Novak - Losing in Straight Sets

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McEnroeisanartist

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For the last two years, Novak has seemingly earned the title of "Biggest Fighter" in tennis. I think this was why it was so surprising to see him lose yesterday in straight sets.

He hadn't lost in straight sets since the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals to Berdych. This was a streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss. Too lazy to see how this compares to the all time greats, but Federer had a streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss.
 
Fiji said:
How many slam finals has he lost in 3 sets?
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You mean in straight sets? All runners-up in Slam finals lose by 3 sets! :wink:

He's now lost 2 Slam finals in straight sets: 2007 US Open to Federer and 2013 Wimbledon to Murray.
 
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McEnroeisanartist said:
For the last two years, Novak has seemingly earned the title of "Biggest Fighter" in tennis. I think this was why it was so surprising to see him lose yesterday in straight sets.

He hadn't lost in straight sets since the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals to Berdych. This was a streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss. Too lazy to see how this compares to the all time greats, but Federer had a streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss.
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he was tired, man. Have you ever been tired on the court before ? you can't play your best tennis
 
Nadal's longest streak of not losing in straight sets in a grand slam: 7 (Broken at 2013 Wimbledon to Darcis)

Murray's longest streak of not losing in straight sets in a grand slam: 8 (active)
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
For the last two years, Novak has seemingly earned the title of "Biggest Fighter" in tennis. I think this was why it was so surprising to see him lose yesterday in straight sets.

He hadn't lost in straight sets since the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals to Berdych. This was a streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss. Too lazy to see how this compares to the all time greats, but Federer had a streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss.
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I think he choked. losing the leads that he had in set 2 and 3? choke jub for sure
 
Don't know how much to read into this stat. However, the 5 settere he had with DelPo certainly contributed to his loss in final. Physically, he may have been OK, but mentally he was maybe out of gas. On the important points, that may have been the deciding factor. It's like running a marathon. at the end, your legs and lungs may still take the work, but telling the mind that you want to run these 2 last miles at sub-5 min per mile, not everyone can do it.
 
VPhuc tennis fan said:
Don't know how much to read into this stat. However, the 5 settere he had with DelPo certainly contributed to his loss in final. Physically, he may have been OK, but mentally he was maybe out of gas. On the important points, that may have been the deciding factor. It's like running a marathon. at the end, your legs and lungs may still take the work, but telling the mind that you want to run these 2 last miles at sub-5 min per mile, not everyone can do it.
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I will read into the stat. The stat means you were consistently winning consecutive grand slams AND if you were losing, making it difficult for your opponent to beat you.
 
VPhuc tennis fan said:
Don't know how much to read into this stat. However, the 5 settere he had with DelPo certainly contributed to his loss in final. Physically, he may have been OK, but mentally he was maybe out of gas. On the important points, that may have been the deciding factor. It's like running a marathon. at the end, your legs and lungs may still take the work, but telling the mind that you want to run these 2 last miles at sub-5 min per mile, not everyone can do it.
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I don't get it. He played a longer SF against Murray in AO 2012 and then played a six hour final against Nadal. Slower court, more punishing surface, but he wasn't mentally or physically fatigued at all. Could one year really make that big a difference? Murray also spent more time on court at Wimby than Djokovic did.

Call me crazy, but I think Murray was just hands down the better player yesterday, everything else aside.
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
For the last two years, Novak has seemingly earned the title of "Biggest Fighter" in tennis. I think this was why it was so surprising to see him lose yesterday in straight sets.

He hadn't lost in straight sets since the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals to Berdych. This was a streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss. Too lazy to see how this compares to the all time greats, but Federer had a streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss.
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i consider djokovic to be the best at coming back, or the hardest to close against. of course it may be because my definition of a fighter is different than yours. it's all semantics.

he doesnt seem like a fighter because he gets so down on himself from time to time. he doesnt have that grind mentality of a nadal or a ferrer. granted his strokes are very steady, but his mind isnt, if that makes sense.
 
BigServer1 said:
I don't get it. He played a longer SF against Murray in AO 2012 and then played a six hour final against Nadal. Slower court, more punishing surface, but he wasn't mentally or physically fatigued at all. Could one year really make that big a difference? Murray also spent more time on court at Wimby than Djokovic did.

Call me crazy, but I think Murray was just hands down the better player yesterday, everything else aside.
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Maybe if that was a reason for him losing in straight sets, it was because of the weather?

Australia is warm, but they were both night matches. England last week was very hot, the court temperature was around 106 for both matches. Also noticed after the Del Potro match that Djokovic had a bright red face so i'm guessing he might of got burnt. At least he'd fit in with the rest of the British public, as he wasn't alone in that :)
 
Wow, it last happened in 2007? I guess he didn't make any final appearances from 2008 to 2010...
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
For the last two years, Novak has seemingly earned the title of "Biggest Fighter" in tennis. I think this was why it was so surprising to see him lose yesterday in straight sets.

He hadn't lost in straight sets since the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals to Berdych. This was a streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss. Too lazy to see how this compares to the all time greats, but Federer had a streak of 14 consecutive Grand Slams without a straight sets loss.
Click to expand...

I thought it was Federer who lost to Berdych in 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinal ? :confused:
 
Chico said:
And in US Open 2007 he wasted 7 set points in two different sets.
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5 set points in the first - a choke

2 set points in the second - so not a choke, federer saved one with an ace and second one, djokovic hit a FH that just missed, it wasn't a bad miss at all.
 
It was a close 3 sets, and the crowd was practically 100% in Murray's corner.

Oddly enough, it felt a lot closer than Murray and Federer's 5 set semi-final at the Australian Open.
 
Interesting stats. I looked through the records of the other Open Era greats (including those already mentioned on the thread):

Federer: 14
Djokovic: 11
Sampras: 11 (FO 1993 - US 1995)
Lendl: 10 (FO 1980 - FO 1983)
Borg: 9 (FO 1979 - US 1981; ended his career without the streak being broken)
Edberg: 9 (W 1992 - W 1994)
Agassi: 8 (W 1992 - AO 1995)
Becker: 7 (W 1985 - AO 1987 & FO 1995 - W 1997)
McEnroe: 7 (FO 1983 - US 1984)
Nadal: 7
Wilander: 6 (W 1984 - US 1985)
Connors: 5 (AO 1974 - W 1975 & FO 1980 - W 1981)

Really weird that Connors, who is renowned as one of the toughest fighters, has the shortest streak!
 
Phoenix1983 said:
Interesting stats. I looked through the records of the other Open Era greats (including those already mentioned on the thread):

Federer: 14
Djokovic: 11
Sampras: 11 (FO 1993 - US 1995)
Lendl: 10 (FO 1980 - FO 1983)
Borg: 9 (FO 1979 - US 1981; ended his career without the streak being broken)
Edberg: 9 (W 1992 - W 1994)
Agassi: 8 (W 1992 - AO 1995)
Becker: 7 (W 1985 - AO 1987 & FO 1995 - W 1997)
McEnroe: 7 (FO 1983 - US 1984)
Nadal: 7
Wilander: 6 (W 1984 - US 1985)
Connors: 5 (AO 1974 - W 1975 & FO 1980 - W 1981)

Really weird that Connors, who is renowned as one of the toughest fighters, has the shortest streak!
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Good research. Although, it is worth pointing out that during Federer's streak of 14, he won 10 of the Grand Slams.
 
It's undeniable that Novak is especially vulnerable on grass to three-set shutouts, with three in the last six years at Wimbledon alone (excluding the Olympics). But his vulnerability there just sums up how much he's achieved in overcoming his shortcomings.
 
6-1 6-3 6-0 said:
Nadal is the only member of the big 4 that hasn't been straight-setted in a slam final. Amazing. :o
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Big 4 straight set losses in Slam finals:

1. Murray = 3 times out of 5 (2008 USO, 2010 AO, 2011 AO).
2. Djokovic = 2 times out of 5 (2007 USO, 2013 Wimbledon).
3. Federer = 1 time out of 7 (2008 FO).
4. Nadal = 0 times out of 5.

*Edited (thanks to Cormorant): Nadal (at 2006 Wimbledon) and Federer (at 2008 FO) are the only 2 of the Big 4 who have ever been bagelled in a Slam final.
 
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