2018 Wimbledon men’s SF: Djokovic v Nadal

[Fiero425]

Djoker already had one big match with Andreson, I think it was on Wimbledon. We will see, i think Anderson might be off in two 5 setters.

Is this the 1st major since AO back in '08 against JW Tsonga that Nole hasn't had to go thru the other "Big 4?" He's always had it tough to finish off his wins at the Grand Slams! Fedal have had their share of pigeons there was no hope of losing to! We can only hope Nole completes this deal and finishes strong to re-establish his "seat at the table!" :whistle:

 

[Federberg]

Is this the 1st major since AO back in '08 against JW Tsonga that Nole hasn't had to go thru the other "Big 4?" He's always had it tough to finish off his wins at the Grand Slams! Fedal have had their share of pigeons there was no hope of losing to! We can only hope Nole completes this deal and finishes strong to re-establish his "seat at the table!" :whistle:

Errrr... and his finals against Stan?

 

[Fiero425]

Errrr... and his finals against Stan?

Stan is no scrub; almost at level of Murray and has as many majors with less chances! Come on! He beat Nadal and Djokovic at times! The only player he's a headcase against is his bud Roger! Wawrinka will always have a problem with his Swiss Master! :whistle:

 

[Federberg]

I'm just being accurate. You specifically mentioned the Big 4. Let's face it in the last decade is there a single guy that any of the top guys have played in finals that hasn't been in more than one final? Apart from Thiem I can't think of any, and for sure he'll be back. So not sure if there's any utility in labelling their victims as scrubs

 

[crystalfire]

its truly insane what these guys (djokovic, rafa, fed) have done over the past decade in slams. just 3 guys more or less winning or at least making the finals in 40+ slams. thats just ridiculous. all we need is djokovic and then murray to win wimby and USO and itll be one slam apiece this year

 

[the AntiPusher]

Rafa played fantastically but Novak won the critical big points..Do i think the score wouldve been different if the roof was open, perhaps however the best player was victorious , no excuse..Imjimmy was correct but so was Moxie..I dont blame or flaut Rafa's level was extremely exceptional. Rafa just have to lace em up and play _

 

[Moxie]

Rafa played fantastically but Novak won the critical big points..Do i think the score wouldve been different if the roof was open, perhaps however the best player was victorious , no excuse..Imjimmy was correct but so was Moxie..I dont blame or flaut Rafa's level was extremely exceptional. Rafa just have to lace em up and play _

So close, and yet so far, A-P. Today was a heartbreaker. There were so many ways that Rafa was the better player today and yesterday, but Novak rose to the big moments. Well, good on him.

 

[Carol]

After to finish to watch the replay of the match definitely you can see point by point more relax and with more detail without any doubt. Rafa lost the last game not because Novak but because himself, he did a couple of silly errors, one of them at the net, he served bad and besides that he fell down and you could see on his face that he got hurt, that was the end of the fight .
Anyway even that loss Nadal has showed that he can play on grass and under a roof very well and without haven't played any grass tournament before Wimbledon. It seems that the next HC season will be very interesting

 

[monfed]

To think that dull almost beat faker on indoor grass.

 

[the AntiPusher]

To think that dull almost beat faker on indoor grass.

Thats the problem, Indoor grass should NEVER existed on a sunny 80 degrees day

 

[GameSetAndMath]

2015 Wimbledon R16 Grass Novak Djokovic Kevin Anderson 6-7(6) 6-7(6) 6-1 6-4 7-5

http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/men/Kevin_Anderson/Novak_Djokovic/

^ Far from a sure thing that Novak wins.

IIRC, that match got stopped after the first two sets and Novak came back the next day won the remaining three sets.

 

[Carol]

Thats the problem, Indoor grass should NEVER existed on a sunny 80 degrees day

It wasn't the Organization decision, it was Novak who wasn't agreed to open the roof. What really bothers me is that Novak today has said that they were told a few minutes before to start the match that the roof will be closed when yesterday everybody knew about it, of course he knew too

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The scheduler's decision to put the two trees first helped Novak in two different ways.

1. It made them close the roof and that certainly favors Novak.

2. It made sure that the match was broken up over two days removing any potential fatigue issues for Novak.

Actually, I don't think the indoor situation affected Rafa that much. He seemed to have adapted to that reasonably. I would not blame the loss on that.

However, the point 2 above might have helped Novak a lot. Rafa is an energizer bunny and he can go on and on. On the other hand, I am not so sure Novak can at this point in his coming back from injury or whatever it is he is going through.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Except for the first set, Rafa seemed to be the better player (relatively speaking) of the two in the match. However, Novak stepped big time in that epic game to survive from getting broken. As far as the break of Rafa is concerned, it is more of a gift than creation.

p.s. I am not trying to become a "better human being" or pandering to Nadalites.

 

[Vince Evert]

Hope Anderson thrashes ND. Can't stand him. Maybe "Big Kev" is destined to win the championships having won two back-to-back marathons and has the experience of reaching last years USO.

 

[monfed]

Thats the problem, Indoor grass should NEVER existed on a sunny 80 degrees day

Fakervic seems destined to win Wimbledon the way things have panned out. This is his comeback tournament.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Just took a look at the stats.

Both Novak and Rafa have been listed as having 73 winners each.

Both Novak and Rafa have been listed as having 42 UFE.

I had never seen a match where both players have exactly the same number of winners and the same number of UFE.

However, from a personal perception, I don't recall seeing 146 winners in this match. They must be very generous in determining what is a winner.

 

[the AntiPusher]

It wasn't the Organization decision, it was Novak who wasn't agreed to open the roof. What really bothers me is that Novak today has said that they were told a few minutes before to start the match that the roof will be closed when yesterday everybody knew about it, of course he knew too

Novak is not a very honest person..it is what it is.. there will be other tournaments..

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Novak is not a very honest person..it is what it is.. there will be other tournaments..

What non-sense are you folks talking about. The organization's decision is that a match proceeds with roof closed if it started with roof closed, unless both players agree to open. Novak exercised his preference which was allowed as per the rules. He is not being dishonest. He is just being smart. (actually, I should not even say smart, it is a no brainer to choose to keep the roof closed).

 

[Moxie]

The scheduler's decision to put the two trees first helped Novak in two different ways.

1. It made them close the roof and that certainly favors Novak.

2. It made sure that the match was broken up over two days removing any potential fatigue issues for Novak.

Actually, I don't think the indoor situation affected Rafa that much. He seemed to have adapted to that reasonably. I would not blame the loss on that.

However, the point 2 above might have helped Novak a lot. Rafa is an energizer bunny and he can go on and on. On the other hand, I am not so sure Novak can at this point in his coming back from injury or whatever it is he is going through.

I said before that I thought splitting the match would favor Novak. Not because of fitness on either side, but specifically because of maintaining intensity. I don't think Djokovic was ready to. He held his nerve in the 3rd set TB, but he was showing signs of fraying.