-FG- said:
Both, this year and last year the temperatures were below 20° Celcius for most of the tournament with occassional rain on some days, but the matches between Rafa and Novak were on a day where it was sunny and around I think 28°. It's not that those temperatures are remarkabe for the end of May/early June but they really stood out for the time of the tournament in these years. The average temperature in Paris for this time of the year ist probably something slightly above 20°.
Perfect weather for tennis, and Rafa won. I know what you're saying, but I totally disagree, and have been saying it for years: when Rafa plays his best in Paris, Roger or Nole only get a set - max - regardless of the conditions.
You mention below how Rafa beat him in Rome in damp conditions. Based upon this, we could argue that even in damp conditions, Novak needs to face a Rafa who's playing less well.
The man is an animal on clay and his record shows that. Nole winning some MS titles shows that he has worked his butt off to try get RG, but this has only emphasised Rafa's superiority where it matters, because since 2011, they've played 3 times and this year Nole seemed as far away as ever.
I know. The weather. You'll remind me that it was hot. I'll remind you that Nole has set his cap on Paris since 2011. He knows the conditions. He knows what to do. His problem has been Rafa, not the weather.
In the match 2012 Rafa was in much better form (he even won in 2 sets in damp conditions in Rome three weeks before), so Novak would have needed favorable weather for most of the match to have a real chance but only got it during the third set.
The 3rd set was a drizzling muddy quagmire. :lolz:
in 2013 and 2014 their form before the match against each other was similar. And both times the majority of the rallies looked significantly different to Monte Carlo 2013 or Rome 2014 with Rafa being much more in control and not struggling nearly as much in most of his service games. I don't think such a big difference can be explained by mentality or something like that, but comes down to that playing as clean and aggressive as needed is not sustainable for Novak with the bounce in hot, sunny conditions.
This is wrong: Rafa has often played much better in Paris when the stakes were highest, than he did in MS events. Roger sliced him up with 6-2, 6-0 sets in Hamburg before, and it meant nothing when they played in Paris, because it's a whole different picture, to Rafa.
You can't underestimate what that event means to Rafa, and nor can you disregard the mental aspect. Nole beat him in Rome this year, Rafa played better in Paris. It's as simple as that. Nole's win in Rome
indicated nothing of what we would get from Rafa in Paris.
Likewise last year in Monte Carlo: Nole's win in MC
indicated nothing of what we would get from Rafa in Paris.
You see, the problem with debates like these is that we still end up with you looking like you're saying something that you haven't even once said. In other words, it looks like you're saying Rafa is blessed with the conditions, and without such luck, Novak would have maybe an equal chance to win. And you're not really saying Rafa was lucky, you're actually praising Nadal, but it sounds like qualified praise, as if he's really on a par with Nole but he gets a bit of luck in the weather stakes.
But I think that when we step back and look at the broad picture, Rafa has done it enough times against everybody in Paris, that if Nole was ever to beat him there, that it would be more like a cold day in hell than in Paris, and there would have to be something majorly off with Rafa's game, besides...
uzzled :angel:
