Best match of all the top 4 rivalries

First topic message reminder :

OK, let's go though the rivalries between the top 4 and pick the best matches; one for drama and one for quality of play (may be the same match). Also pick the best set.

Nadal vs Federer:
Quality- Rome 2006 Final: Nadal 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 7-6 Federer
Drama- Wimbledon 2008 Final: Nadal 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 Federer

Federer vs Djokovic:
Quality- French Open 2011 Semi: Federer 7-6 6-3 3-6 7-6 Djokovic
Drama- US Open 2011 Semi: Djokovic 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 Federer

Murray vs Djokovic:
Quality- Aus Open 2012 Semi: Djokovic 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-1 7-5 Murray
Drama- Aus Open 2012 Semi: Djokovic 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-1 7-5 Murray

Nadal vs Djokovic:
Quality- Montreal 2013 Semi: Nadal 6-4 3-6 7-6 Djokovic
Drama- French Open 2013: Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 9-7 Djokovic

Federer vs Murray:
Quality- Wimbledon 2012 Final: Federer 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 Murray
Drama- WTF 2008 RR: Murray 4-6 7-6 7-5 Federer

Nadal vs Murray:
Quality- WTF 2010 Semi: Nadal 7-6 3-6 7-6
Drama- WTF 2010 Semi: Nadal 7-6 3-6 7-6

HM Murdoch wrote:

Silver wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:OK, new idea; best matches between them that were straight sets:

One not yet mentioned that stands out for me here is the AO 2011 SF between Federer and Novak. Straight sets, but very high quality and Djokovic was absolutely on fire that day. As soon as I saw Federer lose that match, I knew Murray was going to get obliterated in the final.

Excellent suggestion. I'm annoyed I didn't think of it!

That was the match where I first thought that Novak was not just in good form, but was looking like he'd got better.

He was superb in that match, I picked up he was in ridiculous form when he crushed Berdych in the QF.

Being slow on the uptake, I picked up he had got better when he beat Rafa in Madrid. Up till then, I was vaguely aware of the fact that he was on a run, but didn't really think too much of it as
- he didn't beat Rafa en route to his Oz win
- he beat Rafa in American hard court swing, but they were both close matches, and their rivalry was always close on clay.
- he beat Rafa in Rome. But I figured the law of averages dictated that he was bound to win a match against him on the surface at some point. How coincidental it happens while he's on a 30-match run.
But when he beat Rafa in Madrid (might have been Rome, thinking about it. the third clay masters in 2011), I sorta realised, this is a legitimate problem. It was a bit like when Duke is watching Rocky pounding the slab of meat in the butchery for training, and while everyone thought, "look at him, can't even afford a gym", you could see Duke thinking "This guy is really smashing that carcass...".

You weren't alone, KR. Rafa was so immense in 2010, it took a while for most to accept that a player had the beating of him in 2011.

Miami and IW? Hard courts where Novak has always had the advantage.
Madrid? High altitude.

Rome was when the tone of most of the coverage changed from "player on a hot streak" to "the tennis landscape has shifted".

HM Murdoch wrote:You weren't alone, KR. Rafa was so immense in 2010, it took a while for most to accept that a player had the beating of him in 2011.

Miami and IW? Hard courts where Novak has always had the advantage.
Madrid? High altitude.

Rome was when the tone of most of the coverage changed from "player on a hot streak" to "the tennis landscape has shifted".

I think it's easy for tennis fans to think things will stay the way they are.
At the start of 2011 no one saw Djokovic breaking through and sustaining it the way he did, when Djokovic won AO 2012 I thought Nadal would never beat Djokovic again.

There's only one thing that doesn't change in tennis - Rafa is always the favourite at Roland Garros!

HM Murdoch wrote:There's only one thing that doesn't change in tennis - Rafa is always the favourite at Roland Garros!

Someone clearly wasn't paying attention to my posts in 2013

The other thing was that he was hardly thrashing Rafa. Tie breaker in IW, needed three again in Miami. Okay, Madrid was straight sets, but if I remember correctly, he won both those sets with a break in the tenth game. So he was winning, but it didn't feel like a streak. Then suddenly...

IW and Miami were really close... Madrid and Rome Djokovic dominated most of the match and struck with a break in the latter stages of each set.

I don't think Djokovic got recognition as a clearly improved player until he won Wimbledon. After losing to Federer at RG, he seemed to be almost written off for the Wimbledon title with Federer and Nadal going in as the favourites. In the final Nadal was the bookies' and generally the media's favourite, despite the recent H2H encounters.

But by September it was widely accepted that "the landscape had shifted", as Nole was strongly favoured to defeat Rafa in the USO final.

Djokovic I think went 4-0 up in Madrid before being pegged back and was 2-0 down in the 2nd before coming back to win, his BH was the best i've ever seen it that dya. But for me what was so impressive about the rome win was that he had been pushed to the limit vs Murray in 3 sets in a very long match and the next day he won in straights relatively comfortably.

I really think that if Djoko had beaten Feds he would have won the 2011 FO.

^ he would have, he was just incredibly unfortunately to run into Federer in stupendous form. If the RG win somehow eludes Novak in his career, it'll be a travesty and he'll look back at 2011 and wonder.

kingraf wrote:The other thing was that he was hardly thrashing Rafa. Tie breaker in IW, needed three again in Miami. Okay, Madrid was straight sets, but if I remember correctly, he won both those sets with a break in the tenth game. So he was winning, but it didn't feel like a streak. Then suddenly...

In some ways that may have contributed, KR. How often do we see Rafa lose close matches? He's a mental titan and yet he started losing the tight ones over and over, even on his favoured surface. If he'd been blown out easily then perhaps people could've pointed to form or injury, but as it was...we could all see that someone had his number, albeit fairly briefly. It really was a shock though.

LuvSports! wrote:I really think that if Djoko had beaten Feds he would have won the 2011 FO.

Agreed, Djokovic I think would have been favourite for the final.

laverfan wrote:

summerblues wrote:

laverfan wrote:Borg v McEnroe W for quality and drama.

That was the match that got me into watching tennis.  I am assuming you mean the 1980 rendition.

Yes. http://vimeo.com/30721867 - A fantastic match. Very similar to watching Federer (McEnroe) v Nadal (Borg) @ W. And Federer and Nadal had not been born yet.

Not too hard to guess who I was rooting for back then