[circe]

The on-court interview but you'd better watch the video quickly before it gets taken down for breach of copy right.

I was in time. Thank you, chica

[vegliaborletti]

Murray was magnificent today. [again]. Particularly after having to nullify Stan Wawrinka. [again].

I always thought that Djokovic was in some way harder than Murray. After watching today, in particular, it's very clear that he sure as heck ain't tougher than Murray - who must surely be the toughest tennis player on the planet.

That match today was worth the entire annual BBC licence fee. Talk about value for money.

[vegliaborletti]

In fact when I looked at him and Murray today, it was Djoko who looked the more fatigued, despite all his rest and easier draw, but then that's what carrying emotional baggage around with you does.

I had hoped that he might have lost interest a bit, after winning RG. Even a tiny loss of interest at that level could be devastating. Interest can't really be conjured up or reawakened, in the way you might retrain, re-equip or re-focus, e.g., to address a problem. When it does come back, it's so often fleeting.

[sengamac]

If Andy doesn't win tomorrow I have every faith he will do so early in the year.

[vegliaborletti]

According to Djokovic himself, he did lose his motivation after winning RG.  Seems that finally winning the one Slam he didn't have took its toll and that he went into a slump, something which wasn't helped by once again losing out on an Olympic medal (that really did hurt him).  Since then he's achieved nothing apart from surfacing briefly in Toronto, beating Nishikori in the final and claiming his 30th Masters title, so you could be right about that being a fleeting resurgence, although in fairness he has picked up a few injuries, starting with the USO.  Now he's trying to make his comeback here to grab back the #1 spot and end the year as that.  If he had had a less jammy draw, then from what I've seen so far (and that excludes tonight's match) he might have been lucky to reach the semis, let alone get to the top of his group.  OK so he might well win tomorrow, but the early part of next season could be interesting given how many titles he has to defend, particularly as it's been rumoured in reliable sources that Becker's coaching contract won't be renewed for next year.

Well whatever happened to Rory McIlroy e.g. may still be happening to Novak, albeit to a lesser degree.
I'm still making the distinction between interest and, as you say, motivation - his own word. You can re-motivate in any number of ways, but I'm not sure that you can reinvigorate interest. Let's say if something loses it's appeal or excitement e.g. - that for me is much more deep-rooted. Sorry about the semantics!

[vegliaborletti]

No probs Veggie because I think I can see where you're coming from.  Basically as I understand it, if you aren't interested in something, e.g. learning a particular subject at school, then how can you possibly be motivated to do well in it?  Some people are able to force themselves to do well but, as far as I'm concerned forcing yourself like that is only likely to stifle any glimmer of interest you might have had rather than stimulate it, and you certainly can't force something to appeal to you anyway.

So in Novak's case it's very possible that the appeal of having all four Slams under his belt evaporated after he won RG.  There was probably no excitement left in winning either because having won that, plus the fact that he'd already been winning tournament after tournament for about two years and was miles ahead of the rest of the field in ranking points, there was no longer a #1 spot to strive for, and not a great deal of competition as well (this year in particular), just a mountain of ranking points to defend.  He was certainly very keen (but does 'keen' = 'interest'?) to get his hands on an Olympic medal, but Del Potro put an abrupt end to that, albeit by the very narrowest of margins, and Djoko was seen, and photographed, walking off the court in tears.  So I suppose it begs the question, has he got any real motivation back, or is he only interested in ending the year as #1, probably more as a matter of pride than anything else?  So he may well win tomorrow, but next year could be a different matter if he hasn't got his interest 100% back.

Once interest goes things can be very difficult in any area of life - and it tends to go gradually. Distraction is a giveaway - the "giving of himself" routine when he wins is almost an effort to stimulate external interest. Whatever happens tomorrow, I hope he spares us that. Muhammad Ali could do that. Usain Bolt can do that. Roger  Federer might just get away with doing that. Novak doing that makes for uncomfortable viewing unfortunately. It's bum clenching to watch actually - he should stick to business.

Oh, and about Novak walking off the court after his defeat to Del Potro. He wasn't in tears - he was bubbling.

No matter what happens tomorrow, as far as I'm concerned Murray's already done the bizzo.

Here's hoping for a surprise win.

[Ruthie]

Aileen I'm sure Novak will be very much up for it because today is about record books and all that - so it's sufficient to rekindle the motivation.  I thought he looked pretty bored against Goffin but then of course it counted for nothing other than the points he needed to keep pace with Andy and he knew he'd be able to beat him without too much bother.    Also he'll know how to exploit Andy's tiredness unfortunately. 

[blueberryhill]

Well in actual fact Nole looked more tired.
Lots of speculation about his diet elsewhere......oh and his guru. He seemed to be meditating at changeover, wonder what Boris thought of that.