Cincinnati Final: John Isner vs. Rafael Nadal

[DarthFed]

we will have to check in with general darth fed in about 3 weeks.

that is when the clay warrior will be chomping on a u.s. open trophy.


what will be his conclusion then?

Funny what a different tone you have after 2 weeks. What gives? :angel:

nothing gives general.

I am just like the others. only I am far more critical of my player than anybody alive. I am still not happy with him.



nadal lost early at Wimbledon and then did not resurface until montreal. nobody gave him a chance at the title there. he surprised the world.

and then surely he was not going to pull off a double in cincy. we all thought it would be difficult at best.

after all he had never won that title before. then he just keeps going and going like a runaway freight train.

and he surprised the world again.



so nothing gives. but it does turn the tennis world upside down.

now he will have to be in the mix for the title at flushing meadows.


I am seeing that certain look in his eyes. he is not playing his best but he could really get rolling and hit his stride at the open after about 5 matches there.


I think the wants this slam and he wants the #1 spot again.

Nadal wants everything and even that won't be enough. Don't let the fake humility fool you, he is greedy just like Roger. Rafa's tenacity is the one thing I can admire about him. IMO, Montreal was a much bigger win for him just because he was able to beat Nole there. He didn't face an elite player in Cincy and took care of business on a tough surface for him and that definitely helps the confidence but beating Nole was way more important.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Rafa couldn't dream up an easier path to this title but congrats to him anyways

Two Tiebreakers vs Isner.. you think is easier path... He beat Fed, he beat Berdych who was by far the better player vs Murray.. He beat Isner who was the better player vs Djoker.. Show me Once when Fed, Murray or Djoker has won without Rafa being in the tournament where you have stated that they couldn't "have dream up an easier path to a title".. That's not cool Darth.. you are beginning to come off sounding like the poster from the west coast.

Not my #1 priority to pay homage to your boy AP. He beat who was in front of him and that's what matters. It's not like "competition issues" haven't been brought up in a lot of Federer's wins. I will hope something similarly bizarre doesn't happen at the USO though, we know by now Fed, Berd and Isner are zero threat to Nadal.

You don't have to pay homage I would never expect another poster to say that about a player who isn't their champion. However, when the draw was made, Rafa's path to the title was thru Fed, Murray and Djoker.. this is a game...some tournament the top players have their A games and sometimes not. I think we can all say Congrats to the last man standing by not belittling the path by which he got there.

 

[the AntiPusher]

we will have to check in with general darth fed in about 3 weeks.

that is when the clay warrior will be chomping on a u.s. open trophy.


what will be his conclusion then?

Funny what a different tone you have after 2 weeks. What gives? :angel:

nothing gives general.

I am just like the others. only I am far more critical of my player than anybody alive. I am still not happy with him.



nadal lost early at Wimbledon and then did not resurface until montreal. nobody gave him a chance at the title there. he surprised the world.

and then surely he was not going to pull off a double in cincy. we all thought it would be difficult at best.

after all he had never won that title before. then he just keeps going and going like a runaway freight train.

and he surprised the world again.



so nothing gives. but it does turn the tennis world upside down.

now he will have to be in the mix for the title at flushing meadows.


I am seeing that certain look in his eyes. he is not playing his best but he could really get rolling and hit his stride at the open after about 5 matches there.


I think the wants this slam and he wants the #1 spot again.

Nadal wants everything and even that won't be enough. Don't let the fake humility fool you, he is greedy just like Roger. Rafa's tenacity is the one thing I can admire about him. IMO, Montreal was a much bigger win for him just because he was able to beat Nole there. He didn't face an elite player in Cincy and took care of business on a tough surface for him and that definitely helps the confidence but beating Nole was way more important.

Darth, all champions are greedy, that's their way.. When they are content that's when they loose and retire..

 

[ClayDeath]

general anti pusher I think maybe tomorrow we start a thread on nadal here.

and the big question that we will ask is this:

what really makes nadal great?


and we will let the folks just go at it and have at it.

lets see what his fans and his foes alike have to say about what exactly is it nadal brings that is truly unique to the competitive arena.


what do you think?

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nadal's skills and shots are elite but not spectacular.

However, psychologically and mentally he is just of a different breed than everyone else; that includes even Djokovic and Federer. Those two have higher peaks of play than Nadal but Nadal's consistency is awfully unique.

I have to agree. Nadal's consistency is something that we have never seen in tennis before. Added to that is the fact that he is always trying to improve his game. He has a decent serve, and has the wheels to run once he gets into the point, such that his service games look almost as easy as those of better servers.

At the beginning of the 2nd set tiebreaker, Rafa is on the deuce side baseline, He hits a forehand DTL and creates his own angle doing it. Tell me Cali, is there a human on this Earth that could have hit that spectactular shot,, Who creates their own angle on the baseline DTL.. Amazing, IMO

 

[brokenshoelace]

No question Nadal is a great player but I wish they would qiut referring to his time off to heal his knee asbeing a medical time out. We hear time and time again how remarkable it is that he is playing such awesome tennis (which he is) after his time off when Del Potro did not come back so quickly and ready. Nadal DID NOT have surgery. There is a big difference. I still think much of the time was to heal his ego from losing so early at Wimbledon, to work on his game and figure out how to get back big points after the lay off.

Interesting theory. Not sure that I completely buy it but I definitely think there is truth to what you are saying.

Yeah, one of the mentally toughest sporting individuals of all time, who seemingly wins everything because of mental toughness (according to you), and is the best at shaking off loses of sets, matches, etc... Needed 7 months to get over one loss.

Sorry but this theory is absolutely one of the stupidest things I've ever heard (and I know it wasn't your theory) for the simple reason that tennis players understand that losing is part of the job. Yes, that doesn't mean they'll react well to losing, or not take some losses badly, but they sure as hell are not going on seven months hiatus because of a single loss. At least not someone like Nadal, who happened to be coming off a FO win when he lost to Rosol. It's not like he was in some career slump.

 

[brokenshoelace]

well hes fav for USO now. like legit. hes playing the best hardcourt tennis ive seen him play

Yeah, I wonder where Broken-Man and El Dude are with their overdone, cliche, and petty "age" analysis.

Wait, what? How is that relevant to anything? Nadal is 27. He's not old. He has mileage and injuries, which has reared its ugly head on him on more than one occasion in his career. How does his current success negate any of that?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Second, in the event that Nadal did take some time off to re-evaluate his approach to Djokovic and to re-invigorate, what's wrong with that?

Now that you mention it, this is an absolutely plausible theory and it makes perfect sense. He took 7 months to re-evaluate his approach to Djokovic...after beating him 3 times in a row in the clay season just weeks before, including the FO final. Jesus Christ.

 

[brokenshoelace]

2) In 2011, why was Nadal so much worse at the US Open than he was in 2010? Because he actually played a few opponents in 2011?

Yes, the serve wasn't as good overall, but the most important aspects of his game were all in-tact, as the Murray semifinal displayed. He just couldn't beat Djokovic.

Ok, got you. When Federer loses to Nadal, it's strategic and psychological issues. But when Nadal lost to the guy who had beaten him 5 times in a row that season, now strategic or psychological issues could have been involved.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nice write-up on the match and it's significance from our new blogger Jesse Pentecost.

http://www.tennisfrontier.com/blogs/jesse-pentecost/we-might-run-out-of-words/

It's an excellent read.

 

[britbox]

Another fine contribution from Arienna:

http://www.tennisfrontier.com/blogs/arienna-lee/one-more-time-with-feeling/

 

[Kieran]

Just read that, very good blog posts! Great additions to the site, Britbox, thanks for that! :clap

 

[sid]

Congrats to Nadal @ both Masters,Rafa playing some fantastic tennis atm.

 

[Kieran]

I missed the start of the match and watched the rest on a lousy stream. By lousy, I mean, in the 2nd set tiebreak, Rafa went 2-0, then it stuck while it loaded, came back at 4-1, Isner tossed the ball to serve, it stuck, came back at 5-1, then loaded while I fistpumped, put on the kettle, drank a pot of tea, stirred my rice - it came back, Rafa up 5-3.

I started to watch The Hobbit.

Gandalf arrived, the dwarfs came, Bilbo left the Shire - it came back, and Rafa was captured in a brief action shot hitting a forehand - then the trolls turned to stone, they got chased by orcs, went to the Elves in Rivendell - and when it came back the two players were shirtless and the match was over.

I could have checked the online scoreboard, but that's a contrary gadget. I watched the second set tiebreak "again" on YouTube...

 

[kskate2]

I missed the start of the match and watched the rest on a lousy stream. By lousy, I mean, in the 2nd set tiebreak, Rafa went 2-0, then it stuck while it loaded, came back at 4-1, Isner tossed the ball to serve, it stuck, came back at 5-1, then loaded while I fistpumped, put on the kettle, drank a pot of tea, stirred my rice - it came back, Rafa up 5-3.

I started to watch The Hobbit.

Gandalf arrived, the dwarfs came, Bilbo left the Shire - it came back, and Rafa was captured in a brief action shot hitting a forehand - then the trolls turned to stone, they got chased by orcs, went to the Elves in Rivendell - and when it came back the two players were shirtless and the match was over.

I could have checked the online scoreboard, but that's a contrary gadget. I watched the second set tiebreak "again" on YouTube...

:laydownlaughing. Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White?

 

[Kieran]

I missed the start of the match and watched the rest on a lousy stream. By lousy, I mean, in the 2nd set tiebreak, Rafa went 2-0, then it stuck while it loaded, came back at 4-1, Isner tossed the ball to serve, it stuck, came back at 5-1, then loaded while I fistpumped, put on the kettle, drank a pot of tea, stirred my rice - it came back, Rafa up 5-3.

I started to watch The Hobbit.

Gandalf arrived, the dwarfs came, Bilbo left the Shire - it came back, and Rafa was captured in a brief action shot hitting a forehand - then the trolls turned to stone, they got chased by orcs, went to the Elves in Rivendell - and when it came back the two players were shirtless and the match was over.

I could have checked the online scoreboard, but that's a contrary gadget. I watched the second set tiebreak "again" on YouTube...

:laydownlaughing. Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White?

He started off with jet black hair but was gone grey by the time the stream flowed again!

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Nadal's skills and shots are elite but not spectacular.

However, psychologically and mentally he is just of a different breed than everyone else; that includes even Djokovic and Federer. Those two have higher peaks of play than Nadal but Nadal's consistency is awfully unique.

I have to agree. Nadal's consistency is something that we have never seen in tennis before. Added to that is the fact that he is always trying to improve his game. He has a decent serve, and has the wheels to run once he gets into the point, such that his service games look almost as easy as those of better servers.

At the beginning of the 2nd set tiebreaker, Rafa is on the deuce side baseline, He hits a forehand DTL and creates his own angle doing it. Tell me Cali, is there a human on this Earth that could have hit that spectactular shot,, Who creates their own angle on the baseline DTL.. Amazing, IMO

Hey AP, I was not able to watch any of the match, drugged out of my mind with back pain, but after I read your post, I youtubed the point. What is amazing about that shot that none tennis players might not totally see is the spin on it is not just a top spin but also a side spin as well, where the topspin/sidespin combo brings the ball in the court, but makes it kick out wide once it bounces, makes it even harder to reach. That shot was out of this world.uzzled

 

[Moxie]

Nadal wants everything and even that won't be enough. Don't let the fake humility fool you, he is greedy just like Roger. Rafa's tenacity is the one thing I can admire about him. IMO, Montreal was a much bigger win for him just because he was able to beat Nole there. He didn't face an elite player in Cincy and took care of business on a tough surface for him and that definitely helps the confidence but beating Nole was way more important.

Didn't face an elite player in Cincy?! Has your pessimism about Roger fallen to such depths, Eeyore? At least be kinder than that to old Berdych. Come on...at what altitude have you set the bar for 'elite,' anyway? (And I know you do remember that Federer has reached the top of Everest 17 times.) Personally, I, as a fan, think Cincy was more important because he had never done it, and lots of people thought it was unlikely he ever would.

(As to "fake humility," I'm not sure how one pretends to perceive that another person's heart is insincere, unless they chose to read it that way. And I know you're not the only one who does. It does always seems unnecessarily waspish, to me. You guys don't like the guy, so everything he does irritates you, that's all that is.)

 

[DarthFed]

Nadal wants everything and even that won't be enough. Don't let the fake humility fool you, he is greedy just like Roger. Rafa's tenacity is the one thing I can admire about him. IMO, Montreal was a much bigger win for him just because he was able to beat Nole there. He didn't face an elite player in Cincy and took care of business on a tough surface for him and that definitely helps the confidence but beating Nole was way more important.

Didn't face an elite player in Cincy?! Has your pessimism about Roger fallen to such depths, Eeyore? At least be kinder than that to old Berdych. Come on...at what altitude have you set the bar for 'elite,' anyway? (And I know you do remember that Federer has reached the top of Everest 17 times.) Personally, I, as a fan, think Cincy was more important because he had never done it, and lots of people thought it was unlikely he ever would.

(As to "fake humility," I'm not sure how one pretends to perceive that another person's heart is insincere, unless they chose to read it that way. And I know you're not the only one who does. It does always seems unnecessarily waspish, to me. You guys don't like the guy, so everything he does irritates you, that's all that is.)

Roger is #7 for a reason. Can't just look at the name and the past glory otherwise JMac and Sampras would be elite players if they decided to make a comeback. Elite right now is the top 3 and possibly Del Po. Ranking isn't everything but aside from those 4 I'd be shocked beyond belief if anyone won the USO. No one in their right mind would consider Ferrer and Berd as real contenders for majors and it'd be the shock of the year if Roger suddenly morphs into great form and takes home the trophy. This is subject to change and it will change once Roger remembers who he is.

 

[ClayDeath]

better let go of that cheap liquor general darth.

you are losing it man.