Roland Garros 2014: MOTD Day 15 Sun 08/06/2014

Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [11]
Shuai Peng (CHN) [11]
vs.
Sara Errani (ITA) [12]
Roberta Vinci (ITA) [12]


Men's Singles - Final
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [32]
vs.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [33]

For the mens single final, same as the women's! Double points for getting the sets right! Plus Joker!

I hope Djoko could recover on time. I am even hoping that he faked an injury to be allowed "special treatment". Now is the time where he can say, sorry guys I have to pull out of the final as I am hurting too much....then he would be allowed plenty of great treatments authorised by all parties!

I remember Agassi being flown to hospital for "rehydratation" betwwen his semi and final v Federer.


So with this in mind I m hoping Djoko will win in 4!

The Italians in double!

I am so not interested in women's doubles final, I'm almost tempted not to make a pick...but since I'm a hare...I have to!
So it will be the Italians for doubles and
Djokered Djoker in three sets, no joke!

Errani/Vinci
Nole in 4 sets (Joker)

Tenez wrote:I am even hoping that he faked an injury

Same here.  He is not above doing that.  If he is playing as well as he has been throughout most of this tournament, I only see one winner.  Of course, I thought he would win last year.  And in 2012.  And in 2011.  But this time I feel more confident than in 2012 and 2013.

Tenez wrote:I hope Djoko could recover on time. I am even hoping that he faked an injury to be allowed "special treatment". Now is the time where he can say, sorry guys I have to pull out of the final as I am hurting too much....then he would  be allowed plenty of great treatments authorised by all parties!

Good to know I'm not the only mad one here...I thought the whole thing was staged just to take pressure off him for tomorrow, right down to Gulbis saying what he did after the match about feeling tired...and being two hors late for the press conference...he's one fine actor if he pulls it all off   

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:I hope Djoko could recover on time. I am even hoping that he faked an injury to be allowed "special treatment". Now is the time where he can say, sorry guys I have to pull out of the final as I am hurting too much....then he would  be allowed plenty of great treatments authorised by all parties!

Good to know I'm not the only mad one here...I thought the whole thing was staged just to take pressure off him for tomorrow, right down to Gulbis saying what he did after the match about feeling tired...and being two hors late for the press conference...he's one fine actor if he pulls it all off   

I wish but one doesn@t surrender a set like that in the semi...it's too dangerous.

Quick choice here before going out for today:

- Nadal in 4 and jokered, hehe, maybe I am wrong again   ; yesterday though I voted with heart over mind, today not so much...
- the Asians for the doubles, no idea really, a fifty/ fifty chance of getting it right, I guess

The Italians and...  ...Nadal in 5

Djoko :"I'm going to try to be aggressive, because that is the only way I can win against him," said the Serb.
"I know that, of course, this is the court he's most dominant on. He has only lost one time in his career. This is where he plays his best.
"But we played some really close and good quality matches the last two years here, and knowing that I was that close to win against him gives me that reason to believe that I can make it this time."

That;s worrying. Being aggressive over best of 5 is impossible v Nadal. Wrong tactics and that maybe because he doesn;t feel 100%. Strange cause nadal will want to hear that as well. He woudl have been better off saying that it is going to be a physical gruelling match..that may have depressed Nadal as we know he is the one who has often lost those battles.

Bonjour OTF!
Je suis bien arrivee a Paris!
Glorious sunny day

It looks like it is going to be sunny with maybe a bit of rain later. wind average 11km (moderate) with gust of 54kmh!!! That's quite a bit.

I'm sorry for the sporadic posting, but just wanted to say I hope you enjoy yourself today NITB! I hope Nole wins, not just for you but for tennis!!

Thanks!
I'm leaving for RG in about 10 mins...look for the big Serbian flag in row 8

noleisthebest wrote:Thanks!
I'm leaving for RG in about 10 mins...look for the big Serbian flag in row 8

please tell where you are with reference to the referee.

So who is around?

Nole

IDEMO MAJSTORE!!!!!!                

Better start than Murray.

Good point.

If Djoko can keep doing this, it's a 3 setter for Djoko....I am convcerned about his health. he doesn't seem to move as well as in previous rounds.

Could have been 0-30 down if they had not messed up that line call.

The good thing is so far he doesn't have to move much....he is forcing the running.

Another good point from Nole.  So far this looks just as I expected.

yes...though he was close to the lines....can he get that close when he has 2 sets in his legs?

Djoko making many easy UEs.

Nadal shoudl tire soon.

A good return game with a break would come in handy now.

I don't like how Djoko goes for too much when he does not really have to/

Djoko's FH out of Nadal's FH....very good!

summerblues wrote:A good return game with a break would come in handy now.

Just like that. Rafa shows he is feeling the pressure.

GO NOLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            

Djoko draws first blood. Come on!

Worrying to see Djoko trying to shorten rallies!

No one can handle the kick of Nadals shots better than Djoko, but in this heat is quite a task for Djoko too.

Both showing the nerves in this game.

gallery play wrote:No one can handle the kick of Nadals shots better than Djoko, but in this heat is quite a task for Djoko too.

Very true.!!!! The crowd seems to be quite shared!

Yes!!!!!! Nole!!!!!!!!        

Pfew!
Nole had to win this set, because Nadal will cut down those errors eventually

summerblues wrote:Both showing the nerves in this game.

Yes but one can hold them much better. It was a very nervous game from Rafa when he got broken...then he becomes more relax being down in score cause he has less pressure.

I heard that the ref was talking with Nadal after that set. The ref probably doesn't have the guts to give him a time warning during play, not without talking to him first

It's actually a bit unfair cause the court and hour of day makes it the sun affecting the RHers more than the LH....Santoro confirmed it

physically Nole seems OK, what do you guys think?

Still unusual UEs from Djoko...might down to the extra heat/spin I agree.

But the good news is that Nadal cannot keep on hitting that hard, this is why he himself tries to shorten rallies.

gallery play wrote:physically Nole seems OK, what do you guys think?

He seems ok to me but we will see how he is as the match goes on.

One good thing is that he is just now starting to dial in on the return, so he definitely has room for relatively easy improvement there.

gallery play wrote:physically Nole seems OK, what do you guys think?

I think he looks like someone who does not fancy the long rallies and a bit slow to me. He was quicker v Gulbis' first set.

That's my impression but I might be wrong. He looked very quick and agile v Gulbis.

Did not touch the net there

Tenez wrote:Still unusual UEs from Djoko...might down to the extra heat/spin I agree.

But the good news is that Nadal cannot keep on hitting that hard, this is why he himself tries to shorten rallies.

not sure about that. Nadal wants to play like he did against Murray, but his timing is not (yet) as good

Gutsy play from Nadal!

gallery play wrote:

Tenez wrote:Still unusual UEs from Djoko...might down to the extra heat/spin I agree.

But the good news is that Nadal cannot keep on hitting that hard, this is why he himself tries to shorten rallies.

not sure about that. Nadal wants to play like he did against Murray, but his timing is not (yet) as good

Murray gave him an easier ball to time. Nadal has dropped intensity in all in matches v Djoko...even last year when he started like he was on dynamite powder.

And you can see already nadal losing intensity.