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How on earth can Novak Djokovic lose now?
33 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Novak Djokovic just destroyed Ferrer in a fashion we have rarely seen, in less than an hour and a half.
“This could be the best tennis, from start to finish, Djokovic has ever played,” complimented Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob.
“I played incredible tennis,” said Djokovic. “This is definitely one of the greatest performances I’ve had in my career.”
Now, a peak and prime Djokovic has 48 hours to rest and recuperate before he meets the winner of Murray-Federer in the final.
And you just know Federer vs. Murray is going to be a war, and potentially a marathon at that.
It looks like Djokovic is a lock to win his sixth major this weekend. And based on this form, a grand slam, is certainly a distinct possibility, if not probability, at this point.
You have to wonder how Murray and Federer must feel right now, knowing what they will have to go up against, after their semifinal showdown.
I have a hunch Mike Tyson’s opponents in the 1980’s felt a very similar feeling.
Nole's world domination continues
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2013 at 11:57 am
Wonder what the betting odds for the final will be and how lopsided they will be for Djokovic.
Harold · January 24, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Hoping he played his best match, one match too early…Would rather see either Murray or Fed win
Steve · January 24, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Well on another blog I hedged my AO pick and said either Djoker or Fed.
But there’s nothing Federer hasn’t seen in his career. Crushing Ferrer doesn’t mean he’s a lock even if your beloved Gimelstob says so. Fed has much better chance of beating Djoker than Murray.
I agree that the extra rest and time to sit in his egg are huge benefits though.
Wouldn’t it be great for your book if Fed gets #18 right here though? Would be a heck of a story with him blasting through younsters Tomic & Raonic and fighting off the Tsonga as opposed to a champ that went through Stepanek & Ferrer.
Mitch · January 24, 2013 at 12:57 pm
If Djokovic plays as well as he did last night, he’ll win. That said, Djokovic at the top of his game has been better than anyone else over the last couple of years; undoubtedly so on a hard court. He has his ups and downs and we’ve seen him come out flat and lose or get far behind before he can find his A game. He’ll be the favorite, but not a lock. If Murray can get past Federer in 3 or 4 sets, I think he would have at least a 40% chance of winning the title
Andrew Miller · January 24, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Trusting Gimelstob’s judgement – why trust one of tennis’ weakest analysts? Depending on how long the Murray-Federer match goes, either has chances. If their match goes the super-distance (high scoring fifth set) then they’re doomed for the runner up trophy. If Federer is through in 4 or less sets I think he will have a shot; if Murray is through in 4 I think he can easily push Djokovic if not steal the title from him.
BoDu · January 24, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Djokovic-Federer rivalry badly needs more Grand Slam finals, so I hope Roger will beat Murray tomotrow. Novak is probably going win the AO no matter who the opponent is.
Steve · January 24, 2013 at 2:52 pm
I know a lot people won’t bother watching a Murray vs. Djokovic final. If that’s the final it would be tempting to just watch post-match highlights.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2013 at 7:04 pm
Hasn’t Fed won enough Harold?! lol Yes it would be nice to see Murray win but he did win the last major.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2013 at 7:07 pm
It’s always nice to see Federer win Steve but I think Djokovic is the better player now. It’s his time and he’s playing lights out tennis. I can see him laying a major beatdown in the final, similar to his win over Ferrer. We have not seen a hard court major final beatdown in a long time, as far as I remember off the top of my head. Yes I do like Gimelstob, he’s getting better and better, he really knows the game and the players and has great enthusiasm.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Agree BoDu, 100%.
Mitch · January 24, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Last hard court major final beatdown was Djokovic crushing Murray 2 years ago. Wonder what would happen to Murray’s new-found confidence if that happened again.
loreley · January 25, 2013 at 5:12 am
“Last hard court major final beatdown was Djokovic crushing Murray 2 years ago. Wonder what would happen to Murray’s new-found confidence if that happened again.”
Interesting question.
Federer is too old to win another Major. Actually he won enough. It’s just that he is the best to watch. I won’t sit through a 5-set-match from Djoker vs. Murray . I won’t even try to get up in time for the final.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2013 at 11:00 am
The Djokovic Murray final does not do it for me either, far prefer Murray vs. Fed or Fed vs. Djok in the final. There’s a bit more tension and grudge in those two matchups while Djok-Murray have nearly identical styles and they are on friendly terms. It’s always more interesting when you know the players are not overly close, like Agassi vs. Pete, Seles vs. Graf, Fed vs. Djok, Murray vs. Fed, Djok vs. Roddick, etc.
Mitch · January 25, 2013 at 11:32 am
Get used to it. Seems like these two will contest a lot of slam finals over the next few years. Do you guys think Djokovic will win a second Wimbledon title before Murray gets his first?
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2013 at 11:35 am
so here we go, Djokovic – Murray, with Murray beating Federer in five sets, going away. Seems Federer hit the wall after the Tsonga victory. Murray has enough energy to push Djokovic. If Murray can get a 2nd and third wind during the match he can beat Djokovic. The match is on Djokovic’s racquet – how willing is he to exploit Murray’s fatigue and run Murray into the ground? If the answer is “that’s the gameplan” then I think this will be Djokovic’s 6th slam win. He doesn’t need to do anything special, just punish Murray for having played Federer.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Mitch, the final here will tell us a lot about which one is the stronger player. I think it’s Djokovic, who regained the mental edge in London and looks to be back again to playing his best tennis, perhaps better than ever before. I think he will prevail in Australia. This will sound crazy but I really think Djokovic fumbled away the US Open title to Murray, more so than Murray taking it. When Murray showed how much he desperately wanted the US Open, for his first major title, in the beginning of the fifth set, it seemed to declaw and pacify Djokovic. Djokovic seemed to be like, Ah the hell with it, this guy is my friend he never won one yet, he wants and needs it so bad, I don’t really need this, I don’t want to see him cry again, he showed me he deserves it, he can have it. On some subconscious level I really believe this happened in Djokovic’s mind. Overall, I think Djokovic is the superior player and he will prove it in 2013, could be wrong about that, we’ll learn a lot from the final.
Steve · January 25, 2013 at 12:24 pm
I looked at the stats set by set and the obvious thing is that Fed’s 1st serve percentage in play wasn’t high enough. He’s gonna have to serve 67% + against these guys, IMHO. Easy thing to say from the side lines. The Tsonga match was costly.
Murray’s improved forehand and offensive tactics are paying dividends. Lendl has been amazing for Murray.
The conditions are windy. Will the tennis Gods grant Murray another hurricane???
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Maybe the way Murray was hitting the ball affected Roger’s confidence to serve so freely as usual. Murray’s a different player now, he’s a little better than Roger now. He forced Roger to play more defensively than I can ever recall.
Steve · January 25, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Maybe but I watched the first set and Fed served first and his 1st serve wasn’t on from the start. The sets where he picked it up he won.
Murray played better last night. If Fed serves 67% + he wins this match. Again not rocket science. He looked tired and Murray seemed fresh as a daisy.
Steve · January 25, 2013 at 2:13 pm
I noticed Fed came to net in the second game and then abandoned it for the rest of the set after Murray hit a brilliant passing shot. I LOVE this strategy but if he’s not going to listen to Annacone it may be time to change things up.
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Man, ditch Annacone? That would be very sad, but you never know – maybe Federer wants someone else to guide him in the last stage of his career. Federer won his previous matches against Murray from the back of the court, wrong stepping Murray with near perfect placement. But I think Murray’s improved since the losses, and the Olympics win gave him enough confidence to stay with Federer in a long match. This is the Nadal strategy: stay with Federer until the bitter end and if you are still there you’re chance of winning go up. Djokovic’s too: stay with Federer until the bitter end and, so long as you aren’t indoors, you’re probably going to win.
Harold · January 25, 2013 at 2:29 pm
Maybe Feds serve had something to do with Murray being the 2nd best returner on the planet…
Murray’s passing shots kept Fed staying back, when he came in he looked like Roddick, getting whiplash from watching passing shots..
Murray is great, hopefully he catches uo to Djoko,and makes this rivalry great on a long term
Steve · January 25, 2013 at 2:48 pm
As P Mac noted Fed is a rhythm server. His rhythm was way off. When his rhythm is on you get the Cincy 2012 final.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2013 at 4:14 pm
Something must cause Fed’s rhythm to go off – such as how devastatingly effective Murray was playing.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2013 at 4:19 pm
How about Federer shouting at Murray at the end of the fourth set when Murray passed him with the forehand up the line. Federer barked something at Murray who just kinda smirked it off. But then he proceeded to lose that game and the tiebreak. It seemed Fed stunned Murray with that very unexpected display of uncharacteristic poor sportsmanship and got into his head which spooked him to lose that fourth set. But then Murray righted the ship and got back to his A level of tennis and dominated Fed in the fifth. It was a very interesting interplay between the two. But they had a nice handshake and embrace at the net at the end.
Steve · January 25, 2013 at 5:37 pm
Federer is a veteran. His serve % is not going to be thrown no matter whose on the other side. He’s not Lendl. It’s about his rhythm. Djoker is an even better returner. Again see Cincy 2012 and etc.
Murray was/is the king of shady stuff on court. From hindrances to playing possum. I hoped he was beyond that nowadays but it seems he’s not. He should play mixed with Azarenka.
I think you and Dan are starting to convince me that these new & sudden iron men might be on PEDs. I hope it’s not true for the sake of the game.
Federer is very human. Two 5 setters will make any 31 yr old tired and stressed. I don’t have an issue with what Fed yelled at him for faking to stop play.
Andrew Miller · January 26, 2013 at 8:18 am
I agree with Steve. Fed’s only human, can’t win all.
Some credit to Craig Tiley and Tennis Australia? Great tournament and Aussie tennis is getting better!
Let’s also hear it for Germany and Italy. Their WTA players are doing well.
Finally, some credit to the U.S. WTA up and coming players. I agree with Scoop, serious momentum!
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2013 at 9:38 am
Murray’s style and grit just have always been a problem for Federer, look at their head to head. Now that Murray is matured, experienced and at full physical strength, it’s no surprise that he has finally figured out a way to master Federer in major tournaments, though it certainly took a long time. I don’t see Fed turning the tables on Murray of Djokovic in the future. I think Fed realizes this too as he said he plays now mostly for the joy of the game, and if the records come it’s an added bonus.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2013 at 9:43 am
Andrew, the USA has Keys and Stephens coming up strong, also McHale (who is 0-3 so far this year though), Lauren Davis, Oudin, Grace Min, Sam Crawford. The Aussie Open is a fantastic event and I can’t wait to attend it next year for the first time. It’s my favorite tournament to watch on TV, about tied with the French Open. Wimbledon is also great on TV but I enjoy those two slightly more. Lisicki and Kerber are actually Polish but based in Germany, bet you didn’t know that. Where was Pennetta this year? Probably injured.
loreley · January 26, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Lisicki & Kerber are German girls. Both are born in Germany.
Kerber was asked from Poland to play for them. But she refused. Her mother is German.
Lisicki’s parents are Germans. Resettlers. Parts of Germany became Poland after WWII. I have roots in that region too.
Scoop Malinowski · January 26, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Born in Germany but I was told by a Polish pro coach that both are of Polish descent. He insists they are both Polish. Lisicki was invited to the Polish Consulate party two years ago and was there. Kerber also was invited but did not go. Wozniacki goes to this party every year. Rory McIlrory went last year.
Steve · January 26, 2013 at 6:51 pm
Fed did beat Murray very recently at the WTF and, of course, at WImby 2012. Considering the AO was Fed’s first tourney of the year I think played a very high level. Don’t count him out just yet.
loreley · January 27, 2013 at 3:44 am
Germany is an immigration country.
Lots of players have parents or grandparents from different countries.
Guga Kuerten (Germany), Nicolas Kiefer (France), Tommy Haas (Austria) Roger Federer (Southafrica). Gulbis has a russian grandmother. He speaks russian fluently.
Damn, I made it out of bed in time for the final, but I won’t stick with them too long 😉
Go Nole!
https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/294082454610903040/photo/1/large