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Ol rope-a-dope looking good out there.
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Not sure how he pulled that one off. I left after the first set and am watching the remainder on catch-up. Looking at the stats it looks like Novak was particularly effective behind his 2nd serve and Carlos was particularly ineffective behind his 2nd serve. At 37, Novak really shouldn't be winning that match. I really don't know how he does it.StottyComment
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Well, it is something. He has certainly set a new standard for physicality at age 37, surpassing Roger to me as the best ever at this age. It really looks like he has not lost much at all movement wise.Last edited by stroke; 01-21-2025, 12:26 PM.Comment
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With Jannik Sinner apparently ailing from something unknown ( "right hand shaking involuntarily", "leaning over grasping his shorts" ) the path may be clearing.Originally posted by stroke View PostComment
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I watched the match on catch-up. Novak played so well; served well and really beefed up his second serve at critical times, returned outstandingly well in clutch moments, moved well, and was ultra consistent. Carlos, for all his brilliance, gifted too many points to Novak. I wish he would have gone to the net more often. Carlos is a good volleyer and could make more of that part of his game when playing Novak. Carlos could have played better I feel. Great performance from Novak...absolute top drawer stuff in a crucial match. One should expect nothing less I guess.StottyComment
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I can't believe how good he is. Also I saw the jokes that reporter made in Australia, it seemed to me just a funny thing. Can't believe Novak and Nick got this mad at the reporter for that, it seemed an obvious joke.Comment
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My initial thought was the reporter was going to pay for what he said with Novak making him eat his words by winning the tournament. Last thing you want to do is rub Novak up the wrong way because it will just motivate him to win the bloody tournament.Originally posted by neilchok View PostStottyComment
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I interpret his reaction as semi-deliberate; Djokovic feeds on resentment, motivates himself through anger. If he has a cause, fine, otherwise he'll generate one.Originally posted by stroke View Post
More broadly, that approach is more obvious in comments by his father, Srdjan such as the "West" is out to get Serbs because of Djokovic's covid immigration issues.
But, in this case, Djokovic's feelings about the local media are shared by other players. In this short vid from Ben Shelton's presser he politically and professionally describes how he believes the local, Australian media is disrespectful to players. Video of Ben on Twitter.Comment
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I still feel the reporter "jokingly" said he was overrated. How could that be anything else but a joke. Novak has the most grand slams in the history of the game. Most people think he is the GOAT. It would be a similar situation to if you were around "Chicago Bulls basketball fans", and found out that they couldn't hear you. And then you say "Michael Jordan is overrated." I think he was just kidding around just to tease the fans and make people laugh on tv, not to actually say he thinks Novak is actually overrated (the dumbest take you could make if you were serious). And I think he immediately apologized to Novak, as soon as he found out that Novak was mad about it.
I agree he uses this stuff as motivation, but I think sometimes he is an out of control person, as no one would be so stupid as to hit a tennis ball at a line judge, and get kicked out of a tournament he was clearly dominating at that moment. But I found it so shocking that all these players started to really kill this reporter.
A bit of rant below....
I was going to bring up Ben Shelton. I am American, but I can't stand that guy. Every shot when you see him practice and when he plays, he is constantly congratulating himself, and you really feel he thinks he is like a god or something. (Watch clips of him at Indian wells practice courts). The way he kept smiling and pointing to his biceps, when he would hit winners from the baseline against Sonego. (mind you they were pretty impressive forehands, a lot of them were from behind the baseline). He just kept essentially looking at the crowd, and basically saying "how great am I". And he would look to his dad, and his dad who would just smile. It is so nauseating to watch his dad just smile, and just fawn all over his son, almost agreeing with the greatness of his son. It also is sooo extremely disrespectful to Sonego, who had a great tournament and seems like a nice person. Also Fonseca hits way bigger forehands, and he is way younger, and he never seems so arrogant.
I have noticed there are two types of tennis parents. The one's that will sit for hours and talk your ear off how good their kid is, and relieve every amazing moment he/she has had since the last time you have seen them. Then there are the other parents that are so normal and never brag or anything. I am friends with a tennis dad, and would hit with his younger daughter in practice matches. Then later on I remember I saw his older daughter in a highlight winning the junior US open! I never had any clue how good his older daughter was, and the dad never mentioned it once the entire time I was with him over a span of months! I feel Ben's dad would be of the first type.
I wish these players would go back to how Federer and Sampras and Johnny Mac would do things. Pete or Federer would hit an amazing shot and just look down and just play the next point. I saw highlights of intense matches Johnny Mac would have against players at the US Open in the final. And he would let out all his emotions really quickly after winning a grand slam, and then quickly run up to net to shake hands with an opponent, and that was the celebration.
Now you have players that do a 12 minute show if they win, and if they ever hit a winner, the put their hands to their ear, or fan the crowd to give them more approval. It is bizarre.Last edited by neilchok; Yesterday, 08:37 PM.Comment
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