Topic: WWW 2012 USO QF: (2) Novak Djokovic vs (7) Juan Martin Del Potro

[Start da Game]

this is the match i have been looking for right from the beginning of the tournament........can del potro take his game to the next level? it will be a night match so no exhaustion worries for dp........this match could go five sets.........who are you backing in this quarterfinal?

[Babblelot]

I like Nole. Delpo is hard for me to read right now. He gives the impression that he's still not ready but he has that droopy dog look that makes him a difficult read.

In any event, Nole in straights.

[Rafa816]

Del Po has been playing off since the beginning, but this round against Roddick he finally seemed to be getting back in form. Thumping forehands and serves and moving better than I think I've ever seen from him. I'm taking Del Po in 4.

[Alex]

I'm drooling over this match. It should be fun. The problem with DP is that Nole is a horrible match up for him. Forget about the Olympics btw. Djokovic is simply moving so much better than DP and I think that will be the key in this match.

[Start da Game]

what if dp decides to rip forehands and they go in, what if he has a good serving day? plus djokovic looks very beatable........i think dp is up for it........he is no mug on decoturf........let me say del potro wins in 5 sets.........

[Babblelot]

Heh?

Nole's looking beatable?

This is going to be another dud.

[Start da Game]

Heh?

Nole's looking beatable?

This is going to be another dud.

djokovic is not that impressive anymore........his forehand is starting to lose sting again........with the surface being fast, d pot can achieve good penetration on his groundies and make it difficult for nole to retrieve........djokovic would be a nightmare on slow hardcourts putting back everything but it will be 50-50 tomorrow........del potro should just make sure he has a good serving day and things will get interesting........

[swish]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.
 

[Babblelot]

Nice breakdown of Nole's stats

128-16
4 slams
17-9 v. Fed, Rafa, Murray
53 weeks @ #1

[FreeBird]

So far, quite a bit less drama than even last night.  Nole clubbing DP's serve.  Nole looks gimpy too but still beating the snot out of DP.  I'm thinking that Shank's string of 'good' predictions continues.....lmao.

[FreeBird]

Now *that* was a thrashing.  Boom!

[Start da Game]

Now *that* was a thrashing.  Boom!

thrashing was not that.......thrashing was berdych hammering fedoriva and giving a psycho smile at the end to piss off the fedtards to no ends........ 

[Start da Game]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.

once again i got up just in time for the second set, saw the entire second set and back to sleep again........d pot should have taken that second set, he had a lot of chances........it would have been a different story had he just willed himself through that second set........

djokovic with his ott shouting whenever he closes a set is behaving as if he is the king of tennis.........i don't understand that from him sometimes........with no nadal, he got spanked in the olympics bronze match by dp on grass and chickened out twice against fed at wimbledon and cinci final again in the absence of nadal.........we all know who the real king is and that he is probably not playing until world toast finals........

djokovic just had one great season and that's it........he is still very beatable, d pot served for that second set and just failed to it, otherwise the story would have been different........ferrer might not beat djoke but berdych or murray certainly can........

[FreeBird]

More 'shoulda' - happens way too much.  DP shoulda willed himself to the 2nd set.  Rafa shoulda made the easy backhand pass in the 2012 AO final.  On the other hand, the shouldna's:  Fed shouldna won that 2nd match point against Djoker in the 2011 USO semi.  And so it goes.

Odd to criticize Djoker 'one great season', because that's how I see Rafa's career to this point as well.  Dominant 2010, excellent 2008.  Otherwise, dominant on clay but then this is the WCEOAT so no surprise he's been on top on clay.

The continued positing of the 'Djoker chickens out when Rafa isn't around' is hilarious but will soon end up in the trash where it belongs.  A couple of months ago it was the lamenting that 'everyone else' chickens out and Rafa is needed to 'maintain order' - but that theory is now trashed, with Fed unable to win either Olympic gold or the USO. 

Keep digging!

[FreeBird]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.

djokovic just had one great season and that's it........he is still very beatable, d pot served for that second set and just failed to it, otherwise the story would have been different........ferrer might not beat djoke but berdych or murray certainly can........

This doesn't count as a prediction does it?  I was thinking that Murray (not Berd) could take Djoker, but if the Astro-Predictor is taking Murray, then I know that Djoker will win! 

[Alex]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.

once again i got up just in time for the second set, saw the entire second set and back to sleep again........d pot should have taken that second set, he had a lot of chances........it would have been a different story had he just willed himself through that second set........

djokovic with his ott shouting whenever he closes a set is behaving as if he is the king of tennis.........i don't understand that from him sometimes........with no nadal, he got spanked in the olympics bronze match by dp on grass and chickened out twice against fed at wimbledon and cinci final again in the absence of nadal.........we all know who the real king is and that he is probably not playing until world toast finals........

djokovic just had one great season and that's it........he is still very beatable, d pot served for that second set and just failed to it, otherwise the story would have been different........ferrer might not beat djoke but berdych or murray certainly can........

I'm really not sure if we watched the same match. I saw all 3 sets, it was a great match but Nole destroyed DP. that second set, Pony wasn't able to close because Novak didn't let him. as simple as that. DP was serving bombs and everything came back to him.

saying that Djokovic had a one great season and that's it is just plain stupid. you are getting more and more annoying btw. I don't even thing I'll respond to any of your posts any more 

[no_1_djoko_fan]

I agree with Alex.

Nole is in a different planet to everyone else in this tournament.

Ferrer like DelPo will offer a challenge but I can see him winning comfortably in three or four sets.

Murray is the one to watch out for but I think it's Nole to lose with Rafa injured and Roger out.

[swish]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.

once again i got up just in time for the second set, saw the entire second set and back to sleep again........d pot should have taken that second set, he had a lot of chances........it would have been a different story had he just willed himself through that second set........

djokovic with his ott shouting whenever he closes a set is behaving as if he is the king of tennis.........i don't understand that from him sometimes........with no nadal, he got spanked in the olympics bronze match by dp on grass and chickened out twice against fed at wimbledon and cinci final again in the absence of nadal.........we all know who the real king is and that he is probably not playing until world toast finals........

djokovic just had one great season and that's it........he is still very beatable, d pot served for that second set and just failed to it, otherwise the story would have been different........ferrer might not beat djoke but berdych or murray certainly can........

I saw the whole match.
 
Djokovic was just amazing in getting to some balls.
DelPo should have come to the net after those as the replies were not too strong but he just stayed back. He lost some points there.
 
DelPo wasn't putting much angles on his shots as he did in 2009, most of them were back toward the middle of the court.
 
DelPo's BH wasn't too steady either, so that's one area to work on.
 
DelPo didn't chase a lot of balls, just let them go by till near the end of the match, he was conserving energy because he knows he didn't have enough endurance to play like that all match like he used to in 2009.
DelPo didn't grunt for long periods of time while hitting groundies, again he didn't put everything into it as he can't keep that up,,,,, conserving energy again.
There is no excuse to not beable to play hard for 5 sets, he's had more than enough time to increase his endurance.
 
Overall, he gave Djokovic a good match. Djokovic is such a fine athlete and can play like that for hours if needed.
Djokovic, Nadal, Fed and Murray are light years ahead of the rest of them with Ferrer being somewhat in between.
 
In todays game if you don't have a top notch endurance base you will fail in especially five setters.
Most players can make up their defiencies for a few sets by pushing their physical game but the extra work catches up.
 
They have to be in better shape than the top 4 actually to make it work because they use extra physical effort to make up for lack of skills.
 

 

[Start da Game]

I took DelPo!!!!!!!!!! 
 
Djokovic should take this one but DelPo does give him a hard time.
If you looked at them separately you'd think Djokovic would have no problem but that isn't the case.

once again i got up just in time for the second set, saw the entire second set and back to sleep again........d pot should have taken that second set, he had a lot of chances........it would have been a different story had he just willed himself through that second set........

djokovic with his ott shouting whenever he closes a set is behaving as if he is the king of tennis.........i don't understand that from him sometimes........with no nadal, he got spanked in the olympics bronze match by dp on grass and chickened out twice against fed at wimbledon and cinci final again in the absence of nadal.........we all know who the real king is and that he is probably not playing until world toast finals........

djokovic just had one great season and that's it........he is still very beatable, d pot served for that second set and just failed to it, otherwise the story would have been different........ferrer might not beat djoke but berdych or murray certainly can........

I saw the whole match.
 
Djokovic was just amazing in getting to some balls.
DelPo should have come to the net after those as the replies were not too strong but he just stayed back. He lost some points there.
 
DelPo wasn't putting much angles on his shots as he did in 2009, most of them were back toward the middle of the court.
 
DelPo's BH wasn't too steady either, so that's one area to work on.
 
DelPo didn't chase a lot of balls, just let them go by till near the end of the match, he was conserving energy because he knows he didn't have enough endurance to play like that all match like he used to in 2009.
DelPo didn't grunt for long periods of time while hitting groundies, again he didn't put everything into it as he can't keep that up,,,,, conserving energy again.
There is no excuse to not beable to play hard for 5 sets, he's had more than enough time to increase his endurance.
 
Overall, he gave Djokovic a good match. Djokovic is such a fine athlete and can play like that for hours if needed.
Djokovic, Nadal, Fed and Murray are light years ahead of the rest of them with Ferrer being somewhat in between.
 
In todays game if you don't have a top notch endurance base you will fail in especially five setters.
Most players can make up their defiencies for a few sets by pushing their physical game but the extra work catches up.
 
They have to be in better shape than the top 4 actually to make it work because they use extra physical effort to make up for lack of skills.

that second set is one of the very best sets of tennis this season........i am glad i just got up in time and saw it entirely before sleeping again........he should have sealed it at 5-4 but these back to back matches on consecutive days did not do him much favour and shifted the pendulum heavily towards yellovic........

i know there is no excuse for not staying fit but sometimes when you are struggling you need a bit of luck as well to get back in the mix........a good day's rest and we might have seen a different dp........the match was still very close........