2021 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[stotty]

Perfect 1st set for Novak. A couple of notes: Novak's return of serve is just the best ever, as we all know. Novak is dictating more often than not vs the one guy here who can truly rally and hang in with him on extended rallies. And Novak simply has better athletic foundation/posture striking the ball off both sides. Medvedev is not going anywhere though. He needs to really extend Novak every set as DB mentioned, and see if his younger legs can become a factor, see if he can get him deep in 4th or 5th set.

Spot on. Novak just so assertive at the moment. Oddly enough you feel it's Novak at the moment who cannot afford to drop his level.

[stotty]

4-1

Novak utterly relentless so far.

[stotty]

It's not a lost cause for Medvedev if he plays an attritional game and plays for the long haul, but Novak's level needs to drop. Novak technically so good from the baseline it's unreal at the moment.

[stroke]

One can almost hear Novak saying to Medvedev "I am Novak and you are not". Oddsmakers now have Novak at 90% chance of winning. Amazingly, that seems low right now, but Medvedev still can turn it around. But this is something so far from Novak. The squeeze as only Novak can do it is on.

[stroke]

If Novak could have had this attitude vs Rafa in the FO last year, who knows what would have happened.

[stroke]

It's not a lost cause for Medvedev if he plays an attritional game and plays for the long haul, but Novak's level needs to drop. Novak technically so good from the baseline it's unreal at the moment.

Copy technically unreal.

[stotty]

Keep waiting for a classic Novak lapse but there hasn't been one so far. Surely we must get one lapse...

[stroke]

I never would have thought that Novak could have done this to Medvedev. Once again, all these young great players will always know they were just not as good as the 3.

[stotty]

Emphatic performance from Novak. No one would have beaten him today - absolutely no one. Just so good.

[stroke]

ESPN: Novak Djokovic's latest Australian Open victory proves 'Next Gen' still playing catch-up.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/30939225/novak-djokovic-latest-australian-open-victory-proves-next-gen-playing-catch-up

[stotty]

I honestly thought Medvedev was ready. He was at the top of his game and there seemed no reason he couldn't lift that damn title. But I had forgotten how big the gap is when Novak plays at his best versus the rest of the field. He hasn't played that well in a year or maybe longer. I knew he would step up to plate at the challenge he was facing and he certainly didn't disappoint. He used a brilliant mix of consistency, great length and forceful aggression. He ran Medvedev from pillar to post at times and kept a steely resolve from start to finish. People may not like Novak or his style of play but the way he went about his business today was a lesson to any aspiring junior. He simply suffocated Medvedev from start to finish and didn't allow him to get even a little toe in the door. And he closed out with aplomb.

I can't remember the last time I have seen Novak play so well and so focused. The gap (and we shouldn't need reminding after all this time) between the big 3, firing at their best, and the rest of the field is...well...huge.

[stroke]

I honestly thought Medvedev was ready. He was at the top of his game and there seemed no reason he couldn't lift that damn title. But I had forgotten how big the gap is when Novak plays at his best versus the rest of the field. He hasn't played that well in a year or maybe longer. I knew he would step up to plate at the challenge he was facing and he certainly didn't disappoint. He used a brilliant mix of consistency, great length and forceful aggression. He ran Medvedev from pillar to post at times and kept a steely resolve from start to finish. People may not like Novak or his style of play but the way he went about his business today was a lesson to any aspiring junior. He simply suffocated Medvedev from start to finish and didn't allow him to get even a little toe in the door. And he closed out with aplomb.

I can't remember the last time I have seen Novak play so well and so focused. The gap (and we shouldn't need reminding after all this time) between the big 3, firing at their best, and the rest of the field is...well...huge.

That is so true. The greatest ever, those 3 to me. Novak's athletic hitting posture off both wings while hugging the baseline(when he is in the mood) is stand alone. Roger's technique on all shots, stand alone. Rafael, with his "all I want to win is the next point" and his inimitable forehand, stand alone. I too was very surprised that Novak basicly routined a player as good as Medvedev, but as you say, truly I should not be. Novak is by far the most moody of the the 3. At his highest level, he is also the best of the 3 to me.

[don_budge]

Daniil Medvedev did not rise to the occasion. He was not prepared for all of the contingencies and possibilities. Novak Djokovic is one wily veteran. He is also the most boring, one-dimensional best player in the world ever. That makes him the MBODBPITWE in my book. The match was over after Medvedev broke Djokovic in the first game of the second set and then Novak broke back immediately. After losing the first set it was imperative to reverse the tide and it just never happened. Djokovic was prepared for everything and anything. Experience in this case is the trump card. Now the question is regarding the tennis IQ of Daniil Medvedev. Does he have the smarts to beat Novak Djokovic on the biggest of all stages? All we can say at this point is it is inconclusive. He might. He has been through the ringer twice now. How many times will it take? Novak pulled the old "limp leg" routine earlier in the tournament and apparently that was enough. He planted the seed and that was all he had to do.

I saw this video and thought I would share it with the forum. To me there is something that stirs me in it. A great accomplishment...lightening striking twice in the span of minutes. Yet the performer puts on even less of a performance celebrating the second time. The presence of mind under the circumstances is mind-boggling. You don't see this anymore in the modern age of sports. It's entertainment. This reminded me of old Green Bay Packers. Old Boston Celtics. Old Detroit Tigers as my father taught me. It earned my respect...even love. Yet they say that old days are gone and better left alone. As long as dear old don_quixote lives...never comes that day.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/202...t-two-at-bats/