US OPEN FINALS- with match fixtures

luvsports! wrote:He was hitting it much better before tenez, but yes they do like flip flopping around with their impetuous remarks.

Not sure they do...they still believe it. Nadal's FH is so over rated. It;s a very difficult shot to handle and attack but he has one the poorest winners/#FHs ratio. How many FH does he need to pull to get one winner? It has not been designed to pull winners anyway but to prevent the opponent to hit some.

Time for break.

What needs to happen for Nadal to get time violation warning!!!

lol rafa fell over!

I was saying Nadal looked like cramping in that rush to the lob...and next point he fellls over.

3 bp's saved

Djoko should have won that set 61 .....but Nadal looks gone to me....now regardless.

luvsports! wrote:Bold prediction: whoever wins this game will win the match.

Even bolder!
Nole is winning the match in either scenario.

Focus Nole, focus!!!!

I hope I am now very wrong nitb and nole wins the next 9 games

Loving the inside out FH from Nole tonight

set point rafa.

Nadal looks cooked, Nole must hold the serve now.
HOLD ON NOLEEEEEEE!!!

how on earth did he lose that set.

Watch Nole come out of the blocks in the 4th!
What a squander of a set....but that's him....

It's so bizarre...Nadal looks completely gone but Djoko gives him all teh UEs needed to close the set.

I still think this match is Nole to lose.

Interesting to see Nole going for Nadal's FH....juicing him out of the last drop

Djoko really struggles in the wind.

How many close games has Djoko lost thus far?

Tenez wrote:Djoko really struggles in the wind.

It's no fun playing in the wind, and in his particular case it really stuffs his footwork.

Tenez wrote:How many close games has Djoko lost thus far?

He has squandered so many games and points it's painful to remember, making life unnecessarily difficult for himself.
0:40 now, I can't believe it!

He has really noone to blame but himself, he has completely lost focus, he needs to pul himself together and fast!

With a bit of composure again Djoko would have won that 3rd set and most likely the match....but Nadal "wants" it more I guess.

Tenez wrote:With a bit of composure again Djoko would have won that 3rd set and most likely the match....but Nadal "wants" it more I guess.

Ooooooh you!!!!!

Nole's legs are empty & gone.
Still, that's when he's the most dangerous.

COME ON NOLEEEEEEE!!!!!

Really bizarre Nole threw the FO and the USO away...

Tenez wrote:Really bizarre Nole threw the FO and the USO away...

Yes...very sad and annoying!

Nole's GF is really pathetic, she has no idea now to cheer .....

Djoko did not believe.....good night from me....

Tenez wrote:Djoko did not believe.....good night from me....

I did. Good night.

Shit when's the final starting?

Did I miss something?

Julia Santamaria wrote:Shit when's the final starting?

Did I miss something?

Yes, your appointment for brain transplant....

noleisthebest wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Shit when's the final starting?

Did I miss something?

Yes, your appointment for brain transplant....

 

Most emotional I've been post-match for a while, bloooooody hell that was tense in the third set.

Credit to LuvSports for predicting the final correctly.

Credit to your man JS, but for me nole threw that 3rd set away and with it the match.
Rafa had retreated into his shell and novak was dictating.
This reminded me quite a lot of their us open '10 match.
I think this is what nole is reverting back to his pre 2011 form, going for the winners and not being able to outlast rafa, or at least unwilling to.

Cheers LS

It was a tough tough match- Djokovic has always been the toughest prospect for Nadal. Since AO 2012 Nadal leads the H2H 6-1 though- pretty comprehensive.

Yes I feel ao2012 was the tipping point and ive said as much in the past. Djoko didn't want to and perhaps couldn't do that physically again. 
Nadal has taken great heart from that loss and has really shone.
But for me if djoko gets it together i really feel he can get the better of nadal once again. But until he goes there again physically i really cant see it happening, apart from the odd sporadic win.

I wouldn't really put down Montreal or FO this year down to physical... Djokovic was on the verge of winning both!

Even today I'd say it's more mental- Nadal's mental fortitude is immense.

As for stamina...
Nadal won the first set in the USO, Montreal, French Open 2013, French Open 2012, Rome 2012, Monte Carlo 2012.

So he has won the first set 6 out of the last 7 times he has played Djokovic. Do you think Djokovic gets tired within one set?
Was Djokovic tired in Canada from his marathan 30 minute QF against Gasquet

When I go to WTF ths year, I'll make it my job to see Nadal's match from a very good seat and I'll be shoutung "Nadal is a doper!" until they kick me out.

Someone's got to do it, and it may as well be me since tennis world seems to be gutlessly impotent and corrupted.

I can' t wait.

Julia Santamaria wrote:I wouldn't really put down Montreal or FO this year down to physical... Djokovic was on the verge of winning both!

Even today I'd say it's more mental- Nadal's mental fortitude is immense.

I would have to agree here. There is nothing much to pick between them when it comes to physicality. Nadal is more muscular and stronger but his game is more energy sapping in comparison.

Djokovic was winning everything in 2011 because of his confidence and mental toughness. But it was always going to hard to keep it going for long. 

Nadal is mighty tough to beat for anyone. He always was though not ike Fed who could keep it up for years together. Unlike Fed who loves to be at the top, Nadal is more comfortable chasing. 

Some may think he is scared of hard-hitters and hence stands back, but that is just his game-plan. He very well knows what he is doing.

I didn't vote for either for the prediction-game, but given the way they were playing, I always felt its going to be Nadal. Djokovic had his chances, no doubt he did but he couldn't keep his composure and blew it. 

Nadal was the better player for the most of the match and hence the worthy winner.

For me it was an annus horribilis tennis year.

The difference in Nadal and Djoko fitness is quite big actually. The power/pace Nadal generates despite topspinning is ridiculous. And he does it while being often in teh worst position, so just with the arm alone.

Djoko has no choice but to go flatter. So yes Djoko wins most of teh long rallies but then has to throw many short points cause he knows he won't be able to sustain those for too long. Nadal is good at bluffing that he can carry on for ever though it is pretty clear he cannot.

This is what I don;t understand with Djoko. Yesdterday he had Nadal on the ropes but instead of finishing him off goes for the short rallies himself, giving Nadal a second breath. Nole was unlucky that teh wind picked up in that 3rd set and took teh edge off his game...but regardless Nadal was cramping and should have nailed him.

In short I would say that Djoko doesn't believe he can outlast Nadal...It simply might be true as he often looked the more tired after those long rallies....despite winning them.

I haven't seen the final (glad i didn't) but it went like i feared a/o expected. NAdal's energy level is so brutal atm, you could tell no one can withstand it. i had little hope when i saw how Gasquet put Nadal's serve under pressure for a set but obviously Djoko is not the player he was in 2011.

Rafa'll cycle down now for a while so that's the good news. But there's no doubt he'll be in top shape for the AO 2014 in order to narrow further the gap with Fed's Slam record.

Tenez wrote:For me it was an annus horribilis tennis year.

count me in.

Tenez wrote:The difference in Nadal and Djoko fitness is quite big actually. The power/pace Nadal generates despite topspinning is ridiculous. And he does it while being often in teh worst position, so just with the arm alone.

Djoko has no choice but to go flatter. So yes Djoko wins most of teh long rallies but then has to throw many short points cause he knows he won't be able to sustain those for too long. Nadal is good at bluffing that he can carry on for ever though it is pretty clear he cannot.

This is what I don;t understand with Djoko. Yesdterday he had Nadal on the ropes but instead of finishing him off goes for the short rallies himself, giving Nadal a second breath. Nole was unlucky that teh wind picked up in that 3rd set and took teh edge off his game...but regardless Nadal was cramping and should have nailed him.

In short I would say that Djoko doesn't believe he can outlast Nadal...It simply might be true as he often looked the more tired after those long rallies....despite winning them.

That sums it up perfectly.

I know how he operates and was sure he was winning that match after the 2nd set. He was sure as well, and then he threw a couple of ridiculous points away, like that FH volley that went into the net.
Normally, that would not affect him in the past, so the way he let that win slip yesterday is something new and not a good sign. I hope it is temporary and does not turn into a trend, as that would deplete him as a player very fast.

I don't think he quite recovered  from it, although he did a good job of pretending it didn't for a good part of the 3rd set, he definitely got me fooled.
I only noticed in the second half of the 4th set that it began to dawn on  him he threw the match away; that's when his walk on water stopped and he sank pretty quickly in the last two games.

gallery play wrote:I haven't seen the final (glad i didn't) but it went like i feared a/o expected. NAdal's energy level is so brutal atm, you could tell no one can withstand it. i had little hope when i saw how Gasquet put Nadal's serve under pressure for a set but obviously Djoko is not the player he was in 2011.

Rafa'll cycle down now for a while so that's the good news. But there's no doubt he'll be in top shape for the AO 2014 in order to narrow further the gap with Fed's Slam record.

This is true especially in those first 2 sets. From the middle of the second set one felt that Djoko was actually the fittest...or at least able to outlast Nadal. Nadal certainly looked like cramping, if not, moving stiffly....but out of the blue Djoko started to throw all those short risky shots, preventing him to gain a 4/0 advantage in that 3rd set and break Nadal for the 4th time in a row!!!

I think Djoko simply doesn;t recover as well after those long rallies....This is well illustrated by this service game he loses to 0 just after having broken Nadal with a 50 shot rally.

Nadal is certainly ridiculously fit.

On Eurosport one commentator was saying he doesn't understand how those guys manage to run as much...David Mercer who likes to comment on everything simply left a blank on that one allowing us to make our own mind.

Nole has now lost 4 of his last 5 gs finals. I wonder how he and his team will respond to this. Better luck next time or back to the drawing board? Dr Igor?
What do you think Nitb?

It sucks cause i really enjoyed how Nole dominated Nadal.