His name might be a little difficult to say, but boy, is he easy on the eyes.
He's 19-year-old Novak Djokovic and on Sunday, he became the youngest man to ever win the Sony Ericcson Open. I was visitng my parents in The OC and I half-heartedly turned on the match (it was Novak vs. Guillermo Canas, the dude who has beaten Roger Federer twice this month). I figured, let me catch a few minutes of this no-name final and maybe they'll show a recap of the Serena Williams win yesterday. I was so annoyed that Canas had taken out Federer that I decided, early on, that I was annoyed by his hairbun - a very unnattractive way for a man to wear his hair. Petty, yes. But also true.
But something glorious happened: Djokovic, of Serbia, played such superb tennis that was an absolute joy to watch. He has a terrific serve, a great variety of shots, wonderful imagination in the way he constructs points, and is extremely competitive.
I've seen lotsa guys win big tournaments then go away. But I have a feeling about Djokovic, that he's the real deal and is on the rise the way that Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi were as teens. I actually think he might emerge as the primary challenger to number one rather than Rafeal Nadal, who he lost to in the final of the Pacific Life Open a few weeks ago but stopped in the quarterfinals in Miami. I think Djokovic has the more complete game, so graceful and fluid and not as likely to go south.
And here's another nice thing: He is an intelligent and articulate man who showed such great poise and charm during the trophy presentation and on-court interviews with CBS. Plus he's a great looking guy! I think he's got it all and as of Monday, he will be ranked seventh in the world...with a bullet!