Gerry Weber Open (Halle) 9-15 June 2014

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

 

[Federberg]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Does Rafa really attack the net ever though? He's great at ending a rally at the net but he doesn't serve and volley really

 

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Does Rafa really attack the net ever though? He's great at ending a rally at the net but he doesn't serve and volley really

Neither does Fed; more a one-two punch with a good serve, a nice, hard forehand, then finish point at the net! Nothing new! :nono :clap :laydownlaughing

 

[Federberg]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Does Rafa really attack the net ever though? He's great at ending a rally at the net but he doesn't serve and volley really

Neither does Fed; more a one-two punch with a good serve, a nice, hard forehand, then finish point at the net! Nothing new! :nono :clap :laydownlaughing

I would say Rog uses serve and volley as a strategy sometimes. For Rafa it's more tactical

 

[tented]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames!

So you've watched literally every match he has ever played? Because that's the only way you could have accomplished this.

 

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames!

So you've watched literally every match he has ever played? Because that's the only way you could have accomplished this.

:cover :violins: :nono

 

[Kieran]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Yes, but all that is substantially different from tanking a match. When a player is playing his first match on the surface, getting used to it again and not fully up to speed, there are limits to how much they can do. This is why Borg, for example, often struggled at the start of Wimbledon: because he was still adjusting to grass court tennis.

Rafa not only would have wanted but possibly needed 2 or 3 matches here to get his footing. He wasn't able to and that because Brown was too good for him.

The notion that he tanked his match today is just idiotic, as is the suggestion that he'd tank any match, and I'm not saying this to jab at Denis, because I'm hoping he'll explain what he meant in a way that doesn't make it sound like he thinks Nadal would want to tank a French Open semi to avoid Novak.

The obvious response to that suggestion is: why would he do that?

 

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Yes, but all that is substantially different from tanking a match. When a player is playing his first match on the surface, getting used to it again and not fully up to speed, there are limits to how much they can do. This is why Borg, for example, often struggled at the start of Wimbledon: because he was still adjusting to grass court tennis.

Rafa not only would have wanted but possibly needed 2 or 3 matches here to get his footing. He wasn't able to and that because Brown was too good for him.

The notion that he tanked his match today is just idiotic, as is the suggestion that he'd tank any match, and I'm not saying this to jab at Denis, because I'm hoping he'll explain what he meant in a way that doesn't make it sound like he thinks Nadal would want to tank a French Open semi to avoid Novak.

The obvious response to that suggestion is: why would he do that?

Borg won his first Wimbledon in '76 without losing a set; some extended sets went 9-7 with no tie-breakers until 8 all! :clap :angel:

 

[tented]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames!

So you've watched literally every match he has ever played? Because that's the only way you could have accomplished this.

:cover :violins: :nono :raz:

These kinds of responses make no sense whatsoever. What does the violin emoticon have to do with anything?

If you say you "wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames" then that means you would need to have watched every match he has ever played in order to be certain not to have missed it. So, is that what you've done, and continue to do?

So, on one hand you're watching all of his matches in order not to miss his going down in flames, yet at the same time you're constantly describing how you don't watch much tennis, you think his tennis is ugly, and can't bear to watch it.

 

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames!

So you've watched literally every match he has ever played? Because that's the only way you could have accomplished this.

:cover :violins: :nono :raz:

These kinds of responses make no sense whatsoever. What does the violin emoticon have to do with anything?

If you say you "wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames" then that means you would need to have watched every match he has ever played in order to be certain not to have missed it. So, is that what you've done, and continue to do?

So, on one hand you're watching all of his matches in order not to miss his going down in flames, yet at the same time you're constantly describing how you don't watch much tennis, you think his tennis is ugly, and can't bear to watch it.

:chillout: :spacecadet: :velo:

 

[Kieran]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Yes, but all that is substantially different from tanking a match. When a player is playing his first match on the surface, getting used to it again and not fully up to speed, there are limits to how much they can do. This is why Borg, for example, often struggled at the start of Wimbledon: because he was still adjusting to grass court tennis.

Rafa not only would have wanted but possibly needed 2 or 3 matches here to get his footing. He wasn't able to and that because Brown was too good for him.

The notion that he tanked his match today is just idiotic, as is the suggestion that he'd tank any match, and I'm not saying this to jab at Denis, because I'm hoping he'll explain what he meant in a way that doesn't make it sound like he thinks Nadal would want to tank a French Open semi to avoid Novak.

The obvious response to that suggestion is: why would he do that?

Borg won his first Wimbledon in '76 without losing a set; some extended sets went 9-7 with no tie-breakers until 8 all! :clap :angel:

Regardless, the fact is that Victor Amaya and others brought Borg to five sets in the early rounds of Wimbledon. That's not the issue, Fiero, it's an example, and you yourself know this: a top player can take time to adjust to a change of surface. If that player loses, it's not because they tanked, and most especially when the player is a renowned battler like Rafa Nadal...

 

[Denis]

Seriously, Denis, I meant to ask you: WTF was that about! :Lolz:

A two time Wimbledon champ has absolutely no business losing in straights and a second set 6-1 against a player like Dustin Brown. The only explanation is that he did not 'try his best'. I get that. He just won RG for the ninth time. I understand he just wanted to pick up his participation fee and head off to London, but this just goes to show that Nadal does not always and everytime gives everything he has.

No, not that: why did you think Rafa (of all men) might be tempted to tank an FO semi?

I didn't really. I just didn't want the option to be on the table.

But what does that mean, you didn't want the option to be on the table? It only makes sense if you think that Rafa would actually take the option.

But why would he do that?

I didn't really think Rafa would tank the semis, it was partly fear that he might, partly just beating on the wardrums. Anyway, it all turned our pretty good for you guys in the end. But the point that Rafa would never tank a match is clearly wrong. 6-1 against Dustin Brown. :lolz:

 

[Denis]

Tennis secondary for me over the next month. In Salvador de Bahia for the World Cup! Yay!!

You got tickets for the Spain - Netherlands match?

ps enjoy!

 

[Fiero425]

Let me be a little bit clearer for anybody who missed the match today: Brown played very well and won it fairly.

Nobody tanked, and if you watched it, you'd know that...

Oh I watched it; wouldn't miss Rafa going down in flames! It was the best! Brown just outplayed him for the most part! I'm sure if Nadal really wanted it, he would have tried a little harder, maybe attacked the net some! I knew he wouldn't kill himself to win this match or the next; just a warm up tourney!

Yes, but all that is substantially different from tanking a match. When a player is playing his first match on the surface, getting used to it again and not fully up to speed, there are limits to how much they can do. This is why Borg, for example, often struggled at the start of Wimbledon: because he was still adjusting to grass court tennis.

Rafa not only would have wanted but possibly needed 2 or 3 matches here to get his footing. He wasn't able to and that because Brown was too good for him.

The notion that he tanked his match today is just idiotic, as is the suggestion that he'd tank any match, and I'm not saying this to jab at Denis, because I'm hoping he'll explain what he meant in a way that doesn't make it sound like he thinks Nadal would want to tank a French Open semi to avoid Novak.

The obvious response to that suggestion is: why would he do that?

Borg won his first Wimbledon in '76 without losing a set; some extended sets went 9-7 with no tie-breakers until 8 all! :clap :angel:

Regardless, the fact is that Victor Amaya and others brought Borg to five sets in the early rounds of Wimbledon. That's not the issue, Fiero, it's an example, and you yourself know this: a top player can take time to adjust to a change of surface. If that player loses, it's not because they tanked, and most especially when the player is a renowned battler like Rafa Nadal...

Just making a correction as done so often to me! I totally understand, but the lauding of Nafal sets me off! He's obviously not unbeatable! If he was, he'd have more USO's and Wimbledons; which I have higher regard than those 9 FO's! He breaks down easily, at times just disappearing on and off court in the summer and fall, and obviously tanked a WTF where he lost all 3 of his RR matches a few years ago!

 

[Kieran]

A two time Wimbledon champ has absolutely no business losing in straights and a second set 6-1 against a player like Dustin Brown. The only explanation is that he did not 'try his best'. I get that. He just won RG for the ninth time. I understand he just wanted to pick up his participation fee and head off to London, but this just goes to show that Nadal does not always and everytime gives everything he has.

No, not that: why did you think Rafa (of all men) might be tempted to tank an FO semi?

I didn't really. I just didn't want the option to be on the table.

But what does that mean, you didn't want the option to be on the table? It only makes sense if you think that Rafa would actually take the option.

But why would he do that?

I didn't really think Rafa would tank the semis, it was partly fear that he might, partly just beating on the wardrums. Anyway, it all turned our pretty good for you guys in the end. But the point that Rafa would never tank a match is clearly wrong. 6-1 against Dustin Brown. :lolz:

You didn't see the match today, obviously.

But I'm glad you weren't serious about him tanking a FO semi to avoid Novak. I mean, it's all gain for Rafa against Novak in Paris, always has been...

 

[Denis]

No, not that: why did you think Rafa (of all men) might be tempted to tank an FO semi?

I didn't really. I just didn't want the option to be on the table.

But what does that mean, you didn't want the option to be on the table? It only makes sense if you think that Rafa would actually take the option.

But why would he do that?

I didn't really think Rafa would tank the semis, it was partly fear that he might, partly just beating on the wardrums. Anyway, it all turned our pretty good for you guys in the end. But the point that Rafa would never tank a match is clearly wrong. 6-1 against Dustin Brown. :lolz:

You didn't see the match today, obviously.

But I'm glad you weren't serious about him tanking a FO semi to avoid Novak. I mean, it's all gain for Rafa against Novak in Paris, always has been...

Ah, yes Dustin Brown is serious opposition of course. 'Best player ever'. Maybe Nadal will have a chance next time. Maybe. If he tries his best.

 

[Federberg]

Tennis secondary for me over the next month. In Salvador de Bahia for the World Cup! Yay!!

You got tickets for the Spain - Netherlands match?

ps enjoy!

Yup
And...

Germany v Portugal
France v Switzerland
Bosnia v Iran (can't sell those for toffee )
And the first knockout match in Salvador

 

[Kieran]

I didn't really. I just didn't want the option to be on the table.

But what does that mean, you didn't want the option to be on the table? It only makes sense if you think that Rafa would actually take the option.

But why would he do that?

I didn't really think Rafa would tank the semis, it was partly fear that he might, partly just beating on the wardrums. Anyway, it all turned our pretty good for you guys in the end. But the point that Rafa would never tank a match is clearly wrong. 6-1 against Dustin Brown. :lolz:

You didn't see the match today, obviously.

But I'm glad you weren't serious about him tanking a FO semi to avoid Novak. I mean, it's all gain for Rafa against Novak in Paris, always has been...

Ah, yes Dustin Brown is serious opposition of course. 'Best player ever'. Maybe Nadal will have a chance next time. Maybe. If he tries his best.

Today he was, but let him reach a French Open final and we'll see if Rafa tanks to avoid him...

Every great player loses. It seems Rafa's opponents never get the credit they deserve when they beat him. Fact is, it was a very good performance by Brown, and Rafa was still finding his feet. That's the point of playing these warm ups, to get practice in. Unfortunately that's all the practise Rafa will get in Halle...

 

[Moxie]

I totally understand, but the lauding of Nafal sets me off! He's obviously not unbeatable! If he was, he'd have more USO's and Wimbledons; which I have higher regard than those 9 FO's! He breaks down easily, at times just disappearing on and off court in the summer and fall, and obviously tanked a WTF where he lost all 3 of his RR matches a few years ago!

No player is unbeatable, but to say he breaks down "easily" is a stretch. I would say "sometimes."

The fact that you have a higher regard for the USO and Wimbledon doesn't make them more important than the French Open. It was actually the Australian Open that was the red-headed stepchild of the Majors for many years, as most players didn't even go, though I doubt you'll be telling us that that one is less important than RG. Heck, you'd be renaming the trophy for Djokovic.

And Rafa didn't "tank" the WTFs when he lost all 3 of his matches in '09 or '11, was it? Anyway, he merely played like crap. :laydownlaughing

 

[Fiero425]

But what does that mean, you didn't want the option to be on the table? It only makes sense if you think that Rafa would actually take the option.

But why would he do that?

I didn't really think Rafa would tank the semis, it was partly fear that he might, partly just beating on the wardrums. Anyway, it all turned our pretty good for you guys in the end. But the point that Rafa would never tank a match is clearly wrong. 6-1 against Dustin Brown. :lolz:

You didn't see the match today, obviously.

But I'm glad you weren't serious about him tanking a FO semi to avoid Novak. I mean, it's all gain for Rafa against Novak in Paris, always has been...

Ah, yes Dustin Brown is serious opposition of course. 'Best player ever'. Maybe Nadal will have a chance next time. Maybe. If he tries his best.

Today he was, but let him reach a French Open final and we'll see if Rafa tanks to avoid him...

Every great player loses. It seems Rafa's opponents never get the credit they deserve when they beat him. Fact is, it was a very good performance by Brown, and Rafa was still finding his feet. That's the point of playing these warm ups, to get practice in. Unfortunately that's all the practice Rafa will get in Halle...

Tell me about it! It really ticked me off that Wawrinka had to contain himself to be respectful of Rafa because he was supposedly hurt! When is he respectful of anyone; from the delay in the coin toss to his pumping himself after he wins just an extended point? And the total collapse after winning a championship is over the top disgusting! Screw him! :nono :cry - Cry me a freakin' river from here on out when it concerns him!