[Protoss]

Oh geez. Djokovic goes from serving up 5-3 in the 4th set tiebreak to down 5-6.

[Protoss]

All hail Novak Chokovic. Nadal wins the 4th set tiebreak 7-5 from 3-5 down. Dang...the match is 4 hours 39 minutes long.

Djokovic was up 40-0 on Nadal's serve at 4-3 4th set.

[backhandsmash]

ååårh pis da!

[DownInAHole]

Protoss, old buddy, keep it together. Djokovic can still win it in five and if Nadal is able to beat him you have to give him credit for finally getting the monkey off of his back.

[Protoss]

You'd think Djokovic was the one that had lost 6 matches in a row.

This is the pre-2011 Djokovic who was a big mental midget against Nadal.

[DownInAHole]

Originally Posted by Protoss

You'd think Djokovic was the one that had lost 6 matches in a row.

Not really, it is tied two sets each. It is not as if Novak is getting hammered.

I really like watching matches like this where I am not emotionally invested in the outcome. If this was Caroline's match I would probably be in extremely rough shape at the moment. As it is I can just sit back and enjoy it.

Sometimes there are downsides to having a favourite player.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by DownInAHole

Protoss, old buddy, keep it together. Djokovic can still win it in five and if Nadal is able to beat him you have to give him credit for finally getting the monkey off of his back.

I really dislike Nadal. I wouldn't say I like Djokovic but he is preferable to Nadal.

It'll be yet another slam choked away to Nadal. It'll put him 1 step closer to catching up with Fed in slams and the French Open is the next slam. If Djokovic can't beat Nadal on hard court this year, then is he really gonna stop him on clay? I don't think so.

Djokovic is the superior hard court player and really shouldn't be losing to Nadal on this surface.

[Protoss]

Djokovic broken for 2-4 5th set. Barring some sort of miracle, it's game set match Nadal and slam #11.

[DownInAHole]

Novak is serving for the match. Protoss, you have been granted your miracle.

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by DownInAHole

Novak is serving for the match. Protoss, you have been granted your miracle.

At first it looked like you jinxed it.

Wow. Djokovic holds for 7-5 5th set at Ad Djokovic from 30-0 to 30-40 to 40-40. Nadal led 4-2 in the 5th set. Dang...the match was 5 hours 53 minutes long.

[backhandsmash]

Finally!!!

[Protoss]

Djokovic was 1/6 on break points to serve for the match, a couple of them 2nd serves. That's Federeresque.

[DownInAHole]

Originally Posted by Protoss

Djokovic was 1/6 on break points to serve for the match, a couple of them 2nd serve. That's Federeresque.

Nah, Federer would have converted, Olderer is the one you are referring to.

[bruce goose]

Glad to see that we can take Protoss off of Suicide Watch

A few thoughts: Murray wins the Hot Air Award for his weak attempt to imply that he deserved to be grouped with the Triumvirate.As I recall,Verdasco played a superior match in the 2009 AO semis--made more remarkable b/c his foe,Rafa,wasn't playing poorly by any means--and we saw what a Launching Pad for Slam success that has been for 'Nando.When Andy suffers a complete annihilation at RG to some clay-court specialist,all that empty,desperate self-hype will be laughed off

I found it humorous that the wrap-up credited Rafa with NOT sobbing,as Fed did in 2009,after he lost the final...as if it were some great accomplishment for an adult male to NOT act like Ivanovic or some other adolescent,13-year-old girl.Still,Rafa is a class act and,even though I remain convinced that he was using PEDs pre-2009 with his absurdly-inflated WWE musculature,he has proven that even his skinnier self is a living legend in the sport...and I shouldn't have been so hard on him before he won me over in 2010

As for Novak,his performance itself wasn't so fantastic...and yet he out-marathoned Rafa despite having played an extra-long semifinal.Pretty impressive that he can beat a legend in a Slam final even when he's tired and far below his peak level,match-wise.This suggests,at least somewhat,that he truly has turned the old 'Fed-al' into a triumvirate...and that 2011 wasn't some total aberration

Finally,men's tennis retains its glory when these top three guys compete vs. each other,yet I find it impossible to regularly follow a sport where there's so little legit competition.As much as I encourage the development of women's sports and how they benefit the emotional growth of young girls,Women's Ice Hockey has been sort of jokeworthy for many years because Canada and the U.S. were the only strong nations.Even when they faced the 4th- or 5th-best women's teams,the scores would be 8-0 or 10-1...uncompetitive blowouts....

Well,the ATP is the male counterpart to women's ice hockey,and that's made worse when they attempt to arrogantly,chauvinistically bad-mouth the WTA.They deserve all the humiliation and mockery they've been getting.Perhaps they should take some of Burisleif's advice by promoting diverse tennis skills on the youth level...instead of just championing the one-dimensional power game.Maybe that's one reason why these guys collapse so easily vs. the Triumvirate: When their one dimension isn't working,they have nothing to fall back on.Also,the Sissy Punk Quotient on the ATP is inordinately high...perhaps the circuit should MANDATE some sort of respectable,minimum academic achievement...if not accomplished,the player wouldn't be allowed to compete.It's appalling how intellectually STUPID and immature many of these spoiled brats are...and it makes them thoroughly unlikable.Their Hero/Forerunner McEnroe was a Mega-jerk,too,yet he was reasonably educated and expressed himself OFF-court--though he was a childish jackass ON it--in ways that pushed for the advancement of the sport

Once again,congrats to Nole

[postalblowfish]

Originally Posted by bruce goose

A few thoughts: Murray wins the Hot Air Award for his weak attempt to imply that he deserved to be grouped with the Triumvirate.As I recall,Verdasco played a superior match in the 2009 AO semis--made more remarkable b/c his foe,Rafa,wasn't playing poorly by any means--and we saw what a Launching Pad for Slam success that has been for 'Nando.When Andy suffers a complete annihilation at RG to some clay-court specialist,all that empty,desperate self-hype will be laughed off

How many slam finals and semi-finals has Verdasco had? Compared to Murray?

I mean seriously Bruce, this is ridiculous. Plenty of people have played well against Nadal. Robin Haase did brilliantly against him at Wimbledon. And where's he now, rankings-wise?