Indian Wells - 2019

Nadals knee bandage = a pre-excuse for tomorrows loss to Fed.

Jahu wrote:Nadals knee bandage = a pre-excuse for tomorrows loss to Fed.

We will see. I would not have minded a 3rd set to be honest. Fed might not be injured but he is 5 years older. At that age 5 years older is worse than having a wooden leg!

It's an excuse if he wins or doesn't.  It's just an attempt to get the excuse in ready because the man is a deranged egotist.

Apparently Fed and Nadal have the same height. That I can believe. But they also have the same weight (85kg). That I can't quite figure it out.

Those arms and legs muscles mass in Nadal have what equivalent in Federer? Brian? balls?

Apparently bookies have Fed as about 1:2 favorite. A lot of it must be an allowance for Rafa's injury or else I cannot see how Fed could be such a strong favorite.

I would have it as much closer to even odds - Fed has looked a little better so far, but he is almost 38 and I think Rafa still has some match-up advantage.

summerblues wrote:....

I would have it as much closer to even odds - Fed has looked a little better so far, but he is almost 38 and I think Rafa still has some match-up advantage.

Same here but bookies usually go with the last 5 encounters. Plus of course this injury.

I am certainly not as confident. I have so often seen Nadal cpme back from injury better than pre-injury that once again we will have to rely on Fed's best form to stop him.

sphair&deci,
thank you for the good wishes. I appreciate them.

I enjoyed Rafa-Katchanov (only saw the first set, didn't think I'd witness anything new in the second, so wasn't tempted to continue), high quality tennis, it was Katchanov who couldn't bring high level of consistency to the table when the rubber hit the road, so he deprived us of drama.

As you all know, I usually pin the match to one point and this time it was a rally in which Katchanov was belting CC inside out FHs to Nadal's FH. They were both obliterating the ball with great precision...when Rafa used the first opportunity to smartly send Kachanov a sliced ball which bounced short and low...did Kachanov engage his brain?
Nooo!
He belted the ball again swinging from the hip and of course, netted it.

And that was it - I knew he'd lose the match.

Not enough finesse and guile, though he played some beautiful all court tennis at times.

Now, regarding tonight's semi, I haven't watched Fed at all this week but hope Rafa's knee is ok so we can have a properly good match, I am really up for it!

Nadal's a liar.  He doesn't have any injury.  He'll be running around until he's defeated and then he'll start the limps. If he wins, he's a true champ who beat Fed injured.  He's a twat. When you learn he's a liar and a con man, things become much simpler and you stop falling for it.

I have no reason not to believe Rafa has a niggle in his knee, it would be strange if he didn't with his style of play.

However, is it right to advertise an injury before a match?

He is the only one who does it...Not a biggie if that's how he copes with losses...don't forget he had Toni lock him if he wasn't behaving himself when he was a boy...

Nadal was definitely injured in the second set vs Kachanov, totally obvious.

I hope he does the sensible thing and withdraws today, can't risk shattering his knee ahead of the clay season.

noleisthebest wrote:Not a biggie if that's how he copes with losses...

I remember reading once about short putts - maybe 2-3 ft long - in a golf book.  Everyone should make them "every time" yet everyone - even the top pros - misses them occasionally.  The author said that after the pros miss one of those they make a point of finding an imaginary bump that derailed their putt and "fixing it" with their putter.  He was obviously exaggerating but I think he had a point.  Many players cope by finding an excuse to explain the blunder away to help them not worry when they face similar putts in future.

DEC1M7 wrote:I hope he does the sensible thing and withdraws today, can't risk shattering his knee ahead of the clay season.

Definitely.

We get it SB, you're a Federer fan.



Maybe I can also argue that the above match was Federer fully fit, and start crying about Nadal not getting fair credit when you point out that Roger was obviously injured.

Fed in 2 tonight, bar walkover or a mid match give up by Nadal.

The most consecutive sets Rafa won vs Fed is seven.  The most consecutive matches is five (Rafa did it three times).

If Fed wins the first set today, he will be on eight consecutive sets, and if he wins the match, that will be his sixth consecutive match win.

Good luck Roger!

DEC1M7 wrote:We get it SB, you're a Federer fan.



Maybe I can also argue that the above match was Federer fully fit, and start crying about Nadal not getting fair credit when you point out that Roger was obviously injured.

All I see in that video is that Rafa has his knee taped up.  So it looks like he is the one injured, and still managed to beat Fed.  What a plucky hero he is!

summerblues wrote:
All I see in that video is that Rafa has his knee taped up.  

He spoke about that before entering Indian Wells and said his knee feels fine. A taping on the knee does not mean pain or injury, it can be there to prevent a relapse of pain. Is your knowledge of sports science that limited?

DEC1M7 wrote:

summerblues wrote:
All I see in that video is that Rafa has his knee taped up.  

He spoke about that before entering Indian Wells and said his knee feels fine. A taping on the knee does not mean pain or injury, it can be there to prevent a relapse of pain. Is your knowledge of sports science that limited?

I think his knee was heavily injured, however, true to form, he did not want to take credit away from his competitors should they beat him, and that is why he said his knee was fine.

As ever, Rafa's sense of fair play on full display.  What a plucky hero he is.

summerblues wrote:
I think his knee was heavily injured, however, true to form, he did not want to take credit away from his competitors should they beat him, and that is why he said his knee was fine.

As ever, Rafa's sense of fair play on full display.  What a plucky hero he is.

IW 2013: He said his knee was fine, and his movement was fine. Meanwhile Federer was clearly injured, was moving poorly. Do you think Federer was faking his poor movement when he realised he would lose, or does your sarcasm and cynicism only apply to players you don't support?

The main thing I remember about that match is that Fed lost

I don't know how we ended up talking about it  though :headscratch:

A nugget I just saw on a different forum:

The last time Rafa beat Roger, Nole was on 6 slams.

Figure it out. Back to yesterday's match then:

1/ Nadal's style over his career makes him injury prone. He's nearly 33. He's had a history of knee problems which makes sense given his play style. Hard courts put more stress on knees.
2/ Against Kachanov after the MTO his movement was objectively terrible. Given he was beating Kach before that, he has little motive to 'excuse himself' ahead of a Kach defeat.  
3/ Thus the only way this conspiracy works is if his motive is to have an excuse ready in case he loses to Fed tomorrow, and he was faking poor movement as part of that. However given the SF today is day session, it is obviously important for Nadal to win in 2 and rest up to give himself the best chance.  
Let's assume he was faking the poor movement. When serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Kach hit a drop shot Nadal would have normally easily got to. Nadal was also hitting crazy high risk shots in this game to limit rallies. That cost Nadal, who then went set point down in that game. On that set point Nadal was left stranded, and very lucky Kach mucked up a gimme. He could have easily lost the set. Why would a fully fit Nadal risk disadvantaging himself ahead of a 5050 match in such a manner? It would be moronic.

So on the balance of likelihood we have: Nadal having a knee injury which makes perfect sense given his medical history vs Nadal risking going to 3 and harming himself for no good reason.
Your lack of critical thinking dressed up as cynicism is not that impressive.

DEC1M7 wrote:We get it SB, you're a Federer fan.



Maybe I can also argue that the above match was Federer fully fit, and start crying about Nadal not getting fair credit when you point out that Roger was obviously injured.

It's amazing when looking at those clip how federer made it competitive with a 90inch racquet. Imagine if Fed was playing with his 97 and Nadal was with a 90inch racquet. It would be so one-side.

Huh?  What are you even talking about?  I have not seen any of yesterday's match and I have no clue whether or not Rafa is or is not injured.  Yet you seem to think you are arguing with me about it.

summerblues wrote:Huh?  What are you even talking about?  I have not seen any of yesterday's match and I have no clue whether or not Rafa is or is not injured.  Yet you seem to think you are arguing with me about it.

You followed up this

summerblues wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Not a biggie if that's how he (Nadal) copes with losses...

I remember reading once about short putts - maybe 2-3 ft long - in a golf book.  Everyone should make them "every time" yet everyone - even the top pros - misses them occasionally.  The author said that after the pros miss one of those they make a point of finding an imaginary bump that derailed their putt and "fixing it" with their putter.  He was obviously exaggerating but I think he had a point.  Many players cope by finding an excuse to explain the blunder away to help them not worry when they face similar putts in future.

with this 1 min later

summerblues wrote:

DEC1M7 wrote:I hope he does the sensible thing and withdraws today, can't risk shattering his knee ahead of the clay season.

Definitely.

Addressed NITB's post about Nadal with the golfing analogy, and then a sarcastic definitely.

And?

summerblues wrote:And?

That would indicate you don't think he's injured.

DEC1M7 wrote:

summerblues wrote:And?

That would indicate you don't think he's injured.

No, certainly not.  You just read it that way.

summerblues wrote:

DEC1M7 wrote:

summerblues wrote:And?

That would indicate you don't think he's injured.

No, certainly not.  You just read it that way.

Right. So in response to a post about Nadal, you wrote about how golf players like to make up excuses after missing putts. Then sarcastically mocked concern over Nadal's injury, but you don't think that's an indication you think Nadal isn't injured?
More likely you realised you were talking nonsense and are now back-pedalling fast.

DEC1M7 wrote:More likely you realised you were talking nonsense and are now back-pedalling fast.

If this is how you are dealing with your reading comprehension issues, that is fine by me.

summerblues wrote:If Fed wins the first set today, he will be on eight consecutive sets, and if he wins the match, that will be his sixth consecutive match win.

Not happening

Nadal pulls out.

Chickened out.  Knew he was gonna lose!
At least this time he had the decency to pull out.   So maybe this "injury" was in fact real. 

Thiem is playing his clay court game quite well today. If he keeps it up, could he perhaps win RG this year (fingers crossed)?

Raonic looks quite good too. Going to net an awful lot, and doing quite well there.

Daniel2 wrote:“It’s tough for me to accept all these things that I’m going through in my career. Sometimes I feel sad because I’m in a disadvantage to all my opponents.” - Rafael Nadal

Home News Nadal wonders if hard courts too hard on players

https://www.afp.com/en/news/824/nadal-wonders-if-hard-courts-too-hard-players-doc-1ep02t1 

1/ Nadal's style over his career makes him injury prone. He's nearly 33. He's had a history of knee problems which makes sense given his play style. Hard courts put more stress on knees. 

It's a shame that Nadal prefers to wallow in self pity and narcissistic excuses.

With Nadal the problem is always outside him. The clay is too blue, the hard court is too hard, there is too much grass at Wimbledon.

His style of play is perfectly fine. The fact he can't win without pain never occured to him as the real problem.

Federer will be fresh for the final then.

Dont know how Rao lost, he was superb at the net!!! since Thiem was staying his usual 5 metres from base line and holds the No:1 ranking for the most wasted energy on the tour.

All in all a much better match than I thought.

Fed in quick 2 tomorrow.

Rafa skipping Miami, prepares for clay, scared of Fed wining RG 

Jahu wrote:Dont know how Rao lost, he was superb at the net!!! since Thiem was staying his usual 5 metres from base line and holds the No:1 ranking for the most wasted energy on the tour.

All in all a much better match than I thought.

I was also surprised how well they both played.  Thiem was also playing very good, if maybe not attractive, tennis.  It was kind of Nadalesque - very few unforced errors (I think he had maybe 3 midway through the second set!), absorb opponent's attack, and ultimately take the rally over with heavy hitting.  Not pretty, but hard to play against.

Disappointed another Fedal did not happen. Glad Fed kept his late unbeaten record going but I still much would have preferred to watch one at the risk of breaking his record.

I feel the more time goes by, the more Nadal will have a chance to beat Fed in their next match.

Tenez wrote:I feel the more time goes by, the more Nadal will have a chance to beat Fed in their next match.

Agree; that is to be expected.  They are both at the point where they will keep declining with age, but Federer is 5 years older, so it will be harder for him to keep playing well.

On the other hand, I think it is easier for aggressive players to play well into older age.  Here are the players over 35 currently in top 100:

4. Federer
36. Verdasco
39. Kohlschreiber
47. Seppi
60. Jaziri
78. Feliciano Lopez
89. Karlovic

These are on average more aggressive than typical top 100 players.  Additionally, Rafa is showing signs he cannot run as much as he used to.  So maybe there is hope for Fed to stay competitive as long as Rafa does.

Interesting this +35 list. I kind of knew it but clearly it's showing here...best through Karlo recent good runs at 40!!!!

If you pick and choose one or two players for a tournament or two, over about 20-30 of yesteryear - yes Tenez. 

King of Confirmation Bias.

Daniel2 wrote:If you pick and choose one or two players for a tournament or two, over about 20-30 of yesteryear - yes Tenez. 

King of Confirmation Bias.

??

Anyhow regarding this eve match, at the risk of even jinxing it, I'd be disappointed and surprised not to see Federer adding another TMS1000.

This plump Andrescu is a cutie, I like her good hard non grinding tennis, a set up against Kerber, great match.

Go Canada !!