Djokovic Caps Dominant Weekend Beating Sinner For 7th ATP Finals Title

Wow, what a week, season for Nole!

I did not have the time to enjoy it completely, was very busy. I saw only semifinals and the final…I was very upset, that I did not see Nole vs. Rune and Nole vs. Sinner (the match from RR).
After the match against Rune, I have to admit, I was not anymore stressed, as the 400 weeks as Nr. 1 were reached with that win.

Am very impressed, that Nole still gave his best…I do not know how can he find further motivation after everything he did already achieve.

What will motivate him in 2024?

November 20th, 2023 at 8:31 am

I got nothin

November 20th, 2023 at 12:33 pm

After the US Open, I thought it was a great year, one of Novak’s best. But a shame his vaxx stance may have cost him #1, and he wasn’t chasing #1 that hard also opting out of Shanghai. Then Carlos had a bad Asian swing, Novak won Paris and #1 and 400 weeks and possibly another ATP championship was suddenly realistic. Even with Djokovic surviving crap games in many tournaments. Then he improves so much in the later stages that at times you wonder if he sandbags the earlier rounds just to get more match play in.

2023 is the year that for truly objective viewers, NOVAK ENDED THE GOAT ARGUMENT. I am not huge on GOATS in any sports because things change so much with time….but by the criteria Fed and Rafa fans lorded over people backing Novak from the time he came up until 2021-23, HE IS THE GOAT by their own silly rules!!

With all his flaws, I am in awe of Novak.

What will motivate him in 2024? I don’t know, VP, but in interviews he said he is not even close to quitting or giving it his all. Tom Brady in his box was a “signal” he was in it until he can’t play anymore. When asked, Djokovic said he would stay even when he stops winning, but doesn’t get so in decline he loses in the 1st, 2nd rounds – or has a major injury.
More concrete things –
1. He is guaranteed #1 to 409 weeks now by a Serb fan here’s calculation. 411 would be 100 weeks more than Fed, 416 Eight freaking years of being #1, cumulatively.
2. His bete noir, the Olympics, beckon and he actually might still be #1 and the favorite at 37 when it happens. But he sure wants it. You know it.
3. A French Open win will give him 3 career grand slams.
4. A Monte Carlo win gets him 3 Master’s Sweeps.
5. A Monte Carlo win gives him his 3rd ATP Championship plus Masters Sweep.
6. A year to maybe fight Rafa on a competitive basis, keep his Masters and Slam edge.
7. Of course scads of other “amazing records” number of titles, everything, other fans will say.

November 20th, 2023 at 1:38 pm

If he is #1 in the first week of April he will be the oldest ever #1. That should be easy achievable even if he loses #1 after AO since Alcaraz defends lots of points in Iw/Miami and Nole defends zero points, plus little points until FO compare to Alcaraz.

Olympic Games motivation is high.

Cracking 100 titles mark, but if you look at his title tally, more than 72% of his titles are big titles, that is just ludicrous!

November 20th, 2023 at 3:03 pm

Nole said this is one of his best years, I will argue it is the best for one reason, he played only 12 tournaments this year and won 7 of them, 6 big ones. For example, Alcaraz played 17 tournaments.

November 20th, 2023 at 3:09 pm

And records aside, I would give my left …..Thanksgiving turkey wing!….to see another Rafa-Nole classic. The true greatest rivalry in tennis. The most played, the closest H2H great tennis rivalry. And we all know Rafa has come back to take all on and get titles and be at the top again after many injuries.

The rivalries mean more to me than the records. I keep tapes and DVD of the older ones, inc. Fed-Rafa and Fed/Novak vs. Murray. Moving matches with Kyrgios and Ferrer and Berdych to DVD.

And I will savor his desire for more battles until Carlos, Sinner, some Russian or Russian transplant takes over. Not to go out on the top, but stay as long as it is fun and the pay is good!

November 20th, 2023 at 3:15 pm

Had to respond to Wog Boys remarks.

Yes, for big titles, Masters and above, Novak has left all in the dust. His winning record vs. Top 10 is stunning.

And Federer is 103 Titles, but 49 are ATP 500 and 250 events.
Lendl and Connors were in a different era. Both were true, awesome tennis beasts and sometimes, they get too short a shrift with the Slamcentric fans. But like Fed, most were titles from lesser events.
Both had 8 Slams. Events and prizes varied wildly in Connors era Connors skipped all AOs but 2 in his career because late season events elsewhere with less travel paid more. (Same with Borg). Connors also skipped the French Open or was banned one year all through his peak playing time.

Lendl is a little more comparable because the Masters had been defined (Grand Prix 9) which he got 22 tiles at and won 7 Grand Prix and 2 WCT finals. With 8-11 in Slams, he had 37 big titles. He also skipped 2 AOs and two French Opens. Novak has moved past him in titles – but Lendl was one of the true greats. His approach to physical conditioning redefined tennis.

Based on total points, Novak is well over Rafa & Roger now and even without points to assess Connors titles , you can see he is well over Connors in the magnitude of his career wins.

Just my opinion…

November 20th, 2023 at 4:57 pm

CF1,

Sorry to correct you but “A French Open win will give him 3 career grand slams” should read as “A French Open win will give him 4 career grand slams” because he already has 3 FO and now he has 4 USO’s.

Additionally “Lendl was one of the true greats”, yes he certainly was and he also suffered demonisation by the Western press. He was a nice guy but the media couldn’t have an Eastern European dominating the sport without at least trying to tear him down.

November 20th, 2023 at 6:39 pm

Nobody beats Nole twice in the same tournament😉

I remember WTF 2015, Roger beats Nole in RR match, this site exploded, “Maestro this Maestro that…genius etc etc”, little they knew that RR match doesn’t matter in final. When final came Nole strightsetted Roger…..the silence on this site was deafening.

November 20th, 2023 at 6:52 pm

Zed – I happily stand corrected by you!

November 21st, 2023 at 2:56 am

Btw, has anyone checked on Ben Rottenegg, haven’t heard from him for ages, he made fortune on hating on Nole?

November 21st, 2023 at 5:39 pm

Well, Sinner is going to have a chance for revenge tomorrow, Italy is playing SF of DC tomorrow against Serbia.

November 23rd, 2023 at 9:28 pm

Sinner got his revenge, WB. And boy, did it hurt Novak…
Maybe motivate him for 2024.
A shaming stat for Novak: poor bastard has lost 7 straight times to Top 5 players in Davis Cup and the Olympics matches.

November 27th, 2023 at 11:30 am

Great muscles for a skinny guy.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/27/12/78277921-12795415-image-a-4_1701089969605.jpg

Here, WB, Novak takes out his Sinner frustration by mauling some kid on a beach in Spain.

November 27th, 2023 at 2:56 pm

Yes CF1, it’s completely different pressure playing for Serbia and playing other tournaments. He feels like everything depends on him and all the weight and nation expectations are on his shoulders, so the failure to deliver is really painful and he really simply chocked that one with Sinner.

To his defence, he came after great win in Turin and he was physically and emotionally drained, Serbian team also had some problems which were politically based and he had problems with doping testing people who turned up to do urine and blood test one hour before match (not after) when he was doing his routines in preparation for the match, he was furious since that never ever happened before, to test just prior the match, they finally agreed to do blood test after the match and the bloke who was supposed to do it was literally following Nole like a shadow, apparently ATP subcontracted some private agency to do the testing.

He shouldn’t have played DC, like he shouldn’t play United Cup instead of Adelaide, but it’s hos decision to play for Serbia and support his mate Troicki who is the Captain, same as he should’ve not played in Japan.
Sometimes I just don’t understand his decisions, this one can actually backfire for AO same as Japan backfired for USO, I hope I am wrong.

November 28th, 2023 at 1:30 am

.^^^
Just to clarify since I was writing in a hurry, Nole is going to play United cup from 29 Dec 2023 – 7 Jan 2024, which starts in Perth and finishes in Sydney if Serbia qualify, Perth is west coast dry hot compare to East Coast (Melbourne) where is humid hot.
He would be much better playing Adelaide or Brisbane, proper tournaments, instead of playing possibly only one or two matches and then fly 5 hours to East cost and who cares about United Cup anyway?

November 28th, 2023 at 4:38 pm

WB, no one cares about the United Cup.

And if I can go further, speaking for myself, I do not give a flying fig about the Davis Cup, never have, never will. In fact I find the damned thing really really irritating because there is never a “No Davis Cup” time. Even when the final has been played it seems just a week or so before the next year’s Davis Cup starts.

It goes on and on and on throughout the year and the media unsuccessfully try to drum up excitement over it. No one cares!

The media also try to shame players who choose not to play Davis Cup. I remember Agassi being attacked in the press because he would not play Davis Cup, they said he was unpatriotic. They did the same to Australian players, I’m just struggling to remember which ones, maybe it was Philipoussis, I can’t remember.

In any case, Novak sees it as his patriotic duty. I think he also wants an Olympic Gold and to represent your country in Olympics tennis I think the deal is you have to represent them in the Davis Cup in the preceding years.

Olympic tennis is another thing I could not care less about and I think tons of professional tennis players feel the same. The Olympics should have remained for amateurs. Introducing professional athletes into the Olympics ruined the spirit of the Olympics.

I don’t know that there is a connection between introducing professionals but I do know that interest in the Olympic games has nosedived over the past 20 years, I can only bring myself to watch some events but for the most part I no longer watch the Olympics (and that includes the opening and closing ceremonies, too bloody long and too bloody boring).

November 28th, 2023 at 7:10 pm

You speak for myself too when you talk about DC and Olympics too.
When you see the sports they included in Olympic in the last decade or and new for next year Paris one it’s absolutely laughable, they degenerated Olympic Games, well and truly.

November 28th, 2023 at 7:35 pm

Medjedovic is absolutely the real deal. He has a forehand like Djokovic. And he handled adversity from what I saw in the match today so well. He has the mentality to do big things for sure.

December 2nd, 2023 at 8:09 pm

@Dave,

I am glad you watched it, that was a top notch match.

Medjedovic improved hips since I saw him last time, when he is attacking he is literally hammering, his serves are bombs, but he has to work on his defence and endurance, just to lose little bit of weight, unless he is having heavy bones, genetics are very important too.

Nole took him under his wing two years ago, brought him to his tennis academy, allocated Ilija Bozoljac as every day coach and Viktor Troicki as a head coach. When Hamad’s farher told Nole that he doesn’t have money to pay for it Nole told him:
“I am not doing this for money, Hamad deserves to be given the opportunity and chance, all what he has to do to practice and work hard, everything else will be covered for him”!
Hamad’s father admitted that he had to keep pinching himself to see if he is awake, since everyone else was first talking about the money.

One thing for sure, Hamad is already better than Nole in breaking the rackets 😉😂

December 3rd, 2023 at 12:57 am

WB, I thought you might be interested in this:
https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/australian-open/2023/australian-open-announces-plan-to-be-15-day-tournament-in-2024-in-bid-to-minimise-late-finishes_sto9821279/story.shtml

They are adding a day to the tournament by starting on the Sunday rather than the Monday.

As far as I can tell night sessions will see no change but the day sessions could have one less match on some days. I think the only real impact is in the first round which used to be over two days and now will be over three days.

December 5th, 2023 at 8:56 pm

Hi Zed,

Thanks for the update, you are right, nothing to do with late finishes since evening schedule is the same, it’s just the money grabbing, one extra day (on Sunday) is extra 40-50 thousand people through the gates, with ground passes and tickets for three arenas that ground passes don’t count, plus merchandise, drink and food, we are talking big big money for one day.
My only problem is whether they are going to put Nole on Sunday, that’s why I took early flights to Melbourne on Sunday, just in case, gorls were not happy…but they’ll forgive me once they start shopping in Melbourne 😉

PS
If Nole doesn’t play on Sunday we can catch up for the lunch in that Balkan grill restaurant of course if you and the family are free.

December 6th, 2023 at 12:13 am

WB, I am looking forward to it. I have already told my wife we will be going to the restaurant with my friend from Sydney that looks remarkably like George Clooney.

You just tell me which day and time of day suits you and I will work it out.

p.s. we are going to the Open on Sat Jan 20th evening session in the Rod Laver Arena. Fingers crossed that the upper half of the draw plays second and lower half of the draw plays first. If that is the case and Novak is still in the tournament in Round 3 (Ha Ha, I’m just kidding) and he gets his usual wish to play in the early evening then we have a good chance to see him play.

December 6th, 2023 at 2:48 am

“George Clooney”…..thank you😉

December 6th, 2023 at 6:25 pm

Something to enjoy during this downtime, I love the Grey wolf in the clip, still leaves in the wild in the Balkan mountains, magnificent animal:

https://youtu.be/HK0_FJ-mxtA?si=rb561uuyZruQZ6I3

December 7th, 2023 at 6:24 pm

One thing I like about Novak is he will often speak up for a friend or and associate and damn the consequences for not being bland and all nice and uncontroversial. Not the the kind in tennis Rolex or Nike wants.

Goran was his coach in 2021 and not even nominated. With Novak winning the 1st 3 Slams and going for his 4th. Djokovic defended Ivanesevic as having opposed Novak going to the Olympics, not understanding then or now why Goran was snubbed in 2021.
Could be that critics think Djokovic is almost perfect and needs no coach other than a nurturing babysitter type (something never said about Goran before Djokovic.
So this year, Goran is nominated again and loses out to Cahill and the woman co-coaching Sinner.
So Novak goes on instagram to congratulate Sinner, Cahill, and Simone Vangnozzi (never heard of her!). But has to add:

““Goran, I guess we need to win 4/4 Slams in order for you to maybe (just maybe) be considered coach of the year. Winning Year End #1, 3 [Grand Slams] and [World Tour Finals] and making history of this sport is not enough, my dear coach…” he continued, concluding with a trio of cringe-faced emojis. 😬 😬 😬”

December 14th, 2023 at 8:05 pm

Rivalries and tennis aside….
Just wanted to say SEASONs GREETINGS, or HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all Tennis _x posters, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎄🎅🎁, may your dreams come true 🎈

December 15th, 2023 at 6:20 am

Very insightful interview for 60 Minutes, explaining how he was intimidated by Rafa in the locker room before the match, saying that Roger was much better player in Wimbledon final 2019 but yet he won and explained why and much more, very much worth watching, you won’t regret it (only 13 minutes of your spare time):

https://youtu.be/iBxprBcvpSA?si=kajM9NIhQbxcHeBy

December 15th, 2023 at 4:49 pm

Congrats to Sinner and Alcarez, well deserved ATP Awards.

December 15th, 2023 at 7:18 pm

@Alison……Thanks for the good wishes! Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you have a healthy and prosperous New Year! This goes for all TX posters!

Looking forward to tennis 2024 and Rafa’s last hoorah…… but maybe not! I can only hope he gets a second wind and keeps right on truckin’ for a year or two longer………

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEWYEAR‼️

December 16th, 2023 at 2:46 pm

Wog Boy – Some more GOATY stats, courtesy of tennis mag writer JOhn Bercock:

”
By winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open this year, Djokovic has now won exactly a third of the Grand Slams he’s played in his career—24 of 72. He’s also reached the final of exactly half of the Grand Slams he’s played in his career—36 of 72.

(Mother of Mercy on the other 127 pros that start an event with him!)

Djokovic has won 23 of the 48 majors he’s played since the start of 2011. That’s almost half of the majors he’s played in the last 13 years. (He only had 1 major before he became Nole 2.0 in 2011)

He’s also won seven of the 10 he’s played since the start of 2021.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CFord’s peanut gallery thoughts on Sinner getting the Sportsmanship Award. novaks career blackballing on this award.
Is it because Djokovic will never win the Edberg/Federer award due to his MTO ploys. Or less polished ways? Country bumpkin like over celebrations? His cantankerous dad, Srjan? There is that. Very bright guy, but can come across as “off”, incomplete personality. Kyrgios great sledge against him was mostly true, I think.
He will have to explain why that was so in his autobiography, documentaries, post-active player days ahead. Given his work for other players pay and the respect he shows them when he loses, it is surprising.

Despite that, he is still the GOAT of this era. For those that care about the GOAT thing. But the sportmanship award ding does need Novak to discuss how and why and why players did not respect his level of sportsmanship.

December 16th, 2023 at 3:53 pm

Hi Okie so glad you saw the post, hope your keeping well, love and hugs 🤗

December 17th, 2023 at 5:17 am

“ But the sportmanship award ding does need Novak to discuss how and why and why players did not respect his level of sportsmanship.”
nah, no need,,,, pretty obvious eh?

December 18th, 2023 at 12:49 am

Hi Al! I still check in with TX every now and then. When Rafa is in the mix, I ain’t gonna lie, I check in more often! lol I hope he’s 100% after the long lay off. Rejuvenated and all that stuff. Have a great 2024. Wishing you much happiness plus a big old virtual hug! ❤️ Okie

PS Mira, you need to check in too‼️

December 19th, 2023 at 5:02 pm

Regarding the sportsmanship award….Novak has busted up too many racquets, screamed at his team way too much, gets a little testy with the ball kids, he beat the Wimby net to death this year and lastly he hurt a line judge when having a temper fit. Now I don’t think for one minute he meant for that to happen, but it did. I will say one nice thing about him, he’s always very gracious at the net toward his opponent when he loses. But that alone won’t win any awards.

December 19th, 2023 at 8:04 pm

Where numbers and facts matter and not opinions, Nole is undisputed tennis GOAT.

December 19th, 2023 at 9:29 pm

1) So many videos of Federer and more recently Alcaraz busting racquets but of course the rules are different for them right?

2) When kids lose in races here in Australia they give them participation trophies so they don’t feel bad for losing. In ATP tennis when the other players feel bad about losing to Novak they give them a nice prize so they won’t cry. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad that grownups have to be compensated like little children.

December 19th, 2023 at 10:43 pm

p.s. Don’t get me wrong, I am not without compassion and I understand what you are feeling.

When you have lost so resoundingly and so completely it is not easy to admit such a thing. So the obvious thing you have to do is to put up a brave face, talk about something else, maybe change the subject to something more comfortable etc.

It’s all perfectly understandable but, again, a little bit sad don’t you think?

p.p.s. It’s not over, there is more pain on the way over the next few years. Either harden up and admit you have utterly and totally lost or keep being pitiful and sad. Your choice.

December 19th, 2023 at 10:48 pm

A long time ago, well before Nole 2.0, but after his 2008 Australian Open win, Martina Navratilova was asked about coaching. She said she loved broadcasting and couldn’t see herself coaching. But then added if the opportunity came and she could contribute somehow, she’d like to coach Novak Djokovic.
Not a woman? was the interviewers response.
Navratilova said with a few flaws fixed, Djokovic could be as good as Nadal, Federer. Maybe even better she mused. “There is no limit”. He could even end up better than those two.

——————-
For Novak Fans Zed and Wog Boy, another thing. I watched the 60 MInutes interview and the part with Novak saying he is constantly watching his foe. Eyes, body posture, serve tells – all to read and beat the opponent.
His innate gift of mimicry moved into capturing, reading the essence of a player.
A unique talent, like his flexibility, and the psychotic will to do anything to win, even at detriment to his social circle and relatability at times. But the mimicry making him read foes to the point they think he is a space alien mind reader is another talent Roger, Rafa, frankly no one else has.

December 19th, 2023 at 11:44 pm

CF1,

Speaking of “alien mind reader” I am sure you have heard Agassi telling the story of how he could tell which way Becker would serve, so much so that Becker would go home to his wife saying “it’s scary, it’s like he can read my mind!!!”

If you have not heard the story you can get it directly from Agassi in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja6HeLB3kwY

Or you can read about it here:

https://www.insider.com/andre-agassi-beat-boris-becker-watching-tongue-serves-2021-4

Pay particular attention to the most important point. The most important point was that Agassi was reading tells from Becker but holding back from using those tells to his advantage UNTIL THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS. If he did it too often Becker would have realised something was up. By withholding until he absolutely needed it, he was able to keep the secret for their entire careers.

Now, amongst the myriad of talents that Novak displays, isn’t one them the ability to win the clutch points? The BIG POINTS? How does he keep doing that? Is it just mental fortitude or is it possible he sees patterns of behaviour in his opponents that other players do not see? Isn’t that a pre-requisite talent for being a natural mimic?

The key point is that if you are professional who makes his living from the sport you will only reveal your tricks years later when you all have retired.

I am sure there’s a lot that Novak will only reveal later and I suspect it will be very entertaining to learn it all when the time comes.

He’s not reading minds, he’s reading people and he’s doing it really, really, well.

December 20th, 2023 at 2:09 am

Agree CF1,
That’s was the most impressive part of interview for me too, also, I have never thought about how intimidating can be for young Novak, trying to break through, being in the locker room before the match with Roger and Rafa, that was quite revealing and honest too, too admit how intimidated he felt and yet he managed to overcome it and beat them both on the home run, that’s admirable, simply the best (ever)!

December 20th, 2023 at 5:00 am

Intimidating for Andy Murray as well. Almost anything Andy got, he had to beat 2 Top 3 players in tournament after tournament and be is a sport where RUPs and Semi-finalists and consistent excellence does not ensure recognition.

WB – Rafa’s locker room antics definitely were intimidating. By design. [I am this raging, powerful high energy beast who will crush everyone but King Roger – fear me. Lose to me fast and get it over with] Just like the excessively loud screaming of the Williams Sistas and Sharapova. Pure train and practice intimidation tactic taught at Bolletri’s tennis academy.
Unlike the gals, Nadal got away with it because that was part of the Nike “2 Golden Men of Tennis Who are Legends and Friends” narrative. And add in his oncourt intimidation sprints, 30 second towel-offs, all the tics and tucks rituals..

All that came crashing down for Rafa in 2011, as Novak had remade himself into a superstar. Later, Rafa described playing Novak as “The worst. Win or lose, an hours long nightmare for me”.
Uncle Toni said in an interview that in Rafa’s whole career even as a kid or a junior, there was only one player who Rafa feared. Said listeners could guess. Someone from a small country in Eastern Europe.

That said, I wish Rafa well and hope he can still be competitive in his last year. That he is not a shadow of what he once was, like Murray..

December 20th, 2023 at 3:39 pm

Talking about Andy, he was actually beating Roger more often than not and had healthy positive h2h against Roger from the moment he arrived until 2010 and than he just couldn’t keep it going, that’s was when mental strength comes into effect, Andy didn’t have it.
With Nole was opposite, he was behind both, Roger and Rafa, until 2011, but was building up his mental strength and never looked back from 2011 AO onward.

December 20th, 2023 at 7:52 pm

Zed, (and WB) thanks for your responses on Novaks gift of mimicry helping him read opponents better than most players can.
What amazes me is Djokovic appears to have this secret power and the media never mentions it. (And likely Djokovic is grateful they don’t discuss it.)
But it adds to the complexity and mental strain his foes face. Like in the 2019 Wimbledon where Roger beat Novak in every thing conceivable aside from UFEs and the final score. I have no doubt Roger, Andy, and Rafa when Toni was not telling him what to do on each point from the stands, know Novak reads them all well enough that it is scary for them at times and adds to doubts in the middle of points. And to a choke. But the media should not be so derelict. They should do more analysis and less fanboy stuff.

Worth mentioning as well, and the media does not – that Djokovic has such balance, moves so well, has hand eye coordination like few others that he can skim around the court and still get moments in each point where he can watch his foe. Even when on the move, when suffering from heat or fatigue or pain. Head is up, scanning the other players eyes, the body posture. Not just on serves, but in rallies, he often moves to where he reads a location where the player hits next. Or chesslike, to read what a player will do several steps into a rally.

Andre Agassi – Great analogy, Zed. You get compared to Andre in reading serves, you are doing pretty well. Also, it didn’t hurt that he grew up in Vegas and his Dad, a degenerate gambler who bet on his games at times – knew all about poker tells and passed on what he observed of ‘tells’ when Andre was a prodigy junior and learning to size up opponents abilities. And Andre was an apt pupil.

December 21st, 2023 at 2:00 am

It sounds like NDs autobiography is been written lol

December 22nd, 2023 at 6:15 am

It can’t be autobiography it can be only biography… LOL

Besides, last I checked this is Nole thread and we are discussing Nole, isn’t that what people do on this kind of sites ?!
Nobody is forcing you to read, you are free to move on Rafa thread… LOL

December 23rd, 2023 at 2:15 am

God lighten up man

December 23rd, 2023 at 6:21 am

Not sure if Sean will cover this, but Carlos and Novak put on a high level, competitive exo that Carlos took 6-4 in the 3rd set. God (or Allah) knows what they were paid, but the Saudis funding this got a premium match. These guys were coming off off season training and went in to test their competitive form.
And they weren’t farting around like in a pure fun who cares who wins exo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGlDPbYIsCU
Mad respect for both guys.
And Rafa’s practices show he is hardly an out of shape, slow shadow of his former self. Unlikely to win, but he won’t embarrass himself at the Australian Open, IMO.

December 27th, 2023 at 8:24 pm

“And Rafa’s practices show he is hardly an out of shape, slow shadow of his former self.”

CF1, you are not wrong at all, Rafa is ready to rock and roll, Nole himself said so after watching Rafa, Rafa is not coming back to show off, he is coming back to win big ones and he is ready for it, Nole’s words!

December 28th, 2023 at 3:53 am