Novak Djokovic "Nadal was just too strong today"

[MichaelNadal]

Just think. All of this could have been avoided if Delpo hadn't whiffed a gimme shot on match point. Oh Delpo, what a mess you created.

In retrospect, im glad he didn't

 

[acintya]

Short story.

- Did Djokovic really meant what he said?
- Did Djokovic two previous matches affect the result?

Nothing mess up the fanbases more than these kinds of questions

yes and yes
but what he was saaying also is that he doesnt want to speak too much about his physical state because he wants to give credit to the winner.
in other words he didnt wanted to discredit nadal. I dont think Djokovic was satisfied with his game.he was tired and in RG he will be a different story - but he is aging too so ofcourse even Ultron gets gassed sooner.
He needs that extra step on the backhand because he is taking it early ant that is so important like the air he breathes.
we will see what happens.

i am surprised at how vulnerable Novak looked.

 

[Jonas78]

yes and yes
but what he was saaying also is that he doesnt want to speak too much about his physical state because he wants to give credit to the winner.
in other words he didnt wanted to discredit nadal. I dont think Djokovic was satisfied with his game.he was tired and in RG he will be a different story - but he is aging too so ofcourse even Ultron gets gassed sooner.
He needs that extra step on the backhand because he is taking it early ant that is so important like the air he breathes.
we will see what happens.

i am surprised at how vulnerable Novak looked.

I just dont get why the fanbases get so offended.

I said before the AO final that Nadal didnt seem 100% and i said before this match that Djokovic would feel the 6 hours of play the last 48 hours.

It is what it is, im not a fan of any of them so its just my honest opinion.

 

[Nadal_Django]

I like Novak honesty here. No BS stuff, no excuses, just the honest truth. Rafa was just the much better player out there, that's it.

 

[Gazelle]

Nothing to read into this match. Djokovic just doesn't care about masters anymore.

 

[thrust]

"It is what it is."

But it's so much nicer these days when events have roofs. Unless you are totally partisan, you don't want to see a top player in a final disadvantaged by scheduling, and M1000s can be brutal because of no days off. I really believe for the top guys majors are often easier because the first four matches are easier than even M500s sometimes, although of course at the end of the events it's really rough. Think about how many clay matches some of these guys had to play in just two weeks.

SO TRUE! IMO, it is absurd to have 2 Masters in successive weeks. Why can't they schedule another tournament between Madrid and Rome? IW and Miami are 10-12 day events where top players usually get a day off between matches. IMO, Novak is being an outstanding sportsman in this interview as he knows he was greatly disadvantaged with his Rome scheduling. That happened a few years ago when he had bad scheduling in Madrid and Rome. He won Madrid but lost the Rome final that year too.

 

[Gary Duane]

SO TRUE! IMO, it is absurd to have 2 Masters in successive weeks. Why can't they schedule another tournament between Madrid and Rome? IW and Miami are 10-12 day events where top players usually get a day off between matches. IMO, Novak is being an outstanding sportsman in this interview as he knows he was greatly disadvantaged with his Rome scheduling. That happened a few years ago when he had bad scheduling in Madrid and Rome. He won Madrid but lost the Rome final that year too.

I think the way the tour handles both clay and grass is just stupid. I say no reason why clay can't be better spaced. At least they have increased time between grass events now, and finally an M500. But there should be a couple M1000 events each year on grass.

The problem with grass is not recent either. I was shocked recently looking at Borg's career to see how little grass he played. We think of him as this marvel on grass, 5 Wimbledon's in a row coming right off RG, but there were many years when he played no grass except Wimbledon. That's worse than what we see today, where many players only play a tune up. The surfaces have been badly divided up since the USO switched to clay and then HCs. In fact, the switch from grass to clay and then HCs seems to have hurt Borg because during his reign at Wimbledon he could not play the USO on grass, and he did not bother with the AO since he had no change at a grand slam. Year after year he played 7 official matches on grass each year.

It's really badly thought out today.

 

[kevaninho]

Nadal is better against the field on clay than Djokovic, that is clear to everyone. No one is taking away from Nadal's win here, I have said Nadal was ruthlessly efficient, but we all know Novak wasn't in his best state and part of it was because he didn't navigate through his draw as good as Nadal did. That is Djokovic's problem and to Nadal's credit.

This is true. I was in Rome and managed to see Djokovic live for the first time, and I expected him to be absolutely monstrous, doing things to his opponent that are almost unbelievable. It didn't happen though. He was way below par, and I was disappointed in his performance.

But the point being, is that he wasn't playing good stuff even before the final, and people need to see this.
He cannot be that 2015 machine anymore, unfortunately for me, as I wanted to see the best player in the world in his best form LOL

 

[kevaninho]

In retrospect, im glad he didn't

Yep. I think Nadal needed a win over Djokovic on clay just as much as he needed a title on clay before the FO.