Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2019, Monaco, ATP Masters 1000

[Moxie]

Am away for Easter and can't watch tennis. Couple of questions: Did Medvedev play crazy good v. how much was Djokovic off? Basically same question for Nadal v. Pella, at least the first set. I knew Pella could give him a hard time, and I'm sure he threw everything at that first set, but what was up with Rafa in the first 2/3 set?

 

[Horsa]

Am away for Easter and can't watch tennis.

Enjoy your holiday! Happy Easter! I'm very sorry to hear you can't watch tennis but hope you have a nice time anyway. I hope Good Friday has lived up to its name for you.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Was sad I couldn't watch Medvedev v Djokovic this morning. Or the first part of Nadal v Pella. Caught the end of that and then the first set of Coric v Fognini. Was thrilled to see Coric winning. But had to miss the second and Fabio has just found his best game and is just playing some beautiful clay tennis! I don't dislike Fognini. Ya know, it's just hard to rely on the guy. So I haven't really rooted for him in a long time. But the last couple years have been great for him on clay. Some good wins over Nadal. And if he plays this well and doesn't have too much pain from an elbow problem he has right now. Nadal will need to be on his best to come through it. Assuming Fognini can finish of Coric here shortly. I hate to see Coric lose. Even in the quarters. Just ready to see him progress in his career and up his ranking. But with Fognini over 30 now it's definitely nice to see him in his element and get some good results.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Coric gave himself a chance and then Fognini gave him the break chance with a double fault. But Coric blew it from there. Fognini got to match point but Coric saved it. But then threw one into the net. But Fognini couldn't find a first serve and Coric finally connected on a dtl backhand return. Got himself to break point again. But back to deuce they went. Coric sent a forehand sailing long. And then another long. And Fognini finally found a first serve and that was it. Coric couldn't get the return back into play. Was rough to see Coric not play his best in the third. But it was much more about Fabio being great. Just... as the commentators said a handful of times, "had Coric on a string." Fantastic play. Glad to see him get some good wins and make it to the semis and get that matchup with Nadal. Which, I imagine that was a large part of why he was able to come back. He relishes these match ups with Nadal on clay. Gets up to make those happen. And gets up for those matches. Really nice to see Flavia rooting for him from the sidelines too. She knows all to well the ups and down of his matches and all matches. Good to see her.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Just Fognini's second semifinal here in Monte Carlo over the years. Not entirely surprising knowing Fabio. But good to see him get there this year.

I do imagine Nadal will win it tomorrow. But if Fognini can come up with great stuff like we saw late today, it'll be a really fun match. And hopefully competitive.

Great win for Medvedev today. We'll see if Lajovic can beat him. I don't think so. But ya never know.

 

[Denis]

Am away for Easter and can't watch tennis. Couple of questions: Did Medvedev play crazy good v. how much was Djokovic off? Basically same question for Nadal v. Pella, at least the first set. I knew Pella could give him a hard time, and I'm sure he threw everything at that first set, but what was up with Rafa in the first 2/3 set?

M played well. Djokovic terrible. Passive and full of errors.

New serve motion was kept btw.

 

[Andy22]

Hope Djokovic will get a deep run in Madrid or Rome so Nadal can beat him, to get that horrible AO match out of way. Anyway Nadal could just play Thiem at the FO like last year.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Nole lost a chance to extend his lease of space in Ralph's head.

On another note, it looks like Nole is falling down to a variety of up and coming players: Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Sasha and Medvedev have beaten him in during the past nine months.

So, even if Fedal is gone, it appears that Nole will not have his sole dominance. He would have to share the spoils with the nextgen folks.

 

[El Dude]

Are Novak fans worried? Since being literally unbeatable at the Australian Open, he has looked quite mortal, more like the 2017 version of himself than the resurgent second half 2018 version. He's gone 5-3, losing to good but not great players Bautista Agut, Kohlschrieber, and Medvedev.

 

[Fiero425]

Nole lost a chance to extend his lease of space in Ralph's head.

On another note, it looks like Nole is falling down to a variety of up and coming players: Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Sasha and Medvedev have beaten him in during the past nine months.

So, even if Fedal is gone, it appears that Nole will not have his sole dominance. He would have to share the spoils with the nextgen folks.

After 30, Fedalovic have been vulnerable to players they normally own! Nole just has a longer list with RBA, Wawrinka, Murray, Cilic, Berdych, & Del Po! Now the "Next Gen" is making their predicted move and I already thought Nole wasn't at his best and was probably going down before the final! We're spoiled with the isolated brilliance shown "down under!" He may never be that good again! He still has to work very hard to win even early round matches! The same can be said for Nadal, but he's less likely to have such a bad day as to go out the way Djokovic has on several occasions of late! :whistle: :cuckoo:

 

[Federberg]

After 30, Fedalovic have been vulnerable to players they normally own! Nole just has a longer list with RBA, Wawrinka, Murray, Cilic, Berdych, & Del Po! Now the "Next Gen" is making their predicted move and I already thought Nole wasn't at his best and was probably going down before the final! We're spoiled with the isolated brilliance shown "down under!" He may never be that good again! He still has to work very hard to win even early round matches! The same can be said for Nadal, but he's less likely to have such a bad day as to go out the way Djokovic has on several occasions of late! :whistle: :cuckoo:

Was he brilliant down under? I just thought Rafa was awful with his mental and match up problems. Novak just turned up

 

[Fiero425]

Was he brilliant down under? I just thought Rafa was awful with his mental and match up problems. Novak just turned up

I normally have eyes glazed over watching a Nole/Rafa match; esp. on clay! When Nole dominates this way; flicking winners out of nowhere, it's very entertaining and I can watch it over and over again! Rafa was playing quite well; spare us that BS! He hadn't been broken by anyone; actually avoiding break points altogether! Nole owned Nadal's service games with pinpoint accuracy of his returns, running him back and forth; often not even in the camera shot of the winner hit! That was brilliance personified and it was a good thing Fed went out early and wasn't the one embarrassed in that final! :whistle:

 

[Federberg]

I normally have eyes glazed over watching a Nole/Rafa match; esp. on clay! When Nole dominates this way; flicking winners out of nowhere, it's very entertaining and I can watch it over and over again! Rafa was playing quite well; spare us that BS! He hadn't been broken by anyone; actually avoiding break points altogether! Nole owned Nadal's service games with pinpoint accuracy of his returns, running him back and forth; often not even in the camera shot of the winner hit! That was brilliance personified and it was a good thing Fed went out early and wasn't the one embarrassed in that final! :whistle:

wow... you're so protective of your guy. I'm sorry but I think you have Nole tinted glasses. He was ok, but Rafa did not play well. That's where you slipped up mate. I wasn't surprised to be honest. Feel free to look back at the pre-match posts. I was convinced Novak was going to win in straight sets. Wimbledon last year broke Rafa. He didn't present Novak with any problems at all. I might not be a Nadal fan, but one thing he was always able to do was put up some resistance. That was far from the case. Don't get me wrong, if Rafa had done that, I'm sure Novak had it within him to raise his level. The fact is he really didn't have to

 

[mrzz]

Couple of questions: Did Medvedev play crazy good v. how much was Djokovic off? Basically same question for Nadal v. Pella, at least the first set.

Medvedev never plays crazy good. He plays always rock solid, sometimes insanely rock solid. But he played well, for sure. Djokovic always seemed that he was about to turn up the gears and take control of the match, but once the third set came, he simply lost the plot. He had at least two different plays going on for him, moving Medveded out of position on the forehand side, and the drop shot, so at some point it seemed that he was in total control... but all of a sudden, two games of the third set goes by and he starts missing one shot after the other.

As for Nadal and Pella, very good match. Pella was really outplaying Nadal in the first. He was serving and had game point to go up 5-1. I guess it was after the second deuce, but I said out loud, before the game-point: "match point Nadal". I was damn sure that if Pella could not convert that game point, the match would quickly escape him from there. He actually fought harder than I anticipated after that.

Nadal is showing very good defense, but on offense he is kind of on and off. At patches a lot of UFE's just came in out of the blue.

@Denis, thanks for the remark about the serve. But I am honestly still under the impression that when the new service motion came in, it was much more "compact" than what we are seeing now. If you say it is not the old one, I believe you, but maybe something from it just morphed into the new one.

 

[Denis]

^ agree on the serve motion. It’s still more compact than say two years ago, but there never was that much difference in any event.

@El Dude not worried. Seen this for two years now and he still managed to win the past three slams. It is what it is. I don’t have high expectations.

 

[Moxie]

wow... you're so protective of your guy. I'm sorry but I think you have Nole tinted glasses. He was ok, but Rafa did not play well. That's where you slipped up mate. I wasn't surprised to be honest. Feel free to look back at the pre-match posts. I was convinced Novak was going to win in straight sets. Wimbledon last year broke Rafa. He didn't present Novak with any problems at all. I might not be a Nadal fan, but one thing he was always able to do was put up some resistance. That was far from the case. Don't get me wrong, if Rafa had done that, I'm sure Novak had it within him to raise his level. The fact is he really didn't have to

Personally, I think it was a combination: Nadal played really well all tournament, and crap in the final; post-30, the day-to-day becomes less predictable. Novak didn't play as great as seemed to be remembered during the tournament, given his standards, but obviously well, and I did think he was excellent in the final...his best of the fortnight, and that it's not mere commie hyperbole. I think he did more than just show up, which is partly why Rafa looked so bad. It all works together. That one is also Novak's best Slam, as we know.

Anyway, I know the AO final is a bit of a distraction from MC.

 

[Moxie]

Nole lost a chance to extend his lease of space in Ralph's head.

On another note, it looks like Nole is falling down to a variety of up and coming players: Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Sasha and Medvedev have beaten him in during the past nine months.

So, even if Fedal is gone, it appears that Nole will not have his sole dominance. He would have to share the spoils with the nextgen folks.

It is amusing/predictable that you are so sure that, had he not played such crap and finally lost to Medvedev, Novak would have beaten Rafa, um, at Monte Carlo. Easy to be snide and confident about a match that will never be played, eh?

As to the second part of your post, it is worth remembering that at IW and MIA, he lost to veterans: Kohlschreiber and RBA, respectively. However, it is a point worth making, looking across the past 5 months. There was a Nole fan poo-pooing the notion that the Next-Gen was taking a step up, when we were talking about it during the smaller tournaments before IW/MIA. Gets harder and harder to ignore/play-down, though. I can see that why a Djokovic fan would want to keep the NextGen wolves at bay...3 years ago, before his walkabout, the road ahead for Novak seemed clear. Not nearly so much now. We shall see how much Fedalovic manage to stave off the youngsters, but they are making their moves.

 

[Federberg]

Personally, I think it was a combination: Nadal played really well all tournament, and crap in the final; post-30, the day-to-day becomes less predictable. Novak didn't play as great as seemed to be remembered during the tournament, given his standards, but obviously well, and I did think he was excellent in the final...his best of the fortnight, and that it's not mere commie hyperbole. I think he did more than just show up, which is partly why Rafa looked so bad. It all works together. That one is also Novak's best Slam, as we know.

Anyway, I know the AO final is a bit of a distraction from MC.

How Rafa played in the rest of the tournament is a red herring. Nothing to do with his performance in the final. Sometimes you just don’t post. That’s life. Personally I think Novak has bought space in his head

 

[Moxie]

How Rafa played in the rest of the tournament is a red herring. Nothing to do with his performance in the final. Sometimes you just don’t post. That’s life. Personally I think Novak has bought space in his head

I'm not saying that Novak isn't in his head...he is, and has been in the past. I've said it before. But post-30 there are also unexpected drops in form. Look at 2015 Wimbledon. SF Fed played like his former best on grass v. Murray, and I really thought he couldn't be beaten in that W final. Then he barely looked like the same player in the final v. Djokovic. Was lucky to get a set. And W is HIS best Major. At that point, he was 33, so very comparable.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

After 30, Fedalovic have been vulnerable to players they normally own! Nole just has a longer list with RBA, Wawrinka, Murray, Cilic, Berdych, & Del Po! Now the "Next Gen" is making their predicted move

Not so sure about your generalization. I thought Fedal were much better at keeping youngsters in their place than Nole. I don't have the stats, but I think Nole is significantly losing more to up and coming players than Fedal (oh, BTW don't compare today's 37 year old Fed with today's Nole).