Is Djokovic now the HUGE favourite to win US Open 2023?

raph6

raph6

Semi-Pro
Kralingen said:
Absolutely not.

Carlos still big favourite. He was even worse last summer.
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Not true, his results are better this year but he was playing way better last year. This year, he struggles a lot on the forehand wing which is at the core of his game. If he does not manage to get his forehand back on the level it was, he will not win this US Open.
 
Kralingen

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
raph6 said:
Not true, his results are better this year but he was playing way better last year. This year, he struggles a lot on the forehand wing which is at the core of his game. If he does not manage to get his forehand back on the level it was, he will not win this US Open.
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Playing way better when exactly?

RG-Cincy Carlos of 2022 was losing quite a bit and had a very poor serve. He did get back into form for the USO but he had a bad loss to Norrie last year here iirc.
 
raph6

raph6

Semi-Pro
Kralingen said:
Playing way better when exactly?

RG-Cincy Carlos of 2022 was losing quite a bit and had a very poor serve. He did get back into form for the USO but he had a bad loss to Norrie last year here iirc.
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Yes, his results were « poor » at that time, but if you look again at these matches in Canada and Cinci, he was playing better tennis than he is now. This summer, he manages to win because he serves better, returns better and moves faster. But his baseline game is, in my opinion, less convincing, with a lot of errors on the forehand side.

You can see he is neevous at the moment, he shows more emotions, more anger, and tennis wise, he his not dominating with his forehand and dropshots less, or with less quality. I think he is putting a lot of pressure on himself after the Wimbledon win and I think, if he meets Djokovic on Sunday, he will lose in straight sets which will affect again more his confidence, with the Djoker coming closer in terms of points, just before the US Open title defense.
 
Kralingen

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
raph6 said:
Yes, his results were « poor » at that time, but if you look again at these matches in Canada and Cinci, he was playing better tennis than he is now. This summer, he manages to win because he serves better, returns better and moves faster. But his baseline game is, in my opinion, less convincing, with a lot of errors on the forehand side.

You can see he is neevous at the moment, he shows more emotions, more anger, and tennis wise, he his not dominating with his forehand and dropshots less, or with less quality. I think he is putting a lot of pressure on himself after the Wimbledon win and I think, if he meets Djokovic on Sunday, he will lose in straight sets which will affect again more his confidence, with the Djoker coming closer in terms of points, just before the US Open title defense.
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Interesting point. Depends what you focus on.

His baseline game was littered with errors back then too though especially on return. I do somewhat agree he was more fluid from the baseline last year, seemed there was a touch more guile there for sure. The drop shots were undeniably better even on HC last year. However… He was worse at sustaining return pressure back then, even if he’s choking 15 break points this NA HC run he’s still getting there consistently. In that Cincy last set vs Norrie his BH return was a leaky firehose. He’s now added the block back return which is so huge for his game.

Though I do agree that he’s failed to really take control of a lot of baseline points these past two weeks, last year he did that better (though he also errored a ton in the process, he took control of rallies more dominantly)

I feel like his base level is higher now because of the serve-return improvements, which you really shouldn’t discount. He won that 5th set at Wimbledon mostly off the serve and return.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
He’s going to be a HUGE loser :D

hbk-shawn-michaels.gif
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Of course he's the favorite. He's the favorite for every event he enters until he consistently shows otherwise. One loss at Wimbledon isn't enough to sound the alarm
 
O

optic yellow

Legend
Regular ATP events are a joke (see: BO3) so we instead look at it from the perspective of the defending champion coming into it healthy with a victory at the previous slam and laugh heartily but not meanly at the premise.
 
onehandbh

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
Rosstour said:
Of course he's the favorite. He's the favorite for every event he enters until he consistently shows otherwise. One loss at Wimbledon isn't enough to sound the alarm
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I have viewed Djokovic as the favorite at every grand slam and M1000 he has entered in the last couple years.

His overall game, lack of glaring weaknesses and mental toughness just seems far ahead of the rest of the pack. (other than Nadal at the French Open). I thought Alcaraz's Wimbledon win was an upset.

Alcaraz won last year's US Open without Djokovic in the draw.
 
TimHenmanATG

TimHenmanATG

Hall of Fame
Dan Evans will give him serious problems.

The one-time Olympic bronze medallist from Serbia will wilt when confronted by some stiff competition, in the shape of the belligerent Brummie.
 
W

Wesling

Semi-Pro
I said this early in the wimbledon match at 0-5 down. Carlos is often a slow starter. when he starts to rev up the engine throughout the match, very few has what it takes to stop him. in BO3 its easier, but BO5 Im not betting against carlos. his redlining is too much for people. he runs down everything
 
Djokovic_is_the_best#1

Djokovic_is_the_best#1

Bionic Poster
Djokovic looking good and will have his chances. I have him a solid 2nd fav for us open. Alcaraz is the favourite though because over 5 sets it is harder to beat him when he starts to red line and find his best level. Novak is in the mix though and if Carlos is slightly off he can take advantage. Then others like sinner, Meddy, Zverev, hurkacz will all be in the running as next set of favourites.

I’m not sure about rune, ruud or tsitsipas for us open. All 3 seem to be struggling right now but you can’t fully right them off being top 10 players.
 
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timnz

Legend
Always go on form. Form player is Djokovic. I want Alcaraz to win, but he just isn’t in form. carlos could however find his game by the second week of the US open
 
Rattie

Rattie

Legend
Given Djokovic‘s record and his appearance in every slam final this year, winning two of them, I would say he is the favourite right now. His only real threat is Carlos, whose form isn’t where it needs to be today but that isn’t to say it won’t be, come the tournament.
Besides, it is probably better for Carlos not to be the favourite, it takes the pressure off him.
 
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nolefam_2024

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
insideoutforehands said:
Indeed as his 3-6 finals record there shows, despite that he didn't play anyone in the finals even close to the calibre of Nadal at RG, outside of Federer in 2007.
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He fedfan stop attacking Nole's record at USOpen.

Nole can play drunk at USOpen and still reach semis and finals. His record in finals is just a combination of things like more wear and tear by USOpen or calendar slam pressure.

Now he has enough rest this year.
 
jackson vile

jackson vile

G.O.A.T.
All Carlos fans said Novak is all washed up now and should retire

So I guess he’ll be lucky if he makes it past the first round
 
Unseeded Player

Unseeded Player

Hall of Fame
insideoutforehands said:
Indeed as his 3-6 finals record there shows, despite that he didn't play anyone in the finals even close to the calibre of Nadal at RG, outside of Federer in 2007.
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Opponent doesn't have to be the calibre on that level... It depends of the form, conditions, draw.. Few other factors can give the edge..
 
Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
We got the dream final here in Cincy, unless Djokovic absolutely crushes Alcaraz, putting him as the huge fav is still a stretch.

But I do think he has earned the right to be co-fav with Alcaraz if he takes the win in Cincy.

If Alcaraz wins, then no question he is still the fav, since he has not played that well this week and would still win the title.
 
jl809

jl809

Hall of Fame
I'd say he's already the favourite, because he's Novak Goddamn Djokovic and is also the form player atm. The people who are going WeLL aLcAraZ rAiSeD hIs LeVeL a LoT LaSt yEaR toO are operating off too small a sample size at this point, and the DjOkeR hAsN'T WoN tHe USO sInCE 2018 crowd are forgetting that Nadal won the AO after 13 years last year, because all it takes is health + the right draw for Djokodal at this point (not to mention the various reasons why Djoker didn't win it in 19, 20 and 21, all of which I think are unlikely to occur again this year)
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Who cares who wins Cinci in terms of correlation with winning the USO? Apart from Federer doing it a few times, it hasn’t happened much at all in this century where the same player won both men’s titles. Cinci is much faster and higher bouncing than the USO.

Irrespective of who wins Cinci tomorrow, I think Alcaraz will be the favorite for the USO although that doesn’t mean he is a cinch to win. Any of the top 5-7 players can win the USO which is always the most wide open Slam this century.
 
Mike Sams

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
From Djokovic being an old man at 36 in the Wimbledon final after losing to Alcaraz to suddenly Djokovic being the hot favourite to win US Open because he's in top form....
This whole forum is topsy turvy! o_Oo_Oo_O People can't even remember their own excuses from one week to another.
I guess if Alcaraz crushes him again, it'll be back to "Meh whatever, Djokovic is old!" :-D:-D
 
Sudacafan

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
nachiket nolefam said:
Covid bans. Losing points due to Wimbledon cancelling itself.

Just like Australia was defeated in January so should USA be.
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Covid mandates is more properly said, and if they were to be deemed as an injustice, they were so for all the foreigners to the US and Canada who wanted to enter unvaxxed, not only him.

Wimbledon cancelling itself was a business decision, more than injustice. Like when you lose money in the stock exchange. Hard luck, but not an injustice.

It was indeed an injustice for the Russian and Belarusian players not being allowed to enter Wimbledon the next year in 2021, and an injustice also to all players (Djokovic first in the list because he won the tournament) who could not earn the ranking points of the tournament. I don't see Djokovic fans remotely as bitter for this (something Djokovic and all players couldn't do anything about) compared to the covid mandates issue (something almost all non US and Canada players on tour except Djokovic could solve).

And finally, I did not know that when a player won a tournament, he defeated the country where the tournament was played.
 
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O

optic yellow

Legend
jl809 said:
I'd say he's already the favourite, because he's Novak Goddamn Djokovic and is also the form player atm. The people who are going WeLL aLcAraZ rAiSeD hIs LeVeL a LoT LaSt yEaR toO are operating off too small a sample size at this point, and the DjOkeR hAsN'T WoN tHe USO sInCE 2018 crowd are forgetting that Nadal won the AO after 13 years last year, because all it takes is health + the right draw for Djokodal at this point (not to mention the various reasons why Djoker didn't win it in 19, 20 and 21, all of which I think are unlikely to occur again this year)
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How about we go with the "Alcaraz decisively outgritted Djokovic at the last GS slam they played, which was on a surface that Djokovic should be considered to have a stronger advantage over Alcaraz than in New York"?
 
Djokovic_is_the_best#1

Djokovic_is_the_best#1

Bionic Poster
Hitman said:
We got the dream final here in Cincy, unless Djokovic absolutely crushes Alcaraz, putting him as the huge fav is still a stretch.

But I do think he has earned the right to be co-fav with Alcaraz if he takes the win in Cincy.

If Alcaraz wins, then no question he is still the fav, since he has not played that well this week and would still win the title.
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This is how I see it too. I think Djokovic has the better chance to win today than for us open.

As Novak’s form been good here and probably best of 3 helps Novak more against Alcaraz

I think it’s a bigger for Novak to try win. As I feel whoever wins today that Alcaraz is favourite for us open. However, I feel he could be a very big favourite if he beats Djokovic today. If Djokovic wins I’d say Alcaraz only a marginal favourite over djoko for us open.

Best of 5 is best for alcaraz as he can start slow so it gives him more time to find his A game and conditions a bit slower there compared to cincy.
 
4

40Deuce

New User
I still pick Djokovic as the favourite for the USO as he's the only multi-slam(more than 3/4) winner out there, he still has the aura which causes players like Hurkacz to choke, he has the experience and the Wimbledon loss was close.
 
nolefam_2024

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
Sudacafan said:
Covid mandates is more properly said, and if they were to be deemed as an injustice, they were so for all the foreigners to the US and Canada who wanted to enter unvaxxed, not only him.

Wimbledon cancelling itself was a business decision, more than injustice. Like when you lose money in the stock exchange. Hard luck, but not an injustice.

It was indeed an injustice for the Russian and Belarusian players not being allowed to enter Wimbledon the next year in 2021, and an injustice also to all players (Djokovic first in the list because he won the tournament) who could not earn the ranking points of the tournament. I don't see Djokovic fans remotely as bitter for this (something Djokovic and all players couldn't do anything about) compared to the covid mandates issue (something almost all non US and Canada players on tour except Djokovic could solve).

And finally, I did not know that when a player won a tournament, he defeated the country where the tournament was played.
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Yes Nole defeated the prime minister of a country in court. The same guy got the BOOT after few months and then Nole won the country's slam in a year. That's what a revenge looks like.

Nole hopefully will take the same revenge in NYC and all these covid politicians who supported bans will get the BOOT.
 
Sudacafan

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
nachiket nolefam said:
Yes Nole defeated the prime minister of a country in court. The same guy got the BOOT after few months and then Nole won the country's slam in a year. That's what a revenge looks like.

Nole hopefully will take the same revenge in NYC and all these covid politicians who supported bans will get the BOOT.
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Applying your line reasoning, Djokovic was deported (not banned), so Prime Minister won. That prime minister was not in office when Djokovic came back to win the AO in 23, so no match held.
If you think PM lost office because of deporting Djokovic, well, it's interesting how you tell stories.

And then, revenge in NYC against whom? The US Government again? Joe Biden? The US Congress? Covid?

Djokovic is a very lucky guy because in spite of not doing what 99% of his colleagues did to keep on competing, he is taking the slam record with him. Good for him, and congratulations.
Not every top sportsman has that many chances as him, and get it done blowing many away. Some have only one in their lifetimes.
And the stories of revenge, payback and others should be better kept for movies and the entertainment industry.
 
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