2023 Wimbledon R4: Novak Djokovic vs. Hubert Hurkacz

[UnforcedTerror]

Hurkacz = banana skin on grass. It could be a repeat of Djokovic's R4 match vs. Anderson at Wimbledon 2015.

Tricky one for Nole for sure, hopefully he survives.

Vote and discuss.

 

[DogInSpace]

The

Chain

Off

 

[TheNachoMan]

Hurkacz night win a set, maybe two. Can’t see him crossing the finishing line though.

 

[Cortana]

Djokovic in 3 easy sets.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

H2h is 5-0. Hurkacz might win a set if he serves well.

 

[dking68]

Hurkacz night win a set, maybe two. Can’t see him crossing the finishing line though.

Sinner will cross the finish line.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Sinner will cross the finish line

Ginger Berdych? I ain’t so sure.

 

[tudwell]

Novak in straights, although more like the Thompson match than the Wawrinka match.

 

[Kralingen]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

Huge task for the Serbian journeyman. Hope he’s up for it.

 

[Tweener]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

This.

 

[dking68]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

This is definitely going five. Has 5 written all over it. Remember HH took a set in 2019 and he wasn’t good then as he is now, so I expect this to go five

 

[Carax]

Djokovic in 3. Something like 76 76 64.

 

[DogInSpace]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

I can already picture Djokovic neutralizing the serve, getting to neutral trading and Hurkacz having absolutely no idea what to do next.

 

[Milanez82]

Hurkacz will go for bagel in 3rd to send another Goat into retirement.

And he shall be forever remembered as The GOAT killer.

 

[Winners or Errors]

Color me surprised if Hurkacz is the one to take out Djokovic. Not sure his level is high enough to be competitive. We'll see. I see Djokovic in the quarters, where he will play who? Rublev or Bublik. I'd rather see Bublik there, as I feel Rublev is too predictable for Djoker and the "good" Bublik has a 30% chance of showing up. So, semis? The only person I see as a threat in that quarter is Sinner. Will he make it that far? Is he too damaged from his mental failures against Djoker at last summer's Wimbledon? We'll see. That leaves the final. Hmm, maybe four guys with a chance on the other half of the draw. Not going to predict the Djokaraz final yet.

I just hope the real Hubie turns up.

 

[Winners or Errors]

Hurkacz will go for bagel in 3rd to send another Goat into retirement.

And he shall be forever remembered as The GOAT killer.

??? - Federer's collapsing knee killed him. Hurkacz was just the beneficiary of the fact that Fed refused to ever retire from a match... like a true sportsman taking his lumps.

 

[Kralingen]

I can already picture Djokovic neutralizing the serve, getting to neutral trading and Hurkacz having absolutely no idea what to do next.

His FH is awful. Yeah he’s likely not winning this.

 

[Slicehand]

You cant win a set against djokovic with that forehand and that movement, unless djokovic plays horrible

 

[dking68]

His FH is awful. Yeah he’s likely not winning this.

Definitely not but the serve can do damage

 

[ACE of Hearts]

Novak in straight sets over mugkacz.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

I believe a comfortable win is on the way.

 

[Slicehand]

Definitely not but the serve can do damage

You can have the best serve in the world to put 15-0 in the scoreline, but how many first serves will you get when 15-40 against djokovic? Thats basically all that matters, getting a lot of first serves in in unimportant points is mandatory for a player like hurckaz who has many weakneses in the rest of his game, he basically wouldnt be in the top 50 without that serve

 

[TheAssassin]

They had an entertaining early round contest here back in 2019. Hurkacz had some sick diving volleys in that one. I expect something similar now in terms of that and the result as well.

 

[Hood_Man]

Just checked, the last time they played on grass Hurkacz won a set.


...In a tiebreak!

 

[Vincent-C]

I can already picture Djokovic neutralizing the serve, getting to neutral trading and Hurkacz having absolutely no idea what to do next.

This would not surprise me: we're at the point in the tournament where Djok starts tightening the screws. A set for Hurkacz, I think.

 

[SonicNirvana]

Novak in 3 easy sets, he is inevitable

and by easy I mean any set that he wins. 7-6 is still an easy set.

 

[fundrazer]

If Hurk wins I'll never trash his crappy forehand ever again.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Hurkacz night win a set, maybe two. Can’t see him crossing the finishing line though.

Hurkacz might win a game or two.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Djokovic in 4 sets!

 

[Vincent-C]

Djokovic in 4 sets!

Seems right.

 

[Matmac]

If Hurk wins I'll never trash his crappy forehand ever again.

This is a commitment not many are brave enough to make.
I cannot see Hurkacz winning more than one rally out of ten on a good day, getting steadily pushed further and further back, recovering a lot of balls by slicing, with Djokovic just taking enough pace off to let him get to another one. For HH's sake I hope he breaks out of his defensive mindset and keeps going for broke whenever he can, and goes down blazing some embarrassing UEs, getting passed a lot, but also registering some nice shots and volleys for the highlights reel. Otherwise it will be pointlessly painful to watch.

 

[Berasategui94]

If this was real grass - low bounce, ball skidding of the surface - HH would have a real chance. But this is modern grass where baseline grinders can easily retrieve everything.

It’s time to stop overcompensating with the court speed. The game wouldn’t look the same as in the 90s even with real grass because it’s easier to return with the modern rackets and strings. Enough of this already, there’s 3 other slams that are grindfests, we can have one that’s not.

This is just dumb from the organizers because the British home players would also do better on real grass.

 

[Lingua Franca]

If the Incredible Hurk smashes Mr. Fantastic he will forever be known as the Chupacabra!

 

[Red Rick]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

Is this where we're gonna pretend Djokovic isn't 5x the player Hurk is and just blame Hurks mental?

 

[paolo2143]

Hurkacz showed against Roger in 2021 he has a great crass court game in him. While Roger was struggling specially later on Hurkacz played superb.

He has the serve and game to give Novak a really hard time if he is on his top form so again Novak needs to be zoned in right from the start as he was against Stan

Novak winning last night without having to play again today might be a huge influence as i think it would definitely not have helped Novak having to play 3 days running.

 

[NedStark]

Hurkacz showed against Roger in 2021 he has a great crass court game in him. While Roger was struggling specially later on Hurkacz played superb.

Only to get smacked by Berretini in SF.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

I see a close battle here but Novak should grind him down in the end.

 

[Lauren_Girl']

Should be a tough match but I want to be positive when looking at their history. H2H is 5-0 and Djokovic has never really struggled to break him. Even in Dubaï this year on very fast courts, be broke him in both sets (6-3 7-5). And Djokovic has won his last 10 tie-breaks.
There will be 1 or 2 tie-breaks and Djokovic in 4.

 

[paolo2143]

I am going for Novak in tough 4 setter. Novak certainly has hard run in now if he wants to retain title.

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

Hurkacz has the better serve, the better volleys, huge wingspan at the net, a great backhand. He’s got a real grass game.

It’s not a match where Novak just does everything better, Hubert has real advantages here.

But I don’t trust him mentally to be up to the job.

Unfortunately his FH while good is not elite.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Hope Nole wins this in straight sets in 3 tiebreaks

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Hope Nole wins this in straight sets in 3 tiebreaks

Can see Hurkacz getting at least a set here. Hopefully Novak in 4 though. I feel this will be a step up on his first 3 rounds!

 

[fundrazer]

Unfortunately his FH while good is not elite.

I'm not even gonna say it's "good." Like it's one of the weakest in the top 30 I would probably say. We could potentially extend it to top 50 and maybe it'd still be one of the 5 worst.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Can see Hurkacz getting at least a set here. Hopefully Novak in 4 though. I feel this will be a step up on his first 3 rounds!

I want Nole to continue his unbeaten streak of sets. 9 sets done.

 

[kishnabe]

Hurkacz could be tricky, good enough enough to steal a set. Unless Djokovic, has a real bad day. I think he wins in 4.

Hoping Hubie wins though.

 

[BeatlesFan]

W

If this was real grass - low bounce, ball skidding of the surface - HH would have a real chance. But this is modern grass where baseline grinders can easily retrieve everything.

It’s time to stop overcompensating with the court speed. The game wouldn’t look the same as in the 90s even with real grass because it’s easier to return with the modern rackets and strings. Enough of this already, there’s 3 other slams that are grindfests, we can have one that’s not.

This is just dumb from the organizers because the British home players would also do better on real grass.

Watch Rune's matches. He is playing like it's fast grass and is coming in on any reasonable approach shot. He's also chipping and charging on his opponent's second serves. Sure, he's missing easy volleys sometimes and his footwork needs maturing, but he's out there trying to play aggressive grass court tennis. Even Courier said today, "Pete would be proud of this kid, he's doing whatever he can to bring back old school grass tennis."

 

[Martin J]

I believe a comfortable win is on the way.

Nah, we're talking about a seven-time champion here. Hubert will need at least 4 sets to finish the job.

 

[malbaker86]

Break points will be the difference; Novak in 4

 

[Djokodal Fan]

Djokovic’s minefield draw begins here. Hurcakz has tailor made game for grass. Huge serve and very good at net. Just check their match 2 or 3 years back. It was extremely tight 3 setter with 2 tie breaks or so. Hurkacz can create a lot of problems . Novak can’t afford to lose mid-match focus against this kind of a player.

I still expect Novak to take this in 4 with 2 extremely tightly fought sets. Let’s see what happens. Real test begins now.

Should he overcome Hurkacz and Bublik, he should be battle hardened and ready to take Sinner. It’s a toss up going forward and anyone can take Novak out on their day. His draw is as much a minefield like Alcaraz’s is.