Was this the single most important point of the year?

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Read my first post
I said he either pulls out or whatever he does in miami does not matter
Also rafa would have surely beaten djoker in either of two cases which start right from the assumption that motivated, unjinured and raging fed routines anderson and isner in straight sets,
1) semifinal being continued same day (starts early bcz of no isnerson long servefest)
2) due to early start, first 3 sets being outdoor

And you assumed that Rafa defeat Novak in straight set, you again assumed that Fed defeats isner in straight. Rafa didn't even managed to defeat 2007 Novak in straight who was weak on grass
Another thing I don't understand and your big assumption is how come IW final result caused Fed to slip in quarters final and get injured, let say he Wins IW then by default he don't slip or his feet gain superpowers.
Or because of IW final loss he became mentally unstable and started slipping everywhere.
Novak was carrying good grass form, and even in 2017 the only set loss was in tiebreaker before getting injured. He stretched Berd in his weakest year after 2010 who later stretched the ultimate winner Fed in two tie brake.

 

[mike danny]

If you want to put it this way - fine! Nadal was lucky as well, there was a day off, otherwise he would be finished in four and we would have different discussion now! Day off affected Novak's rhythm as he could not immediately get back into the match in the fourth set next day to finish it off quickly!...If anything, its Nadal who was lucky! But oh well...he lost anyway so...

Novak was actually fortunate the match was delayed until the next day as he was becoming visibly tired towards the end of the 3rd set.

 

[mike danny]

That's some pathetic mental strength from Federer if a tight Indian Wells final loss was all it took for him to enter a slump for the next parts of the season, which include some of his most favorite events.

Didn't a tight masters SF loss in 2009 get the better of Djoko?

 

[Fiero425]

Didn't a tight masters SF loss in 2009 get the better of Djoko?

IIRC all the top players went down in flames allowing Davydenko of all players to win the YEC! Nadal may have lost all 3 of his RR matches! I got over it just like last season when Grigor won it! It happens!

 

[mike danny]

IIRC all the top players went down in flames allowing Davydenko of all players to win the YEC! Nadal may have lost all 3 of his RR matches! I got over it just like last season when Grigor won it! It happens!

Not talking about that though.

And no, Davydenko's WTF win was top-notch, not a vulturing like Dimitrov's. All the top players except Rafa were playing well.

 

[Fiero425]

Not talking about that though.

And no, Davydenko's WTF win was top-notch, not a vulturing like Dimitrov's. All the top players except Rafa were playing well.

How well could Rafa be playing if he lost all 3 of his RR matches and went down to Soderling yet again on another surface? You'd think Rafa would be ready, willing, and able to get some revenge from the person that stopped his run in Paris at 4 in a row! BTW, all losses were in straight sets!

 

[mike danny]

How well could Rafa be playing if he lost all 3 of his RR matches and went down to Soderling yet again on another surface? You'd think Rafa would be ready, willing, and able to get some revenge from the person that stopped his run in Paris at 4 in a row! BTW, all losses were in straight sets!

I said "except Rafa".

 

[Fiero425]

I said "except Rafa".

I just wanted to say it! Some GOAT with such an abysmal record at the YEC! It's truly pathetic! He's never taken this championship seriously!

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Didn't a tight masters SF loss in 2009 get the better of Djoko?

He didn't win tournaments consistently before Madrid to begin with and it was his first very tough blow since he became a top player so it would be more understandable. Fed obviously had plenty of them before this year's Indian Wells.

 

[Meles]

Ok let's assume rafa passes delpo test too..
In 5 sets ofc
But would he have managed to stay with djokovic then?

I don't know, but I'm pretty confident that Djokovic still does not have the physical stomach to win a long grueling hard court match like the Nadal v Thiem affair. Nadal has one of the best records in finals. Just recently against Coric, Djoko was teetering pretty badly in his 4-2 hold in the 2nd set. Would have loved to seen the one-legged Coric take him into a 3rd set. Djokovic has not really been tested yet in his two slam wins this year.

 

[Fiero425]

I don't know, but I'm pretty confident that Djokovic still does not have the physical stomach to win a long grueling hard court match like the Nadal v Thiem affair. Nadal has one of the best records in finals. Just recently against Coric, Djoko was teetering pretty badly in his 4-2 hold in the 2nd set. Would have loved to seen the one-legged Coric take him into a 3rd set. Djokovic has not really been tested yet in his two slam wins this year.

Maybe it's because he played DAMN well! Give it up! They were saying the same thing back in 2015; "not really being challenged!" Total BS!

 

[Meles]

Nadal definitely softened up before Del Po match! He does it to himself allowing just about everyone a chance to extend his matches! STUPID!

Don't know if he had much choice in the matter. Khachanov is back to beasting this week. 4 set match at 4 hours and 20 minutes was just a rough one with Khachanov. Basilashvili next was hugely aggressive from ground and then poor Rafa got Thiem in total goat mode. Nadal's level was much higher the final four sets with Thiem than anything he had to bring last year to win US Open. Its luck of the draw and Djoko had two great ones in these last slams.

 

[moonballs]

Nobody knows what would have happened in the next game if Djokovic lost that crucial point at 7:7 in the decider on the contrary of popular belief! Djokovic is known to be focused and composed on returns, he would have likely pumped himself up to win next game more if he have lost the one, when the score was 7:7 on the board! For all we know he might have go full throttle in the next games on return and bomarded Nadal with couple of return aces or at least good returns! We would never know now!...I am not saying that wasn't decisive point or that it wasn't a crucial moment of the match as a whole! I am simply saying we may never know nor predict how Djokovic would have played in the follow up! He is a mental giant of the game for a reason, so i'd like to believe he wouldn't give up even 7:8 trailing in the set on opponent's serve serving for the match!...like he didn't give up multiple times against Federer at the US Open earlier in his career!

Agree we would never know what if Nole missed the passing shot; thank goodness for that, we don’t want to know.

 

[D.Nalby12]

It was the match of the year without doubt.

It was the match that decided the best player of year.

And in that match, it was point that decided its final outcome.

Means that point decided the best player of year.

On large scheme of things, it might prove single most important point in GOAT debates.

I am lucky to witness it.

 

[Meles]

Maybe it's because he played DAMN well! Give it up! They were saying the same thing back in 2015; "not really being challenged!" Total BS!

LOL. Joke draws loaded with same old, same old pigeons and then decrepit players in the finals. Its nothing new these days and same can be said of Fed's last two slams. Djoko is playing great now, but if you think his stamina is near 100% your deluding yourself. He's got a better first serve game than ever that is really covering up this weakness. Its academic in some ways as all the tournaments are faster this Fall. He won't be tested until IW/Miami in the worst conditions and he'll surely have improved his conditioning more by then. I doubt faster Australian Open will be the triathlon of slams like it was years and years ago. 2012 final showed it the worst surface. Now I'd say US Open, RG, Auz close 3rd, and Wimbledon distant, distant 4th though the suffering servebots can get into long matches at Wimby when they can't break each other.

 

[Fiero425]

LOL. Joke draws loaded with same old, same old pigeons and then decrepit players in the finals. Its nothing new these days and same can be said of Fed's last two slams. Djoko is playing great now, but if you think his stamina is near 100% your deluding yourself. He's got a better first serve game than ever that is really covering up this weakness. Its academic in some ways as all the tournaments are faster this Fall. He won't be tested until IW/Miami in the worst conditions and he'll surely have improved his conditioning more by then. I doubt faster Australian Open will be the triathlon of slams like it was years and years ago. 2012 final showed it the worst surface. Now I'd say US Open, RG, Auz close 3rd, and Wimbledon distant, distant 4th though the suffering servebots can get into long matches at Wimby when they can't break each other.

I'll take Nole's record against the field over Fedal who had their share of pigeons in the final of majors! IIRC Nole's only had a couple; Tsonga in '08 AO and this past Wimbledon over Anderson! Djokovic always had tougher SF and Finals of majors with the other Big 4 in his path! I wish people would get off that BS about his easy routes to wins!

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Novak was actually fortunate the match was delayed until the next day as he was becoming visibly tired towards the end of the 3rd set.

I agree with this.

 

[Zara]

It was the match of the year without doubt.

It was the match that decided the best player of year.

And in that match, it was point that decided its final outcome.

Means that point decided the best player of year.

On large scheme of things, it might prove single most important point in GOAT debates.

I am lucky to witness it.

But the feat to win both RG and Wimbledon in the same year is the toughest job in tennis and this task was on Nadal with all the pressure on, whereas Nole was fresher of the two and the pressure to win was less on him.

 

[Meles]

I'll take Nole's record against the field over Fedal who had their share of pigeons in the final of majors! IIRC Nole's only had a couple; Tsonga in '08 AO and this past Wimbledon over Anderson! Djokovic always had tougher SF and Finals of majors with the other Big 4 in his path! I wish people would get off that BS about his easy routes to wins!

I wish people would get off the Big 4 legacy BS. Every time I see a topic steer that way I feel like I'm in the Former Pro section here. I care what Djoko will do next and hopefully you agree he's not already peaked and will slowly decline over the coming years? My point is he's not at his best and he can be had.