2010 Novak Djokovic tennis season

The 2010 Novak Djokovic tennis season officially commenced on January 4 with the start of the 2010 ATP World Tour.

After playing nearly a hundred matches in 2009, Djokovic stated that he was "fed up with matches", so he decided not to play any ranking tournaments before the Australian Open, thus starting his year by playing in the AAMI Classic, an exhibition event, where he beat Tommy Haas, but lost to Fernando Verdasco and teenager Bernard Tomic.^[1]

Djokovic eased through the initial four rounds of the first Grand Slam of the year, dropping just one set to Marco Chiudinelli. In a repeat of the 2008 final, Djokovic faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals. Tsonga "gained revenge with an absorbing – albeit error-strewn – victory against the third seed in a match lasting almost four hours."^[2] Djokovic had convincingly won the third set 6–1 but soon after left the court having told the umpire that he was about to vomit. After the medical time out, Djokovic returned to the court but "quickly found himself 5–0 down and never really recovered."^[2] Tsonga eventually progressed by way of a 7–6^(8–6) 6–7^(5–7) 1–6 6–3 6–1 victory.

Despite the loss, he attained a career-high ranking of No. 2 and went on to reach the semifinals in Rotterdam, where he lost to Mikhail Youzhny. At the Dubai Championships, Djokovic reached the final, this time defeating Youzhny to win his first title of the year and to successfully defend a title for the first time in his career.^[3]

After early exits at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, Djokovic announced that he had ceased working with Todd Martin as his coach.^[4]

On 6–8 March 2010, Djokovic then took part in Serbia's Davis Cup tie against the United States on clay in Belgrade, where he played a key role in helping his country reach the quarterfinal in the Davis Cup for the first time in its independent history, winning both singles matches against Sam Querrey and John Isner in a 3–2 victory.^[5]

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, top-seeded Djokovic reached the semifinals with wins over Wawrinka and David Nalbandian before losing to Verdasco. Djokovic again lost to Verdasco at the Italian Open in Rome, this time in the quarterfinals.^[6] As the defending champion at his hometown event, the Serbia Open in Belgrade, he withdrew in the quarterfinals while trailing No. 319 Filip Krajinović,^[7] the lowest-ranked player to ever beat Djokovic as well as the only time that Djokovic lost to a player outside the Top 200.^[8]

Djokovic entered the French Open seeded third. He defeated Evgeny Korolev, Kei Nishikori, Victor Hănescu, and Robby Ginepri en route to the quarter-finals, where he lost to No. 22 Jürgen Melzer in a five-set match that lasted 4 hours and 15 minutes, marking the only time he lost a match at a major after leading two sets to love.^[9] Despite suffering from hayfever-like symptoms, Djokovic managed to save two match points before eventually relinquishing the match.^[10] It was the first time Melzer reached the last four of a Grand Slam event.

Djokovic then won the first ATP doubles titles of his career at the Aegon Championships, pairing with Jonathan Erlich to beat Karol Beck and David Škoch in the final.^[11]

Again seeded third, Djokovic defeated Olivier Rochus, Taylor Dent and Albert Montañés to set up a fourth-round encounter with former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Djokovic eventually progressed to his second Wimbledon semi-final against Tomáš Berdych, the Czech having upset Roger Federer in the previous round. "Djokovic had won both the previous matches between the two and as the world no. 3 was the higher-ranked player, far more experienced at this level, having played in six previous semi-finals."^[12] Nevertheless, Berdych overcame Djokovic in straight sets, setting up a final with Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic then competed at the Canadian Open in Toronto, where he lost to Federer in the semifinals. Djokovic also competed in doubles with Nadal in a one-time, high-profile partnership. This had not happened since 1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as No. 1 and No. 2 paired together as a doubles team.^[13] They lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.

Djokovic then lost to Roddick in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open.^[14]

Djokovic came very close to losing in his opening round against Viktor Troicki in extreme heat. He then defeated Philipp Petzschner, James Blake, Mardy Fish, and no. 17 seed Gaël Monfils, all in straight sets, to reach the US Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. In the semifinals, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in five sets after saving 2 match points with forehand winners while serving to stay in the match at 4–5 in the 5th set. It was Djokovic's first victory over Federer at the US Open in four attempts and his first victory over Federer in a Major since the 2008 Australian Open. Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final, a match that saw Nadal complete his career Grand Slam.^[15]

After helping Serbia defeat the Czech Republic 3–2 to make it to the Davis Cup final, Djokovic competed at the China Open as the top seed, where he successfully defended his title after defeating David Ferrer in the final. At the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic made a semifinal appearance, losing to Federer.

Djokovic played his final tournament of the year at the ATP Finals in London, where he lost to Federer in the semifinals.^[16]

Serbia progressed to the Davis Cup final, following the victories over Croatia (4–1) and the Czech Republic (3–2). Serbia came from 1–2 down to defeat France in the final tie 3–2 in Belgrade to win the nation's first Davis Cup Championship. In the final, Djokovic scored two singles points for Serbia, defeating Gilles Simon and Gaël Monfils.^[17] He was the backbone of the Serbian squad, going 7–0 in singles rubbers to lead the nation to the title, although the honour of winning the deciding rubber in the final went to compatriot Viktor Troicki. These two singles rubbers wins started a long unbeaten run that went on into 2011.

Djokovic finished the year ranked No. 3, his fourth successive finish at this position. He was awarded the title "Serbian Sportsman of the year" by the Olympic Committee of Serbia and "Serbian Athlete of the year" by DSL Sport.^[18]

This table chronicles all the matches of Djokovic in 2010, including walkovers (W/O) which the ATP does not count as wins. They are marked ND for non-decision or no decision.

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NOTE: In 2010 season total year-end points from ABN AMRO Tournament and Aegon Championships were not counted, as well as those from First Round, Quarterfinals and Semifinals of Davis Cup.

Novak Djokovic had a 4–8 record against the top 10, a 38–15 against the top 50 and a 23–3 against players outside the top 50.

Ordered by number of wins

Novak Djokovic earned $4.3 million throughout the season.^[19][20]

• Best Male Tennis Player in Serbia^[21]
• DSL Sport Golden Badge^[22]
• Best Sportsman by OCS^[23]

• 2010 ATP World Tour
• 2010 Roger Federer tennis season
• 2010 Rafael Nadal tennis season

• Official website
• ATP tour profile