Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

The RacketSTAR Tennis News Blog and Article Feed gives you up to the minute news and information about the Players and Sports Updates.

Australian Open Day 7: Djokovic Survives Simon Despite 100 Unforced Errors | Ultimate Tennis Blog

In my last post, I said literally anything can happen in tennis, and it almost did. The world number one almost lost to Simon but scraped through 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in spite of 100 unforced errors. Extraordinary scenes.

In tennis terms, Simon is really the ultimate troll. He takes huge pleasure in dragging opponents down to his despicable level of pushing and counterpunching tennis. Even Nadal is more entertaining to watch. That shit made my eyes bleed.

I really took no pleasure in watching the tennis, but the fact that Djokovic won gave me immense satisfaction. Aside from the quote I posted yesterday Simon also said the following before the match:

“Players start being fed-up (with Djokovic’s dominance), it’s annoying. It’s a bit humiliating for everyone. It’s not that Novak has become arrogant but, on Sunday, there will be many people rooting for me in the locker room. Almost everyone.”

#Djokovic takes advice from audience member #nomoredropshots #AusOpen Watch more https://t.co/Ek545Zh2D9 https://t.co/0f7nlx5BBY

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2016

More trolling from Simon but it’s nice to know that Djokovic defeated almost the entire ATP Tour despite making 100 unforced errors. And in the end, he did it through sheer willpower. Simon ruined his game so badly with his repulsive brand of tennis that it was the only thing left he had to win with.

Literally nothing was working for Djokovic as he made unforced error after unforced error and yet he fought on and flat out refused to surrender. I have massive respect for that. It was nasty conditions in the heat against the nastiest of opponents but he endured and tasted victory.

Many people will claim this is the worst match Djokovic has played in a long time, failing to recognize the ‘little’ role Simon had in that. For me, it’s one of the best matches he played in recent times because of his sheer will to win.

That said, I have asked myself why he wasn’t much more aggressive and energetic throughout the match. He appeared very lethargic and subdued throughout but, of course, that is exactly what Simon aims to do to his opponents.

Yes, they are friends

Like a parasite or virus, he feeds on his host’s life force until they are utterly spent. Fortunately, there is an awful lot of life in the world number one and he was going to prevail one way or the other.

So I guess in the end you can ask why didn’t Djokovic play like he did in the fifth set throughout the match when he was more aggressive and energetic. But you also have to take previous slams into account and Djokovic never peaks throughout a slam.

No one who wins it does. To win slams you must pace yourself and leave some of your best form for the latter rounds, or else you will run into trouble like Federer did in the last couple of slams.

Goffin Dares to Win 7 Games Against Federer

Speaking of Federer, Goffin had the nerve to win 7 games off his idol in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 defeat. More extraordinary scenes. Given the Fedfanatic that Goffin is I was expecting him to be more submissive than that, but I guess with the match fixing rumours going on he had to be careful.

In all seriousness, though, can you imagine two more contrasting opponents than Simon and Goffin? Here you have a guy who before the match even began made it abundantly clear that he wants a piece of Djokovic.

Then he drags him into a kind of tennis hell in the heat of the day while Goffin softly submits in the cool of the night to his idol Federer. To be honest, Goffin should be fined for his disgraceful behaviour. It is not becoming of a professional tennis player.

But hey, I’m not complaining. Unknowingly, Goffin is doing Federer more harm than good. He is giving him a false sense of security which can come back to bite him in the ass. Now I’m hearing about a ‘masterclass’ from Federer again.

How hard can it be to display a masterclass when your opponent is subconsciously(or maybe even consciously) trying to make you look good? Now suppose for a second Federer played against Simon instead. I think anyone can imagine how ugly that could have gotten for Federer.

This is, of course, nothing new. We have seen the same thing happen over and over again lately with Djokovic and Federer. Djokovic looks down and out and comes back to cruise to another slam title. Federer, on the other hand, looks in prime form only to come crashing down in the final.

But don’t listen to me. I honestly don’t know a single thing about tennis. I just think there is a good possibility that Djokovic will come out and school Nishikori like he did Cilic after the Wimbledon fourth round against Anderson.

And as far as Federer goes I can see him really struggling against Berdych. But again, that’s just me. Who knows with tennis.

Elsewhere in the Draw

So like I said Berdych and Nishikori both won. Nishikori destroyed Tsonga 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 while Berdych needed five sets to defeat Bautista Agut 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Bautista Agut was a kind of dark horse but this was already his third five-setter of the event.

In the end, a good win for Berdych who like I said I can see giving Federer serious problems but who knows. I’m just not going to take a straight-set beatdown of a Federer fanboy very seriously. If Federer can maintain the same level against Berdych then all credit to him.

But Berdych has given Federer plenty to think about in the past and he will be an actual test. If Federer wins in straight sets then I’ll be willing to admit he is in good form. But for now, the jury is out.

Nishikori did well against Tsonga and apparently he said he is ready to defeat Djokovic(referring to the 2014 US Open semis) again. Maybe he will, or maybe Djokovic will destroy him in straight sets and embarrass him. The jury is out on that too.

All I can say is that Djokovic can only get better from his last match while Federer has already peaked. For Federer to win the title he now has to peak in all of his remaining matches as well, while Djokovic is still far from his peak.

Day 8 Matches

Well, finally there is something to get excited about in the bottom half of the draw again as Stan plays against Raonic and Murray plays against Tomic. Those matches should be interesting but especially Stan vs Raonic.

Raonic won Brisbane of course and hasn’t dropped a set thus far in Melbourne. Neither has Stan, although Raonic had tougher competition. Stan leads the head-to-head 4-0 so he is probably the favorite but Raonic may just be ready to cause the upset.

Murray vs Tomic could get interesting too but I guess Murray will win in four sets.

Highlights
The Djoker

The Djoker’s response to Simon’s ‘locker room’ comment:

The  is in your court.

×
Stay Informed

When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.

Kyrgios warms up for French Open with doubles win
Australian Open Day 5: Djokovic and Federer Reveal...

Related Posts



RacketStar.com