Djok only has a winning record vs Nadal at one slam (AO), will Nadal tie their AO h2h

[ManOfSteel2013]

AO: Djok 1-0
RG: Nadal 5-0
WIM: Tied 1-1
USO: Tied 1-1

If AO 2012 was any indication, I think Nadal will win their next AO meeting. Actually I think Nadal is playing a more aggressive style of tennis now (Indian Wells 2013 for example) and will be even more dangerous at the AO. Meanwhile Djok had a very unconvincing AO this year.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Probably. NDjokovic never really dominated RNadal on slow hard-courts. All of their slow hard-court matches, IW 2011, Miami 2011, AO 2012, all went the distance (and Miami had a third set tiebreak).

 

[ManOfSteel2013]

Probably. NDjokovic never really dominated RNadal on slow hard-courts. All of their slow hard-court matches, IW 2011, Miami 2011, AO 2012, all went the distance (and Miami had a third set tiebreak).

That's true, they play close matches on hardcourt but I think by the time they got to AO 2012 Djok had won 6 in a row over Nadal. Nadal lost their 6 hour marathon because of Nadal's lack of confidence. Now Nadal delivered a killer blow of payback by winning a 5-setter after trailing 2-4 in the 5th set, so he'll believe in himself next time they are in a 5th set.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

That's true, they play close matches on hardcourt but I think by the time they got to AO 2012 Djok had won 6 in a row over Nadal. Nadal lost their 6 hour marathon because of Nadal's lack of confidence. Now Nadal delivered a killer blow of payback by winning a 5-setter after trailing 2-4 in the 5th set, so he'll believe in himself next time they are in a 5th set.

I also think NDjokovic's performances at the AO seem to be getting progressively worse. His 2011 performance was great, didn't lose a set to either RFederer or AMurray. In 2012, he got taken to 5 sets in the SF and final, and even dropped a set to LHewitt. And of course, in 2013 he nearly lost to SWawrinka and didn't appear as dominant in the early rounds compared to 2011-2012. On the whole, NDjokovic's 2013 is at best as good as his 2012 so far, and in 2012 he only won 1 slam.

 

[ManOfSteel2013]

I also think NDjokovic's performances at the AO seem to be getting progressively worse. His 2011 performance was great, didn't lose a set to either RFederer or AMurray. In 2012, he got taken to 5 sets in the SF and final, and even dropped a set to LHewitt. And of course, in 2013 he nearly lost to SWawrinka and didn't appear as dominant in the early rounds compared to 2011-2012. On the whole, NDjokovic's 2013 is at best as good as his 2012 so far, and in 2012 he only won 1 slam.

Yep, that's why its a bit silly to see the bookies calling Djok the favorite for Wimbledon. He only won it in 2011, and he is nowhere near that level now. I'd even put Murray ahead of Djok on grass. And I don't think Djok will be in a great place mentally right now. Probably a Fedal final or a Murrdal final.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Yep, that's why its a bit silly to see the bookies calling Djok the favorite for Wimbledon. He only won it in 2011, and he is nowhere near that level now. I'd even put Murray ahead of Djok on grass.

I'd put NDjokovic as #4 for grass, actually. The rest of the big 4 are better on grass, and NDjokovic even lost to JDel Potro at the Olympics last year, in straight sets. The signs point to a SF loss (or earlier) for NDjokovic.

I'd like to see RNadal beat NDjokovic at AO 2014. Then he'd be 22-7 combined against the rest of the big 4 in slams, a ratio bigger than 3:1.

 

[ManOfSteel2013]

I'd put NDjokovic as #4 for grass, actually. The rest of the big 4 are better on grass, and NDjokovic even lost to JDel Potro at the Olympics last year, in straight sets. The signs point to a SF loss (or earlier) for NDjokovic.

I'd like to see RNadal beat NDjokovic at AO 2014. Then he'd be 22-7 combined against the rest of the big 4 in slams, a ratio bigger than 3:1.

And it would be nice for Nadal to get another win over Federer at Wimbledon for that h2h. I wonder which round they will meet at. Is Nadal definitely the 5th seed for Wimbledon? 2nd Round loss last year means they won't upgrade him to 4th? If that's true then I'd like a Federer-Nadal QF, or Djokovic-Nadal QF.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

And it would be nice for Nadal to get another win over Federer at Wimbledon for that h2h. I wonder which round they will meet at. Is Nadal definitely the 5th seed for Wimbledon? 2nd Round loss last year means they won't upgrade him to 4th? If that's true then I'd like a Federer-Nadal QF, or Djokovic-Nadal QF.

Well, currently these are the rankings-

#1 NDjokovic - 11,830
#2 AMurray - 8,310
#3 RFederer - 7,640
#4 DFerrer - 7,220
#5 RNadal - 6,895

RNadal is defending practically nothing during the grass-court season, and DFerrer is defending a QF at Wimbledon (360 points), and will lose 70 points from the Olympics.

RFederer on the other hand is defending 2,000 points, and will automatically lose 450 points from the Olympics.

If RFederer gets bumped out in the QF, RFederer will almost certainly be ranked #5. Then, we might get to see RNadal face RFederer in slams a bit more often, since RFederer tends to fall at the QF stage a lot more these days, so RNadal can meet him before that happens.

As for RNadal being seeded #5 for Wimbledon, it definitely looks that way, especially since DFerrer won a grass-court 250 last year too.

 

[Mike Sams]

Probably. NDjokovic never really dominated RNadal on slow hard-courts. All of their slow hard-court matches, IW 2011, Miami 2011, AO 2012, all went the distance (and Miami had a third set tiebreak).

:lol: Djokovic has wiped Nadal off the court in many of their slow hardcourt matches. Check out IW 08 and Miami 07 and Cincy 08 and a whole lot of their hardcourt meetings in autumn 09.
Also funny how you conveniently forgot that Djokovic took Nadal the distance in so many of their clay matches (Hamburg 08, Monte Carlo 09, Madrid 09, then their clay encounters in '11, Monte Carlo '13 and RG '13 this past Friday.

 

[Mike Sams]

I also think NDjokovic's performances at the AO seem to be getting progressively worse. His 2011 performance was great, didn't lose a set to either RFederer or AMurray. In 2012, he got taken to 5 sets in the SF and final, and even dropped a set to LHewitt. And of course, in 2013 he nearly lost to SWawrinka and didn't appear as dominant in the early rounds compared to 2011-2012. On the whole, NDjokovic's 2013 is at best as good as his 2012 so far, and in 2012 he only won 1 slam.

Nadal's performances on clay also seem to be getting progressively worse. He just got taken to a 5th set and 9-7 by a hardcourter. :lol:
As for 2012, Djokovic made the semifinals or finals of all the Slams after the AO. Nadal was wiped out in the 2nd round by a guy ranked #100 :shock:

 

[ManOfSteel2013]

Nadal's performances on clay also seem to be getting progressively worse. He just got taken to a 5th set and 9-7 by a hardcourter. :lol:
As for 2012, Djokovic made the semifinals or finals of all the Slams after the AO. Nadal was wiped out in the 2nd round by a guy ranked #100 :shock:

If I could chime in here, don't forget that Nadal almost won the semi in 4 sets but got nervous serving for the match. I mean, this is the most nervous Nadal has ever been because he was absent from slam tennis for so long and because he'd lost at Monte Carlo and most importantly because he was playing for a couple of records (including first man to win 8 of a slam, and the record of 9 straight years of winning at least one slam per year), so I think we can forgive Nadal for that nervousness, and appreciate that he hit more winners in the 5th set (22 winners) than he's ever hit in a set at Roland Garros.

 

[Mike Sams]

I also think NDjokovic's performances at the AO seem to be getting progressively worse. His 2011 performance was great, didn't lose a set to either RFederer or AMurray. In 2012, he got taken to 5 sets in the SF and final, and even dropped a set to LHewitt. And of course, in 2013 he nearly lost to SWawrinka and didn't appear as dominant in the early rounds compared to 2011-2012. On the whole, NDjokovic's 2013 is at best as good as his 2012 so far, and in 2012 he only won 1 slam.

Meanwhile after nearly losing to Wawrinka at AO, Djokovic comes out and blows Berdych and Ferrer completely off the court! :lol:
Don't you worry about Djokovic. He's got a lot of years left of great tennis in him. Just remember that Nadal has only won 1 non-clay title since Tokyo 2010.:shock:
Djokovic is getting closer and closer to Nadal on clay and will get it done next year. Meanwhile, Djokovic can continue racking up his AO Slams and have great chances to add more USOs and Wimbledons. Then he can take RG next year now that he has the confidence in knowing that even without playing his best tennis, he can push Nadal to a 9-7 score in the 5th set.

 

[Bender]

I feel like posting here at this time would be like walking in on someone beating off.

Edit: Nvm, I see Mike Sams is in here now.

 

[Mike Sams]

If I could chime in here, don't forget that Nadal almost won the semi in 4 sets but got nervous serving for the match. I mean, this is the most nervous Nadal has ever been because he was absent from slam tennis for so long and because he'd lost at Monte Carlo and most importantly because he was playing for a couple of records (including first man to win 8 of a slam, and the record of 9 straight years of winning at least one slam per year), so I think we can forgive Nadal for that nervousness, and appreciate that he hit more winners in the 5th set (22 winners) than he's ever hit in a set at Roland Garros.

Nerves do play a part. But also take into account that Djokovic could've taken Nadal out at the AO 2012 in 4 sets and it took a miracle effort for Nadal to push it to a 5th.
Nadal gets nervous playing Djokovic and it makes sense. Djokovic is the most dangerous foe for Nadal and Nadal recognizes this.

 

[ManOfSteel2013]

Nerves do play a part. But also take into account that Djokovic could've taken Nadal out at the AO 2012 in 4 sets and it took a miracle effort for Nadal to push it to a 5th.
Nadal gets nervous playing Djokovic and it makes sense. Djokovic is the most dangerous foe for Nadal and Nadal recognizes this.

I agree, Djokovic was close to winning that AO in 4 sets. I can't remember what happened at the end of that 4th set though (what caused it to go 5) whether it was all Nadal's hustle or Djokovic's nerves. I get the impression it was earned by Nadal's hustle. BTW, Nadal right now is hitting more clean winners than I've seen ever from him (he's also hitting more unforced errors, which comes with the territory). I like this new approach from Nadal (we saw at Indian Wells, and 5th set of RG semi) more than the 2012 AO approach. I mean, he wasn't attacking much in week one of RG, but last couple of matches he looked like the Indian Wells 2013 version.