Dominic Thiem obliterated defending champion Novak Djokovic 76 63 60 in a devastating performance which has to be one of the worst defeats by a title defender in recent Grand Slam history.
Thiem, the ATP World No 7 player, is now just two match wins from becoming the first Grand Slam major champion from Austria since Thomas Muster won in Paris in 1995.
To sum the match: Djokovic’s confidence issues betrayed after the first set. The self belief is no longer there as he has not won anything significant since Roland Garros a year ago. Thiem obviously was not at full power in their previous duel in Rome (6061 for Djokovic) and Djokovic knows it.
Djokovic was a great player when he had the burning intensity and fury to conquer all. But clearly the 30 year old Serbian does not have the same obsessive hunger and desire to be the best any more. Like the boxing champ Marvin Hagler famously said: “It’s hard to wake up at 5 am and do roadwork when you’re sleeping in silk pajamas.” If Agassi can’t push Djokovic’s motivation buttons nobody can and it is safe to conclude that Djokovic’s days as a super champion are finished.
And a worthy new young potential replacement has emerged by the name of Dominic Thiem.
French Open · Roland Garros · Thiem
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« Previous 1 2Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2017 at 8:56 am
JTG; Agassi was actually well liked by the US Open locker room attendants and manager. When younger Agassi definitely had a playful rebel side and he liked to tweek his rivals especially Pete Sampras. But as he's grown older Agassi has matured and has probably learned life is a whole lot easier if you don't rock the boat or try to spark controversy and stay out of political arguments. I would guess Agassi has strong political beliefs but he keeps them private to avoid the headaches and attacks.
Hartt · June 8, 2017 at 9:16 am
Scoop, Pospisil, who won the Wimby doubles title with Sock, was born in Canada. I was impressed that Gaby gave part of her speech today in French. I think Groenefeld has a mixed title at RG with another partner, but would have to check on that.
Jimmy the Gent · June 8, 2017 at 9:38 am
scoop – not trying to rock the boat….im open to discussing all aspects of tennis.
good thing about TP is that it isn’t SI, espn, etc.
don’t forget that this site is mostly opinions, speculation, heresay, prose 😉
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 9:45 am
Ostapenko and Bacsinszky both with birthdays today – Ostapenko turns 20 and Bacsinszky turns 28. It’s a chess match so far. I’m rooting for Ostapenko, I like her aggression…and she’s kinda cute.
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 9:53 am
Fritz lost his first round match in the Surbiton challenger to some Australian named Andrew Whittington. Kozlov also lost. Opelka won.
catherine · June 8, 2017 at 10:10 am
Chazz
I reckon the elements had something to do with those results. Cold and windy around London today.
Surbiton used to be a very good small tournament running up to W’don, with some ambitious second tier players.
Nice to see it’s still going.
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 10:22 am
Yes Catherine, it looks like a pretty good field for a challenger. Some other notables are Daniel Evans, Dustin Brown, Malek Jaziri and Jordan Thompson. Not bad for a challenger event.
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 11:09 am
In doubles, Donald Young and his partner are into the final.
Hartt · June 8, 2017 at 11:10 am
Wow, Donald Young and Gonzalez will play the doubles final, beating Verdasco/Zimonjic in today’s SF.
Henk · June 8, 2017 at 11:34 am
No intetion of creating a political discussion but it’s pretty cool to have an American and a Mexican teaming up and reaching a GS finals. 34 year old veteran Santiago Gonzalez has been RU in a number of GS MD finals and, who knows, this may HIS time together with Young.
catherine · June 8, 2017 at 11:45 am
So Ostapenko into the final. I predict a pretty pedestrian match with Simona the winner.
This women’s event hasn’t exactly set the tennis world ablaze.
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 12:52 pm
I’ve watched Pliskova a few times and don’t get the appeal of her game at all. I guess she has power but she doesn’t move well. Very robotic. Halep should put this match away in the second set unless she goes away from what’s working.
Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Henk; Yes that is interesting angle about Young and Gonzalez and also Young is the first black male in a GS final since… who knows the answer?
Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2017 at 1:06 pm
Pliskova plays like a robot with zero emotion or passion, it's like she is going through the motions. Just one yell of come on? Just one fist pump? Any sign of joy and love of playing from Pliskova?
catherine · June 8, 2017 at 1:08 pm
Simona’s beaten her more often than not. Can’t see that changing.
Simona will be a worthy winner and get what she should have won in 2014 – but on the whole I think the current women’s game is dross and in need of a bit of star power. Maybe W’don will give us a better picture.
Dan Markowitz · June 8, 2017 at 1:28 pm
wow, Dy in FO finals. According to Scoop’s beliefs that doing well in doubles spurs a singles’ players results, we can soon expect to see DY in the top 20. He’s currently no. 51.
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 1:34 pm
Yes Scoop, she’s robotic in emotion AND movement. I hate to be harsh but it’s not fun to watch at all.
Jimmy the Gent · June 8, 2017 at 1:35 pm
answer to scoop’s question : malivai wahington
Jimmy the Gent · June 8, 2017 at 1:35 pm
*washington
Jimmy the Gent · June 8, 2017 at 1:36 pm
Catherine : simona could choke…never say never
Andrew Miller · June 8, 2017 at 1:59 pm
Agassi was known to be a gentleman in the locker room. Rios was NOT. But both did wonders with a tennis ball.
Andrew Miller · June 8, 2017 at 2:02 pm
Fact of Ostapenko is unreal. The final will be interesting because it’s either one veteran’s reaching their potential or an upstart who rips the title away from them. This is actually a good result. It may not get the ratings, but it’s a worthy match.
Andrew Miller · June 8, 2017 at 2:04 pm
I rooted for Mal. Krajicek was too on the money that day,and Mal Washington was spent from the epic semifinal with Todd Martin.
catherine · June 8, 2017 at 2:10 pm
Simona a veteran ? She’s 25 🙂
She’s lost second set in two matches now – so no, never say never…….
Chazz · June 8, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Hard to compare women’s game to men’s game with stats, but kind of interesting anyway:
Winners in 5 matches
Ostapenko 245
Thiem 181
Murray 174
Nadal 118
Also, Ostapenko’s average forehand speed is faster than Andy Murray’s at this year’s FO.
catherine · June 8, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Chazz –
Interesting stats.
Wome’s final could be a battle of the forehands 🙂
Hartt · June 8, 2017 at 7:31 pm
Scoop, have done my homework on the doubles. Anna-Lena Groenefeld has 2 GS mixed doubles titles – Wimbledon in 2009 and RG in 2014. Also, she and Farah reached the Wimby mixed doubles final last year.
I forgot another Canadian-born player who has a GS title – Sebastien Lareau won the USO doubles title in 1999 with Alex O’Brien, becoming the first Canadian player to get a Slam title. Lareau also won the Olympic gold medal in 2000 with his partner Daniel Nestor.
There was a TV interview with Gaby Dabrowski after today’s win. She said she hoped she could inspire kids to take up tennis or to keep on playing it. She also said “If I can do it, anyone can.” Maybe a little too modest. 🙂