Novak Djokovic Slam record

So another slam final lost by Djokovic at the French open when everybody expected him to win it.

8 slams titles (5 of those on slow HC), and 8 slam final losses, a mere 50% win/loss ratio. Not a good record for a "great". Federer and Nadal have roughly a 70% win ratio each in slams final.  Novak has been the dominant player since 2011 but he "only" won 4 slams in the last 3 and a half years. That 4 slams in 14 opportunities. His masters series ratio is much more convincing.

Some were predicting he would run away with the four slams this year as he is reaching his career peak form, yet I would not be surprised if he got stuck with only the AO again.

He is extremely consistent but it is fair to question is mental strength when it comes to the biggest events, despite being the fittest (in outlasting) of them all. He just lost to Stan who as talented as he is, is not particularly known to be a mental rock.

Djokovic is a player known for never giving up, fighting till the end, play high risky shots in most important moments. His record in the big events seem to show otherwise.

Maybe Nole doesn't handle the pressure as well after all. Which is  peculiar because he has been rock solid many times against Federer. But just when you think he's going to win it all, he shows his human side. We've seen that in Rafa's case too.

My theory is: the roadrunners (Nadal, Djoko, Murray) always could hide under Federer's wings. Federer's presence took the pressure away  from his main opponants. Even on clay Nadal manage to sell himself as the underdog against Federer. Djoko never had real pressure in those USO semi's against Federer. Losing wouldn't shock the world.
The bigger fish was on the other side of the net. 

Djoko said himself: "it's not easy now everyone expects you to win".

It's a tough job to follow Federer's footsteps..

gallery play wrote:Maybe Nole doesn't handle the pressure as well after all. Which is  peculiar because he has been rock solid many times against Federer. But just when you think he's going to win it all, he shows his human side. We've seen that in Rafa's case too.

That's where I am actually skeptical. He has not done too well v Federer despite having the huge advantage of having a safer game doubled by better stamina. In particular those 2 USP semis he won despite being 2 MPs down is of course seen as being tenacious....but the problem is that he found himself with 2 MPs down in the first place. Not a place one wants to be and his slam record confirms that those 2 wins happened when the pressure fell off his shoulder. I mean It's on;y when he realised he was down and out that we gambled his win. I think with such a modern game, he should have done better v Federer. Nadal did much better v Fed but it is fair to say that Nadal had the advantage of being LH and was sending a ball which created more problems that Djoko's.

My theory is: the roadrunners (Nadal, Djoko, Murray) always could hide under Federer's wings. Federer's presence took the pressure away  from his main opponants. Even on clay Nadal manage to sell himself as the underdog against Federer. Djoko never had real pressure in those USO semi's against Federer. Losing wouldn't shock the world.
The bigger fish was on the other side of the net. 

This is a very good point. They did not have anything to prove v the best player ever...whereas fed had everything to lose.

It's a tough job to follow Federer's footsteps.

Yep...despite having the huge advantage over Federer in that the conditions have not changed for those roadrunners. They are the same as those they learnt tennis from. Which certainly was not the case for Federer. Imagine if suddenly we were to forbid those new strings and ask them to play with natural gut from then on, on carpet! They woudl struggle staying in the top 20. This is in effect what happened to federer, at the beginning of his career.

Nole is a defender and a brilliant one, that's definition of his mindset.
I believe he would've beaten Stan in Paris had he been fresh or at least played with normal balls.

Stan's performance in itself was an experience a bit like Cilic in USO.
Though, Stan is a better player.

I haven't actually thought about slam count and all that digital stuff...

As things stand, he still has a good chance at any one he enters, but we know that draws and many other factors play a part.

I'd like him to loosen his shoulders a bit, but he plays under huge pressure as he doesn't have blasting power and weapons, so has to keep super sharp focus all the time.

noleisthebest wrote:I'd like him to loosen his shoulders a bit, but he plays under huge pressure as he doesn't have blasting power and weapons, so has to keep super sharp focus all the time.

He is 6ft2! So he could really unleash lots of power if he wanted to. If you look at Dolgo or Nishi, they do generate lots of power being shorter. Djoko has the advantage of moving much better than those players. So had he chosen to swing his racquet flatter he woudl be deadly (he does it at times btw). But he certainly chose to win instead and his best way to win is by defending. The down side is the match is not in his racquet.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I'd like him to loosen his shoulders a bit, but he plays under huge pressure as he doesn't have blasting power and weapons, so has to keep super sharp focus all the time.

He is 6ft2! So he could really unleash lots of power if he wanted to. If you look at Dolgo or Nishi, they do generate lots of power being shorter. Djoko has the advantage of moving much better than those players. So had he chosen to swing his racquet flatter he woudl be deadly (he does it at times btw). But he certainly chose to win instead and his best way to win is by defending. The down side is the match is not in his racquet.

You're right...it's up to him then.

Tenez wrote:So another slam final lost by Djokovic at the French open when everybody expected him to win it.

8 slams titles (5 of those on slow HC), and 8 slam final losses, a mere 50% win/loss ratio. Not a good record for a "great". Federer and Nadal have roughly a 70% win ratio each in slams final.  Novak has been the dominant player since 2011 but he "only" won 4 slams in the last 3 and a half years. That 4 slams in 14 opportunities. His masters series ratio is much more convincing.

Some were predicting he would run away with the four slams this year as he is reaching his career peak form, yet I would not be surprised if he got stuck with only the AO again.

He is extremely consistent but it is fair to question is mental strength when it comes to the biggest events, despite being the fittest (in outlasting) of them all. He just lost to Stan who as talented as he is, is not particularly known to be a mental rock.

Djokovic is a player known for never giving up, fighting till the end, play high risky shots in most important moments. His record in the big events seem to show otherwise.

How do you explain it?

I don't know but clearly the big events, records are affecting him.

I still think he has done very well for being an average shot maker.....but essentially due to his fitness and a very good balance between attack and defense.....which on those slow courts is essentially about defense.