@@jeffreykaufmann2867 Yes, I checked after someone else brought up this gap in another video- for women, Serena went 11 years between French Open titles (2002, 2013). Ken Rosewell went longer between titles at three slams, but his first win for each pre-dated the Open Era (AO: 1955, 1971- 16 years; French Open: 1953, 1968- 15 years; U.S. Open: 1956, 1970- 14 years). Therefore, at 13 years between AO titles, score yet another Open Era record for Rafa!
@@slc2466 There's a few more records that Nadal will break this year. 1) Most match wins from one slam. 105 at F.O. tied with Federer: 105 at Wimbledon. 2) Most Outdoor Matches won: 944. Federer: 953 3) Nadal will become the first player to win 400 Masters 1000 matches. 398 wins. 4) Most Masters 1000 matched played: 481. Federer 489
@@slc2466 I'll let you know as soon as he breaks them. Unless Nadal gets Seriously injured he'll end the year with 900 consecutive weeks in the top 10!
After the third round I predicted a Nadal vs Medvedev final and Nadal winning in a close match!!! Nadal is now 21-8 - 7 of his 8 losses have been to Djokovic and Federer, and only ONE loss to a non-Big 3 player: Stan Wawrinka!!! Just amazing!!!! I wished two things for Nadal before he retires: to win one more Australian Open (and it has happened!), and to finally win an end of year round-robin ATP final - may never happen but it is all that is left on my wish list for Rafa! Such a great comeback and such a great match! (: (: (: (:
@@vantungnguyen2694 Masters tournaments don’t really matter to be honest. The big 3 don’t take them that seriously so they’re less important as the competitors aren’t giving 100% (or at least haven’t since their 20s). ATP Finals would be nice, but Nadal has been injured a lot at the end of the year so it’s fair that he hasn’t won one. Not to mention it’s held on arguably both Federer and Djokovic’s favorite surfaces and is well suited to big servers rather than baseline players.
John McEnroe and Pat McEnroe heads must be exploding over the Nadal win. I thought through the whole match they clearly wanted/expected a coronation of Medvedev as the new future of men's tennis knocking off the big 3. With Nadal having 1 more slam than Federer, this disorients Pat McEnroe's whole reality that Federer is the best ever.
Pat McEnroe is a Chokosquirrel 😂!!! I’ve been trolling him hard on Twitter for his stupid “it’s over” comment. It ain’t over until GOATdal says it’s over 😂!!!!
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 John (and Patrick's too) McEnroe head has exploded because of two reasons 1. Rafa is the first man since Rod Laver to win the AO after losing the first two sets. Both lefties 2. Laver was John's idol. I'm sure he was thinking about his 1984 loss in the French to Lendl. Either way I don't really care, only that Rafa won his second AO. One of his most important slams for many reasons.
To be honest, we can, as I feel Steve Flink is guilty of here. You can look at many points and over analyse, ultimately it was a close match. Had Medvedev won by the same score, no one would be talking about said points. I really don't believe Medi lost it mentally enough to have cost him the match. Nadal was just that bit better, used his experience to spread his energy levels over the match, and won, more or less like that. Remember, Medvedv in the press conference said he he had no complaints about his tennis level to blame it on his loss. Nadal was just that good.
I think a reason why nadal was able to comeback was because he was able to fix up his backhand as he caused so many unforced errors with it in the first 2 serves
I think that Medvedev may have mentally lost it, but it was due to his level of tennis and the conditions. The fans may have annoyed him, but I doubt they they cost him the match. I think he thought he had Rafa, and wasn’t mentally prepared to contest a long match.
Dude, did you even watch the match??? GOATdal was not better in this match…. One of the very few times I can say that. Meddy Bear outplayed GOATdal but GOATdal came up clutch at the right times. Meddy Bear has GOATdal… if he was mentally stronger, he would ha we won in straight sets. The crowd helped GOATdal 100%. Meddy Bear was doing everything but net better. GOATdal lost every important statistical category but won the match. GOATdal looked horrible… slow, shanked a gang of shots, all his service games were struggles, meddy bears were easy, didn’t chase hardly any balls… no fist pumps Vamos just low energy from start to finish. He just didn’t disappear… he was mentally there from first point to last. He stole that match from Meddy Bear… he sucked out meddy bears soul like Mortal kombat’s Shang tsung “your soul is mine!”. The fans pushed Rafa across the finish line… GOATdal could barely move 😂!!!! He was drop shotting in desperation and luckily was getting Meddy Bear a lot with those shots. Meddy Bear lost focus just a little bit in each of the last 3 sets because of the crowd and GOATdal pounced like a lion. This was the ugliest win I’ve ever seen from GOATdal… but I’m happy about it nonetheless 😂. VAMOS!!!!
Regarding how Nadal was able to get back Medvedev's serve in the fifth set, it was because Medvedev was trying to not hit a second serve to an extent as he knew his legs were pretty much gone. Therefore he was lacking accuracy and a little bit pace as well. and as Steve pointed out "Nobody is better at sensing vulnerability in the opponent as Nadal". To summarise this final, Nadal started out a little nervous, and Medvedev was just being Medvedev and then Medvedev started to realise that his legs are going which led to questionable decisions. Nadal being as experienced as he is sensed that and that gave him a huge adrenalin boost to fight and to keep "enjoying the suffering" and he used all of his experience and all court skills to handle the pressure and pull off a great comeback.
I´ve heard that in the beginning of the 3rd set the humidity was considerably decreasing while the T° kept the same...maybe these conditions gave Nadal a little chance, stop sweating too much and be able to physically improve his performance.
Good observation. Nadal actually said that he felt better when it became less humid. This may have helped him to implement the necessary changes against Medvedev.
For the first time, it looked like the pressure of being near the top got to Medvedev. His behaviour during the while tournament was a bit unusual, especially his outburst in the Tsitsipas match. I think his comments about the crowds were justified in many ways, but it was hard not to read into them "The pressure of being the favourite is getting to me now and I'm finding it tough".
Loved both of your takes. Medvedev cannot be a champion when he was having a pity party for himself on and off the court. Nadal is the King of forcing his opponents (and himself) to suffer on the court. Such an exciting player and champion to watch.
I think the key to the match was the 40-shot rally in the 2nd set. I think it struck at Medvedev's physicality in a way that he never fully recovered from. It maybe also frightened him mentally, the variety and precision Nadal employed in that rally to win. It was after that 40-shot point that Medvedev started looking a little more drawn in his face and started searching for ways to end points quicker. He still took the 2nd set and played fantastically throughout the match, but it impacted his speed enough to give Nadal a foothold.
If Rafa had won the second set, the match would have been over in four sets. More than once, he had the chance and let it slip. While everyone is talking about the 2-3 0-40 in the third set, you should look at the second set too. I think the discussion is too caught up in mental & physical without discussing skill. Some of the shots both played demanded a lot of skill especially the cross-court slices, some of which were simply remarkable. As Medvedev said, Rafa played unreal.
If only you all can gauge Nadal's determination, you will not be surprised when he retires with 26 GSes leaving Djokovic 2 GSes behind. And make no mistake, He will do it for the love for tennis.
Yeah, so many injuries. So many withdrawals owing to injury, and so many “what if” moments for Nadal in Major tournament matches. What if his knees were not hurting in 2009 French Open. What if his wrist wasn’t injured in 2016. Or his knee injury in 2012 . Etc…
oh please. not all the losses were due to injury. All his AO losses were fair and square. 2014 final he was hampered. as a novak fan I can acknowledge rafa's clear dominance at RG but rafa fans should be able to say the same for novak's dominance at AO. The truth is rafa has never beaten novak there. But ultimately a win is a win. Rafa won it and deserves it. But you guys can do a better job giving credit to others.
@@vanshagarwal2362 Well, he has been unlucky at times with injury like against ferrer 2011, Wawrinka 2014, cilic QF but yeah his losses to Tsitsipas, thiem, Gonzalez was fair and square close or not.
@@vanshagarwal2362 Also, I know he lost leads in the 5th set in 2012, 2017 but it's one of those scenarios where luck favored Novak to an extent when Rafa missed a sitter and Novak returned the compliment in the 2013 FO semis 😉😁. But the better players deserved to win since they had better stats. The match against Roger was unusual. I think Rafa just ran out of gas but Roger sensed it and played brilliantly after that .So the better players won but Rafa had a big chance to win it in 2012 even though stats wise he was not better than Novak that day.
I saw the nominations for Laureus Comeback of the Year. Surely Nadal should be in the mix for that, after 6 months out of the game to come back and win the Open?
This is a great analysis, especially the latter part regarding return, net approaching, and finishing the point. Nadal's technique at the net has helped him winning all those grandslams outside of Paris red clay. The other point about Nadal's return in this tournament is that he sometimes did not give 100% of his energy in trying to get the ball back. To me, this is Nadal's new strategy in reserving power to survive long matches as he is now much older than the other players.
Steve is not giving enough credit to the level of play Medvedev displayed. This match was close in every set except the 1st. Medvedev played very well throughout, he didn't just go away.
The real translation to “estoy hecho polvo” is “I’m exhausted/tired/destroyed”. Literal translation (dust) makes no sense in English. But in Spanish, it is a pretty common way to explain how we feel, specially when we are tired.
I really disagree with Steve Flink that Medvedev was complacent in the third set. The reason he choked - and I'm not sure he did - is he was very aware of a possible Nadal comeback. Medvedev felt TOO urgent in the third. And he felt vertigo from having a big lead.
One significant thing that failed on Medvedev was his drop-shot. Medvedev really tried to play the physical game by continuing putting in drop shots, I guess as an attempt to wear Nadal down physically. Medvedev started the match with full awareness of Nadal's ability to fight however dropped his guard after winning the first 2 sets - Medvedev must've thought that Nadal was too exhausted to come back.
Mental strength of Nadal is ultimate.. remember he was chasing all 4 sets from 2nd to 5th where Medvedev was serving 1st game of the sets with boom boom 💥... What an athlete GOATdal is... Vamos GOATdal.. sorry DEPORTOVIC fans, cry harder 😂😂
@@blackgruya011 Better players my ass as Nadal is and was always and will always be a far better tennis player than both of them, also see you at RG when Djokovic get raped by Nadal in 3 straight sets again like in 2020 lmfaooooo
Medvedev needs someone to show him just how out of perspective he is. He's facing a 20 time grand slam winner, who has deal with plenty of injuries here over the years, coupled with his own failures to win when he should have. Plus he wasn't even sure he would be playing at all anymore a few months ago. Just who did he think the crowd was going to root for? Yes, there was some rudeness at times and that really shouldn't happen. That kind of stuff is a real shame if someone called that out. But that doesn't mean the crowd felt that way. It was mostly just fans rooting for a guy they have watched for almost 20 years. You build up that fan base over time. It's not usually there right from the start when you become a known prodigy. But he hampers this even happening when he attacks the crowd and generally plays the "woe is me" card. It doesn't make the crowd support him more. It only gives them a reason to dislike him. Also tennis is a global sport and this knowledge of just how poorly he can be towards crowds makes it's way around the tennis landscape. So people are kind of primed for him being a bit of a jerk. Then it just becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Here is an idea. Win or lose, be gracious, thank the crowd and eventually it's going to be hard to find a reason to dislike you.
For your information, the Sp expression, "turned to dust" (hecho polvo) just means, being physically shattered, or totally exhausted. Just for the record.
Can you discuss about if a sports psychologist can be key in an athletes handling of a hostile crowd? Does Daniil have a sports psychologist to help him?
I thought he said that he had worked with one, not sure if it’s an active relationship. I know that not too long ago, his attitude was worse than it is now and I think that’s why he got one.
"Estar hecho polvo (dust)" in Spanish simply means to be dead, exhausted, and it can be physically or mentally, or both. Like so many other expressions, it comes from the Bible, "Remember you are Dust and to Dust you Shall Return."
You are so wrong that you think Nadal is smart player since he used his physical not brain to play that is why he always got beaten from Djokovic,who is really smarter than him since no other players know s or smart enough to beat Nadal but Djokovic.
Australian Open has to go somewhere else. It’s about time to have 1 major outside the western world and audiences. Not fair that all majors besides the French are all similar cultural backgrounds.
Tennis is fundamentally Imperialist British… the Slams are what they are. It’s just the roots. You can’t change the roots. If that bothers you, you don’t have to watch the slams. The rest of the tour is very culturally diverse hence world tour. Roland Garros is my favorite because players are forced to actually play tennis and Aussie is my least favorite because they play when I’m sleeping…
what your analysis missed about Med's serve was it is EXTREMELY predictable. T, T, T, then wide when in trouble. Also his returns failed in the 5th becuase he could not move.
The guy's 25 and has tens of thousands rooting against him, booing and shouting xenophobic things. I am amazed he has handled it so well up until now, go be honest. He owns his mistakes, he moves on, he apologizes. He's not a fake gentleman, he's the real deal. Of course it affects when crowds behave like pigs, like they did.
I expected Medvedv to win straight sets. He came close. Too bad he started to cramp in the second half of the match. Now he knows how Djokovic felt going into the US Open final last year.
Would be grateful for comments from the engaging Amy Lundy and Gill Gross - Rafa won his 21st Grand Slam with zero tactics. How on the planet did he beat Meddy today? Tactics missing again? Please shed some light on this surprise result. 🙏🙏
Medvedev threw the match away in the 3rd. I was watching very closely without sound and he simply got tight and nervous and didn't know how to change his strategy especially when he had been winning.
Wondering why You two can't see that Nadal looks 3 times bigger than he actually is in front of these journeymen like Shapo n Zverev n Tsitsipas. Medvedev is no exception.
You all need to study more about the psychology sides of sport n competition. Nadal is the biggest player in terms of fighting spirits n determination n hunger n love for tennis n hate-to-lose mind construct. Are these to difficult for you to understand ?
@Coefficient of restitution 😂!!!!! What’s up buddy! 😂 Surprisingly I haven’t been banned by Cam yet 😂!!!! I be trolling them chokosquirrels hard on that channel too 😂!!!! GOATdal baby!!!! VAMOS!!!
kinda disappointed to hear how Steve just brushed past that xenophobic crowd comment. I’m glad you brought it up, Gill! I think hearing those kinds of things being spewed at you midmatch is a little more than having to deal with the crowd favoring the big 3, which I think is what Steve is implying the crux of Med’s issue with the crowd was. I don’t agree with that assessment at all, I think it was more a combination of things, & xenophobia was definitely one of them.
I’m a huge Agassi fan. For a long time I wasn’t very fond of Sampras lol. But honestly, Pete Sampras really doesn’t get enough credit. He definitely inspired Federer. I still would take his serve over any other in history. He was a much better athlete than people give him credit for. I absolutely think Sampras (and Agassi for that matter)could win several Majors in any era, include this one. Sampras had a gift for being able to keep his own rhythm while completely ruining his opponents. Perhaps it’s not the most visually pleasing style, but damn if it’s not highly effective. I still see Sampras as the the best grass court player. In his prime, even on slower grass I still like Sampras.
@@marilynwasserman3273 Sampras at his peak was capable of beating anyone anywhere. We know that clay wasn’t his thing, but when he got hot he could win on clay. He had some huge clay results in his career. I believe he won a Clay Masters event in Rome. He he made the Semis of Roland Garros, and couple Quartfinals I believe. But he actually had some clay court wins over Agassi, Kafelnikov, and Courier amongst others. All Hall of Famers who won Roland Garros. If he was on it he could even rush you on clay. I would have loved to seen Sampras play Djokovic on a hard court. We saw Sampras Federer on grass, 7-5 in the 5th is basically a 50/50 proposition. That was a declining version of Pete against a streaky version of Federer. Neither at their best. Now Sampras from 1995 against Federer 2005 at Wimbledon would be something to see. Honestly I think Sampras and Agassi would have been better players in today’s game than in their time. Agassi and Sampras were masters of rationing their level. They played well enough to win, but wanted to be routine. The Big 3 would push them to produce at a higher level, but I believe that unlike a Murray or a Roddick, Agassi and Sampras had the raw talent and ball striking to meet the challenges. With Agassi and Sampras in the mix I don’t see guys winning 20 plus Majors. I think it probably effects Djokovic and Federer more than Rafa.
rAgreed Gill, afa can simply dig deeper than others, thats the key , few can to the extent rafa can other than nole and serbs are known to be extremely tough. . SFB mentality. ps echo polvo means destroyed in spanish,, polvo however means dust ha ha lierally turned into dust.
Though Nadal mistrusts himself: returning, he pounds away accurately any serve that is out. While he gets careful and cagey with others, recently settinlg for soft, deep returns. If he's a good returner in fact, in fantasy, he's the greatest. Just he won't buy it.
The tournament itself will have an asterisk next to it, but Rafa's victory won't. He beat Medvedev, who has given Djokovic problems lately, in spectacular fashion, coming back from injury. Plus, Rafa has plenty of important victories over Novak especially on hard-court like the US Open, Rafa is clearly the GOAT right now even though I'm more of a Novak fan.
Beg to differ. That fcukin word asterisk ✳️ can only be found in DEPORTOVIC fans dictionary because DjoCOVID is a COVID19 merchant.. they are relentless to infect tennis with it now.. Remember AO2022 is way more supported and watched than AO2021 where DEPORTOVIC played the final💪💪💪👊👊💥
@@tanmaydas9570* will be there as he hasn't won a set against Novak on hard courts in last 18 matches. He wasn't going to be in the final if real Champion was around. "The mice can play while the Cat is not around..."
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 Because the most important record is the Slam record. That record is weighted a little more. Plus, it’s not like Djokovic is miles ahead of Rafa in these other categories. Rafa has more career titles. The Masters 1000 record just keeps getting volleyed back and forth. The head to head is like pretty near even (28-26 I think). Yes, Djokovic has more weeks at number one and YEC wins…but on the flip side Nadal leads in the two most important categories: slam count and head to head in the Majors. Nadal has won 10 of 17 of the most important matches.
Medvwdev was purposely distracted by some audience and lost his feelings to play like he played the 2.5 sets in the beginning. Don’t you think that this was purposely set up to distract Medvedev? I believe it was purposely set up to distract a better player just like they do it to Djokovic all the time but Novak learned to play against the crowd
Nadal only won because of a weak draw again and Novak not playing. Never seen a luckiest guy. Novak should now be on 23 slams (USO 2020, WImb 2020 and This AO), but he is only at 20 and This luckydall at this unfair 21.
Talk, talk, talk...... Serbia have 2 tennis players which are greatest of all time: Monica Seles and Novak Djokovic. First one had 9 grand slams till age 20 before she was stubbed in the back and prevented to play further. Novak Djokovic was stopped different way which we all see at australia. What is his destiny in following years? Is his life is in danger similar way not to reach his maximum??? That is how west is winning on sport courts. Story about Djokovic isnt over, but I am very much worried about his life could be in danger
Nadal has all the advantages in the books. First of all, his first match is scheduled on a Monday. This is huge. Secondly, he umpires allow his to routinely violate the time delay rules. He does his even on the opponent's serve. Don't take my word for it, take Denis Shapovalov's word. Many of the top stars violate the no-coaching rule, but this was all started by Rafa and his Uncle. His method of sneering at his opponents is not a nice thing to watch.
AO champion without a healthy djokovic is a fake champion, this bastard used known condition to attack djokovic to win is shameless. Anyway, a low level final, medvedev lost so many easy points in half court return to let nadal break, BS. Hope djokovic go for vaccine, ten his return will be a total fire up, pls do not be a nice guy in court again, can beat anyone 6-0, go for it, not only win all the match, all the game & point to have a best record in all data, focus in making history & game in next 3-4 yrs, at least 10 more grand slams.
Here's Part TWO: ua-cam.com/video/VwPkjX2gAsQ/v-deo.html
Nobody is great at sensing a vulnerability in the opponent as Nadal. Great words. 😃😄
Rafa's comeback for the ages deserves all the attention and analysis it's receiving. Can't get enough- thanks!
A 13 year difference between the 1st and 2nd A.O. that must be a Record.
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 Yes, I checked after someone else brought up this gap in another video- for women, Serena went 11 years between French Open titles (2002, 2013). Ken Rosewell went longer between titles at three slams, but his first win for each pre-dated the Open Era (AO: 1955, 1971- 16 years; French Open: 1953, 1968- 15 years; U.S. Open: 1956, 1970- 14 years). Therefore, at 13 years between AO titles, score yet another Open Era record for Rafa!
@@slc2466 There's a few more records that Nadal will break this year.
1) Most match wins from one slam. 105 at F.O. tied with Federer: 105 at Wimbledon.
2) Most Outdoor Matches won: 944. Federer: 953
3) Nadal will become the first player to win 400 Masters 1000 matches. 398 wins.
4) Most Masters 1000 matched played: 481. Federer 489
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 Great- hope he gets all of them soon!
@@slc2466 I'll let you know as soon as he breaks them. Unless Nadal gets Seriously injured he'll end the year with 900 consecutive weeks in the top 10!
After the third round I predicted a Nadal vs Medvedev final and Nadal winning in a close match!!!
Nadal is now 21-8 - 7 of his 8 losses have been to Djokovic and Federer, and only ONE loss to a non-Big 3 player: Stan Wawrinka!!! Just amazing!!!!
I wished two things for Nadal before he retires: to win one more Australian Open (and it has happened!), and to finally win an end of year round-robin ATP final - may never happen but it is all that is left on my wish list for Rafa!
Such a great comeback and such a great match! (: (: (: (:
The “loss” to stanimal was clearly an injury walkover. In 10 matches before that day, stanimal won ZERO Sets…
Me too. Hoping he achieves that, and retires by the end of this year.
Wín Miami, Pari, ATP Finals and at least 1 more Roland Garros
@@vantungnguyen2694 Masters tournaments don’t really matter to be honest. The big 3 don’t take them that seriously so they’re less important as the competitors aren’t giving 100% (or at least haven’t since their 20s). ATP Finals would be nice, but Nadal has been injured a lot at the end of the year so it’s fair that he hasn’t won one. Not to mention it’s held on arguably both Federer and Djokovic’s favorite surfaces and is well suited to big servers rather than baseline players.
I wonder why they've never thought to change the surface each and every year, matching the 4 Grand Slam surfaces.
One of Rafa’s greatest ever wins 🇪🇸
Which country are you from??
@@rishbahpandey8697 why?
@@Olly_2024_ just asking I am from India. You are also from india??
@@rishbahpandey8697 she is from the UK
John McEnroe and Pat McEnroe heads must be exploding over the Nadal win. I thought through the whole match they clearly wanted/expected a coronation of Medvedev as the new future of men's tennis knocking off the big 3. With Nadal having 1 more slam than Federer, this disorients Pat McEnroe's whole reality that Federer is the best ever.
Pat McEnroe is a Chokosquirrel 😂!!! I’ve been trolling him hard on Twitter for his stupid “it’s over” comment. It ain’t over until GOATdal says it’s over 😂!!!!
Fans have better instincts . Even if you feel it, there was a unusual fight within him surely the fans knew that despite 2 love down.
@@goldwolf0606 Pat McEnroe also "Predicted" Thiem would defeat Nadal when he won his 12th F.O.
Yes, I've always said they respect Rafa but deep down root against him.
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 John (and Patrick's too) McEnroe head has exploded because of two reasons
1. Rafa is the first man since Rod Laver to win the AO after losing the first two sets. Both lefties
2. Laver was John's idol. I'm sure he was thinking about his 1984 loss in the French to Lendl.
Either way I don't really care, only that Rafa won his second AO. One of his most important slams for many reasons.
To be honest, we can, as I feel Steve Flink is guilty of here. You can look at many points and over analyse, ultimately it was a close match. Had Medvedev won by the same score, no one would be talking about said points.
I really don't believe Medi lost it mentally enough to have cost him the match. Nadal was just that bit better, used his experience to spread his energy levels over the match, and won, more or less like that.
Remember, Medvedv in the press conference said he he had no complaints about his tennis level to blame it on his loss. Nadal was just that good.
Yeah, Medvedev was very good under pressure. Like breaking serve at 5-4 down in the fifth set. Nadal was straight up just better.
Truly said. These reporters always undermine the great and DEPORTOVIC fans can cry harder now😂😂
I think a reason why nadal was able to comeback was because he was able to fix up his backhand as he caused so many unforced errors with it in the first 2 serves
I think that Medvedev may have mentally lost it, but it was due to his level of tennis and the conditions. The fans may have annoyed him, but I doubt they they cost him the match. I think he thought he had Rafa, and wasn’t mentally prepared to contest a long match.
Dude, did you even watch the match??? GOATdal was not better in this match…. One of the very few times I can say that. Meddy Bear outplayed GOATdal but GOATdal came up clutch at the right times. Meddy Bear has GOATdal… if he was mentally stronger, he would ha we won in straight sets. The crowd helped GOATdal 100%. Meddy Bear was doing everything but net better. GOATdal lost every important statistical category but won the match. GOATdal looked horrible… slow, shanked a gang of shots, all his service games were struggles, meddy bears were easy, didn’t chase hardly any balls… no fist pumps Vamos just low energy from start to finish. He just didn’t disappear… he was mentally there from first point to last. He stole that match from Meddy Bear… he sucked out meddy bears soul like Mortal kombat’s Shang tsung “your soul is mine!”. The fans pushed Rafa across the finish line… GOATdal could barely move 😂!!!! He was drop shotting in desperation and luckily was getting Meddy Bear a lot with those shots. Meddy Bear lost focus just a little bit in each of the last 3 sets because of the crowd and GOATdal pounced like a lion. This was the ugliest win I’ve ever seen from GOATdal… but I’m happy about it nonetheless 😂. VAMOS!!!!
Regarding how Nadal was able to get back Medvedev's serve in the fifth set, it was because Medvedev was trying to not hit a second serve to an extent as he knew his legs were pretty much gone. Therefore he was lacking accuracy and a little bit pace as well. and as Steve pointed out "Nobody is better at sensing vulnerability in the opponent as Nadal". To summarise this final, Nadal started out a little nervous, and Medvedev was just being Medvedev and then Medvedev started to realise that his legs are going which led to questionable decisions. Nadal being as experienced as he is sensed that and that gave him a huge adrenalin boost to fight and to keep "enjoying the suffering" and he used all of his experience and all court skills to handle the pressure and pull off a great comeback.
I´ve heard that in the beginning of the 3rd set the humidity was considerably decreasing while the T° kept the same...maybe these conditions gave Nadal a little chance, stop sweating too much and be able to physically improve his performance.
Everybody blablabla thinks that know everything about the Nadal physical conditions...saying bullish it
Great point Daniel, that definitely helped him but he started flattening out his shots later on too
Good observation. Nadal actually said that he felt better when it became less humid. This may have helped him to implement the necessary changes against Medvedev.
@@Mlasse954 Nadal said as much. What's your malfunction?
For the first time, it looked like the pressure of being near the top got to Medvedev. His behaviour during the while tournament was a bit unusual, especially his outburst in the Tsitsipas match. I think his comments about the crowds were justified in many ways, but it was hard not to read into them "The pressure of being the favourite is getting to me now and I'm finding it tough".
Loved both of your takes. Medvedev cannot be a champion when he was having a pity party for himself on and off the court. Nadal is the King of forcing his opponents (and himself) to suffer on the court. Such an exciting player and champion to watch.
I think the key to the match was the 40-shot rally in the 2nd set. I think it struck at Medvedev's physicality in a way that he never fully recovered from. It maybe also frightened him mentally, the variety and precision Nadal employed in that rally to win. It was after that 40-shot point that Medvedev started looking a little more drawn in his face and started searching for ways to end points quicker. He still took the 2nd set and played fantastically throughout the match, but it impacted his speed enough to give Nadal a foothold.
If Rafa had won the second set, the match would have been over in four sets. More than once, he had the chance and let it slip. While everyone is talking about the 2-3 0-40 in the third set, you should look at the second set too. I think the discussion is too caught up in mental & physical without discussing skill. Some of the shots both played demanded a lot of skill especially the cross-court slices, some of which were simply remarkable. As Medvedev said, Rafa played unreal.
Felix “Ow-gur Aleece-E-am”Never heard that one before!😆😉
@@juansalvadorgarcinifernnde8657not with “Zerev” either
"Dust" in Spanish used in this context (the expression "estar hecho polvo") means exhaustion.
If only you all can gauge Nadal's determination, you will not be surprised when he retires with 26 GSes leaving Djokovic 2 GSes behind. And make no mistake, He will do it for the love for tennis.
To think this legit should be Nadal’s fourth Or fifth AO win, Wow.
I would say definitely 3rd and maybe 4th.
Yeah, so many injuries. So many withdrawals owing to injury, and so many “what if” moments for Nadal in Major tournament matches. What if his knees were not hurting in 2009 French Open. What if his wrist wasn’t injured in 2016. Or his knee injury in 2012 . Etc…
oh please. not all the losses were due to injury. All his AO losses were fair and square. 2014 final he was hampered. as a novak fan I can acknowledge rafa's clear dominance at RG but rafa fans should be able to say the same for novak's dominance at AO. The truth is rafa has never beaten novak there. But ultimately a win is a win. Rafa won it and deserves it. But you guys can do a better job giving credit to others.
@@vanshagarwal2362 Well, he has been unlucky at times with injury like against ferrer 2011, Wawrinka 2014, cilic QF but yeah his losses to Tsitsipas, thiem, Gonzalez was fair and square close or not.
@@vanshagarwal2362 Also, I know he lost leads in the 5th set in 2012, 2017 but it's one of those scenarios where luck favored Novak to an extent when Rafa missed a sitter and Novak returned the compliment in the 2013 FO semis 😉😁. But the better players deserved to win since they had better stats. The match against Roger was unusual. I think Rafa just ran out of gas but Roger sensed it and played brilliantly after that .So the better players won but Rafa had a big chance to win it in 2012 even though stats wise he was not better than Novak that day.
I saw the nominations for Laureus Comeback of the Year. Surely Nadal should be in the mix for that, after 6 months out of the game to come back and win the Open?
Now with Roland Garros 2022 as well
This is a great analysis, especially the latter part regarding return, net approaching, and finishing the point. Nadal's technique at the net has helped him winning all those grandslams outside of Paris red clay. The other point about Nadal's return in this tournament is that he sometimes did not give 100% of his energy in trying to get the ball back. To me, this is Nadal's new strategy in reserving power to survive long matches as he is now much older than the other players.
Steve is not giving enough credit to the level of play Medvedev displayed. This match was close in every set except the 1st. Medvedev played very well throughout, he didn't just go away.
I agree. It’s that what makes Rafa so special
The real translation to “estoy hecho polvo” is “I’m exhausted/tired/destroyed”. Literal translation (dust) makes no sense in English. But in Spanish, it is a pretty common way to explain how we feel, specially when we are tired.
Steve has an unbelievable memory of the scores !
Good stuff. Appreciate the detailed commentary.
I really disagree with Steve Flink that Medvedev was complacent in the third set. The reason he choked - and I'm not sure he did - is he was very aware of a possible Nadal comeback. Medvedev felt TOO urgent in the third. And he felt vertigo from having a big lead.
One significant thing that failed on Medvedev was his drop-shot. Medvedev really tried to play the physical game by continuing putting in drop shots, I guess as an attempt to wear Nadal down physically. Medvedev started the match with full awareness of Nadal's ability to fight however dropped his guard after winning the first 2 sets - Medvedev must've thought that Nadal was too exhausted to come back.
Mental strength of Nadal is ultimate.. remember he was chasing all 4 sets from 2nd to 5th where Medvedev was serving 1st game of the sets with boom boom 💥... What an athlete GOATdal is... Vamos GOATdal.. sorry DEPORTOVIC fans, cry harder 😂😂
lol, are you aware that even now Djokovic and Federer are better players in most of areas?
@@blackgruya011 lmao... Cry baby cry.. cry harder bloody DEPORTOVIC fans...😂😂😂🤣🤣
@@tanmaydas9570 Cryin? :D RG is soon, i will find you around after nadal is raped
@@blackgruya011 Better players my ass as Nadal is and was always and will always be a far better tennis player than both of them, also see you at RG when Djokovic get raped by Nadal in 3 straight sets again like in 2020 lmfaooooo
Love that name DEPORTAVIC!
Daniil was cramping in the 3rd against novak he is like Murray staying with the big three by using too much physicality
Medvedev needs someone to show him just how out of perspective he is. He's facing a 20 time grand slam winner, who has deal with plenty of injuries here over the years, coupled with his own failures to win when he should have. Plus he wasn't even sure he would be playing at all anymore a few months ago. Just who did he think the crowd was going to root for? Yes, there was some rudeness at times and that really shouldn't happen. That kind of stuff is a real shame if someone called that out. But that doesn't mean the crowd felt that way. It was mostly just fans rooting for a guy they have watched for almost 20 years.
You build up that fan base over time. It's not usually there right from the start when you become a known prodigy. But he hampers this even happening when he attacks the crowd and generally plays the "woe is me" card. It doesn't make the crowd support him more. It only gives them a reason to dislike him. Also tennis is a global sport and this knowledge of just how poorly he can be towards crowds makes it's way around the tennis landscape. So people are kind of primed for him being a bit of a jerk. Then it just becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Here is an idea. Win or lose, be gracious, thank the crowd and eventually it's going to be hard to find a reason to dislike you.
Very well analyzed👍🧐
For your information, the Sp expression, "turned to dust" (hecho polvo) just means, being physically shattered, or totally exhausted. Just for the record.
Really good analysis from both.
Can you discuss about if a sports psychologist can be key in an athletes handling of a hostile crowd? Does Daniil have a sports psychologist to help him?
I thought he said that he had worked with one, not sure if it’s an active relationship. I know that not too long ago, his attitude was worse than it is now and I think that’s why he got one.
How many km ran Med and Nadal?
"Estar hecho polvo (dust)" in Spanish simply means to be dead, exhausted, and it can be physically or mentally, or both. Like so many other expressions, it comes from the Bible, "Remember you are Dust and to Dust you Shall Return."
The way Gill talks about Nadal as if Nadal was a new beginner 😅 Nadal is a legende high IQ experienced smart player ..
You are so wrong that you think Nadal is smart player since he used his physical not brain to play that is why he always got beaten from Djokovic,who is really smarter than him since no other players know s or smart enough to beat Nadal but Djokovic.
@@phumkiatwananuraksakul7815 and yet their h2h is a toss up 30-29.
Question: How many Major tournaments have the big 3 missed individually
In time, I now appreciate more, Daniil's effort, and the pain of his loss. If I'm the bad guy, still, I should get respect, as the bad guy.
Australian Open has to go somewhere else. It’s about time to have 1 major outside the western world and audiences. Not fair that all majors besides the French are all similar cultural backgrounds.
Tennis is fundamentally Imperialist British… the Slams are what they are. It’s just the roots. You can’t change the roots. If that bothers you, you don’t have to watch the slams. The rest of the tour is very culturally diverse hence world tour. Roland Garros is my favorite because players are forced to actually play tennis and Aussie is my least favorite because they play when I’m sleeping…
The slams got awarded to the original four countries that played/won Davis Cups. Good luck convincing the ITF and the present hosts to move them.
High quality tennis analysis as usual
NADAL HAS STARTED TO CHIP RETURNS OFF HUGE SERVES!!!! HE NEVER DID BEFORE, HE ALWAYS WANTED TO HIT THE RETURN IN THE PAST!! BRAVO!!
what your analysis missed about Med's serve was it is EXTREMELY predictable. T, T, T, then wide when in trouble. Also his returns failed in the 5th becuase he could not move.
The guy's 25 and has tens of thousands rooting against him, booing and shouting xenophobic things. I am amazed he has handled it so well up until now, go be honest. He owns his mistakes, he moves on, he apologizes. He's not a fake gentleman, he's the real deal. Of course it affects when crowds behave like pigs, like they did.
good stuff.........................
Rafa is the GOAT. Period!
I expected Medvedv to win straight sets. He came close. Too bad he started to cramp in the second half of the match. Now he knows how Djokovic felt going into the US Open final last year.
Djokovic was outplayed, simple as that
...that was a could point about the press...why is it that they hardly ever ask the technical questions and often focus of the "feelings" post match ?
Would be grateful for comments from the engaging Amy Lundy and Gill Gross - Rafa won his 21st Grand Slam with zero tactics. How on the planet did he beat Meddy today? Tactics missing again? Please shed some light on this surprise result. 🙏🙏
NADAL HIT SOME FOREHANDS AT 158KL/H !!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Where is the 2nd part ? We hv bn waiting for ages. Come on Gill, don't double fault again.
Rafa has won 13 RG being hated in 16 … thats not an excuse
THE TV ANGLE WAS WAY TOO HIGH AS USUAL!!! PLEASE FILM FROM A LOWER ANGLE!!!!
WHY WOULD I WATCH A TENNIS MUCH FROM THE HIGH BAD SEATS????????
This is Wednesday release!
Thursday here lol
Medvedev threw the match away in the 3rd. I was watching very closely without sound and he simply got tight and nervous and didn't know how to change his strategy especially when he had been winning.
Wondering why You two can't see that Nadal looks 3 times bigger than he actually is in front of these journeymen like Shapo n Zverev n Tsitsipas. Medvedev is no exception.
You all need to study more about the psychology sides of sport n competition. Nadal is the biggest player in terms of fighting spirits n determination n hunger n love for tennis n hate-to-lose mind construct. Are these to difficult for you to understand ?
Nadal most underestimated athlete of all time
USOPEN CROWD WAS MUCH WORSE!!!
GOATdal owns you chokosquirrels 😂!!! Eat it!! 🥜🌰🥜🌰
@Coefficient of restitution 😂!!!!! What’s up buddy! 😂 Surprisingly I haven’t been banned by Cam yet 😂!!!! I be trolling them chokosquirrels hard on that channel too 😂!!!! GOATdal baby!!!! VAMOS!!!
kinda disappointed to hear how Steve just brushed past that xenophobic crowd comment. I’m glad you brought it up, Gill! I think hearing those kinds of things being spewed at you midmatch is a little more than having to deal with the crowd favoring the big 3, which I think is what Steve is implying the crux of Med’s issue with the crowd was. I don’t agree with that assessment at all, I think it was more a combination of things, & xenophobia was definitely one of them.
I’m a huge Agassi fan. For a long time I wasn’t very fond of Sampras lol. But honestly, Pete Sampras really doesn’t get enough credit. He definitely inspired Federer. I still would take his serve over any other in history. He was a much better athlete than people give him credit for. I absolutely think Sampras (and Agassi for that matter)could win several Majors in any era, include this one. Sampras had a gift for being able to keep his own rhythm while completely ruining his opponents. Perhaps it’s not the most visually pleasing style, but damn if it’s not highly effective. I still see Sampras as the the best grass court player. In his prime, even on slower grass I still like Sampras.
Sampras was a great player and competitor. As long as he wasn't on clay, where he was fairly hopeless.
@@marilynwasserman3273 Sampras at his peak was capable of beating anyone anywhere. We know that clay wasn’t his thing, but when he got hot he could win on clay. He had some huge clay results in his career. I believe he won a Clay Masters event in Rome. He he made the Semis of Roland Garros, and couple Quartfinals I believe. But he actually had some clay court wins over Agassi, Kafelnikov, and Courier amongst others. All Hall of Famers who won Roland Garros. If he was on it he could even rush you on clay. I would have loved to seen Sampras play Djokovic on a hard court. We saw Sampras Federer on grass, 7-5 in the 5th is basically a 50/50 proposition. That was a declining version of Pete against a streaky version of Federer. Neither at their best. Now Sampras from 1995 against Federer 2005 at Wimbledon would be something to see. Honestly I think Sampras and Agassi would have been better players in today’s game than in their time. Agassi and Sampras were masters of rationing their level. They played well enough to win, but wanted to be routine. The Big 3 would push them to produce at a higher level, but I believe that unlike a Murray or a Roddick, Agassi and Sampras had the raw talent and ball striking to meet the challenges. With Agassi and Sampras in the mix I don’t see guys winning 20 plus Majors. I think it probably effects Djokovic and Federer more than Rafa.
rAgreed Gill, afa can simply dig deeper than others, thats the key , few can to the extent rafa can other than nole and serbs are known to be extremely tough. . SFB mentality. ps echo polvo means destroyed in spanish,, polvo however means dust ha ha lierally turned into dust.
Though Nadal mistrusts himself: returning, he pounds away accurately any serve that is out. While he gets careful and cagey with others, recently settinlg for soft, deep returns. If he's a good returner in fact, in fantasy, he's the greatest. Just he won't buy it.
NADALS FOREHAND WENT INTO OVERDRIVE!!! HITTING SOME AT 158KL/H !!!!!
The complete butchering of Felix’s name was😬😂.
The tournament itself will have an asterisk next to it, but Rafa's victory won't. He beat Medvedev, who has given Djokovic problems lately, in spectacular fashion, coming back from injury. Plus, Rafa has plenty of important victories over Novak especially on hard-court like the US Open, Rafa is clearly the GOAT right now even though I'm more of a Novak fan.
Beg to differ. That fcukin word asterisk ✳️ can only be found in DEPORTOVIC fans dictionary because DjoCOVID is a COVID19 merchant.. they are relentless to infect tennis with it now..
Remember AO2022 is way more supported and watched than AO2021 where DEPORTOVIC played the final💪💪💪👊👊💥
How can Nadal be the clear GOAT when Novak owns all the other most important Tennis Records?
@@tanmaydas9570* will be there as he hasn't won a set against Novak on hard courts in last 18 matches. He wasn't going to be in the final if real Champion was around. "The mice can play while the Cat is not around..."
@@alekssmiljanov7448 We will never know, what I know is that Rafa defeated the guy that destroyed Djokovic in the US Open three months ago, cheers 🥂
@@jeffreykaufmann2867 Because the most important record is the Slam record. That record is weighted a little more. Plus, it’s not like Djokovic is miles ahead of Rafa in these other categories. Rafa has more career titles. The Masters 1000 record just keeps getting volleyed back and forth. The head to head is like pretty near even (28-26 I think). Yes, Djokovic has more weeks at number one and YEC wins…but on the flip side Nadal leads in the two most important categories: slam count and head to head in the Majors. Nadal has won 10 of 17 of the most important matches.
Federer's win over Nadal was more special than this year's Nadal win. Medvedev ain't Roger Federer.
Medvwdev was purposely distracted by some audience and lost his feelings to play like he played the 2.5 sets in the beginning. Don’t you think that this was purposely set up to distract Medvedev? I believe it was purposely set up to distract a better player just like they do it to Djokovic all the time but Novak learned to play against the crowd
Vaxtralian Open doesn't count in a slam race, it's still 20-20-20.
👍
Med needs to grow up !
!
The Mice can play while the Cat is not around...
Nadal only won because of a weak draw again and Novak not playing. Never seen a luckiest guy. Novak should now be on 23 slams (USO 2020, WImb 2020 and This AO), but he is only at 20 and This luckydall at this unfair 21.
You mad ? 🤣
Talk, talk, talk...... Serbia have 2 tennis players which are greatest of all time: Monica Seles and Novak Djokovic. First one had 9 grand slams till age 20 before she was stubbed in the back and prevented to play further. Novak Djokovic was stopped different way which we all see at australia. What is his destiny in following years? Is his life is in danger similar way not to reach his maximum??? That is how west is winning on sport courts. Story about Djokovic isnt over, but I am very much worried about his life could be in danger
Steffi Graf and Rafa both from western europe are the very best.. sorry charlie...🤐
Stefi and Rafa...you just need to look west ..
@@thomaswonderwood9826 Your problem is you never look further 1 km far from your village you live toward other directions
Nadal has all the advantages in the books. First of all, his first match is scheduled on a Monday. This is huge. Secondly, he umpires allow his to routinely violate the time delay rules. He does his even on the opponent's serve. Don't take my word for it, take Denis Shapovalov's word. Many of the top stars violate the no-coaching rule, but this was all started by Rafa and his Uncle. His method of sneering at his opponents is not a nice thing to watch.
AO champion without a healthy djokovic is a fake champion, this bastard used known condition to attack djokovic to win is shameless. Anyway, a low level final, medvedev lost so many easy points in half court return to let nadal break, BS. Hope djokovic go for vaccine, ten his return will be a total fire up, pls do not be a nice guy in court again, can beat anyone 6-0, go for it, not only win all the match, all the game & point to have a best record in all data, focus in making history & game in next 3-4 yrs, at least 10 more grand slams.
Cope
Keep crying , and sulking and maybe scream in open ,
The French Open without a healthy Nadal is a fake French Open. Your talk doesn't hold.
Move on. Everyone deserves their slams.
Djokovic will stop at 23 max. Not even a single GS more than 23.
We all can keep dreaming,….but be realistic dude! - 10 more slams at-least ???!!!
If they allowed Novak to play Novak would have 10 AO titles today!!!
Agree since he would have beaten Nadal in semi finals
Medvedev's gonna have to make a visit to the clinic where Nadal and Djokovic got their inspiration from.