Well done to Zverev, he played really well throughout. Brilliant season for Djokovic regardless.
hopefully a good final tomorrow
Zverev takes him out
Bad loose game and inability to convert break points in the third set did the damage
First set tiebreaker had those two consecutive momentum moments also
7-4 in the H2H now, still in Djokovic's favour
Djokovic losing a lot of the longer points in the match to Zverev, rushing thing at times and Zverev didn't have the usual wobble and served well
Instead Djokovic wobbled in that service game and so Zverev deserved to win
Very loose game from Djokovic there and he's broken
Way too many errors (4) from him for one game - bit of gift for Zverev
Is that going to be it...?
Two break points for Djokovic but he can't take them
Between that and the errors in the other game - not Djokovic at his best at all in this third set
One service game away from the final (if he can't break Djokovic)
Djokovic breaks Zverev - can he serve out the second set
Only the second time Zverev has lost a service game this week
Zverev looked for a while during the early part of that second set that he might push ahead
But Djokovic just getting over the line on his service game there to push it to a third
AC for Amazon is appreciating the level of tennis again - though not quite as good as the Bercy final
It's still in the balance here
Djokovic probably favourite now but not a done deal
Compelling first set there that Zverev takes
Key momentum shift in the breaker around a contested line call that would have been a point for Djokovic but reversed, 2nd serve that went DF
Then a netcord on a drop shot gave Zverev an easy put away.
An hour alone on that set
Going to be a long way for Djokovic if at all
Djokovic had 2 break points for the set but Zverev was able to serve his way out of trouble
Medved disposes of Ruud easily as I expected in straight sets (1 break set one, 2 breaks set two)
Ruud didn't even create one break-point in the match
Didn't bother watching it
Even goody two-shoes types like Thiem were vaccine holdouts until very recently so who knows who is in question and who is not
Djokovic is far from the only player, about 40% of the players have not taken it, quite a number in mens top 20 apparently. For all we know Djokovic is already vaccinated
It'll be interesting to see what happens, the Australian Open won't short on drama that's for sure. Whatever way he wants to spin it, if he does refuse to get vaccinated in a global pandemic it won't play well. Would also be interesting to see if there would be any sponsorship implications, although that obviously wouldn't matter for someone of his wealth. As you say though, maybe he's already vaccinated but doesn't want to admit it.
I can also foresee a lot of unforeseen 'injury' withdrawals from players who don't want the jab.
I completely back vaccines and without them the current situation would be worse and more restrictive but I can see where in Djokovic's individual case where he's coming from (but don't agree with his vaccine stance even though he's not a militant anti-vaxxer idiot looking for publicity on the issue)
He has already had Covid with apparently no ill effects either at the time of infection or long-term so has some natural immunity and is not likely to experience bad ill-effects if re-infected
Now it just remains to be seen what decision that he's going to take on the vaccine
If he really cares about his final number of slams it would be silly to miss the AO
I wonder also where the overall apparent significant unvaccinated proportion of the ATP (35% quoted) lies and whether many possible entrants will miss out on going in the end - for lower-ranked players, even the first round of a slam or two can help fund a significant part of a year of tennis expenses
I think Djokovic is the type that won't back down here or be pushed into doing something he' doesn't want to do. I think if it came to it he'd be prepared to skip AO if it comes to it, on the other hand he could also very well surprise everyone and say he's been vaccinated for a while, but, wanted to keep it private, we'll all find out in time anyway.
He's refusing to confirm whether he is or not, "it's a private matter" apparently, so I think one can reasonably conclude that he isn't. Just remains to be seen whether he'll relent, because the clock is ticking.
I think that extending the weeks record for as long as possible and the kudos of remaining number 1 is still huge for him
because of the fact that Djokovic now plays so few tournaments, whenever he loses the no.1 ranking that's it for him as far as the world number 1 ranking goes most likely
400 weeks would be a nice round number!
Has it been confirmed if Djokovic has or has not been vaccinated? Regarding Djokovic's diet, oxygen chamber etc, all these were him looking for marginal gains, to either get to the top or stay there, they were done by choice to improve his overall game. The vaccine on the other hand in relation to AO isn't a choice, it's also something that's not going to give him any marginal gain and as he probably sees it a slight risk of an adverse reaction which could lead to his level dropping and at his age that could be difficult to recover from.
He's already had Covid so probably happy to take the risk ( if he's not vaccinated). What's the situation if a player tests positive now, but, has recovered in time for the AO are they allowed to play or do they still need to get vaccinated?
Oh I agree but the year end number one ranking already in the bag and he has already broken the weeks at number one record. I would think at this point it’s the big titles that motivate him. Surely it will be near impossible to keep the number one ranking through 2022. He should hold it for a while but he has a lot of points to defend at grand slams etc.
I just think it’s impressive to be show such focus in a dead rubber match, shows what a professional he is, takes every match seriously etc
Djokovic is really going next-level with his volleying lately, especially given the supposed lack of variety in his game in that respect.
it's 200 ATP points per round-robin match
you'd have to win a whole tournament in some cases to get more points than that, or get to a grand-slam quarter final.
who knows, France has a high enough vaccine hesitancy rate so probably had a bigger effect there in the country in terms of numbers of people influenced but athletes seem to be a sceptical lot.
Djokovic (not alone with a reported 35% novax on atp) is a bit of a contradiction - is into his diet, oxygen chambers etc etc but doesn't trust the science on vaccines
Saw that a few weeks back. Concerning, and hopefully he was exaggerating. Still though, haven't heard of any other extreme reactions from other tennis players, even the sceptics like Sabalenka, so hopefully Djokovic will be rolling up the sleeve asap.
Stuff like this isn't going to help.....
I expect in the end there'll be very few holdouts. At the same time though they'd want to get cracking if it's a two dose vaccine they want. I guess all eyes are Djokovic to see if he'll show up, but I think he will. He wouldn't be that stupid.... right?
apparently 40% of the players are not vaccinated. This could be very interesting
Tbf Djokovic could probably show up in a wheelchair and still beat Norrie 😅
Think I'm actually gonna root for Ruud to win it all now, why not go for the underdog who's held his own pretty well so far. Watch him get bagelled by Medvedev tomorrow now.
Meanwhile, it's now confirmed that unvaccinated players cannot partake in January's Australian Open. Let the games begin 😎
Amazing how ruthless the top players are. Djokovic had already won the group so it was a dead rubber this evening. You would think he might lack the motivation but clearly not!!
He beat Norrie 6-2 6-1 in 66 mins! He is an absolute machine. Zverev will be a very tough match tomorrow though
Ruud gets through over Rublev in what seems to have been a good match
But surely won't be able to handle Medved in the semis
Djokovic vs Zverev probably the more interesting match
If he ever comes back I can't really see Federer going on any good run, he'll be close to 41 if he does return, after several surgeries on his knees and hardly playing in two years, it's expecting a lot to expect him to be competitive, even if he never got the knee injuries, at 40 or 41 no player can be expected to be competitive at elite level. Even if both Djokovic and Nadal stay relatively injury free I doubt either will be competitive at elite level (top 10 or 20) by the time they reach 40 or 41, 4 or 5 years from now
Federer has 2 problems confronting him for any return/goodbye.
One is going to be playing enough to regain form. Until he has enough matches under his belt, he remains at risk of being dumped out by a plodder in round 1.
Even if he regains some form, because of his low ranking he's much more likely to meet a top level opponent early on. Bagels and breadsticks would feature prominently on that menu.
Djokovic should retire?? He is world number one, won 3 out of 4 grand slams and reached the final of the other. He won the Paris Masters in the past couple of weeks beating the world number 2. Him retiring now would be utter madness. By all means look at it at the end of next year if his form and ranking plummets but he is still a phenomenal player, he would be crazy to retire now. I would even consider Nadal crazy to retire now until he comes back from injury to see how he performs. I would make Nadal favourite at the French open in 2022 even if he was playing at 70%.
The other big difference with Djokovic and Nadal is they are so strong mentally and they can physically hang tough in close matches. I think that is different to Federer who is now 40 years old, several years past his peak and he wouldnt in my opinion be as mentally / physically strong as the other two. I still think Fed might have one good run left in him in a slam but it would require a massive effort.
I watched the women's final live. The atmosphere was great, and apparently it was like that for each evening match. Kontaveit served for the second set, but couldn't get to set point,
not sure what else they could do there as Medved is one of the top 2 seeds and he's also playing the local lad so that match was always going to be primetime there and what the crowd want to see
Zverev disposed of Hurk easily in any case and that was always the likely outcome
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