Straight from the man himself. So the fans can stop making excuses. Rafa beat him fair and square once again, because he is simply the better player on the surface. Novak played as well as he possibly could on clay at this stage of his career (while Rafa did not reach his best level on clay), wasn't tired and still lost.
Djokovic: "I felt no fatigue. Could have played for another few hours"
- Thread starter octogon
- Start date
TennisFan3
Talk Tennis Guru
Djokovic is a marvel of fitness. The ageless warrior.
Djokovic "IS" the Next Gen. 34 is the new 24.
Djokovic "IS" the Next Gen. 34 is the new 24.
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Tennis_Freak99
Legend
I could do this all day!
Tennis_Freak99
Legend
He could be sarcastic, who knows lol
USO
Banned
That means that all your 100 posts full of excuses for Djokovic were completely wrong and a waste of time.
It's sad because I expect better from someone who is supposedly a Federer fan. Maybe your account was hacked or something but you can now stop making excuses for Thirdwheelovic.
SecondToNone
Semi-Pro
He is just being graceful in defeat. He will never say this was one of my worst match on clay for example.
Steve0904
Talk Tennis Guru
That's not how the media is spinning it lol.
www.tsn.ca
Nadal beats tired Djokovic to win Italian Open - TSN.ca
Rafael Nadal beat a tired Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 for a record-extending 10th Italian Open title on Sunday. The Spaniard recovered from a potentially dangerous fall after tripping over a raised line to take the latest installment of the most-played rivalry in modern men’s tennis.
www.tsn.ca
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
We already knew this. He hasn't been tired since 2010.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
These guys have good ‘doctors’!
tennisjedi
Hall of Fame
Even a fatigued Djokovic had his chances to beat Nadal. He's Nadals hardest matchup for a reason.
That was a general statement given in a general interview. Djokovic gave a specific statement about his physical condition during a specific match, immediately after the match. Federer's statement was wishful thinking because he was an ageing player. Djokovic has zero reason to lie about feeling full of stamina in a match he just lost. It would be the perfect excuse to say he was tired.
Fact is, Djokovic wasn't tired and confirmed it. Rafa faced the best Novak could give him on clay right now and won.
Biotic
Hall of Fame
tennisjedi
Hall of Fame
Djokovic is a multi-millionaire, he can afford the best physio's and recovery methods.
Slowtwitcher
Legend
That's just Djoke's rationalization that he could beat Nadal in BO5.
Slowtwitcher
Legend
And yet he goes to visit "energy pyramids" for recovery.
Nadal_King
Hall of Fame
To me djokovic looked way more fit than nadal despite long hours previous day. 2nd set was strategic tank from rafa towards the end so that he can regroup from 3rd with more energy. Only his fitness is an issue to me but he can play attacking brand of tennis as he did as certain moments today should be good enough to beat anyone
Tennis_Freak99
Legend
Ya sure when Nadal gets a bakery product, he tanked and when Novak does then 'Rafa forced him to make errors'
daggerman
Hall of Fame
Novak's self-assessment tracks with what we saw on the court. I thought he looked a little sluggish in the first couple games (even though he won both games), but from that point on he looked normal. Of course, 'normal' doesn't mean 100%, but in a final with two players in their mid-30s, neither player is going to be 100% physically. Rafa had some tough matches, too.
BorgTheGOAT
Legend
Think of him what you want but he is the one of the big three who is the most gracious in defeat.
Nadal_King
Hall of Fame
No I meant towards the end when it was 4-1 he tried less which is seen very less from rafa he comes even hard at you when he is in those situations but I feel it was smarter thing to do since losing that set despite fighting would have meant mire fatigued for final set
Tennis_Freak99
Legend
Doesn't take away from the fact that it's shameful that one guy has to play 2 matches in a day and the other has 1. Organisers could have taken the right decision and pushed it to Monday
Not that I think that Rafa tanked but no one will ever strategically tank the first set of any match IMHO.
N
Nuclear Warhead Sinner
Guest
Nuance is just not people's forte. Nuance and logical inference. You rarely get both and you're very lucky if you encounter someone with either one.
Djokovic_is_the_best#1
Bionic Poster
Definitely the most gracious of the big 3 when losing. Props to Novak on that!
Wiggedbaldy
Rookie
Playing mind games trying to make Rafa believe he doesn't need to improve his level for RG.
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Krish0608
G.O.A.T.
Yes, methinks the same. It's a loaded statement.
Where was the graciousness in 2019 when Rafa beat him in Rome and he said he was tired?
There is nothing notable about Novak's graciousness in defeat. Sometimes he'll say "well done, the better player won" and other times, he'll have an excuse for why he lost. So basically, he is no different to anyone else.
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Hitman
Bionic Poster
It's clearly obvious what he is doing, but I am sure Rafa knows better.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Yep. Don't think Rafa will fall for it, I would be seriously surprised if he did.
Krish0608
G.O.A.T.
It's RG. Rafa will be roaring.Rafa is ready
ADuck
Legend
I think you read too much into the mind games and story aspect of things, but let me give my opinion on this. If I was Rafa and I heard this, this would actually make me way more confident, because I'd known I just beat a Nole who wasn't tired whilst playing below average and having many areas I can improve on before and during the French Open. This is only going to make Rafa have more confidence if they play at the French Open, and a Rafa that's confident in his game is way more dangerous than the one we saw today.
In summary, if I'm Rafa, all I'm hearing from Nole is "Rafa, you are superior to me in every way"
Nadal_Django
Legend
Djokovic so graceful in defeat. Someone else would have been already lining up his excuses. As for the subject at hand, even a blind man could have seen that he was physically struggling today, especially in the third set.
Nadal_Django
Legend
You should watch the third set again.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
Of course he is saying that, and even that is to get into Nadal's head. You may not want to read too much into it, but I sure will, as I always have.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Well said. I don’t see any secret messages. He tried his best and it wasn’t good enough as the other guy was better like he always is typically on clay lately. There is nothing you can say or do to affect Nadal’s self-belief on clay apart from actually beating him in big matches.
D
Deleted member 770948
Guest
Djokovic's energy level was astonishing today.
Points won via more than 9 shots:
Djokovic 20
Nadal 5
Points won via more than 9 shots:
Djokovic 20
Nadal 5
NatF
Bionic Poster
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