Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open, Masters 1000
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He's up after the Djokovic match that's going on right now. Roger sucked last night. The rust was clear to see. He still would have won, but hopefully he plays better today and finishes the match without too much dramatics.
Technical question about Djokovic - I'm watching his match against Taro Daniel and I've been wondering about something for years but have never really heard a good explanation for: Why does his overhead suck so much? In that 5-3 game he had 4 points with overheads and he could only put away 1 of them. You rarely see this with Roger, Nadal or Murray. This is not a new thing because of his elbow problem. He's always had a mediocre overhead. Question is - why?
Djoko was up 5-2 in the opener. He lost 3 games in a row and then it went to a TB that he proceeded to lose. He looked all out of sorts. Trying to establish some dominance in the 2nd set, but this match is not a guarantee. Meanwhile, the energizer bunny Ferrer moves on in straights.
Federberg
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Is it only me, or does it seem like Novak is forcing it a bit. It would be unfair to use Federer as a comparison as there's virtual no sample at all, but with Rafa he's always seemed a bit more squared away when he finally comes back.
Well...he's got another 2 weeks to work on it before Miami starts because he just lost to a qualifier ranked 109. From what I saw today he should emulate Nadal and Wawrinka and skip Miami and practice until clay season starts. Roger looked rusty last night but Djokovic looked LOST. He tried to come forward some and that wasn't really working any better than his baseline game. It's a starting point I guess...just a bad one...
Moxie
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He's been playing like that for 2 years, so I'm not sure what 2 weeks is going to give him.
I didn't get the sense that it was just motivation problems. To me it seemed more like frustration at not playing well and not being able to execute the way he had in the past. That coupled with he's used to lower ranked guys going away when he gets up a break. The fear factor is gone. Most of these lower ranked players right now don't seem to look at the opportunity to play him with the same level of intimidation as they do Roger or even Nadal. It's like they're not as in awe of his legacy as they are the other two.
Murat Baslamisli
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Novak has to play. I am assuming he is healthy when I say this, but he just has to keep playing and try to find his rhythm. If he loses the first round at Miami too, go find yourself a challenger and keep playing. Agassi did it, Nishikori did it. If he is healthy , he should play.
I was being facetious about his overhead not his overall game. He clearly needs more than 2 weeks to fix that. And I disagreed that it was just a motivational issue. I think it's more than motivation. And really - motivation is affected by results...and his results just aren't there. I've said all along that I didn't think Stepanek was the right coach for him. Agassi either for that matter. Both seems like reaching and desperation more than an honest attempt to find someone who can get the best out of him.
Moxie
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Call it motivation or frustration or lack of focus, but it didn't seem to be so much about his elbow or rust, though both were in evidence. I'm sure you're right that the young guys aren't as intimidated. Also, Daniel and Chung, who beat him in Oz, pattern their games after his, so they hurt him at his own game. But seriously, he sure used to have more fight in him than he's shown in most of the last 2 years since RG.
I saw him practice live yesterday against Sock and let me tell you that it seems to me it is all on his head. Jack was hitting the ball hard and was more engaged during practice more-so than Djokovic. He seems "scared" to hit the ball and whenever he hits the ball hard, it goes to the net more often than not. He might need a sports psychologist to sort this thing out...
Fiero425
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Nole hasn't played fearless, dominating tennis since he annihilated Rafa in Qatar a couple year ago! Rafa threw everything but the kitchen sink at Nole and it was spit back at him in spades! His anticipation was there, he changed the direction of the ball at will, and made Rafa look like a scrub who was filling in for a better player!
GameSetAndMath
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