2023 US Open F: Djokovic vs. Medvedev

[don_fabio]

Something I don't understand. WHY..?? Why did Daniil game was so passive? I refused to believe he was jaded from his match vs Alcaraz...

I too don't think he was tired last night, but he did come into the match kind of slow or I might say not so inspired like he was in SF. He tried to be more offensive in the 1st set, but misfired good amount of balls, the balls that were going in against Carlos weren't hitting the spots against Novak.

By the mid 2nd set Daniil settled in his comfort zone, extended the rallies, grinded from the baseline and went less for winners as it wasn't paying off. Even like that he had his chances. There was a crucial point on BP in 2nd set when Daniil just had to hit DTL BH passing shot and instead went CC only to find Novak camping there on the net. Novak smiled after he won that point and Daniil was showing with his body language that he understood he chose a wrong shot. If Daniil won that 2nd set, we would probably see him all over Novak in the 3rd and completely different match and possibly the outcome. First 2 sets the match played similar to Wimbledon this year, the only difference is that Carlos found a way to steal the 2nd set.

Maybe it's also because he had absolutely nothing to lose against Carlos and against Novak he had, plus he is really good friend of Novak. It would be better for Daniil if he just imagined greek's face across the net and kept pounding the ball like he did on a Friday.

 

[Fiero425]

Something I don't understand. WHY..?? Why did Daniil game was so passive? I refused to believe he was jaded from his match vs Alcaraz...

That was the game plan t/b passive & allow Novak to make an UFE + lose his legs! Djokovic was just too tough; kept his knee on Daniil's neck!

 

[the AntiPusher]

I too don't think he was tired last night, but he did come into the match kind of slow or I might say not so inspired like he was in SF. He tried to be more offensive in the 1st set, but misfired good amount of balls, the balls that were going in against Carlos weren't hitting the spots against Novak.

By the mid 2nd set Daniil settled in his comfort zone, extended the rallies, grinded from the baseline and went less for winners as it wasn't paying off. Even like that he had his chances. There was a crucial point on BP in 2nd set when Daniil just had to hit DTL BH passing shot and instead went CC only to find Novak camping there on the net. Novak smiled after he won that point and Daniil was showing with his body language that he understood he chose a wrong shot. If Daniil won that 2nd set, we would probably see him all over Novak in the 3rd and completely different match and possibly the outcome. First 2 sets the match played similar to Wimbledon this year, the only difference is that Carlos found a way to steal the 2nd set.

Maybe it's also because he had absolutely nothing to lose against Carlos and against Novak he had, plus he is really good friend of Novak. It would be better for Daniil if he just imagined greek's face across the net and kept pounding the ball like he did on a Friday.

There were numerous opportunities for Daniil to pull the trigger but he kept resetting the power point. That's too passive against someone who is the all-time GS title leader. . Novak NEVER has nothing to loose..that's why Carlos defeats Novak at SW19.. Daniil will regret his strategy which was foolish

 

[Moxie]

Btw, isn’t good that espn was forced to show the ‘moderna shot of the day’ which involved anti vaxxer novak?

Didn’t know moderna was a big sponsor of USO and they get anti vaxxer winning it. GOLD

Not quite as rich as Wimbledon banning Russians last year, and then having a Russian (Kazakhstani by payment only) win it.

 

[Moxie]

Umm, maybe. That assumes that Cilic would have beaten whoever was across the net, which shouldn't be assumed. In 2017, it would have been Berdych, Raonic or Dimitrov. In 2018, probably Berdych. Cilic was 6-6 vs Berdych, so maybe we could assume they both won one each. He was 2-2 vs Raonic, 4-3 vs Dimitrov. So basically evenly matched, in terms of H2Hs.

But then you have to consider how many Slams would have been won by Tsonga, Berdych, Ferrer etc, if not for the Big Three.

And of course we can look at peak Elo:
2348 Ferrer
2296 Nishikori
2269 Raonic
2263 Berdych
2244 Tsonga
2232 Cilic
2203 Dimitrov

As you can see, they're pretty tightly packed - except for Ferrer, who had a significantly higher peak Elo. Nishikori is also a bit above the rest, and Dimitrov below.

Also, Cilic had blisters at Wimbledon, and couldn't really compete in that final, so I'm not sure how he'd have won it, anyway.