Djokovic will finish YE#1

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Is that even mathematically possible?

It is but he'd have to win a lot and/or have Nadal underperform. Nadal is defending a USO win though and Novak is defending nothing for the rest of the year.

He;s about 2400 points behind Nadal in the race, but obviously Nadal can gain more this week.

USO 2000 points, then there.s 3000 worth of masters points and the WTF which is 1500 for an undefeated run. If he won that and Nadal didn't play or lost in the group that a big chunk right there. If he won the USO and a masters as well, could be possible
 

r2473

G.O.A.T.
Depends on who wins US Open.

Then who can be arsed to play the fall season.

Obviously Nadal has the edge now because he's the only one that played clay, but he usually checks out after US Open (as does everybody else).
 

NBP

Hall of Fame
stephen-a-smith.jpg
 

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Bull won both the US Open and Beijing last year, executing in his road Kyrgios and Dimitrov in Beijing, as well as Del Potro abd Anderson (the assasin of Federer) at the US Open.

This year could be the same.

He might do but it would be unusual for him to have that run 2 years in a row. Still even consistent results should seal it, especially if that does include a big win as well.

Curiously, out of the 6 non clay slams Nadal has won, 2 of them he has reached the final the following year (wimbledon and USO 2011) but then out of the remaining 3 that have actually been played (with this year's USO still to come) he's not entered 2 of them at all (W2009 and USO 2014) and retired in the other (AO2010) so seems he either does really well is physically struggles. Wonder if the pattern will continue this year - a final will keep a really healthy lead and if past is to go by as long as he's healthy he goes deep
 
Last edited:

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Anderson is World no.5 , At this point anything can happen in tennis
Nadal's non clay title defense is over a period of 15 years and occurs year after year after year. Anderson has only been top 5 for a brief period in his entire career and won't remain there for long. Totally different things. One event is an established pattern, the other is a brief fluke.
 

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Bull won both the US Open and Beijing last year, executing in his road Kyrgios and Dimitrov in Beijing, as well as Del Potro and Anderson (the assasin of Federer) at the US Open.

This year could be the same.

Why can't you let Djokovic fans be optimistic? Since you dislike him so much it's all about Nadal this blah blah ;):D
 

Enceladus

Legend
That Djokovic was YE 1 this year, he would have to win the US Open. Although USO is a major with hard surface, Djokovic does not suit as AO or Wimbledon. Djokovic won USO only in his Peak years (2011, 2015) and this year is not definitely his Peak-Year.
 

ADuck

Legend
His chances of defending either title are minuscule. He's never defended a non-clay title in 15 years on tour.
I doubt that's going to lessen his chances of winning though. I doubt the act of 'defending' the title plays very much on Rafa's mind and he'll approach the tournament the same way as if he hadn't won it the previous year.
 

kevaninho

Hall of Fame
Depends on who wins US Open.

Then who can be arsed to play the fall season.

Obviously Nadal has the edge now because he's the only one that played clay, but he usually checks out after US Open (as does everybody else).

Actually Djokovic played clay...;)
 

kevaninho

Hall of Fame
His chances of defending either title are minuscule. He's never defended a non-clay title in 15 years on tour.

But he has plenty to gain from Canada and Cinci, not to mention the WTF and Paris if he plays.
He has as good a chance of the USO as any. Nadal is the only player who has consistently played well in majors the past couple years ( Fed is falling badly off the cliff , his chances are worse than Nadals ).
 

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
I doubt that's going to lessen his chances of winning though. I doubt the act of 'defending' the title plays very much on Rafa's mind and he'll approach the tournament the same way as if he hadn't won it the previous year.

This whole never defended a hc title is a bit silly. Doesn't really matter if you win another tournament of equal value. The only time he's done this with a HC slam is swapping the AO for the USO in 2009/2010, but I don't think there's any actual reason he cant defend the USO. When he won AO 2009 he had a decent run to the quarters the next year, USO2013 he didn't play the next year. With the USO2010 he reached the final the next year and only lost to peak Djokovic. Also with Wimbledon out of the 2 times he won it, the time he actually entered, the following year he reached the final to be defeated by peak Djokovic. So as long as he enters, history says he'll take some beating
 
Last edited:

NBP

Hall of Fame
But he has plenty to gain from Canada and Cinci, not to mention the WTF and Paris if he plays.
He has as good a chance of the USO as any. Nadal is the only player who has consistently played well in majors the past couple years ( Fed is falling badly off the cliff , his chances are worse than Nadals ).
Federer hasn't lost before the QF of a slam since 2015. Since 2017, he's played 5 majors, won 3, lost 2 QF. So your point is false.
 

Pheasant

Legend
Djokovic has a good shot to finish the year 2nd.

Race to London(points accumulated in 2018)

Nadal 5760
Zverev 4085
Federer 4020
Delpo 3530
Djoker 3355
Thiem 2995
Cilic 2915
Anderson 2820
Isner 2470
Fognini 1805

Delpo has an injured wrist. Djoker will pass him. Federer plays a truncated schedule. So Djoker should be able to pass him. Zverev's slam results have been a huge question mark. But he will break through shortly. Will it be at the 2018 USO? That's the big question right now. I predict that Djoker ends the year #2. #1 is too far away for Djoker now. He would need to win the USO and WTF to have a snowball's chance. And he'll need Nadal to get knocked out early during those events as well. Right now, I give Nadal a 99% chance of ending the year world #1. But Djoker looks like a get bet for #2.
 

chicagodude

Hall of Fame
Djokovic has a good shot to finish the year 2nd.

Race to London(points accumulated in 2018)

Nadal 5760
Zverev 4085
Federer 4020
Delpo 3530
Djoker 3355
Thiem 2995
Cilic 2915
Anderson 2820
Isner 2470
Fognini 1805

Delpo has an injured wrist. Djoker will pass him. Federer plays a truncated schedule. So Djoker should be able to pass him. Zverev's slam results have been a huge question mark. But he will break through shortly. Will it be at the 2018 USO? That's the big question right now. I predict that Djoker ends the year #2. #1 is too far away for Djoker now. He would need to win the USO and WTF to have a snowball's chance. And he'll need Nadal to get knocked out early during those events as well. Right now, I give Nadal a 99% chance of ending the year world #1. But Djoker looks like a get bet for #2.

This seems the likely scenario.

Only if DJokvic wins 2 more MS tourneys, the USO and the WTF unbeaten (a very optimistic but still plausible scenario for him) he will have about 8900 pts, which could be enough to get the YE1.

EVen if DJokovic does all that, Nadal would still have to falter quite a bit in all remaining tournaments, especially the USO.

My guess is that if Nadal wins Toronto he is in pole position to get another YE1.
 

Fabresque

Legend
Nice to see how you strategically ignore Cilic (he who lost in 5 close sets to Federer at the AO 2018 final and defeated Federer at the USO 2014).
Posters on this forum like to leave him out of discussions even though Cilic would’ve been #1 if it wasn’t for resurgent Fred and Ralph throughout 2017 and early 2018.

Anyway, Djoker is 5th, and he’s gonna pass Delpo (too many points to defend + injury) and Federer who’s gonna have a rough end of the season, defending Shanghai and Basel. Zverev is always a dumpster fire and regardless if people think Djoker has a matchup problem with him (he doesn’t, his only issue is with Karlovic), he’ll pass him. Of course that leaves Nadal who is defending USO and Beijing. I don’t know if Novak is capable of winning the US Open but I guess we’ll catch a glimpse at Cincinatti. Also, keep in mind Novak is only gonna have a shot at the tournament if he plays good the early rounds. He was pretty bang average in Toronto before playing Tsitsipas to tell you the truth. If he comes out firing on all cylinders in Cincy and the US Open I say he’s got a chance. He basically ran through everyone at Wimbledon except Nadal.

#2 or #3 seems more likely, but I have a gut feeling he’ll be back for the early parts of 2019 to really kick it into high gear and steal Nadal’s #1 ranking.
 
Top