2024 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome, Italy - Masters 1000

[the AntiPusher]

A couple of Nadal- clay stats before his match, his match just started.
He is 111-1 in opening matches on clay ( only loss in Rome 2008 to Ferrero)
H never lost back to back matches on clay
BTW Zizou Bergs, Rafa's opponent, was the R/U in the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar @ATP Challenger tournament in 2022 at the Nadal Academy

Oh my God miss MM..you almost jinxed Rafa with that he never lost back to back matches on clay .. whew

I really having a hard time understanding why he is playing so passive against lesser talent . Practice level Rafa is all I am asking for meaning he hits a ton harder in practice than he does during tournaments.. Well that explains why he has 14 RG to AP's 0 jajaja

 

[Fiero425]

Oh my God miss MM..you almost jinxed Rafa with that he never lost back to back matches on clay .. whew

I really having a hard time understanding why he is playing so passive against lesser talent . Practice level Rafa is all I am asking for meaning he hits a ton harder in practice than he does during tournaments.. Well that explains why he has 14 RG to AP's 0 jajaja

I've been talking about this for years! Rafa has allowed players never heard of before, taking him to the limit to win early round matches! HOW IS HE THE GOAT? It's always been like this, not just these last few years! He's taken years off his life more than likely due to playing so passively & defensive! Nothing new which is why he'll be limping out o the game instead of retiring w/ full honors IMO! His legacy will be inflated due to his clay retrieval skills!

 

[El Dude]

I've been talking about this for years! Rafa has allowed players never heard of before, taking him to the limit to win early round matches! HOW IS HE THE GOAT? It's always been like this, not just these last few years! He's taken years off his life more than likely due to playing so passively & defensive! Nothing new which is why he'll be limping out o the game instead of retiring w/ full honors IMO! His legacy will be inflated due to his clay retrieval skills!

Or maybe:

 

[the AntiPusher]

I've been talking about this for years! Rafa has allowed players never heard of before, taking him to the limit to win early round matches! HOW IS HE THE GOAT? It's always been like this, not just these last few years! He's taken years off his life more than likely due to playing so passively & defensive! Nothing new which is why he'll be limping out o the game instead of retiring w/ full honors IMO! His legacy will be inflated due to his clay retrieval skills!

Wait for a second.. playing passively vs lesser players do not disqualifies a person as the GOAT.. that's like saying Jordan couldn't overcome the Pistons or the Celtics for years although he was a better player than they had on their teams..

 

[Fiero425]

View attachment 9452

Or maybe:

View attachment 9453

Hey, get off my lawn! ;-)

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh my God miss MM..you almost jinxed Rafa with that he never lost back to back matches on clay .. whew

I really having a hard time understanding why he is playing so passive against lesser talent . Practice level Rafa is all I am asking for meaning he hits a ton harder in practice than he does during tournaments.. Well that explains why he has 14 RG to AP's 0 jajaja

Whatever AP

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev is ready to go in Rome.Called his injury 'minor' ( leg injury in Madrid, retired in his match) will face Jack Draper in R2 on Saturday

 

[Jelenafan]

I've been talking about this for years! Rafa has allowed players never heard of before, taking him to the limit to win early round matches! HOW IS HE THE GOAT? It's always been like this, not just these last few years! He's taken years off his life more than likely due to playing so passively & defensive! Nothing new which is why he'll be limping out o the game instead of retiring w/ full honors IMO! His legacy will be inflated due to his clay retrieval skills!

I get that you don’t cotton to his style of play, which, hey, personal preferences and all. Though a Novak fan complaining about a “retrieving” game seems a bit ironic to me.

Considering Nadal won more than a handful of titles over three decades and has the most Majors longevity of any player in the Open Era (2005 through 2022) , my argument is his actual tennis life is longer than what people perceived it would be. However early perceptions die hard , so while his Slam span will most likely end up longer than both Federer and Novak, we end up with fans sill bitching that his style of play *shortened* his career.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I get that you don’t cotton to his style of play, which, hey, personal preferences and all. Though a Novak fan complaining about a “retrieving” game seems a bit ironic to me.

Considering Nadal won more than a handful of titles over three decades and has the most Majors longevity of any player in the Open Era (2005 through 2022) , my argument is his actual tennis life is longer than what people perceived it would be. However early perceptions die hard , so while his Slam span will most likely end up longer than both Federer and Novak, we end up with fans sill bitching that his style of play *shortened* his career.

Rafael Nadal ready to âgo for everythingâ in quest to peak for French Open

Rafael Nadal says he has reached the point where he must let go of his fear of injury if he wants to compete at the highest level at the French Open

www.theguardian.com

My dawg is gonna turn it up a bit..he needs to. No more three setters

 

[El Dude]

Rafa's hesitancy is totally understandable, considering. I mean, he really doesn't want to hurt himself before Roland Garros. It makes sense that he would turn the "volume" up one notch at a time, rather than go hard from the get-go.

 

[Fiero425]

I get that you don’t cotton to his style of play, which, hey, personal preferences and all. Though a Novak fan complaining about a “retrieving” game seems a bit ironic to me.

Considering Nadal won more than a handful of titles over three decades and has the most Majors longevity of any player in the Open Era (2005 through 2022) , my argument is his actual tennis life is longer than what people perceived it would be. However early perceptions die hard , so while his Slam span will most likely end up longer than both Federer and Novak, we end up with fans sill bitching that his style of play *shortened* his career.

OCO! I told you I'm not a fan of Novak as much as I appreciate him coming along to knock down the MYTHOS & pedestal Fedal resided on for so long! The Tennis Intelligentsia still believes tennis begins and ends w/ Roger & Rafa, but Novak will overcome it all w/ a record that won't be touched anytime soon! Novak isn't just a retriever, getting up on that baseline and running his opponent to death! He's eating up the record book, eliminating Roger in catagory after catagory! I was the original fan of Roger thinking him great, but after a while his glow dimmed w/ 2 players who came along to "own" him! A GOAT can't have 2 players beating him like a drum time and time again! Age had little to no impact as Roger resurrected himself back to #1 while Novak on the shelf in 2017! I've said many times his legacy would have been preserved if he had left in a timely fashion instead of limping off the tour in '21! I suggested he retire after 2012 Wimbledon win even though he strived to win an OGM but for Murray! He had another chance after winning Wimbledon again in 2017! He blew it coming back, retaining a good level, but he couldn't get past Novak or even a NG'r like Hurkacz on grass!

 

[Front242]

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev is ready to go in Rome.Called his injury 'minor' ( leg injury in Madrid, retired in his match) will face Jack Draper in R2 on Saturday

Draper is rarely fit for more than 1 match so this could turn out to be a hopscotch battle of Oleg Mac No Leg.

 

[Front242]

OCO! I told you I'm not a fan of Novak as much as I appreciate him coming along to knock down the MYTHOS & pedestal Fedal resided on for so long! The Tennis Intelligentsia still believes tennis begins and ends w/ Roger & Rafa, but Novak will overcome it all w/ a record that won't be touched anytime soon! Novak isn't just a retriever, getting up on that baseline and running his opponent to death! He's eating up the record book, eliminating Roger in catagory after catagory! I was the original fan of Roger thinking him great, but after a while his glow dimmed w/ 2 players who came along to "own" him! A GOAT can't have 2 players beating him like a drum time and time again! Age had little to no impact as Roger resurrected himself back to #1 while Novak on the shelf in 2017! I've said many times his legacy would have been preserved if he had left in a timely fashion instead of limping off the tour in '21! I suggested he retire after 2012 Wimbledon win even though he strived to win an OGM but for Murray! He had another chance after winning Wimbledon again in 2017! He blew it coming back, retaining a good level, but he couldn't get past Novak or even a NG'r like Hurkacz on grass!

Sorry to point out facts but 6 year age gap most definitely has an impact. Also have a look at peak 2004-2007 Federer. As good as he was in 2017 (backhand was class), his forehand wasn't deadly for a very long time. 2004-2007 if he got a look on a forehand the point was as good as over.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Draper is rarely fit for more than 1 match so this could turn out to be a hopscotch battle of Oleg Mac No Leg.

I loved playing hop scotch as a youngster Meddy has had a few days off and has gone back to training, lets see

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Rafa's hesitancy is totally understandable, considering. I mean, he really doesn't want to hurt himself before Roland Garros. It makes sense that he would turn the "volume" up one notch at a time, rather than go hard from the get-go.

Well if Rafa wants to go further in Roma he has to take it up a notch in his match against Hubi, his serve is still a worry to me and he was playing at times too short on the court, he found a way to win against the Q Bergs today, he wont get away with that type of play against Hubi

 

[Front242]

I loved playing hop scotch as a youngster Meddy has had a few days off and has gone back to training, lets see

Yeah fingers crossed cos he's actually not injured often and bad timing before a slam.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Another player I will not be surprised retiring this year, is Fabio Fognini, 36, has been struggling with injuries, playing challenger events, he received a wild card into Roma and had a 3 set win over Dan Evan, in his first round match

 

[El Dude]

Well if Rafa wants to go further in Roma he has to take it up a notch in his match against Hubi, his serve is still a worry to me and he was playing at times too short on the court, he found a way to win against the Q Bergs today, he wont get away with that type of play against Hubi

To be honest, you should be worried. I'd probably give Rafa a 50-50 chance against Hurkacz. But it is also a good thing, in that it is Rafa's first test a bonafide top 10er with real weapons. "Demon" is a good player, but he's sort of fringe top 10 (or 10-20 guy) like Gasquet or Bautista Agut. So I suppose what I'm getting is that while Rafa losing to Hurkacz isn't "game over," it will tell us a lot more about how much he's capable of. Even if he loses, if he makes it a hard fought match, it should be viewed as a positive.

 

[Moxie]

I've been talking about this for years! Rafa has allowed players never heard of before, taking him to the limit to win early round matches! HOW IS HE THE GOAT? It's always been like this, not just these last few years! He's taken years off his life more than likely due to playing so passively & defensive! Nothing new which is why he'll be limping out o the game instead of retiring w/ full honors IMO! His legacy will be inflated due to his clay retrieval skills!

Others have given you the shit that this post deserves, so I won't reiterate all of it, but a) Rafa IS the clay GOAT; b) at 37, how do you call this a shortened career? C: If Nadal's skills on clay were about retrieving the ball, he'd have had Ferrer's career. Don't try to tell us that you're such a tennis expert if you don't understand the difference.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Others have given you the shit that this post deserves, so I won't reiterate all of it, but a) Rafa IS the clay GOAT; b) at 37, how do you call this a shortened career? C: If Nadal's skills on clay were about retrieving the ball, he'd have had Ferrer's career. Don't try to tell us that you're such a tennis expert if you don't understand the difference.

We all know that he has Rafa " living rent free in his head" quite frankly he is making himself look foolish, with such a post Moving On!