TheAssassin
G.O.A.T.
Just as I expected, though I didn't think Simon would serve for the match.Simon frustrated Novak when he was dominating so it could definitely happen now.
Novak looking good, will sweep the entire clay season.
Just as I expected, though I didn't think Simon would serve for the match.Simon frustrated Novak when he was dominating so it could definitely happen now.
And you are a very nice tennis fan in general my sweet![]()
or king joffrey aka goffinThiem would destroy Djokovic if he plays like that in the QF
Or kicking himself for skipping the clay season.Federer must be laughing
Care to revisit this?He should beat Simon 3 and 2, he's hardly reflective of a good match. He's had about 2 big wins in his entire career and usually lays down to the big guys. If he doesn't destroy Simon this is indicative that his slump is still in full gear.
He is getting squashed by Almagro at the moment, I wouldn't be optimistic about that.or king joffrey aka goffin![]()
Let's drop our jaws while watching who can hit more aces in a Federer Kyrgios match then.what a boring match.too bad novak is back - didnt miss him at all
even that 40 shot rally was nothing special
Care to revisit this?
Let's drop our jaws while watching who can hit more aces in a Federer Kyrgios match then.
Chances are he gets knocked out by Thiem or Zverev, and then he is already tired once the next tournament starts. By the time we reach RG, Novak will be very tired
Seriously doubt you saw the match, Simon was anything but muggish.No. Simon lost against a big guy as usual. Everything I wrote was spot on about Simon. And what I said about Djoker was true too. 2015 Djoker beats this mug in about 55 minutes!
Nothing catastrophic about this match, at least the majority of it that I watched. Personally I find this way way better than any encounter where points (not even rallies, just some ultra short points) end in a blink of an eye. And I don't mind Simon at all honestly. I actually like the guy. Not attack oriented player, big deal. There is a lot more where that came from.You can't be seriously advocating in favour of a Simon-Djokovic match?Even if you like Djokovic, Simon put's you asleep regardless of his opponent.
2015 Djoker beats this mug in about 55 minutes!
the endurance king can surely handle a long match vs. Simon. He's hardly played matches this year.Novak actually harmed his chances of winning a clay masters by coming through this match. He has a tough draw here, and doesn't look ready too take it on. Chances are he gets knocked out by Thiem or Zverev, and then he is already tired once the next tournament starts. By the time we reach RG, Novak will be very tired, and probably not make it beyond the QF. That's another 1500+ points gone. If i were him, I'd not put much into my next match and hope things go well. If he can make it through the next rounds, then he can mount a push for the title, but if he doesn't win then its a lot of energy spent for not much back. I heard over 40% of Djokovic's points come from clay alone, so he has a lot to do over the next 2 months if he wants to stay number 2 with Stan breathing down his neck. Today was just the beginning of what he is going to have to do. Luckily he isn't defending too much on Grass, so should make up some ground there.
the endurance king can surely handle a long match vs. Simon. He's hardly played matches this year.
You can't be seriously advocating in favour of a Simon-Djokovic match?Even if you like Djokovic, Simon put's you asleep regardless of his opponent.
the endurance king can surely handle a long match vs. Simon. He's hardly played matches this year.
there's a 2 weeks gap between MC and Madrid. What he needs is to win matches and eke out the close ones like he did today. Those kind of wins breeds confidence.Yes, but the problem is that he hasn't played much this year, and he now has too play a lot over the next 2 month stretch. The next rest won't be until before Wimbeldon. And it's not just winning, but winning with consistency. Even if Djokovic gets to semifinal of every clay event, including RG, he still will lose 1000's of points overall, compared to last season. He has to actually win events, and now he will be tired after Simon and a demon draw ahead of him. Does not say good things about Novaks clay season. If he puts a lot into this tournament and doesn't win, he won't have the same freshness heading to the next one. that doesn't even take into account the building psychological pressure. We could see a situation where he is mentally and physically drained by RG, and cannot defend the mountain of points he holds there. Let's ace it, at 30 his chances aren't getting any better. Only recent 30+ winner of RG is Stan, and he was on absolute fire in that tournament.
Don't recall him being gassed and Boris hasn't been a part of his camp and training for 4 months+ now. Didn't look gassed at all in the match today despite some very long rallies. Until further proof to the contrary, I thus refrain from thinking that one somewhat long 3-setter will inhibit Novak's chances after a day's rest...He is not the endurance king anymore and hasn't been for a long time. He was gassed in the USO final in September of last year. Boris says he doesn't practice and goes weeks without hitting a ball or training.
He's playing doubles tomorrow so he won't even get that.Don't recall him being gassed and Boris hasn't been a part of his camp and training for 4 months+ now. Didn't look gassed at all in the match today despite some very long rallies. Until further proof to the contrary, I thus refrain from thinking that one somewhat long 3-setter will inhibit Novak's chances after a day's rest...
He'll survive, don't overdramatize. His 3rd round opponent has an actual singles match tmr after all...He's playing doubles tomorrow so he won't even get that.
there's a 2 weeks gap between MC and Madrid. What he needs is to win matches and eke out the close ones like he did today. Those kind of wins breeds confidence.
Also, odds of a 30+ player winning FO this year? At the very, very least 75 %. Possibly closer to 85 %.
I think Djoko's first half of 2016 form is way overrated. He won a lot of matches on his 2015 aura alone. Didn't need to do much, guys just folded before him. When he needed to, he had an extra gear, but most of the time, he would just play the ball and let the other guy selfdestruct.I disagree. I think he needs to win some of these matches easily rather than eke out close wins every time. I know he's had some close matches with Simon in the past but the truth is he should be beating a guy like Simon in straights as he's also done in the past.
I didn't see this match but looked at some of the highlights and Djokovic looked atrocious. That's why I said in earlier posts there's no way I could predict which players would do well at the clay warm-ups and at the FO without watching them first. Djokovic will need to improve drastically to have a chance to win these tournaments. He still has time to do it but he's got to start winning matches more easily rather than go the distance with every mug on tour.
Seriously, I think Federer in his current form would beat this Djokovic fairly comfortably on any surface. Nadal may also be able to beat this Djokovic depending on Nadal's own form in this tournament. Also a player like Thiem or Zverev may be able to beat Djokovic if Djokovic doesn't improve. Certainly we wouldn't have said that one short year ago. That's how it goes. Things change.
Haha, I wasn't overdramatizing, merely stating a fact.He''ll survive, don't overdramatize. His 3rd round opponent has an actual singles match tmr after all...
"He's playing doubles tomorrow so he won't even get that."Haha, I wasn't overdramatizing, merely stating a fact.
I think Djoko's first half of 2016 form is way overrated. He won a lot of matches on his 2015 aura alone. Didn't need to do much, guys just folded before him. When he needed to, he had an extra gear, but most of the time, he would just play the ball and let the other guy selfdestruct.
Sure, straight set wins are always nice. But it's good for him to win some close ones too rather than lose like he did vs. Nick. I saw most of the match and aside from his serve, a pretty important part, Djoko wasn't mugging around that much.
Plenty of good signs from him in this match, some not so great, but overall, def. a good performance.
Oh stop being so nitpicky Chanwan"He's playing doubles tomorrow so he won't even get that."
Why the need of even if he doesn't need a day off, which he shouldn't need to.
I didn't see the match so I'll take your word for it. From the highlights I saw Djokovic didn't look good to me. But he has time to improve. At this point he'll need wins of any kind to build momentum.
he had 40+ unforced errors to like 22 or 23 winners so he definately played like *hit. i'm curious how murray will do tomorrow.
Zebrev (and to some extend Beatlesfan) were talking as if he would spoil the rest of his clay season because of this match. This is a one week Masters followed by two weeks with no tournaments. Of course he's gonna be fine. And doubles ain't no strain for him.Oh stop being so nitpicky Chanwan![]()
I didn't see the match so I'll take your word for it. From the highlights I saw Djokovic didn't look good to me. But he has time to improve. At this point he'll need wins of any kind to build momentum.
he had 40+ unforced errors to like 22 or 23 winners so he definately played like *hit. i'm curious how murray will do tomorrow.
Impossible to end up with a positive W/UE count vs. someone like Simon on one of the slowest courts on tour in damp weather unless you're absolutely on fire.Thanks for the stats. It sure didn't look like Djokovic played well to me from the highlight reel I watched but Chanwan said he thought Djokovic put in a good performance? I guess we all see things a little differently.
Oh yes, I forgot about Murray in this tournament.
was it that bad though? Didn't see the end stats. But without looking it up, I'm positive that Rafole and Djokoray have played plenty of matches against each other with both of them at -10 or more in W/UEif you're going -20 then you didn't play well. it's one thing if you hit 50 winners and 50 unforced errors as it pays off. but 20/40 isn't good.
Impossible to end up with a positive W/UE count vs. someone like Simon on one of the slowest courts on tour in damp weather unless you're absolutely on fire.
He didn't play a perfect match, but he hit with plenty of depth and purpose, was redirecting the ball very well and returning very well. Serve not up to par yet as I said and obviously that's a problem vs. a good returner like Simon.
novak won today but he definately wasn't "in form" let's just put it that way.
It's the strain he worries clay will put on his body. Doesn't want to hurt his back again or something.What the hell is Fed doing? If he's not injured he's had 16 days to rest following the Miami masters.
There's literally no elite players out there so this is as good a chance as any to win Monte Carlo and another 1000 points.
I don't understand why he needs 7-10 weeks rest? If he's not injured a couple of weeks is more than enough to shake off any tiredness.
It's the strain he worries clay will put on his body. Doesn't want to hurt his back again or something.
How is it any worse than hard courts?