Cincinnati Master 1000

[Carol]

Rafa's serve was on. The rest of his game seemed a bit lackadaisical, or until the end. Maybe peaking to a better evening. There is no sorting out where Nick is...injured? Unmotivated? Suddenly on fire? I think it will be a good match.

Probably on fire but we'll see how Rafa is going to answer, hope much better than against Shapo

 

[Moxie]

^ Rafa was going to win no matter what but certainly Stan was quite miserable that day. Nothing wrong with admitting both.

Complaining about Wimbledon final and Roger's path to the title as a whole is a little ridiculous when you look at this RG. It's like a certain poster wants to make Thiem out to be a world beater but somehow Raonic and Berd are nothing on grass...that's just pure bias.

Cilic was even worse than Stan no doubt but I doubt how much injury had to do with it. I think the pressure got to him in a huge way and he just imploded on the biggest stage in tennis. And you also had a lot of people, Fed fans included, overrating his chances by a lot before the match. Even if he had played like his normal self, Roger wasn't losing that.

OK, sure, if Stan had been better on the day, it would have been a more competitive match. It wasn't only Rafa, but it wasn't just that Stan wasn't up to the task.

As to Wimbledon, I hope you know I'm not amongst those that would diminish Roger's title due to the field. I actually think that Cilic was a valid opponent. Whatever happened to him...injury, blisters, or being way over-matched and just completely freaked out (which is possible), but I agree with you...he wasn't beating Roger on grass. That was a long-shot, by a lot. Whatever is going on with Djokovic and Murray not up to the task, Rafa and Roger each got a victory lap on their favorite surfaces at Majors. And deserved.

 

[Moxie]

Nick starts with the break.

 

[Moxie]

Nadal edgy and Nick sharp and relaxed.

 

[Moxie]

Rafa is missing everything. Terrible start.

 

[Carol]

And Rafa playing horrible

 

[Carol]

If Rafa doesn't lift his game Kyrgios will not need to do too much

 

[Moxie]

Nick doesn't give a shit and Rafa knows this is his tournament to lose. But he has to calm down and play his tennis.

 

[Moxie]

That's just Kyrgios being a bit of a dick.

 

[Carol]

And besides Rafa playing horrible Kyrgios and his good serve......

 

[Carol]

Kyrgios is a little clown, he reminds me to Monfils but with much better serve

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

The clown is Sabering now? Come on Rafa, kick his sorry ass !

 

[DarthFed]

Oh, I'm sorry for you that you don't get to see Roger play. Well, obviously the injury is a drag, and I'm sorry for that. But if he hadn't played Canada, who's to say that his back wouldn't have gone in Cincy? I know you were in the "skip Montreal" camp, but Roger generally makes smart decisions about his scheduling. However, I did hear that he didn't practice much before Montreal...is your notion that he'd have been better prepared for Cincy?

It's true he may have gotten injured in Cincy but the arrogance is that he went to what is by far a worse tournament for him and had not practiced since Wimbledon. He wasn't serving or hitting well and it is not as fast as Cincy. The result was he was playing longer points, longer matches, and he was getting moved around a lot. If he came prepared to Cincy chances are none of those things would've been happening.

 

[Carol]

Rafa after RG needs to recovery the "spark" witch is lost, same in Wimbledon, Montreal and now in Cincy. I see he won't go far in this match and tomorrow flying to NY and hopefully we can see of him something much better than all past weeks and today

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Good escape by Nick after double double.

Rafa looks determined after the bath room break through.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa blinks.

I don't think Nick would let him go any more.

 

[britbox]

Bit of sportmanship from Nick applauding.

 

[britbox]

At least he's going to force Nicko to serve it out.

 

[britbox]

Another fricken double fault and another MP blown. C'mon Nick, put it to bed!

 

[britbox]

Nadal breaks.