Abierto Mexicani TelCel, Acapulco, Mexico, ATP 500

[the AntiPusher]

These two defeats will come back to haunt him later on, essentially destroying his confidence.

Loosing a 500 level final to Sam at Rio, I mean Alcapulco...see I forgot already which I know a real pro like Rafa will too. Nah..this loss to Sam isn't that big of a deal..AO will sting but Rafa knows it isn't the end of the world. Every top pro including Fed and Djokovic lost last week ,this will be no difference or confidence destroyer.

At least he lost against a player who is playing better than ever and not like when he came back of an injury in 2013 when he lost his first two tournaments against "nobody", that was bad though later he won almost everything in HC and clay.

Yep

 

[the AntiPusher]

I think he will look back now at his two loses of the year..both times he was outplayed..simple as that..

And both times he should have won but.....again, I think when he can see any win close he is getting paralyzed like he looked in this match and in the fifth set in the AO, it means he is playing with too much nerves that he should control better. If he would win IW or Miami then it would be a very diferent story

Which 2 should he have won? He was outplayed in both. I watched the highlights and have to say Querrey played some brilliant points, especially in the 2nd set tiebreaker. He won the match, Nadal did not lose it. Wasn't expecting Querrey to win but the aggressive player won, again. The way tennis should be. Anyway, he did better than Novak and Roger this week so it's not all doom and gloom. Reaching a final was a decent result. He's really started pushing the ball way too much though. It was really bad against Nishioka and Querrey wasn't going to let a pusher beat him.

Not going to let a pusher beat him..

Front This is your greatest and most truthful statement ever my friend :clap...

Rafa and team(Toni, Carlos and Rafa)..Please Hear this very loud and clear..No one, not even Berdych is gonna let Rafa win a hardcourt title match against them by letting Rafa just rolling the ball into play. This has been so evident over the past 4 years and I really thought when Rafa escaped from Grigor's onslaught, Rafa had figured it out. No Rafa will not win IW or Miami with this serve ..He will not win Montreal, Cincinnati, US open, Shanghi, Paris or the WTF by playing this style with this serve..Those days are past him on a hardcourt, IMO.

 

[the AntiPusher]

These two defeats will come back to haunt him later on, essentially destroying his confidence.

Loosing a 500 level final to Sam at Rio, I mean Alcapulco...see I forgot already which I know a real pro like Rafa will too. Nah..this loss to Sam isn't that big of a deal..AO will sting but Rafa knows it isn't the end of the world. Every top pro including Fed and Djokovic lost last week ,this will be no difference or confidence destroyer.

At least he lost against a player who is playing better than ever and not like when he came back of an injury in 2013 when he lost his first two tournaments against "nobody", that was bad though later he won almost everything in HC and clay.

Djokovic Federer, Murray and Stan would have lost to Sam yesterday..His serve and first strike tennis ground strokes was absolutely phenomenal.

 

[Front242]

Sam played an unreal tiebreak.

 

[Federberg]

I get the feeling that Rafa really needs a title to get going

 

[the AntiPusher]

Sam played an unreal tiebreak.

Yep...he kept the pressure on Rafa...only the Rafa that defeated Grigor could have survived that match last night. Or ever be a threat to challenge for a premium hardcourt title

 

[Carol]

It wasn't his nerves, it was his decisions.

His decisions under the pressure of his nerves, definitely he needs to win a title very badly

 

[El Dude]

I've said this before, but Rafa fans need to emulate the Irish Sage, Kieran, and adjust expectations. Some seem to still be thinking/hoping that he has another 2013 surge in him. I just don't see that, and there's really been nothing in the last three years now to think he can return to that level.

That said, I can't really put my finger on it, but 2017 seems different from 2015-16. It is almost like he has adjusted expectations a bit, so is more relaxed. I think this is a good thing, ultimately, and that he could do something similar to what Roger did in 2014-15. Remember that Roger made three finals in those two years, but just couldn't get past Novak. But now we have a big difference: right now there is no player who is miles ahead of everyone else, like Novak was. The path is open for Rafa at Roland Garros...there will be competition, but Rafa is still my favorite to win it as of right now.

The only player that could supplant Rafa as the favorite at RG is Novak - if he surges before then and returns to at least 2012-14 form. And possibly Stan, but he's so unpredictable as to almost not be worth considering except as a kind of "dangerous floater." But Roland Garros is less than 4 months away, and Novak is still rather wobbly.

But the good news for Rafa fans is that he is going deep in tournaments, which means he's giving himself chances to win them. Don't worry if he doesn't win IW or Miami; the bigger test for him in winning another Slam will be the clay Masters. If he wins at least one, I think it will bolster his confidence for the French Open. If he misses out on all three...I think we've got a problem.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I've said this before, but Rafa fans need to emulate the Irish Sage, Kieran, and adjust expectations. Some seem to still be thinking/hoping that he has another 2013 surge in him. I just don't see that, and there's really been nothing in the last three years now to think he can return to that level.

That said, I can't really put my finger on it, but 2017 seems different from 2015-16. It is almost like he has adjusted expectations a bit, so is more relaxed. I think this is a good thing, ultimately, and that he could do something similar to what Roger did in 2014-15. Remember that Roger made three finals in those two years, but just couldn't get past Novak. But now we have a big difference: right now there is no player who is miles ahead of everyone else, like Novak was. The path is open for Rafa at Roland Garros...there will be competition, but Rafa is still my favorite to win it as of right now.

The only player that could supplant Rafa as the favorite at RG is Novak - if he surges before then and returns to at least 2012-14 form. And possibly Stan, but he's so unpredictable as to almost not be worth considering except as a kind of "dangerous floater." But Roland Garros is less than 4 months away, and Novak is still rather wobbly.

But the good news for Rafa fans is that he is going deep in tournaments, which means he's giving himself chances to win them. Don't worry if he doesn't win IW or Miami; the bigger test for him in winning another Slam will be the clay Masters. If he wins at least one, I think it will bolster his confidence for the French Open. If he misses out on all three...I think we've got a problem.

Would you say this if Rafa would have closed the deal when he was up 3-1 vs Fed at AO or 4-2 30-15 vs Djoker at AO 2012..these are matches he should've won if he played like he did in 2013..it's that damn serve..it's his biggest hindrance..no one can convince me differently

 

[Front242]

Could've won, not would've Plus, Roger never had a backhand like he had this year so that's a very big if there and the match against Novak was still only a point for 40-15 if he made it, not game point or break point. I personally think way too much is made of that lost point. It's not like there were any wasted/missed match points in either of those matches.

Federer showed against Donskoy no lead is enough. But 4-2 is nothing, even 4-1 is just one break of serve. No one can tell what would've happened.

 

[Carol]

I don't forget what Rafa said not too long ego: "When you win often everything is easier but when you start to lose everything become more difficult even the easier things"......yep!

 

[the AntiPusher]

Could've won, not would've Plus, Roger never had a backhand like he had this year so that's a very big if there and the match against Novak was still only a point for 40-15 if he made it, not game point or break point. I personally think way too much is made of that lost point. It's not like there were any wasted/missed match points in either of those matches.

You don't say that when Darth Fed whines about Fed loosing 2008 to Rafa or the two USO semi to Djokovic plus 2009 USO final to JMDP..you don't say a damn thing :devil

 

[Front242]

Could've won, not would've Plus, Roger never had a backhand like he had this year so that's a very big if there and the match against Novak was still only a point for 40-15 if he made it, not game point or break point. I personally think way too much is made of that lost point. It's not like there were any wasted/missed match points in either of those matches.

You don't say that when Darth Fed whines about Fed loosing 2008 to Rafa or the two USO semi to Djokovic plus 2009 USO final to JMDP..you don't say a damn thing :devil

Federer could've won the 2009 US Open final but he never reached match point so I'm not gonna say he should've won that match. The 2 consecutive years he lost to Novak in the USO semis he had 2 match points both times. Again could've won but in those you have much more of a case than you Nadal fans do for a mere 4-2 scenario and no match points. Federer never got to match point in Wimbledon 2008 so no he should not have won that match. What he should have done though is not been so passive and poor for the first 2 sets. Not to mention the match should've been stopped as it was way darker on one side of the court than the other and I know people who saw it live and said it looked nothing like it did on tv and was downright dark. At the end of the day though, the better player won that day.

 

[the AntiPusher]

These two defeats will come back to haunt him later on, essentially destroying his confidence.

Nah..Rafa will be okay..that clown was riding around town with his new pal Tomic in a sports car..maybe Carol will post the pic

 

[Front242]

These two defeats will come back to haunt him later on, essentially destroying his confidence.

Nah..Rafa will be okay..that clown was riding around town with his new pal Tomic in a sports car..maybe Carol will post the pic

That was a photoshopped pic.

Here's the original pic...

 

[the AntiPusher]

These two defeats will come back to haunt him later on, essentially destroying his confidence.

Nah..Rafa will be okay..that clown was riding around town with his new pal Tomic in a sports car..maybe Carol will post the pic

That was a photoshopped pic.

Here's the original pic...

Lol...yeah..I knew it was photoshopped ..thanks Fronty :laydownlaughing

 

[herios]

I am still stunned (without seeing the matches) of what Sam Querrey accomplished this week here.
This was clearly his best event to date, not just his biggest title, but he obtained it by defeating two top 10 players and one top 16 (Nick).
This came out really from nowhere, and I am now wondering if we will see a late blooming rise of his, as many others have done in recent years.

 

[Moxie]

I get the feeling that Rafa really needs a title to get going

His decisions under the pressure of his nerves, definitely he needs to win a title very badly

Surely this is not rocket science, but he's playing very well compared to the last couple of years. A title is not far off. He's done very well at IW.

 

[isabelle]

Sam played Manacor's bull a bad trick...unexpected win, congrats to him

 

[isabelle]

great tourney for Sam Q, he deserved to win