Monte Carlo Rolex Masters

[Murat Baslamisli]

Happy for Rafa, no?

 

[pavlik89]

[video=dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x453zfi[/video]

 

[DarthFed]

Happy for Rafa, no?

No

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Happy for Rafa, no?

No

:laydownlaughing

 

[pavlik89]

[video=dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4543kk[/video]

 

[Carol]

Happy for Rafa, no?

No

That's a good sign! :ras:

 

[El Dude]

I'm happy for Rafa. It was a well-earned trophy and his biggest title since Roland Garros two years ago.

That said, as good as he played today, he'll have to iron out some more kinks before he beats Novak, or hope that Stanimal takes Novak out. I still favor Novak by a solid margin going into RG, but the gap has narrowed significantly. But unless Novak stumbles, Rafa will have to be more consistent to beat him.

 

[Kieran]

I'm happy for Rafa. It was a well-earned trophy and his biggest title since Roland Garros two years ago.

That said, as good as he played today, he'll have to iron out some more kinks before he beats Novak, or hope that Stanimal takes Novak out. I still favor Novak by a solid margin going into RG, but the gap has narrowed significantly. But unless Novak stumbles, Rafa will have to be more consistent to beat him.

It's possible that this is the breakthrough he needs to be more confident and assertive - or else this is a false dawn and his old problems haven't gone away, or fully been cured. Too early for us to measure him against Novak, but he played some great stuff this week.

Anybody else as impressed with the backhand as I was? He gave a fair old smacking and it held up well, hit winners off it, great depth and flatness too...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

There is no question that Rafa earned this trophy the hard way. His draw was not easy by any means. Even though he was helped by Novak's early loss, that should not take anything away from Rafa as he beat big names.

I am really happy for Rafa, especially if he can reach the Tantalus's hell where RG seems within reach but only to be lost again.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I'm happy for Rafa. It was a well-earned trophy and his biggest title since Roland Garros two years ago.

That said, as good as he played today, he'll have to iron out some more kinks before he beats Novak, or hope that Stanimal takes Novak out. I still favor Novak by a solid margin going into RG, but the gap has narrowed significantly. But unless Novak stumbles, Rafa will have to be more consistent to beat him.

It's possible that this is the breakthrough he needs to be more confident and assertive - or else this is a false dawn and his old problems haven't gone away, or fully been cured. Too early for us to measure him against Novak, but he played some great stuff this week.

Anybody else as impressed with the backhand as I was? He gave a fair old smacking and it held up well, hit winners off it, great depth and flatness too...

Rafa showed that he had a lot left in his reserve tank today in the 3rd set against Gael will this translates at RG if and when he faces Novak, I don't know but today as Kieran stated is a step in the right direction as for confidence (besides it get a RISE out of Darth ,:lolz:

 

[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.

Thank God you are not Nostradamus

Well, it was always on the cards that even if he won the 2nd he'd barely score a game in set 3. In this case he equaled his shameful 5th set against Murray at RG. Needs to work on his cardio or join the big boys with some artificial "fitness" :s Glad I missed set 3.

 

[the AntiPusher]

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.

Thank God you are not Nostradamus

Well, it was always on the cards that even if he won the 2nd he'd barely score a game in set 3. In this case he equaled his shameful 5th set against Murray at RG. Needs to work on his cardio or join the big boys with some artificial "fitness" :s Glad I missed set 3.

join the big boys with some artificial "fitness"

including the "Beloved" ?

 

[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.

Thank God you are not Nostradamus

As we can see he is faaaaar to be Nostradamus :snicker

Nostradamus himself claimed the world was gonna end about a million times already I was pretty much right anyway if you look at the disgraceful score of the 3rd set. Just expected that to be the 2nd set result.

 

[Front242]

Thank God you are not Nostradamus

Well, it was always on the cards that even if he won the 2nd he'd barely score a game in set 3. In this case he equaled his shameful 5th set against Murray at RG. Needs to work on his cardio or join the big boys with some artificial "fitness" :s Glad I missed set 3.

big boys with some artificial "fitness"

including the "Beloved" ?

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired and loses matches he could easily have won if he joined the darkside. If he has a tough match the day before chances are high he loses the next match.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Well, it was always on the cards that even if he won the 2nd he'd barely score a game in set 3. In this case he equaled his shameful 5th set against Murray at RG. Needs to work on his cardio or join the big boys with some artificial "fitness" :s Glad I missed set 3.

big boys with some artificial "fitness"

including the "Beloved" ?

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired and loses matches he could easily have won if he joined the darkside. If he has a tough match the day before chances are high he loses the next match.

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired

R U Sure

 

[Front242]

big boys with some artificial "fitness"

including the "Beloved" ?

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired and loses matches he could easily have won if he joined the darkside. If he has a tough match the day before chances are high he loses the next match.

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired

R U Sure

Yes. I watch his matches and when I see him losing 5th sets dismally it's clear. When he went 5 sets against Monfils at the 2014 USO quarter final he had nothing left against juice boy Cilic next match. Mind you, he wasn't likely to beat him anyway but the scoreline would've likely been closer had he not gone 5 against Monfils. The Olympic semi against Del Potro completely drained him for the final too.

 

[Carol]

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired and loses matches he could easily have won if he joined the darkside. If he has a tough match the day before chances are high he loses the next match.

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired

R U Sure

Yes. I watch his matches and when I see him losing 5th sets dismally it's clear. When he went 5 sets against Monfils at the 2014 USO quarter final he had nothing left against juice boy Cilic next match. Mind you, he wasn't likely to beat him anyway but the scoreline would've likely been closer had he not gone 5 against Monfils. The Olympic semi against Del Potro completely drained him for the final too.

I suppose that he can't because his age.......when he was younger and winning tournaments at 5 sets (at his prim and even later) then what did you say? I can imagine ...."he is the GOAT, he is the best, he is the Bethoveen of the tennis, he is unbeatable, he is the best that tennis has given us, what a elegance, the 8 wonder of the world", come on!

 

[Front242]

No, excluding him clearly 'cos he gets tired

R U Sure

Yes. I watch his matches and when I see him losing 5th sets dismally it's clear. When he went 5 sets against Monfils at the 2014 USO quarter final he had nothing left against juice boy Cilic next match. Mind you, he wasn't likely to beat him anyway but the scoreline would've likely been closer had he not gone 5 against Monfils. The Olympic semi against Del Potro completely drained him for the final too.

I suppose that he can't because his age.......when he was younger and winning tournaments at 5 sets (at his prim) then what did you say? I can imagine ...."he is the GOAT, he is the best, he is the Bethoveen of the tennis, he is unbeatable, he is the best that tennis has given us, what a elegance, the 8 wonder of the world", come on!

He wasn't that far past his prime in 2009 but was visibly fatigued in the final set against Del Potro in the 2009 USO final. He's never been a Duracell bunny like the other top players. He also stated he was conserving energy in those two 5 set USO semis against Novak where he tanked 2 sets to have enough left for set 5. Clearly a sign of a guy who tires normally.

 

[Kieran]

It wasn't a tough match, in the sense that they went deep into the fifth. Fitness wasn't an issue.

Anyway, according to Front, they were "pushing" the ball 90% of the time. Takes nothing out of you, pushing the ball...

 

[Carol]

Yes. I watch his matches and when I see him losing 5th sets dismally it's clear. When he went 5 sets against Monfils at the 2014 USO quarter final he had nothing left against juice boy Cilic next match. Mind you, he wasn't likely to beat him anyway but the scoreline would've likely been closer had he not gone 5 against Monfils. The Olympic semi against Del Potro completely drained him for the final too.

I suppose that he can't because his age.......when he was younger and winning tournaments at 5 sets (at his prim) then what did you say? I can imagine ...."he is the GOAT, he is the best, he is the Bethoveen of the tennis, he is unbeatable, he is the best that tennis has given us, what a elegance, the 8 wonder of the world", come on!

He wasn't that far past his prime in 2009 but was visibly fatigued in the final set against Del Potro in the 2009 USO final. He's never been a Duracell bunny like the other top players.

He had to be fatigued because Delpo made him to work too hard and obviously played better than him.
Roger didn't use to work so hard before 2007, everything was easier for him but the tour got more and more tough later and things changed drastically for him