ATP MASTERS 1000: Monte Carlo

Well, I didn't predict that....  but I did predict Nadal losing most of his points and having a rough season.  Still... my biggest prediction that he gets beat at the French Open is to come!

WELL DONE FERRER.  Finally. Really pleased for the little guy   

Back from the gym after a week and a bit of flu...Stan 6:1 int the first set!!!
Whoaaa, he means business, I'd better start watching!

Good thing about this match, both players fully believe they can win.
Ferrer is looking hilarious on his pink top jumping and looking soooooo keen on the return.
I think he's got his little terrier teeth into this match now, long rallies, here we come!

But what's the difference between this year and last where Nadal won everything on clay? Not much cause last year Ferrer was extremely close to beating Nadal on clay too. Let's not forget that. Last year Ferrer should have won nadal in Barca.

Is Monsieur Vacances able to see any tennis today?

Tenez wrote:But what's the difference between this year and last where Nadal won everything on clay? Not much cause last year Ferrer was extremely close to beating Nadal on clay too. Let's not forget that. Last year Ferrer should have won nadal in Barca.

Suddelny, after all these years, Barcelona looks really interesting for next week

Tie-break!

Both won one yesterday....

...but only one winner today - Stan da Beast!

That was a fair and square beating if ever I've seen one...meaty, hard hitting shot-making tennis, poor Ferru busted his guts out but really had no chance!

Stan is showing he is now a complete player. Not to be underestimated this season for sure. He has a good chance of another Slam too.

Stan is good, but don't forget this is a slow era where good returners and movers can make him sweat and miss.

Well, it's time for the Match of the Tournament... for me at least
Both players had long matches yesterday, both looked hungry, Fed in particular - very determined.

The slow Monte Carlo will definitely work against him today, he'll need to make things short and sweet, and start fast from the word go, which can often be a double edged sword in this particular match-up.
Serve will be crucial and it did not look that efficient even against Tsonga yesterday.

No offence to Stan, but this os the final before the final.
Let The Battle Royal for this year's Monte Carlo Champion commence!

FedererKing wrote:Stan is showing he is now a complete player.  Not to be underestimated this season for sure.  He has a good chance of another Slam too.

Surely he is. IMO he has the best SHBH currently. His SHBHly sweeped loopy balls with amazing length and power is breath taking. His shots has a great power and therefore quite efficient game against baseliners even on clay. He is playing with a great confidence and that is quite amazing.
Nadal can be happy not to face such a well playing Stan.

Stan's BH is good, but only when he is controlling the point, he lacks variety on it, which reflects on his entire game.
Yes, the pace and the boom-boom effect are great, but have their limit.
I said it before, to me, the thing that made all this difference is not the BH, but his FH.
He has really improved it last year and using it as a proper weapon now.
It's good to see him play well after the post AO hangover.

And a quick no-nonsense full on start it is from both players!

A game on the table and some exquisite ball-striking, Federer's in touch with his magical side today, Nole's BH, sharp as a razor!

Nole's entire right forearm strapped, which just confirms what I suspected: an inflamed muscle, hope it hasn't gone all the way down to the wrist tendon.

Great match already!!!!  

I feel a bit for Nole having to play with a sore arm, he really should be resting it.
Problem is every match he plays with it makes it worse and pushes the recovery back by at least two weeks now. Not good.
Playing really well though!

Here's MY bit of prediction...all things equal, Fed to win Wimledon eeeeasily.
His FH is looking scary with this new racquet!

Glorious sunshine in gorgeous Monte Carlo, fired up crowd, sublime tennis....it doesn't get much better than this!  

Great first set of tennis, goes deservedly to Fed. A bit special today.
for Nole.
Knowing him, despite the strapped arm, his brilliant  inner resilience and grit, this one is far from over!

Fed is going to win it. Tomorrow we will see Swiss final and I believe in Fed. Good job   

Just rememberd, last time they played in Monte Carlo it was that: Be Quiet! Moment from Federer to Nole's parents...after which he retired as a matter of honour.
Now, when he really needs to retire, he probably won't...such a shame, this match had everything going for a superb, instant classic!

Serving at 1:5 down, the crowd finally shows some love for Nole. Knowing Nole, despite everything going on right here and right now, he will cherish it

Pinch me. I must be dreaming? Federer in Monte Carlo Masters final and Nadal getting his ass kicked on clay. Two one handed backhand players in a clay final?

Things are looking up.

Gutted for Nole. Not that he lost, but that he played injured and probably made it a lot worse now.
That 3 setter last night did all the damage.

And what to say of the SBH final tomorrow....I expect Fed to obliterate Stan and win Monte Carlo at last, also become number 3 on Monday  

I think Djoko felt fine the 1st set..   Both were playing at a high level though it felt like Federer more in control than Djoko..  Federer simply elevated down 0-30 5-4 and Djoko couldn't match-- Federer produced some brilliant tennis and I think as Djoko tried to up his game- the extra effort inflamed the arm..    Once down, we all know the pains hurt worse for all players and he knew he wasn't going to match a high level Federer.

I hope Djoko is smart with this though--   the clay season is wide open for the 1st time in a long time, and he needs to stay healthy.

For Fed- what can be said- the guy is once again proving who the GOAT is..... and it sure isn't Nadal!

Fed definitely was at his clay sizzling best today,  but so was Nole.
The injured forearm, however well strapped and numbed with pain-killers (actually the strapping can be really annoying esp if you are not used to it) definitely was a distraction to begin the match with.

I played with the same injury and I don't hit the ball nowhere near as hard as they do, and it's quite a bit of discomfort, esp on the BH.

Nole was not going to win this match defending and road-running, that's why he played aggressively from the start, and he played really well.
He could have easily won the first set but let it slip. Blame The Curse of Boris on that!
Had he won it, the injury certainly wouldn't have felt as bad...but that's how it is!

Then...Fed just kept pressing and the original injury discomfort probably turned to a bit of pain esp on defensive BHs as it traveled to his brain and started talking to him, telling him to quit, but he kept playing.
I think that mid 2nd set, he retired mentally because he didn't want to aggravate the problem any further and I am really glad he did.

Had he been 100%, this would have gone to three sets and we would have had a brilliant match.

Nole saw the match through though, no shame losing to GOAT!

I just noticed an interesting quote from Fed's presser with Tsonga--   says that the matchup in in Djokos hands.. With his confidence so high, I am surprised Federer would say this.  IMO- the match is always on Fed's racquet because his best is the best. 

If I play Garcia López, the match will be in my hands. If I play Novak, the match will be in his hands. But playing Novak in Indian Wells and Dubai gave me information that I can use. I can prepare well for a possible match against Novak.

=35716&tx_mmforum_pi1[quote]=5458290]Quote

It's one of those times where I hate to have been right on every point, right down to Nole earning the injury overdoing his practice.
Really sad he couldn't find the way out to retire. This injury can last for ages. Only complete rest with adequate physiotherapy helps.
Mine went away after 2 months, but I still have to wear a strap as prevention, if I don't - I really feel it and I am a rec!!!!
Having said all this, I refused to take any medication, Nole's recovery will be maximal and sped up with all the latest medical help money can buy...but I cannot kid myself ... this one is a worry, a long-term one



" I just rest now. I cannot play tennis for some time. How long, I don't know. It's really not in my hands anymore. I'm going to rest and see when it can heal 100 percent, then I will be back on the court.

Well, the good thing is I don't need to have a surgery. I don't have any rupture or something like that. I'm going to go see doctors tonight and then tomorrow again have another MRI (scan), see if anything changed in this seven days since I had the last one.

I heard so many things in last 10 days. Trust me, it's complicated.

Long match, long rallies, heavy balls, definitely did not help the state of my arm. Since last night it was as it is now.
The pain was there every single day from 10 days ago. At some stages it was very painful. I didn't want to pull out (against Federer) because then people start talking different things about me and my withdraws and so forth. That was the main reason.

At the end of the first set, every shot was painful.

It happened in two days. Obviously I practiced a lot. Maybe I started a bit too strong. The transition from hard court to clay, different balls, have probably taken its toll."

I look forward to watching the final tomorrow and am really curious about Stan's focus for the game. That match is terribly difficult for Stan. Can he keep his aggression and positive belief against Fed? The first three games will tell us. I don't think so.

truffin1 wrote:I just noticed an interesting quote from Fed's presser with Tsonga--   says that the matchup in in Djokos hands.. With his confidence so high, I am surprised Federer would say this.  IMO- the match is always on Fed's racquet because his best is the best. 

If I play Garcia López, the match will be in my hands. If I play Novak, the match will be in his hands. But playing Novak in Indian Wells and Dubai gave me information that I can use. I can prepare well for a possible match against Novak.

=35716&tx_mmforum_pi1 =5458290]Quote

This is a very weird quote from him. I heard him recently say that he always felt the match was in his hand. Maybe he means on clay. Hopefully e will clarify this later.

If you go to V2, I wrote a post about Djoko's game about 3 years ago and described his game there. I use the word wrist a lot cause Djoko uses his wrist a lot in his game. I never thought he could hurt it that way but actually it is not surprising his gets sore at times.

he uses his writs to create sharp angles and force lots of running and it had probably taken its toll. But it seems he is not the only one. Quiet a few players have had wrist injury recently. The use of spin and string is probably the main reason.

Could not watch any of the Fed/Nole match again. Will try to watch tomorrow.

The best BH is going to win tomorrow!

I don't actually think he has a wrist injury at all. The forearm muscle that connects elbow with the wrist carries a lot of nerves into the fingers, esp the thumb and index finger, affecting the grip and causing pain in the wrist (and hand as well).
That's why he said there will be no surgery, nothing torn like with Delpo, tendons are fine there.

I wouldn't have had a clue about this had I not experienced it myself.
I think he overused he forearm muscle trying/practising a new serve, esp the sliced wide ones so useful for clay.
At that stage, i.e. before this tournament he will not have experienced hand and wrist pain, but since he played the matches and that muscle was especially overused last night in the 3 setter against GG Lopez who was making Nole stretch a lot on his BH defensive side with his angled shots, that was it...the wrist, unbandaged just couldn't support that weakend forearm muscle any more.
That's why his entire forearm was strapped, not just the wrist.
The initial horror pain he will have felt in the 2nd set today will go away with total rest pretty soon, max 1-2 weeks even without any extra help. But the muscle and the tendon in the elbow if it's gone into that one will take much longer, even if he plays RG, he won't make it to the final.
Unless a miracle happens.

It is cold and rainy here but.....what a lovely spring we are having

If someone had told me a week ago that I would be sitting here today knowing that the worst possible outcome tomorrow will be Federer losing to Stan, I would say they were being crazy.

I am not home this long weekend so unable to watch any of the matches, barely catching the scores, but enjoying it nevertheless.  Whoever wins tomorrow will:

1. be the Swiss #1
2. be #3 in the world
3. be #1 in the 2014 race

Then there is the part of me that thinks that my long weekend spot is in a parallel universe, and when I get back home on Monday I will find out that Rafa and Nole had just played a 4hr long final.

Its a long time since I am seeing an important final without any tension in my toes. I just want to see a great match, no matter who wins, I'm going to love it.

Funny how seemingly every Federer fan share these sentiments: when Fed plays against Stan, we all get very neutral. It can't be a swiss thing because there are no swiss people here as far as i know. But what is it? The beauty of the backhand they share? The no nonsense on court attitide? the outrageous winners they tend to hit?

It's the last dream of a Federer fan: an all swiss GS final.   

(a davis cup would be nice too, actually, i'm counting on it)

It's a combination for me- they both:

1. Play the game in a nice attacking way with flair
2. Are gracious in defeat
3. Respect the rules and their opponent
4. Are gracious in victory
5. Are a good match up

It's nice to see two players who have one handed backhands contesting a final. It doesn't happen that often these days.

gallery play wrote:Funny how seemingly every Federer fan share these sentiments: when Fed plays against Stan, we all get very neutral. It can't be a swiss thing because there are no swiss people here as far as i know. But what is it? The beauty of the backhand they share? The no nonsense on court attitide? the outrageous winners they tend to hit?

It's the last dream of a Federer fan: an all swiss GS final.   

(a davis cup would be nice too, actually, i'm counting on it)

I am not neutral at all, I'll be behind Fed 100%. The only thing I actually don't like about him is that he is Swiss.
There are plenty of Stans in this world but only one Maestro.   

God, I hate know-nothing commentators and pundits. They are currently waffling about "which player will put the friendship behind them best". None of these have played a competitive game in their lives. if they had, they might understand that it happens naturally. It's possible to be best friends off the court, and rivals on it.

That's how it is with me and my cousin. We are enemies on the court. This psycho-analysis is a load of guff.

Stan has more power on his shots than Fed does. Fed used to have this kind of power but recent times has lost a little. Gonna be tough for Fed to break if Stan can get in the groove.

Hard to believe that this is the same Stan as 2 years ago...

It's interesting to see Stan play against a fast player, he is not bad.

Not a lot of craft and guile from him as usual, just brutal shoot-outs.
Buys him time, though.

Fed breaks. Stan made a few mistakes that game.

FedererKing wrote:Fed breaks.  Stan made a few mistakes that game.  

That's what happens when you rely solely on power against someone as fast as Fed. He looks so 1D.

Interesting that Fed doesn't have a dampener on his racquet.

I wonder if Fed and Stan have different BH grip...

Yeah, that's the crucial factor. Federer has variety and it's affecting Stan's fluency. Whereas Nadal, being the massive 1 dimensional player he is, played right into Stan's hands.

I don't know about "everybody" else, but that first set from Nole-Fed yesterday was a class above this one today...

Nole - Fed games are always good to watch, because although Nole is a baseline player and double backhand, he is also a very agressive player, and the two styles work well together. Nadal v Fed or Nadal v anyone is the opposite... it's dull.

This match could have been better, but it's still been fun!

Zero drama but some very nice BHs. There was one great CC FH exchange, too.

Federer played better yesterday, esp on his FH.