Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open, CA, USA, ATP Masters 2017

[Carol]

Ok Rafa, come to Miami and try to get the title
Anyway not doubts that Roger and his new racket is helping him a lot, serving and playing

Passive is As passive does!

One of the worst matches played by Rafa so far, if I wouldn't have watched the match I wouldn't believe his poor game and serve, bah!

 

[Moxie]

Insane display from Roger. First time he's beaten Rafa 3 times in a row, incredible what he's doing. Sucks that he had to play Rafa in the 4th round, he still needs to go through Kyrgios and Kinky Kei just to make the final, very tough ask. But if he plays like that...

I'd have to favor Roger for the win. It only took him 13 years to figure out Nadal, but maybe he has.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Remember Carol I mentioned to PM and yourself..Rafa will Never win again on a hardcourt against a top pro playing this passive..Rafa had 2nd serves at 91 mph..Kyrgios had two 2nd serves over 140 mph.. this style of tennis will not work in today's game..DYJr would have played Federer better..watch tomorrow Krygrios will come out blasting..he will play like he wants to win..WHat in the HeLL does Rafa has to loose..Toni had better get his azz over to Miami and fix this crap ..

 

[Carol]

Like I said before Kyrgios never has beaten two top players in a row

 

[lacatch]

Maybe, just maybe, Carol--Rafa was just the object of an old-fashioned, one-sided beatdown. Roger took it to Rafa from beginning to end--no letdown. And no--it was not because of Roger's new racket--he's been playing with that for a long time now.

 

[Moxie]

Nick has what appears to be a new commitment. It'll be an interesting match, I reckon.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Tignor the Kiss of Death picks

Djokovic over Kyrgios
Nadal over Federer


Front ..Steve is a complete azzClown:laydownlaughing

 

[Busted]

All important stat.

Roger: Backhand W = 8 UFE = 1, for a differential of +7

Rafa: Backhand W = 9, UFE = 9, for a differential of 0.

The fundamental strategy of repeatedly attacking Roger's backhand is not going to work any more.

I think the problem for Nadal is in part due to the hard courts. That and Roger finally got his head out of his butt and is stepping into the court to meet the ball instead of letting it get too high. :clap

I think what I loved more than anything about this match was the clear frustration on Nadal's face because apparently he had no Plan B against Roger. After the AO you'd think he'd have come up with a just-in-case strategy. I think this is where you can see the difference Roger's versatility makes and how he can adapt his game depending on who he's playing. Not that I want to give him any hints, but maybe Nadal should try introducing himself to the net more often. :snicker

 

[lacatch]

Tignor the Kiss of Death picks

Djokovic over Kyrgios
Nadal over Federer


Front ..Steve is a complete azzClown:laydownlaughing

Totally right lol. You can make A LOT of money by betting against Tignor!

 

[DarthFed]

I'd have to favor Roger for the win. It only took him 13 years to figure out Nadal, but maybe he has.

Still early to say that but Roger is flat out hitting the backhand better than he ever has so far this year. We will see if it's here to stay, one other big thing is he is way more aggressive on return vs. Rafa. That at the very least is more sustainable from here on out.

Weird observation from this match is that the high bounce may have helped Roger more today. Rafa was unable to pin Roger in the backhand corner with the heavy topspin and Rafa couldn't handle Roger's kick serve at all which is why Fed won 75% of second serve points.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Come on now, fellow Federer fans, gloating doesn't become you ...

Fed will never overturn his H2H against Nadal. But as far as I'm concerned, the argument (which I never put much stock in) is dead anyway. On clay, it is no contest. Elsewhere, they have been pretty even in H2H across their career.

Roger also hasn't won this tile yet, and it is still going to be difficult. At least he hasn't used up too much energy so far, but he's still got to face Kyrgios and (probably) Nishikori and Wawrinka.

But let's hope that he can do it, and then he can take Miami off.

 

[britbox]

Jeez, what the hell happened here? Popped out for an hour and missed the whole match?

 

[mrzz]

Kyrgios is a real threat now, for sure. But I still think that his main weapon is precisely his "lack of interest", his abandon during matches, which makes him play freely and unpredictably. His wins against the big three are surely important, but....

It has to be said that he was EXTREMELY lucky on the timing of those encounters. His Nadal win was in 2014, Nadal was far from his best and it was Wimbledon, where a lot of other players had beat him. Against Federer, almost the same, the Swiss was far from unbeatable those days. And Djokovic has been collecting early losses. Yes, it is still an achievement, but not as great as it might look. Incidentally, his H2H with Murray is 0-5.

About the Fedal match... I was sure Federer would win, almost sure it would be relatively easy. New times have arrived.

 

[Cosmo]

My boy Roger looked good.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Maybe, just maybe, Carol--Rafa was just the object of an old-fashioned, one-sided beatdown. Roger took it to Rafa from beginning to end--no letdown. And no--it was not because of Roger's new racket--he's been playing with that for a long time now.

FWIW, I think Roger's racquet change made a big difference to his backhand. And IIRC, he hadn't played Nadal with the new racquet except very early after the change.

I'm not saying it's the only difference, but I do think that in hindsight he should have made the switch to a larger racquet head sooner.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Woah! Roger just had it EASY today. He was hitting winners from both the wings. Incredible! Rafa played like he was playing at Rome; won't work.

I don't care about Roger closing in on the h2h but to get 3 wins in a row after all these years is special. I'm mighty pleased. 3 wins in a row on hard courts. Priceless!

 

[El Dude]

NIshioka and Stanimal is like David and Goliath. One of the announcers aptly describe Nishioka as "like a really good junior - he plays way back and loops the ball corner to corner."

He's had a nice run, but I don't see how he could possibly trouble a top player unless they don't have their head on straight. And, yeah: Stan.

 

[mrzz]

After the AO you'd think he'd have come up with a just-in-case strategy.

I was discussing precisely this topic, not sure if it was here or somewhere else. I did not expect Nadal to have a plan B for a simple reason: He and Federer are not dominant any more, it makes no sense to them to lose time thinking about each other. They have a whole field to cope with, which they do not breeze trough anymore. Back in the day for sure he would have arrived with a plan B, and probably a good one.

 

[Haelfix]

Just watched the Novak replay. It's barely perceptible but if u watch closely u can see Novak beginning to have a movement problem. You can see it by his balance, which is off by a fraction of a second. That's leading to unforced errors that we would never have seen a few years ago.

His counterpunches are landing a bit short as well, at least compared to how deep they used to be

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Expect someone to appear here and tell us shamelessly how much Andy's lead has increased over Novak.