Fedal - XXXVII - Miami Finals

[britbox]

Fed told Chris Clarey in IW, that grass is the bigger picture.

 

[Moxie]

He'll probably go in with the mindset that he'll have a good seeding and the first week will be the tuneup - a bit risky depending on his draw but he could play himself into the tournament. Last year, we gave him a minimal chance of doing much at RG anyway... I'd give him better chances this year but it's still a long shot. I think he knows it... but consider this scenario (myself and a couple of Feddies chewed it over)....

IF Federer won Wimbledon - and that's not a given either - (but he's got to be one of the main favourites), with the AO in the bag already... he'd be going into the USO with a shot at a third slam. If by chance he won it, then he'd be killing himself for not at least having had a go at the French for the Holy Grail.

^ Not that I think the above is likely by any means, but he's got to at least have a go in Paris.

Oh, I wasn't at all suggesting that he skip RG. He IS the only man with a shot at the Holy Grail this year...and fans are allowed to dream! I was more suggesting one tune-up, as it's a long lay-off, and clay is different, but I get your point of playing himself in. Maybe biggest danger is DelPo floating.

 

[britbox]

 

[britbox]

 

[britbox]

 

[britbox]

 

[Moxie]

Rafa says: "One of the best come-backs after a long time off with injury, so well done." So, for all those who threw shade and side-eye at Nadal when he came back after 7 months off in 2013 and won a lot, I'm hoping we can put all of that behind us now. Sometimes what you need is recovery and rest. No?

 

[britbox]

Rafa says: "One of the best come-backs after a long time off with injury, so well done." So, for all those who threw shade and side-eye at Nadal when he came back after 7 months off in 2013 and won a lot, I'm hoping we can put all of that behind us now. Sometimes what you need is recovery and rest. No?

Not sure who you're referring to in particular, but yes.

 

[Moxie]

Not sure who you're referring to in particular, but yes.

Twisted, here. Otherwise meant for sometimes-participants and the cyberworld that puts crap out there. You know there's a huge history of giving Rafa a hard time implying PED use, and that the injury layoffs and comebacks feature in them. I wanted to remind folks to keep their standards equal.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Factoid: Only two players have beat Rafa four times in a row. They are Davydenko and Roger.

Obviously, Davy cannot improve on it, but Roger could.

Interestingly, Davy used to take the balls on the rise too and that worked like magic for him against Rafa. Now, Fed is doing it more often on the backhand side, especially.

Errrr, Novak!

Gone and forgotten?

Oops, some idiot on TV said that and I too repeated it without thinking :cover

Oh, No. I am the idiot. It was BG talking about it on TV. I could not hear him properly. He did say Djokovic also. Actually, I think he mentioned one other name also and I could not catch it. Does any one know who else has beat four times in a row apart from Nole, Davy and Fed?

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

fedz iz on drugz,,juz lyke rafa iz on drugz. :devilfinger::skull::vampire::bat: innit,

 

[El Dude]

I'm not sure many players has even beaten Rafa four times!

Let's see...

Top 10 players with 4+ wins against Nadal: Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Hewitt, Ferrer, Davydenko, Berdych, del Potro, Tsonga, Youzhny

I'm guessing no non-top 10 players have 4+ wins against Rafa. Del Potro and Hewitt beat him three times in a row but not four. I don't think any of the other guys did it.

 

[Moxie]

fedz iz on drugz,,juz lyke rafa iz on drugz. :devilfinger::skull::vampire::bat: innit,

I prefer the notion of neither. But you can't have one yes, one no, if you're going with circumstantial evidence.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I'm not sure many players has even beaten Rafa four times!

Let's see...

Top 10 players with 4+ wins against Nadal: Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Hewitt, Ferrer, Davydenko, Berdych, del Potro, Tsonga, Youzhny

I'm guessing no non-top 10 players have 4+ wins against Rafa. Del Potro and Hewitt beat him three times in a row but not four. I don't think any of the other guys did it.

I checked everybody explicitly from your list. None have beat Rafa four times in a row other than Nole, Davy and Fed. I could not catch couple of words that Brad Gilbert was saying when talking about this. May be he said something else.

 

[El Dude]

Schedule up until the USO:

RG, Halle, Wimbledon, Montreal, Cincy, USO.

Don't forget Stuttgart before Halle. Also, he isn't currently scheduled to play in Montreal, but of course these things change.

 

[Moxie]

fedz iz on drugz,,juz lyke rafa iz on drugz. :devilfinger::skull::vampire::bat: innit,

Nice use of emoticons, btw. :mail:

 

[Kieran]

I don't think there is anybody else. I think there's just the 3 of them. I wracked my brains a bit, and also saw mention on the web of Blake beating him 3 times, but nobody comes to mind beating him 3 times, other than these 3...

 

[mrzz]

I don't think there is anybody else. I think there's just the 3 of them. I wracked my brains a bit, and also saw mention on the web of Blake beating him 3 times, but nobody comes to mind beating him 3 times, other than these 3...

Hrbaty (the GOAT), Roddick, Verdasco.

 

[isabelle]

- AntiPusher said:
= "...Rafa consistently dropped the ball too short. Tennis 101, if your opponent drops a ball short, put it away; make them pay for their error. Roger's BH is no longer a liability. He's not gonna let you force him off the baseline; you are gonna play tennis on his terms. Roger hit more FH and BH winners today, but with the aid of Rafa short balls. That's why I stated Rafa will be crushed.

Rafa had nothing to lose today, I would have thrown the kitchen sink at Roger. Rafa said last Fall he must make his opponents feel much pain. He did at AO until the mid part of the 5 set. Rafa needs to take more risks. He began with more risks today, however after the first 2 1/4 games, Roger had 5 FH winners. That's what's crushing."
===

Fiero425 says:
- That's been my biggest problem with both Murray and Nadal; playing defensive when they have a more offensive game! It just doesn't come out until it's too late at times; hence the losses to Fedovic over the last several years in Majors and Masters alike! At times, both Nole & Roger have been unhittable, but at this stage, it has to be a little embarrassing to Nadray to keep going down to the same people over and over? Truthfully, Nole hasn't played "sky-high" tennis since his obliteration of Nadal at Qatar last season; barely holding on after his FO completed the Nole-Slam, but he has time to get his act together! We'll have to see what happens with Murray; pressure has to be huge since he's not a "real #1" IMO! :ras: - - - - - http://fiero4251.blogspot.com/2016/08/fan-page-novak-nole-djokovic.html - - - -

what's a "real" N°1 for you ? a guy who has no elbow tear and can play his best tennis ?? I guess if Sir Andy was fit, he would have had a better season's start. moreover, he couldn't maintain all the time the level he had at the end of 2016, normal to quiet down after such a brilliant period
we have to wait him to come back healthy to see what he's going to do, he's such a great champ that he should find a way to play some decent tennis, injuries can happen to all players, now it's his turn, nothing to contest his N°1 spot for the moment, I guess he'll still be N°1 at the end of 2017

 

[mrzz]

^I agree with all of the above -- except that Murray will be #1 by the end of the year.