Is this the beginning of The Incline?

[nehmeth]

The trajectory hit a brick wall (again) today. More to come in 2016.

 

[Kirijax]

The trajectory hit a brick wall (again) today. More to come in 2016.

lol That incline really leveled off today.

 

[isabelle]

Another semi in IW, could we call it the following of the encline ???

 

[nehmeth]

Another semi in IW, could we call it the following of the encline ???

:snicker Good job Isabelle! Was it Kieran (or AP) threatening to bump this one?

In any event, Rafa is playing the best we've seen in a while and the time they play the semi couldn't be better for him. It will be the warmest part of the day and the tennis balls will be jumping... he has a decent chance of an upset.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Another semi in IW, could we call it the following of the encline ???

:snicker Good job Isabelle! Was it Kieran (or AP) threatening to bump this one?

In any event, Rafa is playing the best we've seen in a while and the time they play the semi couldn't be better for him. It will be the warmest part of the day and the tennis balls will be jumping... he has a decent chance of an upset.

A very high percentage of first serve is Rafa's best chance

 

[Front242]

Not really. Placement is most important as his first serves aren't fast and a returner of Novak's caliber will punish them unless they have a bit more oomph on them.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Not really. Placement is most important as his first serves aren't fast and a returner of Novak's caliber will punish them unless they have a bit more oomph on them.

With a high percentage of first serves Will build Rafa 's confidence Which will provide him a higher probability of subsequent begin hitting his placement, Feel me

 

[Kieran]

I prolly would have waited til tomorrow to see if it's worth bumping this one yet. Rafa's decline has been so complete, I think if he gets a set to a tiebreak it'll be a huge triumph, but it's early to think he's anywhere near winning this match, especially given that it's the one match where Nole is totally on guard...

 

[Kieran]

I'd still see this match as a more positive development for Rafa but not necessarily part of an incline. David Goffin reached the other semi: next week he might get nowhere. So the Incline has to be steady and upwards, not hilly and up and down, which it has been since the USO.

From Rafa's perspective, Nole has loaded his bags with cheap and easy wins since Rafa's return in January 2015, but this time it wasn't cheap and easy: it was competitive and Nole had to serve well and return well to take the first set. It was in the balance until the last two points, with Novak played with Borg-like calm brutality. But the test for Rafa is to build on this, and not to have this stand in isolation from what's before and after it. That's going to be the hardest part, and because of this I think he should skip Miami and no focus on his strength, which is clay, and aim to post some huge scores on that surface this summer. Then it's a real Incline...

 

[Front242]

Yesterday was his best chance at beating Djokovic on a hard court as the conditions were hot, the bounce was very high for a hard court and it's also one of the slowest hard courts out there so the little amount of speed he's lost wasn't much of an issue as it's incredibly hard to hit winners at Indian Wells in recent years. Not to mention Novak was playing his B game for much of the match.

On medium/fast hard courts I imagine the scoreline will be much more one sided in Djokovic's favour as the last ones have been. Still though, definite improvement all the same but if he fails to win a single title on clay this year I think it's hard to call this any kind of incline if he can't win on his best surface.

 

[Fiero425]

Yesterday was his best chance at beating Djokovic on a hard court as the conditions were hot, the bounce was very high for a hard court and it's also one of the slowest hard courts out there so the little amount of speed he's lost wasn't much of an issue as it's incredibly hard to hit winners at Indian Wells in recent years. Not to mention Novak was playing his B game for much of the match.

On medium/fast hard courts I imagine the scoreline will be much more one sided in Djokovic's favour as the last ones have been. Still though, definite improvement all the same but if he fails to win a single title on clay this year I think it's hard to call this any kind of incline if he can't win on his best surface.

Funny I keep hearing abut how homogenized the courts are and that they favor baseliners like Nole, Rafa, and others who thrive, but at the same time fewer winners supposely hit! Djokovic belies that with 30; often with Rafa just watching the ball zip right past him! ;-)

 

[isabelle]

Manacor's bull played a good first set vs Nole, he's improving

 

[isabelle]

The encline is going on and on...can you feel the good smell of the encline in MC ???

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

While I think Nadal looks like he is starting to gain some form of consistency and on a good day can take Novak out in a best of three scenario like Fed and Andy. I don't think at the slams in best of five anyone is ready to take Novak out at the moment.

 

[Fiero425]

While I think Nadal looks like he is starting to gain some form of consistency and on a good day can take Novak out in a best of three scenario like Fed and Andy. I don't think at the slams in best of five anyone is ready to take Novak out at the moment.

Funny how the situation has turned; before it was believed Nole couldn't beat Rafa in BO5! It's hilarious now! :lolz: :snicker :laydownlaughing

 

[Kieran]

While I think Nadal looks like he is starting to gain some form of consistency and on a good day can take Novak out in a best of three scenario like Fed and Andy. I don't think at the slams in best of five anyone is ready to take Novak out at the moment.

Funny how the situation has turned; before it was believed Nole couldn't beat Rafa in BO5! It's hilarious now! :lolz: :snicker :laydownlaughing

It's funny how the situation has turned, alright! I mean, back then when Nole couldn't beat Rafa in BO5, you were a Federer fan! :lolz: :snicker :laydownlaughing :ras:

 

[Fiero425]

While I think Nadal looks like he is starting to gain some form of consistency and on a good day can take Novak out in a best of three scenario like Fed and Andy. I don't think at the slams in best of five anyone is ready to take Novak out at the moment.

Funny how the situation has turned; before it was believed Nole couldn't beat Rafa in BO5! It's hilarious now! :lolz: :snicker :laydownlaughing

It's funny how the situation has turned, alright! I mean, back then when Nole couldn't beat Rafa in BO5, you were a Federer fan! :lolz: :snicker :laydownlaughing :ras:

...and your point is? I'm no shill for Nole, but right now "he's the man" and it only taints Roger's legacy the longer he hangs on embarrassing himself! :cover :nono

 

[El Dude]

How is Roger embarrassing himself? Just because he's not winning Slams? He's still one of the two or three best players out there.

 

[Fiero425]

How is Roger embarrassing himself? Just because he's not winning Slams? He's still one of the two or three best players out there.

When does he start hitting "McEnroe & Connors" territory allowing himself to be abused by the rank and file? Roger hasn't won a major since Wimbledon 2012; that's 4 years and there wasn't much to brag about before that going another couple years w/o a major title! I love the way he plays, probably doing the best he can, but it hasn't been close going up against Nole! He has to hope the #1 is either upset or injured to even get a sniff IMO! Like I mentioned earlier, right now it appears he's stunted the growth of the next generation; just good enough to be a real annoyance! :nono :angel: :dodgy: :cover

 

[El Dude]

Fiero, you imply that winning majors is what tennis is about. I see it more as the pinnacle of the sport, something akin to the dessert, but there's still a whole meal, still a lot of other things going on.

In other sports you have the regular season and then the playoffs. In baseball, the goal for every team is to win the World Series. But only one team does it, and it doesn't invalidate every other team or the entire season.

Winning majors is like like winning the World Series (or Superbowl, World Cup, etc). It is the pinnacle, but the game is still worth playing even if you're not going to win it. I have no doubt that Roger really wants to win another Slam, but I also have no doubt that he enjoys the sport.

That said, I don't think he'd play for long if he left the top 10. Maybe a year? Probably we'd see a year or two in the top 5-10 range, then one more partial year in the top 10-20 range. And if he felt like he simply had no chance at winning a major, that might be the time he'd hang up his racket. But we're not there yet.