Did Djokovic even play that well to take the title?

[Seany]

I mean the scary thing is, from what I saw, he never even reached his top level in this tournament, or if he did it was for very short periods of time, quite a scary thought if you're the rest of the field.

The man is just a winning machine, his confidence is taking him places he probably never thought he could go, he's winning some matches with just sheer mental strength and belief.

How close did he come to his top level? Discuss.

 

[Talker]

Djokovic has played better, he was sluggish from the start.
Pushed himself for awhile and was on fumes in the fifth, I thought after Nadal broke him there it was over, he couldn't even stand right (unless he was doing some good acting).
He's going to be one tired guy for a while.

That match with Murray was exhausting, Djokovic did some serious running in that match.

 

[tampa_edski]

He's got a long way to go, but I disagree he did not play well. This match was an amazing display of strength. I think they had a couple points of over 25 strokes after 5 hours of play.

I don't care if there were some errors, and "uneven play". What I saw this morning was fantastic. Damned close match, could have gone either way.

How many straight majors Djokovic has now? Three? Chance for the Psuedo-Slam (4 slams in a row spanning calendar years), chance for a career grand slam at the French Open? The guy is getting up there now, he's in the conversation.

But he only has 5 slams. Nadal has 10. Federer has 16. Let's see where he is at the end of this year. That could be a compelling discussion.

 

[DunlopMax200G]

Djokovic missed lot of the shots he routinely made all last year. He was far from his best. It would have been a three or at the most a four set match. Nadal forced a fifth and should have won if not for Federer like choke. Djokovic at his best is unbeatable by Nadal or Murray.

 

[Talker]

He's got a long way to go, but I disagree he did not play well. This match was an amazing display of strength. I think they had a couple points of over 25 strokes after 5 hours of play.

I don't care if there were some errors, and "uneven play". What I saw this morning was fantastic. Damned close match, could have gone either way.

How many straight majors Djokovic has now? Three? Chance for the Psuedo-Slam (4 slams in a row spanning calendar years), chance for a career grand slam at the French Open? The guy is getting up there now, he's in the conversation.

But he only has 5 slams. Nadal has 10. Federer has 16. Let's see where he is at the end of this year. That could be a compelling discussion.

There's many who give 4 straight slams some of the highest marks for greatness as evidenced by Laver backers.

 

[Talker]

Djokovic missed lot of the shots he routinely made all last year. He was far from his best. It would have been a three or at the most a four set match. Nadal forced a fifth and should have won if not for Federer like choke. Djokovic at his best is unbeatable by Nadal or Murray.

I don't like to use the word unbeatable but he's pretty close to it if playing his best.
Winning against the best players like the 'new' Murray and Nadal when not playing your best is the sign of a champion.

 

[fps]

That match was on a knife edge, I thought both men looked absolutely shattered though.

 

[celoft]

He didn't play that well at Wimbledon BUT he won the title. As long as he keeps getting Nadal in the finals and somehow Djokovic survives QF/SF slam scares, he will keep on winning.

 

[DjokovicForTheWin]

Djoker played pretty badly here, and Nadal playing his best still couldn't take it.

 

[BobFL]

He played good enough. The rest is history. Vamos!

 

[kimbahpnam]

Djoko wasn't in his usual '11 form and he blew a lot of chances, but there were still glimpses of his greatness throughout the match.

 

[ThoughtCrime]

Yeah, he pissed away a lot of opportunities to close it out in the 4th but all credit to Nadal for fighting to bring it to a 5th. But yeah, he was kind of playing at a level where he knew he could win without exerting too much energy and turned it up a notch when needed.

 

[DeShaun]

I don't like to use the word unbeatable but he's pretty close to it if playing his best.
Winning against the best players like the 'new' Murray and Nadal when not playing your best is the sign of a champion.

He was not favored by crowd.
The match could have gone either way. He showed the stuff (and the luck) of a champion to hang in there.

 

[Raoul_Duke]

I agree.

He was not on his 2011 level. Especially the first part of 2011 was unbelievable.

But will he or any other player in near future be able to play on that level again?

He was good enough to beat much-improved Murray and Nadal, back-to-back in two epic five-setters, in GS semi-&finals.

 

[matchmaker]

Djoko did not play at his best and Nadal did not either. Actually it was not such a good match until the end of the 4rth and the 5th set, and even there and then, they both made some huge UEs, but the tension was there.

 

[bluetrain4]

He played brilliantly in stretches, but overall, his level wasn't his best by any means. Though, you could probably say the same of Nadal.

 

[NadalAgassi]

He played well but wasnt at his best this event. That is the scary thing really. Especialy since Murray and Nadal both played lights out to try and beat him.