ATP Finals 2020 RR: Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Alexander Zverev (6)

[MichaelNadal]

You are "ASSUMING" that Nadal gets through Medvedev.
Let's be honest, Medvedev is far tougher for Novak than "any" version of Nadal in indoors.
I fully expect Medvedev to beat Novak if they play. The last match Medvedev totally dominated Novak - mentally, physically, spiritually - every which way. He took Novak's legs away. And in the end Djokovic was just looking hopeless and trying to end points because he could NOT rally vs Medvedev. It was a classic case of a young player vs old player.

So yeah, Nadal might give Novak the title if he beats Medvedev. However, if Medvedev beats Nadal, I'm willing to bet my house he will beat Novak too.
Nothing in Novak's game suggests to me that he will beat the "current" Medvedev.

Lol no im not. Im just saying it would be impressive. If he went through Medvedev in the final, less so.

 

[BackhandDTL]

Well, at least all the citizens of planet Earth can sleep safely tonight knowing that Earth's Mightiest will continue to watch over them as he heads into the semis....

nahhh lol

 

[TennisFan3]

Well, at least all the citizens of planet Earth can sleep safely tonight knowing that Earth's Mightiest will continue to watch over them as he heads into the semis....

You better hope that Nadal takes care of Medvedev. I really feel that "this" Novak won't beat Medvedev.

 

[Yugram]

Whose account is this? Yugram, Nadalalot, clayqueen, etc. etc. Hmmm

I don’t need second account to say that Djokovic was in full mediocrity today.

 

[Bamoos]

Whose account is this? Yugram, Nadalalot, clayqueen, etc. etc. Hmmm

He is simply a blight on tennis. GOAT of what? Pushing the ball back waiting for a miss?

 

[Deleted member 629564]

Winners:
Djokovic 18 - 38 Zverev

It's stunning to win in straight with minus 20 winners.

 

[StrongRule]

Lol no im not. Im just saying it would be impressive. If he went through Medvedev in the final, less so.

Medvedev is a much tougher matchup for Djokovic than Nadal is. Stop judging by names, this is annoying. You are just like one of those who say Medvedev was an easy opponent in USO 2019 because he doesn't have a big name.

 

[Hitman]

You better hope that Nadal takes care of Medvedev. I really feel that "this" Novak won't beat Medvedev.

Rafa is going to take Medvedev down tomorrow.

 

[tudwell]

Yea, great until you umpire Paire vs Kyrgios.

That’s when their rigorous training as motivational speakers comes into play.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

Sad match. Zed is the servebot pusher extraordinaire. Now Tim and Lad must both save tennis again, tough job they've got.

 

[NoleFam]

If Zverev couldn’t beat this Novak, then he had no business winning. He was 20-2 in winners at one point and it was still even? No, dude.

I think Thiem will be the end of the line for Novak. He hasn’t looked good at all.

He got it done easily though and didn't have to go all out. 18 winners/13 ues is pretty average for him but 1st serve average was 121 and 97 on the 2nd so the serve was working. His serve average is usually around 115. He knows he will have to play better to beat Thiem and more aggressive and I think he will.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

I played it too back in the day but could never get past the first level

Let me guess, the monkey throwing bit (might be level 2, can't remember)? I heard that that was deliberately made to be as convoluted as it was to prevent too much progress being made on short rentals at the time. Dunno how true that is, but pretty funny if it is.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Medvedev is a much tougher matchup for Djokovic than Nadal is. Stop judging by names, this is annoying. Beating Nadal here isn't impressive.

 

[Pablo1989]

Zverev played a good match except for the three first games. I am not going to criticize him this time.

 

[Born_to_slice]

So many who picked Zverev here are now back to calling him mug

I picked him and he should've won, at least this second set. It's a miracle Novak has won playing at this level.

 

[aditya123]

Thiem just got destroyed by Rublev.

In his post match interview Rublev said "may be Thiem was looking into semis " . When the winner of match himself doesn't take full credit to the win , why do we declare it a thrashing or beatdown?? Just think logically.

 

[TennisFan3]

Rafa is going to take Medvedev down tomorrow.

Let's see. I was bored yesterday night and I rewatched Medvedev vs Novak. The entire match.
What I saw was the match being over after 7 games in the first set which were brutal and lasted 40+ mins. There was a longish game and Novak lost. After that there was only one winner.
Medvedev got to Novak's legs and basically outlasted him. Novak was not even willing to go in extended rallies. It was complete domination by the Russian. This is unlike their 2019 matches.
Medvedev outplayed him in every facet of the game.

Long term I really feel that Medvedev could be a BIG BIG problem for Novak. The matchup is going to get ugly for the World #1.

 

[Deleted member 21996]

Oh I do, I do

fair enough. it doesn't change the fact he beats women!

 

[NoleFam]

You better hope that Nadal takes care of Medvedev. I really feel that "this" Novak won't beat Medvedev.

Medvedev has already shown his hand. He can't play any better than that but we know Novak can. If those two were to play again, you might as well forget the RR match.

 

[mike danny]

Let me guess, the monkey throwing bit (might be level 2, can't remember)? I heard that that was deliberately made to be as convoluted as it was to prevent too much progress being made on short rentals at the time. Dunno how true that is, but pretty funny if it is.

No, before that. Could not figure out how to beat the first boss, IIRC.

 

[aditya123]

Zverevs decline in Wtf tournament continues. W to sf, sf to rr loser

 

[TennisFan3]

Medvedev has already shown his hand. He can't play any better than that but we know Novak can. If those were to play again, you might as well forget the RR match.

You know me and I back Novak. But seriously I saw the entire Novak vs Medvedev match yesterday.
I really feel there are some changes that Medvedev has made. It was a masterful performance by the Russian. He neutralized Novak's defense, attacked Novak judiciously, outlasted and out-thought him.
Novak isn't playing the level of tennis needed to beat Medvedev here. Their matchup is just going to get uglier as Novak ages. That's my read on it..

 

[mike danny]

Zverev played a good match except for the three first games. I am not going to criticize him this time.

You should. Hit 9 times more winners than Novak in the second and still lost it.

 

[Amritia]

Something about Djokovic seems a bit off.
I can't quite pinpoint it. I don't think it's age related, as age effects movement and sprint speed, which appears to be top notch.

2nd favourite for tournament imo.

 

[TennisFan3]

Zverevs decline in Wtf tournament continues. W to sf, sf to rr loser

What's next? No WTF participation next year?
That could be true if he doesn't stop his comedy with all those girls..

 

[TennisFan3]

Something about Djokovic seems a bit off.
I can't quite pinpoint it. I don't think it's age related, as age effects movement and sprint speed, which appears to be top notch.

2nd favourite for tournament imo.

Hmm. I would actually put his 3rd behind Thiem and Medvedev in that order.
However, there is Nadal in the equation. And Nadal could definitely beat Medvedev and get to the final.
If Novak needed to play Thiem/Medvedev back to back, I would say he wouldn't win the tournament at all..

 

[aditya123]

What's next? No WTF participation next year?
That could be true if he doesn't stop his comedy with all those girls..

Loll, may be you are right here for a change . Ferrer is a too decent guy to tolerate his tantrums for long!!! Imagine the situation if Ferrer and Street split .

 

[Pablo1989]

You should. Hit 9 times more winners than Novak in the second and still lost it.

That's Djoker's merit.

 

[NoleFam]

You know me and I back Novak. But seriously I saw the entire Novak vs Medvedev match yesterday.
I really feel there are some changes that Medvedev has made. It was a masterful performance by the Russian. He neutralized Novak's defense, attacked Novak judiciously, outlasted and out-thought him.
Novak isn't playing the level of tennis needed to beat Medvedev here. Their matchup is just going to get uglier as Novak ages. That's my read on it..

It's a RR match though. You need to be saving that for the SF and F. More than that, he's shown everything he can do at the moment so there will be no surprises. I've seen so many times where players have masterful performances in the RR round and get throttled in the final. Sampras famously did it to Becker, amongst other notable matches over the years. Even Djokovic himself fell into that trap in 2018. That match doesn't hand Medvedev the title.

 

[mike danny]

That's Djoker's merit.

Winning on your opponent's mistakes is nothing special.

 

[StrongRule]

It's a RR match though. You need to be saving that for the SF and F. More than that, he's shown everything he can do at the moment so there will be no surprises. I've seen so many times where players have masterful performances in the RR round and get throttled in the final. Sampras famously did it to Becker, amongst other notable matches over the years. Even Djokovic himself fell into that trap in 2018. That match doesn't hand Medvedev the title.

Another proof that this tournament is a joke.

 

[MeatTornado]

Something about Djokovic seems a bit off.
I can't quite pinpoint it. I don't think it's age related, as age effects movement and sprint speed, which appears to be top notch.

2nd favourite for tournament imo.

He's been like this all year. He only does just enough to win matches now instead of imposing himself as a dominant force. The movement is mostly still there, he just tries not to use it. It's a conscious effort to end points early. That's why you see all the huge 2nd serves and ridiculous drop shots. It makes him look disinterested, like he just wants the match to be over with instead of beating the life out of his opponents like he used to.

It's like he's saving himself in case he needs that extra gear. And I can't blame him, he's won a ridiculous amount of matches this year with minimal effort and can still ramp it up when he needs to (like the end of the AO final).

 

[TennisFan3]

It's a RR match though. You need to be saving that for the SF and F. More than that, he's shown everything he can do at the moment so there will be no surprises. I've seen so many times where players have masterful performances in the RR round and get throttled in the final. Sampras famously did it to Becker, amongst other notable matches over the years. Even Djokovic himself fell into that trap in 2018. That match doesn't hand Medvedev the title.

I agree with you. I'm not saying the RR does hand the title to Medvedev.
I'm looking beyond this tournament also. Watching Medvedev carefully vs Novak in 2019 and in the WTF, tells me that Medvedev will likely be the toughest next gen for Novak.
A huge thorn in Novak's side as he looks to beat Fed/Nadal's slam record.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Winners:
Djokovic 18 - 38 Zverev

It's stunning to win in straight with minus 20 winners.

Novak won the electoral collage

 

[NoleFam]

I agree with you. I'm not saying the RR does hand the title to Medvedev.
I'm looking beyond this tournament also. Watching Medvedev carefully vs Novak in 2019 and in the WTF, tells me that Medvedev will likely be the toughest next gen for Novak.
A huge thorn in Novak's side as he looks to beat Fed/Nadal's slam record.

Well yea he's been Djokovic toughest opponent amongst the younger generation since early 2019. Not disagreeing with that.

 

[rhoder]

He's been like this all year. He only does just enough to win matches now instead of imposing himself as a dominant force. The movement is mostly still there, he just tries not to use it. It's a conscious effort to end points early. That's why you see all the huge 2nd serves and ridiculous drop shots. It makes him look disinterested, like he just wants the match to be over with instead of beating the life out of his opponents like he used to.

It's like he's saving himself in case he needs that extra gear. And I can't blame him, he's won a ridiculous amount of matches this year with minimal effort and can still ramp it up when he needs to (like the end of the AO final).

This makes a bit of sense, until we see what he produced in the FO final. With a slam on the line, he came out with a form similar to this. I just don’t believe it’s him saving himself. If he loses to Thiem next, some will say he is saving himself till AO. If he keeps this up, he ain’t winning AO either.

 

[Oceans]

I think Zverev is a good matchup for Djokovic (better than Thiem, Medvedev, Tsitsipas) just like Tsitsipas is for Nadal. Djokovic being the GOAT returner really should have no issue handling Zverev's big serve and is more consistent, dynamic from the baseline.

 

[Krish872007]

Novak won the electoral collage

RIGGED!
We need a rematch!

 

[BeatlesFan]

Rafa is going to take Medvedev down tomorrow.

I think so too and it'll be a Djokovic-Nadal final with Novak taking it. But what do I know, I thought Novak would beat Rafa at the FO this year.

 

[InsideOut900]

Winning on your opponent's mistakes is nothing special.

Lots of forced errors. Zverev was 27W-15UE in the 2nd, so he wasn't spraying.
Also staying solid on his own serve if he couldn't touch Zverev on return until the TB when he got some chances.

It was a good tactical match, granted he lacks a bit of intensity in his groundstrokes, which could be his downfall in the matches to come.

 

[MeatTornado]

This makes a bit of sense, until we see what he produced in the FO final. With a slam on the line, he came out with a form similar to this. I just don’t believe it’s him saving himself. If he loses to Thiem next, some will say he is saving himself till AO. If he keeps this up, he ain’t winning AO either.

True, but he also overwhelmed by Rafa. Nadal seemed to have the advantage just 1 shot into every rally. It's not like Novak could've run more to win it.

He was very aggressive early on but couldn't find the range, so he was making a ton of errors. And when he went more passive, hoping to play some defense, Rafa just ran around every backhand and instantly ended the point.

 

[TennisFan3]

I think so too and it'll be a Djokovic-Nadal final with Novak taking it. But what do I know, I thought Novak would beat Rafa at the FO this year.

It's one thing to beat Novak on clay. But surely if Nadal beats Novak indoors, then the sky must be falling or the world must be ending.

 

[Mainad]

As expected, Djokovic raised his level after the Medvedev loss.

 

[3fees]

Congrats to Djokovic blnt Zverev

Semi Finals Set

Djokovic v Thiem

Nadal v Medvedev

This will be the toughest match for Djokovic playing Thiem, Djokovic will either show up or Chokeavic will be there.
Nadals Match I figure the easier of the two, I pick raffles in 2 or 3.

Cheers
3Fees

 

[rhoder]

True, but he also overwhelmed by Rafa. Nadal seemed to have the advantage just 1 shot into every rally. It's not like Novak could've run more to win it.

He was very aggressive early on but couldn't find the range, so he was making a ton of errors. And when he went more passive, hoping to play some defense, Rafa just ran around every backhand and instantly ended the point.

Was Rafa really that good that day? To me he’s definitely not 2017 or 2008 level to justify a straights set victory. What I saw was Novak looking defeated from the get go, playing really dumb shots. I mean... he really played with 0 margin of error that day, a few shots he was in a better position but had simply no patience to play out the rally. A tuned in Djokovic would be pretty obvious to see, he could still lose, but you can see the fire in his eyes. That match, and for the entirety of FO and this tournament so far, none of that at all.

Thiem is going to demolish him, I’m pretty sure.

 

[ACE of Hearts]

Idk why some djokovic fans whine when he’s not destroying his opponent. The guy’s 33 years old. This is not the djokovic of old but he’s still good enough to win some slams.

 

[TheAssassin]

No spraying today thankfully, but he'll need to play better than this to win the semifinal. Dictate like in patches of the Australian Open final, no standing and expecting gifts like in that round robin match from last year. Thiem is not in generous mood this time either.

Have a feeling Zverev will do well next season and in the distant future. He had the US Open in his hands but he's starting to feature in big matches now. Slam QF/SF memes have been dead for a while.

 

[mike danny]

No spraying today thankfully, but he'll need to play better than this to win the semifinal. Dictate like in patches of the Australian Open final, no standing and expecting gifts like in that round robin match from last year. Thiem is not in generous mood this time either.

Have a feeling Zverev will do well next season and in the distant future. He had the US Open in his hands but he's starting to feature in big matches now. Slam QF/SF memes have been dead for a while.

Z is still going to lose before the QF/SF in at least 1 slam per year. It's just how he is.