Just why are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in denial over the brilliance of Novak Djokovic?

Levi_Ackerman

Levi_Ackerman

Legend
That's the topic of this article,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/te...al-over-the-brilliance-of-Novak-Djokovic.html

I don't agree with it, but it's worth a quick skim. At least, I think it is. My theory is both know that there is nothing they can do. If Djokovic is, as many pundits seems to agree, the perfect player (granted, the term they use is "most complete"), then it stands to reason that nothing Nadal and/or Federer do will change that. You can't beat perfection. That's just the nature of perfection. The writer also seems to be overlooking the fact that Murray himself has admitted that Djokovic - in his current form - would have to have a "bad day at the office" in order for him (Murray) to triumph over him.
 
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No they don't,even today I read the interview where Fed was saying that Novak should be given star forhis great 2015, this is like Murray article where journalist make their own tempting headline .
 
Federer is more in denial, he is quiet with his arrogance but Federer believes in his own reviews. Here is a guy who he constantly criticzed Djokovic for injuries, retiring during matches and yet Novak continues to throw salt at Roger by winning and owning him on the biggest stage.
 
Navdeep Srivastava said:
No they don't,even today I read the interview where Fed was saying that Novak should be given star forhis great 2015, this is like Murray article where journalist make their own tempting headline .
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Exactly. Unfortunately, some of the Djokovic fans are so blinded with hate for Federer, they only hear what they want to hear. Why should Federer change his game because of one man? Players adjust their game for each match. So I don't get why this writer is upset because FEDAL said they don't plan to change their game in the off-season.

I understand they are trying to pump up Djokovic and all that. But, writing crappy articles is certainly not the way to do.
 
Levi_Ackerman said:
If Djokovic is, as many pundits seems to agree, the perfect player (granted, the term they use is "most complete"), then it stands to reason that nothing Nadal and/or Federer do will change that. You can't beat perfection. That's just the nature of perfection.
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But do you know the nature of peRFection?
 
Elektra said:
Federer is more in denial, he is quiet with his arrogance but Federer believes in his own reviews. Here is a guy who he constantly criticzed Djokovic for injuries, retiring during matches and yet Novak continues to throw salt at Roger by winning and owning him on the biggest stage.
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Only recently when Federer got old. Djokovic had a history of retiring, so don't act like Federer was just making things up. Djokovic only started beating Federer on the big stage after he got old. Perspective please.

I don't know why you guys are so desperate for recognition and praise. Be content with what Djokovic is doing. You can't force people to acknowledge you, or heap praise on you. That's not how life works. Why does it matter so much what Federer says or thinks, huh?
 
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Navdeep Srivastava said:
No they don't,even today I read the interview where Fed was saying that Novak should be given star forhis great 2015, this is like Murray article where journalist make their own tempting headline .
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"Roger Federer baulked at suggestions that Novak Djokovic had climbed above his fellow 'Big Four' players on Saturday -- but he admitted the Serb "deserves a little star" by his name."

tumblr_nd5etlMs2h1qbh35io2_500.gif

 
And enough with this constant crap about diet and fitness regimen, bla bla bla. Seems like people are trying too hard to make us believe that's why Djokovic is having so much success. You don't hear other players talking so much about their diets and fitness training. I wonder why!
 
Elektra said:
"Roger Federer baulked at suggestions that Novak Djokovic had climbed above his fellow 'Big Four' players on Saturday -- but he admitted the Serb "deserves a little star" by his name."

tumblr_nd5etlMs2h1qbh35io2_500.gif
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May be he isn't too impressed that djokovic is beating him when he is over the hill.
From his standpoint , that is enough of a compliment. He is not getting blasted off the court like Rafa is by the djoker.
 
For the fools out there, journalists get paid to write and create drama. They twist things to cause drama. What does "Federer baulked" even mean? Obviously, they're trying to create some drama ahead of the open. The tournament and tour right now isn't very exciting, so they need to spice things up. That's not rocket science.

But, some people will fall for it, and use it as another avenue to satisfy their Federer hate and bashing. I even saw another moron in the AO thread bashing Federer because his kid was crying on kids day. SMH.
 
Elektra said:
"Roger Federer baulked at suggestions that Novak Djokovic had climbed above his fellow 'Big Four' players on Saturday -- but he admitted the Serb "deserves a little star" by his name."

tumblr_nd5etlMs2h1qbh35io2_500.gif

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Well to be fair he did admit Novak , and what Rafa and Fed can do in this age , may be Rafa can but Fed already has a complete game so at 35 what new can he learn.
 
It can be tough to admit someone is better than you. If Njokovic is better than Federer now, and I think he is, so be it. It's probably a combination of Federer aging and Njokovic ascending. However, I didn't think anyone could do better than Federer could do in his prime, which included being a wizard with the racket and creating special angles.
 
oneness said:
May be he isn't too impressed that djokovic is beating him when he is over the hill.
From his standpoint , that is enough of a compliment. He is not getting blasted off the court like Rafa is by the djoker.
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Novak can outdefense Rafa and Novak has made Roger look like an old man anytime they play each other during GS.
 
Navdeep Srivastava said:
Well to be fair he did admit Novak , and what Rafa and Fed can do in this age , may be Rafa can but Fed already has a complete game so at 35 what new can he learn.
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The all around game is effective in 2 out of 3 matches but at the GS, his weapons are not enough to beat Novak. Novak seems to get stronger during the fourth and fifth set.
 
Elektra said:
The all around game is effective in 2 out of 3 matches but at the GS, his weapons are not enough to beat Novak. Novak seems to get stronger during the fourth and fifth set.
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Age is the reason, you can't expect 34 years old to defeat great baseliner like Novak in BO5 in slow surface
 
Well journalist always print this type of headlines, they did in same with Murray and with Novak in WTF after Fed defeated Novak.
 
Navdeep Srivastava said:
Age is the reason, you can't expect 34 years old to defeat great baseliner like Novak in BO5 in slow surface
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Fed is only disgracing himself. A man of his caliber should have retired when it was all good and people will remember him as the man. That is ego for you right there. Right now this Novak is a GOAT in the making is going to go for it all and break records.
 
As recently as Bercy 2015, Petchey-Djokovic-deserves-more-respect, said he would choose Federer to play for him. Leif also said the same. They would pick Federer or Nadal. Petchey added that based on CURRENT form, he would pick Djokovic.

That was an admission that both players are definitely not AT THEIR BEST right now. People can say whatever they want, but age and decline certainly plays a HUGE part in Djokovic's ascendancy!
 
Elektra said:
Fed is only disgracing himself. A man of his caliber should have retired when it was all good and people will remember him as the man. That is ego for you right there. Right now this Novak is a GOAT in the making is going to go for it all and break records.
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If you're so certain, why not relax and enjoy the ride?
 
There is no such thing as complete perfection. It's an illusion, used as a goal to work towards. But actually reaching it in real life is not possible for any human being. Djokovic might be the closest a tennis player has ever been to perfection(all though I do believe that quite a few other greats were equally as close at the peaks of their abilities), but even he has weaknesses. Relatively speaking.

This overhyping is getting sickening! Please stop. It's ruining the purpose of this forum.
 
Fed is among the very few who beat Nole last year. You can't expect him to grovel at Nole's feet like the fanboys. Even Nadal wasn't doing that even as late as 2014. Because he still believed he could beat him. That Nadal is gushing with praise over Nole now only tells us that Nadal's spirit is broken. The occasional, possibly Toni-instigated pseudo-macho soundbite does not deceive.
 
Why be in denial when the both of them have had more success than Djokovic in their careers? And we don't know what the future holds anyway. And even so, 1) Nadal is not in denial. And 2) You Djokovic fans have the most selective hearing, selective memory of any fan base on the planet. Fed has CONSTANTLY praised Djokovic the past 7 months. What do you want him to do, bow down to Sir King Novak? If he says he's one of the few with a chance against the guy, just go back and see who dealt Djokovic with 50% of his losses in 2015. But some people cannot be reasoned with so what's the point...
 
NBP said:
Why be in denial when the both of them have had more success than Djokovic in their careers? And we don't know what the future holds anyway. And even so, 1) Nadal is not in denial. And 2) You Djokovic fans have the most selective hearing, selective memory of any fan base on the planet. Fed has CONSTANTLY praised Djokovic the past 7 months. What do you want him to do, bow down to Sir King Novak? If he says he's one of the few with a chance against the guy, just go back and see who dealt Djokovic with 50% of his losses in 2015. But some people cannot be reasoned with so what's the point...
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Minors don't count. Taking Fed fans' advice in the past, Djokovic is now majoring in majors.
 
CYGS said:
Minors don't count. Taking Fed fans' advice in the past, Djokovic is now majoring in majors.
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OK. Congratulations. We'll disregard that part just for your sake. Why decide to ignore his praise and just look at any comments of confidence he makes. And not just you, or even you, but most of the guys fans? It's pathetic and reeks desperation which is strange considering your guy is winning everything under the sun and people are still unsatisfied.

And again, not saying you do it, because I haven't seen any posts you've made that suggest that, but many others on this forum...
 
NBP said:
OK. Congratulations. We'll disregard that part just for your sake. Why decide to ignore his praise and just look at any comments of confidence he makes. And not just you, or even you, but most of the guys fans? It's pathetic and reeks desperation which is strange considering your guy is winning everything under the sun and people are still unsatisfied.

And again, not saying you do it, because I haven't seen any posts you've made that suggest that, but many others on this forum...
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Right, I don't, because I think Fed's reaction is fairly reasonable. No need to stress it.
 
Yawn.. another rubbish article by Simon Briggs.

Of course you don't spent your off-season figuring out ways to beat one particular player. That's a waste of time given the only time you can ever meet them is in a final/semi-final. You have to get there first and so does Djokovic, a fact highlighted multiple times last year. Similarly, Federer has had ample success against Djokovic - but his shortcoming in recent times has been in best of 5 set matches. People overthink this way too much imo - tactics that work in a best of 3 set should work in any length format. What differs is the ability to maintain those tactics and standards in the longer format, a details which leans the court in Djokovic's favour. As with matches Djokovic plays he still depends on his opponent not bringing their best - even if he can contribute to that by forcing them to press too hard, too often. Nishikori, Wawrinka and others, Federer included, have shown in the last 18 months how Djokovic can be undone with the right mix.

People have become way too focused on his 2015 form and making assumptions 2016 will be the same again when the odds are it wont be - he wont have as good a year as he did last year. What makes me think this? History... nobody outside of Federer has been able to back up a year this good with a comparable one in over 40 years. Not Sampras, not McEnroe, not Borg, not Lendl, not Nadal and not Djokovic. If he manages it with Federer, Murray and others all playing how they've been playing plus having Nadal back in the mix then he truly is a legend. But come December 2016 I suspect we'll see just how hard is was for him to back up his 2015 results.
 
Having owned 17 slams, I would expect that thought process from Roger.. From, Rogers perspective, why would he consider Novak more brilliant than Nadal .. he surely knows only Nadal was a challenge to him in the main part of his career.. Roger keeps saying NAdal is the toughest guy he faced.. stats agree because Novak never dominated Roger like NAdal..
 
Levi_Ackerman said:
That's the topic of this article,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/te...al-over-the-brilliance-of-Novak-Djokovic.html

I don't agree with it, but it's worth a quick skim. At least, I think it is. My theory is both know that there is nothing they can do. If Djokovic is, as many pundits seems to agree, the perfect player (granted, the term they use is "most complete"), then it stands to reason that nothing Nadal and/or Federer do will change that. You can't beat perfection. That's just the nature of perfection. The writer also seems to be overlooking the fact that Murray himself has admitted that Djokovic - in his current form - would have to have a "bad day at the office" in order for him (Murray) to triumph over him.
Click to expand...

Of course there are things they can do! Do you really think that Federer and Nadal are going to admit that they are trying to first and foremost solve the Djokovic puzzle? That's giving out too much information to your rivals. Why would any rival admit that? It's obvious that is what Federer is trying to do by getting rid of Edberg and trying out Ljubicic. There was only one man who stood in Federer's way from winning two more slams in 2015 and that man was Djokovic. As for Nadal, there is no question that Djokovic is the main player he needs to figure out once again if he wants to win big titles. This isn't rocket science. Surely people can't be that naive? There's nothing wrong with what Simon Briggs is saying because at the end of the day Nadal and Federer do need to figure out how to beat Djokovic in best of five. Let's get real.

Bobby Jr said:
Of course you don't spent your off-season figuring out ways to beat one particular player.
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With all due respect, that's EXACTLY what Federer and Nadal should be doing. Djokovic is their main road block.
 
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cc0509 said:
Of course there are things they can do! Do you really think that Federer and Nadal are going to admit that they are trying to first and foremost solve the Djokovic puzzle? That's giving out too much information to your rivals. Why would any rival admit that? It's obvious that is what Federer is trying to do by getting rid of Edberg and trying out Ljubicic. There was only one man who stood in Federer's way from winning two more slams in 2015 and that man was Djokovic. As for Nadal, there is no question that Djokovic is the main player he needs to figure out once again if he wants to win big titles. This isn't rocket science. Surely people can't be that naive? There's nothing wrong with what Simon Briggs is saying because at the end of the day Nadal and Federer do need to figure out how to beat Djokovic in best of five. Let's get real.



With all due respect, that's EXACTLY what Federer and Nadal should be doing. Djokovic is their main road block.
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I give this post a "half like", because I only half agree with it.
 
I agree with the point of view presented in the article. It's not Djokovic's level, since the numbers show it was higher in 2011. For instance he broke serve at a higher percentage that year than 2015. It's the refinements Djokovic has made to his game, the small things, that have made all the difference. As I've written before, it's the fact that nobody knows where Djokovic will hit the ball. He's made disguise a real weapon. The other guys on the tour could try to do the same thing. Obviously Murray can try to develop an ATP-quality second serve.

One thing the writer overlooked is the two big victories Wawrinka has against Djokovic in the last two years. Djokovic likes to play the percentages. He can be overpowered. Easier said than done. I can see Djokovic eventually being surpassed by power hitters like Kyrgios. Likely Djokovic will have to slow down first, maybe in a couple of years.
 
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