Brainwashed

Trying to write my first blogpost in English. I guess it will be awful, but I had to try sooner or later.

I was watching the stressful match between Novak and Misha Zverev, when I received a few private messages through Twitter. But then, I had a look at my timeline and saw a lot of pessimistic posts: the Nolefam was buying in the the sensationalistic media nonsense, about Novak not caring, Murray rising to the top, yada yada yada.

This match looked how I expected it to look: a difficult encounter, against a player in great form (Zverev played an excellent tournament, making it through the qualifications, humiliating Kyrgios, winning against Granolla on his way to the QF), playing a brand of tennis without pace Novak never liked. The things were made muddier by the fact that Misha is a lefty, and Novak needed a lot of time to rethink the geometry of the court and change his patterns of play. Then, rushing to the net against a player who very often tries to return down the middle, to your feet, was an excellent recipe to win points, and it was clear that Misha has studied his opponent well.

Novak's main problem was his serve: he tried to find his spots --- it seemed that the arm was all-right --- but he missed by a few inches so many times. Occasionally, he lost patience, but he kept fighting and slowly lowered the number of unforced errors, improved his transition and at moments tentative net game, and, after a difficult tie-breaker where the "fear factor" brought him a few cheap points, managed to find an edge and win the match. The key moment was when he broke back in the second set.

Novak confirmed what I was writing about Kyrgios two days ago: top players don't quit. They fight and always try to find a way to win. I can just presume how tough was the inner battle in Novak, but that inner battle is something Nick isn't prepared for, nor most of the #nextgen. It's often just a question of time and experience, but, in a few cases, it's hopeless.

Then, I was really angry at the reactions of the Nolefam: by repeating the same nonsense ad nauseam, the media slowly managed to put doubts in our mind. I even had to mute my stream to get my cool back: despite knowing better, the commentator's crew on Sky made me very nervous. We can all be influenced.

We have to be realistic: Novak gave us a lot, winning more than anybody expected. He can't do it all the time. But his changes are another way to defuse the pressure, to try to extend the winning ways, not the opposite. He didn't surrender: he's not that kind of player, just like Rafa didn't surrender despite his long crisis, nor Roger despite his age. Men don't change easily. Something has to break in them, and nothing breaks when you're successful.

Novak's attempt at "normality" is, in my opinion, a sane reaction. He had, and he still has, to face so many difficulties on his path to greatness that it can become debilitating. Taking a step back, trying to look things from the exterior can just do good.

Anyway, Novak tries to be precise when answering questions, and the best thing is to read his pressers verbatim: e.g., his statement that he hasn't talked with Boris yet doesn't mean he won't. Let's not forget that, behind the human aspect of a coach/player relationship, there's also a business aspect, and that Novak is probably not the only one to decide. The case with Vajda is telling: his family problems don't allow him to work full time with Novak any more.

A calmer approach, at this moment of his career, is needed for a different reason: he has to rethink and adjust his schedule. He's already lost a lot of slam finals just because he played mandatory tournaments when others were avoiding them and peaking for the most important moments. Hopefully, he doesn't have to play every MS 1000 any more, and he can spare his strength, his nerves for occasions that really matter.

So, let's enjoy, together with him, the years he still has to play, hoping that he will find a way to remain relevant, at the very top, until his last match.