When the Australian Open draw came out last week, the tennis world eagerly anticipated a fourth-round showdown between Novak Djokovic and a top up-and-coming “NextGen” player.
It’s happening…just not against that NextGen player.
Djokovic and Hyeon Chung will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers–and for the second time at the Australian Open–when they battle for a spot in the quarterfinals on Monday. In round one of the 2016 event in Melbourne, Djokovic coasted 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Chung was only 19 years old at that point. Now 21, the South Korean has climbed to No. 58 in the world and he is the reigning champion of the inaugural NextGen ATP Finals in Milan. He was already off to a solid start to this 2018 campaign even before arriving at Melbourne Park, with a second-round showing in Brisbane (lost to Kyle Edmund in three sets) and a quarterfinal performance in Auckland–where he ousted Tennys Sandgren and John Isner before succumbing to David Ferrer. Chung has advanced this fortnight with defeats of Mischa Zverev (via retirement), Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev. The latter scalp was especially impressive, as Zverev is No. 4 in the world and skipped last fall’s Milan proceedings because he played in the real year-end championship–the Nitto ATP Finals.
“(He is) someone that is very disciplined; one of the NextGens,” Djokovic said. “He won in [Milan] last year. He’s playing great. He’s fit. He doesn’t have too many holes in his game. He’s very nice guy. You can see he’s a hard worker. It pays off. Into second week, it’s going to be a game of small margins.”
No opponent has been any match for Djokovic so far in Melbourne. Only various physical issues and some searing heat in round two have made things somewhat complicated for the former world No. 1, who is participating in his first event since Wimbledon last summer following six months off due to an elbow injury. It is his hip that has apparently bothered him at the Australian Open, although he may have favored his elbow a little bit, as well, during his heat-marred match against Gael Monfils. Djokovic limped around in between points on Saturday but still easily disposed of Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
Chung has a number of factors working against him heading into this one. He has never played on this kind of stage against this kind of opponent this late in a slam, and he has also played a ton of tennis already in this tournament (he’s also in the doubles third round after upsetting defending champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers with partner Radu Albot). The biggest factor of all, though, is the man on the other side of the net. As much fuss as Djokovic is making in between points, during the actual competition he has looked nothing less than 100 percent.
Assuming the case remains the same, the six-time Aussie Open champion should roll into another quarterfinal.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
[polldaddy poll=9922017]
who ya got?
Chung in 5. But could be in 4.
Nole in 3. We’re headed for a Nole-Fed Semi showdown. Hopefully, Nole still has some Aussie Open magic left in him and can win it for a seventh time.
Djokovic in four
Who does everyone think would win Djokovic vs Federer- I think Djokovic could possibly win
Mate. Djoker could lose this.
Chungas is a dark horse fo realsss.
I say chungas in 5 sets baby.
GO CHIMI CHUNGASSSSSSSS YOU CAN BEAT NOLE FOR SURE. IF NOT TAKE HIM TO 5 SETS
Novak two sets down to Chung at the moment,can’t see him turning this match around unfortunately.
That wasn’t a 100% Novak, but it was pretty good version. And Chung just played an out-of-his-skin match to beat him in 3 tight sets. Great match.
So, the pick has been totally wrong! Hopefully – at least for Rafafans – the Cilic pick will turn out to be wrong, too, lol!
But to be fair: Ricky had quite a few correct picks – and this Novak was far from 100%.
Hyeon Chung in 3, unbelievable!
I told yesterday about Boris Becker’s insights at German Eurosport. He said that Novak isn’t at 100%, yet, and he was right.
Hopefully Novak will keep coming back stronger and stronger. As a Rafafan I used to resent him because he beat Rafa so often in very important matches. But the Tour isn’t the same without him.
And we have a quarterfinal Chung vs. Sandgren. How surreal is that?? The draw in that section totally collapsed and Zverev might feel a whole lot better now, lol! And Fed probably, too…
While Tennys’ AO is really a nice feelgood story, especially since the news for Americans aren’t really all that uplifting these days, I like Chung’s chances to make it into the semis.
Yup, I think you can put Chung in the semis! And Fed in the finals. But I think Zverev will be feeling a whole lot worse… Credit to Chung for taking down a game Djokovic though. I do feel really bad for him. Think he’s going to have to reconsider surgery though.
That was just unreal. I’ve been wanting Chung to make a significant breakthrough for a while now, and it finally happened. I can’t believe that he was able to win in straight sets when he was up a break and Novak broke back and leveled it up in ALL THREE sets! I don’t give a damn what percentage Novak was at- nobody ever wins 3 straight TIGHT sets in a row off of Novak Djokovic, especially not when they are up a break in all three sets only to get broken back and sent to tiebreaks. That takes so much goddamn mental strength to pull off. Chung wasn’t just really great in that match, he was also really clutch! He straight up outplayed Novak in all the big points. This, to me, was different than Novak’s straight-sets loss to Thiem at RG last year. In that match, he just had no answer for Thiem for whatever reason. But against Chung, it seemed like he had a lot of answers and fought quite well. He just got outplayed, especially in big points.
I think that everyone left in the entire draw should not take this guy lightly…. I could particularly see him being a nusance for Federer, if he plays as solidly as he did tonight. I’m not saying that I would now pick Chung to beat Federer if they make the semis, but Federer will certainly have to be so on-point with his aggression and serving, as Chung is so fast and moves so well.
I just really hope that he continues to progress toward becoming a top-player because he clearly has the game, the desire, the work ethic, and athleticism to be great. He may not have the biggest serve like Kyrgios, Zverev, and the other Next-Gen guys, but he has more mental toughness and will to win than Kyrgios and Zverev combined…
So true this kid is so mentally tough. And not to mention how good he is physically. On that crazy hot day where Monfils was toast by the second set, Chung was barely breaking a sweat LOL. His fitness was a huge factor in his ability to fight through some nerves he must have been feeling. Oh yeah and the six time champ across the net as well 😅
Kevin, agree with your take. This was soo unreal. And Novak wasn’t even playing badly. There were exchanges out of this world. Chung is incredibly fast and agile. But so is Novak. Although it was only three sets, it was a great match. And I most admired Chung’s will to win. He was in front in every set, Novak managed to come back – and Chung was still cool enough to finish the sets and then the match on his own terms. I expected him to crack eventually but he didn’t, although Novak threw at him everything he had in the tank. He clearly has the right stuff. Even if he probably won’t win, he could trouble Fed more than all of Roger’s previous opponents combined. Hopefully Chung won’t have a let-down now, but I doubt it. So far he has been very level headed.
He has better court craft than any of the others that you mentioned. He’s beating Djoko at his own game but Djoko to me was certainly not at his best; still to be able to beat Djoko in straight sets with unwavering belief is certainly something remarkable.
Chung vs Sandgren next, that will be interesting.
I’m feeling bad for you Kevin,being you a great Djoko fan 😑
Chung played lights out,however Djoko said that the elbow started to bother him towards the end of the first set,which is terrible news,I mean,if he still feels pain after that long break,he probably will have to undergo surgery.
CHUNG AND SANDGREN ARE BEASTS!! ESPECIALLY CHUNG
Djokovic clearly not at his best physically,but it was great to see that he still has the desire to win and remains as one of the greatest competitors of all time.
Hats off to Chung,beating a 6 times AO champion at his own game is no easy for anyone. The SF looks perfectly reachable for him.
@PseudoFed tweets:
Dear Mr. Australia. Now we have dealt with the conspiracy theorists, back to evening matches only on Rob Laver arena, right up to the final please. Lots of love, GOAT xx #AusOpen
So, Pseudofed is still active? Haven’t checked him out for a while…
And as if on cue, Roger’s allegedly tough bottom half just collapsed nicely, lol!
Oh well, we have to admit that the same happened for Rafa at last year’s USO.
littlefoot AT 12:46 PM,
Fedfans are reminding readers of Rafa’s USO draw 24/7 (In comments sections on other websites).
LOL. Rafa’s draw opened up extremely well in New York but Roger’s at this event has opened up even more than Rafa’s did now that Djoker is out.
True, Benny, lol! O rwe can probably say in hindsight that Fed’s draw wasn’t really all that difficult in the first place since the Djoker was still compromised.
Augusta, yes, some fed fans may remind us of the USO draw, but these things happen, so what? And it’s only fair to admit it. Rafa had his fair share of difficult draws or bad luck at slams. Therefore I don’t mind at all that he caught a lucky break at last year’s USO. He earned the title with great play anyway.
Also so happy for Sandgren. I have been watching him for years on the challenger tour now and I never would have expected this from him. He is like a whole new guy now. He has always been solid from the baseline but never has he displayed these kinds of weapons he has had so far this tournament. He just took it Thiem. Really well deserved win for the American!! 👏🏼
Took it to Thiem*
While Novak made many uncharacteritic mistakes, he was certainly quickfooted and showed flashes of his old brilliance. But at times Chung seemed to treat Novak with his own medicine. He was lightning fast, and like Novak of old Chung hit some insane angles during rallyes which seemed to have been won by Novak already. That must’ve been very disheartening. Considering Novak’s physical condition it would’ve probably not been enough if Novak had managed to win that third set tiebreak.
Wasn’t fun to see perhaps the greatest AO champion EVER struggle the way he did. Djokovic’s injury is quite serious and I can see he has changed his service motion as well. He is still getting the pace but precision heavily compromised.
I have never been a supporter of Novak but I feel bad for him. It’s been a rough 7-8 months for him and I don’t see his struggles evaporating anytime soon.
On another note , a big hello to my fellow Tenngrand-ers 🙂
Hi Vamosrafa! Yes, while I admired Chung, I also felt pretty bad for Novak. I think his injury is far more difficult to deal with than Rafa’s and Fed’s physical troubles. Hopefully Novak will sort it out eventually.
Oh was he really compromised with the injury? I didn’t watch the match so I didn’t realize Djokovic was bothered so much. I figured he was still less than 100% but I didn’t realize he was visibly struggling out there. That’s a shame…I hope he can be fit and ready for the March Masters. Still though I cannot believe how resilient Chung continues to be here no matter who he plays. Unbelievable stuff!! I’ll have to watch some highlights. Already watched Sandgren crushing it vs Thiem and loved it.
Benny, Novak was struggling with his serve because his ellbow hurt, and that cost him many points he might’ve normally won. But he wasn’t slow at all and still able to hit some insane angles – only Chung managed to have the better end anyway quite often. Sometimes you got the feeling that Novak was playing an uncompromised version of himself! it was quite a sight.
Agreed. Chung was pretty impressive and he showed so many qualities. His backhand counterpunching, changing directions, movement, angles on the forehand and some other aspects had similarities to what we’ve seen from Novak all these years.
I was not posting here but the moment I saw Djoko serve against Thiem in Kooyong, I knew things are not good for him. Your injury is really bad if it forces you to tweak your service motion!! There is perhaps not a more important shot than your serve. He is full of doubts regarding his serve. He is clearly protecting his right elbow when going into the trophy position. I think the pace is still there and there has been no decrease. The problem is precision. The Novak first serve had evolved into a highly precise and accurate serve and just didn’t have it.
I think the Serbian is unfortunately in for a tough season.
Djoko said before the AO that he changed his service motion due to his elbow issues. (Source: his pre-tournament interview.)
ah okay. Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t read that. Did he go into any further details or just said he changed it?
vamosrafa AT 2:06 PM,
tennis.com, January 14, 2018: “NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO UNVEIL NEW SERVING MOTION AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN”
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2018/01/novak-djokovic-serving-technique-australian-open/71248/
Vamosrafa, that might well be true.
I had conflicting emotions during the match. On one hand I had been locking forward to a showdown between Fed and Novak. On the other hand I’ve really missen for many years a breakthrough performance of an outsider at the slams by some one who could then sustain it – like Becker, Sampras, Guga or Delpo. Or even a feel good win by an old gun like Goran. These stories make tennis richer. And they have not happened for a long time.
fair enough, littlefoot! Chung is inspired and I would say even Roger would have to play great to put this guy away.
PS, I am not taking Berdych lightly. He is going to be a real pain for Roger tomorrow. I am actually waiting for tomorrow’s match to assess Roger’s real level.
I wish Djokovic the best of luck and only time will tell how things go for him from here. He will eventually find his way I guess.
This makes me admire Rafa Nadal even more. How he’s managed to rebound from injury breaks with so much confidence is staggering. The guy’s had to change his backhand to save his left knee, tweak his service motion a bit to save his shoulder. Novak wouldn’t have to search hard for inspiration 🙂
Vamosrafa, I agree with everything you say. Yes, even Fed will have to play well in order to put this pesky guy away – if Fed makes it past Berdych who was pretty impressive himself so far.
And I also wish Novak all the best. He has changed his service motion already earlier in his career.It took him quite a while to get used to it. But in the end it paid off.
What you say about Rafa is also true: he really is the king of comebacks by now, and no one has been able to retool his game as successfully as Rafa.
And a big welcome back! You’ve been missed.
Djokovic said he deliberately changed his service motion, not his serve (those were his words, maybe you can explain to me how that is even possible?) to one that is easier on his elbow.
Kudos to him for both explaining his physical problem during the match but giving full credit to Chung for great play and mental toughness.
I suggest watching the video of the postmatch conference. Djokovic comes across as mature and thoughtful, not at all self pitying. Seems to have grown a lot. Hope he can overcome his problem.
Ramara AT 2:22 PM,
Djoko was grimacing during the match:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUJG9N_XUAA85Qi.jpg
cheers Ramara! hope all is well at your end.
Based on my observation, Djokovic’s changed the way he uses his right arm to get into the trophy position. If you notice his arm as he tosses the ball up to get into the trophy position, it gets obvious when compared to his prior motion. He is trying to put less stress on the right elbow.
It is not a massive change to his motion but enough to disturb the rhythm. I haven’t seen the numbers and will dig some out to confirm but pace is not an issue. He is ,however, finding it hard to consistently find the corners and I see him hitting more central serves.
Given the talent he is, I think he’ll adapt soon enough but getting CONFIDENT doing that might take a bit longer? Only time will tell.
His movement and everything else is as fluid as ever and it’s just a matter of getting match tough.
I will see the post match video in the evening. I would say the guy has matured a lot over the years and even his gesture at the net was a delight to watch.
Hi, VR.
When I think of the taunting and name calling Rafa gets from Djoker’s fans when he is struggling, I can’t find it in my heart to feel sorry for him. On another forum, they were beginning to get their bragging caps on saying how Rafa’s chances at RG this year are now gone with Djoker back.
I know. Just can’t get myself blended those sorts of ‘fans’ but that is just me. Will never support Djokovic but didn’t feel nice to see someone unable to play well below their potential despite trying hard.
Last year’s Rafa at RG would have CRUSHED any player. I expect the same as long as Rafa’s healthy.
*blended into
Quite right VR! The Djoker isn’t the same as some of his fans. And while he could become a little obnoxious when he won, he’s been always an exceptionally graceful loser. I can’t support him when he’s up against Rafa, though. But that’s just me, being a selfish fan, lol!
I always thought that for many reasons he hasn’t got the reckognition he deserved for his Novak-Slam. I discussed the reasons a few weeks ago with Luckystar. We agreed that it wasn’t helpful that his Novak-Slam didn’t include the very hard-to-get Channel-Slam, and that he didn’t manage to hold on to the No1 position at the end of the year. These facts took a bit of lustre off his great achievement.
Good points regarding the Nole-slam. While these are valid points, I still believe Novak slam wasnt celebrated in the tennis world anywhere close to what one would expect. One of the finest achievements EVER in tennis without a doubt and funnily, a lot of friends who happen to be federer fans don’t even remember Djokovic achieved that!!
I would also say that Djokovic is going to take his time to ‘fee at home’ with his new team. Remember how interactive he was with his gestures to his old team during matches ? He just doesn’t feel any connection yet. He fired his physio, his trainer and there are no familiar faces to look at and get solace and express what one’s going through!
It is all natural and would make sense to take a while People don’t understand how small the margins are the top and how little things can matter so much. face!
I was actually very surprised that the Novak-Slam didn’t garner a more lasting reckognition. And we now know what it cost him physically and emotionally. His elbow had already started to act up at the time.
Maybe, Novak should’ve tried to keep Becker as his main coach. They were an unlikely couple but they had unparalleled success together. And it was good for both of them. Becker, as we know now, desperately needed the money and the reckognition as a top coach. And Novak needed the firm hand of the shrewed competitor that Becker used to be. Interestingly Becker wasn’t fired. He resigned when he felt that Novak started to be too much under the spell of his love-and-peace guru.From then on it has gone downhill for Novak and Becker. But maybe, both are on their way up again. Becker is apparently very relaxed these days and even physically fitter again after his hip operation. While his current debth are mindboggling (60 million Euros!), he profits from the private bankruptcy rules in Great Britain. All his creditors have one year for declaring what exactly Becker owes them. After a year every penny of Becker’s current assets goes to his creditors – and then it’s over. Becker might have lost everything, but he can start all over again into a new debth free life. And he will have many ways to make a very comfortable living, lol! Of course his creditors will lose huge sums of money. But especially his main creditor is so filthy rich himself that it hardly matters for him.
Ok, that was just my musings. Both, Novak and Boris will be fine eventually.
Excerpts from Djokos’s post-match interview:
¤¤ Q. How is your health?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, it’s not great. Unfortunately, it’s not great. Kind of end of the first set it started hurting more. So, yeah, I had to deal with it till the end of the match.
.
Q. Do you think you need more time out to allow it to heal again?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I really don’t know. Now I don’t know. I have to reassess everything with my team, medical team, coaches and everybody, scan it, see what the situation is like. Last couple weeks I played a lot of tennis. Let’s see what’s happening inside.
.
Q. Was the thought at the beginning of the tournament that you were fit enough to get through seven matches?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, yeah. I was hoping I can go through it. As I was mentioning before, as a professional athlete, you have to deal with pain at a certain level, a certain degree. You kind of get used that…¤¤
Read more:
https://ausopen.com/articles/interviews/novak-djokovic-22-01-18-interview
I thought that Nole’s foot speed was fine but he’s not hitting near as flat as he used to and the precision is not there.
He was ripe for the picking.
I’d be excited if the breakthrough was because Chung was beating players playing well but that’s not the case. Granted there is potential no doubt.
Neither Chung nor Nole would stand a chance against this “aging” Federer.
Tennys Sandgren now has as many Top 10 slam victories as do the No. 4, 5 and 7 players combined.
#ReturnOfTheWeakEra
Hawkeye, I don’t consider Chung’s success to be a real breakthrough – not yet. Taking out an inexperienced Zverev and a compromised Novak isn’t the kind of break-through I was talking about. He needs to do more. But Chung showed a few very promising things. Some of the rallyes were absolutely breathtaking. And taking out even a compromised Djoker in three is quite an achievement.
As to the dawn of a new weak area: you know that in principle I agree with you. But in this case it isn’t just Fed but also Rafa who profits from the lack of real competition. Both of them aren’t quite as strong as they’ve been in their respective prime – and they sit with lots of room to spare on top of the heap nevertheless.
We are talking about perhaps the greatest AO champion ever so yeah, it still needed a huge effort to take Djokovic out and Chung managed that. I thought he was going to lose the 3rd set but he was phenomenal. He will be hard to put away.
Agreed. Chung played great. But Nole played a big part in letting him execute. Lack of depth and moon balling being a shadow of his former self. I honestly believe that Federer would have beaten Chung in three.
Sure Rafa profited last year but Fed more so IMO, because Rafa was not at his best allowing Fed to beat him in Australia last year. Rafa finished No. 1 and didn’t even need his best tennis, another indication of the return of the Weak Era. Sure probably “aging” Federer could have finished No. 1 had he played the clay season for that matter.
That speaks to the drop in depth of the field and it goes back to where talented athletes with potential choose to go. The chances of becoming a rich and successful tennis player are much smaller compared to other professional sports because of rapidly dwindling prize money/salaries relative to other professional sports. So they pick another sport instead.
Short sighted and players need a true players union.
Even Rafa looked poor IMO vs Diego. Way too defensive and too error prone.
Only a much better in form Rafa can stop Fed but this Rafa will have his hands full just to beat Cilic and Dimitrov.
Like I said before the tournament started, I don’t think he will get past Dim Dim this year. He barely did last year and Dimmy’s improved but Rafa is about the same give or take.
Again, speaks to the unmatched longevity of Federer who has always been around to take advantage when the field is lacking (and scheduling is within his control).
Hawkeye, I agree with your analysis why there is another weak era right now. The so called golden age of tennis when the Big Four reigned supreme for ages, had always a darker underbelly. While there have always been fluctuations, young people have indeed few incentives to embark on a professional tennis career. I believe that those who are ranked below 50 earn far too little money. If you think about it: if you have Tennys Sandgren’s ranking you’re one of the best tennis players in the world. And yet, players like him are seen as journey men and can hardly make a living. Dustin Brown used to travel in a caravan in order to cut expenses (although I have an oldtimer caravan, too, and I absolutely love it. I try to use it whenever possible). Anyway, a talented athlet might see better chances elsewhere. Or his/her parents might make other choices for them. What kind of sport would Mike Agassi or Richard Williams force on their small kids these days? Would a young Rafa decide that soccer is the better choice?
I also believe that the long reign of the Big Four has discouraged the Young Guns a bit and stunted their mental development. Thiem said so himself last year after he won against Novak – only to lose two days later to Rafa. He said: “what’s the point of working hard, make sacrifices and develop a winner’s mentality if you know you will lose anyway, even after a great win. One of the Big Four will always get you in the end”. I think the majority of the Young Guns hasn’t learned to picture themselves as future slam winners, because the chances to get one of those trophies have been incredibly slim. So, why should they get upset because they’ve lost in the 4th round if they know they probably wouldn’t have made it beyond the quarterfinal or at best the semis anyway! Why should Thiem be overly upset about his loss to Sandgren? He knows after all that Fed would’ve got past him in the semis. In order to win slams a player has to believe that he can do it. As long as the Big Four snatched up everything the younger players couldn’t picture themselves holding the trophy. And who can blame them considering against whom they were up to in the latter stages of a slam?
But I think that 2018 might shape up differently. There are only two of the Big Four left right now. And I think it’s highly unlikely that Rafa and Fed will duplicate their incredible success of the last season, even if they will probably manage to stay on top of the rankings. Especially Rafa’s clay court prowess will help him to remain No 1 or 2 if he stays healthy. But members of the younger generation will have more chances than in previous years to bite into one of the big trophies. Dimi did so at the WTF – and he won without having to play one of the Big Four. Others will eventually follow.
And VR (welcome back BTW), you can say that about Nole past champion and all that but I’d look at Rafa who was easy for Nole to beat at RG in 2015 in straight sets – past accomplishments are out the window when not near your best which neither were in those losses.
Don’t get me wrong. Chung has plenty of potential to be top 10 or possibly win slams. That’s not my point at all.
But any of the big 4 (or even Stan) would beat him right now if they are on their game. I think Chung would push Rafa very hard ATM. Rafa is being way too defensive and his confidence, while so much improved since 2016, has never fully recovered to where it was prior to 2014.
@Hawkeye, thanks and hope you’ve been well.
I agree that the Djokovic factor was far bigger. If you read my earlier posts, they are more focused on how Djoko’s compromised game led to this outcome rather than being thoroughly outplayed by Chung. Sure, Chung was AWESOME and showed so much skill as well as grit. However, Djokovic was just not the player who has owned Rod Laver arena for most of the last decade. Also agree with the Rafa 2015 analogy except for the fact that Rafa was up against Nole who already had beaten Rafa so many times and there were no surprises there given how poorly Rafa had been playing. Chung came in as a nobody so he had to muster a lot of courage and show mental strength.
i didn’t like the way Rafa played against Diego. I do expect him to step it up tomorrow and as long as his first serve works well, he will get past Marin in 4 sets max.
All is well VR thanks. Hope the same for you.
How do you feel about a Rafa Dimi semi?
Hawkeye, I totally agree with you that Rafa’s confidence has never completely recovered – no matter how much he won in 2017. That is actually hardly surprising. But with his old level of confidence he would’ve won even more in the past season. Only on clay he was as devastating as always once he found his footing.
You asked VR, and he will give you an expert answer. Personally I think that Rafa’s h2h against Dimis is even more devastating than against Cilic since he payed him more often. In 2017 he won all encounters. That has to prey on Dimi’s mind when he sees Rafa on the other side of the net. But the last matches were all very tight affairs and Dimi has matured. Therefore it’s probably a matter of time. On the right surface against a Rafa who isn’t 100%, yet, he might finally score a win. Btw, the same is probably true against Fed where the h2h is equally lopsided.
His lingering doubt is why he lost to Fed last year. Lacked consistent depth on his shots. Same as he did vs Schwartzman for much of the match.
Dimi is Fed’s biggest threat. Which isn’t a big threat if Fed is near his best on the day.
Berdych is no threat and he hasn’t played a real opponent yet.
I’m just watching a replay of Chung vs Novak on German Eurosport with Becker commenting. Very interesting insights of someone who knows Novak intimately. They’re just in the tiebreak of the first set. Becker thinks it is a very high qualitiy match with world class baseline rallyes,and he’s still overall optimistic that Novak will pull it off. But he’s extremely concerned re: Novak’s serve and says there’s something very wrong.
I missed the first set so perhaps he was playing better but from the second set on, his shots were loopy and/or short too often. Lacked consistency.
Be interesting to hear what Boris said over the next two sets.
Hawkeye, it’s not a complete replay. But they show long chunks without interruption, which is a lot more informative than the highlight reels on youtube. They show it warts (double faults) and all, also you get quite a few glimpses of Novak’s box (they aren’t amused) and you have the uninterrupted live comments. Unfortunately Boris becomes more and more mute – probably because he’s emotionally too involved and knows what’s coming but of course can’t say it openly. Normally he’s quite eloquent. He’s full of praise,though, of Chung’s agility and body balance. He also says that Chung, unlike other youngsters, has a plan B if A doesn’t work – unlike Zverev for example who is lost when his A game doesn’t cut it. But Becker also said that most of the time Novak didn’t take it to Chung; he only reacted, which wasn’t enough – and yes, he did often play loopy and didn’t paint the lines – probably because of an overall lack of confidence in his body.
Chung was impressive and occasionally came up with magic balls, But mostly I was impressed by his mentality. I don’t see him beating any of the top players left in the draw, though, but he could definitely be pesky and snatch a set. And he’s used to the big stage by now and enjoys the applause of the spectators.
What kind of player is Sandgren? I haven’t seen any of his matches. Chung beat him a couple of weeks ago but it was a tight 3-set affair.
Don’t know much about Sandgren. Benny says he’s followed him on the Challenger circuit I believe.
That’s what I saw with respect to what you described in the last two sets.
I fully expect Chung to beat Sandgren (unless he has a letdown after beating his idol which could very well happen but in his case I don’t think it will as he seems very grounded and mature for his age).
H. Chung deserves a lot of credit, this guy is good.
If you didn’t watch the match, here are some highlights.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zZCrwGkrE
This guy is future GS champion, he better not win this one 😂.
ALL IN ALL I WAS RIGHT. GOOD WIN FOR ME TAKING CHUNG $$$
Is this seriously not the biggest missed opportunity not to have this song blared on court after every single Chung victory?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXu6QmxpJE
Excerpts translated into English by the author of the article (see the links below):
Djoko:
“Surgery wasn‘t an option as I was convinced by the doctors that it hadn‘t been the best option at the time. Will it now appear as a possibility, I don‘t know.”
“Perhaps I could be looking at a longer break again, I don‘t know, I have to take an X-ray, consult with specialists.”
“It‘s like having a bug inside yout head that keeps reminding you of the pain – if I‘m not relaxed while serving, I won‘t be with the rest of my game either.”
“If one shot is compromised, then the whole game is compromised. It‘s hard to fully understand that if you‘re not an athlete at this level.”
“Mentally wise, I don‘t feel spent, I‘ve still got motivation. Tennis is my love and passion, a platform my development as a person. If only that is the question, I will surely keep on playing.”
“It‘s obvious I‘m not nearly 100% when it comes to healing this injury. I don‘t want to be put in the situation to look for short-term solutions again, that is not right.”
https://twitter.com/ozmo_sasa/status/955459880403390464
http://sportklub.rs/Tenis/Grand-Slam/Australian-Open/a227842-Novak-Rekli-da-ne-operisem-mozda-sledi-duza-pauza.html
I do hope Djoko takes his time to heal and not rush things. Watching Chung yesterday reminded me of how good a top form Djoko was; Chung modeled his game after Djoko’s and the younger original version was just so much more awesome than the Chung version. I mean to be able to beat Fedal consistently during 2011, we got a glimpse of how good Djoko could be and the 2015 version was a more complete one with more varieties in his game.
I would say a peak form Djoko was > Fed’s or Rafa’s peak; it’s just that he wasn’t able to sustain his peak for long. He’s the only one imo to be able to dominate on three surfaces at the same time.
Rafa’s peak on clay was definitely > anyone else’ but problem with Rafa was that he peaked on different surfaces at different time (grass 2008; HC 2009/2010), his 2010 was his best year in terms of slam wins, but he wasn’t really dominating on the HCs. Imo he missed his golden chances in 2009 when he had his knee injury, I strongly feel that he would dominate on all surfaces in 2009 if not for his knee injury.
Fed was always dominant on grass and HCs during his peak years from 2004-2007; he was second best on clay from 2005 onwards until Djoko took over from 2011 onwards. Fed has/had never dominated on three surfaces, unlike Djoko.
As long as Djoko has the motivation, I think he will come back to play good tennis again, but, I doubt he will ever get back to his 2015 or early 2016 level again. He may be like Delpo, still great after coming back from injuries; but Djoko won’t dominate anymore imo.
@augusta008
“Mentally wise, I don‘t feel spent, I‘ve still got motivation. Tennis is my love and passion, a platform my development as a person. If only that is the question, I will surely keep on playing.”
Mixed messages. Last year he declared that tennis was no longer his priority:
Novak Djokovic’s former coach says tennis is no longer Djokovic’s top priority, and there’s a key ingredient missing from his game
Scott Davis
Jan. 23, 2017, 8:40 PM
http://uk.businessinsider.com/boris-becker-novak-djokovic-tennis-not-top-priority-2017-1
ATP Tour
Djokovic: Tennis is no longer my top priority
2017-03-06 16:30
Cape Town – World No 2 Novak Djokovic says that tennis is no longer his top priority and his focus has shifted to his family.
The 29-year-old Serb, who became a father in October 2014 when his wife Jelena gave birth to his son Stefan, has admitted that, prior to having a family, his total focus was on tennis and it showed with him winning 12 Grand Slam singles titles.
https://www.sport24.co.za/Tennis/ATPTour/djokovic-tennis-is-no-longer-my-top-priority-20170306
Nadline, the Djoker might’ve shifted his perspective again a bit after his prolonged absence. His passion for the game might’ve returned.
I feel sorry for him right now, and hope he will find acceptable solutions, but I fear that his days as a top dog might be over.Then again, he had a better career than most players. He did incredible things, and other players have had to face a fairly early decline, too. Such is life. I also admire Rafa even more because he managed to come back repeatedly and played on a high level again. His curiously and uniquely interrupted history as No1 is a testament to that. He has been No1 at various times over a span of almost 10 years now! Only Fed has a chance to beat this if he manages to become No1 again this season. Rafa’s comeback quality is the absolutely underrated part of his career. After 2009 he always made it back to the top spot after lengthy injury lay offs. That’s fairly mindboggling if you think it through. And his knees have been as much an integrate part of his game as the Djoker’s elbow. I also wonder about one thing. It’s pure speculation. But is it possible that Rafa – besides being able to adapt his game – has a strong ability to deal with pain, and maybe Novak is less able to ignore it? When he was younger it was a running joke that he was a bit of a hypochonder and always affected by various maladies. We all remember Andy Roddick’s teasing. Novak retired routinely, before he suddenly morphed into Mr. Indestructable.