Is Djokovic still the #2 guy on hard courts?

[Sudacafan]

The thing is Alcarez is more likely to beat Sinner on hard courts than Djokovic is, so you have to take that into account too. Against the rest of the field? Not sure. I think it is close between the two. I am not sure I would back Djokovic to beat Alcarez if they play at the Open either.

You’re right, Martinaz.

 

[helterskelter]

It’s nice to see that you’ve moved from Medvedev to Ferrero

2025 Ferrero versus 2025 Medvedev 10-match series: 3 on grass, 4 on hard courts, 3 on clay.

@Kralingen?
@RS?

Put differently, who is at a higher Level?

 

[helterskelter]

Novak’s win at Australia 2025 clearly breaks the tie ahead of Alcaraz. I don’t think there’s any debate for Carlos even being a top 3 HC player in the world in current form. Even Jack Draper has had a better 12 months on HC than young Carlitos.

Ferrero took the youngest HC Slam winner in history and turned him into this. Unforgivable.

You have to cut Ferrero some slack for that, though. He is nine years younger than PETE, and coaching a top player when he was only 11-12 years old was probably just a bit too much for him. He might have improved by now!

 

[Pheasant]

Is Djoker still the 2nd most likely player to win a big title at this stage of his career? That is a great question.

I’d still say yes at this stage. Djoker still made the AO semi this year. But it’s extremely close now. Zverev would likely be able to push him. Alcaraz could push him too at this stage. And I’d like to see a Fritz vs Djoker match at the USO. I’d still give Djoker the slight edge. But his margins over the likes of Zverev, Fritz, and Alcaraz have shrunk drastically this year.

 

[SneederFeeder]

Ferrero took the youngest HC Slam winner in history and turned him into this. Unforgivable.

To be completely fair, the USO 22 being won by Alcaraz is conditional on like 6 different people Being Banned, Being Iniured or Choking Early.
He did not win it by beating the top exactly.

But there's still no excuse for Sinner outgrowing Alcaraz so much on HC since then

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Is Djoker still the 2nd most likely player to win a big title at this stage of his career? That is a great question.

I’d still say yes at this stage. Djoker still made the AO semi this year. But it’s extremely close now. Zverev would likely be able to push him. Alcaraz could push him too at this stage. And I’d like to see a Fritz vs Djoker match at the USO. I’d still give Djoker the slight edge. But his margins over the likes of Zverev, Fritz, and Alcaraz have shrunk drastically this year.

If sinner isn’t in Djokovic path he could still snatch 1 more slam. It remarkable that this is still possible but djoko isn’t a normal 38 year old tennis player.

 

[toth]

1.Sinner
2.Alcaraz
3.Djokovic
My vote

 

[Dropshot777]

Has his game really regressed or was it just never that strong to begin with on the hard courts used at the AO and the USO? He got a huge break when Djokovic didn't play the US Open 2022, and then his draw really opened up for him (Nadal lost early, Meddy lost to Kyrgios, who then lost to Karen, Zverev missed the tournament with injury, Tsitsipas lost in R1, Sinner was a year or so away from hitting his stride). It wasn't easy by any means, but he went five sets three times in a row and the only player he faced ranked in the top 12 was RUDD.

The Calf is certainly a very good player on the courts used at Indian Wells and in Miami, but I think the jury is still out at the US Open and certainly at the Australian Open.

Also, note these things about RUDD's hard-court resume:

1) Apart from at the 2022 US Open, he has never been past R4 of a hard-court slam. (He has made the semis of RG three times).
2) Only one of his 13 career titles is on hard courts. (The other 12 are all on clay).
3) He is trying to sandbag a title in Gstaad this week, where the second seed is Bublik, who is probably not going to be as dangerous on a slow as molasses court as he was in Halle. RUDD's route to the title is: Stricker (he beat him 7-5 7-6 today); J-M. Cerundolo or Goffin; Burrachaga or Buse; Bublik or Etcheverry (the latter of whom has never won a career title). This isn't relevant to my post, but I have been meaning to comment on it somewhere and this felt like no more irrelevant a time than any.

You forgot to mention Ruud made the Miami final (beating Zverev), has a great record at Turin, and is pretty good on fast hard courts. I know he isn’t the best on hc but he can still be a threat. Although I do agree that he isn’t really a worthy hc grand slam final opponent.

Edit: oh and by the way, he is “sandbagging” the title because he has been injured since Rome and is trying to get some momentum (not working great)

 

[helterskelter]

You forgot to mention Ruud made the Miami final (beating Zverev), has a great record at Turin, and is pretty good on fast hard courts. I know he isn’t the best on hc but he can still be a threat. Although I do agree that he isn’t really a worthy hc grand slam final opponent.

Edit: oh and by the way, he is “sandbagging” the title because he has been injured since Rome and is trying to get some momentum (not working great)

You are right that I focused on Ruud's hard-court weaknesses in order to make the point that he's not great for a hard court slam final opponent. It's true that he's done well in Miami and Turin and he does have the one hard-court title from San Diego. No discredit to him, but he is indeed a good opponent to get in a slam final on hard.

One reason I commented on him playing Gstaad is that I would have expected a Scandinavian to enter Bastad instead. Then again, given that last time I was in Copenhagen I was reminded of how common it is for Danes to express antipathy to Sweden publicly, perhaps Norwegians also would rather play in Switzerland than their neighboring country.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

His HC game has regressed massively with Beijing 2024 being this one shining outlier amongst the rubble of crap he has put forth on hard courts since winning USO 2022.

Considering the notable HC majors regression you note, perhaps his USO win will turn out to be a fluke?

 

[Pheasant]

If sinner isn’t in Djokovic path he could still snatch 1 more slam. It remarkable that this is still possible but djoko isn’t a normal 38 year old tennis player.

He is far from normal.

 

[abmk]

To be completely fair, the USO 22 being won by Alcaraz is conditional on like 6 different people Being Banned, Being Iniured or Choking Early.
He did not win it by beating the top exactly.

But there's still no excuse for Sinner outgrowing Alcaraz so much on HC since then

Alcaraz beat a very well playing Sinner, a good Tiafoe, good ancient Cilic at that USO.
Sinner had much easier draws in USO 24, AO 25 and an easier draw in AO 24.

 

[SneederFeeder]

Alcaraz beat a very well playing Sinner, a good Tiafoe, good ancient Cilic at that USO.
Sinner had much easier draws in USO 24, AO 25 and an easier draw in AO 24.

How do you end up so deep into nonsensicsl fan wars you try to hype up TIAFOE as a good Slam Semi opponent

C'mon now, stop one second and actually read what you're typing

 

[abmk]

How do you end up so deep into nonsensicsl fan wars you try to hype up TIAFOE as a good Slam Semi opponent

C'mon now, stop one second and actually read what you're typing

nice try. I said a good version of Tiafoe. not the same thing - since Sinner faced worse opposition than that in his slam runs in USO 24, AO 25.

and also ignoring Sinner himself in USO 22. try harder next time.