ATP 1000: Indian Wells

Almost all Fed's shots are so good, it's like an exhibition.
And that is against Nadal.

Daniel wrote:Nadal has lost a step and it's far more damaging to his style than Fed's.

No he hasn't. He is just being outplayed. Made to run. Capisci?

Commentator trying to reqrite history.  Apparently, only Djok could live with it.  I must have been dreaming 2003-2008....  I seem to recall Federer winning nearly all his slams in that period.  But Nadal was unbeatable apart from Djok.....

... wrote:

Daniel wrote:Nadal has lost a step and it's far more damaging to his style than Fed's.

No he hasn't. He is just being outplayed. Made to run. Capisci?

Yes, he has.  Like all players do at that age.  Sorry that biology isn't your strong suit.  Get used to watching Kyrgios win slams. Novak's style depends on his running too.  He's done. 

Daniel wrote:

... wrote:

Daniel wrote:Nadal has lost a step and it's far more damaging to his style than Fed's.

No he hasn't. He is just being outplayed. Made to run. Capisci?

Yes, he has.  Like all players do at that age.  Sorry that biology isn't your strong suit.  Get used to watching Kyrgios win slams. Novak's style depends on his running too.  He's done. 

No.

It's the speed of shots that made Nole and Nadal look slow.

The weird thing about this match is that you expect a trophy, speeches after it...and it's only round 3 or 4...

Nadal looking so sad I am laughing.  He looks so dejected "UNCLE TONI!  HELP!  MY SHITTY TOP SPINNING ISN'T WORKING.  My tactic to knock to his backhand all day long and serve to his bckhand all day long isn't working.  WAaaah."


hahahaha

Who says Fed's FH is not as good as before? He can hit winners from Nadal's spinny shots with more safety.

Glad Kyrgios won.

If he only were not an idiot, he would have everything going for him - he has all the talent and can survive tight moments.

His problem is that it is not clear whether he is really into tennis.  If he sorts that out, he will be brilliant.  If he does not, he will go nowhere.

... wrote:The weird thing about this match is that you expect a trophy, speeches after it...and it's only round 3 or 4...

I agree cause at their current level they both would cause Murray lots of trouble.

Larry is rattled as he is a Nadal fan.

Oh see you later!  What a shot backhand down the line that was!

summerblues wrote:Glad Kyrgios won.

If he only were not an idiot, he would have everything going for him - he has all the talent and can survive tight moments.

His problem is that it is not clear whether he is really into tennis.  If he sorts that out, he will be brilliant.  If he does not, he will go nowhere.

I don't buy all that (basketball etc) talk.

I really think his main problem is his ego. He doesn't know how to lose and goes all stupid when he does.

Look at Tomic. Another waste of talent, except with him it's he is lazy. But both have problematic parents.

Daniel wrote:Oh see you later!  What a shot backhand down the line that was!

If only Rafa hadn't lost that step...

I would even fancy fed winning Nadal on clay nowadays.

Tenez wrote:I would even fancy fed winning Nadal on clay nowadays.

Why not!

I can't decide whether Federer is better to watch in slow motion or real life speed.

Seeing Federer play with such a fresh mind makes those six months off so worth it!

Nadal loved his h2h advantage.  Gave him the kudos and ego about beating Federer.  Now he's losing to a 35 year old Fed, he's finding it hard to take.

... wrote:I can't decide whether Federer is better to watch in slow motion or real life speed.

There is no such dilemma with Nadal, though.

I underestimated the confidence factor.  Totally.  Federer is playing totally free.  He's ripping Nadal apart.

... wrote:I don't buy all that (basketball etc) talk.

Why not?  I would not be surprised if he is less than 100% committed to tennis.  He certainly has strange attitude, and it would fit right with that.

And Federer beginning to show first signs of tiredness.
And that's one hour and three minutes on the clock.

... wrote:And Federer beginning to show first signs of tiredness.
And that's one hour and three minutes on the clock.

And you can glean this from one point?  You are a real master. 

Oh, you not gonna challenge that match point, asshole?

Well, that was rather spectacular from Roger.

summerblues wrote:

... wrote:I don't buy all that (basketball etc) talk.

Why not?  I would not be surprised if he is less than 100% committed to tennis.  He certainly has strange attitude, and it would fit right with that.

I agree with ... It's a way to unload the pressure. A champion mind will simply not accept defeat and will come up with excuses...until he matures.

For years, my hope has been to see Roger play for the big titles against the youngsters after Rafa, Nole and Andy declined. Maybe not a pipe dream after all

2 breaks in each set.

As I said before the AO, I doubt if Nadal will ever win another match v Federer.

fed found the key to beat all his opponent of his generation now he is sorting the new one (the road runners)!

Tenez wrote:A champion mind will simply not accept defeat and will come up with excuses...until he matures.

But it is not just the excuses, it is his demeanor on the court too.  Not everyone is equally focused.  Maybe the guy is just a touch lazy and immature.

I do not believe that he "prefers Nintendo to tennis", but I can certainly imagine that he is not the most hard working guy out there.

Now that Fed has gotten his BH (and thus also returns) in shape, he could do some big things this year - AO might not be his last slam.  Will he get to 20?

Maybe he is lazy I just don;t think he copes well with pressure. The way he handled a few matches (v Gasquet, Stan, etc..) just shows that he'd do and say anything to release pressure. Pressure gets to him in a big way. He either psych himself up or simply do or say stupid things....depending on the score mostly.

summerblues wrote:Now that Fed has gotten his BH (and thus also returns) in shape, he could do some big things this year - AO might not be his last slam.  Will he get to 20?

Not likely. But no longer extremely unlikely.

i really hope that fed and nadal meet more often this year, cause fed looks like he could really even out their h2h record 
the cherry on top would be if fed beat nadal at RG,it doesnt even have to be in the final,that will have to shut the critics up for good

Just watched highlights, this was more crushing then Korgi/Djoko.

Fed can beat Korgi, he cant beat Fed on serve alone.

Thanfully I recorded the match so just watched the whole (short) match. It wasn't far off a highlights reel.

This Federer backhand is better than Wawrinkas by some distance. It's almost as powerful but the variety and direction is vastly superior. It's also, crucially, taken far earlier than Stans.

I'd go so far as to say that Federers reinvention if his game at 35 might stand as one of the greatest testaments to his unique talent. It's like we've got another member of the next generation of players, except he's close to middle-aged.

Veejay wrote:i really hope that fed and nadal meet more often this year, cause fed looks like he could really even out their h2h record 
the cherry on top would be if fed beat nadal at RG,it doesnt even have to be in the final,that will have to shut the critics up for good

Yes but it will be Nadal lost cause he has problems or some other excuse.

But seems nice 3 in a row for Fed to beat Nadal.

Need a few Djoko crushes too, to get ahead a little in H2H.

Also a couple lessons to Andy would be good at this age.

Fed moves to 7;th place with 3.854 points, Djoko lost 910, Nadal 270.

Race to WTF, Fed leads with 2000, Nadal second with 1,245, Dimi third 970.

Depressing not admission from Moonballer Nadal;

“I pneed to hit longer and I need to hit higher to create problems [for him],” Nadal said. “I was not able to do that, and then he [had the] advantage.

bogbrush wrote:Depressing not admission from Moonballer Nadal;

“I pneed to hit longer and I need to hit higher to create problems [for him],” Nadal said. “I was not able to do that, and then he [had the] advantage.

yes. I remember that on v2 they discussed the possibility to ban the word moonballing!

SO let's call Nadal a "Higher hitter"!

bogbrush wrote:Thanfully I recorded the match so just watched the whole (short) match. It wasn't far off a highlights reel.

This Federer backhand is better than Wawrinkas by some distance. It's almost as powerful but the variety and direction is vastly superior. It's also, crucially, taken far earlier than Stans.

I'd go so far as to say that Federers reinvention if his game at 35 might stand as one of the greatest testaments to his unique talent. It's like we've got another member of the next generation of players, except he's close to middle-aged.

And Nadal was not playing badly.

Lendl, Agassi were also others who were able to adapt to new generations past their 30s. Essentially cause they had unique weapons. Lendl initial game (going for broke with a wooden racquet) benefitted from the larger frames. Whereas McEnroe's game only benefitted from teh larger frame against his own generation but not the new one.

And again in view of this, it is clear that fed would be playing even better had he adopted that racquet years ago or if like nadal and Djoko had grown up with a bigger frame.

I am pretty sure Nadal's FO titles would have been seriously reduced had fed had adopted that racquet earlier.

Speculation certainly but I cannot see how nadal woudl have cope with that extra power on serve and BH. The very reason nadal won so many on clay was often down to Fed starting to shank after a few games due to extra running that nadal forced by taking command of the rally by sending moonballs on fed's BH without a fear in the world.

And last but not least..I have always said that those losses of Fed v Nadal had nothing to do with Fed crumbling mentally. It was simply physical and then technical. Fed was always the strongest mentally but never had the stamina and power to confidently hit those so risky BH over 3 sets. Now that he can force Nadal to do much running, the mental difference and talent between those 2 is simply huge in favour of Fed.

Tenez wrote:2 breaks in each set.

As I said before the AO, I doubt if Nadal will ever win another match v Federer.

fed found the key to beat all his opponent of his generation now he is sorting the new one (the road runners)!

I think he sorted Murray out long time ago.
It was only Nole that gave him trouble.

But I don't think that is going to happen again.

So just like he was robbed by Nada's "high balls" l so was he robbed by gluten-free Nole in 2015.

Had Nole won last night, Fed would have schooled him today.

So even from thr nrw gen prespective, case closed

summerblues wrote:Well, that was rather spectacular from Roger.

It was!

The backhand was sublime.

What was "shocking" is that Fed basically dismantled Nadal almost with EXCLUSIVE BASELINE TENNS!


That says how good he is right now!

bogbrush wrote:Thanfully I recorded the match so just watched the whole (short) match. It wasn't far off a highlights reel.

This Federer backhand is better than Wawrinkas by some distance. It's almost as powerful but the variety and direction is vastly superior. It's also, crucially, taken far earlier than Stans.

I'd go so far as to say that Federers reinvention if his game at 35 might stand as one of the greatest testaments to his unique talent. It's like we've got another member of the next generation of players, except he's close to middle-aged.

I don't think Fed has a challenger atm.

Only his tired body can get the better of himself.

Daniel wrote:Oh, you not gonna challenge that match point, asshole?

Bet 365 cut the stream before the last point, but when I saw the highlights I couldn't believe that return!
And Nadal really wamted to challenge it, but must have heard you!

He was outplayed fair and square, and the handshake said it all.

Fed annoying in purpose Nadal these last 2 matches with line MPs.

Jahu wrote:Fed moves to 7;th place with 3.854 points, Djoko lost 910, Nadal 270.

Race to WTF, Fed leads with 2000, Nadal second with 1,245, Dimi third 970.

Great news for Fed.

Sure he has more than 2000 points innthe race!

... wrote:

Tenez wrote:2 breaks in each set.

As I said before the AO, I doubt if Nadal will ever win another match v Federer.

fed found the key to beat all his opponent of his generation now he is sorting the new one (the road runners)!

I think he sorted Murray out long time ago.
It was only Nole that gave him trouble.

But I don't think that is going to happen again.

So just like he was robbed by Nada's "high balls" l so was he robbed by gluten-free  Nole in 2015.

Had Nole won last night, Fed would have schooled him today.

So even from thr nrw gen prespective, case closed

I wish .I d like to see it. I know he can beat Nole easily....over 3 sets....but doing it at teh end of a slam in bof5? That's the real problem.