If you were the Djoker what would you work on next?

If you were Djoker, what would you focus on improving next?:

1) Conditioning (he broke down in the 5th)

2) Net game (he came to net quite a bit but many of his first volleys were weak).

3) Serve (his 1st serve percentage was not great - but it seems that will go up and down and was likely down because of the wind).

4) Variety (although Murray came to net less than Djoker, he can vary the speed and spin of shots more that Djoker);

5) Something else?
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
I'd say "shortening points" in an effort to preserve oneself, but that's much easier said than done with players like Murray and Nadal defending.
 

smoledman

G.O.A.T.
Nole has maxed out on the physical/grinding style, he should aim to shorten the points from now on. Ditto for Nadal.
 

kaku

Professional
If you were Djoker, what would you focus on improving next?:

1) Conditioning (he broke down in the 5th)

2) Net game (he came to net quite a bit but many of his first volleys were weak).

3) Serve (his 1st serve percentage was not great - but it seems that will go up and down and was likely down because of the wind).

4) Variety (although Murray came to net less than Djoker, he can vary the speed and spin of shots more that Djoker);

5) Something else?
1. He is insanely fit. But nobody can keep up 100% fitness with the summer he had. I had a feeling that if the match went the distance his long summer would catch up to him, and it did.

2. Agreed. He put some volleys away, but he can't give guys more and more chances to pass him

3. His serve was great in sets 3 and 4. Fatigue probably contributed to poor serving in the fifth

4. He was trying to mix things up with the slice, but it just doesn't have much bite to it.
 
I think he needs to practice being more agressive. a lot of it is confidence though. if you watch his matches against nadal last year, he was so agressive and pushed Nadal around. This year he has been too defensive. I think he has to go back attacking to improve because frankly, he was too defensive against murray.
 
I think he needs to practice being more agressive. a lot of it is confidence though. if you watch his matches against nadal last year, he was so agressive and pushed Nadal around. This year he has been too defensive. I think he has to go back attacking to improve because frankly, he was too defensive against murray.

I can understand yesterday because of the wind. But you think he has been too defensive this year as a whole? Interesting. I agree that there is a close correlation with confidence on this.
 

FiveO

Hall of Fame
I have to assume, by its timing that this thread was started in response to what is viewed by some as Djoker's unexpected loss at the Open.

Did anyone watch the match?

Though the conditions were not as bad as the prior Saturday this match was played in near gale winds. Murray adjusted slightly better to those conditions. Whether Murray's game is better suited to wind or his experience of playing an entire match on Saturday helped him he handled it much better than Djokovic, who was having a three or four-way conversation with himself during the match particularly in the second set.

In general, yeah, Djokovic needs to work on his transition game overall for the reasons stated above. Between the number of times he came in behind dtl approaches and was no where near covering a dtl response FIRST, and then later, repeatedly going into the Murray bh on shots where he had clear choice and 2/3rds of the court open to his Murray's fh side, many of his net approaches looked more like Roddick's kamikaze net rushes. It can only help to make him more efficient, potientially resulting in greater consistency and possibly even career longevity.

But, and it's a big "BUT", IMO the loss had less to do with game-style, fitness level and/or tactics than it did with Novak's relative inablility to adjust to the atrocious playing conditions compared to Murray.

Remember Novak was getting killed by Ferrer in the hurricane of Saturday and then dismantled David in the relative calm of Sunday when the match resumed. I can't think of a player who relishes playing in the wind but it seemed Djokovic likes it a little less than either Ferrer or Murray, at the very least.

5
 
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mgm

New User
Slice backhand + approach shots = shot net points
He's a great player but shorter points will help mix his game up a little.I think he served and volley only one time in the entire five hour match.and won the point easy.
 

ctromano

Rookie
Def. serve and volley, the guy is a real grinder, but hes becoming the ultimate counter puncher, I say first strike tennis is what he needs to overwhelm the field. And a better body serve would be great.
 

Tcbtennis

Hall of Fame
He should definitely improve his transition game. He is such a great shot maker that he should be closing in on the net even more than he did last night. And even though Andy is a great defender it wasn't as though all of his great gets were going over the net by inches and dropping at Djokovic's feet. They were floating high over the net. If Djokovic was more confident he would have taken a lot of swinging volleys. He also has to improve his overheads. For such a great player they are woefully bad.
 

Torres

Banned
The original post is hilarious.

Novak doesn't have to work on anything other than perhaps motivation. Practically impossible to surpass 2011.

On all surfaces other than clay he owns Federer and Nadal, and on another day the Murray match could have gone another way (as could the same match at the AO).
 
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lendlmac

Rookie
work on his forehand like Murray did with Lendl...it is suspect...he has the best backhands down the line, but his forehand is suspect... LOL
 
If you were Djoker, what would you focus on improving next?:

1) Conditioning (he broke down in the 5th)

2) Net game (he came to net quite a bit but many of his first volleys were weak).

3) Serve (his 1st serve percentage was not great - but it seems that will go up and down and was likely down because of the wind).

4) Variety (although Murray came to net less than Djoker, he can vary the speed and spin of shots more that Djoker);

5) Something else?

Yes to 2 and 3.. and his conditioning is fine, Murray simply outplayed him in that final set.
 

AnotherTennisProdigy

Professional
Confidence when attacking. I saw him hesitate to go forward, which is what he needed to do IMO. Instead he resorted to outlasting Murray in a battle of consistency. Murray won't lose that battle, not against Novak.
 

BrooklynNY

Hall of Fame
Getting to Net.
First Volley.
Drive Volleys... every can hit drop volleys..and usually does.
S&V
slicing

The rest of this game is pretty much good to go.
 

Warmaster

Hall of Fame
His net game definitely. Maybe he should play some doubles to improve it. If he wants a longer career, he'll need to shorten the points.


And his backhand slice isn't special either (it looks awful too :D)
 

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
When I watch him play I notice that he is often tripping which to me indicates that he is tense. (No it's not his shoes) I think his flawless year of tennis has really screwed of his current game. He knows how well he played and hie would like to recover the form he had last year..and it's not happenng the way he would like. Now he's #2 and I wonder if he worries he can ever be #1 again.

Some sports psycholgy may be in order for him.
 

90's Clay

Banned
Nole needs to re-evaluate what was clicking so while for him in 2011 and take it from there.. He was much more aggressive with his shots last year.. This year far too many errors and mental letdowns and a little too much defensive play for my taste. He did much more with the ball last year, especially off that FH side
 

RF20Lennon

Legend
Nole needs to re-evaluate what was clicking so while for him in 2011 and take it from there.. He was much more aggressive with his shots last year.. This year far too many errors and mental letdowns and a little too much defensive play for my taste. He did much more with the ball last year, especially off that FH side

he needs Dr. Igor back
 

nyc

Hall of Fame
He's horrible in windy conditions, as evidenced against Ferrer and by the lousy 1st serve percentage last night.

Maybe some training in Scotland would do him good :)
 

SStrikerR

Hall of Fame
Being more efficient when hitting. He's so fast that he sometimes cheats with his footwork. He gets to where the ball is so early that sometimes he stops moving. There were many times in the final (I know it was windy) where he was reaching for balls, falling back, etc etc when he had plenty of time to set himself up in an optimal position. I've seen him do this in other matches, so it wasn't just the wind affecting him. But he can't give away free points off errors when he should be able to play the ball easily. It hurt him at important times yesterday.
 

tacou

G.O.A.T.
dictate points. He hits the line so many time in the same point, and yet the point goes on! and on! if a player like him drops the ball right on the base line he should be able to take over the point on the next shot.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
His net play (overheads are easy to mess up in the wind but still), drop shots (his attempts were so lame during the final!) and recover last year's aggressivity: more angles, more variations. His game has become a bit too predictable.
 
I'd tell the people in my box to stop jumping up and down like Jack-In-The-Box(es) because I'm wasting too much energy looking at them every 5 seconds.
 

corners

Legend
Overhead. Shocking how bad he is at it. I'm surprised no one has tried drop shot/lob over and over during a match. I think the shot might break down completely.
 

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
One thing which is constantly letting him down is his slice backhand. It's become more of a poke... almost like he's snatching at it.

It's rarely a shot which gets him out of trouble or does anything much effective. His top opponents seem to be forcing him into hitting it more too - Federer and Murray recently for example.
 

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
Nole needs to re-evaluate what was clicking so while for him in 2011 and take it from there.. He was much more aggressive with his shots last year.. This year far too many errors and mental letdowns and a little too much defensive play for my taste.
One thing that really clicked for him in 2011 was that Federer and Murray played particularly poor tennis for much of the first half of the year. With them faltering it really helped him to get the ball rolling and his confidence peaking.

This year it's been different, it's Nadal who has been a little off form or gone completely outside of the clay courts. Federer and Murray playing their best are more capable of giving Djokovic trouble across all surfaces and so it has shown - regardless of his own form dropping, which has also happened.

I think it is unrealistic to think he would be able to repeat 2011's results, regardless of his own form when, more of his peers are not struggling with their own games.
 

Aeropax

Rookie
The original post is hilarious.

Novak doesn't have to work on anything other than perhaps motivation. Practically impossible to surpass 2011.

On all surfaces other than clay he owns Federer and Nadal, and on another day the Murray match could have gone another way (as could the same match at the AO).

Federer is better on grass. Nadal is at least equal on grass.
 
>3) Serve (his 1st serve percentage was not great - but it seems that will go up and down and was likely down because of the wind).

He was serving pretty damn well, particularly given the wind. I remember his % in either the 3rd or 4th being above 80%.
 

Clarky21

Banned
The original post is hilarious.

Novak doesn't have to work on anything other than perhaps motivation. Practically impossible to surpass 2011.

On all surfaces other than clay he owns Federer and Nadal, and on another day the Murray match could have gone another way (as could the same match at the AO).


No he doesn't. Nadal and Fed are both light years better than Cvac is on grass. How you can say Cvac is better than a guy who has won 7 Wimby titles,or a guy who has made 5 finals there winning 2 of them,is delusional bs. Cvac couldn't even beat a near 31 year old Fed at Wimby this year. He would have been positively eaten alive by Fed in his prime at Wimby.
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
The original post is hilarious.

Novak doesn't have to work on anything other than perhaps motivation. Practically impossible to surpass 2011.

On all surfaces other than clay he owns Federer and Nadal, and on another day the Murray match could have gone another way (as could the same match at the AO).

Why was it impossible for Djokovic to have another year similar to 2011? Djokovic had his chances to do it, with an injured Nadal and an old man Federer to contend with.Federer was able to dominate from 2004-2007. The fact is Djokovic is no Federer and does not have it in him to continue to dominate, he never has and has shown periods where he has lacked motivation his entire career.

With respect to Djokovic owning Federer off clay, I guess you missed Wimbledon this year and Cincy? ;)
 
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