2014 Miami Final: Nadal vs. Djokovic

[Front242]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

 

[Fiero425]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

 

[Front242]

^ Well don't forget Novak's defending 1000 points at Monte Carlo.

 

[Kieran]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

An FO elimination? Those things are as rare as hen's teeth.

Rafa has nothing to defend at Wimbledon, so unless he has a disastrous clay turn, he should be fine until maybe the US hards...

 

[nehmeth]

Without running Rafa to death, Nole totally controlled that match, stayed within himself, and allowed his opponent to self-destruct!

Rafa has done the same for Novak many times. It was nice to see him return the favor.

That's it. It's the beauty of this rivalry. They're almost playing advanced chess on the court now, they know each other so well. Nole has been ascendent the last three times, so Rafa knows the drill. Knuckle down and give it back. It's not a rivalry where "ownership" has ever been definitively asserted by anyone...

Novak commented afterward, something like: "On the court, there are no more secrets between Rafa and me." After 40 matches, there really are no more surprises.

 

[Kieran]

Without running Rafa to death, Nole totally controlled that match, stayed within himself, and allowed his opponent to self-destruct!

Rafa has done the same for Novak many times. It was nice to see him return the favor.

That's it. It's the beauty of this rivalry. They're almost playing advanced chess on the court now, they know each other so well. Nole has been ascendent the last three times, so Rafa knows the drill. Knuckle down and give it back. It's not a rivalry where "ownership" has ever been definitively asserted by anyone...

Novak commented afterward, something like: "On the court, there are no more secrets between Rafa and me." After 40 matches, there really are no more surprises.

You can actually see that when we're watching them. One thing I noticed is that when one player is up in the rivalry, he looks indestructible, and then when he's down, he looks anxious and plays out of sorts. It really is a rivalry where it swings back and forth, as opposed to one where they both play red hot at the same time...

 

[Fiero425]

^ Well don't forget Novak's defending 1000 points at Monte Carlo.

But that's all except points for making it to semi's and finals! He dropped off the planet after taking MC and wasn't seen taking anything until after the USO where he dominated all comers! I'm sure his real goals are to just fill in the empty spots; a French Open and a Cinn. Masters title! He'll go down in the top 5 after that passing by Lendl, Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi! During telecast yesterday, some great already put him up there!

 

[Front242]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

I'd actually be more concerned with Novak defending Monte Carlo at this stage. If he defends it great, if not already Rafa increases his lead there. Novak lost early by his standards at Rome last year to Berdych in the quarters so you'd imagine he can improve on that this year. He has huge points potential at Madrid having lost to Dimitrov in round 2 last year and then he's defending SF points at RG. If he reaches the final he's up a few on last year. No one knows at this stage if he will or not or how he'd fare if he does make the final.

 

[Fiero425]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

An FO elimination? Those things are as rare as hen's teeth.

Rafa has nothing to defend at Wimbledon, so unless he has a disastrous clay turn, he should be fine until maybe the US hards...

But it's going to happen sooner or later! Nadal will go into RG injured or unprepared and someone not even in the top 50 will take him down! That German kid should have last season; up a set and in the 2nd set TB before going down in flames! All top players have embarrassing losses; Rafa's already had 2 at Wimbledon the last couple years! Winning takes its toll; esp. on someone that works as hard as Nadal!

 

[Front242]

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

An FO elimination? Those things are as rare as hen's teeth.

Rafa has nothing to defend at Wimbledon, so unless he has a disastrous clay turn, he should be fine until maybe the US hards...

But it's going to happen sooner or later! Nadal will go in there injured or unprepared and someone not even in the top 50 will take him down! That German kid should have last season; up a set and in the 2nd set TB before going down in flames! All top players have embarrassing losses; Rafa's already had 2 at Wimbledon the last couple years! Winning takes its toll; esp. on someone that works as hard as Nadal!

LOL, the German "kid" (Daniel Brands I presume) is only a year younger than that kid Nadal.

 

[brokenshoelace]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

I'd actually be more concerned with Novak defending Monte Carlo at this stage. If he defends it great, if not already Rafa increases his lead there. Novak lost early by his standards at Rome last year to Berdych in the quarters so you'd imagine he can improve on that this year. He has huge points potential at Madrid having lost to Dimitrov in round 2 last year and then he's defending SF points at RG. If he reaches the final he's up a few on last year. No one knows at this stage if he will or not or how he'd fare if he does make the final.

Djokovic is almost assured to gain some grounds during the clay court season. The fact that they were at the same side of the draw at last year's FO meant that Novak lost in the semis as opposed to the final, and you'd have to think he'll most likely, at the very least, make the final this year (though a lot can still happen by then), whereas Nadal cannot gain any points. Ditto for Rome and Madrid, where Novak lost pretty early and Nadal won.

Wimbledon will give Nadal a chance to get some points back, but he'll be up against it in the summer where he's defending everything, while Novak is defending everything this fall. Pretty compelling stuff.

At the end though, as has been pointed out in another thread, by the end of the year "defending points" doesn't matter. It's all about how many points you've gained throughout the year. That's something many still don't realize.

 

[nehmeth]

^ Of course he's a factor everywhere, he's world number 1!

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous!

This is an area where I do admire Federer. Rafa and Novak both seem to embrace the role of hunter. Like Pete before him, Roger was able to navigate the role of hunted quite well. Credit to him. And, when faced with the unlikely opportunity of regaining #1 in 2012, he went after it with an alacrity that belied his years.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Being #1 is hard to hold onto if you win everything in sight! There are just too many points that have to be defended; look at Nole in '12 after such a fantastic season in '11! The pressure and expectations have to be enormous! :angel:

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

An FO elimination? Those things are as rare as hen's teeth.

Rafa has nothing to defend at Wimbledon, so unless he has a disastrous clay turn, he should be fine until maybe the US hards...

But it's going to happen sooner or later! Nadal will go in there injured or unprepared and someone not even in the top 50 will take him down! That German kid should have last season; up a set and in the 2nd set TB before going down in flames! All top players have embarrassing losses; Rafa's already had 2 at Wimbledon the last couple years! Winning takes its toll; esp. on someone that works as hard as Nadal!

Allow me to kill the suspense: Nadal isn't losing before the final at the FO. That "German kid" took a set. A set that happened to be the first Nadal played in the entire tournament. It's not uncommon for top players to take a while to get in the groove in majors. Seriously, it was one set. You could say he could have went up 2 sets to love, but he didn't, as players his level often don't.

Nadal's losses at Wimbledon are a different issue, since you can't compare his clay court dominance to grass.

 

[Kieran]

He'll go down in the top 5 after that passing by Lendl, Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi! During telecast yesterday, some great already put him up there!

They're more bandwagony than we are, it seems...

 

[Fiero425]

I realize that but he's clearly a factor everywhere

Has anyone looked at the schedule to see when Nole can possibly take over #1; maybe by Wimbledon again? Rafa is a FO elimination away from dropping to #2 maybe! :clap

An FO elimination? Those things are as rare as hen's teeth.

Rafa has nothing to defend at Wimbledon, so unless he has a disastrous clay turn, he should be fine until maybe the US hards...

But it's going to happen sooner or later! Nadal will go in there injured or unprepared and someone not even in the top 50 will take him down! That German kid should have last season; up a set and in the 2nd set TB before going down in flames! All top players have embarrassing losses; Rafa's already had 2 at Wimbledon the last couple years! Winning takes its toll; esp. on someone that works as hard as Nadal!

LOL, the German "kid" (Daniel Brands I presume) is only a year younger than that kid Nadal.

Brand isn't nearly as burned out and broken down as Rafa! lol! :snigger :laydownlaughing Nadal looked old yesterday, confused, and out of his element! It was great to see! :lolz: :angel:

 

[Front242]

^ The crap weather in week one of RG helped the big hitters like Brands hit through the court too. It was no fluke Nadal started playing better when the sun came out. They better all hope it's damp and cold and he's playing sloppy. Even then it's a tough ask.

 

[Fiero425]

He'll go down in the top 5 after that passing by Lendl, Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi! During telecast yesterday, some great already put him up there!

They're more bandwagony than we are, it seems...

Nole won't have the holes in his resume of a McEnroe, Sampras, Connors, or other great! Connors only got to 2 semi's at RG and 1 AO title early on! It took Borg's retirement to finally get him another Wimbledon in '82! Connors, like Martina have huge numbers; not just from winning, but longevity and lack of serious injury! No one will get close to 109 titles, but Jimmy underachieved in the majors! They salute him for his USO runs late to semi, but he didn't beat anyone really, getting his clocked cleaned by Lendl and Agassi!

 

[Front242]

^ The number of titles won by Connors is huge but he did win a lot of mickey mouse titles too. I don't think today's players with high numbers of titles could say they have many mickey mouse titles in their collections.

 

[Kieran]

He'll go down in the top 5 after that passing by Lendl, Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi! During telecast yesterday, some great already put him up there!

They're more bandwagony than we are, it seems...

Nole won't have the holes in his resume of a McEnroe, Sampras, Connors, or other great! Connors only got to 2 semi's at RG and 1 AO early on, and it took Borg's retirement to finally get him another Wimbledon! Connors, like Martina have huge numbers; not just from winning, but longevity and lack of serious injury! No one will get close to 109 titles, but Jimmy underachieved in the majors! They salute him for his USO runs late to semi, but he didn't beat anyone really, getting his clocked cleaned by Lendl and Agassi!

Connors has won his majors, and on all surfaces. Nole may do the same, since that's the nature of the modern game, but let's not go putting him up a league before he's earned it, eh?

 

[nehmeth]

Connors has won his majors, and on all surfaces. Nole may do the same, since that's the nature of the modern game, but let's not go putting him up a league before he's earned it, eh?

:

Exactly! Let's wait a while to see how things play out here.