[hiriser]

Seems like from 3-0 onwards in the 3rd set, he deliberately gave Hewitt games to make sure he lost a set and also lose the -9.5 spread.

No doubt that Hewitt played unbelievable and full credit to him for keeping balls in play but still Djoko should have been able to handle Hewitt with ease.

It could very well have been the heat BUT this guys is a pro.

Things I noticed:

* He stopped attacking on most points. As Jim Courier mentioned, he stopped dominating on his forehand, he started playing slice backhands etc

* He stopped chasing alot of balls in the 3rd set. From Djoko's standards, there were at least 10 easy returns that he drilled into the net or long. This never happens.

* He showed almost no emotion when his serve was broken, almost like he was expecting to lose it. At the same time even when he broke Hewitt in that 4th set, it seemed like he didn't care.

* There seemed to be 2 different Djoko's at the end. One that constantly made unforced errors, and one that won games with ease when he wanted to. Take the last 2 games as an example. At 5-2 up in the 4th set, Djoko barely even tries to return Hewitt's first serves. And when the ball is in play, it seems like Djoko is deliberately hitting balls with more air hoping to hit it long. Once Hewitt covered the 9.5, have a look at Djoko's service game, it was all business. A couple of aces and a couple of winners that looked effortless. The contrast in his game was very apparent to me.

All in all, just a very bad beat. Sometimes these things happen but it just seemed very odd.

[EaglesPhan36]

Djokovic didn't play well all match. He is human. Hewitt would have won a couple more games in the 1st if he had anything to offer. Hewitt simply started playing better & Djokovic may have been feeling the conditions too. Djokovic might have gifted Hewitt a game, but he doesn't fukk around when the match is on the line.

[hiriser]

Djokovic didn't play well all match. He is human. Hewitt would have won a couple more games in the 1st if he had anything to offer. Hewitt simply started playing better & Djokovic may have been feeling the conditions too. Djokovic might have gifted Hewitt a game, but he doesn't fukk around when the match is on the line.

That's the thing though....djoko knew he was never going to lose the match, he was always in control.

You're adamant there's no way djoko threw the 3rd set and subsequent -9.5 spread?

[EaglesPhan36]

Djokovic doesn't fix. Like Shari said in another thread, the top guys don't want to be out on-court more than necessary when you need seven wins to get a title. By dropping the 3rd set, he cost himself about another 40 minutes on-court against a tough player. The only reason you would even question the match is because it just so happened to finish right at the spread. Happens all the time.

[hiriser]

Fair point. You guys know way more about tennis than myself. Just thought i'd throw the question out there.

[jsmithj88]

y would he care what the spread is?
hes rich, he doesnt need to fix matches
y would he risk injury when he can just whoop some1's ass and go home to rest
if u were playing in 100 degree heat and humidity, would u want to dick around and play an extra set?
djoker hates the heat

[benrama]

It was a night game - the heat was practically irrelevant. And Joker was hardly having to work hard out there - this was a stroll in the park for him. Hewitt was +1050 to win the 3rd set, so a $10K bet there nets you a million - that's interesting money in anyone's terms. And we know Joker has been offered fixing money before - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007...5/tennis.sport

That said - do I think it's fixed? In this case probably not, I watched the whole match and I just think Joker didn't care much out there, he knew he could step it up at any point in time and he was often quite lazy in his shot selection. I saw the risk signs in the 2nd set and jumped on some of that +1050 Hewitt money to hedge - thankfully - a Joker 3-0 bet I had as part of my plays; but I also think the sports world is filled with dirty money and healthy skepticism is always warranted.

[redbull]

yeah agree
when ur opponent the level under u , u just play save and calm.
6 1 and 6 3 , both set early breaks for jokovic. easy set.
set 3 , hewitt play well , joko dont like too force 3-0 here, he`s try at 5-4 , very long deuce. but failed.
set 4 , the tactic jokovic just hold all his serv + just 1 break to win. completed.

hows about hewitt serv?
almost all 2nd
is he that bad?
or any consiprasy theory

[EaglesPhan36]

It was a night game - the heat was practically irrelevant.

From what the Aussies on this board say, the heat is stifling down there and just because the sun has gone down, doesn't mean the conditions aren't still a factor - obviously, not as big as playing in the direct blaze of the sun, but still a factor. I live in Texas and I know on the days when it gets up to 100 or more here, it does not cool down rapidly. So even at 8pm or 9pm, you're going to see temps in the 80s in Melbourne and the courts have been sun baked all day.

At this point, I'd say the # of players who HAVEN'T been approached to fix a match is probably largely in the minority now. The smart dirty assholes though know the "fringe" players/Challenger level players are more susceptible to match fixing. Those guys don't make much money, so enticing them with cash is an easy way to get guys to make bad decisions. Guys like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray - anyone really in the top tier ... these guys have no need for any dollar amount that a fixer could lay out there. Outside of them being blackmailed, the top tier guys aren't going to risk any thing IMO.

[Sport_Fish]

My reason for saying its not suspicious is simple:

-Hes #1 in the world...he knows he has a good shot of winning the slam, which means hes not gonna take chances. And more importantly, only time any player would do something like this is money. In this case, Djokovic would never do it because firstly, he dosent need the money (hes not new, has made alot of money already) so only thing more important to him is fame. And because of this, he would do anything to display his dominance on the court.

[Mikail]

I was on the over 26.5 and yes I do believe us over backers caught a break. I won't go as far as to say it was fixed but it did appear that he gave away the 3rd set and it just so happened that put the total over and gave Hewitt spread backers a win. You can draw your own conclusion.

[Fidel]

Maybe its just me, but I notice tennis players especially the top class ones play with respect to their opponent. To bagel someone in straight sets to me is insulting, especially when its against a fellow countrymen or the home town hero. Djokovic plays with that respect I notice and Im sure he let up so Hewitt can still walk with his head high. I personnally was on the Over 27 last night due to this opinion.