Monte Carlo Rolex Masters

[El Dude]

Does Nadal have the worst serve of any great player, in the Open Era, at least?

 

[Front242]

Does Nadal have the worst serve of any great player, in the Open Era, at least?

Nalbandian's was way worse imo.

 

[El Dude]

I said "great player." LOL.

 

[kskate2]

I can think of several other players who are on par w/ him: Samurai & Hewitt to name a few. And Murray's serve isn't anything to write home about either.

 

[Front242]

I said "great player." LOL.

Was waiting for that Seriously though, his serve was one of his biggest liabilities and he would've won way more without all those lame serves and double faults.

 

[El Dude]

Again, but what about the true greats?

 

[Kieran]

They're not pushing the ball Front, I know you're being silly but a lurker might read this and think you haven't a clue...

90% of the time they are, Kieran. The winner on Monfils' last game point was class but that's been about 10% of this match.

Buddy, if it was anybody else but Nadal playing. :cover

A Gael in this form always makes us ask, wtf is he doing the rest of the time? Granted, he's one of the very few tennis players who you'd meet for a pint, but still...

 

[kskate2]

Dude, you would have to be specific. Who is a true great?

 

[Front242]

Could see Monfils folding like a cheap tent a mile off there. He'll likely win 2 games max now in set 2 I reckon.

 

[Kieran]

People who shout out before the point should be dragged out to the car park and shot... :nono

 

[El Dude]

Yeah, 6-2 or even 6-1 in the second set. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Gael is hard to watch.

 

[Kieran]

Jimmy Connors didn't have a great serve. Neither did Mats. At his best, at least Rafa's first serve lays the table neatly for the rest of the point, but it's still a WTA serve...

 

[Front242]

They're not pushing the ball Front, I know you're being silly but a lurker might read this and think you haven't a clue...

90% of the time they are, Kieran. The winner on Monfils' last game point was class but that's been about 10% of this match.

Buddy, if it was anybody else but Nadal playing. :cover

A Gael in this form always makes us ask, wtf is he doing the rest of the time? Granted, he's one of the very few tennis players who you'd meet for a pint, but still...

I'm not personally that impressed by his form. As I said, he's merely pushing the ball over the net 90% of the time. It's similar to Simon against Djokovic in that 5 setter where Nadal is being forced into playing the same awful push fest by virtue of his opponent's tactics. The few times Monfils unleashes on the ball he looks deadly but anyone in the top 100 can push the ball over the net like this. He needs to man up and hit the ball hard way more than 10% of the match as we know he can. It's the only way he has any chance to win and his serving has been poor today. I've seen much better matches than this from him where he wasn't pushing like he's squeezing out a big log.

 

[kskate2]

Agassi's serve sometimes was a liability, but when you put it up against a Sampras, Mac or even Rafter it'll always fall short.

 

[Kieran]

Agassi's serve sometimes was a liability, but when you put it up against a Sampras, Mac or even Rafter it'll always fall short.

Yeah, Agassi's serve was a "point starter", as opposed to a "point finisher." I thought rafter and Edberg had similar serves in the sense that they set up the volley but weren't powerful enough to buckle the foe outta shape, like Sampras or Becker could. But they had great serves, nonetheless...

 

[kskate2]

Monf gets the break on some dreadful Nadal errors. Maybe there's signs of life afterall

 

[Kieran]

Gael is still fighting out there. Bad game by Rafa again on serve...

 

[Front242]

No chance Monfils backs up his break anyway.

 

[Kieran]

Granted, he's one of the very few tennis players who you'd meet for a pint, but still...

Just thinking more on this very important point, it's funny but the likes of Nadal, Djoker and Federer would be boring to go out with, but the French lads Tsonga and Monfils would be great crack, last man standing, and all that. Likewise, Safin, Nalbandian. Sampras would be a bore, ivanisevic would be great. There might be a law of greatness in here somewhere...

 

[kskate2]

La Monf's defense is just insane.