Djokovic wins his fifth, but is the gap closing?

After an amazing 5 hour and 53 minute contest Novak Djokovic prevailed for the third successive time over Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam final.

Djokovic accepts victory, while Nadal ponders what could have been

In 2011 Djokovic raised the bar and produced tennis that undermined Nadal's heavy topspin and general gameplan. At times in the Wimbledon and US Open finals, with Djokovic in the zone, it resembled Neo keeping the rogue Agent Smith at bay in The Matrix.

Nadal has been forced back to the drawing board to create a battleplan to get the number one ranking back. He has added weight to his racket and become more aggressive on the backhand side.

Despite the match being so close in the end on scoreline, Djokovic was the best player overall and thoroughly deserved the victory. Nadal's battling qualities were immense and who knows what would have happened if he had hit that easy backhand down the line at 4-2 in the fifth set (watch again on BBC site here).

I have compiled stats from their last three finals and the numbers would suggest Nadal is gaining ground on Djokovic. This sets us up for a very exciting 2012. Nadal has lost the crown as number one and is under threat to lose his title as the 'King of Clay'. Last year Djokovic showed he can handle Nadal's style on clay too. Nadal may be inwardly thankful to his old rival Federer for disposing of Djokovic in the semi-final at Roland Garros, otherwise we likely would be looking at Djokovic winning his fifth Slam in a row. As the stats show, Djokovic is finding it more difficult to beat Nadal in terms of the time it takes and percentage of points won/lost.

Relief! Djokovic knows they're closing in

Andy Murray has also closed the gap with the top three and The Big Four is well and truly out on their own. 2012 will mesmerise, guaranteed!

Comments

Is Djokovic the Villain in the Federer Pantomime?

The Federer v. Djokovic rivalry has become a classic hero v. villain narrative that has been played out 48 times to date. Like any of these stories, the longer the villain has power over the hero, the more anger is pointed towards the villain. The Hero Federer hits a forehand v Nadal at Wimbledon 2019 The dictionary tells us it is 'a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.' Etymologically the word Hero comes from Greek hērōs meaning demi-god or illustrious man.This is of uncertain origin; perhaps originally "defender or protector". Roland Garros in the 1990s became even more specialised in terms of who had a chance of winning it outright. A lot of the champions at Roland Garros in the 90's and early 00's would see their only Grand Slam victories coming on the clay, that was the level of specialisation on that surface. When Nadal managed the RG and Wimbledon double in 2008 it was hailed as a miraculous...

The GOAT battle is still alive.. Federer v Nadal

After today's easy win for Nadal, he now sits at 15 Grand Slam wins and only 3 behind Federer. Nadal wins his 10th Roland Garros title, another record! We all love the 'greatest of all time' debates in sport but in tennis being individual is a little more clean cut than team sports such as football... or is it? How do we begin to compare the greatest tennis players of all time? I mean we would expect Nadal or Federer to easily defeat Bjorn Borg or Rod Laver if they used the physical tools of their respective eras. Sport evolves and to call out the greatest of all time is always a hypothetical or statistical argument, but something that can never be proven no matter how emotional the debate becomes. In tennis circles, there is a rare concurrency in views that the greatest players in the history of the sport are still active.. very active based on the last two Grand Slam results. We usually wait until players finish out their careers so we can then apply our 'ob...

The Big Four is no longer a thing, Murray v Raonic preview

Only a day away to the final day of Wimbledon 2016, arguably the most important day in the tennis calendar. The final will see Andy Murray, one of that famous big four, take on Milos Raonic. This will be only their second meeting on grass, with the last just 3 weeks ago at Queen's Club. That match was very close and the level of tennis was very high, a feel for things to come. Big serve There is no doubt the big server still enjoys the benefits that grass serves up (no pun intended). The ball slides on the bounce and therefore a player such as Raonic will expect many easy points on his serve. So far this Wimbledon he has managed 137 aces in 6 matches. At Queen's Club the serving stats were very good for both players in their final. Murray served 74% on his 1st serve in that final, compared to 65% against Berdych and 61% against Tsonga is his last two Wimbledon matches. He will want to get that % up to Queen's level to ensure he protects himself for getting broke. ...

Tennis Stats for The Big Four

Search This Blog