Nadal v Nishikori - Mutua Madrid Masters Final

[tented]

Nadal is definitely the favourite for Roland Garros in my eyes... in so much that I'd favour his chances above any other particular individual.

But... do I favour him above the combined chances of every other player in the field? Maybe less so than other years based on what we've seen to date. Somebody might take him out... but somebody right now is an unnamed individual who you can't name as a favourite.

Based on what we've seen so far this year Rafa appears more vulnerable than I've seen in a long time.

I too think Rafa will be taken out (assuming he is taken out) by some unexpected surprise
player rather than a player that conventional wisdom suggest.

That's not what he meant. He didn't specify that it would be an unexpected surprise player. Just that it would be "an unnamed individual" who isn't considered a favorite, since Rafa's the favorite until proven otherwise.

 

[Rose]

I almost think it has already been proven otherwise and I'm a big fan of Rafa's! The Tennis Channel has gone from calling him The King of Clay to The Duke of Dirt :cover

 

[Moxie]

I almost think it has already been proven otherwise and I'm a big fan of Rafa's! The Tennis Channel has gone from calling him The King of Clay to The Duke of Dirt :cover

I saw that, but I'm thinking they were just trying to mix things up. It's not too early to worry, but I think it's too early to panic, Rose.

 

[Ricardo]

Rafa's best tennis is over, i don't expect that sustained excellence from him any more.

 

[brokenshoelace]

^I completely agree with you. By the way, I never feel that Rafa's lost a match until it's over. He absolutely terrifies me! I'm never comfortable until they're at the net

"so it's not like it was a Nishikori situation where he was playing dreadful" Hmmm... be careful! You're starting to sound as uncharitable as some of us Fed fans on the rare occasions that he lost. It's perfectly understandable for both Rafa and Fed fans, we've been thoroughly spoiled, but sometimes the opposition just doesn't let our guys play their game

I'd buy the argument that there was nothing Nadal could do against Kei, and that it was all about the Japanese' play, if Rafa hadn't been awful for a few months now. This was clearly a below par Nadal playing against a top form Nishikori (the two aren't mutually exclusive), who fully outplayed Nadal. Unless the greatest clay courter of all time was just displaying his usual level, in which case I'd wonder what the fuss surrounding his career is all about...and how on earth he managed to win those 8 FO trophies.

Yup. That's my point really... at some point Roger was not able to consistently able to access his best level anymore. It's up to all of us as fans to adjust to a new reality (if that's the situation in this case, and I'm not saying it is, we only ever know in 20-20 hindsight)

Can't argue with that, except it's a bit premature to ask the same of Nadal fans. He reached 3 out of the last 4 major finals, took 2 of them, and well, you know the story in that other final. And while I don't think Nadal has many sustained dominant runs in him left, I'm not quite ready to say he won't be able to consistently access his best level anymore, especially on clay. People are writing his obituary a bit too soon.