Fedal 34

[Kieran]

Yeah and you need to look into why he "owns" him a bit more. There's a reason he's not "owning" anyone right now.

Well, that we can both agree on. BUt I think you'll also agree with me that Rafa has worked hard this week, and especially since the US Open, and he's looking a lot better...

 

[Front242]

Yeah and you need to look into why he "owns" him a bit more. There's a reason he's not "owning" anyone right now.

Well, that we can both agree on. BUt I think you'll also agree with me that Rafa has worked hard this week, and especially since the US Open, and he's looking a lot better...

Absolutely he is so this was a good result for him to get to a third set.

 

[Kieran]

Yeah and you need to look into why he "owns" him a bit more. There's a reason he's not "owning" anyone right now.

Well, that we can both agree on. BUt I think you'll also agree with me that Rafa has worked hard this week, and especially since the US Open, and he's looking a lot better...

Absolutely he is so this was a good result for him to get to a third set.

:laydownlaughing :clap

Well, I was thinking more of the week in Basel, but that's a good reply...

 

[shawnbm]

Rafa looked good throughout the match. The forehand was hitting heavy and the ones up the line were present. Did he hit a couple loopy ones that fell short? Sure, but he's done that over the years and even his prime years. He ran down shots and hit the backhand well all day--no shanks with the backhand. He double faulted a couple times. Roger did too. Nadal hit some clutch shots break point down and a service return winner championship point down! He is definitely in the mix these days and you've got to play well again to have a chance to beat him. He will go to the semis or final in Paris, and will compete well in the wtf in London.

 

[Kirijax]

Morning....yawn...scratch scratch scratch.....so who won? Haven't gone thru the thread yet...

 

[Riotbeard]

Rafa looked good. Even though it will be hard for some Rafa fans to accept, being competitive against Murray or Fed is a serious step. The next step is beating one of them. If this had been on clay, my guess is Rafa would have pulled it out. On more neutral surfaces, I would still give the edge to Fed.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Even though Fed won, I don't feel too happy about his play. It leaves a bad taste when he loses a set to Rafa on indoor courts and then finally eke out a win which did not look like a certainty. He had little more than 20 UFE on backhand side alone.

But, I would any day take a win over Rafa with any scoreline.

 

[herios]

Rafa looked good. Even though it will be hard for some Rafa fans to accept, being competitive against Murray or Fed is a serious step.

He was competitive today with Roger, but the last time he played Murray, not at all. Until he faces Murray again, you do not know how he will fare.

 

[Front242]

I agree, though Roger is better against the field than Andy, Andy tends to play a lot cleaner against most top players, ie less errors. So it'll be hard for Wafa to beat Murray right now unless Murray is having a crap serving day.

 

[Carol]

Rafa only needs to reach his level which is closer and closer, then he will beat Roger and Muzz like he alway has done
Hey, this was a 500, indoor and he beat difficult opponents including the USO Champion14 and almost the present (I don't know how long) #2 :clap

 

[Front242]

Well Roger only temporarily lost number 2 due to the poor first round loss in Shanghai since he won the tournament last year so he lost a truck load of points there. Also he didn't play in Toronto at all this year and in doing so gave Murray a good advantage in catching up even before he got the brief lead after Shanghai. Roger's been number 2 most of the year. Will certainly be tough to hang onto now though as I said for there reasons above but at he can gain a ton of points next year in either, though he likely won't play both.

 

[herios]

Rafa only needs to reach his level which is closer and closer, then he will beat Roger and Muzz like he alway has done
Hey, this was a 500, indoor and he beat difficult opponents including the USO Champion14 and almost the present (I don't know how long) #2 :clap

That is true and you should enjoy it, because next time he might not be so lucky to get out of some iffy matches as he did here.

 

[Kieran]

Let's wait til Rafa actually plays Andy before we're certain of what will happen. Rafa's has been taking baby steps forward since the US Open, so that's a good sign. Andy is still Andy, and always will be...

 

[Front242]

Well before playing Andy he'll likely have another match with Rosol who should really have won their match last week and must be disgusted with himself. He'll be doing his best to win a 2nd time over Rafa to prove that Lukas ain't no flukas

 

[Kieran]

Well before playing Andy he'll likely have another match with Rosol who should really have won their match last week and must be disgusted with himself. He'll be doing his best to win a 2nd time over Rafa to prove that Lukas ain't no flukas

I like matches with Rosol. Always a bit of an edge to them. He rattles Rafa, and nobody does that, so I hope they play this week too, although I'm not expecting much from Rafa in Paris...

 

[Carol]

Rafa only needs to reach his level which is closer and closer, then he will beat Roger and Muzz like he alway has done
Hey, this was a 500, indoor and he beat difficult opponents including the USO Champion14 and almost the present (I don't know how long) #2 :clap

That is true and you should enjoy it, because next time he might not be so lucky to get out of some iffy matches as he did here.

Then I suppose that you were enjoying with your fav most of this year, isn't?

 

[Kirijax]

I wouldn't put much stock into what happens with Andy in Paris and London. His heart and thoughts are in Belgium I think. So Nadal should have a good chance.

 

[Carol]

Let's wait til Rafa actually plays Andy before we're certain of what will happen. Rafa's has been taking baby steps forward since the US Open, so that's a good sign. Andy is still Andy, and always will be...

Andy always play like a roller coaster, he probably has the smarter game of the tour but his head usually is at the planet Mars like Rafa has been for almost two years even much worse :s

 

[lacatch]

OK I've resisted crowing about being the only poster to correctly predict the outcome of today's match . I think that Rafa has clearly improved a lot, and is playing his best tennis of the year (ironically at the end of the season). My gut is what we saw is pretty much the top level for the "new Rafa", as a couple of other posters said as well. Roger, on the other hand, didn't play impressively all week, so it was nice for him to break his 5 match losing streak against Rafa when clearly the former was not at his best form on a hard court (e.g., much lower level than Cincinnati).

 

[Kirijax]

Let's hope that Nadal will hang around on the tour long enough for Federer to win twelve more times and even up this really, really fantastic rivalry.