The Dark Knight
Legend
How can you compare that to that Fed?
Nadal wasn't even a choke .....fed had 2 match points and he was serving . He then lost the next 17 out of 21 points.......
SEVENTEEN OUT OF TWENTY ONE
Top ten greatest chokes of all time
- Thread starter The Dark Knight
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How can you compare that to that Fed?
Nadal wasn't even a choke .....fed had 2 match points and he was serving . He then lost the next 17 out of 21 points.......
SEVENTEEN OUT OF TWENTY ONE
Tenez101
Banned
That was more of Djokovic anti-choking (he choked away the fourth set) rather than Nadal breaking down. Nadal was still competitive to the end; he had break point in the final game after all.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
There's the famous Round of 16 match at 1987 Wimbledon, when Mikael Pernfors led Jimmy Connors by the score of 6-1, 6-1, 4-1, and also led by 3-0 in the fourth set. Connors won 1-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
It must be said, though, had Pernfors won, it would have been an upset. Pernfors had already achieved an upset win from 2 sets down in the Round of 32 against Tim Mayotte.
It must be said, though, had Pernfors won, it would have been an upset. Pernfors had already achieved an upset win from 2 sets down in the Round of 32 against Tim Mayotte.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Phoenix1983
G.O.A.T.
I think he was also 40-0 up in the sixth game of that set, and yet still contrived to lose.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Yeah, any comeback from far down and any waste of good opportunities can be called a "choke" by the loser. That makes sense, and, in that context, the further the loser was ahead and the more opportunities the player had, the bigger the choke.
But, if we're going to have a list of the "greatest" chokes, then I really think that the psyschological aspects have to be considered in a big way. When you can visibly see the "yips" and the person tensing and panicking, that adds a lot to the "choke" even if the losing player wasn't as far ahead or didnt' have as many opportunities as in other examples.
Someone gave Cilic-Murray as example. Maybe Cilic has a a great poker face, but he doesn't even even look that visibly upset when he's losing the lead, and almost seems to accept his fate.
Classic "chokes" IMO involve the losing player saying to themselves "I could win this, I should win this" and then freaking out. They really believe that they could/should win. Contrast this to players that build big leads over top players, yet we inevitably, almost predictably, see the higher ranked player come back. It's almost like those losing players never believed they could/should win in the first place and just found themselves in the lead. They sort of casually accept that if they don't win, there's nothing wrong. They don't fear the impending loss like the greatest "chokers" do. Of course, simply based on the loss of a big lead, they have "choked", but not in the greatest way possible.
That's just my take. I know many think differently.
He said he choked because he despised Lendl and didn't want to give him credit. Lendl won that match more than Mac lost it, and it was an all-time classic with high quality tennis and great drama. Mac was a break up in the 4th set, but that is no big deal on clay where breaks are so common (plus Lendl had already broken him in that set anyway)
He has admitted that he hasn't watched the match back at all since playing in it. The journalists who have called it a choke have also admitted that they haven't actually watched it since then either.
In that same tournament, that was an epic fightback by Henrik Sundstrom, who was 2-6 0-6 1-5 against Hans Gildermeister in R3, but he came back to win in 5 sets after the Chilean began to hit error after error.
Wayne Ferreira was losing 4-6 4-6 1-5 to Ljubicic in R3 of the 2002 Australian Open but won in 5 sets. I know people who attended that match live who said that Ljubicic gagged badly in that one.
The Dark Knight
Legend
Mac was up 2 sets to love and something like 3-1 in the third?
And then came the meltdown.....he freaked out at a photographer for making noise and completely lost his composure and the match.
Mac was never a break up in the third set. He said he was in his autobiography, and has repeated it ever since, but it wasn't true. Lendl was the first one to break in the third set, taking a 4-2 lead. Mac broke back straight set, before Lendl broke to take the set.
In the 4 set, Mac broke twice only for Lendl to break straight back on both occasions. When he was leading *4-3, he had already saved a couple of break points with some excellent play before Lendl eventually levelled. He did have break points at 4-4 to potentially serve for the match, but couldn't take them. And in the 5th set Lendl looked a lot more comfortable on his serve and Mac only had 2 break points.
Mac's serving was excellent in the first two sets, and it's always difficult approaching completely impossible to serve like for 5 sets on any surface, let alone clay. Lendl got a foothold in the match, and began chipping his return lower, forcing Mac to volley up and making it easier for him to pass and lob Mac at the net. Plus he physically outlasted Mac that day.
One of the best major finals of the open era. The full-match is on clay, I doubt anyone who watches the whole match would call it a choke.
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Mustard
Bionic Poster
McEnroe did play excellent tennis in the first 2 sets, but McEnroe was not a break up in the third set at any stage, despite what some people say. McEnroe was a break up in the fourth set, at 4-3 if I remember rightly, but Lendl broke back in the next game. If anything is to blame for McEnroe's loss in the 1984 French Open final, it was his inferior fitness compared to Lendl's, and the resulting decline in his serving consistency in the latter sets. Remember that McEnroe used to say that he was on a "Haagen-Daas" diet as he mocked Lendl's fitness regimen.
abmk
Bionic Poster
this ... I saw it the same way too. nowhere near a choke, but a great match.
the only point where I have a slight disagreement is about mac's serving. Its true that he was serving at a very high level in the first 2 sets and it was near impossible to serve like that for 5 sets, but his serving dropped rather drastically in the next 3 sets. If it had dipped by a margin, but not that drastically as it did, he'd have won IMO.
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The Dark Knight
Legend
The biggest to me was fed joker uso....fed up three match points and joker hits a Hail Mary return that knocks Feds teeth loose . Fed then double faults and misses the next 1$ out of 21 points to lose the match.
S
Sirius Black
Guest
This isn't what happened...
Tennisknowledge99
Banned
2009 Wimby: Federer - Roddick
A- Rod had a lot of chances. He led 6-2 in the 2nd set TB. When he served for the set on 6-5, he made mistake with an easy volley, and that was the point that give him the loss. Roddick's horrible approach game made him lose the match
2011 US Open SF: Djokovic - Federer
2001 Wimby SF: Rafter - Agassi
A- Rod had a lot of chances. He led 6-2 in the 2nd set TB. When he served for the set on 6-5, he made mistake with an easy volley, and that was the point that give him the loss. Roddick's horrible approach game made him lose the match
2011 US Open SF: Djokovic - Federer
2001 Wimby SF: Rafter - Agassi
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
a K-rich post in a bat-thread... i liked it !
jmc3367
Rookie
Greg Norman at the 96 masters...I know it's not tennis but it was the most painful choke to watch. I guess because it happens so slow it's like a water torture. Greatest choke I ever saw in real life was me and my doubles partner in the High School region championships in 1985. my partner put an easy overhead in the net on a match point and we fell apart from there.
donquijote
G.O.A.T.
Exactly.
By the way, there was a time when somebody was called Choke-Ovic, remember?
The_Mental_Giant
Hall of Fame
I think if Nalby pulled that SF match vs Fatdatis he had a high chance to beat Fed and win the championship...
Mustard
Bionic Poster
Another what if for Nalbandian, like the 2003 US Open when Nalbandian had a match point for a straight sets win over Roddick in the semi finals.
3fees
G.O.A.T.
I thought that also USO 2011, I seen the match, then realized, Nole was coming out-serving his notice, Federer's serve was excellent to win, way out wide, for almost all it was over, instead ,ND went outside and hit a winner with an extreme angle, from there there was no stopping him. Theres more than one way to look at something and thats the fact here..
Cheers
3Fees
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S
Sirius Black
Guest
I thought that also USO 2011, I seen the match, then realized, Nole was coming out-serving his notice, Federer's serve was excellent to win, way out wide, for almost all it was over, instead ,ND went outside and hit a winner with an extreme angle, from there there was no stopping him. Theres more than one way to look at something and thats the fact here..
Cheers
3Fees
This is poetry.
Fed is the biggest choker ever. He must have goat tennis skills, that even with that, he can still win 17 majors.
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Really nothing beats Ferrer-Almagro at the Australian open :twisted:
Djokovic2011
Bionic Poster
If we're talking about non-slam matches then Anderson's choke against Dimitrov at this year's Cincinnati should definitely be included.
That was pretty painful to watch.
That was pretty painful to watch.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
I was open mouthed during that match. It was an unbelievable choke from Almagro. Almagro dominated the first 2 sets and was in control of the rallies for most of the match, while having countless chances to win, but failed. Ferrer was practically gifted the victory on a plate, despite the fact that he hadn't played well at all during the match, except to keep plugging away in hope.
Djokovic2011
Bionic Poster
Personally I'm glad that Almagro did choke that one or I wouldn't have been able to witness Nole's masterclass in the semi-finals. :twisted:
Steve0904
Talk Tennis Guru
I doubt it. He probably would've creamed Almagro just the same.
The Green Mile
Bionic Poster
Definitely this one. The match thread was brilliant too! :lol:
Totally agree, man o man Nico has choked some good ones away.
It's been pointed out to you more than once that there was no double fault on match point, why do you keep lying?
The Graf match wasn't even Novotna's biggest choke, let alone the biggest choke of all time: she was up 5-0, forty love in the 3rd against Chanda Rubin at the French Open and lost, p.i.s.sing away nine, count 'me, NINE match points in the process. I had a tape(since lost) of that match, as the games began slipping away, you can hear Novotna mutter to herself, "What IS this ****?" which was surprising for two reasons: Number one, I always thought that mutli lingual people in moments of stress revert to their mother tongue, which, Jana clearly didn't do, and, Number Two, the match was shown on tape delay, and when such is the case, NBC normally bleeped out profanity, but they didn't in this instance.
My candidate is Vilas vs Orantes, 1975 US Open, he had something like 5 match points, including 5-0, forty love, too, but that, unlike Novotna, wasn't in the decisive set, so he still could've won after blowing the 3rd or 4th set, unreal.
The_Mental_Giant
Hall of Fame
NADAL HAS CHOKED QUITE A FEW TIMES TOO...
He chokes vs Fed in Miami 2005... he was 2 sets up and lost the match.....
He choked vs Nole in AO 2012... He was serving 4-2 and 30-15 in the fifth..and managed to lose
He choked in Wimbledon 2007, and Almost lost Wimbledon 2008, he was almost straightsetting Fed there and he started to choke and barely won in 5...
He chokes vs Fed in Miami 2005... he was 2 sets up and lost the match.....
He choked vs Nole in AO 2012... He was serving 4-2 and 30-15 in the fifth..and managed to lose
He choked in Wimbledon 2007, and Almost lost Wimbledon 2008, he was almost straightsetting Fed there and he started to choke and barely won in 5...
tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
AO 2012 was one, but about the rest... do you know in Miami there was a bad call from the umpire that gave 15-30 to Federer instead of 0-40? At 0-40 Nadal had a great chance to break and close the match in the third, at 15-30 the story was different.
The_Order
G.O.A.T.
I know it all too well. But they're the breaks in this sport, sometimes they will make horrible calls that can cost you the match, sometimes they can make horrible calls that can lead you to win the match.
Nadal was playing in his first ever 'big' final. It was his first Masters 1000 final, he had Fed dead and buried but he choked in the third set, allowed Fed to gain momentum and ultimately that cost him the match more than one bad call.
Interesting fact though, Federer has NEVER had a straight sets victory over Nadal in a Bo5 match. His best result was a 4 set victory and he only achieved that once. Quite telling...
Anti-Fedal
Professional
If we're talking in recent times either Fed/Novak USO 2011 or Fed/Roddick W 2009.
Talker
Hall of Fame
Anti-Fedal
Professional
Anybody here remember Grosjean vs Clement AO2001 semi? Pretty sure Grosjean was up 2 sets to love and was serving for the match in third, yet ended up losing it in five. That was pretty shocking considering it was a Grand Slam semi.
The Dark Knight
Legend
When exactly was it then? He was up three match points and then blew it big time.
I'm working from memory here but after the return that was heard around the world came a missed forehand and a double fault....that's the way I remember it ......
But the fact is he had match point and after his knees buckled from that return he lost the next 17 out of 21 point .....now that's the factually the biggest choke I have ever seen in my life .
It's one thing to lose a point or two ....it's another to lose the next 17 points from having not one but three match points.
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You're working from memory? Your memory needs some work, it wasn't three match points, it was two, one of which was the famous return service winner, the other was netted by Fed. The double fault gave Novak the break back. And Novotna's choke makes that one pale in comparison: 5-0, forty love is a lot bigger collapse-especially when you're the higher ranked player. Then there's the matter of nine match points compared to two. Win ONE game out of 5, and you're in...too tough for her.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Nadal/Davy Doha 2010.
Gary Duane
Talk Tennis Guru
I doubt that JMac would agree. And being up 2 sets then losing 5 set match is bitter memory at a slam final.
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tipsa...don'tlikehim!
Talk Tennis Guru
Yeah and similar scenario for Moya when playing Corretja in the final of the Masters cup (forgot the year, 1998 or 1999 I guess).
helloworld
Hall of Fame
2014 AO was the biggest choke by far, but he faked an injury to hide this fact.
The Dark Knight
Legend
Still pretty bad ....two match points and Fed is serving !! but what you leave out is losing the next 17 of the next 21 points
Now that's the mother of all chokes.....I can't think of anything worse than that.....definitely worthy to be in the top 10 of all time .
I don't think you can even argue with that ?
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The Dark Knight
Legend
Yeah the mother of all blister wasn't there ....it was a fake sticker he put on his palm .
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I wonder that noone here mentioned the wimby95 sf
Agassi vs Becker 6241 double break up for Agassi. agassi was no1 and hadnt lost a match vs Becker in 6 years.
Becker won 26766476
1987 wimby 4th rd Mikael Pernfors vs Jimmy Connors 616141
Jimbo won.
DC Germany vs USA Agassi vs Becker 767665
and i think Agassi was serving for the match
Becker won
Wimby F 1990 Becker vs Edberg 2626636332
Becker was a break up in the decider and missed a very easy high volley for a 42 lead. Edberg broke back and won.
Rome F 2004 or 2005 Coria vs Nadal
Coria was 30 and double break up in the decider and seemed in control. but then Nadal showed what a tough nut to crack he was/still is on clay
Roland Garros F 1996 Stich vs Kafelnikov
doesnt look like a choke on the first view because Kafelnikov has a positive h2h vs stich and clay seemed to be an advantage for the Russian. BUT Stich had a very exciting run in that tournament highlighted by the four set victory over claymonster Muster.
AND Stich was one or two breaks up in every set of that final. the german had the opportunity to serve out every set. never seen that before and after in a men's professional tennis match.
Agassi vs Becker 6241 double break up for Agassi. agassi was no1 and hadnt lost a match vs Becker in 6 years.
Becker won 26766476
1987 wimby 4th rd Mikael Pernfors vs Jimmy Connors 616141
Jimbo won.
DC Germany vs USA Agassi vs Becker 767665
and i think Agassi was serving for the match
Becker won
Wimby F 1990 Becker vs Edberg 2626636332
Becker was a break up in the decider and missed a very easy high volley for a 42 lead. Edberg broke back and won.
Rome F 2004 or 2005 Coria vs Nadal
Coria was 30 and double break up in the decider and seemed in control. but then Nadal showed what a tough nut to crack he was/still is on clay
Roland Garros F 1996 Stich vs Kafelnikov
doesnt look like a choke on the first view because Kafelnikov has a positive h2h vs stich and clay seemed to be an advantage for the Russian. BUT Stich had a very exciting run in that tournament highlighted by the four set victory over claymonster Muster.
AND Stich was one or two breaks up in every set of that final. the german had the opportunity to serve out every set. never seen that before and after in a men's professional tennis match.
S
Sirius Black
Guest
Yeah the mother of all blister wasn't there ....it was a fake sticker he put on his palm .
I guess you've never had a blister before? They all look nasty like that, especially when you play through one (a necessity, not a reason for an excuse).
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