[JoWilly]

Pretty impressive from him to go into those finals believing he can win, despite his lack of overall success against both guys. In fact he had never even won a set off nadal befofe blasting him off court in the AO final, which shows how much Stan's mentality has improved as well as his game :worship:

Why do you think this is? Why does he step up in the big moments? Is it just improved mentality or is it more than that?

 

[17-6-302]

Re: Stan 6-29 against Djokodal overall but 2-0 in slams

He isn't a mug like Tsonga who folds against the first decent player he meets, that's why. Btw it is supposed to be slam finals, not slams.. in your thread title.

 

[AnnaK_4ever]

Actually, since teaming up with Norman at 2013 Monte Carlo Staniel is 8-12 vs Big Four including 5-4 at Grand Slams which is an outstanding record.

2-3 vs Federer (1-1 at slams)
2-4 vs Nadal (1-1)
2-5 vs Djokovic (2-2)
2-0 vs Murray (1-0)

 

[phase3]

He steps up because Federer told him to save his LEGACY. IF NADAL HAD WON AO 2014. He would have got a double career slam and been only two slams behind. Fed.

Fed is too old to challenge now so in sent in GODWRINKA.

Same with DJOKOVIC. Fed sacrificed himself in the QTRS to let his secret weapon make the final and take out Djokovic. He would rather Godwrinka have two slams than Nadal have 15 and Djokovic 9 and the career slam.

Godwrinka has a purpose. TO SAVE FEDERERS LEGACY.

 

[JoWilly]

Actually, since teaming up with Norman at 2013 Monte Carlo Staniel is 8-12 vs Big Four including 5-4 at Grand Slams which is an outstanding record.

2-3 vs Federer (1-1 at slams)
2-4 vs Nadal (1-1)
2-5 vs Djokovic (2-2)
2-0 vs Murray (1-0)

Impressive. Guys like Ferrer who say they cant win these matches should take inspiration from Stan. Win or lose, it gives it everything :worship:

 

[RocketMan70]

He steps up because Federer told him to save his LEGACY. IF NADAL HAD WON AO 2014. He would have got a double career slam and been only two slams behind. Fed.

Fed is too old to challenge now so in sent in GODWRINKA.

Same with DJOKOVIC. Fed sacrificed himself in the QTRS to let his secret weapon make the final and take out Djokovic. He would rather Godwrinka have two slams than Nadal have 15 and Djokovic 9 and the career slam.

Godwrinka has a purpose. TO SAVE FEDERERS LEGACY.

A very well thought out response, and a selfless display from Fed.
But 2-0 in finals is still a small sample size and where he played lights out tennis, so not that significant really.

 

[Redkop]

6-0 since 2014 in all tournaments too. Impressive.

 

[M.Bison]

Impressive. Guys like Ferrer who say they cant win these matches should take inspiration from Stan. Win or lose, it gives it everything :worship:

Yeah, I'm sure Ferrer can start hitting forehands and backhands like Stan if he gets a bit of confidence.

 

[pray-for-palestine-and-israel]

Big game player for sure

Coach has helped

Maybe fed should hire the guy

 

[Cloren]

Re: Stan 6-29 against Djokodal overall but 2-0 in slams

He isn't a mug like Tsonga who folds against the first decent player he meets, that's why. Btw it is supposed to be slam finals, not slams.. in your thread title.

Agreed

 

[phase3]

I know what I said sounds crazy. BUT IS IT? We will see what he does when Nadal and Djokivic are threatenning to win another slam.

Federer knows Stan can beat anyone. And would have 17 slams now himself if Federer had allowed it.

Just watch the draw for Wimby. If FEDS doesnt like it. Prepare to see GODWRINKA unleashed again.

 

[LunaStar]

He's improved immensely since mid-2013. Before he lacked consistency during matches as well as from match-to-match - he was capable of playing great games but would also throw in poor ones. Now he can still play terrible tennis for a string of tournaments but when he hits peak form in an important match/tournament, he can keep that level up.

Perhaps a stronger mentality is the key factor behind this improvement. Huge credit has to go to Magnus Norman there - he did the same with Soderling and the way that Stan has improved since being with him is astounding. Now with the combination of his talent and his new-found mental strength, he's a formidable opponent in the slams.

 

[TheBigFourFTW]

The question I'm trying to figure out is how did Magnus Norman made Wawrinka mentally stronger?

 

[doubletrollt]

Pretty impressive from him to go into those finals believing he can win, despite his lack of overall success against both guys. In fact he had never even won a set off nadal befofe blasting him off court in the AO final, which shows how much Stan's mentality has improved as well as his game :worship:

Why do you think this is? Why does he step up in the big moments? Is it just improved mentality or is it more than that?

Stanimal would have a much better score against Djokodal and made a couple of HC slam finals more if instead of rigged HC slam draws wherein he was always placed in Djoker' half for HC 5-setters against him ever since 2012, he had always been placed in Fedal's half instead, but he was never placed in Fedal's half at AO/USO, not even once, and will never be in Fedal's half at any AO/USO to come, along with another HC beast Nishikori.

That's how you protect declined Fedal from sinking down the rankings even more and sponsor's money by allowing Fedal to make slam SF from their easy as pie rigged halfs.

 

[Fogmeister]

Peaking in the right moments. :worship:

 

[HafaK]

He steps up because Federer told him to save his LEGACY. IF NADAL HAD WON AO 2014. He would have got a double career slam and been only two slams behind. Fed.

Fed is too old to challenge now so in sent in GODWRINKA.

Same with DJOKOVIC. Fed sacrificed himself in the QTRS to let his secret weapon make the final and take out Djokovic. He would rather Godwrinka have two slams than Nadal have 15 and Djokovic 9 and the career slam.

Godwrinka has a purpose. TO SAVE FEDERERS LEGACY.

lol, I have been think about this too. It is just ATP all time drama, better than any fiction.
You got Federer the all time leader, grace on the court, and you got Nadal, the anti-Federer, the one chases. Then you got Djokovic, the one joined the dance at end of Federer' s career and Nadal's late prime. Finally, Federer running out of mojo and options, he training likes of Kyrgios to stop Nadal. And the end, Stan the friend come out, and saying, "Friend, I have been waiting this long, I will save your legacy." They hugged and cried, Mirka come in " cry baby".

 

[Secondeuce]

He goes into next gear right when a major starts. How he does it with this disturbing exact timing, I cannot say.

 

[zjtennis]

He goes into next gear right when a major starts. How he does it with this disturbing exact timing, I cannot say.

He's still a bit vulnerable in the 1st Rounds. However, due to the nature of having a day break on Slams, he could regroup himself for the rest of the day, then the next day create the right tactics for the match the following day. It's hard to do that in the main tour, as there are almost no rest there, where sometimes you have to bank on your Day 1 strategy to win the tournament, or must be mentally tough to adapt day in or day out. Also the Bo5 alleviates pressure a bit -- even if Djokovic had won the 1st Set Stan still was calm because he could just reset then do his rampage at the following 3 Sets still with some breathing space, unlike on the tour, losing the 1st Set is just 1 more Set from losing that the opponent could redline in the 2nd Set to finish it off.

Also, who knows, maybe Stan doesn't want to really exert 100% focus on smaller tournaments, so that he wouldn't be mentally exhausted coming to a Slam. :shrug:

 

[[email protected]]

He's still a bit vulnerable in the 1st Rounds. However, due to the nature of having a day break on Slams, he could regroup himself for the rest of the day, then the next day create the right tactics for the match the following day. It's hard to do that in the main tour, as there are almost no rest there, where sometimes you have to bank on your Day 1 strategy to win the tournament, or must be mentally tough to adapt day in or day out. Also the Bo5 alleviates pressure a bit -- even if Djokovic had won the 1st Set Stan still was calm because he could just reset then do his rampage at the following 3 Sets still with some breathing space, unlike on the tour, losing the 1st Set is just 1 more Set from losing that the opponent could redline in the 2nd Set to finish it off.

Also, who knows, maybe Stan doesn't want to really exert 100% focus on smaller tournaments, so that he wouldn't be mentally exhausted coming to a Slam. :shrug:

Why do people keep judging performance based on past performance. It's like saying federer will win because he used to win which is misleading.
I knew stan would win roland garros despite underperforming at most event because his current form at the time looked great.
Stan has made massive improvements on the forehand side. He's learned to take a bit of pace off and just put the ball back in play. He's also learned to consistently go down the line to change pattern of plays and keep opponents guessing, especially on the backhand which is an incredibly difficult shot he had no confidence in. I tend to laugh at folks saying that's his best shot. No it's his worst shot, until the match against djokovic he was quite apprehensive about using it, now he's gained full confidence in the shot.
Going forward, I am predicting more consistent results from now on.

 

[MaxPower]

The question I'm trying to figure out is how did Magnus Norman made Wawrinka mentally stronger?

From what I heard with Soderling, Norman worked a lot on shutting out the outside world, that is the crowd, the opponent and pretty much everything that could distract. Soderling got way calmer and often sat under a towel at changeovers. Wawrinka doesn't use the toweltrick as far as i know, but you can tell he got 100% belief in his own game.

Just like Sod, Wawrinka will win if he plays his own game to perfection. If you really believe in your tennis beating anyone, even the world nr1, then it gives huge mental strength.

I think that's what Norman really brought to Wawrinka: the idea that his own power game defeats everything. Every match is on his own racket.