Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, ATP Masters 1000

[monfed]

So it's not enough for Nadull to be dominant on clay, he must also get a cakedraw apparently. Clownfils and now Shortman who will have to jump for Ralph's moonballs. How is that even fair? Can't Wafa atleast get a respectable opponent like Nishikori or DelPotro who atleast have the game to challenge him? Not getting the logic behind the virtual walkovers, anyone knows?

 

[DarthFed]

i believe what Novak needs is to have Roger on the other side of the net. I think his ole Serbian coach V could come up with a plan to raise his game vs Fed.

I'd love to see it, free win for Roger, both Nadal and Nole had their share of those vs Fed in 2013 and other down years

 

[Carol]

So it's not enough for Nadull to be dominant on clay, he must also get a cakedraw apparently. Clownfils and now Shortman who will have to jump for Ralph's moonballs. How is that even fair? Can't Wafa atleast get a respectable opponent like Nishikori or DelPotro who atleast have the game to challenge him? Not getting the logic behind the virtual walkovers, anyone knows?

Where are those? who has beaten those respectable opponents? I see that someones have the game to challenge them and played better than them :lulz2:

 

[Fiero425]

I'd love to see it, free win for Roger, both Nadal and Nole had their share of those vs Fed in 2013 and other down years

Excuse me? Nole's owned Roger since US Open in 2011, dropping that match with 2 MP's and serving for it! Djokovic has beaten Federer at AO, Wimbledon in 2 finals, the YEC, and the USO in 2015! Roger won the 1 or 2 matches they played on a fast HC; maybe Canadian final a few years ago! Sometimes I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone with people giving Gawd-like qualities to Fed's game, but it's not even close with 2 players that have won most of their encounters; esp. in Majors! Was Roger "down" in 2014 & 2015 as well? I think not! The only thing that can't be explained is Nadal going down in flames to Fed this past year or so! Has Rafa's latest regimen of PED's taken affect with all this success on CLAY of late? I'm so hoping the "next gen" can get their act together and win FO and Wimbledon to keep these old guys in check! Another season resembling '06 & '17 is too much for me! Good win by Shapo over Raonic today!:whistle:

 

[the AntiPusher]

I'd love to see it, free win for Roger, both Nadal and Nole had their share of those vs Fed in 2013 and other down years

Rafa was beating Fed in his up years 06-17

 

[Moxie]

So it's not enough for Nadull to be dominant on clay, he must also get a cakedraw apparently. Clownfils and now Shortman who will have to jump for Ralph's moonballs. How is that even fair? Can't Wafa atleast get a respectable opponent like Nishikori or DelPotro who atleast have the game to challenge him? Not getting the logic behind the virtual walkovers, anyone knows?

It doesn't occur to you that there is almost no one in the draw to challenge him, anyway. You find him "dull." And yet he's probably the greatest clay courter, ever. He beat Nishikori rather badly in MC, and Del Potro is out. You can whine all you want, but it's not really about the draw. It's about no one being able to beat him, when he's healthy and confident on the clay.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It doesn't occur to you that there is almost no one in the draw to challenge him, anyway. You find him "dull." And yet he's probably the greatest clay courter, ever. He beat Nishikori rather badly in MC, and Del Potro is out. You can whine all you want, but it's not really about the draw. It's about no one being able to beat him, when he's healthy and confident on the clay.

I agree; Under the current situation of no competition, it just does not matter which way the draw gods smile as far as Rafa is concerned.
The draw might still matter to other people in the field as it might determine who advances far enough and accumulate some points before they get killed by Rafa.

 

[Carol]

I agree; Under the current situation of no competition, it just does not matter which way the draw gods smile as far as Rafa is concerned.
The draw might still matter to other people in the field as it might determine who advances far enough and accumulate some points before they get killed by Rafa.

Do you think it was better competition in the last HC season or it will be better in the next grass season?.

 

[monfed]

It doesn't occur to you that there is almost no one in the draw to challenge him, anyway. You find him "dull." And yet he's probably the greatest clay courter, ever. He beat Nishikori rather badly in MC, and Del Potro is out. You can whine all you want, but it's not really about the draw. It's about no one being able to beat him, when he's healthy and confident on the clay.

I wonder how you'd feel if Fed got Ferret and Almugro in Wimbledon just because he's won 8 Wimbledons.

Name one tough draw dull ever got on clay. Go ahead try me.

 

[britbox]

 

[Moxie]

I wonder how you'd feel if Fed got Ferret and Almugro in Wimbledon just because he's won 8 Wimbledons.

Name one tough draw dull ever got on clay. Go ahead try me.

You miss the point by a mile. In full flight, there isn't really a draw that challenges them on their best surfaces, and at their best level. Both Roger and Rafa have won more than one Major without dropping a set. This isn't about getting a cupcake draw, it's about lapping the field. They are just better than everyone. If you don't get that, you haven't been paying attention.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Do you think it was better competition in the last HC season or it will be better in the next grass season?.

I think competition this season in grass and hard will definitely be better than the non-sense that is currently going on.

 

[DarthFed]

Rafa was beating Fed in his up years 06-17

It was 4-0 Rafa in 2013 and 4-0 in 2008, also 3-1 during Roger's awful 2911 season. Nole also was 2-0 vs corpse of Roger in 2013 and 4-1 in awful 2011. Roger hasn't played this scrub Nole in 2017 or 2018 which is too bad, a nice gimme few wins would only be fair.

 

[DarthFed]

Excuse me? Nole's owned Roger since US Open in 2011, dropping that match with 2 MP's and serving for it! Djokovic has beaten Federer at AO, Wimbledon in 2 finals, the YEC, and the USO in 2015! Roger won the 1 or 2 matches they played on a fast HC; maybe Canadian final a few years ago! Sometimes I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone with people giving Gawd-like qualities to Fed's game, but it's not even close with 2 players that have won most of their encounters; esp. in Majors! Was Roger "down" in 2014 & 2015 as well? I think not! The only thing that can't be explained is Nadal going down in flames to Fed this past year or so! Has Rafa's latest regimen of PED's taken affect with all this success on CLAY of late? I'm so hoping the "next gen" can get their act together and win FO and Wimbledon to keep these old guys in check! Another season resembling '06 & '17 is too much for me! Good win by Shapo over Raonic today!:whistle:

You missed the point bro. I know how great Nole was but he currently stinks and would be roadkill for Federer. The opposite was true at certain points in their matchup, particularly 2013 when Nole got a couple gimme wins at the end of the year.

 

[Fiero425]

You missed the point bro. I know how great Nole was but he currently stinks and would be roadkill for Federer. The opposite was true at certain points in their matchup, particularly 2013 when Nole got a couple gimme wins at the end of the year.

Forgive me while I blather! It's been a while! - You could say Nole was down quite a bit after being pret' near perfect in 2011 thru the spring of 2012! After beating Rafa 7 straight times including major wins over him at Wimbledon, USO, and that marathon down under, something had to give! Nole started showing kinks in his armor! Roger acquired a Wimbledon and received Silver medal from Olympic run, dropping final to Murray! Rafa reasserted himself in 2013 with Nole salvaging his season with his 4th AO and 3rd in a row! Nole was so down he acquired a new coach in Becker! Their tenure together was not looking good until Wimbledon in 2014 where Nole finally "got it back" overtaking Fedal for #1 again and reigned supreme until the very last week of 2016! He had completed his Nole-Slam and again, something had to give; esp. with the tumult of Nole personal life behind the scenes! Not everyone can come back "from the dead" like Fedal the last couple seasons! I'm not going to pretend to know what Nole's future is going at this point! I missed his win over Kei earlier this week in Madrid, but even if tired, it had to give us hope until going down in flames to Edmund the next day! Will Nole get a WC into every tournament just to get at least one match in per week? :whistle:

 

[mrzz]

Roger's awful 2911 season

He lost even to Buck Rodgers in that season.

 

[DarthFed]

He lost even to Buck Rodgers in that season.

We will see how many slams he can win when he is 930 years old!

 

[brokenshoelace]

The only "tough" draw Nadal ever had on clay was prime Djokovic, and he didn't run into him until at least the semis. Plus, doesn't he play Thiem today? I know he crushed him in Monte Carlo but I wouldn't call him a cakewalk on clay.

 

[mrzz]

Just a few games and Lajovic already produced a lot of highlights material. If he can keep this up then he clearly got to the next level. H e fired a running down the line back hand winner that was insane.

 

[mrzz]

Really hope Lajovic can turn this around. Playing very good and beautiful tennis. Nothing against KA who is playing well too, but the serve was the difference, even if Lajovic made unnecessary errors in the breaker. But it was the serve who got KA there in the first place.