What the countless fans of tennis star Rafael Nadal got from him today was probably very sobering and often incomprehensible. He dominated his opponents impressively in all the preliminary round matches. He virtually destroyed the American Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals and didn't give Roger Federer's defeater Stefanos Tsitsipas the slightest chance, and then this today. What was that. Countless unforced errors. As if a different Nadal had been on the court today. Where he usually shines with great winners or serves passing shots like no one else, there was nothing or hardly anything to see today. Too many balls ended up just out of bounds. A disillusionment, not to say more.
But Djokovic's victory is fully justified. Hardly anyone had expected such a strong performance. So precise, so reliable, how he put the balls in the corners and chased Nadal around the court spoke for his unique class. The two best players did not play an equal match today. Novak Djokovic was vastly superior. He played tennis today as if from another world. But Nadal also contributed to his defeat, he did not offer him enough resistance. But not only the playing ability, but also a psychological barrier seems to be unconsciously at work here. Of the eight meetings at the Australian Open, Djokovic has won seven times, which means that as of today, the score at the Australian Open is 7:1 in Djokovic's favor. The situation is different again at the French Open. There it is 1:11 in favor of the clay court specialist Nadal. Did Nadal give himself any chance at all today?
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