2014 US Open Quarterfinals: Djokovic vs. Murray

[bobvance]

On the topic of fitness, Novak has been really fit ever since he changed his diet, started sleeping in the egg, and went to the cyclist's physique with thin arms and big legs. His issues with stamina seem to be a thing of the past. Sometimes you have to outlast guys and Novak is able to do that now.

 

[nehmeth]

So will there be talk now about Murray firing Mauresmo, or will she be on board until the end of the year?

 

[DarthFed]

^ I think there should be. It was a weird idea to begin with and it clearly isn't working. I know Murray came back from injury this year but when all is said and done this will be his worst year since 2007 when he was 20 years old... Not that Mauresmo is to blame because he was struggling even before she got there but if he's looking for answers he might start there.

 

[Federberg]

That would be an over reaction I think. I haven't watched the match yet, but from what I hear he was hitting the ball clean, and better than he has all year. If it came down to fitness then perhaps he should fire his fitness coach? He can't fire her because he failed to beat the No 1 player in the world.

 

[DarthFed]

^ I'd say he was pretty up and down and was fortunate Nole didn't beat him in fairly easy straight sets. Murray played really well the last 4-5 games of set 2 but that was about it.

And no, he shouldn't fire her based on last night but the guy has been MIA all year. To my knowledge the only semi he made all year is RG, maybe he made one at a small 250 too but that says it all. Sometimes you make a change just to try to kickstart things.

 

[The Big Bad Wolf]

That's modern tennis in a nutshell. It's no longer about shot making winning matches but fitness.

I'd say it's a combination, though, isn't it? Between Murray and Djokovic, it can come down to fitness, because of the way they play, and the resulting 'how they play against each other.' A shot-maker still has a place in the game. But they all have to be fit. That is not a question.

A bit of both sure but predominantly fitness is what prevails in the modern game imo. cali also agrees. He loves the stamina topic

:laydownlaughing Yes, that old, unprejudiced expert of the modern game. Where is he, btw? Come on, you've been with the rest of us, I think, to declaim the lack of fitness, mental and physical in such nice shotmakers as Nishikori and Dimitrov. How can you have men play best of 5 matches in sometimes very tough conditions, and have it not come down, in part, to fitness? But also mental toughness. It has to be a combo, though I don't think fitness wins in the end over better tennis, if you have both. It's when push comes to shove, as it did tonight, with Djokovic and Murray. Either would have beaten most of the field handily tonight. But, against each other…different story. Something has to give, and it was Murray's fitness, tonight. That doesn't mean that the only reason Djokovic won is that he's fitter. He's also great in many other ways. It's about being the full package.

Moxie has to get this dig in against Djokovic because anyone with two eyes can see that whenever Djokovic has been on top of his game on any surface, he has clearly been a better tennis player than Nadal has ever been, with better shots and more game overall. Many have attributed Nadal's wins over Djokovic to fitness in large part, so this is Moxie's way of striking back. I would be upset too if my favorite player was up a set in the Rome final and then lost the final 2 because the other guy hit 45 winners to my guy's 15.

Better shotmaker, better player, more game. Novak Djokovic compared to Rafael Nadal.

I don't know what kind of distorted vision you have, but to make SUCH AN OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM? Novak a better player overall? I see this forum for what it is now, I thought you people actually talk about tennis, but no, all you do is bash players who are clearly a lot better than your favourite in some aspect, Nadal or Murray in particular, and I don't even want to argue I know I am right, I'm just glad I saw this now I will never log on here again. Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

 

[Federberg]

^ That's a fair point. At the end of the day it's all about where you see yourself in the grand scheme of things. In my opinion he has no right to judge himself in the same way that Rafa, Nole, or Roger would self assess. But even if he hasn't been doing that, I agree his form has been woeful. But let's see how his run into the end of the year goes now. I'm betting he wins one of the final master series. Rafa never really does well on that swing, Roger and Novak have done enough this year not to care to much, so I don't think he'll be competing against them. It's a chance to get those ranking points back. I would be surprised if he isn't at least ranked 5 at the end of the year

 

[Federberg]

I'd say it's a combination, though, isn't it? Between Murray and Djokovic, it can come down to fitness, because of the way they play, and the resulting 'how they play against each other.' A shot-maker still has a place in the game. But they all have to be fit. That is not a question.

A bit of both sure but predominantly fitness is what prevails in the modern game imo. cali also agrees. He loves the stamina topic

:laydownlaughing Yes, that old, unprejudiced expert of the modern game. Where is he, btw? Come on, you've been with the rest of us, I think, to declaim the lack of fitness, mental and physical in such nice shotmakers as Nishikori and Dimitrov. How can you have men play best of 5 matches in sometimes very tough conditions, and have it not come down, in part, to fitness? But also mental toughness. It has to be a combo, though I don't think fitness wins in the end over better tennis, if you have both. It's when push comes to shove, as it did tonight, with Djokovic and Murray. Either would have beaten most of the field handily tonight. But, against each other…different story. Something has to give, and it was Murray's fitness, tonight. That doesn't mean that the only reason Djokovic won is that he's fitter. He's also great in many other ways. It's about being the full package.

Moxie has to get this dig in against Djokovic because anyone with two eyes can see that whenever Djokovic has been on top of his game on any surface, he has clearly been a better tennis player than Nadal has ever been, with better shots and more game overall. Many have attributed Nadal's wins over Djokovic to fitness in large part, so this is Moxie's way of striking back. I would be upset too if my favorite player was up a set in the Rome final and then lost the final 2 because the other guy hit 45 winners to my guy's 15.

Better shotmaker, better player, more game. Novak Djokovic compared to Rafael Nadal.

I don't know what kind of distorted vision you have, but to make SUCH AN OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM? Novak a better player overall? I see this forum for what it is now, I thought you people actually talk about tennis, but no, all you do is bash players who are clearly a lot better than your favourite in some aspect, Nadal or Murray in particular, and I don't even want to argue I know I am right, I'm just glad I saw this now I will never log on here again. Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

Don't be put off. Some people on these boards have fairly distorted views, but they're by no means in the majority :blush:

 

[nehmeth]

Cahill at the beginning of the fourth set made an interesting comment. For Murray to aggressively go after every shot here required a lot more energy than the way he normally plays. It was the only way Andy could stay in the match with Novak and in the end, it tapped out his reserves faster.

 

[DarthFed]

^ That's a fair point. At the end of the day it's all about where you see yourself in the grand scheme of things. In my opinion he has no right to judge himself in the same way that Rafa, Nole, or Roger would self assess. But even if he hasn't been doing that, I agree his form has been woeful. But let's see how his run into the end of the year goes now. I'm betting he wins one of the final master series. Rafa never really does well on that swing, Roger and Novak have done enough this year not to care to much, so I don't think he'll be competing against them. It's a chance to get those ranking points back. I would be surprised if he isn't at least ranked 5 at the end of the year

I don't know the ranking situation but I'd imagine he'd have to have a very very good Fall to get to #5 by the end of the year.

 

[DarthFed]

I'd say it's a combination, though, isn't it? Between Murray and Djokovic, it can come down to fitness, because of the way they play, and the resulting 'how they play against each other.' A shot-maker still has a place in the game. But they all have to be fit. That is not a question.

A bit of both sure but predominantly fitness is what prevails in the modern game imo. cali also agrees. He loves the stamina topic

:laydownlaughing Yes, that old, unprejudiced expert of the modern game. Where is he, btw? Come on, you've been with the rest of us, I think, to declaim the lack of fitness, mental and physical in such nice shotmakers as Nishikori and Dimitrov. How can you have men play best of 5 matches in sometimes very tough conditions, and have it not come down, in part, to fitness? But also mental toughness. It has to be a combo, though I don't think fitness wins in the end over better tennis, if you have both. It's when push comes to shove, as it did tonight, with Djokovic and Murray. Either would have beaten most of the field handily tonight. But, against each other…different story. Something has to give, and it was Murray's fitness, tonight. That doesn't mean that the only reason Djokovic won is that he's fitter. He's also great in many other ways. It's about being the full package.

Moxie has to get this dig in against Djokovic because anyone with two eyes can see that whenever Djokovic has been on top of his game on any surface, he has clearly been a better tennis player than Nadal has ever been, with better shots and more game overall. Many have attributed Nadal's wins over Djokovic to fitness in large part, so this is Moxie's way of striking back. I would be upset too if my favorite player was up a set in the Rome final and then lost the final 2 because the other guy hit 45 winners to my guy's 15.

Better shotmaker, better player, more game. Novak Djokovic compared to Rafael Nadal.

I don't know what kind of distorted vision you have, but to make SUCH AN OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM? Novak a better player overall? I see this forum for what it is now, I thought you people actually talk about tennis, but no, all you do is bash players who are clearly a lot better than your favourite in some aspect, Nadal or Murray in particular, and I don't even want to argue I know I am right, I'm just glad I saw this now I will never log on here again. Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

Cali isn't even a Novak fan, he is just a Rafa hater. I'm a Rafa hater too but there's a lot more to me than that Anyways, not sure why you are so sensitive, stay around this board longer and you'll see every top player bashed a lot worse than this above.

 

[nehmeth]

Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

:nono

BB Wolf, this like every board is by far Fedal top heavy. There are five to seven Djokovic fans and most of the "crazed" ones aren't around anymore.

There are the feddies who cheer on Novak against Nadal and then hope he loses early when Roger is in the mix.

Then there are the Nadal fans who grudgingly root for Novak to beat Fed while trying to hold down the bile that builds up in their mouths.

A Novak board?? :snigger No.

 

[Federberg]

Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

:nono

BB Wolf, this like every board is by far Fedal top heavy. There are five to seven Djokovic fans and most of the "crazed" ones aren't around anymore. Then there are the feddies who cheer on Novak against Nadal and then hope he loses early when Roger is in the mix.

Then there are the Nadal fans who grudgingly root for Novak to beat Fed while trying to hold down the bile that builds up in their throats.

A Novak board?? No.

:laydownlaughing
A rather harsh description of Fed fan motivations. I'm generally happy to see Roger play Novak, because I think he can get the W. But I get where you're coming from! But I won't lie... I was hoping for a Murray v Fed final. That one I feel really comfortable with. I think Roger was too dismissive of Murray at the beginning. A real failing of his in my opinion. The British commentators haven't realised yet that for the last 4 or 5 years, Roger has been winning the most in that match up!

 

[nehmeth]

Oh dear Lord my friend! Just read the posts of those figuring out the scenarios of how Nole could lose to Murray or Stan... and the ones predicting Nole would win but hoping for Murray to upset him.

 

[Federberg]

^Lol! I was probably one of them. But not based on fear of Novak. Just want my guy to win!

 

[DarthFed]

Most of you are just crazed fans of Novak. Ugh, I truly am disgusted.

:nono

BB Wolf, this like every board is by far Fedal top heavy. There are five to seven Djokovic fans and most of the "crazed" ones aren't around anymore.

There are the feddies who cheer on Novak against Nadal and then hope he loses early when Roger is in the mix.

Then there are the Nadal fans who grudgingly root for Novak to beat Fed while trying to hold down the bile that builds up in their mouths.

A Novak board?? :snigger No.

Most "feddies" cheer on Novak against anyone but Fed I'd say. I'm not scared of Roger playing Djokovic in the least, especially on a fast surface. If Roger plays decent and doesn't go Nicky Almagro on us at the end then Djokovic will have to play very well. Djoker played awesome this past Wimbledon but those 2 US Open semis Roger would have made Nicky blush...

 

[herios]

^ That's a fair point. At the end of the day it's all about where you see yourself in the grand scheme of things. In my opinion he has no right to judge himself in the same way that Rafa, Nole, or Roger would self assess. But even if he hasn't been doing that, I agree his form has been woeful. But let's see how his run into the end of the year goes now. I'm betting he wins one of the final master series. Rafa never really does well on that swing, Roger and Novak have done enough this year not to care to much, so I don't think he'll be competing against them. It's a chance to get those ranking points back. I would be surprised if he isn't at least ranked 5 at the end of the year

I don't know the ranking situation but I'd imagine he'd have to have a very very good Fall to get to #5 by the end of the year.

Murray will fall in ranking following the USO to 10, being passed by Nishikori. He will most likely be ranked outside of the top 8 comes Shanghai master.
He benefited by Rafa's absence in the NA summer events, getting a top 8 seed, but I doubt that 2 players ranked ahead of him will skip Shanghai. He may perform well there, but his draw could be very tough.

 

[DarthFed]

^ That's a fair point. At the end of the day it's all about where you see yourself in the grand scheme of things. In my opinion he has no right to judge himself in the same way that Rafa, Nole, or Roger would self assess. But even if he hasn't been doing that, I agree his form has been woeful. But let's see how his run into the end of the year goes now. I'm betting he wins one of the final master series. Rafa never really does well on that swing, Roger and Novak have done enough this year not to care to much, so I don't think he'll be competing against them. It's a chance to get those ranking points back. I would be surprised if he isn't at least ranked 5 at the end of the year

I don't know the ranking situation but I'd imagine he'd have to have a very very good Fall to get to #5 by the end of the year.

Murray will fall in ranking following the USO to 10, being passed by Nishikori. He will most likely be ranked outside of the top 8 comes Shanghai master.
He benefited by Rafa's absence in the NA summer events, getting a top 8 seed, but I doubt that 2 players ranked ahead of him will skip Shanghai. He may perform well there, but his draw could be very tough.

Yea I was thinking he would be around #10. That's unbelievable. And YTD rankings isn't he about #10 or so too?

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8S_mVJD0P8[/video]

 

[Federberg]

he's only about 500 points behind David Ferrer in 5th. Definitely doable