Novak Djokovic

New York: Audacious, thy name is Novak Djokovic.

It’s a difficult call, determining the most intrepid moment of Djokovic’s great summer adventure this month in Montreal, an important tune-up for the US Open, which began on Monday.

The nominees:

1) Two catwalk appearances at the ATP Tour’s fashion show. There was Djokovic’s apparent John Travolta tribute, Saturday Night Fever era, as he was clad in white pants and a chest-baring shirt. This preceded a surprising appearance in only his underwear, answering the pressing question: boxers or briefs?

2) Back-to-back-to-back victories over none other than Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the final three rounds in Montreal. Those three hold a combined 14 Grand Slam singles titles, with Federer claiming 11.

Of course, the call is in the eye of the beholder. But for the purpose of this US Open, court sense may prevail over fashion sense in the larger scheme of things. Because it appears there could be a 20-year-old Serbian interloper in the compelling Federer-Nadal rivalry. This, after the tennis world long waited in vain for a Roddick or Lleyton Hewitt revival, or the arrival of an Andy Murray or Richard Gasquet.

The three-way race has injected intrigue into the final Grand Slam event of the season. Especially since momentum has been a scarce commodity on the women’s side since Wimbledon. Even the women winning tournaments this summer have been riddled with injuries (Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin) and the women not winning events have been just as fragile (Venus and Serena Williams).

Now, the spotlight is firmly fixed on the men, the question being whether Federer and Nadal can bring their rivalry to New York for the first time. Or if it will become a rivalry interrupted, at the hands of Djokovic. “Again, the thing is that they cannot stay forever in the first two places,” Djokovic said during an interview in Montreal.

His statement came at the end of an answer to a question about whether the Federer-Nadal rivalry was good for tennis. “It depends from which side you’re looking,” said Djokovic. “For the tournament, for the crowd, it’s good to see the first two players in the finals — the biggest rivalry in men’s tennis.”

By Montreal’s conclusion, Djokovic had established himself as a contender in New York. It was the first time someone had defeated the top three players in the world at the same event since Boris Becker did so in 1994.

Call it the watershed moment of a breakthrough year. In 2007, Djokovic reached the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon, and earlier made the final at Indian Wells and won at Miami. He’s ranked No. 3, a career best.

Djokovic, so far, seems to hold the mental edge over the other youngsters. He thinks he can take on the likes of Federer and Nadal, saying: “For them, you’ve got to have something special. As you say, to be fearless, believe in yourself.”

For all the anticipation of a Nadal-Federer final here — on the heels of their epic Wimbledon final won by Federer — Nadal has yet to reach the semi-finals in four trips to New York. Nadal, in the same half of the draw as Djokovic, often seems tired by this time of the season, and he has been dealing with nagging injuries.

Now there’s the spectre of a confident Djokovic. Nadal was asked in Montreal about Djokovic’s plan to be the next No. 1. “Oh, I hope not soon,” Nadal said, laughing.