2014 Masters Series Rome Final: Djokovic v. Nadal

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

djoko can speak about 506 languages.

 

[tented]

Interesting clay court season from Rafa, no? Couple of early exists, a win, in which he got a bit lucky , and a final's loss. The big one is still up for grabs though and I am still not prepared to count him out there.

Yeah, it's been a shaky, patchy, unsatisfying campaign, so far. He's showing too many frailties, but he's still not far off...

It's a shame this wasn't best-of-five today, because things could have ended differently. Rafa's a beast in that format. Hopefully we'll get that in Paris.

 

[calitennis127]

Paul Annacone just remarked on Tennis Channel that Nadal can't really do anything about Djokovic playing at this kind of level, because Nadal is more of a "reactor".

Annacone is such a troll.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

blahblah blah blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[nehmeth]

Watching Novak play the way he did in the last two sets was a real pleasure. I'm looking forward to the French.

After that, me too.

 

[Ricardo]

Great win for Djokovic. Congrats to him. He is gradually getting back to his rightful place as the #1 player in the world.

whoever has the top spot is at his rightful place, nobody got free ranking points from Santa.

I am not saying that Nadal cheated his way into the top ranking. I am just saying that Djokovic playing to his peak is a better player.

you can't ignore Nadal's victories against Djoker, and matches are not validated only when someone thinks the players are playing at his peak - even so, who knows who's really at his peak? Nadal sure didn't look like he was at his peak today......

 

[calitennis127]

Djokovic playing at his best is simply better than Nadal - on any surface. That said, you have to give Nadal credit for forcing a very high level out of Djokovic in key stretches. Those stretches may be on Djokovic's racket, but he does have to be on top of things to win points in those moments.

This isn't borne out by the stats, buddy, and nor does any of it mean that's Nole's "rightful place is as world number one.

I mean, remember Nalbandian, right? Greatest man since Laver, when he played at his best. Was his rightful place as world number one as well... :nono

46 winners to 15 winners. That's a 3:1 ratio.

In the US Open final, it was "only" a 2:1 ratio.

Djokovic at his best is better on all surfaces. In that idealistic sense, he is the rightful #1 player.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

This is great for Novak. This match will be in Ralf's mind when they meet in Par. Unless Fed knocks Nole out in the semis again.

a bit pointless for Fed to beat Djoker, since he would go to meat grinder in the final.... but wait, there are still others who are capable of beating either of them on their day.

I don't know that Federer's mind will be on RG probably more like Wimbledon. Federer has a lot going on in his personal life with the birth of the twins, so I can see maybe another fade at the French.

I am sure Fed won't be 100% mentally or physically but will have no regrets about the distractions.....

I agree %100. The other day I was thinking about this... two sets of twins, a happy life, an amazing career...I mean what can possibly motivate Roger any more, make him maintain an edge still? I could not come up with anything ...I mean, how much can you really LOVE competing after a certain point in life?

From now on, I am watching Roger with minimal expectations, just enjoying his beautiful game.

 

[golds girl]

Kieran,
You were right. There has been improvement in Rafa's game since Monte Carlo and hopefully he'll continue that improvement into Paris.

Congrats Nole fans, great win for him on clay.

 

[Kieran]

You know, when Rafa was down 3-2 in the third, I told my friend, Rafa will win. He was in street fighter mode, and he did so well to break back. But look at the next two service games, one from each player: where Rafa wanted a fast assertive game, he couldn't. His serve is lame, and against the best returner. He became feeble.

Then Nole got the fast assertive service game to go 5-3 up and effectively kill all momentum stone dead. So there's one area in a very tight match which Rafa has to address as a matter of urgency, because GS titles are won by small margins and having a redheaded stepchild for a serve is only asking for trouble...

 

[calitennis127]

Great win for Djokovic. Congrats to him. He is gradually getting back to his rightful place as the #1 player in the world.

whoever has the top spot is at his rightful place, nobody got free ranking points from Santa.

I am not saying that Nadal cheated his way into the top ranking. I am just saying that Djokovic playing to his peak is a better player.

you can't ignore Nadal's victories against Djoker, and matches are not validated only when someone thinks the players are playing at his peak - even so, who knows who's really at his peak? Nadal sure didn't look like he was at his peak today......

Oh yeah, I forgot about Nadal's really convincing "win" over Djokovic in the US Open final last year. He just looked like such a better tennis player.

46 winners to 15 winners today - and both players have two-handed backhands. This wasn't just Wawrinka hitting winners for an hour and 15 minutes. Djokovic has much more versatility to his game than the one-handers.

But it's nice to see you agreeing with Kieran - maybe this will knock some sense into Kieran about you.

 

[kskate2]

Djokovic playing at his best is simply better than Nadal - on any surface. That said, you have to give Nadal credit for forcing a very high level out of Djokovic in key stretches. Those stretches may be on Djokovic's racket, but he does have to be on top of things to win points in those moments.

This isn't borne out by the stats, buddy, and nor does any of it mean that's Nole's "rightful place is as world number one.

I mean, remember Nalbandian, right? Greatest man since Laver, when he played at his best. Was his rightful place as world number one as well... :nono

46 winners to 15 winners. That's a 3:1 ratio.

In the US Open final, it was "only" a 2:1 ratio.

Djokovic at his best is better on all surfaces. In that idealistic sense, he is the rightful #1 player.

Good numbers Cali. But how many error did each player have? Points are won from errors too.

 

[Ricardo]

This is great for Novak. This match will be in Ralf's mind when they meet in Par. Unless Fed knocks Nole out in the semis again.

a bit pointless for Fed to beat Djoker, since he would go to meat grinder in the final.... but wait, there are still others who are capable of beating either of them on their day.

I don't know that Federer's mind will be on RG probably more like Wimbledon. Federer has a lot going on in his personal life with the birth of the twins, so I can see maybe another fade at the French.

I am sure Fed won't be 100% mentally or physically but will have no regrets about the distractions.....

I agree %100. The other day I was thinking about this... two sets of twins, a happy life, an amazing career...I mean what can possibly motivate Roger any more, make him maintain an edge still? I could not come up with anything ...I mean, how much can you really LOVE competing after a certain point in life?

From now on, I am watching Roger with minimal expectations, just enjoying his beautiful game.

you would notice that in recent years, after bad losses (even losing after holding match points) he doesn't get teary eyed anymore. Guy is at a different stage of his life, should congratulate him.

He was never a tennis robot to begin with.....

 

[Kieran]

Djokovic playing at his best is simply better than Nadal - on any surface. That said, you have to give Nadal credit for forcing a very high level out of Djokovic in key stretches. Those stretches may be on Djokovic's racket, but he does have to be on top of things to win points in those moments.

This isn't borne out by the stats, buddy, and nor does any of it mean that's Nole's "rightful place is as world number one.

I mean, remember Nalbandian, right? Greatest man since Laver, when he played at his best. Was his rightful place as world number one as well... :nono

46 winners to 15 winners. That's a 3:1 ratio.

In the US Open final, it was "only" a 2:1 ratio.

Djokovic at his best is better on all surfaces. In that idealistic sense, he is the rightful #1 player.

Brother, this is nonsense, and not true. And you always said the same about Daveed. "At his best, Nalbandian is best."

So, was Daveed the rightful #1 player too?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Rafa has to improve his serve,Novak was having a field day in return.Novak is the best returner in the game.I agree Rafa has made improvements.I am not about to write him off in RG in a 5 set match at all.

 

[nehmeth]

You know, when Rafa was down 3-2 in the third, I told my friend, Rafa will win. He was in street fighter mode, and he did so well to break back. But look at the next two service games, one from each player: where Rafa wanted a fast assertive game, he couldn't. His serve is lame, and against the best returner. He became feeble.

Then Nole got the fast assertive service game to go 5-3 up and effectively kill all momentum stone dead. So there's one area in a very tight match which Rafa has to address as a matter of urgency, because GS titles are won by small margins and having a redheaded stepchild for a serve is only asking for trouble...

Rafa served some pretty hard serves to stay in it, but against Novak, he tries to go for too much and that leaves him hitting that sitter of a 2nd serve. :nono

 

[calitennis127]

You know, when Rafa was down 3-2 in the third, I told my friend, Rafa will win. He was in street fighter mode, and he did so well to break back. But look at the next two service games, one from each player: where Rafa wanted a fast assertive game, he couldn't. His serve is lame, and against the best returner. He became feeble.

Then Nole got the fast assertive service game to go 5-3 up and effectively kill all momentum stone dead. So there's one area in a very tight match which Rafa has to address as a matter of urgency, because GS titles are won by small margins and having a redheaded stepchild for a serve is only asking for trouble...

Rafa served some pretty hard serves to stay in it, but against Novak, he tries to go for too much and that leaves him hitting that sitter of a 2nd serve. :nono

I just saw that Nadal served at 75%? For anyone else, that would be going for too little.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

rafa has made improvements ?..compared to what ?..when he lost to ferrer ?,

because rafa is way down on days of old on clay.

 

[Kieran]

His serve has been vulnerable for a long time, and that's maybe a good barometre of how he feels mentally. So he has to work on this. I still fancy him over five sets in Paris, because Rafa is tough, but he's not going to win playing like he is now. To be clear, however, his best in Paris is usually his best on clay...

 

[Ricardo]

Great win for Djokovic. Congrats to him. He is gradually getting back to his rightful place as the #1 player in the world.

whoever has the top spot is at his rightful place, nobody got free ranking points from Santa.

I am not saying that Nadal cheated his way into the top ranking. I am just saying that Djokovic playing to his peak is a better player.

you can't ignore Nadal's victories against Djoker, and matches are not validated only when someone thinks the players are playing at his peak - even so, who knows who's really at his peak? Nadal sure didn't look like he was at his peak today......

Oh yeah, I forgot about Nadal's really convincing "win" over Djokovic in the US Open final last year. He just looked like such a better tennis player.

46 winners to 15 winners today - and both players have two-handed backhands. This wasn't just Wawrinka hitting winners for an hour and 15 minutes. Djokovic has much more versatility to his game than the one-handers.

But it's nice to see you agreeing with Kieran - maybe this will knock some sense into Kieran about you.

what i said doesn't concern him, it's just a matter of fact. If you just look at number of winners to decide the better player, you'd have Gulbis probably as a top 5 since he most likely hits more winners than his opponents despite losing.

Meanwhile a guy like Ferrer is totally useless no?