Watch Out For Troicki

Written by: Staff on 19th August 2011

Watch Out For Troicki

Serbia's Viktor Troicki returns the ball to Sweden's Michael Ryderstedt in the Davis Cup quarter finals in Halmstad, Sweden, Firday July 8 2011. EPA/MAJA SUSLIN ** SWEDEN OUT ** |

Being the second ranked tennis player in a country that has had quite a large impact in both men’s and women’s tennis in the last 5 years is something to be extremely proud of. However, when you are the 2nd ranked men’s player from Serbia with a current ATP ranking of 15 it’s quite possible that the majority of tennis fans have never heard of you. Viktor Troicki has been climbing the tennis ranking’s these last few years. Having made it as high as number 12 early in June, his achievements, while they haven’t gone unnoticed, they certainly have been over shadowed by the unbelievable success of Novak Djokovic this year. It’s certainly hard to steal the spotlight from someone who holds two major titles so far this year and has only lost once. Still, the hard work of Troicki shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Troicki, 25, is a 6’4 right-hander that plays with a ton of power. Having reached finals in 2008 at Washington, and 2009 in Bangkok, Troicki took the first title of his career in late 2010 at an Indoor tournament in Moscow. Victor took out Tsonga and Baghdatis in Moscow on the way to claiming his first ATP singles title.

His 2011 campaign began in Doha where he made it to the quarter finals before being taken out by Roger Federer in straight sets. He would have another great week in Sydney where he made it all the way to the finals before falling to Gilles Simon in a tough battle 7-5, 7-6. With the early season success of Troicki and having brought his ranking into the top 20 many people had their eye on his game heading into the Australian Open.

Having made it though the first two rounds in Australia, he set up a third round match with fellow countryman Novak Djokovic. This proved to be a let down for Troicki after having to retire after losing the first set 6-2. Djokovic would continue to be a problem taking him out a few months later in consecutive tournaments both at Indian Wells and in Miami. Both matches were easy straight set wins for Djokovic.

However, Troicki quickly got back on track and made it to the quarter finals in Monte Carlo and the round of 16 at the French Open. A quick exit at Wimbledon though again brought doubts of just how good he could be in major events..

His first outing in the US Open series gave Troicki another quarter final appearance before being dismissed in a tough three set match by John Isner in Washington D.C. Only time will tell just how good Viktor Troicki will be. He has the power and a great serve to be a top ten player. Can he avenge nine straight loses to friend Novak Djokovic? There’s no doubt that he can. He does have one career victory over Djokovic way back in 2007. Hopefully his game will continue to improve and he can get past these quarter finals a bit more and get a few more titles under his belt.