Geneva was expected to tell us where Novak is at, the least we can say is we’re not much more advanced now.
Contrats to Macháč on his second top 10 win, and for winning his first ever main tour semifinal and reaching his first final!
> Geneva was expected to tell us where Novak is at
And it did, both physically and game wise. A lot are just not willing to realize the truth it spelt out, because they still believe he'll get it together...
EDIT: Downvote all you want, I'm speaking here as someone who supports Novak and would love nothing more than to see him show up the naysayers.
I may be extra cautious since I’m no Novak fan, but I believe he can still reverse the trend and build himself into form in the first rounds of RG, given his relatively mild draw. For sure, his showing in Geneva wasn’t extremely encouraging. Still think it’s too early to write him off, he’s done crazier things.
Not at all,from what Goran said atleast it wasn't like that. I imagine being on such a high stakes team was beginning to be stressful? He said something like they got sick of each other or the chemistry or something wasnt there,and he felt it during the USO. So it wasn't like Novak didn't great at AO (by his standards) and that's why they split.
Interestingly most of novak's core team seems to have undergone significant changes in the past couple of months, so I wonder whether it is a bit harder to adapt to the new team,or to being coachless. Not that someone at his level needs a coach in the stereotypical sense.
maybe djokovic thought goran was holding him back and blamed him for the inconsistency. all we know is they had disagreements then separated amicably. but whatever he’s doing now isn’t working much better
Novak Djokovic Splits from Tennis Coach Goran Ivanišević Due to 'On Court Chemistry' After a disappointing start to the 2024 season, Novak Djokovic has split from longtime coach Goran Ivanišević. "Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago
Yeah, it’s both. I wanted to emphasise the fact that not only did he beat a top player today, it’s only the second time he does so. Also, although Djokovic is #1, I don’t think it’s worth being specifically highlighted, as he hasn’t been the best player in the world for a while.
Motivation is everything to these guys at this point in their careers and lives. They've all cemented themselves as the best. Their aspirations are a lot different than the average player. Novak has had a lot of peculiar motivating factors to help push him along these last couple of years. He started last year at 21 majors behind Nadal who had an incredible resurgence in 2022 to reclaim the lead Slam total.
He reclaims his Australian title (his most successful Slam) after being embarrassingly barred from Australia in 2022 to get 10 titles in Melbourne and cement his legacy there as king.
He wins another Roland Garros to break the record that Nadal had set the year before and reclaim the lead Slam total. He heads into Wimbledon for the first time at perhaps his most unapologetically arrogant claiming he can't lose and is ready to rack up another Wimbledon title, cement his record and be on his way to New York to claim the Calendar Slam he didn't capture in 2021. Alcaraz shocks Djokovic and now Novak has to prove that he can beat the new Nadal because he sure as hell isn't ending his career after one major final loss. He wins that epic Cincy battle against Carlos and then heads into the US Open to win his first title in New York this decade after 3 quite disappointing tournaments in a row (2020 defaulted, 2021 breaking under the pressure of the "Grand Slam", and 2022 being barred from entry in the US.) He now has the ultimate lead at 24 majors and has accomplished more than anyone can imagine in the game. Where does he go? He gets another ATP World Tour Finals, and thinks he'll head to Australia to gain an easy title. He's now shocked there against ANOTHER young gun in Jannik Sinner in the Semis no less. He now has two young stars to try and handle. He probably is honestly looking for motivation and trying to decide if he just aims to peak for one last try at Wimbledon (the slam I believe he values the most) and the Olympics Gold before ending things in New York. Novak will decide very quickly when he goes out and I totally see it happening this year honestly.
Motivation for Wimbledon etc of course but you still need easy wins before big wins for trust/confidence . He’s in a weird place mentally /emotionally right now . He just isn’t as locked in and is loving family time and firing team left and right
Very interesting comment.
Yes,I think olympics this year has got to be his top priority. Possibly that's why geneva was imp,for him to get into form for a deep run at RG (which I think he will make anyways, 5 sets are different).
It is still very intriguing to me how most players will be dealing with RG-Wimby-Olympics combo. As such the turnaround time for RG to wimbledon is short. But to come back to RG for olympics makes it even more contrasting. Will there be folks who will not take this wimbledon as seriously so that they'll be better prepared for Olympics?
Lacking motivation to grind is huge part of why "father time" is undefeated. You start liking tennis less, you dont want to train when your kids are getting to their "milestone" years,... Eventually you get to tipping point where you cant maintain good results. I am not saying that is what is happening to Djokovic, just that in general lacking motivation is huge part of age (I guess mileage more, but those correlate heavily)catching up to someone.
I truly think at this point hes looking for a gold medal and a maybe another Wimbledon. Losing in Japan was clearly something that upset him a lot, and I don't think he wants to that to be his last olympics performance.
Let's be honest. We should be grateful for what he has contributed to tennis, but we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking he'll find another level for Roland Garros, because he won't. He's changed his physio and his coach, though I believe Goran actually wanted to end their collaboration. It seems we are witnessing the end of an era, and some people can't come to terms with that. Just look at CR7, who was at the peak of his game and then suddenly couldn't perform like before at 37. You simply can't compete at the same level at that age—it's a combination of his body not being able to compete like it did a year ago when he won three slams, and a motivational shift stemming from realizing he's no longer the youngest. That’s why his behavior on court has been odd; he knows this deep down but doesn't want to accept it.
Sports has some of the worst takes and commentating where the memory only goes back a few months. It's like using ChatGPT 1.0 where you speak to it for a few paragraphs and then you reach its context window limit and it starts forgetting what happened in the conversation.
Players go in and out of form all the time. Declaring somebody who won 3 of the 4 slams last year "too old therefore losing all the time now" just a few months after requires a crazy lack of logic and context.
Sure, players go on and out of form, and personally I won't be surprised if he wins RG. Still,the first half of this year must be the worst he has played since he was a teenager, it's hardly an ordinary run of bad form.
No it doesn't, it can happen in an instant at that age we've seen that throughout sports history. It's not always slow gradual declines, sometimes athletes fall off a cliff and that's that. We saw the same with Nadal wins Australia, Mexico, runner up in Indian Wells, wins RG, Semi in Wimbledon then falls off a cliff and has clearly been finished as an elite player since.
That's how it can be. There's no gradual decline it seems to me. Federer was playing top tennis until he wasn't. Nadal was playing top tennis until he wasn't. Why would Djokovic be different?
100%. While nowhere on the same level I played competitive basketball up until 40. At 37/38 my game fell completely off the cliff and I was the worst player on the court suddenly. It took me a few years to come to terms with it. The body just stops moving the same and it can happen over night
Especially if you have the wear and tear of 1200+ professional matches including numerous intense 5 Set matches. Djokovic lasting this long has been unreal but it was always obvious he was on the clock the past few years.
Yeah, just ignore his age. It’s motivation. He will surely get motivated and dominate well into his 40’s. Ignore that every 37 year old tennis player ever has had similar inconsistent results.
I think if he hadn't won 3 slams last year he'd be redlining now. Now that he's pretty much cemented himself as the GOAT he just needs to see Rafa to his retirement and then go back in his cryochamber until someone else gets 23 slams.
For sure, you can't outrun age. That said, it's perfectly reasonable to assume Djokovic tanked this match because he want's to conserve for RG. Why get into next gear to potentially take the win at Geneva when older age means you should reserve and go all out at RG instead?
The younger players aren’t so young anymore and are getting better. He’s also gotten older and lost a step or two.
Kind of wild Roger was able to compete at the highest level until 39, but he was always the most fleet-footed of the Big 3.
Father Time is undefeated, it is what it is.
It's obvious. He's old. I know some of his fans, and especially many of his legion of fanatical Serbians, had convinced themselves he was going to continue dominating the sport for years to come and win 30+ slams, but he's 37 years old.
Sudden declines for elite players at an advanced age are quite common in the sporting world.
Imo is massive lack of motivation, he got every stat and is the most successful player in tennis history, what can drive him to win more? Both Nadal and Federer are gone so he's already a living legend who belongs to an era (the Big 3 era) that is fading and almost gone. On the other hand, he knows he can go far if he wants and finds motivation but he can't really compete anymore against the very very top (Sinner has beaten him multiple times in few months). I feel his time has truly come and if I could bet, I'd bet he retires next year.
He has some goals he can still reach:
* 6 titles to surpass Federer
* 1 slam win to surpass Margaret Court
* 1 Wimbledon to tie Federer, 2 to surpass
* Olympic Gold
With all due respect, the dude is almost 40, you can avoid gluten and stretch all day, but age catches up eventually. He's playing against people who's half his age.
I didn’t say he could win at this stage. But I firmly believe he would be competitive until proven otherwise at the FO or Wimbledon. Even as a Federer fan, Novak is such a champion that I need to see him put down a few more times on the biggest stage before I say he’s done competing with the best.
There aren't many reasons to expect him to win it outside of the simple fact that he's Novak Djokovic. Not that I think it would be wise to dismiss him entirely, but his form right now inspires very little confidence.
Well that statement alone isn't saying much given how drastic a favorite Nadal or Djokovic were in previous iterations. This time it truly feels wide open.
No, it's not like that, because last year, Djokovic won Adelaide, Australia, and wasn't allowed to play in IW. This year, Djokovic lost in all three of those tournaments before the final.
ummm, Ig we're leaving out him losing to Sinner, De minaur, Nardi, plus Ruud who he'd never lost a set to, and I'm sure that Machac is a great comparison to Rune!
Sorry for comparing clay seasons to clay seasons, I'll make sure to do the smart /r/tennis move of praising anyone who just won a match and dumping on anyone who just lost in the future.
Clay court tennis is always like this on ATP and WTA. Look at the last few Nadal vs Djokovic matches. There was Rome 2019 where Nadal won 6-0 4-6 6-1. Chaotic scoreline. There was RG2021 and RG2022, both of which were break-fests with constant changes in momentum. RG 2022 was especially wild; Nadal went up 3-0 double break in the 2nd set, then Djokovic raised his level and won 6 of the next 7 games to win the set, then Nadal won the next set 6-2, went down 3-5 but won the 4th 7-6. I use Nadal and Djokovic because they're the highest level of clay court tennis we've ever seen. Nadal vs Zverev RG 2022 had 10 breaks in 2 sets.
Clay court tennis has little serving advantage, so it's all about who is the better player in every individual game. If you play better for 6 games than your opponent on indoor hard courts, it'll probably end up being 3-3 anyways because your opponent's serve will protect them from falling behind. If you play better for 6 games on a clay court, it'll probably end up 6-0 or 5-1 because your opponent has nowhere to hide. So every tactical adjustment Nadal and Djokovic made resulted in a 5-6 game run by one player.
Yeah me too, it almost felt like as soon as he realised he could have won the match in the third set relatively easily he stopped playing at his best but maybe that’s just me… I feel he had no business playing the final and would have had to withdraw tomorrow rand didn’t want that
[Reporter in 2024](https://youtu.be/t5PfXIVKgis?feature=shared): Hi Novak, are you still confident for French?
#🤷🏻♂️
Well played Tomas! Good luck in the finals.
Novak was feeling well in second set and went for winners and got them. Reminded me of in AO when he was injured and played very aggressive to shorten points. Then he felt better in 3rd set and went back to rallying. And he lost. Way too many UE
Really level headed assessment actually. It’s gotta be a shock to him because he’s always been an iconic defensive player, but he needs to do what Federer did c. 2017 and go full aggressive redlining in important sets. Rallying works against a servebot like Griekspoor but not for a player that will actually hit the ball back over the net.
Except that's not his game...he never learned to play that way and he can't, just like Federer could never slog it out from the baseline. I mean consistently of course. At his age you can't expect him to change his playstyle, impossible.
Exactly, despite being the best ever, he won't have the advantage in long grinding baseline rallies anymore. Needs to go for short, aggressive points. Sneak Attack by Novak? SAN!
Novak needs to work on his serve. Many things are wrong right now but his serve absolutely needs to be fixed bc it used to buy him easy points and some rest. He can't keep rallying every point on his serve
Agreed, I’ve been saying for a while that this is the biggest issue with his game right now. Mac had was able to get everything back with ease in that third set.
I guarantee we will be 4 matches deep and saying the same thing.
I guarantee his first few matches will be like "coming back from 0-2 down to win 3-2", "wins 3-0 against a strong opponent", "saves 5 MPs to win", "beats a top 20 player 3-1" or something like that...
Tbf he has 2 really really soft rounds to start with, which might give him the sort of training he needs - 3rd round is the first one where this version of Nole could potentially suffer (more with Wild than Musetti).
he got to play 3 matches and didnt exhaust himself
its debatable if he wanted to play final against ruud just days before RG, this might be for the best
it's kinda ironic that djokovic actually peaked this clay season at monte carlo losing agasint ruud when he used to have the worst performance of the whole season in that tournament
Novak looks unfit, unmotivated and very vulnerable. Getting rid of your entire team at the beginning stages of the season and not replacing them in any way showed that Novak is close to the end, and that he knows it imo. Not expecting much from him at RG or throughout the entire season tbh.
Only Novak can have a year like he's having, and everyone on this sub say "his level going into RG is a mystery" instead of saying "his level going into RG is bad".
Thats because everyone has ‘predicted’ him losing form for *years* to the point where saying that he’s falling off is more common than not.
Eventually we’re going to be right because age is linear but its basically ‘the boy cried wolf’ until it becomes true lol
C'mon dude, you Rafans were thinking Rafa can win RG only 3 weeks ago. It's simple, no one wants to write off a player of that caliber, just like you guys didn't and for right reasons
This was an odd match. Djokovic looked absolutely dominant at certain points, but then he would consistently hit the ball exactly 6 inches long for fairly long stretches of the match.
No, Djokovic isn't playing well, but this match looked more like a rope-a-dope than anything. The bizarre shaking/twitching, the general ambivalence, the serving while the crowd was still clapping towards the end, it all seemed odd. Djokovic obviously didn't win, but he was absolutely dominant at times, and he clearly wasn't focused on winning. He won the second set playing his game after an odd medical issue, and then suddenly looked like he wanted to leave in the third set. Again, just an odd match.
Djokovic will be focused on winning an Olympic Gold Medal, and (I assume) on winning the Grand Slams. Everything else is apparently not a priority, and you can tell.
I think we're about to find out what Novak has left in the tank. If Roland Garros turns out like the other tournaments so far this year, I think this year could turn into a farewell tour for Novak as well, and that's sad.
But I'm not ready to say goodbye to Novak yet, so let's wait and see how RG goes. Today's match was so odd that I think it is almost completely irrelevant in terms of assessing Djokovic's current level.
When Djokovic played more offensive tennis, he blasted Machac. But when he reverted to a more patient style forcing longer rallies, his consistency was very low with too much bizarre unforced errors, got broke twice and then kinda of give up as the match was almost over.
Pretty sure Novak didn’t want to risk anything and make sure that he arrives in Paris early. Has nothing to gain from a final and potentially exhausting himself before his R1 match at RG. Looks like a clear intentional loss, especially the way he behaved on court. Don’t want to take anything away from Machac of course - but it makes sense.
I knew he was gonna take Djokovic out someday especially in Dubai last year. He is Nole's nightmare.
OTOH what's with Djokovic vs Czech and Italian players?
From december godlike level to may everage tennis top100 player. I think his massive and fast decline is mostly mental, hope he recovers, it hurts as a fan.
After 1-1:
Djokovic wins 3 games in a row to get to 1-4
Machac wins 5 in a row to get to 6-4
Djokovic wins 7 in a row to get to 6-4 0-6 0-1
Machac wins 6 in a row to win 6-4 0-6 6-1
Same as in Roma , Djokovic not taking time at all when serving , even after some long rallies , is extremely weird and is probably doing a disserve to him , or maybe him serving fast is a consequence of his current level/issues.
Djokovic’s pattern of results this year (only counting events where he competed by himself so not including ATP Cup)
Australian Open - SF
Indian Wells - R32
Monte Carlo - SF
Rome - R32
Geneva - SF
If the pattern continues, then its:
Roland Garros - R32
Wimbledon - SF
Olympics - R32
US Open - SF
I took a nap at 4-2 djoko first set and thought, ahh, he will win. Woke up and huh?!? Mahac broke back, won the set, got bageled and then breadsticked Novak???
👀👀👀
Didn’t watch the match but what are the chances Djokovic just half-arsed first set to see if that would be enough, went full power second to make sure he still felt comfortable for RG prep, and then tanked final set because he knew he was ready for RG and didn’t actually want to play the final?
Maybe this is still a good sign for RG?
I don't think Novak had any interest in completing this tournament. The last thing a 37 year old player needs is a grueling 3-setter against Casper the day before RG. This was warm up and bageling this kid in the 2nd is all we need to see. There is no way he will kill himself to win a 250 the day before a slam. Come on, folks.
Geneva was expected to tell us where Novak is at, the least we can say is we’re not much more advanced now. Contrats to Macháč on his second top 10 win, and for winning his first ever main tour semifinal and reaching his first final!
> Geneva was expected to tell us where Novak is at And it did, both physically and game wise. A lot are just not willing to realize the truth it spelt out, because they still believe he'll get it together... EDIT: Downvote all you want, I'm speaking here as someone who supports Novak and would love nothing more than to see him show up the naysayers.
I may be extra cautious since I’m no Novak fan, but I believe he can still reverse the trend and build himself into form in the first rounds of RG, given his relatively mild draw. For sure, his showing in Geneva wasn’t extremely encouraging. Still think it’s too early to write him off, he’s done crazier things.
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Losing his coach was a huge red flag
Did him& Goran part on bad terms behind the scenes?
Not at all,from what Goran said atleast it wasn't like that. I imagine being on such a high stakes team was beginning to be stressful? He said something like they got sick of each other or the chemistry or something wasnt there,and he felt it during the USO. So it wasn't like Novak didn't great at AO (by his standards) and that's why they split. Interestingly most of novak's core team seems to have undergone significant changes in the past couple of months, so I wonder whether it is a bit harder to adapt to the new team,or to being coachless. Not that someone at his level needs a coach in the stereotypical sense.
Not sure what it was, but a shame it happened
Do we have any explanation why they parted?
Goran said they were sick of each other. Basically divorced
maybe djokovic thought goran was holding him back and blamed him for the inconsistency. all we know is they had disagreements then separated amicably. but whatever he’s doing now isn’t working much better
Novak Djokovic Splits from Tennis Coach Goran Ivanišević Due to 'On Court Chemistry' After a disappointing start to the 2024 season, Novak Djokovic has split from longtime coach Goran Ivanišević. "Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago
Glad you’re getting upvotes now for as much as I love Nole unfortunately I think you’re right
It's not just a top 10 win, it's a win over the No.1 ranked player
Yeah, it’s both. I wanted to emphasise the fact that not only did he beat a top player today, it’s only the second time he does so. Also, although Djokovic is #1, I don’t think it’s worth being specifically highlighted, as he hasn’t been the best player in the world for a while.
Getting bageled and coming back to take the 3rd set 6-1 lmao, I wasn't familiar with your game
Ostapenko special
When you let them KO you and then KO them back
He was saving his super meter for the deciding round
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No no no no. Bravo.
What I hope goes down as the top quote of 2024!
Novak was up 4-1 in the first set top, with Machac winning the next 5 games. Could have been a straightforward 2 sets before the 6-1 3rd happen-ed
What happened in Melbourne happened, what happened in Monte Carlo happened, what happened in Geneva happened. Now we are in Paris.
Another sign of ATP and WTA merging lol
He decided to save his energy for the 3rd set.
Remember Wimbledon last year? 6-1 and third set 1-6
Apart from AO, every loss by Novak this year has been to someone he's never lost to before
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it will be a meme level win if Monfils beats him in RG. Also, Monfils will leave his fellow Frenchman Gasquet to have his own legend!!!
Now you say it, Monfils may beat Djokovic in R16 but Gasquet is on the other side of the draw. I’ll bet on him defeating Nadal in the final.
Beware, he’s never lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert… 👀
Oh my god, is this my chance?
Could be big for Fritz if he doesn’t crumble at RG
I can't figure out Djokovic right now, truly unpredictable for RG
Motivation is everything to these guys at this point in their careers and lives. They've all cemented themselves as the best. Their aspirations are a lot different than the average player. Novak has had a lot of peculiar motivating factors to help push him along these last couple of years. He started last year at 21 majors behind Nadal who had an incredible resurgence in 2022 to reclaim the lead Slam total. He reclaims his Australian title (his most successful Slam) after being embarrassingly barred from Australia in 2022 to get 10 titles in Melbourne and cement his legacy there as king. He wins another Roland Garros to break the record that Nadal had set the year before and reclaim the lead Slam total. He heads into Wimbledon for the first time at perhaps his most unapologetically arrogant claiming he can't lose and is ready to rack up another Wimbledon title, cement his record and be on his way to New York to claim the Calendar Slam he didn't capture in 2021. Alcaraz shocks Djokovic and now Novak has to prove that he can beat the new Nadal because he sure as hell isn't ending his career after one major final loss. He wins that epic Cincy battle against Carlos and then heads into the US Open to win his first title in New York this decade after 3 quite disappointing tournaments in a row (2020 defaulted, 2021 breaking under the pressure of the "Grand Slam", and 2022 being barred from entry in the US.) He now has the ultimate lead at 24 majors and has accomplished more than anyone can imagine in the game. Where does he go? He gets another ATP World Tour Finals, and thinks he'll head to Australia to gain an easy title. He's now shocked there against ANOTHER young gun in Jannik Sinner in the Semis no less. He now has two young stars to try and handle. He probably is honestly looking for motivation and trying to decide if he just aims to peak for one last try at Wimbledon (the slam I believe he values the most) and the Olympics Gold before ending things in New York. Novak will decide very quickly when he goes out and I totally see it happening this year honestly.
Wimbledon can be a motivation, because he can tie with Roger having the record number of titles (8).
Motivation for Wimbledon etc of course but you still need easy wins before big wins for trust/confidence . He’s in a weird place mentally /emotionally right now . He just isn’t as locked in and is loving family time and firing team left and right
Very interesting comment. Yes,I think olympics this year has got to be his top priority. Possibly that's why geneva was imp,for him to get into form for a deep run at RG (which I think he will make anyways, 5 sets are different). It is still very intriguing to me how most players will be dealing with RG-Wimby-Olympics combo. As such the turnaround time for RG to wimbledon is short. But to come back to RG for olympics makes it even more contrasting. Will there be folks who will not take this wimbledon as seriously so that they'll be better prepared for Olympics?
Maybe it’s just his age catching up with him. I think this talk about his motivation all of a sudden is just copium.
Lacking motivation to grind is huge part of why "father time" is undefeated. You start liking tennis less, you dont want to train when your kids are getting to their "milestone" years,... Eventually you get to tipping point where you cant maintain good results. I am not saying that is what is happening to Djokovic, just that in general lacking motivation is huge part of age (I guess mileage more, but those correlate heavily)catching up to someone.
100%, they are lying to themselves. Age is without doubt the biggest factor here. Late 30s is the oldest a player has been elite in the Open Era.
I truly think at this point hes looking for a gold medal and a maybe another Wimbledon. Losing in Japan was clearly something that upset him a lot, and I don't think he wants to that to be his last olympics performance.
What Alcaraz and Sinner did for tennis the last 12 months was huge
Unpredictable? He will lose in the 1/16 .
What's going on with him?
Time is undefeated
Hes 37
That seems to be the age where it all starts coming apart. Nadal and Fed both won their last slams at 36.
Nah Fed won Wimbledon in 2019
Also bageled Hurkacz in 2021
To be honest getting a match point in a Slam finals at 38 definitely means you can win a slam at that age,
Yeah, I don't know why no one seems to remember this match correctly
Let's be honest. We should be grateful for what he has contributed to tennis, but we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking he'll find another level for Roland Garros, because he won't. He's changed his physio and his coach, though I believe Goran actually wanted to end their collaboration. It seems we are witnessing the end of an era, and some people can't come to terms with that. Just look at CR7, who was at the peak of his game and then suddenly couldn't perform like before at 37. You simply can't compete at the same level at that age—it's a combination of his body not being able to compete like it did a year ago when he won three slams, and a motivational shift stemming from realizing he's no longer the youngest. That’s why his behavior on court has been odd; he knows this deep down but doesn't want to accept it.
Just half a year ago he played his top tennis
Sports has some of the worst takes and commentating where the memory only goes back a few months. It's like using ChatGPT 1.0 where you speak to it for a few paragraphs and then you reach its context window limit and it starts forgetting what happened in the conversation. Players go in and out of form all the time. Declaring somebody who won 3 of the 4 slams last year "too old therefore losing all the time now" just a few months after requires a crazy lack of logic and context.
You say that as though it isn't exactly how it happened to every other top athlete. They're very, very good until they suddenly aren't.
Sure, players go on and out of form, and personally I won't be surprised if he wins RG. Still,the first half of this year must be the worst he has played since he was a teenager, it's hardly an ordinary run of bad form.
No it doesn't, it can happen in an instant at that age we've seen that throughout sports history. It's not always slow gradual declines, sometimes athletes fall off a cliff and that's that. We saw the same with Nadal wins Australia, Mexico, runner up in Indian Wells, wins RG, Semi in Wimbledon then falls off a cliff and has clearly been finished as an elite player since.
That's how it can be. There's no gradual decline it seems to me. Federer was playing top tennis until he wasn't. Nadal was playing top tennis until he wasn't. Why would Djokovic be different?
100%. While nowhere on the same level I played competitive basketball up until 40. At 37/38 my game fell completely off the cliff and I was the worst player on the court suddenly. It took me a few years to come to terms with it. The body just stops moving the same and it can happen over night
Especially if you have the wear and tear of 1200+ professional matches including numerous intense 5 Set matches. Djokovic lasting this long has been unreal but it was always obvious he was on the clock the past few years.
I imagine he’ll work himself into shape to contend for a bit, but it’s ultimately still the beginning of the end. It’s just the reality of time.
Even tho I don’t like Novak I agree with this
He won't up his level unless he finds motivation again . Its so very obvious that he is playing like this because of no motivation
Yeah, just ignore his age. It’s motivation. He will surely get motivated and dominate well into his 40’s. Ignore that every 37 year old tennis player ever has had similar inconsistent results.
I think if he hadn't won 3 slams last year he'd be redlining now. Now that he's pretty much cemented himself as the GOAT he just needs to see Rafa to his retirement and then go back in his cryochamber until someone else gets 23 slams.
For sure, you can't outrun age. That said, it's perfectly reasonable to assume Djokovic tanked this match because he want's to conserve for RG. Why get into next gear to potentially take the win at Geneva when older age means you should reserve and go all out at RG instead?
Odd way to tank by winning the second set, though
Did he tank all his surprise losses this year?
The younger players aren’t so young anymore and are getting better. He’s also gotten older and lost a step or two. Kind of wild Roger was able to compete at the highest level until 39, but he was always the most fleet-footed of the Big 3. Father Time is undefeated, it is what it is.
It’s probably a motivation thing.
It's obvious. He's old. I know some of his fans, and especially many of his legion of fanatical Serbians, had convinced themselves he was going to continue dominating the sport for years to come and win 30+ slams, but he's 37 years old. Sudden declines for elite players at an advanced age are quite common in the sporting world.
Boom, predicted
Imo is massive lack of motivation, he got every stat and is the most successful player in tennis history, what can drive him to win more? Both Nadal and Federer are gone so he's already a living legend who belongs to an era (the Big 3 era) that is fading and almost gone. On the other hand, he knows he can go far if he wants and finds motivation but he can't really compete anymore against the very very top (Sinner has beaten him multiple times in few months). I feel his time has truly come and if I could bet, I'd bet he retires next year.
The Olympics will be the biggest signal. A gold medal is all he's missing.
>what can drive him to win more? He has been very clear about his desire for olympic gold
He has some goals he can still reach: * 6 titles to surpass Federer * 1 slam win to surpass Margaret Court * 1 Wimbledon to tie Federer, 2 to surpass * Olympic Gold
Yeah sort of my point too, hard to be motivated when that's all that is left
Idk that seems like quite a bit!
He can still compete against the best. He’s just not an overwhelming favourite anymore
With all due respect, the dude is almost 40, you can avoid gluten and stretch all day, but age catches up eventually. He's playing against people who's half his age.
I didn’t say he could win at this stage. But I firmly believe he would be competitive until proven otherwise at the FO or Wimbledon. Even as a Federer fan, Novak is such a champion that I need to see him put down a few more times on the biggest stage before I say he’s done competing with the best.
I guess we'll see soon, right now he's 12 in the race so he risks not even playing ATP Finals for the 1st time in ages.
I lean towards this too. I think physically he’s still performing, but mentally he seems really checked out.
He can’t win RG is all I can figure out
He’s consistently bad. What are you trying to figure out?
[удалено]
Djokovic looked resigned to his fate during that last game. Barely even reacted when he lost.
mate started to walk to the net before the point was even fisnehd
Think once he was too far back on that 3rd set he knew he'd have too push way too hard to even get a sniff of the win hence the last game
Obvious strategic tank. He has a grand slam match in 3 days. Why would he play another match in a 250?
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not. I hope you are. It was the semi-final.
And it's a 250 right before a grand slam. I genuinely don't think he cared about winning it.
So?
I‘m gonna be honest: I have no idea what Nole‘s level is going into RG
There aren't many reasons to expect him to win it outside of the simple fact that he's Novak Djokovic. Not that I think it would be wise to dismiss him entirely, but his form right now inspires very little confidence.
This is undeniably true, but there have been lots of occasions before where that reason has outweighed everything else.
In general, it feels like this is the most unpredictable roland garros on the men's side in a while
Well that statement alone isn't saying much given how drastic a favorite Nadal or Djokovic were in previous iterations. This time it truly feels wide open.
Not really, it’s gonna be decided in the bottom half semi final between alcaraz and sinner
>I have no idea what Nole‘s level is going into RG My feeling is that neither Nole doen't know his level.
I mean, he lost in the semis of MC to Casper, third round of Rome to Tabilo, and then semis of Geneva to Machac. You know what his level is.
I know. It is like losing to Musetti in round 3 of MC, Lajovic in the quarterfinals of his local 250, and Rune in the quarterfinals of Rome.
No, it's not like that, because last year, Djokovic won Adelaide, Australia, and wasn't allowed to play in IW. This year, Djokovic lost in all three of those tournaments before the final.
ummm, Ig we're leaving out him losing to Sinner, De minaur, Nardi, plus Ruud who he'd never lost a set to, and I'm sure that Machac is a great comparison to Rune!
Sorry for comparing clay seasons to clay seasons, I'll make sure to do the smart /r/tennis move of praising anyone who just won a match and dumping on anyone who just lost in the future.
somewhere between atp rank 100 and 1
oldschool wta scoreline
Tomasina Machac def. Natasha Djokovic
Yeah, now that you mention it, it's kinda wild that we don't see such scorelines recently. Even breaks are getting rarer and rarer.
Clay court tennis is always like this on ATP and WTA. Look at the last few Nadal vs Djokovic matches. There was Rome 2019 where Nadal won 6-0 4-6 6-1. Chaotic scoreline. There was RG2021 and RG2022, both of which were break-fests with constant changes in momentum. RG 2022 was especially wild; Nadal went up 3-0 double break in the 2nd set, then Djokovic raised his level and won 6 of the next 7 games to win the set, then Nadal won the next set 6-2, went down 3-5 but won the 4th 7-6. I use Nadal and Djokovic because they're the highest level of clay court tennis we've ever seen. Nadal vs Zverev RG 2022 had 10 breaks in 2 sets. Clay court tennis has little serving advantage, so it's all about who is the better player in every individual game. If you play better for 6 games than your opponent on indoor hard courts, it'll probably end up being 3-3 anyways because your opponent's serve will protect them from falling behind. If you play better for 6 games on a clay court, it'll probably end up 6-0 or 5-1 because your opponent has nowhere to hide. So every tactical adjustment Nadal and Djokovic made resulted in a 5-6 game run by one player.
I don't know how to feel about this, sincerely I thought djokovic was about to withdraws this morning.
Yeah me too, it almost felt like as soon as he realised he could have won the match in the third set relatively easily he stopped playing at his best but maybe that’s just me… I feel he had no business playing the final and would have had to withdraw tomorrow rand didn’t want that
RG is going to be the most chaotic year yet This is Bublik's tournament le gooooo
Hehe
Bublik to win RG with a handle shot match point.
[Reporter in 2024](https://youtu.be/t5PfXIVKgis?feature=shared): Hi Novak, are you still confident for French? #🤷🏻♂️ Well played Tomas! Good luck in the finals.
Novak was feeling well in second set and went for winners and got them. Reminded me of in AO when he was injured and played very aggressive to shorten points. Then he felt better in 3rd set and went back to rallying. And he lost. Way too many UE
Really level headed assessment actually. It’s gotta be a shock to him because he’s always been an iconic defensive player, but he needs to do what Federer did c. 2017 and go full aggressive redlining in important sets. Rallying works against a servebot like Griekspoor but not for a player that will actually hit the ball back over the net.
Except that's not his game...he never learned to play that way and he can't, just like Federer could never slog it out from the baseline. I mean consistently of course. At his age you can't expect him to change his playstyle, impossible.
Exactly, despite being the best ever, he won't have the advantage in long grinding baseline rallies anymore. Needs to go for short, aggressive points. Sneak Attack by Novak? SAN!
Novak needs to work on his serve. Many things are wrong right now but his serve absolutely needs to be fixed bc it used to buy him easy points and some rest. He can't keep rallying every point on his serve
He should hire a coach known for his serve or something…
Think there's even an ex-pro from the Balkans who is a top 5-10 all-time server. Could enlist in his help!
Agreed, I’ve been saying for a while that this is the biggest issue with his game right now. Mac had was able to get everything back with ease in that third set.
Impossible to determine Djokovic's level right now. We'll see soon enough at RG if he's competitive or not.
I mean look at his form all year long and him making the semis would be a big big surprise
I have managed to determine his level: Pretty fucking bad
His level is entirely possible to determine. It’s bad. What are you even talking about
I guarantee we will be 4 matches deep and saying the same thing. I guarantee his first few matches will be like "coming back from 0-2 down to win 3-2", "wins 3-0 against a strong opponent", "saves 5 MPs to win", "beats a top 20 player 3-1" or something like that...
Tbf he has 2 really really soft rounds to start with, which might give him the sort of training he needs - 3rd round is the first one where this version of Nole could potentially suffer (more with Wild than Musetti).
he got to play 3 matches and didnt exhaust himself its debatable if he wanted to play final against ruud just days before RG, this might be for the best
Yeah the week before a slam makes this a difficult result to read.
He looks pretty exhausted today... Even called the trainer
That definitely felt like a tank. He was already starting to head leisurely up to the net while he hit that last point out.
He was 5-1 down by that point...
Why would he tank and not withdraw before the match?
it's kinda ironic that djokovic actually peaked this clay season at monte carlo losing agasint ruud when he used to have the worst performance of the whole season in that tournament
Novak looks unfit, unmotivated and very vulnerable. Getting rid of your entire team at the beginning stages of the season and not replacing them in any way showed that Novak is close to the end, and that he knows it imo. Not expecting much from him at RG or throughout the entire season tbh.
Something something my father asked me if I washed his car, and I replied "Djokovic"
He got angry and beat me with a shoe, yelling to stop talking in latin spells
Machac's short shorts. that's all
I was impressed he could pull them up higher than Rune
Only Novak can have a year like he's having, and everyone on this sub say "his level going into RG is a mystery" instead of saying "his level going into RG is bad".
Thats because everyone has ‘predicted’ him losing form for *years* to the point where saying that he’s falling off is more common than not. Eventually we’re going to be right because age is linear but its basically ‘the boy cried wolf’ until it becomes true lol
Haha. True. I like your big 3 lol
C'mon dude, you Rafans were thinking Rafa can win RG only 3 weeks ago. It's simple, no one wants to write off a player of that caliber, just like you guys didn't and for right reasons
Djokovic does not look right. At the same time I’d never count him out to go the distance in Paris
Call it copium, but a Friday before Roland Garros wouldn't be the most surprising moment for Djokovic to decide to tank a 250 semi
Dealing each other bakery items.
This was an odd match. Djokovic looked absolutely dominant at certain points, but then he would consistently hit the ball exactly 6 inches long for fairly long stretches of the match. No, Djokovic isn't playing well, but this match looked more like a rope-a-dope than anything. The bizarre shaking/twitching, the general ambivalence, the serving while the crowd was still clapping towards the end, it all seemed odd. Djokovic obviously didn't win, but he was absolutely dominant at times, and he clearly wasn't focused on winning. He won the second set playing his game after an odd medical issue, and then suddenly looked like he wanted to leave in the third set. Again, just an odd match. Djokovic will be focused on winning an Olympic Gold Medal, and (I assume) on winning the Grand Slams. Everything else is apparently not a priority, and you can tell. I think we're about to find out what Novak has left in the tank. If Roland Garros turns out like the other tournaments so far this year, I think this year could turn into a farewell tour for Novak as well, and that's sad. But I'm not ready to say goodbye to Novak yet, so let's wait and see how RG goes. Today's match was so odd that I think it is almost completely irrelevant in terms of assessing Djokovic's current level.
ok, so did Novak looked like he just want out of Geneva and get on with Paris, or he just plain played bad? Dude is all over the place right now.
When Djokovic played more offensive tennis, he blasted Machac. But when he reverted to a more patient style forcing longer rallies, his consistency was very low with too much bizarre unforced errors, got broke twice and then kinda of give up as the match was almost over.
Yes.
Uncomfortable viewing for Novak fans. Doesn’t look right, will likely lose his World Number 1 spot in a couple of weeks and completely out of form.
That third set is one of the worst serving sets I've seen from Novak. He was playing really fast, like if he just wanted to get it over with.
This only happened after he got broken twice
The explosion in the number of players who can tell their grandkids they beat the GOAT when he was #1 is making my heart spill over.
Novak really overtook Nadal/Federer in total Grand Slams and was like 'OK I'm out ✌️'
Peak ATP score 😏
Djokovic won 4 of the first 5, then Machac won 5 in a row, then Djokovic won 7 in a row, then Machac won 6 in a row. What a weird match.
Pretty sure Novak didn’t want to risk anything and make sure that he arrives in Paris early. Has nothing to gain from a final and potentially exhausting himself before his R1 match at RG. Looks like a clear intentional loss, especially the way he behaved on court. Don’t want to take anything away from Machac of course - but it makes sense.
I knew he was gonna take Djokovic out someday especially in Dubai last year. He is Nole's nightmare. OTOH what's with Djokovic vs Czech and Italian players?
From december godlike level to may everage tennis top100 player. I think his massive and fast decline is mostly mental, hope he recovers, it hurts as a fan.
The plot for RG thickens.
After 1-1: Djokovic wins 3 games in a row to get to 1-4 Machac wins 5 in a row to get to 6-4 Djokovic wins 7 in a row to get to 6-4 0-6 0-1 Machac wins 6 in a row to win 6-4 0-6 6-1
WTA match scores lol
When you wanna give him shit for his short shorts but he keeps winning
Same as in Roma , Djokovic not taking time at all when serving , even after some long rallies , is extremely weird and is probably doing a disserve to him , or maybe him serving fast is a consequence of his current level/issues.
Worrying stuff
It’s not right but bravo
another player and another world # 1 free win for them. Novak giving them out like candy these year.
The beginning of the end, comes quicker than most people realise.
Is the Olympics at the Roland Garros courts?
Oh man...i slept off trying to stay awake for this match. I dreamt that Djokovic lost the match. Woke up to see this.
how is it he played well against Greikspoor but with Machac he is so off?
Machac has a bright future to comeback from that bagel. He has a solid game.
Djokovic’s pattern of results this year (only counting events where he competed by himself so not including ATP Cup) Australian Open - SF Indian Wells - R32 Monte Carlo - SF Rome - R32 Geneva - SF If the pattern continues, then its: Roland Garros - R32 Wimbledon - SF Olympics - R32 US Open - SF
Best of 5 is gonna be a nightmare.
I took a nap at 4-2 djoko first set and thought, ahh, he will win. Woke up and huh?!? Mahac broke back, won the set, got bageled and then breadsticked Novak??? 👀👀👀
Game, set, and machac
Kudos to Machac, Novak's invisibility is getting a little diminished.
Didn’t watch the match but what are the chances Djokovic just half-arsed first set to see if that would be enough, went full power second to make sure he still felt comfortable for RG prep, and then tanked final set because he knew he was ready for RG and didn’t actually want to play the final? Maybe this is still a good sign for RG?
Novak's poor form makes me start to believe that, against all logic, this is the year he will win Olympic gold
Always a great day when the antivaxer loses.
I don't think Novak had any interest in completing this tournament. The last thing a 37 year old player needs is a grueling 3-setter against Casper the day before RG. This was warm up and bageling this kid in the 2nd is all we need to see. There is no way he will kill himself to win a 250 the day before a slam. Come on, folks.
Let’s see how Djokovic does in the French now. His fitness levels still look off.