2015 ATP World Tour Finals: Federer vs Djokovic

[Billie]

that's what he wrote on camera lens

 

[Denis]

lol thanks Billie

 

[Billie]

 

[britbox]

Thanks for participating everyone. I'll merge this into the main thread.

 

[Denis]

Novak levels the h2h with Roger and Nadal this weekend

 

[britbox]

Thread re-opened.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Just want to congratulate Novak for an 'incredible year' also being the first player in history to win 4 consecutive ATP World Tour Finals.Well done Novak!

 

[britbox]

Just want to congratulate Novak for an ‘incredible year’ also being the first player in history to win 4 consecutive ATP World Tour Finals.Well done Novak!

Incredible year of dominance.

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Hopefully, Novak won't pop the cork in his eye this year.

 

[DarthFed]

Figured it'd be ugly. This crap is like Indoor clay, not a good surface for Roger and was surprised he won the 1st time.  Rather bad end to a bad year when all is said and done. I don't think he has big time tennis left in him but I hope I'm wrong.

 

[shawnbm]

I just finished watching the match for recording it. What can one say? Novak handled the pressure of the big match better than Roger – – is that simple. Federer  was unable to handle the pressure of this big match to end the year as well as Novak. This is why Novak is clearly the number one player in the world and Roger second-best. There was a time Roger would have not missed as many shots as he did today. Novak,  meanwhile, realizes the importance of the big matches and rarely plays loosely or makes too many unforced errors. This was Novaks year and he is a deserving champion.

 

[britbox]

I just finished watching the match for recording it. What can one say? Novak handled the pressure of the big match better than Roger – – is that simple. Federer was unable to handle the pressure of this big match to end the year as well as Novak. This is why Novak is clearly the number one player in the world and Roger second-best. There was a time Roger would have not missed as many shots as he did today. Novak, meanwhile, realizes the importance of the big matches and rarely plays loosely or makes too many unforced errors. This was Novaks year and he is a deserving champion.

Yeah, Roger looked a little tight out there.  Not a great final.  I don't think Novak was at his best either... but typically he delivered when it counted and that's why as you say - he's the World Number One and it's his era now.

 

[Billie]

Billie wrote:
What’s a GFYS? Well I think I did lay out the positives for Rafa and never said that he is finished. And I am not the only one, I believe. I don’t know what kind of season he is going to have in 2016 but might be way better than this one. We’ll see, I guess.

Oh, Billie, you’re always trying to be fair, and see the good in everyone. GFYS (“go fuck yourself,” the response I was expecting.) I think there are others that are not so interested in Rafa making his way back to form. Or, I could be wrong. It could be all benevolence and open-heartedness. (Not sure why it doesn’t feel like that.

)

LOL I was going through all the acronyms I know in English, but this one escaped me ;-)

 

[Billie]

OMG @britbox we were wrong again, this is what Brad Gilbert said about the seat assignments today (you just have to scroll down a bit):

https://twitter.com/bgtennisnation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

LOL

 

 

[herios]

I cannot say anything about the match, I have not seen it, but I am a very happy fan.

I hope Nole enjoys a good vacation. He deserves it, big time.

 

[Moxie]

Moxie wrote:
<blockquote>
Billie wrote:
What’s a GFYS? Well I think I did lay out the positives for Rafa and never said that he is finished. And I am not the only one, I believe. I don’t know what kind of season he is going to have in 2016 but might be way better than this one. We’ll see, I guess.

Oh, Billie, you’re always trying to be fair, and see the good in everyone. GFYS (“go fuck yourself,” the response I was expecting.) I think there are others that are not so interested in Rafa making his way back to form. Or, I could be wrong. It could be all benevolence and open-heartedness. (Not sure why it doesn’t feel like that.

)</blockquote>
LOL I was going through all the acronyms I know in English, but this one escaped me

Oh, I just made it up.  (The point was, if Fed winning was good for tennis, then so was Rafa coming all the way back. I was anticipating a response, and Mastoor, at least, got my point exactly.  That Fedfans and Djokolites won't be rooting for it, and so, I was anticipating the rude response.)

Sorry I missed the live chat, though I watched a bit of the match.  From what I saw, Djokovic was very sharp, though that may not be the whole answer.  However, he was pressing Roger hard, and that showed, as I saw some shanks, and the DF at MP.  I wonder where Nole was mid-week, when Roger beat him?  Maybe he knew he needed to save it for the weekend, and didn't sharpen the knives until he had to.

 

[britbox]

Billie wrote:
<blockquote>
Moxie wrote:
<blockquote>
Billie wrote:
What’s a GFYS? Well I think I did lay out the positives for Rafa and never said that he is finished. And I am not the only one, I believe. I don’t know what kind of season he is going to have in 2016 but might be way better than this one. We’ll see, I guess.

Oh, Billie, you’re always trying to be fair, and see the good in everyone. GFYS (“go fuck yourself,” the response I was expecting.) I think there are others that are not so interested in Rafa making his way back to form. Or, I could be wrong. It could be all benevolence and open-heartedness. (Not sure why it doesn’t feel like that.

)</blockquote>
LOL I was going through all the acronyms I know in English, but this one escaped me

</blockquote>
Oh, I just made it up. (The point was, if Fed winning was good for tennis, then so was Rafa coming all the way back. I was anticipating a response, and Mastoor, at least, got my point exactly. That Fedfans and Djokolites won’t be rooting for it, and so, I was anticipating the rude response.) Sorry I missed the live chat, though I watched a bit of the match. From what I saw, Djokovic was very sharp, though that may not be the whole answer. However, he was pressing Roger hard, and that showed, as I saw some shanks, and the DF at MP. I wonder where Nole was mid-week, when Roger beat him? Maybe he knew he needed to save it for the weekend, and didn’t sharpen the knives until he had to.

I provided a response... competition is good for the sport.

 

[EdbergsGhost]

"I watched a bit of the match. From what I saw, Djokovic was very sharp, though that may not be the whole answer. However, he was pressing Roger hard, and that showed, as I saw some shanks, and the DF at MP. I wonder where Nole was mid-week, when Roger beat him? Maybe he knew he needed to save it for the weekend, and didn’t sharpen the knives until he had to. " Moxie



Roger was brilliant Tuesday.  He executed his game plan almost perfectly, and Djoker was caught off guard.  There was less pressure in that match too.   They were both anxious in the first set of their final.  The Serb kept it together better, kept the points longer, and eventually broke down Federer's resolve.
 
A healthy Nadal is good for the sport of tennis.   He's been healthy all year and seems to be gaining back some of the confidence.   2016 should be better for him.   

 

[Billie]

EG, this is what Nole said after yesterday's match and his tactics against Federer.   It doesn't completely answer your question where Nole was on Tuesday but it as close I can find:

Q. Today you played a lot against the backhand of Roger Federer. How and when do you decide to combine your favorite tactics and the strategy of the day?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it depends who am I playing against. Obviously, against Roger it's very specific. You need to adjust to the tactics because of his game. He plays very quickly. He likes things to happen fast. He takes away the time from his opponent. He has so much variety in his game with slice, comes to the net, great serve, forehand, one of the best ever.

Again, he's very complete player. I know that he's always going to push you hard and try to protect the baseline, take away the time from you, which he was doing also today.

I think what I managed to do better than what I've done in the last match we played in the group stage here was the fact that I was more solid from back of the court. I served well when I needed to. I got myself out of trouble. I returned more balls back than I did five days ago. I think that helped me to get into the rally. I always try to make him play one extra shot.

As I said, forehand is maybe his best shot, and backhand is equally as good. Maybe not as good as forehand. Of course, you try to take advantage of certain parts of his game that were not working well today, which was backhand, put some variety and different pace in that angle, not always playing the same, with some spin, slice, flat, fast, slow. Just not give him too much comfort on the court. It worked well.

 

Actually the whole interview is worth reading as they touched different topics:  http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=115249

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Hi Billie. The questions were Moxie's that I quoted and answered from what I observed. Thank you for the link.