How to beat Djoker in best of 5?

[OverratedIvanovic]

Almost every player has a weaker area which an opponent can attack and take advantage of. One can just spam balls at Federer's BH (provided you can do it consistently enough) and it tends to break down sometime or the other in the rally (something what Nadal and Djokovic do against him quite successfully). Anyone with big serve and big groundies on a good day can blow Rafa off the court as he doesn't really have a reliable ROS or BH. Some instances - Rosol vs nadal at Wimbly 12, Soderling vs Nadal at RG 09, Del potro vs Nadal at USO 09, Tsonga vs Nadal at AO 200

But seriously how to beat this guy Djokovic. He doesn't have any glaring weakness (except his overhead maybe ) which an opponent can pounce on. Unbelievable retrieving, great ROS, arguably the best BH today, very reliable FH, more than decent serve. I know most of the guys here are Federer fans and might argue Federer is capable of beating him that but the reality is Djoker has lost like only 1 match against Federer in last 2 years and the only reason Federer managed to do it was because of lighter balls at RG 2011. He had a really good chance at USO but blew it big time. Don't really see him recovering mentally now after that loss against Djoker especially at this age.

So is the only way to beat Djoker in best of 5 is to grind it out in a 4-5 hour slugfest? Only guys capable of hanging with him for 4-5 hours are Nadal and maybe Murray (to a lesser extent though). How to beat this guy ?

[TheF1Bob]

You need Novak to have a off day or have some serious lapses but you're right, if Novak plays to his abilities, it's game over.

[OverratedIvanovic]

Funny thing is he is still quite dangerous on an off day. Wasn't playing particularly good at RG final but still gave Rafa fits. So I guess he needs to have an off day and the opponent needs to have a really good day to beat him

[TheF1Bob]

Originally Posted by OverratedIvanovic

Funny thing is he is still quite dangerous on an off day. Wasn't playing particularly good at RG final but still give Rafa fits. So I guess he needs to have an off day and the opponent needs to have a really good day to beat him

The only people who can beat below par Nole over 5 sets is Nadal/Fed but they'll need to play great to do so. Nadal was lucky at the French but you can only beat what's in front of you on the day and Nadal did that so kudos to him.

[Clarky21]

It's impossible. He is unbeatable in best of 5.

[Magnetite]

Hope for rain and break his knees in the locker room.

[paulorenzo]

dont alow novak to get on streaks

[Towser83]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

It's impossible. He is unbeatable in best of 5.

Did you miss RG?

This jinxing crap is so old.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Towser83

Did you miss RG?

This jinxing crap is so old.

Nope. It's impossible to beat Rolaids in best of 5. I don't really care what happened at RG since it was a one off. It won't be happening again anytime soon.

[BullDogTennis]

it's really easy. make him play some long points. then his "breathing" will flare up and he will retire.

plan b) peg him with the ball, it will hurt his ego, and he will retire.

[JustBob]

Same way you beat Nadal, by robbing him of time, serving big and blasting winners all over the court. However, it's not easy playing such a high risk game.

Don't really see him recovering mentally now after that loss against Djoker especially at this age.

That's just silly.

[JustBob]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

It's impossible. He is unbeatable in best of 5.

That's equally silly.

[Towser83]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

Nope. It's impossible to beat Rolaids in best of 5. I don't really care what happened at RG since it was a one off. It won't be happening again anytime soon.

You don't understand the meaning of impossible. Whatever excuses you make for your favourite playing winning, it was possible for Djokovic to lose, cos he lost. Simple logic that eludes you. Or more likely you just wanna troll.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by JustBob

That's equally silly.

It is? How many best of 5 matches has he lost over the last year and a half? 3. Yep,only 3. And one of them was by retirement at DC last fall. If that's not unbeatable in best of five I don't know what is.

[Towser83]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

It is? How many best of 5 matches has he lost over the last year and a half? 3. Yep,only 3. And one of them was by retirement at DC last fall. If that's not unbeatable in best of five I don't know what is.

Unbeatable means you don't get beaten, not you only get beaten 3 times over the last year and a half.

Impossible means it's not possible, not it's only possible 3 times over the last year and a half.

You only get 4 slams a year plus DC so 3 losses is far from unbeatable.

Also funny that when I brought up impressive unbeatable stats like that for Nadal on clay, you ignored them. Clarky the biased in action again

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by Towser83

You don't understand the meaning of impossible. Whatever excuses you make for your favourite playing winning, it was possible for Djokovic to lose, cos he lost. Simple logic that eludes you. Or more likely you just wanna troll.

I'm not trolling. I am serious. If my math is correct,out of his last 46 best of 5 matches he has only lost 3. I really fail to understand how you think that's not practically untouchable in best of 5 because imo,it is.

[MichaelNadal]

Take time away, and run him from pillar to post with your shots.

[Spider]

Beating Djokovic is the most difficult thing to do in tennis. He returns serves extremely well, his backhand is the best in the world, he has a really effective forehand, he is almost impossible to get by through defence; in short, just unplayable. There is just no beating him.

Murray has the best chance because he is equally good in all areas, but apart from him, no one is beating Djokovic.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by MichaelNadal

Take time away, and run him from pillar to post with your shots.

I wish that would work,but it''s hard to do that over the 5 sets it's going to take to beat him. The same thing used to be able to be said about Nadal before the severe decline. It's just almost impossible to beat Rolaids anywhere these days,much less in best of 5.

[Tony48]

Novak really just has to have an off day. Because as we've seen time and time again can see, when he is up against the wall, the last thing he will do is get tentative. And this is when he has played some of his best tennis. So whatever strategy anyone employs, he's going to jump on the offensive the first opportunity he gets and make you work even harder.

So unless you're a current surface legend in your prime or have a superior serving day like Fed did at RG last year, you might not get the W. In short, you have to play the perfect match and maintain your strategy from first ball to last.

Simple, right?