do you think rafa nadal can beat novak djokovic in 2021 wimbledon ?

skypadq

Hall of Fame
if rafa nadal somehow lost RG and he will gets # 3 seed in wimbledon
and rafa and novak could meet 2021 wimbledon semi final
we all know what happend in 2018 wimbledon SF
nadal lost so close match fifth set score was 10-8

and isn 't that this is only roger federer can win 2021 wimbledon ?
novak djokovic beaten by rafa nadal in semi
federer beat rafa in wimbledon final

how do you think ?
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
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Deleted member 771911

Guest
No. These guys results against one another on their respective surfaces will be predictable. Set in stone almost.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
After how badly he owned him at RG last year, and how close His Excellency came to losing to a pathetic old fraud... I'd say his chances are better than they have been in a long while.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Very small chance. Consider 38 year old Fed beat Rafa fairly easily in the 2019 semis. Rafa's chances of ever winning Wimbledon or the AO again are slim to none at his age. He had his last chance to win Wimbledon in 2018, but fell in that magnificent semi against Novak.
 

topher

Hall of Fame
If he loses RG I’d give him close to zero chances. If he wins it, I’d give him 30% against Novak should he reach him, that could vary widely depending on form and their draws.

If he wins RG beating Novak en route like last year, I’d put him at or near 50%, but still less likely to win overall cause he’s prone to upset on grass.
 

vex

Legend
When they met at W’18, Rafa was faster and Novak’s serve wasn’t as good as it is now. Anything’s possible but I don’t like Rafa’s chances.
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Nadal has more chances to defeat Novak at WB than Djokovic has of defeating Tsitsipas at WB.

No member of the Big 3 will stop Tsitsipas at WB. Only another player can defeat him. If Tsitsipas faces Federer at WB, the philosopher will defeat the Swiss fairly easily.
 
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Robert F

Hall of Fame
Based on Nadals' recent clay performances, I'd say little chance.
He's still the guy to beat on clay, but I think grass will make his defense less reliable.
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Based on Nadals' recent clay performances, I'd say little chance.
He's still the guy to beat on clay, but I think grass will make his defense less reliable.
Based on Nadal's recent clay performance, he is the most in form player in the world along with Tsitsipas. On the other hand, Djokovic looks out of form with his losses to inferior players such as Evans and Karatsev.

Of course, we are talking about clay not grass. But Djokovic's form looks unimpressive.
 
Nadal has more chances to defeat Novak at WB than Djokovic has of defeating Tsitsipas at WB.

No member of the Big 3 will stop Tsitsipas at WB. Only other player can defeat him. If Tsitsipas faces Federer at WB, he will defeat him fairly easily.

I'm not sure I follow. Why is Tsitsipas going to be so good at Wimbledon? I do agree that if he played on grass more often, he would have most of what it takes to do well there, but he needs to practice attacking the net more often. However, one thing that is going to be a big drawback for him against Djokovic or Federer, let alone any bigger server, and even something of a drawback against Nadal, is his very weak return of serve. That's a big problem on grass, as you can't break on grass if you can't return. That's one reason why Tsitipas does well on clay - it's easier to return serve on clay, so he doesn't get as exposed.

I don't know how or whether Tsitsipas can improve his return of serve. But until/unless he does so, I think he has big problems at Wimbledon.

On another note: if Nadal and Djokovic were to play each other in both the Wimbledon and the US Open finals, and a genie told you that they would win once each and allowed you to choose who won where, which one would you choose? As someone who prefers Djokovic to Nadal, I would like Djokovic to lose at Wimbledon and win at the US Open. I would rather he had a fourth US Open title than a sixth Wimbledon title.
 

Nadal_King

Hall of Fame
I would love for that match to happen especially if nadal can get to no 21 and pressure is off him then he can bring the ruthlessness he had in 2018 match where he was so aggressive then surely he will have a chance.
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
He still looked strong on clay, and still has plenty of runway to build for RG. But, he had some rough days this week that might be magnified on grass.
I thought Tsetse fly was going to take it today.

I guess I don't use clay performance as much as a barometer for Djoker. He's become this player that seems to play good only when he needs to and sometimes I wonder if he really cares to be out there. Seems he can usually play a step or two better on HC and grass compared to clay.
 

Nadal_King

Hall of Fame
Based on Nadals' recent clay performances, I'd say little chance.
He's still the guy to beat on clay, but I think grass will make his defense less reliable.
I think latter stages grass is good for rafa's game especially movement wise he can play like on clay and defend well but on grass it's the offense which rafa needs to show like he did in wimbledon- 2018 and imo his forehand is still a hige weapon on any surface also backhand is quite lethal these days off clay where he flattens it out
 
Nadal has more chances to defeat Novak at WB than Djokovic has of defeating Tsitsipas at WB.

No member of the Big 3 will stop Tsitsipas at WB. Only another player can defeat him. If Tsitsipas faces Federer at WB, the philosopher will defeat the Swiss fairly easily.
Untestable therefore irrelevant
 

MadariKatu

Hall of Fame
Hard to say. On one hand Djokovic is looking to be very vulnerable; he still won the AO though. On the other, Nadal is improving, but still needs to get a bit better; maybe playing more matches on clay will help him sort some rough edges out.

Also, I argue that in 2018 he was so close to beating Novak (and under the roof), because he had survived an epic match against Del Potro. In my opinion he needs tough wins during a tournament, since that is what helps him improve his level. If he meets Djokovic having won every match easily, I'd say he has very few chances if any.
 

Winner

Professional
Nadal has more chances to defeat Novak at WB than Djokovic has of defeating Tsitsipas at WB.

No member of the Big 3 will stop Tsitsipas at WB. Only another player can defeat him. If Tsitsipas faces Federer at WB, the philosopher will defeat the Swiss fairly easily.
Seriously?

Tsitsipas has the game to be good on all surfaces, but he has been bad on grass.
 

MadariKatu

Hall of Fame
Seriously?

Tsitsipas has the game to be good on all surfaces, but he has been bad on grass.
He hasn't shown much, but in 2018 nearly beat Isner who was on the brink of getting to the final. Seeing how he has improved on other aspects of his game, I expect him to start showing some results on grass, even if maybe not enough to really trouble the big favorites.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Very small chance. Consider 38 year old Fed beat Rafa fairly easily in the 2019 semis. Rafa's chances of ever winning Wimbledon or the AO again are slim to none at his age. He had his last chance to win Wimbledon in 2018, but fell in that magnificent semi against Novak.

mostly agreed, but I think Rafa can win at AO or W if he doesn't have to face the King of that court.

I think Rafa would have beaten anyone at W18/19 or AO20 besides Fed and/or Djok. Against anyone else his IQ and tactical superiority would have been enough to get him through.

Check out who the old fraud beat in the SF.

Dude of course and it was a glorious moment. I just like to talk down my guy so that I don't look like a total homer.
 

Nadal_King

Hall of Fame
Rafa imo couldn't beat roger in 2019 is because of less defensive skills these days , in 2000s biggest reason he got better of roger was of his defensive prowess but since that has declined matchup with roger has turned around off clay, with novak I think still his game can gel well on grass since I think djokovic offensive skills aren't oike federer on grass so rafa doesn't have to be that good on defence although on fast hardcourt djokovic is really tough for rafa these days as djokovic plays his best tennis there in current times
 

MadariKatu

Hall of Fame
Rafa imo couldn't beat roger in 2019 is because of less defensive skills these days , in 2000s biggest reason he got better of roger was of his defensive prowess but since that has declined matchup with roger has turned around off clay, with novak I think still his game can gel well on grass since I think djokovic offensive skills aren't oike federer on grass so rafa doesn't have to be that good on defence although on fast hardcourt djokovic is really tough for rafa these days as djokovic plays his best tennis there in current times
I don't agree with this. I'm not saying he hasn't lost some defensive abilities, that is just obvious, as he's getting old. Since Moya got in the team, Nadal has been playing more aggressively, so he kinda compensates one with the other.
I'd say that he couldn't beat Federer because he lost concentration at the end of the 3rd set and when he got it back he had already been broken in the 4th. He was close to saving that game, and even closer to breaking back at the end of the set.
Had he broken, the match might still have gone to Fed in 4 sets, but I think it was a pretty tight match (not as much as the final, obviously), and if they were playing a 5th set, it would have been 50/50, maybe 60/40 to Roger.
 
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