2020 French Open Final: Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal

[Vince Evert]

i just love watchin' you partisan Nadal and Djokovic fans going at it, especially when throwing stats at one another.

 

[Vince Evert]

Hey, i guess i asked this before. But has there ever been another GS, since introduction of Open tennis, where the men and ladies singles winner has won without dropping a set. As in the same Grand Slam?

 

[tented]

Hey, i guess i asked this before. But has there ever been another GS, since introduction of Open tennis, where the men and ladies singles winner has won without dropping a set. As in the same Grand Slam?

I heard someone on TV in the US say it was a first.

 

[calitennis127]

Read Cali's just above where he says that Nadal's serve is better than Roger's. There's a lot of crap being thrown in anger on the forums, at the moment. Slam race tightens and everyone is on edge.

What I said is that it is ridiculous to say Nadal is a better all-around player than Federer outside of serve. Nadal has a more solid backhand with the 2-hander but he also doesn’t have Federer’s first-strike talent or ability to serve-and-volley. At the very least, it balances out.

 

[calitennis127]

In the second set, Djokovic made 77% of his first serves. He was mauled 6-2.
For the match, Djokovic made a higher percentage of first serves than Nadal (67% vs 65%)

Clearly you are a Nadal fan like the ole mick Kieran. I never said that first serve accounted for everything, but that in the first set of a Slam final it is not a good idea to hit only 40% in when it is important to have a strong start. For a player of Djokovic’s experience it is also inexcusable. Djokovic got absolutely nothing cheap in the first set to allow himself to settle in to the match.

Your stats (just as with Kieran) also conveniently omitted that Djokovic served much better in the 3rd set over the 1st and he put himself in a position to win with a 5-4 lead.

So I am not saying first-serve percentage is everything, but it is necessary to put yourself in position to win. 40% doesn’t cut it for the first set of a Slam final. That is totally inexcusable.

Even a weak return is better than not putting it in play. Your opponent could make an error on a weak return. But if you don't put it in play, the point is over and it doesn't matter.

Yup, agreed. All the more reason that it was important for Djokovic to make his first serves and win some cheap points in the first set instead of serving like a qualifier at a 250 event. I’m glad we agree on that.

Djokovic did not even come close to putting his best foot forward. On a scale from 1 to 10 he played at a 2, and that mostly owed to his serving, which also cost him dearly against Tsitsipas.

 

[calitennis127]

Obviously you haven’t read the posts trashing Nadal and his zero talent to understand why I answered that way.

Hey Nadalfan2013, why in your opinion was Federer able to take a 5-1 lead with set point in the first set of the 2008 Hamburg final if Nadal is so perfect on clay? Did Nadal magically make him miss that forehand inside the service line on set point?

 

[calitennis127]

Nadal is only perfect tennis player in the world unlike servebot error prone federer, and boring pusher djokovic only one of the big 3 to win on All surfaces twice making much more all rounded player majors the main thing NOT joke WTF.

If Nadal won World Tour Finals, you would be the first person to brag about it. He just can’t because he can barely hit a winner there.

Btw, what happened to Nadal in the 2008 AO semifinals against Tsonga? Why did Nadal lose that one in straights?

 

[Nadalfan2013]

Hey Nadalfan2013, why in your opinion was Federer able to take a 5-1 lead with set point in the first set of the 2008 Hamburg final if Nadal is so perfect on clay? Did Nadal magically make him miss that forehand inside the service line on set point?

When did I say Nadal is perfect on clay? And what is your point? If Federer missed that forehand maybe it’s because he knows that he has to always go for more because Nadal is extremely fast and has amazing defensive skills. So yeah Nadal indirectly made him go for too much and Federer couldn’t keep it up for the whole match. Also Nadal can lose an easy set but then come back to win. Frankly I don’t even see the point of your comment.

 

[Moxie]

What I said is that it is ridiculous to say Nadal is a better all-around player than Federer outside of serve. Nadal has a more solid backhand with the 2-hander but he also doesn’t have Federer’s first-strike talent or ability to serve-and-volley. At the very least, it balances out.

"Outside of serve," implying that Nadal has the better serve. Which is ridiculous.

 

[britbox]

"Outside of serve," implying that Nadal has the better serve. Which is ridiculous.

I didn't read that the same way. I think he meant serve excluded that Federer was the better player. Nobody in their right mind puts Nadal's serve above Federer.

 

[Moxie]

I didn't read that the same way. I think he meant serve excluded that Federer was the better player. Nobody in their right mind puts Nadal's serve above Federer.

Yes, but we’re talking about Cali.

 

[Andy22]

If Nadal won World Tour Finals, you would be the first person to brag about it. He just can’t because he can barely hit a winner there.

Btw, what happened to Nadal in the 2008 AO semifinals against Tsonga? Why did Nadal lose that one in straights?

dont be dumb federer cant keep the ball in court some matches like a challenger player, Nadal goes into ATF finals injured every time LOL.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

After reading all the posts in this thread I think it is safe to say that we all have agreed that Nadal is the undisputed GOAT! Nadal fans knew it many years ago but now everyone else knows it too. It’s great to see.

 

[Moxie]

You must have a LOT of people on "Ignore."

 

[calitennis127]

When did I say Nadal is perfect on clay? And what is your point? If Federer missed that forehand maybe it’s because he knows that he has to always go for more because Nadal is extremely fast and has amazing defensive skills. So yeah Nadal indirectly made him go for too much

Wait, so Federer had the game to go up 5-1 and get set point with an array of winners, but then he missed a forehand in the forecourt with Nadal standing 15 feet behind the baseline because he was scared all of a sudden (despite the double-break lead he had built up!)?

That is beyond stupid and delusional. You are almost as bad as Kieran talking about the final as though Djokovic playing terribly in the first set had nothing to do with the outcome.

 

[calitennis127]

dont be dumb federer cant keep the ball in court some matches like a challenger player, Nadal goes into ATF finals injured every time LOL.

Yeah, it’s funny how Nadal rarely ever gets hurt in the spring but always gets hurt in the fall, except for the fall of 2020, when the tournaments are on clay. Then all of a sudden he feels perfect with no issues.

 

[Bonaca]

The lesser player just smashed the complete player, like he did 12 years ago against Federer. At some point even a knucklehead like you need to wake up to the fact that Nadal is a beast, and totally superior to anyone on clay.

And he is just a rabbit? Bullshit, he is nowhere nearly as fast as he was 10 years ago with that crooked knee, even a healthy player is never as fast in mid 30s than 20s. He beat the crap out of Djoker not because he is that fast, it’s simply he is better....also it was played in a condition that didn’t suit him.

The more you belittle Nadal, the more it makes you an ass.

You small mind should know, even lesser player can win, rabbit is a beast for sure, that wasn’t anyone’s point.
He is as fast as ever in running down everything, his biggest weapon, no one is near to that. He beat him not because of quickness , rather because of ultra slow conditions and subpar Novak, so he could bring back everything , look at his moonball wta strategy.
These conditions suit him even more, slower than in summer. Slower conditions are more important to him than spin-lifting ones, you old racist fart should burn this into your rat-brain.


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[Bonaca]

But you are, it wasn’t an insult.

You poor coward again?


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[Bonaca]

It is so obvious why these nadalboys and girls belittle the weeks at no one and the WTF.
Rabbit has nothing to do with it.
No way one can be considered goat when that far away from weeks at no 1 and never ever won WTF.
No stat demonstrates overall dominance like the time spent on 1st place.
Not a single win at the Finals where only the most successful player, aka best player of the year participate.


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[Bonaca]

I think the main reason for Novak’s loss in the fact he wasn’t ready to go for the rallies. His bad serving from the first set surely didn’t help but wasn’t the main reason.
Someone mentioned this was a masterclass of return-skills the builder showed. What a joke. He could bring back more serves because of slow conditions and return position, his main goal is to keep ball in play.
Novak’s baseline game is one of the best, Especially against this horse, but he obviously tried to shorten the points and went maximum risk , not even tried to came into rally-rhythm. Maybe due to physical and/or mental fatigue.


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