I can't see how one player was better than the other. Someone had to win.
It's turning out to be Djokovic a lot of the times, a golden run for him.

Nole is Stayin' Alive, whether you and your establishment like it or not, Steve....

C'MOOOOOOOOOOOOOON NOLEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

P.S.

Murray, too runs very well, indeed, especially when he starts clutching his thigh...
Nadal runs even better for someone who has his knee strapped to his eyeballs..

Why don't you like Novak, Steve? I thought you did. :)

This is a genuine question. I would like to know ... It doesn't matter, really, I still enjoy your writing.

Great article as usual Steve.

Has there ever been 3 Fedals in a row? Djodal seems a more solid rivalry.

Well done Novak, hope allergies are nothing serious. Stay healthy and get the trophy. Ajde.

Very nice write up...it was a match worth remembering with so many twists and turns...Either player could have won it. There are lot of positives which Murray can take from this match. Already Lendls effect seems to be rubbing in!

Coming to Djokovic:After today's performance it's very clear that right now, in men's tennis, nobody is mentally as strong as Nole. He has now won critical matches in tremendous pressure against Federer, Nadal & Murray. If Rafa really has to win against Djokovic,he has to believe in himself that he can win this battle.Djokovic is not going to let his guard down. After losing the third set in US Open Finals, Djokovic reversed the momentum once again with his forehand winners (Just like today. Djokovic has hit 83 winners in their last two meetings (Wimby+US Open).
Djokovic/Nadal's Mind War: What does the stats indicate? http://bit.ly/xOwaeS

Nadal does not stand a chance at all, because his solution sole bases on the weak point of a player (such as Fed's BH), but Djoker does not have an obvious weak point. So Nadal is completely useless out there.

NO??

i didn't see the 4th set, just the start of it, then nodded off for a bit. When I was back in the 5th I couldn't help wondering what the heck happened, and how the hail MAndy couldn't manage to atleast make Nole serve it out so he could start first.

By the end, I fairly confident that even if he had broken Nole in the 5th, that he wouldn't be able to serve out the match. Would have loved to been proved wrong though.

Hopefully MAndy will take away the positives though and be able to see that good things do happen when he's aggressive. Changing that mindset may take a while, but I really hope he can do it.

tell Nadal to stop touching his butt before he serves? That is just disgusting in public...

NO?

I enjoyed the analysis and reaction, since I didn't see any of the match.

But one facet of Steve's analysis troubles me - the repetition of tennis' conventional wisdom that serving second in a set puts you at a disadvantage. It truly doesn't.

Observe that Djokovic had four chances in this match to win on the next game: three by breaking (games 8, 10 and 12) and one by serving out the match (game 9). He eventually did break for the match, but you have to believe that a player's chance of holding (or breaking) changes once you get to a "sudden death" situation to believe the CW.

The way the CW works goes like this: suppose two players, A and B, hold serve, on average, 80% of the time. They reach 4-4 in a final set (no TB), then A serves first, B second, and so on.

If their "hold probability" doesn't change, simple math shows that A is no more likely than B to win. If you don't like math, just note that the situation is symmetrical. If A holds, B has an 80% chance of holding: if A is broken, same 80% chance. Each two games that are played, there's a 16% chance A wins (80% hold, 20% break), a 16% chance B wins (20% break, 80% hold) and a 68% chance the score will be 5 all (64% chance both hold, 4% chance both break).

Ah, but suppose A holds, there's a changeover, and B walks to the line, with the commentators breathlessly hugging themselves as "B has to serve to say in the match!" Surely, B's in trouble, right?

Wrong. There's no evidence that player's hold frequency changes AT ALL at this stage of a match. Psychologically speaking, maybe B is invigorated by his or her closeness to the edge, and gets a 90% hold probability by his or her steeliness. Or maybe A can almost taste it, and starts overcooking returns.

In other words, unless you can demonstrate that being one game away from defeat differentially changes players' serving/holding ability by making it worse, there's no advantage to serving first.

None. Zilch. Nada. Bupkiss.

So I have a question: what was it that Novak picked out from his bag and ate under his towel while sitting down during one of the change overs? I think it was during the third or fourth set. They showed it on TV clearly. And the commentators just said "hmmmm..."

I want Nole to win against Rafa, but only because then Fed will be the real winner recond-wise. But if Rafa wins, it is okay with me, too. It seems to me that Rafa is in better physical shape than Djoko (not mental, though...). Rafa vs. Nole will be even more painful.

Vamos Vicka, kick inssuferable Sharapova's butt!!!

i love murray but i respect him even more after this should of broken at 5-5 in the 5th but nole played a unreal forehand down the line,how the f does he do that and murray had a couple of errors.but the thing that costy him the match was 86 errors that is way to high to beat nole who is stingy in return and 7/24 bp conversion.i said before the match murray has to improve his concentration and focus on his bp ,cost him plenty of chances vs nadal last year.

i hope he is practicing like this the whole time as he will not beat nole,rafa and fed with his old game ,they just dont make errors when the chips are down in slams

but all in all he has to be proud and accept defeat and move on and channel all his talent and practice time into this game he has now,please murray try a new technique on the serve,his 2nd serve is a fast as sharapova's which is f-ed up.

against anyone else,i mean fed and rafa i think murray would of pulled it out,his backhand in the face of nole backhand was incredable,his forehand was the biggest pleasant surprise as he hit it with conviction and authority,although he made tons of errors of it he should be encouraged with the lendl effect and should be positive in indian wells and miami where he has a lot of points to collect and some scores to settle.

proud murray fan,great match boys

Nole is the most complete tennis player in all areas of the game: speed, backhand, forehand, return game, mental toughness, stamina... he has it all. Rafa may have more stamina but not the tennis game to beat Nole. If Nole gets tired than Rafa will win. Otherwise, Rafa has no chance. Federer's forehand is better than Nole's but his backhand is not, and his stamina and relentlessness is also not as good as Nole's is now. All Fed needs against Rafa is more relentlesness like Nole and a bit more stamina to beat him everywhere. Obiously Fed destroys Nadal in fast courts. Murray also has it all except his forehand is not as good as the other 3 and his mental toughness is also not as good as the other 3 and that's the difference. Murray has been improving his forehand and mental toughness. He showed that today with Nole. Rafa just has more stamina than anyone, same speed, backhand is at least one level below Nole's and Murray's and Fed's right now. Anywya, we've already seen two finals at the australian open (the two semi's), and now we're going to see the third and last between Nole and Rafa. I hope Nole can recover and hold on physically.

Fernando says that Fang played a great match....best Fernando ever saw Fang play... And still lost.Poor Fang. Born in the wrong era.

Soon to come. fernando's objective analysis and prediction for the final.

Fernando

Goodbye Rafa!

Really happy to see Murray play the way he did BTW. I want him to win a slam. This guy has been thru so many tough loses and questions about coming thru when it matters and he just keeps on trying and improving and that's admirable. I'm rooting for Murray to win a slam even if it is against Fed (who is my favorite player). Go Murray!

it is the war -allqaida between jihad this are the finals nadal -djoker
both re terorrist player who wants to die on the field playing defensive and waiting mistakes shame...and referees helped them -
so its clear that roger and murray deserved to be in the final to complete sportmen decent and smart --its crazzy to see novak jumping after imposible balls -did he want to be healthy after --/
-SO it was unfair that andy murray lost--it good to fight but not to be a stupid herooo--anyway, how nadal is screaming on the field is a sadical insulting for the oponent it means thet the is not able to play normal

@Dime

Unicorn's blood

Agree with Dime that in essence djokovic is the most rounded player- he best suits the current style of tennis and has no obvious weakness. he is a better hard court player then nadal and will only lose on sunday if nadal tires him out after the long murray match. This is a distinct possibility as nadal kept djoko on court for 4 hours at the us open. If he does that again he might win. on the other hand the slower australian open court might help djokovic defend even better against nadal. i don't see how nadal can win easy points against him? So if djokovic is phtsically capable of competing properly on sunday he wins. If he loses the explanation is primarily physical.

to: Andrew Burton

Ur math is correct,altho u forgot one important thing. Advantage of player A serving first (especially if its decider) is that player B gonna be serving under pressure when he face 5-4 (asuming no breaks till this point) and that is huge.

I don't think he ate anything. I think it was inhaler.

Pedja: why? Why is player B going to be less likely to serve/play well (fear, nerves) than more likely (courage, strong will)? Why is player A more likely to return/play well (here's my chance!) than less likely (oh g-d, I'm so close, please DF, etc)?

locking at djoker it looks like he wanted to kill himself
I agree with fight but beeing crazzy heroo -and running after balls that are lost only to win anyway is killing ---anyway this guy was helped by the referees --in US open and the tennis mafia wants to have the top
made by the terortist nadal-djoker
so -actually the most offensive player roger and murray who deserved to play the final are out because of the black tennis politik.
-players who scream means that have not skills anf force to play decebt and
normal

I was skeptical, even dismissive, of Lendl and Murray but I'm a convert now. If this is an indication of what has been accomplished in such a short time, then I think Murray might win a slam in 2012. The fact that Lendl has stopped Murray from practicing and palling around with his rivals is one of the best mandates thus far.

Mr. Steve I'm concerned for your health :)

I dont have correct answer for that,can only guess thats in human nature to play worse under pressure while (for example Djokovic) proved that ur statement is true seeing him rising from a death so many times last year. Just remember Rome semi same opponents,Murrey had exactlly same situation djokovic had this morning,serving for a final but he tripped. To me it depends of a player faith and mental status but as i can see just Djokovic have that characteristic atm.

@Andrew Burton: "In other words, unless you can demonstrate that being one game away from defeat differentially changes players' serving/holding ability by making it worse, there's no advantage to serving first."

If you want mathematical proof of this fairly obvious point (serving to stay in the match is nerve-wracking, and nerves are bad for serving), then you're out of luck. But I've seen more double faults on match point than seems statistically probable.

Poor Andy, born in the wrong era!
Hope he will win a slam, too, one day!

Good article, the Benjamin Button reference is inspired, although I think that description also holds for Rafa. Really excited for the final, whoever wins I hope it is as thrilling as both or either of the semis. Thanks

Very well article, thank you!. I thought of the very same thing about the 30-shot rally - After all, Murray's conservative approach in that point made all the difference.

Yes, Steve...you can cry again, Federer is out...your lover lost, you can find ways to critique Novak and you boy do you try hard to find anything to pinpoint against him lol. You baffle me man...honestly. I will never read, nor visit tennis.com again.

I think that the normal final should be roger -murray but the referees decdided viceversa.
-any murray deserves a grand slam and spaniard nadal and djpker who are two fanatics screamers have too much
anyways what is sad and important is that the good guy roger -was manipulated from the tennis mafia - with bad psyhic war -in the final
with del potro 2010-he was rubbed and it continued after --very bad and unfair .nobody can win if the referes decided to steal.
the best are roger and nay murray they play decent -ofensive and make human mistakes --
thanks for agreeing

never thought that murray had it in him to challenge djoker this severely. clearly lendl is making some changes. on the other hand i failed to see any change in federer's style of listless, demoralizing play against nadal. paul annacone fails miserably. clearly federer;s aura and 16 slams (more imp 5 consecutive us opens & wimbledons) are maybe too daunting for any coach.
federer needs to start playing without a coach. and lendl needs to keep up the good work. it seems that andy murray might win the us open this year..he just might (with a little luck)

Andy is going to win a slam. I used to think he wouldn't - that he didn't have the mental toughness - but I'm a convert now, too. Lendl has already helped him immeasurably.

Calling Nole the most complete player still makes me shake my head. It was just a couple of years ago that he was constantly retiring in matches and having major serving yips. What a transformation he's made! Nice to see him playing to his potential.

Tennis is back ! you dont get to see this stuff everyday..

Maybe Nole had a tiny iron lung under his towel, and he just puts it next to his face and it rejuvenates him, recycles his blood, gives him superhuman energy. Jeez Louise, what do you think, he was injecting steroids? It was an inhaler.....

Why is everyone sucking up to the idea of poor Murray...
Why is he poor?

Is it:

Because he didn't have to be humiliated by waiting in queues of various embassies in order to get visas and compete?

Because his dad had to be up to his eyeballs in debt in order to pay for his tennis lessons and feed his family during war years?

Is it because there is not a single grass court in his country?

Is it because he had to train in the converted swimming pool for a tennis court under bombs?

NO, it can't be any of those....Andy Murray must be poor because he's from one of the wealthiest countries in the world, his mum is a tennis coach and he's got the entire LTA throwing money at him, getting him the best coaches on the market (B. Gilbert), oh, not to mention the fact that he's even got a home Grand Slam as his playground, the most prestigious one.

first of all--LOVE the photo you picked. i was hoping that a photographer got a shot of djokovic doing his "eyes wide." i was falling back asleep, and that face made me laugh out loud.

thanks for navigating us though the up/down/back/forth of that one. it was hard to keep up (in the wee small hours) and probably harder to write about.

wondering if murray would have benefitted from a bathroom break at some point before or early in set 4, just to stop for a minute and regroup from adrenaline, and forestall the crash/tiredness.

maybe all those hardships have made Nole the fighter he is today. Don't feel too sorry for him. He lives like a king in Monte Carlo now.

I was hoping for more uplifting article from you Steve as this was epic match with both guys giving it all. Andy is a great player and I wish best in the future and he proved it last night. However, he never had upper hand in this match, it was all about Novak FROM THE START TO FINISH.

An absolutely fantastic match! Best of the year so far by a mile.

Have to feel sorry for Murray at least this year he didn't mentally collapse after losing the first set, but he almost did though.

In terms of the final Djoko is still the favourite, because he still has a day to recover and because of his matches against Nadal last year. The one encourigning thing to day for Nadal is the serving and errors by Djoko, both were quite poor considering his form last year.

Nadal is playing better than last year but he really needs to come out sharp ala US open 2010 or FO 2010 otherwise he's in trouble.

Again its too close to call, Djoko slight favourite but who knows, looking forward to it though.

@yolita,

What are you talking about? Steve has admitted on several occasions that Nole is one of his, if not his favorite player.

Can anybody imagine if Nole wins the GRAND SLAM(the french) by beating Nadal in 4 consecutive slam finals? It could happen

http://www.lovetennisblog.com/?p=4962 what a fantastic match shame about muzza

Gutted Murray lost! I had to listen to the radio as driving and it was really exciting just relying on the commentator's words.

I love Nole too, but surely his style of retrieving (doing the splits) is going to result in serious injury sooner or later?

umm some1 please point out to me where Steve's dislike of Djokovic appears in this article? Was it b/c he called him Ben Button? Whether u have a hard on for Novak or not, despite his great talent, both he and Murray do flail around a lot on the court. Esp when they seem a little nervous or when they lose a spectacular point.
Novak does have a history of health issues and playing possum (which even ESPN commies spoke about during the match, Fed has said it). He may seem agitated in between points but plays fine during the point. I dont doubt that he had a stuffed up nose last nite. Murray grumbles a lot too like wanting the big screen images to be controlled when he was receiving, even though the big screen didnt affect him during his QF vs Nishikori. I am used to this from the two by now.

Nole started out look a little rugged, esp in the second set if I remember correctly, trying to breath very deeply. From what I hear he was able to overcome whatever was niggling him and played like a new man.

Steve also said it was unlike that Novak would succumb to Murray. What more do you ppl want? A statue in Belgrade built out of Steve's paper rough drafts?

The more I read Bodo and Tignor, the more I start to get what they are saying and the less I jump to the "you are biased" argument (which I admit I learned from the comments). Keep writing Steve. Seems like it others who are incapable of viewing the match impartially.

To TennisFan, u may have it a bit twisted. Tignor picked Rafa to move thru Fed so he was prepared for his "lover" losing.

Man, when I watch the matches of 3/4 of the big four I wonder if they will have obliterated every ligament in the body years before fed even has his first surgery or seriously debilitating injury. (knock on wood) Is it even possible to lie in wait for the eventual retirement of players five+ years younger than you are? Might just be the best strategy I've ever heard of.

I cant wait till Djoko owns nadal in the final and i can rub it in for fernando. Fernando will tell you all the reasons why nadal will win. But the problem is nadal will lose.... to Djoko... for the 7th time in a row. Djoko owns nadal now like federer owns andy roddick.

I guess when people write "poor Andy" it's because the guy plays this fantastic match, gets so close, and still no cigar. His attitude has improved greatly to complement his fitness and overall game.

Surely the guy has what it takes to win a slam, but I don't know why everyone seems to think it must be this year. Why? Is he at some point of no return right now? Is there a deadline I don't know about?

The important thing is that he seems to have acknowledged and addressed his mental frailties. Losses like this are character-building if viewed in a positive light, which is what he seems to be doing. He wouldn't be the first player in the role of fearsome semi-finalist. He's among the best in the world, still growing as a person and competitor.

Just when I think Novak can't possibly find another gear, he miraculously does. A year ago, even for me, the idea of beating Fed and Rafa consecutively seemed nearly impossible. And Murray was a factor in the toughest test all 2011 imo - I couldn't imagine how Novak could turn it on again after that semifinal in Rome. So I'm feeling pretty positive about the final.

The only thing that will stop Novak obliterating Nadal is the state of his body. He is the definitively better tennis player. And I'm so glad he beat the totally unattratractive Murray.

Agree w/ tina. Nole seems to downshift just at the right moments. Its uncanny. Its reminiscent of TMF or Serena going into tank mode just for slams, except Nole goes for it all or nothing style at the biggest MOMENTS in slams. And lately he's been coming up will the former.

But he, Murray, and Nadal all have consistent minor injuries, which do indeed add up. This is something that has made me wonder how their careers will shape out in the coming years.

I'm gonna check back for Fernando's bit in a min. I need some hope that Nole isn't going to just put the kaibash on Nadal en el siete partido los dos han contestado en el ano proximo.

Andrew, nice post at 01:01 PM.
I fully agree with the mathematical analysis under the assumption that probabilities to hold and break are invariant (e.g. 80% and 20%) no matter whether you play to stay in the match or to get a one game lead or to win the match. How could one disagree with that? They call Math "Exact Science" after all...
But that assumption may not be very realistic, because human beings are not exact ;-)
One way to find out would be to check stats of hold/break percentages under those three circumstances (play to stay in the set / to equal / to win). But that is difficult (different players, circumstances, etc.) It is much, much easier to just take the raw data of thousands of sets and see how many were won by the first server, how many by the second. To reduce the influence of different-level players, use only third sets and fifth sets (so one player is not just much better than the other --even if that too would tend to cancel out). And do the statistics with the corresponding confidence intervals, of course.
My guess is that the probabilities of holding/breaking would not be constant under different circumstances and that in fact serving first would indeed be proved (with some confidence interval) as a real advantage (on average --certain players may have specific psychologies so maybe e.g. nadal has indeed higher chances if he receives second so maybe he is just right to choose that...)

"The more I read Bodo and Tignor, the more I start to get what they are saying and the less I jump to the "you are biased" argument (which I admit I learned from the comments). Keep writing Steve. Seems like it others who are incapable of viewing the match impartially."

The only one jumping to anything here are you and the author of this article.

You are jumping to the assumption that "we" think editors here are biased.

S.T. is jumping to or more, alluding to the "cheating" or gamesmanship side Nole by condoningly quoting Murray's/Lendl's newly found wisdom inignoring Novak's "fake" breathing problmes.

Of all the things to say about today's match....

Anyway, he's not the only one feeling flat.

As for the match itself, since all the talk is on "poor" Andy, I don't think there's any reason for feeling sorry for him today.
He played a good match and has nothing to be ashamed of.
Lost to a better player. End of.

His game was better today than last year, still despite improvements, his forehand still lags behind the top 3, mainly in its variety. There's a lot more to it than a cross-court flat bullet.

Murray's returning today was excellent. Absolute top-notch.

His attitude was a lot better, as well. Notably love vibes flowing between him and the new coach, very nice to see.

If he continues to build on today's match, come clay season, he'll be a nightmare...

His game has been transmuting a lot in the last 3 years and is still work in progress.

In my opinion, Murray still hasn't found identity in his game, or maybe he lost it.

The real Murray was the 2009 weaving counter-puncher.

Nadal exploded, so Murray went Nadal way: piled on pounds of flesh, increased fitness to stupid levels, even started moonballing his forehand.

Thankfully, Lendl stopped the rot.

will be interesting to see where he takes him. Seems like Lendl likes Nole's game a lot ;).

I wouldn't discount Novak using a bit of strategic gamesmanship with his "looking like death" look, but it is likely he has some breathing problems and that it's an allergy.

As I said in Racket Reaction, Melbourne is one of the worst places in the world for hayfever and asthma in summer. North winds blowing grasses and the variety of trees do it. And it was two separate allergy specialists here who told me that.

I don't know any top player other than Andy Murray who has a habit of throwing a set for tactical reasons. These types of shenanigans (and that's just one of many) work fine for him against lesser opponents, but he needs to realize that this is something that will not work against Novak, Rafa, or Roger.

So what if he went down two breaks in the 4th? He broke Nole 3 times in the second, and twice in the third. It's not like he was playing Karlovic in Cincy or anything. He only managed to get Nole into the fighting grove and himself out of it, by relinquishing all psychological advantages after winning the 3rd in the breaker.

Every time I watch a match and I see someone losing the set badly, I keep thinking: don't let it go, keep kicking the opponent into the teeth as much as you can, and if it's not working better use this time to figure out what it is and fine what will work, before the next set starts.

Not Murray. He throws the 4th set away. If I'm Lendl, I'm telling him to knock that nonsense out. That's not gonna win you any slams.

The thing that really hurts Murray was 4set, after winning third set he becomes relax. He maybe thinking or seeing the finish line, which is absolutely wrong. I really felt for Murray, he has worked so hard.

@One stat sums up the evening: There were 18 breaks of serve on 50 total break points.

This is not a surprise as two of the best returners were played to each other.

@We can debate how he approached the match tactically—47 winners and 86 unforced errors at least show that he went down swinging this time

Andy did make 86 unforced errors, but it was a secondary outcome being too close or stepping on base line all the time making his play as much aggressive as possible. He was waiting Djokovic's 1st serve just beside the base line and stepping 2 feet inside for his 2nd as well. And he converted 7 breaks points on Djokovic serve no one did so far. I say good for Murray, he needed that approach (Lendl advice) to become better. The outcome came in the fifth set when he had confidence as never before. If Nadal would be staying 10 feet beside the base line as he did in match with Federer, Djokovic will get him in straight.

@Serving in the first game of the fourth set, Murray suffered a quintessential brain cramp.

I wouldn't be so harsh here, Murray was facing with unfamiliar territory, he was leading for the first time, he was unprepared for what may come next and Djokovic, more experienced at the moment, took away momentum from him. This happened this time, but won't happen again.

@But he hasn’t mastered it yet. One thing you don’t want to do when you tank is let yourself be broken in the last game of the set.

I agree on that, this was his biggest mistake in match. It would be better that he managed to serve first in fifth set.

@The news wasn’t all bad for Andy. Something did change in the fifth set. He went down 2-5, then held.

This is new reborn Murray I would like to see more and more. Unfortunately, I never saw that from Nadal and until he master the same, he could easily lose his 2nd position by Murray in no time.

@As for Murray’s opponent, can we start calling Novak Djokovic the Benjamin Button of tennis?

No, we can't. Djokovic is having breathing problems and I would not make fun of it. Even the photo is not appropriate. With the lack of oxygen, you can have a look like your eyes are gonna pop out of his head, you can feel dizziness and finally, you can barely more by time. But, if you are pushing your body more and more, your capillaries are being wider and your body can transport more oxygen to your cells. It's not strange that he started this match in third set.

@Murray followed up his break for 4-5 in the fifth with a strong hold. His momentum carried over to the next game, when he went up 15-40—two break points to serve for the final.

Murray couldn't do much about that. Good serve, plus excellent FH by Djokovic were his best at the moment. Even if Murray has won his third break point (which he placed into the net), you can't be sure that Djokovic wouldn't turn around once more as he did in third set when Murray was serving at 5:6 loosing that game.

@Ten minutes later, a sweaty Murray was philosophical and even long-winded in the interview room. He said he was happy with his performance compared to his embarrassing loss to Djokovic in the final last year, and that he’s crossing his fingers he doesn’t suffer the same bottoming out, in confidence and motivation, that he has the last two springs. But Murray was honest enough to admit that he doesn’t know how he’s going to feel in a few days or weeks.

Murray wan't philosophical, that what he said was the common sense. Even Nadal is keep saying that he is improving his play inch by inch. And about the last, I believe that if Murray tends to doubt, Lendl will not let him go. I wasn't sure about this match up before, but I can see that it's going to be a really good one.

This match was the greatest so far in Australian open. How can you describe it differently when both Djokovic and Murray made their fans being proud?

Bah, I didn't even read this:

"Murray may have learned this maneuver from Lendl, who was famous for throwing sets and even matches early in his career."

Forget Lendl, then. Murray is screwed.

Injecting analysis into a match that had the extremely high entertainment value does injustice to it. Watched it live on TV, and I screamed myself hoarse cheering for whoever it was that needed cheering (mostly Murray). I do NOT understand why tennis writers CRAVE order and predictability. What is wrong with messy? That's how great battles are supposed to be. Messy. You like order? Watch ballet. But (off topic) don't mix the two up when describing Federer's feet.

I guess tennis writers will always be fans. The more they attempt to be dispassionate and rational, the more it shows.

"...neither guy seemed prepared to step up and grab"? Come on. It wasn't a "this is mine" match. It was a "no, it's not yours."

I had ten times more fun watching this than the Rafa-Roger semis.

VAMOS RAFA! YOU ARE THE TRUE KING OF TENNIS! MAKE THEM BELIEVE AGAIN! NO EGG REQUIRED!!!

Posted by Mr. Truth( I'm back!) 01/27/2012 at 03:34 PM

@yolita,

What are you talking about? Steve has admitted on several occasions that Nole is one of his, if not his favorite player.

Can anybody imagine if Nole wins the GRAND SLAM(the french) by beating Nadal in 4 consecutive slam finals? It could happen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, that's what I thought. But recently I've noticed a change. Very subtle, but definitely there. It's not a big deal and I don't want to start a controversy. It's not important enough and it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of Steve's writing.

I imagine it like the tweaking Kim Philby did over a period of 18 months to turn from an extreme left-wing writer to an extreme right-wing writer to start living his cover. Apparently nobody noticed it, a fact which continues to amaze me. LOL

It's all very subtle with Steve. He starts by mentioning how tired Novak looked at the beginning and not so much at the end. Steve is an athlete, he must know about a second wind. He must have felt it. We all have. He mentions "the shot" again. He gives a review of the match in which it almost looks as if Nole was lucky to win, which he was, he could easily have lost that match, but just as easily he could have won in straights, a fact that Steve fails to mention. He fails to mention that after winning the first set, Novak was up a break in the second and he had BP on Andy's serve to go up 2 breaks in the second set. That was a crucial moment, where Murray showed what he's made of, saved break-point, broke Novak to get back on serve and then broke Novak again to take the 2nd. set. Novak could have taken that set if he had managed to break that second time. It was one point. Then again, in the third set, Steve fails to point out that Novak actually had 3 SPs, and Andy saved them all. If he had converted any of those 3 SPs, it would have been another set. But Murray was too strong, and Novak a bit unlucky at those points. Murray took the set to a tie-break,and won it. Taking what could potentially have been a straight-set victory for Nole to 5 sets. He even talks about Andy "tanking" the 4th set, which again, is not quite right. He only tanked it when he had been broken twice.

If Novak had been Federer and Andy had been Novak, I bet we would be talking about all those missed opportunities and how Roger "almost" had a straight set win and how lucky Novak was to have taken it to 5. Maybe not.

I'm a Novak fan, I watched the entire match and of course I noticed all the missed opportunities by my player, who could have, with a bit of luck and a lesser opponent, finished the match in 2 hours. All credit to Andy, who didn't let him and made the match the most memorable of the entire tournament. It's a pity somebody had to lose.

Steve also talks about Novak's allergies in a very carefully worded "He says he's struggling with allergies". Strictly true and full of innuendo. Nole's always had problems with allergies, he's always blowing his nose. Why would he lie?

I could go on, there are other instances in this article alone. As I said. No big deal. But I've noticed Steve's change of heart of late and I'm interested to know the reason.

It doesn't really matter. My boy won. And he may beat Nadal in the Roland Garros final, who knows? I'm happy. I'm hopeful for Sunday. XD

Steve = Beautiful, insightful, trenchant comments.
This 88 year young champ has a slightly different take:
First - lets not be fooled what the fab commentators called Doyko's "play POSSUM" - entertaining red herrings! Doyko now has no serious health issues -
only the usual symptoms we all have when engaged in a long stretch of intense physical activity. The TV commentators repeatedly advised"Look for what Doyko DOES playing tennis, ignore the play-acting inbetween."
Second - did anyone notice that Doyko was allowed on a streaming, permanent basis extra time to prepare for his ritual of serving? Did those extra moments allow him sufficiently enough tiny margin he so much needed for his victory? Only folks smarter than me should decide.
I wish all fans + players a wonderfilled 2012!

noleisthebest
u said: "You are jumping to the assumption that "we" think editors here are biased."
check out what TennisFan said at 02:39 PM. My psot was more directed at him but if u feel Im talking, go ahead. And Im not just talking this post. Im talking over all. All the posts ever made. Go back and see how many times posters have called a writer on this site biased.
Then there is what u said "Nole is Stayin' Alive, whether you and your establishment like it or not, Steve" at 12:36. Sounds to me like u r saying that Tignor doesnt like Novak. Why would you feel that way?

@Douglass Montrose-Graem
Not only Djokovic, also Murray took a long time to serve. Andy was even allowed to hydrate himself during points, without waiting to the change-over. I had never seen a player drink while towelling his face. The cameras showed Lendl and his team quickly preparing another bottle for Andy, which a ball-girl took in a hurry. Neither Andy nor Novak minded this rule relaxation. They didn't disturb each other's patterns. Given the physicality of the match, the weather conditions, and the fact that both players were grateful for the respite, I believe the umpire allowed it, it was common sense.

The kind of common sense Rafa asked of Bernardes a few days ago. :)

"S.T. is jumping to or more, alluding to the "cheating" or gamesmanship side Nole by condoningly quoting Murray's/Lendl's newly found wisdom in ignoring Novak's "fake" breathing problmes."

Steve said: 'Or, as Murray put it afterward, “He runs very, very well when he’s breathing heavily.” Murray said that it was something that he and Lendl “spoke about before the match.”'

You are right about referencing his performance despite breathing heavily. But guess what? Andy M mentioned it. Probably Lendl mentioned it to Andy (I think lendl watched djokovic play Ferrer when Nosegate started). And all the commentators on ESPN mentioned it during the SF match. Cahill said that the opponent shouldnt pay attention to what Novak does between points (the heaving and breathing) and think Djokovic is out b/c he does just fine during the point.

Did u watch the match? Novak DID run very well while heaving and sucking in his nostrils. That is the truth. People may see that as gamesmanship or not. I dont doubt that he has a breathing problem b/c he looked a little nervous/frustrated/troubled at times despite being the dominant man of last season. Not sure if Steve thinks its fake but the fact is the breathing doesnt weaken Novak. He's still winning.

@ Douglas Montrose-Graem: Did you notice that Andy was keeping the "juice bottle" on the chair behind him and asked the ball kids to bring it to him anytime he requested! Since when you are allowed to take a sip between points. I am not know sure who was taking more time between points? Please let's be objective here! Both players used more time than allowed!!!

@Tina

they think murray will win a slam "this year" every year just because he looks like he gets better. I dont care how much he gets better, he is a mental case thats enough to prevent him from ascertaining victory.

Nole in 4 sets over Nadal in the final. 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-4

thats my guess. just for the fun of guessing.

Serving in the first game of the fourth set, Murray suffered a quintessential brain cramp. Rather than finishing a sitter off with an overhead, he hesitated and plunked a swing volley over the baseline. A couple of wild unforced errors later and he was broken.
==========
MISTER Tignor, I am hard Nonak fan and I think you are being to harsh on Marray and for your information it is far not like sitting with your as.s comfortably in some chair and Philosophize verbally about sport and what someone shoulda or woulda
Did it occur to you that many times it's your opponent the one who made you make mistakes? Marray didn't hesitate, Novak's made him make most of those mistakes.
...same as Marray made Novak to do most of his.

So please, give Murray some break

PS
I just browsing Media around and it is so SAD and LOW how fast Murray is after this match just a Scott AGAIN! And before this match he was British
UNBELIEVABLE!!

@Riff
Agree with you, and lol regarding Federer's feet.

The WTA tour restricts players to 20 seconds between points,
while the ATP tour set the limit at 30 seconds in the 1980s
and reduced it to 25 seconds around 1990.

+++++
Rafael Nadal, the slowest man among 33 timed for at least five serves, and seven women — Jill Craybas, Dominika Cibulkova, Ksenia Pervak, Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Kirilenko, Kateryna Bondarenko and Marion Bartoli.
+++++

Wawrinka and Youzhny both take longer than average: 27 seconds and 22 seconds, respectively
We measured the time it took 54 players to take their first serve during the U.S. Open and came up with who were the fastest and slowest, on average.*
--THE SLOWEST--
MALE PLAYER Avg. Serve Time Avg. # of Bounces
1 Rafael Nadal 29s 15
2 Paul-Henri Mathieu 28s 16
3 Janko Tipsarevic 27s 7
4 Stanislas Wawrinka 27s 8
5 Teymuraz Gabashvili 25s 17
6 Mardy Fish 24s 9

--THE FASTEST--
1 Gael Monfils 14s 9
2 James Blake 15s 6 Ana Ivanovic 16s 3
3 Michael Llodra 16s 6 Kim Clijsters 16s 12
4 Roger Federer 17s 10 M. Larcher De Brito 19s 11
5 Fernando Verdasco 17s 10 Caroline Wozniacki 21s 11
6 Sam Querrey 17s 4 Samantha Stosur 21s 13

Source: WSJ Research

*min. five breaks between point and next serve

You've Been Served
________________________________________________________

And one more thing
I have noticed that many commentators are taking to account how many time Novak is bouncing the ball and respectfully taking time by that,..but no one taking for example in account that Rafael Nadal do not bouncing that much but have to do many other different thing that taking wast amount of time(ie taking underpants from butt, piking nose, making hair behind ears first right than left..in that order)

Why does Novak hide what he is consuming? In the fifth set he took some kind of bar out of his bag and then wrapped it with a piece of tissue paper so that no one could see what it was.

After the match when Courier asked him how he was able to recover his energy after battling for four grueling hours, he said he replenished it with the fluids he was consuming, but then realizing the slip of tongue, quickly added that it was just the banana and water.

Thanks for throwing in that bit of analysis, nettler.

It was interesting to learn that Gael Monfils gets out a serve in less than half the time Nadal takes to do the same.

On that note, I've started to wonder how Nadal can play such a grinding game while giving his opponent so much time between serves. It would seem counterproductive to allow your opponent so much time to rest.

We tennis fans are blessed with yet another dream final! I for one cannot wait to hunker down for at least four hours of neurotic tics, theatrical fatigue, posterior probing, and Serbian ball-bounce torture! Far and away the greatest rivalry in the annals of tennis tedium!

"We tennis fans"

Yeah, forget Roger and call yourselves "tennis fans" now. How cute :)

You are right on the money about Nole Sreve, Nole does start slow and out of breath at the statrt of the match and then all his energy comes towards the end of the match. I wonder why no one else has ever expressed that about his game before. It was during the 4th set that he took the "energy drink" under his towel that he gained his energy. May that is why the drug test people came to check out Murray after te match, that upset Andy who just wanted to leave after his loss. I wondr if they checked out Nole tho, I haven't heard if he got tested too?

This is a strange write-up for what was a highly entertaining match. And what's with all the nonsense on what Nole looked like early in the match? Novak has shown so many times that he has what it takes to outlast any opponent, he has one of the best five set records, even before he went gluten- free. What else does he need to do to prove that he has the fitness and the stamina; jump around the court flexing his muscles in-between the points? Novak never said he had any physical problem, only breathing problem because of allergies, most likely due to pollen. But I suppose it's too much to expect writers like you to show some respect to the current number one player.

It was unexpected and great to see Andy fighting till the end, but the fact is he only got into the match because Novak lost his rhythm on serve early in the second set. Novak already had a break and almost went 3-0 in second set. It was Novak who made things difficult for himself, mainly because he struggled with the first serve most of second and part of third set and that was perhaps also the reason for the distress he showed. But as soon as he got his serve working towards the end of third set, you could see the change in the body language and in the confidence.

Great match, far better than the first semi-final. Looking forward to a great rivalry between these two in next few years.

M&M: I wondr if they checked out Nole tho, I haven't heard if he got tested too

No, ATP rules say that #1 is immune from drug tests and they allow best player to juice in front of cameras.

Whether or not Nole "put on a show" with his heavy breathing and fatigued demeanor between points, he undeniably put on a show by battling with incredible resolve.

And yes -- both players are guilty of having some rather sloppy moments. Both had their serve falter numerous times, and Murray seemed to have a problem with his depth perception; I was alarmed at how many times he'd drill a ball past the baseline.

Regarding those sloppy moments, however: they were simply timed in such a way that made the match more dramatic. The continuous struggle to overcome their errors is what made it such a great match. We weren't just watching players battle each other, we watched the players battle themselves -- and they both repeatedly sprinted from failure to success just when it seemed they might never recover.

The physical and emotional depth of the match was so great, you'd need a writer who writes as well as the Top Four play to get a really complete written description of what had happened. Mind you, I say this with all due respect to Tignor. To be able to replicate such a charged atmosphere through written word is the goal of every writer, whether the topic is tennis, politics, or love. And so, my point: I don't believe this article is really some kind of "hatchet piece" on Djokovic or Murray, and should not be perceived as such. Perhaps the article does some slight injustices to each of the players, but an article which perfectly conjures spirit of the match and its players would be worthy of a Pulitzer.

Don't get me wrong; it's fine to see other people pointing out shortcomings in the article and alleging bias. Covering the game itself is one thing, but it also happened to be a game between two players whose careers and lives have other compelling stories to offer -- stories which are surely worth mentioning, but venture into the realm of biographies rather than summaries of a single game.

Hey Steve
You are a bum your writing on tennis sucks
your tennis game also sucks

I agree with much of what you point out, Steve. Especially about Djokovic's struggles being half mental. As someone who's been watching him since 2006, whenever he starts huffing and puffing I just say "It's all in his head".

One thing I do disagree with. You seem to imply that the 50 (!!!) combined break point chances the guys had during their epic are somehow evidence of how sloppy the match was. You fail to mention that these are probably the two best returners of serve in the game, neither of which is a Sampras when it's time to actually hold serve. At the beginning of the match I joked on Twitter that we might end up with 50 combined break point chances (https://twitter.com/#!/juanjo_sports/status/162823648347037697). I laughed when I read your piece and saw that 50 ended up being the number. I could get a job in Vegas, if only people cared enough about tennis to gamble on it.

Much to write about this fascinatingly brutal match, but I'll just say that Murray showed me that he will eventually win a big one. I was in the "if" camp before this match. Now I'm in the "when".

Go Novak

I disagree with Andrew, at least in this case.
I think, serving first in the 5th was monumental for Novak today. Murray was going so poor fighter on his last service game of the 4th I was stunned. I wonder at what planet he was? Planet Andy? Was he camping somewhere?

Now, once they were in the fifth and Novak got the first hold I could sense the match will go in his favor, even at 5:5! I knew Murray would break down. Serving second definitely helped. And even if he would eventually get the break of serve at 5:5, he would most likely fail to serve it out.

Everyone should be clear: Murray is a head case in mild version (a very rare case).

I can bet 100$ this defeat will put him on a 3 month hibernation.

Before Lendl, he should have tried sport psychologist. At least he would try to improve and play without all the hype and maybe... maybe he could have surprised us all! The problem is, though he is smart, he is not tactical at all. He is too predictable and simply makes wrong choices on all fronts.

@nettler:
""I just browsing Media around and it is so SAD and LOW how fast Murray is after this match just a Scott AGAIN! And before this match he was British
UNBELIEVABLE!!"
----------------

Ahahahaha!!!...LOLOLOlllll............

Um, and Steve, no... there was no alternative ending for any of the SFs.

Nadal and Djokovic can bring their "C" game and still beat Andy and Federer. I think that's because they have a permanent psychological advantage in those match-ups. There's no big 4... or big 3, right now there's just the Big Two!

Federer has a blip here or there, but he is half-gone. He has maybe one big final left in him... he'll always shine at the year ending because he is best indoors and does the best job at managing his schedule.

@ bdscks

>> M&M: I wondr if they checked out Nole tho, I haven't heard if he got tested too

> No, ATP rules say that #1 is immune from drug tests and they allow best player to juice in front of cameras.

LOL, LOL ,LOOOOOL!!!

This one is priceless:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/01/4/Australian-Open-Friday-Murray-Reaction-To-Djokovic-Loss.aspx

-------

Murray employed an alternative strategy this time around, playing with far more aggression and less margin for error. “Everyone always says to me, Andy's too passive; he doesn't go for his shots enough. I think tonight I did that,” assessed Murray. "I probably made more mistakes than him, but I'm quite sure I hit more winners. I think through like three sets he only hit 14, 15 winners. I was moving well and dictating a lot of the points, which is important.”

-------

WRONG.
But of course, you weren't quite there in the 4th set when he ran over you with 15+ winners. You've got quite a selective memory pal... He played three sets on your mistakes (could have won them all) and then, only when the things got tight, only then he straightened up his head, went two gears up (with a 3 game blip).

Love the way the Nole fans come out and accuse Steve Tignor of bias when their whole raison d'etre is to defend their man no matter what -- just as the Rafa and Roger-philes do. He's one of the best tennis writers around. A little respect please.

Murray played a great match and although he's "walking away with head held high" I feel that yesterday he missed an opportunity with an -- and I say this "relatively speaking", i.e. compared to last year's form -- iffy performance from Djokovic. It was an epic that could have gone either way. Don't believe Murray believes "he lost to the better man". He lost by a whisker. He lost to the more experienced man, yes, or the hardened-grand Slam winner who has been down match points in semis against Federer twice and somehow dug himself out of a hole -- that's who Murray lost to, not the "better man" (on the day).

The "poor Murray" sentiment has nothing to do with his nice middle class up bringing he apparently enjoyed -- I don't care -- and is certainly not an insult to Djokovic's comparatively rough, tough, resilient rise to the top of the Tennis World -- certainly a compelling narrative. It's just because everyone who watched that match saw that he gave everything and still came up agonisingly short. It was tough to see anyone lose a match like that. I was more up for Djokovic -- more of a Fedal man to be honest -- but one break point winner at 5-5 was all it would have taken for Murray to have been serving to sink the unsinkable Djokovic.

Hope Djokovic's not ailing for the final -- sniffling or breathing heavily, etc -- and so we have no asterisks attached should Nadal win.

But I predict Djoko's hold on Nadal will continue until grass court season at least. Unless Murray or Federer an stop him at Roland Garros, he'll have a career grand slam and hold all major titles no matter the darling buds of May and all the allergies they might proffer.

Just a prediction!

I M FROM SMAL COUNTRY, NO LIKE TENIS SO GOOD, ONLY WAR FIGHTING AND KILL!!! BUT NOW GLORIOUS NATION HAVE REAL TENIS CHAMPEON!!! BANG CHEST, WAVE FLAG, MAKE FEEL LIKE NO 1 FIRST WORLD NATION!!!

MUST WIN, BACK TO EGG CHAMBER!!!!!!

AJDE AJDE AJDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@nettler:
""I just browsing Media around and it is so SAD and LOW how fast Murray is after this match just a Scott AGAIN! And before this match he was British
UNBELIEVABLE!!"

Hahaha...you are showing rasism here...A kako ih tek nervira sto je Nole Srbin i Pravoslavac...haha...

Borat you have a brain that is size of egg, you sore loser!

Posted by Backhand 01/27/2012 at 08:10 PM

Why does Novak hide what he is consuming? In the fifth set he took some kind of bar out of his bag and then wrapped it with a piece of tissue paper so that no one could see what it was.
-------------------------------------

Last year Novak has mentioned that he tried in 2010 "EGG" only ONES..just for a try,..media, hater KAD"s and whatnot... have blown out that out of all proportions like he is living in the 'egg'

Than that he's discovered he is allergic to gluten and do not consume any more bakery things he loved very much...and(you've guessed right)...media, hater KAD"s and whatnot... have blown out again that out of all proportions like he all success have to thank "gluten free diet"(he himself is marginal)

Than "who is that "doctor"" thing?..etc..etc..etc

Everything what that man said or done has been blown out of proportions, twisted, shaken, and served back like a half truth or simply a lie

So why you wonder why he would be hiding even something like a food power bar???

Borat...This is just for TODAY 27-th January/2012

1)Novak Djokovic, world's #1 tennis player had just completed a grueling match and beat UK's Andy Murray thus qualified for the Australian Open final.

2)Serbian Waterpolo team had defeated Hungary in over time 14-13 and will play for the European the gold medal and crown against Montenegro.

3)The Serbian Handball team defeated in SF the Croats in a packed Belgrade Arena, 26-22 and will play for the European the gold medal and crown against Denmark.

3 qualifications for Final in just 1 day

Grow some cojones my friend

@bdscks
I see your a joker too, just like Nole! Huh! LOL! LOL!

But, WHY was Djokovic HIDING what he was consuming/applying under his towel?

No matter if that was some power bar, a pill, an inhaler... It's perfectly normal to take power bars, most players take them. It's also perfectly normal to take a pill if you need one - I saw many a player pop a pill during a changeover, be it an analgetic or iron or glucose. It's perfectly normal for players with asthma to use inhalers, I saw several of them do that.

But why hiding it?

IT IS going to be djoker in 4 sets. he will loose one set when he experiences a lapse in concentration...we all know djoker. but he is the best player and more importantly he OWNS rafa. that croos court forehand of rafa which is so effective against the single handed backhand of roger, comes back with double pace and twice the angle from djokers backhand...and after a few shots djoker just hits a clean down the line backhand to close the point. same story will be repeated again.
however, only one problem...is djoker fit enough after that match with murray? that can be the only spoiler in a result we all are expecting.

At last - someone who agrees with me that this match was no classic. Epic, maybe, but not a classic. Four-fifths of it was pretty forgettable, error-strewn stuff and Murray's fourth set piddling around - when he should have headed straight for the jugular - was unforgivable.

In my match report on Murraysworld.com, I too noted how Murray was battling his instincts to counterpunch. I said he looked like a teenager forced to wear his dad's shoes to the school disco. In the nicest possible way, of course.

http://www.murraysworld.com/news/article/20360/