2023 Australian Open R32: [27] Grigor Dimitrov vs Novak Djokovic [4]

[junior74]

I don’t see Novak winning the next match. De Minaur is a grinder and not sure the leg holds up. Still a great effort to get that far.

Strongruling

 

[HFK]

He'll win in 3 again. He can break De Minaur at will.

Of course. De Minaur will go down in straights as well.

 

[The_Order]

Of course. De Minaur will go down in straights as well.

I don't know man, will God glue his hamstring back in time AGAIN???

 

[Krish872007]

I think he can certainly beat de Minaur

If Rune gets to the QF though, that will be really tough

 

[Breakpointerer]

Come on, he is not losing to De Minaur lol. Loses a set at most.

 

[Razer]

De Minaur could have won if it was a 100M sprint, but in Tennis he doesn't have the serve or the cajones to defeat Novak. It will be a 3-4 sets affair. Rune/Rublev are dangerous, Novak has to come out unscathed out of that match with his hamstring intact if he is to lift the title.

 

[The_Order]

Who said this? Are they still on the forum?

Many dupe accounts... unfortunately..

Also on Twitter.. MTF ... there are some sick, disgusting people out there...

 

[Mivic]

Don't squirm over freaking De Minaur guys, what the hell lol...

Right lol. No idea where that is coming from.

 

[Nadal15thslam]

Right lol. No idea where that is coming from.

Rune might be a tough one but De Minaur? No way he's losing to him.

 

[Kralingen]

Rune
Korda
FAA
Tsitsipas
Sinner
Rublev
RBA

in that order would have won tonight vs this Djokovic. Early powerful ball striking with directional changes will get you point after point. Add in a good serve and it’s over. Djokovic is playing on borrowed time. He needs to be Uber aggressive from here on out. Playing defense he has 0 chance. Luckily ADM not on that list.

 

[disgruntledamsel]

Djokovic is often impenetrable, but if a player has a chance, I think it’s the first time you play Novak. Over the last decade, I’ve see him lose sets to players he’s never played before in inexplicable fashion. He acts surprised sometimes as if he hasn’t vetted them. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it turns out to be a rough match. Since he’s injured, we might see Gumby Novak out there for a stretch.

 

[Chanwan]

I don't think he'll serve it out.

You were saying? Congrats man

 

[Chanwan]

Don't think he can win the next match if he plays at this level, Alex will grind him 10 times over.

I think he will lose in the QF if he doesn't improve

 

[Subway Tennis]

What are you guys talking about… no De Minaur is not the fear, it’s Rune or even Rublev who’d be far more dangerous… De Minaur’s serve is just asking to be attacked, and Novak can play on the front foot there. If he’s dictating the point and going for shots he’s actually fine, more than fine.

De Minaur will have some nice highlights but nothing to hurt Djokovic with power wise.

no, someone who can serve big and change direction with power would be a bigger challenge as that aspect of Novak’s movement is awful right now.

I’m a De Minaur fan, so there is a lot of bias in my comments ….. but one thing I would add with De Minaur is that his defence is so good that he will engage Djokovic in a lot of grinding points. A lot. That is normally Novak’s wheelhouse but it’s clearly something he is wanting to avoid at the moment.

Demon also has very good shot tolerance now. Much better than even 12 months ago. His cross court backhand doesn’t penetrate the court like the big guys, but he can pull Djokovic off the court with acute angles, and get him out wide, an area where it looked like Djokovic struggled to recover from in a few long rallies tonight. And Demon can maintain that BH for very long periods of time.

He also has a very good transition game. Obviously coming to net neutrally against Novak is suicidal, but in points where Demon can gain an advantage, he will be much better at finishing in the forecourt than Dimitrov was.

With all that said, what you say is all true, and the threat is there for Demon to be attacked the whole match. He is going to be under pressure in every service game. He can extend defensive rallies for superhuman periods of time, but it’s harder for him to transition from defence to attack than it is for guys like Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Tsitsipas etc etc.

 

[Hitman]

I think he will lose in the QF if he doesn't improve

Lets see. It is only getting tougher.

 

[Chanwan]

Novak's movement gets worse with each round and the opponents better.

It's nice to dream, but there is little chance Novak lasts past DeMinaur

He's a clear favorite IMO. The QF is where the trouble start

 

[Chanwan]

I’m a De Minaur fan, so there is a lot of bias in my comments ….. but one thing I would add with De Minaur is that his defence is so good that he will engage Djokovic in a lot of grinding points. A lot. That is normally Novak’s wheelhouse but it’s clearly something he is wanting to avoid at the moment.

Demon also has very good shot tolerance now. Much better than even 12 months ago. His cross court backhand doesn’t penetrate the court like the big guys, but he can pull Djokovic off the court with acute angles, and get him out wide, an area where it looked like Djokovic struggled to recover from in a few long rallies tonight. And Demon can maintain that BH for very long periods of time.

He also has a very good transition game. Obviously coming to net neutrally against Novak is suicidal, but in points where Demon can gain an advantage, he will be much better at finishing in the forecourt than Dimitrov was.

With all that said, what you say is all true, and the threat is there for Demon to be attacked the whole match. He is going to be under pressure in every service game. He can extend defensive rallies for superhuman periods of time, but it’s harder for him to transition from defence to attack than it is for guys like Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Tsitsipas etc etc.

Well said

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Rublev wont be a problem - Rune might be

He needs to beat grinder De Minaur first. I doubt he does with this painful hamstring injury. The Aussie will grind him down.

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Novak has got to be injured for others to have a chance apparently. I hope he battles through all the remaining rounds. It would feel like a perfect script after last year's events.

Haven't managed to watch much in the first week, what is the issue exactly and how has he looked in his matches so far?

 

[Chanwan]

Novak has got to be injured for others to have a chance apparently. I hope he battles through all the remaining rounds. It would feel like a perfect script after last year's events.

Haven't managed to watch much in the first week, what is the issue exactly and how has he looked in his matches so far?

Sometimes clearly hampered, not running for balls. At other times it's as if there is no issue at all. The main problem seems to be when he is stretched wide on the BH but even that disappears at times

A better opponent could have beaten him today

 

[Bubcay]

Novak has got to be injured for others to have a chance apparently. I hope he battles through all the remaining rounds. It would feel like a perfect script after last year's events.

Haven't managed to watch much in the first week, what is the issue exactly and how has he looked in his matches so far?

Some small issue with a hamstring that bothers him just enough to limit his full range of movement. He is at least 20% less mobile than usual, especially when stretching his legs in either direction.

 

[Subway Tennis]

Sometimes clearly hampered, not running for balls. At other times it's as if there is no issue at all. The main problem seems to be when he is stretched wide on the BH but even that disappears at times

A better opponent could have beaten him today

When he is moving out wide, where do you think the problem is arising?

Is it the initial explosive lateral movement, or is the problem happening when he stops and/or changes direction? I haven’t watched enough of Djokovic to know for sure, but It seems almost like when he puts the brakes on he is experiencing the problem? Maybe it’s just the condition of being at full stretch where he is struggling.

 

[Bubcay]

When he is moving out wide, where do you think the problem is arising?

Is it the initial explosive lateral movement, or is the problem happening when he stops and/or changes direction? I haven’t watched enough of Djokovic to know for sure, but It seems almost like when he puts the brakes on he is experiencing the problem? Maybe it’s just the condition of being at full stretch where he is struggling.

This ^^^

 

[Chanwan]

When he is moving out wide, where do you think the problem is arising?

Is it the initial explosive lateral movement, or is the problem happening when he stops and/or changes direction? I haven’t watched enough of Djokovic to know for sure, but It seems almost like when he puts the brakes on he is experiencing the problem? Maybe it’s just the condition of being at full stretch where he is struggling.

Not quite sure to be honest. Again because at times he could do pretty much anything. And then there are also long points where he fell over afterwards (seemed unneccessary to me, but I can't feel what he does).

But a mix of explosion, stretching, braking seems to cause him some degree of trouble/discomfort - albeit in ebbs and flows

 

[mike danny]

Novak has got to be injured for others to have a chance apparently. I hope he battles through all the remaining rounds. It would feel like a perfect script after last year's events.

Haven't managed to watch much in the first week, what is the issue exactly and how has he looked in his matches so far?

Did you expect Messi to ever win the World Cup?

 

[The Guru]

Says the guy who was saying he doesn't trust Med and Stef to take out Nadal ( imagine worrying that much about a p1ss poor Nadal) Shub the hypocrisy and enjoy the Nadal loss clown.

I was rooting for Nadal clown

 

[NeutralFan]

I was rooting for Nadal clown

Clown, yeah sure you were . Someone who roots will say i don't trust x or z player to stop Nadal before the final. you're as fake as your hero, can't even own what you said.

 

[The Guru]

Clown, yeah sure you were . Someone who roots will say i don't trust x or z player to stop Nadal before the final. you're as fake as your hero, can't even own what you said.

I root for Nadal against everyone but Novak and would honestly have rather seen Nadal than Med or Tsits in the final for Novak so that doesn't even make sense for me to say as something hating on Nadal. Not everything is fan wars for people who still have all of their marbles. Clearly you don't fall into that category.

 

[MeatTornado]

Watching the 3rd set replay right now and it's astounding that Dimtrov couldn't at least push this to 4.

Every time he gets aggressive and moves Djokovic around he's winning the point. But 90% of his shots are slices right back at him. I understand the concept of wanting to make him get low and dig those out, but it's just allowing Novak to dictate the points instead.

 

[Kralingen]

Watching the 3rd set replay right now and it's astounding that Dimtrov couldn't at least push this to 4.

Every time he gets aggressive and moves Djokovic around he's winning the point. But 90% of his shots are slices right back at him. I understand the concept of wanting to make him get low and dig those out, but it's just allowing Novak to dictate the points instead.

A certain Khachanov performance comes to mind.

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Did you expect Messi to ever win the World Cup?

After all past losses I honestly thought that time had ran out. But such exciting prospect suddenly became palpable for everyone throughout the last tournament.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Dimitrov is a mug routined by a semi retired 1 legged Egg

 

[roysid]

Dimitrov should have employed better tactics. Whenever he has a put away shot, he would always hit at djokovic backhand
And djokovic would be right there anticipating it. He could have won so.many free points by hitting into open forehand side

 

[disgruntledamsel]

Wrong thread