[Goat Milk]

Federer played such a horrible match against Nadal. Djokovic won't commit those errors. Nadal does not have the power to beat Djokovic on this surface right now. All he did against Fed is hit to his backhand and Fed self-destructed. Nadal knows he has to really go after his shots to beat Djokovic but realistically I see Djokovic dominating most of the points. Nadal is a ruthless competitor but I really don't believe he can win this. Man, Djokovic gets on my nerves so much and I hate seeing him win titles but lets be realistic here. Nadal played his best Tennis in the final in the US OPEN and Djokovic whooped him playing average tennis. Nadal was drained after the 3rd set. He'll be running a lot more in this match than he did against Federer. On a side note, Murray is definitely gonna win a major soon.

Makes me mad that he's gonna win another but it's gonna happen.

[YOUSENKO]

Supporting djoko as no.1 is much better because tennis wins. Nadal tactics suck, those who convert top spin to flat consistently definitely beat him. Djoko's backhand does it.

[EaglesPhan36]

Djokovic is having obvious fatigue issues be it from allergies or whatever. Nadal has every opportunity in the world to beat him. Let's not forget before last season when Djokovic beat EVERYONE, Nadal was well dominating the series at 16-7.

The blue print has been made to beat Djokovic by each of his last three opponents. Return his serve well. Make him work in long rallies and see if the errors come and wear him down. Cannot think of anyone built better to work that game plan than Rafa. Whether it works or not ... we will see.

[Reener77]

Djokovic is having obvious fatigue issues be it from allergies or whatever. Nadal has every opportunity in the world to beat him. Let's not forget before last season when Djokovic beat EVERYONE, Nadal was well dominating the series at 16-7.

The blue print has been made to beat Djokovic by each of his last three opponents. Return his serve well. Make him work in long rallies and see if the errors come and wear him down. Cannot think of anyone built better to work that game plan than Rafa. Whether it works or not ... we will see.

Just want to point out that even before last year, when Nadal was 16-7 against Djokovic ALL of those 7 losses were on hard. Djokovic led the head to head on hard courts 7-4 even before last year's breakthrough.

[EaglesPhan36]

True, but there are some hard courts more suited to Rafa's game. These courts are playing slow and suit him. A lot of the hard surfaces Djokovic beat him on were a lot quicker, either indoors or just faster outdoor courts.

[reformed]

EP these fatigue issues are not carrying over into his play...he served bad against Murray which was the main problem.

[Goat Milk]

Djokovic is having obvious fatigue issues be it from allergies or whatever. Nadal has every opportunity in the world to beat him. Let's not forget before last season when Djokovic beat EVERYONE, Nadal was well dominating the series at 16-7. The blue print has been made to beat Djokovic by each of his last three opponents. Return his serve well. Make him work in long rallies and see if the errors come and wear him down. Cannot think of anyone built better to work that game plan than Rafa. Whether it works or not ... we will see.

I honestly thought that blue print was already set in the us open after fed gave djokovic lots of issues. that's why i took nadal in the finals and he buried me. Nadal took a 2-0 lead in each of the first 2 sets if I remember right and djokovic played average tennis and still came back and won those sets.

Nadal does not have the groundstrokes like Murray. There's no chance he can hit the ball like Murray. Rafa relies on his consistency, defense, and ridiculous top spin. He already said he has to be more aggressive to be djokovic but lets be real does he really have the ability to hit the ball deep and flat?

Novak will abuse Rafa is he can't hit the ball deep, and after what I saw against Federer and Berdych I don't think he can hurt Novak at all from the baseline. I envision Rafa playing a lot of defense, getting himself into trouble on 75% of the points. I don't even see him taking a set.

And yeah fatigue will not be an issue going into the match.

[EaglesPhan36]

I"ll bet you any amount of betpoints you want that Djokovic does not win 3-0.

[BlurredOut]

Joker will win 3-1

[UpsetSpecial09]

I definitely like Joker however you do have to question the fatigue issue. Yes he came through last night but Murray gave that match away! Joker got a second and third burst of energy but during the second set especially and somewhat the third set Joker looked like he had NO energy.

Something I saw from Murray as well was that he went after every point and refused to give up on shots that looked impossible and he hit quite a few of them to steal points from Joker. Nadal played the same way against Federer. As many errors as Fed made, Nadal got VERY lucky, he hit several RIDICULOUS shots at crucial times that had Federer won, that match may have been very different. I expect Rafa to do the same vs Joker tomorrow. If Joker can stay energized he wins 3-1 or 3-2. I don't see it being a 3-0 win for either of them. They are both amazing players and neither is getting swept in straight sets.

Joker better stock up on whatever he took under that towel in the 3rd set, after that he seemed to get a huge burst of energy.

Last nights match was great tennis to watch however you look at it and I expect the same tomorrow!

[jsmithj88]

it all comes down to nadals serve and his ability to hit a deep flat shot
ferrer and murray gave djoker lots of problems because they did those things
djoker was the one running around and it must have got him fatigued
but at the end of the day i see djoker winning

[habitualwinning]

Djoker has dominated Rafa and everyone recently and he is only a short fave on his best surface? The line is speaking.

[GoBlue77]

Djoker has dominated Rafa and everyone recently and he is only a short fave on his best surface? The line is speaking.

shhhhh...let everyone keep thinking joker will win.

if you cant see rafa winning in this spot after being humiliated, yes humiliated, last year by joker than just give your money to vegas already.

[benrama]

The guaranteed money in this game is the over 3.5 sets - unfortunately Pinny doesn't offer it. Apart from that the only play is the over, I can see Joker pulling out the win here but anyone that has watched his last two games couldn't back him as favorite

[yisman]

Pretty damn certain that Djokovic won't win 3-0. I agree with EP.

No idea why Pinnacle won't offer prices on players to win in straights, but they've been doing it for a while. (they only offer players to win 3-1 and 3-2 here, for example)

[EaglesPhan36]

5Dimes has it: Djokovic to Win 3-0 @ +320, not to win 3-0 @ -390

[ThaTopMoron]

going to bet Djokovic to win 3-1 +315... and Nadal to win 3-2 +550.... one will hit.

[yisman]

ep, I know 5 dimes offers it (also almost every other major book does).

I was just talking about how Pinnacle won't for some reason.

[yisman]

By the way, DSI has Djokovic 3-1 at +315, while 5 Dimes has yes at +250 and no at -300.

Also taking Nadal 3-2 at +550 at DSI.

Bovada has Djokovic 3-2 at +550, so took some of that as well (5 Dimes has +445).

[EaglesPhan36]

Good luck dudes. FYI for anyone who does not want to stay up all night, ESPN2 is replaying the final at 9:30am ET. You may have to avoid looking at the crawler on the bottom of the screen though as I'm pretty sure those ass clowns keep the score on there.

[yisman]

Knowing ESPN, they'd do that.

Show the result on a crawl as people are trying to watch.

I'm going to be getting up for it.

[benrama]

Actually Pinny has in the Tennis props the O3.5 sets at -220, and also under the sets betting you can bet on a 3-1 or 3-2 win - so all bases are covered!

[yisman]

No, because they won't let you bet a player to win 3-0.

[BlurredOut]

going to bet Djokovic to win 3-1 +315... and Nadal to win 3-2 +550.... one will hit.

this seems smart... i may follow. what do others think?

[slay0r]

i tailed it.. djoko 3-2 looks decent also

[benrama]

No, because they won't let you bet a player to win 3-0.

Sure they will:

Sun 1/29 8261 N. Djokovic (-2.5 Sets) o +339
00:35 AM 8262 R. Nadal (-2.5 sets) o +760

[takzilla]

5dimes offering this right now: N.Djokovic Sets Won/R.Nadal Sets Won Over 3½ -225

call me old fashioned, but i'm just throwing a unit on this and enjoying a nice competitive tennis match.

[yisman]

^^ You're right. Just wonder why they don't offer under sets betting.

^ I also bet that.

[face]

djokovic!

[GunShard]

I would only bet against Djokovic when he plays on clay surface at the French open.

[Goat Milk]

what a match. for the guy that had djok wins 3-1, that one should have really hit.

but man, if djokovic can win majors like this playing good but not great it makes me mad because he might have a chance to catch federer.

nadal played the best final of his life and couldn't win

incredible

[EaglesPhan36]

That was not anything close to the best final of Nadal's life.