Nadal vs Djokovic 2014

Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal has had the upper hand in their rivalry every single year except in 2011 when Djokovic completely dominated him.

Rafa at the moment clearly has the edge on this rivalry as he's beaten the Serb 3 times in a row with two of them coming on Novak's best surface.

But make no mistake, Novak like Rafa is very much a fighter and will fight for more victories in their Open Era record rivalry.

Who's gonna have the upper hand in their rivalry next year?
 
Right now I would say Nadal. However it only takes one really close battle that goes the other way to potentially turn the psychological factor around. I think that their rivalry turned with Nadal's Roland Garros victory this year. Djokovic would have been better off not fighting back and going up in the 5th and still losing in hindsight. That gave Nadal the confidence to start beating Djokovic on hard courts which he had not in years.

Game wise they are evenly matched so it mostly comes down to confidence and momentum and right now Nadal has that strongly in his favor, but a match similar to Roland Garros which were to go Djokovic's way could change that around again. Impossible to say if that type of thing will happen though. So for now you have to say Nadal has the edge going into 2014.
 
bahamasboy32 said:
Right now I would say Nadal. However it only takes one really close battle that goes the other way to potentially turn the psychological factor around. I think that their rivalry turned with Nadal's Roland Garros victory this year. Djokovic would have been better off not fighting back and going up in the 5th and still losing in hindsight. That gave Nadal the confidence to start beating Djokovic on hard courts which he had not in years.

Game wise they are evenly matched so it mostly comes down to confidence and momentum and right now Nadal has that strongly in his favor, but a match similar to Roland Garros which were to go Djokovic's way could change that around again. Impossible to say if that type of thing will happen though. So for now you have to say Nadal has the edge going into 2014.
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Great post. Very good analysis. They're indeed two of the best players in the world and biggest fighters we've seen in tennis. Novak wasn't always like this but he's turned himself into a Nadal-like fighter in 2011 and has remained so. The fact that they've played Open Era record 37th matches between them and there's no bagel yet, to me means that they both hate to lose especially to each other. Every match, every point is a battle between these two greats. Us fans, let's enjoy these two.
 
It really depends on if Rafa's level drops or not. He can't keep it up forever, Djokovic is a year younger and has less miles on him. I'm just happy Rafa has put a huge stamp on 2013. If he can hold off Novak yet another year it will be impressive indeed.
 
This is such an interesting rivalry. Nadal has always had the massive upper hand on clay. In 2011, it looked like Djoko might be able to turn that around but Rafa defended his ground comprehensively. Now it is Rafa who is trying to overturn the trend on hard court with already 2 spectacular victories on that surface this year. Can he keep it up in 2014? Good stuff, especially when considering that Djoko was Nadal's main obstacle on hard. .
 
MichaelNadal said:
It really depends on if Rafa's level drops or not. He can't keep it up forever, Djokovic is a year younger and has less miles on him. I'm just happy Rafa has put a huge stamp on 2013. If he can hold off Novak yet another year it will be impressive indeed.
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I actually think Djokovic has more decline in him than Nadal. Djokovic is close to his peak now, although he is already starting to gradually come off it as he isnt quite at his 2011 level. Nadal already suffered his big physical decline in 2011 (eg- Djokovic who is himself very fast and always was, started to look faster than Nadal for the first time ever), and now has mostly stayed at that level as far as the physical part, and his improved technically, tactically, and even further mentally to compensate. Djokovic has not suffered his big physical decline yet, probably will soon, and when he does I am not sure if he will even be able to hang with Nadal, and perhaps even Murray, any longer.
 
edge to nadal. it's a slam dunk case even for hard courts if nadal snags the Australian open.


I think he will capture the next slam too.


he is on a roll so why the hell not.
 
Nadal had the edge in 2010

Novak dominated him in 2011

Nadal turned in 2012 and dominated novak in 2013

So next year should be interesting!

Although they have great rallies, the quality of points and shotmaking is pretty average.
 
MichaelNadal said:
It really depends on if Rafa's level drops or not. He can't keep it up forever, Djokovic is a year younger and has less miles on him. I'm just happy Rafa has put a huge stamp on 2013. If he can hold off Novak yet another year it will be impressive indeed.
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I'm not sure this is true.

Sure, he's played less matches (653 Novak) vs (769 Nadal), but Novak has played a lot more at a later age. He's played so many matches the last few years and Nadal has had that 7-8 months off.

Not only that, but Novak's style has got to start taking some toll on him. Nadal's style has certainly done it to him, but Novak so far hasn't really had any great physical set backs. All that running, sliding and stretching, especially on HC must be wearing away at him from a physical standpoint.

It's certainly going to be an interesting year in their rivalry...
 
and just what do you base this imaginary truth on?

let me guess:

it is because nadal has won 6 of the last 7 meetings including 2 on nole`s very best surface.


trend is not favorable for nole.

what else have you got?
 
Death Master said:
and just what do you base this imaginary truth on?

let me guess:

it is because nadal has won 6 of the last 7 meetings including 2 on nole`s very best surface.


trend is not favorable for nole.

what else have you got?
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Clarky = have the lowest expectation for Nadal and expect him to lose every match and hope the anti-jinxing works and Nadal wins.
 
ripitup said:
I actually think Djokovic has more decline in him than Nadal. Djokovic is close to his peak now, although he is already starting to gradually come off it as he isnt quite at his 2011 level. Nadal already suffered his big physical decline in 2011 (eg- Djokovic who is himself very fast and always was, started to look faster than Nadal for the first time ever), and now has mostly stayed at that level as far as the physical part, and his improved technically, tactically, and even further mentally to compensate. Djokovic has not suffered his big physical decline yet, probably will soon, and when he does I am not sure if he will even be able to hang with Nadal, and perhaps even Murray, any longer.
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^^^^^ What he said.
 
RF20Lennon said:
Clarky = have the lowest expectation for Nadal and expect him to lose every match and hope the anti-jinxing works and Nadal wins.
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Really. Well I demand Clarky to keep up with jinxing until Nadal reaches 19 slams then, and then she can ease up. Did you hear that Clarky, I insist, jinx Nadal before every single slam and every event until he has atleast 19 slams.
 
When it comes to the future of this match up everything is wishful thinking, but over the long haul Nadal has certainly been the better player.
 
ripitup said:
Really. Well I demand Clarky to keep up with jinxing until Nadal reaches 19 slams then, and then she can ease up. Did you hear that Clarky, I insist, jinx Nadal before every single slam and every event until he has atleast 19 slams.
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Why insist on a given.
 
Ive said it for two years.. Nole needs to essentially be in "god mode" to beat Nadal. If hes not the chances are greater he loses than he wins. In 2011, everything went Nole's way. It was the highest level he could ever attain. But that was just one of those isolated years. Now its back to the way it should be. Rafa dominating. Anything less than top level from Nole is not enough to beat Rafa.
 
90's Clay said:
Ive said it for two years.. Nole needs to essentially be in "god mode" to beat Nadal. If hes not the chances are greater he loses than he wins. In 2011, everything went Nole's way. It was the highest level he could ever attain. But that was just one of those isolated years. Now its back to the way it should be. Rafa dominating. Anything less than top level from Nole is not enough to beat Rafa.
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I think the clay warrior is about to turn up the heat in 2014.

he has this way and this look about him that I have never seen before.


it is really all over for them all if he snatches the Australian open.

that gets him past Sampras for once and for all. he will be much more relaxed after that.


and it puts him within just 3 slams. so he can finally see the daylight and start running for it.

oz win also mean that he will have taken care of a very strong field. he may have to beat nole in the final but I don't think nole will even make the final this time.

all this on his worst surface.


and he starts his clay campaigns early in 2014. no way in hell is he letting go of his RG crown.

translation: clay warrior has the inside track and there is not a damn thing they can do about it right now.
 
I don't think it's going to be easy for either to beat the other. I hope we get to see them battle in Melbourne in January.
 
I think it's more of an effort for Djoko and Murray to keep up with Nadal because they reserve their 'A' game just for him. Sometimes they pull it off but it doesn't come naturally to them. So Nadal will have the upper hand in the end.
 
Crose said:
He was vacationing in his head after RG. He bought a house there after USO. It's gonna take one hell of a performance from Novak to evict him.
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I think Nadal will start his own city in Djokovic's head after beating him in the Australian Open final.
 
Death Master said:
I think the clay warrior is about to turn up the heat in 2014.

he has this way and this look about him that I have never seen before.


it is really all over for them all if he snatches the Australian open.

that gets him past Sampras for once and for all. he will be much more relaxed after that.


and it puts him within just 3 slams. so he can finally see the daylight and start running for it.

oz win also mean that he will have taken care of a very strong field. he may have to beat nole in the final but I don't think nole will even make the final this time.

all this on his worst surface.


and he starts his clay campaigns early in 2014. no way in hell is he letting go of his RG crown.

translation: clay warrior has the inside track and there is not a damn thing they can do about it right now.
Click to expand...

Omg if he wins the AO......!!!
 
Clarky21 said:
I hope so. Maybe she'll get knocked up right away and then he retires from tennis to raise his demon spawn. That would be fantastic news to me. Lol.
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LMAO, Clarky, you are too funny for your own good :D I don't want djokovic to retire though. I want to see Murray and Nadal humiliate that loud mouth over and over again.
 
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