Worst GS final performance for the Big 3?

aman92

Legend
The big 3 now have a combined 47 GS titles and 73 finals. But which is the worst GS final performance for each of them?

For me

Federer:
French Open Final 2008
Nadal: Wimbledon Final 2011
Djokovic: French Open Final 2014
 
The two obvious ones (if injury counts as a poor performance)
Federer- 08 RG
Nadal- 14 AO
Djokovic- I'm not sure about this one. 2007 USO is possibly lowest level, but it wasn't really underachieving for him at that stage in his career

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Federer - USO 2015

This is an interesting choice, why did you pick it, @Jon Snow? The obvious pick is 2008 FO.

I actually think your choice has merit because Fed was going into the 2015 FO match in killer form and many expected him to handle Djoker. Whereas in 2008, nobody but God himself would have defeated Nadal at RG (and maybe not even he could have done it). Fed choked in 2015-- in 2008, he just was outplayed from first to last.
 
Last edited:

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
Fed kinda choked 2015 USO. Had nothing from the baseline, and bottled going for more S&V/SABr.

08 RG looked like a tank.
 

BVSlam

Professional
This one is fairly obvious, yeah.

Federer RG 2008
Nadal AO 2014/WIM 2011
Djokovic WIM 2013

Nadal's AO 2014 is a little different due to his back and he couldn't do much for the majority of it. WIM 2011 was just not very good, he was healthy, but clearly not confident he could beat Djokovic. USO 2011 was a little better from him, but still not amazing. At least he fought hard, harder than at Wimby probably, but still lacked consistent depth in his baseline strokes. These are the three finals where I felt he really had no chance with his level of play, the other four finals (even WIM 2006 at some moments) he did. Pretty logical of course, since those were the three finals he went down 2-0 in sets.

Djokovic WIM 2013 is a more obvious choice. I feel that in all his other final losses he had chances. Either he won the first set, like at RG 2014, RG 2015 and USO 2016, or he went on a tear for a bit (RG 2012, USO 2012, USO 2013). USO 2007/2010 were close matches even though he never really got close to a significant lead in the score or looked like the favorite to win at any point. Wimby 2013 was obviously his only straight-set loss and he didn't play very well. Probably gassed from the Delpo match and that emotional defeat at RG against Nadal. He seemed kind of flat after RG that year until he dominated the fall season again.

Federer is the easiest one by far. I doubt he's capable of a worse slam final than RG 2008. That was a pure errorfest. Also a worse performance than any of the ones mentioned above. However, to be fair, that matchup at that time was impossible to win and I think everyone knew it. If he couldn't do more than a four-setter in the RG 2006/2007 finals against Nadal, no way his 2008 form would get him anywhere close to Nadal's 2008 RG form. Nevertheless, I think it's his only bad slam final performance. He has lost four finals in 5 sets and was quite competitive in the other losses, including the RG finals he lost. In most of the finals he lost, he blew a lot of great chances. The only two where I felt he didn't necessarily miss a lot of golden opportunities were of course RG 2008 and Wimby 2015, in both cases his opponents were just incredibly good.
 

Jon Snow

Semi-Pro
This is an interesting choice, why did you pick it, @Jon Snow? The obvious pick is 2008 FO.

I actually think your choice has merit because Fed was going into the 2015 FO match in killer form and many expected him to handle Djoker. Whereas in 2008, nobody but God himself would have defeated Nadal at RG (and maybe not even he could have done it). Fed choked in 2015, in 2008, he just was outplayed from first to last.

Because of all the various break points he had and he was on a much better form than Novak at the USO until the final. Federer never had any expectations to win against Nadal at RG 2008. That was peakiest of peak Nadal at RG.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
This one is fairly obvious, yeah.

Federer RG 2008
Nadal AO 2014/WIM 2011
Djokovic WIM 2013

Nadal's AO 2014 is a little different due to his back and he couldn't do much for the majority of it. WIM 2011 was just not very good, he was healthy, but clearly not confident he could beat Djokovic. USO 2011 was a little better from him, but still not amazing. At least he fought hard, harder than at Wimby probably, but still lacked consistent depth in his baseline strokes. These are the three finals where I felt he really had no chance with his level of play, the other four finals (even WIM 2006 at some moments) he did. Pretty logical of course, since those were the three finals he went down 2-0 in sets.

Of the 3, I think Nadal has fought harder in every single one of his Slam final losses. For instance, he is the only one never to get straight setted!

Djokovic WIM 2013 is a more obvious choice. I feel that in all his other final losses he had chances. Either he won the first set, like at RG 2014, RG 2015 and USO 2016, or he went on a tear for a bit (RG 2012, USO 2012, USO 2013). USO 2007/2010 were close matches even though he never really got close to a significant lead in the score or looked like the favorite to win at any point. Wimby 2013 was obviously his only straight-set loss and he didn't play very well. Probably gassed from the Delpo match and that emotional defeat at RG against Nadal. He seemed kind of flat after RG that year until he dominated the fall season again.

Djokovic has suffered 2 straight set losses in Slam finals which is more than either of the others: 2007 USO and 2013 Wimby. 2007 USO was a bit tighter with 2 of the sets going to tie-break so I think that 2013 Wimby was probably his worst showing although he still had a few chances eg. exchanging breaks and even going up a break at one stage but failing to hold onto it.

Federer is the easiest one by far. I doubt he's capable of a worse slam final than RG 2008. That was a pure errorfest. Also a worse performance than any of the ones mentioned above. However, to be fair, that matchup at that time was impossible to win and I think everyone knew it. If he couldn't do more than a four-setter in the RG 2006/2007 finals against Nadal, no way his 2008 form would get him anywhere close to Nadal's 2008 RG form. Nevertheless, I think it's his only bad slam final performance. He has lost four finals in 5 sets and was quite competitive in the other losses, including the RG finals he lost. In most of the finals he lost, he blew a lot of great chances. The only two where I felt he didn't necessarily miss a lot of golden opportunities were of course RG 2008 and Wimby 2015, in both cases his opponents were just incredibly good.

There can be no contest against 2008 RG. It was Federer's only straight sets defeat in a Slam final and it was just pure humiliation. 4 measly games plus a bagel set is by far the worst showing of any of the Big 3 in a Slam final and one of the worst showing of anybody you care to name in fact. it is the one truly black spot in his otherwise competitive Slam final repertoire.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Because of all the various break points he had and he was on a much better form than Novak at the USO until the final. Federer never had any expectations to win against Nadal at RG 2008. That was peakiest of peak Nadal at RG.
Yup, I agree and see we have the identical reasons for thinking 2015 USO was a stinker from Fed. 2014 Wimbledon I would put in first place. He had BP in the fifth and all the momentum, but just choked.
 

BVSlam

Professional
Of the 3, I think Nadal has fought harder in every single one of his Slam final losses. For instance, he is the only one never to get straight setted!

You're right about that! I realised that as I was typing...very impressive, he indeed does fight with all he has even if it's not enough on the day. I think the USO 2011 and AO 2014 finals are the perfect example of that. He had to give everything to win a tight tiebreaker in the first, but he did even though he probably knew he wasn't going to win the match. AO 2014 he clearly couldn't serve or play properly, but did everything he could and won the third set.

Djokovic has suffered 2 straight set losses in Slam finals which is more than either of the others: 2007 USO and 2013 Wimby. 2007 USO was a bit tighter with 2 of the sets going to tie-break so I think that 2013 Wimby was probably his worst showing although he still had a few chances eg. exchanging breaks and even going up a break at one stage but failing to hold onto it.

True! The USO 2007 was also straights. He blew a lot of chances there though including a lot of setpoints, even though I think Fed at that point would still have been good enough to win the match anyway. But that was a very close one despite being straights. And yeah he wasn't completely without chance but he wasn't going to beat Murray that day anyway I think. Murray was the deserved winner of Wimbledon 2013, whether Djokovic played weaker than usual or not.

There can be no contest against 2008 RG. It was Federer's only straight sets defeat in a Slam final and it was just pure humiliation. 4 measly games plus a bagel set is by far the worst showing of any of the Big 3 in a Slam final and one of the worst showing of anybody you care to name in fact. it is the one truly black spot in his otherwise competitive Slam final repertoire.

Yeah, it's definitely up there with the worst final performances in slams. I think he had more than double the unforced errors compared to winners. But yeah, I think even as embarrassing as it was, it couldn't go any other way. I'm actually far more surprised by how competitively he played Nadal on clay in 2008 prior to that RG final. I felt the only time in 2008 he really kicked into high gear were the USO SF and F where he played amazing. Even at Wimbledon he was coasting through one heck of an easy draw, although that doesn't take away from that amazing final and the way he fought in that.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
08 RG looked like a tank.

How could you think Federer would tank a slam final? :eek::oops: Maybe he gave up in the third set, but out of futility. Fed isn't capable of tanking a slam final, it's what he lives for. Though he has tanked in earlier rounds in slams, unconsciously in those two MP matches against Nole at the USO and especially against Robredo at the USO.
 

AnOctorokForDinner

Talk Tennis Guru
Calling out Rafa's AO 14 is a bit harsh, his back went out on him in the middle of the match.

It's still the worst performance, technically. But Nadal was mostly healthy in the 1st set and still choked massively when Wawrinka got a bit shaky serving it out and invited Nadal to break back, only for the Spaniard to miss three consecutive 2nd serve returns.
 

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
How could you think Federer would tank a slam final? :eek::oops: Maybe he gave up in the third set, but out of futility. Fed isn't capable of tanking a slam final, it's what he lives for. Though he has tanked in earlier rounds in slams, unconsciously in those two MP matches against Nole at the USO and especially against Robredo at the USO.
After he gave away that break 2nd set from there was a tank job. I think he was mentally crushed after the Hamburg disaster that year.
 

Standaa

G.O.A.T.
How could you think Federer would tank a slam final? :eek::oops: Maybe he gave up in the third set, but out of futility. Fed isn't capable of tanking a slam final, it's what he lives for. Though he has tanked in earlier rounds in slams, unconsciously in those two MP matches against Nole at the USO and especially against Robredo at the USO.

Prove it.
 

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal's played what 23 finals and has never lost in straights even with a bad back! :eek:

GOAT? No, but it shows he may be one of the toughest opponents to play against in a Grand Slam final, even by all time great standards.
 
Top