AO Mens Final: Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal

[nehmeth]

So I taped this thing...if I watch it, am I watching a masterclass by Nole, a suck fest by Rafa, a bit of both? Time is a hot commodity...

Ralf came out tentative and quickly found himself in a hole. Novak was spot on from the start. Second set, you get to see good quality from both. Novak never let Rafa find his comfort zone, and the Spaniard was pressed to go for more.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

So I taped this thing...if I watch it, am I watching a masterclass by Nole, a suck fest by Rafa, a bit of both? Time is a hot commodity...

Nadal was flat. It’s almost as if the two days off broke his rhythm. He’s not a servebot so he needed to keep his momentum.

 

[herios]

Nadal was flat. It’s almost as if the two days off broke his rhythm. He’s not a servebot so he needed to keep his momentum.

It does not matter what form Nadal is in, if Novak plays well, there is not much Nadal could do against him on HC.

 

[Front242]

Nadal was flat. It’s almost as if the two days off broke his rhythm. He’s not a servebot so he needed to keep his momentum.

You can't win and this is just as dumb as McEnroe's moaning. Djokovic got less match play 'cos of Nishikori's retirement which was a lot worse really 'cos he hadn't been tested at all. Nadal gets 2 days rest and the Nadal camp moan that he had too much time off and it broke his rhythm and other times he gets too little rest and you say he's not fresh for the final like the bs claim in 2017. It can't be both. :cuckoo:

Tons of Nadal fans were claiming he'd win this and that his performance had been amazing even when the more level headed people said there's a world of difference between playing nobodies and looking great and playing Djokovic. Guess who were right.

 

[19USC66]

Match over. Big Federer fan here. Nevertheless, I am saying this now. Djokovic will win the Grand Slam this year and pass Federer's record for total major wins before he retires. However, as I have said more than a few times. Fed, Nadal, and Novak will still be playing when they are fifty. We have been lucky this ERA with these three and a couple of other greats to satisfy our tennis fix, but the next generation sucks. Tiafoe? Really. Zverev lacks mental toughness, and Tsitsipas is nothing to get excited about. Yep, Novak Djokovic will win the Grand Slam and will go down history as the GOAT. As one announcer said "you cannot hit through the Great Wall of China." Congrats Novak you are the man.

 

[The_Grand_Slam]

From what I saw today,

Nadals defense is like so much worse than even last year.Djokovic wasn't hitting many winners in this tourney but here he was able to hit many.

Like Agassi in his last year's on tour,Nadal basically coasted on his ball-striking in this tournament and couldn't get past an opponent who sent back those good strokes with interest.

Would be interesting to see if he will be able to get back his defense during clay season.

Re: Djokovic
He seems unbeatable in the longer format at the moment.Except a few losses in minor tournaments I expect another year of dominance from him(except maybe on clay)

 

[Nadalfan2013]

Match over. Big Federer fan here. Nevertheless, I am saying this now. Djokovic will win the Grand Slam this year and pass Federer's record for total major wins before he retires. However, as I have said more than a few times. Fed, Nadal, and Novak will still be playing when they are fifty. We have been lucky this ERA with these three and a couple of other greats to satisfy our tennis fix, but the next generation sucks. Tiafoe? Really. Zverev lacks mental toughness, and Tsitsipas is nothing to get excited about. Yep, Novak Djokovic will win the Grand Slam and will go down history as the GOAT. As one announcer said "you cannot hit through the Great Wall of China." Congrats Novak you are the man.

lol nice jinx. Didn't people say this in 2016 when Novak won his 4th consecutive slam at RG? Everybody thought he would continue dominating the year and break the record but then he didn't win for a while after that. This is sports, nobody knows. Rafa did well in WB, USO and AO in the past year so he can still add slams besides RG. Novak is on fire right now and is probably the favorite for the rest of the year, but nothing is guaranteed. He has problems with the likes of Kyrgios, Zverev and many players who can outhit and overpower him on a good day. It will definitely be interesting in the next few years but nothing is set in stone yet. I wouldn't completely write off Federer either.

 

[19USC66]

Never predicted anyone would win the Grand Slam in my life time and I am an old guy. However, if Roger or Rafa cannot beat Djokovic? Who can? Federer is back to playing the way he did before his knee injury and Nadal like Fed is old. father time my friend father time.

 

[19USC66]

Following up your comment. I would be very happy to be entirely wrong.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I was actually surprised that Djokovic did well at net today. I figured if there was a spot that Nadal would have edged Djokovic was at net, but Djokovic actually made him pay there. I don’t think there was anything Nadal would have been able to do to change the outcome. Novak was locked in from start to finish and was doing everything well today. That return was like warm knife through butter today. We will see what happens at the French.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

I was actually surprised that Djokovic did well at net today. I figured if there was a spot that Nadal would have edged Djokovic was at net, but Djokovic actually made him pay there. I don’t think there was anything Nadal would have been able to do to change the outcome. Novak was locked in from start to finish and was doing everything well today. That return was like warm knife through butter today. We will see what happens at the French.

Vajda definitely has a secret ingredient.

 

[lob]

Stunning show by ND. First time Anyone straight setted Nadal in a slam final EVER.

 

[the AntiPusher]

You can't win and this is just as dumb as McEnroe's moaning. Djokovic got less match play 'cos of Nishikori's retirement which was a lot worse really 'cos he hadn't been tested at all. Nadal gets 2 days rest and the Nadal camp moan that he had too much time off and it broke his rhythm and other times he gets too little rest and you say he's not fresh for the final like the bs claim in 2017. It can't be both. :cuckoo:

Tons of Nadal fans were claiming he'd win this and that his performance had been amazing even when the more level headed people said there's a world of difference between playing nobodies and looking great and playing Djokovic. Guess who were right.

It's easy to play Monday morning quarter back.. however maybe you Front can enlighten us how Rafa totally dismantled the same guy that pissed on Roger's effort to advance to the semis.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Just finished watching the encore presentation of the match in ESPN2 (without knowing the result) and was very surprised by the totally one sided match. I did not expect that it will be so much one sided.

Congrats to Novak on record of AO titles and on surpassing Pete!

Can't help wondering as to whether we should consider Novak as the favorite for RG (and if he wins it, it will be his second Nole Slam).

 

[Front242]

It's easy to play Monday morning quarter back.. however maybe you Front can enlighten us how Rafa totally dismantled the same guy that pissed on Roger's effort to advance to the semis.

Because Roger's return of serve has been atrocious for a long time now but winning by 4 points hardly pissed on anything. If Roger converted even one of the 12 break points he had he'd have been up 2 sets to 0 and would likely have won the match. Why not just read Tsitsipas' own words and you'll see he had no idea how to play his lefty game since he was playing right handers all before that. His team didn't do their homework and they need to work on his return of serve. Easy to see though now for you Nadal fans that match up problems are a big deal and Tsitsipas is a tougher opponent for Federer than Nadal just as Nadal has pretty much no answer for Djokovic now, having lost 13 of the last 16 against him.

 

[Front242]

Just finished watching the encore presentation of the match in ESPN2 (without knowing the result) and was very surprised by the totally one sided match. I did not expect that it will be so much one sided.

Congrats to Novak on record of AO titles and on surpassing Pete!

Can't help wondering as to whether we should consider Novak as the favorite for RG (and if he wins it, it will be his second Nole Slam).

At least gotta wait and see how the preceding clay tournaments go before calling him the favourite.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Because Roger's return of serve has been atrocious for a long time now but winning by 4 points hardly pissed on anything. If Roger converted even one of the 12 break points he had he'd have been up 2 sets to 0 and would likely have won the match. Why not just read Tsitsipas own words and you'll see he had idea how to play his lefty game since he was playing right handers all before that. His team didn't do their homework and they need to work on his return of serve. Easy to see though now for you Nadal fans that match up problems are a big deal and Tsitsipas is a tougher opponent for Federer than Nadal just as Nadal has pretty much no answer for Djokovic now, having lost 13 of the last 16 against him.

Noticed how you have nothing to offer but excuses for Roger's getting out played..Non here from this Rafa fan..yeah your fellow Fed fans and Novak are gonna cosign your post but it's just excuse latented ..same ole Front and the anti Nadal sentiment.

 

[Front242]

Noticed how you have nothing to offer but excuses for Roger's getting out played..Non here from this Rafa fan..yeah your fellow Fed fans and Novak are gonna cosign your post but it's just excuse latented ..same ole Front and the anti Nadal sentiment.

Oh stfu with your fans cosigning posts crap that you keep going on and on about' cos all the other fan bases do the same thing. If anyone here actually cares about likes they must be about 15 years old.

Who's making excuses? Roger deserved to lose by not converting any of the 12 break points but, equally so, he played badly and lost by only 4 points so you need to calm down.

 

[The_Grand_Slam]

One of the Highest Dominance Ratio in a Grand Slam Final - 2.40

 

[Andy22]

That a great AO from nadal making a grand slam final in first event back in four months. Djokovic beating a player playing in his first event back wow how good not, its a joke win by djokovic as nadal way past his prime on hard court's. Also nadal was not 100% in that match you could see how slow he was, anyway the clay court season is only 2 and bit month's away.