Djokovic deserved it-but Rafa WAS injured

Spencer Gore

Spencer Gore

Legend
I suspected Djokovic would win -I had him slight favourite before the match -and he was the deserved victor, but Nadal was clearly injured. It was obvious there was something wrong as early as the 2nd set. Both things can be true. Both ARE true.

Well done to both men. You played like true champions. Staying in the tournament and giving your all on the court, fighting to your last drop of energy as befits ATGs.

We salute you!
 
maratha_warrior said:
Nadal had set point in 3rd set..

Had he won the set point ,he would have mostly won this in 4 sets and Novak would be laughed for having 1-8 record H2H versus Rafa at RG . Lol :-D

There was no injury . Rafa was beaten fair and square .
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No Rafa was injured. I spotted it at 5-1 in 1st set.
 
Agreed. fair and square. Nole wins Sunday he gets DOUBLE career slam and inches ahead to current GOAT, or at least bigger GOAT with FEDAL being awesome but slightly smaller GOATs :)
 
Rafa is 35 years old and has played a ton of clay tennis this year. It is OK to admit he was not at his 100% best without saying he was injured like in 2015. His level to fight back from a break down twice in the 3rd set was unbelievable and showed the grit and determination of a legendary fighter and champion.

I think it's fair to say Djokovic deserved to win no matter what. Let's not cheapen what was an incredible fight from both players with an injury excuse. Rafa would not do that himself.
 
What does it matter if he was injured? He lost. They don't put 'reasons' in the stat/history book. They put a "W" for a win and an "L" for a loss. That's all that matters.
 
Spencer Gore said:
I suspected Djokovic would win -I had him slight favourite before the match -and he was the deserved victor, but Nadal was clearly injured. It was obvious there was something wrong as early as the 2nd set. Both things can be true. Both ARE true.

Well done to both men. You played like true champions. Staying in the tournament and giving your all on the court, fighting to your last drop of energy as befits ATGs.

We salute you!
Click to expand...

Rafa says he has had a nagging scaphoid bone wrist injury since 2005.

"I had a bandage that was compressing me too much and it was already unbearable."​
​
Scaphoid_bone
 
maratha_warrior said:
Lol . He first needs to win RG on Sunday ..
Stefanos has great chance to beat Novak .

CYGS is too far away o_O
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Stefanos himself has played 5 sets and he is already too overwhelmed and crying after his semi final like he is some emo freak :D

I dont think he will be wining, but lets see.
 
The final will also now see someone called for slow play, and it won't be Nadal ... and it wouldn't have been Nadal.
 
Sunny014 said:
Stefanos himself has played 5 sets and he is already too overwhelmed and crying after his semi final like he is some emo freak :D

I dont think he will be wining, but lets see.
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Let's see man.
Today's win is almost like a slam win in itself .

I am fine even if Novak loses on Sunday..

I like shock and surprise in sports and Novak provided that to us today . Tennis fans should be happy about this ..:)
This almost feels like how Fed was dethroned at 2008 WB final. It was shocking aswell .
 
Nadal just ran out of energy, which AMA does not list as an injury!

There are at least 2 reasons why Nadal was exhausted in the 4th:
- He sweated a ton, Djokovic hardly sweated in a cool night. That was why Nadal had to go to the towel before every serve. He can drink as much as he wants, it's not going to replenish fully the lost bodily fluid.
- Nadal's natural tendency is to overpower the ball, Djokovic's tendency is to use mechanics and timing to hit the ball. By the 4th set today, Nadal had emptied his energy reserves.

That also explains why Nadal has such a mediocre 5-set record recently. He loses a lot of sweat and energy in the first 3-4 sets!
 
40-15 still haunts me said:
Lmao, how can he be injured when he’s winning a set 5-1 ? Was the other player just more injured or in a wheelchair perhaps
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Ok so as you are a sensible poster ill explain. I have watched over 800 Nadal matches since 2003. I know when he is injured.
At 5-0 i noticed suddenely he was not getting behind the ball on his BH. At first thought he was taking a time out. Then he got broke at 5-1. His BH had totally gone and he could not hit the DTLBH. That shot requires weight on the left foot. As soon as i saw him not even going for flat DTLBH i knew he was in trouble.
Did not hit one DTLBH winner after 1st set. Not one.
 
He wasn't injured, he's just old. Time is undefeated. Clearly he was not able to play at that intensity for over 4 hours. Djokovic is in better physical condition.

Rafa hasn't been great in these marathon matches for a while now, it's just that no one had been able to make him run this much at RG until now because he was annihilating everyone since he came back to the top in 2017.
 
Sunny014 said:
You spot many things.
You were shamelessly saying that Djokovic is mentally unstable, he will lash out, he is down physically and what not :D

All of your predictions have been horribly wrong
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Djokovic is mentally unstable. Lets see if he wins the title. Lets see if he gets 20 Majors. I do not think he will. I think today may well be the crescendo of his career.
Lets see but Tsitsipas has the chance of a lifetime now.
 
Blahovic said:
He wasn't injured, he's just old. Time is undefeated. Clearly he was not able to play at that intensity for over 4 hours. Djokovic is in better physical condition.

Rafa hasn't been great in these marathon matches for a while now, it's just that no one had been able to make him run this much at RG until now because he was annihilating everyone since he came back to the top in 2017.
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Well the injuries are sort of age related. They are not serious injuries but spring up due to wear and tear which is what he said.
 
maratha_warrior said:
Let's see man.
Today's win is almost like a slam win in itself .

I am fine even if Novak loses on Sunday..

I like shock and surprise in sports and Novak provided that to us today . Tennis fans should be happy about this ..:)
This almost feels like how Fed was dethroned at 2008 WB final. It was shocking aswell .
Click to expand...

Fed would not have been dethroned in 08, problem is mono ruined his AO, then peak nadal obliterated him on clay, that somehow had some weird impact on grass + bad form in that year (doesn't matter even if he had a great grass court season) and winning 5 times on trot created a weird loss to Rafa in wimbie - nobody won any slam 6 times in a row, not even RAfa on clay, then all this showed up next year at the AO too when he played a bit of nonsense in the final.

To me actual dethroning happened in 2010 when Rafa was clearly on top winning 3 slams in the year but then Novak quickly arrived to take the throne and has held it ever since ..... in 2017 when novak vacated the throne then federer sat on it and then rafa also sat briefly for novak to again return and become the best/the man to beat.

So Novak has been Federer's successor, Rafa has just sat on the throne in 2010, never else has he held the throne of being the favorite

So
 
Spencer Gore said:
I suspected Djokovic would win -I had him slight favourite before the match -and he was the deserved victor, but Nadal was clearly injured. It was obvious there was something wrong as early as the 2nd set. Both things can be true. Both ARE true.

Well done to both men. You played like true champions. Staying in the tournament and giving your all on the court, fighting to your last drop of energy as befits ATGs.

We salute you!
Click to expand...
Yes, it's been proved time and again that when Rafa loses he is injured.
 
Beckerserve said:
Dude beating washed up players doesnt count for much. Has he ever beaten Nadal or Federer at their best Major when either under 34?
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Federer saved Nadal from being belted by Nole in the 2011 French Open

Had Fed not taken out Nole then Nole would have belted Nadal in 2011 itself
 
Spencer Gore said:
I suspected Djokovic would win -I had him slight favourite before the match -and he was the deserved victor, but Nadal was clearly injured. It was obvious there was something wrong as early as the 2nd set. Both things can be true. Both ARE true.

Well done to both men. You played like true champions. Staying in the tournament and giving your all on the court, fighting to your last drop of energy as befits ATGs.

We salute you!
Click to expand...

He was definitely injured as Nole ripped him a new one.

Hopefully he will heal in time for 2022
 
Sunny014 said:
Fed would not have been dethroned in 08, problem is mono ruined his AO, then peak nadal obliterated him on clay, that somehow had some weird impact on grass + bad form in that year (doesn't matter even if he had a great grass court season) and winning 5 times on trot created a weird loss to Rafa in wimbie - nobody won any slam 6 times in a row, not even RAfa on clay, then all this showed up next year at the AO too when he played a bit of nonsense in the final.

To me actual dethroning happened in 2010 when Rafa was clearly on top winning 3 slams in the year but then Novak quickly arrived to take the throne and has held it ever since ..... in 2017 when novak vacated the throne then federer sat on it and then rafa also sat briefly for novak to again return and become the best/the man to beat.

So Novak has been Federer's successor, Rafa has just sat on the throne in 2010, never else has he held the throne of being the favorite

So
Click to expand...

I am not sure when I read this interview from Federer few years back where he said , ' he actually was kinda still upset during first two sets of Wimbledon 2008 after being beaten badly by Rafa at RG 2008 .
It was only the third set that he started playing freely and then the match was ON.'
 
Sunny014 said:
Djokovic can do the CYGS this year.

That would be his aim and he would reach 21 too if he does that.
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Take a step back a think about it again.

He has to win on Sunday first.

Then he has to keep THIS level of fitness for 3 more months - at age 34.

The first thing is to be expected. But the second thing is not, not given at all.
 
His movement was definitely hindered by the 3rd set. That wasn't vintage clay Rafa out there. but a win is a win.. Id rather see Nadal break the record at a non-clay slam anyways. He doesn't need a 205th French Open title.
 
Beckerserve said:
Dude beating washed up players doesnt count for much. Has he ever beaten Nadal or Federer at their best Major when either under 34?
Click to expand...

If Djokovic had not been at his best, Federer would have had 5 more Slams ('14-15, 19 Wim; 15 USO; 16 AO). That's good enough for me and other Djokfans.

If Djokovic had not stopped Nadal today, Nadal probably would win his 21st Slam. That's good enough for me and other Djokfans.

You cannot say Djokovic beat up a washed-up Nadal, when everyone agreed, before the match, that Nadal would beat up on Tsisipas/Zverev, should he get there!
 
skip1969 said:
What does it matter if he was injured? He lost. They don't put 'reasons' in the stat/history book. They put a "W" for a win and an "L" for a loss. That's all that matters.
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Exactly. I never understand those who get so offended when someone says "Player A lost because he was injured". You play, you play. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. And I doubt many players are absolutely 100% physically when they are playing anyway.
 
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