One of the worst big matches I have ever seen Djokovic play.....

[calitennis127]

Djokovic's approach shots and groundstrokes moving toward the net were among the worst I have ever seen from him. He was sloppy and all-over-the-place with them. He is fortunate that he served well and has so much higher a peak level than Nadal that he was able to overcome his numerous inexcusable mistakes.

The fact that he won this match playing so badly shows just how much higher a ceiling he has than Nadal. He really has underachieved when you think about it, in terms of allowing Nadal to win so many big matches and especially so many French Opens and even US Opens.

 

[britbox]

Welcome back cal.

 

[calitennis127]

Welcome back cal.

Nice to be back. If it weren't for BS life complications from an overloaded schedule and the fair sex, I would have been here on a more regular basis.

 

[monfed]

Let's face it, dull with this style of tennis shouldn't have won a single non-clay slam let alone 6. The guy has overachieved so much it's almost unthinkable. Obviously if the courts are dry and high bouncy like this then and dull keeps getting players like Kukushkin and Sela in the first week when he's most vulnerable then what do you expect?

Today was a massive let off. Ofcourse dull will always have chances if he keeps getting joke first week draws when he's at his weakest, but you still have to wonder if this was Nadal's last chance to win Wimbledon.

Today was absolutely MASSIVE. It was at AO 17 F level importance in the context of the slam race but the way dull is playing and Fed is howling, USO will again be huge. I'm sticking to my prediction of Fed winning USO and I had predicted faker winning Wimbledon which seems to be coming true.

 

[Fiero425]

Djokovic's approach shots and groundstrokes moving toward the net were among the worst I have ever seen from him. He was sloppy and all-over-the-place with them. He is fortunate that he served well and has so much higher a peak level than Nadal that he was able to overcome his numerous inexcusable mistakes.

The fact that he won this match playing so badly shows just how much higher a ceiling he has than Nadal. He really has underachieved when you think about it, in terms of allowing Nadal to win so many big matches and especially so many French Opens and even US Opens.

Esp. dropping those major finals to Murray and Wawrinka; neither who are scrubs, but not in Nole's class! They may have played the matches of their lives, but often he cracked because they made him hit one more ball! He should be ahead of Rafa and closing in on Roger but for those losses; there being 6 snatched from him at Wimbledon, USO, FO, and Aussie Open QF in '14! :whistle:

 

[DarthFed]

Djokovic isn't all the way back yet and from Nadal's perspective that's probably what hurts the most. Djoker played dominant tennis in the first set but after that he was very beatable. Hell at times it looked like he was asking to be beat and Nadal just couldn't get it done.

Nole obviously has shown some signs but I thought a few things were telling. His return was mostly terrible in big moments and that's historically his best shot. He clearly struggles moving forward. He'd have reached a lot of Nadal's dropshots with ease a few years ago. Even his movement to the backhand wing isn't fully back. And when he got tight he basically started pushing off both wings. I'm not sure how Nadal lost that match today. Clearly they both played a lot better yesterday but Nadal seemed to be by far the steadier of the two today.

 

[calitennis127]

Djokovic isn't all the way back yet and from Nadal's perspective that's probably what hurts the most. Djoker played dominant tennis in the first set but after that he was very beatable. Hell at times it looked like he was asking to be beat and Nadal just couldn't get it done.

Nole obviously has shown some signs but I thought a few things were telling. His return was mostly terrible in big moments and that's historically his best shot. He clearly struggles moving forward. He'd have reached a lot of Nadal's dropshots with ease a few years ago. Even his movement to the backhand wing isn't fully back. And when he got tight he basically started pushing off both wings. I'm not sure how Nadal lost that match today. Clearly they both played a lot better yesterday but Nadal seemed to be by far the steadier of the two today.

I agree with your overall assessment Darth, but I disagree that Djokovic looked dominant in the first set. He botched multiple approach shots that would have made winning the set much more straightforward. Did you forget about those?

 

[DarthFed]

I agree with your overall assessment Darth, but I disagree that Djokovic looked dominant in the first set. He botched multiple approach shots that would have made winning the set much more straightforward. Did you forget about those?

I started watching from 3-2 Nadal in the first set and Djoker looked frightening good from there until he had break points in the first game in the 2nd set. After missing those he got visibly and audibly frustrated and totally lost the plot. I can't say about how he played up until 3-2 so maybe it wasn't that great but he was terminator mode up until missing those BP's. You could see it in the Nadal box, they had that terrified look like "not this guy again"

 

[monfed]

faker was 4/19 on BPs..that's fed level choking BPs...so end result was the right one.

 

[Moxie]

Nadal blew a monster opportunity. Unlike him. Djokovic wasn't top drawer, but if this is one of the worst matches you've seen him play, you've not just been distracted by other things, you've not watched tennis is the last 2 years. He had a refuse to go away that served him, but Nadal should have won it. Anyway, if he's not fully back, he's close. The A-game will be on view soon, I suspect.

 

[monfed]

I went out on a limb and predicted faker to win Wimbledon and he most probably will tomorrow. But faker will be fully back at USO but USO will be Fed's this year.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Djokovic isn't all the way back yet and from Nadal's perspective that's probably what hurts the most. Djoker played dominant tennis in the first set but after that he was very beatable. Hell at times it looked like he was asking to be beat and Nadal just couldn't get it done.

Nole obviously has shown some signs but I thought a few things were telling. His return was mostly terrible in big moments and that's historically his best shot. He clearly struggles moving forward. He'd have reached a lot of Nadal's dropshots with ease a few years ago. Even his movement to the backhand wing isn't fully back. And when he got tight he basically started pushing off both wings. I'm not sure how Nadal lost that match today. Clearly they both played a lot better yesterday but Nadal seemed to be by far the steadier of the two today.

Yes, all that pushing around was due to nervousness and not being sure whether he can actually beat Rafa. But, in the finals he rarely pushed. So, even though I agree with your and general assessment that Novak played at a lower level than his usual old self in the SF, I now believe it is fair to say that he is back. If he were to play another match with Rafa in the near future, he will beat him in a more dominant manner.

So, that SF match is not indicative of his current state. It was an outlier and he is back now to at least 90% of his old self.