Djokovic has a massive weakness; how federer won

[BeHappy]

He can't generate enough spin to crush a short, low ball, whenever federer came to an important point, (eg up 0-40 on Djokovic's serve, duece or advantage on his own serve, and on match game where he did this on threeconsecutive points to break djokovic). he would slice the ball very short and sharply angled to Djokovic's backhand, Djokovic would get there in plenty of time every time this occurred, but he didn't/doesn't have the option of crushing it on that side.He had to try and hit a finesse shot, usually a sharp angle of his own, but with no pace whatsoever.He was unable to hit an approach shot to the net because the ball is was too low to slice and he was unable to hit the ball with ANY pace whatsoever from that height.

For those who are old enough to remember the Jimmy Connors V Arthur Ashe Wimbledon final you will remember Jimmy Connors had the exact same prolem on his forehand side.

The commentators were saying that federer spent most of the days in his hotel room during the USO watching tennis and scouting his opponents.

Federer is a tactical genius, he does not need a coach.

 

[Mad iX]

After a while Djoko started to deal with those low slices a little better, and Fed recognised that and kept them in reserve, never letting Novak get used to it.
No doubt he has great tactics, he just plays his game and tweaks his strategy as the match goes on.

 

[35ft6]

Novak's problem is he choked in the first and second sets. In the last set, he just looked completely scatter-brained, but he was doing just fine getting to set point against Federer. But he just blew those opportunities. Sure, Fed raised his game a bit, but Novak was missing totally easy shots he was killing just a few seconds earlier. Nerves.

 

[stormholloway]

Djokovic's weakness was mental. He had 5 set points in the first set and break points in the second. He was overwhelmed by the moment.

I didn't see this glaring weakness that you saw.

 

[nn]

Nerves as someone said..100% true

 

[tennispro11]

As his mom said, Novak is a better player than Federer.

 

[dysonlu]

After a while Djoko started to deal with those low slices a little better, and Fed recognised that and kept them in reserve, never letting Novak get used to it.
No doubt he has great tactics, he just plays his game and tweaks his strategy as the match goes on.

I agree. I noticed that Djoker dealt with it a bit better too. Federer likes to slice it low and when the opponent returns a short or high weak ball, he steps around his BH side and unleash his FH. Djoker managed to return the ball deep and sometimes even hit a winner down the line. He dealt with that tactic quite well overall, better than Roddick did during his match.

 

[jukka1970]

Novak's problem is he choked in the first and second sets. In the last set, he just looked completely scatter-brained, but he was doing just fine getting to set point against Federer. But he just blew those opportunities. Sure, Fed raised his game a bit, but Novak was missing totally easy shots he was killing just a few seconds earlier. Nerves.

I completely agree. It was his first slam final, and the nerves got to him. Now if he had beat the nerves, not sure how the match would have gone. But I definitely agree the nerves was the biggest determinant in this match.

Jukka

 

[psamp14]

djokovic tightened up in the first set and couldnt convert...he got a little too comfortable in the 2nd set to let federer back in, and then he became predictable, example of set point in the 2nd set where federer happened to predict correctly and lined up his backhand down the line....

 

[rwn]

Novak's problem is he choked in the first and second sets. In the last set, he just looked completely scatter-brained, but he was doing just fine getting to set point against Federer. But he just blew those opportunities. Sure, Fed raised his game a bit, but Novak was missing totally easy shots he was killing just a few seconds earlier. Nerves.

Choking is part of the game. Federer choked at Roland Garros: 1 of 18 breakpoints converted. But Nadal was smart enough not to make mistakes on these points. Federer did the same here at the US Open. One error from Federer and the set had been over.

 

[superstition]

Nerves as someone said..100% true

What do you think made Federer allow him to have those set points? Nerves.

McEnroe correctly noted early in the match that Federer was playing very tightly.

 

[TennezSport]

Yes but...........

As you say, they both were playing tightly at first, but Fed controlled his nerves better and Nole didn't. That made a big difference. As the match went on, Fed got more relaxed while Nole continued to fight his nerves. With Fed reading Noles serves and groundies better as the match progressed, Fed never let Nole get comfortable.

With respect to Roddick, we cannot compare Rod to Nole as Rod cannot cover the court like Nole, which is a big difference in defending against Fed. Rafa can do it, Nole, Davydenko, and maybe Blake. The speed allows them to get to the ball to try to turn defense to offense. Rod is made to look like a puppet when Fed gets him on the run and Rod can never get set to go on the offensive. It's not his BH or FH or serve, but his legs and anticipation that fail Rod when playing Fed, as Fed is well aware of. Rod may be able to improve his anticipation, but he will never be fast on his feet.

TennezSport

 

[Stinkdyr]

Exactly what I posted on a separate thread: Biggest chokefest since Gaudio/Coria at 2004 French Open. I am not saying Fed bad or Djchokovic bad, just that they were both gagging for air at the end of those first 2 sets. Goes to show ya, it isn't just us club players who feel the nerves.

 

[AAAA]

Djokovic lost 6-7, 6-7, 4-6, he won 16 games.

In 1994 at wimbledon Sampras beat Ivanisevic 7 - 6 , 7 - 6 , 6 - 0. Goran won 12 games 4 less than Djokovic against Federer, Goran didn't have anywhere near as many break or sets points as Djokovic and Djokovic didn't completely implode in the last set like Goran did.

 

[daddy]

Exactly what I posted on a separate thread: Biggest chokefest since Gaudio/Coria at 2004 French Open. I am not saying Fed bad or Djchokovic bad, just that they were both gagging for air at the end of those first 2 sets. Goes to show ya, it isn't just us club players who feel the nerves.

Goes to show that Fed have nerves as well, we knew djokovic will have them but we never knew fed will. Anyways , goes to show he will have even more of those in their next match. Cant wait ..

 

[Ossric]

As his mom said, Novak is a better player than Federer.

Hahahahahaha....HAHAHAHAHA...AAAAHHHHAAAHHAAA

Wait, you're serious?

C'mon, this is getting old already. Novak has talent, yes. He's 1-5 vs Federer.

Roger is better, plain and simple. Novak has a good run and suddenly he's better than someone who's been the #1 for nearly 4 straigh years?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Novak's mother's statement is just a -tad- biased.

 

[chaz_233]

I was surprised that Federer didn't just go ahead and abuse Novak's BH non-stop. Clearly, his BH was awefully weak, execept for a couple of shots down the line, and compared to his sometimes dangeous FH.

 

[daddy]

Hahahahahaha....HAHAHAHAHA...AAAAHHHHAAAHHAAA

Wait, you're serious?

C'mon, this is getting old already. Novak has talent, yes. He's 1-5 vs Federer.

Roger is better, plain and simple. Novak has a good run and suddenly he's better than someone who's been the #1 for nearly 4 straigh years?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Novak's mother's statement is just a -tad- biased.

Federer is one year older than nalbandian and had 1 - 6 agains nalband in 2003 before wimby. So you say nalbandian is better ? Stats lie mate, watche the mathces. Anyways Nadal is up on him as we speak a couple of matches and still nr2 not nr1 etc.

Many such examples.

 

[tennispro11]

Hahahahahaha....HAHAHAHAHA...AAAAHHHHAAAHHAAA

Wait, you're serious?

C'mon, this is getting old already. Novak has talent, yes. He's 1-5 vs Federer.

Roger is better, plain and simple. Novak has a good run and suddenly he's better than someone who's been the #1 for nearly 4 straigh years?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Novak's mother's statement is just a -tad- biased.

No, I wasn't serious. LOL! She seriously said that though. Novak is better than Federer. That's some funny stuff.

 

[daddy]

No, I wasn't serious. LOL! She seriously said that though. Novak is better than Federer. That's some funny stuff.

Dont klnow if you know this but his parents are not so popular amongs tennis people here. Only he and his bros are because of personalities, and now all of a sudden his papa is okay because of $$ he have but they are not the best people, or at least thats wjhat Ive heard here.

SO she seriously said it ? I mean I am a freaking fan, I can hope hell be better one day but now ?

 

[Hot Sauce]

How Federer won is not a mystery. Djokovic choked.

 

[helloworld]

As his mom said, Novak is a better player than Federer.

Hmm... funny. If Novak thinks this way, he'll never become a better player. Don't listen to your mom, Novak.

 

[tricky]

he would slice the ball very short and sharply angled to Djokovic's backhand, Djokovic would get there in plenty of time every time this occurred, but he didn't/doesn't have the option of crushing it on that side.

It's not so much weakness but Federer's shotmaking. Federer has maybe the best slice in the game. On a low bounce surface, he makes that sucker skid really low. Hitting a DTL short ball is a very difficult shot for 2H, though less so with a good 1H BH. Joker owns one of the best DTL shots in the game, but he prefers hitting that from behind the baseline. His crosscourt BH shot is surprisingly not as great as I thought. Nadal would have hits those shots really wide instead and forced him offcourt.

It was just great tactics, especially since Federer didn't really find his range on the FH until the 3rd set. Joker, like Nadal, is strongest when playing a true lateral baseline match. But Federer didn't let him do this, even though it meant that it made him vulnerable for Djokovic to hit outright winners, which he did often on his service.

 

[West Coast Ace]

Federer is one year older than nalbandian and had 1 - 6 agains nalband in 2003 before wimby. So you say nalbandian is better ? Stats lie mate, watche the mathces. Anyways Nadal is up on him as we speak a couple of matches and still nr2 not nr1 etc.

Many such examples.

Totally irrelevant. That was a carryover from juniors where Nalb owned Fed - Fed was still in his immature phase - would play well for a while, then get bored and start trying crazy shots, start losing and then implode. Once Fed matured and 'figured it out' he has owned Nalb...

I wish people would stop using the 'c' word. Choking is what Jana did against Steffi at Wimby - complete loss of game for an extended period, not one or two points. 'Nerves' is the accurate description.

Count me as not buying the OP's hypothesis either. Fed played better on the key points in the 1st 2 sets, then really played incredible tennis in the 3rd when the winds died down and he could see the finish line.

 

[daddy]

Totally irrelevant. That was a carryover from juniors where Nalb owned Fed - Fed was still in his immature phase - would play well for a while, then get bored and start trying crazy shots, start losing and then implode. Once Fed matured and 'figured it out' he has owned Nalb...

Irrelevant but not today. Usually yes, but someone said novak has 1 - 5 against fed. So I said it is not what determines who is better, statistics. But many other things. Fed is better, but many people were up on him before the allmighty era, now look at his stats, only nadal and kuerten are up.

SO 1 - 5 with novak, whos 20 is nothing. So I gave example of younger player than fed owing him in early stages of their careers. You know nalband is one full year younger than fed ?

 

[West Coast Ace]

You missed my 2nd point - it was more about Fed beating himself than others beating him. Once his game (and head) came together it really didn't matter who was on the other side of the net - as long as it wasn't Nadal and they weren't in Paris...

 

[daddy]

You missed my 2nd point - it was more about Fed beating himself than others beating him. Once his game (and head) came together it really didn't matter who was on the other side of the net - as long as it wasn't Nadal and they weren't in Paris...

The latter pare of this one was good .. But yes I missed it. Does not mean it will not happen to , baghdatis ? lol