ATP MASTERS 1000: Monte Carlo

Tsonga finally starts hitting the wrong side of the line, and funnily, Fed's ones go in...amazing!

11..

Time to hide behind the sofa....

BTW: nitb: does Nole has a wrist injury?

I don't know.
If he does, it's probably a pulled or overused muscle on the forearm. I didn't notice his play being affected, but it probably hurts him a little and will need a bit of rest after MC.

That aside, is it just me or does Tsonga seem to be particularly fired up when he playes Federer?

12...is this a world record?

13...insane

o no..
Tsonga don't you dare to celebrate this win, you lucky b@sterd

And gets back from 0-30, tiebreak time

Well, if he can't break his serve, maybe he can get a minibreak?

TIE-BREAK  

there's the minibreak, great wrongfooting shot

And 2 missed setpoints already..

3 missed sp's

euh..he wins the set? no way!

AT LAAAAAAAAAST!!!!!!!

He may not be the king of clay, but sure remains the king of TBs...in this one by the skin of his teeth!
I'm not complaining....

I am still amazed he has not been able to convert any of those BPs, I stopped counting after 13....
Basically, Tsonga is playing at is 100%, and Fed about 80%...

And he finally breaks him when I wasn't watching, shall I go and make another sandwich?

noleisthebest wrote:And he finally breaks him when I wasn't watching, shall I go and make another sandwich?

I actually did and he broke again   

It's been a long day in the office/sofa....still, last, but not the least....

IDEMO NOLEEEEE!!!!!  

Nole's serving has been immaculate in Monte Carlo, great variety and accuracy.

noleisthebest wrote:Nole's serving has been immaculate in Monte Carlo, great variety and accuracy.

..and just as I was typing this, he gets broken after being 40:00 up

GG Lopez, finally a Spaniard with a bit of skill...no flair, but some clean, healthy tennis.

And GG takes the first set!

Nole paying the price for being passive in the first half of the set.
Shall I go and make a 3rd sandwich?   

Weird match from Fed..  I saw the 1st set and most of second.  I swear if there was no scoreboard- I would have thought Fed won the 1st set 6-2 instead of losing 6-2... He would hit 5 great shots for every 1 that Tsonga hit..  

Are the stats correct that Fed avg almost 10mph more on 1st serve than Tsonga?

I don't know if Fed can beat Nole (if Nole pulls this one out), but it's a heck of a chance for him to win Monte Carlo. At the end of last year,  I doubt many thought Federer would be in these positions to add more to his legacy.... GOAT.

Exactly! He must be so glad he took that wildcard for this opportunity! Good decision Rog.

truffin1 wrote:Weird match from Fed..  I saw the 1st set and most of second.  I swear if there was no scoreboard- I would have thought Fed won the 1st set 6-2 instead of losing 6-2... He would hit 5 great shots for every 1 that Tsonga hit..  

Yes, but isn't that the case against all other players, too?
Welcome to clay!

I didn't see the first 4 games of the last set, but from everything else, Fed did not play that great today, his BH was below where it needed to be. FH was off, too. There were some spectacular shots, but the flow was absent.

Tsonga was plying tight-rope tennis, going for broke and it paid off. It didn't look that great, but it worked.

Still, a very good win for Fed. Feel a bit sorry for Tsonga, but Fed does not have the angry inner clown like Fognini. He gritted this one out.

noleisthebest wrote:And GG takes the first set!

Nole paying the price for being passive in the first half of the set.
Shall I go and make a 3rd sandwich?   

Well spending the 2nd set on the kitchen definitely helped, was just back in time for the set point. Nole looked quite flushed, must have been hard work!   

I don't think I can remember seeing a night match in Monte Carlo before....

O-LEEEEE, O-LE O-LE O-LEEEEE,  NOOO-LEEEEE NOOO-LEEEE    

Not a bad match in the end, Nole surely had to earn this one. Nice to see GG play at the top of his game, Dimi could learn a lesson or two from him.


So, we have a perfect ABN day tomorrow, two SBHs survived to see the SF, hats off to Swiss tennis federation!

Not Before 1:30 pm
[6] David Ferrer (ESP) v [3] Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
&
Not Before 3:00 pm
[WC/4] Roger Federer (SUI) v [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Having read a part of Nadal’s interview after his defeat with David, he says that his spirit has been broken after AO loss. He also didn’t complain about any injury for his loss with David.
It is obvious that he is frustrated and that surely comes from the fact that he is not able to catch up with players as Stan and Nole on the court. If he would have been seriously injured he could not have been in such a broken spirit.
Nadal did definitely chicken out on the court from his next match against Stan. Here is nothing new, he is just a crap player   

paulcz wrote:Having read a part of Nadal’s interview after his defeat with David, he says that his spirit has been broken after AO loss. He also didn’t complain about  any injury for his loss with David.
It is obvious that he is frustrated and that surely comes from the fact that he is not able to catch up with  players as Stan and Nole on the court. If he would have been seriously injured he could not have been in such a broken spirit.
Nadal did definitely chicken out on the court  from his next match against  Stan. Here is nothing new, he is just  a crap player   

The booing of the australian crowd after he came back on court was obviously a big blow to him. Today the audience supported Ferrer, is this becoming a trend?

gallery play wrote:

paulcz wrote:Having read a part of Nadal’s interview after his defeat with David, he says that his spirit has been broken after AO loss. He also didn’t complain about  any injury for his loss with David.
It is obvious that he is frustrated and that surely comes from the fact that he is not able to catch up with  players as Stan and Nole on the court. If he would have been seriously injured he could not have been in such a broken spirit.
Nadal did definitely chicken out on the court  from his next match against  Stan. Here is nothing new, he is just  a crap player   

The booing of the australian crowd after he came back on court was obviously a big blow to him. Today the audience supported Ferrer, is this becoming a trend?

Yes GP, you made the point. I didn't see his match today (as usual), but when I read that crowds were behind David, that relates to what Nadal cries about. Crowds finally started to understand what a disgusting pack Nadal's team is and what antics Nadal shows on the court. True fans must be sick of him and his uncle and now he cries his eyes out. But it is too late.

Of Shhhh...ttt I missed all the action today. I am in France with family and not a chance to glance at the matches.

But thanks all for the comments. made good and enlightening reading. I was going to blame Fed's back again but it looks like it was down to Tsonga playing well and Fed being a bit unlucky....still surprised to see Fed being broken twice in a set....not good!

Regarding Nadal losing....you can read it up there way before the match started I said (to FK) I would not be surprised...though to be honest I am somehow.

Would be interesting to have access to Nadal's interview to confirm what Paul said. Nadal played quite well in Miami so I think his confidence is more affected by Djoko's lesson than Stan's loss...but GP you might be right about the crowd cheering for the opponent .....probably more and more....affecting Nadal's confidence too.

Bottom line is shaving another 400pts off his Atp ranking.

paulcz wrote:

gallery play wrote:

paulcz wrote:Having read a part of Nadal’s interview after his defeat with David, he says that his spirit has been broken after AO loss. He also didn’t complain about  any injury for his loss with David.
It is obvious that he is frustrated and that surely comes from the fact that he is not able to catch up with  players as Stan and Nole on the court. If he would have been seriously injured he could not have been in such a broken spirit.
Nadal did definitely chicken out on the court  from his next match against  Stan. Here is nothing new, he is just  a crap player   

The booing of the australian crowd after he came back on court was obviously a big blow to him. Today the audience supported Ferrer, is this becoming a trend?

Yes GP, you made the point. I didn't see his match today (as usual), but when I read that crowds were behind David, that relates to what Nadal cries about. Crowds finally started to understand what a disgusting pack Nadal's team is and what antics Nadal shows on the court. True fans must be sick of him and his uncle and now he cries his eyes out. But it is too late.

Amrit will tell you that he did a survey of 5 people at his club and Nadal is the most beloved player in history... 

I don't know what to think of Nadal. Surely with his ups and downs during his carreer- the AO loss shouldn't have messed up his mind this much.  Really though- he has never backed up his brief periods of all court dominance, the next season is always a let down. I think we're just seeing more of the same.  He's at the age where other players are starting to catch up to him, and feel like they have a shot now.   Federer went through the same thing.

truffin1 wrote:
I don't know what to think of Nadal. Surely with his ups and downs during his carreer- the AO loss shouldn't have messed up his mind this much.  Really though- he has never backed up his brief periods of all court dominance, the next season is always a let down. I think we're just seeing more of the same.  He's at the age where other players are starting to catch up to him, and feel like they have a shot now.   Federer went through the same thing.

Yes though the difference is that Federer was never caught up by his own generation. Nadal is being caught up by Ferrer! an older player of fed's generation.

truffin1 wrote:

paulcz wrote:

gallery play wrote:

paulcz wrote:Having read a part of Nadal’s interview after his defeat with David, he says that his spirit has been broken after AO loss. He also didn’t complain about  any injury for his loss with David.
It is obvious that he is frustrated and that surely comes from the fact that he is not able to catch up with  players as Stan and Nole on the court. If he would have been seriously injured he could not have been in such a broken spirit.
Nadal did definitely chicken out on the court  from his next match against  Stan. Here is nothing new, he is just  a crap player   

The booing of the australian crowd after he came back on court was obviously a big blow to him. Today the audience supported Ferrer, is this becoming a trend?

Yes GP, you made the point. I didn't see his match today (as usual), but when I read that crowds were behind David, that relates to what Nadal cries about. Crowds finally started to understand what a disgusting pack Nadal's team is and what antics Nadal shows on the court. True fans must be sick of him and his uncle and now he cries his eyes out. But it is too late.

Amrit will tell you that he did a survey of 5 people at his club and Nadal is the most beloved player in history... 

I don't know what to think of Nadal. Surely with his ups and downs during his carreer- the AO loss shouldn't have messed up his mind this much.  Really though- he has never backed up his brief periods of all court dominance, the next season is always a let down. I think we're just seeing more of the same.  He's at the age where other players are starting to catch up to him, and feel like they have a shot now.   Federer went through the same thing.

Let's not wake up Amrit and his club 5 people   
Nadal is utterly mentally lame. He is not able to get that what he and his uncle sowed they are going to gather up late. Nadal with his uncle go often behind the edge with their MTOs, coaching, timing antics and delaying the game, but he is not able to get away with  a negative response of crowds. His game is based on sheer brutal power and when his mental determination is a bit lower he just doesn't have the game to catch up on the courts with some players. Nadal is not far from crying even within QFs, that is something  

Tenez wrote:
Would be interesting to have access to Nadal's interview to confirm what Paul said. Nadal played quite well in Miami so I think his confidence is more affected by Djoko's lesson than Stan's loss...but GP you might be right about the crowd cheering for the opponent .....probably more and more....affecting Nadal's confidence too.

I have read just a couple of sentences which Nadal told Spanish tv and that sentence says it all, "I will not lie. Afterwards what happened in Australia, it was difficult for me to find my determination, selfconfidence and strength, which I always had".
He also mentioned his back, but he said that that was no problem in his today's match with David.
As I said if he had been seriously injured, then he wouldn't mentioned his lack of determination and selfconfidence.

https://fr.sports.yahoo.com/news/tennis-nadal-souffre-la-t%C3%AAte-pas-du-dos-183554917--ten.html

This seems to confirm it's in his head! but making 44UEs when you have such a loopy game is absolutely unforgivable. if this player were hitting with less margins, he would triple those UEs.

I think the fact he is a forced LHer is starting to show. when you are going through doubts, you wish you were using your real, natural arm!

paulcz wrote:

Tenez wrote:
Would be interesting to have access to Nadal's interview to confirm what Paul said. Nadal played quite well in Miami so I think his confidence is more affected by Djoko's lesson than Stan's loss...but GP you might be right about the crowd cheering for the opponent .....probably more and more....affecting Nadal's confidence too.

I have read just a couple of sentences which Nadal told Spanish tv and that sentence says it all,  "I will not lie. Afterwards  what happened in Australia, it was difficult for me to find my determination, selfconfidence and strength, which I always had".  
He also mentioned his back, but he said that that was no problem in his today's match with David.
As I said if he  had been seriously injured, then he wouldn't mentioned his lack of determination and selfconfidence.

Yes this is what he says more or less in "my" link above. Agree that admitting to low confidence is a bit peculiar!

Just saw Ferrer's post match interview. Asked about his match v Stan tomorrow:

"I will try to do my beeeeest and I'll try to play long ralliies"

Tenez wrote:

paulcz wrote:

Tenez wrote:
Would be interesting to have access to Nadal's interview to confirm what Paul said. Nadal played quite well in Miami so I think his confidence is more affected by Djoko's lesson than Stan's loss...but GP you might be right about the crowd cheering for the opponent .....probably more and more....affecting Nadal's confidence too.

I have read just a couple of sentences which Nadal told Spanish tv and that sentence says it all,  "I will not lie. Afterwards  what happened in Australia, it was difficult for me to find my determination, selfconfidence and strength, which I always had".  
He also mentioned his back, but he said that that was no problem in his today's match with David.
As I said if he  had been seriously injured, then he wouldn't mentioned his lack of determination and selfconfidence.

Yes this is what he says more or less in "my" link above. Agree that admitting to low confidence is a bit peculiar!

You read it here first

noleisthebest wrote:I can't put my finger on what's wrong with Nadal, I can only say he is playing with zero confidence. May it long continue....Just hope Ferrer can cope physically another set.

noleisthebest wrote:Just saw Ferrer's post match interview. Asked about his match v Stan tomorrow:

"I will try to do my beeeeest and I'll try to play long ralliies"

  

What a surprise!   
David just knows what game he should play. Brilliant.

That is unbelievable what roadrunners  Spain tennis  produce. Garcia Lopez is surely running around Monte Carlo at the moment   

Yes, he is having a marathon race with Nadal back to Spain. The loser has to put the poster of Nole on his bedroom door.

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, he is having a marathon race with Nadal back to Spain. The loser has to put the poster of Nole on his bedroom door.

Right and if they can speed up a bit, they can catch Andy, who started off from London at noon.

noleisthebest wrote:That was one jaw-dropping BH!!!!

Here it is, what a beauty...

Tenez wrote:Of course Nadal is not finished. But as you say he is being pushed harder but I also think that even in his best years he was also always pushed. In 2010 his clay season was with lots of up and down despite winning most of the clay tournaments.

I just think he might struggle retaining any of his clay title this season.

1 down 4 to go.

paulcz wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Just saw Ferrer's post match interview. Asked about his match v Stan tomorrow:

"I will try to do my beeeeest and I'll try to play long ralliies"

  

What a surprise!   
David just knows what game he should play. Brilliant.

That is unbelievable what roadrunners  Spain tennis  produce. Garcia Lopez is surely running around Monte Carlo at the moment   

What is unbelievable is that the roadrunner is actually an attacking player when playing (and compared to) Nadal.

Who wants to read a match analysis between David and Nadal, here is a good one:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2033766-monte-carlo-2014-breaking-down-rafael-nadals-loss-to-david-ferrer

and that wouldn't be Nadal if he didn't try his rubbishy antics, even against his country fellow   

Ferrer was so locked in he didn't notice that Nadal was still toweling off when he unleashed his first serve. It was semi-comical, and Nadal motioned his apology, but the moment emphasized their day.

paulcz wrote:Who wants to read a match analysis between David and Nadal, here is a good one:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2033766-monte-carlo-2014-breaking-down-rafael-nadals-loss-to-david-ferrer

and that wouldn't be Nadal if he didn't try his rubbishy antics, even against his country fellow   

Ferrer was so locked in he didn't notice that Nadal was still toweling off when he unleashed his first serve. It was semi-comical, and Nadal motioned his apology, but the moment emphasized their day.

Yes that sums it up pretty well. However; you might as well stop reading after the very first sentence because that line tells it all:
"From the opening toss, Ferrer played with greater energy than Nadal."

About the toweling incident, yes that was funny because it got so magnified what Nadal always does.

gallery play wrote:

paulcz wrote:Who wants to read a match analysis between David and Nadal, here is a good one:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2033766-monte-carlo-2014-breaking-down-rafael-nadals-loss-to-david-ferrer

and that wouldn't be Nadal if he didn't try his rubbishy antics, even against his country fellow   

Ferrer was so locked in he didn't notice that Nadal was still toweling off when he unleashed his first serve. It was semi-comical, and Nadal motioned his apology, but the moment emphasized their day.

Yes that sums it up pretty well. However; you might as well stop reading after the very first sentence because that line tells it all:
"From the opening toss, Ferrer played with greater energy than Nadal."

About the toweling incident, yes that was funny because it got so magnified what Nadal always does.

Absolutely agree with your comment, that statement of columnist striked me a lot. Therefore I needed to look at highligths. Nadal was fully fit and juiced, but David was well prepared for that match and did not allow Nadal to dictate from FH side. Hats off to David, he looked really well on the court. Determined, focused and his legs worked brilliantly. That is Spanish roadrunning tennis University.
What a surprise to look at the match statistics and see that David run more than Nadal by a good margin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIhl5LQ63bw