Australian Open 2016 Jan 18th - Jan 31st

LuckyGent88

What a point that was. Sensational from both.

And then the terrible luck on Federer to give Djokovic the break point which he converts

RobertKK

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Wait and see....

It was typical Djokovic.
Exceptional play, then form dropped slightly as Federer improved, but Djokovic has such belief and strength in mind and body that it is near impossible to back against him.

MisterAnarchy

I was disappointed with Federer's performance in the first two sets.
As I expected his serve which had been very solid throughout the final completely deserted him .
If your first serve % is only 57% for 4 sets and less than 50% in the first set you are asking for trouble against the best returner in the game.

In his first 5 matches Federer lost his serve 5 times ,he was broken 4 times today in 2 sets .
Obviously some of that is due to Djokovic being such a good returner but the bulk was due to rubbish serving.

I'd also question his tactics of staying on the baseline for the majority of the match instead of trying to shorten the points by coming to the net.

It really does show what a weak era tennis is in now given that an old man is his closest rival.

Well it certainly says something about the rest of the field when a 34 year old man,well past his prime, reached the semi final without breaking a sweat .

Chivito550

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Well it certainly says something about the rest of the field when a 34 year old man,well past his prime, reached the semi final without breaking a sweat .

To be fair, it's not just any 34 year old. We are talking about probably the greatest player in history. It stands to reason he'd still be highly competitive at this age, and to be honest, I can see him still making slam quarter finals at the age of 40, if he's still motivated. It is this longevity more than anything else which sets him well apart from somebody like Nadal. Time will tell if Djokovic will be at this level when he is 34. For me, Federer has been better in 2014 and 2015 than he was for the 3-4 years preceding it.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Chivito550 wrote: »

To be fair, it's not just any 34 year old. We are talking about probably the greatest player in history. It stands to reason he'd still be highly competitive at this age, and to be honest, I can see him still making slam quarter finals at the age of 40, if he's still motivated. It is this longevity more than anything else which sets him well apart from somebody like Nadal. Time will tell if Djokovic will be at this level when he is 34. For me, Federer has been better in 2014 and 2015 than he was for the 3-4 years preceding it.

There was a year or so there where it looked like Federer was done but he has been playing so much better again recently. He may be some way off Djokovic's level but he's still miles ahead of pretty much everyone else on the tour.

Chivito550

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

There was a year or so there where it looked like Federer was done but he has been playing so much better again recently. He may be some way off Djokovic's level but he's still miles ahead of pretty much everyone else on the tour.

Agreed. Though I believe the only guy who can beat Djokovic in big matches is Wawrinka. Why that is, I don't really know, as he is a bit hit and miss as a player.

yerwanthere123

Regarding Djokovic's dominance, I'm never sure whether it's because he's simply raised his game from say, two years, ago, or whether the rest of the field has declined so much. Nadal obviously a shadow of his former self, Murray clearly not as good since Lendl left him, Federer admitedly probably playing better than in recent years though obviously nowhere near his heyday, and the best of the rest, like Tsonga and Del Potro, are either in decline or out injured. Here's to hoping someone can come to challenge him sooner rather than later.

Nice to see a new face in the women's final, but it's very difficult to imagine a scenario where Serena loses. If Kerber comes out with a 'nothing to lose' attitude like she did against Azarenka then she could make a match of it. That's all I want to see, an actual match, and not a walkover. It's be kinda fitting if a German woman were to stop Serena matching Steffi's record.. but I don't think it's going to happen.

MisterAnarchy

Chivito550 wrote: »

Agreed. Though I believe the only guy who can beat Djokovic in big matches is Wawrinka. Why that is, I don't really know, as he is a bit hit and miss as a player.

He is about the only guy out there who on a good day has the required aggressiveness and ability to hit the ball hard enough into the corners on slow courts to trouble Djokovic.

What disappoints me most about Federer is that he doesnt seem to be learning anything from his defeats to Djokovic.
What do you do when you keep getting beaten by the same bloke? You go looking for countermeasures, right? Well, apparently not if your name is Roger Federer

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

What disappoints me most about Federer is that he doesnt seem to be learning anything from his defeats to Djokovic.
What do you do when you keep getting beaten by the same bloke? You go looking for countermeasures, right? Well, apparently not if your name is Roger Federer

It's a bit like Sharapova when it comes to Serena. Does nothing differently whenever she plays her, loses every time. At least Federer has a pretty even head to head with Djokovic.

cowboyBuilder

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

It's a bit like Sharapova when it comes to Serena. Does nothing differently whenever she plays her, loses every time. At least Federer has a pretty even head to head with Djokovic.

1st time in history he is behind, in fact , Djokovic must be the only player on tour with a greater H2H against Federer AND Nadal.

MisterAnarchy

I just saw an interesting stat .
Federer is 51-2 in sets against players other than Djokovic in his last 3 slams.

Federer has now lost in the SF or later to Djokovic or Nadal in Grand Slams 18 times.
So he could conceivably have 35 Grand Slams if he was in a weak era .

Going back to an earlier post someone asked why Wawrinka troubles Djokovic so much is that Wawrinka exposed the fact that Djokovic is somewhat vulnerable when you go down the line.. but very few have the consistency and power to do it, because Djokovic can run most down .

Anyways I came across this video on youtube ,its a great display of shotmaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_z8sFt0CDo

Slashermcguirk

This weak era talk is such complete nonsense. Djokovic is one of the greatest players of all time, he has been a phenomenal talent from a very young age, federer and nadal saw it coming early. I will never forget the 2007 us open final when although Novak lost to federer he should have won the first 2 sets with a load of set points. He was a teenager at that time but you could already see his talent and shot making.

Nowadays you still have federer who is freakishly good even at his age, nadal has fallen back a bit but is still very good. Try and tell me that current Murray and wawrinka are weak!!! Then we can talk about the likes of ferrer, berdych, nishikori, cilic and co. Any one of these guys would probably would have won a slam in years gone by. Think about the mid 90s to mid 2000s, the likes of kraijeck, peter Korda, Thomas johansson etc who all won slams.

Are you going to try and say that Andy roddick was better (world number one at one stage) than the likes of current version of Murray, federer, nadal, wawrinka etc. not a chance!!!

Why do you think federer still comfortably beats all the other players, it is not because they are weak.....it is because federer is still a brilliant player but has lost a yard of pace maybe. If anything federers serve and backhand are better now than before.

The fact is you are seeing a guy now (djokovic) that was an all time great waiting to happen. This is a guy that was even challenging federer as a teenager and not only that was the only guy to consistently challenge and beat prime nadal on clay. Mark my words, this is not a weak era and djokovic simply is that good!!!! Look at his head to heads vs the other top players, mind blowing. Before abybody says it's because the others are aging, well then what about when they were getting wins over an inexperienced Novak.

This weak era nonsense is a joke. Go back to the 90s and watch the likes of kraijeck and co, those guys wouldn't have a prayer against these guys. Even aggasi and Sampras have said this current generation are virtually unbeatable. Djokovic is just making them look weak because he is so damn good!!

Accept it

LuckyGent88

Ominous signs for Murray after that 1st game. Broken to love.

Rjd2

Chivito550 wrote: »

Agreed. Though I believe the only guy who can beat Djokovic in big matches is Wawrinka. Why that is, I don't really know, as he is a bit hit and miss as a player.

I'd have loved Del Potro to stay fit as his big hitting aggressive style of play is probably the best way to beat him assuming you are in the absolute zone of course! Wawrinka on the tour is probably the closest to that blueprint, maybe Raonic an Kyrigos down the line could hurt him.

Guys like Nadal and Murray are food and drink to Novak these days.

cowboyBuilder

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Ominous signs for Murray after that 1st game. Broken to love.

Nah, Murray in 4 ... easy

vienne86

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Nah, Murray in 4 ... easy

Don't know about that. Murray is serving well now.

Cracking match.

cowboyBuilder

1-1

Have to go with Murray now ..

vienne86

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

1-1

Have to go with Murray now ..

Raonic will do well if any set goes to tie breaks.

Floppybits

Looks like Raonic is going to push his way into the top 5 this year. It looks like he has done a lot of work on his overall game during the close season.

I think he is the one player out all the other top 20 or so players that can really challenge for the slams.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Floppybits wrote: »

Looks like Raonic is going to push his way into the top 5 this year. It looks like he has done a lot of work on his overall game during the close season.

I think he is the one player out all the other top 20 or so players that can really challenge for the slams.

Yes. There's quite a few aspects he's improved on. Not many of his sets this fortnight going to a tiebreaker, which is usually the signature of a big server with nothing else to offer.

cowboyBuilder

Floppybits wrote: »

Looks like Raonic is going to push his way into the top 5 this year. It looks like he has done a lot of work on his overall game during the close season.

I think he is the one player out all the other top 20 or so players that can really challenge for the slams.

Keep your eye on Taylor Fritz .... he's the real deal ..

Floppybits

Raonic has a groin injury now and according to the radio commentary he is struggling.

Interesting match here - Murray has just taken it a fifth.

Although both of these players are playing to get into the final and that's it.
Everybody is effectively only playing for second place against Djokovic in this form on this surface, barring an injury.

Floppybits

This match is over Raonic is really struggling now. I cant see him finishing the match. A pity.

vienne86

Djovokic has an extra day's rest....not that he needs it!

Chivito550

glasso wrote: »

Interesting match here - Murray has just taken it a fifth.

Although both of these players are playing to get into the final and that's it.
Everybody is effectively only playing for second place against Djokovic in this form on this surface, barring an injury.

Everybody said the same in the French Open last year. Djokovic murdered Nadal, came through a tough 5 setter against Murray, and then came a cropper in the final. So you never know. Murray has beaten him in slams before.

Though down in Melbourne Djokovic seems to be invincible.

Chivito550

Chivito550 wrote: »

Everybody said the same in the French Open last year. Djokovic murdered Nadal, came through a tough 5 setter against Murray, and then came a cropper in the final. So you never know. Murray has beaten him in slams before.

Though down in Melbourne Djokovic seems to be invincible.

I was going on the form of the semi-final of Djokovic. But yes, of course, you are right - you never know....

Although it seems that Djokovic has the measure of Murray - especially in Oz.

You mention the French open - that's Djokovic's worst surface and the Nadal he beat there last year was not the Nadal of old.

Australia is Djokovic's best grand slam - he's won 5 finals there already. (and beaten Murray in 3 of those finals).

Chivito550

glasso wrote: »

I was going on the form of the semi-final of Djokovic. But yes, of course, you are right - you never know....

Although it seems that Djokovic has the measure of Murray - especially in Oz.

You mention the French open - that's Djokovic's worst surface and the Nadal he beat there last year was not the Nadal of old.

Australia is Djokovic's best grand slam - he's won 5 finals there already. (and beaten Murray in 3 of those finals).

Not to mention a semi-final victory against Murray in Melbourne in 2012 too, to add further insult to injury.

average_runner

If it was clay I would give Murray a better chance because he is a fighter like Nadal. But Novak has alot more to his game and can change tack very quickly.


Murray will fight for everything and get everything back.

whiterebel

I can see Djokovic giving Murray a right hiding if he is on form. I thought Murray looked fairly ordinary today until Raonic got injured.