Yeah, he'd been battling back stiffness coming into the tournament. His last set especially looked stiff, and I wonder if it had tightened up on him. He'd done a good job of load management in the previous matches, straight-setting everyone. It is very possible that the extended match with Tsitsipas was a bit more than the back could handle.
Shocked that Tsitsipas came back. Absolutely shocked. Looked at it this morning and I think Nadal was up a set and I thought it was a forgone conclusion. As I think CDu said upthread, he was straight setting everyone. Fognini last match.
I love Tsitsipas' game. The one and only time I ever got to go to the US Open, in 2016 (Stan the Man's year), I saw Tsitsipas play in the juniors. Didn't play like any of the other juniors, that's for sure (1 handed backhand and way more net rushing).
On hard, don't give him too much of a chance against Meddy. But would have given him no chance down 2 sets to love to Nadal in a Grand Slam. Guess that is why they play the matches.
Woke up at 0430 to watch Medvedev Tsitaipas. Medvedev is a unicorn. He should be tagged and studied.
Only Medvedev can save us now.
And I'd say he's got a decent chance. Maybe better than decent. (especially if Novak's health is less than 100%. I've only watched one whole match, so not sure what the latest commentary is on Novak's injury. Thought I read somewhere someone (may have been Kyrios) was implying it was never that bad and perhaps an excuse in the making).
Anyway, not sure I've ever seen a guy hit the ball quite like Meddy does. More of a 'swat' at it, than a stroke. But he's effective, that's for sure. I'll be rooting for him. It's an hour earlier Sunday morning, right? 3:30 eastern time?
I don't give Brady much of a chance in the finals. Osaka is a really cool customer, that's for sure. She won't get rattled, or give it away.
I think Med has a chance if he stays confident...a hard thing to do against Djoker. And I don’t think Djoker is injured—certainly not the torn abdominal muscle they first described. If it were that kind of an injury, he could never have finished this tournament. I am not sure who the fans will help...they both have an edge to them that at times can rub fans the wrong way.
Brady looked respectable and had some opportunities in the first set, but was just plain overmatched.
I have to wonder if in a decade we'll be talking about Osaka's run at Williams' record.
(I'm not interested in what Court did against far weaker competition).
Djokovic has been just superb. He is so good at sinking his teeth into a match and forcing you to be perfect in order to beat him.
Comprehensive dismantling.
After going down 3-0 in first set, medvedev broke back and was looking very strong...he was holding his serve at love and making djokovic work. Then he served a terrible game at 5 all to get broken and it was all over. He broke Djoker in the first game of the second set, but was broken right back. I don't think he ever really believed he could win, and if you let Djoker get his confidence, he is very hard to beat. And with an abdominal tear, no less. (Sarcasm.)
I'm always behind as I watch on DVR and avoid spoilers, and then it takes me awhile to find time to post on my laptop (since I hate typing on my phone). So just getting to this thread...
Anyway...
I don't understand these conspiracy-theoryish articles. Seem designed for sensationalism more than any attempt at actual analysis.
What are they talking about?? Did they watch the match against Fritz?Speaking after his third round win over Taylor Fritz, Djokovic revealed he was suffering from an abdominal “muscle tear” — yet showed no signs of discomfort as he overcame the American in five sets.
And why would anyone "fake" an injury when they are up two sets to love? It makes zero sense.
Now, obviously he didn't "tear" a muscle or he wouldn't have been able to continue the tournament - put people are making too much of his self-diagnosis in the on-court interview. He was incorrect about a tear, but clearly something happened as evidenced by his performance the rest of that match.
If people don't like Djokovic, that's fine, but I would not use this incident at AO21 to further that case.
A text without a context is a pretext.