Thiem is far away from being the second best clay-courter. Maybe he was it in 2018, but now he has reached one Masters SF. In Monte Carlo and Rome he was a non-factor. Considering his usual Slam performances apart from RG 2018 I think he won’t be much better there.
At least after the loss to Istomin he only lost to players from the top-20. Against Kyrgios in Acapulco and Goffin in MC he was just outplayed to be honest. In the other losses he was bad for sure, especially against Thiem and Berdych. But he didn't lose to the likes of Fognini and Brown like Nadal did in 2015.
He didn't lose to Goffin easily. It was a very close match with a 6-2 3-6 7-5 scoreline. Goffin also made a comeback in the third set, risking a lot on the big points. He also beat both Federer and Nadal later that year.
In 2014 it wasn't surprising, let's be fair. Nadal was coming from a terrible clay season by his standards, who could expect him to do something on grass? The bad losses were in 2012-2013.
2014 was a poor year for Nadal. The injury in AO 2014 final was the official end of his prime. You are mentioning some better tournaments but completely ignore all the terrible losses he had. Speaking like that we can make any season look good. Why don't you mention him reaching Madrid final in 2015?
Lost to Dolgopolov in IW, and his results on clay were: had to save matchpoints against Andujar, lost in MC to Ferrer after playing a terrible match with 44 unforced errors, lost to ALMAGRO in Barcelona, would have lost to NISHIKORI in Madrid if not the injury, hardly beat Simon, Youzhny and Murray in Rome, played bad in RG as well even though he won it...Dude, that was not prime Nadal. Watch his result on clay in 2005-2013 and you will see his 2014 clay season was probably worse than all these years combined.
Indeed. Djokovic was dominating the tournament until the third set against Gulbis. Then his level suddenly dropped and he couldn't improve for the final. That was a bad match.
Agree. I always say it was his least impressive RG win. In the last game of the first set he missed two break points with two terrible forehand misses, that alone said that he wasn't at his best.
That match in RG 2015 was NID though. It wasn't even about the mentality, it was the simple fact that Nadal that year was getting tired after an hour of play or something. At the beginning of the year he won one very tough match in AO, but since then and until something like Shanghai losing the first set for him was 99% losing the match, he just physically couldn't come back, maximum he could was push to a third set and lose it. So for me it was clear that in BO5 he was going to lose to the first top player he will face.
I'd like to nuance this a different way. Nadal is a bad matchup for Djokovic on clay. Nadal was horrible in 2015 and 2016, and that's were Novak has 3 wins in a row against him, on clay. But rating Nadal then is like using the last half of 2016 and 2017 for Novak, on clay, and even into 2018, before he got his mojo back. In fact, both Djokovic and Fed have been terribly unlucky to be playing clay in Nadal's era. So for Novak the matchup is improved when he's zoned, and Nadal is not, but the match-up still favors Nadal. On faster surfaces it flips. Advantage Djkokovic. I still think Nadal is in Djokovic's head on clay, not the other way around.
I totally agree with this analysis, but I'd like to add that Nadal also knows that if his level slips, no one has a better chance against him than a determined Djokovic. Also, "abusing plastic water bottles" is hardly an immoral thing to do!
No, no and no. Djokovic is very good on clay. You are being silly. I'm not sure what kinda tennis you are watching. Djokovic won RG.
, lol. Be logical.
No, no and no. Djokovic is very good on clay. You are being silly. I'm not sure what kinda tennis you are watching. Djokovic won RG.
He won Madrid this year and played the final of the Rome. What are you talking about? Are you stupid
Their mutual match in Madrid showed that even at the age of 32 Djoker is better than Thiem on the clay.
Djoker just has to be confident! His insecurity will only help Nadal. Uncertainty, too much respect to Nadal makes it easier for Nadal matches at RG.
Since 2014, Djoker leads 11-4 in their mutual matches. Nadal beat Djoker in this period only on the clay.
They try to conceal it well but you just know it drives Nadal fans crazy that their guy hasn't managed to beat Djokovic on non clay surfaces since then lol.
If he thinks Djokovic is overrated on clay then I dread to think how he views Federer on the surface.No, no and no. Djokovic is very good on clay. You are being silly. I'm not sure what kinda tennis you are watching. Djokovic won RG.
He won Madrid this year and played the final of the Rome. What are you talking about? Are you stupid
welcome to reality. That used to be his sweet spot.
He never denied that Djokovic is an excellent clay courter.No, no and no. Djokovic is very good on clay. You are being silly. I'm not sure what kinda tennis you are watching. Djokovic won RG.
He won Madrid this year and played the final of the Rome. What are you talking about? Are you stupid
He said he is "overrated", which in this context I mean he refers to the fact that people sometimes forget that Djokovic is not the same on clay than hard.
Your opinion? A comfortable Nadal win?Ultronians
