Exactly, before. And even if this was the only 0-40 hole Bull had to deal with you can't expect fans to remember that almost a year after the fact.
Considering it was the pivotal turning moment in the match that you were arguing was not choking (when it was big time choking), yes, I would expect one to remember.
BP #1 - Like I said it was a good 1st serve by Bull, probably his best of the game. Med had to step back somewhat to cover the territory, and that's when Bull took advantage with his well-disguised dropper.
BP #2 - Well, given we know what did happen it's hard to say Med would've been worse off with that foray to the net. Either way I do agree this was his biggest missed opportunity.
BP #3 - Poorly executed or disguised the drop shot itself wasn't a bad choice. Dunno how many droppers Med had hit up to that point but I bet it wasn't many. I say that's being bold or at least trying new things on a BP.
Deuce - Ditto. He was actually taking initiative with that BH. Hardly a bad error.
And the rest of the match was like that. Nothing out of the ordinary, just Bull slowly imposing his game and Med hanging with him every step of the way but ultimately outclassed. To call that a choke is to expect every young contender to prevail over an oldie and we know that's just not the case even outside this era.
not really on the 1st one. Med shouldn't have gone back. serve was ok to little better for 1st serve, had some pace, not that well placed.
3rd one, I said execution was bad.
again, the first 4 points as a whole is clear choke, though not a collapse. 2 UFEs and 2 bad decision making.
match could've been ended then and there.
even after that, nadal wasn't anywhere near imposing his game. he just hung on with fight and mediocre level. Med gave him the keys with choking/mediocre level himself.
With the '20 USO F you just knew you were watching a train wreck down the final stretch. I guarantee you almost no casual/disinterested fan felt the same way about this one, cuz I was very much pulling for Med and couldn't fault him much for anything.
Nadal deserved this W, pure and simple.
With the USO 20 final, you had zverev and thiem playing well for 2 sets each (Z in sets 1 and 2 Thiem in sets 3 and 4). here, you had 1 well playing set combined from both (Med in the 1st set).
yes, lows not as dramatic in AO 22 final as USO 20 final 5th set, but this choke from Med was more extended/prolonged.
as far as not faulting Med much for anything ...........
Here is Mac for example talking about Medvedev choking in the AO 2022 final.
“I think Medvedev played a couple, I don't want to say careless, but maybe loose points. He got a little tentative because he could taste the finish line.
“And then all of a sudden it allowed the crowd back into the match because obviously the crowd was a big factor, I think.
“Then he started to show his edginess and started showing he was frustrated with the crowd and that made it worse for him. And that was the turning point right there.”
McEnroe added: “As soon as that slight momentum shift, then he started to get tight. And basically to me he choked in the third set at that point. To me, he should have been up 4-2 in the third set.
John McEnroe believes Daniil Medvedev “choked” in the third set and allowed Rafael Nadal to fight back and win their Australian Open final thriller.
www.eurosport.com
Not that Mac's word is gospel, but yeah a clear indicator that this was considered a choke.
not just my minority opinion or from nadal dislikers or something like that.
Well, of course I don't expect you to see it and you'd say the same about me. I'm just telling you this NextGen meme has run its course and the youngsters are indeed stepping up. I mean Med has made 4 Slam Fs and nabbed 1 W already, with only 1 bad L among them. Maybe you expect Davy to match that in this era. I don't.
2 bad losses. AO 21 final and AO 22 final.
give Davy med's draws in the slams and he matches that in this era atleast. Also Davy closes out a mediocre nadal in AO 22 final.
but just lets say in this era in general davy matches med clearly, IMO.
How has next gen meme runs its course?
Med ended 22 at what 6 or 7?
Zverev out injured in 2nd half.
Tpas had one good run in a slam in 22. (AO). has been accumulating some points, but worse than 21.
If you're talking about 2000+ born, Alcaraz, FAA, Rune, Sinner, we'll see what happens. I'm not calling them as weak by any means. Still atleast 2-3 years to see how they go.
But that doesn't change what has happened from 2016-22 with the 2 worst generations of all time in Nishi-Rao-Dimi gen and Med-Tsit-Zverev gen (1989-99 born), does it?. Forget ATG, none of them are even at Roddick/Safin/Hewitt/Murray/Wawa/Delpo level. Thiem is in b/w those generations and is somewhere close, but not quite there considering underperformance in 1000+ finals.
You can't say someone's title is "legit" and then accuse his opponent of "choking." If anything this is about as close as one can get to a 5-set L without choking. By your own admission Med didn't go away and fought himself back to 5-all in the 5th. That's far more than you can say about many other RUs in a heartbreaking loss.
oh it was massive choking from Med. If you think there was no choking at all, your evaluation of this match is just plain bad. One thing to debate how much of choking was involved, another to say no choking was involved.
I have no problems saying davy choked in 3rd set of RG 07 semi, 3rd set of USO 07 semi and did go away for a mental walkabout in the AO 10 QF (although he came back strong in the 4th set) - just to give some instances.
to me the way you handle davy choking and med choking indicates clear double standards. Med also choked in sets 2 and 3 vs Thiem of USO 2020 semi btw.
Its legit if you win without cheating or some external element involved (aka say Wim 73 boycott, some of the AOs of 70s/early 80s)