Djoko are the prime gainers]
------------------------------
Rank Name (Nation) Points Week Change Tournaments PLayed
1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 2,690 3 5
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 2,595 1 6
3 Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI) 2,470 -2 5
4 Federer, Roger (SUI) 2,190 -2 6
5 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 2,045 0 7
6 Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR) 1,130 3 10
7 Ferrer, David (ESP) 1,080 0 8
8 Nishikori, Kei (JPN) 1,025 7 7
9 Dimitrov, Grigor (BUL) 1,015 -1 6
10 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 1,010 -4 8
11 Murray, Andy (GBR) 1,000 0 7
12 Fognini, Fabio (ITA) 930 -2 8
13 Anderson, Kevin (RSA) 855 -1 6
14 Gulbis, Ernests (LAT) 800 -1 7
14 Isner, John (USA) 800 0 7
16 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) 605 1 7
17 Gasquet, Richard (FRA) 570 1 8

Back to Back Masters win has propelled Djoko from No.10 in the race to No.1 in the race, for the first time in this year the race and the ranking has coincided with the Top 5 with Dolgopolov breaking the ice with No.6 spot in the Race ahead of Ferrer.

Miami Masters 2014 Draw and Difficulty rating of Big 4 and Wawrinka

Nole Likely route  [Difficulty Rating = 10]
-----------------

2nd]Jeremy Chardy /Monaco [+2]
3rd]Florian Mayer /Dodig  [+1]
4rth]Gulbis/Robredo       [+2]
QF]Murray/Tsonga          [+3]
SF]Federer/Ferrer         [+2]
F]Nadal/Del Potro/Wawrinka/Berdych

Federer likely route [Difficulty Rating = 10]
---------------------

2nd]Karlovic              [+2]
3rd]Verdasco              [+2]
4rth]Anderson/Gasquet     [+2]
QF]Dimitrov/Ferrer        [+1]
SF]Murray/Djokovic        [+3]
F]Nadal/Del Potro/Wawrinka/Berdych

Nadal's Likely route [Difficulty Rating = 6]
--------------------

2nd]Robin Haase           [+1]
3rd]Istomin               [+1]
4rth]Janowicz             [+2]
QF]Raonic/Monfils/Del Potro [+1]
SF]Wawrinka/Berdych/Cilic   [+1]
F]Federer/Nole/Murray  

Murray's Likely Route [Difficulty Rating = 12]
-----------------------
2nd]Ebden                  [+1]
3rd]Lopez                  [+2]
4rth]Tsonga                [+3]
QF]Djokovic                [+3]
SF]Federer/Ferrer          [+3]
F]Nadal/Del Potro/Wawrinka/Berdych

Wawrinka's likely route [Difficulty Rating = 16]
-----------------------
2nd]Gimeno Traver          [+1]
3rd]Cilic                  [+4]
4rth]Dolgopolov/Haas       [+3]
QF]Isner/Berdych           [+3]
SF]Nadal/Del Potro         [+4]
F]Federer/Djokovic/Murray

Nadal has the easiest route of all finally, Nole and Fed seems to have a moderate difficult route while Murray got a horror route to the finals among the big 4, outside the Big 4 the next major name is Wawrinka and he got a very horror of a draw.   

Note : 

.The Difficult rating is adjusted based on the player's rank, form, injury and the round at which they are facing.
.For instance Wawrinka facing Cilic in round 3 will get a difficult rating of +4 given how dangerous floater Cilic [form included], comparitvely Cilic will get a difficult rating of just +3 in facing Wawrink in round 3 [coz Cilic is lower ranked player and he deserves to face some top dogs at the round, facing Fed there would give him +4, Nole/Nadal would give the rating +5].

2 months on the year and Djoko finds himself on the 10th place in the Race

I have always loved the concept "Race to London", for the first time I see too much anomaly at the start of the year, yes its just 2 month but lot of interesting things already, who expected Wawrinka to top the Race by the end of 2nd month and who expected Djoko to lie on 10th place. Even if Djoko wins the upcoming masters IW he might still find himself at 5th place in the race. Is the consistency of other players slowly catching up with him?

Great to see Grigor Dimitrov and Cilic in the list.

1 Wawrinka, Stan (SUI) 2,290 0 3
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 1,950 0 4
3 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 1,675 0 5
4 Federer, Roger (SUI) 1,410 0 4
5 Ferrer, David (ESP) 990 1 6
6 Dimitrov, Grigor (BUL) 925 8 4
7 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 910 -3 6
8 Fognini, Fabio (ITA) 750 -1 6
9 Murray, Andy (GBR) 730 0 5
10 Djokovic, N (SRB) 690 1 3

Other Notable names

11 Anderson, Kevin (RSA) 630 10 4
13 Gulbis, Ernests (LAT) 610 -3 5
14 Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR) 590 2 8
15 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) 505 0 5
19 Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG) 385 -2 4
25 Delbonis, Federico (ARG) 325 112 6 [Rising Fast this year, somebody to keep eye on]
97 Goffin, David (BEL) 125 69 5
98 Rosol, Lukas (CZE) 120 171 7

Jack Sock the next big super star American Tennis Looking for

Jack Sock - Tennis Grandslam blogspot

Mr.Show time silently pushed himself to the 3rd round once again, he did that last year as well, and this year in my view he had a very good FO and was very unfortunate to have met Tommy Haas in the 2nd round whom he pushed to a 4 set.

Sock is more deadly in USO considering his huge fan base among the natives, we Canadians support him as well, he did get a huge round of reception on and before his match against Raonic which says the story.
Sock like Nalby is a way too huge for his height, he is just 6'1 a perfect height to play the tennis [Federer, Sampras and Nadal all being 6'1 proves it] but he looks bigger than that due to his heavy body frame, this is one aspect in my view preventing him from honing his skills further, his game perfectly mocks the yesteryear legend Jim Courier, may its time Sock to step it up from youngsters count in the USO.


He next faces a very tricky challenge in Tipsarevic, given Tipsy form a upset is more than possible and it could be in st.sets as well, but if Tipsy steps it up he might be too much for Sock, but I hope Sock step it up and make a good match out of it.

Boy Oh boy, those who missing this match is missing something special, Sock's forehand is next only to Del Po in terms of power and next only to Fed in terms of Skill and Next only to Rafa in terms of Precision.
Sock rules, leading 3-2 with a break in the 1st set. Lemme apologize if I haven't spoke much about his down the line backhand its as crispier as his forehand, something we miss on tour barring few players like Djoko and Murray.

Sock the way to go. I will talk about his serve and returns next, right now Sock leads 4-2 in the first set, and mind you he is playing a very good opponent in Tipsaravic.