Fed makes Novak look like Karlovic on steroids

[Gazelle]

Really, wth was that? I didn't saw the match live as I knew it would be a disaster, but I could never have predicted it would be this bad. After reading the scoreline (6-1 6-2 in first two sets, only once before got Fed annihilated like that) i had to watch some of the replay to see what happened.

Fed was pretty much garbage on all fronts, even that third set wasn't that good from him but what stood out the most...

His return of serve! Or more so the lack of. He was like missing every second return, despite Djokovic hitting slower than 200 km/h on nearly all of his serves. I bet he gets more serves from Karlovic back into play when he faces the Croat than he did today. I haven't seen the stats but i bet Djokovic actually out aced him in this match for like the first time ever?? But maybe I'm just missing something here and Djokovic is actually a serve bot on the same level as Gonzalez, Sampras, Isner & Co.

Anyway, somewhere a balding American was watching this match and couldn't help thinking: "How did this guy every return MY serve??!!!!"

 

[BeatlesFan]

None of this should be any surprise. I've said all tournament that Djoker would ruthlessly expose Fed's BH, which was anemic all tournament. And he did. Fed's BH is not an offensive shot anymore and hasn't been for a number of years. It's just a neutral rally shot. That will not get it done against Novak.

 

[metsman]

Really, wth was that? I didn't saw the match live as I knew it would be a disaster, but I could never have predicted it would be this bad. After reading the scoreline (6-1 6-2 in first two sets, only once before got Fed annihilated like that) i had to watch some of the replay to see what happened.

Fed was pretty much garbage on all fronts, even that third set wasn't that good from him but what stood out the most...

His return of serve! Or more so the lack of. He was like missing every second return, despite Djokovic hitting slower than 200 km/h on nearly all of his serves. I bet he gets more serves from Karlovic back into play when he faces the Croat than he did today. I haven't seen the stats but i bet Djokovic actually out aced him in this match for like the first time ever?? But maybe I'm just missing something here and Djokovic is actually a serve bot on the same level as Gonzalez, Sampras, Isner & Co.

Anyway, somewhere a balding American was watching this match and couldn't help thinking: "How did this guy every return MY serve??!!!!"

you'll have to be much more specific.

 

[metsman]

None of this should be any surprise. I've said all tournament that Djoker would ruthlessly expose Fed's BH, which was anemic all tournament. And he did. Fed's BH is not an offensive shot anymore and hasn't been for a number of years. It's just a neutral rally shot. That will not get it done against Novak.

and his movement to his right. All was ruthlessly exploited and then on top of that Federer served crap and then when he had a chance to take it 5 he forgot how to return too. Perfect $.h.it storm

 

[jm1980]

I haven't seen the stats but i bet Djokovic actually out aced him in this match for like the first time ever??

Matches where Djokovic out-aced Federer (9):

1. 2006 MC R1: 4-1
   
2. 2008 AO SF: 13-10
   
3. 2008 MC SF: 2-1
   
4. 2011 AO SF: 6-5
   
5. 2011 IW SF: 3-1
   
6. 2013 Paris SF: 7-5
   
7. 2013 WTF RR: 9-5
   
8. 2015 IW F: 8-6
   
9. 2016 AO SF: 10-5

Matches where Djokovic and Federer are tied in aces (3):

1. 2009 Miami SF: 4-4
   
2. 2011 Dubai F: 5-5
   
3. 2014 IW F: 6-6

Matches with unknown ace counts (1):

1. 2006 Davis Cup WG Playoff: ???

Matches where Federer out-aced Djokovic (32):

• The rest

 

[CYGS]

Matches where Djokovic out-aced Federer (9):

1. 2006 MC R1: 4-1
   
2. 2008 AO SF: 13-10
   
3. 2008 MC SF: 2-1
   
4. 2011 AO SF: 6-5
   
5. 2011 IW SF: 3-1
   
6. 2013 Paris SF: 7-5
   
7. 2013 WTF RR: 9-5
   
8. 2015 IW F: 8-6
   
9. 2016 AO SF: 10-5

Matches where Djokovic and Federer are tied in aces (3):

1. 2009 Miami SF: 4-4
   
2. 2011 Dubai F: 5-5
   
3. 2014 IW F: 6-6

Matches with unknown ace counts (1):

1. 2006 Davis Cup WG Playoff: ???

Matches where Federer out-aced Djokovic (32):

• The rest

That just means Djokovic's serve has improved a lot. Kudos to Becker!

 

[123456789]

None of this should be any surprise. I've said all tournament that Djoker would ruthlessly expose Fed's BH, which was anemic all tournament. And he did. Fed's BH is not an offensive shot anymore and hasn't been for a number of years. It's just a neutral rally shot. That will not get it done against Novak.

It's not even a neutral rally shot

 

[Mustard]

That just means Djokovic's serve has improved a lot. Kudos to Becker!

Becker didn't join Djokovic's team until December 2013, I think it was.

 

[Pagoo]

Yeah, it is ridiculous. I wonder what he does during his practice. He needed for BPs to get the lone break he had in the match. Hopefully,he uses the time off after Indian Wells to fix some of these issues. Lesser players have no difficulty breaking Novack, but Federer plays him worse than he plays Karlovic. Smh.

 

[Pagoo]

Federer served 25 aces against Dolgo. Obviously, Dolgo is not as a good a returner as Novack. But, to serve 5 aces in 4 sets, is ludicrous by his standard.