Fair old game this. Oh God it’s quarter to one.
Novak deserved it. Amazing match.
This wasn’t as good as their Wimbledon match. It had a lot of tension and some crazy athletic points, unbelievable court coverage where you couldn’t believe how long they extended the points, but the truth is that neither guy played his best. Neither guy played close to his best. Nadal has more guts than anyone and Djokovic has been the best player on tour for almost a year, but Nadal played poorly and Djokovic struggled to close it out. In the bigger context, though, it’s another huge win for Djokovic in one of the greatest seasons ever. The season isn’t over but he’s gone from a great talent to a dominant player. In a weird way it’s a tribute to how much Federer and Nadal have changed the court: the amount of athleticism and spin and all-court play that defines the ATP now. Djokovic has reached that level (although it remains to be seen if he can stay at the top for as long as they have).
A fun match! Too bad I was all set to watch another set.
Perhaps now give the wedgie pulling (and sniffing) a rest for a while… or does it go on off court?
Nadal is going to have to work a lot on his serve in the offseason, because in its current state is not sufficient to beat Djokovic.
His serve in the 2010 U.S. Open was much better than this. In the 2010 Open, he served 45 aces (12th best in the tournament), and this year he served 27 (20th). I wish I could compare his average serve speed, but I’m sure it was down. EDIT: In the 2010 final, his average serve speed was 116 mph (fastest 132 mph), average 2nd serve was 88 mph. He won 73 percent of his first serve points and 57 percent on the second serve. Today, his average serve speed was 111 mph (up to 126 mph) and 86 mph on the second serve. He won 65 percent of his first serve points and 44 percent on the second serve.
sorry Rafa ):
I still love you though
My earlier comments about the final probably sounded too negative. I don’t think either guy played his best, but there was a ton of tension, very good atmosphere, many jaw-dropping points, great athleticism, Nadal’s determination always lurking like the bad guy in a horror movie - he’s never dead when you think he is - and Djokovic’s return game was great.
Congratulations to Nole on a fantastic year. Congratulations to Nadal for a fantastic year, too. I didn’t get to see all of it due to a prior commitment, but what I saw was awesome tennis.
Two first-time US Open winners. Bravo!