2014 Miami Quarterfinal: Nadal vs. Raonic

[DarthFed]

It wasn't a matter of head to head it was the fact that Roger would be literally gifting Nadal the slam by beating Nole. So beating Nole helped the legacy but could end up hurting it in a sense. That was the thought. All said and done I'm still glad he won that match, it was a big win even though he was the usual sacrificial lamb in that final.

 

[Moxie]

It wasn't a matter of head to head it was the fact that Roger would be literally gifting Nadal the slam by beating Nole. So beating Nole helped the legacy but could end up hurting it in a sense. That was the thought. All said and done I'm still glad he won that match, it was a big win even though he was the usual sacrificial lamb in that final.

Ah, of course. Anyway, you remember. I'm glad you're happy with that win, in the end, as you should be. In the long run, it was a great match, a great win, and the streak-ender. And Roger played one of his best matches against Nadal on clay in that final. Roger would never have given up on his chances, and I have to say, at that particular point, I was shocked by how much his fans were. That's when it seemed to me that fans separated the player from the legacy.

 

[Rose]

Whew that was close! I had to quit watching :cover

 

[huntingyou]

They need to speed up a bit the courts in Miami. When is 70F, windy and after sunset it's very tricky and takes away potential quality.

Anyways, watching Rafa in person hitting those forehands in the third set was freaking awesome. The backhand was good as well......actually at times before the third it was his dominant shot.

 

[Kieran]

^^ You have a good seat? What was his serve like?

 

[brokenshoelace]

What was his serve like?

Mediocre. And I was able to spot that from my living room couch.

 

[huntingyou]

^^ You have a good seat? What was his serve like?

I had a great seat...row A in 310. Right in the middle of the court.

His serve was good, he had a few 120 when he went for them and I thought his second serve in particular was hurting Milos big time. He never felt at ease returning despite stepping into the court and trying to rip it.

I think the court it's just awful during those conditions. It eats up the pace and spin, it's like hitting a dead ball and you could see both players at time very fustrated with the way the ball was behaving.

Nadal had issues returning the second serve....he was SO far back and it didn't make any sense because the ball was dying when it got to him which it didn't allow him to get under ball as consistent as he wanted to.

I'm still amazed by the backhand though, he takes it so early and doesn't surrender the baseline when feeling the way he is in this tournament. Credit to Milos for making a match out of this.

 

[Kieran]

I think Rafa's return off the second serve is often inexplicably dodgy. It's like he doesn't know how to grab the initiative off the lesser speeds. Remember those 3 in Oz, when Stan was serving at 5-3, 0-40? Horrific. Didn't get one in play. Glad his serve looks good, though. I think if he plays a bit better tonight and the final (should he be there, of course), he'll do well...

 

[Front242]

His serving was great alright. Especially loved the one at set point to Raonic in set 1 :snigger

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OiVugTjlXk[/video]

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=906nVHYQP0o[/video]