Rio Open - 500

[Kieran]

Rafa had only 4 ufes too which was very good but only 1 winner is an awful stat.

Well, I don't know how they measure these things. Tapping the ball into an empty court isn't a winner?

Or do they use a gruntometre? If it's loud and masculine it gets a tick?

EDIT: maybe it's like figure skating at the Olympics: aesthetics is a main criteria for measuring winner. No wonder Rafa hits so few!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Dog bites Bull. Breaks when Rafa attempts to finish the match.

 

[Front242]

33 winners to 11 for Dog v Bull.

 

[Kieran]

Squelch time. Dolgopolis will soon be in the showers...

 

[Front242]

mmmm, chick behind the seats there where Rafa threw his racquet was niiiiiiiiiice!

 

[Kieran]

The back is strapped. Musta been getting some wad to give up his beach time. Not a great match but a predictable result...

 

[Front242]

7 ufes is a very clean match by Nadal. Way too many free points donated by Dolgo.

 

[tented]

Not a great match but a predictable result...

Precisely. Congrats to Rafa nevertheless. It's good to see him back to his winning ways after the AO final.

 

[Front242]

I'd say congrats to Dolgopolov more like. Nadal was expected to win here but no one likely predicted Dolgo would reach the final. A good week for him even if he played a much better semi.

 

[Front242]

Good to see Guga here.

 

[Front242]

And there's the lovely looking lady again in the picture.

 

[Front242]

Poor Kuerten. Permanent limp now for life it seems after hip damage from tennis.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Congrats to Rafa for winning yet another title.

I am certainly impressed by Dog. Not only he managed to reach the final.
he gave a good fight in it. Let us not forget that Dog took out Almagro
(5th seed and renowned dirt baller), Fognini (3rd seed and in form player)
and Ferrer (2nd seed and another dirt devil).

The most important thing that I like about Dog is his game seems very
different to that of most other players.

He just needs more discipline and some good guidance. With all the
big name coaching changes, his coaching change did not get much media
coverage. He took Fabrice "Magician" Santoro as this coach and I think
it is a very good fit. I expect Dog to perform much better this year than
in 2012 or 2013. It was in 2011 AO that Dog got noticed.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

And there's the lovely looking lady again in the picture.

Yesterday, Rafa did a "double take" on her. There was a picture of that
in tennis.com article on yesterday's match of Rafa. See it in the
user comment portion of the article on the match between Rafa
and Pablo in tennis.com

Blame it on Rio!!!

 

[Front242]

Congrats to Rafa for winning yet another title.

I am certainly impressed by Dog. Not only he managed to reach the final.
he gave a good fight in it. Let us not forget that Dog took out Almagro
(5th seed and renowned dirt baller), Fognini (3rd seed and in form player)
and Ferrer (2nd seed and another dirt devil).

The most important thing that I like about Dog is his game seems very
different to that of most other players.

He just needs more discipline and some good guidance. With all the
big name coaching changes, his coaching change did not get much media
coverage. He took Fabrice "Magician" Santoro as this coach and I think
it is a very good fit. I expect Dog to perform much better this year than
in 2012 or 2013. It was in 2011 AO that Dog got noticed.

His style of play is completely unorthodox alight. At least he's cut out all the terrible slicing he was prone to doing before. Hopefully he'll have good results in the short hard court swing now before clay season starts with his strong serve.

 

[Front242]

And there's the lovely looking lady again in the picture.

Yesterday, Rafa did a "double take" on her. There was a picture of that
in tennis.com article on yesterday's match of Rafa. See it in the
user comment portion of the article on the match between Rafa
and Pablo in tennis.com

Blame it on Rio!!!

Dayum! She's nice! Looks like Rafa's in heat there too and who could blame him

 

[Moxie]

And there's the lovely looking lady again in the picture.

Yesterday, Rafa did a "double take" on her. There was a picture of that
in tennis.com article on yesterday's match of Rafa. See it in the
user comment portion of the article on the match between Rafa
and Pablo in tennis.com

Blame it on Rio!!!

Dayum! She's nice! Looks like Rafa's in heat there too and who could blame him

Perhaps this explains why Maria Francisca made the unusual appearance in Rio.

I'm so glad to see Rafa win it, but I was worried about the Dog. It's such a quirky game. He made a lot of strategic mistakes as well as UFEs (and forced ones.) Santoro is a great choice to work with him, I would think. It's good to see him back to winning ways.

(@ Kieran: Paul Annacone said what you said when he heard the stat on Rafa's low winner count: he said 'It depends on what your definition of "winner" is.') :clap

 

[kskate2]

Congrats to Nadal on the inaugural Rio title. His 43rd clay and 62nd overall. :clap

 

[the AntiPusher]

And there's the lovely looking lady again in the picture.

Yesterday, Rafa did a "double take" on her. There was a picture of that
in tennis.com article on yesterday's match of Rafa. See it in the
user comment portion of the article on the match between Rafa
and Pablo in tennis.com

Blame it on Rio!!!

Dayum! She's nice! Looks like Rafa's in heat there too and who could blame him

you think Rafa may have asked her if she would like to be his Facebook friend :heart:

 

[Moxie]

^ The most hilarious thing was Paul Annacone's comment during it all. To be clear, I think Rafa was actually looking at the chair umpire, and did a very good job of ignoring the beautiful example of Brazilian pulchritude standing next to him. Annacone said: "I have a new respect for Rafa's powers of concentration." :lolz: