Rio Open - 500

[Luxilon Borg]

^ 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:

Anaconda was brilliant the whole week.

Great effort by Rafa, and a good showing by The Dog.

In the end, it was a heavyweight vs a middleweight.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

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!

I was taught early on that the most disastrous way to lose would be against an opponent who hit no winners during the match. It means you either sprayed the ball all over the place or played low percentage tennis, or are just paying several classes up and are being toyed with.

 

[Front242]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Nope, he was not being toyed with. He actually performed above my expectations. But he convinced himself the only chance he had was to go for very low percentage play and trying to break Rafa's rythem. The last break of serve was just delaying the execution. Entertaining match in the end and better than I had anticipated.

 

[TsarMatt]

Good stuff, Rafa - expected win, even though Dog put on a good show.

 

[Moxie]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Yes amazingly talented, but physically at 50% of where he needs to be. Simply not at a fitness level to give him more options strategically. A lot more work to do.

 

[Front242]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Yup. Agree with everything there. It's like a tennis genius on LSD. He doesn't seem to know what's happening!

 

[the AntiPusher]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Well, At least he spared us from another Nadal\Ferrer match up..well, for me he did.. I like the
Do(l)g.. Dolgo is a refreshing change of pace although, I dont think he has the type game that will endured a full two weeks at a slam..

 

[Kieran]

Yeah, Dolgo is whippy and snappy and not really suited to the grind. He's gonna have to beef up his game if he's going to have an impact in the future...

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Well, At least he spared us from another Nadal\Ferrer match up..well, for me he did.. I like the
Do(l)g.. Dolgo is a refreshing change of pace although, I dont think he has the type game that will endured a full two weeks at a slam..

LOL..well said..another predictable Nadal Ferrer match was avoided.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Well, At least he spared us from another Nadal\Ferrer match up..well, for me he did.. I like the
Do(l)g.. Dolgo is a refreshing change of pace although, I dont think he has the type game that will endured a full two weeks at a slam..

LOL..well said..another predictable Nadal Ferrer match was avoided.

Actually, I tend to think the other way on this occassion. Nadal seemed to have
some physical issues still (recall the SF against Pablo). Whenever, Nadal has some
minor physical issues, Ferrer does a good job of standing his ground and winning
against Nadal, whereas a lesser opponent might still not win against Nadal. This
is because Ferrer can out-grind a Nadal with physical issues.

In that sense, I actually feel that Nadal got luck in Rio that he did not have
to face Ferrer, assuming there was some physical issues that are still lingering.

In general, I agree that Nadal vs. Ferrer match and that too on clay would
be predictable.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Well he (Dolgo) certainly wasn't being toyed with. Nadal definitely benefitted from a lot of slop been thrown at him today compared to the far better performance Dolgo put in against Ferrer. But then again, Nadal was never favoured to lose anyway.

Dolgopolov made too many tactical errors. He's got a game that disrupts everyone's rhythm, and yet he chose to duke it out with Rafa on clay. Critical error. He completely disrupted Ferrer's rhythm, which won him that match. I know it's not as easy to do to Nadal, but it seemed like he'd abandoned that tactic, and chose to go toe-to-toe too often. I know that Rafa could push him back more, with weight of shot, but The Dog needs to learn to be specific about his choices. I really hope that Santoro can foster his quirkiness, but also teach him better strategy. He's SO talented, but he seems to have almost no idea what to do with it.

Well, At least he spared us from another Nadal\Ferrer match up..well, for me he did.. I like the
Do(l)g.. Dolgo is a refreshing change of pace although, I dont think he has the type game that will endured a full two weeks at a slam..

LOL..well said..another predictable Nadal Ferrer match was avoided.

Actually, I tend to think the other way on this occassion. Nadal seemed to have
some physical issues still (recall the SF against Pablo). Whenever, Nadal has some
minor physical issues, Ferrer does a good job of standing his ground and winning
against Nadal, whereas a lesser opponent might still not win against Nadal. This
is because Ferrer can out-grind a Nadal with physical issues.

In that sense, I actually feel that Nadal got luck in Rio that he did not have
to face Ferrer, assuming there was some physical issues that are still lingering.

In general, I agree that Nadal vs. Ferrer match and that too on clay would
be predictable.

It is true that Ferrer can bother a compromised Nadal..force him physically..but I don't think Nadal looked compromised in the final.

 

[Front242]

He can bother him on hard courts too obviously. Just look at the Paris masters match Ferrer won, but it takes a very sharp focus from Ferrer to be hitting lines everywhere, which he did that day.

 

[calitennis127]

I haven't paired on this thread, but I watched pretty much the whole Nadal-Andujar match. It was very exciting, particularly late in the 3rd set.

Nadal clearly wasn't moving too well on clay yet, and it seemed like he hadn't really adjusted his game for the dirt, but against that kind of field he really doesn't need to in order to win. That said, Andujar really dominated him on a number of points, combining power with tactical smarts. He also played with a tough edge that Queen Federa often lacks when playing Nadal, and that was nice to see.

Andujar's volleys in the tiebreak were marvelous. But, as always, Nadal found a way, being that he is the most consistent player at ceaselessly doing what is moderately impressive in pressure moments, just enough to win.

 

[Front242]

That and Andujar did just enough to lose. 2 crap errors to lose it.

 

[calitennis127]

That and Andujar did just enough to lose. 2 crap errors to lose it.

Well, you have to give Nadal some credit there. He forces his opponents to make great shots like that to beat him. It may not be all that impressive in the moment, but considering that he's done that scores of times over the span of a decade with little sign of stopping, you have to give him his due with what he does in that respect.

 

[Kieran]

That and Andujar did just enough to lose. 2 crap errors to lose it.

Well, you have to give Nadal some credit there. He forces his opponents to make great shots like that to beat him. It may not be all that impressive in the moment, but considering that he's done that scores of times over the span of a decade with little sign of stopping, you have to give him his due with what he does in that respect.

Is that...is it the sound of - nay! - pigs flying o'erhead? Has Cali come close to paying young Ralph a compliment?

Nah, must be bats in the attic again... :nono

 

[Moxie]

That and Andujar did just enough to lose. 2 crap errors to lose it.

Well, you have to give Nadal some credit there. He forces his opponents to make great shots like that to beat him. It may not be all that impressive in the moment, but considering that he's done that scores of times over the span of a decade with little sign of stopping, you have to give him his due with what he does in that respect.

Is that...is it the sound of - nay! - pigs flying o'erhead? Has Cali come close to paying young Ralph a compliment?

Nah, must be bats in the attic again... :nono

:lolz: :laydownlaughing I thought perhaps you'd hacked his account.

 

[Front242]

That and Andujar did just enough to lose. 2 crap errors to lose it.

Well, you have to give Nadal some credit there. He forces his opponents to make great shots like that to beat him. It may not be all that impressive in the moment, but considering that he's done that scores of times over the span of a decade with little sign of stopping, you have to give him his due with what he does in that respect.

Andujar hit two great shots in succession. Into the net :nono
He beat himself. Routine netted balls.