Djokovic best Big Hitters?

[Morj]

Is Djokovic the best player in the modern day at dealing with big hitters? I'm talking about Slam matches, where he would naturally push himself the hardest.

Looking at his record since he hit his prime in 2011, he's been solid against big hitters in slams. He's taken out players that were on-fire: Tsonga FO '12, Wawrinka AO '13 (Not necessarily a "big hitter" but that match he was absolutely painting the lines as well as Safin or Fed ever did, watch the highlights), Del Po Wimby '13 (120 mph Forehand!) to name some. This was him beating big hitters at their best, when they were "on". Nadal and even Federer have lost to big hitters at slams when they are "on".

Nadal seems a little more prone to it (Tsonga AO '09, Soderling FO '09, Del Po USO '09, Rosol Wimby '12) possibly because Nadal thrives on dominating rallies with his top-spin FH and defense. But when these big hitters are "on" they are not bothered too much by his top-spin FH and are able to just blast back for winners, or force Nadal to run around on defense till he loses the point.

Federer deals with big hitters better because he is offensive-minded and can go for straight winners rather than rally, and he can be nearly as good as Rafa on defense when necessary. However, despite this, Fed has had his losses too (Safin AO '05, Del Po USO '09, Berdy Wimby '10, Tsonga Wimby '11). Fair enough, he wasn't "prime" Federer for most of these.

However, is Djokovic naturally more suited to playing big hitters? Slowing down of surfaces is definitely a factor, but I think its partly the fact that he hits offensive shots even while on defense. Fed/Nadal are great at this as well, but Djokovic does it routinely as part of his game. Even if a guy like Del Po has hit a shot out wide that Djokovic has to be on full-stretch to get, it doesn't matter because Djok can still hit groundstrokes on full-stretch due to his flexibility. It probably helps that he has power off both wings as well.

Note: Not saying Djokovic is better than Fedal or anything, just asking your opinions, do you think he's better suited to taking on big hitters? He's played some of those guys at their best and rode out the storm.

 

[LazyNinja19]

It's just that Djoko is peaking since 2011, which is very recent & fresh in memory. So people here are attributing him as "best defensive player"/ "best back hand"/ "best at dealing with big hitters" etc etc.

But the truth is that people forget past champions very easily.
People are forgetting how good Federer was in his prime. Or how solid a player Rafa was, when he was a bit younger!

Same thing will happen in the future. People will forget Djoko too, and the then Slam champion will be attributed as the "best ever" in various departments of the game.

 

[helloworld]

Djokovic did poorly against big hitters like Safin and Isner. He didn't seem to have an easy time against Tsonga either. I wouldn't say he is clearly the best at handling big hitters. IMO, Murray is better at handling big hitters.

 

[abmk]

federer

djokovic ~ nadal


in that order

federer well and above the other 2 ....prime to prime ..

 

[smash hit]

Xxxxxxxxxx

 

[Chico]

Djokovic did poorly against big hitters like Safin and Isner. He didn't seem to have an easy time against Tsonga either. I wouldn't say he is clearly the best at handling big hitters. IMO, Murray is better at handling big hitters.

Since when is Isner a "big hitter"???

Also Djokovic played Safin only two times in his career, one of those being when he was merely 17. Not enough to draw such conclusions.

Djokovic won his last 7 matches vs Tsonga. Yes Tsonga won some mostly meaningless matches (Marseille, Bangkok, WTF 2008 when the group was already decided), but again can't draw conclusions from that.

Djokovic is a big hitter himself and, as we saw in the last 5-6 years, can handle any other big hitter with ease.

 

[Death Master]

I think nole is the biggest hitter in the game at the moment.

berdych, del potro, and wawrinka hit pretty damn hard consistently but nole can do that until cows come home.

consistency matters.

 

[djokovic2008]

I think nole is the biggest hitter in the game at the moment.
berdych, del potro, and wawrinka hit pretty damn hard consistently but nole can do that until cows come home.

consistency matters.

As much I think nole is on another level I cannot agree with this statement, yes he can hit big but relies on placing the ball side with great accuracy and change of direction. I thought he got bullied at times in the USO 13 final vs nadal as he did not hit with enough power and then let Nadal use his forehand to hit winners.

 

[Backspin1183]

I think nole is the biggest hitter in the game at the moment.

berdych, del potro, and wawrinka hit pretty damn hard consistently but nole can do that until cows come home.

consistency matters.

so what's next, general Death Master? Novak's also the biggest server?

 

[dominikk1985]

fed handled big hitters very well in his prime. he can hit big himself pretty well and his slice is a nightmare for any tall guy. in his prime he sliced many big hitters to death.

novak is good against big hitters but I feel that he can be blown away if a really big hitter has a perfect day. there are just not many big hitters around that are really consistent over 4-5 sets. wawrinka also hit through him pretty well for some phases as did DP. they just could not keep it up enough.

A honorable mention is also david ferrer who has very good records against tsonga, berdych, DP and söderling.

nadal is probably the worst of the "big 4" in handling big hitters.

 

[Morj]

fed handled big hitters very well in his prime. he can hit big himself pretty well and his slice is a nightmare for any tall guy. in his prime he sliced many big hitters to death.

novak is good against big hitters but I feel that he can be blown away if a really big hitter has a perfect day. there are just not many big hitters around that are really consistent over 4-5 sets. wawrinka also hit through him pretty well for some phases as did DP. they just could not keep it up enough.

A honorable mention is also david ferrer who has very good records against tsonga, berdych, DP and söderling.

nadal is probably the worst of the "big 4" in handling big hitters.

Yes but the thing is, with Wawrinka and Del Pro that was pretty much the best tennis they can play. Wawrinka was absolutely painting the lines at every opportunity and Del Po was hitting the ball as hard as he ever has. Djokovic was able to ride out the storm against both of them.