12 Responses

  1. Henk
    Henk March 12, 2013 at 7:27 pm |

    ASDJSJKFHAf he double faulted four times.

    FOUR. TIMES.

    HE DOUBLE FAULTED FOUR TIMES!

  2. Ophelia
    Ophelia March 12, 2013 at 8:15 pm |

    When Dimitrov double-faulted four times at 5-3, I began wishing that I had skipped this match in favor of checking out the end of the Haas-Almagro match. That wish only grew even stronger as the match wore on; at least Djokovic quickly put Dimitrov out of his misery in the second set.

  3. mat4
    mat4 March 12, 2013 at 8:19 pm |

    Two things.

    First, watched Novak’s interview for Skysport after the match, and he said that the rebound was very high (then, they showed how he used this rebound to neutralize Dimitrov’s BH) and that the court was slowed, a bit slower than the previous years.

    A minute later, I had Berlocq winning the first set against KN, both player 10 feet behind their baselines. Then, I remember the way Haas and Almagro played — looked like true CC tennis.

    Then, another thing: Dimitrov is often compared to Federer. In fact, watching him now, I think he has improved since his last match against Novak, in November. He probably serves a bit better, his FH looks a bit better too. He could have a similar breakthrough like Federer had at 22. But one thing looked obvious to me: he doesn’t move well. He is often late for his FH, his BH, his defence is virtually non-existent.

    March 12th, 2013 at 7:48 pm

  4. mat4
    mat4 March 12, 2013 at 9:37 pm |

    I found an interesting article on ESPN about Novak’s new Head racquet: it is ligher 8 ounces, but has more swingweight.

    Usually, when you change your racquet, in the first period you try to adapt the racquet to your game. It worked well for Novak both in 2011 and in 2013: his innegra racquet was very similar to the old one, but it gave him more control of the ball, and he felt well about this one too.

    But after that, you try to use all the possibilities of the new racquet — and it can take some time.

    Watching Novak in Dubai and now, in IW, it seems that he has to rethink his court positioning and the way he uses spin: he can hit much harder, but he has to stand a few feet behind the baseline, otherwise the ball will sail long. Since the racquet is lighter, he has to develop more spin to keep the ball in the court too.

    We had glimpses of the new things Nole can do: a better, fast FH; a better slice; a better kick serve. But it just doesn’t still function well enough.

  5. mat4
    mat4 March 15, 2013 at 3:19 pm |

    instead of “spin”, I meant “speed”

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