2019 Roland Garros Semifinal: Djokovic vs. Thiem

[Bonaca]

he was aggressive and executed everything he could and still lost to Fed in 2011 semi. sometimes it's about his limits, not because he was passive. He could never be so effective offensive as some players.

That wasn’t my point, it’s not about getting as aggressive as other player, only more when facing certain types of opponents. In 2011 Fed was the better player that day and Stan 2015, they won, Novak didn’t nearly reach his best, biggest mistake was passivity looking overall. But you can’t always reach your best, even the three are human, I guess .
I have great respect for all of them, like Maestro a lot.

 

[don_fabio]

Someone mentioned here how Novak lost this match mentally. He was really looking for the reasons why he was doomed to loose it. His body language during the part on saturday match I saw was just bad. Like he lost a belief he can win this RG and then got so frustrated that he is still on court against high quality opponent on Saturday afternoon. All this effort this year to win RG and then in the end to loose focus like that is just stupid. He deserved to loose with attitude like that and I am not even sure he has it in him that 2nd RG.

It's funny how all of the big 3 have that one slam they just can't win for the 2nd time. Big 3 are going on a long slam winning stretch again with 10 in a row.

 

[Bonaca]

Someone mentioned here how Novak lost this match mentally. He was really looking for the reasons why he was doomed to loose it. His body language during the part on saturday match I saw was just bad. Like he lost a belief he can win this RG and then got so frustrated that he is still on court against high quality opponent on Saturday afternoon. All this effort this year to win RG and then in the end to loose focus like that is just stupid. He deserved to loose with attitude like that and I am not even sure he has it in him that 2nd RG.

It's funny how all of the big 3 have that one slam they just can't win for the 2nd time. Big 3 are going on a long slam winning stretch again with 10 in a row.

He deserved to lose because he wasn’t the better player the two days overall.
I see a different reason for his body language and attitude: He knew he had a great chance in the finals against this version of Nadal. I’m sure about that, he gave an interesting interview, short but interesting, to the Serbian press and also Marian . What really pissed him off was the fact that he was unable to get to his good form under these conditions, and thiem was too good to beat him with b game . His weakness was his inability to adapt to the heavy wind. You couldn’t prepare this one. Thiem could much better and barely got his win.
That sucks badly.
His complete game is more than enough for Thiem.
He knew he had excellent chances n that final under better conditions.

 

[don_fabio]

I see a different reason for his body language and attitude: He knew he had a great chance in the finals against this version of Nadal. I’m sure about that, he gave an interesting interview, short but interesting, to the Serbian press and also Marian . What really pissed him off was the fact that he was unable to get to his good form under these conditions, and thiem was too good to beat him with b game . His weakness was his inability to adapt to the heavy wind. You couldn’t prepare this one.

I didn't know he said that. Seems realistic. He is the guy who plays with great accuracy on his shots, especially with deep returns and the wind destroyed his game much more than the guy who plays with more spin and relies on power.

 

[Bonaca]

I didn't know he said that. Seems realistic. He is the guy who plays with great accuracy on his shots, especially with deep returns and the wind destroyed his game much more than the guy who plays with more spin and relies on power.

Yes exactly, I hoped he will yet find a way to beat thiem, he didn’t. So thiem absolutely deserved it.
It’s So disappointing and fucking bad luck for him, sorry for my language.
Pozdrav

 

[isabelle]

Nole was too nervous, he lost his nerves and his tennis

 

[Bonaca]

Nole was too nervous, he lost his nerves and his tennis

And nevertheless almost won, worthless for you but not for me.
hope we see a serious fight in London or New York between the top dogs.

 

[Jelenafan]

I think Nole is trying to get back to his winning form consistently; and the QF win over Zverev and his early rounds match looked promising.

He’ll shake off this match and the grass/hardcourt type of game favors him tremendously with Wimbledon looming.

But I do think Theim had his number that day, he slipped and let Nole in various times, but certainly to me Nole never looked like he was actually winning the match, more like playing catch-up a lot. Mind you, you can still win that way, but certainly Theim seemed sharper and more consistent throughout the 2 day match.

 

[Moxie]

He deserved to lose because he wasn’t the better player the two days overall.
I see a different reason for his body language and attitude: He knew he had a great chance in the finals against this version of Nadal. I’m sure about that, he gave an interesting interview, short but interesting, to the Serbian press and also Marian . What really pissed him off was the fact that he was unable to get to his good form under these conditions, and thiem was too good to beat him with b game . His weakness was his inability to adapt to the heavy wind. You couldn’t prepare this one. Thiem could much better and barely got his win.
That sucks badly.
His complete game is more than enough for Thiem.
He knew he had excellent chances n that final under better conditions.

To be honest, I think that Novak was nervous because of the pending Nole Slam. He really had no excuse for not being prepared for the conditions and having no plan for them. I see that you're not excusing him, and you're right not to. But he seemed to have no plan for the wind. I think it was nerves that got him, and likely would have anyway.

 

[Bonaca]

To be honest, I think that Novak was nervous because of the pending Nole Slam. He really had no excuse for not being prepared for the conditions and having no plan for them. I see that you're not excusing him, and you're right not to. But he seemed to have no plan for the wind. I think it was nerves that got him, and likely would have anyway.

No excuses.
Yeah the nerves are tricky, he had a lot to lose.
I see no way to prepare for this kind of windy conditions, think his game style is more vulnerable also Federer’s. Both were important factors.

 

[Jelenafan]

I thought Nole more than a few times came to net on a wing and a prayer; Martina N. Stated during the match that on extremely windy conditions she preferred to hit a groundie then trying to attempt volleys.

One thing about Nole; when he’s miserable and unhappy on a court it’s very very clear to all.

 

[Bonaca]

I thought Nole more than a few times came to net on a wing and a prayer; Martina N. Stated during the match that on extremely windy conditions she preferred to hit a groundie then trying to attempt volleys.

One thing about Nole; when he’s miserable and unhappy on a court it’s very very clear to all.

This is true, couldn’t hide his emotions, it’s a weakness in my opinion.
He clearly couldn’t adapt to the conditions/situation and made a lot of bad decisions.
I'm sure he is a lot more disappointed than we all together for missing such an opportunity.

 

[Moxie]

No excuses.
Yeah the nerves are tricky, he had a lot to lose.
I see no way to prepare for this kind of windy conditions, think his game style is more vulnerable also Federer’s. Both were important factors.

There are ways to adjust to windy conditions. It's clear to all that Novak hates playing in wind, but Murray, for example, had a very good assessment of how he did it v. Berdych in a near-gale in the SF of USO 2012. And Murray had once been (I hate to say it) blown off the court by Nadal at a F in IW, because of terrible wind. Apparently, he learned from that. Novak is a top player with a great team...he should have been more prepared for the very obvious conditions. I'm not trying to slag him, but I see that you, as a fan, can be hard on him when he makes bad choices, and I respect that.

I thought Nole more than a few times came to net on a wing and a prayer; Martina N. Stated during the match that on extremely windy conditions she preferred to hit a groundie then trying to attempt volleys.

One thing about Nole; when he’s miserable and unhappy on a court it’s very very clear to all.

I think the choice of continuously coming to net was an odd one. Especially as it wasn't working. (Like 75% of the time?) I heard Martina's commentary, too. She said that Novak's game, esp. on clay, is built on baseline battles. For some reason, he wasn't trusting it. When it wasn't working on Friday, I'd have thought he'd have changed it on Sat., but he kept it up. I find that puzzling.