It’s no secret how Serbia’s No. 2 feels about his country’s No. 1. Janko Tipsarevic has talked many times about how “lucky” and “honored” he is just to be able to watch his Davis Cup teammate Novak Djokovic compete on a regular basis. So it hardly seems like a coincidence that No. 2 would rise at the same time that No. 1 did. Tipsarevic wasn’t just honored to be around Djokovic in 2011, he was inspired by his example as well.
Tipsy has always been a talent, an athlete, a ball-striker, a dangerous opponent if his head is straight. But at 5-foot-11, he’s also never been physically imposing, and to make up for it he’s played high-risk tennis. Not surprisingly, he’s been inconsistent—one day he can stretch Roger Federer to five or beat Andy Roddick at Wimbledon; another day he can cave under pressure, as he did in last year’s Davis Cup final (before No. 1 rescued him).
But 2011 was different. Granted, the 27-year-old Tipsarevic began the year where he seemed to belong, at No. 49, and didn’t do a whole lot over the first half of the season—he lost in the second round in Melbourne, the third in Paris, and the first at Wimbledon. But once he reached U.S. hard courts, things turned around. In August, Tipsarevic made the semis of the Montreal Masters, cracked the Top 20, and reached the quarters of the U.S Open, where he retired after a highly physical four-setter against Djokovic. There was little to separate Serbia’s No. 2 and No. 1 through the first two sets, each of which went to tiebreakers.
Success bred success, as Tipsarevic finished the season by winning his first two career titles, in Kuala Lumpur and Moscow. He’d come a long way, far enough to reach the Top 10 for the first time, and far enough to be named the first alternate at the World Tour Finals. When Andy Murray pulled out, Tipsarevic got his chance, and his reward. He made the most of it by entertaining a London crowd that had come to see their countryman, and by getting his first win over No. 1. Proving you belong with the best: The perfect way to finish a career year.
—Steve Tignor
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