Re: ATP Masters 1000: Montreal

by N2D2L Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:22 am

Just looking at the semis, I'm happy there's 2 Canadians and all that but...

I really think top level tennis has gone down a notch or 2 compared to the last few years. No longer do we have 4 world class players, as Federer is injured and on the decline. Nadal plays not very often, and is edgy.
Atleast we have 2 world class players who play regularly in Djokovic and Murray though.

by summerblues Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:34 am

Hard to tell what to make of Rafa's form. He was quite shaky at the beginning but once he settled in, he was just playing as well as he needed to.

JS, you will have to stay up late again tomorrow.

by N2D2L Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:46 am

summerblues wrote:

JS, you will have to stay up late again tomorrow.

Indeed I will.

by noleisthebest Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:14 am

NITB is flying off to a well deserved holiday today.

I hope to get to my hotel and have the WI-FI set up before the match, but If I don't, have fun watching it and cheer for Nole the Legend!!!

I know nobody here likes him except Paul, but admit it, you'll miss him when he is gone Rose

by noleisthebest Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:21 am

OK, just in case nobody does it....

IDEMO NOLE MAJSTOREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

diva

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5q7QWqHPqzM

by paulcz Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:48 am

noleisthebest wrote:NITB is flying off to a well deserved holiday today.

I hope to get to my hotel and have the WI-FI set up before the match, but If I don't, have fun watching it and cheer for Nole the Legend!!!

I know nobody here likes him except Paul, but admit it, you'll miss him when he is gone

Nitb, have a brilliantly fantastic holiday and be sure, that Nole will always be no. 1 for fans who enjoy the tennis. His devotion and his approach to tennis, his titanium spirit and heart that makes a player who has never been before Nole appeared on the tour. I saw just two games with Gasquet last night, that was absolutely enough to go to sleep without any worries. Nole is fully ready for hc and his focus on the game is again back. Magic

by luvsports! Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:27 am

Have a fan bloody tastic holiday nitb! You deserve it for all your wonderful support to djoko! Big Grin

Top up the tan and treat yourself to an apple tango or two Winking

by noleisthebest Sat Aug 10, 2013 1:21 pm

Thanks Paul & LS, off to packing diva

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sat Aug 10, 2013 1:55 pm

Have a great time nitb.

Well, at montreal, the 2nd semis is the real final. Neither of Pospisil nor Raonic will be able to beat Nadal or Djokovic. Its going to be interesting.

Whom do I support? Nothing much really to pick. I just hope for a 4+ hour of slugfest.

by raiders_of_the_lost_ark Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:09 pm

On a second thought I actually would be supporting Djokovic. so I'm in the same camp as LS and nitb today.

by N2D2L Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:46 pm

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:On a second thought I actually would be supporting Djokovic. so I'm in the same camp as LS and nitb today.

http://sportpulse.net/content/srdjan-djokovic-has-another-go-roger-federer-9908

by truffin1 Sat Aug 10, 2013 4:48 pm

Julia Santamaria wrote:
raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:On a second thought I actually would be supporting Djokovic. so I'm in the same camp as LS and nitb today.
http://sportpulse.net/content/srdjan-djokovic-has-another-go-roger-federer-9908

His fathers a buffoon.. I've seen him in action at a tennis match before- sat right behind his box as he and some Djoko cousins heckled Stepanek during and between points.. He's should look in the mirror before criticizing the behavior of others.

At least Djokovic has risen above the example his father sets..

by Tenez Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:34 pm

Rao wins that semi but really gutless tennis from him. I liked the short rallies and pace of that match with some brilliant shots from both, in particular Vasek, but on important points they both turned into Granollers!

I have not see any tennis in the last 4 weeks so I have no clue about how well Nadal and Djoko play.....but I regardless I am pretty sure Djoko is going to win that semi.

Won;t be watching though.

by N2D2L Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:27 pm

Have to agree, only one winner tonight and that's Djokovic.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 12:39 am

wi-fi working! Somersault

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 12:43 am

noleisthebest wrote: wi-fi working!

I've already told you the result Whistle

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:18 am

Ouch.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:23 am

Come on Nole diva

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:25 am

Pretty horrible from Nole so far. Rafa started so-so but seems to be finding his range now.

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:31 am

that was a good point from Nole. Need more of those.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:36 am

The match is being played on Nadal's terms at the moment, mainly because Nole's serve is completely gone atm.

I expect it to come back soon, there is no reason why it shouldn't.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:37 am

Nadal looks huge and super strong, that FH is running on stg more than barley water.....

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:46 am

Ouch ouch. What is this? Only one of them came ready to play. Rafa is pretty good - far better than last night - but Nole is just atrocious, and it is not only his serving. His returns are - some exceptions notwithstanding - nowhere near deep enough, his groundies are inconsistent.

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:46 am

5-2 nadal :/

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:48 am

I think this is the only neutral ground where novak will get more support than nadal would, interesting!

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:50 am

summerblues wrote:Ouch ouch. What is this? Only one of them came ready to play. Rafa is pretty good - far better than last night - but Nole is just atrocious, and it is not only his serving. His returns are - some exceptions notwithstanding - nowhere near deep enough, his groundies are inconsistent.

One usually follows the other. He should get the serve going soon.
Nadal is serving some very big serves down the T, haven't noticed those before.

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:50 am

ok, so he can play after all.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:02 am

Pretty meek tennis from Nole.
Really needs to start attacking from the word go now in this 2nd set. Hope the serve doesn't let him down.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:31 am

Tired from all the travelling I even managed to drop off, only to wake up and see Nole wake up, too and play some meaty tennis at last!
Time to start rocking&rolling, come on Nole!!! tennisball

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:36 am

Serve it out now!

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:42 am

Ok, more difficult than it should have been but Nole scrapes through the set.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:48 am

I think that surely, I must have seen it all NOW! Laugh

The umpire first said the wrong score, then misannounced Nadal's challenges, in the end completely lost the plot and actually did not know what the score was, how ridiculous and annoying it must have been both players, especially Nole who was serving for the match.
Not to mention the scoreboard stuffing up in the process...
This takes Nadal's luck element to a true Twilight Zone level.
Impressed with Nole who still managed to serve the set out! Applause

UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE!!!

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:11 am

Wow!
I am really glad I stayed up to watch this match.
Not only is Nadal playing well and aggressively, but the claws are out in some force, he just went for Novak at the net, volleyed as hard as he could at him AND HIT HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE !!!

Nole absolutely shocked, if he could, he'd go and jump across the net and punch Nadal, that's how livid he looked!
Let's hope he turns that fuey into some demolishing tennis now!

Idemo NOLEEEEEE!!! diva

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:21 am

Massive hold for nole.

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:41 am

2 points away for rafa Sad

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:44 am

Superb win for Nadal, very impressive.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:45 am

Oh my lord

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:46 am

Oh well, I guess it is what it is. Pretty disastrous for Nole. Losing to Rafa on a HC is not where he wants to be. This now gives Rafa a fighting chance to finish the year at #1. I never thought Rafa would win today, TBH, but here he is in yet another HC Masters final. Well done to him.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:46 am

Feeeeeck me.
That was bloody tense.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:47 am

summerblues wrote:Oh well, I guess it is what it is. Pretty disastrous for Nole. Losing to Rafa on a HC is not where he wants to be. This now gives Rafa a fighting chance to finish the year at #1. I never thought Rafa would win today, TBH, but here he is in yet another HC Masters final. Well done to him.

He lost in the final set TB, tbh I don't think there was much between them at all. Hardly disastrous.

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:48 am

luvsports! wrote:Superb win for Nadal, very impressive.

Agree, Rafa looked really good. The first set Nole was not at the races but in the third set Nole was playing quite well, yet he was still easily the second best.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:48 am

Is that the best match Nadal has ever played on HC?
I think it is, cant' remember him playing better than that on this surface. It was so so fast, I was just watching some FO 2013 SF highlights in breaks between the sets, and it was sooo much slower than this.

by summerblues Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:51 am

Julia Santamaria wrote:He lost in the final set TB, tbh I don't think there was much between them at all. Hardly disastrous.

Well, I think just the fact it was so close was pretty bad news for Nole. The fact hat he lost, and that he did look worse than Rafa throughout, makes it worse still. Obviously not necessarily "disastrous" in a long-term sense; for all we know he will come back stronger and sweep the HC season, but still, pretty bad result for him.

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:52 am

It's 4.45 in the morning, cicadas are playing their beautiful song, I can hear some people talking in the distance ( have they just got up going for a walk or actually coming back from a long night one?).
I can even smell freshly baked croissants from somewhere.
I think it's time I said goodnight sleepy

Disappointing loss for Nole. Slow start and poor serving in the first set cost him the match.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:57 am

noleisthebest wrote:
Slow start and poor serving in the first set cost him the match.

Well Nadal did win set number 3 as well, so it can't just be that surely.

by Tenez Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:39 am

summerblues wrote:Oh well, I guess it is what it is. Pretty disastrous for Nole. Losing to Rafa on a HC is not where he wants to be. This now gives Rafa a fighting chance to finish the year at #1. I never thought Rafa would win today, TBH, but here he is in yet another HC Masters final. Well done to him.

Neither did I...but glad reading you all I know it's essentially down to Novak playing poorly as much as Nadal playing very well. The summary of the match on ATP site only praises both.

So there is stil life in Nadal then?

by noleisthebest Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:29 am

I'm afraid there's plenty of life left in Nadal.
His doctors should be given Nobel prize for their achievements in knee medicine Winking

Last night's Nadal looked a lot better than in that RG SF.
Had Nole running left right and centre.
Served very well but just came across inhumanely strong, that's all.
Nole's hardest shots appeared lightweight last night as a result. He looked almost as "aged" and antiquated as Federer.

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:26 am

Once again Novak is losing these big, close matches against his biggest rivals. This didn't happen in '11.

by luvsports! Sun Aug 11, 2013 8:50 pm

Rafa a set away. Formality.

by N2D2L Sun Aug 11, 2013 8:54 pm

Good stuff from Rafa here.

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