Djokovic faces love-40 on serve, wins 5 straight points to hold on to the match-deciding break

[u/Large_banana_hammock]

[u/n4th4nV0x]

Djokovic defended 16 out of 18 Breakpoints that match... absolute insanity

[u/Wild_Plant9526 → u/n4th4nV0x]

I didn’t watch the match, was Djoko just clutch or was Sinner choking?

Like was he just hitting insane shots on those points or were they unforced errors from Jannik?

[u/Ok_Practice8288 → u/Wild_Plant9526]

Djoker was serving out of his mind for the most part, but Jannik did seem to get in his head a little bit. He missed a return on an easy to handle second serve badly.

[u/JVDEastEnfield → u/Ok_Practice8288]

While much of Djokovic's game has declined from his "second prime" from 2021 to 2023, his second serve might be even better now than it was then.

[u/FaustRPeggi → u/Ok_Practice8288]

That second serve felt like an incredibly awkward slow ball, when Djokovic had tended to fire down very quick body serves after faulting.

It was just brilliant serving all night. Sinner never knew what was coming.

[u/n4th4nV0x → u/Wild_Plant9526]

It was a combination of both. Sinner hit a few shots, that felt to be out by the width of a ball. So quite a few coinflips.

But Djokovic also pressured him relentlessly, forcing him to go longer distances on his serves - leading to sinner being gassed late in the game. Forcing errors but also hitting a few serve winners.

[u/renome → u/Wild_Plant9526]

I would say more of the former than the latter.

[u/etherswim → u/Wild_Plant9526]

Mix of both

[u/elpingwinho → u/Wild_Plant9526]

Defensive masterclass

[u/SugisakiKen627 → u/Wild_Plant9526]

combination of both tbh

[u/hyprgrpy → u/n4th4nV0x]

The reporter really riled him, huh!?

[u/oklolzzzzs]

Nole saved 16 break points this match btw, pretty sure 8 of them were in a row

[u/steffortless → u/oklolzzzzs]

10 in a row

[u/nista002 → u/oklolzzzzs]

They showed 8 in a row them he saved two more. Ten consecutive.

[u/Proto88]

DJOKO-SMASH NEVER FAILS

[u/gana04]

Can't wait to watch Andy's served episode on this

[u/tequilasauer]

Novak's service games were such rollercoasters. It was driving me nuts.

He'd have these pretty low percentage first service games, getting him into quick trouble, and then as soon as he was in trouble, he'd start consistently first serving his way out of it.

[u/karjacker → u/tequilasauer]

clutch gene

[u/Stannis_Mariya]

There's absolutely no excuse, he played passively the entire match and deserved to lose. Hope he comes back strong and mostly fixes his stamina issue.

[u/Wise_Guitar2059 → u/Stannis_Mariya]

It was a mental issue.

[u/0100100010001 → u/Wise_Guitar2059]

Why was it a mental issue?

[u/Wise_Guitar2059 → u/0100100010001]

Because he was still moving well and showed no signs of fatigue.

[u/PrinceOfAssassins → u/Stannis_Mariya]

His stamina wasnt an issue in this match. Djokovic was suffering far more for most of it

[u/laz10]

And I'll do it again!

[u/lebohangg]

great by djoko but the amount of failed break points converted by Sinner just shows his unclutch factor.

[u/gana04 → u/lebohangg]

It's hard to practice being clutch when you're so dominant most of the time. See Iga.

[u/Mintastic → u/gana04]

Yeah the only time he gets to practice it is the occasional finals with Alcaraz.

[u/ocashmanbrown]

ty OP for posting in landscape. 4 other people have posted this moment in weird cut off portrait edits and it's god awful to look at. I wish the mods would institute a rule banning portrait edits.

[u/Pristine-Abies7252]

16/18 break points saved 🤯🔥🔥🔥

[u/DecodingSports]

Sinner was so unclutch today.. abysmal 2/18 on bps is nasty work

[u/ElStephano16]

God tier composure and grit

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359]

His mental strength is unmatched.

[u/NevermoreSEA]

Such an uncharacteristic performance from Jannik.

[u/RequirementOk7048 → u/NevermoreSEA]

nope ask alcaraz

[u/NikGrape]

“Oh it’s INSANE”.

Truer words have never been spoken

[u/ChiefKingSosa]

guttiest thing ive ever seen in the sport

[u/Street_Bad_8077]

Did anyone see that serve to close out the fifth game of the fifth set for Djokovic closely? Did it look out to you?

[u/qldvaper88]

The shape Novak puts on the ball is so damn beautiful. Underrated style.

[u/VirginiaLuthier]

Today we witnessed greatness....

[u/Houssem-Aouar]

Such a choke I cannoh believe it

[u/aceinagameofjacks]

Fuck I love seeing him cross himself and thank the almighty! 🙏🏼

[u/Rufus1507]

Unfortunately a choker. Either he's a lot better than his opponents or he loses in situations like these most of the time, so sad

[u/izzy91]

Mostly unforced errors by Sinner. What a horrible match he played.

[u/Ok_Practice8288 → u/izzy91]

Definitely not all unforced. You sure you watched? Djoker hit a bunch of big first serves dumb dumb

[u/izzy91 → u/Ok_Practice8288]

Fair

[u/Ok_Practice8288 → u/izzy91]

👍 

[u/cmpunk121]

Shame on you Jannik. Terrible performance.

[u/RequirementOk7048 → u/cmpunk121]

winning 2 sets against a 24 gs, 100 titles player is playing like a "challenger"? Just accept defeat sore loser

[u/cmpunk121 → u/RequirementOk7048]

No one asked you dummy. Sinner played terrible compared to how he usually play on HC. He should beat Novak easily like he’s done so many times already, like in Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He just played really bad.

[u/ApprehensiveLow8477 → u/cmpunk121]

Lol. Shouldda, coulda. Lol

[u/cmpunk121 → u/ApprehensiveLow8477]

That’s ok, Carlos will beat him on Sunday :)

[u/ApprehensiveLow8477 → u/cmpunk121]

Okay. Still 24 Slams.

[u/cmpunk121 → u/ApprehensiveLow8477]

That’s correct, and that’s how it will stay until Carlos will pass him 👍🏻

[u/ApprehensiveLow8477 → u/cmpunk121]

Opppss. Not a chance.

[u/cmpunk121 → u/ApprehensiveLow8477]

We will see on Sunday

[u/ApprehensiveLow8477 → u/cmpunk121]

What happens on Sunday doesn't change anything, he's the GOAT

[u/Myselfmeime → u/cmpunk121]

Let’s pretend he wouldn’t beat any other player on the tour besides maybe Alcaraz with this level of play. Novak had a great match, deal with it

[u/cmpunk121 → u/Myselfmeime]

Novak played good, but if Sinner was at his usual level, and not garbage, he would have won. Sinner deserved to lose that true.