When will Nadal win another tourney ?

[Fiero425]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.

:cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: Oh man; if I had said this was how it was going to be a few years ago, you'd all have called me nutz! Hmmmm, I think I did and all of you were predictably derisive, amused, or outraged! I warned you this guy wouldn't be able to play at a high level like someone who's technique was more effortless like Federer! It's come to being hopeful he'll jump one seed from #10 to #9! How the mighty have fallen! :cover :ras:

 

[Carol]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.

:cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: Oh man; if I had said this was how it was going to be a few years ago, you'd all have called me nutz! Hmmmm, I think I did and all of you were predictably derisive, amused, or outraged! I warned you this guy wouldn't be able to play at a high level like someone who's technique was more effortless like Federer! It's come to being hopeful he'll jump one seed from #10 to #9! How the mighty have fallen! :cover :ras:

Keep thinking that way..... the harder you fall :snicker

 

[Moxie]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.

:cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: Oh man; if I had said this was how it was going to be a few years ago, you'd all have called me nutz! Hmmmm, I think I did and all of you were predictably derisive, amused, or outraged! I warned you this guy wouldn't be able to play at a high level like someone who's technique was more effortless like Federer! It's come to being hopeful he'll jump one seed from #10 to #9! How the mighty have fallen! :cover :ras:

You, and many others have been saying that Nadal would suffer from his style of play. Since about 2008-9, I'd say. This doesn't make you a genius. If you say it often enough, you'll eventually be right. Rafa himself has said that everyone thought he'd burn bright and fast and be gone, but he's 14 years on the tour, and only just now faced with the possibility of his first year in 10 without a Slam. Predicting the demise of Nadal isn't clever, it's an on-going sport. The braver prediction, and I'll make it, is that he's got a few good years left in him.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.

He is virtually assured of getting into top #8 before US Open considering he has nothing to defend for a while note.

But, he cannot get it to top 4 before USO definitely.

This would mean his QF at USO (assuming he gets that far) will be extremely difficult independent which one of the current top 4 he may draw.

 

[Fiero425]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.

:cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: Oh man; if I had said this was how it was going to be a few years ago, you'd all have called me nutz! Hmmmm, I think I did and all of you were predictably derisive, amused, or outraged! I warned you this guy wouldn't be able to play at a high level like someone who's technique was more effortless like Federer! It's come to being hopeful he'll jump one seed from #10 to #9! How the mighty have fallen! :cover :ras:

You, and many others have been saying that Nadal would suffer from his style of play. Since about 2008-9, I'd say. This doesn't make you a genius. If you say it often enough, you'll eventually be right. Rafa himself has said that everyone thought he'd burn bright and fast and be gone, but he's 14 years on the tour, and only just now faced with the possibility of his first year in 10 without a Slam. Predicting the demise of Nadal isn't clever, it's an on-going sport. The braver prediction, and I'll make it, is that he's got a few good years left in him.

14 YEARS? I must have missed those early efforts! I never heard of him before 2005! Let's pull back on him playing in the sandbox! :cover uzzled :nono :dodgy:

 

[Moxie]

:cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy: Oh man; if I had said this was how it was going to be a few years ago, you'd all have called me nutz! Hmmmm, I think I did and all of you were predictably derisive, amused, or outraged! I warned you this guy wouldn't be able to play at a high level like someone who's technique was more effortless like Federer! It's come to being hopeful he'll jump one seed from #10 to #9! How the mighty have fallen! :cover :ras:

You, and many others have been saying that Nadal would suffer from his style of play. Since about 2008-9, I'd say. This doesn't make you a genius. If you say it often enough, you'll eventually be right. Rafa himself has said that everyone thought he'd burn bright and fast and be gone, but he's 14 years on the tour, and only just now faced with the possibility of his first year in 10 without a Slam. Predicting the demise of Nadal isn't clever, it's an on-going sport. The braver prediction, and I'll make it, is that he's got a few good years left in him.

14 YEARS? I must have missed those early efforts! I never heard of him before 2005! Let's pull back on him playing in the sandbox! :cover uzzled :nono :dodgy:

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16 (2003.) French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

 

[Fiero425]

You, and many others have been saying that Nadal would suffer from his style of play. Since about 2008-9, I'd say. This doesn't make you a genius. If you say it often enough, you'll eventually be right. Rafa himself has said that everyone thought he'd burn bright and fast and be gone, but he's 14 years on the tour, and only just now faced with the possibility of his first year in 10 without a Slam. Predicting the demise of Nadal isn't clever, it's an on-going sport. The braver prediction, and I'll make it, is that he's got a few good years left in him.

14 YEARS? I must have missed those early efforts! I never heard of him before 2005! Let's pull back on him playing in the sandbox! :cover uzzled :nono :dodgy:

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16. French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but if I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between! :eyepop

 

[Moxie]

14 YEARS? I must have missed those early efforts! I never heard of him before 2005! Let's pull back on him playing in the sandbox! :cover uzzled :nono :dodgy:

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16. French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but of I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between! :eyepop

Honey, you are actually being egomaniacal about what you missed not being important. Most of what I said is not buried in the minutiae of tennis lore. A fair number of people were paying attention to the rise of Nadal, even before 2005. But even without that, a lot of people did know that Rafa had the edge on Roger in the H2H.

And as to the FO being "ugly and unwatchable," to each his own. For those of us who actually like clay tennis, there was some of the most stunning on offer in especially '08. Rafa was playing like he'd invented the game. If you can't see that as very fine tennis, then you have a prejudice against the clay.
And you're missing an entire part of the game that matters.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal was hailed as a wonder-kid a good 18 months before winning Roland Garros for the first time.

 

[Kieran]

14 YEARS? I must have missed those early efforts! I never heard of him before 2005! Let's pull back on him playing in the sandbox! :cover uzzled :nono :dodgy:

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16. French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but if I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between! :eyepop

Rafa beat Roger in 2004, banged him out of it in straights on hard courts. He was a yellowhorn, only 17. And I knew of him long before then...

 

[Federberg]

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16. French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but of I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between! :eyepop

Honey, you are actually being egomaniacal about what you missed not being important. Most of what I said is not buried in the minutiae of tennis lore. A fair number of people were paying attention to the rise of Nadal, even before 2005. But even without that, a lot of people did know that Rafa had the edge on Roger in the H2H.

And as to the FO being "ugly and unwatchable," to each his own. For those of us who actually like clay tennis, there was some of the most stunning on offer in especially '08. Rafa was playing like he'd invented the game. If you can't see that as very fine tennis, then you have a prejudice against the clay.
And you're missing an entire part of the game that matters.

I particularly loved Rafa's battle(s?) against Coria back in the day. A small point of order... 14 years is clearly a mistake by you Moxie.. Is 12 years what you meant? :snicker

 

[Carol]

As usual, you skip the meat and potatoes of my post, but I'll play. Rafa was not just in the sandbox before 2005. (Somehow, you always think if you missed something, like Santoro, it didn't actually exist.) Rafa was beating the likes of Moya and Costa when he was 16. French Open winners on clay. And I probably shouldn't have to remind you that he beat Roger in 2004 on HCs in Miami. That is not the sandbox. And this is why we compare him to the up-and-coming teenagers. He was nearly fully-formed by 2004. Don't feel bad that you weren't paying attention. Most weren't.

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but if I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at
the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger

never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between!
:eyepop

Rafa beat Roger in 2004, banged him out of it in straights on hard courts. He was a yellowhorn, only 17. And I knew of him long before then...

After that match was when Fiero started with the sleep disorder, it was too much for him as a "loyal" federist, and still........:snicker :nono :laydownlaughing

 

[Moxie]

Honey, if I don't know it, it couldn't have been very important! I'm not trying to be an egomaniac, but of I wasn't paying attention, few were; esp. people outside of the game! I was in pretty bad shape around that time with my sleep disorder and missed a lot, but he just wasn't making the news; sorry! I wasn't even aware he had a winning edge on Federer losing those 2 Wimbledon finals in '06 & '07! The FO's were unwatchable due to how ugly the tennis was at the time! That's the way the cookie crumbled at the time! It took a lot for it to finally sink in that he owned Roger! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy: - Roger never seemed to shrink from the challenge, but those wins after that were few and very far between! :eyepop

Honey, you are actually being egomaniacal about what you missed not being important. Most of what I said is not buried in the minutiae of tennis lore. A fair number of people were paying attention to the rise of Nadal, even before 2005. But even without that, a lot of people did know that Rafa had the edge on Roger in the H2H.

And as to the FO being "ugly and unwatchable," to each his own. For those of us who actually like clay tennis, there was some of the most stunning on offer in especially '08. Rafa was playing like he'd invented the game. If you can't see that as very fine tennis, then you have a prejudice against the clay.
And you're missing an entire part of the game that matters.

I particularly loved Rafa's battle(s?) against Coria back in the day. A small point of order... 14 years is clearly a mistake by you Moxie.. Is 12 years what you meant? :snicker

I said years on tour. He turned pro at 15, and he's 29 now. That's 14 years, right? or almost?

 

[DarthFed]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

 

[Moxie]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

That's not exactly correct. Nadal was ranked #50 at the start of 2005. He hadn't been out of the top 100 for nearly 2 years at that point. He was as high as 45 in Aug 2003, and as high as 34 in April 2004. You can see for yourself here in his rankings history, if you care to.

 

[Fiero425]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

That's not exactly correct. Nadal was ranked #50 at the start of 2005. He hadn't been out of the top 100 for nearly 2 years at that point. He was as high as 45 in Aug 2003, and as high as 34 in April 2004. You can see for yourself here in his rankings history, if you care to.

Rafa was still a "nobody;" Sorry! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy:

 

[Federberg]

Honey, you are actually being egomaniacal about what you missed not being important. Most of what I said is not buried in the minutiae of tennis lore. A fair number of people were paying attention to the rise of Nadal, even before 2005. But even without that, a lot of people did know that Rafa had the edge on Roger in the H2H.

And as to the FO being "ugly and unwatchable," to each his own. For those of us who actually like clay tennis, there was some of the most stunning on offer in especially '08. Rafa was playing like he'd invented the game. If you can't see that as very fine tennis, then you have a prejudice against the clay.
And you're missing an entire part of the game that matters.

I particularly loved Rafa's battle(s?) against Coria back in the day. A small point of order... 14 years is clearly a mistake by you Moxie.. Is 12 years what you meant? :snicker

I said years on tour. He turned pro at 15, and he's 29 now. That's 14 years, right? or almost?

Fair enough

 

[Kieran]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

That's not exactly correct. Nadal was ranked #50 at the start of 2005. He hadn't been out of the top 100 for nearly 2 years at that point. He was as high as 45 in Aug 2003, and as high as 34 in April 2004. You can see for yourself here in his rankings history, if you care to.

Rafa was still a "nobody;" Sorry! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy:

He wasn't a "nobody" after the 2005 French Open semi-final... :snicker :dodgy: :ras:

 

[herios]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

That's not exactly correct. Nadal was ranked #50 at the start of 2005. He hadn't been out of the top 100 for nearly 2 years at that point. He was as high as 45 in Aug 2003, and as high as 34 in April 2004. You can see for yourself here in his rankings history, if you care to.

Of course he progressed fast in the weak era

 

[Moxie]

Rafa wasn't top 50 at the start of 2005 so it's not a huge shock that most hadn't heard much of him. It was quite the meteoric rise in 2005 out of seemingly nowhere.

That's not exactly correct. Nadal was ranked #50 at the start of 2005. He hadn't been out of the top 100 for nearly 2 years at that point. He was as high as 45 in Aug 2003, and as high as 34 in April 2004. You can see for yourself here in his rankings history, if you care to.

Rafa was still a "nobody;" Sorry! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy:

I was responding to Darth's comment that "It was quite the meteoric rise out of seemingly nowhere." It was more steady than meteoric, and it wasn't out of nowhere, if you were paying attention. But of course he was a "nobody" until you recognized him. Goes without saying. Sad news for ol' Fabrice Santoro, though.