Nadal calls Ivanisevic 'A bit arrogant'

[Beckerserve]

In classic Rafa style few words but right on the pressure points.
Not said much other than Ivanisevic was a bit arrogant for what he said 'but it is true conditions much better for Novak'.
That last bit was an interesting addendum.
Sort of defending Goran to a degree. Or perhaps something else.

 

[The Blond Blur]

Translation: I beat his boy like a cheap rug even when the conditions were favored by him

 

[vex]

Why anyone would talk **** to Rafa before a RG match I will never understand

 

[Mivic]

Translation: I beat his boy like a cheap rug even when the conditions were favored by him

Regardless of what Rafa says or what various posters on this forum were saying before the final, conditions were close to ideal for Nadal given the current state of the Djokodal match-up. The court was dead enough where his declined footspeed was a non factor with Djokovic no longer possessing the firepower to hit through said conditions, and as we know Rafa can hit through even the slowest of surfaces, especially with the more proactive approach he has adopted from the baseline in recent years.

 

[Bender]

Why anyone would talk **** to Rafa before a RG match I will never understand

IF you're going to talk **** about Rafa then at least do it at the Australian Open, Miami, or the WTF, and not before the final of a tournament that he's won 12 times prior with a 99-2 record, damn.

Regardless of what Rafa says or what various posters on this forum were saying before the final, conditions were close to ideal for Nadal given the current state of the Djokodal match-up. The court was dead enough where his declined footspeed was a non factor with Djokovic no longer possessing the firepower to hit through said conditions, and as we know Rafa can hit through even the slowest of surfaces, especially with the more proactive approach he has adopted from the baseline in recent years.

Djokovic really never really had consistent firepower his entire career. He's good for smacking some huge winners here and there but his strengths always lay in hitting the ball early, and absorbing and redirecting pace. When he tries to smack balls for an entire match he usually ends up with astronomically high UE counts.

It's probably why he matches up so well against Nadal and not so much against Federer. Nadal with his hard and heavy hitting but relatively conservative directionals consistently gives Djokovic all the power and rhythm he needs, whereas Fed's slices and more varied pace often force Djokovic to create pace on a nothing ball one moment then scrambling in the next.

 

[vex]

IFyou're going to talk **** about Rafa then at least do it at the Australian Open, Miami, or the WTF, and not before the final of a tournament that he's won 12 times prior with a 99-2 record, damn.

Djokovic really never really had consistent firepower his entire career. He's good for smacking some huge winners here and there but his strengths always lay in hitting the ball early, and absorbing and redirecting pace. When he tries to do it the entire match he ends up with astronomically high UE counts.

It's probably why he matches up so well against Nadal and not so much against Federer. Nadal with his hard and heavy hitting but relatively conservative directionals consistently gives Djokovic all the power and rhythm he needs, whereas Fed's slices and more varied pace often force Djokovic to create pace on a nothing ball one moment then scrambling in the next.

I’ve never seen someone make that particular point about the difference in the matchups. Smart.

 

[FRV4]

Djokovic has a very adaptable game. He can exploit his opponents’ statistical weaknesses. For some reason, Goran has told Djokovic to get away from that and just play his game. Imo, it hasn’t been a good move. Also, the big second serves make no sense and add undue risk.

I realize this isn’t all that pertinent to the thread but I did not want to make a separate thread to bring this up.

 

[SinneGOAT]

Nadal delivers the final blow...

 

[Tennis_Freak99]

How do slower conditioned courts not help Rafa more than Djoker is beyond me. Stupid Analysis

 

[PeoplesChamp]

I haven't said this yet. The roof closure made Nadal happy imo. His demeanor from the moment they came out of the tunnel said a lot. He looked very pleased in the moment. The temperature went up on PC and he was ready to play then. That combined with poor strategy from Djokovic allowed for this to be a beat down. That's my take.

 

[PeoplesChamp]

And yes, Goran was a bit arrogant.

 

[DSH]

Deserved words to the unpresentable former Croatian player.

 

[aldeayeah]

Regardless of what Rafa says or what various posters on this forum were saying before the final, conditions were close to ideal for Nadal given the current state of the Djokodal match-up. The court was dead enough where his declined footspeed was a non factor with Djokovic no longer possessing the firepower to hit through said conditions, and as we know Rafa can hit through even the slowest of surfaces, especially with the more proactive approach he has adopted from the baseline in recent years.

That's only true because Djokovic stepped on court with a bad plan and bad execution. IMO Djokovic had the ability to defend on that surface, but he chose not to, and ended up paying the price. If he had been more patient and tried to turn it into an attrition contest from the beginning, things might have been different. (Then again, maybe not because Rafa was on fire)

 

[fox]

It was disrespectful by Goran, don't think arrogant is good word to describe it. If it was against other player I would call it arrogant but against a guy who won 13 times it is a bit disrespectful to say such things.

 

[Aretium]

Definitely was arrogant, but us Balkan types are a little more brash and outgoing than typical.

 

[Fedinkum]

Goran wanted to stroke his boss hard but got <ock-blocked by Rafa.

 

[thrust]

It was disrespectful by Goran, don't think arrogant is good word to describe it. If it was against other player I would call it arrogant but against a guy who won 13 times it is a bit disrespectful to say such things.

What Goran said was stupid, as was Novak's game plan. I still think Novak was not at his physical best.

 

[HetTheGreaterer]

What Goran said was stupid, as was Novak's game plan. I still think Novak was not at his physical best.

Novak is past his physical best ever since his 29th birthday

 

[clayqueen]

IF you're going to talk **** about Rafa then at least do it at the Australian Open, Miami, or the WTF, and not before the final of a tournament that he's won 12 times prior with a 99-2 record, damn.

Djokovic really never really had consistent firepower his entire career. He's good for smacking some huge winners here and there but his strengths always lay in hitting the ball early, and absorbing and redirecting pace. When he tries to smack balls for an entire match he usually ends up with astronomically high UE counts.

It's probably why he matches up so well against Nadal and not so much against Federer. Nadal with his hard and heavy hitting but relatively conservative directionals consistently gives Djokovic all the power and rhythm he needs, whereas Fed's slices and more varied pace often force Djokovic to create pace on a nothing ball one moment then scrambling in the next.

This is all second guessing based on what's happened. Rafa, on form, is better than Djokovic on any surface. That Wimbledon 2018 SF was a travesty. Aside from that Rafa has been undermined by the Wimbledon seeding formula since 2010 even though he won it in 2010 beating Berdych in the final who had already defeated Djokovic and Federer in the QF and SF.

Rafa has been hampered with stopping and starting with injury since 2012.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Rafa, on form, is better than Djokovic on any surface.

lol

 

[clayqueen]

lol

Before RG 2020 final, this was my favourite match replay.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Before RG 2020 final, this was my favourite match replay.

Good match, but I prefer the following year

Novak was injured in this and still managed to win. Vamos

 

[clayqueen]

Good match, but I prefer the following year

Novak was injured in this and still managed to win. Vamos

If you want more scintillating tennis after watching the 2010 final, there is also this one.

 

[Bender]

This is all second guessing based on what's happened.

Yeah, there's a word for it--analysis.

 

[Breakpointerer]

Yeah, there's a word for it--analysis.

lmao

 

[Musterrific]

Goran had a penchant for making very odd statements during his playing career too. He was a love or hate kind of guy.

 

[Zardoz7/12]

Watching the French Open final again, I was astounded at how one sided the match was. Nadal was playing solid tennis, nothing special by his standards but Djokovic had no answers at all, just lethargic and lacking that Djokovic passion we're all accustomed to.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Why anyone would talk **** to Rafa before a RG match I will never understand

Well, he wasn't talking smackdown sh-t, he said what many others also believed: "I'm counting on a Novak-Nadal final, in which, in my opinion, Nadal has no chance in these conditions, on this clay and with Novak, who has got into his head."

It was typical arrogance from the Djokovic camp, but wasn't full blown smackdown. He should have kept his mouth shut, obviously.

 

[Mivic]

.

 

[clayqueen]

Well, he wasn't talking smackdown sh-t, he said what many others also believed: "I'm counting on a Novak-Nadal final, in which, in my opinion, Nadal has no chance in these conditions, on this clay and with Novak, who has got into his head."

It was typical arrogance from the Djokovic camp, but wasn't full blown smackdown. He should have kept his mouth shut, obviously.

It's evident that's the kind of talk that takes place in the Djokovic camp.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Goran should sign on with the Nadal team! LOL!

 

[clayqueen]

Djoker hasn't sacked him for causing him some embarrassment because Goran only said in public what his team has said in private.

 

[clayqueen]

Goran should sign on with the Nadal team! LOL!

He won't be of any use to them.

 

[Mivic]

IF you're going to talk **** about Rafa then at least do it at the Australian Open, Miami, or the WTF, and not before the final of a tournament that he's won 12 times prior with a 99-2 record, damn.

Djokovic really never really had consistent firepower his entire career. He's good for smacking some huge winners here and there but his strengths always lay in hitting the ball early, and absorbing and redirecting pace. When he tries to smack balls for an entire match he usually ends up with astronomically high UE counts.

It's probably why he matches up so well against Nadal and not so much against Federer. Nadal with his hard and heavy hitting but relatively conservative directionals consistently gives Djokovic all the power and rhythm he needs, whereas Fed's slices and more varied pace often force Djokovic to create pace on a nothing ball one moment then scrambling in the next.

Agree for the most part that Djokovic has never consistently been the biggest hitter off the ground, which is why he’s had far less success against Nadal on clay than elsewhere historically, but even then his weight of shot has been the primary source of decline in his game as he’s aged, and in order for him to make it competitive against a well playing Rafa at RG he needs to be generating his own pace from the baseline as he was doing pretty successfully from 2011 to 2013 especially. Nadal moves too well on clay and hits too heavy a ball for Djokovic to fall back on his natural patterns of play and have any real success. Obviously on grass and HC Djokovic can play within himself to a far greater extent and Nadal is the one who needs to adapt and take more risks in order to give himself a fighting chance.