Wimbledon 2022

Shot of the match there from Djokovic for the highlight reel

On the run sliding cross-court backhand belter of a winner

An unparalleled ability to back himself to have a chance to come back when up against it facing a form player on the verge of being out and having a dip but then to turn on the style

Sinner was playing well this tournament, taking care of good players in a routine fashion

it's almost like the opponent with the best comeback record in history upped his game significantly or something.

We're not talking medve-choke collapse levels here of a guy on his best surface holding 3 break points to finish off the match as a contest.

This has really aged well from yesterday.

Think I'll give this a shot the next time I'm playing.

Should end well!

Sinner was still 3 years old when Djokovic played his first Wimbledon

Djokovic came back from 2 sets down in that tournament to win a match as well.

...

plenty of highlights on youtube and newspaper articles out there if like you say didn't see the match!

there is no shame for sinner in losing to by far the most successful grass-court player of the last decade with 6 titles and the last three in a row.

that's undoubted recent pedigree

Sinner had a good tournament and in his press conference said that he was happy that he could play better in every successive match

He'll keep working hard he says - he knows that you have to earn a slam - no gimmes facing nobodies on this tour!

it's not like he capitulated, blowing a 0-40 for a match-ending break to a guy who hadn't won in that slam in well over a decade and amassed just 8 games in total the last time he was in a final.

now that would be something!

Musetti didn't even finish the match

I always said that Musetti would never amount to anything (some here saying he was the future of tennis lol) and he hasn't

Sinner bears no comparison to Musetti

Musetti has recently been seen in qualifying rounds for ATP tournaments and on the Challenger Tour

ah dear

winning a total of 8 games in a recent best of 5 set final and one previous title 13 years ago just isn't pedigree in my book sorry.

Ideally you have to beat the surface king to prove pedigree.

simply put.

but then again if you've lost 19 consecutive sets on the surface over a period of 10 years to that player that's not likely to happen is it?

I mean that does make for uncomfortable reading for some but that's just the fact of it.

some will just never be able to face that fact, never mind get over it!

Onto today's action - will Fritz be able to make a match of it with Nadal?

Fritz has had an easy run of it so far you'd have to say, including easily 3-setting Musetti (who wasn't preparing for or doing any exams at the time I believe) in the first round.

He hasn't dropped a set so far - not a stat I would put too much emphasis on but will mention it here mainly to show that he hasn't faced much adversary so far.

I think that he has a decent chance vs Nadal but it's hard to call in advance how that match will play out

Kyrgios is far superior to Garin on grass.

Berrettini was due to face Garin in round one but was Covid-ed out.

Will the news breaking to the public that Kyrgios is up in court for domestic abuse send the crowd against him and Kyrgios over the edge?

Intriguing.

If he doesn't flip the lid or prove unable to perform you can't see past Kyrgios but who knows what sort of thing will turn up?

would be some turnaround in fairness

quality shows and it shows over time

Musetti has a record well up there with the raducanu post-open record since he quit against Djokovic last year

Has a max 2-win streak in any ATP main draw in over a year, even on his preferred clay, even in fiddly 250's with weak fields

That's over a year now

He has beaten some higher ranked-players than Top 45 the odd time but it's a long way back for him and you need to able to win successive matches to go forward

"future of tennis" - yep.

Age remains undefeated in the end

But Djokovic will keep playing until he's 40 at least unless he gets some sort of injury like Murray which finishes him off as a credible force.

He is very disciplined with his fitness (not a pick on him and the ability to pull off shots like that splits-running-backhand yesterday is something 99% of the tour can't do and he's 35) and the old days of players buying into the credo of "you're finished at x age just because you're that age" are long gone

The longevity of players in general is growing as the average ages clearly show and continuing ability to perform at the top level

It's not just in tennis either - Brady in NFL winning superbowls at 43, Ronaldo up near the top of the premiership scoring charts at 37 (even in a poor team). Different sports but relevant imo in terms of fitness maintenance, people realising that sports glory is going to beat any retirement, the best ever being able to continue to be at or near the best etc

Especially a player that good

Plus undoubtedly Djokovic and Nadal are keeping each other going - Nadal claims not to be concerned about the number of slam titles but anyone who actually believes that needs their head tested.

These are the two best players of all time so they want to be remembered as such

Great to see the two of them still having the hunger and the dedication