Djokovic v Nadal Final - Live

*Now Live Final Discussion Here*

I am quite looking forward to the final at the moment. Opinions were mixed about their last gruelling meeting here, which made their US Open career head to head 1-1, but I personally thought it was their best match. The faster court encourages even defensive players to try a few aggressive shots, and the rivalry between the two is also in better balance than before, than when Djokovic was dominating it. We used to talk about Djok in Rafa’s head, mentally dominating, it’s not quite so clear cut now Rafa has a win on hard and won their last slam meeting, admittedly on clay and only just.

To my mind, whoever wins this is #1. Whoever wins it will be the only player with 2 slams in the calendar year. If Djokovic wins it he will be able to point to the official rankings, holding both hard court slams as well as the world tour finals, being perhaps a net touch away from the French Open as well, and a Wimbledon final.

If Rafa wins he will be clearly the best player in 2013, in both masters series (5-1 in such tournament wins vs Djokovic in 2013) as well as slams, and will be second in the rankings purely because of time out through to injury. He will be locker room #1 with the official rankings just needing some time to catch up to the truth. Djokovic cannot realistically claim to be the locker room #1 if he has only won the least important slam in the last 2 full years.

The rankings battle is now being engaged in terms of total weeks at number 1 as well, with Djokovic on course to catch Rafa up in a few weeks (both have about 100, Djokovic just under, Rafa just over).

10 Reasons Why Djokovic will win tomorrow:
1. The faster hard court should suit Djokovic a little more as he is relatively more aggressive – the fast speed makes it that bit harder for Nadal to chase down forehands struck out wide from the middle of the court, for instance.
2. Rafa hasn’t beaten him in a non-clay slam since 2010. Djokovic has come out on top in last three non-clay slam meetings.
3. The better backhand and the 2 hander response to Rafa’s high, spinny shots.
4. He is the number one player of the last 12 months.
5. His best on a hard court is better than anyone’s since 2011 - he has won 3 hard court slams since Rafa won one, and has a career total of 5 hard court slams compared to only 2 for Rafa.
6. He has often worked Rafa out tactically in the rivalry.
7. When Djokovic gets behind or has match points against him, he gets even better. The stadium of “the shot” could inspire again.
8. Djokovic very nearly beat him at the French Open, with the change of surface, Djokovic should be able to convert that into a victory.
9. New (since 2011) Djokovic leads the head to head 8-5. Results before then are when he was a lesser player.
10. Djokovic leads the career hard court head to head 11-6. Even the old, pre-peak Djokovic tended to beat peak Rafa on hard court at least half the time.

10 Reasons Why Nadal will win tomorrow:
1. He has won their last two slam meetings.
2. The better forehand.
3. Djokovic’s smash still slightly looks dodgy to me even though it hasn’t been exposed yet in this tournament, just one or two lost points can be costly in a tight match. It cost him last time, and he still hasn’t fixed it. You can bet Rafa will test it.
4. He is the number one player of 2013.
5. Nadal leads 21–15 in the rivalry. In Grand Slams, Nadal leads 7–3. In best-of-five matches, Nadal leads 8–3.
6. Rafa is much more the form player, having not lost on hard court this season.
7. He won their last head to head meeting on a hard court.
8. He has lost only one set on his way to the final, while Djokovic has last three. 6-7 is his worst set, but Djokovic’s losses were 2-6, 3-6 and 3-6 again.
9. Rafa had the easier semi final (although he did play second), so may have a little more energy for a 5-hour marathon.
10. Rafa has won double the number of slams in his career that Djokovic has (12-6).

Bookmakers are making Rafa the 60/40 or 55/45 favourite, but I am not sure about that, I think it is more like 50/50 and Djokovic’s hard court record and recent years head to head still counts for a lot.

Looking at all things I would make Rafa the slight favourite myself. His hard court form in recent weeks have been unmatched by Djokovic and also Rafa has been the more impressive in his run through to the final playing in less marathon matches so will also be fresher. Don't get me wrong though I would not be surprised if Novak found a way to win. I'll stick with my prediction from yesterday - Rafa to win in four. Either player will be a worthy winner so I am just going to sit back and enjoy what hopefully is a classic.

It is quite an important match. Should Rafa win another slam away from clay it leaves me to believe he has a very strong chance of overhauling Federer's slam total in the next two or three years. If Novak wins it boosts his chances of ending up year ending No.1 and edges him closer to the ten slams mark.

To overhaul Fed, Rafa would need to win 7 slams after reaching the age of 27. He's already won one.
No-one has won more than 5 slams after reaching 27 - Fed, Agassi and Laver.

I still make Djoko a slight favourite.

JuliusHMarx wrote:To overhaul Fed, Rafa would need to win 7 slams after reaching the age of 27. He's already won one.
No-one has won more than 5 slams after reaching 27 - Fed, Agassi and Laver.

I still make Djoko a slight favourite.

Records are there to be won. If he wins today he is four slams adrift of Roger. Now we know he is untouchable at RG so unless a clay master is lying around out there undiscovered then he is a shoo in for perhaps another three maybe four French Opens and he can certainly be called a strong contender at two or three more Australian Open's, Wimbledon's and US Open's.

CC, I've heard how Fed was a shoo in for 20 slams, I've heard how Rafa would have overtaken him by now, I've heard how Djoko would overtake first Rafa, then Fed.
If the past has taught us anything it's that no-one just waltzes to 5slams in 2 or 3 years, especially as they get older.
Every time someone looks a dead cert to rule for years (even back to Connors, McEnroe, Wilander) by the next year something has always changed.

Good article, HB.

I think it is telling that your reasons for a Novak win draw largely upon history whilst with Rafa you look more at recent form!

My sentiments are similar. For Novak to win, he has to produce form he has shown in the past.

Based on what I've seen over the last 4 months, Rafa appears a strong favourite. The big hope for Novak is that he has not played well in the last couple of meetings but still only lost by a whisker. Even a modest improvement might swing things back his way. I feel like that modest improvement is a matter of hope rather than expectation though.

JuliusHMarx wrote:CC, I've heard how Fed was a shoo in for 20 slams, I've heard how Rafa would have overtaken him by now, I've heard how Djoko would overtake first Rafa, then Fed.
If the past has taught us anything it's that no-one just waltzes to 5slams in 2 or 3 years, especially as they get older.
Every time someone looks a dead cert to rule for years (even back to Connors, McEnroe, Wilander) by the next year something has always changed.

Well I am all ears if you can forecast a slam winner outwith Nadal and Djokovic (will leave Murray out as he has now been written off) over the next two to three years to deny Rafa.

OK, so you think the next 12 slams will be split between Djoko and Rafa?

For the first time in many years I'm not planning to watch the match. Partly that's because I have a lot of business to do next week, but partly because it relates to how I see the final play out.

In summary, I don't see a way this match can conclude in a reasonable amount of time with both players playing well. Either it's quick because one is not right (on the basis of this event, that's a Nadal win), or it goes long. Very, very long. In that case the winner probably runs the other into the ground and that's just boring.

I'd have watched Nadal / Stan for sure. I wouldn't have watched Novak / Gasquet because what's the point, and I'd not watch Ferrer v Anyone.

CaledonianCraig wrote: Now we know he is untouchable at RG so unless a clay master is lying around out there undiscovered then he is a shoo in for perhaps another three maybe four French Opens

I would be delighted to take money off anyone about Rafa winning 3 or 4 more French. It won't happen.

JuliusHMarx wrote:OK, so you think the next 12 slams will be split between Djoko and Rafa?

Well unless you can throw any names into the mix that break the mould? The last player outwith (the old big four) was Del Potro four years ago.

bogbrush wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote: Now we know he is untouchable at RG so unless a clay master is lying around out there undiscovered then he is a shoo in for perhaps another three maybe four French Opens

I would be delighted to take money off anyone about Rafa winning 3 or 4 more French. It won't happen.

Well I did say maybe did I not? I'd say there is more a chance he will (knee permitting) than he won't though.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote: Now we know he is untouchable at RG so unless a clay master is lying around out there undiscovered then he is a shoo in for perhaps another three maybe four French Opens

I would be delighted to take money off anyone about Rafa winning 3 or 4 more French. It won't happen.

Well I did say maybe did I not? I'd say there is more a chance he will (knee permitting) than he won't though.

Did you say maybe? I read, and quoted, the above which appears quite conclusive. Maybe isn't in there.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:OK, so you think the next 12 slams will be split between Djoko and Rafa?

Well unless you can throw any names into the mix that break the mould? The last player outwith (the old big four) was Del Potro four years ago.

And Del Potro's name wasn't in the mix. No-one predicted it. That's partly my point. I don't need to predict who will win the FO in, say 2015 and 2016, in order to predict that Rafa most likely won't.

Well we shall see what transpires. It is certainly not out of the question though especially if Rafa continues his dominant streak over the next two years that he won't surpass seventeen before he reaches 30.

His dominant streak of winning 1 slam a year for the last 3 years?

It's a tough one to call this.

I think Djokovic has been "Mr Consistency" for many a year now. He's regularly been to Slam semi-finals and making final appearances until his 2011 season took him onto different heights. And he's still been there since, but without the W that he was able to achieve that year. But what is it? Two title wins all season and we're into September? There's something that's just not seeing him over that finishing line.

Whereas with Nadal, well, you get what you expect from him in the clay season, but I have to say that I've been quite astonished by the level of his hardcourt game post-Wimbledon. And he's doing what Djokovic isn't doing much of, which is winning.

However, I thought Nadal's level was not as good last night as he's shown of late. There's a whisker between them, but I think it will go to Nadal. Just. And simply because they're both confidence players and Nadal has shown more of that overall over the season.

Ill go Nadal with some caveats. Novaks looked pretty good over the chamionships, but slightly overly defensive at times, relying on his elastic defense. This was especially evident against Stan, until he was in danger in the 4th and started to hit it more. If he gets hot, then hell be the favourite.
Nadals been aggressive and imperious, but must serve well in this match, Djokovic always breaks him quite a bit

As we know from peoples criticism of Murray, 1 slam each year is pretty damn good

If Rafa and Novak are confidence players, they must be confident all the time based on their record

Some thoughts on the match looking at their game coming in...

FH
Big edge to Rafa.  His DTL FH has absolutely been on fire and this is a shot that has often not been there when he needed it the most against Nole.  If the shot is there on Mon, it dramatically increases his chances to win because it blunts the DTL BH of Nole. If the shot is not there, his chances go down dramatically because he becomes more restricted in the play patterns he can toss at Nole.

BH
Normally this is a big edge to Nole but not during this tournament and not during the warm-up to here.  Nole's DTL BH has been largely missing and he'll desperately need this shot to beat Rafa.  If he finds the shot again, big advantage to him because it is a thing of beauty and very difficult to defend against.  That said, I'm not sure I accept that he's just going to find this shot out of nowhere.  It's been largely MIA over the past 6 weeks and I don't expect it to be a big factor.  Meanwhile, Nadal is stepping into BHs unlike I've ever seen before.  Most importantly he's not running around his BH nearly as much as is his custom. Sure, he runs around the BH, don't get me wrong.  But he runs around less than he normally did.  He goes toe-to-toe far more often in BH rallies than in the past and this is a great thing.  It allows him to maintain a more neutral position in the court.  Can you say ala Agassi?

Serve
Rafa has a very effective serve though it is generally less of a weapon than that of Nole.  Rafa has quite simply guarded his serve better than Nole and that kick out wide to the righty BH and then sneak into the net is a great pattern for Rafa.  If he can work that combination, he'll have the service advantage.  Again, normally I would give Nole edge in serving but we've seen nothing this fortnight to warrant that advantage in this case.

Mobility
Advantage Nole.  This is close since both are fantastic movers, but I probably give the advantage to Nole if for no other reason than that his movement is more economical.  

Return
Big edge to Nole. Sure Rafa is serving well (for him) but Nole has the best return in the history of our sport so this is a big difference maker.  Rafa has not faced a great returner yet (e.g. Murray or Ferrer) so Nole could get some early breaks.  Bad news for Rafa if that happens and he'll need to have a fantastic serving day to keep Nole's return game at bay.

Net Play
They both are superlative volleyers but Rafa is a little smarter about when he comes in and, therefore, is likely to have a superior winning percentage when approaching.  Not sure this is a big deal since the great majority of this match will be played on the baseline.

Intangibles
After his 5-setter with Stan and his losses earlier this year, I really think Nole will have less confidence than Rafa.  More importantly, Rafa is finally playing a style of play on HCs that he can reasonably believe is as good as that of Nole on HCs.  That means he's not going to be inclined to throw in the towel mentally (something accused him of him in 2011).  Rafa likely has more belief coming into this match and he's played by far the superior tournament to this point.

Overall, these thoughts make me give a small edge to Rafa but only just.

JuliusHMarx wrote:To overhaul Fed, Rafa would need to win 7 slams after reaching the age of 27. He's already won one.
No-one has won more than 5 slams after reaching 27 - Fed, Agassi and Laver.

I still make Djoko a slight favourite.

Cough! Rafa has a long list of doing things no one else did. If he wins this one he will have two. I don't see it as breaking any big law of nature for him to win 4 more. I've thought for a long time that Rafa would at least equal Rogers slam count and it was only his long injury time out that made it look doubtful. Now that he's back and playing so well I reckon things are back on track whatever happens on Monday. I did once think they would both retire on 20 but sometimes I can be a little too optimistic... That would be nice though  

I don't really know who will win on Monday. If it was just down to recent form and backhands and forehands I would say Rafa. But when they face each other sometimes Djokovic has that little glint in his eye and just refuses to die...

My first post of the USO and have to say this USO hasn't really captivated my interest. Perhaps the knowledge that Fed had no chance of overcoming Nadal in a Quarters and besides that, had no realistic chance might have dampened my enthusiasm or perhaps Murray's exit but I will watch this final.

My thoughts are a Rafa win in 3, maybe 4. I been really impressed with Rafa's come back this season and I've actually warmed to him as a player more than in the past. He's not only shown grit, but determination, which sadly has been overshadowed by his dismal performance @ Wimbledon.

I concur with others, it's not a forgone conclusion that Nadal will be some sort of lock down for the French Open for 3/4 years and Djokovic was only one mistake away from defeating Nadal there, never has Nadal been pushed so close in the latter stages. I certainly think he could win another French Open title or two, but 3 or 4 is too far into the future to hold any merit.

As we all should know, one impressive season doesn't herald dominance for the next. Nadal himself provided such an example of dominance in 2010, taking 3 slams and 7 titles in total that season. What happened in 2011? 1 slam and 3 titles in total. Then of course there was Djokovic in 2011, 3 slams and 10 titles in total. 2012? A bit better than Nadal's post 2010 slump but still only 1 slam and 6 titles in total. Im looking forward to watching tomorrow's match but let's not draw too many conclusions for next year on the basis of it, because invariably many posters have ended up looking a tad silly in the past.

Most people going for Nadal, thats interesting, despite hes my vote i thought i might even be the minority

falzy21 wrote:Most people going for Nadal, thats interesting, despite hes my vote i thought i might even be the minority

I don't know why, I didn't doubt Nadal would get to the final when he lost the first set of his match against Kohlschreiber (and in the tournament) or when he got broken yesterday. I'm not 100% Nadal will win tomorrow but I'm pretty confident as far as these things go.

In Montreal, Pam Shriver sat courtside commenting on their SF. She made two observations about Djokovic in 2013 that are different than the Djokovic of 2011, and even most of 2012: his 2nd Serve and his Forehand are not as good as they were at his peak. And this US Open is proving her right. In six matches, Djokovic has given his opponents 31 chances to Break his Serve. He's been broken 10 times. That's a very bad sign for him. He hasn't been playing as well this year as the last two years. If Djokovic has designs to win he has to play FAR better than he has in this event so far. Or hope that Nadal plays much worse than he has in this event.  Strictly on form, it's Nadal's match to lose.

I would say that a win is more important for Novak than Rafa. Another loss for Novak will keep him on a general downer considering the position of dominance he held over Rafa around 2011 and will keep those doubts in his herad. For Rafa a defeat may be a blow but he'd be delighted with the way his comeback has gone and be delighted he is back competitive again and look forward with much optimism.

hawkeye wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:To overhaul Fed, Rafa would need to win 7 slams after reaching the age of 27. He's already won one.
No-one has won more than 5 slams after reaching 27 - Fed, Agassi and Laver.

I still make Djoko a slight favourite.

Cough! Rafa has a long list of doing things no one else did. If he wins this one he will have two. I don't see it as breaking any big law of nature for him to win 4 more. I've thought for a long time that Rafa would at least equal Rogers slam count and it was only his long injury time out that made it look doubtful. Now that he's back and playing so well I reckon things are back on track whatever happens on Monday. I did once think they would both retire on 20 but sometimes I can be a little too optimistic... That would be nice though  

I don't really know who will win on Monday. If it was just down to recent form and backhands and forehands I would say Rafa. But when they face each other sometimes Djokovic has that little glint in his eye and just refuses to die...

I guess if not for mono and his back problems Fed might well have had 20, but speculation on my, or anyone's, part never equates to reality.

^ Yes and Rafa's knees otherwise he too would be on target for 20. In my optimism I didn't account for injury. But then again you never know  Also part of Rafa's problem is he insists on targeting Barcelona ahead of slams

Great write up Henman Bill, wow you really did make it comprehensive. One thing I would add, I think Nadal should be the favorite on current form. And really I think he probably will win but I could not bring myself to not picking Novak. And the more I think about it a part of me says that A. Nadal is due a loss on the hardcourt B. Who better to give it to him than Djoko and C. Novak is the better hardcourt player overrall in their careers.

Plus I think Nadal in their last meeting on hardcourt the victory in Toronto kind of sucker punched Novak. Now I don't mean he did anything wrong, but he sneak attacked Novak and caught him with his pants down and wearing Jelena's britches in Toronto. What I mean by that is that Nadal has had a pattern against Novak for 30 some odd matches, really he has the same pattern against pretty much everyone. Second serve goes to the back hand, and hit cross court to the opponents bh with your FH, also stand way back on your opponents second and just focus on getting a heavy swing at the ball. Nadal broke these tendencies against  Novak because these patterns actually fit in to what Novak does well. Nadal stepped up in the court on the return in toronto and went after the second serve something he usually doesn't do. He went away from just going cross with the forehand and used the full court more and the down the line shots as well. And instead of directing second serves at Novak's backhand he directed a steady stream of body serves and serves to the forehand.

Novak and Vajda, have now seen Uncle Toni/Rafa cards so to speak in poker. If they are smart the did a lot of work in preparing Novak over the summer for Nadal's new game plan, which as a Djokovic fan I take as a huge compliment to Novak. To have Super Rafa have to change his game to better address you as an opponent is a pretty big indirect compliment. Novak and Vajda won't be surprised this time and Novak will be the hungry for a victory. So based on these factors I went with Djokovic although I think Nadal should be a slight favorite. Novak in 5 tough sets.

For me Djoko is the heavy favorite to win the title, after seeing his semi performance I would put it 80-20 to Djoko.

Can't predict the sets however, might be in 5, but I guess Djoko might do it in 4.

3, 4, or 5 but Djoko wants to win it and will do everything for it, his main trump card is to intimidate Nadal to submission like he did in 2011, if he succeeds in it he wins for sure, otherwise Nadal should win given his superior skills, but Djoko will intimidate Nadal in the finals.

Stats for Nadal (bbc)

Nadal has won all 21 hard-court matches he has played in 2013
He had won 88 consecutive service games until Gasquet broke him
Nadal has lost just 52 games in total at Flushing Meadows this year
He has hit 113 forehand and 28 backhand winners, plus 17 aces
Nadal has spent 12hrs 59mins on court, compared to 12hrs 55mins for Djokovic

Stats for Djoko

BBC has not bothered to count.

Jahu wrote:Stats for Djoko

BBC has not bothered to count.

Stats for Jahu?

Jahu: Pretty poor I guess.

Pretty close for me, but leaning towards Djokovic.  I still think that when he plays well, he has the keys to win this match up.  I do not think he has played truly well most of this USO, but I still think he will have enough to edge it.

That said, I thought he would beat Rafa at RG - perhaps even relatively easily - yet he lost.  I also thought he would beat Rafa in Canada - perhaps even relatively easily - but he lost again.  So my prediction success rate in their recent matches has not been so great.

summerblues wrote:Pretty close for me, but leaning towards Djokovic.  I still think that when he plays well, he has the keys to win this match up.  I do not think he has played truly well most of this USO, but I still think he will have enough to edge it.

That said, I thought he would beat Rafa at RG - perhaps even relatively easily - yet he lost.  I also thought he would beat Rafa in Canada - perhaps even relatively easily - but he lost again.  So my prediction success rate in their recent matches has not been so great.

Can you please pick Rafa then, it seems like you are the kiss of death SB.

Djokovic has 32 baxkhand winners vs 70 unforced errors for the tournament, vs Nadals forehand stats of 113 winners to 80 unforced errors. If Djokovic's backhand proves to be that leaky in the final, Its not going to be easy for him.

Looks like the ATP are expecting a Rafa win!

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=D643&oId=N409

"Rafa convinced me by practicing with his shirt off," said Azarenka,

http://tensport.com.au/news/newsarticles/Tennis-Naked-truth-convinces-Azarenka-to-back-Nadal.htm

Absolutely true, HM Murdoch. ATP have already called it for Rafa. Surely the clearest evidence yet of a conspiracy in tennis. If Rafa wins due to some dodgy line calls this is going to look very bad....hehe

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=D643&oId=N409

They are both great tennis players. They both have won many titles in the past. If i have to choose one, then my vote goes to Novak. I think he will win this year US open title. Good luck to him.

Shanerio and Murdoch lets keep our fingers crossed for Novak, only a few hours left now. Can not say I am confident at all. Lets hope we have a great and worthy final. Nadal on current form is going to be a tough out for sure.

Socal, I really fear the worst! Novak isn't looking that convincing. Without his backhand working, his game is seriously impaired.

I think his only chance is to do what he nearly did at RG - have a couple of hot spells at key moments and just keep it close the rest of the time.

But this is the least confident I've felt since 2010!

Anyone else, and Id say its a done deal and I'll try make an effort to watch Nadal's coronation later. With Djoko, I really dont know. I just think he is still in Nadal's head a bit, as evidenced by the fact that whenever Nadal has had a chance to put Djokovic away, he has really struggled to kill it off. While part of this is because Nole plays his best tennis when he has nearly fallen over the cliff, Nadals worst spells of tennis vs Djokovic this year have come with Djokovic there for the taking.

HM Murdoch wrote:Socal, I really fear the worst! Novak isn't looking that convincing. Without his backhand working, his game is seriously impaired.

I think his only chance is to do what he nearly did at RG - have a couple of hot spells at key moments and just keep it close the rest of the time.

But this is the least confident I've felt since 2010!

It ebbs and flows Murdoch, I really like what Nadal has done with his game on hardcourt and has changed things up since 2011, although he played pretty damn well that year as well on the hardcourts. I want to see Novak win, but I just want to see him play exceedingly well through the match from start to finish. Something he has not really done since early in the year at MC against elite competition. As you noted he has been so hot and cold often in the same match that it is getting nerve wracking to watch him play. But he does find away to play some of his best and most memorable tennis when pushed up against it. But you are right his level is not there when compared to Nadal's form right now. I have a feeling people that we are going to see a real classic tonight, I don't think it will be one sided either way it goes.

kingraf wrote:Anyone else, and Id say its a done deal and I'll try make an effort to watch Nadal's coronation later. With Djoko, I really dont know. I just think he is still in Nadal's head a bit, as evidenced by the fact that whenever Nadal has had a chance to put Djokovic away, he has really struggled to kill it off. While part of this is because Nole plays his best tennis when he has nearly fallen over the cliff, Nadals worst spells of tennis vs Djokovic this year have come with Djokovic there for the taking.

I don't know if he is still in Nadal's head but both guys know that the other one can take the other's best punch and still beat the other player, that feeling is very stressful for a tennis player out on the court in a big match. Especially, two great players who are not used to that feeling, when they walk out on the court they know that as long as they bring a modicum of a good performance they will win. This is what makes their rivalry so intense in my mind is that it is very close and competitive, also it has had a lot of ebbs and flows with one player taking the initiative and then another. Nadal is also in Novak's mind a bit as well, at the FO I saw Novak run Rafa from pillar to post and I saw Nadal reach maybe 100 balls that I thought were humanly impossible to reach, and then eventually either Novak would error or from some ridiculous position off the court Nadal would blast some ridiculous shot that would turn the whole rally for him in one shot. That is why he ran into the net, Nadal's defense made him tense and made him rush the overhead. Overheads are not shots to be rushed especially that tight to the net. If you are positioned correctly it is an easy shot, if you are not you are going to look real stupid.

Both players will have some mental issues for this match but both players are exceptionally good at finding a way around mental issues. They are both strong people, talented tennis players as well as athletic and fit sportsmen and astute tacticians but most importantly both are winners. Both can see their game falter but will themselves over the line and that is what I love about watching Novak-Rafa, the battle of the wills, the strength of mind when the body is exhausted

I am ridiculously excited about tonight's match, just kept counting down the clock at work. As a Nadal fan this rivalry is a special one. Whereas with Nadal-Fed post 08 it was usually a predictable affair, the only thing one can really predict in these Nadal-Djokovic clashes is that it will nearly always be a hard fought epic slug-fest. Like CJ's post above says the margins between the two are so fine its just going to be a real compelling contest. I think an attacking Nadal will win in 3 or 4.

Nadal 3-2 up serving with a break.