Djokovic is facing the most important match of his tennis career tomorrow

Sport

G.O.A.T.
troll it hard bud.
He's not trolling.

While objectively Slams are more important, subjectively this is the nost important match of the year dor Novak. It's the only Big Title he lacks and with his obsessive mindset (which is what made him the GOAT, that sheer determination to win everything) he really wants to get it done to avoid having a hole in his resume.
 

ChrisRF

Legend
He's not trolling.

While objectively Slams are more important, subjectively this is the nost important match of the year dor Novak. It's the only Big Title he lacks and with his obsessive mindset (which is what made him the GOAT, that sheer determination to win everything) he really wants to get it done to avoid having a hole in his resume.
I agree, and I might add it's obviously also the most important match for Alcaraz.

Imagine if Alcaraz gets the most difficult title that early in his career. He will absolutely certainly win all the annual big titles at least once in his career. So either Djokovic will complete the full set tomorrow OR Alcaraz will be the one to do so very soon. And I don't expect the future to fully accept a GOAT without Olympic Gold anyway.

That it how much is on the line. But a pity that it isn't best of 5.
 

ChrisRF

Legend
Wimbledon title is more important. Look at 2012, who does remember Murrays rout of Federer at the grass Olympics, in comparison to Feds win in Wim final.
Well, actually everyone. While it was only "just another Wimbledon final" before. Of course that the Olympics also had Wimbledon as venue and that it was still Best of 5 added to the flair.

Back then as a Federer fan I definitely thought "if only the results would have been the opposite". The lead in the Slam record was still big, and the SPECIAL title at Wimbledon with the Olympic Gold would have been much better than the NORMAL one.

Also I remember for the Olympic final in 2012 I could motivate people to watch who would have never wanted to see a full Wimbledon final. And my BEST friend, who is as much a Federer fan as me and watched every match, also was much more into the Olympic final than the "regular" one.
 

Cortana

Legend
I actually agree with the OP.

It's not his most important match from a statistical viewpoint, but for from a personal view from Djokovic himself.
 

Gizo

Legend
Re Federer and Murray, it was interesting that they played 3 different matches at the business end of big tournaments in London in 2012, with 3 very different atmospheres.

The crowd during the Wimbledon final was muted and 'muzzled'. Many people in the stadium clearly liked both players, and were probably reluctant to cheer loudly in favour of one at the expense of the other.

Then the crowd during the Olympic final was overwhelmingly pro-Murray and incredibly patriotric. The fact that it was Federer standing on the other side of the net was irrelevant.

Then the crowd in the O2 area for their YEC SF at the end of the year was clearly pro-Federer, with Murray getting booed by some fans at one stage.
 
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socallefty

G.O.A.T.
A Bestof3 match is the most important of his career? More important than his first ATP match, first Slam match, first Slam final, first Wimbledon final, first Davis Cup final match, all the Roland Garros finals against Nadal, all the Wimbledon finals against Federer, 2021USO final to potentially complete CYGS, 2016 FO final to potentially complete NCYGS etc.?
 

Nappa

Professional
A Bestof3 match is the most important of his career? More important than his first ATP match, first Slam match, first Slam final, first Wimbledon final, first Davis Cup final match, all the Roland Garros finals against Nadal, all the Wimbledon finals against Federer, 2021USO final to potentially complete CYGS, 2016 FO final to potentially complete NCYGS etc.?
Thats a bit of a let down. This should have been a 5 sets clash.
 

serbiavic

Professional
Re Federer and Murray, it was interesting that they played 3 different matches at the business end of big tournaments in London in 2012, with 3 very different atmospheres.

The crowd during the Wimbledon final was muted and 'muzzled'. Many people in the stadium clearly liked both players, and were probably reluctant to cheer loudly in favour of one at the expense of the other.

Then the crowd during the Olympic final was overwhelmingly pro-Murray and incredibly patriotric. The fact that it was Federer standing on side of the net was seen as irrelevant.

Then the crowd in the O2 area for their YEC SF at the end of the year was clearly pro-Federer, with Murray getting booed by some fans at one stage.
What is the difference between the o2 crowd and the Wimbledon crowd?
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
A Bestof3 match is the portant of his career? More important than his first ATP match, first Slam match, first Slam final, first Wimbledon final, first Davis Cup final match, all the Roland Garros finals against Nadal, all the Wimbledon finals against Federer, 2021USO final to potentially complete CYGS, 2016 FO final to potentially complete NCYGS etc.?
I'd place it right behind his 2021 USO final where he competed for the Grand Slam.
 

Indigo

Professional
This is not just another Olympic Gold like Murray's and others that will be fotgotten probably. This is the only trophy that "Goat" of tennis misses in his cupboard. The holy grail trophy of Novak Djokovic. To Novak this is the most importan match of his life. Trust me, Novak will play on Sunday as if it is a matter of life and death. He is ready to die on court. This will not be like WB final when he appeared like he spent the entire day fighting diarrhoea. Novak's motive in this match surpasses Carlos's by a light year. He will give it all to grab the golden medal. Match of the year incoming.
 

pirhaksar

Professional
Tell me you're a Nadal fan without telling me you're a Nadal fan.
lol this! Great bait ….fyi for the gent who was inquiring why Novak fans suddenly think Olympics is an important tennis event now that their guy made the finals.
 

pirhaksar

Professional
This is not just another Olympic Gold like Murray's and others that will be fotgotten probably. This is the only trophy that "Goat" of tennis misses in his cupboard. The holy grail trophy of Novak Djokovic. To Novak this is the most importan match of his life. Trust me, Novak will play on Sunday as if it is a matter of life and death. He is ready to die on court. This will not be like WB final when he appeared like he spent the entire day fighting diarrhoea. Novak's motive in this match surpasses Carlos's by a light year. He will give it all to grab the golden medal. Match of the year incoming.
Good effort!
 

Gizo

Legend
What is the difference between the o2 crowd and the Wimbledon crowd?

The crowd at the O2 was generally more international, and also had a higher % of passionate tennis fans.

The crowd at Wimbledon for the regular championships including the final on centre court, can largely be made up of more casual tennis fans, people who are there for the occasion but generally won't care about the sport beyond those two weeks, people who are generally more 'reserved' etc. A big change from the norm was the 2001 men's final moved to the Monday due to rain delays, with more 'regular' fans getting into Centre Court and an incredible atmosphere.

But then during the Olympic tournament in 2012 including the final, a lot of the fans there were enthusiastic sports fans, who were loudly cheering for any British athletes during a very successful sporting summer (it was like a Davis Cup crowd). I watched matches during the Olympic tennis tournament in 2012, and the vibe felt completely different compared to the regular championships.
 

Apun94

Hall of Fame
Do not fool yourselves to think otherwise. This is the match Djokovic has been dreaming of since 2008. He is a mature tennis player now and Im sure that this time he will handle the gigantic preassure that he has on his shoulders, wont he?
Lol not even close
 

pirhaksar

Professional
As a fan, I just want him to fight hard if he really wants this so there are no regrets. I still can’t accept the manner in which he lost the Wimby finals, last years loss to the same Raz didn’t bother me one bit. The manner of defeat matters. Novak needs to remember who he is and yes the odds are Raz will run away with this but make him earn it.
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
The biggest match of his career turned out to be RG21SF. Without that win he almost certainly isn’t the sole slam winner today
Injured Nadal wasn't reaching the RG 2021 final, let alone winning the title, due to the aggravation of his Mueller-Weiss chronic injury. Look, when Nadal's foot is at his worst pain-wise, he loses to anyone, even to Shapovalov in Rome 2022 and can barely walk on the court. The same inability to run due to pain showed up in the RG 2021 SF, especially visible in the 4th set. Barely moving due to the foot pain, Nadal can't defeat anyone, csll him Shapo, Novak or Tsitsipas. At RG 2021, Nadal had not yet explored the anaesthetic injections on the foot option that he used at RG 2022 and the later radiofrequency ablation treatment (a procedure that implements heat on the nerve to quell long-term pain and that Nadal used right after RG 2022).
 

GoatNo1

Hall of Fame
He's not trolling.

While objectively Slams are more important, subjectively this is the nost important match of the year dor Novak. It's the only Big Title he lacks and with his obsessive mindset (which is what made him the GOAT, that sheer determination to win everything) he really wants to get it done to avoid having a hole in his resume.
it may be the most important match of the year for him (objectively it was W F) but OP wrote in his whole career. i do not know if it is in top40-50.
 

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
Injured Nadal wasn't reaching the RG 2021 final, let alone winning the title, due to the aggravation of his Mueller-Weiss chronic injury. Look, when Nadal's foot is at his worst pain-wise, he loses to anyone, even to Shapovalov in Rome 2022 and can barely walk on the court. The same inability to run due to pain showed up in the RG 2021 SF, especially visible in the 4th set. Barely moving due to the foot pain, Nadal can't defeat anyone, csll him Shapo, Novak or Tsitsipas. At RG 2021, Nadal had not yet explored the anaesthetic injections on the foot option that he used at RG 2022 and the later radiofrequency ablation treatment (a procedure that implements heat on the nerve to quell long-term pain and that Nadal used right after RG 2022).
But for a few points Nadal could have won that match in straight sets. Has he done that I am pretty sure he would have not skipped the final and would have very likely won the tournament
 

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
It's very important, but realistically not expected to win. Alcaraz is 1.40 times the money betting favourite. Djokovic 3.00.

Djokovic had better chances in the past to win his gold. Now he is at the end of his career playing against someone who was an infant when Djokovic turned professional. Djokovic even being here as a silver medal winner and being the biggest competition for Alcaraz is an achievement of itself. You have to be cooked if you think Djokovic has the expectations to win. It is what it is.
 

Night Slasher

Professional
It's very important, but realistically not expected to win. Alcaraz is 1.40 times the money betting favourite. Djokovic 3.00.

Djokovic had better chances in the past to win his gold. Now he is at the end of his career playing against someone who was an infant when Djokovic turned professional. You have to be cooked if you think Djokovic has the expectations to win. It is what it is.
His best chance was Tokyo, but he messed that opportunity up pretty badly.
 

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
His best chance was Tokyo, but he messed that opportunity up pretty badly.

It was. He was in form winning everything in sight and had Zverev-Khachanov to beat. That was the missed opportunity and he was expected to do the job.

Now it's far from that. He is not in that kind of form anymore.
 

ND-13

Legend
Alcaraz can win in future also. But this is probably the last chance for Novak. Cmon Novak, you can do it !!
 

Juice4080

Semi-Pro
The biggest match of his career turned out to be RG21SF. Without that win he almost certainly isn’t the sole slam winner today

I always say this was the match that settled the slam race but at the time this was just another Rafa vs Nole match at RG so while a big match he didn't know how important that match was gonna be when he entered the court. This one tomorrow is not really a big one in the grand scheme of things but to him personally it's possibly the match he most wants to win in his entire life along with USO 21.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
He's not trolling.

While objectively Slams are more important, subjectively this is the nost important match of the year dor Novak. It's the only Big Title he lacks and with his obsessive mindset (which is what made him the GOAT, that sheer determination to win everything) he really wants to get it done to avoid having a hole in his resume.
Brother he is trolling

This match is most important now after nole has won the world completely

But even 3 years ago it was second Roland garros.
Until 2016 it was rg first
2014 was second Wimbledon.
2011 it was first Wimbledon

There are many who want to build the match up just so they can post vile ******** if he loses and op definitely is among them. These were the fans that were respectful even 2 months ago but the Nadal losses have broken almost all of them completely unhinged

There is not much reason to stay on this site tbh
 

pirhaksar

Professional
It was. He was in form winning everything in sight and had Zverev-Khachanov to beat. That was the missed opportunity and he was expected to do the job.

Now it's far from that. He is not in that kind of form anymore.
Agree, he swept aside Kei N and I recall Kei reacting after the match with a what the heck was that look, that’s how good he looked. Then up a set and break vs Zed followed by a spectacular implosion (granted Zed suddenly went god mode but Novak did it to himself). That was his best opportunity.
 

Night Slasher

Professional
It was. He was in form winning everything in sight and had Zverev-Khachanov to beat. That was the missed opportunity and he was expected to do the job.

Now it's far from that. He is not in that kind of form anymore.
Still believe he's going to die tomorrow on the court before losing but I agree with your overall point - he had a much much better chance in Tokyo...weaker opponent and significantly better form. Ah well, let's hope for gold regardless. Idemo!!
 
D

Deleted member 805385

Guest
If Djokovic wins tomorrow or Federer won it in 2012 the exact same thing would have happened.
If Djokovic wins tomorrow, I will be very happy. However, I'll still have the Olympics below the YEC.
 
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RS

Bionic Poster
If Djokovic wins tomorrow, I will be very happy. However, I'll still have the Olympics below the YEC.
For Olympics not being too important it sure those trigger people a lot :p

Yeah I never would put it with slams in terms of importance or anything that's overexaggerating.
 

_phantom

Hall of Fame
Murmurs in the Balkans may get louder if he loses.

"Is he just a mercenary behind that mask of patriotism? Why can't he deliver when there aren't tons of prize money or points on the line?"
 
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