I honestly don’t think Novak will ever....

[McEnborg]

win another major. Even in his wins this year, he’s never reached the level he was playing at in Australia in 2019.

He appears to have lost a little bit (not much) of his court coverage ability. Mentally, he seems more up and down. He’s 33 1/2 and what has made him so great appears to be in slight decline.
Thiem (whom he barely beat at this year’s Australian), Medvedev (who kicked his butt today and has beaten him 3 times), Zverev, Rublev and Tsitsipas are all coming. They’ve improved and want major championships. They’re all tired of the big three and believe they can beat all of them. None of them fear Novak, or even Rafa (outside of Roland Garros).

if they even have the Australian, I think one of those guys will win and this run of Novak’s will be over. His game does not translate to winning majors in his mid to late 30’s like Fed. He simply doesn’t have a big enough serve, nor the elite racket skills of Fed...who is probably the only player in recent history capable of winning grand slams at 35, 36 and 37.

 

[Amritia]

Prematurely writing him off.

Beware for this thread to be bookmarked by Djokovic fans, and then bumped when he wins the AO in 2021 and 2022.

 

[tonylg]

His best chance is to wait until Kyrgios and Medvedev retire.

 

[PrinceMoron]

He is going to go all of 2020 unbeaten

.. in his own mind

 

[SinneGOAT]

We are literally 2 months away from the Australian Open, anyone getting flashbacks to October when “Nadal will never win the French Open again”

 

[ADuck]

The annual next gen hype is upon us. Every year its the same ****.

 

[kishnabe]

People were saying the same **** against Federer in 2016.

Djokovic will show up for his camping groud AO.

 

[aldeayeah]

The rumors of his demise are highly exaggerated

he isn't even out of WTF

 

[weakera]

We are literally 2 months away from the Australian Open, anyone getting flashbacks to October when “Nadal will never win the French Open again”

It's a joke to compare Djokovic at AO to Nadal at FO.

 

[irishnadalfan1983]

We are literally 2 months away from the Australian Open, anyone getting flashbacks to October when “Nadal will never win the French Open again”

Noles dominance isn’t as strong as Rafa at AO....Also Rafa doesn’t right now have any challengers at RG....Nole has a good few that can beat him at AO....He is still favourite for AO of course...

 

[ForehandCross]

OP will be bumped to oblivion if Novak wins this all next sunday.

 

[GabeT]

 

[McEnborg]

Based on how he just squeaked by Thiem, earlier this year, who had him 2 sets to 1 and on the ropes...and now the fact that Thiem has gotten over the hurdle of winning a major...

In addition, Zverev took a step forward in his major play...we’ve seen what Rublev has done this year...and now we see Medvedev back to his 2019 self (maybe better)...I don’t think Novak is winning Australia this year.

 

[Picmun]

 

[Wander]

One more Major for Novak. Either in 2021 or 2022. Slam race to finish 21-20-18.

You heard it here first.

 

[weakera]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1329181544188035073

 

[SinneGOAT]

It's a joke to compare Djokovic at AO to Nadal at FO.

That’s the point. I remember people saying Nadal wouldn’t win at his pet slam and now they are saying Djokovic ain’t gonna win his pet slam.

 

[MichaelNadal]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1329181544188035073

Epic

 

[weakera]

That’s the point. I remember people saying Nadal wouldn’t win at his pet slam and now they are saying Djokovic ain’t gonna win his pet slam.

...which is a far less unreasonable statement to make. Djokovic loses plenty at the Australian Open so to declare that he won't win it isn't nearly as bold as saying Nadal won't win Roland Garros where he is 100-2.

 

[MichaelNadal]

...which is a far less unreasonable statement to make. Djokovic loses plenty at the Australian Open so to declare that he won't win it isn't nearly as bold as saying Nadal won't win Roland Garros where he is 100-2.

Still so crazy to think about. Nadal will be turning 35 during next RG...... to have a record of 100-2 at a slam at that age is just mindboggling.

 

[One Handed Dynasty]

At this point in their careers, it’s foolish to make any judgments about the big 3’s level based on results outside of slams. Sure, they can look beatable in best of 3 set matches at tournaments they really only play to stay in form, but as Thiem v Zverev at the USO showed this year, the next gen is neither physically nor mentally ready for 5 sets.

 

[MichaelNadal]

At this point in their careers, it’s foolish to make any judgments about the big 3’s level based on results outside of slams. Sure, they can look beatable in best of 3 set matches at tournaments they really only play to stay in form, but as Thiem v Zverev at the USO showed this year, the next gen is neither physically nor mentally ready for 5 sets.

Yep, Nadal/Diego Rome comes to mind. We saw what happened on Chatrier

 

[Xemi666]

This again? New gen win a couple of 3 setters and "Nadal/Djokovic will never win slams again", every year the same sh*t.

Well, keep at it, one day you'll be right... after dozens of sh*t predictions.

 

[Cortana]

You see this threads since 2009 lol.

 

[DJ-]

You just can't write off any of the big three until they retire.... and even then they will have a chance lol

 

[Cortana]

You just can't write off any of the big three until they retire.... and even then they will have a chance lol

Nadal getting a WC at RG in 15 years after long being retired, just for fun. Wins the tournament.

 

[Krish872007]

This is a dangerous statement to make about any of the Big 3 while they are still active on tour.

 

[Pablo1989]

He continues being the best in Australia and Wimbledon.

 

[romeo8880]

and now the fact that Thiem has gotten over the hurdle of winning a major...

. No Federer, no Nadal, no Djokovic (disqualified). Stop it.

 

[BeatlesFan]

I don't think Djokovic will win another major.

Join the club of misfits. I thought he was through in 2012, 2017 and 2018.

 

[MeatTornado]

Join the club of misfits. I thought he was through in 2012, 2017 and 2018.

Really curious to hear more about that one.

Why did you expect him to fall off a cliff after making major finals all year long?

 

[TheNachoMan]

This won’t end well. Lol

 

[mike danny]

Nadal getting a WC at RG in 15 years after long being retired, just for fun. Wins the tournament.

Nadal's kids:

"Please, daddy, win RG one more time"

Nadal sitting cozy on his boat:

"Ah alright. Gotta dust this old piece of junk racquet again".

 

[Deleted member 770948]

win another major. Even in his wins this year, he’s never reached the level he was playing at in Australia in 2019.

Plus Djokovic wasn't even asked any questions in that 2019 AO Final, because Nadal had no physical capacity to play defense, because Nadal's coaching staff and doctors agreed that he'd not practice defense in the lead-up to the 2019 AO, because he just had ankle surgery. So Nadal had the offensive skills to put-away Tsitsipas, but to even play a rally with Djokovic you need defense.
"....because of the things that happened to me in terms of surgery, then what happened in Abu Dhabi, I was not able to work that much the defensive game. I worked a lot on the offensive game, but not that much on the defensive game.
To play against a player like him, playing the way he played tonight, I needed that defensive game to finally have the chance to be offensive, no?"
https://ausopen.com/articles/interviews/rafael-nadal-f-interview

 

[catskillthunder]

A little too early to be writing him off. These same threads popped up about Rafa, then Fed, now Novak. I see a pattern...

 

[onyxrose81]

Way too early to write him off. Novak has never been the beacon of consistency in his career, he’s had more ebbs and flows than Fedal and it’ll show up more now that he’s older.

 

[TennisFan3]

Prematurely writing him off.

Beware for this thread to be bookmarked by Djokovic fans, and then bumped when he wins the AO in 2021 and 2022.

Excellent post as usual.

 

[romeo8880]

Make no mistake about it. Djokovic is still the clear favorite to win the Australian Open. Beating him in a best of 5 is a different animal.

 

[Deleted member 770948]

I think beating Thiem in best-of-5 is harder than beating Djokovic in best-of-5.

 

[romeo8880]

I think beating Thiem in best-of-5 is harder than beating Djokovic in best-of-5.

LOL. Funniest thing I’ve read in years.

 

[albatros_forehand]

Djokovic is Finnish! And it's about time, too. Had enough of his act in 2020! Sinner Rublev and Mad lad to own him on the HC, Rafa to continue to own him on clay.

 

[aldeayeah]

I think beating Thiem in best-of-5 is harder than beating Djokovic in best-of-5.

I mean that might be arguable in very recent times, but historically Djokovic has been an absolute Bo5 beast. He also has more lives than a cat - always comes back.

 

[socallefty]

While you can never write off an ATG, the OP is accurately picking up on signs that Djokovic might be entering into another mental slump like happened in mid-2016 out of nowhere. He seems to have too many matches lately where he doesn’t seem interested in competing hard and being patient when his opponent plays well in the 1st set - Nadal at RG, Sonego in Vienna, Med in London. Also, in many of the sets he lost in ‘Cinci’, NY and Rome, he seemed to suddenly get aggravated and lost his focus while he was playing well before that. Hopefully, the off-season will revive his competitive spirit and mental focus and he will come back in 2021 like the #1 ranked player in the world.

Once the other players sense weakness in the locker room as happened in 2H2016-17, he will be prone to upsets at Slams. So, he had better snap out of it fast.

 

[Winners or Errors]

Join the club of misfits. I thought he was through in 2012, 2017 and 2018.

Heck, I thought he was finished in 2010, and then came the egg and gluten-free diet. You've got to give Djoker credit. He is resilient.

 

[Deleted member 770948]

I mean that might be arguable in very recent times, but historically Djokovic has been an absolute Bo5 beast. He also has more lives than a cat - always comes back.

That Djokovic is dead and buried.

 

[Deleted member 762343]

Who can beat him at Wimbledon ? Nobody seems up to the task.

 

[TennisFan3]

Djokovic could win at least 3-5 Wimbledon titles more. He has NO COMPETITION over there as Fed ages out.
As for AO, you would think 2-3 titles are possible.
And throw in 1-2 UsOpens depending on several factors.

That would put him at a range of 7-10 more majors.
So IMO Novak finishes his career with between 24-27 slams depending on how things shake out.

 

[onyxrose81]

Djokovic could win at least 3-5 Wimbledon titles more. He has NO COMPETITION over there as Fed ages out.
As for AO, you would think 2-3 titles are possible.
And throw in 1-2 UsOpens depending on several factors.

That would put him at a range of 7-10 more majors.
So IMO Novak finishes his career with between 24-27 slams depending on how things shake out.

I think your numbers are a tad bit too high. But Novak definitely will have the best chances at Wimbledon. Only he, Fed and Nadal know how to play consistently there. Everyone else’s game is horrific on the grass.

 

[TennisFan3]

I think your numbers are a tad bit too high. But Novak definitely will have the best chances at Wimbledon. Only he, Fed and Nadal know how to play consistently there. Everyone else’s game is horrific on the grass.

Really? The lower limit of 7 slams is CONSERVATIVE.
What do you think - how many more will Novak win?

 

[Slowtwitcher]

Novaxx won today so I think he can win forever!

Am I doing this right, TTW?