Rafa4LifeEver
G.O.A.T.
Hello Lovely ladies and gentlemen, my fellow TTW posters, as you all know, Djokovic is yet to be defeated at a grandslam BO5 match this year, even though he's looked far from his best except for a couple of flashes of brilliance.
His mental toughness, clutch are incredible and yet there were occasions where he could have lost the match and opponent had huge chances, yet nole somehow clutched out the win or the opponent couldn't take chance.
I'd list 6 such matches here and explain the individual case briefly from my point of view. Its upto you to decide where nole was closest to getting eliminated from the slam altogether. If you've got any other option than the ones I've listed here, please write that down too. Also, kindly explain your own reasons why nole won & why he could or should have lost the specific match.
Case 1 :- Vs Taylor Fritz at AO
This was the American's greatest ever chance to take down an ATG. For whatever reason, nole's level dropped after set2 & he was looking very vulnerable in set3 & 4 from the Baseline, could not stay in the extended exchanges. In set5, he was basically serving 2 first deliveries to avoid baseline exchanges, but Fritz's lack of tennis IQ couldn't see that and instead of getting 2-3 metres behind baseline to get every possible return back in court & make nole rally, he stood on baseline and once nole broke him in 6th game, it was all over..
Case 2 :- Vs Zverev at AO
One of those matches where you are thoroughly outplaying your opponent but almost always find a way to mess up in all of the critical moments (kinda like WIM19 F). This could have been the biggest moment of the young German's career, beating nole at AO. He was in great position to win set1 6-3, couldn't win despite having upper hand, could not serve it out for 6-4, somehow won it 7-6 in the TB. Then had humongous multiple chances to go a double break up at 4-1 in set 3, couldn't capitalise, lost 5 games in a row. Once again had multiple breakpoints to go a double break up at 4-1 in set4, couldn't capitalise. Had set point in the resulting tiebreaker, couldn't capitalise. He could have won 6-3 2-6 6-1 6-2 if held himself together between the ears.
Case 3 :- Vs Musetti at RG
The young Italian went 2 sets to love up against the Serbian veteran superstar. Had all the momentum going in the 3rd, but somehow collapsed physically & won just one game afterwards. It was very disappointing to witness despite it being his 1st grandslam main draw appearance.
Case 4 :- Vs Nadal at RG
Nadal broke Djo right when he was about to take charge for 2-1 lead. In 99.99999% of the scenarios like this on clay including the ones against Djoko or Roger, its Nadal who runs away with the set afterwards and breaks the heart of his opponents. But sadly it didn't happen this time. Even in the resulting tiebreaker, Nadal botched easiest of volleys. All that extra grind in set3 for nothing. Granted, this was nothing beyond mid-average version of nadal, but still he had big chances and would've won it in 4. Why why why why
Case 5 :- Vs Tsitsipas at RG
The Greek did to novak what the serb does to most of his opponents, snatch the food right when they're about to eat. Djokovic served for the set1, had set point in tiebreaker and made a bullet of a return, and despite all that, Tsitsi kept his composure to claim the set. He dominantly won the 2nd set too. And we all had hopes, that finally, there was a young player who wasn't afraid of the ATG in front of him & didn't get overwhelmed by the ocassion at all. But, NextGen never fails to deliver. As soon as Tsitsipas knew he was close to finishing line, his concentration and fire dropped big time and he became tight, to the extent where he failed to generate a single break point in next 3 sets.
Case 6 :- Vs Shapovalov at Wimbledon
Well, this is the match where Djokovic was in trouble this Wimbledon. Shapovalov began the match on fire, serving huge & hitting winners everywhere until 5-4 where he served for the set, missed a sitter in open court at 30-30 to set up a set point, lost the resulting tiebreaker by making tonloads of errors. He looked the better player throughout the second set as well, could not win any of the 7-9 break point chances he had, got broken at 5-5 in an error riden spell of points, and from there on it was inevitable Even though he did well to hang on in set 3. Though this is probably the weakest case for a potential nole loss imho.
So, let's discuss here respectfully.
His mental toughness, clutch are incredible and yet there were occasions where he could have lost the match and opponent had huge chances, yet nole somehow clutched out the win or the opponent couldn't take chance.
I'd list 6 such matches here and explain the individual case briefly from my point of view. Its upto you to decide where nole was closest to getting eliminated from the slam altogether. If you've got any other option than the ones I've listed here, please write that down too. Also, kindly explain your own reasons why nole won & why he could or should have lost the specific match.
Case 1 :- Vs Taylor Fritz at AO
This was the American's greatest ever chance to take down an ATG. For whatever reason, nole's level dropped after set2 & he was looking very vulnerable in set3 & 4 from the Baseline, could not stay in the extended exchanges. In set5, he was basically serving 2 first deliveries to avoid baseline exchanges, but Fritz's lack of tennis IQ couldn't see that and instead of getting 2-3 metres behind baseline to get every possible return back in court & make nole rally, he stood on baseline and once nole broke him in 6th game, it was all over..
Case 2 :- Vs Zverev at AO
One of those matches where you are thoroughly outplaying your opponent but almost always find a way to mess up in all of the critical moments (kinda like WIM19 F). This could have been the biggest moment of the young German's career, beating nole at AO. He was in great position to win set1 6-3, couldn't win despite having upper hand, could not serve it out for 6-4, somehow won it 7-6 in the TB. Then had humongous multiple chances to go a double break up at 4-1 in set 3, couldn't capitalise, lost 5 games in a row. Once again had multiple breakpoints to go a double break up at 4-1 in set4, couldn't capitalise. Had set point in the resulting tiebreaker, couldn't capitalise. He could have won 6-3 2-6 6-1 6-2 if held himself together between the ears.
Case 3 :- Vs Musetti at RG
The young Italian went 2 sets to love up against the Serbian veteran superstar. Had all the momentum going in the 3rd, but somehow collapsed physically & won just one game afterwards. It was very disappointing to witness despite it being his 1st grandslam main draw appearance.
Case 4 :- Vs Nadal at RG
Nadal broke Djo right when he was about to take charge for 2-1 lead. In 99.99999% of the scenarios like this on clay including the ones against Djoko or Roger, its Nadal who runs away with the set afterwards and breaks the heart of his opponents. But sadly it didn't happen this time. Even in the resulting tiebreaker, Nadal botched easiest of volleys. All that extra grind in set3 for nothing. Granted, this was nothing beyond mid-average version of nadal, but still he had big chances and would've won it in 4. Why why why why
Case 5 :- Vs Tsitsipas at RG
The Greek did to novak what the serb does to most of his opponents, snatch the food right when they're about to eat. Djokovic served for the set1, had set point in tiebreaker and made a bullet of a return, and despite all that, Tsitsi kept his composure to claim the set. He dominantly won the 2nd set too. And we all had hopes, that finally, there was a young player who wasn't afraid of the ATG in front of him & didn't get overwhelmed by the ocassion at all. But, NextGen never fails to deliver. As soon as Tsitsipas knew he was close to finishing line, his concentration and fire dropped big time and he became tight, to the extent where he failed to generate a single break point in next 3 sets.
Case 6 :- Vs Shapovalov at Wimbledon
Well, this is the match where Djokovic was in trouble this Wimbledon. Shapovalov began the match on fire, serving huge & hitting winners everywhere until 5-4 where he served for the set, missed a sitter in open court at 30-30 to set up a set point, lost the resulting tiebreaker by making tonloads of errors. He looked the better player throughout the second set as well, could not win any of the 7-9 break point chances he had, got broken at 5-5 in an error riden spell of points, and from there on it was inevitable Even though he did well to hang on in set 3. Though this is probably the weakest case for a potential nole loss imho.
So, let's discuss here respectfully.
