BARCELONA - ATP 500 - Apr. 19-27, 2014.

[Iona16]

Argh I was looking forward to a weekend of watching Rafa. I haven't seen him play in ages. Roll on Madrid is all I can say.

 

[Denis]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French. Great opportunity to make some history. I bet old Roger is among them, finally gets a good opportunity to beat his nemesis. I mean if Ferrer and now even Almagro can beat Nadal, surely the fedster must have a shot? :snigger

 

[Moxie]

^ I'd be careful what you wish for. Sharks may swirl in the water, but be aware of who the biggest shark is.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

if Federer ever beats rafa/wafa on clay then the the alarm bells will be ringing nonstop, having been turned up to 11 on the dial* and the dial only goes up to 10. (*so what if alarm bells don't have dials..imagine it instead then)

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

just seen the match point, forehand by mal aggro crisply hit but rafa made no effort to run it down.

 

[honey1269]

I enjoy Nishi, Ernie, and Nico, so I will be happy if any of them wins it!

Same here.

 

[Moxie]

And somehow, Fognini is still in in the doubles.

 

[Front242]

Hope Ernie dishes out some death blows. It's about time.

 

[Moxie]

^ I'm going Nishikori or Almagro.

 

[Front242]

^ Well, I reckon Nishikori or Almagro are the more likely winners but if he doesn't play like a clown Ernie is well able to win it. He's shown plenty of skill on clay against Nadal even when he was playing very well. Nadal's 2 wins on clay against Gulbis were 6-4 in the 3rd affairs in 2010 and 2013 so the guy is clearly good enough to beat who's left here if he puts his mind to it.

Edit: And he beat Federer on clay in Rome too in 2010.

 

[tented]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French. Great opportunity to make some history. I bet old Roger is among them, finally gets a good opportunity to beat his nemesis. I mean if Ferrer and now even Almagro can beat Nadal, surely the fedster must have a shot? :snigger

That would be no. Match-up issues, headcase issues would prevent this. Even with Rafa in this state, he would be able to break down Fed's BH, run him around, and draw him off court to hit winning forehands all day.

I can definitely envision him losing to Djokovic (of course), and perhaps Wawrinka (if the right set of factors were to converge), but not Roger, especially in a best-of-five set match. (And the last time Roger won one of those, on any surface, was Wimbledon '07 -- seven years ago. Enough said.)

 

[Denis]

^ I'd be careful what you wish for. Sharks may swirl in the water, but be aware of who the biggest shark is.

I am not wishing for anything with that post. Learn to read.

 

[Denis]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French. Great opportunity to make some history. I bet old Roger is among them, finally gets a good opportunity to beat his nemesis. I mean if Ferrer and now even Almagro can beat Nadal, surely the fedster must have a shot? :snigger

That would be no. Match-up issues, headcase issues would prevent this. Even with Rafa in this state, he would be able to break down Fed's BH, run him around, and draw him off court to hit winning forehands all day.

I can definitely envision him losing to Djokovic (of course), and perhaps Wawrinka (if the right set of factors were to converge), but not Roger, especially in a best-of-five set match. (And the last time Roger won one of those, on any surface, was Wimbledon '07 -- seven years ago. Enough said.)

Not sure. It's not that fed doesn't know how to play on clay. I've seen bad beat downs of Ferrer and Almagro in the past too. I think I'd be interested to see a match on clay between them for the first time in a very long time now.

 

[Kieran]

I think if he lost to Federer, funny enough, it would be an actual signifier of decline, rather than the guess-state we have now. If he can't rouse himself for a match with Roger, then he's truly veering into disrepair. I think - as I said before - he'll need a great tussle to reignite the combat juices, and facing Roger could be the one that does it (if Rafa can get that far!).

Once the intensity levels rise, the movement and other game issues would be able to be addressed...

 

[Denis]

I think if he lost to Federer, funny enough, it would be an actual signifier of decline, rather than the guess-state we have now. If he can't rouse himself for a match with Roger, then he's truly veering into disrepair. I think - as I said before - he'll need a great tussle to reignite the combat juices, and facing Roger could be the one that does it (if Rafa can get that far!).

Once the intensity levels rise, the movement and other game issues would be able to be addressed...

That's true, Ferrer and Almagro are Davis cup buddies after all. If it is the intensity that is bothering him, and it looks like it does, than he'll probably be able to regain a bit against the fedster.

 

[tented]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French. Great opportunity to make some history. I bet old Roger is among them, finally gets a good opportunity to beat his nemesis. I mean if Ferrer and now even Almagro can beat Nadal, surely the fedster must have a shot? :snigger

That would be no. Match-up issues, headcase issues would prevent this. Even with Rafa in this state, he would be able to break down Fed's BH, run him around, and draw him off court to hit winning forehands all day.

I can definitely envision him losing to Djokovic (of course), and perhaps Wawrinka (if the right set of factors were to converge), but not Roger, especially in a best-of-five set match. (And the last time Roger won one of those, on any surface, was Wimbledon '07 -- seven years ago. Enough said.)

Not sure. It's not that fed doesn't know how to play on clay. I've seen bad beat downs of Ferrer and Almagro in the past too. I think I'd be interested to see a match on clay between them for the first time in a very long time now.

I never wrote, nor implied (that I'm aware of) that Fed can't play on clay. He can. In fact, he's been the second best on that surface over the past decade. Sure, he's lost several clay-court finals to Rafa, yet these meant Roger first had to get through every other round in order to face Nadal. To paraphrase Roger from 4-5 or so years ago: "I don't have a clay problem. I have a Rafa problem." Perfectly put.

Also, you made your post specific to Roland Garros. That's a completely different setting, since it's best-of-five set matches, vs. a Masters, with best-of-three. It's easier to get on top of Rafa in the latter, while, to this day, he has still only lost ONE best-of-five set match on clay. I surprise myself every time I think of that.

Finally, Nadal and Federer played the Rome final just last year, so it hasn't been a "very long time now" -- maybe you tuned out, since it didn't involve Novak.

 

[Kieran]

I think if he lost to Federer, funny enough, it would be an actual signifier of decline, rather than the guess-state we have now. If he can't rouse himself for a match with Roger, then he's truly veering into disrepair. I think - as I said before - he'll need a great tussle to reignite the combat juices, and facing Roger could be the one that does it (if Rafa can get that far!).

Once the intensity levels rise, the movement and other game issues would be able to be addressed...

That's true, Ferrer and Almagro are Davis cup buddies after all. If it is the intensity that is bothering him, and it looks like it does, than he'll probably be able to regain a bit against the fedster.

I dunno who wrote it, maybe Bodo or Tignor, but there may also be an element of battle fatigue in Rafa's game, too much deja vu, like "how many times do I have to keep doing this against Ferrer/Everybody, on clay?" before it becomes boring, unsatisfying, distracting...

 

[Denis]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French. Great opportunity to make some history. I bet old Roger is among them, finally gets a good opportunity to beat his nemesis. I mean if Ferrer and now even Almagro can beat Nadal, surely the fedster must have a shot? :snigger

That would be no. Match-up issues, headcase issues would prevent this. Even with Rafa in this state, he would be able to break down Fed's BH, run him around, and draw him off court to hit winning forehands all day.

I can definitely envision him losing to Djokovic (of course), and perhaps Wawrinka (if the right set of factors were to converge), but not Roger, especially in a best-of-five set match. (And the last time Roger won one of those, on any surface, was Wimbledon '07 -- seven years ago. Enough said.)

Not sure. It's not that fed doesn't know how to play on clay. I've seen bad beat downs of Ferrer and Almagro in the past too. I think I'd be interested to see a match on clay between them for the first time in a very long time now.

I never wrote, nor implied (that I'm aware of) that Fed can't play on clay. He can. In fact, he's been the second best on that surface over the past decade. Sure, he's lost several clay-court finals to Rafa, yet these meant Roger first had to get through every other round in order to face Nadal. To paraphrase Roger from 4-5 or so years ago: "I don't have a clay problem. I have a Rafa problem." Perfectly put.

Also, you made your post specific to Roland Garros. That's a completely different setting, since it's best-of-five set matches, vs. a Masters, with best-of-three. It's easier to get on top of Rafa in the latter, while, to this day, he has still only lost ONE best-of-five set match on clay. I surprise myself every time I think of that.

Finally, Nadal and Federer played the Rome final just last year, so it hasn't been a "very long time now" -- maybe you tuned out, since it didn't involve Novak.

Well that's the thing, with the lack of intensity the Rafa problem might go away. I'm pretty sure Ferrer and Almagro don't have a clay problem either.

With the very long time remark I meant an interesting tennis match. Haven't seen that between roger and Rafa since Wimbledon 2008 or that AO final. Might have been another but it's been a while.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It is very hard to think that this trend will continue, but... there must a lot of people out there dying to play Nadal right now.

I agree. If it does continue though, I bet every single player in the top 100 is hoping to be in Nadals part of the draw at the French.

If they're mentally challenged, sure.

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9_zHGZqWM[/video]