Fed’s level has been going up every match. Backhand looked great today and the serve seemed good too. Moving well as always. Just exposed Kev.

Hoping that he can peak against Joker.

As a Fed fan, disappointing end to the season but all things considered, it’s not bad at all. 37 yo, 7 finals, 4 titles, 1 grand slam, got back to #1 and finished in the top 3.

Let's face it serve and forehand have been off all year and the slump kicked in long before Djokovic started his comeback.

2017 he was clearly the best player and had the best record against the Top 10 including those 4 wins against Nadal. This year he had the worst record out of everyone at the ATP Finals. He was fortunate Cilic fell apart in the AO 5th set because take that result away and it's 0 slams and Masters.

It's to be expected at 37 where every year over 35 is probably like 2-3 but what stands out for me is he's not recovering as quickly from matches. Maybe a day off like he had in the group stage could have made the difference today. It's not like he's being thrashed out there.

I'd say at this stage one last coaching change might be what he needs to provide a spark and squeeze what's left out of his career. This might sound ridiculous but hiring Becker who was one of his idols growing up could be a worthwhile last roll of the dice attempt at trying to psychologically troll Djokovic on his way out the door. Novak won 6 slams in 2 years with him and he could obviously use the money.

Not a Zverev fan in the slightest but the fans were absolutely classless booing him for appropriately stopping play and after the match.

Becker?! no!

Why not? Idol of Federer's growing up and he's Becker's favorite player. Helped Djokovic win 6 slams in 2 years after winning 2 in 2012-2013. Might offer some valuable insights on beating him.

Edberg had an immediate effect after a nightmare 2013 and was the clear #2 in 2014-2015 so I think a coaching change after 3 years with Ljubicic could be what he needs. Moya has helped Nadal improve his serve and play more aggressively as he's declined physically. Djokovic was going nowhere until he got back with Marian Vajda.

Zverev narrowed down his choices to Becker and Lendl and chose Lendl. I'm just an armchair coach chiming in with his two cents but at this stage of his career I think he's got nothing to lose. Sampras is another one but he made it clear he doesn't want to travel. Maybe if Federer threw a truckload of money at him he'd consider it.

RE: this incident.

Zverev was absolutely right, and nobody made a big deal out of it except the crowd. But the thing I really want to talk about is Zverev apologizing afterwards. That chit was disgusting and so weaksauce. Like come on brah, we gonna apologize for beating old man Fed now?? Fed, Rafa and Novak would all throw their moms off a cliff to win more tennis matches. Being humble off court is fine, but damn, have some ruthlessness on the court.

How many times these last 2 yrs have we seen mediocre performances from Fed, Rafa and Novak and see them win comfortably anyway because in the moments that matter they are absolutely ruthless. NextGen lads need to get some self respect and start hammering these old kents.

I hate Zverev but if he would have called the fans out instead of letting that woman do it, I’d have become a fan.

So easy win for joker?

Nope.

Better to be lucky than good I guess

Wow. Did not see that coming. Props to Zverev. B2B wins over Fed and Joker ain’t something that a lot of people can brag about.

Zverev serving at a sickening level and playing great overall, but Novak hitting 23 UF to 7 winners kinda stood in the way of a competitive match.

Watching Djokovic dump a forehand in the net just looks weird tbh.

Novak's just not where he was in 2011-15, and may never be again. He's really benefited from a depleted field, gassed out/injured Nadal after cleaning up at clay field for 3 months and an out of form Federer. The moments where his opponents haven't folded he's lost the match. RG quarters, Paris final, and today.

Tennis fans and pundits love to hype up whoever is in form and based on that they foresee multiple slam winning seasons to come.


wrong.

Where all the Noletards at now?

This is a decent point. (srs)

Form and results in tennis are so fickle and consistency is so elusive it's hard to make any long term predictions about any player really.

Zverev played great like he is capable of. He will be in the mix for a long time to come.

Still think upcoming season is owned by Feds and Novak

Strong overreaction. If anyone is gassed it's Novak. He's been in every big final except Toronto over the last 5 months. Queen's. Wimbledon. Cincy. US Open. Shanghai. Paris. ATP Finals. Won 2 slams, 2 Masters, and locked up #1.

He utterly thrashed Zverev in Shanghai 6-2 6-1 and 6-4 6-1 in the group stage this week where he didn't drop a match. Now he's only winning because Nadal is injured? Can you say C-O-P-E?

Nadal has 2 wins over Djokovic off clay in the last 8 years and 0 since 2013. He is a total non factor against him off dirt. 2015-2016 he lost 7 straight without taking a set. If anyone has benefited from Djokovic going off the boil it's Nadal. He wasn't winning another big title with him around and neither was Federer. Get down on your hands and knees and thank Pepe the guru for the gift of 2017.

No Djokovic isn't at his 2011 or 2015 level but then Nadal and Federer have also declined and were vulturing weak fields. I'll spell it out for you. Nadal and Federer had nothing to do with Djokovic not winning slams in 2017 but Djokovic going AWOL is the only reason they won another 6 slams in 2017-2018. Let's see how 2019 pans out once he's had a couple months rest.

Ha! Good for Zverev. Heard he played pretty well!

makes me sick to my stomach that mugs like zverev and dmitrov get lucky and win YEC and Rafa doesn't have one because of injuries.

I guess you missed the part where he mentioned an out of form federer as well. strong reading comprehension but let me help out by pointing it out for you

Triggered again. Throwing that line in there was an afterthought. Federer is not so much out of form as he is 37 years old. 25 year old Federer wouldn't be losing a match against this field.Was unlucky to get Djokovic in 2013 because given his form that was definitely his best shot. Even last year I liked his chances if he didn't face Federer in the final before he pulled the plug. That being said I couldn't see him beating Zverev today. The guy flicked the switch after getting some criticism for his comments about saying the season was too long. Outserved Isner then took care of Federer. We're seeing the Lendl effect.

Djokovic is surely mentally and physically drained and I'm surprised more people can't see this. He's missed one final in 8 tournaments: Toronto. Queen's. Wimbledon. Cincy. US Open. Shanghai. Paris. ATP Finals. He's been the best player by a mile over the last 5 months. He was due for a letdown.

Tennis fans love to hit the panic button. This time last year Federer lost to his pigeon Goffin and everyone was saying he was finished. 2 months later...



Then a few weeks later...



Cliffs: Novak will probably slaughter the field from January-March.

I will say this. Fed has gotten pretty lucky with people protecting his records. Djokovic comes back at the perfect time to help protect Fed’s slam record. Zverev shows up to protect Fed’s wtf record.

No idea how a guy who has losing records vs his two closest rivals can be considered the undisputed GOAT.

GS H2H:
Federer vs Djokovic: 6 vs 9
Federer vs Nadal (not counting clay): 3 vs 4

Nadal vs DJokovic: 9 vs 5

That would almost get Harbaugh fired.

It’s really not hard to figure out but you guys keep choosing to forget. It’s been posted tons of times.

Okay since you keep wanting to go there let's compare him to Nadal.

20slams to17. +3.

Now ditch the specialist surfaces of clay and grass and count HC slams.11 slams to 4.+7

Federer has won 5 or more titles at 3 slams. 6x AO. 5x US Open. Nadal hasn't won more than 3 titles outside RG.

Miles ahead of everyone from 2003-2007.There is no Nadal era. 2011 Djokovic put an end to that by crushing him in 7 straight finals. There's a Federer era and there's a Djokovic era but no Nadal era.

Federer has won 3 slams in a season THREE times. Nadal only has only done this once.

Most weeks at #1 (310). Nadal is way back in 6th with under 200.

6 ATP finals to Nadal's ZERO. The requirement is winning 4-5 matches against the Top 8. Nadal has never accomplished this in over 10 attempts. Federer has done it 6 times. Even clay specialists Guga Kuerten and Alex Corretja managed to win the thing. That's a pretty damning stat.

Federer's tally of slams and Masters tally isn't propped up by a specialist surface like Nadal's. Two third's of Nadal's titles have come on clay as have almost 2/3 of his slams. 24 of his 33 Masters = clay. His finals record in Masters on HC is9-8. Federer's is21-11. Like night and day.

I can't be bothered posting more stats you'll never read.

I tell you what there's going to be some serious COPE in here if Djokovic catches up to Nadal by winning 3 more. Sodium levels will be off the charts.

You see all you've had to hang your hat on in Federer comparisons over the years is the clay skewed H2H. So when Djokovic pulls even with the H2H advantage and complete and utter ownage of a 20-9 H2H from 2011 (and only 2 losses off clay), what's your argument for Nadal being No. 2?

Djokovic will have more weeks at No. 1, 5 ATP Finals to 0, more HC slams and Masters, won all the Masters, great record on every surface starting and finishing seasons strong unlike Nadal whose record is amateur hour after the US Open and has only one AO title to Novak's 6.

This could happen in 2019 or early 2020. Will you still be posting?

GS head to head is much more important than overall H2H. Look at Zverev, can win masters but nobody gives a chit about him b/c he can't win slam matches.

I already took out clay GS matches vs Federer and Nadal still has an edge. I know its too much for your Federer fanboy sensibilities. Somehow Nadal is punished for being the most dominant player on a single surface. Meanwhile you guys are like Sampras is so good in grass!! fcking lol

Yeah 20-9 H2H vs Djokovic after 2011... i guess thats when their careers started. Nadal still holds the edge in GS matches. Just lol if you think Nadal is stuck at 17. He's got a few more left in him.

Will you still be posting when Nadal surpasses Federer's GS?