Mercedes Cup - Stuttgart ATP 250 - June 8-14

[Front242]

Baghdatis has been on the challenger circuit for quite some time now. Sad to see as he was a decent player back in 2006 but basically has done nothing since then.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

When the top players are playing MS and GS their first opponents usually are easier to beat, but this grass 500 tournament is the best to training for Rafa, first Baghadis who always has been a good figther, then Tomic who is a very good player and tough opponent, tomorrow Monfils who is one of the best player of the Tour and of course VERY difficult to play against. If Rafa would reach the final he will be ready in Queens and even better in Wimbledon where I'd love he wins and then he would shaking out all those three awful last years

Let me try to fix some of the factual errors in your post.


1. In MS, it is very tough from the very first round.

2. This is not a 500 event.

3. Baghdatis has always been good and that is why many people thought he has already retired.

 

[Front242]

Literally have to change my pants after reading that last line :laydownlaughing

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa and Deliciano won the 1st round in doubles, got a walkover in 2nd round and have given a walkover in SF.

Anyway, this tourney is already a success for Rafa no matter what happens in the remaining matches. He managed to win 2 singles and 1 doubles match and will be playing tomorrow. That is enough of a practice before getting to Queens and meeting the big boys.

 

[Fiero425]

Rafa and Deliciano won the 1st round in doubles, got a walkover in 2nd round and have given a walkover in SF.

Anyway, this tourney is already a success for Rafa no matter what happens in the remaining matches. He managed to win 2 singles and 1 doubles match and will be playing tomorrow. That is enough of a practice before getting to Queens and meeting the big boys.

This tourney has been little more than a practice session! Nadal got some work, but not sure how much it will help! It was ugly yesterday! Still waiting for Tomic match on TCC! Why they played yesterday's match against Bags this morning, I'll never know! Thought maybe there was a rain delay until I saw scores updating online! Anybody checking of ESPN Classic Wimbledon matches? Got a chance to see Martina and Chris duking it out in '84! Navratilova had just won her 2nd FO, so this final would just anchor and cement her greatness at the time with routine victories for the most part! :angel: :dodgy:

 

[the AntiPusher]

It's always an event when Rafa wins a grass court match these days. I watched the first two sets and he looked better than he did yesterday. Good serving, decent returning, and impressively, good movement. The forehand down the line is absolutely garbage though. He needs to find that shot come Wimbledon.

The reason that the fh dtl is garbage is really based on what you have been saying he has lost some of his quickness or is a bit slower, in the match vs Tomic, he appeared to not be squared up with the ballpark, hopefully he can make adjustments

 

[DarthFed]

When the top players are playing MS and GS their first opponents usually are easier to beat, but this grass 500 tournament is the best to training for Rafa, first Baghadis who always has been a good figther, then Tomic who is a very good player and tough opponent, tomorrow Monfils who is one of the best player of the Tour and of course VERY difficult to play against. If Rafa would reach the final he will be ready in Queens and even better in Wimbledon where I'd love he wins and then he would shaking out all those three awful last years

You just badly overrated 3 clowns known for being major underachievers. Rafa should be beating these guys easy, even on grass. Baghdatis...a good fighter? :laydownlaughing

 

[Kieran]

Hey, we'll take any win we can get, especially on grass. This has been an excellent event for Rafa so far, plenty of play. That's what he needs...

 

[Moxie]

Hey, we'll take any win we can get, especially on grass. This has been an excellent event for Rafa so far, plenty of play. That's what he needs...

Exactly. Today was already a big improvement over yesterday. And he and Feli bailed out on the doubles, which was smart.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Hey, we'll take any win we can get, especially on grass. This has been an excellent event for Rafa so far, plenty of play. That's what he needs...

Exactly. Today was already a big improvement over yesterday. And he and Feli bailed out on the doubles, which was smart.

Deliciano lost early in the singles. Perhaps, he wanted to move on to the next tourney.
That may explain why they opted out of doubles. Let to himself, I think Rafa would have wanted to play as more matches, especially on grass, is good for him.

 

[Moxie]

Hey, we'll take any win we can get, especially on grass. This has been an excellent event for Rafa so far, plenty of play. That's what he needs...

Exactly. Today was already a big improvement over yesterday. And he and Feli bailed out on the doubles, which was smart.

Deliciano lost early in the singles. Perhaps, he wanted to move on to the next tourney.
That may explain why they opted out of doubles. Let to himself, I think Rafa would have wanted to play as more matches, especially on grass, is good for him.

Actually, look at pavlik's post #131 on the previous page. In his on-court interview after the match with Tomic, Rafa was asked about his doubles match coming up and he demurred, saying "I don't know...a lot of tennis." If anyone had a reason to keep going in the doubles, it was Lopez.

 

[the AntiPusher]

When the top players are playing MS and GS their first opponents usually are easier to beat, but this grass 500 tournament is the best to training for Rafa, first Baghadis who always has been a good figther, then Tomic who is a very good player and tough opponent, tomorrow Monfils who is one of the best player of the Tour and of course VERY difficult to play against. If Rafa would reach the final he will be ready in Queens and even better in Wimbledon where I'd love he wins and then he would shaking out all those three awful last years

You just badly overrated 3 clowns known for being major underachievers. Rafa should be beating these guys easy, even on grass. Baghdatis...a good fighter? :laydownlaughing

Darth he isn't the Rafa that you adore and admires not just yet, but he gettin there

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

rafa has won 2 whole matches on grass.

the Stuttgart-queensclub-Wimbledon grass hat-trick is ON, (umm..yeah).

 

[Front242]

When the top players are playing MS and GS their first opponents usually are easier to beat, but this grass 500 tournament is the best to training for Rafa, first Baghadis who always has been a good figther, then Tomic who is a very good player and tough opponent, tomorrow Monfils who is one of the best player of the Tour and of course VERY difficult to play against. If Rafa would reach the final he will be ready in Queens and even better in Wimbledon where I'd love he wins and then he would shaking out all those three awful last years

You just badly overrated 3 clowns known for being major underachievers. Rafa should be beating these guys easy, even on grass. Baghdatis...a good fighter? :laydownlaughing

Darth he isn't the Rafa that you adore and admires not just yet, but he gettin there

The guy Darth loves is the guy who loses to Marcy D'Arcy's husband

 

[Carol]

Ok ok guys, my bad, this tournament is a 250 but still It's a good one to make a good training .
And yes, even that Baghdatis and Tomic have not won any tournament on grass they are good FIGHTERS at least to make a little difficult time to whoever is at the other side of the net.
But it's funny to see some posters opinions .......

 

[Carol]

Baghdatis has been on the challenger circuit for quite some time now. Sad to see as he was a decent player back in 2006 but basically has done nothing since then.

Really? maybe you have bad memory or you tried to forget when Baghdatis beat Federer in IW 2010....

 

[brokenshoelace]

It's always an event when Rafa wins a grass court match these days. I watched the first two sets and he looked better than he did yesterday. Good serving, decent returning, and impressively, good movement. The forehand down the line is absolutely garbage though. He needs to find that shot come Wimbledon.

The reason that the fh dtl is garbage is really based on what you have been saying he has lost some of his quickness or is a bit slower, in the match vs Tomic, he appeared to not be squared up with the ballpark, hopefully he can make adjustments

That's part of it for sure, but he's definitely taking racket speed off, which implies lack of confidence. When he does go for it and doesn't miss, he's playing it with too safe a margin, and it's easily dealt with. In fact, at times it ends up hurting him as he's going to his opponent's strengths (for most players at least), the forehand.

 

[brokenshoelace]

What's with the pointless arguing? Nadal should be beating guys like Baghdatis and Tomic? Well, yeah, and he did. What's the problem?

Anyway, Monfils will be tough.

 

[Moxie]

It's always an event when Rafa wins a grass court match these days. I watched the first two sets and he looked better than he did yesterday. Good serving, decent returning, and impressively, good movement. The forehand down the line is absolutely garbage though. He needs to find that shot come Wimbledon.

The reason that the fh dtl is garbage is really based on what you have been saying he has lost some of his quickness or is a bit slower, in the match vs Tomic, he appeared to not be squared up with the ballpark, hopefully he can make adjustments

That's part of it for sure, but he's definitely taking racket speed off, which implies lack of confidence. When he does go for it and doesn't miss, he's playing it with too safe a margin, and it's easily dealt with. In fact, at times it ends up hurting him as he's going to his opponent's strengths (for most players at least), the forehand.

I noticed, too, that he was going a lot to the righty forehand? Why would that be? That's not his usual pattern.

 

[rafanoy1992]

At this point, any win for Nadal, is a good thing for him. I mean we have seen him this year in which he plays well most of the tournament but get demolished in the next match. It will be interesting to see if he does win this tournament, will he skip Queens or just play one match and withdraw from the tournament.

Also, Marin Cilic is starting to find his groove bit by bit. If he can find his groove, he could be a dangerous wild card in both Wimbledon and the US summer hard courts. You gotta remember that he pushed Djokovic into five sets in Wimbledon last year.