Novak Djokovic did not give Roger Federer full credit yesterday as Federer defeated the world’s best player 75 62 in the round robin clash at the ATP World Tour Finals in London:
“You have those days when you are not feeling your best, not even close to the best. Credit to Roger for mixing up the pace, giving me always a different ball. He used the slice and spin very wisely. He served very efficiently” said Djokovic. “I made a lot of, lot of unforced errors. I just handed him the win, especially in the second set.
“He tactically played well. Undoubtedly, he was the better player on the court. But I think I also allowed him to play and penetrate through the ball and dictate the tempo from the baseline.” Federer’s response: “He handed [me] the win? Well, he wasn’t as good as in the first set. But I feel, honestly, with the way he’s played this season, you still have to put him away.”
“It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not like he played terrible. I know he can play better. Why did he play that way? I’d like to give myself credit for that, quite honestly, yeah.”
These were interesting contrasting words exchanged by the two tennis titans – and one wonders if they could fuel another dimension of their occasionally heated rivalry?
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Harold · November 18, 2015 at 7:51 am
Fed wins the press conference too.
5 years ago if Fed said this after a loss, all the cries of ” Arrogant Sore Loser” would have been bellowed here. People on this site were breaking down frame by frame whether Fed properly shook hands at the net after a loss.
Egos are bigger than their serves. Individual sport stars are terrible at explaining losses.
Scoop Malinowski · November 18, 2015 at 8:33 am
Harold – That Djokovic tried to discredit Fed’s win albeit very subtly and tactfully – it still suggests a hint of insecurity in Djokovic about the Federer threat – now it puts the heavy pressure on Djokovic to back up these words and beat Federer in the final which seems inevitable – Then if Fed can win the final again over Djokovic it could shift the balance of power for next year – regarding yesterday’s handshake – Djokovic was warm and leaned into Fed but Fed was cold and recoiled – I have a sneaking suspicion the animosity and tension between these two is as high as ever if not higher – Fed has to be in his last push and he is so close to conquering Djokovic – perhaps the more hostility and dislike he can summon against Djokovic (completely concealed of course) the better his chances of slaying his long time nemesis and antagonist —
Moskova Moskova · November 18, 2015 at 10:38 am
oh man….they don’t like each other at all !! lol
FED was cold and djoko was warmer during the handshake.
FED especially doesn’t like djoko…..but totally understandable….this is the guy that has prevented FED from at least 3 additional slams and a couple of more masters cups. (let’s not forget FED did duck him here last year in the final !) LOL
Harold · November 18, 2015 at 10:53 am
Waits for the Murray must hate Nadal thread.
Fed did the same shake as Murray. Shook hands patted opponent in belly. Should Fed have done something different because he won? Should he have asked how Djoko’s kid is doing?
Double standards are the rule of life now. Lets try and keep it out of tennis, and enjoy the tennis.
EddietheEagle · November 18, 2015 at 1:50 pm
Beyond spouting the odd platitude, do the players really give a monkey’s? I don’t think so. The money’s good whatever the outcome and Murray for one, understandably so given the clash in events and court surfaces, has already made it known where his priorities lie.
Scoop Malinowski · November 18, 2015 at 4:01 pm
Harold – the reason the Fed recoils to Djokovic are noteworthy is because Djok has tried to warm to Fed with the handshakes and also speaking so fondly favorably and respectfully of Roger with the press – but Fed does not return the warmth in victory or defeat – you can sense the dislike especially from the Fed side – it all adds another layer of intrigue to the rivalry and discussion about it –
Scoop Malinowski · November 18, 2015 at 4:09 pm
Eddie – the WTF loses a lot of luster when the number one ranking is settled which as we all know it is Djokovic’s by a huge margin – number two ranking is up for grabs but that does not appeal much to tennis fans – this year’s WTF is interesting because of Rafa’s resurgence and the Fed vs Djokovic rivalry which is always incredible tennis – murray seemed to try to beat Rafa but you could tell part of his mind is focused on Davis Cup – so it was a struggle for him today – to go all out and risk injury beating Rafa with Davis Cup final around the corner would be a big regret for Andy if he did get hurt today or this week – it’s almost a miracle that Great Britain has reached the finals – could be a hundred years before that happens again —
Dan Markowitz · November 19, 2015 at 8:00 am
Oh, who really cares about a Davis Cup Finals when the two teams involved are Belgium and Great Britain. I mean everyone knows those two countries aren’t even close to being the top two tennis nations in the world. The second singles players on each team–Darcis and Daniel Evans–can’t even win a Challenger’s event. So where’s the great interest outside of Great Britain and Belgium?
What is going on with Rhino, my new name for Harry. The guy wins the first set against Mac Mac and then goes down in love in the second and then retires. Rhino might be done. How about Mitchell Krueger knocking out Donaldson and Tiafoe back to back!
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2015 at 8:27 am
Dan -Gulbis had Match points on Djokovic in Cincy then lost first round of the Challenger the following week -it’s not easy to win a Challenger -the two Davis Cup finalists both earned their way to the finals the hard way – no scrubs on either squads – all first class players who are about to becoMe a part of history — had Djokovic and Federer played a full Davis Cup season there is no guarantee they would be in the finals – takes a teaM effort – GB and BelgiuM are the two best teaMs this year —
Harold · November 19, 2015 at 9:40 am
They must have beaten some teams with better second singles players.
DC is not what it used to be. Top guys seem to only play when their Olympic eligibility is at stake. In the 70’s, 80’s and even the 90’s, you were torched if you didn’t play for your Country. All the top players played, until some (Connors, and JMac for a few years)stopped because they had to sign something that said they would behave themselves.
Moskova Moskova · November 19, 2015 at 10:36 am
it’s a scrub DC final. murray’s the only star..
Andrew Miller · November 19, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Dan said: “The second singles players on each team–Darcis and Daniel Evans–can’t even win a Challenger’s event.”
News report:
“On Sunday, [Daniel] Evans ensured that he returned to the world’s top 200 with victory over Frances Tiafoe in the final of the Knoxville Challenger, and 48 hours later he was in the last 16 at another event after easing past his American opponent [Bjorn Fratangelo]”.
As for the Rhino, he’s been losing to everyone. I don’t think he’s put his best foot forward after the back to back Novikov losses.
Moskova Moskova · November 19, 2015 at 2:27 pm
evans will be in the final 8 at AO16 😉 LOL
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Arnaud Boetsch – Andre Chesnokov – magnus larsson -Chris Woodruff – Paul Henri mathieu – mikhail youzhny – Davis Cup isn’t always about big names – lesser names can rise to the occasion
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2015 at 4:17 pm
Remarkable comeback by Evans – was talking with Dominic Inglot in Key Biscayne earlier this year about Evans and at the time he was ranked about 600 and Inglot thought it was going to be very hard for him to get back at his age – but Evans did it – always been talented just the dedication and discipline and mental were the questions – Evans should be a candidate for Comeback Player of the year honors –
Andrew Miller · November 19, 2015 at 6:28 pm
Stat of the day, Garin d. Edmund in Montevideo…4 and 4. In THREE HOURS and 29 minutes. That must’ve been a battle.
Stat of the week, Djok d Nishikori in 38 min earlier this week. That had to be the fastest recorded match for two top eight players.
Scoop Malinowski · November 20, 2015 at 7:07 am
Garin was said to be struggling and not in a good place after a lot of bad results but this is a big win for him – career kickstarter possibly — Kei looked good vs Fd but not quite good enough – Fed is amazing – did you see Fed is even planning his 2017 schedule? As I predicted he will play on past Rio Olympics – far beyond — Great doubles in London – Bryans survive murray peers 16-14 both teams had five match points – murray was the star of the court peers fumbled some key shots — saw Hugues Herbert double fault on his own match point two matches in a row – they ended up losing the first match to melo dodig in three sets then they survived the match tiebreak vs matkowski zimonjic – that could be a record – double faulting on your own match point two consecutive matches —
Dan Markowitz · November 20, 2015 at 9:22 am
Huh, who the heck are Garin and Edmund? Maybe I’ve heard of Edmund, British player? but Garin, who’s he? And Daniel Evans, Comeback Player of the Year, for what? winning a Challenger against Tiafoe? The guy’s ranked #185. He hasn’t won a match on the regular tour all year. The Brits thought so little of the guy they didn’t even give him a wc for Wimbledon (they gave Brydan Klein a wc for Wimby).
So you’d give Daniel Evans the Comeback Player of the Year over say Donald Young who’s won 22 matches or better yet, Feliciano Lopez who’s won 32 matches. Come on, what’s your affiliation with Evans? You like his one-hander?
Harold · November 20, 2015 at 10:52 am
TP should have an annual Challenger Awards dinner.
Player of the Year
Comeback Player of the Year
Rising Star Category( have to be ranked 500 or above)
Doubles Team of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award( paul Goldstein inital honoree)
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 10:54 am
I posted on the stat because that’s an awful long match – 3.5 hours – for two sets. That’s as long a match as the 38 minute wipeout of Nishikori is short.
Unless they were moon-balling the entire match I’d guess they had a lot of deuces.
I thought the UK was grooming Edmund to be the #2 behind Murray. Chile has been banking on Garin, putting him with Gonzalez. As you can probably tell, neither country has been successful in growing the talent ranks. Chile post Gonzalez has been the land of no tennis players. The UK is Andy Murray and his brother for doubles, then a bunch of players who were standout juniors.
Moskova Moskova · November 20, 2015 at 10:57 am
well said Dan – glad to see we’re seeing more eye to eye on these minor-league pushers…..dream on !!
let’s go FED / wawa and rafa !!! exterminate djoko with extreme prejudice !! LOL
Dan Markowitz · November 20, 2015 at 11:20 am
Alright, Garin is from Chile. I had no idea. Kyle Edmund, ok, I’ve seen him play like twice. Great Britain, it’s a joke they can win Davis Cup. If it wasn’t for that one family, GB would be hopeless. I mean think about it, since the 1970’s, England, I can’t call it GB, it’s England to me, has had two very good players in Lloyd and Henman and one great player in Murray. And then that’s it. I mean its gotten so bad they filch players from Canada and Australia. And this is from the country that tennis was invented and they have the biggest tourney of the sport. And don’t get me started on Ireland or any of those other countries over there.
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 11:29 am
Great Britain might win, but I think everything turns on the doubles. If Belgium wins the doubles, I bet they win it.
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 12:36 pm
Djokovic denies comment (ESPN). “I said that I was disappointed with my level, but that has nothing to do with me handing the victory. This is ridiculous.”
Scoop Malinowski · November 20, 2015 at 2:21 pm
Garin beat Thiem or Coric at junior French Open semis or finals a few years back – also won an ATP tour level match a few years back but his progress hit a wall the last 2-3 years –
Scoop Malinowski · November 20, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Good idea Harold – your wish is our command … I will do an awards article …
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Looks like Federer vs. Murray or Wawrinka, and Nadal vs. Djokovic. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Wawrinka wins WTF.
Back to what we all want to talk about. The future of U.S. tennis. It may be all Ceci Bellis on the WTA side, but on the ATP side it’s up for grabs.
It is surprising how well these next next players are doing. Last year I was used to seeing challenger veterans in the U.S. finals, or foreign players. Literally in the last month, this “tradition” has been upended. Tiafoe was in a final last week. This week, Fritz is in another semifinal, and so are two UCLA players, McKenzie McDonald and another player ranked in the low 1000s, Clay Thompson.
That UCLA team must have been the equivalent of the fab five. At one time (or within a short period of time) it had NCAA champ Giron, Kosakowski, this kid Thompson, McKenzie McDonald. Surprised they didn’t win a crown. Or not surprisingly, if they are the parallel of the fab five.
Dan Markowitz · November 20, 2015 at 3:31 pm
Andrew, let’s not get too carried away here. Giron, Kosakowski, Mac Mac and Thompson, good chance none of these guys will be impact pros (although I do think Mac Mac will be Top 50) so they’re not exactly Webber, Rose and Howard. There are so many of these Challengers each week so there’s no lock that just because you’re winning some of them you’re going to be a good pro. Although, I was watching Fritz v Rola highlights from a recent Cally one and Fritz is sick.
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 3:56 pm
Fritz smacked Jaziri, who seems to be the bar against which all next players have to measure up to. If they beat Jaziri, they are legit. If they lose to Jaziri, question marks.
Scoop Malinowski · November 20, 2015 at 6:04 pm
Thompson beat the former NCAA champ this week and in college Clay was playing number five singles – how’s that for a breakout? The success of the young Americans this year is very promising – I see a Fed vs Djokovic WTF final –
Andrew Miller · November 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm
Thompson was #2 NCAA player. Giron finished the year #1, Thompson #2.