Tennis 2020

Has the great man Fed go it in him to do a 5 setter against the great man Novak

I’d love to see it, but my gut says it’s doubtful
 
TheLiverBird said:
Has the great man Fed go it in him to do a 5 setter against the great man Novak

I’d love to see it, but my gut says it’s doubtful
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Nope he can’t get a look in Djokovics serve whilst his own service game is a struggle every game. He needs some fast service games.
 
Federer hasn't made the impact on Novak's serve that he was in the first set and it's been downhill since. Still think Novak will have a bad game and Federer can sneak a set and then lose in the 4th.
 
Federer had a look in there on the Novak serve at 0-30 but then two terrible forehands. The quality of this match has been extremely poor unfortunately.
 
wr8_utd said:
Federer had a look in there on the Novak serve at 0-30 but then two terrible forehands. The quality of this match has been extremely poor unfortunately.
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It’s been better than I expected considering Feds condition. I thought we would get a bagel considering how Fed was struggling the other day.
 
Comfortable as expect. Given Federer's injury concerns and getting taken to 5 sets with Sandgren and Millman, felt Novak was always going to beat him in 3 or 4.

Federer probably did better than expected, especially in the first set.
 
Crazy to think that Thiem and Zverev would give Djokovic a tougher game here than Fed or Nadal.
 
Who do you think poses a bigger threat for Novak? Thiem or Zverev.

They both have similar records against him, winning 40% of their matches and both have beat him on hard courts, albeit indoors at the O2.

My thinking Zverev has a game more suited to beating Novak but I'd worry about his mentality.

I think Thiem, given he at least has experience in two slam finals before may be more ready. It would also be good to have a new slam champion that beats two of the big 3 to win it.
 
Zverev the way he’s been serving this tournament has more of a chance. Thiem is playing well but on this surface it’s just insanely hard to outlast Djokovic.
 
saivet said:
Who do you think poses a bigger threat for Novak? Thiem or Zverev.

They both have similar records against him, winning 40% of their matches and both have beat him on hard courts, albeit indoors at the O2.

My thinking Zverev has a game more suited to beating Novak but I'd worry about his mentality.

I think Thiem, given he at least has experience in two slam finals before may be more ready. It would also be good to have a new slam champion that beats two of the big 3 to win it.
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If Thiem can show the level she showed vs Novak in London then definitely him. I also feel like Zverev is always a bad moment or two away from a total meltdown and losing all confidence.
 
saivet said:
Who do you think poses a bigger threat for Novak? Thiem or Zverev.

They both have similar records against him, winning 40% of their matches and both have beat him on hard courts, albeit indoors at the O2.

My thinking Zverev has a game more suited to beating Novak but I'd worry about his mentality.

I think Thiem, given he at least has experience in two slam finals before may be more ready. It would also be good to have a new slam champion that beats two of the big 3 to win it.
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Thiem because like you said he’s been to grand slam finals.

The only issue is I feel he could choke it against Zverev. I remember he did the hard work a few years ago on clay by knocking out Nadal and then played a stinker vs Zverev in the final.

Also Thiem can live with Djokovic on the baseline. Not sure how much stamina Zverev has when pushed. Zverevs been serving impressive, but that just goes up against Djokovics biggest strength. Djokovic made Raionic look like average server, when he isn’t. The same with Fed today.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Zverev the way he’s been serving this tournament has more of a chance. Thiem is playing well but on this surface it’s just insanely hard to outlast Djokovic.
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Raonic was serving brilliantly and he came unstuck vs Novak. I don't think Zverev's serve will help him that much either and you need someone who can stay with Novak in the rallies and I think that's Thiem. He also has the game, on his day, to blast Novak off the court like he did in London.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Zverev the way he’s been serving this tournament has more of a chance. Thiem is playing well but on this surface it’s just insanely hard to outlast Djokovic.
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Raionic was serving well. Djokovic the good returner he is will eventually get on top of the serve, so you will need to show you can do it on the baseline against him. Not sure Zverev has it in him.
 
I also have doubts about Zverev's mentality. Thiem on the other hand could "easily" do what Wawrinka did in 2015 and 2016.

about the match, 1. set aside, I think this was the worst match between these two of all the 50 matches they played so far. low quality, very few big points, never in doubt who's gonna win it. just underwhelming.
 
Bojan11 said:
Raionic was serving well. Djokovic the good returner he is will eventually get on top of the serve, so you will need to show you can do it on the baseline against him. Not sure Zverev has it in him.
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Raonic has never beat him, Zverev has done it twice, so a bit more going for him.
 
Bojan11 said:
Raionic was serving well. Djokovic the good returner he is will eventually get on top of the serve, so you will need to show you can do it on the baseline against him. Not sure Zverev has it in him.
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Let’s be honest both of them are going in as massive underdog, Thiem is more guaranteed to put up a good fight but we know how the match will play out.

Zverev may lose the first set badly and proceed to have a meltdown, but he can also capitalize if Djokovic has another slow start. I think his stamina will be fine since he didn’t dig any hole for himself against the lesser players like he usually does this time around.
 
saivet said:
Raonic has never beat him, Zverev has done it twice, so a bit more going for him.
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True. A lot of these next gen players have decent records vs Djokovic.

Djokovic vs Thiem 6-4
Djokovic vs Zverev 3-2
Djokovic vs Medvedev 4-2
Djokovic vs Tsitipas 2-2

Compare that to Raionic, Dimitrov, Goffin and Nishikori era.The issue these guys have is they don’t get in a position to face him often at the slams like the above guys do.

Also most importantly Thiem has beaten Djokovic twice at slams. Yes it is the French, but Djokovic is one of the best ever clay courters and if it wasn’t for Rafa he probably have more French opens. So he also knows what it takes to get the job done in 5 sets.
 
Disappointed for Federer but it's not a big loss really. He's been in poor form and fitness in this tournament. Despite the good start you can't beat Djokovic at this age going into the contest in that state. Hopefully he's in better form in the other slams.
 
Federer was clearly fecked physically. Maybe I’m being wildly naive but I didn’t think Djokovic ever really put his foot on his throat. Maybe it’s just the psychological effect of playing an injured guy, or perhaps it’s a little bit of not wanting to absolutely humiliate a guy playing on one leg, but you always felt that once it got a bit choppy, Djokovic would just go through the gears.
 
Novak in a AO final vs Rafa in a RG final. Wonder who will lost first?
 
Brophs said:
Federer was clearly fecked physically. Maybe I’m being wildly naive but I didn’t think Djokovic ever really put his foot on his throat. Maybe it’s just the psychological effect of playing an injured guy, or perhaps it’s a little bit of not wanting to absolutely humiliate a guy playing on one leg, but you always felt that once it got a bit choppy, Djokovic would just go through the gears.
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Roger was flying at times in that first set at 4-1. If he'd won that set, he really could have maybe pulled off a win. He let Novak off the hook big time.
 
wr8_utd said:
Roger was flying at times in that first set at 4-1. If he'd won that set, he really could have maybe pulled off a win. He let Novak off the hook big time.
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Feds not beaten Djokovic on hard court slams since 2009. His last victory in a slam vs Djokovic was 2012.

Even if Djokovic had lost the first set he probably would have come back. Fed can’t cope when Djokovic turns the match into a physical battle. So cannot Nadal these days unless it is clay because Djokovic makes Nadal uncomfortable that he cannot get the forehand down the line working. On clay he has more time.

Feds best shot of winning another slam is if someone else knocks out Djokovic for him because in most tournaments besides the French he is capable of beating the rest in a slam.
 
Bojan11 said:
Feds not beaten Djokovic on hard court slams since 2009. His last victory in a slam vs Djokovic was 2012.

Even if Djokovic had lost the first set he probably would have come back. Fed can’t cope when Djokovic turns the match into a physical battle. So cannot Nadal these days unless it is clay because Djokovic makes Nadal uncomfortable that he cannot get the forehand down the line working. On clay he has more time.

Feds best shot of winning another slam is if someone else knocks out Djokovic for him because in most tournaments besides the French he is capable of beating the rest in a slam.
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Yeah I know the chances were minimal but Novak was way off color himself in that first set so Federer just has to win a first set to stand a chance. He did comprehensively beat Novak in Londo as well some months ago. He may not have won but he could have made this a very uncomfortable evening if he'd not messed up that first set.
 
Disappointing, but still a great result overall. Can't knock semi-finals these days.

Not that passionate about any winner, but would prefer young guns.
 
Thiem can bully Djokovic like Wawrinka has, not convinced Zverev can do that. Novak be hoping for a long five setter between both.
 
Mark_Barca said:
Thiem can bully Djokovic like Wawrinka has, not convinced Zverev can do that. Novak be hoping for a long five setter between both.
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I don't think either of them have any good chance against Djokovic. I'll be impressed if they get a set against him.
 
An entertaining final game in the second set. Hopefully this match can ignite now as it felt pretty flat in through the first and most of the second set.
 
There's a problem with the lights now so the match has stopped again. Just as it was getting interesting too. Took about 10 minutes to sort out.
 
Thiem has stepped it up.

Zverev just happy to play down the middle and not really go for the shots.
 
Weird game. Thiem now making errors that he was not at the start of the set.
 
Zverez really needs to get over his mental instability to ever win a slam.
 
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