LINE FOR THE FINAL IS UP!!!

Disagree. No semi is bigger than a slam win. I think he will be hungry for this match as well. A lot of people said he would choke yesterday too and that did not happen.

Look at all those ugly matches Djoker won this year when he was playing like shit. You do not become a master of winning ugly without mental strength.

You can guess that he will be mentally fatigued this time but the last time he beat Fed in a semifinal at a hardcourt slam he suffered no such mental fatigue and went on to win the whole thing the next round.

He should be hungry as hell for another slam... I think he got jaded this year because he was doing so well but the stakes were not high enough... but now they are. His hunger for a slam along with the confidence he simply has to have against Nadal on this surface should outweigh any "mental fatigue", and there is historical evidence to show that beating Fed in slam semifinals charges him up while you are just basically guessing that history does not repeat itself here with no evidence to back that opinion up.

Hope for Djokovic now, another full day's rest clearly to his advantage

The price movement reflects this situation as well

well this is fair

for those unaware (and unlikely to see where else I've posted it) - Nole has won 78.9% of the sets he and Nadal have played on hard surfaces.

 

fwiw, Matt Cronin's picks for Joker matches this tourney

Blake v Djokovic Blake
Fish v Djokovic Fish
Monfils v Djokovic Monfils
Federer v Djokovic Federer

Yes, he's picked Nadal in the final.

Don't know how it wasn't fair before without the rain delay. Both guys played on the same day.

nadal 3 djoker 1

concluded that Joker is a must play at these odds

people that are on Nadal are for the most part the same ones who believed that this final was destined to be Nadal v. Fed.....now Nadal is "destined" to win career Slam or Nadal Slam....believe the odds are adjusted to reel in Nadal money... the hard court facts simply don't support such an inflated line
 

Let's be fair. Not all Nadal backers think he's destined to get the Slam. Some just think he can beat Djoker.

But (still) I do think that there are many who've put too much emphasis on the career slam goal. Honestly, I don't think it matters one iota after the players take the court. All they will be focused on is each other and nothing else.

Djoker may have said "this" and "that" about the Federer win...but as soon as he takes the court, his match with Federer will be forgotten. Actually, I don't even think he's even thinking about it now.

IMO Djoker will have a very good chance to win if he simply serves decent today. For him, it doesn't have to be great, just halfway decent. He has the athleticism and talent to go toe-to-toe with Nadal in the long points, on hard surfaces. And this is his BEST surface.

What will hurt him are things like losing a set because of a double fault. Or perhaps being so cautious about his serve to the point where he only feels confident about serving 2mph changeups. That will kill him.

My 2 cents

Djoker ml
 

That stat alone makes Nole the dog a nice value especially in some of the props

2mph changeups?

Djokovic actually won over 65% of his 2nd serve, even closer to 70% i think. He has shown that he's not afraid to lay it out on the 2nd serve, thus the double-faults we're seeing in that last match.

I know you're exaggerating. Just wanted to point out that Djokovic have been doing fine with his 2nd serves.

Are the stars aligned well for Djokovic today?

...4 units to win 9.6