Can RBA be a bigger threat to djokovic than Rublev, Tsitsipas,etc in semis

[Nadal_King]

Rba always does well against Djokovic has taken sets off him in most of the meetings, even in wimbledon he took a set and I think clay is a good surface for his game although hardcourt is where he plays his best tennis.Also 2016 he gave novak a tough fight in heavy and slow conditions similar to in this conditions and now he is top 15 level player so do you think that will be a gruelling match for djokovic

 

[PeoplesChamp]

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

He couldn't beat him in 2018

 

[ibbi]

Yes, if only for the sake of his metronomic consistency as opposed to those two you mentions wild swings in form. Still, he is generally one of Novak’s more troubling match ups on tour with his comparatively flatter hitting and while that normally doesn’t help much on clay in these conditions it should do more than usual.

See their match here in terrible conditions in 2016 where (granted I think Novak was also stressed out by incoming rain and rushing to finish quickly, but) Roberto gave him more trouble that day than anybody else in the tournament en route to his title.

On paper, not accounting for the possibility of someone like Stefanos, Rublev, Khachanov or Shapovalov getting randomly hot I think he’s probably the only moderate concerning name left in that half for him.

 

[socallefty]

I think that Berrettini and Rublev are capable of giving Novak more trouble than RBA in these conditions. Novak knows that he might get a tough match against RBA and will not get angry if he falls behind. In contrast, I think if he falls behind a young big-hitter like Rublev or Berrettini, he might have one of his patented angry meltdowns that are happening too often this year. If he loses one set early and another set due to anger, these guys have a big enough serve to win a 3rd set in a tiebreaker without being broken…that’s how he lost to Cecchinato in 2018 when it seemed like he wasn’t emotionally capable of believing that Marco was hanging toe-to-toe instead of curling over in a fetal position.

 

[blablavla]

Rba always does well against Djokovic has taken sets off him in most of the meetings, even in wimbledon he took a set and I think clay is a good surface for his game although hardcourt is where he plays his best tennis.Also 2016 he gave novak a tough fight in heavy and slow conditions similar to in this conditions and now he is top 15 level player so do you think that will be a gruelling match for djokovic

Rublev just won Hamburg on Sunday.
Immediately after this he played a 5 setter vs Querrey.

As young as he is, he might be just out of energy by the time he reaches Novak.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

RBA is a very tough opponent for Novak! Definitely the most dangerous opponent he could face in that side of the draw!

 

[socallefty]

Rublev just won Hamburg on Sunday.
Immediately after this he played a 5 setter vs Querrey.

As young as he is, he might be just out of energy by the time he reaches Novak.

I think his next three rounds are not going to be too tough. He might have a tough quarterfinal against Tsitsipas or Shapovalov.

 

[Beckerserve]

Rba always does well against Djokovic has taken sets off him in most of the meetings, even in wimbledon he took a set and I think clay is a good surface for his game although hardcourt is where he plays his best tennis.Also 2016 he gave novak a tough fight in heavy and slow conditions similar to in this conditions and now he is top 15 level player so do you think that will be a gruelling match for djokovic

Too early to say but RBA looked very dangerous v Gasquet.
My feeling is If Djokovic gets RBA it might be the match that ruins novak chances as the effort it will take over 5 sets may come back to bite in SF and final.

 

[SonnyT]

Definitely, not least because RBA is mentally stronger than Rublev and Tsisipas!

 

[blablavla]

Too early to say but RBA looked very dangerous v Gasquet.
My feeling is If Djokovic gets RBA it might be the match that ruins novak chances as the effort it will take over 5 sets may come back to bite in SF and final.

it's a pitty that PCB and RBA are in the same quarter, fighting for the chance to test Novak.

 

[USO]

Would be a good final between Nadal and RBA.