London ATP YEC - Djokovic v. Nadal SF

[Moxie]

Well, at least I can get on with my day and my weekend. Enjoy it, kids.

 

[EdbergsGhost]

h2h is tied

 

[britbox]

See you Moxie, gave a good weekend.

 

[Billie]

There were a couple of tournaments this year (Miami, Rome) where Nole struggled a bit to reach the semi, but when he was there, the semi and finals were the easiest matches, it seemed

 

[Moxie]

That only took how many years?

 

[EdbergsGhost]

capybara had nothing to challenge.

 

[Billie]

Yay Nole...bravo

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Well done.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Rafa had nothing to hurt Nole with save for a moon shot.

 

[britbox]

Hey Kiu

 

[Billie]

I'll see it in about 10 minutes LOL

 

[EdbergsGhost]

nothing

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I just saw the last 3 games, Rafa didn't play bad.

 

[britbox]

OK guys, thanks for participating. I'm going to merge this back into the main thread.

 

[Billie]

Thanks for the updates guys...it's been a pleasure

 

[EdbergsGhost]

Thank you britbox

 

[britbox]

Congrats to Novak Djokovic!

 

[MikeOne]

It's really fun to watch how these great players match-up against each other. I really think today's result had little to do with Rafa's level and all to do with a nightmare match-up. It's eerily similar to how Rafa used to beat Roger, even when Roger was at his best. Nadal makes Novak look so good just as Federer used to make Nadal look so good.

Rafa is at his best when his opponent isn't a great mover and cannot handle heavy spin that well. Novak's strike zone seems to be a bit higher that normal and he absolutely pummels anything that bounces high, he just destroys topspin shots. Novak also takes the angles away from Rafa given he is such an amazing mover and to add icing on the cake, his return is a nightmare for Rafa's serve.

Nadal is playing well, this match means little in terms of his level, this Novak would've beaten any version of Nadal handily on this surface.

 

 

 

[Billie]

I still think it is amazing how many times these players played against each other, as well as Nole vs Fed, Fed vs Rafa, it is mind blowing.  It is really a testament of how great all 3 are, really.  Is Rafa going to participate in that IPTL thing this year?  I know Nole will, I wish he didn't though.

 

[shawnbm]

Novak seems to make Nadal adjust to him and Rafa has been unable most of the time these last four years. This is the second time Novak has a four match winning streak against Rafa.