Australian Open Day 3: Wednesday, January 21

[Carol]

Rafa said "I have to cangrutate Tim, he is a real gentleman"
He really is, all my sympathy for him and from now I'm going to be her fan hoping to see him playing so well like today, well done Tim!

I meant "I have to congratulate Tim"

 

[Front242]

^ If you call that 5th set his best you're delusional, AP! All fans of both guys know Roger played nowhere near his best there. It's the opposite if anything. He was upset at how poorly he played in that 5th set and at other key points in that match. In terms of 5 set matches that he should not have lost btw I was thinking more along the lines of USO '09. That loss to Del Potro was a bad one. No offense to Del Potro but Roger messed that up big time. That should be the one he should regret the most imo. That would've been 6 straight US Open titles and I doubt anyone will do that anytime soon but he could well have that day.

Front .. You cant based the entire match just on the 5th set. Roger had numerous of opportunities to take control of the match. It was a good match but it wasn't the best Fedal. My point was Roger threw at Rafa what he had on that day and that's all you can ask of a player. e.g. How often do you think that all Rafa fans relive AO 2012 5th set 4-2 30-15 Rafa has a short ball and Djoker at the net and Rafa does not make the down the line passing shot. :cover:nono

That was only a point he lost to make it 30-30. Hardly the end of the world. Roger lost that AO' 09 5th set 6-2. Not a good scoreline by any means. Roger threw nothing good at him when it matters yeah which is what I said and we agree now it seems. I said he played poorly in that 5th set and at other key points in the match but playing badly doesn't mean he gave him all he could that day and still came up short. Rather him threw in tons of slop and played a horrendous 5th set. That one single point in that Nadal/Djokovic final only made the score 30-30. Again 40-15 sounds better but who's to say he'd have won that game either way. The match just went back on serve then, a far cry from a 6-2 5th set debacle.

 

[the AntiPusher]

^ If you call that 5th set his best you're delusional, AP! All fans of both guys know Roger played nowhere near his best there. It's the opposite if anything. He was upset at how poorly he played in that 5th set and at other key points in that match. In terms of 5 set matches that he should not have lost btw I was thinking more along the lines of USO '09. That loss to Del Potro was a bad one. No offense to Del Potro but Roger messed that up big time. That should be the one he should regret the most imo. That would've been 6 straight US Open titles and I doubt anyone will do that anytime soon but he could well have that day.

Front .. You cant based the entire match just on the 5th set. Roger had numerous of opportunities to take control of the match. It was a good match but it wasn't the best Fedal. My point was Roger threw at Rafa what he had on that day and that's all you can ask of a player. e.g. How often do you think that all Rafa fans relive AO 2012 5th set 4-2 30-15 Rafa has a short ball and Djoker at the net and Rafa does not make the down the line passing shot. :cover:nono

That was only a point he lost to make it 30-30. Hardly the end of the world. Roger lost that AO' 09 5th set 6-2. Not a good scoreline by any means. Roger threw nothing good at him when it matters yeah which is what I said and we agree now it seems. I said he played poorly in that 5th set and at other key points in the match but playing badly doesn't mean he gave him all he could that day and still came up short. Rather him threw in tons of slop and played a horrendous 5th set. That one single point in that Nadal/Djokovic final only made the score 30-30. Again 40-15 sounds better but who's to say he'd have won that game either way. The match just went back on serve then, a far cry from a 6-2 5th set debacle.

We will have to agree to disagree about the A0 2009 final .. as for the 2012 AO final.. That match was so close and every point was contested at the highest level. Most teenis purist(is this such a word) would say the odds of Rafa going up 5-2 and closing out that match was huge in Rafa's favor. IMO

 

[brokenshoelace]

Roger was bad in the fifth set against Rafa in 2009. That much is obvious. He was tired, he was nervous, and he played poorly. I just find it funny that's treated as a debacle but Nadal going to 5 sets while getting cramps an hour into the match with a no-name is supposed to be not a big deal and doesn't imply anything about Nadal's level.

 

[DarthFed]

^ What makes Roger's record in 5th sets a lot worse than that awful winning % indicates is how he does in the biggest 5th sets against the good players. 3-8 in the semis and finals of GS matches that have gone 5 sets. It's taken a lot of slams off the board. If a certain island boy catches or surpasses him in slams his abominable play in 5th sets might keep him up at night.

If a certain island boy catches or surpasses him in slams his abominable play in 5th sets might keep him up at night

Darth, remember the circumstances why Roger cried on Rafa's shoulder..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdSpGJTa18

Just being brutely honest my friend, I always felt it was an acknowledgement that he knew he had just thrown his best at his opponent but to no avail.

Completely disagree. The tears were a result of losing yet another 5 setter against Rafa with so much on the line. And likely the realization that he caved under the pressure of the 5th set and played unbelievably bad and that was after he had numerous chances to take control of the match by winning the 3rd set against a tiring Rafa. Neither of them played well that match, with Rafa it was understandable on the heels of the marathon. With Roger it was about who he was playing, he was going to find a way to lose that match no matter what. Roger's serve was about as bad as it's ever been and as usual he lost pretty much all the big points vs. Rafa. There are some parallels between that and 2012, mainly that the winner came in after a marathon and managed to win despite playing well below their best.

 

[the AntiPusher]

^ What makes Roger's record in 5th sets a lot worse than that awful winning % indicates is how he does in the biggest 5th sets against the good players. 3-8 in the semis and finals of GS matches that have gone 5 sets. It's taken a lot of slams off the board. If a certain island boy catches or surpasses him in slams his abominable play in 5th sets might keep him up at night.

If a certain island boy catches or surpasses him in slams his abominable play in 5th sets might keep him up at night

Darth, remember the circumstances why Roger cried on Rafa's shoulder..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdSpGJTa18

Just being brutely honest my friend, I always felt it was an acknowledgement that he knew he had just thrown his best at his opponent but to no avail.

Completely disagree. The tears were a result of losing yet another 5 setter against Rafa with so much on the line. And likely the realization that he caved under the pressure of the 5th set and played unbelievably bad and that was after he had numerous chances to take control of the match by winning the 3rd set against a tiring Rafa. Neither of them played well that match, with Rafa it was understandable on the heels of the marathon. With Roger it was about who he was playing, he was going to find a way to lose that match no matter what. Roger's serve was about as bad as it's ever been and as usual he lost pretty much all the big points vs. Rafa. There are some parallels between that and 2012, mainly that the winner came in after a marathon and managed to win despite playing well below their best.

It was a result of loosing another 5 setter to Rafa hoever although Roger didnt play well , he knew he did the best he had for That Day.

 

[DarthFed]

^ Effort matters oh so much eh? It's all about W's and L's at the end of the day unless you're playing chess in which case there are a lot of games where no one is a failure

 

[the AntiPusher]

^ Effort matters oh so much eh? It's all about W's and L's at the end of the day unless you're playing chess in which case there are a lot of games where no one is a failure

Yep.. AO 12..periodically , I woke up in a deep sweat over Rafa letting that one slipping away.. :devil

 

[Vince Evert]

Let's have another look at the last game of Nadal's second round vs Tim Smyczek. Scroll to 1:50 if you want to see such a class act of sportsmanship -
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6nlkG28HY[/video]