Djoko's stamina?

skaj

Legend
I've only seen him play once last week(the semifinals), and Djokovic looked tired and out of breath more than once during that match. Does anyone know more about his fitness level at the moment?
 

Raul_SJ

G.O.A.T.
Something is wrong with Djoker. Struggling and out of breath against Raonic of all people.
Raonic looked fresh. Maybe Djoker needs to adapt the Raonic cheeseburger diet.
 

Sysyphus

Talk Tennis Guru
I've only seen him play once last week(the semifinals), and Djokovic looked tired and out of breath more than once during that match. Does anyone know more about his fitness level at the moment?

Djokovic wouldn't be Djokovic if he didn't look on his deathbed every now and then before mysteriously springing to life with unprecedented vigor


the feeling when you've just lost a tiebreak and are about to go down a break in the third:

91ZWN3.gif

p8A1m6.gif


A few minutes later:

img_2704.jpg
776965.jpg


Novak-Djokovic-and-Andy-M-009.jpg


FQTJsj1.gif
 
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Tennisbg

Professional
I've only seen him play once last week(the semifinals), and Djokovic looked tired and out of breath more than once during that match. Does anyone know more about his fitness level at the moment?
Not exactly tired, he was having pain in the neck or whatever and he just tanked some games.
 

EdSWright

Professional
Djokovic wouldn't be Djokovic if he didn't look on his deathbed every now and then before mysteriously springing to life with unprecedented vigor


the feeling when you've just lost a tiebreak and is about to go down a break in the third:

91ZWN3.gif

p8A1m6.gif


A few minutes later:

img_2704.jpg
776965.jpg


Novak-Djokovic-and-Andy-M-009.jpg


FQTJsj1.gif
Nice compilation. “Physical crisis” was how he described it. No questions asked.
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
I've only seen him play once last week(the semifinals), and Djokovic looked tired and out of breath more than once during that match. Does anyone know more about his fitness level at the moment?
if so questinalbel, how does he have so many girlfriends ?
 

Beckerserve

Legend
Coronavirus complications. Bo5 will be way harder for him from now on and that's why I don't think he's winning USO.
Have to say losing a set 6-1 to Raonic is not promising at all. Also some of Djokovics comments seem to suggest he is not confident. He said he is playing his best ever tennis which is obviously nonsense. Also said Nadal has been most underrated player past 5 years which is the most bizarre remark if all time. Clearly something not right for him as i doubt he would look to put that kind of pressure on himself if he truly felt he was playing at or near his best.
 

Villain

Professional
Have to say losing a set 6-1 to Raonic is not promising at all. Also some of Djokovics comments seem to suggest he is not confident. He said he is playing his best ever tennis which is obviously nonsense. Also said Nadal has been most underrated player past 5 years which is the most bizarre remark if all time. Clearly something not right for him as i doubt he would look to put that kind of pressure on himself if he truly felt he was playing at or near his best.
I’m sure most pro players would give the world to win Cincinnati when they are confident, let alone “not confident.”
 

yokied

Hall of Fame
And this is why people who don’t watch tennis shouldn’t be posting. Always look at the previous rounds, especially the first real tournament back after a break and illness.

He was redlining everything to come through the semi against RBA. Yes it was only a 3hr 3 setter but jeebuz there were a lot of fast grinding rallies. He really needed that MTO to recover, regardless of how much his neck actually hurt hitting ground strokes

As grinding tennis goes, it was a quality semi and Novak only focussed and got aggressive when he knew he was physically cooked.

Even his team were shrugging their shoulders and saying WTF when he just broke RBA to love like he was 6-1 4-0 up when RBA was trying to serving it out.

He has lost a step so he’s closer to 100% for longer periods so his legs are going to go earlier in matches. If he hits Thiem and/or RBA and/or Med in consecutive rounds and keeps playing passively or stubbornly based on ego, he will lose to one of them.
 

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
And this is why people who don’t watch tennis shouldn’t be posting. Always look at the previous rounds, especially the first real tournament back after a break and illness.

He was redlining everything to come through the semi against RBA. Yes it was only a 3hr 3 setter but jeebuz there were a lot of fast grinding rallies.

As grinding tennis goes, it was a quality semi and Novak only focussed and got aggressive when he knew he was physically cooked. Even his team were shrugging their shoulders and saying WTF when he just broke RBA to love like he was 6-1 4-0 up when RBA was trying to serving it out.

He has lost a step so he’s closer to 100% for longer periods so his legs are going to go earlier in matches. If he hits Thiem and/or RBA and/or Med in consecutive rounds and keeps playing passively or stubbornly based on ego, he will lose to one of them.

Struff-Isner-Goffin projected R3/R4/QF. He's going to cruise.
 

skaj

Legend
And this is why people who don’t watch tennis shouldn’t be posting. Always look at the previous rounds, especially the first real tournament back after a break and illness.

He was redlining everything to come through the semi against RBA. Yes it was only a 3hr 3 setter but jeebuz there were a lot of fast grinding rallies. He really needed that MTO to recover, regardless of how much his neck actually hurt hitting ground strokes

As grinding tennis goes, it was a quality semi and Novak only focussed and got aggressive when he knew he was physically cooked.

Even his team were shrugging their shoulders and saying WTF when he just broke RBA to love like he was 6-1 4-0 up when RBA was trying to serving it out.

He has lost a step so he’s closer to 100% for longer periods so his legs are going to go earlier in matches. If he hits Thiem and/or RBA and/or Med in consecutive rounds and keeps playing passively or stubbornly based on ego, he will lose to one of them.

And what exactly is this?
 

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
Djokovic wouldn't be Djokovic if he didn't look on his deathbed every now and then before mysteriously springing to life with unprecedented vigor


the feeling when you've just lost a tiebreak and are about to go down a break in the third:

91ZWN3.gif

p8A1m6.gif


A few minutes later:

img_2704.jpg
776965.jpg


Novak-Djokovic-and-Andy-M-009.jpg


FQTJsj1.gif
That also happened to him against Delpo in Shanghai 13, right after he won the set 6-1. What reason would he have to fake it?
 

Cupcake

Hall of Fame
Coronavirus complications. Bo5 will be way harder for him from now on and that's why I don't think he's winning USO.

This. Coronavirus has a greater range than 'asymtomatic' or 'death'. A significant number people who have had it have been left with lung and other organ 'abnormalities'.

I was quite curious to see if Djoko (and Dimitrov and Coric) had any residual affects, and while just one tournament isn't enough to really tell, a difficult best of 5 might be a better indicator.

Yes, Nole has played possum.
And yes, he might not be match tough yet.
And yes, he has a neck issue.
But any lasting complications from COVID? Too soon to tell, but possible IMO.
 

SonnyT

Legend
Something is wrong with Djoker. Struggling and out of breath against Raonic of all people.
Raonic looked fresh. Maybe Djoker needs to adapt the Raonic cheeseburger diet.

Djokovic makes no effort to hide his fatigue. Almost every 5 setter he's ever been in, he looked more fatigued than his opponent. And yet, he came out the winner most of the time!

Go back and watch the five setters he had against Federer and Nadal. In almost every one, the broadcasters commented how tired he looked. His record against the two of them in 5 setters is 6-1!
 

ND-13

Hall of Fame
Djokovic can play possum well. But that is part of the game . Up to opponent to not get fooled

That said , he has absolutely nothing to worry here. He is going to go into the SF barely losing games . He has the weakest of the draws lined up against him when even the best is no match for him
 

SonnyT

Legend
It's not playing possum. He makes no effort to his fatigue, whereas most players do!

In the fifth set, he can be counted to do 2 things: doing stretching exercises and breathing hard. Who else besides Djokovic does stretching exercises during matches? I can't name anyone else!

BTW, those 2 things are proven to combat fatigue. Stretching helps to keep the muscles loose. Hard breathing brings more oxygen to the lungs and muscles. So he's actually doing those things to give him an edge in a long, grueling match!
 

skaj

Legend
Djokovic makes no effort to hide his fatigue. Almost every 5 setter he's ever been in, he looked more fatigued than his opponent. And yet, he came out the winner most of the time!

Go back and watch the five setters he had against Federer and Nadal. In almost every one, the broadcasters commented how tired he looked. His record against the two of them in 5 setters is 6-1!

He did? Are you sure you are not talking about Murray? :laughing:

This was a 2 out of 3 match, where he had quite a few breaks(medical timeouts, roof closing).
 

SonnyT

Legend
Last resort: innuendos without any evidence!

What his team prepares for him most probably is just their concoctions of the sports drinks, but Djokovic wouldn't take them because of his aversion to any kind of processed food.
 
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D

Deleted member 22147

Guest
He looks like that in many matches. Haven't you been watching him much the past 15 years?
 

skaj

Legend
He also ran out of gas in the finals after physically exhausting semis, both at Roland Garros and the US Open. In the latter the pressure played its part, sure, but still I felt he wasn't ready physically in that match.

Could be his age, consequences of covid? I doubt that he does not do his best to be as fit as possible for the slams.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
Consequences of covid? He won 3 Slams since then and made two more finals. It's safe to say now that covid has had no effect on him physically. The reason he looked tired in the RG and USO finals is because he had two tough draws, and long grueling matches throughout those tournaments.
 

skaj

Legend
Consequences of covid? He won 3 Slams since then and made two more finals. It's safe to say now that covid has had no effect on him physically. The reason he looked tired in the RG and USO finals is because he had two tough draws, and long grueling matches throughout those tournaments.

It happened to him before, yet he did not lose in straight sets in the finals. He won actually.

The fact that he won 3 slams does not mean that age/covid had no effect of on him, you do realize that I hope.
 

Amen786

Semi-Pro
Consequences of covid? He won 3 Slams since then and made two more finals. It's safe to say now that covid has had no effect on him physically. The reason he looked tired in the RG and USO finals is because he had two tough draws, and long grueling matches throughout those tournaments.
He looked fresher than tsitsipas starting from the latter stages of the final to the very end of it.
 

ForehandRF

Legend
Consequences of covid? He won 3 Slams since then and made two more finals. It's safe to say now that covid has had no effect on him physically. The reason he looked tired in the RG and USO finals is because he had two tough draws, and long grueling matches throughout those tournaments.
No wonder that COVID had no effect because Djokovic is fit and eats healthy.I dunno if any other tennis player has had that much care of his body as he did :D
 

Goof

Professional
He's usually not tired or injured when he acts it. He's trying to pull a Ric Flair, playing possum.

The AO21 match against Fritz was the best example of this. Fritz had the perfect game plan against him, keeping slow rallies going down the middle for as long as it took until the opportunity to truly go on offense presented itself. Djok faked injury to try to get Fritz to open up the court more and give him more angles and pace to work with. To Fritz's credit, he didn't veer from the gameplan. To Djokovic's credit, he was too good for that gameplan to work well enough for Fritz to win the fifth set. To no one's credit, Novak tried to keep the injury charade going even after the match.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
It happened to him before, yet he did not lose in straight sets in the finals. He won actually.

The fact that he won 3 slams does not mean that age/covid had no effect of on him, you do realize that I hope.

He did lose in straight sets when it happened before, 2013 Wimbledon to be exact.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
He looked fresher than tsitsipas starting from the latter stages of the final to the very end of it.

I don't know if I would say fresher, but he did seem to wear Tsitsipas down as the match progressed. He looked lethargic and low energy in the beginning of the match though.
 

Jokervich

Hall of Fame
He also ran out of gas in the finals after physically exhausting semis, both at Roland Garros and the US Open. In the latter the pressure played its part, sure, but still I felt he wasn't ready physically in that match.

Could be his age, consequences of covid? I doubt that he does not do his best to be as fit as possible for the slams.
Anyone would have been gassed by the final if they played as much as he did in the previous 6 rounds. Guys like Alcaraz and Brooksby - far younger than Djokovic - ran out of gas way earlier. The younger generation still can't beat Djokovic in a best of 5 when he's fresh and not injured.
 

swordtennis

G.O.A.T.
He is basically near the 2 major max a year age now.
Do not write him off yet
He can still ramp up the level IMO just not for all the majors.
 

JasonZ

Hall of Fame
I don't know if I would say fresher, but he did seem to wear Tsitsipas down as the match progressed. He looked lethargic and low energy in the beginning of the match though.

both djokovic and tsitsipas played their best tennis in the first set, but djokovic then had a very bad service game when serving for the first set, and then was awful in the second set. but he started very well against a very well playing opponent.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
both djokovic and tsitsipas played their best tennis in the first set, but djokovic then had a very bad service game when serving fir the first set, and then was awful in the second set. but he started very well against a very well playing opponent.

He didn't have a bad start, per say, but he did seem a bit lethargic to me and not moving as well as he was in the Nadal match.
 
D

Deleted member 770948

Guest
Hopefully Djokovic doesn't retire. I love it when Nadal bagels him and crucifies him real bad.
The reason why Djokovic lost in straight sets in this US Open is because Medvedev is better at long baseline rallies.
In the past Djokovic was better.
 

skaj

Legend
Anyone would have been gassed by the final if they played as much as he did in the previous 6 rounds. Guys like Alcaraz and Brooksby - far younger than Djokovic - ran out of gas way earlier. The younger generation still can't beat Djokovic in a best of 5 when he's fresh and not injured.

Not 2012 Aussie Open Djokovic, for example.
The second part of your post backs what I have said.
 
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