Choke of the Year 2012

[underground]

We have best matches of the year but who choked the worst in 2012?

The most notable and pops out of the top of my head are:

Verdasco def. Nadal - Madrid R16 6-3 3-6 7-5 (Nadal was leading 5-2 15-0 final set, but choked an overhead and the match)

Murray def. Cilic - USO QF 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-0 (Cilic was leading 6-3 5-1, had no idea what happened there, went to bed at that scoreline thinking Murray was toast, but woke up and realised it was Fed who lost instead of Murray....)

Anyway anymore significant chokes from 2012?

OK honourable mentions contributed by posters below:

Gasquet def. Dimitrov - Bangkok R16 5-7 7-5 6-4 (Dimitrov was leading 5-2 in the 2nd)

Murray failing to convert tons of BPs/MPs against players throughout the year.

Nadal losing a 4-2 30-15 lead in the AO final 5th set.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye7

Aus Open Q1: Lajovic 2-6 7-6(6) 5-0 40-0* lost to Viola 6-2 6-7(6) 8-6

This should also go down as one of the biggest chokes EVER, not just this year.

Also great:

Chennai R1: Kavcic 6-4 5-1 lost to Darcis 4-6 7-5 6-3
US Open Q2: Berrer 6-2 *5-1 lost to Gutierrez-Ferrol 2-6 7-5 6-4
Sydney Q: Matosevic 6-1 5-1 lost to Kuku 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2
Acapulco R16: Chardy def. Nishikori 1-6 7-6(8 ) 6-0 (Nishikori had 7 MPs)

[Rock Strongo]

Verdasco-Nadal wasn't a choke. That was a straight up tank as a protest to the blue clay.

[Prisoner of Birth]

Cilic. That is the definition of a choke. They should put it up on the dictionary as an example.

[Gonzo_style]

Match between Dimitrov and Gasquet deserves to be mentioned...

[max pl]

anyone who lost to murray wins choke of the year.

[-RF-]

Australian Open final 5th Set, Nadal 4-2 30-15 up hahahahaha good times.

[Mainad]

Originally Posted by max pl

anyone who lost to murray wins choke of the year.

Lol..so 99.99% of the men's tour are all notorious chokers are they, including Federer and Djokovic!

IMO Murray was the worst choker of the year when he choked away 5 championship points at the Shanghai final!

[Mainad]

Deleted post.

[Homeboy Hotel]

Cilic USO choke was hilarious but Murray choked too much on a consistent basis this year, he's allergic to covering on break points.

AO 2012: 3 bp's in 5th set vs Djokovic to serve for match, couldn't convert
Dubai: 3 bp's vs Federer in first set, couldn't convert
IW: Had multiple games where he had 0-40 vs Garcia Lopez but still lost

I could continue. Shanghai and Japan was pretty awful too post-USO where he had like 50 match points

[Headshotterer]

Andreas Seppi losing a 2 set lead to DJokovic in the French. LMFAO.

[boredone3456]

As much as I love that Murray won the US Open I gotta say Cilic totally blew it there.

[Mustard]

There was a crazy match between Gilles Muller and Mikhail Youzhny at the US Open. Muller won in dramatic fashion by 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6.

Youzhny won the first 2 sets comfortably
Youzhny broke to go 4-3 up in the third set, but was broken straight back
Youzhny had 2 break points at 5-5 in the third set, but Muller held on and broke Youzhny to win the set.
Youzhny had a break point at 5-5 in the fourth set, but Muller again held on
In the fourth set tiebreak, Youzhny had leads of 5-2 and 6-5 (match point), but Muller won it 8-6
In the fifth set, Muller broke early and served for the match at 5-4 and had a match point, but Youzhny saved it and broke back for 5-5
Youzhny held serve for 6-5, and had a second match point in the next game, but Muller held on to force a tiebreak
In the fifth set tiebreak, Youzhny had leads of 5-3 and 6-5 (third match point), but Muller won the tiebreak 8-6 after taking his second match point.

[Steve0904]

Nadal's choke at the AO was probably the worst given its magnitude.

[batz]

Originally Posted by underground

We have best matches of the year but who choked the worst in 2012?

The most notable and pops out of the top of my head are:

Verdasco def. Nadal - Madrid R16 6-3 3-6 7-5 (Nadal was leading 5-2 15-0 final set, but choked an overhead and the match)

Murray def. Cilic - USO QF 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-0 (Cilic was leading 6-3 5-1, had no idea what happened there, went to bed at that scoreline thinking Murray was toast, but woke up and realised it was Fed who lost instead of Murray....)

Anyway anymore significant chokes from 2012?

OK honourable mentions contributed by posters below:

Gasquet def. Dimitrov - Bangkok R16 5-7 7-5 6-4 (Dimitrov was leading 5-2 in the 2nd)

Murray failing to convert tons of BPs/MPs against players throughout the year.

Nadal losing a 4-2 30-15 lead in the AO final 5th set.

Yep - Murray has had some epic failures on BP/MP this year.

It's got to be Cilic though - lost in 4 after being up a set, 5-1 and 40-30 on serve.

[zagor]

Originally Posted by underground

We have best matches of the year but who choked the worst in 2012?

The most notable and pops out of the top of my head are:

Verdasco def. Nadal - Madrid R16 6-3 3-6 7-5 (Nadal was leading 5-2 15-0 final set, but choked an overhead and the match)

Murray def. Cilic - USO QF 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-0 (Cilic was leading 6-3 5-1, had no idea what happened there, went to bed at that scoreline thinking Murray was toast, but woke up and realised it was Fed who lost instead of Murray....)

Anyway anymore significant chokes from 2012?

OK honourable mentions contributed by posters below:

Gasquet def. Dimitrov - Bangkok R16 5-7 7-5 6-4 (Dimitrov was leading 5-2 in the 2nd)

Murray failing to convert tons of BPs/MPs against players throughout the year.

Nadal losing a 4-2 30-15 lead in the AO final 5th set.

I'm guessing that made your day, didn't it ?

Anyway, I'd go with Verdasco beating Nadal in Madrid considering everything, it may have been an uninspired and flat overall performance from Nadal but that choke was just majestic.

[power level 800]

I actually seen the entire match between Gasquet and Dimitrov and I wouldn't consider that match a choke on Dimitrov. Gasquet level of play just rose to a whole different level. He was hitting the ball cleaner and a lot harder then he was in the fist set and a half. There really wasn't anything Dimitrov could have done. Gasquet was just showing us another glimpse of his genius.

[Rob31]

Gasquet def. Nieminen Bangkok SF: 3-6,7-5,6-2 (Nieminen was leading 6-3, 4-0) is a good one.

[Hawkeye7]

Aus Open Q1: Lajovic 2-6 7-6(6) 5-0 40-0* lost to Viola 6-2 6-7(6) 8-6

This should also go down as one of the biggest chokes EVER, not just this year.

Also great:

Chennai R1: Kavcic 6-4 5-1 lost to Darcis 4-6 7-5 6-3
US Open Q2: Berrer 6-2 *5-1 lost to Gutierrez-Ferrol 2-6 7-5 6-4
Sydney Q: Matosevic 6-1 5-1 lost to Kuku 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2
Acapulco R16: Chardy def. Nishikori 1-6 7-6(8 ) 6-0 (Nishikori had 7 MPs)

[Tony48]

Probably Seppi losing in 5 to Novak. Although Novak had no business being down 2 sets to Seppi in the 1st place.

[underground]

A couple more:

didn't Dolgopolov come back from 2 sets and 0-4 down to win his 1st round at the USO? Against Levine 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-2, not sure about this one because I didn't watch it live.

I remember Davydenko winning 7 straight games from 0-5 down to win a set, it was in the spring hardcourt season but I forgot which match it was, looking at his match record it's either against Bubka or Phau in Indian Wells.