And we have the "epic" final downunder! Djokovic beats Nadal 80, 66, 45, 88, 74. Just two days after he beat Murray 47, 65, 88, 25, 65 (elapsed time each set).
I say, The Rent Is Too Damn High.
Djokovic may be the world's best persistence hunter, but the best tennis player? Are they even playing tennis? Where is the shot-making? Tivo considerations aside, why are they taking 30 seconds between points? Move to the net and prepare to be passed. Nadal was so strong and continued to cover so much court at 5-5, 30-all in the 5th set that Djokovic still couldn't get a winner past him. It's insane!
Even a three set final would have been over 3 hours, which is considered pretty standard for American football, a bit more than an NBA game, and double a soccer match (all of which are team sports).
The Ladies' Final lasted only 82 minutes. What sport are they playing? The irony is that women tend to perform better athletically at endurance than men on a relative basis (in marathons and ultra-marathons, yes there is such a thing). Azarenka is the new world #1 with her Grand Slam Championship, wasting Sharapova 6-0 going away in the second set.
So the fight and the heart shown by these two great tennis players and warriors is truly amazing, but where do we go from here? Can Nadal play better, and what would that really mean in the context of this match? Can he show more will to win?
For me the Federer/Nadal semi-final was the best match of the tournament. There was a true contrast of style and approach that was lacking in Djoker/Murray and Djoker/Rafa. Roger hit the best shots of any player, he initiates the attack, he moves forward, he is a creative problem solver. The main comment from Pat McEnroe was that he should be more predictable and just keep hitting to the Lefty's backhand. This is the state we are in. Because Nadal's and Djokovic's defense is too damn good and the rent is too damn high!
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The Bryan Bros could not win their record Slam. They lost 6-7, 2-6 to Paes/Stepanek. Interesting stat for winners-to-errors: Doubles Final= 63-to-9; Singles final= 101-to-140.
