2015 Monte Carlo Masters Semifinal: Djokovic v. Nadal

[Murat Baslamisli]

There you are Billie...I almost called RCMP on you.

 

[Billie]

There you are Billie...I almost called RCMP on you.

:lolz:

Hi Murat, I had to find another job. Didn't want to snap at others while I was searching.:laydownlaughing

 

[Kieran]

Good to see you, Billie, hope you're well :hug

 

[Kirijax]

Just woke up and saw Djokovic won. :clap

Maybe Nadal did improve a it this tournament but Djokovic made a clear statement that he will be the favorite at RG. Hard to see him losing more than two games in a set against Berdych. I will be rooting for The Birdman to win though.

 

[mrzz]

Just woke up and saw Djokovic won. :clap

Maybe Nadal did improve a it this tournament but Djokovic made a clear statement that he will be the favorite at RG. Hard to see him losing more than two games in a set against Berdych. I will be rooting for The Birdman to win though.

Don't say those things around here, even if for me it is obvious.

As Billie posted above, these guys are not robots. Why in the world Djokovic would not sit and think "wow, I won it rather easily". If this does not have any bearing in future events, what does? A shot in the head?

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

djokovic won in straights as expected..was good when he needed to be.

nadal still looks past it. maybe he will improve but he fell away badly in both sets.

 

[Carol]

Just mentally? No1e outplayed Nadal in all aspects of the game, it is the truth.

At the present yes but due to the lack of confidence and bad run that Rafa is going through, if not you should ask Berdych, Verdasco, and other players who are beaten him and they never could do it before, it's not just all about Novak :dodgy:

You mentioned initially "only mentally", am I right?

I've never said "only mentally" because he must to play well to beat Nadal but when a player is mentally stronger (at least temporary) then he has more probabilities to win than the other one.
In one word, Novak is not better player than Nadal but right now he is playing better and of course with more confidence until the terms can change which I hope it happens soon

 

[Carol]

What Rafa said after the semis match

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/04/15/Monte-Carlo-Saturday-Nadal-Reaction.aspx

 

[Puppet Master]

And I have an honest question, I didn't even bother to read everything in that article, but having won MC 8 times why is Rafael making fools of his fans in saying that this was a positive week, what sane man would believe that he couldn't have done better looking at his past results there. Had he got away with a win today or at least put up a good fight, it would send Novak a clear message that he is not uncontested everywhere, at least not on clay...

 

[Fiero425]

djokovic won in straights as expected..was good when he needed to be.

nadal still looks past it. maybe he will improve but he fell away badly in both sets.

Squash shots and sliced backhand kept this match from being a route! Nole still falls for some of those sucker plays and loses too many points at the net! I liked that play of "in my day" of a drop, then a lob volley over my opponent's head! Nole wins some and loses some! :cover :nono :angel:

 

[Kirijax]

Just woke up and saw Djokovic won. :clap

Maybe Nadal did improve a it this tournament but Djokovic made a clear statement that he will be the favorite at RG. Hard to see him losing more than two games in a set against Berdych. I will be rooting for The Birdman to win though.

Don't say those things around here, even if for me it is obvious.

As Billie posted above, these guys are not robots. Why in the world Djokovic would not sit and think "wow, I won it rather easily". If this does not have any bearing in future events, what does? A shot in the head?

Oh simmer down. I'm not a big Djokovic fan, but I'd rather see him win than Nadal any day of the week. And after repeated failures against Nadal at the RG, any clay win has to be a boost for Djokovic's confidence as he heads to RG to win his first title there.

 

[Carol]

And I have an honest question, I didn't even bother to read everything in that article, but having won MC 8 times why is Rafael making fools of his fans in saying that this was a positive week, what sane man would believe that he couldn't have done better looking at his past results there. Had he got away with a win today or at least put up a good fight, it would send Novak a clear message that he is not uncontested everywhere, at least not on clay...

Something even more that I feel so much admiration for Nadal is how he takes his wins and also his loses. He know better than us that he is not still in the best conditions but pretty close. I agree that he made too many errors today and he should have put more fight and he didn't, it's clear that his game is not still where has to be, but don't worry, he will send Novak a clear message soon, remember my words

 

[Moxie]

And I have an honest question, I didn't even bother to read everything in that article, but having won MC 8 times why is Rafael making fools of his fans in saying that this was a positive week, what sane man would believe that he couldn't have done better looking at his past results there. Had he got away with a win today or at least put up a good fight, it would send Novak a clear message that he is not uncontested everywhere, at least not on clay...

I don't know if you're taking it too personally, PM, to say that Rafa is "making fools of his fans" to say that the week was positive. You've disagreed with the fans here who have said it is, and I would be one. I think it's a bit of an exaggeration by those who say that it was a rout. And as Billie said, quite rightly, these players are not robots. Nadal is finding his confidence and his game, and he says (in the article you didn't bother to finish reading) that he will find it. He had a rough last year, and he's not coming up to speed as quickly as he did in 2013. That is human. (Actually, 2013 was barely human, how quickly he found his game.) It doesn't matter what he's done at MC before. He can't simply manufacture that level, if he's not feeling it. And Djokovic is at a very high level. I, for one, was happy to see him give Novak some trouble. It's not unreasonable for a comeback from injury and surgery to be incremental. (Ask Murray and Del Potro.) You can't expect magic every time he steps on the clay, especially against a top-form Djokovic. Rafa didn't need to send a message to Nole today. Novak got the memo long ago. There's a lot of dirt between MC and RG.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

This week is certainly positive for Rafa. He did not go out early. He won against two fairly decent opponents in Isner and Ferrer.

Ranking Points wise he improved. As he lost in QF last year and reached SF this year. Also, he got his #4 ranking back.

More important than anything else, he managed to play against Novak. So, he will be able to assess personally as to how he measures up and what adjustments he needs to make. If he was not
playing Novak, he would not even get to know as to where he stands in comparison.

 

[Billie]

Good to see you, Billie, hope you're well :hug

Right back at ya, Kieran

 

[Billie]

By the way, just to be honest, I actually like Nole, I think he's great for the game, and if he won in Paris I wouldn't begrudge him. I compare him easily to Federer and Rafa in this era, he's a great player and a character for our sport, he works his socks off, addresses his weaknesses and makes himself as great as he can be. I applaud the guy, and I'm looking forward to how he faces this huge challenge ahead, cos let's face it, beating Rafa in an RG final is like ascending Everest with no oxygen...

Are you waving a white flag?

It will be interesting to see how Nole approaches this clay season. He started off well with no injuries for the first time since 2011. He needs two things going for him: to be healthy and to combat his nerves at RG. Everybody knows that Nole has the game to actually beat Rafa on clay as he did it before, but that is not the only thing that a player needs to win. In Paris he has succumbed to the occasion more than once before.

Nole has 6 defeats to Rafa at RG alone. It's time to change that stat, don't you think.

 

[Moxie]

By the way, just to be honest, I actually like Nole, I think he's great for the game, and if he won in Paris I wouldn't begrudge him. I compare him easily to Federer and Rafa in this era, he's a great player and a character for our sport, he works his socks off, addresses his weaknesses and makes himself as great as he can be. I applaud the guy, and I'm looking forward to how he faces this huge challenge ahead, cos let's face it, beating Rafa in an RG final is like ascending Everest with no oxygen...

It will be interesting to see how Nole approaches this clay season. He started off well with no injuries for the first time since 2011. He needs two things going for him: to be healthy and to combat his nerves at RG. Everybody knows that Nole has the game to actually beat Rafa on clay as he did it before, but that is not the only thing that a player needs to win. In Paris he has succumbed to the occasion more than once before.

Nole has 6 defeats to Rafa at RG alone. It's time to change that stat, don't you think.

You mentioned this before. I remember that he had a wrist injury last year at MC, and therefore skipped Madrid. What injury was he carrying in 2012 and 2013? I don't remember that.

 

[Kieran]

And I have an honest question, I didn't even bother to read everything in that article, but having won MC 8 times why is Rafael making fools of his fans in saying that this was a positive week, what sane man would believe that he couldn't have done better looking at his past results there. Had he got away with a win today or at least put up a good fight, it would send Novak a clear message that he is not uncontested everywhere, at least not on clay...

Rafa hasn't won MC since 2012. He has no divine right to win these things, no more than Nole or Ferrer or any of the other men who are busting a gut to get the prizes. All he can do is turn up and compete as best he can and at the moment that's not at a level that's good enough to give him a photo of himself biting a trophy. That's how it goes. He's not making a fool of anybody because he doesn't owe his fans anything, and also because he's correct.

This is a positive week for him.

How do we know? Because last year he reached the quarters here...

 

[Billie]

By the way, just to be honest, I actually like Nole, I think he's great for the game, and if he won in Paris I wouldn't begrudge him. I compare him easily to Federer and Rafa in this era, he's a great player and a character for our sport, he works his socks off, addresses his weaknesses and makes himself as great as he can be. I applaud the guy, and I'm looking forward to how he faces this huge challenge ahead, cos let's face it, beating Rafa in an RG final is like ascending Everest with no oxygen...

It will be interesting to see how Nole approaches this clay season. He started off well with no injuries for the first time since 2011. He needs two things going for him: to be healthy and to combat his nerves at RG. Everybody knows that Nole has the game to actually beat Rafa on clay as he did it before, but that is not the only thing that a player needs to win. In Paris he has succumbed to the occasion more than once before.

Nole has 6 defeats to Rafa at RG alone. It's time to change that stat, don't you think.

You mentioned this before. I remember that he had a wrist injury last year at MC, and therefore skipped Madrid. What injury was he carrying in 2012 and 2013? I don't remember that.

Nole actually reminded me of that the other day in one of his pressers. In 2013 he rolled his ankle during the Davis Cup and had lots of problems with it until the semi final. He actually saw a specialist about it a couple of weeks after the Madrid early exit. In 2012 he had a shoulder/back injury he mentioned. It is all because of the transition from hard to clay courts. This year, he says he is feeling better than the previous 3 years so I was glad to hear that.

As for the nerves, I don't think they have cure for that. :snicker

 

[Kieran]

Glad to hear about all these injuries. The other day I read that Federer was tired when Cilic beat him at the USO, otherwise he'd have won. So happy to read all this, because normally it's Rafa fans making excuses.

Or so we're always told...