@@twr7009 Great match, but only 2 sets and the level of intensity was no where near this one. It was more of a tactical battle where Djokovic tried to avoid Del Po's forehand and absolutely failed
Among the big 3 Nadal is the one with the most chance to win another gold medal since he always been up his level a bit if he plays for the country. Still, I don't think any of them will win this year's Olympic.
Amazing hitting by both players. Only a few unforced errors by Djokovic cost him the match. This is when they were 21/22 years old and their skills and athleticism were amazing, much better than the best young players in the current generation.
Loved when Rafa was still getting wins against Djokovic on non-clay courts. The fact that he hasn't beaten Novak or Roger on anything except clay in over 6 years is hurting his legacy. I hope that when tennis restarts again, hopefully Rafa will be able to get one more win against each of them on hard or grass before he retires.
It hurts nothing. Federer hasn't defeated Nadal on clay in more than a decade (since 2009!), yet no one cares. Djokovic hasn't defeated Nadal on clay since 2016 (4 years), yet no one cares. Let us not apply a DOUBLE STANDARD by which it matters when Rafa doesn't beat Federer and Djokovic outside clay but it doesn't matter when Federer and Djokovic don't beat Nadal on clay. Also, tennis did not start in 2015. Nadal still leads the H2H over Federer 8-5 in outdoor hard and 3-1 at the AO. Nadal and Djokovic are tied 2-2 on grass. Those results outside clay will always count for history and legacy. Again, you can't strategically cherry-pick only results from 2015 onwards. Nadal started his career in 2008, not 2015 and all his results count.
@@jameswalker6864 Look I'm a Rafa fan too, but it's really funny to me when Rafa fans pick and choose only the stats that are helpful to Rafa but ignore everything else. The overall head to head between Federer and Rafa is 3-1 grass in favor of Federer, 11-9 hard court in favor of Federer, and 2-14 on clay in favor of Rafa. That's why most tennis experts agree that Federer is the better grass court player, the slightly better hard court player, but Rafa is by far the better clay court player. The point that I'm making is that everyone knows that Rafa is the best on clay, but I want him to get to the next mantle of being the best player overall. But until he can get some wins outside of clay against those two, most commentators and fans still probably accurately believe that he's not as good as Djokovic and Federer on the other surfaces. Even most Rafa fans (except the die-hard ones) admit that.
@@metblvette But even If he doesn't do that ever again he's still beaten them both in top form on the biggest stages (Wim 2008, AO 2009, 2012, 2014, US open 2010/2013 and this one Olympics semi) while in the other hand there's only 1 loss for Rafa at RG 2015 out of 12 matches against Djoker or Fed, that's why If you even ask to Djoker or Fed who's the toughest to beat anytime anywhere they would tell you Rafa (Fed said It in the Vogue interview, Djoker said Rafa was the GOAT in Indian Wells final speech) so I don't really give a crap, Rafa has proven he can defeat anyone anywhere, which Fed and Novak have NOT proven (Djoker himself knows 2015 was a fluke)
@@theobecquet8477 I definitely agree that Rafa can beat both of them, and has definitely beat them in big matches. I have a few responses to your comment though. First, to say that neither Federer or Djokovic have beaten Rafa on his home turf, but he's beaten them on theirs isn't really a fair comparison, because Rafa's turf is clay, which is only one grand slam a year. But you're saying that Federer's and Djokovic's turfs are in the other three grand slams. Since 2010, that gave Federer and Djokovic 9 chances to win RG, but Rafa had 27 chances to win the other three. By making that argument, you're almost conceding that Rafa is the underdog on anything but clay. Second, if we're looking at it objectively, you do have to admit that it does hurt his resume a bit that against both Djokovic and Federer, he trails the head to head on anything but clay. It's undisputed that he's the best clay courter, but I think if Rafa fans have the opinion that he's the best all around player right now, there are a lot of holes in that argument.
@@metblvette there are no arguments as Rafa vs Djoker on grass is 2-2 and Federer vs Rafa on hard is 11-9. That's extremely close, but on the other hand Rafa dominates easily on clay so....... And as I said, Federer and Djoker both admit that Rafa's the toughest competitor anywhere anytime , so even two GOATS valid my argument. Even tho Rafa's forehand and movement has declined, same as Federer, his legacy speaks volume for him. I'll just quote Djokovic's speech at Indian Well 2011 "I want to congratulate Rafa, It's a real pleasure playing against you, to me you're the greatest player ever, and a good friend so I wish you luck"
Best tennis match in the history of the Olympics, produced by the two talented magicians of the racquet Nadal and Djokovic!
I would say second best match after Federer-Del Potro 2012
I'd say the best is Del Potro x Djokovic in Rio 2016
@@theobecquet8477 agreed
@@theobecquet8477 definitely Delpo was in another league that match
@@twr7009 Great match, but only 2 sets and the level of intensity was no where near this one.
It was more of a tactical battle where Djokovic tried to avoid Del Po's forehand and absolutely failed
One of Rafa and Novak's highest quality matches tbh. Also wow, the way Rafa used to be able to defend on hardcourt, compared to today..
Djokovics overhead and net game is always been iffy. This will haunt him forever if he never gets a gold medal
He wont i guess, prime is over
Among the big 3 Nadal is the one with the most chance to win another gold medal since he always been up his level a bit if he plays for the country. Still, I don't think any of them will win this year's Olympic.
Quien ganaba este partido , jugaba la final y ganaba el Oro ....
Amazing hitting by both players. Only a few unforced errors by Djokovic cost him the match. This is when they were 21/22 years old and their skills and athleticism were amazing, much better than the best young players in the current generation.
Yea- just top shelf tennis!
Agreed this was the most important match, closely followed by AO final 2012 and Wimbledon Semi final 2018.
I've noticed Olympics means the world to djokovic. Once he loses he cries like a baby
gladiators born to kill each other...:-) Rafa was great but this other guy became his biggest nemesis...
Loved when Rafa was still getting wins against Djokovic on non-clay courts. The fact that he hasn't beaten Novak or Roger on anything except clay in over 6 years is hurting his legacy. I hope that when tennis restarts again, hopefully Rafa will be able to get one more win against each of them on hard or grass before he retires.
It hurts nothing. Federer hasn't defeated Nadal on clay in more than a decade (since 2009!), yet no one cares. Djokovic hasn't defeated Nadal on clay since 2016 (4 years), yet no one cares. Let us not apply a DOUBLE STANDARD by which it matters when Rafa doesn't beat Federer and Djokovic outside clay but it doesn't matter when Federer and Djokovic don't beat Nadal on clay. Also, tennis did not start in 2015. Nadal still leads the H2H over Federer 8-5 in outdoor hard and 3-1 at the AO. Nadal and Djokovic are tied 2-2 on grass. Those results outside clay will always count for history and legacy. Again, you can't strategically cherry-pick only results from 2015 onwards. Nadal started his career in 2008, not 2015 and all his results count.
@@jameswalker6864 Look I'm a Rafa fan too, but it's really funny to me when Rafa fans pick and choose only the stats that are helpful to Rafa but ignore everything else. The overall head to head between Federer and Rafa is 3-1 grass in favor of Federer, 11-9 hard court in favor of Federer, and 2-14 on clay in favor of Rafa. That's why most tennis experts agree that Federer is the better grass court player, the slightly better hard court player, but Rafa is by far the better clay court player. The point that I'm making is that everyone knows that Rafa is the best on clay, but I want him to get to the next mantle of being the best player overall. But until he can get some wins outside of clay against those two, most commentators and fans still probably accurately believe that he's not as good as Djokovic and Federer on the other surfaces. Even most Rafa fans (except the die-hard ones) admit that.
@@metblvette But even If he doesn't do that ever again he's still beaten them both in top form on the biggest stages (Wim 2008, AO 2009, 2012, 2014, US open 2010/2013 and this one Olympics semi) while in the other hand there's only 1 loss for Rafa at RG 2015 out of 12 matches against Djoker or Fed, that's why If you even ask to Djoker or Fed who's the toughest to beat anytime anywhere they would tell you Rafa (Fed said It in the Vogue interview, Djoker said Rafa was the GOAT in Indian Wells final speech) so I don't really give a crap, Rafa has proven he can defeat anyone anywhere, which Fed and Novak have NOT proven (Djoker himself knows 2015 was a fluke)
@@theobecquet8477 I definitely agree that Rafa can beat both of them, and has definitely beat them in big matches. I have a few responses to your comment though.
First, to say that neither Federer or Djokovic have beaten Rafa on his home turf, but he's beaten them on theirs isn't really a fair comparison, because Rafa's turf is clay, which is only one grand slam a year. But you're saying that Federer's and Djokovic's turfs are in the other three grand slams. Since 2010, that gave Federer and Djokovic 9 chances to win RG, but Rafa had 27 chances to win the other three. By making that argument, you're almost conceding that Rafa is the underdog on anything but clay.
Second, if we're looking at it objectively, you do have to admit that it does hurt his resume a bit that against both Djokovic and Federer, he trails the head to head on anything but clay. It's undisputed that he's the best clay courter, but I think if Rafa fans have the opinion that he's the best all around player right now, there are a lot of holes in that argument.
@@metblvette there are no arguments as Rafa vs Djoker on grass is 2-2 and Federer vs Rafa on hard is 11-9. That's extremely close, but on the other hand Rafa dominates easily on clay so....... And as I said, Federer and Djoker both admit that Rafa's the toughest competitor anywhere anytime , so even two GOATS valid my argument. Even tho Rafa's forehand and movement has declined, same as Federer, his legacy speaks volume for him. I'll just quote Djokovic's speech at Indian Well 2011 "I want to congratulate Rafa, It's a real pleasure playing against you, to me you're the greatest player ever, and a good friend so I wish you luck"
For sure this video is from a biased rafan