Djokovic vs Nadal - Miami 2011 FULL MATCH

I will definitely be watching :D

a1328cf7-8edf-4c13-8577-4971e55fd5c9.jpg
 
Video game tennis played by human beings. I was never normally a fan of Djokovic's celebrations, but I always thought it was cool what he did here, just dropping his hat and racquet to the ground in one motion after match point as an exclamation mark on the level of play.
 
This match, as I continue to watch it, into its final stages is showing me just how important Nadal was to Djokovic's career. It is on clear display here, without Nadal, no way does Djokovic become the player he would go onto be. Nadal's impact cannot be understated.
 
Rafa4LifeEver said:
And some people (read - Sinner's zombie cult) have the audacity to say that tennis is being played at a higher level today than the past, LOL.
Click to expand...
Rafa is gone. Let it go..

Op would have to post this in former pro section in couple of years.

Sinner would likely handle YOUR Nadal as well as Nole on hard courts. He has insane game.
 
Nadal is very old era player reaching number 2 in 2005. 20 years ago .

To compare today's player with him and say , they can't do it. That is not correct at all. Andy Murray even retired.

Tennis played today is different than when Nadal was on tour.
 
Hood_Man said:
This was an absolute classic Bo3 that I don't think was equalled until Alcaraz/Djokovic at Cincinnati a few years ago.

Maybe Federer/Tsonga at the WTF (also in 2011).

God there was great matches back in the day.
Click to expand...
Yes the frequency of great matches has drastically reduced. We had so many fedal matches in their prime but last year sineraz played just 3.
 
Their best Bo3 match. It is also really rewatchable too. Miami 11, Rome 14 and Rome 21 do the bits for crispy 3 set Djokodal stuff where it’s very high quality and a total a war throughout where both guys are prepared to go to the hurt locker from the very start.

Lots of Bo3 “classics” are just drama rather than quality. This had both
 
It was not disappointing in 2011 when Nadal was stopped by nole thereby saving Federer legacy for the time being.

Two faced approach today b
 
mike danny said:
It’s disappointing that Nadal allowed a masters final to create a mental block
Click to expand...
I think you’re right but I wonder if it was Madrid, not Miami.

Ned could (and often did) compartmentalise his HC results from clay, allowing him to resurrect himself dramatically (eg bagelling Djoker at the start of the Rome 19 F, right after getting completely shafted at AO 19). He comes onto clay in 11 and immediately wins MC with no Djoker around. But then Djoker is there in Madrid (never Ned’s most comfy tournament anyway) and boom, he’s dishing Ls out on clay now too

Djoker was super wise to skip MC that year based on what we saw for the rest of his career
 
Indian Wells that year was far more significant than this match. Conditions in Miami suited Djokovic far more as Nadal's spin was diluted due to the humidity so Djokovic would always have thought he had a great chance v Nadal in Miami. Indian Wells though at that time was Nadal's best hard court event that suited his game and he was schooling Djokovic in the 1st set. His serve then went totally awol and Djokovic came back to get the win, and THAT match gave Djokovic the belief he could challenge Nadal on higher bouncing courts and for a short period allowed him to gain the upper hand over close to prime Nadal. That advantage disappeared at RG 2012 for the rest of their careers bar 2015/2016 when Nadal was a shadow of what he was. But IW 2011 ensured Djokovic won W2011 and USO 2011 and Madrid and Rome 2011. Had he lost that match, Nadal wins those events.
 
MissileBackHand99 said:
Their IW final from the week prior was terrific too. I personally love their match in the SFs of Canada in 2013 as well (for Bof3 matches on HC)
Click to expand...
That 2013 Canada match was one of the biggest grudge matches the pair had until RG2022. There was a lot going on behind the scenes between the pair in 2012/2013 and it came to a boil in Canada. Nadal that day simply intimidated and bullied Djokovic into submission and basically that match won him the USO a few weeks later as Djokovic lacked belief on Ashe.
Miami 2011 was memorable for the quality of tennis, it was truly spectacular and how Nadal stayed with Djokovic in his house with Djokovic at his very best just showed how complete a player Nadal was.
 
Too much big words from fans of big 3 that old times were so good. I can see jannik even at 19 going toe to toe on clay.

Too good , too powerful. And he was still a kid.
 
The most shocking thing about this match was Djokovic being fitter than Nadal in the third set. Djokovic had a reputation for being a bit frail physically.
 
mike danny said:
It’s disappointing that Nadal allowed a masters final to create a mental block
Click to expand...
It's the way that Djokovic beat Nadal in the 2011 matches. Each match saw him break new ground, i.e. something that Djokovic hadn't done before. For example, the head-to-head between Nadal and Djokovic at the end of 2010 was 16-7 to Nadal, and all 7 of Djokovic's wins had been on hardcourt and in 2 straight sets and never in a final.

So:

2011 Indian Wells final: Nadal wins the first set with big serving, looking excellent. Djokovic comes back to win the match. It's also Djokovic's first win over Nadal in a final.

2011 Key Biscayne final: Nadal again wins the first set, and Djokovic wins the match. More importantly, Djokovic looked fitter than Nadal in the third set. Djokovic previously had a reputation for being unpredictable and even fragile physically.

2011 Madrid final: Djokovic beats Nadal on clay for the first time, and in straight sets!

2011 Rome final: Djokovic again beats Nadal on clay in straight sets, in an even more dominant performance than in Madrid

2011 Wimbledon final: Nadal had won the French Open, while Djokovic had lost to Federer in the semi final. Nadal seemed the better player up to 4-5 in the first set of this Wimbledon final, but then Djokovic broke at the perfect moment and while Nadal was reeling Djokovic had raced through the second set 6-1. Djokovic won in 4 sets. This was the first time that Djokovic had beaten Nadal in a best of 5 sets match, and the first time that he had beaten Nadal on grass.

2011 US Open final: Nadal admitted beforehand that Djokovic was in his head, and that it was probably too late to correct it in 2011, but that he would give it his all in the final. For the first time ever, due to being desperate to find a new dynamic against Djokovic, Nadal decided to serve first after winning the pre-match coin toss. Nadal went up 2-0 in the first set, but lost the set 2-6. In the second set, Nadal again went up 2-0, and lost the set 4-6. The marathon third set saw Nadal win it 7-6. Djokovic then took a MTO, and Djokovic won a flat fourth set 6-1, like all the adrenalin had flooded out of Nadal's body.
 
Mustard said:
It's the way that Djokovic beat Nadal in the 2011 matches. Each match saw him break new ground, i.e. something that Djokovic hadn't done before. For example, the head-to-head between Nadal and Djokovic at the end of 2010 was 16-7 to Nadal, and all 7 of Djokovic's wins had been on hardcourt and in 2 straight sets and never in a final.

So:

2011 Indian Wells final: Nadal wins the first set with big serving, looking excellent. Djokovic comes back to win the match. It's also Djokovic's first win over Nadal in a final.

2011 Key Biscayne final: Nadal again wins the first set, and Djokovic wins the match. More importantly, Djokovic looked fitter than Nadal in the third set. Djokovic previously had a reputation for being unpredictable and even fragile physically.

2011 Madrid final: Djokovic beats Nadal on clay for the first time, and in straight sets!

2011 Rome final: Djokovic again beats Nadal on clay in straight sets, in an even more dominant performance than in Madrid

2011 Wimbledon final: Nadal had won the French Open, while Djokovic had lost to Federer in the semi final. Nadal seemed the better player up to 4-5 in the first set of this Wimbledon final, but then Djokovic broke at the perfect moment and while Nadal was reeling Djokovic had raced through the second set 6-1. Djokovic won in 4 sets. This was the first time that Djokovic had beaten Nadal in a best of 5 sets match, and the first time that he had beaten Nadal on grass.

2011 US Open final: Nadal admitted beforehand that Djokovic was in his head, and that it was probably too late to correct it in 2011, but that he would give it his all in the final. For the first time ever, due to being desperate to find a new dynamic against Djokovic, Nadal decided to serve first after winning the pre-match coin toss. Nadal went up 2-0 in the first set, but lost the set 2-6. In the second set, Nadal again went up 2-0, and lost the set 4-6. The marathon third set saw Nadal win it 7-6. Djokovic then took a MTO, and Djokovic won a flat fourth set 6-1, like all the adrenalin had flooded out of Nadal's body.
Click to expand...
It even continued at AO2012, where Nadal was known as the king of the 5th set, Novak proved he could beat Rafa in a 5th too
 
MichaelNadal said:
It even continued at AO2012, where Nadal was known as the king of the 5th set, Novak proved he could beat Rafa in a 5th too
Click to expand...
There were a lot of encouraging signs for Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final though, despite losing the fifth set 5-7 after being 4-2 up. I remember being a lot more positive after that final than after the 2011 matches, while being annoyed at Nadal's missed backhand down the line shot when he was serving at 4-2 and 30-15 in the fifth set.

Nadal in 2012-2013 against Djokovic started to use the slice a lot more, and hit more forehands down the line to the Djokovic forehand. He also improved his backhand further. Nadal won 6 matches out of 7 against Djokovic from 2012 Monte Carlo to the 2013 US Open. In 2011 and before, Nadal just loved to run around backhands to hit forehands (a lot) and nearly always targeted his opponent's backhand by going cross-court with his own forehand shots. Nadal was not as fast in 2011 as he had been in 2006-2008 let alone 2005, so that old way of playing wasn't working as effectively once Djokovic exposed it.
 
Mustard said:
There were a lot of encouraging signs for Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final though, despite losing the fifth set 5-7 after being 4-2 up. I remember being a lot more positive after that final than after the 2011 matches, while being annoyed at Nadal's missed backhand down the line shot when he was serving at 4-2 and 30-15 in the fifth set.

Nadal in 2012-2013 against Djokovic started to use the slice a lot more, and hit more forehands down the line to the Djokovic forehand. He also improved his backhand further. Nadal won 6 matches out of 7 against Djokovic from 2012 Monte Carlo to the 2013 US Open. In 2011 and before, Nadal just loved to run around backhands to hit forehands (a lot) and nearly always targeted his opponent's backhand by going cross-court with his own forehand shots. Nadal was not as fast in 2011 as he had been in 2006-2008 let alone 2005, so that old way of playing wasn't working as effectively once Djokovic exposed it.
Click to expand...
Yeah even though it sucked to lose that match, I felt good after AO12, you could tell he knew what he needed to do again :D
 
messiahrobins said:
That 2013 Canada match was one of the biggest grudge matches the pair had until RG2022. There was a lot going on behind the scenes between the pair in 2012/2013 and it came to a boil in Canada. Nadal that day simply intimidated and bullied Djokovic into submission and basically that match won him the USO a few weeks later as Djokovic lacked belief on Ashe.
Miami 2011 was memorable for the quality of tennis, it was truly spectacular and how Nadal stayed with Djokovic in his house with Djokovic at his very best just showed how complete a player Nadal was.
Click to expand...
ABSOLUTELY! Love their 2011 Miami match for just those reasons. Man I miss Miami when it was in Key Biscane...some truly fantastic finals on that court

I also definitely agree about them going into 2013 Canada SFs. Just on the court, they had the 2012 AO Finals, Nadal then beating Novak in Rome, MC, and Roland Garros (with Djoko double faulting on match point in both Rome and RG); Djoko beating Rafa in MC in 2013 (ending Nadal 8-year STRANGLEHOLD on that tournament), the 2013 French Open SFs, etc...and that was just on the court. Great match and a big moment in Rafa's run through the North American Hardcourts that summer
 
messiahrobins said:
That 2013 Canada match was one of the biggest grudge matches the pair had until RG2022. There was a lot going on behind the scenes between the pair in 2012/2013 and it came to a boil in Canada. Nadal that day simply intimidated and bullied Djokovic into submission and basically that match won him the USO a few weeks later as Djokovic lacked belief on Ashe.
Click to expand...
Here's the 2013 Canadian Open semi final match, and the point where Nadal drilled Djokovic in the chops:

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hitman
Team Rafa One For You - Nadal vs Djokovic Montreal 2013 Semi Final Full Match
Replies
8
Views
453
RelentlessAttack
R
Hitman
How Djokovic completed the set of clutching out tie breaks in the finals of all HC masters
Replies
1
Views
190
RS
RS
RF-18
How close is peak Djokovic on clay vs Nadals peak?
2
Replies
67
Views
4K
Rusty Shackleford
Rusty Shackleford
Mike Sams
  • Poll Poll
Nadal (Wimbledon 2008) vs Djokovic (Wimbledon 2011)
6 7 8
Replies
359
Views
12K
metsman
metsman
Nadalgaenger
Another great thing about Nadal
Replies
7
Views
1K
The_Order
The_Order
Back
Top