Congrats to all Nole fans

Slasher, Paul, and Murdoch let the party begin. To fight back a set down shows that despite his incredible shotmaking the thing that sets the man apart is his total dedication to the sport and his ridiculous discipline, no one has ever dedicated himself to this level. Remember when he came up he was behind Murray, Gazza, Nadal, and Monfils in terms of being a junior prospect and he has surpassed them all. The tortoise has caught the hare. No athlete I have ever followed has by so much exceeded my expectations.

Thanks for opening this thread Soc and I can tell you the party develops well and hopefully your is going perfectly regardless where you are at the moment.
What is really good for us his fans, that he will play by far more freely from now on and still better. If I am right he made no errors at the net, when touched the ball. Who would say that a couple years ago, he is just amazing player. Enjoy your stay

Congrats to Novak - If there was ever a "GOAT" in the making he has to be it!

Never mind Wimbledon coming up and if Andy and Novak make the final I'm sure Andy will have a better chance on grass

Ty paul, Novak is finally getting the love he deserves reports indicate the fans were very pro Novak for a change. I was just in Prague a couple days ago now flying back home so hard to contribute on my iPhone. But it is a special day

Thank you sports lover it is a special day for those that can appreciate a genius at work. I think there are a number of guys that can challenge him easier on the faster surfaces, but then again he is Laverovic.

socal1976 wrote:Ty paul, Novak is finally getting the love he deserves reports indicate the fans were very pro Novak for a change. I was just in Prague a couple days ago now flying back home so hard to contribute on my iPhone. But it is a special day

Ty Socal  when you are next time in Prague, tell me and we can go for beer sometime or rather for wine, which I prefer. I am not a typical Czech beer kind of a person, perhaps because my great-grandfather came from France.
Have a nice flight and enjoy this special day

Congrats to Novak, he holds all the major prizes and is firmly in the best ever conversation now. He really doesn't have a weakness.

I have huge disappointment at how Andy went from playing great to playing rope dope, against Novak, unsuccessfully, again!!...

But it's Novak's night and I have to tip my hat to him. He's by a mile the best in the game today, and also a positive ambassador for the game.

I will paul I make it a point to visit your fair city when I come to Europe since I took a class at Charles university in the summer 17 years ago. How about becarovka shots, after the dinner or that delicious warm plum brandy you guys have. Great culture, great city, wonderful people

Thank you Danny Murray was always up against it but the way he is playing I could see him winning Wimbeldon. Always hard to lose slams , but Murray exceeded expectations and beat the defending champion. He has a lot to be proud of

sportslover wrote:Congrats to Novak - If there was ever a "GOAT" in the making he has to be it!

Never mind Wimbledon coming up and if Andy and Novak make the final I'm sure Andy will have a better chance on grass

Andy improved his serve and fought untill the end and deserves his credit. But tbh Nole's game is one level higher and thinking on the court as well.

Congrats and welcome back.

socal1976 wrote:I will paul I make it a point to visit your fair city when I come to Europe since I took a class at Charles university in the summer 17 years ago. How about becarovka shots, after the dinner or that delicious warm plum brandy you guys have. Great culture, great city, wonderful people

 I can see that you know Czech drinking stuff well. Thank you for such warm words. Only politicians should drink far less here for sure

Thanks Socal.

It's a very pleasing moment and I can feel my sanity gradually returning to me!

I'm into the "anything else is a bonus" zone now. Two more slams, five more slams, six more slams, no more slams... I'm content with whatever happens from here on it. It's been great following a player make the transition from a talented also-ran to being among the best the game has produced.

Said it on the match thread but since this appears to be the new official thread Well done to Novak. Obviously disappointed that Andy lost but Novak fully deserved his French Open win and completing the full set of slams. Congrats to his supporters.

HM Murdock wrote:Thanks Socal.

It's a very pleasing moment and I can feel my sanity gradually returning to me!

I'm into the "anything else is a bonus" zone now. Two more slams, five more slams, six more slams, no more slams... I'm content with whatever happens from here on it. It's been great following a player make the transition from a talented also-ran to being among the best the game has produced.

Nice words and attitude, that is exactly what I told myself. From now on if Nole adds up anything more it is just bonus for his fans. But I expect his game is going to be still better

HM Murdock wrote:Thanks Socal.

It's a very pleasing moment and I can feel my sanity gradually returning to me!

I'm into the "anything else is a bonus" zone now. Two more slams, five more slams, six more slams, no more slams... I'm content with whatever happens from here on it. It's been great following a player make the transition from a talented also-ran to being among the best the game has produced.

Yes I feel like he could retire tomorrow and I am happy. Glad your sanity is returned. We Novsk fans all had a little mental illness during the French opens of the last few years. Considering he started as Mr withdrawal and now holds records that even Roger and Rafa can't match it sure does put this amazing run into perspective

paulcz wrote:

socal1976 wrote:I will paul I make it a point to visit your fair city when I come to Europe since I took a class at Charles university in the summer 17 years ago. How about becarovka shots, after the dinner or that delicious warm plum brandy you guys have. Great culture, great city, wonderful people

 I can see that you know Czech drinking stuff well. Thank you for such warm words. Only politicians should drink far less here for sure

I wish I was in Praha now to party with you, so many drinking establishments in such a small area no wonder I love it

I also think that the monkey is off his back and that might let him be even freer at Wimbeldon. A relaxed and confident Novak has to be a terrifying prospect for the haters. Or he could be so self satisfied he lets up and someone gets him, but to me knowing Djokovic he won't lose the hunger

For all the talk about the career slam, it's the "Novak Slam" (is that what it's being called?) that I think is more important. It's very rare that a player holds all four slams at the same time. That's something he has that the other contemporary greats don't have. A great achievement on his tennis CV.

An amazing achievement ! So delighted for Novak, he really deserved to win a French open title. Fair play to Murray on reaching his first French final, when he won the first set I really thought Novak was in trouble.

Djokovic is made of steel these days though, so mentally strong when you consider the huge pressure and expectation surrounding this match.

I remember predicting in the early days that Novak would win 6-8 slams and maybe 10 if he played lights out. To win 12 is an amazing return and who knows what he can achieve from here.

When you think that outside of tsonga in 2008, all his grand slam final wins have been against federer, nadal and Murray

socal1976 wrote:I also think that the monkey is off his back and that might let him be even freer at Wimbeldon. A relaxed and confident Novak has to be a terrifying prospect for the haters. Or he could be so self satisfied he lets up and someone gets him, but to me knowing Djokovic he won't lose the hunger

I expect him to be a little flat at Wimbledon. So much nervous energy was expended in finally winning RG, I think it will be tough to go into battle again so quickly.

Who knows though? You may be right and it frees him up.

HM Murdock wrote:For all the talk about the career slam, it's the "Novak Slam" (is that what it's being called?) that I think is more important. It's very rare that a player holds all four slams at the same time. That's something he has that the other contemporary greats don't have. A great achievement on his tennis CV.

To me it is the same thing as winning the slam, I mean he as won 4 in a row five out of the last slam. He is Laverovic

Henman Bill wrote:Congrats    and welcome back.

Thank you but the being back part is yet to be determined. Most likely my last day here because of a special occasion and I did want to say my goodbyes to friends I spent six years conversing with. But I kind of have already moved on. But it didn't feel right not celebrating with Murdock, slash, and paul and the rest of you

slashermcguirk wrote:An amazing achievement ! So delighted for Novak, he really deserved to win a French open title. Fair play to Murray on reaching his first French final, when he won the first set I really thought Novak was in trouble.

Djokovic is made of steel these days though, so mentally strong when you consider the huge pressure and expectation surrounding this match.

I remember predicting in the early days that Novak would win 6-8 slams and maybe 10 if he played lights out. To win 12 is an amazing return and who knows what he can achieve from here.

When you think that outside of tsonga in 2008, all his grand slam final wins have been against federer, nadal and Murray

Congrats slasher, great post. We Nole fans are in a great place right now thanks to the tireless efforts of Novak who left no stone unturned

Congrats again to your man, socal, who knows much further he can go.

Too bad you are planning to leave, you are one of the posters I always enjoy reading (even though you are obviously confused in your player preference); the forum will be poorer without you.

Sorry to lose you socal! Always been great to have another Djokovic fan on here, we are few and far betwwen in this place!

Djokovic is up there among the greats, no question about that. Who knew when we started posting on here that he would make it to 12 slams,29 masters, over 200 weeks at number one and 5 tour finals.

Now just a case of how far can he go.

Hasta la vista socal!!

summerblues wrote:Congrats again to your man, socal, who knows much further he can go.

Too bad you are planning to leave, you are one of the posters I always enjoy reading (even though you are obviously confused in your player preference); the forum will be poorer without you.

I am glad for those kind words SB you will just have to be happy being a supporter of novak's number 2 in the Goat race a certain swoosh wearer that I can't remember his name right now. I appreciate you and others on the forum who came up with great research and arguments. Some of you taught me a great deal about tennis and frankly I didn't think it was possible. I like to think of myself as Bonaparte , and the other superstar tennis intellectuals on this site as my Field Marshall Ney's ready to put into action my genius battle plans

slashermcguirk wrote:Sorry to lose you socal! Always been great to have another Djokovic fan on here, we are few and far betwwen in this place!

Djokovic is up there among the greats, no question about that. Who knew when we started posting on here that he would make it to 12 slams,29 masters, over 200 weeks at number one and 5 tour finals.

Now just a case of how far can he go.

Hasta la vista socal!!

Thanks slasher, yeah it is great to celebrate with other Nole fans when we have had so many painful times in RGs past

I hope you stay, your analysis of Djokovic are very fair and often correct, who can forget you calling Stan as Djokovic's most dangerous opponent in last year's FO tournament well before the latter stages, for instance.

But if you do stay - just don't be so mean on the mods, and the WTA. They are not that bad.

There is always a middle ground of taking some months out and then coming back, or posting less regularly but still occassionally.

I think the Olympics is the key target for Nole now.

He would want to try and be the first player ever to win the 7 most important titles in tennis (at least as I see it): slams + Olympics + WTF + Davis Cup. If you can do that there is nothing worth mentioning left on the resume. If he could do and win Cincinatti he would also have every masters! The biggest current tournament he would never have won would be some 500 he probably never even plays, Barcelona maybe.

Djokovic is missing only the Olympics. Incidentally, same is true for Federer. Meanwhile Nadal is only missing the WTF.

Murray is probably not going to do this, French Open, Australian Open, and WTF all needed.

After the obvious focus on the Olympics, and the calendar year grand slam for this year. After this year it would just be amass as many slams as possible.

Maybe another FO to get 2 of each slam. This is a very rare achievement, I believe Nadal (Australian Open) and Federer (French Open) have not done it, and I think no-one has in the open era.

So yeah Olympics, calendar year grand slam, and 2 of every slam. Those are targets for any GOAT contender...

Henman Bill wrote:I think the Olympics is the key target for Nole now.

He would want to try and be the first player ever to win the 7 most important titles in tennis (at least as I see it): slams + Olympics + WTF + Davis Cup.

I do not see it like that at all.  Slams matter far more than trying to get a "complete" collection through winning smaller titles.  Nole's main goals for this season should be Wimbledon and the USO - even more so that he has already won the first two.

To put it differently:  If you told Nole that he can get two titles from among the Olympics, Wimbledon and the USO, and gets to choose which one he fails to win, I am pretty sure I know which one he would choose (I will give you two hints:  (a) it would not be Wimbledon and (b) it would not be the USO either).

Since Laver's calendar year slam, nobody won the first three slams of the year.  If I am correct, I see five years when the same player won the first two slams:

1992: Courier
1988: Wilander
1978-1980: Borg (RG and W)

Courier, with his game, never looked like he was the favorite at Wimbledon, and the same is true for Wilander.  Borg is really the last guy that had a pretty realistic chance to complete the calendar slam.  But he never won the USO (he did not enter the AO, but I believe there were suggestions that if he had managed to win the first three, then he would possibly try to also enter and win the AO, which was then played as the last slam of the year).

Nole now has as good a chance as any of those guys.  I still think it is quite unlikely to happen, but he has won six of the last seven, and he won the one that had eluded him in the past, so the talk of a calendar slam will only get louder as he progresses through Wimbledon.

Personally I hope he does - why not, gives us something to reset the conversation and then stay looking forwards not back...

A part of me hopes that he wins Wimbledon and then gets to the US Open final, and than gets to 12-13 down in the 5th set tiebreak. Imagine the drama.

To SB: I think he would chose Olympics ahead of a Wimbledon or US Open if the CYGS was not in play. It's a shame for him that his only chance of both will be so close together in the calendar. Assuming Olympics not moved.

I see this quote from Novak.
"I have probably experienced one of the most beautiful moments of my professional tennis career. I would say winning Wimbledon in 2011, victory in the [2010] Davis Cup and this moment are quite remarkable and unforgettable."

He is perhaps saying what are his three top moments. Interesting that the 2011 Wimbledon made the list, but not his first slam at the Australian Open. The 2011 Wimbledon also took him to number 1 as I recall, so that could be a factor.

A worthy winner and a worthy Slampion

Too good for Murray and I expect him to dominate for a few years to come.

...and everyone wants to win Wimb from being a kid...

I think now that he's won them all he'll have less worries moving forward but is still very motivated to win more.

@HB - maybe Wimbledon for him was a bit like it was for Nadal, the moment he showed the world he could win away from his best surface.  Also, I wish I could remember where I can find it, but Davenport once said something to the effect that winning the USO '98 was obviously marvellous for her, but she only realised how much bigger Wimbledon was worldwide when she saw the reaction to her as the Wimbledon '99 winner.

Bottom line is that the Olympics is at best the 5th or 6th most important tournament of the year it falls in.  Nobody counts winning it as adding to a player's status in any GOAT rankings, and rightly so.  It was big for Murray in 2012 for obvious reasons, in 2008 it was dwarfed by Nadal's Wimbledon win, and in 2016 it would be at best a touch of icing on a pretty fancy cake if Djoko wins.  I can't read his mind, but if he were told that he was going to miss out on the CYGS and pick up only one of Wimbledon/USO/Olympics, I'd not expect it to be the Olympics.

barrystar wrote:@HB - maybe Wimbledon for him was a bit like it was for Nadal, the moment he showed the world he could win away from his best surface.  Also, I wish I could remember where I can find it, but Davenport once said something to the effect that winning the USO '98 was obviously marvellous for her, but she only realised how much bigger Wimbledon was worldwide when she saw the reaction to her as the Wimbledon '99 winner.

Bottom line is that the Olympics is at best the 5th or 6th most important tournament of the year it falls in.  Nobody counts winning it as adding to a player's status in any GOAT rankings, and rightly so.  It was big for Murray in 2012 for obvious reasons, in 2008 it was dwarfed by Nadal's Wimbledon win, and in 2016 it would be at best a touch of icing on a pretty fancy cake if Djoko wins.  I can't read his mind, but if he were told that he was going to miss out on the CYGS and pick up only one of Wimbledon/USO/Olympics, I'd not expect it to be the Olympics.

I think you underestimate how patriotic, the likes of Nole and all the former Eastern Block are. And once Fed made it plain it's his big goal, it is instantly gets elevated to a higher status

I also think it now does add to a players status, simply because the semi's and Final of 2012, were arguably three of the best latter stages matches, in the last 20 years 

I'm puzzled as to why you can confidently state that it doesn't count towards a players status. Who says?

A six round bo3 competition, that is not even comprised of the world's 64 best players due to entry restrictions.

If it weren't called the Olympics, it would never be considered a metric of tennis greatness.

I completely understand why a player would love to take part in and win the Olympics. As an experience, it must be brilliant.

But it tells us no more about a player's quality than a Masters win.

HM Murdock wrote:A six round bo3 competition, that is not even comprised of the world's 64 best players due to entry restrictions.

If it weren't called the Olympics, it would never be considered a metric of tennis greatness.

I completely understand why a player would love to take part in and win the Olympics. As an experience, it must be brilliant.

But it tells us no more about a player's quality than a Masters win.

I know all that!! But it is The Olympics. That's my point. Like it or not, players like Novak and Roger, plus joe public now have given it a status it didn't have back in 88'

I also don't think how great an event is should be measured by prize money / number of rounds etc. The measure is surely how much the participants covet winning it. And clearly, it's very important to some all time great players. Roger wanted one probably because Rafa had one and now Novak wants it to match Rafa. In the history maker race, such currency is priceless. Far more than say 50 Masters

Yes of couse, us geeks who over analyse everything are correct in saying that in the tennis world, it's perhaps a row of beans (I disagree)

Don Budge's 6-slam 1937-38 run is under threat, if Djokovic continues in the same vein.

Re Olympics, I see a very clear disconnect between how the forumites (don't care) and the top players (do care) feel about it.

Well he did it .. but there was a little luck for him on the way
Rafa fans have the bitter sweet satisfaction of knowing

https://scontent.fmad3-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13325493_1250423281648339_2814620080665428441_n.jpg?oh=15ec13463054a1ef6ceb40a16d8496d6&oe=5803BAF7

Re Olympics - sure the players now care a whole lot about winning the Olympics, and sure that adds to the tournament's prestige and difficulty, but still I can't imagine any player wanting to win the Olympics over a slam; I am not aware of anyone who counts either Nadal's or Murray's wins as having equivalent status to a Slam - the press briefly talked in such terms about Murray until he slew the demon at the USO 2012.

In relation to London 2012, the tournament was played in the most iconic tennis venue on the planet, and the final featured the home hope who'd just suffered a heart-breaking loss to the other finalist at the same venue weeks before.   I'd suggest that massively added to the sense of occasion and of prestige - even then it was dwarfed in importance by Murray's Wimbledon win the following year.  Brazil 2016 will be on a brand new purpose-built hard court with no history behind it and no comparable local interest or recent history behind the match - I still believe that Djoko would take the USO or Wimbledon ahead of it.

@H-N - I'm not sure that's v. satisfying, better to have been the 'gate-keeper' who any winner had to beat in order to take the title, no?

barrystar wrote:Re Olympics - sure the players now care a whole lot about winning the Olympics, and sure that adds to the tournament's prestige and difficulty, but still I can't imagine any player wanting to win the Olympics over a slam; I am not aware of anyone who counts either Nadal's or Murray's wins as having equivalent status to a Slam - the press briefly talked in such terms about Murray until he slew the demon at the USO 2012.

In relation to London 2012, the tournament was played in the most iconic tennis venue on the planet, and the final featured the home hope who'd just suffered a heart-breaking loss to the other finalist at the same venue weeks before.   I'd suggest that massively added to the sense of occasion and of prestige - even then it was dwarfed in importance by Murray's Wimbledon win the following year.  Brazil 2016 will be on a brand new purpose-built hard court with no history behind it and no comparable local interest or recent history behind the match - I still believe that Djoko would take the USO or Wimbledon ahead of it.

@H-N - I'm not sure that's v. satisfying, better to have been the 'gate-keeper' who any winner had to beat in order to take the title, no?

Oh do come on bs... there has to be room for one little gloat at least..God knows there has been enough Novak gloating on here for months.  Yes it is satisfying because we will never know will we. It would have been much more satisfying for me to have seen Novak actually beat him..  Sadly for Rafa and his fans he/we  didn't get the chance through no fault of his

barrystar wrote:Re Olympics - sure the players now care a whole lot about winning the Olympics, and sure that adds to the tournament's prestige and difficulty, but still I can't imagine any player wanting to win the Olympics over a slam; I am not aware of anyone who counts either Nadal's or Murray's wins as having equivalent status to a Slam

Ivan Lendl

I'm a Nadal fan and I now believe Novak is already the GOAT!

He has a superior h2h with both rivals of the same tag. Also I'm quite sure, he will win at least another 3 or 4 slams. Outstanding athlete, playing at the absolute top of his game. Unreal mental strength.

Congrats to Screech - he is building up some CV!

But let's not carried away - he is yet far away in the GOAT stakes. As for his H2H - against Federer he's had the age advantage for most of their careers and I believe 26 of the their 45 matches have been played post 2011 when Fed was already 30. Yet Djokovic finally overtook him this year!

But we shall see how it plays out - people are very short termism - I, on the other hand, am the emancipator - the passage of years are merely footnotes in my vast memoirs.



emancipator