Djokovic will not qualify for WTF 2017

[I Am Finnish]

Djokovic has played poorly so far and he's still 6th in the race. He's only going to better I think and there is no way he's missing out on WTF. He doesn't even have to play that well and he'll still be there.

Yep look at Federer in 2013 & Murray in 2014

 

[helterskelter]

Djokovic has at least an 80% chance of finishing the year ranked ahead of zverev, more like 95% to be ahead of dimitrov

So this makes Djokovic the leading member of the Big 4.

Well Nole's days in the top 4 are numbered. We have just left traditionally the strongest part of Djokovic's season (save the two Masters 1000s in the Fall.) He's only sixth in the race with Zverev ahead of him.

Zverev will likely expand that lead on grass. After some resurgence at RG Murray close behind at 7 seems poised to pass Nole too for good. Dimitrov is 400 points behind, but may close that gap by the end of Wimbledon. Djokovic is lucky Goffin is out for a while on grass (returns Wimbledon.) Also lurking our Raonic, Kyrgios, and Tsonga (3 titles already this year). Djokovic still may not qualify for WTF.

Before WTF failure happens Djokovic must drop out of the top 4 in the rankings at some point. If Federer runs the tables on grass it could happen with his Wimbledon triumph. Otherwise, it's likely to be a nice early 36th birthday present for Roger after Nole's Rogers Cup victory drops.

 

[Meles]

Djokovic has at least an 80% chance of finishing the year ranked ahead of zverev, more like 95% to be ahead of dimitrov

Oh I think Zverev has passed him for good in the race. Zed should have about a 500 point lead after Halle. Grigor could be very close or even ahead after Queens.

 

[Get A Grip]

Nole is 18th in the race as it stands. Federer, Nadal, Dimitrov, Thiem, Wawrinka, Murray, Nishikori, Kyrgios, Zverev, and even Tsonga, Del Potro, and Raonic stand in his way. Its a minefield in 2017 and Djokovic has been hurt by tough draws in his last two events extending his period of light play and preventing him from reaching top form. Without the quick realization that he needs to play a heavy schedule its hard to see him making WTF.

Don't know where you're getting that from.
Here's the race rankings I look at, and it's correct:

http://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-race

Djok is 6th, Rafa is 3,000 points ahead of Fed. Where does your chart come from? It's totally wrong if you are talking about Race to LOndon.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Oh I think Zverev has passed him for good in the race. Zed should have about a 500 point lead after Halle. Grigor could be very close or even ahead after Queens.

Rafa and Fed might bump him to 5 seed at Wimby.

unless Djokovic is playing Halle or Queens & goes deep there
From now on Djokovic needs to reach the qf's or better in every tournaments he is playing if he does will qualifly if not it will be very tough

 

[Djokovic2011]

So this makes Djokovic the leading member of the Big 4.

Well Nole's days in the top 4 are numbered. We have just left traditionally the strongest part of Djokovic's season (save the two Masters 1000s in the Fall.) He's only sixth in the race with Zverev ahead of him.

Zverev will likely expand that lead on grass. After some resurgence at RG Murray close behind at 7 seems poised to pass Nole too for good. Dimitrov is 400 points behind, but may close that gap by the end of Wimbledon. Djokovic is lucky Goffin is out for a while on grass (returns Wimbledon.) Also lurking our Raonic, Kyrgios, and Tsonga (3 titles already this year). Djokovic still may not qualify for WTF.

Before WTF failure happens Djokovic must drop out of the top 4 in the rankings at some point. If Federer runs the tables on grass it could happen with his Wimbledon triumph. Otherwise, it's likely to be a nice early 36th birthday present for Roger after Nole's Rogers Cup victory drops.

It seems like you really don't want Novak to make it to the WTF Meles.

 

[NBP]

Last four sets for Thiem vs Djokovic are 2, 0, 1, 0. In fact, last year and this year Novak only bagelled Thiem since the start of clay season I think. He is a godsend and I would love him to be in Novak's draw in RG like last year. Easy work.

Damn son

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Yep look at Federer in 2013 & Murray in 2014

LOL Murray had to play out of his skin to make the WTF in 2014. Guy was ranked outside the top ten as late as October. Horrible example.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Yep look at Federer in 2013 & Murray in 2014

LOL Murray had to play out of his skin to make the WTF in 2014. Guy was ranked outside the top ten as late as October. Horrible example.

 

[Meles]

Don't know where you're getting that from.
Here's the race rankings I look at, and it's correct:

http://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-race

Djok is 6th, Rafa is 3,000 points ahead of Fed. Where does your chart come from? It's totally wrong if you are talking about Race to LOndon.

Look at the date of the post. It was correct then.

 

[Meles]

Why? Of the people beneath him, Kyrgios, Cilic, Milos, Andy, Tsonga and Dimitrov can be expected to do reasonably well on grass. Of the people above him, only Fed s a safe bet, but your new boy Zverev should do well as well. And Rafa, given his confidence and better serve, might do something too. http://live-tennis.eu/en/atp-race

Do you still stand by your claim that he won't make the WTF cut? It was ludicrous to begin with and it seems ludicrous now.

sign of the strong era, no?

It seems like you really don't want Novak to make it to the WTF Meles.

I want him to play more and put in the work. If he does that he'll make it. Its insane some of the advice the guy is getting. Eurosport was suggesting he take time off like Fed or Rafa; that is the last thing he should do. He needs to wildcard into Halle and add even more events. Of course he won't do that and so we have this thread calling him out for his nonsense.

In the final analysis of the Thiem situation, he really beat no one of any consequence on clay except for his victories over Ramos-Vinolas and Schwartzman. From 2011-2016 Nole won an amazing 56.0% of his hard court points. That has slipped to 53.5% which is 9th on tour in 2017. Given his serve dominance is not that great, he's really 10th behind Raonic. Keep in mind that Djokovic's best stats have been from the early hard court season and tail end of season. This number is going to go down for the US Open hard court series unless he really does something. Having Andre show up at Wimbledon isn't going to help. He's basically the Titanic heading for an iceberg.

Wildcarding into Acapulco was a great sign and hopefully he'll realize that he needs to focus solely on his career while he still can. Maybe Agassi will inspire him to play more.

 

[Meles]

As a Novak fan I surely hope so. The matchup problem for Thiem is huge. To understand this you need to understand tennis a bit better. Thiem cant be rushed and cant play someone who plays flat and deep with a lot of angles. That is why he has problems playing Goffin for example.

 

[Meles]

Would you still?

 

[Meles]

Last four sets for Thiem vs Djokovic are 2, 0, 1, 0. In fact, last year and this year Novak only bagelled Thiem since the start of clay season I think. He is a godsend and I would love him to be in Novak's draw in RG like last year. Easy work.

 

[Chanwan]

So this makes Djokovic the leading member of the Big 4.

Well Nole's days in the top 4 are numbered. We have just left traditionally the strongest part of Djokovic's season (save the two Masters 1000s in the Fall.) He's only sixth in the race with Zverev ahead of him.

Zverev will likely expand that lead on grass. After some resurgence at RG Murray close behind at 7 seems poised to pass Nole too for good. Dimitrov is 400 points behind, but may close that gap by the end of Wimbledon. Djokovic is lucky Goffin is out for a while on grass (returns Wimbledon.) Also lurking our Raonic, Kyrgios, and Tsonga (3 titles already this year). Djokovic still may not qualify for WTF.

Before WTF failure happens Djokovic must drop out of the top 4 in the rankings at some point. If Federer runs the tables on grass it could happen with his Wimbledon triumph. Otherwise, it's likely to be a nice early 36th birthday present for Roger after Nole's Rogers Cup victory drops.

I like how you still believe in this insane thread. Also how you dispense of the fall in a sidenote. Until last year, Novak had lost like 1 indoor match in 4,5 years or something like that.
He'll be there - you can bet on it.

 

[Meles]

I like how you still believe in this insane thread. Also how you dispense of the fall in a sidenote. Until last year, Novak had lost like 1 indoor match in 4,5 years or something like that.
He'll be there - you can bet on it.

Nothing insane. Anticipated a quite poor clay and grass season and so far Novak has failed pretty spectacularly only gaining a lot of points when the draw parted like the Red Sea for him. He's lucky he didn't get Zverev R16 Rome.

 

[Chanwan]

Nothing insane. Anticipated a quite poor clay and grass season and so far Novak has failed pretty spectacularly only gaining a lot of points when the draw parted like the Red Sea for him. He's lucky he didn't get Zverev R16 Rome.

Let's put some money where your mouth is. Which odds are you willing to provide me should he not qualify for the WTF? I'm betting he will.

p.s. you're talking about "let's win a Masters and then lose in the first round of the next slam"-Zverev? Or the other one?

 

[Bukmeikara]

I think that right now, bar injury, the first 7 spots are 99% occupied. Tsonga, Raonic, Nishikori, Goffin, Pouille, Dimitrov and Kyrgios should fight for the 8th berth. It would probably be the best WTF for years given that most players would be evenly matched.

 

[I Am Finnish]

LOL Murray had to play out of his skin to make the WTF in 2014. Guy was ranked outside the top ten as late as October. Horrible example.

Oke What about Federer or Nadal in 2015 ?

 

[I Am Finnish]

It seems like you really don't want Novak to make it to the WTF Meles.

He is decent about djokovic honey booboo

 

[Get A Grip]

Look at the date of the post. It was correct then.

OK, that explains it.
I remember beginning of the year on tennis.com all their so called "experts" Tignor, Bodo, etc. were asked to speculate where all the current top ten would end the year. They were so wrong (so far, but it's not going to change that drastically) They all thought Djok went back to #1, Rafa #7!

It's Murray who's defending the most points to the end of the year, Djok has a fari number and Waw too. Rafa and Fed next to nil.

 

[Get A Grip]

I said 2-4.
I don;t want to make predictions about who ends where, it's a real toss up, very complicated. If Djok comes back to form that gets in the way of Rafa getting to #1; Fed should rise too, Murray and Waw fall. But by how much?


Murray and Djok have most points to defend, then Waw.

 

[clayqueen]

OK, that explains it.
I remember beginning of the year on tennis.com all their so called "experts" Tignor, Bodo, etc. were asked to speculate where all the current top ten would end the year. They were so wrong (so far, but it's not going to change that drastically) They all thought Djok went back to #1, Rafa #7!

It's Murray who's defending the most points to the end of the year, Djok has a fari number and Waw too. Rafa and Fed next to nil.

I also heard Peter Fleming saying Murray was bound to hold on to his number one ranking at YE just as the AO was starting. They all said it would be a fight between Djokovic and Murray. I find it laughable that SKY did a montage of Murray saying what a titan he is, unbeatable in how many matches with a game from another planet. They played it before his matches in January until he lost to Misha in Australia and it has not been shown since.

 

[Get A Grip]

I also heard Peter Fleming saying Murray was bound to hold on to his number one ranking at YE just as the AO was starting. They all said it would be a fight between Djokovic and Murray. I find it laughable that SKY did a montage of Murray saying what a titan he is, unbeatable in how many matches with a game from another planet. They played it before his matches in January until he lost to Misha in Australia and it has not been shown since.

LOL. Love it. I always thought people made too big a case for Murray, it's quite why he went to #1, and he proved immediately he couldn't get results.
It kind of exposes flaws in the rankings system, that he can stay put there for so long, when he is more like #4 right now--I still think Djok might be better than him at the moment.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

I also heard Peter Fleming saying Murray was bound to hold on to his number one ranking at YE just as the AO was starting. They all said it would be a fight between Djokovic and Murray. I find it laughable that SKY did a montage of Murray saying what a titan he is, unbeatable in how many matches with a game from another planet. They played it before his matches in January until he lost to Misha in Australia and it has not been shown since.

Thank God that didnt happen

 

[helterskelter]

@Meles

You're right that Djokovic has traditionally done less well in the grass-court and summer hard season than in the spring hard and fall hard seasons. But your argument that he won't make the WTF still relies on the view that he will do less well in this year's grass and hard season than in this year's spring hard and clay seasons. His past form on grass and summer hard is (even by his past standards) still more than good enough to make the WTF. Remember that he's a three-time Wimbledon champ, a three-time Canada champ, a seven-time US Open finalist [and two-time champ], and a five-time Cincinnati finalist. Even a shadow of that form would be more than enough to see off everyone currently ranked below him in the race with the possible exception of Murray and so see him no lower than #7 and probably higher. But if he does proportionately worse than in the first part of the season, you're right that he may struggle.

In other words, the dispute still revolves around whether he's lost form or entered permanent decline. Only time will tell.

 

[Chanwan]

I think that right now, bar injury, the first 7 spots are 99% occupied. Tsonga, Raonic, Nishikori, Goffin, Pouille, Dimitrov and Kyrgios should fight for the 8th berth. It would probably be the best WTF for years given that most players would be evenly matched.

Big 5 + Thiem and Zverev?

@Meles

You're right that Djokovic has traditionally done less well in the grass-court and summer hard season than in the spring hard and fall hard seasons. But your argument that he won't make the WTF still relies on the view that he will do less well in this year's grass and hard season than in this year's spring hard and clay seasons. His past form on grass and summer hard is (even by his past standards) still more than good enough to make the WTF. Remember that he's a three-time Wimbledon champ, a three-time Canada champ, a seven-time US Open finalist [and two-time champ], and a five-time Cincinnati finalist. Even a shadow of that form would be more than enough to see off everyone currently ranked below him in the race with the possible exception of Murray and so see him no lower than #7 and probably higher. But if he does proportionately worse than in the first part of the season, you're right that he may struggle.

In other words, the dispute still revolves around whether he's lost form or entered permanent decline. Only time will tell.

Normally, you need around 3.500 points to qualify. Given that we're not getting two players with 12.000+ points this year, the entry level is probably higher, say 4.000, maybe even close to 4.200. So Djoko needs essentially to double his points from now on. I'd say that's very much doable - probably even without much improvement

 

[Noelan]

@Meles

You're right that Djokovic has traditionally done less well in the grass-court and summer hard season than in the spring hard and fall hard seasons. But your argument that he won't make the WTF still relies on the view that he will do less well in this year's grass and hard season than in this year's spring hard and clay seasons. His past form on grass and summer hard is (even by his past standards) still more than good enough to make the WTF. Remember that he's a three-time Wimbledon champ, a three-time Canada champ, a seven-time US Open finalist [and two-time champ], and a five-time Cincinnati finalist. Even a shadow of that form would be more than enough to see off everyone currently ranked below him in the race with the possible exception of Murray and so see him no lower than #7 and probably higher. But if he does proportionately worse than in the first part of the season, you're right that he may struggle.

In other words, the dispute still revolves around whether he's lost form or entered permanent decline. Only time will tell.

Haven't you noticed that it's his whishful thinking . he goes around the board and predicts Djokovic fall/Tiem/Zverev rise in numerous threads just to have something to brag about if turns right, if not he posts same stupid gifs and laughs as he is autistic or something. Honestly one of forum worst broken records .
If I were you I wouldn't bother

 

[helterskelter]

Big 5 + Thiem and Zverev?

Normally, you need around 3.500 points to qualify. Given that we're not getting two players with 12.000+ points this year, the entry level is probably higher, say 4.000, maybe even close to 4.200. So Djoko needs essentially to double his points from now on. I'd say that's very much doable - probably even without much improvement

Yeah. He certainly doesn't need to be at his former level. He just needs to be better than he's been so far in 2017. By the way, remember that in 2015 all of the top 8 got to 4,000+? Mind you, #9 Gasquet was way back on 2,850.

But in 2014, all of the top 10 passed the 4,000 mark.

 

[Thundergod]

Lol this thread is still going. I said earlier he would be 6 or 7 at absolute worst, probably higher. He will probably sleepwalk his way towards at least a slam SF and masters final while getting some more points elsewhere.

 

[Chanwan]

Yeah. He certainly doesn't need to be at his former level. He just needs to be better than he's been so far in 2017. By the way, remember that in 2015 all of the top 8 got to 4,000+? Mind you, #9 Gasquet was way back on 2,850.

But in 2014, all of the top 10 passed the 4,000 mark.

I didn't realize that, no. Before WTF? Or with the WTF points.

 

[helterskelter]

I didn't realize that, no. Before WTF? Or with the WTF points.

Even before it. Here are the two tables for 2014:

Race to the Finals Singles Rankings
1

Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,010
2

Roger Federer (SUI) 8,700
3

Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6,835
4

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4,895
5

Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,625
6

Andy Murray (GBR) 4,475
7

Tomáš Berdych (CZE) 4,465
8

Milos Raonic (CAN) 4,440
9

Marin Čilić (CRO) 4,150
10

David Ferrer (ESP) 4,045

Year-End Rankings
1. Djokovic: 11,360
2. Federer: 9,775
3. Nadal: 6,835
4. Wawrinka: 5,370
5. Nishikori: 5,025
6. Murray: 4,675
7. Berdych: 4,600
8: Raonic: 4,440
9. Cilic: 4,150
10. Ferrer: 4,045

 

[helterskelter]

And here is 2015:

Singles Race Rankings Final rankings
1

Novak Djokovic (SRB) 15285
2

Andy Murray (GBR) 8470
3

Roger Federer (SUI) 7340
4

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6500
5

Rafael Nadal (ESP) 4630
6

Tomáš Berdych (CZE) 4620
7

David Ferrer (ESP) 4305
8

Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4035
9

Richard Gasquet (FRA) 2850
10

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2635

Year-End Rankings:
1. Djokovic: 16585
2. Murray: 8945
3. Federer: 8265
4. Wawrinka: 6865
5. Nadal: 5230
6. Berdych: 4620
7. Ferrer: 4305
8. Nishikori: 4235
9. Gasquet: 2850
10. Tsonga: 2635

 

[Chanwan]

Even before it. Here are the two tables for 2014:

Race to the Finals Singles Rankings
1

Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,010
2

Roger Federer (SUI) 8,700
3

Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6,835
4

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4,895
5

Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,625
6

Andy Murray (GBR) 4,475
7

Tomáš Berdych (CZE) 4,465
8

Milos Raonic (CAN) 4,440
9

Marin Čilić (CRO) 4,150
10

David Ferrer (ESP) 4,045

Year-End Rankings
1. Djokovic: 11,360
2. Federer: 9,775
3. Nadal: 6,835
4. Wawrinka: 5,370
5. Nishikori: 5,025
6. Murray: 4,675
7. Berdych: 4,600
8: Raonic: 4,440
9. Cilic: 4,150
10. Ferrer: 4,045

Think we could see something similar to that this time around. Rafa might break 12, if he can keep it up all season, but I would expect Novak's YE points to be enough for the YE ranking. Or right around that number.

But hey, maybe Rafa is gunning for 14 or 15. Who knows this year.

 

[helterskelter]

Think we could see something similar to that this time around. Rafa might break 12, if he can keep it up all season, but I would expect Novak's YE points to be enough for the YE ranking. Or right around that number.

But hey, maybe Rafa is gunning for 14 or 15. Who knows this year.

We'll see. 2013 is the only season since 2010 in which Nadal has won more than four titles. He's on four this year already, so even one more would make it his second-winningest season in the last seven! He hasn't won a hard-court title since January 2014, and only has one grass-court title since the start of 2011 and only two finals in that time, so he will likely slow down in the second part of the season, especially as I don't think he'll play any clay tournaments over the summer this time. But who knows? He could have another summer like that of 2013. (Incidentally, since the fall of 2010, the only hard court titles he's won have been Indian Wells 2013, Canada 2013, Cincinnati 2013, US Open 2013, and Qatar 2014. He was on a two and a half year hard-court drought prior to his winning run in 2013, and has since gone on a three and a half year drought. More so than on clay, on hard courts he seems to win only in fits and starts when very confident. Given that he seems to have built up a head of steam, it wouldn't be that surprising if he went on another winning run on hard courts this year.

 

[Chanwan]

We'll see. 2013 is the only season since 2010 in which Nadal has won more than four titles. He's on four this year already, so even one more would make it his second-winningest season in the last seven! He hasn't won a hard-court title since January 2014, and only has one grass-court title since the start of 2011 and only two finals in that time, so he will likely slow down in the second part of the season, especially as I don't think he'll play any clay tournaments over the summer this time. But who knows? He could have another summer like that of 2013. (Incidentally, since the fall of 2010, the only hard court titles he's won have been Indian Wells 2013, Canada 2013, Cincinnati 2013, US Open 2013, and Qatar 2014. He was on a two and a half year hard-court drought prior to his winning run in 2013, and has since gone on a three and a half year drought. More so than on clay, on hard courts he seems to win only in fits and starts when very confident. Given that he seems to have built up a head of steam, it wouldn't be that surprising if he went on another winning run on hard courts this year.

I think the bold could be key. Especially if Djoko doesn't rise from the ashes.
Weirdest player in terms of form. Either he's fully there and winning most of the stuff he's playing, or he's losing to anyone in the field.

I do think he'll slow down, at least some and especially on grass. But weirder things have happened with him than not slowing down just yet.

 

[helterskelter]

I think the bold could be key. Especially if Djoko doesn't rise from the ashes.
Weirdest player in terms of form. Either he's fully there and winning most of the stuff he's playing, or he's losing to anyone in the field.

I do think he'll slow down, at least some and especially on grass. But weirder things have happened with him than not slowing down just yet.

I wonder whether he will want to give the fall and indoor season a better shot than he has done to date. If so, he might try to save some of his energy over the summer.

Federer's playing much better than he did in 2013 and I think the conditions are more favorable to him than to Nadal in Cincinnati and, to a lesser extent, Wimbledon. I think Nadal certainly has a great shot at Canada and the US Open and some chance at Wimbledon. I find it hard to imagine him beating Federer in Cincinnati if Federer maintains the form he showed earlier this year. Perhaps he won't do though.

 

[Meles]

Haven't you noticed that it's his whishful thinking . he goes around the board and predicts Djokovic fall/Tiem/Zverev rise in numerous threads just to have something to brag about if turns right, if not he posts same stupid gifs and laughs as he is autistic or something. Honestly one of forum worst broken records .
If I were you I wouldn't bother

What's broken is all those those who wishfully think the NextGen stink and won't improve and who maintain that a player who puts limited time into their game is suddenly going to spring into better form. Up next a familiar tune, RF at Wimby.

 

[Meles]

Lol this thread is still going. I said earlier he would be 6 or 7 at absolute worst, probably higher. He will probably sleepwalk his way towards at least a slam SF and masters final while getting some more points elsewhere.

Arguably Nole's two best slams are done and his best has been QF. US Open is his last hope, but he'll probably be ranked 5 by then and looking at Stan or another member of Big 4 in US Open QF.

 

[Meles]

Yeah. He certainly doesn't need to be at his former level. He just needs to be better than he's been so far in 2017. By the way, remember that in 2015 all of the top 8 got to 4,000+? Mind you, #9 Gasquet was way back on 2,850.

But in 2014, all of the top 10 passed the 4,000 mark.

It's possible, but if the draws are unkind it could be a mighty task. Del Potro will be a load on US Open hard court series with 1 in 8 chance of drawing in R32. Dimitrov, Raonic, Goffin, Tsonga, and Nishikori could easily be lurking in the 9-12 range for R16 by the US Open.

 

[Meles]

We'll see. 2013 is the only season since 2010 in which Nadal has won more than four titles. He's on four this year already, so even one more would make it his second-winningest season in the last seven! He hasn't won a hard-court title since January 2014, and only has one grass-court title since the start of 2011 and only two finals in that time, so he will likely slow down in the second part of the season, especially as I don't think he'll play any clay tournaments over the summer this time. But who knows? He could have another summer like that of 2013. (Incidentally, since the fall of 2010, the only hard court titles he's won have been Indian Wells 2013, Canada 2013, Cincinnati 2013, US Open 2013, and Qatar 2014. He was on a two and a half year hard-court drought prior to his winning run in 2013, and has since gone on a three and a half year drought. More so than on clay, on hard courts he seems to win only in fits and starts when very confident. Given that he seems to have built up a head of steam, it wouldn't be that surprising if he went on another winning run on hard courts this year.

We basically agree, but I'm not entirely sure about he head of steam. Djokovic's big wins against Nishi, Delpo, and Thiem are not looking so impressive now. Beating Schwartzman and ARV were bigger wins and show a measure of quality, but these are also player that Nole has dominated in the past. Much of the perceived momentum is a very real surge in points on the back of weaker draws at Madrid and Rome.

 

[helterskelter]

We basically agree, but I'm not entirely sure about he head of steam. Djokovic's big wins against Nishi, Delpo, and Thiem are not looking so impressive now. Beating Schwartzman and ARV were bigger wins and show a measure of quality, but these are also player that Nole has dominated in the past. Much of the perceived momentum is a very real surge in points on the back of weaker draws at Madrid and Rome.

I meant Nadal had built up a head of steam on clay!

 

[helterskelter]

It's possible, but if the draws are unkind it could be a mighty task. Del Potro will be a load on US Open hard court series with 1 in 8 chance of drawing in R32. Dimitrov, Raonic, Goffin, Tsonga, and Nishikori could easily be lurking in the 9-12 range for R16 by the US Open.

If Djokovic is remotely close to his best, wins against any of those players should be in straight sets, so it really depends on his form, not on theirs.

 

[Meles]

If Djokovic is remotely close to his best, wins against any of those players should be in straight sets, so it really depends on his form, not on theirs.

That seems unlikely.

No wildcard into Halle or Queens.

 

[helterskelter]

That seems unlikely.

No wildcard into Halle or Queens.

But apparently he's thinking about one for Eastbourne.

 

[BeatlesFan]

What's broken is all those those who wishfully think the NextGen stink and won't improve

Well, Zverev did win a Masters 1000 this year, so finally one of them does step up. But then he loses R1 at the French Open. One step forward, two steps back?

 

[Meles]

Well, Zverev did win a Masters 1000 this year, so finally one of them does step up. But then he loses R1 at the French Open. One step forward, two steps back?

Zverev is 250 points ahead of Djoko so far this year and counting on grass. Zed's a step ahead.

Thiem is about 1200 points ahead and counting at Halle too. Thiem poised to vulture a precious new grass 250 in Antalya the following week.

Fed just lost to Haas; that's like four steps back.

 

[Meles]

But apparently he's thinking about one for Eastbourne.

That would be a miracle and makes sense as he doesn't really need points for Wimbledon, but vulturing 250 would be a good move for making WTF.

 

[helterskelter]

That would be a miracle and makes sense as he doesn't really need points for Wimbledon, but vulturing 250 would be a good move for making WTF.

So he'll now probably crawl in under the wire by a margin of 1-249 points, right?

 

[Meles]

So he'll now probably crawl in under the wire by a margin of 1-249 points, right?

He'll realize his plight too late and after months of rejections and failures at the end of season, he'll be spit out at the bottom of the heels of NextGen racing to Milan.