Ten years later, there will be no final rematch of the 2008 Wimbledon epic between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. But the All-England Club faithful will be treated to a different historic rivalry two days earlier–Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic in the semis.
The two all-time greats are set to face each other for a hard-to-believe 52nd time in their careers on Friday, with Djokovic holding a lead so slim (26-25) that it will be all tied if he loses this one. Nadal had dropped seven in a row and 11 of their last 12 meetings before taking their two most recent encounters, also in semifinal showdowns (6-2, 6-4 last spring in Madrid and 7-6(4), 6-3 a couple of months ago in Rome). They have not collided on grass since the 2011 Wimbledon title match, which Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Surprisingly, Nadal had not been back to even the quarterfinals of this tournament since that 2011 result. But it has all turned around for the world No. 1 this fortnight, with straight-set romps over Dudi Sela, Mikhail Kukushkin, Alex De Minaur, and Jiri Vesely prior to an epic 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals. Nadal is now an awesome 35-2 this season and 31-1 in his last 32 matches since retiring against Marin Cilic in the Australian Open quarters.
“Anything could have happened (against Del Potro), so this is a big achievement for me to get to the semifinals at Wimbledon,” the Spaniard said following Wednesday’s thriller. “In the last set there was a little of everything: great points, great rallies, he was hitting crazy with his forehands. I tried to resist and maintain focus.
“Now is the moment to enjoy and then start to recover, as it was a tough physical battle. [Djokovic] is one of the toughest opponents. I am just excited to be in the semis.”
While Nadal has finally found greener pastures at Wimbledon following years of SW19 frustration, Djokovic’s all-around game appears to be back in business for the first time in a year. Physical problems derailed the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018 for him, but the Djokovic of old has returned. The 21st-ranked Serb picked up some momentum on clay and has only improved on grass, with a runner-up performance at Queen’s Club and wins this fortnight over Tennys Sandgren, Horacio Zeballos, Kyle Edmund, Karen Khachanov, and Kei Nishikori. Djokovic is 17-3 in his last 20 matches since being saddled with a 6-6 mark through his first 12 of the year.
“I feel (that) if I have to compare the game that I’ve played, the level of tennis that I’ve had those years and today, I think it’s pretty close,” Djokovic assessed after beating Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. “I like the level of tennis that I’m playing right now; I really do. I think with the performances I’ve had, I deserve to be in the semifinals. I don’t want to stop here. I hope I can get a chance to fight for a trophy.”
While this Djokovic is something different than what was on display from January through April, his sample size of success remains small. The 12-time major champion owns just a single top-10 win since Rome last spring, and that has come at the expense of a slumping Grigor Dimitrov in the Queen’s Club second round. Toppling Nadal in the Wimbledon semifinals is a whole different beast of a task.
Nadal has quite simply been the best player this entire year and the best player throughout this tournament. Although it obviously isn’t clay, conditions are suiting him well this fortnight. If more of the same continues and he produces a similar level to what Del Potro saw on the other side of the net, the 32-year-old should advance to his sixth Wimbledon final.
Pick: Nadal in 4
[polldaddy poll=10053663]
who ya got?
I hope Nadal but i fear Djokovic since 2011. You never know what could happen.
I hope its Rafa in four as I know Djoko is good enough not to lose in straight sets.
I just hope Rafa recovers in time and battle ready for the SF.
Djokovic in 4 for reasons already outlined.
Tactically, Djokovic can turn this into a grind and pull the trigger when he wants knowing the guy at the other end of the court is worn out and in need of a rest.
Djokovic is as opportunistic as Nadal and will use the work Del Potro has done to his advantage.
There’s a host of oyscholiguvsl factors at play here which give Djokovic additional motivation and an edge.
Djokovic in 4
Its going to Rain on Friday? how will That impact? your thoughts?
Weather forecast for Friday
https://www.lachainemeteo.com/meteo-royaume-uni/ville-44339/previsions-meteo-wimbledon-vendredi-prochain
No rain. 55% humidity but partly sunny
I haven’t seen enough of Novak recently to make a confident judgment, but what I have seen doesn’t look like the almost unbeatable version of a couple years ago. The forehand in particular isn’t much of a weapon, at least from what I’ve seen.
ND has raised his level by leaps and bounds at Wimby and he will be well and truly fired up for this match. OTH
so will be Rafa.
My guess is Djokovic will lose his cool and get into one of his manic rages – particularly if it is Bernadez in the chair: he’ll be issuing time violations left right and centre.
Put simply, Nadal can’t beat Djokovic in grass.
what about ON grass?
Hahahahaha!!…Yeah!!…Very funny Ricky!!..Hehehehe…Serves JC right!!
Hahaha Ricky, LOVE it! 😂😂
Haha! Good point, Ricky. 😉
What have you been smoking, JC? 😊
6 more sets, 2 more matches, 4 more days.
Rafa holding 18th slam trophy at All England Club.
Never doubt about it.
You are very brave to claim that. Djokovic is a dengrrous player . But i hope you are guessing right.
Rafa in 4
the id sounds familiar ..
vrael!
Ricky!!! XD
Folks : I know Rafa had a gruelling match tat was physically and mentally taxing but it was not the first time for him to have a 5 set marathon and having to bounce back. Yes he was younger earlier when he bounced back but then such kind of matches also give you the springboard to leap ahead as it puts in a great deal of confidence. Novak will not have it easy as Rafa will fight for this tooth and nail. I hope Rafa wins this though it will not be easy for either. Expect lots of see saw ups and downs. Historically Novak has been the toughest opponent for Rafa but Rafa has Wimby 18 to play for and it is worth going the extra mile for it.
Regarding Fed I always had the feeling he will not win Wimby and will underperform. He will make some noise at USO though (not saying necessarily will win but will go very deep).
Rafa now has a good buffer at world No 1 right till USO ends..thats another 2 months.
amy..was the Delpo match the edge match or nervy match as per you?
Novak maybe fresher but he has his own vulnerabilities too. It wont be easy for Novak to win this, rafa will make him earn this. Likewise if Rafa has to win, he will have to go all out and pummel Novak into submission who will bring his best for Rafa.
Sanju…no not really as his nervy matches mean that he starts timidly and poorly. Yesterday he started great and was very aggressive with the forehand piling up winners. In the first 2 sets he was much the better player but in the second set he suddenly threw in a terrible sloppy game to get broken. But he played great aggressive tennis to break back straightaway. In the tiebreak he had 4 set points and double faulted one away. Then in the third Delpo started playing awesome and rafa reverted to his old habits of playing as if he was on a clay court…attacking delpo’s bh while ignoring endless opportunities to take the point with a forehand. Last set was pretty amazing by both!! Sorry am writing with assumption you didn’t see the match?!?
If rafa comes out aggressive like he did in the first 2 sets and sticks to it then he’ll win. Nole is still mentally fragile and has lost crucial tiebreak s by choking. The thing that actually helps rafa imo is that he can’t even think about attacking Nole ‘s bh! That means he has to be aggressive with the fh!
Rafa is better at the net than Nole and has an infinitely superior overhead. I hope he throws up some lobs!!!
Mira – what you feeling? 🙂
Sanju…My feeling?…Weeelllll…I have a mixed feelings…Of coz i’m happy Rafa win..And 4 hrs 48 minutes is innocent numbers,but it looks like a golden opportunity lost…
I know anything can happen in tennis…i guess we just gonna wait & see…Would love for Rafa to prove me wrong Sanju….
any extended highlights of rafa delpo and novak fed? All I see are 3 minute useless highlights by Wimbledon
sorry anderson fed
This is a tough one to call.
Back in the day when Nole was in God mode Rafa clearly had a mental meltdown.
He (Rafa) then worked on his game, as Novak himself did before, to counteract Novak’s strengths and eventually managed to beat him again (maybe also Novak just couldn’t maintain the same level).
Even though Novak should have an edge on grass I don’t think it’s possible at this point to gauge Novak’s improved level Vs Rafa’s sustained Nr1nes (I take spelling liberties in this media chat format, forgive me)
I think if Novak is able to be a wall and paint the lines Rafa will probably implode at some point but, if Rafa is able to hurt Novak here and there he will smell blood and get the win somehow.
In short, lots of words to just state the obvious.
Yes, it’s really hard to predict what will happen. Especially since I’m not quite sure how far the Djoker has really come out of his slump. I suspect that he is on a very good way, but IMO he hasn’t been tested, yet, by a high quality opponent. Kei ist a high quality opponent but grass isn’t his best surface, and he is always plagued by one or another injury in the latter stages of a tournament.
Rafa has been severely tested yesterday, and he ultimately passed the test. And he overcame his five-set woes. That’s very important IMO. I tried to work out when his struggles to close out five-setters started. I think it’s possible that this trend started after he lost his epic encounter with the Djoker at the AO final 2012. After that match he won only two five-set matches if my memory ist correct: the great semi against the Djoker at RG 2013, and the match against Tim Smyzcek (probably spelled that incorrectly) at the AO 2015. But in 2012 his Wimby woes started in earnest with bis early loss against Rosol, and since then he lost many more five-setters, not just at Wimby. His five-set losses against journeymen like Rosol, Verdasco, Pouille, Fognini, Dustin Brown, and Müller come to mind. And he often lost after having been up a break in the fifth like against Fed at the AO 2017. Someone also pointed out that Rafa wasn’t as good anymore at winning matches where he won the first set. So, by winning against Delpo he really overcame a worrying trend, which surprisingly has rarely been analysed properly. It seems like the old narrative of Rafa, the ultimate fighter and clutch player, was too strong and every loss of another five-setter has been declared to be an exception – mostly because he still projected his oncourt warrior personality and his opponents had to throw everything and the kitchen sink at him in order to win.
Rafa won 2 five setters in AO 2017. People remeber the third five setter. May Rafa is so good that he is never extended to five sets.
True, how could I forget about the great 5-set wins against Zverev and especially Dimi!
And you are right, Rafa is normally good enough and doesn’t need to go often over the long distance. But it’s also true that bis 5-set statistics have taken a serious hit over the years, and there have been many puzzling losses against lesser players. And often he has been up a break in the 5th but couldn’t close it out. The two AO final losses against the Djoker and then Fed were especially hard. Right now I’m just glad that he pulled off the win against Delpo and hope it hasn’t sapped bis strength too much…
Still sticking with Nadal for this one, I think he’s looked a bit better in the tournament so far.
The winner of Isner/Anderson will probably need this match to really go the distance to have much hope.
Yes, Anderson/Isner could eventually profit from the lopsided development of the tournament. If Rafa and the Djoker will get into a protracted tussle it’s “Advantage Anderson/Isner”. I don’t count them out at all for the final. And I admit that I’m biased, but I do hope that Anderson will be in the final. Isner winning Wimby would be a cosmic joke…and not a good one IMO. Sorry, If I offend some of the few Isner fans here 😉
Was Goran also a servebot like isner? Just asking out of curiosity as I was only 2 years old when goran won wimby.
not really. Goran came to the net more. In his prime Goran was one of the best players in the world.
test
this is a slightly longer test.
Isn’tner definitely a servebot.
The only time that Goran was one of the best players in the world was 2001 when he wasn’t in his prime.
Goran came to the net more than Isn’tner because all players generally speaking at that time came to the net more on faster surfraces during the 90s. If Isn’tner played in the 90s, he would have come to the net more.
Compared to the best players in the world, he won 35% of return points (RPW), and by 2001, the year he won his lone slam, it was just 31% for that year (but TWA had begin).
RN forty three percent career RPW,
ND, AM, AA forty two percent,
Rog forty percent
Pistol thirty eight percent.
Johnny Serve Bot by comparison is a career twenty nine percent.
1
2
3
testing numbers
HAHAHA HAWKS! IsN’Tner!! That is the funniest shit I’ve seen in a while, Hawks. 🙂
You didn’t offend me, littlefoot. 🙂 And I know you didn’t offend Hawkeye haha! I’m usually able to separate someone’s political views from how I feel about them in sport. However, with Donald Trump, it’s not a political thing to me- it’s a moral thing, about common decency and how we treat our fellow humans.
Therefore I just cannot help but not like someone who so openly and publicly supports Donald Trump. I just can’t bring myself to just ignore this aspect of Isner. I don’t give a shit that he’s a conservative- it’s strictly the fact that he so passionately loves and defends the horrible human being that is Donald Trump. How am I supposed to be able to just pretend like that doesn’t exist, and want Isner to win? Same goes for Ryan Harrison, Kiki Vandewegh, etc., although those two are also cocky assholes who just suck. Isner at least tries to be a nice guy, which is unfortunately ruined by the fact that he WORSHIPS the most mean-spirited, divisive asshole in the entire country.
This dude is talking about wanting to tweet Trump to get him to come watch his semifinal match, as Trump is currently in Britain.
Ok, rant over. 😂
Yeah agreed kevin. Btw what is it with so many American tennis players supporting him? Can you imagine Murray Edmund Konta Robson Watson ever giving him the time of day?! I am absolutely sure that they all think he is a loathsome tosser!!
I really don’t get it, Amy… But the more I think about it, maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised. And what makes me say that is the fact that so many male tennis players are inherently sexist. How many ATP players actually believe that women’s tennis should be considered equal to men’s? I wouldn’t even use all 5 fingers to count them! And I’m pretty sure Trump has openly stated before that he felt like women’s sports are less than men’s. Let’s face it- that inherent sexism that is rampant in society is unquestionably greater among supporters of Trump.
So many we shouldn’t surprised how many Trump-supporting assholes there are in tennis?
How many TSA’s are there in the USofA? Enough to elect the madman. No reason tennis players shouldn’t reflect the society that spawned them.
don’t think all Trump supporters are assholes. Misguided, yes.
For example, Sandgren is a Trump supporter and a genuinely terrible person. Isner, however, appears to be a good guy.
Disagree with your last sentence. If Anderson plays like he did the last two sets, he will win against either of these guys. Too much firepower. Not saying he will (or even if he will get there), but the win against Fed will have given him massive confidence.
+1
It was a breakthrough win IMO, bigger than making the USO Final.
especially based on competition level in NYC
I don’t even think his US Open run was that impressive, personally. None of his wins were surprising at all.
I thought that his win over Andy Murray at 2015 US Open was his biggest achievement until yesterday. And I still put that win at #2 ahead of making 2017 US Open Final.
I know the odds are very sbad cakes against him, but could you imagine if Kevin Anderson became Wimbledon champion, having defeated Roger Federer AND Rafael Nadal/Novak Djokovic en route?? I mean, forget about his own personal best achievement- it would arguably be one of the best achievements in tennis, period! Seriously, what better single achievement could there be in men’s tennis than winning the most prestigious tournament beating 2 of the 3 greatest players of all-time en route?
But that’s why it would be the most monumental achievement- because he has like a 5% chance of pulling it off haha.
Ha, somehow “stacked” autocorrected into “sbad cakes”. 😂😂
Just read Tignor’s piece on the Rafa/Delpo match over at tennis.com. He made a very interesting point which had crossed my mind as well: I wondered how it would affect Rafa’s mind during the match when he learned that Fed lost! Tignor pointed out that Rafa was well in control of the match – and then Fed lost, and Rafa seemed to lose his concentration. Doing a double fault in a tie break is a rare occurence for Rafa, but it happened. I don’t see how Fed’s loss couldn not have affected Rafa: like it or not – Fed was the greatest obstacle for Rafa on his way to another Wimby title, and Rafa hasn’t beaten Fed in years (I won’t go into the reasons here why that is the case). Rafa himself has said recently that he is not eager for a new edition of the 2008 final, and that he prefers another opponent than Fed if he should reach the final. And then, out of the blue, his supposedly greatest obstacle was gone! That surely must’ve affected his mind. He might also have contemplated the possibility that he could follow suit and make an exit too. But he dug in and kept fighting. The thought that another Wimby title after an 8-year hiatus had just become more realistic might’ve helped him to come back and win this match.
I don’t know who will win the semi final – Rafa or Djoker. Ricky said that Rafa has been hands down the best player this season. This is an interesting point of view because Rafa missed huge chunks of the season because of his protracted injury woes. But Rafa has been nearly untouchable since he came back for his Daviscup matches against Germany, where, despite having gone into DC without being battle hardened, he dismantled Sasha Zverev in a great display of his clay court art. Since then he lost only one match. We will see if he can remain the best player as the season progresses. But at this year’s Wimby he demonstrated again that he is so much more than the King of Clay. And with Delpo he took down a player whose form had been very, very good lately. He even scored the first win of the season over Fed in the IW final. Looking back this match actually started Fed’s slide downwards. After IW he became beatable again.
Looking just at this season, Rafa is the favorite against the Djoker. But the length of his match against Delpo might be a factor. And I suspect that remnants of the Djoker might still remain lodged in Rafa’s mind, especially since the Djoker is clearly on an upward trajectory atm. I’m sure that both players will give their very best.
AT 9:11 AM: ¤¤ Tignor pointed out that Rafa was well in control of the match – and then Fed lost, and Rafa seemed to lose his concentration. ¤¤
===
Hmm. This is Mr. Tignor’s imagination.
That’s what Rafa replied to journalists:
“I was playing tennis. I was not thinking much about what was going on in the other court,” Nadal said.
“I am not that good to have the chance to think about all the things going on outside. I had a tough work having Juan Martin in front.”
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2018-07-11/nadal_books_first_semifinal_place_since_2011.html
It may be not so much Tignor’s imagination but his interpretation. It may be correct or not. And of course Rafa wouldn’t say openly right after the match, that he was a bit thrown off by Fed’s unexpected loss. But I would be very surprised it it didn’t affect him at all. This thought crossed my mind right after Fed lost, and I hoped that wouldn’t affect Rafa negatively.
Whatever, Rafa came out Victorinox, and that’s all that matters.
Correction: that should read “victorious”. I love the creativity of autocorrection 😉
Fed has admitted recently that earlier on when his biggest rivals lost, he felt pressure that he could follow next . Rafa surely would have been shocked seeing Feds loss and I am sure some thoughts ran through his mind as he was in 2nd set when that happened
littlefoot I had thought the same as a possibility while I was watching the match.
Many said the same about Federer in 2009 when Rafa lost in Paris. Federer seemed to tighten up several times in matches afterwards.
It is possible which is all that Tignor speculates.
Hawks, we will never know for sure – unless Rafa eventually makes a frank statement – but the way he lost the second set was puzzling and untypical for Rafa, especially since he normally nlever suffered many mental lapses when he plays against Delpo.
Ricky is right about Rafa being the best player this year even if he missed a chunk of the season out injured. Last year when Fed skipped clay and won his Halle and Wimbledon titles, suffering only one loss in the season to that point in time, many were saying he’s the best player, not Rafa despite Rafa having earned more ranking points.
Rafa in this season so far has lost only two matches, has won the most titles and ranking points, and has now reached at least the SF of Wimbledon with chances of winning the title. He’s clearly the best player so far this year.
Yes, I completely agree. I also never bought the narrative that Fed would be the real Number One If he only hadn’t skipped the clay season, because Rafa also missed large chunks of the 2017/18 years because of his injuries. Therefore they are pretty even as far as missed tournaments are concerned.
Rafa has had his lapses in concentration during his matches (in all or almost all of them) that had him losing serve(s).
I noticed the lapses happened after one plus hours of play, perhaps Rafa couldn’t sustain his concentration much longer than that without suffering lapses. It happened in the second set during the Delpo match as the first two sets took almost two hours (as long as any of his straight sets matches in the first four rounds).
I do hope Rafa could come out all guns blazing against Djoko to win the first two sets before his lapses occur; so that he will be ahead even if his lapses cost him a set. It’s important that he doesn’t give Djoko the head start over him, when Djoko is ahead, it’s hard to catch him.
Recently it hasn’t been so hard to catch the Djoker when he was leading. He lost many matches after leading comfortably. But I wouldn’t count on that trend to continue for the upcoming match…
Yes, I think thats the problem with Fed also. With Djoker as well. Earlier they were so good that would just run away with the matches.
Actually, lapses of concentration become more frequent when players get older. It’s Part of the aging process. Therefore it’s not a big surprise that it happens more offen, now that Fed, Rafa and the Djoker are thirtysomethings. And they can compensate this trend with experience.
And yeah something that is worth noting is that rafa has not lost a single gs sf since uso 2009(I maybe wrong) and yeah he has only lost 2 gs sf in his carrer. Amazing conversion rate it seems
This is turning out to be like rg 2013 where rafa djoko played the semis and rafa after playing a marathon easily dismissed ferrer. Now what ferrer is to clay court big servers are to grass court. So yeah anything can happen. Just hoping the best for nadal and all his fans.
No Ferrer on clay is less tougher than Anderson on grass because clay is Rafas strongest surface and grass is not. Its not a valid comparison.