Wimbledon 2015, It doesn’t get any better than Djokovic vs. Federer

They are playing on fairly even terms; the difference is Novak is playing more efficiently while the error prone Federer & his alter-ego “Shankerer” have resurfaced today… Too many netted backhands & forehands during pivotal points…HUGE set point save for Federer at 6-5 in the 2nd set tiebreak… Riveting stuff… You recently called Nadal-Djokovic the Best Rivalry Ever… The Big 3 Rivalries are pretty equally EPIC & we are all privileged to witness SUPREME GREATNESS that we’ll likely never see again in any era: past, present & future!

A Technical & Systematic Dismantling by the Top Player of the 2010s era – Novak Djokovic, the Tennis Machine that I refer to as “The Serbinator” over Maestro Roger.. Djokovic’s precision, highly efficient baseline tennis along with his impenetrable defensive & the best returning skills in the sport proved to be too much for an error prone Federer — who despite playing well & having his chances was unable to convert on the opportunities that were presented to him during the match’s most pivotal points; Federer repeatedly netting backhands as well as forehands during those crucial points… Credit where it’s due… Congrats to Novak Djokovic for winning yet another Wimbledon & Grand Slam title! The complete tennis machine that I refer to as “The Serbinator” is proving himself to be a very worthy successor to occupying the Top Spot that the 2 Premier Champions in History held for so long during their amazing run of greatness, Roger & Rafa… Truly the Big 3 & Big 3 only… The Djoker is making history of his own & it looks like he is far from done adding to his growing list of achievements… Always a pleasure to witness Tennis played at the highest level imaginable by the Premier Champions I’ve had the privilege of watching display their SPECIAL GIFT between the lines… Very Good Match but not the Classic we hoped for & that’s simply because Novak was his sound, machine-like Best today & Shankerer was shaky… It was worth getting up at 6:00 AM to watch though… Good Afternoon everyone!

Djokovic & Rafa have had to beat the stiffer opposition for their Major titles… Novak is benefitting from the Roger & Rafa being past their peak but in fairness, he held his own against them at their Best… He’s a worthy heir to their throne… He has more Majors left in him however this may be his last PEAK, PEAK kind of year… The age is approaching where the inevitable gradual process of decline starts to unfold… There are quite a few talented, emerging young guns who are going to break out SOONER than later too… Players usually come down to earth the year after an Amazing season & recent history suggests as much… Djokovic should be On Top for at least couple more years!

The real grass court event starts here in Rhode Island tomorrow. I’m on the media balcony now watching Dr. Ivo, Tommy Haas and Tomic warming up 4 on a court. There’s only 3 practice courts here at the Hall of Fame. How about these first round matches: Izzie v Ram, Haas v Mannarino, Stepanek v Sock. You know Radek will give Jack fits with his flat ball on these courts. And yes Distin Brown is in the draw playing a wc and Noah Rubin got a wc.

Dustin Brown has shown the ability to play great grass court tennis… I wish the Hall of Fame Championships at Newport weren’t so overlooked… Should get a lot more emphasis from the media & from more notable players… I know guys are drained after the French Open-Wimbledon European slam double on clay & grass but Newport is the lone grass event in America as well as a celebration for the Legends of the game… Just my take!

What an amazing match today! Federer won the come-to-net department (Djokovic failed to pass or lob him, and when he came to the net was easily passed/lobbed by the opponent). However Djokovic won the second serve (was much better than Fed’s, he varied it so well that fed kept guessing and couldn’t gain offense from returns), returns (huge gap, he neutralized fed’s first serve, as well as gained advantage in returning second serve), and mental strength (kept cool for longer periods of the match and on important points). I think they were almost even in the baseline play (roger was more aggressive so he won the short rallies and lost the long rallies), and in first serve (both’s were equally effective).

I am surprised at the poor play of Novak at the net. He tried to lob for 13-14 times and failed each time. He just couldn’t hit passing shots except near the very end of the match. I thought he could loose because roger could just come to the net more often but novels superior second serve and returns basically won him the match.

Awesome display by Novak. No doubt he is the best player in the world at the moment. He is the favorite for US Open unless he faces a peak wawrinka.

*anywhere near

I don’t think Federer played particularly well after the second set today. I had no doubt that Djoko was going to win the match. I don’t know what you’re referring to, Gaurang, when you said Djoko couldn’t pass Fed. I remember two passes off his backhand that were superb. One was when Fed hit a knifing approach shot that landed just inside the baseline and Djoko hit a ridiculous down the line backhand pass. The other sealed the match, Fed served and volleyed and Djoko crushed a backhand return down the line that Fed got nowhere near to touching. Look, when Djoko moves the way he did today, serves as well and comes up to the net boldly (take note Murray), he’s unbeatable. Now when he played Wawa in the French, Wawa’s game is bigger than Fed’s and he prevented Djoko from approaching the net a lot or hitting winners.

Dan, if you check Net points won, you would see Federer won around 75% of net points in the first 2 sets, and 65% in the last 2. These are high percentages, especially 75 — thats why I think Novak was not good at passing or lobbing Federer when Federer was at the net. Novak did better in the fourth set though — he was more confident that time, and was sensing victory. Boris may have made some comments in the rain break as well which could have helped him.

Novak must really work on his passing shots and lobs — he is usually good at these, but looks like he has lost his touch on those recently.

The H2H is will be key however the H2H Novak has against Rafa in Grand Slams will be something that really elevates Rafa’s All-Time standing… Rafa’s H2H versus all his top rivals in Grand Slams will likely not be duplicated or surpassed… Sure, the French Open does significantly play into the H2H he has but he’s beaten all of them in other Slams as well including Finals on their preferred surface which the same cannot be said the other way around… They are The Top 3 Tennis Champions playing simultaneously in history & it’s a matter of opinion as to who will be considered the GOAT… We as Fans are privileged to be witnessing something so SPECIAL… It’s Novak’s time right now but the 2 who came before him left a legacy that will never be erased as they set a standard that elevated the entire sport… Credit to Novak for carrying it on & setting an extension of that standard of SUPREME GREATNESS… I stand by what I said that Novak will come back down to earth next year… He’ll still be on top but he’ll lose more matches than he is losing this year… His 2012 season is proof as are the 2011 & 2014 campaigns for Rafa following his out of this world type seasons… It’s simply not humanly possible to stay playing SUPERHUMAN TENNIS for consecutive seasons… These RARE kind of amazing years are physically & mentally taxing on the Top Players who are gifted enough to have them… Novak is at his peak at the moment & he needs to enjoy it while he can… Time is on the side of the young guns but like Scoop & I were discussing, the future heir is yet to reveal himself!