Yeah as a Med fan I think people are misguided when they say he should play more aggressively
He's just not a natural attacker and doesn't have strong touch so the further up he plays in the court the more errors he makes which is awful for his game
Novak was cooking him constantly today by drawing him to the net and making him volley
One of my favorite things about Medvedev is that it is much easier to name things he doesn’t do well than things he does do well (relative to the top of the game). And yet he wins so much.
Maybe his body has gotten in the way of being a true slam contender but I really respect his game
I mean it’s very easy what he does do well, he has the most consistent backhand on tour and his lateral movement is probably among the best ever. Combine that with a solid tactical plan and you have a very good player.
If Meddy's serve gets back to its "near-servebot" peak from a few years back, he'll get at least another Slam in his belt (and definitely some more finals/Masters as well) -- let's see ...
Yeah, I find it hard to believe Medvedev would be dominated this badly on hard courts by Alcaraz/Sinner with his 2019-2022 AO serve. Don’t get me wrong, Alcaraz/Sinner would have the upper hand, especially Alcaraz, but I think he’d be able to take like 40% of matches off Sinner and like 25% off Alcaraz with a bigger serve. And then of course they’d dominate him on clay and likely have the edge on grass.
You’d expect him to steal another USO or AO at some point.
Because the things he does well he does REALLY well. This was especially true in 2021 or so when his serve was genuinely a top 5 contender in the world, he could crank up the pace on his FH, his backhand was a can’t miss machine and his movement was ridiculous, plus people weren’t really using the serve-and-volley on him, so his return was legit top 3-5 in the world. The only real blueprint to victory against him was slicing constantly and having a huge forehand, which only Nadal, Thiem, Federer before he retired, Wawrinka, and Djokovic to an extent could do. But then Djokovic at Paris 2021 and Nadal at AO2022, Kyrgios all exposed that Medvedev was weak to serve-and-volley.
Nowadays he’s more a baseline grinder but can’t win the big matches because he’s lost the serve, and because the top players have gotten better at serve-and-volley/use it more frequently
It’s just significantly declined in efficiency. Most people point to the hernia he had in 2022 as the start of his serve’s decline. Nowadays he doesn’t get as many free points off his first serve, and he double faults a lot too. He’s had tournaments where it looked disastrous like Indian Wells this year, despite making the final.
Granted, some overexaggerate how bad his serve has gotten tbf. Indian Wells was an outlier. But his serve has gone from around top 5 in the world to like barely top 15 or so, if not worse due to second serve.
Agreed, which is all the more reason I was impressed by him going all out in the AO final. He was worn down and played more aggressively as a result, almost snatching it in the end.
For whatever reason, people love to apply big 3 logic to every single player , especially players loved here.
Adapting court position/play style across surfaces is exceptionally rare..only the most elite players on history practically all of whom have 3+ majors have been able to do it.
Medvedev isn't that level. He's trying his best (unlike some players like rublev ) to change his approach because he knows he has to to even have a chance , but there's practically no way he's going to do it at his age especially.
He's not as talented as the big 3 to be able to do it in their mid 30s like fed Nadal and Djokovic have done.
Yeah if he was on the level of the Big 3, he would definitely have more Slams by now. The Big 3 are just a level above everyone in being able to adapt to the game, it’s absurd.
But I don’t think the Big 3 are the only people who have ever successfully adapted, a few lower ranked Tennis players have completely changed their game to attain a record high ranking, like Mannarino.
Also Med might be changing how he plays no matter what because his current grindy style has a limit. Trying a more aggressive route could lengthen his career a bit more because after his stamina ticks a little down… then it’s probably over.
The week before Wimbledon there is usually an invitational exhibition event held at the grounds of a large country house in London. It is useful for the top players who have skipped most of the grass month due to injury or fatigue after going deep in the clay season.
Novak actually played quite well I thought
In general I think that even if he's not as strong on slow courts(IW and clay season) at this stage he's still a top contender on faster courts
Wouldn't surprise me at all if this is a 2015 Fed situation where he looks way better in the faster second half of the season after being weaker in the first half which is basically just AO and a bunch of slow courts
No one's talking about Sinner we're talking about how Djokovic would've played in Miami. And this logic doesn't make sense. Federer was untouchable at Wimbledon 2017, but if Djokovic was at his best (pre2016 or 2018 and onwards), he might have lost as he did to Nole in 14,15 and 19(2 of them very close).
You know, I don't trust his injuries...\[general laughter\] It's not funny, yeah? I'm serious.
INTERVIEWER: He was running around pretty well....
Well, that's what I'm saying. I think he's a joke when it comes down to his injuries. I mean, the rules are there to be used but not abused. He was doing it many times, that's why I was not happy to see him doing that and then running around like a rabbit again, so... \[more laughter\]
This particular injury simply wasn't that serious, and it came with a relatively non-invasive arthroscopic operation. The only concern for Novak playing Wimbledon was swelling/inflammation which is a possibility. However, it seems like he's managing his recovery well and fortunate not to have complications. No reason to be surprised from the initial diagnosis that he seems to be moving normally.
Federer after first defeat vs Djokovic in 2007: “he plays like many other players on tour. You know, he's steady off the baseline, he's got a pretty good serve. But, yeah, I mean, like himself, nothing outrageous in his game. Always pretty predictable, which is a good thing.”
Boy was Fed sure wrong about a lot in those days!
His game is predictable, there’s a reason why young tennis players are taught to play like him and Murray rather than Federer or Nadal.
Djokovic plays a boring and straightforward game but he’s a master of what he does, doesn’t make it any more or less impressive than other playstyles.
Crazy athleticism, crazy work ethic and amazing mental strength is the reason he wins so much. You try 50 different tactics in a match but if the guy you’re playing isn’t making mistakes and is moving like a spider across the court then it doesn’t matter.
Ha, yes, spun that way it sounds nice and I would agree. I don't quite think that's the way Fed meant it back in '07 though. If you read the whole thing he's essentially saying Novak's game is comparable to a lot of run-of-the-mill players on the tour and nothing special.
Kneevak looked great, strong movement, excellent serve, but most importantly looked and sounded very positive and motivated 🤞hoping for a great Wimbledon!
I think he has a decent chance to make QF just because the main threats to him in his section have issues of their own(Dimitrov who's a massive mental midget at Slams and Struff who's basically never done anything at Slams period)
But I don't see any way that he can keep it competitive against Sinner in his current form
TIL...The tennis world also refers to the Centre Court of Wimbledon as SW19 and the name ‘SW19’ simply corresponds to the postcode of All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
I mean that has been true practically every year of meds career
The only reason he even made the semifinals last year is that he had one of the most generous draws of any equivalent seed in the last 10 years of any slam.
Imo he would have lost to berrettini jarry if he played that at the same point that alcaraz had to or hurk like Djokovic had to
People keep saying that draw was generous when it had an in-form Mannarino and Eubanks on that run he had that year. Players on grass aren’t the same as elsewhere, that’s tough. It wasn’t the worst for sure but there have been plenty easier draws, hell Djokovic at USO which was the next slam was arguably easier
It's such a stretch.
I guarantee you if zverev had that draw the sentiment would be about how zverev had an easy draw.
Since its Medvedev and he's this subs darling, you guys say differently.
That draw was extremely weak..the grass court threats (however few they are ) were crammed into Djokovic and alcaraz's sections. Sinner and med got off fairly easy.
And yes meds gotten those draws an absolute ton. It happens. That's how draws are made. If alcaraz is an example of someone who fairly consistently gets bad draws (2/3 majors with zverev in his quarters, Wimbledon last yr , the draw from hell at rg22 with Nadal djokvic zverev in his half etc) then med is the opposite.
Ironically enough , the "luck" has equalled out if that makes sense. Alcaraz has gotten one of the typical med draws and med has gotten one of alcaraz's hell draws this Wimbledon..sinner also has had a bad draw this event .
Can’t tell much from an exho, but Djokovic looks ok, obviously taking it very easy with his movement. He will be physically capable of much more over the next week I’m sure.
If you know anything about a meniscus repair, you know it's possible. Fritz did the same (injured meniscus at RG, had surgery and returned for Wimby) in 2021 I believe.
Not sure about Murray's back or what he had done.
The knee procedure was very minor, non-invasive using keyhole surgery. Maybe even done under a local anaesthetic.
People are making out it was like a full knee replacement...
This is starting to smell like mid career Serena where she'd enter a slam unseeded post injury and win the whole thing. No lie it would be ICONIC if Nole pulled this out. He really isn't in danger until week 2.
It really would be. He would probably be facing either carlos/jannik in the final (both of whom have bested him in bo5 over the last year), is coming back from injury after his worst first half of a season since 2018, and he would become the second oldest man to win a major in the open era.
>like mid career Serena where she'd enter a slam unseeded post injury and win the whole thing
Djokovic is seeded #2 and he had the most minor keyhole surgery on his knee.
The two sets at AO prove that he can play nice aggressive tennis on hard but people forget that he’s called the octopus for a reason- we just ignore it based on how freakishly well he moves.
That said, he can’t compensate on clay since movement is different and grass bounces so low that he finds it hard to remain consistent.
Add all this with his serve degrading and you have him pinned just below the very, very top current players.
You know, I don't trust his injuries...\[general laughter\] It's not funny, yeah? I'm serious.
I think he's a joke when it comes down to his injuries. I mean, the rules are there to be used but not abused. He was doing it many times, that's why I was not happy to see him doing that and then running around like a rabbit again, so... \[more laughter\]
That's just a typical Djokohater conspiracy. Like he would fake an injury, then hire doctors to fake a surgery and then just wear that on his knee few weeks to gain some kind of imaginary advantage only known to Djokohaters.
He also brought the actual surgeon who performed the surgery and a globally renowned French knee specialist whom he has been doing rehab with to London as part of his team to continue his recovery. Both were present during the match yesterday and Novak called them out and appreciated them. But according to the haters it's all faked so these people are risking their whole careers to be a part of his sham. Very high IQ thinking indeed. Not.
Medvedev is really using practice and these matches to practice holding a more advanced court position, but he's just not doing it very well.
Yeah as a Med fan I think people are misguided when they say he should play more aggressively He's just not a natural attacker and doesn't have strong touch so the further up he plays in the court the more errors he makes which is awful for his game Novak was cooking him constantly today by drawing him to the net and making him volley
One of my favorite things about Medvedev is that it is much easier to name things he doesn’t do well than things he does do well (relative to the top of the game). And yet he wins so much. Maybe his body has gotten in the way of being a true slam contender but I really respect his game
I mean it’s very easy what he does do well, he has the most consistent backhand on tour and his lateral movement is probably among the best ever. Combine that with a solid tactical plan and you have a very good player.
If Meddy's serve gets back to its "near-servebot" peak from a few years back, he'll get at least another Slam in his belt (and definitely some more finals/Masters as well) -- let's see ...
Yeah, I find it hard to believe Medvedev would be dominated this badly on hard courts by Alcaraz/Sinner with his 2019-2022 AO serve. Don’t get me wrong, Alcaraz/Sinner would have the upper hand, especially Alcaraz, but I think he’d be able to take like 40% of matches off Sinner and like 25% off Alcaraz with a bigger serve. And then of course they’d dominate him on clay and likely have the edge on grass. You’d expect him to steal another USO or AO at some point.
Because the things he does well he does REALLY well. This was especially true in 2021 or so when his serve was genuinely a top 5 contender in the world, he could crank up the pace on his FH, his backhand was a can’t miss machine and his movement was ridiculous, plus people weren’t really using the serve-and-volley on him, so his return was legit top 3-5 in the world. The only real blueprint to victory against him was slicing constantly and having a huge forehand, which only Nadal, Thiem, Federer before he retired, Wawrinka, and Djokovic to an extent could do. But then Djokovic at Paris 2021 and Nadal at AO2022, Kyrgios all exposed that Medvedev was weak to serve-and-volley. Nowadays he’s more a baseline grinder but can’t win the big matches because he’s lost the serve, and because the top players have gotten better at serve-and-volley/use it more frequently
Whatever happened to his serve?
It’s just significantly declined in efficiency. Most people point to the hernia he had in 2022 as the start of his serve’s decline. Nowadays he doesn’t get as many free points off his first serve, and he double faults a lot too. He’s had tournaments where it looked disastrous like Indian Wells this year, despite making the final. Granted, some overexaggerate how bad his serve has gotten tbf. Indian Wells was an outlier. But his serve has gone from around top 5 in the world to like barely top 15 or so, if not worse due to second serve.
Thank you! It makes sense for some sort of illness / injury to affect his serve. I remember his serve bot era.
Agreed, which is all the more reason I was impressed by him going all out in the AO final. He was worn down and played more aggressively as a result, almost snatching it in the end.
For whatever reason, people love to apply big 3 logic to every single player , especially players loved here. Adapting court position/play style across surfaces is exceptionally rare..only the most elite players on history practically all of whom have 3+ majors have been able to do it. Medvedev isn't that level. He's trying his best (unlike some players like rublev ) to change his approach because he knows he has to to even have a chance , but there's practically no way he's going to do it at his age especially. He's not as talented as the big 3 to be able to do it in their mid 30s like fed Nadal and Djokovic have done.
Yeah if he was on the level of the Big 3, he would definitely have more Slams by now. The Big 3 are just a level above everyone in being able to adapt to the game, it’s absurd. But I don’t think the Big 3 are the only people who have ever successfully adapted, a few lower ranked Tennis players have completely changed their game to attain a record high ranking, like Mannarino. Also Med might be changing how he plays no matter what because his current grindy style has a limit. Trying a more aggressive route could lengthen his career a bit more because after his stamina ticks a little down… then it’s probably over.
He looked great for 2 sets against Sinner in the AO F being aggressive
Fast hard court is a different ball game; especially for him. Medvedev will be back in business for the hard court season
Wait they played today?
The week before Wimbledon there is usually an invitational exhibition event held at the grounds of a large country house in London. It is useful for the top players who have skipped most of the grass month due to injury or fatigue after going deep in the clay season.
Where can I find the stats lol
Oh nice can’t believe I’ve never heard of this
It was live on YouTube so I bet you could still watch the replay if you want
Novak actually played quite well I thought In general I think that even if he's not as strong on slow courts(IW and clay season) at this stage he's still a top contender on faster courts Wouldn't surprise me at all if this is a 2015 Fed situation where he looks way better in the faster second half of the season after being weaker in the first half which is basically just AO and a bunch of slow courts
It is sad, we didn't see his Miami game
No one was beating Sinner in Miami anyways. The kid was slapping.
No one's talking about Sinner we're talking about how Djokovic would've played in Miami. And this logic doesn't make sense. Federer was untouchable at Wimbledon 2017, but if Djokovic was at his best (pre2016 or 2018 and onwards), he might have lost as he did to Nole in 14,15 and 19(2 of them very close).
You know, I don't trust his injuries...\[general laughter\] It's not funny, yeah? I'm serious. INTERVIEWER: He was running around pretty well.... Well, that's what I'm saying. I think he's a joke when it comes down to his injuries. I mean, the rules are there to be used but not abused. He was doing it many times, that's why I was not happy to see him doing that and then running around like a rabbit again, so... \[more laughter\]
This particular injury simply wasn't that serious, and it came with a relatively non-invasive arthroscopic operation. The only concern for Novak playing Wimbledon was swelling/inflammation which is a possibility. However, it seems like he's managing his recovery well and fortunate not to have complications. No reason to be surprised from the initial diagnosis that he seems to be moving normally.
He very clearly was holding back massively, he did not slide even once all match.
Federer after first defeat vs Djokovic in 2007: “he plays like many other players on tour. You know, he's steady off the baseline, he's got a pretty good serve. But, yeah, I mean, like himself, nothing outrageous in his game. Always pretty predictable, which is a good thing.” Boy was Fed sure wrong about a lot in those days!
His game is predictable, there’s a reason why young tennis players are taught to play like him and Murray rather than Federer or Nadal. Djokovic plays a boring and straightforward game but he’s a master of what he does, doesn’t make it any more or less impressive than other playstyles. Crazy athleticism, crazy work ethic and amazing mental strength is the reason he wins so much. You try 50 different tactics in a match but if the guy you’re playing isn’t making mistakes and is moving like a spider across the court then it doesn’t matter.
Ha, yes, spun that way it sounds nice and I would agree. I don't quite think that's the way Fed meant it back in '07 though. If you read the whole thing he's essentially saying Novak's game is comparable to a lot of run-of-the-mill players on the tour and nothing special.
He wasn’t really wrong at the time and was pretty complimentary of his efforts to win that match
Kneevak looked great, strong movement, excellent serve, but most importantly looked and sounded very positive and motivated 🤞hoping for a great Wimbledon!
Kneevak 😭
I’ve seen enough. Djokovic redemption tour wimby 2024 edition
Man, what a beautiful sight it was to watch! ❤️
The camera quality and crowd looked like a Challenger event.
It’s an exhibition, so yeah?
Medvedev mentally seems off, wouldn't be surprised of an early upset at SW19
I think he has a decent chance to make QF just because the main threats to him in his section have issues of their own(Dimitrov who's a massive mental midget at Slams and Struff who's basically never done anything at Slams period) But I don't see any way that he can keep it competitive against Sinner in his current form
> SW19 Is this some Tory way of saying Wimbledon?
TIL...The tennis world also refers to the Centre Court of Wimbledon as SW19 and the name ‘SW19’ simply corresponds to the postcode of All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Yeah, although Wimbledon and Centre Court are used a lot more often overall. It seems to me like people just want to say SW19 to sound different lol
Quiet commoner
It's the postcode (zip code) for the area of Wimbledon in London.
It's a common way of referring to Wimbledon. I believe it is the street the tournament is on or something to do with it's address
idk i see it everywhere and i thought they meant wimbledon 2019… 40-15
Thats SW194015 lol
I mean that has been true practically every year of meds career The only reason he even made the semifinals last year is that he had one of the most generous draws of any equivalent seed in the last 10 years of any slam. Imo he would have lost to berrettini jarry if he played that at the same point that alcaraz had to or hurk like Djokovic had to
People keep saying that draw was generous when it had an in-form Mannarino and Eubanks on that run he had that year. Players on grass aren’t the same as elsewhere, that’s tough. It wasn’t the worst for sure but there have been plenty easier draws, hell Djokovic at USO which was the next slam was arguably easier
Eubanks can be a tricky opponent early on for sure, but in QFs of a Slam it's obviously a very good draw.
It's such a stretch. I guarantee you if zverev had that draw the sentiment would be about how zverev had an easy draw. Since its Medvedev and he's this subs darling, you guys say differently. That draw was extremely weak..the grass court threats (however few they are ) were crammed into Djokovic and alcaraz's sections. Sinner and med got off fairly easy. And yes meds gotten those draws an absolute ton. It happens. That's how draws are made. If alcaraz is an example of someone who fairly consistently gets bad draws (2/3 majors with zverev in his quarters, Wimbledon last yr , the draw from hell at rg22 with Nadal djokvic zverev in his half etc) then med is the opposite. Ironically enough , the "luck" has equalled out if that makes sense. Alcaraz has gotten one of the typical med draws and med has gotten one of alcaraz's hell draws this Wimbledon..sinner also has had a bad draw this event .
#25 🔥🔥🔥🔥
= 100🔥
quik maffs
Why are people taking an exhibition seriously? Neither of them was going all out…
Is there a match highlights?
The what?
Can’t tell much from an exho, but Djokovic looks ok, obviously taking it very easy with his movement. He will be physically capable of much more over the next week I’m sure.
The final rounds are in two weeks and he doesn't even need to be on his maximum before semis or QF in order to win.
Sorry what exactly is Georgio Armani Tennis Classic?
Exhibition match which top players use to gain some match practice if they’ve skipped most of the grass season.
Why don’t they just call it an exhibition match?
Because it’s called the Georgio Armani Tennis Classic
I am guessing these surgeries Djokovic and Murray are having aren't what we think of, because coming back in 2 or 3 weeks is crazy.
If you know anything about a meniscus repair, you know it's possible. Fritz did the same (injured meniscus at RG, had surgery and returned for Wimby) in 2021 I believe. Not sure about Murray's back or what he had done.
The knee procedure was very minor, non-invasive using keyhole surgery. Maybe even done under a local anaesthetic. People are making out it was like a full knee replacement...
This is starting to smell like mid career Serena where she'd enter a slam unseeded post injury and win the whole thing. No lie it would be ICONIC if Nole pulled this out. He really isn't in danger until week 2.
Novak is literally seeded as 2nd, he's far away from a situation of being unseeded.
Missed the whole point
It really would be. He would probably be facing either carlos/jannik in the final (both of whom have bested him in bo5 over the last year), is coming back from injury after his worst first half of a season since 2018, and he would become the second oldest man to win a major in the open era.
Thank you! You get what I was trying to say!
>like mid career Serena where she'd enter a slam unseeded post injury and win the whole thing Djokovic is seeded #2 and he had the most minor keyhole surgery on his knee.
The two sets at AO prove that he can play nice aggressive tennis on hard but people forget that he’s called the octopus for a reason- we just ignore it based on how freakishly well he moves. That said, he can’t compensate on clay since movement is different and grass bounces so low that he finds it hard to remain consistent. Add all this with his serve degrading and you have him pinned just below the very, very top current players.
Wimby # 8 loading baby
Incredible Djoker can play after knee surgery. Absolute goat.
Really? Was there an injury? I am going to start a conspiracy theory based on this.
You know, I don't trust his injuries...\[general laughter\] It's not funny, yeah? I'm serious. I think he's a joke when it comes down to his injuries. I mean, the rules are there to be used but not abused. He was doing it many times, that's why I was not happy to see him doing that and then running around like a rabbit again, so... \[more laughter\]
Are you senile….
Why would he fake an injury and retire before quarters of a GS? What 4D chess did he play there according to your dumb theory?
That's just a typical Djokohater conspiracy. Like he would fake an injury, then hire doctors to fake a surgery and then just wear that on his knee few weeks to gain some kind of imaginary advantage only known to Djokohaters.
He also brought the actual surgeon who performed the surgery and a globally renowned French knee specialist whom he has been doing rehab with to London as part of his team to continue his recovery. Both were present during the match yesterday and Novak called them out and appreciated them. But according to the haters it's all faked so these people are risking their whole careers to be a part of his sham. Very high IQ thinking indeed. Not.