Internazionali BNL d'Italia- Rome ATP1000 - 14th May to 21st May

[Mastoor]

I've never heard of a player beating 3 good players in 26 hours, so i guess it would be too much even for Novak against an inspired opponent who enjoyed much too much preferred scheduling.

All in all, I am happy with his Roma campaign. Final was much better than any result since Doha and also level of play in some matches was the best since. he is definitely getting there in time.

Next, Nole is conquering Gaul with Agassi in his corner for the first time.

 

[El Dude]

I've never heard of a player beating 3 good players in 26 hours, so i guess it would be too much even for Novak against an inspired opponent who enjoyed much too much preferred scheduling.

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but to be fair to Zverev, it wasn't like he had an easy run to the final. He beat some solid opponents: Anderson, Troicki, Fognini, Raonic, and Isner. But yeah, Novak had a raw deal. Still, I think his loss is more a combination of his erratic play and Zverev's rising game, than it is scheduling.

 

[El Dude]

I didn't see the match and just saw the results and stats. I'm not exactly surprised that Djokovic lost, but damn, the dude's head is really jacked up these days - but that's just the tip of the iceberg. He all but double bagel's Thiem and the next day he win 9 of 45 return points? God bless for him trying to hire Agassi to help get his head right, but let's face it - this goes beyond more than the mental. This is very similar to what Nadal went through for 2 years where his game just wasn't good enough because physically his style of play took a toll on him mentally. To my mind Djokovic isn't going to get his "mojo" back unless he starts shortening the points. He'll be 30 on Monday and similar to Murray, who also just turned 30, they're finding out the same thing Roger found out at 30 - and Nadal at 28 - the game gets harder and the major wins not as frequent. At least they don't have to live the severe scrutiny of their games that Federer did. I can't remember how many, "What's wrong with Federer\He'll Never win another Slam" articles I slogged through from 2011-2017. What's wrong with Djokovic is the same thing that was wrong with Federer, Nadal, Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Wilander, etc, etc., - AGE. Getting old's a beeyotch.

Funny...when I first read this, I thought it said "Getting old's a berdych."

Anyhow, I agree. We have to remember that the norm is that players starting declining sometime in the latter half of their 20s - oftentimes around 26-27, but then increasingly so after turning 30. I think the fact that the Big Four have been so dominant gives us the belief that something must be wrong if they start losing, when in fact they're all just getting older.

I see it as a matter of diminishing returns: a player can maintain a high level deep into his 30s, but its gets harder and harder, with fewer and fewer results. Some players are OK with that, some are not. And in some cases, the drop-off is far, in other cases not so much. A lot of it depends upon playing style, some of it depends upon work ethic, and maybe some the luck of genetics. Ultimately I don't think we know. But what we do know is that aging is inevitable.

 

[britbox]

Highlights:



Interview:

 

[Haelfix]

Tennis is a funny sport. You can look great one day and then play the same level of tennis the next against an opponent that you normally match up well with, and lose.

I didn't think Novak played poorly in his loss, and even though it was a blowout, the Djokovic-Thiem match was much closer than the score indicated (Thiem just managed to UE himself off the court, in what would have been a very interesting matchup).

I kinda get the feeling, that Zverev's serve is the type of serve that bothers Novak more than some of the other elite returners on tour. On clay, the bounce can make things really rough as well, and I get the feeling that he wasn't very comfortable in his deep return position.

 

[isabelle]

congrats to Sasha for his 1st MS, he's a player to watch in RG

 

[Carol]

I'm still thinking that these young gangs are far to be great but if the top players aro not playing their best (they can't every single time) then they look like a small Tarzan but they have a long way to be named 'a great player'.
I don't think that Novak is playing bad but he can't keep the rhythm he had these last years and less the brutal 2011 when he was 24. He is clearly very motiveded looking for an answer and improvement and that's why the changes of coaches, the split first with Becker, later with his for years coach and the entire team and now working with Agassi....my question is what he will try next if this wouldn't work well ?

 

[roberto]

I like that Novak is always open to trying something new. Will be very curious to see what Agassi brings to his game. My guess is that it will be 80% motivation/psychology and 20% other.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I like that Novak is always open to trying something new.

That is what got Novak into trouble in the first place.

 

[Mastoor]

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but to be fair to Zverev, it wasn't like he had an easy run to the final. He beat some solid opponents: Anderson, Troicki, Fognini, Raonic, and Isner. But yeah, Novak had a raw deal. Still, I think his loss is more a combination of his erratic play and Zverev's rising game, than it is scheduling.

Zverev had absolutely normal schedule, Novak had totally abnormal schedule that no other player ever had. Who else has ever had to play 3 rounds in 24 hours before?

Do you think any other player in any form would beat rested Zverev after beating Del Potro and Thiem in 24 hours prior to the final? I don't think so.

 

[Fiero425]

Zverev had absolutely normal schedule, Novak had totally abnormal schedule that no other player ever had. Who else has ever had to play 3 rounds in 24 hours before?

Do you think any other player in any form would beat rested Zverev after beating Del Potro and Thiem in 24 hours prior to the final? I don't think so.

I didn't see it, but didn't Thiem leave it on the court the previous day against Nadal? He had to eat a donut and breadstick; served by what we thought was a rejuvenated Nole, but NO! He should be able to handle that light load! Sasha took it to him winning a Masters in a very timely fashion, giving him a leg up in the coming major in Paris!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Zverev had absolutely normal schedule, Novak had totally abnormal schedule that no other player ever had. Who else has ever had to play 3 rounds in 24 hours before?

Do you think any other player in any form would beat rested Zverev after beating Del Potro and Thiem in 24 hours prior to the final? I don't think so.

No way that scheduling is an excuse. Even though Novak played two matches and Zverev played only one on Saturday, Novak played 20 games and Zverev played 30 games on Saturday. Stop complaining or else you Nole fans will gradually approach Nadalites in coming up with incredible excuses.

 

[Moxie]

Zverev had absolutely normal schedule, Novak had totally abnormal schedule that no other player ever had. Who else has ever had to play 3 rounds in 24 hours before?

Do you think any other player in any form would beat rested Zverev after beating Del Potro and Thiem in 24 hours prior to the final? I don't think so.

I don't think you can say that no player has ever had such an abnormal schedule. Rain delays happen, and players are asked to play more than one match in a day. I'm sure plenty of players have played 3 rounds in 2 days. If anything, Nole is one of the fittest men on tour. He played only 20-ish games on Saturday. His problem on Sunday in that final wasn't fatigue, and I don't think anyone that watched it would say it was. I could agree with mental fatigue and not being able to get up for that final, as his problems seem to be mental and motivational. But he certainly had no right to be tired. This is a man who's won 2 5-setters in under 48 hours.

 

[Moxie]

No way that scheduling is an excuse. Even though Novak played two matches and Zverev played only one on Saturday, Novak played 20 games and Zverev played 30 games on Saturday. Stop complaining or else you Nole fans will gradually approach Nadalites in coming up with incredible excuses.

Don't tar us all by the same brush, or I'll be tempted to do the same with you Federer fans (Mono-gate?) :whistle:

 

[Fiero425]

No way that scheduling is an excuse. Even though Novak played two matches and Zverev played only one on Saturday, Novak played 20 games and Zverev played 30 games on Saturday. Stop complaining or else you Nole fans will gradually approach Nadalites in coming up with incredible excuses.

Nole's problem has been his inability to do what he was considered the best at; converting break points! It's been ugly of late with opportunity after opportunity being lost and it's costing Nole by having a tougher match or earlier round loss! This wasn't happening with him in the past setting records besting the top 10, seasonal Masters victories, and an aura that used to give him a couple games just stepping on court! If Nole doesn't get to the final of Paris, he's going to drop a couple notches on the ranking! He can't continue like this indefinitely!

 

[Mastoor]

Excuse? It's crime how they rig Nole's draws and what they do with his schedules.

Moxie, try to remember anyone who played last 3 rounds in 26 hours like Novak did.

 

[Moxie]

Nolle's problem has been his inability to do what he was considered the best at; converting break points! It's been ugly of late with opportunity after opportunity being lost and it's costing Nole by having a tougher match or earlier round loss! This wasn't happening with him in the past setting records besting the top 10, seasonal Masters victories, and an aura that used to give him a couple games just stepping on court! If Nole doesn't get to the final of Paris, he's going to drop a couple notches on the ranking! He can't continue like this indefinitely!

Paul Annacone has a theory that backs you up, Fiero. He says that it's not so much that he's losing a lot more points, but where he's losing them. And BP conversion is a big one. Rome was worse, though. He gave away early breaks in each set, and never even had a BP on Zverev's serve the whole match. The player who looked like the calm veteran in that match was the kid, and the one who looked nervy and vulnerable throughout was the one who has 30 MS titles. That's not being tired from Saturday, but something more worrisome. But hat's off to Sasha for being a cool customer, too. That could have gone 3, anyway, just on maiden MS final nerves, on his part.

 

[Moxie]

Excuse? It's crime how they rig Nole's draws and what they do with his schedules.

Moxie, try to remember anyone who played last 3 rounds in 26 hours like Novak did.

Rig his draws? Now you are being paranoid. I'm not sure I can come up with a QF/SF in one day with the F the next of a MS1000, but playing 2 matches in one day, and the next round the following isn't even that uncommon. And there are plenty of examples of a player getting screwed by rain, and others of them getting helped by it, including Nole. You should let this one go. There was no reason for Novak to be as discombobulated and out-of-sorts in that final as he was. He started early, jarring at the crowd, moving on into obscenity, only to his own detriment. It wasn't his legs, it was his head that did him in. He showed up in an off-mood, and it devolved from there.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Nole's problem has been his inability to do what he was considered the best at; converting break points! It's been ugly of late with opportunity after opportunity being lost and it's costing Nole by having a tougher match or earlier round loss! This wasn't happening with him in the past setting records besting the top 10, seasonal Masters victories, and an aura that used to give him a couple games just stepping on court! If Nole doesn't get to the final of Paris, he's going to drop a couple notches on the ranking! He can't continue like this indefinitely!

He did not have that problem on Sunday. He could not even sniff a break point.

 

[Carol]

No way that scheduling is an excuse. Even though Novak played two matches and Zverev played only one on Saturday, Novak played 20 games and Zverev played 30 games on Saturday. Stop complaining or else you Nole fans will gradually approach Nadalites in coming up with incredible excuses.

Hey, relax........it's very easy to see a speck in another's eye and not the beam in one's own, isn't?