Good article Sean, and fair enough.

The thing about Rafa is not only his mental edge but his physical one too; not only can he psyche out a player he can wear him down. That makes him extremely tough to beat. He’s not bad at defense either - LOL.

That said, I still think Wimbledon is more open than in the past.

According to the BBC site, Rafa is the first player to win Roland Garros and Queen’s Club in the same year. I don’t know if it’s always been played the week after the French though.

“but the fact remains, a guy winning the French Open has no business winning a grass title seven days later – it hasn’t happened in how long? ”

Let us not get too caried away Sean! The difference between the surfaces has been levelled. federer won halle in 05 and 06 after reaching semis and finals at Paris. So it is in’t like the calendar/personal slam which has not been achieved in 40 odd years. Great but not like no one has come close

“If you are a Fed, Novak or Roddick supporter, or just anti-Rafa, you can try and spin it that Nadal beat a hapless Karlovic, a rusty Roddick and a tired Djokovic,”

Donot worry….. there are enough of us to come up with better “reasons” to undermine rafa You keep up your good and prompt work.

“but the fact remains, a guy winning the French Open has no business winning a grass title seven days later – it hasn’t happened in how long? ”

Exactly, there is nothing really new about this… Lets just remember that Federer and Nadal have both been at the Wimbledon and Roland Garros Finals consecutive times, so this feat could have very easily already happened, in fact it was bound to… if you look at it the opposite way, a guy that won Wimbledon had just come from winning a clay court title (Federer in Hamburg many times)

That stats of the match related to Serving tell the whole story. And it’s mind boggling. Djokovic served 77% First Serves today, yet faced 13 Break Points, getting broken 4 times. Nadal served at a low (for him) 61% First Serves, faced 8 Break Points and was broken 3 times. Going deeper, you find two stats where the outcome lies: 1st Serve Points Won and 1st Return Points Won. Nadal led Djokovic in both categories by a 7% margin, and that made the difference. Djokovic won only 61% of his First Serve Points; Nadal won 68% of his. On Returning 1st Serves Nadal won 39% of those; Djokovic 32%.

What’s stunning is that Nadal won amost 40% of the points when Djokovic got his 1st Serve in play. You can understand that on clay, but on grass??? That’s crazy!! Especially when Djokovic was getting the 1st Serve in 77% of the time. Moreover, Nadal was well below his usual 1st Serve Percentage of around 70%, yet he won over 2/3 of the points on his own 1st Serve anyway. Nadal spotted Djokovic a 1st Serve Percentage advantge today of 16%, yet Nadal not only took care of his own below par serve better, he returned the Djokovic serve much better than Djokovic returned the slower, weaker Nadal serve. All this points out the real difference between them: Nadal is just mentally tougher. Nadal is a smarter match player (probably the smartes one out there today). He knows not only how to play the big points, but what shots to use during big points.

Nadal now has Djokovic 9-3 liftetime, and won 3 of 4 meetings this year including two huge mental battles: Hamburg & Queens Club. Djokovic leaves here with a lot to contemplate, wondering how on earth he can get almost 8 of 10 First Serves in play on a grass court and not win a single set, getting broken 4 times. Nadal leaves here knowing he can serve much better than he did today, knowing the Best of 5 Format helps him considerably, and knowing after this week he’s got a real live chance to win Wimbledon this year.

PS- Djokovic’s post match interview courtside show’s his mental fragility. Mentioning how he’s only played on grass for “3 years” having something to do with him not winning this?? Lame. As if Nadal was Federer-esque on grass!! Suck it up Novak - you got outplayed today by a guy playing nowhere near his best. Take it like a man

How come the winner of the Halle tournament gets more prize money than the winner of Queens?

go nadal! and thanks for beating old what’s his name….

2006 and 2007 saw Nadal in an outsider role at Wimbledon. This time nobody will underestimate him - which is why we won’t see him in the final this year …

Nadal had about 70% 1st serves when he got swatted like a fly by tsonga at aus open or davydenko at miami. If anyone did not play their best today, it is novak. He got tight when he had the chance to close the deal. He will learn. Let us remember nadal lost last year to mahut in the quarters. Djokovic atleast made the final?

Things can only get better for Novak and only worse for Nadal. The 2nd half is not for the clay court sissies. The shot-makers are going to step things up.

@natureexplorer, Halle has fewer players so, despite having the same prize money, the winner gest more of it.

Rafa’s victory over Djokovic clearly highlighted some very important attributes of his game, not just the physical aspect but the mental aspects too. No matter what opportunities djokovic created for himself at the critical moments in the match, Nadal had a very clear awareness of how to handle the situation. He’s really developing quite a mature mindset in terms of knowing how to hold onto that sheer determination of his to simply hold his ground.Grass is becoming a relative comfort zone for Nadal,and while it may still be too bold to say that he could take our Federer,he really looks like the only contender who could realistically take three sets off of him. Andy Roddick, LLeyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, and the other few outsiders who could cause an upset over Federer simply don’t have that extra gear they need to put Federer to the sword. If Nadal gets through to the second week, surley he’s the one man Roger would pay not to have to play against to defend his title.

Nadal is anti tennis and Novak just didn’t play his game like in first 3 games of the first set. That said Rafa like Rafa he always come up with some shitty returns that are like balloons high up in the air that are landing on the line. When Rafa gets luck like that everybody starts to be crazy and they start to play less aggressive and risky. He just stopped playing risky not only on 1st but on 2nd serve and that play and state of mind cost him this match. Rafa is nowhere near of a player that plays beautiful tennis, and him wining a title on grass is just a mirror image of the crazy world we live in. Still he is a fighter but he should play beautiful, not painful. Last year i routed for Fed in SW18 Finals couse there were no Nole in the finals. This year i will hope that there will be no Fed and Rafa in the finals, everyone else is good enough for me
I’m not anti Rafa but still i cant like his game enough.

Joker Says:
Nadal had about 70% 1st serves when he got swatted like a fly by tsonga at aus open or davydenko at miami. If anyone did not play their best today, it is novak. He got tight when he had the chance to close the deal. He will learn. Let us remember nadal lost last year to mahut in the quarters. Djokovic atleast made the final?

1) So I guess we can say Nadal’s just gotten better - serving worse yet still not losing a set.

2) Is it that tough for you to just admit Nadal’s better than Djokovic??

3) Djokovic made the final - but Nadal won the tournament. Or didn’t you get that memo??

“clay court sissies”?

That makes a lot of sense…

Seriously, joker, you’re worse than fed is afraid.

When the hell did fanboyism become a common trend in tennis

Oh and the irony of a djokovic fan calling other players sissies

Apparently Nadal is now on his prime! He only improve this year, better AO, won Hamburgo, destroy the field for a 4th RG and now a grass tilte. He has more wins this year and is the mentally tougher player now.

This Wimbledon could validate it as long as Nadal makes another final, which will boost his confidance going into hardcourts. But if he falls soon in Wimby, and Djoko advances, he still can loose his n. 2 which will cool of his momentum.

Strangelly, this year, all eyes will be on Nadal, will he win it?! Once we know Fed won’t loose 3 sets on grass for any other player out there other than Nadal or Djokovic (the ones who beat him in Slams) he is virtually in the final already, waiting to see how good Nadal really is rigth now!

What’s funny are the Djokovic apologists on this board like Joker & Roki expressing the sheer venom they do toward Nadal when he beats up on Djokovic, like he’s done for the 9th time in 12 meetings. They’re mad at Nadal for beating their hero 75% of the time. You’d hope this will put an end to all this crap about which of these two is the real “all court player”. Nadal’s beaten Djokovic on every surface: hard, grass, and clay. Djokovic has only beaten Nadal on a hard court, and that’s it. Nadal is clearly the better all court player in relation to Djokovic, whose only chance to beat Nadal is on a hard court.

Nadal has more Mental Toughness in his big toe than Djokovic might ever have in his whole career, and that’s why he keeps beating up on Djokovic. Nadal is the quintessential example that in the higher echelon’s of tennis beautiful strokes are an elective; Match Playing Intelligence is a requirement, and Nadal has that in spades. Djokovic gave more examples of his mental frailty again today - throwing his racquet around on more than a few occasions like some spoiled junior player. That behavior is Golden Signal for a guy like Nadal, who then takes his strengths and moves in for the kill while Djokovic’s mental meltdown seals the deal.

Djokovic has some excellent strokes, but he should wise up and learn from Nadal, or more importantly, Federer. When Federer won Wimbledon for the first time he’d said that before that moment, he could never understand why he kept losing to all these guys on the tour when he had far superior technique than they did. He learned then about what’s required “upstairs” to put together the career he has. And he could never have done that with just a “beautiful technique”. Djokovic gets outplayed by Nadal MENTALLY, and that counts for a LOT more than forehands, backhands and serves if you wanna stay in the Top 10. And any Top 10 player would say exactly that.

Congratulations Rafa.

I was expecting Djokovic to win in two tight sets, or three, but well done.

Now if only people like Agassifan and Joker stop making fools of themselves and just give the kid the credit he is due.

“Let us not get too caried away Sean! The difference between the surfaces has been levelled. federer won halle in 05 and 06 after reaching semis and finals at Paris. So it is in’t like the calendar/personal slam which has not been achieved in 40 odd years. Great but not like no one has come close”

Yes Joker, the grass is really slow because he won it. If he had lost it, it would be a different story right? Nadal can’t play on grass… or the grass is too quick for a clay expert.

Since you acknowledge that the grass is slow, does that mean you give Rafa a chance at Wimbledon?

Here’s what Joker said a few hours before the match:

“Today Djokovic will pummel nadal into the ground. Nadal may at best win a tight set. Djokovic is in prime form and has his killer cap on. He will be relishing the chance to take Nadal on a very fast surface. Will be fun to see Djokovic run nadal ragged like he did at Indian Wells. Watch out for nadal fans to come up with “fatigue” excuses after the loss.”

You must really enjoy embarassing yourself Joker. Keep it up.

Hey Joker, notice how quickly you contradicted yourself? Before the match you described the court as a “very fast surface”. And now that Nadal won, you say “The difference between the surfaces has been levelled”.

Your credibility has just gone down the gutter, and I hope other people start ignoring your posts as they should.

“2006 and 2007 saw Nadal in an outsider role at Wimbledon. This time nobody will underestimate him - which is why we won’t see him in the final this year …”

When you say this, aren’t you doing precisely that? Underestimating him. You’ve just contradicted yourself.

And the logic fails. The reason he made the finals was because people underestimated him, and now that they won’t underestimate him, he must fall early? How does that work? Did anyone underestimate him at the French? Look how that turned out.

HAte to tell you this, but a player isn’t going to win or lose based on what other people are expecting out of them. A player’s performance depends on their concentration, focus, and physical abilities. They can’t read people’s minds.

I hate to be so Pollyannaish but no matter who you like, I think it’s great living in a tennis era with such great, great players. It’s really exciting. Although I’m a Federer fan I’m starting to think that Nadal will beat him at Wimbledon in a five setter.

“Nadal’s beaten Djokovic on every surface: hard, grass, and clay. Djokovic has only beaten Nadal on a hard court, and that’s it. Nadal is clearly the better all court player in relation to Djokovic, whose only chance to beat Nadal is on a hard court.”

I’m sad that Tsonga denied us a dream AO final this year. Nadal vs Djokovic. That would have been a VERY interesting match. Nadal played brilliantly all thoughout AO, not losing a set, until Tsonga thrashed him. I’m not confident that Djokovic would have continued on to win the AO. In the AO final against Tsonga he even took an injury timeout to have his tired legs massages. Yes, TIRED. The guy had made it to a final without dropping a set, and it was a set apiece, and he was tired! Against Nadal, this will not do. Jim Courier who was commentating said “Djokovic has been known to retire from matches due to fatigue. Do not be surprised.”

Thankfully, the fact that it was the final of a grand slam spurred him on. Tsonga was pissed that Djokovic was using an injury time out not for injury but for massage. But the rules say you can, so too bad I guess.

Joker, you really got owned this time now that you got quoted.

Are the courts “very fast” or are they “level” with clay? We need your answer now before Wimbledon begins so that there won’t be any excuses in the event you get owned once again. Obviously the “slow” excuse will only work if you expect Nadal to go deep into the tournament. But you’re probably expecting him to lose early, which requires that the courts are “very fast”. So which will it be? Are you picking for him to make it far, or lose early? Decide now so that we can put your crystal ball scrying to the test. If you pick him to lose early because the court is too fast and un-claylike for him, but he doesn’t, then you won’t be able to use the excuse that the grass is as slow as clay.

What will it be?

@ joker:

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

….

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gosh, I thought Nadal was merciless, but some of you guys have really taken it out on Joker!

And regarding the achievement in winning the French and a grass court tournament in consecutive weeks, sure Roger’s been close as have others, but it’s the focus and the desire needed that makes it so darn tough. Had Roger won one of the three French finals - even this year - there’s a decent chance in his euphoria and celebration he may have opted out of Halle. Hell, Sampras would have taken the rest of the year off had he ever won the French. But Nadal hardly celebrates and goes right back to work almost the very next day. That’s what’s so impressive and that’s why no one had done anything like it since Nastase in 1973.

Again, credit to Nadal. How many guys would actually play the week after winning a Slam, let alone play on a different surface. Fed tried it in Gstaad I recall in 2003, doing the reverse going from grass to clay but failed. (I’m sure it’s happened, but I cannot think of a anyone right now to have done it!) So I give a lot of credit to Nadal for this achievement and his determination. It looks easy on paper but it really isn’t, and the history books prove that.

Fed had never won Gstaad, and the only reason he went back to it was because it was in his home town, and his country would sure appreciate seeing him play.

He lost in 2003 (finals I think?). He went back to it in 04 or 05 and won it, and then after winning it once, he never bothered going back ever again. This was the tournament that gave him a cow, and then some other fancy gift. In a way, they were relieved that they didn’t have to think up more meaningful gifts to give him.

I can’t blame him for not wanting to play the week after winning a slam. But the fact that he kept doing it anyway until he won it then stopped is a telling one about his character. And so is the fact that he abandoned Davis Cup shortly after ascending to #1 (before that he was faithful to it). He has priorities, and it would be a stretch to call him patriotic.

JCF, yup Fed won Gstaad in 2004 which I will say is the last time until now that a player won a title the week after winning a Slam.

I believe that I did predict on this site in the Winter, that Rafa had a good chance of bagging the French and Wimbledon. That was back when the rest of you were writing that he would never become ranked #1. It’s going to be very close between Rafa/Djoker/Federer - any of those 3 could take Wimbledon. But as a dark horse, I’ll take Tsonga. He’s got the serve, the soft hands, and the foot-speed. If he gets hot again, he’s got a shot.

Samprazzz, you might want to re-think that Tsonga pick. Last I heard - and maybe things have suddenly changed! - Tsonga was off the circuit until the US Open or so following knee surgery last month.

“Let us not get too caried away Sean! The difference between the surfaces has been levelled.”

If by ‘levelled’ you mean that the court is more or less the same as clay, then how do you explain the fact that Nadal’s wins have been so tight?

Karlovic: 67 76 76
Roddick: 75 64
Djokovic: 76 75

He was pushed in every set against these guys. If this was clay, it would have been brutal. He would have mutilated these guys. So if the two surfaces were level, wouldn’t we expect similarly one sided results? Obviously the fact that these guys almost beat him makes it clear that the court is NOT anything like clay. That he managed to overcome them is a testament to Nadal’s abilities, not the court favoring him, because the court is doing anything but favoring him.

looks like joker got buried in all this rubble. where you at gravity man?

It is because people like joker and rocky are existing,mental asylums are there.Maybe it is time for them to search for one of those where they can be fixed.

Sean Randall said:

“But Nadal hardly celebrates and goes right back to work almost the very next day. That’s what’s so impressive and that’s why no one had done anything like it since Nastase in 1973.”

You’re making too much out of this, man. There’s no doubt that winning FO and then Queens in 2 cons. weeks is a phenomenal achievement (especially for such clay-court phenomenon like Nadal), but the fact is, it’s only logical that Rafa would be so motivated to do well on grass (where he’s been still titleless until this year’s Queens edition), so there’s no need to exaggerate it… Had Fed won one of those 4 matches against Nadal at RG, he would’ve done the same feat (at least) more than once… Actually, Fed did it in 2004 (winning SW19 & Gstaad in cons. weeks), but anyway, if Nadal wins the SW19, now that would be something! That would de facto make him a new No. 1 (even if Fed retains his ranking), but right now, it’s still 3 weeks till the SW19 will be over, so we better wait and see…

JCF,
why should anybody here be ignored?! Who gives you the right to pick who’s gonna post on this board? Last time I checked, the First Amendment was still on.

anybody who makes unsubstantiated claims out of pure fanboyism doesnt have the right to post on this board but they do it anyway. aka saying player x sucks just because hes player x and he defeated player y or you can pull the guy forget card and say about nadal “we don’t want to see construction worker arms in tennis.” in these cases the first amendment can be ignored and the perpetrators just need to shut the hell up.

All credits to Nadal, he deserved this victory 100%.

Djokovic, though, held the keys to the match till the very end. When you are:

1) 6:6 6-5 with the serve in a TB against Rafa, you need an ace OR a service winner, OR at least some gutsy and courageous play. Waiting for Rafa’s error has proven WROOOONG for so many times.

2) 5:4 with the serve in a grass court match - you just need to close this out. Even if you lose the first service game, you can’t afford to lose two in a row…

Djokovic was beaten mentally and needs to show much more courage if he wants to beet Rafa in their possible SF clash at Wimbledon.

Regarding Rafa, this is the first time he is recognized as a serious favorite to win the title at Wimbledon. In 2006 and 2007 nobody really thought he could do it, especially after his QF loses at Queens. But now, having beaten a handful of fast court and grass court specialists, expectations are - FINAL AT LEAST.

Nadal won’t have any psychological issues with being a top favorite (along with Federer) to win SW19 for the first time. He handles the pressure brilliantly. However, the road to the final is not going to be easy.

What if he takes the title? It won’t mean the end of the world. Really, the guy played two consecutive finals, was so close to winning the last one. This year he won the 2nd best grasscourt tournament and kinda put the spells off.

Spirit,

Good post: I agree that Rafa deserved to win it in the end, but that Novak had chances to win both sets, and really should’ve won at least one of them. Someone said above that Rafa is mentally stronger, and that’s true. He’s probably the strongest guy out there at the moment, mentally, and most definitely physically, so that gives him an edge.

Wimbledon will be really entertaining this year. So many great players, as Dave B pointed out.

Do you remember the 18 yrs old kid, Nishikori who beat Nadal 2nd set 6-3? Even Djoko could not steal one set from Nadal. Watch this Japanese kid who will be playing against T.Johansson at the Slazenger Open on Tuesday.

Gosh, I was really impressed by Nadal’s performance. While on clay there is no ball he can’t get to (almost no ball) I did not expect that the grass would also reward his footspeed. Clearly there is something to be said about Nadal’s return of serve: it was Agassi-like during the Djokovic match! And coupled with the speed, that is just formidable. Though I am wary of seeing Nadal win an AO or a USO, I think Wimbledon’s lawns will be forgiving and will accomodate Nadal’s physical style of play. Though I pick Federer to win it, I cannot deny Nadal. He is just playing way too well.

JCF:

So surfaces being levelled = pace being the same? In other words you think pace is the only thing that characterizes two surfaces? Even my dog knows better than that. What kind of an idiot thinks pace is the only difference between two different surfaces? You dont even have to play tennis for that. It is just common sense and a little bit of thinking. Unfortunately you dont seem to be capable even of that.

You are so intelligent to call other people to ignore my posts? I will be only glad if other idiots who agree with you ignore my posts. I dont want to discuss with morons who dont know how many factors can contribute to two surfaces getting levelled.

Voicemale:

Nadal leads the H2H 9-3 between djokovic and nadal and 11-6 against Federer. Those numbers are lopsided only because Federer and Djokovic go deeper into the Clay tournaments more consistently than nadal does on hardcourts. 10 out of the 17 matches against Federer and 5 out of the 12 matches against Djokovic were on clay. Look at andy roddick’s H2H with nadal. 3-2 in nadal’s favor. So you want to tell me roddick is a better player than the other 2? And roddick had 4yrs for their H2H to pan out, while Djokovic and nadal have had only 2!

We know how nadal fans like you are most vociferous at this time of the year. We are used to this by now. 2 months from now it is all about knees and fatigue. Getting smacked by David Ferrer or smoked by nalbandian or retiring against juan monaco. Thanks for your “informative” post! we will wait for the injury drama to play out again.

I can see a lot of Andy roddick fans(you know who you are) jumping like a pack of hyenas after the lion. Much like how roddick is in the atp tour which is a 3 lion race.

Nadal won’t have any element of surprise at Wimbledon this year. He’s powerful, he’s a lefty and he’ll crawl over rusty nails to return a ball. But the way he got clubbed to death by Tsonga at the Aussie Open this year should offer clues to the power hitters on grass - Nadal can be blown off court with the right tactics (not on clay of course). Perhaps it will be a Nadal/Federer final again but for me it’s Nadal who’s vulnerable in the early rounds and there are only so many early round bloodbaths he can survive.

Andrew,

This is what I’ve been saying. Nadal’s return of serve has dramaticaly improved. Rafa flattens his backhand out and now, it’s also a weapon. Anyone betting against Nadal at Wimbledon is going to be disappointed. He’s better this year and even fitter. As much as I love Roger - He’s going down. Rafa is the new Borg!

Joker Says:
Nadal leads the H2H 9-3 between djokovic and nadal and 11-6 against Federer. Those numbers are lopsided only because Federer and Djokovic go deeper into the Clay tournaments more consistently than nadal does on hardcourts. 10 out of the 17 matches against Federer and 5 out of the 12 matches against Djokovic were on clay. Look at andy roddick’s H2H with nadal. 3-2 in nadal’s favor. So you want to tell me roddick is a better player than the other 2? And roddick had 4yrs for their H2H to pan out, while Djokovic and nadal have had only 2!

Again, this is an attempt to nullify Nadal. After all - you were the one that said grass was gonna be Djokovic’s surface to beat Nadal, and it has yet to happen. So if you take out clay matches between them Nadal still Beats Djokovic H2H 4-3. And if Nadal is so vulnerable off clay, his H2H with Roddick is even more impressive. They didn’t have an ATP match on clay - all their matches were hard court or grass.

In fact, as long as we’re looking at H2H’s - it’s Djokovic’s H2H vs. Top 10 Players that’s weak - he’s below .500 for his career, and well below it for this year. In 2008, Djokovic is 3-6 vs. Top 10 Guys, and that’s on all surfaces. Conversely, Nadal is 12-3 vs. Top 10’s this year on all surfaces.

Joker: you wanna bash Nadal here, OK. What you won’t get away with is the overrating you do of Djokovic. I can’t remember if it was you or Agassifan that was claiming how “lucky” Nadal was in his draw at Wimbledon to make 2 Finals. It’s BS, but I can easily say luck is on the Djokovic side too: he’s won 3 titles this year, and in NONE of them did he play the title match against a seeded player!! Talk about luck! You gotta beat Tsonga for the AO (not even Top 40 then)?? You gotta beat Fish for IW Ranked 98 then)?????? You gotta beat Wawrinka to win Rome (ranked 24 then)??? Djokovic might never get softer title matches for the rest of his career. And even with all that unseeded competition, he managed to lose a set to all of them in those title matches. And take note; two of these were on a hard court. All you Djokovic apologists keep ramming down out throats since last year has been how he was gonna “dominate” hard courts this year. If you lose Sets to guys outside the Top 20 on your best surface you’re not dominating anything.

From the time he won Canada last summer, Djokovic has lost to 10 different guys on hard courts since then, his supposed best surface. With the hard court season starting next month, Djokovic finds himself with a large number of points to defend between Canada and Paris. And when you’ve taken the number of losses he’s had on hard courts in the last year, defending what he’s got is no lock. He’s nowhere near the guy on a hard court that Nadal is on a clay court. Djokovic will find the Waters of Defense are a lot rougher then the Waters of Ascent.

Get real. I’m fan of Novak, but Nadal was playing way too good tennis to be beaten. Novak could play better, but just like in Hamburg and RG, everytime Nadal gets a bit lucky Novak gets really upset. That’s one of the thing he could work on. Chances like break points for 4-0 lead in the first set, 6-5 in the tiebreak and 5-4 + serve in the 2nd set were really too much. Even if you say Nadal had a bit of luck, he could have it in 2-3 points, but Novak let too many points…
The main problem for Novak IMO was his mental strength. He is very confident when he plays lower ranked players, and he often comes from a set down to win the match, but when he plays Rafa and Roger, he simply gets frustrated and starts with worse game.
Big minus were volleys too. Very bad performance, but he has the time to fix it till Wimbledon. I’d like to see Novak in Rogers part of the draw for a change, just like as the author of the article said!

Fans of Djokovic’s or just for anyone interested; here’s a link to a good article by Peter Bodo at ESPN about the 3rd wheel dynamic:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3446537&name=bodo_peter

Dave B,
“I hate to be so Pollyannaish but no matter who you like, I think it’s great living in a tennis era with such great, great players. It’s really exciting. Although I’m a Federer fan I’m starting to think that Nadal will beat him at Wimbledon in a five setter.’
I couldn’t agree more.we are really fortunate to have three amazingly talented players playing against each other.while fed has had a dip this year after four dominant seasons,rafa seems to be in the form of his life and appears almost to be the favorite for wimb given his current form.
we should also appreciate the fact that while fed’s best is probably-i hope and pray that i am wrong here- over and rafa seems to be in his prime,novak is still relatively new to this.novak’s achievements so far are unbelievable considering who he is up against.let us not get too harsh on novak.after all,he has reached five straight slam semi finals and is not too far behind rafa in the race.he is far from being in his prime and still is a big threat on all surfaces.i also disagree very strongly with those who say that novak is not strong mentally.he has played a large majority of big points as well as any other player this year.
i’d still say that he is more likely to dethrone fed than rafa is although the way rafa is playing at the moment is quite astonishing.i wonder if rafa can take this form into the rest of the season.any which way,fed has a big problem defending his rank with tons of points to defend and two hot players snapping on his heels.it’d take a monumental effort from fed to defend his position.rafa or novak should take over sooner or later this year unless there is a sharp dip in their form or if they get injured.

Yes, Nishikori is one to watch on the fast courts!!!

I like Voicemail1 and Bojan’s comments. I agree with them 100%. Djokovic is weak mentally against Nadal and Federer. Just like Nadal is Federer’s kryptonite on clay, it seems Nadal/Federer is Djokovic’s kryptonite on all surfaces. He does well against lower-ranked players because even when he’s down, he retains confidence (and thus his mental composure) that he’ll win against the lower-ranked players. But against Nadal and Federer, his confidence wanes or is not as steady, and he breaks down mentally (which you can tell from his on-court behavior). He sees that Nadal and Federer can return a lot of shots that other players cannot (and make winning shots on the run that other players often cannot). You saw that in the Artios final. If he cannot get over that mental block, there is no way for him to overcome them, and take the #1 spot by the end of the year (about which he has boasted). Of course, it’s hard to imagine he will EVER get rid of the mental block since there is a real and good reason for that mental block - Federer and Nadal’s games/athletic prowess.

A few have commented that Djokovic did not play his game. From what I saw, Djokovic DID play his game. Did everyone notice how many times Nadal wrong-footed Djokovic? Did everyone notice how often Nadal made returns that were seemingly impossible? THAT is about Nadal playing great tennis - better tennis than Djokovic - not about Djokovic playing poorly.

Djokovic fans might say, “Djokovic should have made that shot which proves he was not playing his best.” But the fact is, there were also not a few shots that Nadal missed that he normally makes. So one can say that Nadal was also not playing his best? But why make excuses? Take it for what it is. DJOKOVIC WAS OUTPLAYED, even during moments when he had his confidence up, and even when it seemed like “luck” was on his side (one of Nadal’s shots sprayed out after catching the net, one of Djokovic’s shots fell way short after catching the net and Nadal could not get to it, and Nadal had a bad call on a shot). The fact that the match was so close proves that Djokovic was trying to play his best. He just wasn’t good enough.

Amy,
Andy Roddick commented that Nadal’s serve has improved and has now become a weapon. You can add that to your list of weapons that Nadal has.

Besides mental toughness, do Djokovic fans feel there is anything that Djokovic has to improve?

Roki,

How do you define “sh*##* returns?” Are they the ones that Djokovic can’t handle? It doesn’t seem like you are a real TENNIS fan, if you can’t appreciate Nadal’s phenomenal skills. “Not anti-Rafa,” yet you call his line shots “luck.” Hahahaha!

I seem to remember last year people talking about Wimbledon’s grass having been made to play slower. Was that announced as an official policy? Did they switch to a different kind of grass? Cut differently? Water less? Curious about what this year’s lawns might act like.

Andy

Glenn, Oh Please!

Djokovic won the Austrailian open and beat Federer along the way. Djokovic also beat Nadal in the Indian Wells semi-final in straight sets. Djokovic also beat Roddick, Nadal, and Federer back to back to back to win Montreal last summer. How can you say he’s weak mentally. He’s the youngest of the 3. Give him a break. I think he’s very mentally tough. Good grief!

Just because Nadal is so tough mentally, that doesn’t mean that Djokovic is weak mentally! It just means that Nadal is tougher MENTALLY! Just that!
As Djokovic fan I can see many aspects of his game which need to be improved:
Movement on clay and grass. His coordination on grass and clay is very week, he is half foot slower on these two surfaces and that is why he cannot beat Nadal.
Volleys/net play. I mean that one is easy. His volleys are so weak sometimes, it is hard to watch if you’re fan.

Anyway. I strongly believe that Djokovic will beat Nadal next match on grass: Wimbledon. Djokovic got too very easy matches before Nadal, and he started good, and got too relaxed.
Grass on Wimbledon suits both Nadal and Djokovic better than one in Queens.

The only thing that I am afraid of is that Djokovic might get blisters again playing on grass, simple because he moves bad. I am very worried about that, since movement really comes naturally and it is very hard to fix it. It is automatic/uncontentious reflex, which is hard to improve on. Lendl knows it best.

Last but not least: FITNESS, FITNESS, FITNESS! Djokovic gets physically exhausted when he plays Nadal. Djokovic fitness affects his mentality.

————————————————–

Last thing: Nadal got so much better lately. Djokovic really doesn’t play much worse than he played, but Nadal really stepped up!

Glenn,

Novak has a very good serve but it could be more consistent - particularly in keeping his first service percentage up. That said, he served well against Rafa in the final. His first serve percentage was high, as someone above noted - *except for in those key moments* when he couldn’t seem to knock in a first serve precisely when he needed it. Which actually is unlike him: often he’s a fairly good clutch server. But he didn’t come up with first serves when he needed them in that match: at 6:5 in the tiebreak and at 5:4 in the second set. He needs to work on being more steady. That’s why I’d say the loss was partly focus/mental. He could still improve his game at the net, but from the back of the court -his groundstrokes and his returns - he’s excellent. He’s top 4 in all of the returning categories, and high in 2nd serves won and break points saved. But he needs a more steady first serve, something he can definitely improve. He’s an athletic mover, quick around the court. And he can play aggressive offense and good defense. I agree that he gets more demoralized when behind in matches against top players. He’s played plenty of excellent long matches against other players though, which makes me think his fitness is fine. But he’s more of a frontrunner.

All-in-all he’s a great player with the potential to improve. I’ll be following to see if that happens.

Branimir maybe makes a good point about movement on grass & clay versus on hardcourts, but I still think Djokovic is a good mover overall. He’s got to watch the slippage though; that lead to last year’s injury. Although it was also the back-to-back marathons with Baggy and Hewitt.

Anyhow, he’s not perfect but he’s darn good and a very deserving #3. I hope he can be consistent throughout the rest of the year. So far, he’s done a fine job of equaling and even bettering last year’s points - the only major slip up being in Miami. Otherwise, he’s done well to defend his points from last year. I just want to see him do that the rest of the year; it’ll be tough but he does have a couple of places he can pick up points: Cincinnati and Paris. So long as he stays number 3 this year, I’m happy.

“JCF, why should anybody here be ignored?! Who gives you the right to pick who’s gonna post on this board? Last time I checked, the First Amendment was still on.”

First amendment gives you the right to free speech, it doesn’t mean that others have to listen to you. I didn’t say he couldn’t talk. The First ammendment doesn’t say that you aren’t allowed to ignore other people’s free speech.

Joker:

“JCF:

So surfaces being levelled = pace being the same? In other words you think pace is the only thing that characterizes two surfaces? Even my dog knows better than that. What kind of an idiot thinks pace is the only difference between two different surfaces? You dont even have to play tennis for that. It is just common sense and a little bit of thinking. Unfortunately you dont seem to be capable even of that.

You are so intelligent to call other people to ignore my posts? I will be only glad if other idiots who agree with you ignore my posts. I dont want to discuss with morons who dont know how many factors can contribute to two surfaces getting levelled.”

So then, answer the question…

If the court surfaces are “levelled” (whatever that means), why weren’t the results levelled too? On clay he would kill these guys. On grass, he almost lost.

Go on. Keep grasping at those straws.

And you still haven’t answered the question. Is the court “very fast” or not? And how far do you expect Nadal to get at Wimbledon? Tell us now so we can put you to the test.

I’m now trying to think what ‘level’ means in your opinion. Bounce? Certainly not. Speed? Nope. Sliding ability? Of course not. Spell it out please… I’m too dumb, like you say. Yet you didn’t, because you know you’re talking out of your butthole.

overhead:

“Nadal won’t have any element of surprise at Wimbledon this year. He’s powerful, he’s a lefty and he’ll crawl over rusty nails to return a ball. But the way he got clubbed to death by Tsonga at the Aussie Open this year should offer clues to the power hitters on grass - Nadal can be blown off court with the right tactics (not on clay of course).”

He got his revenge on Tsonga on hardcourt later. So I don’t think you can draw too much from that one match.

He also got clubbed to death by Gonzalez the year before that.

Branimir and Jane,

Thanks for your perspectives. I too think that Djokovic’s movement needs to improve. He does the splits very well :), and has a great reach, but it seems to me he is often too stretched out in those moments. But I feel he is a bit lanky, and perhaps cannot improve in this area.

To improve his volleys, I think he needs to play more doubles. He shouldn’t feel the need to be #1 in singles right now. I think that is self-defeating at the moment. I think the worst thing going for Djokovic right now is that there is so much pressure on him. He should just relax, forget what his parents or anyone else says about being #1, and simply focus on improving. It will probably also help his humility. One thing commentators are always apt to say about Nadal is how humble he is, despite his greatness, and what a great ambassador for tennis he is thereby. Wouldn’t it be great for you Djokovic fans to hear that being said about Djokovic one of these days?

As far as his mental toughness against the better players, I think a great part of it is the pressure put on him by his parents, the press, his fans, and whoever else is trying to push him too hard. When he is not living up to expectations, I think that brings him down, and results in unsportsmanlike behavior. If he relaxes and just focuses on the tennis, he will be a much better player for it (and gain more fans, besides).

His attitude and behavior during the Artois final was sportsmanlike. It was a pleasant change, and made the match so enjoyable to watch. When he made that complaint about a line call, I fully expected him to do his usual death glare at the ump - but he didn’t! I made a mental note, “cool.” Of course, it seems as though he let that call affect him. Against a lower-ranked player, he would have sloughed it off, knowing he can always regain the advantage. But against Nadal - or Federer, for that matter - every point is so crucial, and what he perceives as a bad call haunts him more than it normally would. Once again, his mental toughness against the top players has to improve.

I would be stunned if Djokovic lost to Nadal at Wimbledon. He’s simply a better player on grass. And he actually has less chance of getting upset before the semis. He’s made five Slam semis in a row. Nadal’s best streak is two.

No way would Nadal have lost only five games combined to Hewitt and Nalbandian at Queen’s. He won the important points against Djokovic in the final, but Djokovic plays better in the Slams than regular tour events.

I think this Wimbledon would be really competitive and Nadal has a pretty good chance to take the trophy home but maybe some suisse guy has something to say about that…just let’s wait and see.
Djokovic really needs to grow up, it’s a shame that behind such a great tennis is such an annoying person.

Funches, Djokovic may play better in Slams, but so too does Rafa! Right now, I can’t see Novak beating Rafa at Wimbledon. Maybe on hardcourts this summer, but not at Wimbledon. Novak’s never beaten Rafa in the best-of-five match and I think it’s going stay that way for a long time to come.

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, Novak’s got a great game. A game of a No. 1 player. And I put him at the top of the list – ahead of Federer – as the guy who can beat Nadal at the French Open. But where guys like Roger and Rafa have Novak beat - and why Novak’s been stuck at No. 3 - is between the ears. Rafa got him on the big points at Queen’s and Hamburg. Roger did so at the US Open last year.

So Novak’s got a ways to go in that department, and getting to that higher level mentally where Roger and Rafa are at is no easy feat. It takes time. Unless you were born with it like a Federer, Sampras or even a Hewitt, there’s no overnight pill or training regimen or clear path to follow.

Sure, Novak’s reached a heap of Slam semifinals and he broke through to win the Australian Open and he reached the US Open final, and those are all great building blocks to getting tougher mentally. But you need to repeat that success over and over and over again. Fight from the brink, save break points, save match points, overcome adversity, win for your country, and on and on.

And it’s not really a fault of Novak’s (though he really needs to cut out the retirements when playing the top guys!), it just takes time and likely some luck (let’s face it, he’s playing in a time with both Federer and Nadal). He’s also younger than both those guys in age and in experience so maybe a year from now he does get to the top.

Amy and Branimir,
There is something about you guys I feel it you could be my new friends. I will catch up with you during Wimbledon.

I think Rafa’s mental strength on surfaces other than clay is overrated. He had Federer on the ropes at Wimbledon last year and choked on his break points early in the fifth set. He missed some easy shots for no reason. If Djokovic had done the same thing, everyone would have pointed to his lack of mental fortitude.

I don’t see the mental frailty others see in Djokovic. Yes, he played horribly on all the key points vs. Federer in the U.S. Open final, but that was his first Slam final. It would have been abnormal for him to not be nervous. He won the Aussie Open with ease, and mental frailty had nothing to do with his losses to Nadal on clay. Nadal’s simply better on clay.

Sean,
Let’s say you are Rafa (and I like you, too), and I am Djoko during the Wimby. I will play point by point, will try to go toe to toe with you. Am I mentally tough enough? It all depends on how motivated I am on a particular tournament plus the distance I have to cover. My distance with you is not that big on grass, certainly not as big as on clay. I will be motivated enough on big stage and will give everything to fight hard. And I will play to win, not just go out there and try my luck. I will give you good match.
I will be posting shot by shot while my alter will be on the court.
Thanks for the balanced post, though. We owe you a great deal for all the hard work you put in to keep the conversation going.

Funches, true. Rafa is not the strongest on the hardcourts, especially later in the year. And he did blink, not once but twice in the final last year v. Roger twice having 15-40 in that fifth set. I can’t see him blowing that chance again if it comes to it.

Re: Novak. In some ways that Australian Open win was too easy. It may sound weird but he never had to tough out a match there. Overcome the odds - all those lovely sports cliches! I remember Roddick hitting that ace down matchpoint in the US Open semifinal v. Nalbandian. Wow. Novak needs a moment like that.

Shital, thanks, but I’m not quite sure I follow what you are asking - serves me right for staying up so late. Are you saying that Novak will give his all, stand toe to toe with Rafa if they play at Wimbledon. If so, that’s all well and fine, but from Rafa’s vantage point, he’s going to walk out onto that court feeling that of the two he’s the tougher guy both physically and mentally. Will Novak think that same way? I doubt it. Again, between the ears it’s advantage Rafa.

Sean,

I totally agree with you, Rafa ia the toughest player on tour at this moment. Even if Novak goes Toe to Toe with Rafa, do you think Rafa will be just watching the balls go like that??

He wants to prove a point this time in Wimbledon. He desparately wants to win another Slam other than French to prove that he is not juat a clay master and he is master of other surfaces too..

I am new here to read your comments. It looks like JCF and Joker are more big rivals than Federer vs Nadal -:).

We should accept that both Nadal and Federer are great champions. Also both have leveled the Borg consecutive winning record on Grass and Clay.

Obviously Federer have advantage and will try to win wimbeldon 6th time and also Nadal have peak form of his career. So lets see what happen….

Surfaces of Grass and clay are totally different. On grass you can’t take winner against Nadal but on grass Nadal was failed to resist the winner of djokovic in Queen’s club final. so it proves grass is faster than clay.

Was it Navratilova who said that “the athlete comes out on grass?”

Nadal is a world-class athlete — power and speed all day. Also, he can handle bad balls and doesn’t get down on himself. Seems natural that he would succeed at Wimbledon.

The question is, what does Nadal need to improve, or has already improved, to take down Roger? Roger is perfectly suited to the post-millennium grass, and in the talent department may give up only a little power to Rafa.

correction:

“On clay you can’t take winner against Nadal but on grass Nadal was failed to resist the winner of djokovic in Queen’s club final. so it proves grass is faster than clay”.

Shital Green:

“Amy and Branimir,
There is something about you guys I feel it you could be my new friends. I will catch up with you during Wimbledon.”

So this is how it works, eh? You dump your OLD friends and collect new ones along the way? ET TU BRUTUS? OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW That’s OK, the way my luck’s been running lately I’ll be surprised if I have any friends left. Anyway, don’t let my feeble attempt at placing a guilt trip on you stop you — I expected better from my guy’s homey, Just carry on smartly.