Djokovic: "The Novak of today is stronger than 10 years ago"

[NatF]

Pretty much this. Idk how even guys who I used to think were reasonable posters are now saying/insinuating that there’s not much if at all a difference between the 2013 and 2023 fields.

They're too invested in the narrative that Djokovic is the world conquering GOAT/BOAT. To play devil's advocate 2013 was a year of fumbles for Djokovic, but the field was unquestionably much stronger and would have punished the patches of subpar tennis Djokovic has shown this year with a vengeance.

 

[Apun94]

Well, he knows himself better anyone else does.

Federer said the same thing in his mid 30s compared to his mid 20s peak. Do you think he was correct?

 

[Apun94]

“I think I’m a better player now than when I was at 26 because I’ve practised for another 10 years and I’ve got 10 years more experience,” Djokovic said.

“Maybe I don’t have the confidence level that I had at 26 when I was winning 40 matches in a row, but I feel like I hit a bigger serve, my backhand is better, my forehand is still as good as it’s ever been, I volley better than I have in the past. I think I’ve had to adapt to a new generation of players again.”

So what he's saying is that the field is a lot stronger now than 10 years ago? Is that true?

 

[The Blond Blur]

Obviously something is compensating if he had a dominant year like 2023 while you think he has some noticeable decline. So you think his game declined and the serve is not making the difference? Alcaraz served over 84% last week and got blown off the court by him? So what is the difference if he's still beating everybody?

Well the professionals don't agree with your assessment. Guys that are playing him don't agree with your assessment because they say he is moving like he's 26 (Zverev's words). So you seem to know more than them or it's your point of view which doesn't line up with reality.

Your point about 2013 AO is not important. He lost just like Djokovic did in 2014. You win some, you lose some. Time to move on.

Nadal has never won a tournament on laykold. It's the worst hardcourt surface for him and Wawrinka. Yet he did lose to Djokovic 0-3 on it in Miami. Wawrinka never even made it to Djokovic in Miami. Yet I'm supposed to believe they would beat this Djokovic yet 16 years younger Alcaraz playing that well, who has won Miami, couldn't. Based on what?

His game has declined. His serve can only compensate for so much and it’s not that much better compared to his 2013 stats. His speed, stamina, shot tolerance, and ROS have all declined compared to 10 years ago. A year like 2023? Dude 2013 is in another universe in terms of level of competition. You’d have to think the 2 years are remotely comparable in strength for your “points” to matter. Tiny Carl has been in an absolute free fall form wise since winning Wimby and has had back to back disastrous fall seasons. So I’m not sure why you think it matters how high his 1st serve percentage was. There’s a lot more to tennis than that. He hasn’t done squat indoors yet.

Are we really going with the insert guy says it’s better so it must be better argumentation? Most of these guys are paid pundits whose sole job is to pump up the sport to get the public interested. Tennis wouldn’t sell as well if the most prominent commentators were dumping on their upcoming stars. And it’s not like other guys haven’t spoken out about how inferior the younger guys are these days. Davy and Delpo are two well known players that have both said these #NextGen players don’t have what it takes to take over. Zedrot wasn’t even playing on the pro tour in 2013 forger against peak Joker so that’s beyond irrelevant.

That’s not the point, you’d have to believe that injured 36 year old Joker was playing at a similar level to 26 year old 100% healthy peak Joker. I can’t believe that your trying to down play that version of him there.

Outside of 07 all those versions of Joker played better in Miami than 2023 Joker played at the 2-1 Open. Dude Tiny Carl beat *checks notes* Casper the CC 250 merchant Ruud to win Miami. RAFA was playing peak versions of Fedovic at Miami. You can’t just look at results and say one guy is better than another based on the outcomes of matches vs lesser players. Johansson has an AO title does that mean he’s better than Murray who has 0 there? Of course not. Med has a Rome title, does that make him better than Fed who has 0 there? If course not.

 

[NoleFam]

His game has declined. His serve can only compensate for so much and it’s not that much better compared to his 2013 stats. His speed, stamina, shot tolerance, and ROS have all declined compared to 10 years ago. A year like 2023? Dude 2013 is in another universe in terms of level of competition. You’d have to think the 2 years are remotely comparable in strength for your “points” to matter. Tiny Carl has been in an absolute free fall form wise since winning Wimby and has had back to back disastrous fall seasons. So I’m not sure why you think it matters how high his 1st serve percentage was. There’s a lot more to tennis than that. He hasn’t done squat indoors yet.

Are we really going with the insert guy says it’s better so it must be better argumentation? Most of these guys are paid pundits whose sole job is to pump up the sport to get the public interested. Tennis wouldn’t sell as well if the most prominent commentators were dumping on their upcoming stars. And it’s not like other guys haven’t spoken out about how inferior the younger guys are these days. Davy and Delpo are two well known players that have both said these #NextGen players don’t have what it takes to take over. Zedrot wasn’t even playing on the pro tour in 2013 forger against peak Joker so that’s beyond irrelevant.

That’s not the point, you’d have to believe that injured 36 year old Joker was playing at a similar level to 26 year old 100% healthy peak Joker. I can’t believe that your trying to down play that version of him there.

Outside of 07 all those versions of Joker played better in Miami than 2023 Joker played at the 2-1 Open. Dude Tiny Carl beat *checks notes* Casper the CC 250 merchant Ruud to win Miami. RAFA was playing peak versions of Fedovic at Miami. You can’t just look at results and say one guy is better than another based on the outcomes of matches vs lesser players. Johansson has an AO title does that mean he’s better than Murray who has 0 there? Of course not. Med has a Rome title, does that make him better than Fed who has 0 there? If course not.

You keep talking about the serve stats not being much better in 2023 (when they clearly are) as if you can't see that his 2023 serve is better. His speed has slightly declined; his return of serve has declined; his stamina has noticeably declined; but his shot tolerance has absolutely not declined. To compensate, his forehand is bigger and better; his serve is better; his transitions to the net and volleys are better; his court awareness is better; his mental toughness is better; and his control of the center of the court is better. You keep talking about what's declined but don't seem to notice what's better.

You're talking about 2013 competition but he has dominated the game for 13 years man. He just had one of his most dominant years of his career yet you pretend like it's because he's playing junior players. Nobody that has played him 3 or more times in the last 13 years has a winning head to head record except Kyrgios, and that is because he didn't play him enough. So yes, the 2013 competition was tougher but not on this large scale you are implying. It was tougher because of Nadal mostly but it's not like Djokovic didn't make 3 Slam finals and have a great season regardless.

They have nothing to gain by repping Djokovic if he doesn't deserve it. Kyrgios sure doesn't, who was stunned at Djokovic's level in the SF and final matches. He's just playing great but you seem to have blinders on.

I didn't say anything about 36 year old Djokovic playing a similar level in AO or downplaying 26 year old Djokovic. You just made that up. I commented on you saying Djokovic being "lucky" to win in 2013 like Wawrinka would definitely had won if he had challenged.

You obviously aren't watching Djokovic play if you don't think he played great at the Cincy, USO, Paris Masters and ATP Finals. If all you can see if "it's only because of weak competition" then there's no need. I agree to disagree.

 

[RF-18]

Lol dude you did not just straight up intentionally leave out RAFA who beat Joker in 2/4 schlems, and MurrayGOAT who’s never dropped a set to him on grass and act like no one would notice
This is about as intellectually dishonest as it gets.

And Stanimal pushed a 100% healthy peak Joker to the limit in the AO whereas Citybus got straight setted by Hamstringovic.

I was talking mostly top players overall regarding Mikes comment about the competition being on another level and acting as if Berdych, Ferrer, Tsonga etc etc were these guys with world beating levels. In those big finals he played The main problem came from Novak himself cause he was not playing up to his standards anymore. You can lose big finals but he lost them performing terribly.

At RG no one is disputing the difference between having Nadal there or not, so playing anyone but Nadal will obviously help, but you are acting as if he was this difference maker overall. Starting from mid 2012 they have basically only played at RG. they have ONLY 4 meetings combined at AO, Wimbledon and USO in wich Djokovic won 3 of those 4 the last 12 years, yet you are throwing a hissy fit that I didn't mention Nadal. Nadal was a difference maker in Djokovic not winning slams basically only at RG, so calm yourself down. He played Murray in a Wimbledon final where he was absolutely crap played one of his worst finals in his career but since it suits your agenda you are acting as if it was due to the competition more than Djokovic being absolutely crap. Even the USO finals Djokovic was terrible throwing out 60 UEs just like he was terrible in most big matches he played during that period. Even Becker said live on TV during the 2015 Wimbledon finals that Novak hired him cause he wanted help to get out of the mental block he had in finals back then. The dishonesty comes from you acting as if Djokovic was at his best state back then and he only lost cause of competition and not acknowledging the sudden issues he was having with confidence and performance in finals.

 

[The Blond Blur]

You keep talking about the serve stats not being much better in 2023 (when they clearly are) as if you can't see that his 2023 serve is better. His speed has slightly declined; his return of serve has declined; his stamina has noticeably declined; but his shot tolerance has absolutely not declined. To compensate, his forehand is bigger and better; his serve is better; his transitions to the net and volleys are better; his court awareness is better; his mental toughness is better; and his control of the center of the court is better. You keep talking about what's declined but don't seem to notice what's better.

You're talking about 2013 competition but he has dominated the game for 13 years man. He just had one of his most dominant years of his career yet you pretend like it's because he's playing junior players. Nobody that has played him 3 or more times in the last 13 years has a winning head to head record except Kyrgios, and that is because he didn't play him enough. So yes, the 2013 competition was tougher but not on this large scale you are implying. It was tougher because of Nadal mostly but it's not like Djokovic didn't make 3 Slams finals and have a great season regardless.

They have nothing to gain by repping Djokovic if he doesn't deserve it. Kyrgios sure doesn't, who was stunned at Djokovic's level in the SF and final matches. He's just paying great but you seem to have blinders on.

26 year old Djokovic played a terrible USO final. 36 year old Djokovic can't do worse than that so why would I be overrating that Djokovic?

You obviously aren't watching Djokovic play if you don't think he played great at the Cincy, USO, Paris Masters and ATP Finals. If all you can see if "it's only because of weak competition" then there's no need. I agree to disagree.

If you think that a less than 1.5% increase in 1st serve point won and a less than .5% increase in service games won is a massive difference by all means continue to do so. It’s definitely not going to be enough to compensate for his physical decline if he were to face the vastly better 2013 field. His shot tolerance is absolutely down compared to 2013. And his diminished speed and stamina play a huge part in that. You kind of need to be in position for starters (it’s a lot easier to hit winners against him) and his diminished stamina means the longer the rally goes on the less likely he is to win it these days. It’s also easier to look mentally tougher when your opposition wets the bed at the first sign of adversity.

I’m talking about his 2013 competition because the thread is asking who was better 2013 or 2023 Joker. To determine that we would need to look at the fields both guys played in. He’s dominated for 13 straight years? He didn’t look dominant in 2012-2014, 2017-mid 2018, and 2019. A huge reason why he’s dominating now more than ever is because these guys just are on the level of the guys 10 years ago. I’m not pretending at all. There’s simply a massive disparity between 2013 RAFA, Murray, and Stan etc. vs 2023 Tiny Carl, the Sinner, and the Danish Brat and company.

The pundits are literally paid to talk up the game. How is that not incentivizing them to do so. The game is bigger than Joker dude. They aren’t just talking up him, they’re talking up all these guys even though they haven’t done anything remotely close to what the 2013 field was producing. Kryngios is a contrarian. He was trashing Joker for years unprovoked and even said he hated him. Ever since the deport gate saga he’s been kissing his rear end. He’s not exactly a bastion of objectivity. He also gains something by talking up Joker because it makes is Wimby loss look less bad.

Joker has played a lot of bad 2-1 Open Fs lol. He played an all time atrocious F just 2 years ago.

I have been watching him. I was at Cincy where he didn’t look impressive at all. The 1st 2 sets of the F were an UFEfest. For all the crap RAFA gets for his 2-1 Open draws, Joker’s wasn’t anything to write home about this year.

 

[NoleFam]

If you think that a less than 1.5% increase in 1st serve point won and a less than .5% increase in service games won is a massive difference by all means continue to do so. It’s definitely not going to be enough to compensate for his physical decline if he were to face the vastly better 2013 field. His shot tolerance is absolutely down compared to 2013. And his diminished speed and stamina play a huge part in that. You kind of need to be in position for starters (it’s a lot easier to hit winners against him) and his diminished stamina means the longer the rally goes on the less likely he is to win it these days. It’s also easier to look mentally tougher when your opposition wets the bed at the first sign of adversity.

I’m talking about his 2013 competition because the thread is asking who was better 2013 or 2023 Joker. To determine that we would need to look at the fields both guys played in. He’s dominated for 13 straight years? He didn’t look dominant in 2012-2014, 2017-mid 2018, and 2019. A huge reason why he’s dominating now more than ever is because these guys just are on the level of the guys 10 years ago. I’m not pretending at all. There’s simply a massive disparity between 2013 RAFA, Murray, and Stan etc. vs 2023 Tiny Carl, the Sinner, and the Danish Brat and company.

The pundits are literally paid to talk up the game. How is that not incentivizing them to do so. The game is bigger than Joker dude. They aren’t just talking up him, they’re talking up all these guys even though they haven’t done anything remotely close to what the 2013 field was producing. Kryngios is a contrarian. He was trashing Joker for years unprovoked and even said he hated him. Ever since the deport gate saga he’s been kissing his rear end. He’s not exactly a bastion of objectivity. He also gains something by talking up Joker because it makes is Wimby loss look less bad.

Joker has played a lot of bad 2-1 Open Fs lol. He played an all time atrocious F just 2 years ago.

I have been watching him. I was at Cincy where he didn’t look impressive at all. The 1st 2 sets of the F were an UFEfest. For all the crap RAFA gets for his 2-1 Open draws, Joker’s wasn’t anything to write home about this year.

So it goes from the 2013 serve stats are on par or better than 2023, to I don't see a massive difference in serve stats to 2023. If you can't see his 2023 serve is better than 2013, then there's something wrong with your vision. He's placing it better, getting more free points, hitting more aces, and he's winning more points on that 1st serve.

You seem to think his shot tolerance is worse than 2013 when he sprayed all over the place in the 2013 USO final. It was awful. If Alcaraz, who is an excellent offensive baseliner and maybe the fastest on tour, is struggling to get him out of position or off balance to draw errors from him, your opinion about his lack of shot tolerance has little weight. That absolutely has not declined.

He never lost his edge over the field once he came back and regained his form in 2018 yet you see a significant physical decline that obviously doesn't exist. If that was the case, there's no way he could be able to physically handle players that are 14, 15 and 16 years younger than him on every surface. He was #1 for most of 2012-2014 and underperformed in finals losing 5 in those 3 years. It was his mental weakness more than anything, which is why he hired Becker. Then he dominated from late 2014-2016.

So the commentators, Kyrgios, former pros, etc. are just talking up his level but not because he isn't playing well. Sure.

It was a great match at Cincy, probably the best match of the year, and if you didn't enjoy that then you should have saved your money and watched old Rafa matches on Youtube. Djokovic had an easy draw this year at USO for sure but he still was impressive in the final, and his last 4 tournaments. Your bias seems to be clouding your judgement and we're not going to agree here.

 

[The Blond Blur]

I was talking mostly top players overall regarding Mikes comment about the competition being on another level and acting as if Berdych, Ferrer, Tsonga etc etc were these guys with world beating levels. In those big finals he played The main problem came from Novak himself cause he was not playing up to his standards anymore. You can lose big finals but he lost them performing terribly.

At RG no one is disputing the difference between having Nadal there or not, so playing anyone but Nadal will obviously help, but you are acting as if he was this difference maker overall. Starting from mid 2012 they have basically only played at RG. they have ONLY 4 meetings combined at AO, Wimbledon and USO in wich Djokovic won 3 of those 4 the last 12 years, yet you are throwing a hissy fit that I didn't mention Nadal. Nadal was a difference maker in Djokovic not winning slams basically only at RG, so calm yourself down. He played Murray in a Wimbledon final where he was absolutely crap played one of his worst finals in his career but since it suits your agenda you are acting as if it was due to the competition more than Djokovic being absolutely crap. Even the USO finals Djokovic was terrible throwing out 60 UEs just like he was terrible in most big matches he played during that period. Even Becker said live on TV Novak hired him cause he wanted help to get out of the mental block he had in finals back then. The dishonesty comes from you acting as if Djokovic was at his best state back then and he only lost cause of competition and not acknowledging the sudden issues he was having with confidence and performance in finals.

If you’re going to talk about top players overall then it’s best to include you know the actual top players lol. Show me where he was talking about Berdych, Ferrer, and Tsonga specifically? That was a rhetorical question by the way since he didn’t. He specifically talked about RAFA, MurrayGOAT, Stanimal, and Delpo i.e. guys who beat/pushed him hard at the schlems. So no, it was you making false equivalencies and deliberately omitting the guys that he brought up when comparing 2013 vs 2023. He was up to his standards, he was just playing guys who were able to match or exceed his standard of play while not rolling over at the first sign of adversity like this current field does.

The rest of your post is just irrelevant. Who cares about how often they played at RG vs outside of it when we’re literally comparing 2 isolated years in 2013 vs 2023? 2013 RAFA was the biggest difference maker in 2013 compared to 2023 lol. He beat Joker in half the schlems. Obviously MurrayGOAT played a big role too as did Stan and to a lesser extant Delpo. The only guy in 2023 who would even remotely belong in the same conversation as those guys is Tiny Carl.

I’m throwing a “hissy fit” for calling out your blatant omission, and false equivalency? Sure Jan If anyone is throwing a hissy it’s you for telling someone else to calm down after that diatribe you just typed out. Joker was mediocre to bad in this years Wimby F too. At least in 2013 he had the flimsy excuse of playing a tough 5 setter the round before courtesy of Delpo. Dude you have no leg to stand on accusing other of being dishonest when you left out the players @mike danny was talking about and replaced them with Berdych, Ferrer, and Tsonga.

 

[The Blond Blur]

So it goes from the 2013 serve stats are on par or better than 2023, to I don't see a massive difference in serve stats to 2023. If you can't see his 2023 serve is better than 2013, then there's something wrong with your vision. He's placing it better, getting more free points, hitting more aces, and he's winning more points on that 1st serve.

You seem to think his shot tolerance is worse than 2013 when he sprayed all over the place in the 2013 USO final. It was awful. If Alcaraz, who is an excellent offensive baseliner and maybe the fastest on tour, is struggling to get him out of position or off balance to draw errors from him, your opinion about his lack of shot tolerance has little weight. That absolutely has not declined.

He never lost his edge over the field once he came back and regained his form in 2018 yet you see a significant physical decline that obviously doesn't exist. If that was the case, there's no way he could be able to physically handle players that are 14, 15 and 16 years younger than him on every surface. He was #1 for most of 2012-2014 and underperformed in finals losing 5 in those 3 years. It was his mental weakness more than anything, which is why he hired Becker. Then he dominated from late 2014-2016.

So the commentators, Kyrgios, former pros, etc. are just talking up his level but not because he isn't playing well. Sure.

It was a great match at Cincy, probably the best match of the year, and if you didn't enjoy that then you should have saved your money and watched old Rafa matches on Youtube. Djokovic had an easy draw this year at USO for sure but he still was impressive in the final, and his last 4 tournaments. Your bias seems to be clouding your judgement and we're not going to agree here.

Like I said man, if you think that such a minute difference of 1.5% and .5% is such a monumental difference be my guest. His return and decline in other previously mentioned areas is going to be too much for his slightly better service numbers to overcome vs the 2013 field imo.

Yes, because the 2013 2-1 Open F is the only match he played in 2013 It’s not like he didn’t push RAFA to the absolute brink at RG earlier that year. Dude Tiny Carl himself as shot tolerance issues. He’s been Joker toughest challenger this year but he’d be maybe the 4th toughest challenge for Joker in 2013. RAFA, MurrayGOAT, and Stanimal all played at a higher level than him in their best showings compared to Carl’s best performances this year. Let’s just completely ignore one of the worst mental/physical collapses for a top player in that RG SF.

Dude by 2018 the best guys from 2013 were all past their best and the new guys replacing them weren’t on their level. Joker did incredibly well to maintain his health and aged better than those guys (and for that I give him massive credit), but the new players who replaced the old guard are significantly worse. A big reason he’s able to physically outlast them is because they themselves are lacking in the physical department. Sinner and especially Rune are lacking in the stamina department, and Tiny Carl has cramped up 3x this year alone. Could not disagree more about Joker’s mental toughness being the biggest difference. The guys he was facing 10 years ago were just flat out better players while also being mentally tougher than any of these young guys. Tiny Carl straight up admitted that the reason he cramped up in the RG SF was because he was nervous. He dominated in 2015-2016 (winning 1 schlem in 2014 isn’t my idea of dominating) thanks in large part to most of his rivals exiting their primes. RAFA’s prime ended in early 2014, Murray was never the same after his back surgery in 2013, Fed was half a decade past his prime etc.

You’re straight up putting words in my mouth now. I never once said Joker wasn’t playing well. I said he’s playing worse than he was 10 years ago and that the current field is worse than it was in 2013. There’s more to tennis and the strength of the field overall than just Joker. And like said, plenty of other guys are speaking out saying the current field is much weaker.

If Cincy was the best match of the year then that all but proves that 2023 wasn’t very strong lol. Outside of the 3rd set it was an absolute mess. You do realize that you’re biased in your beliefs too right? And yeah, there’s no way we’re ever going to agree here.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

Obviously something is compensating if he had a dominant year like 2023 while you think he has some noticeable decline. So you think his game declined and the serve is not making the difference? Alcaraz served over 84% last week and got blown off the court by him? So what is the difference if he's still beating everybody?

Well the professionals don't agree with your assessment. Guys that are playing him don't agree with your assessment because they say he is moving like he's 26 (Zverev's words). So you seem to know more than them or it's your point of view which doesn't line up with reality.

Your point about 2013 AO is not important. He lost just like Djokovic did in 2014. You win some, you lose some. Time to move on.

Nadal has never won a tournament on laykold. It's the worst hardcourt surface for him and Wawrinka. Yet he did lose to Djokovic 0-3 on it in Miami. Wawrinka never even made it to Djokovic in Miami. Yet I'm supposed to believe they would beat this Djokovic yet 16 years younger Alcaraz playing that well, who has won Miami, couldn't. Based on what?

If Djoker really is moving like he's 26 then it's time for everyone to wake up and smell the pink lemonade.

 

[MichaelNadal]

I started watching tennis from 2012 AO. Have watched all matches in 2012 onwards.

Phew this explains so much

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

I started watching tennis from 2012 AO. Have watched all matches in 2012 onwards.

Dang, you missed the start of tennis by just one year.

 

[RS]

The no agreement carries on.

 

[mike danny]

What other kind of level? Wich are these players that were on another level? Other top players were Tsonga, Berdych, Ferrer, Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Raonic, Cilic etc etc. These players aren't another level of competition. All great tennis players but why are you hyping past top players like everyone were ATGs?

Look at the combinations of players he had to beat too:

- Stan and Murray at AO
- Delpo and Murray at Wimb
- Stan and Nadal at the USO

Djokovic of today doesn't have such combos to survive against anymore

 

[DSH]

Novak fans, 4-5 days ago: "He is never getting past Medvedev", "No chance of beating this Sinner", "Won't survive Alcaraz"...

Today: "Novak is better than ever"

He is better than ever for his current competition.

Hey rafans we are nolefams

We don't beg, we need no jinx, like our fav we go in confidence.

I was rooting for Rune vs sinner since it doesn't matter if sinner tanked that day, he would be a coward. Never beg. Or try to bargain.

Novak is almost as good as his 2015, he himself said it. He said so in 2023 USOpen as well as yesterday. He knows best.

He knows very well that his current competition is not the best.

 

[ALCARAZWON]

The Djokovic of today would have NO HOPE of beating prime Federer at Wimbledon (2004-2009), and definitely no chance against peak Nadal at Roland Garros or Wimbledon (2007-2008).
Is Djokovic a fraud and a loser? Maybe, maybe not. But he'll never touch Federer/Nadal level of greatness.

 

[martinezownsclay]

LOL Djokovic of today would be lucky to get 2 sets in a series of 5 matches vs 2013 Djokovic. He did win only 1 slam in 2013, since unlike todays "worst field in history" he had actual competition that year. Still not an unbelievable field or anything, but 1000x time stronger than todays garbage.

 

[droliver]

I think it's absurd to suggest he's playing at a higher level now then in his physical prime. His serve is better sure, but his backhand and movement are clearly worse then in the mid 2010's.

 

[FeroBango]

The truth can exist somewhere between "36 yo Djokovic will manhandle his 2013 self" and "eww geriatric Nole on wheelchair is winning everything in the weakest amateur era ever".

 

[pirhaksar]

He is better than ever for his current competition.






He knows very well that his current competition is not the best.

The truth can exist somewhere between "36 yo Djokovic will manhandle his 2013 self" and "eww geriatric Nole on wheelchair is winning everything in the weakest amateur era ever".

this is what most reasonable ppl are saying here. The dumb takes are the handful djoko fanbois and of course the weak era champions aka fedal buthurt club

 

[FeroBango]

Humility to learn would be nice but what's the fun in talking only about the tennis we've watched live? Am I barred from rating Mac, Pete, and Borg just because I was too young or not yet born?