Okay, I just watched the Tennis Channel re-run of the US Open final up through the end of the 3rd set, by which time the outcome was no longer in jeopardy.
What is even more apparent watching the re-run is that the better, more talented hardcourt player lost the match. Plain and simple. Djokovic was utterly dominant late in the second set and early in the 3rd set. His forehand in that stretch was far better than Nadal's has ever been on a hardcourt, and the stats back that assertion up.
At the end of the 3rd set: forehand winners were 21 to 10 in favor of Djokovic, not the player who supposedly has the "best forehand in the game". The winner count near the end of the second set was 34 to 16 in favor of Djokovic, including even the awful, sluggish first set from Djokovic when he played as if he had just rolled out of bed or been watching a movie for 3 and a half hours and needed to loosen up from being stiff.
All of the key moments in the 3rd set came down to Djokovic having lapses and losing points because of lacking focus and being a bit too carefree/sluggish. This is obvious. He gave away the game at 3-2 this way, and then he lost the game at 4-4, 0-40 in that manner as well. Speaking of which....
At 0-40 in Kieran's favorite 4-4 game of all time, Nadal did make a very nice forehand down the line. At 15-40, however, Djokovic went Federer and hit too many rally shots to Nadal's BH side (after having immense success attacking his forehand throughout sets 2 and 3), ultimately losing the point with a forehand that hit the net after a 21-shot rally. At 30-40, Nadal hit quite possibly the luckiest first serve of his life, his first and only ace of the match up to that point. This would be the equivalent of Ivo Karlovic hitting a running backhand lob in the Wimbledon final against Federer in 2005.
At deuce, Djokovic missed a very straightforward backhand in the rally to lose the point. Nadal did absolutely NOTHING special offensively to win the point. NOTHING. Djokovic then won an awkward point at Ad-Nadal off a good forehand to get the match back to deuce. In the subsequent deuce point, Djokovic missed a completely straightforward forehand long. Nadal had put some weight on his last rally shot, but it was up the middle of the court and Djokovic had returned that type of shot from Nadal a million times before. It was a very poor miss from Djokovic and an outright mental lapse. At Ad-Nadal again, Nadal did get a good serve in and Djokovic's BH landed short, leading to Nadal getting an overhead. But by the time this last point occurred, it was obvious that the game had already gone to Nadal because Djokovic knew that he had blown his chances and was playing terribly on the big points. He had just squandered three of them with easy misses, after Nadal had done nothing special in the rallies. Djokovic lost those points; Nadal did not win them.
In review, there were only two points in that entire 10-point game at 4-4 in the 3rd set where Nadal won off of offense in the rallies and "taking it" - points #'s 4 and 10. Point #4 was Nadal playing a loose, nothing-to-lose, go-for-broke type of forehand at 0-40. But I will give him credit there. It was a great shot. Point #10 was just a formality point. That said, neither point had anything to do with how Nadal won that game. The meat of that game was Djokovic making poor errors on points #'s 5 (15-40), 7 (first deuce), and 9 (second deuce) - that is just what the facts bear out. All three points ended on a Djokovic unforced error off of a normal rally shot (especially on the last two). Mix that in with one of the luckiest aces in the history of Grand Slam tennis at 30-40 by Nadal, and you have the outcome of what happened in that game.
In conclusion, the US Open 2013 final loss to Nadal has to be the worst loss of Djokovic's career. He lost a GS final to a completely inferior hardcourt player who he was outplaying and bossing around the court. He had twice as many winners, including twice as many off of the forehand wing. He showed that at its best his forehand is clearly a better hardcourt shot than Nadal's forehand.
Just a terrible loss that overshadows Djokovic's excellent finish to the season. Probably has to be the worst loss of his career, at least in a GS final for sure.
What is even more apparent watching the re-run is that the better, more talented hardcourt player lost the match. Plain and simple. Djokovic was utterly dominant late in the second set and early in the 3rd set. His forehand in that stretch was far better than Nadal's has ever been on a hardcourt, and the stats back that assertion up.
At the end of the 3rd set: forehand winners were 21 to 10 in favor of Djokovic, not the player who supposedly has the "best forehand in the game". The winner count near the end of the second set was 34 to 16 in favor of Djokovic, including even the awful, sluggish first set from Djokovic when he played as if he had just rolled out of bed or been watching a movie for 3 and a half hours and needed to loosen up from being stiff.
All of the key moments in the 3rd set came down to Djokovic having lapses and losing points because of lacking focus and being a bit too carefree/sluggish. This is obvious. He gave away the game at 3-2 this way, and then he lost the game at 4-4, 0-40 in that manner as well. Speaking of which....
At 0-40 in Kieran's favorite 4-4 game of all time, Nadal did make a very nice forehand down the line. At 15-40, however, Djokovic went Federer and hit too many rally shots to Nadal's BH side (after having immense success attacking his forehand throughout sets 2 and 3), ultimately losing the point with a forehand that hit the net after a 21-shot rally. At 30-40, Nadal hit quite possibly the luckiest first serve of his life, his first and only ace of the match up to that point. This would be the equivalent of Ivo Karlovic hitting a running backhand lob in the Wimbledon final against Federer in 2005.
At deuce, Djokovic missed a very straightforward backhand in the rally to lose the point. Nadal did absolutely NOTHING special offensively to win the point. NOTHING. Djokovic then won an awkward point at Ad-Nadal off a good forehand to get the match back to deuce. In the subsequent deuce point, Djokovic missed a completely straightforward forehand long. Nadal had put some weight on his last rally shot, but it was up the middle of the court and Djokovic had returned that type of shot from Nadal a million times before. It was a very poor miss from Djokovic and an outright mental lapse. At Ad-Nadal again, Nadal did get a good serve in and Djokovic's BH landed short, leading to Nadal getting an overhead. But by the time this last point occurred, it was obvious that the game had already gone to Nadal because Djokovic knew that he had blown his chances and was playing terribly on the big points. He had just squandered three of them with easy misses, after Nadal had done nothing special in the rallies. Djokovic lost those points; Nadal did not win them.
In review, there were only two points in that entire 10-point game at 4-4 in the 3rd set where Nadal won off of offense in the rallies and "taking it" - points #'s 4 and 10. Point #4 was Nadal playing a loose, nothing-to-lose, go-for-broke type of forehand at 0-40. But I will give him credit there. It was a great shot. Point #10 was just a formality point. That said, neither point had anything to do with how Nadal won that game. The meat of that game was Djokovic making poor errors on points #'s 5 (15-40), 7 (first deuce), and 9 (second deuce) - that is just what the facts bear out. All three points ended on a Djokovic unforced error off of a normal rally shot (especially on the last two). Mix that in with one of the luckiest aces in the history of Grand Slam tennis at 30-40 by Nadal, and you have the outcome of what happened in that game.
In conclusion, the US Open 2013 final loss to Nadal has to be the worst loss of Djokovic's career. He lost a GS final to a completely inferior hardcourt player who he was outplaying and bossing around the court. He had twice as many winners, including twice as many off of the forehand wing. He showed that at its best his forehand is clearly a better hardcourt shot than Nadal's forehand.
Just a terrible loss that overshadows Djokovic's excellent finish to the season. Probably has to be the worst loss of his career, at least in a GS final for sure.
