Great analysis. I will add a couple of things that I noticed. In the BH to BH exchanges Meddy didn’t put too much pace on his ball I thought, happy to rally deep or keeping the angle tight. Asking Novak to hit harder, take the risk, which often led to a Novak error. gave Meddy. And secondly, when Novak did decide to take the BH DTL the blistering Meddy x court FH shot came into play. He was almost always ready and absolutely pulverised it, getting behind it so well, stretching Novak into the opposite tram. I think Meddy has hugely improved that shot and his footwork getting there; and when necessary, he cld also send it with more shape and depth into the opposite corner. Very impressive.
The game at 4-6 1-0 where Novak has 0-40 was huge. Had he broken I think he would have won. Would have changed the whole match. I believed Novak was going to win until he got broken in the third. He was broken early in each set but what if he had broken in Medvedev’s first service game of the second?
It's possible but Djokovic's footwork and movement didn't improve as the match wore on. I'm sceptical that he would have had the energy or enough easy service games considering his underpowered serve in the match. It's a 'you never know' situation but my guess is that Medvedev still wins in 3-4 sets even if Novak breaks to start set 2.
Great analysis. I will add a couple of things that I noticed. In the BH to BH exchanges Meddy didn’t put too much pace on his ball I thought, happy to rally deep or keeping the angle tight. Asking Novak to hit harder, take the risk, which often led to a Novak error. gave Meddy. And secondly, when Novak did decide to take the BH DTL the blistering Meddy x court FH shot came into play. He was almost always ready and absolutely pulverised it, getting behind it so well, stretching Novak into the opposite tram. I think Meddy has hugely improved that shot and his footwork getting there; and when necessary, he cld also send it with more shape and depth into the opposite corner. Very impressive.
All good points Susie. Yeah I think the forehand cross court is really the only area where he looked slightly better than the 2019 final.
Wow this was an amazing analysis. Had no idea Djokovic's serve performance had dropped off that much.
Thanks Mark.
The game at 4-6 1-0 where Novak has 0-40 was huge. Had he broken I think he would have won. Would have changed the whole match. I believed Novak was going to win until he got broken in the third. He was broken early in each set but what if he had broken in Medvedev’s first service game of the second?
It's possible but Djokovic's footwork and movement didn't improve as the match wore on. I'm sceptical that he would have had the energy or enough easy service games considering his underpowered serve in the match. It's a 'you never know' situation but my guess is that Medvedev still wins in 3-4 sets even if Novak breaks to start set 2.