Totally Classless comments from Uncle Toni...

[Front242]

It's not the 1st time Toni is classless..remember when he said RG's crowd was stupid when they supported Robin in 2009.....he's not fairplay at all even if his nephew is

I've been saying the same thing. I actually think Rafa gets more flak than he deserves because of his uncle's dumb comments. Toni doesn't know when to shut up and should let Rafa speak for himsef as he's a grown man.

 

[isabelle]

It's not the 1st time Toni is classless..remember when he said RG's crowd was stupid when they supported Robin in 2009.....he's not fairplay at all even if his nephew is

I've been saying the same thing. I actually think Rafa gets more flak than he deserves because of his uncle's dumb comments. Toni doesn't know when to shut up and should let Rafa speak for himsef as he's a grown man.

Agree with you, Toni and Rafa are two different people. Rafa should tell Toni to shut up..

 

[El Dude]

I agree with both Moxie and Broken, funny enough. Rafa did play on out of respect to his opponent, and obviously he did so knowing he wasn't going to do permanent damage. Had he been told by the trainer - or if he already knew - that further play was foolhardy, he'd have shaken hands.

But I also think that as Stan mentally folded, Rafa may have hoped his back would loosen up, the pills would kick in, and he'd have a chance to make things more difficult. I doubt he won the 3rd and thought he could win, but I bet he thought, well, hang in there, movement is improving, and if Stan could just continue to...

But I disagree with El Dude that any interpretation of what happened invalidates Stan's victory. He got the win, and in the circumstances we all witnessed. Whatever Rafa's intentions were for playing on, they don't change a single fact of what we already know...

Huh? That's not what I said at all, Kieran - not "any" interpretation, just the ones that over-emphasize Rafa's injury, like Broken was. Its subtle, but its there - and its what a lot of fans do whenever their favorite player loses.

Your second paragraph is basically what my interpretation was, and I don't think it invalidates Stan's win. The fact that Rafa won the 3rd set supports this - he wasn't completely gone, like Broken implies, otherwise he wouldn't have taken a set from Stan, at least not Stan v. 2014.

 

[Kieran]

Sorry for misinterpreting you buddy!

But also - Rafa's injury - by definition - can't be "over-emphasised." It had a decisive bearing on what followed. He took a set because of Stan, not because of what he did himself. He just chucked the ball in and Stan swiped it out. Stan imploded and went AWOL for a bit, that's why Rafa got the third.

Rafa didn't make it competitive - Stan did!

 

[Front242]

Agree, Stan made it competitive but I also got the sense if Stan's collapse continued it may have gone to a 5th as Rafa's movement was definitely improving by set 4. Whatever anti-inflammatories they gave him seemed to kick in by set 4, so in a way Stan did well to clean his act end up at the end of set 4. If Stan had clowned his way to a 5th set, dodgy back and all Rafa would probably have had a chance of winning.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Agree, Stan made it competitive but I also got the sense if Stan's collapse continued it may have gone to a 5th as Rafa's movement was definitely improving by set 4. Whatever anti-inflammatories they gave him seemed to kick in by set 4, so in a way Stan did well to clean his act end up at the end of set 4. If Stan had clowned his way to a 5th set, dodgy back and all Rafa would probably have had a chance of winning.

That would have had to be the biggest meltdown in the history of meltdowns. I can't stress how badly Stan would have had to play -- and for how long -- for him to lose THREE consecutive sets to Nadal.

Honestly, I think people still aren't understanding the impossibility of what was at hand. Let's think about it this way:

Even the best players in the world often lose unexpectedly if their movement is even slightly off, or their first serve percentage drops by, say, 8%, or they aren't serving as big as they normally would, etc... Federer went from world number 1 in 2012 to losing to Tommy Robredo due to struggling with movement and not serving too well. And relatively speaking, that was only a minor loss in movement/serve.

Now imagine that, times 5 or 6. No, Nadal was not going to win the match, unless Stan forgot how to play tennis for about 2-3 hours.

 

[Front242]

Agree, Stan made it competitive but I also got the sense if Stan's collapse continued it may have gone to a 5th as Rafa's movement was definitely improving by set 4. Whatever anti-inflammatories they gave him seemed to kick in by set 4, so in a way Stan did well to clean his act end up at the end of set 4. If Stan had clowned his way to a 5th set, dodgy back and all Rafa would probably have had a chance of winning.

That would have had to be the biggest meltdown in the history of meltdowns. I can't stress how badly Stan would have had to play -- and for how long -- for him to lose THREE consecutive sets to Nadal.

Honestly, I think people still aren't understanding the impossibility of what was at hand. Let's think about it this way:

Even the best players in the world often lose unexpectedly if there movement is even slightly off, or their first serve percentage drops by, say, 8%, or they aren't serving as big as they normally would, etc... Federer went from world number 1 in 2012 to losing to Tommy Robredo due to struggling with movement and not serving too well. And relatively speaking, that was only a minor loss in movement/serve.

Now imagine that, times 5 or 6. No, Nadal was not going to win the match, unless Stan forgot how to play tennis for about 2-3 hours.

Yeah, probably right. Although he did pretty much forget how to play from 2-0 2nd set till the penultimate game of set 4 which was still muppetry of the highest order. Toni probably hypnotized him and Magnus Norman clicked his fingers and said, "when I click my fingers you will no longer be a clown" just in time.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Agree, Stan made it competitive but I also got the sense if Stan's collapse continued it may have gone to a 5th as Rafa's movement was definitely improving by set 4. Whatever anti-inflammatories they gave him seemed to kick in by set 4, so in a way Stan did well to clean his act end up at the end of set 4. If Stan had clowned his way to a 5th set, dodgy back and all Rafa would probably have had a chance of winning.

That would have had to be the biggest meltdown in the history of meltdowns. I can't stress how badly Stan would have had to play -- and for how long -- for him to lose THREE consecutive sets to Nadal.

Honestly, I think people still aren't understanding the impossibility of what was at hand. Let's think about it this way:

Even the best players in the world often lose unexpectedly if there movement is even slightly off, or their first serve percentage drops by, say, 8%, or they aren't serving as big as they normally would, etc... Federer went from world number 1 in 2012 to losing to Tommy Robredo due to struggling with movement and not serving too well. And relatively speaking, that was only a minor loss in movement/serve.

Now imagine that, times 5 or 6. No, Nadal was not going to win the match, unless Stan forgot how to play tennis for about 2-3 hours.

Yeah, probably right. Although he did pretty much forget how to play from 2-0 2nd set till the penultimate game of set 4 which was still muppetry of the highest order. Toni probably hypnotized him and Magnus Norman clicked his fingers and said, "when I click my fingers you will no longer be a clown" just in time.

Yeah, that's the thing. Wawrinka did play terrible for a set (the third. I'll give him a pass for the second since he won it and was still unsure what was going on). But it would take something beyond bizarre for a top 10 player who played good enough to reach a major final to forget how to play tennis for 3 full sets. One was shocking enough, but eventually, he was always going to re-find his game (actually, he didn't even need to re-find his game, he just needed to take off the clown costume).

 

[the AntiPusher]

Is it a way to perform a background check on a new poster/Troll?

I work for the NSA and I already know.


Cheers (and kidding)

But seriously, they do know....

TM

snigger

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

'uncle toni' was just sticking up for rafa. there is nothing diabolical going on.

'uncle toni' prob didn't think too much about what rafa said and just came up with whatever he thought the injury point was..

 

[Front242]

'uncle toni' was just sticking up for rafa. there is nothing diabolical going on.

'uncle toni' prob didn't think too much about what rafa said and just came up with whatever he thought the injury point was..

Yeah maybe, but he needs to have his thinking cap on better in future as he's completely contradicted his nephew's story. The man never thinks before he opens his gob and he's made the whole issue a joke now.

 

[Kieran]

'uncle toni' was just sticking up for rafa. there is nothing diabolical going on.

'uncle toni' prob didn't think too much about what rafa said and just came up with whatever he thought the injury point was..

Yeah maybe, but he needs to have his thinking cap on better in future as he's completely contradicted his nephew's story. The man never thinks before he opens his gob and he's made the whole issue a joke now.

Maybe Toni should have told the truth: the "injury" was all in Rafa's brain and Toni doesn't know why he's such a baby-wuss! :lolz:

 

[Front242]

'uncle toni' was just sticking up for rafa. there is nothing diabolical going on.

'uncle toni' prob didn't think too much about what rafa said and just came up with whatever he thought the injury point was..

Yeah maybe, but he needs to have his thinking cap on better in future as he's completely contradicted his nephew's story. The man never thinks before he opens his gob and he's made the whole issue a joke now.

Maybe Toni should have told the truth: the "injury" was all in Rafa's brain and Toni doesn't know why he's such a baby-wuss! :lolz:

That's always worth a try too I guess.

 

[britbox]

Bizarrely, That fourth set might plant a seed in Nadal's head about stepping in and playing a little more first strike tennis in the future.

 

[Front242]

Bizarrely, That fourth set might plant a seed in Nadal's head about stepping in and playing a little more first strike tennis in the future.

Good point and probably as he's 28 next summer they're gonna have to start tweaking his game somewhat. It's just not sustainable in the long term to play the way he does.

 

[Moxie]

Bizarrely, That fourth set might plant a seed in Nadal's head about stepping in and playing a little more first strike tennis in the future.

Good point and probably as he's 28 next summer they're gonna have to start tweaking his game somewhat. It's just not sustainable in the long term to play the way he does.

Start? He's been tweaking his game in that direction since late 2011. That's what won him the USOpen series last summer. Old habits do die hard, though.

 

[Front242]

Well, he hasn't tweaked it that much then. He's still rallying like there's no tomorrow.

 

[Moxie]

Well, he hasn't tweaked it that much then. He's still rallying like there's no tomorrow.

That won't really change much, I don't think. He'll still be a rhythm player, but he's more capable and comfortable with a quick-strike and knows he's got to stand in more. It's about saving his knees, and adjustments he had to make to play Djokovic, but it doesn't mean he'll do it all the time.

 

[Front242]

When he turns 28 next year it's not just about your knees at that stage but every part of the body. Needs to definitely rally less to stay healthy. This year was the first time in his career he had back problems, so that's a clear indication these things happen once you get older.

 

[Moxie]

^ True enough. He's never historically had back or upper-body issues, with such a strong core. In 2009, he was fairly adamant that he wasn't going to change his game for his knees, but since then, he has. It's a question of how much more he can.