Australian Open Day 3: Wednesday, January 21

[Vince Evert]

I'm taking time off from the forums if for the next two weeks, I'll have to hear about Smycek's performance. Just saying

Tim is a gutsy little player - a lot of heart but no real weapons. Very surprised to wake up to this.

He's nailed some winners, taking some of Nadal's loop shots on the rise. One shot at 1-0 in the tiebreak he leaped up in the air and nailed a backhand down the line winner. Great stuff. BRAVO TIM.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The way Nadal is playing right now reminds me of the Wawrinka match last year. He knows he can't do anything physically (even though he's not as hampered) so he's trying to swing for the fences out of desperation.

EDIT: This tournament is cursed for Nadal. It's official. Not sure what's ailing him but we can all rejoice for another full year of debating just how injured he was. Can't wait.

R U Looking for or making excuses for Nadal in case he looses :huh:

No, I'm just observing what's going on.

 

[Kirijax]

Smyczek is giving Nadal a chance to get back into it. That last game was lazy.

 

[Vince Evert]

It's funny...why doesn't Nadal try to play like that when he's healthy? That forehand inside out is unplayable when he goes after it.

That's it. He's got to got for his shots more and stay away from baseline exchanges tonight. The american guy is winning majority of these.

 

[Vince Evert]

You just watch. If Nadal does lose this match his fans will be posting excuses thick and fast on tennis forums everywhere.

 

[Kirijax]

Bad Smyczek. Very bad. And Wawrinka you ain't.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Smyczek is a seriously terrible volleyer. And of course, he's just in that spot where he doesn't know what to do with the injured player across the net. And so Nadal has the break. Hopefully Smyczek will just start playing like he was. The commentators actually just said it: he needs to be going for long points. Meanwhile Nadal starts with a double fault.

 

[nehmeth]

Bad Smyczek. Very bad. And Wawrinka you ain't.

Looks as though the moment has gotten to him... very poor performance to lose serve.

 

[Vince Evert]

Grand Slam Tennis RRrrrocks folks. LOL. Broken Shoelace you don't really want to go away from the forums for two weeks do you mate ? Enjoy the Fun that is Grand Slam Tennis.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I'm taking time off from the forums if for the next two weeks, I'll have to hear about Smycek's performance. Just saying

Tim is a gutsy little player - a lot of heart but no real weapons. Very surprised to wake up to this.

Yes, the "no weapons" part is pretty telling. To be clear, he does a lot of things well. Actually, he has no major weaknesses. The problem is, he has no major strengths either, which under normal circumstances, would mean he has no chance against someone like Nadal. That's pretty telling. But, he counter-punches well, returns well, and moves extremely well. He's got great shot selection too.

However, the best indicator of the fact that he hasn't played THAT well is the set currently taking place. Nadal is hitting with power, and his opponent's counter-punching and movement suddenly aren't that great, meaning they were probably looking a little better than they actually are due to the lack of pop on Nadal's groundies.

That said, I don't think Nadal can keep this up. This sort of aggressive hitting takes energy. He lost this match when he blew the third set. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[brokenshoelace]

R U Looking for or making excuses for Nadal in case he looses :huh:

Why do you get that impression? Everything he said is perfectly rational.

In his last post not a word of credit to Tim Smyczek's good play.

Due to two reasons:

A) I think the result so far is largely due to Nadal playing an abysmal sets 2 and 3.

and more importantly,

B) I'm a Nadal fan. I'm going to focus on Nadal over the dude beating him.

 

[brokenshoelace]

What's this talk about Nadal being dizzy? I saw Fashionista's post before the match that he had to stop practice earlier because of something wrong with his eye... and he did call for the trainer briefly earlier (but didn't take a medical time out).

 

[nehmeth]

Ralf's hitting some of his groundies quite well. It's just between points that he's moving around like a doddering old codger.

 

[Federberg]

Why do you get that impression? Everything he said is perfectly rational.

In his last post not a word of credit to Tim Smyczek's good play.

Due to two reasons:

A) I think the result so far is largely due to Nadal playing an abysmal sets 2 and 3.

and more importantly,

B) I'm a Nadal fan. I'm going to focus on Nadal over the dude beating him.

I think there's room, even as a fan, to give some credit if the other guy's playing well. But perhaps after the match when emotions have cooled down

 

[Vince Evert]

And I choose to be objective...with every player.

BTW Kohlschreiber has his nose in front vs Tomic at 4-3 lead in the third. GO TOMIC ? IS ESPN showing any of Tomic's match over there ? We got high hopes for Tomic, LOL...

 

[Vince Evert]

Ralf's hitting some of his groundies quite well. It's just between points that he's moving around like a doddering old codger.

It's been a humid day and night in Melbourne, nehmeth.

 

[Vince Evert]

Nadal's taken the 4th set by 6-3. Two sets all.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal needs a little help from Smyczek in the fifth. While he did very well to go after his shots in the 4th, not sure how much he can keep this up, especially when he's not moving well. The serve is crucial (or lack of serve, to be clear) because that means Nadal isn't getting freebies. To compensate, he needs some unforced errors from Smyczek, who to be fair to, doesn't miss often.

I still think Nadal lost this match in the 3rd set. He could have been on his way to a nice shower and the massage table by now.

 

[Vince Evert]

Broken Shoelace must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. Relax mate LOL.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

I think in this match in the second set at the very least Smyczek's weapon was his two handed backhand. He was using it to great effect. But Nadal caught on to it and made him pay for it and he's gone away from it. I think he needs to go back to it, though not as much as he was. But for the whole match, or at least since the second set (I didn't see the first set and he lost it) his speed has been the number one weapon. He's just really quick. He's put a lot of balls in play that would be winners for Nadal against others. Or if they weren't winners, they wouldn't have come back with so much on them and he could have put them away.