I think most people did not give Alcaraz the respect he deserved given his talents, his dominant form, Djokovic's injury and most importantly, how sharp Alcaraz was at sensing that Djokovic was a wounded animal. Alcaraz played like he knew he was the clear better player. There was no mercy and hiccups except the 4 match point on serve. It is time we think about Alcaraz differently whenever he plays Djokovic
lol djokovic was not injured . stop with the injury excuses. he was sliding and splitting his legs effortlessly against rune. alcaraz is better than djokovic period.
Gill Gross, you must accept that your prediction was wrong. Your preview could not have been farther from the truth. You simply got it wrong but the fact that tennis does this to some of the best minds in the game is what makes me love this game.
You don’t often see a perfect performance in a slam final but that’s what we got. Novak looked beaten from the start. Alcaraz looked like the winner from the moment he walked on court. Given how Novak demolished Musetti in the SF it just shows what kind of insane level and pressure Alcaraz achieved. The kid is a genius.
Carlos has made a leap since last year in terms of his attitude to Djokovic on the court imo. The playfulness and casual approach is gone, he had a noticeable coldness about him and an absolutely stony murderous face in the first two sets. The boy learned his lesson after Cincinnati.
Its funny how many people were writing off Carlitos as a two slam fluke at the beginning of the year. Now, he’s in a position where he can cement himself as the de factor best player on tour with a dominant 3 slam sweep
@@amugsgame9936 a "noisy minority" in social media. But anyone willing to reason knows best. Actually, the injuries are by far Alcaraz's biggest problem. Regardless of number of titles predictions
I predicted Alcaraz would win in 3: 6-2 6-3 7-6 in your match preview video, Gill. I see I was only off by a game in my prediction. For me the key you missed in your preview was that Djokovic was not challenged in getting to the final. Well done Alcaraz!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Yeah, I watched his program yesterday and he predicted Novak will win and in this section I also commented that Carlitos will win in 3 sets but I was just joking I know Carlos has a chance but it will be close, I didn’t expect that Carlos will break his rhythm right at the first set and demolish him totally. As far as I know nobody has beaten Novak in the first set in any majors but Alcaraz was abosulutely on fire at the very first set. I thought Novak will win the first set and Carlos will take the second like in the past encounter. IT was a tactical genius executed by Carlitos.
Djokovic did mot play at his usual level. But this is the post surgery Djokovic as well. Gills predictions are based on assumptions thay a player will play at his her level
I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he wins the calendar slam. with all due respect, who is there to stop him; he is playing a bunch of sorry, weak, apathetic atp boys (maybe with the exception of sinner) who think it's absolutely wonderful to get to the 4th round, quarters, or semis of a tournament, not to mention get to the final and lose. the first thing they say, he's too good, he is a monster; he is better than the big three; so there's no shame in losing to alcaraz. I cringe when I hear those words. excuses, excuses, why are you even playing tennis, if you think it's ok to lose to certain players.. if players were to play alcaraz as hard as they do nadal I doubt if he would have two slams at this time. it's not alcaraz's fault, but players are just not inspired to beat him as they are nadal. I have observed it over and over again, and I know enough to know when a player really wants to win, even if he loses.
@@kimi-de1ox Kids are coming, and do not write off Zverev nor Medvedev. Rune will mature also, when he gets a coach that suits him he will beat Alcaraz xouple times a year
@@user-iy8tp7vw3x well, the way I see it, it's one thing to be able to beat a player on paper, but what counts is to actually beat on the court. I'm not saying zverev, medvedev, rune, etc. are not capable, but the fight, the effort, the determination, consistency, wanting it badly enough to dig deep to achieve it, and taking advantage of opportunities are missing in their matches especially against alcaraz and djokovic.
@@kimi-de1ox Are you a Nadal fan? It was only 2.5 years ago that Nadal won the AO and then Roland Garros and made it to the Wimbledon last 4 so I guess he only had those results because of the weak era and same for Djokovic last year winning 3x majors?!?
@@seanl6885If I had to guess, Djokovic knew he couldn’t hang from the baseline with Carlos in this form, maybe didn’t want to risk reinjury, and decided to commit to serve-and-volley, hoping it might make Carlos uncomfortable and throw him off his game. It didn’t, at all. Carlos saw him come to net and said, “this is free food.”
Pretty sure that's exactly what happened. He didn't want long rallies, and playing purely serve and volley, coming to the net every other point, it's just not how you can beat alcaraz. Gotta be able to make him miss sometimes through longer rallies @@SJ-di5zu
Andy Roddick explained they were not unforced errors. If you come in without confidence, you are a step slower and the ball is already below the net at the time of contact.
@@mireafelder8194 nope. Sinner is nr one for winning most tournaments and having an incredible winning average. He deserves it. But if Alcaraz keeps going like this he will take the nr1 in the future. We will see.
@@alessandrovalente7645 Of course Sinner deserves the No.1 spot. I was just replying to the guy who said Sinner is just No.1 bc of Djokovic's "water bottle attack" in Rome, lol. You could say the same about Alcaraz who was injured for most of clay season.
Old fashioned beat-down. Nole got spanked & Carlos played at an INSANEly high level! WOW! Third set was competitive! Again - WOW! Thanx Gill. Cheers, Milan
This match showed a psychological sea change. Carlos looked extremely calm, whilst Djokovic looked very nervous. The long first game, set the scene. Carlos broke and just played beautifully from that point onwards.
@@winterbird4447 Nothing wrong with his knee lol, stop falling for this BS, you don't get to finals beating other top established players if your knee is bad, he was moving fine, he just met a super Alien on the other side, that made him look slow, relative to his speed.
Yup I think there is the realisation of a changing of the guard. I am sad because the era of the big three is over but I am excited for alcaraz and the other up and comings
Djokovic has been dominating too long, Rafa is basically done, outside of clay, but I never write him off, at 38, maybe one last French Open, but if he meets Alcaraz, it's bye bye.
@@pauljohnson6019yeah, Rafa is done. Would have never thought that some minor injuries like the abdominal tear and the hip problem would lead to a crazy drop in level. Always though the knee injuries or the foot condition would end his career. Such a shame that he never stayed healthy for an entire season….
The scary part about Alcaraz is that he still has improvement to make in terms of serve, return and game management. He has so many elite qualities but he isn’t a finished product…and that is scary! This kid (if he can remain injury free) could end up with 15+ Majors easily. His ceiling is up to him.
I didn’t mind if Alcaraz or Djokovic won. I did hope for Djokovic. But so many ppl wrote off Carlos late last year and this year everyone was gasping over sinner . I kept fighting back in the comments and saying, sinner is good. But he isn’t dynamic in movement and weak legs, watch Alcaraz come back. Don’t underestimate this guy. And here we are. Sinner lacks the athleticism and dynamic force that Carlos inherently has, he can’t train to have this, this is an energy at birth. Just like passion it’s an innate energy. That simple
And now you're the one making the exact same mistake with Sinner that the others made with Carlos... Sinner lost at RG because Carlos played better, but he didn't have a full build up and wasn't at 100% fitness and here he happened to be sick when he was playing Medvedev. All of which had nothing to do with his supposed "lack of dynamic movement". Post USO he has been one of the best movers on tour and it's in big part what allowed him to win almost all of his matches. Yes it's not exactly at Carlos's level but he has gotten close and makes up for it in other areas. If you think Carlos will dominate Sinner from now on you'll be very disappointed.
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten sorry i think you misunderstood my comment. I never said Sinner was not good. I said the opposite. I was responding to comments that were saying Carlos is not good, peaked too early over the last year. My defense to these comments were not to underestimate his strength, dynamic movement and passion / which cannot be trained. I personally see with Jannick, that whilst he is good, he doesn’t have the same level of dynamic movement, the leg strength, the passion ( inherent in his dna make up) that Carlos has, which to me is an X factor in sport. Many elite tennis players from Medvedev to Djokovic have said the same. I won’t be upset or angry, I am just not surprised he has climbed back up to where he is. Sinner has been trained by Djokovic previous coach, he is an amazing player, but there are some attributes such as the above, that are untrainable . End of story, have a great day, hope you don’t get too many kicks from attacking strangers in the comments
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegetenin case you forgot, sinner was leading Alcaraz 6-2, 1-0 with a break at the French semis. Alcaraz won in five. But this wasnot a one off. He won vs Zverev, tiafoe, humbert, paul, Medvedev either in 5 or from a set and set/ break down? What does it show? Huge mental strength. It didn't happen by magic. This is because of his losses after Wimbledon last year. Adversity breeds toughness and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Incidentally sinner had many tough five setter losses last year and they toughened him as well. Both are well matched but Carlos is a physical beast too. Incidentally what happened at Indian Wells? 1-6 down, Carlos fought back and won.
I was surprised you gave Djokovic a chance prior to this match. He's been clearly below par all year including Wimbledon. And, at this stage, he needs to be firing on all cylinders even to have a chance against Alcaraz. Meanwhile, Alcaraz is so good that he has lapses of concentration during most of his matches. It's hard to stay up when it's all so easy. In the big matches against the big opponents when Alcaraz has no problem staying focused it's almost unfair. Moving forward, the only thing on Novak's side is that when his knee is fully healed, he will literally kill himself to do whatever it takes to come back at Alcaraz.
@@Fraudkovic I tend to agree, but we'll see. Djokovic is the GOAT for a reason and he still may have some tricks up his sleeve. Remember that it was pretty much of a miracle that he even played at Wimbledon let alone making it to the final on a knee that was operated on three weeks before the tournament started
I knew Djokovic didn't have the self-belief he could beat Carlos when he half-joked in his post-match presser after his semi-final against Musetti that "Carlos has plenty of time to win many majors, so maybe he can just give me this one/let me have this one." And if that weren't enough, Nole looked very nervous just before both stepped on court.
Djokovic didn't think he could compete with Carlos from the baseline. He thought his only shot was to be ultra aggressive and end points at the net. That's not his natural game and Carlos is too good at passing shots.
I would be disappointed in Alcaraz had he not won in straight😂. Common now! Djokovic is one of the greatest, but he just had surgery and will be the best player of the tournament with no proper competition? Really?
I couldn't see Carlos winning against prime Novak last year then, with a year more experience, losing today, but I get you can never count Djokovic out, as Gill didn't.
The only sad thing about this win as an Alcaraz fan is that Gill will start picking Alcaraz to win tournaments again, and he always seems to lose when Gill picks him to win 😂
Exactly! Poor serving and concentration dips were the only factors holding Alcaraz back a bit during the tournament. He fixed those in the final it was done and dusted. The only one who can hold Carlos back right now is himself
JCF said in a post-match interview that he was surprised to see that Novak could not keep up with Carlos rithm and ball speed. That's why it was a relatively easy/fast win.
I think an under appreciated shot in the Alcaraz arsenal is the defensive short slice dropping at the feet of the net-rushing opponent. I've seen him his this with tremendous consistency, and it really bothered Novak today. A lot of his volley errors were caused by this, IMO, with the combination factor of knowing you have a cheetah on the other side who will likely get to any drop volley you throw in. I don't see that level of precision on the floaty, low, short defensive slice to the net-rushing opponent on the tour. Just one of those attributes of Alcaraz's game that makes him an unbelievable all-rounder.
This is actually a continuation of the results that Novak has been having all year, crushing loss to Sinner at AO, loss to Nardi in IW, loss to Casper Ruud in MC, a crushing straight set loss to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome, poor loss to Machac in Geneva (lost final set 6-1), 5setters against Cerundolo and Musetti at RG, crushing straight set loss to Carlos in Wimbledon. That's why this result isn't quite outrageous, but actually a continuation of the results Novak has been having in 2024. And many of us fans failed to read the writing on the wall.
Why are you omitting Fearnley when you say there there were no previous matches that would have prompted you to notice that Djokovic wasn’t moving quickly enough to beat Carlos? Plenty of us noticed it in that point of the match where Fearnley started to play more aggressively, took a set and pushed him hard in the final set. You mentioned every other opponent to explain why you missed this but not him.
Yes, great analysis, as usual, Gil. While not as aggressively offensive as Alcaraz, don't you think a speedy and wily DeMinaur would have troubled this Djokovic, exposing his movement, by similarly placing the ball in the corners?
Carlos was calm even after defeating Novak in the final. In the contrast, remember Novak 's behaviour after defeating Nadal in 2011 Wimbledon final. No one can teach you manners.
Nadal has no manners with fake grunts and fist pumps on every point just to provoke . There is difference winning right match and easy one , off course U celebrate more after tough match .
Gill I extract from your analysis that Djokovic lost becases of his form or faults but none because Alcaraz was simply better in everything.Merit to Alcaraz who is the best out there now.
No offense, but most of Djokovic's super-fans needed this reality check. He's aging, folks. I wouldn't be surprised if his last slam was his last slam victory. I do think he'll win one more, but I believe his dominance has come to and end. Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev... and age... all his rivals. And I really believe he should never have been playing tennis so close to his (even minor) surgery. We shall see.
Gill your analyses are usually spot on, but on this i think you missed something about the knee. He played aggressive tennis to start because he knew that he was physically undercooked because of the knee. I think that dictated the decisions of when to move forward or change direction, where if he trusted his legs more, he wouldnt rush forward on inadvisable plays, causing his volleys to go awry (deep or into the net). I think you are right on his nerve management - i felt he looked at the start the way he looked the year he was going for the calendar grandslam - he looked mentally like it was a step too far from even the hallway when he had to put down his bags and shake out his hands and shoulders. Today it was his physical inferiority and also mental inferiority - all situation based. I also think we ought to dedicate some analysis to his "no coach" and no coaching during the match decision compared to Alcaraz awesome partnership with Juan Carlos. I think that this is an area Novak can look into that can change his fortunes for the rest of the year. I dont think its a full change of the guard yet, but definitely the shift is inevitable. I think he still has 2 grandslams in him, but lets see.
@GillGross I hear you - but because you said you were leaving the knee to the end - it suggested maybe you thought his movement issues were permanent and not transitional - where I do think there's is some permanent decline, but it's not to the level we saw today - today I believe will be better in the latter part of the year. I also noticed something. Since he split with his last team, he's made some changes to his physical prep - and definitely appears a bit smaller than he was in Australia- something else to look into - as I think the bigger body mass was causing him to be gassed and exhausted earlier in the season. I suspect he's going through a physical transformation as well that hasn't come to its peak for 2024 yet. I'm excited for the rest of this year. Djoker is like carlos, they are great students and learners of the game. And PS - of all the rivalries I'm starting to like, theirs the best - there is a nice mutual respect there despite the 16 year age difference.
@@katherineannbyam I'm genuinely curious what 2 slams you believe Novak will be able to win, As we've seen this year that Nole has been struggling with the top 10 players (not beaten even 1), has reached only 1 SF, which he lost, and 1 final, which was a blowout and "could" start developing physical issues, whilst the younger tour develop into better and more experienced players. The changing of the guard happened last year Wimby and was fully cemented at this year's AO.
@malekat8539 well none of us can truly predict the future of course, but I do think he's relevant for us open and Australia still - and he's still a great grass court player -as I said in the post, there are many things evolving for him this year, the change of team, change of physical training / body and muscle mass / and knee surgery and I'd prefer to never write off someone with such a monster mindset - it's his greatest strength- and can manifest it self in him improving the rest of this year. Time will tell I guess. It's just my feeling.
@@malekat8539 i agree. Also AO was a very one sided loss. To me it seems expectations around Djokovic are more based on nostalgia and wishful thinking then looking at the reality of his performances. The passing of the guard has to be this year tho. Since Djoko won nitto finals and had a comfy lead as nr1.
He is at best a half decent volleyer. I can think of at least 50 players much better volleyers the Novak, more if you go back some. He panics, has no idea what to do, and is not quick enough.
And I think that similar to the slices, there are so few players volleying that we call anyone a great volleyer. I mean Novak is better at net than people who don't voley
Imagine winning 2 slams in a row and still not surpassing the guy in the rankings who has had for top 5 standards a mediocre season. The same guy who you destroyed in the final, by the way 😂
About Djokovic's movement, it was so obvious from the beginning of the tournament. I said I was surprised by the lack of concern about his movement after round 2. You could brush it off, saying it's only round 2 and even top tier players struggle sometimes in the 1st week which is not wrong in general, but I think it was different this time. He came back from surgery after 3 weeks, which is clearly too short of a time for a full recovery. You should worry about the movement considering the circumstances. Djokovic said he wouldn't be playing if he thought he can't go all the way, but as much as I admire his confidence and fire, you don't take athlete's words with face value when it comes to injuries and its recovery imo. They tend to be overconfident in themselves.
💯I thought it was obvious too in that round 2 match and Djokovic even said he was relieved it didn’t go to five sets. When his opponent started to make him move in that match it was clear to see he was getting exposed. I distinctly remember thinking that if he met Alcaraz in the final Carlos would fillet him on Centre Court.
Novak didn't appear to any slower than last year in yesterday's final. The issue was, when he got to the ball, he wasn't quite ready to know what to do with it. The reflex wasn't there; the explosiveness wasn't there. These issues are age related -- non reversible. We are looking at the beginning of the end.
Most of the explosive teenagers seem to drop of by mid 20s. I think Carlos will remain in the top ten as long as he wants to (much like Nadal) and win as much. My feeling is that he will get bored. I can't see him 'living' tennis.
Random Thoughts -The long very first game of the match was very telling and set the tone for the rest of the match. -Carlos' return of serve outshined Novak's. He only broke him once the whole match. -No other player, except for maybe Rafa on clay, is recovering mentally from 40-0 serving for the match to win that set. Who knows if it would have been a dog fight in the 4th or possibly a 5th set. -Alcaraz has toned down all the fancy shots point in/out to ruthlessly, methodically wear down opponents mentally/physically. -Carlos' serve has improved and will only get better. -Good coach/team around him -Nice tactical variety with no pace groundies to hard, flat ones; Body serves -Novak lacked the emotion. No smashed rackets. No outbursts. Me against the crowd mentality which fuels him. -Carlos may be both the best offensive and defensive player on tour now. - It's early but Carlos will pass the Big 3 in the slam count. The only caveat is health/longevity. - Carlos is better at his age than the Big 3 at the same age. -Not convinced Sinner will be a long term rival for Carlos. He seems to lack that killer instinct. Hope he proves me wrong, and they have a long standing rivalry. Agree/disagree?
I disagree on couple of points. 1st is I think Nadal was better on clay than this Alcaraz by an entire level and was as good as Alcaraz on hard courts. Alcaraz is better on grass and thats it. Secondly, I do not see him get more GS than Federer let alone Djokovic. Just imagine 2017-2018 Thiem with old Djokovic and no Nadal or Fed. Get it? Young talents are coming for him Fonseca for example. Also last but not least Sinner has his measure he was ill prior to RG led 2:1 and gassed out. They will share GS with Zverev and Medvedev
I think at the ending of the 2nd set to the beginning of the 3rd Novak knew he wasn’t coming back and defeat was inevitable. It was written on his face. Any other player with the exception of maybe Sinner he could, but its next to impossible to come back from two sets down against an opponent like Alcaraz.
Sinner was leading Alcaraz by a set and a break in tbe the FO semi final. Alcaraz beat him in five. Carlos has transformed into a mental giant. Indian Wells? Same thing
Exactly. Novak always changed the course of the match after bathroom breaks. I suspect, either he hit some bad side effect, or, tennis association warned him behind the curtain.
Countering the comment about De Minaur, I think De Minaur would have been much more of a test for Djokovic than Musetti and Rune on grass court. How the tournament turned out in the bottom half meant that Djokovic was not challenged or severely challenged to get to the final.
@@jliang70 agreed. I think that Alex test would have prepared Djokovic more for Carlos’s speed and running down every ball. Things may have been different
The justification or the post match analysis is good but his predictions were abysmal or biased at the best. Most of the people saw Djoker nowhere close to the top levels and had a cakewalk in terms of a draw. Carlitos made it via relatively difficult draw with top seeds thrown in his half. Many could see this defeat incoming but I've seen similar biases prevalent on multiple channels in terms of their pre-match analysis or predictions.
Novak knew Alcaraz was going to win, before they started. They is why he decided not to rally, but to try to win with just 3 or 5 shorts, like Federer. Where Federer always had options, Novak does not. He is an excellent one dimensional player, and Sinner is like that, excellent, but ya, one dimensional. Novak should have learned to volley, and learned how to approach the net. As great as Roger was at the, he still hired Edberg to help him even be better. Also, Novak won many slams on reputation. Alcaraz has no regard for reputation, as shown 2 years ago in his beating Rafa and Novak back to back.
Something that stood out to me: One of the scariest shots in tennis, in my opinion, has been Djokovic’s running forehand. He often hits it with more pace than he does from stationary positions. Players would run him to the deuce court, thinking they are gaining an advantage, and then he’d counter-attack beautifully. In last year’s Wimbledon final, one of the adjustments Carlitos made was to get more comfortable with the backhand crosscourt trading. He was in no rush to change line and potentially expose himself to getting his own forehand rushed with Djokovic’s forehand crosscourt, which would be more potent than if Djokovic changed line with his own backhand. This year, it seems he banked on the fact that Djokovic’s movement was more compromised (especially in that direction, given that the injured knee was the right one), and his backhand down the line did so much damage (and Djokovic’s running forehand so little). Very interesting how these nuances can make a huge impact, provided the player has the skill to execute the plays.
Your blabbing is full of nonsense, alcaraz owns him in forehand shots, the thing with that shot is you don't want to hit it first because you end up having to create the pace and your opponent hits it harder and wider, alcaraz also has respectable backhand power which Novak knows he can't just hit down the line like he does with other players just like Medvedev couldn't attack down the line in the semi, in the semi alcaraz knows his forehand is more lethal and he follows with a drop shot against meddie The forehand(s) that are problematic are that of sinner which we saw in Miami open and or Indian wells and other tournaments
random note but i still feel like if novak faced de minaur in qf instead of automatically advancing into semis - his compromised movements against really fast top-10 players would've been exposed a few rounds earlier and i don't think it'd been much of a cakewalk as he's gotten on his side of the draw
@@darrenjohn8524it has been revealed now that Rune has been nursing a wrist injury since Rome. Regardless, anyone following Holger closely would have known he was highly likely to capitulate in that match, what perhaps surprised us was that the capitulation happened from the very start. Tbh with the updated wrist injury news Rune should be considered as another walkover when reflecting on Djokovic’s Wimbledon run.
Past the US Open, do we care about Carlos’ fall? It still might be unrealistic for him to be at his best 11 months out of the year, and who really cares about Paris and Shanghai
May well be the case that Djo did not want to trade and rely on his legs to get into patterns but could that not be due to Alcaraz's firepower compared to the berritinis, medvedevs and even fed
I think both combined.but thats not only the case.had he trusted legs things could have been different is what I'm seeing from the play.him playing like pete sampras at us open final 2001
Carlito's peak when he's honed his service and ironed out the frivolities that make him do unforced errors will come in 2 or 3 years . The scary thought is , by then , he might have already 9 or 10 slams to his name . For context let's just check the age of Nole when he won his 4th slam ....He was 3 years older at 24 . With the inevitable demise of Nole's game and the only threat of Sinner in the horizon l believe Carlos might really have a shot at destroying every record .
Budge was 23 when he earned his calendar year slam, Laver was 30 when he got his open era slam Novak came close twice when in his 30s Alcaraz only 21 is a good candidate to pull it off
Tennis won't allow anybody to dominate more than 3-4 years. Some new guy will come & tame the Champion. It happened to Sampras, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic. The so called Big 3 had enjoyed 10 years & winning in their 30s because there was no genuine Serve & Volley players between 2003 - 2022. However, Alcaraz will cross Sampras 14 GS for sure.
Hey Gill, love your analysis. Keep on the good work. I think that people are little bit blowing out of proportion the result of the finals. Fact is that Djokovic is not in form since the begging of the year, add to this an operation 5 weeks ago and a super talented opponent 16y younger in full fitness and very talented it’s just normal. It would not be normal if Djokovic won. But that’s what we are used to coming from Djokovic, so now everyone is shocked but the shocking part is that he’s in the finals of Wimbledon with that form, which is literally inhuman. He needs to be 100% to win against Alcaraz and Sinner, and maybe more because he’s 37 and 16 YEARS OLDER and just has to give more than maximum. It’s just normal. Stop idolizing the guy he’s human he’s not a machine (even if considering who he is we can be lured into thinking it).
Thanks Gill, great analysis and insights. On Sinner, I have been wondering whether he needs to look at his diet (as Djokovic did). I know he gets allergies, perhaps he needs to drop something from his diet too. But i would have thought his medical team would be onto it. Endurance he can work on and is. But he's been ill a few times too.
For someone that Serbian fans call GOAT, he sure gets a lot of thrashings. The peak if Alcaraz, Nadal and Federer is higher than Nile’s peak. He just never gets injured and that’s his main talent .
Djoker had a free ride and still won his matches with the "knee", it had nothing to do with losing. When Djoker plays someone who's consistently aggressive, he loses.
Gill, have you no shame or awareness. It was abundantly clear that Alcaraz, who has no fear of Novak, and who has put the fear of God into Novak, evidenced by his tactics, and Alcaraz, having won all 3 of his final slams going into this final, and Novaks, more frequent loses, and Novak's loss to Alcaraz in this final last year, and Alcaraz having just won the French, and Novak having won no tournament in 2024, losing to average players, stood no chance, what so ever. None. This is why, I won at the bokkies. On every level Alcaraz is a better player. And is better than peak Novak at the moment. To beat Alcaraz playing like this, only Federer with his serve, forehand, variety could take him. Novak does not have the tools. Try to be less blinded.
Surprised you didn't mention the Olympics, but went to the US Open. It's crazy that he just won back to back GS finals and is likely the favorite to do it again on clay in Paris at the Olympics
Djokovic run in this Wimbledon is one of the the easiest in a GS, ever. I can’t believe the majority picked him to win the final. Alzaraz did not only won, he outplayed him. Finally, the weak transition era is over and players like Alcaraz and Sinner are there. Djokovic luck is over.
Alcaraz was recovering from a forearm injury and yet he won the French Open and had the toughest draw to the final. No excuses. He gets to Wimbledon and was struggling with his serve and as a result loses early in Queens and he improves his serve all through the next tournament and finishes as the champion while delivering his best service performance of the year in the finals of Wimbledon. I have watched every match Carlos has played this year and he's never served as good as he did in the finals so good for him. I hope Alcaraz enjoys his win but not too much like he did last year and then rush to the tournament unprepared. He should rest, celebrate his wins and get ready for Paris. After Paris (hopefully he wins gold) he should rest and recharge. He should take some time to practice for the hard courts and get ready for the US Open swing. His team should plan his tournaments wisely before the US Open swing as they have done this year. So far he looks fresh and fit.
This seems to me to be like Serena when she got to the later stages of her career in slams, where she'd get to finals and then not be able to get over the line.
Serena was struggling to close big matches against everyone in 2018/2019. She lost to Kerber, Osaka, Halep and Andreescu in grand slam finals-Osaka is the only one who had the power to match her. Djokovic on the other hand is still better than 95% of the tour, but Sinner and especially Alcaraz have gone past him, and they’re here to stay.
@@RamoneCricket-fq3ue What are you talking about? Djokovic has lost of plenty of matches this year to other players besides Alcaraz or Sinner. Machac, Tabilo, de Minaur, Nari, Ruud etc.. etc... etc..
That was a great in depth analyses even though it was a one sided match. I loved the part about defining an excuse vs a legitimate reason. I slightly disagree with changing of the guard being official at US open. This largely depends on what form and motivation Djokovic brings at us open. I’d say Australian open next year is probably a better indication of the ‘change of guard’
Hi Gill think we should address the elephant in the room which is that Novak is on his way down and Alcaraz is on his way up. His court demeanour impressed me the most he had an air of confidence that if he executed his game it didn’t matter what Novak would bring he would find a solution. This match more than ever felt like the passing of torch Alcaraz has built confidence in finals and to defend is a monumental feat. Had ‘big 3’ aura and was simply too good I think the first game highlighted that for Novak he knew his chances are now dwindling and Alcaraz is building with more consistency to his electrifying game. We can talk about other predisposing factors but let’s face it I think Novak beats 99% of the tour but he knows there’s a new guy on top. We should give Alcaraz the credit for this one 4 majors at 21, looking more and more confident, winning without having to play his best and knowing his 90% game beats everyone. Only one other player in history has won a major at 37. Maybe Novak has one more in the tank but in reality are we seeing the last of his runs with sinner and Alcaraz at the forefront.
you are talking nonsense in discussing excuses and reasons. All excuses are reasons. 100%, all. Some reasons, or explanations or attributions are due to the player, and their choices. Others are due to circumstances beyond their control. This is a much cleaner way of thinking about it, that matches the theory and research on explanations. See Gilovich et al. 2024, social psychology, who do a good job at explaining this. Clarity is important. Was the knee a contributing factor.. Yes, Novak would have probably played better without that injury, more confidence, better prep etc. Would ha have won.. Nope, would still have got hammered.
Carlos is a complete player which none of the Big3 were. The problem for Carlos has been the best shot to play at different moments. Big 3 were very good at what they did and knew their strengths.
I think Gill put too much faith on Novak's net play, when it has never been a natural skill for him. Everybody including my Grandma knew that Novak had to come forward, and try to be more aggressive to have a chance, and counter, or at least dissipate Alcaraz's power. But lo and behold, that simply is not Novaks game. So, at the end of the day, it was Novak who had to make t the e adjustments to have any chance at all of beating Alcaraz. And, well, he simply couldn't.
There's no doubt Alcaraz is going to be an All-Time Great. He might already be. Only injuries can prevent him from reaching where he desires to be. He is just too complete, powerful, creative, and athletic of a player to be bogged down by anyone. I hope Sinner catches up soon. I see him as someone who is as ambitious and ferocious as Carlos. Time will tell who gets what. And I wish for Daniil to get stronger and better so that he keeps doing what he does best- reminding the top echelon that they are not infallible. To me, Daniil was the second-best player at this year's Wimbledon. Finally, what do we even say about Novak? It is such an unusual sight seeing him lose consecutive finals. He is a legend. He's the ceiling that Alcaraz is looking up at.
@@nomdeplume92 medvedev needs to do major strength training. I noticed his chest was bigger this tournament though. He may already be strengthening himself
I don't think injuries should play a part in the analysis of the actual match. I think of Allen Iverson who never played a game without a contusion, a sprain or synovial fluiid-itis of some kind. Once you lace them up none of that should be considered. I have noticed such statements from players we like are considered reasons and for players we dislike, excuses.
With all due respect, Gill, I'm not buying your forced defense of Djokovic, and your attempt to cover up his annihilatioon at the hands of Carlos by blaming it on his knee. Never in his career has Novak done a Federer, and failed to mention how slowed he was by an injury. Whenever he starts losing to a top opponent, he suddenly has some medical condition, which miraculously disappears if he ends up winning. He said before the match that he was totally free and unhibited in his last 2 matches, and he did not make any mention of it even after his loss. It is time you admit: if both players now play at their best, Carlos will win a majority of the matches. He is simply better. And when he came out with a super serve today as well, while Novak's serves were all being returned by Carlos, he realized he was in for it, and whatever he tried to counter it failed. It is beneath you to try to do such a shameless coverup job for Novak. Just admit that you underestimated Carlos. and won't do so again.
Yeah I agree. Carlos played at a Federer like God Mode and clearly deserved it. Also mentally to come through like he did in the tiebreak shows real strength. Novak didn’t play his absolute best but he wasn’t allowed to.
Well said. Carlos carved up his game plan up with a cleaver, and this would have happened with or without a knee issue. Serious case of over-confidence all round, from a lot of commentators and analysts to the player himself. Sometimes it really does take a child to tell the emperor he has no clothes.
Honestly this seems reasonable. I think we can also do better by being graceful to both players. It can be true that Djokovic's movement wasn't 100% and that Carlos 100% earned it. Gill made reasonable predictions lets not beat him up on it for not being some kind of seer. He made a conclusion based on good points and that's whats fun, let's not lose sight on the value of his analyses.
This Match would not had made any difference who Alcaraz played in the final , there is not another player that can stand that sort of onslaught in the first two sets ,when Alcaraz is playing in "God" mode
I am Alcaraz fan, but Djokovic is not finished, he did not had the best preparation and he did not faced any prime oponents till Alcaraz. And Alcaraz played much better in the final, specially with his serve. And this win does not mean Alcaraz is going to win it all from now on, he still has many drops during matches, where he goes away, so there is room for improvement.
The Sinner vs Djokovic is a false equivalence. Djoko losing was in line with a trend in his performances this year. While the performance of Sinner against Medvedev was a break in a trend. The difference between an excuse and a reason isn’t always black and white, but has little to do with preventability. You could have prevented to catch a bug, to get food poisoning, or even an injury with different training or more conservative moving. Rather I would say that an excuse is when you give an unlikely cause to a likely outcome. While a reason is a likely cause to an unlikely outcome. In this case the defeat of djoko was the likely outcome (to me). While the defeat of Sinner to Meddy was the unlikely outcome and therefore more likely caused by him being sick that day.
@@andieoliviaI think you are missing the point. I am giving my opinion on a topic that was introduced in the video (so the creator for one cares). Did you watch it to the end? It would be hard to talk about excuse vs reason if by default it is disrespectful to talk about such what if scenarios. My opinion is the same for Zverev vs Fritz and maybe Griekspoor vs Kecmanovic. Being sick or having an injury can have a big effect to the outcome. Where do you draw the line? If a player is 6-1 6-1 infront and then loses to a player he never lost against after he visibly injures his ankle. Is it then still disrespectful to call the injury as the reason for the loss? Maybe, but still something very valid for tennis fans to discuss.
Bingo!!!! You nailed it here! Hope gill reads this because his definition of what should constitute an excuse is completely unsound . Gosh like think about it again
Best match he played all tournament Alcaraz and it was in the finals . Novak seemed a little off particularly early on but apart from missing a few pretty routine. Volleys early on didn’t do too much wrong in those early games , the energy was low in the middle of that first set and the start of the second and you can’t afford to that in a final against anyone let alone Alcaraz. Alcaraz was so good on Sunday he would have had to bring his A game into the match and truth be told we haven’t seen Novak on his a game since the world tour finals. Sky is the limit for Alcaraz if he can keep himself fit and motivated look people shouldn’t be expecting 25 slams from him plenty of very good players won slams early , Becker , Wilander come to mind and then they stopped winning them despite being competitive . The only courts he seems to have issues with a fast indoor hard , and he did fade a little after Wimbledon last year , but I would at the very least expect 10 plus slams from him because he’s only going to improve , people are beginning to to realize if you want to beat this kid you really have to bring the heat
I think most people did not give Alcaraz the respect he deserved given his talents, his dominant form, Djokovic's injury and most importantly, how sharp Alcaraz was at sensing that Djokovic was a wounded animal.
Alcaraz played like he knew he was the clear better player. There was no mercy and hiccups except the 4 match point on serve.
It is time we think about Alcaraz differently whenever he plays Djokovic
100%
💯
lol djokovic was not injured . stop with the injury excuses. he was sliding and splitting his legs effortlessly against rune. alcaraz is better than djokovic period.
@@Fraudkovic Novak was not 100%... But Carlitos would have spanked him even if he was
@@Fraudkovic Alcaraz is a better talent
Gill Gross, you must accept that your prediction was wrong. Your preview could not have been farther from the truth. You simply got it wrong but the fact that tennis does this to some of the best minds in the game is what makes me love this game.
True.
Players have bed days for various reasons that can't be predicted...
@@ja-kl8rg it was not a bad day for djokovic who landed more first serves and had only 24 errors. alcaraz simply dismantled him
You don’t often see a perfect performance in a slam final but that’s what we got. Novak looked beaten from the start. Alcaraz looked like the winner from the moment he walked on court. Given how Novak demolished Musetti in the SF it just shows what kind of insane level and pressure Alcaraz achieved. The kid is a genius.
Exactly
Wouldn’t say Djoker demolished Musetti exactly but I get what you mean
Totally
Carlos has made a leap since last year in terms of his attitude to Djokovic on the court imo. The playfulness and casual approach is gone, he had a noticeable coldness about him and an absolutely stony murderous face in the first two sets. The boy learned his lesson after Cincinnati.
Novak had knee problems.
Its funny how many people were writing off Carlitos as a two slam fluke at the beginning of the year. Now, he’s in a position where he can cement himself as the de factor best player on tour with a dominant 3 slam sweep
Who was writing him off as a two slam fluke?
@@amugsgame9936 a "noisy minority" in social media. But anyone willing to reason knows best. Actually, the injuries are by far Alcaraz's biggest problem. Regardless of number of titles predictions
@@amugsgame9936 Thousands on social media
@@ZetaCheese Now people are going to write off Sinner lol. I’m sure Sinner will prove them wrong too
Well, the narrative was more that he was in a rut or a drought. Simply because he hadn't won alot since Wim. Crazy expectation.
I predicted Alcaraz would win in 3: 6-2 6-3 7-6 in your match preview video, Gill. I see I was only off by a game in my prediction. For me the key you missed in your preview was that Djokovic was not challenged in getting to the final. Well done Alcaraz!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I need Gill to keep on predicting Alcaraz to lose so that he keeps winning 😂
Gill picks sinner to win and alcaraz to lose, then the results play out 😂
Yeah, I watched his program yesterday and he predicted Novak will win and in this section I also commented that Carlitos will win in 3 sets but I was just joking I know Carlos has a chance but it will be close, I didn’t expect that Carlos will break his rhythm right at the first set and demolish him totally. As far as I know nobody has beaten Novak in the first set in any majors but Alcaraz was abosulutely on fire at the very first set. I thought Novak will win the first set and Carlos will take the second like in the past encounter. IT was a tactical genius executed by Carlitos.
Me too!!😂
Djokovic did mot play at his usual level. But this is the post surgery Djokovic as well.
Gills predictions are based on assumptions thay a player will play at his her level
I'm a complete casual and I predicted Alcaraz in three
Carlos still has areas to improve - scary
Alcaraz played like a man on a mission. Djokovic had zero chance.
In spite of his ups and downs, Carlitos played in “man on a mission” mode the whole tournament.
Its only a matter of time before Alcaraz wins the Calendar Slam
Never
I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he wins the calendar slam. with all due respect, who is there to stop him; he is playing a bunch of sorry, weak, apathetic atp boys (maybe with the exception of sinner) who think it's absolutely wonderful to get to the 4th round, quarters, or semis of a tournament, not to mention get to the final and lose. the first thing they say, he's too good, he is a monster; he is better than the big three; so there's no shame in losing to alcaraz. I cringe when I hear those words. excuses, excuses, why are you even playing tennis, if you think it's ok to lose to certain players.. if players were to play alcaraz as hard as they do nadal I doubt if he would have two slams at this time. it's not alcaraz's fault, but players are just not inspired to beat him as they are nadal. I have observed it over and over again, and I know enough to know when a player really wants to win, even if he loses.
@@kimi-de1ox Kids are coming, and do not write off Zverev nor Medvedev. Rune will mature also, when he gets a coach that suits him he will beat Alcaraz xouple times a year
@@user-iy8tp7vw3x well, the way I see it, it's one thing to be able to beat a player on paper, but what counts is to actually beat on the court. I'm not saying zverev, medvedev, rune, etc. are not capable, but the fight, the effort, the determination, consistency, wanting it badly enough to dig deep to achieve it, and taking advantage of opportunities are missing in their matches especially against alcaraz and djokovic.
@@kimi-de1ox
Are you a Nadal fan?
It was only 2.5 years ago that Nadal won the AO and then Roland Garros and made it to the Wimbledon last 4 so I guess he only had those results because of the weak era and same for Djokovic last year winning 3x majors?!?
When Djokovic serve and volleyed that whole first game, I had a feeling he was cooked
What coach would have advised such?
@@seanl6885If I had to guess, Djokovic knew he couldn’t hang from the baseline with Carlos in this form, maybe didn’t want to risk reinjury, and decided to commit to serve-and-volley, hoping it might make Carlos uncomfortable and throw him off his game. It didn’t, at all. Carlos saw him come to net and said, “this is free food.”
Pretty sure that's exactly what happened. He didn't want long rallies, and playing purely serve and volley, coming to the net every other point, it's just not how you can beat alcaraz. Gotta be able to make him miss sometimes through longer rallies @@SJ-di5zu
Andy Roddick explained they were not unforced errors. If you come in without confidence, you are a step slower and the ball is already below the net at the time of contact.
@@seanl6885 He has NO coach, and it showed. He is a victim of his arrogance.
alcaraz is the real number 1
Sinner is no1 because Novak was attacked in Rome.
@@ja-kl8rg BS, Sinner is No1 because Alcaraz missed Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome due to his forearm injury.
@@mireafelder8194 nope. Sinner is nr one for winning most tournaments and having an incredible winning average. He deserves it. But if Alcaraz keeps going like this he will take the nr1 in the future. We will see.
@@alessandrovalente7645 Of course Sinner deserves the No.1 spot. I was just replying to the guy who said Sinner is just No.1 bc of Djokovic's "water bottle attack" in Rome, lol. You could say the same about Alcaraz who was injured for most of clay season.
@@mireafelder8194 ah ok didnt read the sarcasm there. We agree
Old fashioned beat-down. Nole got spanked & Carlos played at an INSANEly high level! WOW! Third set was competitive! Again - WOW! Thanx Gill. Cheers, Milan
Too much pace and too smart. Going to take something special to beat him when he’s on his game. Wow. I’m stunned
I dont think right now anyone can beat him when playing at his best. Maybe on a very fast hard court
Alcaraz the Big ONE! At 21.2 years young 4 GS... Only B. Borg can match it in tennis history...
Mats Wilander
@@joshuaj.2108 And Boris Becker
@@Chris-bg4vi Minimal knowledge- don’t give up! You’ll only be considered stupid for a short period of time…
Lmao you don't even know your tennis
Yes. The Big One, the weak era champion Alcaraz.😂😂😂
This match showed a psychological sea change. Carlos looked extremely calm, whilst Djokovic looked very nervous. The long first game, set the scene. Carlos broke and just played beautifully from that point onwards.
Novak was nervous because he knew he was not the strongest. Because of his knee.
@@winterbird4447 and because he lost last year
@@winterbird4447 Nothing wrong with his knee lol, stop falling for this BS, you don't get to finals beating other top established players if your knee is bad, he was moving fine, he just met a super Alien on the other side, that made him look slow, relative to his speed.
Yep. Djoker overplayed and missed put-aways cause Alcaraz can run down so many shots.
@@winterbird4447Come on. People are predicting Djocovic to win this match. Don't say that Djocovic is wounded.
Alcaraz silenced all the people doubting on his genius. I hope that now on they will show him some respects.
Yup I think there is the realisation of a changing of the guard. I am sad because the era of the big three is over but I am excited for alcaraz and the other up and comings
Djokovic has been dominating too long, Rafa is basically done, outside of clay, but I never write him off, at 38, maybe one last French Open, but if he meets Alcaraz, it's bye bye.
@@pauljohnson6019yeah, Rafa is done. Would have never thought that some minor injuries like the abdominal tear and the hip problem would lead to a crazy drop in level. Always though the knee injuries or the foot condition would end his career. Such a shame that he never stayed healthy for an entire season….
@@justusbeweel1109
Wouldn't call hip injury minor!
guard was changed when alcaraz dismantled djokovic last year at wimbledon. as long as alcaraz is alive djokovic is always second best. sad reality.
@@Fraudkovic I think Sinner and Medvedev are also capable to take down Djokovic, let's see at the U.S. Open!
The scary part about Alcaraz is that he still has improvement to make in terms of serve, return and game management. He has so many elite qualities but he isn’t a finished product…and that is scary! This kid (if he can remain injury free) could end up with 15+ Majors easily. His ceiling is up to him.
I didn’t mind if Alcaraz or Djokovic won. I did hope for Djokovic. But so many ppl wrote off Carlos late last year and this year everyone was gasping over sinner .
I kept fighting back in the comments and saying, sinner is good. But he isn’t dynamic in movement and weak legs, watch Alcaraz come back. Don’t underestimate this guy. And here we are. Sinner lacks the athleticism and dynamic force that Carlos inherently has, he can’t train to have this, this is an energy at birth. Just like passion it’s an innate energy. That simple
Yes 6 months ago no one seemed to believe in Carlos
And now you're the one making the exact same mistake with Sinner that the others made with Carlos...
Sinner lost at RG because Carlos played better, but he didn't have a full build up and wasn't at 100% fitness and here he happened to be sick when he was playing Medvedev.
All of which had nothing to do with his supposed "lack of dynamic movement". Post USO he has been one of the best movers on tour and it's in big part what allowed him to win almost all of his matches. Yes it's not exactly at Carlos's level but he has gotten close and makes up for it in other areas.
If you think Carlos will dominate Sinner from now on you'll be very disappointed.
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten sorry i think you misunderstood my comment. I never said Sinner was not good. I said the opposite. I was responding to comments that were saying Carlos is not good, peaked too early over the last year.
My defense to these comments were not to underestimate his strength, dynamic movement and passion / which cannot be trained.
I personally see with Jannick, that whilst he is good, he doesn’t have the same level of dynamic movement, the leg strength, the passion ( inherent in his dna make up) that Carlos has, which to me is an X factor in sport. Many elite tennis players from Medvedev to Djokovic have said the same. I won’t be upset or angry, I am just not surprised he has climbed back up to where he is. Sinner has been trained by Djokovic previous coach, he is an amazing player, but there are some attributes such as the above, that are untrainable . End of story, have a great day, hope you don’t get too many kicks from attacking strangers in the comments
@@AnnaWhite-go6nzexcellent points
@@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegetenin case you forgot, sinner was leading Alcaraz 6-2, 1-0 with a break at the French semis. Alcaraz won in five. But this wasnot a one off. He won vs Zverev, tiafoe, humbert, paul, Medvedev either in 5 or from a set and set/ break down? What does it show? Huge mental strength. It didn't happen by magic. This is because of his losses after Wimbledon last year. Adversity breeds toughness and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Incidentally sinner had many tough five setter losses last year and they toughened him as well. Both are well matched but Carlos is a physical beast too. Incidentally what happened at Indian Wells? 1-6 down, Carlos fought back and won.
Amazing to see Carlos power through to major #4!
I was surprised you gave Djokovic a chance prior to this match.
He's been clearly below par all year including Wimbledon.
And, at this stage, he needs to be firing on all cylinders even to have a chance against Alcaraz.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz is so good that he has lapses of concentration during most of his matches.
It's hard to stay up when it's all so easy.
In the big matches against the big opponents when Alcaraz has no problem staying focused it's almost unfair.
Moving forward, the only thing on Novak's side is that when his knee is fully healed, he will literally kill himself to do whatever it takes to come back at Alcaraz.
djokovic will never beat alcaraz unless alcaraz is injured. like in rg 2023
@@Fraudkovic I tend to agree, but we'll see. Djokovic is the GOAT for a reason and he still may have some tricks up his sleeve. Remember that it was pretty much of a miracle that he even played at Wimbledon let alone making it to the final on a knee that was operated on three weeks before the tournament started
I knew Djokovic didn't have the self-belief he could beat Carlos when he half-joked in his post-match presser after his semi-final against Musetti that "Carlos has plenty of time to win many majors, so maybe he can just give me this one/let me have this one." And if that weren't enough, Nole looked very nervous just before both stepped on court.
I thought some of Novak's errors were uncharacteristic of him, not clinical as you often said, this is to Alcaraz's credit, he got into Novak's head
Thats what i thought. Novak was rattled
Djokovic didn't think he could compete with Carlos from the baseline.
He thought his only shot was to be ultra aggressive and end points at the net.
That's not his natural game and Carlos is too good at passing shots.
Yes. All the volleys and some wild shots that didn't come close to the line.
Of course Gill's video was always going to be all about Djokovic.
LMAO Gill, when you picked Djokovic - I FKING KNEW Alcaraz will win. THANK YOU!!!!!
Gill is very rational and evidence based. But sometimes lacks a bit of imagination lol. Alcaraz defied all reason today!
I would be disappointed in Alcaraz had he not won in straight😂. Common now! Djokovic is one of the greatest, but he just had surgery and will be the best player of the tournament with no proper competition? Really?
I couldn't see Carlos winning against prime Novak last year then, with a year more experience, losing today, but I get you can never count Djokovic out, as Gill didn't.
The only sad thing about this win as an Alcaraz fan is that Gill will start picking Alcaraz to win tournaments again, and he always seems to lose when Gill picks him to win 😂
@@henrylouris1457 lol
Exactly! Poor serving and concentration dips were the only factors holding Alcaraz back a bit during the tournament. He fixed those in the final it was done and dusted.
The only one who can hold Carlos back right now is himself
Yes Gill you need to start predicting correct from now onwards 😂
Real change is never gradual, it’s always explosive. Congrats to Carlos…we are lucky to have him ❤
Real change is always gradual
@@innosantoindeed! correct.
JCF said in a post-match interview that he was surprised to see that Novak could not keep up with Carlos rithm and ball speed. That's why it was a relatively easy/fast win.
The will to win can’t be analysed in numbers.
Well said. 😁
I think an under appreciated shot in the Alcaraz arsenal is the defensive short slice dropping at the feet of the net-rushing opponent. I've seen him his this with tremendous consistency, and it really bothered Novak today. A lot of his volley errors were caused by this, IMO, with the combination factor of knowing you have a cheetah on the other side who will likely get to any drop volley you throw in. I don't see that level of precision on the floaty, low, short defensive slice to the net-rushing opponent on the tour. Just one of those attributes of Alcaraz's game that makes him an unbelievable all-rounder.
Yup he's absolutely terrorized his opponents with this shot this Wimbledon.
This is actually a continuation of the results that Novak has been having all year, crushing loss to Sinner at AO, loss to Nardi in IW, loss to Casper Ruud in MC, a crushing straight set loss to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome, poor loss to Machac in Geneva (lost final set 6-1), 5setters against Cerundolo and Musetti at RG, crushing straight set loss to Carlos in Wimbledon. That's why this result isn't quite outrageous, but actually a continuation of the results Novak has been having in 2024. And many of us fans failed to read the writing on the wall.
Yes. It will be interesting to see how he comes back in the US open. I do think the coach change has been a big thing.
@@Jalleur14325Maybe, but his problems started before he changed coach.
Novak took a break in 2024 ... He didn't train match untill Rome when he was attacked and then Paris torture ...
Why are you omitting Fearnley when you say there there were no previous matches that would have prompted you to notice that Djokovic wasn’t moving quickly enough to beat Carlos? Plenty of us noticed it in that point of the match where Fearnley started to play more aggressively, took a set and pushed him hard in the final set. You mentioned every other opponent to explain why you missed this but not him.
even if djokovic was moving quick he would have lost . period. like last year.
Nice analysis. Well done
Yes, great analysis, as usual, Gil.
While not as aggressively offensive as Alcaraz, don't you think a speedy and wily DeMinaur would have troubled this Djokovic, exposing his movement, by similarly placing the ball in the corners?
Carlos was calm even after defeating Novak in the final. In the contrast, remember Novak 's behaviour after defeating Nadal in 2011 Wimbledon final.
No one can teach you manners.
Nadal has no manners with fake grunts and fist pumps on every point just to provoke .
There is difference winning right match and easy one , off course U celebrate more after tough match .
Gill I extract from your analysis that Djokovic lost becases of his form or faults but none because Alcaraz was simply better in everything.Merit to Alcaraz who is the best out there now.
Charlie has the variety that suits grass so beautifully. It suits both natural surfaces
Who is Charlie?
@@rdg9768Carlos is also known as Charlie
No offense, but most of Djokovic's super-fans needed this reality check. He's aging, folks. I wouldn't be surprised if his last slam was his last slam victory. I do think he'll win one more, but I believe his dominance has come to and end. Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev... and age... all his rivals. And I really believe he should never have been playing tennis so close to his (even minor) surgery. We shall see.
Most fans? Not really...most of us know he's aging and father time is here. It's just that anything from now is just for us to cherish
Gill your analyses are usually spot on, but on this i think you missed something about the knee. He played aggressive tennis to start because he knew that he was physically undercooked because of the knee. I think that dictated the decisions of when to move forward or change direction, where if he trusted his legs more, he wouldnt rush forward on inadvisable plays, causing his volleys to go awry (deep or into the net). I think you are right on his nerve management - i felt he looked at the start the way he looked the year he was going for the calendar grandslam - he looked mentally like it was a step too far from even the hallway when he had to put down his bags and shake out his hands and shoulders. Today it was his physical inferiority and also mental inferiority - all situation based. I also think we ought to dedicate some analysis to his "no coach" and no coaching during the match decision compared to Alcaraz awesome partnership with Juan Carlos. I think that this is an area Novak can look into that can change his fortunes for the rest of the year. I dont think its a full change of the guard yet, but definitely the shift is inevitable. I think he still has 2 grandslams in him, but lets see.
I'm pretty sure I basically said this. Just replace the word knee with movement. Anyway, I agree.
@GillGross I hear you - but because you said you were leaving the knee to the end - it suggested maybe you thought his movement issues were permanent and not transitional - where I do think there's is some permanent decline, but it's not to the level we saw today - today I believe will be better in the latter part of the year. I also noticed something. Since he split with his last team, he's made some changes to his physical prep - and definitely appears a bit smaller than he was in Australia- something else to look into - as I think the bigger body mass was causing him to be gassed and exhausted earlier in the season. I suspect he's going through a physical transformation as well that hasn't come to its peak for 2024 yet. I'm excited for the rest of this year. Djoker is like carlos, they are great students and learners of the game. And PS - of all the rivalries I'm starting to like, theirs the best - there is a nice mutual respect there despite the 16 year age difference.
@@katherineannbyam
I'm genuinely curious what 2 slams you believe Novak will be able to win,
As we've seen this year that Nole has been struggling with the top 10 players (not beaten even 1), has reached only 1 SF, which he lost, and 1 final, which was a blowout and "could" start developing physical issues, whilst the younger tour develop into better and more experienced players.
The changing of the guard happened last year Wimby and was fully cemented at this year's AO.
@malekat8539 well none of us can truly predict the future of course, but I do think he's relevant for us open and Australia still - and he's still a great grass court player -as I said in the post, there are many things evolving for him this year, the change of team, change of physical training / body and muscle mass / and knee surgery and I'd prefer to never write off someone with such a monster mindset - it's his greatest strength- and can manifest it self in him improving the rest of this year. Time will tell I guess. It's just my feeling.
@@malekat8539 i agree. Also AO was a very one sided loss. To me it seems expectations around Djokovic are more based on nostalgia and wishful thinking then looking at the reality of his performances. The passing of the guard has to be this year tho. Since Djoko won nitto finals and had a comfy lead as nr1.
Carlos es un súper crack. Enhorabuena👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It was obvious when Nole played Mussetti that he was slow.
I hope we can finally put to rest the whole Djokovic is a great volleyer thing
He is at best a half decent volleyer. I can think of at least 50 players much better volleyers the Novak, more if you go back some. He panics, has no idea what to do, and is not quick enough.
He is a deer in a headlight at the net. He has no clue or skill at the net. Sometimes even looks like amateur player when put in uncomfortable place
And I think that similar to the slices, there are so few players volleying that we call anyone a great volleyer. I mean Novak is better at net than people who don't voley
If alcraz can get his serve more consistent he'll become unbeatable
Imagine winning 2 slams in a row and still not surpassing the guy in the rankings who has had for top 5 standards a mediocre season. The same guy who you destroyed in the final, by the way 😂
Djokovic is still holding on to a ton of points from last fall that’s why. He’s going to drop soon
Novak won’t be top 5 very soon
About Djokovic's movement, it was so obvious from the beginning of the tournament. I said I was surprised by the lack of concern about his movement after round 2. You could brush it off, saying it's only round 2 and even top tier players struggle sometimes in the 1st week which is not wrong in general, but I think it was different this time. He came back from surgery after 3 weeks, which is clearly too short of a time for a full recovery. You should worry about the movement considering the circumstances. Djokovic said he wouldn't be playing if he thought he can't go all the way, but as much as I admire his confidence and fire, you don't take athlete's words with face value when it comes to injuries and its recovery imo. They tend to be overconfident in themselves.
💯I thought it was obvious too in that round 2 match and Djokovic even said he was relieved it didn’t go to five sets. When his opponent started to make him move in that match it was clear to see he was getting exposed. I distinctly remember thinking that if he met Alcaraz in the final Carlos would fillet him on Centre Court.
What happened to Djoker who was supposed to be the greatest serve returner of all time ? Sounds like Alcaraz found out the key to confound him.
Novak didn't appear to any slower than last year in yesterday's final. The issue was, when he got to the ball, he wasn't quite ready to know what to do with it. The reflex wasn't there; the explosiveness wasn't there. These issues are age related -- non reversible. We are looking at the beginning of the end.
Right now only vs Sinner and Alcaraz. Felt like the Australian semi except Carlos didn't let it go 4 like Sinner did
Players have bed days , few days ago he was beating amazing Musetti and rune .
Too old argument is ridiculous
Very little Djokovic can do given Alcaraz is at his prime. The age difference is too large.
Alcaraz isn't even in his prime but he is still well above everyone else at the moment
He matured early like Nadal did. So he is in his prime and will drop early@@gremsa
@@gremsayup
Most of the explosive teenagers seem to drop of by mid 20s. I think Carlos will remain in the top ten as long as he wants to (much like Nadal) and win as much. My feeling is that he will get bored. I can't see him 'living' tennis.
@@user-iy8tp7vw3x i respectfully disagree. Alcaraz is a completely different player as nadal.
Your prediction was off by a little bit
Damian Kust was the only one that foresaw a comfortable win for Carlos.
Said that he hadn't been impressed with Novak's movement.
I saw a few sites yesterday predicting a straight set win yesterday for Alcaraz
nope. I did, and posted that on Gil's preview video. I predicted a very easy win for Alcaraz.. Making predictions before hand is the true test.
Damian was right on the money with his prediction!
So did Michael stich. I was surprised but what do I know compared to a Wimbledon champion? 😊
Wimbledon IBM slamtracker also predicted Alcaraz at 61% chances to win. Most of the time gets it right. It seems quite reliable.
Yikes Gill was way off on this one haha. Djokovic in 4 yeesh.
Random Thoughts
-The long very first game of the match was very telling and set the tone for the rest of the match.
-Carlos' return of serve outshined Novak's. He only broke him once the whole match.
-No other player, except for maybe Rafa on clay, is recovering mentally from 40-0 serving for the match to win that set. Who knows if it would have been a dog fight in the 4th or possibly a 5th set.
-Alcaraz has toned down all the fancy shots point in/out to ruthlessly, methodically wear down opponents mentally/physically.
-Carlos' serve has improved and will only get better.
-Good coach/team around him
-Nice tactical variety with no pace groundies to hard, flat ones; Body serves
-Novak lacked the emotion. No smashed rackets. No outbursts. Me against the crowd mentality which fuels him.
-Carlos may be both the best offensive and defensive player on tour now.
- It's early but Carlos will pass the Big 3 in the slam count. The only caveat is health/longevity.
- Carlos is better at his age than the Big 3 at the same age.
-Not convinced Sinner will be a long term rival for Carlos. He seems to lack that killer instinct. Hope he proves me wrong, and they have a long standing rivalry.
Agree/disagree?
95 percent agree, except Sinner has a killer instinct, but not as much as Alcaraz. But maybe Sinner can develop it
I disagree on couple of points. 1st is I think Nadal was better on clay than this Alcaraz by an entire level and was as good as Alcaraz on hard courts. Alcaraz is better on grass and thats it. Secondly, I do not see him get more GS than Federer let alone Djokovic. Just imagine 2017-2018 Thiem with old Djokovic and no Nadal or Fed. Get it? Young talents are coming for him Fonseca for example. Also last but not least Sinner has his measure he was ill prior to RG led 2:1 and gassed out. They will share GS with Zverev and Medvedev
What are you judging Sinner on with the “lack of killer instinct”?
@@user-iy8tp7vw3xAlcaraz has already won USO while Nadal at the same age hasn't even made a hc slam SF...
@@NamTran-xc2ip Nadal played in an era of many great hard court players
I think at the ending of the 2nd set to the beginning of the 3rd Novak knew he wasn’t coming back and defeat was inevitable. It was written on his face. Any other player with the exception of maybe Sinner he could, but its next to impossible to come back from two sets down against an opponent like Alcaraz.
Sinner was leading Alcaraz by a set and a break in tbe the FO semi final. Alcaraz beat him in five. Carlos has transformed into a mental giant. Indian Wells? Same thing
The only really surprising thing in this match is that Novak didnt take a long bathroom break and come out transfigured.
Lol! I was shocked too that didn't happen. The rejuvenation of the Djoker always happens during bathroom breaks 😂😂
Exactly. Novak always changed the course of the match after bathroom breaks.
I suspect, either he hit some bad side effect, or, tennis association warned him behind the curtain.
Like ha can't take something before match if he wants.
@@ja-kl8rg There is half-life, which means the effect lasts up to certain time and then wears off. So the timing is important.
@@sabymondalHe can't take it in bottle and drink it between games .
Get a life fedals hater . 🎻
Patrick McEnroe was only one I heard to have the guts to say Alvarez will win decisively. He was so right.
He's leaving Man City?
Countering the comment about De Minaur, I think De Minaur would have been much more of a test for Djokovic than Musetti and Rune on grass court. How the tournament turned out in the bottom half meant that Djokovic was not challenged or severely challenged to get to the final.
Very true.
@@jliang70 agreed. I think that Alex test would have prepared Djokovic more for Carlos’s speed and running down every ball. Things may have been different
@@ProbablyLying you could get 10 de minaurs to train djokovic . the result would be a hammering by alcaraz.
The Goat.. of match analysis
The justification or the post match analysis is good but his predictions were abysmal or biased at the best. Most of the people saw Djoker nowhere close to the top levels and had a cakewalk in terms of a draw. Carlitos made it via relatively difficult draw with top seeds thrown in his half. Many could see this defeat incoming but I've seen similar biases prevalent on multiple channels in terms of their pre-match analysis or predictions.
Novak knew Alcaraz was going to win, before they started. They is why he decided not to rally, but to try to win with just 3 or 5 shorts, like Federer. Where Federer always had options, Novak does not. He is an excellent one dimensional player, and Sinner is like that, excellent, but ya, one dimensional. Novak should have learned to volley, and learned how to approach the net. As great as Roger was at the, he still hired Edberg to help him even be better.
Also, Novak won many slams on reputation. Alcaraz has no regard for reputation, as shown 2 years ago in his beating Rafa and Novak back to back.
Novak has neither Rafa's raw power on the baseline nor Federer's killer instinct at the net.
Something that stood out to me: One of the scariest shots in tennis, in my opinion, has been Djokovic’s running forehand. He often hits it with more pace than he does from stationary positions. Players would run him to the deuce court, thinking they are gaining an advantage, and then he’d counter-attack beautifully. In last year’s Wimbledon final, one of the adjustments Carlitos made was to get more comfortable with the backhand crosscourt trading. He was in no rush to change line and potentially expose himself to getting his own forehand rushed with Djokovic’s forehand crosscourt, which would be more potent than if Djokovic changed line with his own backhand. This year, it seems he banked on the fact that Djokovic’s movement was more compromised (especially in that direction, given that the injured knee was the right one), and his backhand down the line did so much damage (and Djokovic’s running forehand so little). Very interesting how these nuances can make a huge impact, provided the player has the skill to execute the plays.
Your blabbing is full of nonsense, alcaraz owns him in forehand shots, the thing with that shot is you don't want to hit it first because you end up having to create the pace and your opponent hits it harder and wider, alcaraz also has respectable backhand power which Novak knows he can't just hit down the line like he does with other players just like Medvedev couldn't attack down the line in the semi, in the semi alcaraz knows his forehand is more lethal and he follows with a drop shot against meddie
The forehand(s) that are problematic are that of sinner which we saw in Miami open and or Indian wells and other tournaments
Wtf are you yapping about? Joker played like absolute trash. It looked like he was ready to retire the whole time
@@jacob9583 When Novak played well last WB, with a healthy knee and Carlitos with a mediocre serve, the result was the same
Then you should see Alcaraz's RUNNING FOREHAND. lol
This long essay, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call "COPING" lol
random note but i still feel like if novak faced de minaur in qf instead of automatically advancing into semis - his compromised movements against really fast top-10 players would've been exposed a few rounds earlier and i don't think it'd been much of a cakewalk as he's gotten on his side of the draw
Rune and musetti are not slow ...
@@ja-kl8rgRune is in a slump while Djokovic owns real estate in Musetti's head.
@@darrenjohn8524it has been revealed now that Rune has been nursing a wrist injury since Rome. Regardless, anyone following Holger closely would have known he was highly likely to capitulate in that match, what perhaps surprised us was that the capitulation happened from the very start. Tbh with the updated wrist injury news Rune should be considered as another walkover when reflecting on Djokovic’s Wimbledon run.
Past the US Open, do we care about Carlos’ fall? It still might be unrealistic for him to be at his best 11 months out of the year, and who really cares about Paris and Shanghai
May well be the case that Djo did not want to trade and rely on his legs to get into patterns but could that not be due to Alcaraz's firepower compared to the berritinis, medvedevs and even fed
I think both combined.but thats not only the case.had he trusted legs things could have been different is what I'm seeing from the play.him playing like pete sampras at us open final 2001
Gill. Awesome analysis man. Love listening to you brother!
Gill, your analysis on Alcaraz, is always not accurate. Your prediction is questionable.
Djokovic probably will never get another GS again.
If he does not take those bathroom breaks.
Well even if that's the case..."not too bad"...
Carlito's peak when he's honed his service and ironed out the frivolities that make him do unforced errors will come in 2 or 3 years . The scary thought is , by then , he might have already 9 or 10 slams to his name . For context let's just check the age of Nole when he won his 4th slam ....He was 3 years older at 24 .
With the inevitable demise of Nole's game and the only threat of Sinner in the horizon l believe Carlos might really have a shot at destroying every record .
Budge was 23 when he earned his calendar year slam, Laver was 30 when he got his open era slam
Novak came close twice when in his 30s Alcaraz only 21 is a good candidate to pull it off
Tennis won't allow anybody to dominate more than 3-4 years. Some new guy will come & tame the Champion.
It happened to Sampras, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic.
The so called Big 3 had enjoyed 10 years & winning in their 30s because there was no genuine Serve & Volley players between 2003 - 2022.
However, Alcaraz will cross Sampras 14 GS for sure.
@@soundar4270 It happened to Federer , Nadal and Djokovic? Cause they were around ,untamed , for a decade and a half
Hey Gill, love your analysis. Keep on the good work.
I think that people are little bit blowing out of proportion the result of the finals. Fact is that Djokovic is not in form since the begging of the year, add to this an operation 5 weeks ago and a super talented opponent 16y younger in full fitness and very talented it’s just normal. It would not be normal if Djokovic won. But that’s what we are used to coming from Djokovic, so now everyone is shocked but the shocking part is that he’s in the finals of Wimbledon with that form, which is literally inhuman. He needs to be 100% to win against Alcaraz and Sinner, and maybe more because he’s 37 and 16 YEARS OLDER and just has to give more than maximum. It’s just normal. Stop idolizing the guy he’s human he’s not a machine (even if considering who he is we can be lured into thinking it).
Thanks Gill, great analysis and insights. On Sinner, I have been wondering whether he needs to look at his diet (as Djokovic did). I know he gets allergies, perhaps he needs to drop something from his diet too. But i would have thought his medical team would be onto it. Endurance he can work on and is. But he's been ill a few times too.
For someone that Serbian fans call GOAT, he sure gets a lot of thrashings. The peak if Alcaraz, Nadal and Federer is higher than Nile’s peak. He just never gets injured and that’s his main talent .
Gill, great review of the final. I'm waiting for that Roddick collab, make it happen champ! 🥺
@@iannovak5223 Roddick is insufferable
History repeated itself with Jimmy Connors and Ken Rosewall.
Djoker had a free ride and still won his matches with the "knee", it had nothing to do with losing. When Djoker plays someone who's consistently aggressive, he loses.
Gill, have you no shame or awareness. It was abundantly clear that Alcaraz, who has no fear of Novak, and who has put the fear of God into Novak, evidenced by his tactics, and Alcaraz, having won all 3 of his final slams going into this final, and Novaks, more frequent loses, and Novak's loss to Alcaraz in this final last year, and Alcaraz having just won the French, and Novak having won no tournament in 2024, losing to average players, stood no chance, what so ever. None. This is why, I won at the bokkies.
On every level Alcaraz is a better player. And is better than peak Novak at the moment. To beat Alcaraz playing like this, only Federer with his serve, forehand, variety could take him. Novak does not have the tools. Try to be less blinded.
Novak has impressive records on the book but peak Federer reached the GOAT level, not Novak.
Gill is too obsessed with djokovic to admit
Nadal is the peak level of human capabilities in his prime and clay. Nobody will come close to him ever
@@hih5868clay merchant can go home
@@hih5868On clay Prime Rafa is absolute demigod bro.
Almost İnvincible.
Surprised you didn't mention the Olympics, but went to the US Open. It's crazy that he just won back to back GS finals and is likely the favorite to do it again on clay in Paris at the Olympics
Djokovic run in this Wimbledon is one of the the easiest in a GS, ever. I can’t believe the majority picked him to win the final. Alzaraz did not only won, he outplayed him. Finally, the weak transition era is over and players like Alcaraz and Sinner are there. Djokovic luck is over.
It's still behind Nadal' USO 17 and 19 facing 1 top 10 player though.
The way Carlos plays is unique, it's not a mix of playing stayles from Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, it's way better and incredibly good to watch.
Did I hear right, one of the announcers said that Djokovic has not won any titles on the ATP tour this year?
Until today, I don't believe he's even made it to a final
@@RedLeggettBesides this and a 259, he hasn't made a SF yet
@@malekat8539sf at AO
Alcaraz was recovering from a forearm injury and yet he won the French Open and had the toughest draw to the final. No excuses. He gets to Wimbledon and was struggling with his serve and as a result loses early in Queens and he improves his serve all through the next tournament and finishes as the champion while delivering his best service performance of the year in the finals of Wimbledon. I have watched every match Carlos has played this year and he's never served as good as he did in the finals so good for him. I hope Alcaraz enjoys his win but not too much like he did last year and then rush to the tournament unprepared. He should rest, celebrate his wins and get ready for Paris. After Paris (hopefully he wins gold) he should rest and recharge. He should take some time to practice for the hard courts and get ready for the US Open swing. His team should plan his tournaments wisely before the US Open swing as they have done this year. So far he looks fresh and fit.
I know some physicians who believe that Djokovic's recovery from a torn meniscus in nothing short of miraculous.
This seems to me to be like Serena when she got to the later stages of her career in slams, where she'd get to finals and then not be able to get over the line.
That was different
@@gremsahow? Feels similar to me
Serena was struggling to close big matches against everyone in 2018/2019. She lost to Kerber, Osaka, Halep and Andreescu in grand slam finals-Osaka is the only one who had the power to match her. Djokovic on the other hand is still better than 95% of the tour, but Sinner and especially Alcaraz have gone past him, and they’re here to stay.
@@RamoneCricket-fq3ue Djokovic may be aided by the bo5 format though. Remember he was 2 sets to 1 down against Musetti and Cerundolo
@@RamoneCricket-fq3ue What are you talking about? Djokovic has lost of plenty of matches this year to other players besides Alcaraz or Sinner. Machac, Tabilo, de Minaur, Nari, Ruud etc.. etc... etc..
That was a great in depth analyses even though it was a one sided match. I loved the part about defining an excuse vs a legitimate reason.
I slightly disagree with changing of the guard being official at US open. This largely depends on what form and motivation Djokovic brings at us open. I’d say Australian open next year is probably a better indication of the ‘change of guard’
Didn't you say Nole was going to win? I predicted Alcaraz in 4. You should really watch his matches.
He said it was 50/50 so he decided to go with his pre-tournament pick. He didn’t say he significantly favored Djokovic
I predicted Alcaraz in 3 but I was just joking just to counter Gill prediction on Novak.
@@BillyBob-xi9ih Yes but Alcaraz has massively improved since Indian Wells. This year he has beaten Sinner twice,
@@ROYAL_REBEL I don’t think Gill said anything against that
wow you must be so smart
Hi Gill think we should address the elephant in the room which is that Novak is on his way down and Alcaraz is on his way up. His court demeanour impressed me the most he had an air of confidence that if he executed his game it didn’t matter what Novak would bring he would find a solution. This match more than ever felt like the passing of torch Alcaraz has built confidence in finals and to defend is a monumental feat. Had ‘big 3’ aura and was simply too good I think the first game highlighted that for Novak he knew his chances are now dwindling and Alcaraz is building with more consistency to his electrifying game. We can talk about other predisposing factors but let’s face it I think Novak beats 99% of the tour but he knows there’s a new guy on top. We should give Alcaraz the credit for this one 4 majors at 21, looking more and more confident, winning without having to play his best and knowing his 90% game beats everyone. Only one other player in history has won a major at 37. Maybe Novak has one more in the tank but in reality are we seeing the last of his runs with sinner and Alcaraz at the forefront.
you are talking nonsense in discussing excuses and reasons. All excuses are reasons. 100%, all. Some reasons, or explanations or attributions are due to the player, and their choices. Others are due to circumstances beyond their control. This is a much cleaner way of thinking about it, that matches the theory and research on explanations. See Gilovich et al. 2024, social psychology, who do a good job at explaining this.
Clarity is important.
Was the knee a contributing factor.. Yes, Novak would have probably played better without that injury, more confidence, better prep etc. Would ha have won.. Nope, would still have got hammered.
Carlos is a complete player which none of the Big3 were. The problem for Carlos has been the best shot to play at different moments. Big 3 were very good at what they did and knew their strengths.
You predicted that Novak will win, I didn't agree with your prediction. I always believed in Alcaraz.
I think Gill put too much faith on Novak's net play, when it has never been a natural skill for him. Everybody including my Grandma knew that Novak had to come forward, and try to be more aggressive to have a chance, and counter, or at least dissipate Alcaraz's power. But lo and behold, that simply is not Novaks game. So, at the end of the day, it was Novak who had to make t the e adjustments to have any chance at all of beating Alcaraz. And, well, he simply couldn't.
There's no doubt Alcaraz is going to be an All-Time Great. He might already be. Only injuries can prevent him from reaching where he desires to be. He is just too complete, powerful, creative, and athletic of a player to be bogged down by anyone. I hope Sinner catches up soon. I see him as someone who is as ambitious and ferocious as Carlos. Time will tell who gets what. And I wish for Daniil to get stronger and better so that he keeps doing what he does best- reminding the top echelon that they are not infallible. To me, Daniil was the second-best player at this year's Wimbledon. Finally, what do we even say about Novak? It is such an unusual sight seeing him lose consecutive finals. He is a legend. He's the ceiling that Alcaraz is looking up at.
@@nomdeplume92 medvedev needs to do major strength training. I noticed his chest was bigger this tournament though. He may already be strengthening himself
You can listen to Gil talk about what happened in the match. Or you can just watch the extended highlights of the final, which is more fun.
I don't think injuries should play a part in the analysis of the actual match. I think of Allen Iverson who never played a game without a contusion, a sprain or synovial fluiid-itis of some kind. Once you lace them up none of that should be considered. I have noticed such statements from players we like are considered reasons and for players we dislike, excuses.
Just here to say I am getting to listen to you commentate for the very first time, super exciting, go Gill! 👏
With all due respect, Gill, I'm not buying your forced defense of Djokovic, and your attempt to cover up his annihilatioon at the hands of Carlos by blaming it on his knee. Never in his career has Novak done a Federer, and failed to mention how slowed he was by an injury. Whenever he starts losing to a top opponent, he suddenly has some medical condition, which miraculously disappears if he ends up winning. He said before the match that he was totally free and unhibited in his last 2 matches, and he did not make any mention of it even after his loss. It is time you admit: if both players now play at their best, Carlos will win a majority of the matches. He is simply better. And when he came out with a super serve today as well, while Novak's serves were all being returned by Carlos, he realized he was in for it, and whatever he tried to counter it failed. It is beneath you to try to do such a shameless coverup job for Novak. Just admit that you underestimated Carlos. and won't do so again.
Yeah I agree. Carlos played at a Federer like God Mode and clearly deserved it. Also mentally to come through like he did in the tiebreak shows real strength. Novak didn’t play his absolute best but he wasn’t allowed to.
Well said. Carlos carved up his game plan up with a cleaver, and this would have happened with or without a knee issue. Serious case of over-confidence all round, from a lot of commentators and analysts to the player himself. Sometimes it really does take a child to tell the emperor he has no clothes.
You’re exactly right.🤣🤣
I thought Djokovic is in better shape this year compared to 12 months ago. So I don't think the reason for the loss was the knee.
Then why the results are pretty mediocre.@@seanl6885
Honestly this seems reasonable. I think we can also do better by being graceful to both players. It can be true that Djokovic's movement wasn't 100% and that Carlos 100% earned it. Gill made reasonable predictions lets not beat him up on it for not being some kind of seer. He made a conclusion based on good points and that's whats fun, let's not lose sight on the value of his analyses.
This Match would not had made any difference who Alcaraz played in the final , there is not another player that can stand that sort of onslaught in the first two sets ,when Alcaraz is playing in "God" mode
Steve Flink in hiding since he can’t talk about what Nole did wrong in the final vs what the opponent did right? 😂😂😂
That would have been insane if Joker would have pushed it to a 4th set
I am Alcaraz fan, but Djokovic is not finished, he did not had the best preparation and he did not faced any prime oponents till Alcaraz. And Alcaraz played much better in the final, specially with his serve.
And this win does not mean Alcaraz is going to win it all from now on, he still has many drops during matches, where he goes away, so there is room for improvement.
He played his A+ game, and won it,
The Sinner vs Djokovic is a false equivalence. Djoko losing was in line with a trend in his performances this year. While the performance of Sinner against Medvedev was a break in a trend.
The difference between an excuse and a reason isn’t always black and white, but has little to do with preventability. You could have prevented to catch a bug, to get food poisoning, or even an injury with different training or more conservative moving. Rather I would say that an excuse is when you give an unlikely cause to a likely outcome. While a reason is a likely cause to an unlikely outcome. In this case the defeat of djoko was the likely outcome (to me). While the defeat of Sinner to Meddy was the unlikely outcome and therefore more likely caused by him being sick that day.
So true
Why do you need to disrespect Meddy? Jannik lost. Who gives af if he was sick? He lost. Meddy was the better player that day. Period. End of story.
@@andieoliviaI think you are missing the point. I am giving my opinion on a topic that was introduced in the video (so the creator for one cares). Did you watch it to the end? It would be hard to talk about excuse vs reason if by default it is disrespectful to talk about such what if scenarios. My opinion is the same for Zverev vs Fritz and maybe Griekspoor vs Kecmanovic. Being sick or having an injury can have a big effect to the outcome. Where do you draw the line? If a player is 6-1 6-1 infront and then loses to a player he never lost against after he visibly injures his ankle. Is it then still disrespectful to call the injury as the reason for the loss? Maybe, but still something very valid for tennis fans to discuss.
Yet he still dominated the 4th set. Meddy was just better in the 5th
Bingo!!!! You nailed it here! Hope gill reads this because his definition of what should constitute an excuse is completely unsound . Gosh like think about it again
Best match he played all tournament Alcaraz and it was in the finals . Novak seemed a little off particularly early on but apart from missing a few pretty routine. Volleys early on didn’t do too much wrong in those early games , the energy was low in the middle of that first set and the start of the second and you can’t afford to that in a final against anyone let alone Alcaraz. Alcaraz was so good on Sunday he would have had to bring his A game into the match and truth be told we haven’t seen Novak on his a game since the world tour finals.
Sky is the limit for Alcaraz if he can keep himself fit and motivated look people shouldn’t be expecting 25 slams from him plenty of very good players won slams early , Becker , Wilander come to mind and then they stopped winning them despite being competitive . The only courts he seems to have issues with a fast indoor hard , and he did fade a little after Wimbledon last year , but I would at the very least expect 10 plus slams from him because he’s only going to improve , people are beginning to to realize if you want to beat this kid you really have to bring the heat