He frustrates me heavily too, but to me in those matches he lost, he left the impression that it was about his game and not the game of Stan or Thiem. By the way he won significantly more matches against these two.
Surely he didn’t deserve to be in the final when not able to put thiem away.
So fucking disappointing!!!
When Djoker lost to Stan in RG finals, i made no excuses. Unlike some of the fed fanboys here who always make excuses for Fed, i don't make excuses for Rafa or Djoker when i think they meet a player who matches up well against them. When Djoker dominated a red hot Nadal in 7 straight finals in 2011, i made no excuses... Djoker, especially on hards, is a nightmare for Rafa.
Djokovic has a game that is close to perfection, no weaknesses. The only issue with him is that he lacks a finishing shot, especially on a slow court. He has one of the best backhands in the game, ever, and a great fh but his game is based on stepping in, taking ball early, changing directions and employing a 'death by a thousand cuts' tactic to dismember opponents. The usual Djoker point is to hit deep, make opponent move, wait for a short ball and go for winner. He also plays many points where he defends until opponents miss. What he doesn't have is a shot that he can use to hit winners off neutral positions, with ease. Del potro, Stan, Thiem have that. On a fast court, it's not a big deal as Djoker can hit many winners on fast courts by taking ball early... on clay, different story. When Djoker, at his best, faces an in form Thiem or Stan on clay, he seems to almost be 'surviving'.. I always feel Stan or Thiem can end the point easily whilst Djoker has to work for it, hit 2-4 shots to maybe get a short ball. Thiem or Stan can just out of nowhere end the point... Not many can do this but on clay, this is hard to handle for a guy like Novak... you can't just defend against that type of power, you have to counter it with your own power, which novak lacks a bit of on clay, relative to Thiem and Stan.
