Appreciation of Novak Djokivic's Strong Mentality

[veroniquem]

About Djoko's strong mentality: he is extremely tenacious and is one of the best returners ever, but mostly he never gives up. The combination is what makes him so difficult to beat. He wears you down mentally. A good example is Nadal in 5th set of AO and Fed in 5th set of USO, they were both a break up but somehow Djoko found a way to break back (remember last year how Fed couldn't believe Djoko hit that return). One is never "safe" with Djoko on the return. You saw great examples of that at the USO vs Delpo with those interminable games that broke Delpo's morale in the end. In the USO final, Djoko was beat physically, he pushed the match to a 5th through sheer mental grittiness and determination. What's also exceptional is Djoko's ability to rebound after a bad loss. It seems to be very hard, if not impossible, to knock his morale down. And of course that's the mark of true champs.

[sbengte]

Props to Nole , he has established himself as the King of comeback in the current era. It is not just about saving MPs , but also the kind of big matches in which he has done it. To think that he was someone who would retire complaining of sore throat or heatstroke just a few years ago, he has come a long way as a player and a champion !

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by sbengte

Props to Nole , he has established himself as the King of comeback in the current era. It is not just about saving MPs , but also the kind of big matches in which he has done it. To think that he was someone who would retire complaining of sore throat or heatstroke just a few years ago, he has come a long way as a player and a champion !

Yep,thanks to Dr. Igor.

[sportsfan1]

Read on tennis.com in a Tignor article that Djoker has won 10 times after being down match point. Are there any stats available on number of times won in career after being MP down?

http://www.tennis.com/news/2012/10/n.../#.UHwzx3lOjRg

[Moose Malloy]

Read on tennis.com in a Tignor article that Djoker has won 10 times after being down match point. Are there any stats available on number of times won in career after being MP down?

Nope. not is known about players from the 70s/80s/even 90s as far as arcane stats like this go.

I would bet Borg blows away everyone in this stat(like he does is most 'mental toughness' categories, 5 setters, etc)
And I'm sure he's forgotten many of the matches he won from down match point, so no way to ever know how many times he did this.

Tennis is a very young sport as far as stats/records. And its really not getting all that better.

[sureshs]

One of the 3 tennis magazine experts (OK so Bodo should be filtered out) thinks Djokovic was the best among him, Fed and Nadal, when at his best.

Another guy said Nadal.

And of course Bodo said Fed, but then he needs to be discounted.

[Steve0904]

Originally Posted by sureshs

One of the 3 tennis magazine experts (OK so Bodo should be filtered out) thinks Djokovic was the best among him, Fed and Nadal, when at his best.

Another guy said Nadal.

And of course Bodo said Fed, but then he needs to be discounted.

I definitely don't think it was Nadal. It's between Fed and Novak IMO. I think Djokovic had much better returns obviously, and he really had no weaknesses off the ground since you could no longer attack his FH looking for errors. However with Fed I think you could still get a few off his BH. Fed had/has a better serve, a better slice, and better volleying though. Courts were also a bit faster in Federer's dominating period. Not like 90's fast, but a bit faster than today. Hence why almost all the guys from Fed's early days took the ball on the rise, i.e older Agassi, Safin, Nalbandian, and Roddick. Hewitt was probably the only one who could be termed a counterpuncher.

[sepidoel]

It's been just 2 days and someone (WorldTennis24) has already upload the highlights of ShangHai epic match in HD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0a6Nu7bndM

Enjoy the crowd.

[5555]

Do you remember the semifinal of Madrid 2009 when Novak saved match point after hiting drop shot? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlxEK...ailpage#t=317s

[Fedex]

Originally Posted by djokovic2008

I've said it many times the biggest in the clutch ever so far his amazing comebacks are:

Vs fed 2010 us open semi
Vs fed 2011 us open semi
Vs murray 2012 Australian open semi
Vs tsonga 2012 French open quarter final
Vs Murray 2012 shanghai final

You forgot the 2011 Rome semi vs Murray when Murray was serving for the match 30-15 up and Djokovic got the luckiest net chord.
Or was it really luck?
Neh Nehhh.

[veroniquem]

Originally Posted by Steve0904

I definitely don't think it was Nadal. It's between Fed and Novak IMO. I think Djokovic had much better returns obviously, and he really had no weaknesses off the ground since you could no longer attack his FH looking for errors. However with Fed I think you could still get a few off his BH. Fed had/has a better serve, a better slice, and better volleying though. Courts were also a bit faster in Federer's dominating period. Not like 90's fast, but a bit faster than today. Hence why almost all the guys from Fed's early days took the ball on the rise, i.e older Agassi, Safin, Nalbandian, and Roddick. Hewitt was probably the only one who could be termed a counterpuncher.

It really depends on which surface. How could one NOT pick Rafa on clay??? I would pick prime Fed on faster/indoor hard and Djoko on slower/medium paced hard. Fed on grass of course.