Djokovic

[DaveF]

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He struggled to finish three sets, let alone five. Nowadays he'd still be going strong after 10 sets. There's something unnatural about it.

Anyone asking that question of Nadal when he played the 2012 final against Djokovic for almost 6hrs?

Or Mahut and Isner who played for 11hrs over 2 days?

[He's here!]

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Anyone asking that question of Nadal when he played the 2012 final against Djokovic for almost 6hrs?

Or Mahut and Isner who played for 11hrs over 2 days?

As McD has mentioned in an earlier post, it's not so much the fact he can seemingly play endlessly without any hint of fatigue that's remarkable, it's the transformation from one slam title between 2005 and 2011 and a reputation for toiling to complete matches to almost unbeatable automaton winning 3 in one season that raised questions. It's not the steady path towards success trodden by other champions.

[WeeRussell]

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Sucked the life out of it?

I presume you didn't see the 2nd set of the final which was probably the best set of tennis I've ever seen.

It's a tough call but I'd rather watch Djokovic bounce the ball 15 times than Nadal wiping sweat of every part of his body after picking his shorts out of his arse crack.

Murray often chucks in the towel when it's not his day - not something you ever see Djokovic do. He's not a robot, he just has more desire than anyone else.

👍 agreed (although I’m a Nadal man)

Andy Murray was/is a more defensive grinder than Djokovic.

He’s not my favourite tennis player but he’s an absolute animal and unbelievable player/athlete.

Usual bitter nonsensical comments coming out after yet another slam. The boy is unreal.

[s.a.m]

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Anyone asking that question of Nadal when he played the 2012 final against Djokovic for almost 6hrs?

Or Mahut and Isner who played for 11hrs over 2 days?

If I can just get my 'No axe to grind here' disclaimer out of the way....:
Nadal very much has been dogged by suspicion and allegations for years about doping, and he successfully sued someone for pointing the finger at him.
He was also linked - wrongly, he says - with the Spanish doctor who was heavily involved in cycling doping scandals. The Spanish government destroyed the doctor's clinical samples that were seized as part of their investigation, with lots of athletes left with questions against their names, because his clients weren't named or their results known. As I remember, Nadal objected to the samples being disposed of because of the cloud of suspicion it left.

[He's here!]

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👍 agreed (although I’m a Nadal man)

Andy Murray was/is a more defensive grinder than Djokovic.

He’s not my favourite tennis player but he’s an absolute animal and unbelievable player/athlete.

Usual bitter nonsensical comments coming out after yet another slam. The boy is unreal.

Nothing bitter about it. I've just never bought into his seemingly overnight transformation and his relentless machine-like style leaves me completely cold. Sure, it works for him but it's a stifling, attritional business that I can't take to and prefer not to watch. As a bloke he's also an utter dork.

I can't agree re Murray. At his peak he was one of the most inventive players out there and he was great entertainment (unlike Djokovic). The shot he played to win the Davis Cup was one of many to savour:

The Shot that Won Great Britain the Davis Cup | ITF - Bing video

It's a damn shame what happened to Murray as I think he merited (and would have probably won) a couple more Slams on his CV. However, in hindsight, that 2016 season when he won Wimbledon, Olympic gold, reached two other Slam finals and finished the year as world No 1 (winning something like his final 25 matches in a row to do so) probably took too much out of him. There was so much responsibility and expectation on his shoulders that I fear he simply drove himself too hard.

[McD]

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Nothing bitter about it. I've just never bought into his seemingly overnight transformation and his relentless machine-like style leaves me completely cold. Sure, it works for him but it's a stifling, attritional business that I can't take to and prefer not to watch. As a bloke he's also an utter dork.

I can't agree re Murray. At his peak he was one of the most inventive players out there and he was great entertainment (unlike Djokovic). The shot he played to win the Davis Cup was one of many to savour:

The Shot that Won Great Britain the Davis Cup | ITF - Bing video

It's a damn shame what happened to Murray as I think he merited (and would have probably won) a couple more Slams on his CV. However, in hindsight, that 2016 season when he won Wimbledon, Olympic gold, reached two other Slam finals and finished the year as world No 1 (winning something like his final 25 matches in a row to do so) probably took too much out of him. There was so much responsibility and expectation on his shoulders that I fear he simply drove himself too hard.

Murray is incredibly talented, and incredibly unlucky to have been at his peak at the same time as Federer, Nadal and even Djokovic. Had he been 10 years younger or older he’d probably have reached double figures in slams

[DaveF]

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Murray is incredibly talented, and incredibly unlucky to have been at his peak at the same time as Federer, Nadal and even Djokovic. Had he been 10 years younger or older he’d probably have reached double figures in slams

On Murray, I see that he won his Davis cup singles tie today and then revealed after the match that he played, despite it also being the day of his Gran's funeral.

[He's here!]

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On Murray, I see that he won his Davis cup singles tie today and then revealed after the match that he played, despite it also being the day of his Gran's funeral.

I saw his interview afterwards. Very emotional. His dad told him not to pull out of the match as his gran would have wanted him to play - but that he should make sure he won for her.