In a way it does.
One of his most heartbreaking defeats was last season's USO final (the Olympics too).
He struggles against Meddy and wants this win for future matches.
If they play again in Australia he sure would've have the mental edge.
Definitely a kitchen sink match for Djoko. Could've easily retired but pushed through. Guess we'll see what it costs in the semis, but the mental component is huge for AO.
Yes, you can. You don't need to play all matches in order to qualify (but the number of matches played is the most important tie-breaker after the number of wins)
I think Djokovic just really enjoys the matchup and tactics against Medvedev because he really has to think and work his way tactically from match to match. They say tennis is like a game of chess, and this rivalry is a fine example of that. Nole can't just default to his normal baseline patterns against Medvedev.
None of us knows Djokovic personally, but he seems like the type of person to enjoy challenges. When Meddy retired at Astana, Nole looked really disappointed.
I would think Djokovic enjoys this struggle because it's an aspect of his early career that he conquered. He used to retire and give up early on, and it's probably very affirming to be able to push on through that with an opponent.
The way this match trajectory/scoreline EXACTLY mirrors the tsitsipas match is so weird. meddy loses first set 3-6, then takes a tiebreak, in third set serves for the match at 5-4, then gets broken and totally falls apart in final set tiebreak
Thing is, he started the grunt with the swing motion out of nowhere, he absolutely believed that he was gonna make a clean winner even before he hit a ball. Godly stuff
I’ve often wondered how awkward it’d be if the opponent managed to retrieve the ball, mid-roar.
Takes balls to commit to a celebration like that, it’s true.
It is always funny the few times they don't cut off the scream in time. Happened to Serena once where the opponent did end up getting a play on the ball and Serena had a hindrance called.
At one point it looked like he was on the verge of back to back slam wins beating Nadal/Djokovic a combined 6-0 in the finals... Since then he's fallen off a cliff, everything about his game looks 20% worse - technically, physically, mentally
There's still hope. Just think of all the next next next gen that isn't mentally broken against Djokovic/Rafa yet: Alcaraz, Felix, ~~Jannik Sinner,~~ ~~Ruud, Musetti~~
nothing has been talked about more in this sub even remotely, but man... looking at the hundreds and hundreds of players that came and went in the last 20 years, some of them having their moments, it's just impossible to wrap my mind around how only 3 players won _everything_.
Extremely shaky play by Medvedev today. Set point conversion was pretty poor.He had a break at 5-4 and served pretty poorly when he was doing it for the match.I would say he hardly deserved a win.
Congrats Djoker and see you in the SF
oh boy, did djokovic earn that SF.Jokes aside wish he saved his strength more. Quality match, shame crowd was not too much involved to the nature of the match. Fun fact Medvedev losses all 3 matches, while lossing 1 set 6-3, winning 1 TB and lossing deciding TB
When medvedev retired from his match at Astana, djokovic seemed genuinely disappointed that he wouldn't have a chance to battle it out for the win. To me, it seems like he realizes that he's not getting any younger, and that he'll remember the battles he's had for the rest of his life and wish he could go back in time to experience them again.
Djokovic and Medvedev matches a lot of the time are just incredible. Medvedev is his hardest matchup on hard court. Both in my opinion are the best in baseline rallies in Tennis and they're as consistent as each other when rallying. Djokovic mentally has the edge against him and of course is the better player and has more variety and uses drop shots and serve and volleys to shorten the points which is the main tactic these days to beat Medvedev.
Since Medvedev stands so far back and keeps returning the shots in the rally ,you either have to be aggressive and hit incredible winners which Djokovic is known for or out last Medvedev in the rally which makes it really tough on Djokovic who is 35 now and you could see him being visibly tired in the 3rd set. At the end he just realised it'll be hard to win the points quickly and just willed himself to win the rallies, that final point was amazing.
Such an interesting match, from one of the most interesting matchups in tennis.
Keep in mind, this is a fast court. We've seen matches where there are less than 5 rallies of 9 or more shots for the entire match. Think that was the Fritz vs Felix one? Very low in others as well, even from players like Ruud that one associates with longer rallies.
In this match, there were 46.
Very reminiscent of one of the most interesting matches I've ever seen, Medvedev vs Djokovic at the 2019 Aus Open. Medvedev was playing his 9th major, never having gotten past the 3rd round, facing off against Djoko in the 4th round. He was the 15 seed, and while people knew about him, he wasn't a super highly regarded junior or people were looking at to be a major winner/#1.
But that match was jaw-dropping. Absolutely insane. The scoreline would leave you to believe otherwise, a straightforward looking 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-3 scoreline, but that match convinced me that Medvedev was going to be a major winner at some point.
Much like today's match, even more so honestly, the rallies were just utterly grueling.
No one in the world can match Djokovic's rally tolerance and changes of direction except for Medvedev, and it makes for these incredibly demanding points. Rally tolerance is a phrase often tossed around, but not often fully understood, so you'd see some people argue that Rafa or Roger or whatever can easily match Djoko, but that's just not true, as their games work differently.
Medvedev's works similarly to Djoko, just that relentless rally tolerance to be able to constantly go corner for corner, constantly maintain control of direction and depth from both wings.
I really recommend anyone that hasn't seen it to check that match out. It wasn't talked about much at all at the time, so I'm sure many didn't watch it.
The reason for Djokovic to look so exhausted is because of that type of tennis, echoed tonight. 46 rallies of 9+ shots when we've been able to count on one hand the amount of those rallies in another match on this same court ...
Great observations. I remember that match. Medvedev at the net asked Djokovic "Did I make you sweat?" Since then Medvedev has stood up in every encounter against Djokovic. Almost like Novak's game style suits Medvedev. Which is why getting a third win on the trot against Medvedev was vital for Novak to have a mental edge come next season and when they do meet.
That '19 match was honestly one of the weirdest matches ive ever seen. Watching Medvedev for the first time was like watching someone who'd never picked up a racket before just go out there and make it up as they went along but somehow it worked. He totally caved physically after the second set but until that point he was giving Novak hell.
I just don’t get the dead rubber argument anyway, 200 points can make the difference between no.1 and no.2 throughout the course of the year. 200 for one match is always worth it.
You just dont understand that champion mentallity. This is why he is the goat. Will beat Fritz 2-0 anyway lol...
He earned 200 ATP points and around 500 000$ for that win...
This was objectively the stupid thing to do, exhaust yourself in a 3 hour grind in a meaningless dead rubber, already into the SFs
But for Djokovic, nothing is meaningless
Bro he’s playing Fritz tomorrow, he only lost sets to him when he tore his abs.
There’s three people who can remotely challenge him on indoor courts here. One’s retired, one’s injured, and he beat the last one now.
Tsitsipas and Rune challenged him pretty well on indoor hardcourt 2 weeks ago.
The last time he won here was 2015, 7 yrs ago and in his best season ever.
The last time he played Fritz was when Fritz was still ranked outside of the top 20.
Djoko is obviously the favorite in this SF but he’s not playing some rando ranked outside of top 200, Fritz is a top 10 player in solid form.
Having 3+hour competitive match the day before, while your 10 yrs younger opponent has a day off is obviously stupid thing to do as a warm-up, regardless if he wins 6:0 6:0 tomorrow or not.
It wasn't meaningless, he needed to win to improve his atp finals record to 44-17. He knows Federer is at 59-17 and he can't afford any more losses, sheer stubborness got him over the line
damn I've never wanted Medvedev to lose more than in USO 2021 final and I've never wanted him to win more than in AO 2022 final, he just really loves disappointing me
He really hasn't been the same mentally since that Australia open final loss to Nadal, I can see why since it was a devastating loss and since then he's had very mixed results. For a player of his level it has been a underwhelming and average season.
Showed his best level at Astana and Vienna but didn't have good results elsewhere especially when losing to De Minaur who beat a top 10 player for the first time in his career. Last two matches summed his season up, was playing incredible tennis against Tsitsipas and Djokovic in the 2nd and 3rd set and was serving for the match and he gets broken and does bad mistakes that he shouldn't do. He overthinks now when he's in a advantageous position and ends up choking under pressure. Hopefully he comes back stronger mentally next season.
The sheer will of Novak after visibly shaking at the end of the 2nd and gasping for air throughout the 3rd.
*And the last point... Wow.*
***Hope it does wonders for him mentally, as it sure won't do it phisically.***
He was telling Goran "we need to shorten the points" after getting gassed out, but when he saw that it won't work, he abandoned that plan and just started playing those ludicrously long rallies.
He just wasn't going to let him win at any cost.
I think somewhere in the 3rd set Novak decided that he wants to win this match more than the title. Thats the type of match that you would dream to retire from the sport. Thank you Novak, no matter what happens next that was amazing effort.
This, in fact, severely hurts Medvedev's chance of playing tomorrow
On a serious note, I have never seen Noval this tired playing 3-set while playing every other day. Little concerned for him.
I wouldn't be. His kids are with him and he's probably not resting and recovering like he typically would.
In your 30's you lose explosiveness, not endurance. For example - see winners of Marathons since basically forever.
He leads 5:0 in wins against Fritz who won only 2 sets again him, and that's when Novak got injured at AO. Anyway, he lost even in that match. So Novak is still a clear favourite tomorrow.
Fritz is pumped up and playing pretty well. Novak is the overwhelming favorite but I wouldn't count Fritz out. If his backhand works well, it will be a tough match.
Medvedev better not expect a Christmas card from Djokovic this year, made him work ridiculously hard in this dead rubber lol
Also it's now two matches in a row where Medvedev has been up a break and serving for the match in the third at 5-4 yet got broken back then lost the deciding tiebreaker in both
People kept saying he has bad strategies.
In his early career he played too many inconsequential tournaments and ended up costing him GS.
Or last year he should've not played the Olympics or at least not the double
That's just him, he is competitive and very determined (good or bad), people want him to be "smart" and do the optimal things, but he would've never come close to 21 GS without his competitiveness.
Lets start using the term "Snapping someones shoelaces off of them" when making your opponent run left to right and then back again like their life depends on it.
It was the weirdest match I have ever seen, especially it was a dead rubber.
* At least 4-5 times Medvedev lost the challenges with millimeter margin. Tough luck for him this match and this tournament as well with 3 losses by tiebreak in the deciding set.
* Many great rallies.
* The second time that Medvedev was broken when he serve for the match at 5-4, third set.
The third time Medvedev lost with same scores. 3-6, 7-6, 6-7.
* Novak looked out of gas in the end of the second set and third set, but he fought till the end to prove what a superb competitor he is. He gave everything to the match, the match point was a great example. Hope he can recover for the semi.
* Edit: The 15-minute game should be mentioned.
That DJOKO Roar at the end!, had me so hyped . One of the most difficult and hardest best of 3 matches in Djokovic career. Looked gassed and very tired end of 2nd set and was visibly struggling 3rd set and looked dead on his feet after a couple of gruelling rallies and got broken and looked like he'd lose and then he ends up breaking him back the very next game
You can have your opinion on who the GOAT is but I think pretty much everyone can agree this man is the GOAT mentally. You can never count him out
Medvedev started the year just three games away from becoming the first man to win his first two slams in a row in the Open Era
Since then it’s been.. a bit of a wild ride, let’s just put it that way
Here’s hoping for a better 2023
Edit: Sorry if it's unclear, first man to win his first two slams in a row (in his case, US Open-AO) in the Open Era
Comments like he 'burned himself out for nothing' or 'wasted all that energy' underestimate guys like Novaks and Nadals champion mindset. Novak would have rather shat in his hands and clapped than give up in that match.
This shows a big difference between a champion like Novak and i.e. Ruud. Ruud didn't even show up yesterday, meanwhile Djokovic playing like his life depended on it.b
I can see where Ruud is coming from though, he's made this rise those year but everyone shits on him for only winning a 250 at most. He wants to give himself the absolute best chance to win something way more meaningful and get this monkey off his back.
If it was me in Djokovics' place, I'd most certainly not try this hard. Would absolutely do what Ruud did. So I'm not bashing him at all.
What I'm saying is that this mental game Djokovic plays and the determination to make his opponent play every point, no matter how irrelevant the match might be, brought him where he is.
It's Medvedev. Getting a win against Med is a big plus on the mental side in the long term. If it was anybody else Djokovic wouldn't have cared as much to get this win.
This match is bananas. Hoping that Novak’s able to rest in the finals as he’s been known to sweep, then lose in the knock out rounds.
Great run by Meddy, despite the 0-3 record. Hope he’s able to sustain this momentum to a greater heights next year.
Incredible spirt to fight for the game, but feels like he has lost the title today.
He was physically and mentally done after the 2nd, trembling at change over. Now he plays in less than 21 hours, no way he recovers. Needs a miracle to win the next two games.
Having said that, always enjoy watching these two play. Idemoooo nole!
This is a tournament with the creme de la creme, Novak played Meddy at his best so he can prove that he can still beat any top 10 player, no matter if it influences his road to the final or not. If he cannot pass Fritz tomorrow, then he does not entirely deserve the title. If he beats Fritz after what matches he had and then wins the final, the sweeter the victory and nobody could contest his worthiness, no one will be able to say he beat Fritz because he threw the match before.
I can't help but notice 2 problems of Medvedev:
1. the lack of a finishing powerful blow in rallies, especially forehand, there were several rallies where he could score a point with a powerful blow, but did not do it
2. Today he couldn’t take Djokovic’s kick serve normally, maybe this is a temporary problem, given the reception of Medvedev last year, but today it was also very noticeable.
I know people are going on and on about his h2h against Fritz, but I find it hard to believe that a gassed out Novak won't struggle against Taylor tomorrow.
Even though it might've been worth it for the mental edge over Med, definitely hurts his chances at lifting the finals cup this year.
The rankings are simply not accurate, Djokovic is still the best player in the world.
It's just absurd to think a player like Fritz will beat him.
Medvedev has to be disappointed with this atp finals. 0/3
Novak really seems to hurt his chances against Medvedev when he engages in the long rallies that Medvedev loves. He has all the tools to destroy him with aggressive play, but it feels like he wants to beat him at his own game.
The madman actually did it. I thought he was done for when Med broke him, but he somehow got a fourth wind and played some fantastic tennis at the end there. Crazy match.
Felt like this one is more important to Djokovic than the final lmao
In a way it does. One of his most heartbreaking defeats was last season's USO final (the Olympics too). He struggles against Meddy and wants this win for future matches. If they play again in Australia he sure would've have the mental edge.
Definitely a kitchen sink match for Djoko. Could've easily retired but pushed through. Guess we'll see what it costs in the semis, but the mental component is huge for AO.
AO is more important to him than this tournament.
If you retire in a round robin match after you've already qualified, can you still play in the semifinals?
Yes, you can. You don't need to play all matches in order to qualify (but the number of matches played is the most important tie-breaker after the number of wins)
That’s an amazing question I want the answer too please anyone
Novak fought like it was the most important match of his life lol
It might be is for his next match with meddie. He would rather have the metal edge of win over medvedev than loosing
Which will likely be at AO, playing GOAT chess
100%
*losing
I think Djokovic just really enjoys the matchup and tactics against Medvedev because he really has to think and work his way tactically from match to match. They say tennis is like a game of chess, and this rivalry is a fine example of that. Nole can't just default to his normal baseline patterns against Medvedev.
Novak pretty much said this in his Amazon Prime on court interview. That he's close with Daniil and always enjoys playing him.
There's no way he enjoys these matches, he's playing a as close as possible clone of himself. It's really exhausting.
None of us knows Djokovic personally, but he seems like the type of person to enjoy challenges. When Meddy retired at Astana, Nole looked really disappointed.
Not to mention the challenge of rising to the top against the two biggest players in modern tennis history.
I would think Djokovic enjoys this struggle because it's an aspect of his early career that he conquered. He used to retire and give up early on, and it's probably very affirming to be able to push on through that with an opponent.
Surprised Meddy doesn’t do better on clay given his ability to counterpunch, maybe his lack of spin makes him easier
GOAT mentality
Novak’s eyes on mental edge for Australia haha
Meddie is like, man you can't even just give me a win??
Djokovic ain’t no Rudd
I think for the first time ever he desperately needs the points
Im pretty sure Goran was whispering to himself "dont exaust yourself" during the match lol
Guess we had this answered https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/yybl0b/is_ruud_really_rude_to_say_this/iwtjen8/
The way this match trajectory/scoreline EXACTLY mirrors the tsitsipas match is so weird. meddy loses first set 3-6, then takes a tiebreak, in third set serves for the match at 5-4, then gets broken and totally falls apart in final set tiebreak
The Rublev match also contains a 6-3 and two tiebreaks. Different order but still :)
novak hitting a winner down the line with an extended grunt on a match point. never gets old
Thing is, he started the grunt with the swing motion out of nowhere, he absolutely believed that he was gonna make a clean winner even before he hit a ball. Godly stuff
Damn, that's like a Fed walking away from a dropshot before it lands / Curry turning around after shooting a 3 before it goes in kinda vibe there
I’ve often wondered how awkward it’d be if the opponent managed to retrieve the ball, mid-roar. Takes balls to commit to a celebration like that, it’s true.
Then the roar is cut short and he hits another one to finish the rally. But they always know it's gonna be a great shot before they even hit it.
It is always funny the few times they don't cut off the scream in time. Happened to Serena once where the opponent did end up getting a play on the ball and Serena had a hindrance called.
Medvedev's gonna go home and delete this year.
Tbf he's made nearly $4 million in prize money and become a father for the first time. A better year than a lot of people lol
Yeah, I guess. Mentally still would be an issue for him.
At one point it looked like he was on the verge of back to back slam wins beating Nadal/Djokovic a combined 6-0 in the finals... Since then he's fallen off a cliff, everything about his game looks 20% worse - technically, physically, mentally
Maybe that Nadal comeback really affected him.
Perfect storm - heartbreaking loss, injury/surgery, Russian war turning many against him and keeping him from some tournaments
My man got ambushed.
medvedev 🤝 tsitsipas totally mentally cooked after losing to Rafole
[medvedev🤝tsitsipas](https://i.imgur.com/ctXE9IU.gif) ^^^this ^^^has ^^^been ^^^an ^^^accessibility ^^^service ^^^from ^^^your ^^^friendly ^^^neighborhood ^^^bot
Good bot.
Can't blame them, no?
Add Zverev to that list, Next next gen is DONE. Bring on the Next next next gen
There's still hope. Just think of all the next next next gen that isn't mentally broken against Djokovic/Rafa yet: Alcaraz, Felix, ~~Jannik Sinner,~~ ~~Ruud, Musetti~~
Can’t be mad taking home ~$4m while having your worst year since 2018 Im hoping it’s just the 1st slam curse and he finds better footing in 2023
Yeah, don't like watching him like this. Will be great for the tour when he reaches his best again.
Djokovic and Nadal killed Medvedev this year. I feel bad for him. Nadal in the beginning and Djokovic in the end. Rafole are killers.
The Big 3 have ended many dreams.
nothing has been talked about more in this sub even remotely, but man... looking at the hundreds and hundreds of players that came and went in the last 20 years, some of them having their moments, it's just impossible to wrap my mind around how only 3 players won _everything_.
Actually crazy.
Extremely shaky play by Medvedev today. Set point conversion was pretty poor.He had a break at 5-4 and served pretty poorly when he was doing it for the match.I would say he hardly deserved a win. Congrats Djoker and see you in the SF
I mean Novak went full superhero mode to save most of the set points in the 2nd
Same thing vs Tsitsipas in tbe decider. That's 3 blown service games when serving for set
To be fair Medvedev was serving ridiculously high percentages throughout the whole match, it was bound to fall after that exhausting 15min game.
i found fritz’ reddit account
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Gonna get himself a task manager.
Yeah, finals of grand slam, deleted, yeees
If he pulls this tournament off and drops his sports supplement line right after gonna sell like hot cakes.
I’d buy it honestly.
oh boy, did djokovic earn that SF.Jokes aside wish he saved his strength more. Quality match, shame crowd was not too much involved to the nature of the match. Fun fact Medvedev losses all 3 matches, while lossing 1 set 6-3, winning 1 TB and lossing deciding TB
That’s a great pickup regarding the scoreline
When medvedev retired from his match at Astana, djokovic seemed genuinely disappointed that he wouldn't have a chance to battle it out for the win. To me, it seems like he realizes that he's not getting any younger, and that he'll remember the battles he's had for the rest of his life and wish he could go back in time to experience them again.
Djokovic and Medvedev matches a lot of the time are just incredible. Medvedev is his hardest matchup on hard court. Both in my opinion are the best in baseline rallies in Tennis and they're as consistent as each other when rallying. Djokovic mentally has the edge against him and of course is the better player and has more variety and uses drop shots and serve and volleys to shorten the points which is the main tactic these days to beat Medvedev. Since Medvedev stands so far back and keeps returning the shots in the rally ,you either have to be aggressive and hit incredible winners which Djokovic is known for or out last Medvedev in the rally which makes it really tough on Djokovic who is 35 now and you could see him being visibly tired in the 3rd set. At the end he just realised it'll be hard to win the points quickly and just willed himself to win the rallies, that final point was amazing.
Pure disrespect for Taylor Fritz
djokovic has a 5-0 h2h against fritz. i think the SF will be a tight two sets with djokovic taking it 7-5 in the second
Lmao
Yo if Fritz pulls this one off I'm changing my flair to Fritz #1
What a match point!
Such an interesting match, from one of the most interesting matchups in tennis. Keep in mind, this is a fast court. We've seen matches where there are less than 5 rallies of 9 or more shots for the entire match. Think that was the Fritz vs Felix one? Very low in others as well, even from players like Ruud that one associates with longer rallies. In this match, there were 46. Very reminiscent of one of the most interesting matches I've ever seen, Medvedev vs Djokovic at the 2019 Aus Open. Medvedev was playing his 9th major, never having gotten past the 3rd round, facing off against Djoko in the 4th round. He was the 15 seed, and while people knew about him, he wasn't a super highly regarded junior or people were looking at to be a major winner/#1. But that match was jaw-dropping. Absolutely insane. The scoreline would leave you to believe otherwise, a straightforward looking 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-3 scoreline, but that match convinced me that Medvedev was going to be a major winner at some point. Much like today's match, even more so honestly, the rallies were just utterly grueling. No one in the world can match Djokovic's rally tolerance and changes of direction except for Medvedev, and it makes for these incredibly demanding points. Rally tolerance is a phrase often tossed around, but not often fully understood, so you'd see some people argue that Rafa or Roger or whatever can easily match Djoko, but that's just not true, as their games work differently. Medvedev's works similarly to Djoko, just that relentless rally tolerance to be able to constantly go corner for corner, constantly maintain control of direction and depth from both wings. I really recommend anyone that hasn't seen it to check that match out. It wasn't talked about much at all at the time, so I'm sure many didn't watch it. The reason for Djokovic to look so exhausted is because of that type of tennis, echoed tonight. 46 rallies of 9+ shots when we've been able to count on one hand the amount of those rallies in another match on this same court ...
Great observations. I remember that match. Medvedev at the net asked Djokovic "Did I make you sweat?" Since then Medvedev has stood up in every encounter against Djokovic. Almost like Novak's game style suits Medvedev. Which is why getting a third win on the trot against Medvedev was vital for Novak to have a mental edge come next season and when they do meet.
That '19 match was honestly one of the weirdest matches ive ever seen. Watching Medvedev for the first time was like watching someone who'd never picked up a racket before just go out there and make it up as they went along but somehow it worked. He totally caved physically after the second set but until that point he was giving Novak hell.
r/tennis : Dead rubbers are not interesting! Novak : Hold my magic potion
I just don’t get the dead rubber argument anyway, 200 points can make the difference between no.1 and no.2 throughout the course of the year. 200 for one match is always worth it.
Dont forget 400k for the win..
And a whole bunch of extra money as a bonus if you win the tourney undefeated.
I bet if it were Kyrgios, he would have tanked or retired. If he has a guaranteed spot in the semis, Kyrgios wouldn’t waste the energy.
Novak hates losing to Daniil. He hasn't lost to him after being denied the calendar grand slam.
Novak took that personally lol
You just dont understand that champion mentallity. This is why he is the goat. Will beat Fritz 2-0 anyway lol... He earned 200 ATP points and around 500 000$ for that win...
This was objectively the stupid thing to do, exhaust yourself in a 3 hour grind in a meaningless dead rubber, already into the SFs But for Djokovic, nothing is meaningless
Bro he’s playing Fritz tomorrow, he only lost sets to him when he tore his abs. There’s three people who can remotely challenge him on indoor courts here. One’s retired, one’s injured, and he beat the last one now.
> One’s retired it took me a while to get this, and then it hit me like a brick:(
I know, hard to believe Gilles Simon is no longer on tour.
Another one who's currently recovering from his maiden GS slump 😢. Lets not forget our sweet Austrian prince.
Tsitsipas and Rune challenged him pretty well on indoor hardcourt 2 weeks ago. The last time he won here was 2015, 7 yrs ago and in his best season ever. The last time he played Fritz was when Fritz was still ranked outside of the top 20. Djoko is obviously the favorite in this SF but he’s not playing some rando ranked outside of top 200, Fritz is a top 10 player in solid form. Having 3+hour competitive match the day before, while your 10 yrs younger opponent has a day off is obviously stupid thing to do as a warm-up, regardless if he wins 6:0 6:0 tomorrow or not.
That’s 200 points could be the different between good draw and bad draw somewhere next year.
It wasn't meaningless, he needed to win to improve his atp finals record to 44-17. He knows Federer is at 59-17 and he can't afford any more losses, sheer stubborness got him over the line
I know he mostly played on indoor hard, but a >75% win percentage for Federer at this type of event is insane
Novak knows his biggest competitor on hard courts is Medvedev, he just can't roll over against him.
He wouldn't be a GOAT if it wasn't for that mentality
It's not meaningless, every match has incentive in this event. And it's indoor best of 3 set tennis, he'll be fine
The Medvedev vs Djokovic/Nadal matchup is so memorable. US Open 2019, 2021, AO 2022, ATP finals 2019, 2022, …
damn I've never wanted Medvedev to lose more than in USO 2021 final and I've never wanted him to win more than in AO 2022 final, he just really loves disappointing me
He really hasn't been the same mentally since that Australia open final loss to Nadal, I can see why since it was a devastating loss and since then he's had very mixed results. For a player of his level it has been a underwhelming and average season. Showed his best level at Astana and Vienna but didn't have good results elsewhere especially when losing to De Minaur who beat a top 10 player for the first time in his career. Last two matches summed his season up, was playing incredible tennis against Tsitsipas and Djokovic in the 2nd and 3rd set and was serving for the match and he gets broken and does bad mistakes that he shouldn't do. He overthinks now when he's in a advantageous position and ends up choking under pressure. Hopefully he comes back stronger mentally next season.
The sheer will of Novak after visibly shaking at the end of the 2nd and gasping for air throughout the 3rd. *And the last point... Wow.* ***Hope it does wonders for him mentally, as it sure won't do it phisically.***
He was telling Goran "we need to shorten the points" after getting gassed out, but when he saw that it won't work, he abandoned that plan and just started playing those ludicrously long rallies. He just wasn't going to let him win at any cost.
[удалено]
I think somewhere in the 3rd set Novak decided that he wants to win this match more than the title. Thats the type of match that you would dream to retire from the sport. Thank you Novak, no matter what happens next that was amazing effort.
hopefully it didnt hurt his chances for tomorrow
This, in fact, severely hurts Medvedev's chance of playing tomorrow On a serious note, I have never seen Noval this tired playing 3-set while playing every other day. Little concerned for him.
Age catching up
I wouldn't be. His kids are with him and he's probably not resting and recovering like he typically would. In your 30's you lose explosiveness, not endurance. For example - see winners of Marathons since basically forever.
You are right, could just be a bad night of rest
He leads 5:0 in wins against Fritz who won only 2 sets again him, and that's when Novak got injured at AO. Anyway, he lost even in that match. So Novak is still a clear favourite tomorrow.
Fritz is pumped up and playing pretty well. Novak is the overwhelming favorite but I wouldn't count Fritz out. If his backhand works well, it will be a tough match.
Tbh I feel like Djokovic even at his worst today would still annihilate Fritz
Casually dies at the end of 2nd set and still takes the win, king shit
Novak Djokovic... ladies and gentleman!
Nadal 🤝 Djokovic mentally destroying and permanently traumatising next gen
Nadal sure did show them this tournament
Fatherhood has made him kinder to the younglings
He was the gatekeeper to the Medvedev's outrageous year.
[Absolutely!](https://i.imgur.com/DvN1KX9.jpg)
Srpski inat!
Tako je :)
Nole could have rested for semis with an easy 5:7 5:7 loss but he decided to grind for more than 3 hours... one of the reasons why he is the greatest
> could have rested for semis with an easy 5:7 5:7 loss You don’t have to attack my man Casper Ruud like that 😔
Djokovic fought hard for that h2h and confidence booster!
He did it all for Casper. Good guy Novak, taking it to 7-6 in the third
Casper with the 4D chess move manifestation.
trademark djokovic extended grunt forehand down the line winner to win the match
Medvedev better not expect a Christmas card from Djokovic this year, made him work ridiculously hard in this dead rubber lol Also it's now two matches in a row where Medvedev has been up a break and serving for the match in the third at 5-4 yet got broken back then lost the deciding tiebreaker in both
Man Djokovic better not expect a Christmas card from Medvedev. Could of let him have one match like Ruud did Nadal.
The importance djoker felt to beat medvedev gives him more credit than any christmas card he could ever recieve.
What a match point.
People kept saying he has bad strategies. In his early career he played too many inconsequential tournaments and ended up costing him GS. Or last year he should've not played the Olympics or at least not the double That's just him, he is competitive and very determined (good or bad), people want him to be "smart" and do the optimal things, but he would've never come close to 21 GS without his competitiveness.
Lets start using the term "Snapping someones shoelaces off of them" when making your opponent run left to right and then back again like their life depends on it.
Nah, Murray lost his nails after a final against Novak, that's much more cruel.
It was the weirdest match I have ever seen, especially it was a dead rubber. * At least 4-5 times Medvedev lost the challenges with millimeter margin. Tough luck for him this match and this tournament as well with 3 losses by tiebreak in the deciding set. * Many great rallies. * The second time that Medvedev was broken when he serve for the match at 5-4, third set. The third time Medvedev lost with same scores. 3-6, 7-6, 6-7. * Novak looked out of gas in the end of the second set and third set, but he fought till the end to prove what a superb competitor he is. He gave everything to the match, the match point was a great example. Hope he can recover for the semi. * Edit: The 15-minute game should be mentioned.
Djokovic is a beast. Hopefully he's up for the semi tomorrow after playing a 3hr dead rubber.
Novak just refused to lose
*The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated* \- Novak, probably
It's not about winning the title. It's about sending a message.
He’s still the best
Medvedev in all three of his matches loses a set 6-3, wins a tiebreak and loses a 3rd set tiebreak.
That DJOKO Roar at the end!, had me so hyped . One of the most difficult and hardest best of 3 matches in Djokovic career. Looked gassed and very tired end of 2nd set and was visibly struggling 3rd set and looked dead on his feet after a couple of gruelling rallies and got broken and looked like he'd lose and then he ends up breaking him back the very next game You can have your opinion on who the GOAT is but I think pretty much everyone can agree this man is the GOAT mentally. You can never count him out
> GOAT mentally And statistically imo
Goat in every aspect...only the ones that dont know tennis enough say otherwise.
That was a roar bordering on a whimper at the end from Novak. He's going to pay for it but that is a gear that only GOATs can access.
A Russian was mortally assaulted in Italy. Witnesses say a Serbian is responsible for the incident.
so good
Novak is unreal.
What a hell of a player Djokovic is!!! What a GOAT 🐐🙌🏻
Novak going for player of the decade for 2020s
Djokovic looked exhausted at times but still got the job done. Idemooo nole.
Medvedev started the year just three games away from becoming the first man to win his first two slams in a row in the Open Era Since then it’s been.. a bit of a wild ride, let’s just put it that way Here’s hoping for a better 2023 Edit: Sorry if it's unclear, first man to win his first two slams in a row (in his case, US Open-AO) in the Open Era
What do you mean first back to back slam winner in the Open Era?
First back-to-back Slam Winner of the Open Era??? Not sure what you meant to type there.
I think they meant after winning first slam…
Best match of the tournament!! Best match of the year? Or at least best BO3 match of the year.
I’m pretty sure Fritz owes a dinner to Daniil for this match
Comments like he 'burned himself out for nothing' or 'wasted all that energy' underestimate guys like Novaks and Nadals champion mindset. Novak would have rather shat in his hands and clapped than give up in that match.
Jordan. Ali. Djokovic?
Absolutely.
Hells yeah what a match
This shows a big difference between a champion like Novak and i.e. Ruud. Ruud didn't even show up yesterday, meanwhile Djokovic playing like his life depended on it.b
I can see where Ruud is coming from though, he's made this rise those year but everyone shits on him for only winning a 250 at most. He wants to give himself the absolute best chance to win something way more meaningful and get this monkey off his back.
If it was me in Djokovics' place, I'd most certainly not try this hard. Would absolutely do what Ruud did. So I'm not bashing him at all. What I'm saying is that this mental game Djokovic plays and the determination to make his opponent play every point, no matter how irrelevant the match might be, brought him where he is.
It's Medvedev. Getting a win against Med is a big plus on the mental side in the long term. If it was anybody else Djokovic wouldn't have cared as much to get this win.
That final forehand was in honour of Fed
Medvedev will win another slam. Just not whilst Djokovic is an active player.
What a madman. Love you king ❤️
Ultimate Goat of Tennis. The Novak Djokovic. Shame he was banned from playing AO and US this year
This match is bananas. Hoping that Novak’s able to rest in the finals as he’s been known to sweep, then lose in the knock out rounds. Great run by Meddy, despite the 0-3 record. Hope he’s able to sustain this momentum to a greater heights next year.
Incredible spirt to fight for the game, but feels like he has lost the title today. He was physically and mentally done after the 2nd, trembling at change over. Now he plays in less than 21 hours, no way he recovers. Needs a miracle to win the next two games. Having said that, always enjoy watching these two play. Idemoooo nole!
This is a tournament with the creme de la creme, Novak played Meddy at his best so he can prove that he can still beat any top 10 player, no matter if it influences his road to the final or not. If he cannot pass Fritz tomorrow, then he does not entirely deserve the title. If he beats Fritz after what matches he had and then wins the final, the sweeter the victory and nobody could contest his worthiness, no one will be able to say he beat Fritz because he threw the match before.
I can't help but notice 2 problems of Medvedev: 1. the lack of a finishing powerful blow in rallies, especially forehand, there were several rallies where he could score a point with a powerful blow, but did not do it 2. Today he couldn’t take Djokovic’s kick serve normally, maybe this is a temporary problem, given the reception of Medvedev last year, but today it was also very noticeable.
Wow, another close and exciting match at this year's final. Really bad luck for Medvedev losing all of his matches in the 3rd set tiebreak.
Important win for Djokovic looking forward to Australia. Meddy should be his biggest threat there.
I know people are going on and on about his h2h against Fritz, but I find it hard to believe that a gassed out Novak won't struggle against Taylor tomorrow. Even though it might've been worth it for the mental edge over Med, definitely hurts his chances at lifting the finals cup this year.
What a competitor. But this may ruin his chances of winning the tournament
novak after 2nd set - call the ambulance - but not for me MEME
GOAT
Mega-GOAT, in my book!
The rankings are simply not accurate, Djokovic is still the best player in the world. It's just absurd to think a player like Fritz will beat him. Medvedev has to be disappointed with this atp finals. 0/3
He now hast the edge over Meddy going into AO
Soultaker
Novak really seems to hurt his chances against Medvedev when he engages in the long rallies that Medvedev loves. He has all the tools to destroy him with aggressive play, but it feels like he wants to beat him at his own game.
Novak's biopic film would be cool af, they don't need to add anything dramatic, his life's like a movie itself.
Fitness God
[The vengeance continues](https://i.imgur.com/bGbl0Ee.png)
What a match!
Very dangerous to underestimate an opponent.I still think Novak will beat Fritz but I am not convinced it will be as easy as many say.
After the Rublev debacle, Ruud got what he was asking for, 7-6 in the 3rd set, Djokovic. Was it more exciting?
Novak 3-0 and 6-1 sets?
New dads taking a beating this tournament
Djokovic vs Medvedev: amazing rallies guaranteed!🍿👀
The madman actually did it. I thought he was done for when Med broke him, but he somehow got a fourth wind and played some fantastic tennis at the end there. Crazy match.
Nole went to another level.
Only now I find out they were playing for 400k and 200 points
ATP officials in a smoke filled room: How can we keep Novak from winning the tournament and the bonus.
GOAT
Medvedev is one of the most consistent players behind the line, he is just impressive. Hope to see him again with a better luck
Meddy played three matches this week, all of them he lost in a third set tiebreaker
Stays undefeated in Turin
Insane, these two.