Re: ATP 1000: Rome

by Tenez Sat May 18, 2013 8:42 pm

Poor Fed....he has played all week in the cool late nights and suddenly after very little rest he will be asked to play Nadal in the middle of the day. It's going to be a completely different game.

Fed looks unhappy nowadays. His cut makes him also look tired.

by summerblues Sat May 18, 2013 8:57 pm

Tenez wrote:Poor Fed....he has played all week in the cool late nights and suddenly after very little rest he will be asked to play Nadal in the middle of the day. It's going to be a completely different game.

Look at the bright side - he could not have asked for a better draw. All in all he cannot complain this tournament.

by summerblues Sat May 18, 2013 9:04 pm

gallery play wrote:10% chance.

Tenez wrote:Well the odds on clay are 1/7 based on historical results (14%)...but I think Fed can do it. I'll believe till the very end.

10-20% for me. Unlike you, GP, even though I should know better, I will watch in hope Federer somehow pulls through.

But I am afraid in the end I may have to settle for consoling myself with the thought that a Rafa win will ensure Roger and Rafa are in the opposite halves of the draw at RG (of course, for all I know Andy will indeed pull out which will ruin this too).

by Tenez Sat May 18, 2013 9:10 pm

Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

by summerblues Sat May 18, 2013 9:13 pm

BTW, today was possibly the most aggressive I have ever seen Rafa play. It worked well today and looked quite good against Berdych but I wonder whether it would have worked so well against Nole. Nole would have defended far better and I suspect when push came to shove, Rafa's percentages might not have been good enough to win. But it was probably a good strategy against Berdych.

by summerblues Sat May 18, 2013 9:18 pm

Tenez wrote:Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

It was not plain sailing for Fed, and they did play ok, but it is always hard to tell objectively - just based on a couple of matches - how much of it was due to their great play and how much of it was due to maybe Fed being a bit off. Especially today, Fed looked a bit shaky at times and one wonders whether a better player would have exploited it more successfully than Benoit did.

by Tenez Sat May 18, 2013 9:35 pm

Agreed on Fed looking shaky today.

Strange as he played pretty well all week.

by summerblues Sat May 18, 2013 10:06 pm

Tenez wrote:Agreed on Fed looking shaky today.

Strange as he played pretty well all week.

Yes. However, these things can also be just somewhat random fluctuations in form - players in general do not play equally well day after day. Some days they play better than others, even if there may be no real reason for it. So let's just hope that is all there is to it and that tomorrow he will be at his best. He will need that (and, unfortunately, likely more than that Sad

) to do well.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 12:04 am

And finally....the final!

It's Fedal, Part 30.

Rome, 3.00 PM

We have all seen it before.

It's good to keep trying and and it's good to be given another chance.

Another chance to have a go at taming the beast. Don't waste it.

Do it like it's your last time Roger!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anxqSb3XrGE

by BlueClay Sun May 19, 2013 1:06 am

Tenez wrote:Poor Fed....he has played all week in the cool late nights and suddenly after very little rest he will be asked to play Nadal in the middle of the day. It's going to be a completely different game.

Fed looks unhappy nowadays. His cut makes him also look tired.

I read somewhere that Federer and Nadal were playing exactly the times they requested to the tournament organizers. Federer prefers to play at night and Nadal prefers to play in the afternoon. Obviously top players such as Federer and Nadal both being legends are given certain privileges after all of these years and deservedly so.

by BlueClay Sun May 19, 2013 1:16 am

Tenez wrote:Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

Yes because we all know Nadal has losing records against big hitters such as Del Potro, Tsonga and Isner. ATP 1000: Rome - Page 7 2786941968

Seriously, where is the basis for your comment that Nadal is scared of big hitters? Because of his lone Rosol loss?

I am not a fan of Nadal's style of tennis and I don't believe a word of his injuries over the years but some of you on here go way too far in your Nadal hate and stray too far from reality with your Nadal obvervations.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 1:20 am

BlueClay wrote:
Tenez wrote:Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

Yes because we all know Nadal has losing records against big hitters such as Del Potro, Tsonga and Isner.

Seriously, where is the basis for your comment that Nadal is scared of big hitters? Because of his lone Rosol loss?

I am not a fan of Nadal's style of tennis and I don't believe a word of his injuries over the years but some of you on here go way too far in your Nadal hate and stray too far from reality with your Nadal obvervations.

Maybe because of his lone loss to Soderling?

by luvsports! Sun May 19, 2013 1:47 am

The way to beat rafa? Hit him off the court or match him fitness wise. Both very hard to do (more the latter imo).
Only novak has him mentally.

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sun May 19, 2013 7:33 am

BlueClay wrote:
Tenez wrote:Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

Yes because we all know Nadal has losing records against big hitters such as Del Potro, Tsonga and Isner.

Seriously, where is the basis for your comment that Nadal is scared of big hitters? Because of his lone Rosol loss?

I am not a fan of Nadal's style of tennis and I don't believe a word of his injuries over the years but some of you on here go way too far in your Nadal hate and stray too far from reality with your Nadal obvervations.

I too don't think Nadal is afraid of big hitters. It may look like he is perhaps because he stands 4m behind the baseline to receive the serve or keep scrambling all over the court against those shots they hit. But that essentially his game plan and he completely know what he is doing. Like all plans there will be days when they didn't work and some big hitter may blow him off the court ( Soderling RG 09, Tsonga AO, Rosol W12 etc), but the same plan has won him 11 Slams. If there is any game-plan that can win 11 slams, I'm 100% certain being given that results it can produce, almost all the players will happily take it even if some of the fans think it looks cowardice.

Nadal is not coward nor he is afraid of anyone. He is highly disciplined and focused his game and game-plan he very well know what he is doing. I'm not a fan of Nadal nor this game-plan but this is so effective that I don't see why Nadal wouldn't keep it.

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 9:42 am

BlueClay wrote:
Tenez wrote:Actually Paire and JJ played very well and it was not plain sailing for Fed. We know how scared Nadal is of big hitters and he must have been happy it was Berdych instead of JJ.

Yes because we all know Nadal has losing records against big hitters such as Del Potro, Tsonga and Isner.

Seriously, where is the basis for your comment that Nadal is scared of big hitters? Because of his lone Rosol loss?

I am not a fan of Nadal's style of tennis and I don't believe a word of his injuries over the years but some of you on here go way too far in your Nadal hate and stray too far from reality with your Nadal obvervations.

Well...you ignore conveniently Soderling, Rosol, and yes the others you mention including Gulbis who are certainly not giving Nadal an easy ride as you suggest. And yes Nadal is certainly scared of them unless you believe that at 2 points of losing a match everything is under control for Nadal. When facing those guys Nadal knows the match is in their racquet and it's obvious he is scared. He knows the match will be down to a handful of key points played under pressure.

As LS says, it's not the granollers and Volandri that Nadal fears. It's those with power and/or stamina.

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them. Power hitters are no easy opponent for anyone, and it has to be naturally as their game is huge to counter. Nadal has winning records against all big-tall-powerful players. An occasional loss doesn't change anything.

Nadal's matches are almost always down to a handful of key points under pressure, but he hasn't won 11 slams and 23 TMS without having to dealt with those. He game-plan is effective enough against anyone including Djokovic. Power-players can trouble him, but in all these years he has shown enough times that he sure can deal with them. At least enough not to be afraid of them.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 12:55 pm

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them. Power hitters are no easy opponent for anyone, and it has to be naturally as their game is huge to counter. Nadal has winning records against all big-tall-powerful players. An occasional loss doesn't change anything.

Nadal's matches are almost always down to a handful of key points under pressure, but he hasn't won 11 slams and 23 TMS without having to dealt with those. He game-plan is effective enough against anyone including Djokovic. Power-players can trouble him, but in all these years he has shown enough times that he sure can deal with them. At least enough not to be afraid of them.

yes, rotla, but it would be interesting to see how often he has had to play them in early rounds compared to Federer or Djokovic.
He always seems to have cakewalk draws featuring either SBH-ers or Spaniards.
Every time he had a power-hitter early on he struggled (Rosol, Isner in RG).

The way he plays the game reflects his character very well. And I would not call his tennis brave.

Brave players go on the court and don't get coached during a match, intimidate umpires for trying to enforce the rules, they don't go and bump into lower ranked player in the change-over either.

Nadal's 11 slams are not a testimony to his tennis playing talent, at least as far as I am concerned. I know many will disagree, but that does not bother me in the least.

by luvsports! Sun May 19, 2013 1:19 pm

Nitb can I ask what you thought of federer's comment that nole's fh at mp down in us open 11, was a "lucky" shot?

Deffo not his best moment!

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 1:23 pm

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them.

Nadal is afraid of everything. Not having his water bottles lined up is enough to panick him.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 1:29 pm

luvsports! wrote:Nitb can I ask what you thought of federer's comment that nole's fh at mp down in us open 11, was a "lucky" shot?

Deffo not his best moment!

He,he...you don't ask easy questions, do you Winking

?

I thought he was quite rattled after that loss and who wouldn't be in his place with two match points on your serve?

The rest of that interview was very interesting, things he said to elaborate "the lucky shot" point were quite an eye-opener into his mindset, in fact. He saw that shot a product of Novak's tennis upbringing and in his eyes it was not "the proper" way: "slapping" the ball, like there's no tomorrow....
I could really see the Swiss in him when he said it. Swiss are a very prim and proper nation, their whole lives there are a continuous build up of little life achievements, there is very very little room for adventure. I am saying this as a caricature or a cliche just to illustrate the point, so don't pin me down on it.

It amazes me that somebody who plays tennis so audaciously like Federer cannot understand that same , albeit a wilder kind type of audacity from Djokovic.

Still, just like every biting interview he gave, however bitter it was to swallow initially, I have always liked and respected Federer's honesty. He has been right 9.5 out of 10.

And if you ask me, of course, that show was not lucky. Novak, as well as the other players hit it quite often. Just that the occasion was quite special. I really loved it, esp as it was the poetical answer to that bad, bad loss Nole suffered from Fed in RG SF.

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sun May 19, 2013 1:35 pm

Tenez wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them.

Nadal is afraid of everything. Not having his water bottles lined up is enough to panick him.

That's a good answer from a seasoned horse on tennis forums. Loved it, now I'm with you that he is indeed afraid of everything.

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 1:54 pm

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
Tenez wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them.

Nadal is afraid of everything. Not having his water bottles lined up is enough to panick him.

That's a good answer from a seasoned horse on tennis forums. Loved it, now I'm with you that he is indeed afraid of everything.

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sun May 19, 2013 3:00 pm

noleisthebest wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them. Power hitters are no easy opponent for anyone, and it has to be naturally as their game is huge to counter. Nadal has winning records against all big-tall-powerful players. An occasional loss doesn't change anything.

Nadal's matches are almost always down to a handful of key points under pressure, but he hasn't won 11 slams and 23 TMS without having to dealt with those. He game-plan is effective enough against anyone including Djokovic. Power-players can trouble him, but in all these years he has shown enough times that he sure can deal with them. At least enough not to be afraid of them.

yes, rotla, but it would be interesting to see how often he has had to play them in early rounds compared to Federer or Djokovic.
He always seems to have cakewalk draws featuring either SBH-ers or Spaniards.
Every time he had a power-hitter early on he struggled (Rosol, Isner in RG).

The way he plays the game reflects his character very well. And I would not call his tennis brave.

Brave players go on the court and don't get coached during a match, intimidate umpires for trying to enforce the rules, they don't go and bump into lower ranked player in the change-over either.

Nadal's 11 slams are not a testimony to his tennis playing talent, at least as far as I am concerned. I know many will disagree, but that does not bother me in the least.

Totally agree and well replied nitb.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:15 pm

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
Totally agree and well replied nitb.

for a moment I thought that was Tenez that wrote this and I nearly had a heart attack Laugh

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:15 pm

May the massacre start!

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:17 pm

noleisthebest wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them. Power hitters are no easy opponent for anyone, and it has to be naturally as their game is huge to counter. Nadal has winning records against all big-tall-powerful players. An occasional loss doesn't change anything.

Nadal's matches are almost always down to a handful of key points under pressure, but he hasn't won 11 slams and 23 TMS without having to dealt with those. He game-plan is effective enough against anyone including Djokovic. Power-players can trouble him, but in all these years he has shown enough times that he sure can deal with them. At least enough not to be afraid of them.

yes, rotla, but it would be interesting to see how often he has had to play them in early rounds compared to Federer or Djokovic.
He always seems to have cakewalk draws featuring either SBH-ers or Spaniards.
Every time he had a power-hitter early on he struggled (Rosol, Isner in RG).

The way he plays the game reflects his character very well. And I would not call his tennis brave.

Brave players go on the court and don't get coached during a match, intimidate umpires for trying to enforce the rules, they don't go and bump into lower ranked player in the change-over either.

Nadal's 11 slams are not a testimony to his tennis playing talent, at least as far as I am concerned. I know many will disagree, but that does not bother me in the least.

Totally agree and well replied nitb!

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:18 pm

Tenez wrote:May the massacre start!

you're in a good mood! Winking

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:20 pm

I have found a link with a language I can't understand a word of, yipeeeee Somersault

!!!!!!

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:26 pm

noleisthebest wrote:
Tenez wrote:May the massacre start!

you're in a good mood!

The thing is we know that even if Fed wins the first set 6/2 he is still so far away from winning. So no point to get excited in those early stages.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:28 pm

Tenez wrote:
noleisthebest wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Not having an easy ride doesn't mean he is afraid of them. Power hitters are no easy opponent for anyone, and it has to be naturally as their game is huge to counter. Nadal has winning records against all big-tall-powerful players. An occasional loss doesn't change anything.

Nadal's matches are almost always down to a handful of key points under pressure, but he hasn't won 11 slams and 23 TMS without having to dealt with those. He game-plan is effective enough against anyone including Djokovic. Power-players can trouble him, but in all these years he has shown enough times that he sure can deal with them. At least enough not to be afraid of them.

yes, rotla, but it would be interesting to see how often he has had to play them in early rounds compared to Federer or Djokovic.
He always seems to have cakewalk draws featuring either SBH-ers or Spaniards.
Every time he had a power-hitter early on he struggled (Rosol, Isner in RG).

The way he plays the game reflects his character very well. And I would not call his tennis brave.

Brave players go on the court and don't get coached during a match, intimidate umpires for trying to enforce the rules, they don't go and bump into lower ranked player in the change-over either.

Nadal's 11 slams are not a testimony to his tennis playing talent, at least as far as I am concerned. I know many will disagree, but that does not bother me in the least.

Totally agree and well replied nitb!

I must be dreaming!

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:31 pm

Fed no choice again than to go for 3mm over the net and no more than 2mm away from the lines.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:31 pm

Fed should move on the baseline to take his BH, not inside it, way too risky at the moment.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:34 pm

I have seen very few of their matches (was my way of protesting against draw-rigging at the time).
Why has Nadal not received time warning by now, this is ridiculous!

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:35 pm

noleisthebest wrote:I have found a link with a language I can't understand a word of, yipeeeee !!!!!!

but the idiot is talking NON-STOP even through the points, so I'll have to find a different one Angry

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:37 pm

I have the feeling they hate each other since the doping scandals emerged.

They just pretend.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:38 pm

Nadal strutting around full of himself....all the antics, towel, line cleaning, time-wasting...

Fed looks rattled and playing well below his average.Come on Rog, you CAN do it!!!!! diva

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:39 pm

Tenez wrote:I have the feeling they hate each other since the doping scandals emerged.

They just pretend.

Of course they do. Nole said it once in one Serbian talk-show....a couple of years ago.

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:40 pm

Federer is spraying all over the place. Worse than v Nishi.

Clearly as I mentioned he was not quite prepared to playing daylight v Nadal

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:41 pm

All...this match has all the marks of Hamburg 2007! Winking

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:43 pm

Tenez wrote:Federer is spraying all over the place. Worse than v Nishi.

Clearly as I mentioned he was not quite prepared to playing daylight v Nadal

That's a good point. He looks like fish out of water atm. Hope his serve starts working in the 2nd. He is making Nadal looking better than he is. This looks very much like Olympic final against Murray, complete physical overpowering with little room for tennis.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 3:49 pm

Tenez wrote:All...this match has all the marks of Hamburg 2007!

I was beginning to be hopeful at deuce in this first game and then Fed's shot selection let him down....should've put away that voley not send it back to Nadal to pass him.... Wah

Wake up Roger, faaaaaaaaaaast!!!!!

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 3:55 pm

Federer cannot do anything with this racquet. He is playing old school, with old school material...against diet and technology science.

It's embarassing...even if he is the one producing the best shots. 1W for 3 UEs is not good enough.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:00 pm

Fed starting to look a bit better now that he has taken his foot off the gas.

by Tenez Sun May 19, 2013 4:01 pm

Djoko woudl still beat that beast!

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:03 pm

Tenez wrote:Federer cannot do anything with this racquet. He is playing old school, with old school material...against diet and technology science.

It's embarassing...even if he is the one producing the best shots. 1W for 3 UEs is not good enough.

I don't think it's embarassing, more traumatic to watch, well, at least for me.

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:07 pm

Tenez wrote:Djoko woudl still beat that beast!

one of the few pleasures left in this life... Winking

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:12 pm

I just don't understand why Federer looks so slow today, as if something took all the wind out of his sails...

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:14 pm

Goodall and Robbie having a Nadal worshipping session, have they no shame!!!?

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:17 pm

And finally he breaks!!!!!!

Come on Rog, all is not over diva

by noleisthebest Sun May 19, 2013 4:22 pm

What a volley! Magic

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