I think it motivates him more than anything.

I had a huge bet on Joker to win the whole tournament and I got too nervous halfway through the 5th set and went for a run. I watched it when I got back and already knew the result.

I wanted Novak to win so he had me cheering at least. I basically started watching tennis when his run started.

Djokovic titan, mental GOAT, Spartan, gladiator, etc.

Shutting up an entire crowd cheering against him once again. But what utter **** one of the greatest matches of all-time got decided by a tiebreak, would anyone have objected if this would have gone to 70-68?

Fed has never even beaten Nadal and Djokovic in the same slam, doing that back to back at 37 would have absolutely been one of the GOAT achievements in all sports and would have cemented his status as the overall GOAT

Pretty brutal this match happened with the rule changes in place. Maybe make the final a marathon since that's the end of the tournament and matches leading up to it fall under tiebreak rule? Regardless I think we can all agree **** John Isner.

Agree!

*****

I'm a nadal fan, but djokovic is now a better playrr and is more likeable than either nadal or federer, who are both false nice. Djokovic is more sincere and that doesn't always play well in press conferences.

Lol @ getting butthurt over Djokovic's personality. He held it remarkably well when he got screwed by the ref over the hawkeye challenge and had to concede the point to face a break point late in the 5th, i'd have been all mad about it.

Crowd was definitely not disrespectful but I found it lame and indecent at best to be so openly rooting against a guy who plays goat level tennis and hasn't put a foot wrong. It reached the stages where the crowd was clapping and wowing on djokovic's unforced errors, audibly ooohing when djoko missed a first served, etc.. which are typical traits of a totally biased crowd but I wouldn't expect such in a major final with 2 great guys and great players.

Glad for Nole though, his goat status would have already been cemented if kt wasn't for that recent weird phase

tom watson BLEW it

Bolded surprises me but yea can't think of it ever happening. Have either of the other two gone through both to win one?

I remember one Wimbledon Berdych went through Fed and Djok only to lose to Nadal in the final haha (though this was before Djok was really DJOK). Sucks to be that guy lol.

Yea it's interesting. Novak really does seem to have an amazing record in these GOAT-level 5 set "comes down to a few points" matches. 2012 AO Final, 2018 Wimbledon Semi, that Semi against Fed in US all those years ago (2011?), Yesterday. Just always seems to get there. Plenty of possible reasons, the cynical "just variance", the romantic "GOAT just finds a way" or even just the boring practical "he's fitter than the other two"

Only one I can really think of him losing is the 2013 FO SF against Raf (which is slept on for the greatest match of all time imo, Christ that was epic)

Just a brutal way to lose a match, Federer was clearly better at the actual games of tennis but lost to the reality that we can't have infinite length sets.

Sports need overtime rules but they always suck. Tennis having penalty shootouts decide sets with them being equal to sets won straight up is pretty feel bad.

Nadal Roland Garros 2006 + 2007 + 2008 and Djokovic US Open 2011

Oh yea of course 2011 US Open haha I mentioned it in my next post. The RG ones are interesting, before Djok was a superstar though (two before he was even a GS winner)

Yeah one was by retirement at 6-4 6-4 2-0 followed by this hilarious press conference

Before he gained gluten free superpowers

Saying you're in control against Nadal on clay. Jesus christ.

Sidenote: kind of eerie how the last point of yesterdays match was Fed hitting one off the frame as it skidded off the line since it was the exact same way his last point against Roddick went in their epic Wimbledon showdown

nadals response is funny

He's like can you say that in Spanish to confirm I'm not high

I'm going to be at a conference in a fancy resort town during its Oktoberfest celebration on the day of the US Open men's final.

After yesterday's match, I cannot tell you how excited I am for that day to arrive.

Sunday, September 8th is going to be amazing. ...At least for me.

I do agree with Johnny Mac that if Fed had won if would have been awful tought for Novak to catch him in majors. Now I think he's likely to pass him. I expect Joker to win the US Open and Australian Open again.

Upon further thought, I feel like this match is basically the worst thing that could have happened for Fed's legacy. I think the ranking goes like this for Fed's legacy:

1. Fed wins the match - Puts GOAT out of reach with the insane accomplishment of beating Nadal/Djokovic at 37 and putting 3 slams on Nadal and 6 on Djokovic.

2. Fed loses in 4 hard fought sets - Fed gave us all a good show but just at his age can't compete with peak Djokovic

3. Fed gets blown out in 3 sets - Fed wasn't able to recover from his match against Nadal and Djokovic was primed to take advantage

4. Fed has 2 match points and loses against one of his greatest rivals - In what sport is the GOAT a person who has repeatedly choked away wins against his biggest rivals?

4. I starting to think this as well. He’s basically thrown it away. Losing 4 straight points on serve to win the championship is so bad. I don’t care whose on the otherside of the net.

Exactly, well said. I don't even think he's a mental midget, Novak is just a mental giant. But it was a clear cut case of WIL vs WIM.

Not only that though. The approach the net at 40-30 was a complete wtf moment.