ATP 1000: Indian Wells

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:A quick switch to Murray-Berlocq - 4 all. I forgot who Berlocq was, until I saw the face now.....and how he choked that third set against Nadal in Chile......

Against Horacio it was wasn't it? Certainly in Chile...ah you mean in Argentina.

I've lost count now...no! Horacio beat him in Chile, but Berlocq lost in the SF or stg.....

And Berlocq chokes away even the tie-break, blasting another overhead out, even after waiting for it to bounce.....I think we could do with a SCREAM smiley here.....

...no overhead problems for Fed....what a difference!!! Good to know that in these two matches three players have SBH, Berlocq very similar to Almagro in many ways

he,he that was a really funny moonballing rally from both

They really have painted those courts for Rafa. Look how bouncy it is thanks to the added sand in the paint. This is what they were saying on Sky and it's so true. Ridiculous looping from Fed and STan...and I am sure Nadal is going to make it look much worse.

Tenez wrote:They really have painted those courts for Rafa. Look how bouncy it is thanks to the added sand in the paint. This is what they were saying on Sky and it's so true. Ridiculous looping from Fed and STan...and I am sure Nadal is going to make it look much worse.

So long as Gulbis manages to cope with it....he said he likes playing Nadal's spin....weirdo!!!!

Great show from Stan

I don't know how Fed managed to win that one. Wawrinka helped him a bit obviously but his shots were so erratic in those last 2 sets.

Those slow courts also help the powerful players. SO MAybe Gulbis will have a look at it.

nighty....

Tenez wrote:They really have painted those courts for Rafa. Look how bouncy it is thanks to the added sand in the paint. This is what they were saying on Sky and it's so true. Ridiculous looping from Fed and STan...and I am sure Nadal is going to make it look much worse.

probably part of T&C for Nadal to turn up in the first place, and then the draw.....

Tenez wrote:I don't know how Fed managed to win that one. Wawrinka helped him a bit obviously but his shots were so erratic in those last 2 sets.

Stan looked more worn out in the end than Fed....having to carry all that extra weight added up in the end.

Tenez wrote:Those slow courts also help the powerful players. SO MAybe Gulbis will have a look at it.

nighty....

I'll stay up till 3 and maybe later but that depends on Ernest, COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

Tenez wrote:Federer moonballing a lot to break (especially from his BH which actually requires skills) Stan's rhythm. And it works.

Hehe. I have noticed Fed occasionally moonballs these days - he did it with some success at last year's IW against Rafa - also from his BH side. Cheeky. Not a huge fan of it but against Rafa it was kind of funny.

Gulbis can't afford any concentration lapses, one soft ball and Nadal's all over it!
I just can't believe that the masses are cheering for Nadal in this match....
WHYYYYYYYYYYY?????!!!!

Gulbis's forehand looking pretty good. Adjusted his initial impatience/(nerves?) on that wing and playing very well now. Return excellent, too.

Gubis not falling for Nadal's waiting antics and proceeds with his serve. Funny to see Nadal rush for receiving position....and a few points later does the same to Nadal....walks away to wipe himself down, Nadal doesn't like it ....and it's set point for Gulbis. COME OOOOON!!!!!!!!!!
And he does it 6:4 YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH

It would be really criminal for Gulbis to lose this match, he really loves Nadal's spin, takes the ball so early and really goes for it, way to go!

noleisthebest wrote:It would be really criminal for Gulbis to lose this match, he really loves Nadal's spin, takes the ball so early and really goes for it, way to go!

Give it up NITB , I told you Nadal will come back, only a matter of time. He is not at his best yet, but he is improving.

Fed played very bad, was moonballing on multiple occasions. It watching was weird watching him today.

I don't think he can stand up to Nadal tomorrow. His back is really affecting his serve and mouvement. Its almost like ow he was suffering by the end of 2009.

(that's for Gulbis losing)


GO NOLEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!


PS
such is life of a tennis fan

summerblues wrote:

Tenez wrote:Federer moonballing a lot to break (especially from his BH which actually requires skills) Stan's rhythm. And it works.

Hehe. I have noticed Fed occasionally moonballs these days - he did it with some success at last year's IW against Rafa - also from his BH side. Cheeky. Not a huge fan of it but against Rafa it was kind of funny.

Yes he has experienced first hand that moonballing can be quite efficient nowadays, especially v SHBH.

Nole looked very excited to be able to beat the legendary Sam Querey. He is after all the American number one...well soon.

It looks like Nole did the job intwo sets


I couldn't believe it this morning when I managed to open my eyelids just to check Nadal Gulbis score to see that Novak was still playing....Why did they keep them waiting 4 hours?!!!

Tenez wrote:Nole looked very excited to be able to beat the legendary Sam Querey. He is after all the American number one...well soon.

I didn't see the end of the match...but played pretty late...And Nole will be playing Querrey in the US in Davis Cup in a few weeks, so it was an important win, esp as he lost to him in Bercy last time the played, tanked or not.

Anyway, you excited about Fedal match?

S. Tignor on The QF:

"Rafa and Roger both sound a little older and a little wearier at the moment. They likely will never be No. 1 and 2 again, and they may never stage another epic in a Grand Slam final. But if they revealed their weaknesses today, they also made us remember why, in comparison to past tennis champions, they have endured. They took their creaky bodies and creeping vulnerabilities and won anyway. In the end, we got to see them the way we want to see them—Rafa with his fist raised in cathartic victory, ratcheting up the crowd’s noise level; Roger pushing his hair back for his post-match interview, a wide smile on his face as 16,000 people cheered."


I don't know why, but I was never mad on that match-up and never caught the fedal bug....but am sure many others will be happy, esp Ellison....I really don't want to see his smug face all over the screen tonight

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Fed played very bad, was moonballing on multiple occasions. It watching was weird watching him today.

I agree that he played badly. Was making lots of UEs typical of when he has a physical issue. But his moonballing was quite skilled and good actually considering he was doing it a lot on his BH and with the smallest frame on the tour. I also think moonballing is teh right thing to do on those courts. The ball checks up a lot and and it woudl be stupid not to use moonballing when frankly the court invites to that.

I am still amazed he won but that was against a sub par Stan (probably troubled my seeing Fed not 100%).

I don't think he can stand up to Nadal tomorrow. His back is really affecting his serve and mouvement. Its almost like ow he was suffering by the end of 2009.

Do they have a day in between? I agree it will be tough especially as the courts are terribly favouring moonballing and at that Nadal is by far the best. But if he is feeling better he will have a very good chance.

BlueClay wrote:
Give it up NITB , I told you Nadal will come back, only a matter of time. He is not at his best yet, but he is improving.

Yes, he is not at his best, but managed to make Gulibs run and paint the lines a lot more than in S. America a few weeks ago.
I haven't seen the third set, just a few points and don't know why Gulbis lost, he really was the better player last night. But then again, I've had that feeling many times before when Nole was losing to him in 2008 and 9.

noleisthebest wrote:Anyway, you excited about Fedal match?

Not quite excited as I do not know their form but will certainly watch it if in the decent hours.

They start at 7 PM local which should be about 2 AM

Yep....not for me. I am not that excited.

Tenez wrote:Yep....not for me. I am not that excited.

oh, but think how sweet it will be to witness the victory
I'll sleep on the sofa with the lights on as per usual slam mode, and if I wake up - I wake up....I usually do in the middle of a match, but having slept so little in the last few days, could be tough.....

BlueClay wrote:
Give it up NITB , I told you Nadal will come back, only a matter of time. He is not at his best yet, but he is improving.

BC I have no doubt (well little) doubt that Nadal woudl get back to his best but the tour has moved up. I am quite sure that under slightly less bouncy, faster HC Gulbis would have won comfy in straight sets. Today Nadal was able (I guess) to extend the rallies and tire Gulbis while making Gulbis' targets much smaller than they woudl have been on a faster court. We also have to factor in that Gulbis played against a whole delirious stadium. But against the other top players (bar an under par fed of course) he will not be able to hurt them anymore (clay or not).

He will not get half the points he got on clay this year....and that will affect his ranking badly.

As I said, stay tuned.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Yep....not for me. I am not that excited.

oh, but think how sweet it will be to witness the victory
I'll sleep on the sofa with the lights on as per usual slam mode, and if I wake up - I wake up....I usually do in the middle of a match, but having slept so little in the last few days, could be tough.....

Not as nice as dreaming you hold the Wimbledon trophy for the 10th time in a row.

I cannot do with little sleep. I turn into a grumpy old man. Well I am one already so it makes it worse.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Yep....not for me. I am not that excited.

oh, but think how sweet it will be to witness the victory
I'll sleep on the sofa with the lights on as per usual slam mode, and if I wake up - I wake up....I usually do in the middle of a match, but having slept so little in the last few days, could be tough.....

Not as nice as dreaming you hold the Wimbledon trophy for the 10th time in a row.

I cannot do with little sleep. I turn into a grumpy old man. Well I am one already so it makes it worse.

I need lots of sleep too, but am not grumpy, quite the opposite, just lose the edge a bit, which is quite welcoming for my always busy brain...I'm almost sedated but happy, couldn't do it long term, though, that's for sure!
I am aware these are special tennis times, so I'm willing to suffer
I don't know how this mental slo-mo is going to affect my tennis in a few minutes though....I hope I don't crash on my bike on the way there ....

Btw, congrats on your 10th Wimbledon trophy Who did you beat ?

noleisthebest wrote:
Btw, congrats on your 10th Wimbledon trophy Who did you beat ?

Anastasia Myskina...or am I mixing up dreams there? not sure.

noleisthebest wrote:

BlueClay wrote:
Give it up NITB , I told you Nadal will come back, only a matter of time. He is not at his best yet, but he is improving.

Yes, he is not at his best, but managed to make Gulibs run and paint the lines a lot more than in S. America a few weeks ago.
I haven't seen the third set, just a few points and don't know why Gulbis lost, he really was the better player last night. But then again, I've had that feeling many times before when Nole was losing to him in 2008 and 9.

It was only a few points that separated them in the end, that seems to be the theme of their match-up, it has always been a bit of a tough one for Nadal but he seems to always prevail against Gulbis.

Tenez wrote:

BlueClay wrote:
Give it up NITB , I told you Nadal will come back, only a matter of time. He is not at his best yet, but he is improving.

BC I have no doubt (well little) doubt that Nadal woudl get back to his best but the tour has moved up. I am quite sure that under slightly less bouncy, faster HC Gulbis would have won comfy in straight sets. Today Nadal was able (I guess) to extend the rallies and tire Gulbis while making Gulbis' targets much smaller than they woudl have been on a faster court. We also have to factor in that Gulbis played against a whole delirious stadium. But against the other top players (bar an under par fed of course) he will not be able to hurt them anymore (clay or not).

He will not get half the points he got on clay this year....and that will affect his ranking badly.

As I said, stay tuned.

But look at their h2h, Nadal has defeated Gulbis on a few different surfaces, always a close match but Nadal pulls it off.

Re your second statement that I highlighted, I disagree with you and I think Nadal will get back to near his best even off clay. The bet is on! I will probably get banned for saying that on this Nadal hating site. Don't get me wrong, I think Nadal is a whiner and I do not think he has been injured, not seriously at least and I don't think his six or seven month absence has anything to do with an injury, but that has nothing to do with how I feel about his abiliities on a tennis court, I can't deny those even though I would like to at times (like when he is playing Federer most times )

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Yep....not for me. I am not that excited.

oh, but think how sweet it will be to witness the victory
I'll sleep on the sofa with the lights on as per usual slam mode, and if I wake up - I wake up....I usually do in the middle of a match, but having slept so little in the last few days, could be tough.....

What victory? With the way Federer has been playing, fat chance! He will have to perform some serious changes to his being and come on to court as an entirely different player than he was last night in order to beat Nadal. But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

BlueClay wrote:

But look at their h2h, Nadal has defeated Gulbis on a few different surfaces, always a close match but Nadal pulls it off.

Sure Nadal is really good at winning all those close matches. Nothing new here as he doesn't take as much risk and therefore pressure times will always affect the attacking players more.

Re your second statement that I highlighted, I disagree with you and I think Nadal will get back to near his best even off clay. The bet is on! I will probably get banned for saying that on this Nadal hating site.

Yes I have banned everybody who thinks differently than me. This is why no-one posts here anymore and why I like it.
Again...again no doubt he will come back to his best (that will comfort my view that it was a silent ban all the way) and I even think he will improve from his peak form like most 27 should . But regardless others will improve quicker. That is my main point. Murray, Djoko and others have already reached levels Nadal coudl never reach now that the others are catching up physically. In a way same woudl have happened to Borg had he tried to prolong his career. In fact he did but realised his game was obsolete against the new generation and that woudl involve too much running.

https://2img.net/u/3116/36/11/62/smiles/2211252749.gif[/img] Don't get me wrong, I think Nadal is a whiner and I do not think he has been injured, not seriously at least and I don't think his six or seven month absence has anything to do with an injury, but that has nothing to do with how I feel about his abiliities on a tennis court, I can't deny those even though I would like to at times (like when he is playing Federer most times )

I completely agree with that. I am not trying to believe that Nadal will not be as successful...I just see he won't be. As you said he always won his matches by thin margins against the top players (even the not-so-top players) but I think what was true yesterday won't be true tomorrow...despite everything to help Nadal again like those sandy courts.

BlueClay wrote:
What victory? With the way Federer has been playing, fat chance! He will have to perform some serious changes to his being and come on to court as an entirely different player than he was last night in order to beat Nadal. But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

What was wrong with Federer's play exactly? He's striking the ball as sweetly as ever, winning matches against good opponents...what do you expect him to do in the first few rounds of a 1000 tournament? His tennis was far better than anything Nadal showed last night.

noleisthebest wrote:

BlueClay wrote:
What victory? With the way Federer has been playing, fat chance! He will have to perform some serious changes to his being and come on to court as an entirely different player than he was last night in order to beat Nadal. But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

What was wrong with Federer's play exactly? He's striking the ball as sweetly as ever, winning matches against good opponents...what do you expect him to do in the first few rounds of a 1000 tournament? His tennis was far better than anything Nadal showed last night.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and all that.

laverfan wrote:

noleisthebest wrote: What was wrong with Federer's play exactly? He's striking the ball as sweetly as ever, winning matches against good opponents...what do you expect him to do in the first few rounds of a 1000 tournament? His tennis was far better than anything Nadal showed last night.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and all that.

That thought crossed my mind when I read one of the posts above

noleisthebest wrote:

BlueClay wrote:
What victory? With the way Federer has been playing, fat chance! He will have to perform some serious changes to his being and come on to court as an entirely different player than he was last night in order to beat Nadal. But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

What was wrong with Federer's play exactly? He's striking the ball as sweetly as ever, winning matches against good opponents...what do you expect him to do in the first few rounds of a 1000 tournament? His tennis was far better than anything Nadal showed last night.

Surely you saw how poor was his timing. He made lost of UEs (48 i believe) and was not even trying to go for lines but just keep the ball on court.

Stan let Federer off the hook. The argument/discussion with Lars Graff/Fergus Murphy (trying to challenge his own serve) reminded me of the fiasco at USO 2009 with Jack Garner.

He managed to win last night, but the calmness of demeanour is missing. As BlueClay says, it is probably related to

BlueClay wrote:But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

Look at the second set stats alone. An error festival, 21 errors from Wawrinka and Federer, each. Federer should have closed it out at 5-4 in the second set.

https://imgur.com/Wa1uLPr

Tenez
Yes I have banned everybody who thinks differently than me. This is why no-one posts here anymore and why I like it.
Again...again no doubt he will come back to his best (that will comfort my view that it was a silent ban all the way)

No doubt about that imo.

and I even think he will improve from his peak form like most 27 should . But regardless others will improve quicker. That is my main point. Murray, Djoko and others have already reached levels Nadal coudl never reach now that the others are catching up physically

I don't think Djokovic and Murray will improve quicker than Nadal, but let's see. They are in the same age range don't forget.

In a way same woudl have happened to Borg had he tried to prolong his career. In fact he did but realised his game was obsolete against the new generation and that woudl involve too much running.

Disagree with you about Borg. He quit because he had enough not because he could not longer win imo. Totally different scenario than the Nadal scenario. Nadal seems more fired up than ever.

noleisthebest wrote:

BlueClay wrote:
What victory? With the way Federer has been playing, fat chance! He will have to perform some serious changes to his being and come on to court as an entirely different player than he was last night in order to beat Nadal. But, you never know, he may just do that, it is a coin flip with Federer these days to see which version is going to come out and play, the brilliant shotmaker or the error-machine.

What was wrong with Federer's play exactly? He's striking the ball as sweetly as ever, winning matches against good opponents...what do you expect him to do in the first few rounds of a 1000 tournament? His tennis was far better than anything Nadal showed last night.

You can't be serious? He was fine in the first set but after that all hell broke loose and he was terrible imo. Lucky that he was facing choker Stan and not somebody mentally stronger. Nadal did not look that great either until the very end of his match but Nadal looked better to me than Federer did yesterday. That is not to say that Federer will not come out against Nadal and be on fire, you never know with Federer these days.

laverfan wrote:Look at the second set stats alone. An error festival, 21 errors from Wawrinka and Federer, each. Federer should have closed it out at 5-4 in the second set.

[url=https://imgur.com/Wa1uLPr

https://imgur.com/Wa1uLPr[/quote[/url]]



QFT.