Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray French Open Highlights [Video]

so i don’t know, but this is SO NOT BORING to me
good match! well fought. beautiful points right there.

June 5th, 2016 at 9:54 pm

Well both these guys have player far more entertaining and pulsating matches, many of which are earmarked as classics.

This match relatively pales in comparison to them as I have seen these two players exhibiting themselves much better in many of the past matches with their flamboyance, versatility and variety just enthralling the spectators and were jaw dropping and edge of seat contests.

June 6th, 2016 at 6:04 am

So nice to see his relief and satisfactoon at the end of this video😙💨😀

June 6th, 2016 at 9:57 am

I do hope he will stop making that heart sign every time he wins. Looks vulgar. Hopefully it was just for the Roland Garros crowd.

June 6th, 2016 at 11:03 am

i like this video of novak and andy; it’s very stylish

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/video/2016-06-06/3b35260-00a1af17148.html

June 6th, 2016 at 12:43 pm

Great video, Jane!

That scene at the end when they show Guga wipe a tear from his eye is a clear indication how much Novak is un-loved…

June 6th, 2016 at 1:05 pm

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/djokovic-fans-celebrating-with-machine-gun.565068/
Serbians!

June 6th, 2016 at 1:53 pm

https://mobile.twitter.com/andyroddick/status/739856846308020225

June 6th, 2016 at 3:14 pm

The final itself failed to match the hype, of the history it created, for about a set and half it was evenly contested, when Novak broke Andy, Andy wilted, sorry folks, granted alot of great shot making, but this was far from being an exceptional contest ….

June 7th, 2016 at 4:31 am

Unlikey because of their rankings unfortunatly, but as a tennis fan it would be nice to be spared another Novak /Andy for a while at least ….

June 7th, 2016 at 4:45 am

Who would the French crowd cheer for if it was Fed vs Novak?? Some thoughts??

June 7th, 2016 at 5:23 am

Okie. Is that a serious question?

June 7th, 2016 at 5:34 am

i noticed yesterday that – numbers-wise – the nolandy and fedal rivalries are quite similar.
even in pattern, novak/murray started more closely and then novak pulled away, which was the similar pattern with fedal.

fedal numbers – with rafa ahead in all

23-11
slams 9-2
slam finals 6-2

nolandy numbers – with nole ahead in all

24-10
slams 8-2
slam finals 5-2

you can see the parallels already, and i haven’t looked at numbers beyond thing.

one thing i find interesting is that people call fedal one of the greatest rivalries and nolandy one of the worst. and i understand some of the reasoning for that. fedal have the contrast in styles of play and they each had a surface domain of grass and clay that the other had to conquer. a few of the matches were very close too.

but it’s been pretty one-sided, obviously, in its own way.

and so i wonder why it’s considered so great on some levels. i realize i am treading into dangerous territory, and i don’t mean to offend anyone. it’s an honest question.

i mean here’s the thing. i think if i were a fed fan i would not see this as such a great rivalry. to be honest, fed lost so many leads playing against rafa and seemed both stubborn about changing his tactics and even, some might argue, had a tendency to choke a little bit. at the FO 11 he was up 5-2 but rafa won the set; at monte carlo 08 he was up 4-0 but rafa won the set.

indeed wasn’t there even one match on clay where fed was at 5-1, 40-15 and rafa won the set?

i am curious what people think.

to me, the fedole and rafole rivalries have been interesting but obviously i am biased by the common denominator.

but the fedole rivalry has always been heated and close. they’ve had great battles and played memorable matches on all surfaces, at all the slams.

and the rafole rivalry has had great runs of form for each guy, many vicissitudes, and has spanned hard court and clay with fierce battles and each of their better domains. in their rivalry rafa owns clay, and novak owns hard, but they’ve each taken big wins from the other on their favourite surface. also no two players have played more in the history of the sport. and even still their h2h is close, their number of masters is close, and their number of slams is close. rafa has a career golden slam; novak has a 4 slams consecutive, etc.

i know a certain amount of love the the fedal rivalry is nostalgia and maybe it comes down to just having the tennis world focusing on the two of them for those 2-3 years of 06-08 that solidifies the rivalry in people’s minds.

by contrast, after 08, novak, andy, fed and rafa were all vying for titles so all the rivalries started to develop then and as such not one was the sole focus of the tennis media and so on.

anyhow, just some thoughts on rivalries, kind of thinking aloud. sorry for the lengthy post.

June 7th, 2016 at 10:17 am

further to my rivals comment, some totals and a list of “greatest” (this is from october 2015) can be found here:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CREOFIBWoAEF6dw.jpg

June 7th, 2016 at 11:36 am

Thanks for sharing that pic Jane. Interesting to see how many rivalries considered to be great were quite lopsided.

June 7th, 2016 at 11:46 am

very true RZ.
so i wonder, what makes a great rivalry?
is it mainly about aesthetics/contrast?
is it about tight matches or big matches?
is it about closeness and vicissitudes in fortune?
such an interesting thing to ponder.

June 7th, 2016 at 11:59 am

What makes a great rivalry? The crowd does. They play a very important role in this equation. I still say the crowd rather see a Roger/Rafa match than any other. Roger is the most loved player ever. If it is Roger/Rafa…crowd support goes to Roger, Roger/Nole….crowd support goes to Roger…that would change on Rafa’s home turf, of course.

Giles I am always serious…lol Just trying to make a point on love…..the crowds are fickle. They did show their support to Novak over Andy, from what I could tell. But if he had walked on the court to face Roger, another story. The crowds make the rivalries what they are….. don’t intend to offend anyone but that is the way I see it. But for tennis atm, Novak will probably get shown more love. A lot of people want to be on the bandwagon of the #1…..because the chance of wanting to be in the winner’s circle is to be for the top guy……should roger make a comeback, this would change, Novak would be back playing second fiddle to Roger…….

June 7th, 2016 at 12:40 pm

that’s an interesting perspective okie

but then i think the media and hype have a lot to do with it too.

like i said before, “those 2-3 years of 06-08”, where fedal were basically the SOLE focus of tennis hype, media, and big matches, solidified the rivalry as great in people’s minds. but esp for fed fans, the rivalry has been pretty one-sided really since 08 FO & wimbledon.

it’s an intriguing conversation. a lot could be written and studied w.r.t. what makes a great rivalry.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:09 pm

@Jane – I suppose a big factor is when they play one another. Despite Rafa’s huge advantage over Fed, the fact that they mostly played in finals and semifinals gives their match-ups more weight. It’s the same reason why Serena-Sharapova is often called a rivalry, even though the record is 2 wins for Sharapova to 5,846 to Serena. (Okay, slight exaggeration there). :-)

June 7th, 2016 at 1:18 pm

indeed RZ fed and rafa played a lot of big matches.
but as you can see from above, so have nolandy – very similar numbers in grand slam finals, and very similar outcomes.

raole have played in every grand slam final (fedal have not) and several masters finals as well.
fedole have practically owned the WTFs for years now ;) and they’ve played huge matches at every slam too.

i still think nostalgia and marketing, and thus, as okie says, crowds, have somethign to do with it, as well as contrast in looks/styles. because it doesn’t seem to be about the closeness of the rivalry or how well they compete necessarily.

it’s perhaps foremost an emotional thing and then perhaps aesthetic too.

serena-sharapova is like roddick-federer. it;s not really a rivalry.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:33 pm

@jane:

Despite the similarities, there are a lot of differences between those two rivalries, and you pointed at them. But there is one common denominator that isn’t always pointed: the impact of consecutive victories.

In Rafa/Fed case, the match-up was very bad for Fed on clay. Unfortunately for him, he was at the same time too good and not good enough: he kept making finals, and kept losing against Rafa. And those defeats were his doom: not only Rafa shows the path to victory, but Fed had a glimpse of the path to defeat.

In Andy and Novak’s case it wasn’t a match-up problem. Andy had the problem that under duress, he would become too passive, and allow Novak to play freely.

Both Fed and Andy tried with partial answers. Andy got stronger, and improved his serve. Fed changed his counter-attacking patterns, avoid the short backhand slice. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough. They had to change all, to rework their game, to put themselves in question.

Federer started to do it from 2011 — unfortunately, his health hampered him. He was ready eventually in 2014, but Rafa had troubles of his own.

Andy changed his mindset under Lendl’s guidance. It brought him Wimbledon 2013 and the OG gold. He was more aggressive, using his power more effectively. But the surgery hampered him, and then, he split with Lendl, which was very bad for his career.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:46 pm

We can’t focus on those rivalries without analysing the others, because they had a serious input, they’re intermixed.

Novak was desperate, after Madrid 2009. He felt he couldn’t beat Rafa. After some wrong steps, he finally had a long talk with his coach, probably the best in the business right now, and he decided to listen to him.

He had allergies, breathing problems, and this had to be fixed. Then, he worked on his serve and FH. 70% of points are won with those two shots. He changed his racquet at the end of 2010. With an improved serve, a powerful FH, he was finally able to beat Rafa.

But Rafa stroke back, improving his CC backhand and reworking his FH. Novak had to continue improving: he hired Becker under Vajda’s impulse, and they continued working on the same things, but with an adviser of the highest class: serve, forehand, transition game.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:52 pm

It was crucial. In 2014, Fed was near his peak again. He wasn’t certainly the same player, he changed his technique, but with a different racquet his BH was clearly better, his first serve was lethal, and, while he prepared his FH a bit earlier, it was still a great shot.

But Federer wasn’t a baseline counter-attacker any more. He was aggression in the purest form. To beat him, Novak had to be not only great in defence, but great in offence too.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:54 pm

these are all good –and specific– points about the comparison. thanks mat4!

so what are your thoughts on rafole then?

novak lost a lot of strings of matches to him, and vice versa, but they seemed to be always capable of tweaking a little something in their games and coming back to face each other which is why there were these momentum swings. novak, like fed, faced many many crushing defeats to rafa on clay but eventually he solved the riddle – well, enough so he could beat him at all the big clay events, most in 2011 (when rafa was 25). the same holds true to a degree with rafa and novak on hard courts. their rivalry seems closer than most in many ways, as i listed in my first post. would you agree?

June 7th, 2016 at 1:56 pm

Jane, you make a good point about media hype, I suppose, but when it gets down to the nitty gritty, the fans make the choice. I just now looked up popular players on a scale from one to ten regarding social media……posted March 2016….FB and Twitter, I was shocked. On FB Rafa barely edged out Roger for 1st place, then Novak, Andy, Stan, Kei, Ferrer, Milos, Berd then Cilic. Twitter was the same except Rafa was way out in front of Roger and way way ahead of Novak. I think in your comment you probably were referring the news media…I thought it would be interesting to check social media….I had never done that before. We folks on TX are an itsy bitsy group of fans. How many of us are posting there??? Not many in comparison with tennis fans world wide……just saying. In the grand scheme of things as a whole…..we’re little but LOUD!! Lol I guess the fans who choose to go to forums to talk about tennis are the die-hard fans who have turned into fanatics! Lol…Ok, I have never admitted this before, I AM A RAFA FANATIC! Well, finally got that off my chest…like I was saying something you guys on TX didn’t already know…..lol. 😱😱 Oh, dear me!! VAMOS, Rafa, get well PRONTO!!🐂🐂

June 7th, 2016 at 1:59 pm

mat4, i agree about timing in fedal.
rafa played fed several times – three for sure – during 2013 in one of fed’s valleys, where he had a bad back, but rafa didn’t play fed at all really during fed’s renaissance under edberg and with the racquet in 2014-15. i think they played once during this stretch at the AO 14. and then every time after that they were scheduled to meet in the draw, rafa lost like one round before!! so it would have been intriguing to see them play then, when fed was really playing startling tennis again.

June 7th, 2016 at 1:59 pm

When you watch the Murray-Djokovic matches, you can see that the main strategy, for Andy, was to rely on his first serve to get free points, and to defend cleverly, with a diversity of shots, avoiding rhythm. From time to time, he could be very aggressive too, but since Lendl left, those moments were rather rare. I remember the USO QF when Andy was pure offence for an exceptional set.

But since Novak improved his own serve, Andy was left without clear advantage here, especially on faster surfaces. And the free points Novak got on serve allowed him to be more relaxed, and to play his usual, offensive game.

There, we should mention another key difference: the weight. Andy has 25 pounds more. He’s build for short, fast races, Djokovic is a long distance runner. I personally believe that Jazz Green (I hope I didn’t write it wrongly) made a big mistake by transforming Andy in something he wasn’t born for.

With the accumulation of victories, Novak was always able to swing freely enough to win one of the first sets, knowing well that, the longer the match, the bigger his chances were.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:02 pm

that’s your p.o.v. okie, and there is some validity, but i think there’s more to it.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:02 pm

Lendl gone, Andy left the idea of transformation to adopt the path of tweaking. Rafa, who is probably very difficult to coach, went the way of tweaks from the beginning.

But tweaks were not sufficient, and it was clear, more than ever, this year in Doha. Rafa played well, I believe he was even excellent. But on a faster surface, he just couldn’t handle Novak’s new game, this combo of great first serves, lethal FH and speed.

One of the things we tend not to remark is the fact that, while, e.g. in that Doha match, Rafa tried to defend the baseline, Novak went inside the court for the ball, playing even faster.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:08 pm

one additional thing to think about w.r.t. media, okie, is that fedal were alone at the top from 06-08 really, and so a lot of fans had already picked their horse (or bull? or goat?? ;) ) so to speak, before andy and novak even started to make a real impact on the tour. so those two were always going to play a second fiddle role in popularity, marketing, etc, because of their timing. the fedal fanbases, rivalry and hype had already been firmly established. all these things play a role that is worth factoring into the conversation. there are all sorts of other things, too, like, for example, the power of nike. ;)

June 7th, 2016 at 2:08 pm

mat4, but isn’t rafa heavier than novak too? i don’t actually know but if so wouldn’t it be a factor in their match up, too? yet rafa was able to outlast novak a number of times in their rivalry.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:11 pm

To resume:

Rafa counted on his speed and power. He made adjustments and tweaks and improved that way.

Andy was a very complete player already in 2012. But to fulfil his potential, he had, and still has, to play against his character.

Fed grew up in another time. He changed his game in 2003, and it was good enough in the transition period, then he managed to revamp it completely, to adapt to the modern “luxilon” days, but, unfortunately, too late, from 2011-2013. We should give credit Paul Annacone for his renewal and second blooming.

Novak had to chance to have Marian Vajda, although he started to listen to him a bit late, but, fortunately, not too late. Vajda brought Becker, and they changed the physiognomy of his game from 2011-2014.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:18 pm

@jane:

Yes, Rafa is heavier too. But it seems it’s his natural weight. Andy was build a bit like Novak. The impact is different on the body.

Then, Andy is still heavier about 10-15 pounds than Rafa, and bigger 2 inches.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:20 pm

About fans:

I just read the post of a fellow French poster on 15love. He has a friend that recently started to play tennis. For him, the star is Novak — no Fed, no Rafa.

It’s the same with kids. Novak is building his fan base right now. After winning the Grand Slam (I just quote JJ Vallejo on this), his aura will change. When he walks onto the court he’s a living legend, just like Federer or Nadal now, and the public will change his attitude toward him.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:24 pm

Which rivalry is the more entertaining?

The most balanced, of course. Rafole, Fedole. I like Fedole for its dynamism. I like Rafole for the intensity and the gladiatorial fight.

They have different aesthetics — Fedole is modern tennis at his best, Rafole is the clash of the warriors, the never-say-die; on one side craft vs craft, on the other power vs power. They’re both great.

The Fedal is not a rivalry, because I got the impression that Rafa was always the one choosing the time and the place. When fed was at his peak, they never played on fast courts, and just a few times on grass.

The Nolandy is at his beginning, and will always remain at the beginning, because Andy does the wrong choice and does use effectively his advantage in power. They were a few exceptions: the Shanghai 2012 final, the USO QF 2014 were great matches. Madrid this year was good, too. The AO 2012, I guess, although I don’t remember the match clearly. Anyway, as a Novak fan, I remember only Novak’s victories.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:35 pm

true, at least initially andy was quite lean. not sure why or if it’s even true, but i thought he looked a but thinner this FO?

also re: fans, that’s so true. yolita said the same once, and i think it was about the tennis club she goes to – many of the young ones are for novak perhap because that’s who’ve they’ve grown up watching most.

June 7th, 2016 at 2:38 pm

* a bit thinner…

i am curious as to how/if the nolandy rivalry will develop the more they meet and play on different surfaces and/or if andy hires a new coach?

June 7th, 2016 at 2:40 pm

Just to add at the end: the margins were thin, despite the numbers. Players had ups and downs, and sometimes it was just luck.

We should be happy we had the privilege to witness their rivalries.

June 7th, 2016 at 3:12 pm

@Jane, all is good. Appreciate your feedback, as always…..more to it?? Are you referring to the popularity on social media or rivalries on court like mat4 explained? I know the fans have nothing to do with how they play…….with the exception of cheering them on to make another push. Whistling is another form of “cheering”……which can influence how a player might perform Getting the crowd against can be disastrous, but on the other some players thrive on that…so there ya go! At the end of the day it’s just another sport and anything can happen!!

June 7th, 2016 at 3:14 pm

Andy has a big problem with his coaches. I don’t know what it is all about. He had excellent coaches — Petchey, Maclagan, Gilbert, but it didn’t work.

Perhaps Margot or J-Kath could give us a more informed answer.

June 7th, 2016 at 3:16 pm

But a good coach would pressure him to be more aggressive, to use his good hands on the net, in one word (ha… this is the point!) to play like Novak.

It would be very natural for him to play this way.

June 7th, 2016 at 3:19 pm

That was a good point raised about the youngsters of present day. They will always be for the champion, and Nole is the Champ right now and building an even bigger fan base. Chatters are still the minority……

June 7th, 2016 at 3:22 pm

okie, i think it’s all those things. that’s all i meant by more to it. that a rivalry can’t be great solely going by crowds or popularity but that it’s also contrasts, competitiveness, marketing, timing, and myriad factors. thanks for your input. your point was a good piece in the puzzle.

June 7th, 2016 at 3:51 pm

mat4, we’re lucky for sure. and yes, i am curious about andy’s coaching situations too.

June 7th, 2016 at 3:53 pm

@Jane….I dig it! Hey, Margot we need your input on Andy and coaches. I think him being a little hotheaded as a lot to do with it. That is why Lendl was so good for Andy and his game……he was afraid of Ivan…..who wouldn’t be!! Lol I’m afraid of him and never met him…he looks so mean. He reminds me of my high school basketball coach, Bertha Frank Teague. Y’all can Google her, she is an Oklahoma legend! Not that anyone cares, but I think a lot on here think I make up stories….so will someone Google this for me and say something??? PWEEZE…I’m in a good mood today feeling frisky…humor me somebody!!😀😀😀

June 7th, 2016 at 4:22 pm

This thread is unfortunately not visible any more. It’s a pity, since more input by other posters would be welcome.

June 7th, 2016 at 5:41 pm

Mat4

The threads are not highlighted – True – but you can still open them up. I have just put a comment on a “less visible” thread. If you hit the comment in the side-box of comments you’ll see which threads have been visited, by some late comments ….which is where I saw yours.

To answer your comment on ANDY AND COACHES? Dearie me, I’ve just come in from a 12 hour journey and wouldn’t do your question justice. However, have a look at why Andy might not have been able to bring more to his final with Nole, coaches not withstanding.

June 7th, 2016 at 7:03 pm

I’ve already read your post, J-Kath. I agree with it, but we should perhaps add a few things, one of them being best resumed by Andy’s address to the public at the end of the match: “I sucks to lose, but I am glad I was part of history”. It reminds me of Novak at WB 2013.

Anyway, I wasn’t the only one that thought about that, I found a press article that encompassed this aspect much better than I do.

I wrote above a few things I noticed about their rivalry, that are, I believe, relevant still. I didn’t emphasized Andy’s forehand, because it was one of things he worked with Lendl on, and everybody knows it.

Finally, tennis wise, perhaps the key element was Andy’s first serve, that let him down.

The other being Novak, who, for his part, played quite well for a long stretch of the match.

June 7th, 2016 at 7:28 pm