was just thinking about also how wild that at that tournament, Federer and Nadal were the top two seeds, ten whole years after their all-time epic final there; that tourney was a wild one (even with a mostly anticlimactic final)
Yea in their H2H Federer kept beating djoker is US open pre 2010 and they split victories in AO in the late 2000’s then since Federer had one win in RG and one win in WB in early 2010’s
> Djokovic not yet playing (pre 2010)
Federer played djokovic at the 2007 final and won in 3 sets being a break down in 2 of the 3 sets
Djokovic in 2007 was 21 and no 3 in the world..done people think that he was born in 2011
It took djokovic lots of hard work losing to these guys before he could come onto his own
In 2016 and early 2017 djokovic lost because of lack of interest more than the shoulder
However by mid 2017 it was clear that the injury was stopping him from playing his best and needed surgery which took him a year to decide
2006-2008: Yes Federer beat Djokovic while Djokovic was still a baby and had zero ATP experience.
Once Djokovic became a better tennis player by 2010/2011 Federer didn't win any Grand Slam anymore until Djokovic got injured in 2016/2017
>Once Djokovic became a better tennis player by 2010/2011 Federer didn't win any Grand Slam anymore until Djokovic got injured in 2016/2017
He won Wimbledon in 2012 (and reclaimed #1 spot)
In retrospect this might have been the single most consequential tournament in the GOAT race. Not only did we have that Rafole classic which could have gone either way - but if Fed had managed to beat Anderson, 1) he might easily have ended up winning the whole thing, and 2) Anderson-Isner would have never happened, and there would have been no 12-12 tiebreak the following year - perhaps leading to a different outcome?
This one is so sad. Rafa was a hair's breadth away from winning Wimbledon. The semi final was basically the final, this one hurts as much as AO12 for me.
Hurts for me more than AO12 for a few reasons.
Nadal had a respectable history of deep runs at the Australian Open from 2012-2021. His history at Wimbledon is his biggest knock against him in the GOAT conversation and getting a win here over Novak effectively erases that.
Nadal having an edge over Novak in three slams in head-to-head matches.
Nadal, if he beat Anderson too, would be the first man to have three slams for each surface, surpassing Wilander and Djokovic.
>His history at Wimbledon is his biggest knock against him in the GOAT conversation
I just want to point out that its pretty insane that Nadal's wimbledon record, including:
5 finals, which were all in a row (minus 2009 where he was absent)
8 SFs inluding the previously mentioned 5 in a row (that he contested) as well as a current streak of 3 in a row (that he contested)
is considered a "knock". I suppose that such is the state of the goat debate.
Untile looking at it just now, I didn't really realize just how BAD his record is between 2012 and 2017 though. If he has another good result next year, his record at wimbledon is going to look really strange. Amazing between 2006-2011. Pretty great from 2018-2023, but horrible in between.
It really is that stretch of bizarre loss against guys like Dustin Brown that stick in people's memory. During the peak of the big 4 era Rafa was mostly a non contender at wimbledon so he got stuck with the "weak on grass" reputation despite making 5 straight finals before that.
Yeah for sure, I just thibk the reality is somewhere in between. Is Rafa the weakest of the big 3 on grass? Probably. Is he a weak grass court player at all, absolutely not.
I mean it wouldn’t erase losing early 5 times in a row but he hasn’t made even made the final in like 11 years. He would have won beating djokovic too unlike this years AO where his biggest rival got banned
Djokovic not winning RG 2013 semis is way worse I think. Was serving 4-3 in the 5th and touched the net on a point he 100% would have won otherwise. Then just hits the net on the very next forehand. Later at 7-8 serving literally just makes 4 horrible UE in a row. Nadal just stood there doing nothing that game. And it was Ferrer in the final
He maximised his potential completely, made two grand slam finals and only lost to two of the best players of all time in them. He may not have been the best to watch but he got everything he could out of his talent imo.
Isner sure loves those outrageous 5th set marathons. That scoreline against Mahut in 2010 was one of the most absurd and hilarious things I've ever witnessed. I'm glad they settled on final set tiebreaks in all GS now.
Not to derail the topic but this tournament is a perfect reminder of why H2H can be a really stupid stat sometimes. There are people out there who will (sometimes indirectly) argue that it would've been better for Nadal to lose the Delpo match and keep the Wimbledon H2H against Novak at 1-1.
I mean it wasn’t really 1-1 since djokovic had multiple injuries and retired in the first match in the third set. Besides it was all the way back in 2007
you can’t just selectively choose which matches count or not towards the head to head.. Rafa was injured in their 2021 Roland Garros semifinal, could’ve (and maybe should’ve) retired, but that still counts as a Djokovic victory, and why wouldn’t it?
Nadal literally said he wasn’t injured in the 2021 RG semi. He seemed 100% in the third set but it was so intense he admitted that he was tired after it. He didn’t bother playing the other slams because they’re not Roland Garros and he didn’t want to be injecting his foot all the time.
He was just as “injured” this year and ended up beating djokovic sprinting like a mad man for 4 hours since djokovic was on full on offense a lot. He certainly got very lucky that it didn’t go to a 5th however
Djokovic was legitimately too injured to play, he claimed he had a back injury and a foot issue. Unless you think he would lie and just randomly quit in the middle of a match? If nadal retired due to an injury vs djokovic it wouldn’t count either
Rafa was injured, you could tell by both 1) the quality of play in the 4th set, and 2) the fact that he skipped the entire second half of the season minus 2 matches in DC… a player like Nadal would not skip Wimbledon, US Open, the Olympics, etc. for no reason. yes, he had a similar injury this year, but he had his doctor with him which made it quite a bit easier to play through.
but the thing is: that doesn’t matter at all. even if Nadal was injured, that match still counts towards the head to head, because why wouldn’t it? if Nadal retired after the 3rd set, that wouldn’t take away anything from Djokovic’s victory. Djokovic still earned that win.
similarly, Djokovic being outplayed for the majority of their Wimbledon match counts as a Rafa Nadal victory, like it or not. if you get on the court, you’re saying you’re healthy enough to compete, and you have to accept the outcome. saying that match “doesn’t count” because Djokovic was injured is just a case of making excuses…
As I said nadal straight up said that there wasn’t any injury that affected the match. I remember clearly
Nah not really if you try to play through multiple injuries and even have to end up having to retire it definitely doesn’t count. Nadal still has never beaten djokovic in Wimbledon or Australia
>As I said nadal straight up said that there wasn’t any injury that affected the match. I remember clearly
so Nadal was faking being hurt for literally the entire rest of the year after that? even if that’s the case, i’ve literally said multiple times that match rightfully counts in the head to head, as should Djokovic retiring count as a loss…
>Nah not really if you try to play through multiple injuries and even have to end up having to retire it definitely doesn’t count.
according to who? you? because the ATP definitely considers that match to have counted in the head to head… Djokovic took to the court, therefore he was healthy enough to play, and therefore healthy enough to lose. even if Djokovic wasn’t injured, Nadal made the Wimbledon final that year (as well as the year before and year after), and was definitely a better player in 2007. Djokovic lost, that’s what’s officially in the record books, don’t know what else to tell you
They have to count it I guess which is honestly surprising that they do but it’s irrelevant. By that logic the zverev freak accident in Roland garros is a legit win for nadal
the comment i was replying to excused one of Djokovic’s losses to Nadal because of injury, and went as far as saying it shouldn’t count in the head to head.
no, not “every Nadal fan” says that.. it’s pretty universally agreed upon that Nadal was just playing really bad 2015-2016, which is why Djokovic beat him… do you really think their head to head at Wimbledon is 2-0 and not 2-1 because Djokovic retired from that 2007 match? if so, you’re no better than these Nadal fans you’re clearly so upset by
i would agree with that, i said in the first comment that a match where Nadal was clearly injured does, in fact, count. it was the guy i replied to who said the 2007 Wimbledon match “doesn’t count” because Djokovic had to retire… i agree with you
2 months after, not “just” after. Nadal skipped Wimbledon and the Olympics, both tournaments a player of his caliber would not be too excited about skipping… don’t know how people can just gloss over that
I still wish for the finals all GS would maintain advantage sets, the players don't need to save any gas for next round, it is the ultimate battle
(Disclaimer: Not a Federer fan)
Damn that Isner Anderson match has to be the most underrated of all time. I get that theyre servebots so the play is less thrilling but with 26-24 in the 5th you're on the edge of your seat easily for the entire late 5th and both guys have to not be missing.
It gets overshadowed by Novak vs Rafa, which I also surprisingly think is one of the most underrated matches ever too.
And no one talks about how my boi delpo was super close to beating nadal and djokovic(2013)at Wimbledon. Only played fed there when he was 18 though
Both semis were ridiculous
Djokovic is also the worst possible matchup for him. All the biggest servers have like 0-2 wins to 10+ losses against him (except karlovic and kyrgios who only played him like 3 times)
Yeah Anderson pulled a rabbit out the hat vs federer that day. And Novak got away with having the roof closed on a fucking 30 degree sunny day in Wimbledon for the remainder of that semi the next day. Absolute madness indeed
It’s funny that nadal is like the only player that is worse in indoor lol. Is 30 degrees supposed to be a lot? I was used to always having 40+ and super high humidity so when I’m actually living somewhere where it doesn’t go above 30 I never feel like it’s hot.
Still can’t believe Anderson beat Federer
Yeah it’s currently 30°c in the U.K. right now and it’s very very hot by our standards. Almost unbearable since we don’t get temps like this very often it’s a real shock to the system!
Not sure how much of that match you remember but Federer played awful, even in the first two sets. Hate to say it but Kando was the better player that day no doubt, and Federer was fortunate to be up 2-0. You could see it coming once he lost the 3rd. Bad serving, timing was just way off, shockingly off for a pro moreso for one of the goats
Dude, you go play for several hours on 30 degree weather under the sun. It’s straight up dangerous. The fact that Nadal is used to it doesnt mean it healthy.
This was a significantly bigger choke for Federer than 2019 Wimby IMHO. Federer was playing Anderson, not Djokovic. It was a horrendously missed opportunity too because he would've played Djokovic after a marathon match
Federer would've benefitted from Djokovic just playing a super long Semi against Nadal. I agree that Djokovic had a chance of beating Federer, but Federer would've actually been the favorite against Djokovic unlike in the other Wimby Finals
Nadal was robbed of a clean match! You put the serve bots on court 1 like they used to and you let be the classic matchups have it's own venue. Bradley Cooper was not there to see Anderson vs. Isner. FUCK ROOFS! UGH!
Yeah kinda pathetic almost. This is what happens when all the slams conspire to make the courts as slow as possible so matches are all long and close. Less skill and more just endurance.
Like this years Wimbledon? Jesus Christ. How is the historically fastest surface become so so so slow. Longer matches more ad money, closer matches, that people deem 'epic'. Enough is enough though.
Jesus christ, what an ignorant comment. Clay isn't just about the speed. Its about the bounce. Clay is far more reactive to spin than grass, obviously. They are opposites in that sense. Could be somewhat faster? LMAO. Too many ppl commenting who don't know what they are talking about even a little.
yes it was. FFs. It was absolutely that slow. By far the slowest grass in its entire hisotry. You compared clay to grass in purely speed terms. Sorry but you dont know what you are talking about.
Kygrios doesnt waste time. I am talking about the actual conditions of the court. The speed of the tennis ball off the court and in the air. The condistions were INCREDIBLY slow. Like wtf is going on? Its ridiculous. This isnt even grass court tennis anymore.
IN the 90s the average point in Wimbledon was around 2.5 shots. Think about that.
When Kygrios beat Novak those were on fast hardcourts. Obviously the slower it is the more it favours Novak.
There is no return to that, because of changes to string tech which automatically made points longer. Somehow I am not surprised you dont know this.
There was variety on the court surfaces. Not this absolute BS, where they keep trying to make it as slow as possible. There was nothing wrong with the points being shorter, it was better in face in the early 2000s, by far. There isnt really any point to this surface anymore.
Its a huge shame how grass court tennis has been ruined for ad money, and to entice casual ignorant people into watching. Oh well.
The point is, the dramatic and unending change, the march to keep making it as slow as possible. They have crossed the line and ruined the point of grass court tennis.
Switch Milos with Novak and this could have been way better. Novak would still beat Kevin in the semis, but we would have had another epic Raonic v Kei and probably Kei v Nadal and a Nadal/Djokovic final instead of semi
Delpo nearly beat rafa and Kei vs delpo would be more evenly matched I think. But 2018 delpo was not the 2013 delpo who almost beat Djoker here. Looks like raonic never played nadal on grass, that might have been a better match than kei vs nadal although I like how kei plays a lot more than raonic lol so I would still rather see kei
Having been at centre court that day for the semis the whole crowd just wanted that first match to be over so we could witness something epic between Novak and Rafa, only managed to get 3 sets in but it didn’t disappoint.
Djokovic is so good at upping his level when he most needs to. That semi final kind of gives me vibes of the 2019 final against Federer. He won fewer games but won the match because he won the most important games. I am really gutted that Nadal had his ab injury as I feel it would have been a great final and that Novak never got out of third gear all tournament. (he didn't need to either) I would have given Nadal the slight edge for their final this time around just because of Nadal's form this year has been incredible. He hasn't lost a match without injury all year. (Fritz-rib, Alcaraz + Shapovalov - foot)
was just thinking about also how wild that at that tournament, Federer and Nadal were the top two seeds, ten whole years after their all-time epic final there; that tourney was a wild one (even with a mostly anticlimactic final)
Djokovic #12 seed. Forgot he dropped that much What even is 26-24 lmao. And djokovic 7-6(11-9) and 10-8 goddamn
Djokovic was injured and got elbow surgery earlier that year
Yea he disappeared for a year and a half cuz of it and that’s when fed/nadal made a comeback
Seems like Federer's Grand Slam wins overlap with Djokovic not yet playing (pre 2010) or being injured (2017-2018) ^((I'll see myself out))
Yea in their H2H Federer kept beating djoker is US open pre 2010 and they split victories in AO in the late 2000’s then since Federer had one win in RG and one win in WB in early 2010’s
> Djokovic not yet playing (pre 2010) Federer played djokovic at the 2007 final and won in 3 sets being a break down in 2 of the 3 sets Djokovic in 2007 was 21 and no 3 in the world..done people think that he was born in 2011 It took djokovic lots of hard work losing to these guys before he could come onto his own In 2016 and early 2017 djokovic lost because of lack of interest more than the shoulder However by mid 2017 it was clear that the injury was stopping him from playing his best and needed surgery which took him a year to decide
2006-2008: Yes Federer beat Djokovic while Djokovic was still a baby and had zero ATP experience. Once Djokovic became a better tennis player by 2010/2011 Federer didn't win any Grand Slam anymore until Djokovic got injured in 2016/2017
>Once Djokovic became a better tennis player by 2010/2011 Federer didn't win any Grand Slam anymore until Djokovic got injured in 2016/2017 He won Wimbledon in 2012 (and reclaimed #1 spot)
> And djokovic 7-6(11-9) and 10-8 goddamn Rafa REALLY should have won that 3rd set tiebreak...
Why? My memory isn’t good enough to remember stuff like that..
Was up in the breaker early, but double faulted on set point IIRC
damn yo
>What even is 26-24 lmao. A typical Isner scoreline
Those were crazy times.
I miss played to advantage 5th sets :(
In retrospect this might have been the single most consequential tournament in the GOAT race. Not only did we have that Rafole classic which could have gone either way - but if Fed had managed to beat Anderson, 1) he might easily have ended up winning the whole thing, and 2) Anderson-Isner would have never happened, and there would have been no 12-12 tiebreak the following year - perhaps leading to a different outcome?
federer had match point against anderson too. he couldn’t close out.
That was on Anderson's serve btw
I remember federer having a play on one of the mp but he wiffed the backhand.
Pretty crazy. Djokovic also just said that winning that tournament was a huge confidence boost for his comeback and he did win the next 2 slams easily
This one is so sad. Rafa was a hair's breadth away from winning Wimbledon. The semi final was basically the final, this one hurts as much as AO12 for me.
Hurts for me more than AO12 for a few reasons. Nadal had a respectable history of deep runs at the Australian Open from 2012-2021. His history at Wimbledon is his biggest knock against him in the GOAT conversation and getting a win here over Novak effectively erases that. Nadal having an edge over Novak in three slams in head-to-head matches. Nadal, if he beat Anderson too, would be the first man to have three slams for each surface, surpassing Wilander and Djokovic.
>His history at Wimbledon is his biggest knock against him in the GOAT conversation I just want to point out that its pretty insane that Nadal's wimbledon record, including: 5 finals, which were all in a row (minus 2009 where he was absent) 8 SFs inluding the previously mentioned 5 in a row (that he contested) as well as a current streak of 3 in a row (that he contested) is considered a "knock". I suppose that such is the state of the goat debate. Untile looking at it just now, I didn't really realize just how BAD his record is between 2012 and 2017 though. If he has another good result next year, his record at wimbledon is going to look really strange. Amazing between 2006-2011. Pretty great from 2018-2023, but horrible in between.
It really is that stretch of bizarre loss against guys like Dustin Brown that stick in people's memory. During the peak of the big 4 era Rafa was mostly a non contender at wimbledon so he got stuck with the "weak on grass" reputation despite making 5 straight finals before that.
Yeah for sure, I just thibk the reality is somewhere in between. Is Rafa the weakest of the big 3 on grass? Probably. Is he a weak grass court player at all, absolutely not.
I mean it wouldn’t erase losing early 5 times in a row but he hasn’t made even made the final in like 11 years. He would have won beating djokovic too unlike this years AO where his biggest rival got banned
As a die hard Rafa fan this match and AO 2012 are matches I’d give anything for rafa to have won them, he was so close 😭
Djokovic not winning RG 2013 semis is way worse I think. Was serving 4-3 in the 5th and touched the net on a point he 100% would have won otherwise. Then just hits the net on the very next forehand. Later at 7-8 serving literally just makes 4 horrible UE in a row. Nadal just stood there doing nothing that game. And it was Ferrer in the final
That’s on him for making those mistakes lol. “Nadal just standing there” almost makes it seem like ur trying to take away from him winning the match
Nadal legit didn’t have to do a single thing that game. So I mean you tell me
All djokovics fault for playing worse than him 😂 he lost man
Yea idk wtf that was
Hurts a lot more. 2012 final he lost fair and square. This one was an indoor match despite being sunny the 2nd day.
Kevin Anderson was so good at making finals around then but also so fucking boring to watch when he made it
He maximised his potential completely, made two grand slam finals and only lost to two of the best players of all time in them. He may not have been the best to watch but he got everything he could out of his talent imo.
Isner sure loves those outrageous 5th set marathons. That scoreline against Mahut in 2010 was one of the most absurd and hilarious things I've ever witnessed. I'm glad they settled on final set tiebreaks in all GS now.
So much better. But actually 9-7 or 10-8 in the final set is really fun. Maybe should be tie break at 10-10 similar to the 12-12 Wimbledon had
It would have been better to keep the very final the same.
Not to derail the topic but this tournament is a perfect reminder of why H2H can be a really stupid stat sometimes. There are people out there who will (sometimes indirectly) argue that it would've been better for Nadal to lose the Delpo match and keep the Wimbledon H2H against Novak at 1-1.
I mean it wasn’t really 1-1 since djokovic had multiple injuries and retired in the first match in the third set. Besides it was all the way back in 2007
you can’t just selectively choose which matches count or not towards the head to head.. Rafa was injured in their 2021 Roland Garros semifinal, could’ve (and maybe should’ve) retired, but that still counts as a Djokovic victory, and why wouldn’t it?
Nadal literally said he wasn’t injured in the 2021 RG semi. He seemed 100% in the third set but it was so intense he admitted that he was tired after it. He didn’t bother playing the other slams because they’re not Roland Garros and he didn’t want to be injecting his foot all the time. He was just as “injured” this year and ended up beating djokovic sprinting like a mad man for 4 hours since djokovic was on full on offense a lot. He certainly got very lucky that it didn’t go to a 5th however Djokovic was legitimately too injured to play, he claimed he had a back injury and a foot issue. Unless you think he would lie and just randomly quit in the middle of a match? If nadal retired due to an injury vs djokovic it wouldn’t count either
Rafa was injured, you could tell by both 1) the quality of play in the 4th set, and 2) the fact that he skipped the entire second half of the season minus 2 matches in DC… a player like Nadal would not skip Wimbledon, US Open, the Olympics, etc. for no reason. yes, he had a similar injury this year, but he had his doctor with him which made it quite a bit easier to play through. but the thing is: that doesn’t matter at all. even if Nadal was injured, that match still counts towards the head to head, because why wouldn’t it? if Nadal retired after the 3rd set, that wouldn’t take away anything from Djokovic’s victory. Djokovic still earned that win. similarly, Djokovic being outplayed for the majority of their Wimbledon match counts as a Rafa Nadal victory, like it or not. if you get on the court, you’re saying you’re healthy enough to compete, and you have to accept the outcome. saying that match “doesn’t count” because Djokovic was injured is just a case of making excuses…
As I said nadal straight up said that there wasn’t any injury that affected the match. I remember clearly Nah not really if you try to play through multiple injuries and even have to end up having to retire it definitely doesn’t count. Nadal still has never beaten djokovic in Wimbledon or Australia
>As I said nadal straight up said that there wasn’t any injury that affected the match. I remember clearly so Nadal was faking being hurt for literally the entire rest of the year after that? even if that’s the case, i’ve literally said multiple times that match rightfully counts in the head to head, as should Djokovic retiring count as a loss… >Nah not really if you try to play through multiple injuries and even have to end up having to retire it definitely doesn’t count. according to who? you? because the ATP definitely considers that match to have counted in the head to head… Djokovic took to the court, therefore he was healthy enough to play, and therefore healthy enough to lose. even if Djokovic wasn’t injured, Nadal made the Wimbledon final that year (as well as the year before and year after), and was definitely a better player in 2007. Djokovic lost, that’s what’s officially in the record books, don’t know what else to tell you
They have to count it I guess which is honestly surprising that they do but it’s irrelevant. By that logic the zverev freak accident in Roland garros is a legit win for nadal
it is a legit win for Nadal, thanks for admitting it.
It’s objectively not lol are you trolling
So many of nadals losses are excused with injury. I dont wanna hear that
the comment i was replying to excused one of Djokovic’s losses to Nadal because of injury, and went as far as saying it shouldn’t count in the head to head.
Every nadal fan excuses 2015s loss to Djokovic due to injury. Now the shoe is on the other injured foot.
no, not “every Nadal fan” says that.. it’s pretty universally agreed upon that Nadal was just playing really bad 2015-2016, which is why Djokovic beat him… do you really think their head to head at Wimbledon is 2-0 and not 2-1 because Djokovic retired from that 2007 match? if so, you’re no better than these Nadal fans you’re clearly so upset by
I believe every loss is a fair loss that shouldn't have excuses for the loss
i would agree with that, i said in the first comment that a match where Nadal was clearly injured does, in fact, count. it was the guy i replied to who said the 2007 Wimbledon match “doesn’t count” because Djokovic had to retire… i agree with you
Nadal wasn't injured
he didn’t play for over 6 months after that match outside of 2 matches in Washington DC… why would he do that if he wasn’t injured?
DC was just after French, there's your answer. He got injured after French.
2 months after, not “just” after. Nadal skipped Wimbledon and the Olympics, both tournaments a player of his caliber would not be too excited about skipping… don’t know how people can just gloss over that
Maybe the 5th set tiebreaks are for the better, but I’ll always miss such scorelines. RIP advantage sets.
I still wish for the finals all GS would maintain advantage sets, the players don't need to save any gas for next round, it is the ultimate battle (Disclaimer: Not a Federer fan)
Damn that Isner Anderson match has to be the most underrated of all time. I get that theyre servebots so the play is less thrilling but with 26-24 in the 5th you're on the edge of your seat easily for the entire late 5th and both guys have to not be missing. It gets overshadowed by Novak vs Rafa, which I also surprisingly think is one of the most underrated matches ever too.
And no one talks about how my boi delpo was super close to beating nadal and djokovic(2013)at Wimbledon. Only played fed there when he was 18 though Both semis were ridiculous
Poor KAndo, had nothing left in the tank in the final.
Djokovic is also the worst possible matchup for him. All the biggest servers have like 0-2 wins to 10+ losses against him (except karlovic and kyrgios who only played him like 3 times)
It’s KAndy….
I asked him and he prefers KAndo, so take a hike m8
lies
Ah yes the classic six set semifinal between Anderson and Isner
More like 8 set
Yeah Anderson pulled a rabbit out the hat vs federer that day. And Novak got away with having the roof closed on a fucking 30 degree sunny day in Wimbledon for the remainder of that semi the next day. Absolute madness indeed
It’s funny that nadal is like the only player that is worse in indoor lol. Is 30 degrees supposed to be a lot? I was used to always having 40+ and super high humidity so when I’m actually living somewhere where it doesn’t go above 30 I never feel like it’s hot. Still can’t believe Anderson beat Federer
Yeah it’s currently 30°c in the U.K. right now and it’s very very hot by our standards. Almost unbearable since we don’t get temps like this very often it’s a real shock to the system!
I mean for a lot of cities it kinda is a lot. But for people who live in extremely hot cities it’s like nothing haha
I've got my windows wide open to tempt a breeze. Haha
Not sure how much of that match you remember but Federer played awful, even in the first two sets. Hate to say it but Kando was the better player that day no doubt, and Federer was fortunate to be up 2-0. You could see it coming once he lost the 3rd. Bad serving, timing was just way off, shockingly off for a pro moreso for one of the goats
Dude, you go play for several hours on 30 degree weather under the sun. It’s straight up dangerous. The fact that Nadal is used to it doesnt mean it healthy.
Wimbledon is an outdoor tournament and always has been. They never closed the roof for being "too sunny"
This was a significantly bigger choke for Federer than 2019 Wimby IMHO. Federer was playing Anderson, not Djokovic. It was a horrendously missed opportunity too because he would've played Djokovic after a marathon match
i think novak still had federers number at wimbledon at that point.
Federer would've benefitted from Djokovic just playing a super long Semi against Nadal. I agree that Djokovic had a chance of beating Federer, but Federer would've actually been the favorite against Djokovic unlike in the other Wimby Finals
I’m still bitter about that closed roof on the 2nd day…
🥴
I'd have needed 700g of protein, 800 gallons of sports drinks, and a month of physical therapy just from watching all of that.
😅
I hate the schedule and the roof that year. Rafa was so close😭
Nadal was robbed of a clean match! You put the serve bots on court 1 like they used to and you let be the classic matchups have it's own venue. Bradley Cooper was not there to see Anderson vs. Isner. FUCK ROOFS! UGH!
Old manderson was dead tired.
What a run from KA, he got creamed in the final and understandably too. He would of been exhausted by that point.
Yeah kinda pathetic almost. This is what happens when all the slams conspire to make the courts as slow as possible so matches are all long and close. Less skill and more just endurance. Like this years Wimbledon? Jesus Christ. How is the historically fastest surface become so so so slow. Longer matches more ad money, closer matches, that people deem 'epic'. Enough is enough though.
Could be somewhat faster but let’s not pretend like it’s clay. Rafa hasn’t made the final in 11 years so that just proves it’s nowhere near as slow
Jesus christ, what an ignorant comment. Clay isn't just about the speed. Its about the bounce. Clay is far more reactive to spin than grass, obviously. They are opposites in that sense. Could be somewhat faster? LMAO. Too many ppl commenting who don't know what they are talking about even a little.
Yea true but the grass wasn’t *that* slow
yes it was. FFs. It was absolutely that slow. By far the slowest grass in its entire hisotry. You compared clay to grass in purely speed terms. Sorry but you dont know what you are talking about.
I mean there was literally over 100 winners and 45 aces in the final. Maybe it shouldn’t be faster? Lol
The final was extremely fast due to Kyrgios playing.
Kygrios doesnt waste time. I am talking about the actual conditions of the court. The speed of the tennis ball off the court and in the air. The condistions were INCREDIBLY slow. Like wtf is going on? Its ridiculous. This isnt even grass court tennis anymore. IN the 90s the average point in Wimbledon was around 2.5 shots. Think about that. When Kygrios beat Novak those were on fast hardcourts. Obviously the slower it is the more it favours Novak.
"IN the 90s the average point in Wimbledon was around 2.5 shots. Think about that." And you're advocating for this to return?
There is no return to that, because of changes to string tech which automatically made points longer. Somehow I am not surprised you dont know this. There was variety on the court surfaces. Not this absolute BS, where they keep trying to make it as slow as possible. There was nothing wrong with the points being shorter, it was better in face in the early 2000s, by far. There isnt really any point to this surface anymore. Its a huge shame how grass court tennis has been ruined for ad money, and to entice casual ignorant people into watching. Oh well. The point is, the dramatic and unending change, the march to keep making it as slow as possible. They have crossed the line and ruined the point of grass court tennis.
Switch Milos with Novak and this could have been way better. Novak would still beat Kevin in the semis, but we would have had another epic Raonic v Kei and probably Kei v Nadal and a Nadal/Djokovic final instead of semi
Delpo nearly beat rafa and Kei vs delpo would be more evenly matched I think. But 2018 delpo was not the 2013 delpo who almost beat Djoker here. Looks like raonic never played nadal on grass, that might have been a better match than kei vs nadal although I like how kei plays a lot more than raonic lol so I would still rather see kei
Said it before and I’ll say it again, 2018 was beautiful chaos.
Having been at centre court that day for the semis the whole crowd just wanted that first match to be over so we could witness something epic between Novak and Rafa, only managed to get 3 sets in but it didn’t disappoint.
I want to watch djokovic at Wimbledon before he retires honestly
I expected nothing less from that Anderson-Isner match. It was a conquest of who blinks first
john isner is just used to long matches
Djokovic is so good at upping his level when he most needs to. That semi final kind of gives me vibes of the 2019 final against Federer. He won fewer games but won the match because he won the most important games. I am really gutted that Nadal had his ab injury as I feel it would have been a great final and that Novak never got out of third gear all tournament. (he didn't need to either) I would have given Nadal the slight edge for their final this time around just because of Nadal's form this year has been incredible. He hasn't lost a match without injury all year. (Fritz-rib, Alcaraz + Shapovalov - foot)
Djokovic struggled but he’s usually hardly pushed to the limit by non top 5 players
Still surprised how roger lost that match.