Monte-Carlo Masters R3: Novak Djokovic vs. Lorenzo Musetti

[ScottleeSV]

That was a shake-the-cobwebs performance if ever there was one. The thing about skipping two big events is that it often ends up costing you three.

 

[DSH]

To who?

Against a sinner only by last name.

 

[RF-18]

Remember folks, Evans has beaten him here.

Yea it means nothing this loss for the future but still he lost out on some nice points. He shouldn't be playing this bad and leak errors from the FH side.

 

[Legend of Borg]

Djokovic was horrid. No need to sugarcoat this. He's not beating any of the top guys here in this form except for maybe Medvedev, so he needs to just go back the drawing board and reset. Credit to Musetti for hanging in there and getting the win and I'm interesting to see how he plays in his next match. He has a chance here and I predicted a couple of years ago he will be a RG champ one day. I still believe that.

That's my point. I think Musetti is hitting harder than all those guys now.

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

 

[Sudacafan]

The poll vote is very clear. Everyone saw this coming.

 

[Kralingen]

Djokovic continues to suck massively on clay against anyone with a 1HBH (or a lefty)

 

[Sudacafan]

The fact he has two titles here is still very good, but these are the worst conditions for his game.

He has two more titles here than Federer.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner, even Ruud are all better than him.

 

[DSH]

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

Lorenzo Musetti will be an improved version of Adriano Panatta, legend of Borg.

 

[mike danny]

So what is this now? Just 2 match wins at MC in the last 3 years combined?

What's also shocking is that Novak hasn't even reached a SF here since 2015. His results beginning with 2016: 3R, QF, 3R, QF (loss to Medvedev LOL), 3R, 2R and 3R.

 

[Sudacafan]

Djokovic continues to suck massively on clay against anyone with a 1HBH (or a lefty)

Djokovic has more clay slams + M1000 titles than a very famous 1HBH'er I know.

 

[Hitman]

Yea it means nothing this loss for the future but still he lost out on some nice points. He shouldn't be playing this bad and leak errors from the FH side.

He was off since his first match. Clearly rusty. As for points, outside of Rome, he can collect a mountain of points all the way up to and including USO.

 

[TheNachoMan]

So what is this now? Just 2 match wins at MC in the last 3 years combined?

What's also shocking is that Novak hasn't even reached a SF here since 2015. His results beginning with 2016: 3R, QF, 3R, QF (loss to Medvedev LOL), 3R, 2R and 3R.

His game is more suited to fast courts now. Sad but true.

 

[RF-18]

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

He ain't winning RG any time soon. Seriously he isn't anything special other than having nice strokes. Djokovic beat himself today, and I rarely say that when he loses.

 

[DSH]

Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner, even Ruud are all better than him.

Good 'Djoke', mate.

 

[robyrolfo]

Agree. Although it completely explains why they have such a hard time putting him away. Ascribe way too much to facing him.

You have to remember how terrible Musetti's form has been so far this year, and he's probably one of those guys that really wanted to tick this box, so for the rest of his life (no matter how his career pans out), he can say he beat the great Djokovic.

Credit to Musetti for fighting back in the 2nd set but it was one of those days where Djokovic's serve was non-existent and less said about his forehand the better. And what was with the crowd? Can't ever recall them being so unsupportive of Novak before. I really hope he never plays Monte Carlo again.

Are you really surprised that there are so many people out there that dislike Djokovic? Really?

 

[Hitman]

He has two more titles here than Federer.

Yep. Seriously, two titles is fine here. His goal should be slams.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Good Djoke', mate.

What has Musetti done apart from this one off match? lol

 

[Rovesciarete]

Very happy for Lolo Muse! Scrappy bit of work, but made it through the Djoker inspection.

What on earth happened to Noles serve today? One of the worst I have ever seen.

 

[Legend of Borg]

People saying the only player he could've beaten today is Medvedev, he actually lost to him here in 2019.

The memes practically write themselves.

 

[brewcrew]

And what was with the crowd? Can't ever recall them being so unsupportive of Novak before. I really hope he never plays Monte Carlo again.

Musetti is from Monte Carlo. It was all his fans there.

 

[Sudacafan]

What has Musetti done apart from this one off match? lol

He's getting started.

 

[TheNachoMan]

He's getting started.

He’s 21, Alcaraz and Rune are 19.

 

[NoleFam]

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

Did you see the Hamburg final last year? That will be two of the main clay players of this upcoming era imo, along with Rune. It's not like the game is raining great clay players. Lol.

 

[Nadal15thslam]

So what is this now? Just 2 match wins at MC in the last 3 years combined?

What's also shocking is that Novak hasn't even reached a SF here since 2015. His results beginning with 2016: 3R, QF, 3R, QF (loss to Medvedev LOL), 3R, 2R and 3R.

When Nadal has similar results at a hc tournament he is bad and can only play on clay, when Djokovic does absolutely nothing at a clay tournament it's ok. Versatility they say...

 

[RF-18]

Djokovic continues to suck massively on clay against anyone with a 1HBH (or a lefty)

While you say that Djokovic probably has something like a 80% win rate vs 1handers on clay most probably.

Djokovic didn’t lose cause of a 1hander today. He completely just sucked.

 

[Zardoz7/12]

Djokovic looked rusty and annoyed in general, I'm happy for Musetti, he's exercised demons from their French Open 2021 encounter.

Djokovic fans shouldn't be in dismay, since 2015 Monte-Carlo victory over Berdych, Djokovic has historically been limp at the tournament and shows form later on in the Clay swing.

 

[DSH]

What has Musetti done apart from this one off match? lol

He beat Carlitos in Hamburg and at the age of 19 he put your idol on the ropes at RG but he ran out of NAFTA.
The Italian player will be one of the best of the decade on clay.

 

[TheNachoMan]

When Nadal has similar results at a hc tournament he is bad and can only play on clay, when Djokovic does absolutely nothing at a clay tournament it's ok. Versatility they say...

hmu when Nadal has won more than 1 indoor HC tournament. lol

 

[mike danny]

Nah, he's topped a 100 vs. Simon down under iirc (granted, best of five, but still more per set)

Didn't Fed have 40+ against Djokovic at 2012 WTF too?

 

[Kralingen]

While you say that Djokovic probably has something like a 80% win rate vs 1handers on clay most probably.

Djokovic didn’t lose cause of a 1hander today. He completely just sucked.

Let’s see.. Kohli, Fed, Stan, Cecchinato, Thiem twice… was down 0-2 to Tsitsipas and MUGsetti at RG…

Quite a bit of compelling evidence my friend

 

[DSH]

He’s 21, Alcaraz and Rune are 19.

They are going to turn 20 in the next few weeks.

 

[DSH]

hmu when Nadal has won more than 1 indoor HC tournament. lol

Joker hasn't won on indoor clay, has he?

 

[mike danny]

His game is more suited to fast courts now. Sad but true.

I mean, Fred was exactly the same so I totally get you.

 

[Legend of Borg]

Did you see the Hamburg final last year? That will be two of the main clay players of this upcoming era imo, along with Rune. It's not like the game is raining great clay players. Lol.

Good win over Alcaraz but his mind game is too suspect to pull through in those 5 setters at least for now.

 

[TennisFan3]

I still feel Novak just doesn’t move comfortably on clay compared to hard or grass. It’s just more difficult for him to do his usually movement and the weight of shot is tougher as well with the higher bounce.

And yet Novak is the ONLY player to beat Nadal TWICE in RG. Once in straight sets and once in 4 sets.
Let's be clear here - Novak is the 2nd best clay player of the past 20 years.
He may even be the 3rd best of all time, behind Nadal and Borg.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Joker hasn't won on indoor clay, has he?

Ah yes, the famous indoor clay season. My favorite time of the year.

 

[DSH]

Djokovic looked rusty and annoyed in general, I'm happy for Musetti, he's exercised demons from their French Open 2021 encounter.

Djokovic fans shouldn't be in dismay, since 2015 Monte-Carlo victory over Berdych, Djokovic has historically been limp at the tournament and shows form later on in the Clay swing.

With the big difference that winning matches on clay at almost 36 years old is quite a feat and for this reason, I repeat, what Nadal did to win the RG title at that age will go down in the history books.

 

[mike danny]

That's my point. I think Musetti is hitting harder than all those guys now.

 

[Djokovic2011]

So what is this now? Just 2 match wins at MC in the last 3 years combined?

What's also shocking is that Novak hasn't even reached a SF here since 2015. His results beginning with 2016: 3R, QF, 3R, QF (loss to Medvedev LOL), 3R, 2R and 3R.

The conditions just don't suit his game anymore but he still won it twice in his prime so I can't really be too disappointed.

 

[NoleFam]

Good win over Alcaraz but his mind game is too suspect to pull through in those 5 setters at least for now.

He just turned 21. Hard to draw conclusions yet since his best tennis is ahead of him. I expect a good clay season from him this year though.

 

[Hitman]

Djokovic looked rusty and annoyed in general, I'm happy for Musetti, he's exercised demons from their French Open 2021 encounter.

Djokovic fans shouldn't be in dismay, since 2015 Monte-Carlo victory over Berdych, Djokovic has historically been limp at the tournament and shows form later on in the Clay swing.

Some of us were fully expecting this result. I didn't have Djokovic as a lock here, he looked off from the first ball he hit. Rusty, he will need to play himself into form.

 

[RF-18]

When Nadal has similar results at a hc tournament he is bad and can only play on clay, when Djokovic does absolutely nothing at a clay tournament it's ok. Versatility they say...

Djokovic doesn't go on 4 match losing streak, my friend.

In the last years Djokovic has an RG title, 2 Rome titles, Belgrade, final at RG, finals in Rome etc.

Have you seen Djokos streak at RG btw? He hasn't lost before a QF since he was a teenager I think.

 

[octobrina10]

Bravo Musetti!

 

[Baseline_Bungle]

Two-setti has done it!

Monkey off his back and a juicy Italian derby coming up.

Very weird match, definitely not a memorable performance from either man, but it was important for Muso to get a big one under his belt. Came out from the rain break actually hitting his first serves, instead of all those endless, harmless kicks. Tartarini or Volandri must have had a word with him in the locker room.

 

[mike danny]

What has Musetti done apart from this one off match? lol

Going up 2-0 on Djokovic before running out of gas. Same against Tsitsipas one year later LOL.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Djokovic doesn't go on 4 match losing streak, my friend.

In the last years Djokovic has an RG title, 2 Rome titles, Belgrade, final at RG, finals in Rome etc.

Have you seen Djokos streak at RG btw? He hasn't lost before a QF since he was a teenager I think.

Imagine if Novak had a record at RG like Nadal does at Wimbledon

 

[mike danny]

Djokovic doesn't go on 4 match losing streak, my friend.

In the last years Djokovic has an RG title, 2 Rome titles, Belgrade, final at RG, finals in Rome etc.

Have you seen Djokos streak at RG btw? He hasn't lost before a QF since he was a teenager I think.

Lost in 2009 to Kohlschreiber in the 3R.

 

[Rosstour]

Gonna be real here, I dunno what ya'll see in this guy.

He's clearly above average on clay but so are other players.

RG champ? Doubt.

Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner, even Ruud are all better than him.

Results-wise, sure...but remember Musetti beat Alcaraz in a Final. He's not messing around out there.

He ain't winning RG any time soon. Seriously he isn't anything special other than having nice strokes. Djokovic beat himself today, and I rarely say that when he loses.

Djokovic doesn't beat himself, that's why he is who he is. He got beat fair and square by a guy hitting huge off both wings.

What has Musetti done apart from this one off match? lol

Almost took Novak out at RG, and beat Alcaraz in a clay final. Just off the top of my head.

Again, should be easy to prove me wrong, no?

 

[RF-18]

Lost in 2009 to Kohlschreiber in the 3R.

So 13 years in a row getting to QF or better. He has had a couple losses in QFs and rest is SF+. 6 Rome titles + 6 finals, 2 Madrid and 2 MC. Yet Djokovic should now be questioned about his versatility LMAO!