NOVAK DJOKOVIC: The Fan Club

Luckily for Nadal he chose to wait for Beijing to show him, not USO

A very good match from Nole and much needed win for him.
I am happiest about the added confidence it will have given him, because we could all see what a huge difference it made to the way he played today.

Some very sweet words from him in that respect in his post match interview:

"I managed to stay tough and not drop my concentration, which I think [happened] in both Montreal and at the US Open in the important moments.
I've learnt my lesson from a few very tough and close matches that I lost against Rafa on hard courts, especially the last one in the US Open final."

And I add to that....about time!!!!!

This is a massive victory for Djokovic, Beijing ATP500 will prove to be the pivotal turning point.

Julia Santamaria wrote:This is a massive victory for Djokovic, Beijing ATP500 will prove to be the pivotal turning point.

Firstly, I am new to this forum. So, I did not get an opportunity to gauge your support to Nadal or Novak. 

The above comment clearly smacks of sarcasm, while few of your earlier posts indicate otherwise.

So I decided to pose the question to you directly - Whose fan are you really/

novak143 wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:This is a massive victory for Djokovic, Beijing ATP500 will prove to be the pivotal turning point.

Firstly, I am new to this forum. So, I did not get an opportunity to gauge your support to Nadal or Novak. 

The above comment clearly smacks of sarcasm, while few of your earlier posts indicate otherwise.

So I decided to pose the question to you directly - Whose fan are you really/

I am a unbiased Nadal fan.

By the way novak143, before you snap back at me, which is probably deserved tbh, do hear me out here:

On this forum I am probably the biggest Djokovic fan too. Yes I am a Nadal fan primarily, but I do like Djokovic and have defended him before (ask LuvSports).
The other Djokovic fan on this forum, thinks, and you can clear this up with her if you want; that Djokovic is a doper, steroid taker, and a cheat. And I'm not making this up.

So in many ways I can claim I am the biggest Djokovic fan on the forum.

Thanks Julia, for the clarification. Without the detailed inputs, I would have broken my head about this conundrum.

This again raises a new curiosity. How can one be a fan of both Nadal and Novak at the same time! Both their games are so different. I know few of Roger fans, who like Novak, simply for the reason that he can beat Nadal. So it is like Nadal fans on one side and all other fans on the other side. For the first time I am hearing of a fence sitter here.

Nitb, 
Do you want to respond to these wild allegations, if you have not already done so?

N143,
when you have the time, browse a bit through some threads and you'll get the idea of who thinks what and why it's often wise to ignore some comments.

The poster in question has changed the name many times so you can follow it here under: Amritia, Larry Ellison and the latest one - Julia Santamaria.
All of us here know each other from 606v2 where some of us were banned merely for not liking Nadal, Tenez in particular had a very hard time there.

So, all that aside, it's happy times for Nole camp, now that he seems to have sorted a few issues, plenty to look forward to

I still post on v2 btw but I like jamming with these cats

NITB,

Thanks for clearing the airs. I know you from 606v2 times, and that to how staunch a supporter you have been of Nole. That is why, I was surprised to hear such comments. In particular, I remember your story of getting caught during Wimby'11 for buying fake tickets, and how you watched remaining part of the match in tears!

Do you think Nadal is carrying an injury or is it a media hype.

This again raises a new curiosity. How can one be a fan of both Nadal and Novak at the same time!

I am primarily a Nadal fan, but I like watching Djokovic play. My second favourite player probably though is Tomas Berdych. And I am a far far bigger Nadal fan than Berdych one

That is justifiable Julia. I am primarily a fan of Nole and like watching StanTheMan and Jerzy Janowicz

noleisthebest wrote:N143,
when you have the time, browse a bit through some threads and you'll get the idea of who thinks what and why it's often wise to ignore some comments.

Hmmm, no this line is unfair because it makes it look like I was lying when I said that you said Djokovic was a doper.
Just to clarify N143, noleisthebest does think Djokovic is doping,

To back it up here's the post:

--------------------------------------------------
Re: Daniel Koellerer: Nadal Is Doping!
by noleisthebest on Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:30 pm

Julia Santamaria wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:
Absolutely!

To what?
You think Djokovic is absolutely a doper?

Which letter in the "absolutely" did I misspell?
-----------------------------------------------------

You can double check with the thread itself if you want.
For the record I don't think Djokovic is a steroid-taking cheater unlike NITB, but I do think he improves his stamina through legal means such as CVAC, control of diet, and hard work in the gym.

novak143 wrote:That is justifiable Julia. I am primarily a fan of Nole and like watching StanTheMan and Jerzy Janowicz

I think all neutral loves Stan
Janowicz, hmmmm, I don't really like his attitude. He was quite rude to Djokovic earlier this year (not directly, but in an interview).

novak143 wrote:NITB,

Thanks for clearing the airs. I know you from 606v2 times, and that to how staunch a supporter you have been of Nole. That is why, I was surprised to hear such comments. In particular, I remember your story of getting caught during Wimby'11 for buying fake tickets, and how you watched remaining part of the match in tears!

Do you think Nadal is carrying an injury or is it a media hype.

Those were the days.... 
Btw I didn't buy a fake ticket, it's just that at Wimbledon it is ILLEGAL to buy tickets from anyone unless those tickets are Debenture ones.
At the time I didn't know that (apparently it's fine in every other tournament in the world, in USO  eg, it can be done so long as you are 150m away from the grounds, but don't start me on Wimbledon ticket distribution, I hate it with passion!)  and the guy I bought the ticket from got caught trying to sell the other one he had, grassed me and the rest is history....so if ever you want to buy a ticket from someone who gets it through the Queue or the club ballot, or general Ballot, make sure it's someone you know. I am now an expert on Wimbledon tickets!
The wisdom is unfortunately very brief:if you want to go to Wimbledon - start saving up.....OR join a tiny tennis club where there is a more likely chance to get drawn in the ballot.

As for Nadal's injury, it's a tough one as I can see no evidence of it at all from the way he has been playing.
I am more inclined towards the silent ban theory. I reckon he must have tested positive in Wimbledon after the Rosol match.

7 months off is a long time for any injury that does not require surgery.

As a player yourself, you surely must know what is physically possible and what not on a tennis court, especially when it comes to endurance.

Nitb,

Thanks for Wimby Wisdom. I am not sure if I will be ever able to watch a Wimby match. However I did watch 2 USO '08 Semifinals featuring the Big 4 including Nole. But to my disappointment, he lost that match to Roger.

I am just a recreational player, playing 5 days a week of doubles. However, I do have some idea about the physicality of the game. I used to think the time they spend in physical conditioning helps them in the brutal modern game. Now I am not too sure, after reading the long posts on this forum

novak143 wrote:Nitb,

Thanks for Wimby Wisdom. I am not sure if I will be ever able to watch a Wimby match. However I did watch 2 USO '08 Semifinals featuring the Big 4 including Nole. But to my disappointment, he lost that match to Roger.

I am just a recreational player, playing 5 days a week of doubles. However, I do have some idea about the physicality of the game. I used to think the time they spend in physical conditioning helps them in the brutal modern game. Now I am not too sure, after reading the long posts on this forum

He, he it's not the recreational but the doubles that gives it away, "physicality" wise  

I'll give you a ray of hope for Wimbledon:
In 2011, on my way to that legendary final I got kicked out of, I met a man and his daughter on the tube, they were both broken-hearted Federer fans (Fed lost that 5 setter to Tsonga that year), we got talking and exchanging our tennis memories etc...he proudly showed me his AO cap signed by Fed that same year, his RG souveniers etc etc....it turned out that he won a prize at some Mazda competition in Mexico, and the prize were flights, hotels and tickets for all QFs, SFs and Fs in all 4 slams in 2011 paid for.....need I say he had debenture tickets for Wimbledon....so there is hope  

Do what I did and queue up! A great day is in store if you do what i do
http://richard-mills-sports.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/my-day-out-at-sw19_28.html

I had some time and watched the Beijing final more closely again. Every fan of Nole have to appreciate his excellent performance and superb focus for the whole match.

What I really like it is  watching some matches again in a couple days when I can spot details in a calm way. 


Except superb BL game, serve and returns Nole showed much sharper FH and volleys. To be honest his winners were the clearest I have ever seen with Nadal. Nadal did not get a sniff when Nole played on his serve. Nole fired out as Napoleon`s army at Slavkov 1805.


Despite 3-4 balls called by linesmen against Nole, he stayed cool and focused. Nole was absolutely dominant player even with Frankenstein`s army of frenetically mad girls behind him

paulcz wrote:I had some time and watched the Beijing final more closely again. Every fan of Nole have to appreciate his excellent performance and superb focus for the whole match.

What I really like it is  watching some matches again in a couple days when I can spot details in a calm way. 


Except superb BL game, serve and returns Nole showed much sharper FH and volleys. To be honest his winners were the clearest I have ever seen with Nadal. Nadal did not get a sniff when Nole played on his serve. Nole fired out as Napoleon`s army at Slavkov 1805.


Despite 3-4 balls called by linesmen against Nole, he stayed cool and focused. Nole was absolutely dominant player even with Frankenstein`s army of frenetically mad girls behind him

I saw the highlights post match only and despite knowing Nole had won, still was a bit tense when he was serving at 4:3 in the 2nd set....

Yes, Nole was fantastic, but the thing that got me thinking is WHY could he not play like this in USO?
He got into the match with the same confidence and outplayed Nadal and then just let the match go, his focus was all over the place for some reason.
My only explanation is that:
before the match started, Nadal looked more juiced than ever, doped to his eyeballs and beyond. Dealing with Nadal's super charged ball in that 1st set, took 2 sets worth of energy out of Nole, and that finally caught up with him in the 3rd.

You know how in tennis time moves both fast and slow at the same time, I find it a very fascinating concept that does not exist in any other sport, I think that Nole lost that slowness of time which is essential for focus, and got rushed, as if he wasn't thinking straight.

So seeing him play like in 2011 last Sunday just was strange from that point of view. He must know something we don't (yet)

Nitb, I realy like your sense for analyzing of psychological aspect of the game.
To keep the concentration on the game within a whole match is one of the most difficult part of tennis. Nole`s natural mental approach to tennis is not so “killing” as Nadal/Fed have. But Nole is able to switch to the killing mode as well. The problemf Nole is that he plays with his opponent like a chess player, i.e.  construct the game till the last ball. Because Nole`s approach is quite similar to mine I allow myself to judge this playful approach as pretty tricky. I remember my own matches on hard courts against my biggest rival and when I was convinced that I will win, then I did not play at full gass from the beginning and allowed him to get into the game. That is a big mistake. The first set is the most important in these matches. You need to rule  on the court from the beginning and not to try to construct game and go for beautiful winners.
As we could see at Beijing final the serve directly reflects players` killing mindset. When I was really motivated and played on adrenaline I was able to serve with a perfect accuracy and plant many aces on hard courts. That concentration on the serve helped Andy to win Wimbledon and I clearly see Ivan`s coaching behind it. His back issue is surely consequence of that.
Therefore my advice to Nole is still just staying aggressive and thereby also focused, which goes hand in hand. To put a kilo of muscle would help him with the hitting power on serve/volleys especially, but also he could generate more adrenaline in his body. I do not like entertainment stuff from Nole on the court, that is something which ruins a player`s aggressivity.
Frankenstein looks like he has an adrenaline bath at home and dives in it with Toni together. His appearance and odious court behavour fully reflects that.

Having watched the first set of Nole with Jo-Wi, it was a typical example of Nole playfulness when he could hammered the first set with a lead 4:0, but he allowed Jo-Wi to get into the set.
That is still the same Nole`s approach to entertain the crowds and try some game patterns. But if he is able to switch to the second mode, then it is ok

I don't think it's Nole's playfulness as much as it is the Balkan mentality which can be summed up in: "I saw that I can do it....and that was enough", ie, don't persevere to the very end, but relax.

Still, that's the beauty of the variety ATP characters offer.
Nole is all about passion and when he is riding it he is invincible, but it's very consuming and exhausting at the same time, which is why he has those lapses.

It's so easy to lose focus against "boring" predictable players, isn't it?

noleisthebest wrote:I don't think it's Nole's playfulness as much as it is the Balkan mentality which can be summed up in: "I saw that I can do it....and that was enough", ie, don't persevere to the very end, but relax.

Still, that's the beauty of the variety ATP characters offer.
Nole is all about passion and when he is riding it he is invincible, but it's very consuming and exhausting at the same time, which is why he has those lapses.

It's so easy to lose focus against "boring" predictable players, isn't it?

Yes, Nole and passion that is actually one thing. But it is a pity to lose some matches uselessly. He works very hard on the court and when he can hammer a last nail he slackens in his effort and play for crowds.

I actually do not know any top player with a similar approach to tennis. But thanks God, that we can have him

Congratulations to Nole and Delpo for their final in Shanghai. Hopefully we will see them in finals more often.


I regret pretty much that I could not watch it, because we had the last tennis session outside this year.
It had to be a great match of two really nice and great players, I will defo look at it later. It seems to be that current Nole found out the way how to switch his concentration into his super ultimate mode at a final phase of the match again. Well done Nole    


Btw tennis game is really nice sport also for elder people. Just like Berdych's parents played nice tennis today. Both are doctors and very nice and calm people. And both look very slim. Bird's body looks quite huge in a comparison to his parents. A bit strange

Today is really nice day and things went well. Nole found out his focus and mental strength at the beginning of the second set in the match with well playing Fed, who showed his tennis magic at some points again.

I think that their match was a great invitation to next week WTF. These matches will never become boring. 

Well done Nole and year-end numero uno is a bit more real again 

Well done and great congratulations to Nole   
  
Unfortunately I couldn't watch it, so I will surely look at it tonight. The result shows how strong Nole is on hard courts and can say that match made his season quite good and still WTF and DC final  is waiting. So, the season is not over yet, just vice versa, fortunately the end of season has its magical intensity, i.e. YE #1 is open.
  
I have been watching Nole for the last couple of years and must say that only thing I could really reproach him was that Nole has become since his most successful 2011 too moderate and bland on the court.
I really appreciate that Nole shows his guts on the court, releases his emotions and stopped being the nice guy. Finally!
Nole was born as an entertaining fighter for crowds, just as a contrast to many other dull tennis machines 

Paul,
you did not miss much. It was a really boring match, I nearly fell asleep a couple of times, and wanted to turn it off, but didn't want to miss the trophy presentation so kept watching.
I am very happy for Nole's end of 2013 esp how well he bounced back from all the painful losses this year.
Ferrer, like a persistant, annoying mosquito kept flying and buzzing around as usual, and that's about it.
I read that Nole played with mild flu, so hope he is back to full health for his Tuesday match against Federer, he'll need it.
Regarding his game being bland, ever since he switched from Wilson to Head, his forehand has changed and he has been playing with a lot more spin now, using it for rallying rather than attacking as he used to do a lot more when he was starting, and did a lot when he played at his confident best during 2011.
He has worked a lot in 2013, by sharpening his serve which is pretty good now, as well as his volleys which are much better then a few years ago.
He enjoys it and is slowly gaining confidence in that part of the court which is great.
If I was Vajda, I would work heavily on his FH in the off season now, he needs to develop it into a weapon asap.
I noticed when he played Nadal in USO final, he had a special "secret weapon" I had never seen him use before and that was a flat, deep CC FH which did a lot of damage.
I never saw him play it after or against other players, so that was interesting to me.

I hope he starts using his FH for attacking more and he can do it only by hitting it flatter.
Depth with spin is just not enough to guarantee wins against in-form Nadal and Federer. He has to start playing shorter points against ALL opponents, that would make his life so much easier, tennis more enjoyable both for him to play and us to watch. Not to mention the length of career.
As I said before, confidence is a big thing in Nole's FH, so the more he has it/wins, the more he plays it well and as he should.

His BH is excellent, just needs to keep it as it is. 

So many things that need to click in into a smooth game, it all takes time,  so many factors that contribute to playing well, for me 2013 is a bit over in some way, although I'll go to O2 to see some matches, I am very disappointed with 2013 in general, tennis has gone down for everyone except Nadal.

SR,

I don't understand your point. What do we know already?

SR was saying that Ferrer lacked mental strength in the big moments against the top players due to lack of belief, which we knew already.

@NITB
No-slam DF is typically a mental midget when he plays guys ranking above him.

Julia Santamaria wrote:SR was saying that Ferrer lacked mental strength in the big moments against the top players due to lack of belief, which we knew already.

Merci. Julia, c'est ça.

Wow, SR, you can speak French, lucky you.....
As for Ferrer and "mental strength", I doubt that's what has prevented him from winning slams and even masters 1000 for that matter (Paris last year was a fluke....all top players tanked the tournament big time).
Maybe a better serve, more variety, more guts, more.... just about more of everything really.
He just is not good enough, and thanks to doping, he is ahead of quite a few more talented players than him anyway.
His ball-striking is very average, he is probably one of the biggest over-achievers on tour (Nadal takes the cake, of course).

noleisthebest wrote:Paul,
you did not miss much. It was a really boring match, I nearly fell asleep a couple of times, and wanted to turn it off, but didn't want to miss the trophy presentation so kept watching.
I am very happy for Nole's end of 2013 esp how well he bounced back from all the painful losses this year.
Ferrer, like a persistant, annoying mosquito kept flying and buzzing around as usual, and that's about it.
I read that Nole played with mild flu, so hope he is back to full health for his Tuesday match against Federer, he'll need it.
Regarding his game being bland, ever since he switched from Wilson to Head, his forehand has changed and he has been playing with a lot more spin now, using it for rallying rather than attacking as he used to do a lot more when he was starting, and did a lot when he played at his confident best during 2011.
He has worked a lot in 2013, by sharpening his serve which is pretty good now, as well as his volleys which are much better then a few years ago.
He enjoys it and is slowly gaining confidence in that part of the court which is great.
If I was Vajda, I would work heavily on his FH in the off season now, he needs to develop it into a weapon asap.
I noticed when he played Nadal in USO final, he had a special "secret weapon" I had never seen him use before and that was a flat, deep CC FH which did a lot of damage.
I never saw him play it after or against other players, so that was interesting to me.

I hope he starts using his FH for attacking more and he can do it only by hitting it flatter.
Depth with spin is just not enough to guarantee wins against in-form Nadal and Federer. He has to start playing shorter points against ALL opponents, that would make his life so much easier, tennis more enjoyable both for him to play and us to watch. Not to mention the length of career.
As I said before, confidence is a big thing in Nole's FH, so the more he has it/wins, the more he plays it well and as he should.

His BH is excellent, just needs to keep it as it is. 

So many things that need to click in into a smooth game, it all takes time,  so many factors that contribute to playing well, for me 2013 is a bit over in some way, although I'll go to O2 to see some matches, I am very disappointed with 2013 in general, tennis has gone down for everyone except Nadal.

Yesterday I had finished my reply and then wanted to post, but without success, so now again and better.
 
 
What was wrong in this season was mental approach of Nole and his team. Nole, his team as all others thought that Nadal would not get himself into a new winning shape. So all Nole's lost matches have the same reason, a massive underestimation and not being mentally ready for the fights. Just lethargy and apathy from lost RG which should have been covered by Nole's dancing and entertaining. I was really angry that his team allowed him doing this circus on courts. When he stopped his charades on courts, he is awesome player again.
 
 
What is by far worse than Nole's dancing it is how many great players speak about Nadal's great comeback. Frankenstein returned with super juiced legs and hands and started playing by far more powerful tennis with ultra fast legs. If Nadal and his team were not cheaters, liars, deceivers, then we should clap for his enormous effort on courts. But it is definitely not that case. This kind of tennis can not withstand nobody on the tour neither Nadal himself. There is nothing natural around him, even his scratching and poking has its disruptive role towards his  opponent. And when media write that Fed playing tennis on PC with Nadal, that is ridiculous. Is that right or Fed is still ok? Perhaps Fed will get a chance to play him.
 
 
Yes, a bit improvement on his FH timing would raise Nole into an absolute superclass. I see that he goes more through the ball and he works on timing on that side. The improvement is there.
I have a big question mark or being  sceptical about a change of his grip to eastern grip. That would totally ruin his game. His approach is rooted as active constructive game, which supports his SW grip. Great angles, different spins and directions, just a playful approach, that is Nole. He is not a natural killer, he still needs to force himself to the net often. Although he has improved a lot in this area.
 
 
His main target is to win RG and top spins take it. Nole has still all cards in his hands. He is still the most versatile and complete player and I feel that he understood after his charades, that a real champion is just a killer. No regret, no smile, no playing for crowds, just to smash the ball directly into an opponent head. He has already taken his lesson from this season, I am pretty sure.
 
 
Yes, I have noticed that Nole did not feel well on court yesterday, so he just relied on Feru forced errors. But that result is quite amazing. If one superjuiced healthy player is not able to go through Feru and second one not feeling well did it, then hat off to Nole. Just great

Yesterday:

paulcz wrote:I really appreciate that Nole shows his guts on the court, releases his emotions and stopped being the nice guy. Finally!
Nole was born as an entertaining fighter for crowds, just as a contrast to many other dull tennis machines 

Today:

paulcz wrote:No regret, no smile, no playing for crowds, just to smash the ball directly into an opponent head. He has already taken his lesson from this season, I am pretty sure.

Incredible player this Djokovic. 

paulcz wrote:I was really angry that his team allowed him doing this circus on courts. When he stopped his charades on courts, he is awesome player again.

If I had been making such crappy excuses for Rafa I would have been ripped apart.

Julia Santamaria wrote:

paulcz wrote:I was really angry that his team allowed him doing this circus on courts. When he stopped his charades on courts, he is awesome player again.

If I had been making such crappy excuses for Rafa I would have been ripped apart.  

Please do not react to my posting, I will be grateful to you and you will not have to read any offensive words from my side. Dear Girl, be just happy for this evening and dream about your favorite player and don't try to understand anything I wrote, that will make you happy and me as well.

Please,  write whatever you want on FAN PAGE of your favorite player. You can be sure that I will never look at it, so you can write what you want about everything, even about tennis or balls or just everything. Thank you very much.

Well this is a Djokovic fan thread, and if not anything you're being more critical of him than me in this instance.

I don't think his dancing affected his performance, I think he's a very serious professional when on court and I simply don't think dancing post-match would affect him- he is simply too strong mentally for that.

paulcz wrote:
 What was wrong in this season was mental approach of Nole and his team. Nole, his team as all others thought that Nadal would not get himself into a new winning shape. So all Nole's lost matches have the same reason, a massive underestimation and not being mentally ready for the fights. Just lethargy and apathy from lost RG which should have been covered by Nole's dancing and entertaining. I was really angry that his team allowed him doing this circus on courts. When he stopped his charades on courts, he is awesome player again.
What is by far worse than Nole's dancing it is how many great players speak about Nadal's great comeback.
 
Yes, a bit improvement on his FH timing would raise Nole into an absolute superclass. I see that he goes more through the ball and he works on timing on that side. The improvement is there.
I have a big question mark or being  sceptical about a change of his grip to eastern grip. That would totally ruin his game. His approach is rooted as active constructive game, which supports his SW grip. Great angles, different spins and directions, just a playful approach, that is Nole. He is not a natural killer, he still needs to force himself to the net often. Although he has improved a lot in this area.

Yes, Nole still has all options open to him, and it's a nice position to be in.
You are right, he is not a "natural born killer", and although he is extremely driven and ambitious, he just relaxes too easily (not a bad thing in fact, once he finishes his tennis career).
One of the things that gives it away is that silly clapping opponents' shots. I really don't like it. To me, it is both condescending as well as a sign of weakness.
We have a player in our club who does it, and I find it really annoying (her name is Murray, can you believe it!)
Nole actually CAN strike his FH really well when he wants to, he just doesn't. He plays it safe a lot of the times and that's what annoys me and costs him a lot of close matches. He needs to be proactive with it all the time, or at least much more (which I am 100% sure he is quite capable of doing) not "slap it" as Federer said when he is pressed against the wall.

Nole needs to keep working on his game and just stop burdening himself with goals.
He clearly can't cope with it.

2014 is a big year for him and anything short of 2 slams is going to be disappointing from him. He really needs to put his foot down with Nadal and not let him breathe, like in 2011.

You could see Nadal did not want to face another humiliation in Paris and it wouldn't surprise me if he does the same in London.

I really can't stand the guy, and the dislike is getting worse and worse ( if that's actually possible!).

2013 must have been the worst year in tennis history thanks to him and the things he was allowed to get away with.

Congratulations to Nole for his first win at WTF   Quite tough after Paris and very important for the start. The positive thing is that Nole can find his ultimate concentration mode when it really matters. Although the match looked more like a festival of UEs, the third set was well played.


Regarding clapping to opponents' shots, I am not basically against it in the case, that a player does not succumb to admiration of that ball and is able to switch to an increased activity to pay back that to the opponent by next ball. I do not have a feeling that Nole's mind is burdened by that moment, his mind is positively set-up for the next ball. If it is ok with a player, then I appreciate a bit of emotions showed on the court or whatever that helps a player to energize his mind.
I don't think that it is a sign of weakness, rather vice versa. The player's clapping actually says that he is not frustrated by a good ball and I would translate that as if he said: „Hey guy, that was good, but I can do it better, you will see soon“.
The problem of clapping is if a player does not have a response, then it is a sheer desperation.
If it is condescending, that does not bother me. If a player plays with a cool head and selconfidence then clapping can't caused a trouble for his concentration. Nole, because he is not a natural killer, just needs to somehow release his aggressivity and to get fully in the match. I can say that I also appreciate opponent's shots when playing with good rivals by words, not clapping. No Murray  


From my experience I can say that the burdening by goals is pretty tricky. It is not easy to say how a player reacts when he sets himself big goals. But the problem is when a player speaks about it in public which can raise a wave of disfavour from crowds. Then the pressure goes up and that is not easy to handle.


Hopefully Nole will get himself together for next fights and also Stan and Berd show good guts against that scratching moron.


I have a feeling that well serving Stan could take Nadal round the court nicely, so let's hope.

Great match, one of the best tennis I have seen this season. Beautiful net game, great touch for a ball and brilliant move. That is just Nole.

Congratulations to Nole and also to Stan. Nice match from both   

I thought Stan was rubbish tonight, his inferior footwork really let him down on these slow courts.
He hit a couple of nice shots and that's about it. Serving was bad, he just wanted the match over as quickly as possible, his BH was below par tonight.
Nole looks ready to lift that trophy again tomorrow

noleisthebest wrote:I thought Stan was rubbish tonight, his inferior footwork really let him down on these slow courts.
He hit a couple of nice shots and that's about it. Serving was bad, he just wanted the match over as quickly as possible, his BH was below par tonight.
Nole looks ready to lift that trophy again tomorrow

That just looked seemingly that Stan did not catch on the court. But Nole was nearly excellent, he played with him like cat with a mouse. Nole's return was top quality, what Stan could do?

Practically I have nothing to critisize him for his match, that does not happen too often

Congratulations to Nole, well played final with a great focus   

The difference between Nole and Nadal is striking.  Nole is by a level more active gutsier player driven by his refounded great patience. The key point in their match was except activity that Nole was by a fair margin better on serve and return.

It was mentally tough match, but there was visible how Nole took a lesson from his previous matches with Nadal and played beautiful chess fight and not for clear winners.

Despite Nole's win, it was quite visible that his legs are quite worn out and therefore  he wanted to avoid longer rallies when Nadal on serve.

In my opinion Nole's reaction on return and his move on the BL is the best I have ever seen.

So, Nole really stepped in the court and reigned on the court from the first point.

Great last match and deserved win WTF 2013 improved an impression of this season.

That commentator, Andrew, on SKY Sport is totally dumb, please Englismen try to do something with him. I would give him a last chance due to this nice  evening though  

Only left thing is to win DC this year. Me as Czech understands, that only chance to beat Serbia is without Nole. But I wish him best and will have no problem with Serbia's win. Nole is just nice intelligent guy and what is more by his great win he has saved tennis against liars and disgusting cheaters

Well done Djoko. It was important to stop Rafa winning that Masters. Only quality champions wins that title (ditto Becker)!

Tenez wrote:Well done Djoko. It was important to stop Rafa winning that Masters. Only quality champions wins that title (ditto Becker)!

Ten, you knew it, these champions start working together   

Congratulations to Nole for taking the title, the player of the YEAR 2013, and that one is  from wise ITF. These ITFs must know who is the best. 

pmsl

Great start for Nole in the new season and can see that his setup is there.
Nice to see his team in a good mood and ready for upcoming fights       

So, nice Xmas time goes on and I wish all true tennis fans to enjoy not only great tennis, but having a bit fun, a cool head and an open mind