Bert
Masters Champion
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- Mar 6, 2016
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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, Monaco, ATP Masters 1000
- Thread starter Moxie
- Start date
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
Bert
Masters Champion
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2016
- Messages
- 616
- Reactions
- 196
- Points
- 43
- Location
- Perth, Western Australia
- Website
- www.effibet.weebly.com
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
Nadal gets the break. 4-1. Looks like curtains for Murray.
What a contrast from the first set.
Murray getting involved in an exchange with the umpire over "a lack of respect" (umpires words)
What a contrast from the first set.
Murray getting involved in an exchange with the umpire over "a lack of respect" (umpires words)
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
Enjoy the rest of the weekend BillieThis looks like it's over to me. Unfortunately I have to go offline now, but enjoy the rest of tennis today.
Think this is probably done and dusted.
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
brokenshoelace
Grand Slam Champion
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Multiple Major Winner
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Multiple Major Winner
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Multiple Major Winner
brokenshoelace
Grand Slam Champion
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- Apr 14, 2013
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I missed the first set, but the two sets I watched, I thought Nadal was pretty impressive, especially by his recent poor standards. When Nadal plays well on clay Murray really isn't much of a match, and whenever they have close matches, Nadal will usually come out on top. I was disappointed the third set didn't look like the end of the second, where both players were on and just engaging in some brutal rallies, but Murray really fell apart after Nadal tied things up.
I will not use the word "encouraging," because I still don't think one match or even one tournament will necessarily carry good omen moving forward for Rafa, in light of what we've seen in the past two years, and he's still too inconsistent to be able to just build on one victory. However, I did see some impressive things out there, namely him very rarely utilizing his sub-par slice backhand, and making it a point to stick with the double hander at all cost. His cross court forehand still looks pretty brutal on clay when he steps up and hits it well, and as he gains confidence in a match, he starts going for his up the line forehand which usually means bad news for the opponent.
The serving is not good, and that's a major problem against anyone playing well, because the opponent will always have the advantage of having some easy service holds while Nadal has to work overtime. I also noticed it took Nadal a while to really fire his inside out forehand, as at first, whenever he went for it, he took a lot off his racket head acceleration and just kinda hoped Murray guesses wrong on those 50/50 type mid court forehands.
He did hit with good depth and seemed to be thinking really clearly from the second set on, which was pretty refreshing to see. Still 38 unforced errors in a 3-set clay court match is a real problem for Nadal, and to me, that is the most worrying aspect (along with the first serve). The one thing about Nadal used to be that he will never beat himself. Even when he played terribly, his problem was usually being too passive and not hitting with enough depth, as opposed to flat out missing. Nowadays, he just makes errors like anyone else, and when you couple that with short hitting and poor serving, it's a pretty glaring problem. If he can at least clean up the unforced errors, it will go a long way in avoiding these weird unexpected losses.
I will not use the word "encouraging," because I still don't think one match or even one tournament will necessarily carry good omen moving forward for Rafa, in light of what we've seen in the past two years, and he's still too inconsistent to be able to just build on one victory. However, I did see some impressive things out there, namely him very rarely utilizing his sub-par slice backhand, and making it a point to stick with the double hander at all cost. His cross court forehand still looks pretty brutal on clay when he steps up and hits it well, and as he gains confidence in a match, he starts going for his up the line forehand which usually means bad news for the opponent.
The serving is not good, and that's a major problem against anyone playing well, because the opponent will always have the advantage of having some easy service holds while Nadal has to work overtime. I also noticed it took Nadal a while to really fire his inside out forehand, as at first, whenever he went for it, he took a lot off his racket head acceleration and just kinda hoped Murray guesses wrong on those 50/50 type mid court forehands.
He did hit with good depth and seemed to be thinking really clearly from the second set on, which was pretty refreshing to see. Still 38 unforced errors in a 3-set clay court match is a real problem for Nadal, and to me, that is the most worrying aspect (along with the first serve). The one thing about Nadal used to be that he will never beat himself. Even when he played terribly, his problem was usually being too passive and not hitting with enough depth, as opposed to flat out missing. Nowadays, he just makes errors like anyone else, and when you couple that with short hitting and poor serving, it's a pretty glaring problem. If he can at least clean up the unforced errors, it will go a long way in avoiding these weird unexpected losses.
