Mark-Touch
G.O.A.T.
Well duh!
You expect him to grow a few more inches at his age?
Alcaraz: "Sooner or later I will be champion of the Australian Open, I am sure"
- Thread starter edberg volleys
- Start date
You expect him to grow a few more inches at his age?
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Your response is a complete false analogy because the age difference between Novak Djokovic the GOAT and roger federer is a LOT SMALLER than the age difference between novak djokovic and carlos alcaraz and the age difference between novak djokovic and jannik sinner and thus, it is more expected that novak djokovic would not come right out of the gates initially with complete domination over roger federer whereas both carlos alcaraz and jannik sinner simply do not have this leniency at all.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Once again, your response is a complete false analogy because the age difference between Novak Djokovic the GOAT and roger federer is a LOT SMALLER than the age difference between novak djokovic and carlos alcaraz and the age difference between novak djokovic and jannik sinner and thus, it is more expected that novak djokovic would not come right out of the gates initially with complete domination over roger federer whereas both carlos alcaraz and jannik sinner simply do not have this leniency at all.
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
It’s not about being politically correct. For example, he wouldn’t react to the crowd for good or bad so much if he didn’t care what people think. It definitely bothers the guy that he wasn’t liked in the same way Fedal are/were.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Nah, Novak Djokovic the GOAT reacts to the crowd not because he "cares" about what they think, but because novak djokovic is not afraid to put people in their place. Novak djokovic does not care about whether people like him or not which is why novak djokovic is not afraid to put people in their place.
TheGoldenEra1990’s
Hall of Fame
Umm. It was a pretty big match for the gold. And grandpa still playing on one surgical leg. Carlos essentially does nothing after Wimbledon. Again. Clearly his coach isn’t doing a good job because truthfully Carlos didn’t make any huge gains from last year to this year as a player. While sinner is improving much more
While Carlos squeaked some matches out against sinner. All 3 could have went either way and sinner almost got him on clay. So overconfident with an inflated ego is the last thing Carlos needs. As sinner will be Gunning for clay and grass even harder next year than he did hards this year
Plus you hardly ever see sinner go out early now. He beats the guys consistently that he is supposed to 95-99 percent of the time. Carlos isn’t doing that
Angrybirdstar
Professional
Nadal's first meeting with Fedole at a hard court slam: 2009 (22)
Djokovic's first meeting with Fedal at Wimbly: 2007 (20, retired; next 2011)
Federer's first meeting with Rafole at RG: 2005 (23)
Borg-Laver in their first 7 matches was 4-3
Edberg-Connors in their first 7 matches was 2-5
Sampras-Lendl in their first 7 matches was 4-3
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
I think you just don't like Alcaraz and are trying to disguise that as helpful tips
Clearly being confident has worked for him so far. How did you like the last two Wimbledon finals? Probably not much. I'm sure he didn't impress you.
Meanwhile you're cheerleading for Napoleon Dolomite who is competing under a doping cloud.
The Olympics was a pretty big match, yes. But it's one match and at the end of their careers the Slam wins over Djoko will be more important.
BTW where was the Mighty Sinner during the Olympics? Since Alcaraz is to be shamed for losing to Djoko in the Gold Medal match?
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
But Djokovic is better. So yeah he should have done better. Right?
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
Right, which is why he totally doesn’t do the on court impersonations, dances, and numerous other gestures to try and get people on his side. If he truly didn’t care he wouldn’t react at all. Instead he hyper reactionary at times.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Well both borg and sampras were TRUE all-time greats who dominated their predecessors as mathematically demonstrated via head-to-head comparisons. Edberg is historically the weakest all-time great ever who won 6 slams or more and struggled with connors initially but eventually was able to level the head-to-head with connors eventually BUT connors was the only older all-time great who was an early problem for edberg which is completely unlike the situation of carlos alcaraz who only has LOSING head-to-heads with all of the older all-time greats who he has faced, namely BOTH Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal!
Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
You won’t get any arguments from me about Carlitos. He is extraordinary. With that said, Sinner is now looking effortless in hardcourt majors to the extent that he can win them easily and effortlessly in a machine-like manner. It was scary watching him cruise to the US Open title completely untroubled, and up until the final at AO he barely broke a sweat. Scary how efficient he has become.
I don’t think you’re alone in questioning my statement on Sinner, though. There is definitely a lag in the average casual tennis fan’s recognition of Sinner. And I think Carlitos being such a young prodigy has contributed to that because he fares so well in a by-age comparison in majors with Sinner.
It sounds crazy now but there were some casual tennis fans who doubted whether Sinner was ready to take the next step at the start of the year. They doubted him at AO this year, and I think there is a lag in people coming to recognise just efficient and dominant he has become in hard court majors now.
Alcaraz has such an X Factor, though. We are waiting for that year where he breaks through the lifeless conditions at AO and figures out a way to make the full spectrum of his game shine in the very lifeless and dead, low bouncing Melbourne Park conditions.
Lleytonstation
Bionic Poster
He might be able to surpass Schwartzman.
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
IMO the only logical take on Sinner is that he has the drive, the power, and the talent to be really special, but the question was always his stamina/strength...now he has added those, but then there is the doping test and any normal person is putting a bit of an asterisk on his huge leap and dominance on hard ct
Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
Fair point. Drugs and particularly Sinner’s place in all that and the sanctions he may still be facing is the great unknowable at the moment. And the stakes are high.
NYTennisfan
Hall of Fame
I get what you're saying, he gets agitated with the crowd a lot etc. but I meant he doesn't care in the sense that he'll speak his mind and deal with the repercussions while Fedal had the more clean cut image of what tennis players "should be all about" traditionally by saying the more PC things.
Djokovic STILL is a heel (and I like heels). Much rather him trash-talk (whilst still being the respectful man he is) than feign humility.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
The challenge for Carlos is that he is designed like Michael Chang and Boris Becker, in that he ages 1.25x the rate of a normal human.
Given that math, he is already approaching the twilight of his career and must act now before the window closes.
Given that math, he is already approaching the twilight of his career and must act now before the window closes.
Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
I think Carlitos is being very careful with his scheduling and basically phoning it in everywhere but the majors to try and help his career longevity.
I don’t want to applaud it too much because as tennis fans we want the best guys caring and playing well at more than 4 events each year, but I think it makes a lot of sense for Carlitos from a career management standpoint to not overplay, particularly at Mickey Mouse hardcourt events.
The best object lesson for Carlitos is Thiem. The guy completely destroyed his career prime and ground his wrists into dust playing every nickel and dime event on the calendar and reinventing himself as a hardcourt threat while also trying to go deep at every clay event and RG ever year.
In the modern game and how physical it is, you basically get to choose 2 of the following 3 options:
1. Be able to win a major in your teens
2. Be able to win a major in your 30s
3. Play a full calendar every year
Nadal is the only freak in the modern game who seems to have been able to combine all 3, but I think Carlitos has a very clever strategy in place to try and achieve the two most important things from 3 listed above.
NYTennisfan
Hall of Fame
100%, couldn't agree more. Nobody represented "Feign Humility" more than Federer which is why I always endeared more to Djokovic than Federer or Nadal, he was the crasher of the Fedal "Glamour Party" and A LOT of people didn't like it but I loved it.
Not that Alcaraz is like Djokovic in that sense but he has no issues saying out loud how good he is, or how much he needs to work on his game, and I can appreciate that as a fan.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Well if Novak Djokovic the GOAT was a 40+ grand slam winner, then novak djokovic would have completely dominated both roger federer and rafael nadal from the very beginning. The big 3 are all close in ability so novak djokovic's head-to-heads with both roger federer and rafael nadal make sense. Either way, there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for carlos alcaraz having LOSING head-to-heads with BOTH Novak Djokovic AND Rafael Nadal who are both WAY OLDER than carlos alcaraz since every TRUE all-time great who has won six slams or more has DOMINATED in the head-to-head all preceding all-time greats who are ten years or more older and who have won six slams or more.
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
Tonne of bs.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Novak Djokovic the GOAT does not do "impersonations, dances, and gestures" to get people "on his side" because novak djokovic does all these things to just entertain and if some people do not like it, novak djokovic will still do whatever he wants. Novak djokovic putting people in there place does not mean that novak djokovic is "hyper-reactionary" and does not mean that novak djokovic personally "cares about what people think" instead it simply means that novak djokovic does not want people to think that they can get away with doing BS nonsense.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
What I have said is completely factual and not "bs".
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
LOL as always expected, you completely delusional irrational argumentless fedal fanatics cannot ever handle the TRUTH!
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
GOOD.
THUNDERVOLLEY
G.O.A.T.
He has wins over an older. closer-to-retitrement-than-not Djokovic. That's the point that needs to sink in. There's no glory or proof of ability defeating someone in the twilight of their career.
Tennis Devolution
Professional
That is exactly what I have been trying to tell everyone. The fact that carlos alcaraz has a LOSING head-to-head with a geriatric disabled Novak Djokovic is NOT GOOD AT ALL!
Tennis Devolution
Professional
Nah, the guy is still posting as of now.
FlyingSaucer
Hall of Fame
Didn't Fed say that in various ways and many folk just snorted and called him arrogant and full of hubris?
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Nadal likes to be humble with words because he likes predictable routines and an order to his life. He's not being fake, but acting in his interests. Djokovic seems to revel in chaos by comparison.
Mark-Touch
G.O.A.T.
Djokovic is done in best-of-five-set tournaments.
The sooner you accept it, the better.
He will grow again at Roland Garros and at Wimbledon his figure will be enormous.
Best of three sets.He's getting closer. Did very well at Wimbledon to tamp down Djokovic in 3 sets.
Not sure what happened at the Olympics. Biggest letdown all year, and he knew it.
Alcaraz was undoubtedly quite disappointing in not being able to win the gold medal in Paris 2024 after losing to an opponent 16 years his senior.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Lucky Djokovic, because Alcaraz was certainly going to win the next three sets and win 3 sets to 2.
It's a shame that the Olympic final is a best of three sets.
Subway Tennis
G.O.A.T.
Agree. I don’t think it’s likely to happen but it would be fantastic. It’s worth looking at given how much the status of Olympics tennis has grown in importance since players like Serena, Rafa, Murray etc etc prioritised it and made it much bigger.
The Olympic is a unique format, but I would love that Championship match to be similar to the pressure cooker long format of a major final.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Yes because the 0-2 set down come back was on. Especially with the way Djokovic played that day.
And let's kill them a bit more so USO and others suffer more, like it did with USO losing finalists by the 3rd round. It's not like their bodies need rest or anything after playing RG and W back to back.
I Am Finnish
Bionic Poster
Deep down you're agree with him
Lleytonstation
Bionic Poster
Shortest player to win AO since Laver would be a feat.
Aabye5
Talk Tennis Guru
The trend is reversing. Before, Nole lost to the NextGen in Bo3 but beat them in Bo5.
Now, he's losing to Alcaraz in Bo5, but still winning their Bo3.
Still, I would think Alcarwz would be able to wear him out at this point, even in Bo3.
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Aabye5
Talk Tennis Guru
Not really. Novak has restructured his game to rely less on movement. The only players I've seen who have really played tactics that exploit his age are Vesely (pure power) and Djere (slicing). Would like to see another match between Novak and Stan.
Baseline rallies are not enough and that's primarily what everyone under 30 sticks to.
Fedforever
Hall of Fame
He was "arrogant" or "realistic" depending on your fandom.
I'm not sure I think of any of the Big 3 as arrogant. That word always suggests people who think they're better than they are and expect others to act accordingly.
The Big 3 are all entitled to think they're great and I imagine each of them regards themselves as the best player ever.
I'm not sure I think of any of the Big 3 as arrogant. That word always suggests people who think they're better than they are and expect others to act accordingly.
The Big 3 are all entitled to think they're great and I imagine each of them regards themselves as the best player ever.
Yes, Djokovic is very close to his final decline and, on the contrary, Sinner and Alcaraz are already on an upward curve, where they still have a significant amount of room for improvement.
