Bercy ATP 1000 - 2nd Nov. to 8th Nov.

Fiero425

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1972Murat said:
I have watched a tiny bit of this one but whatever I saw was the same issue with Nadal: He is still hitting the balls short. Any guy who has a bit of an offensive mind will put Nadal on defense quickly. He has to figure it out. Less tension on the racket, different racket, modify the swing...whatever. He cannot leave all these balls in the middle of the court and expect to win against better players.

I screamed throughout the match; "short ball Stan!" He won't whack the ball and get into the net enough IMO! He allows Rafa to float shots back that should be knocked off for winners! This match should have been over one way or the other a lot sooner than 2 TB's again! Short forehands, double faults on break points, and butchering 2 lob sitters; "Kieran, a 1000 times more positive?" Well he hasn't lost another match after being up 2 sets to love; it's all uphill from there I guess! :cover :puzzled :nono :angel:
 

Kieran

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1000 times more positive than "after the US Open." You have to allow a bit of grace for mild exaggeration but even still, only an idiot wouldn't subscribe to the fact that Rafa is now in a good place to launch from for next year.

Which is the point I was making... :popcorn
 

Fiero425

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Kieran said:
1000 times more positive than "after the US Open." You have to allow a bit of grace for mild exaggeration but even still, only an idiot wouldn't subscribe to the fact that Rafa is now in a good place to launch from for next year.

Which is the point I was making... :popcorn

I certainly understand where you're coming from and I think only an idiot would subscribe to Rafa now spring-boarding back to greatness! As has been pointed out by me and others, "his confidence" is shot, he sprays both FH's & BH's, double faults at the worst possible of times, and most of all gives his opponents hope that they can jump on him early in a match each time they play! He's almost guaranteed to go 3 sets whether he wins or loses; at his age that isn't promising in the least! :nono :angel: :dodgy: :cover
 

Carol

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I've just came home after a mandatary meeting at work and I can see the results of every match and I see most of them were very tied and fought :emperor:
I'm glad that Rafa has lost, now he can rest more and he will be more fitted for London where I'm sure he will play even much better than these last tournaments :cool:
Now please I'd like if someone with a common sense (fair) can tell me how Rafa has played? ;)
 

Kirijax

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About a month ago, if someone told me that Nadal was going to win the WTF, I would have done him a service and called the funny farm to come pick him up. Now, Nadal winning the WTF is not such a far-fetched idea in my mind.
 

isabelle

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Great tennis all week long,I love this Bercy's edition
 

Kieran

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Fiero425 said:
Kieran said:
1000 times more positive than "after the US Open." You have to allow a bit of grace for mild exaggeration but even still, only an idiot wouldn't subscribe to the fact that Rafa is now in a good place to launch from for next year.

Which is the point I was making... :popcorn

I certainly understand where you're coming from and I think only an idiot would subscribe to Rafa now spring-boarding back to greatness! As has been pointed out by me and others, "his confidence" is shot, he sprays both FH's & BH's, double faults at the worst possible of times, and most of all gives his opponents hope that they can jump on him early in a match each time they play! He's almost guaranteed to go 3 sets whether he wins or loses; at his age that isn't promising in the least! :nono :angel: :dodgy: :cover

Au contraire, buddy: on his least favourite surface, while not playing well, he's made himself a competitor again, dispatching Stan recently with ease, going to three against Federer in Basle, fighting hard in every match and forcing opponents to have to dig deep to beat him.

Compare that to how he was on his favourite surface. This version of Rafa would have eked better results out on clay. He certainly isn't going away easy any more, so actually his confidence is on the rise, and this is the secret ingredient. Will he get back to his best? I think sporadically, he might...
 

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Carol35 said:
I've just came home after a mandatary meeting at work and I can see the results of every match and I see most of them were very tied and fought :emperor:
I'm glad that Rafa has lost, now he can rest more and he will be more fitted for London where I'm sure he will play even much better than these last tournaments :cool:
Now please I'd like if someone with a common sense (fair) can tell me how Rafa has played? ;)

He didn't play great, Carol, but he was working on solutions, and finding some. They both looked drowsy and slow, and the organisers of the tourney ought to be fired for lousy planning, but there were positives from Rafa's perspective too...
 

Carol

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Kieran said:
Carol35 said:
I've just came home after a mandatary meeting at work and I can see the results of every match and I see most of them were very tied and fought :emperor:
I'm glad that Rafa has lost, now he can rest more and he will be more fitted for London where I'm sure he will play even much better than these last tournaments :cool:
Now please I'd like if someone with a common sense (fair) can tell me how Rafa has played? ;)

He didn't play great, Carol, but he was working on solutions, and finding some. They both looked drowsy and slow, and the organisers of the tourney ought to be fired for lousy planning, but there were positives from Rafa's perspective too...

Thanks Kieran, Rafa probably was tired, if he would have won then today he would have felt worse and worse. Like I said before, I'm glad with that result, even if he didn't play so well I see that he gave a hard time to Stan and now he has more time to rest (not too long) and be ready for London where I'd love to see him playing the best :cool:
 

the AntiPusher

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Carol35 said:
Kieran said:
Carol35 said:
I've just came home after a mandatary meeting at work and I can see the results of every match and I see most of them were very tied and fought :emperor:
I'm glad that Rafa has lost, now he can rest more and he will be more fitted for London where I'm sure he will play even much better than these last tournaments :cool:
Now please I'd like if someone with a common sense (fair) can tell me how Rafa has played? ;)

He didn't play great, Carol, but he was working on solutions, and finding some. They both looked drowsy and slow, and the organisers of the tourney ought to be fired for lousy planning, but there were positives from Rafa's perspective too...

Thanks Kieran, Rafa probably was tired, if he would have won then today he would have felt worse and worse. Like I said before, I'm glad with that result, even if he didn't play so well I see that he gave a hard time to Stan and now he has more time to rest (not too long) and be ready for London where I'd love to see him playing the best :cool:
It appears that Rafa didn't have any spare energy in his legs. Stan wasn't impressive either but was able to win the crucial points.
 

GameSetAndMath

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Kieran said:
Carol35 said:
I've just came home after a mandatary meeting at work and I can see the results of every match and I see most of them were very tied and fought :emperor:
I'm glad that Rafa has lost, now he can rest more and he will be more fitted for London where I'm sure he will play even much better than these last tournaments :cool:
Now please I'd like if someone with a common sense (fair) can tell me how Rafa has played? ;)

He didn't play great, Carol, but he was working on solutions, and finding some. They both looked drowsy and slow, and the organisers of the tourney ought to be fired for lousy planning, but there were positives from Rafa's perspective too...

She wanted reply from somebody with commonsense. ;)
 

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Kirijax said:
About a month ago, if someone told me that Nadal was going to win the WTF, I would have done him a service and called the funny farm to come pick him up. Now, Nadal winning the WTF is not such a far-fetched idea in my mind.

Not very likely though either that he wins on his worst surface in his worst year...
 

herios

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Kirijax said:
About a month ago, if someone told me that Nadal was going to win the WTF, I would have done him a service and called the funny farm to come pick him up. Now, Nadal winning the WTF is not such a far-fetched idea in my mind.

I don't see it. He has not defeated Novak, Andy, Roger this year and that is what it will take to win the WTF.
 

nehmeth

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herios said:
Kirijax said:
About a month ago, if someone told me that Nadal was going to win the WTF, I would have done him a service and called the funny farm to come pick him up. Now, Nadal winning the WTF is not such a far-fetched idea in my mind.

I don't see it. He has not defeated Novak, Andy, Roger this year and that is what it will take to win the WTF.

Agreed. He's in there fighting and hitting better, but he isn't really in a place yet to go up against all three in a round robin.
 

herios

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PopSock make a late charge to get into the WTF. They were ranked 10 before Paris and now they will play in the final against Melo & Dodig.
 

herios

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PopSock lost the final in doubles to Melo & Dodig, coming up short one spot (9) to qualify for the WTF.