ATP 500/250: Dubai, Acapulco, Buenos Aires

congrats to federer!! 9000 aces and a 7th dubia title..phenomenal stuff!!

Veejay wrote:congrats to federer!! 9000 aces and a 7th dubia title..phenomenal stuff!!

Yes, esp as two of those aces came when he was 15:40 down.

Tenez wrote:

summerblues wrote:

Tenez wrote:Is Federer better nowadays at handling with those kind of games than when he was at his so-called peak?

You should note that this question is quite different from:

Is Federer better nowadays than he was at his peak?

Not that different as I think he can still play the game he was playing in 2007 but now he has better timing and consistency, better BH, more variety.

However he is more fragile physically.

This is basically always the problem for an aging great-   Jordan was a much better shooter, defense, tactician in his mid 30's than when he dominated the game, but he lost some physicality.  Ali- far better technically in mid 70's than late 60's, but lost his legs and speed.    They gain from experience and build on skills- but there is just something about the young body that gives an edge that can't be reclaimed.

Then you also get the breakdown of the body- Jordans knees, Ali's reflexes and knee, Fed's back.

Tenez wrote:Flemming looks like such an idiot at times.

I felt a bit sorry for Nole when Mercer asked him about those missed BPs.
He did well to get out of it and even make the crowd laugh.

You can't blame Mercer, but a tough question to answer straight after the loss.

truffin1 wrote:

Tenez wrote:

summerblues wrote:

Tenez wrote:Is Federer better nowadays at handling with those kind of games than when he was at his so-called peak?

You should note that this question is quite different from:

Is Federer better nowadays than he was at his peak?

Not that different as I think he can still play the game he was playing in 2007 but now he has better timing and consistency, better BH, more variety.

However he is more fragile physically.

This is basically always the problem for an aging great-   Jordan was a much better shooter, defense, tactician in his mid 30's than when he dominated the game, but he lost some physicality.  Ali- far better technically in mid 70's than late 60's, but lost his legs and speed.    They gain from experience and build on skills- but there is just something about the young body that gives an edge that can't be reclaimed.

Then you also get the breakdown of the body- Jordans knees, Ali's reflexes and knee, Fed's back.

Yes, true skill only gets better with more play.
I don't know anyone who plays a lot and gets worse unless they have a physical problem.

Now for the biggest match of the day, Nadal Berlocq

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Now for the biggest match of the day, Nadal Berlocq

How about a little preview?
I take it Berlocq is the favourite?

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Now for the biggest match of the day, Nadal Berlocq

How about a little preview?
I take it Berlocq is the favourite?

Nadal played well yesterday, and Berlocq doesn't have a huge game, so I expect Nadal to win.

truffin1 wrote:
This is basically always the problem for an aging great-   Jordan was a much better shooter, defense, tactician in his mid 30's than when he dominated the game, but he lost some physicality.  Ali- far better technically in mid 70's than late 60's, but lost his legs and speed.    They gain from experience and build on skills- but there is just something about the young body that gives an edge that can't be reclaimed.

Then you also get the breakdown of the body- Jordans knees, Ali's reflexes and knee, Fed's back.

But I don;t see the loss of step in a good day, or less power. And I woudl challenge anyone who woudl say they can notice it with a naked eye. Even if he were to lose half a step, it woudl be compensated by a much better anticipation. Remember those who said at 30 the reflexes go down...but look at federer, he has never volleyed as well, same with all the other volleyers and more so with the double players (Nestor / Paes with aging record).

However you are right about lining the 6/7 matches at Grand slam. There it hurts those older guys but only because the game has gone ridiculously physical. In the pre-open era the average slam winner was 30 or so if I remember correctly. Yet the average age of slams winners is getting older again.

So the main point is past champions of the open era usually had their best results before 26 cause after that age, the new generation with more talents and technology were pushing the guys at the top. But now that the game has become more physical and that technology has not evolved much in the last 10 years , we can see that 26 is certainly not the peak for players. I believe even the top 100 players have a 28.5 age average...and I woudl not be surprised if that average were to increase!

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Now for the biggest match of the day, Nadal Berlocq

How about a little preview?
I take it Berlocq is the favourite?

Nadal played well yesterday, and Berlocq doesn't have a huge game, so I expect Nadal to win.

Yes...you can relax...it's going to be easy peasy for Nadal.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Flemming looks like such an idiot at times.

I felt a bit sorry for Nole when Mercer asked him about those missed BPs.
He did well to get out of it and even make the crowd laugh.

You can't blame Mercer, but a tough question to answer straight after the loss.

Yes it was a good answer from Djoko.

However those many BPs wasted is so relevant to that discussion we had just 2 days ago. Even Djoko loses matches he should have won....but on this occasion, it's not v a better retriever...it's versus the best attacker.....which we have not seen since the days of Pete or Goran v Chang or even mcEnroe v Wilander.

Interesting federer post Coric's match interview.

Whoever
you face in the final from here must give you
confidence?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, I
was already happy to be in the semis, to be quite
honest. I didn't want to lose. But the idea was to
try to get some matches here in Dubai. And then
looking ahead at the season, clearly Dubai is a
very important tournament for me, but I am
coming from a over-two-week vacation, so I'm
very positively surprised how well I'm actually
playing right away.
Reminds me a bit of Shanghai last year
when I took two weeks off and I came back in
Shanghai and won. So maybe I should go on
vacation a bit more often. I don't know (smiling).

It does make a lot of sense that he's played well in Dubai esp after the rest.
The speed of court (though it's not anything specially fast) probably counterbalanced any rustiness.

Nothing beats a pair of fresh legs.
I'd be interested to know how his back feels after Dubai, but of course we'll never find out.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Now for the biggest match of the day, Nadal Berlocq

How about a little preview?
I take it Berlocq is the favourite?

Nadal played well yesterday, and Berlocq doesn't have a huge game, so I expect Nadal to win.

Berlocq is like a sturdy, robust bear. He won't go away that easily, but in this sandpit, Nadal will juice him out after a set.
I just saw the TB between Almagro and Monaco.

Almagro played min 4m behind the baseline on his own serve...all his shots landing in the middle of the court, same with Monaco who was ON the baseline.
Incredible...
Thankfully Almagro won and now they are playing the third set.

Tenez wrote:However those many BPs wasted is so relevant to that discussion we had just 2 days ago. Even Djoko loses matches he should have won....but on this occasion, it's not v a better retriever...it's versus the best attacker.....which we have not seen since the days of Pete or Goran v Chang or even mcEnroe v Wilander.

Nole always struggles against Fed on faster courts, even though Fed's FH wasn't that great today.
It was a strange match.
I've said before Nole's emotions are his Achiles heel. They explain many of his losses.
He is good at keeping a lid  on them for good stretches of the match, but can't do it 100% which is enough against Nadal wo drains him physically and Fed who is able to take time away from him (on faster courts).
He has great stamina, but is not that strong physically. So when the pressure piles on, he can  sometimes struggle.

But Djoko was known to win many matches he should have lost...had that reputation for a long while. ...including beating Feed twice in a row at the USO from being 2 MPs down.

Djoko was not quite there today but losing his serve from 40/0 up has similarities,....reminded me his first USO final.

37 winners, all 7 bp's saved.. sounds like he was great.

Anyone watching Nadal-Berlocq?

Tenez wrote:But Djoko was known to win many matches he should have lost...had that reputation for a long while. ...including beating Feed twice in a row at the USO from being 2 MPs down.

Djoko was not quite there today but losing his serve from 40/0 up has similarities,....reminded me his first USO final.

He is probably struggling with everyone else catching up: Fed now has a bigger frame, Murray bigger muscles...Nishi, Stan fitter etc, etc.

I cannot believe thiis...from 5:1 down to 7:9.

I can't decide whether Berlocq choked or tanked.

luvsports! wrote:37 winners, all 7 bp's saved.. sounds like he was great.

Nole played well enough not to allow Fed to look great. He was sending consistent, heavy, deep balls, high percentage most of the time.
It was more a defiant refusal to lose than a game of tennis.
Even when not at his best Nole is too good to be trounced.

I know it's in the realm of fantasy, but I'd love to see a Sharapova-Nadal match.
Who'd annoy whom more in that one?

noleisthebest wrote:I cannot believe thiis...from 5:1 down to 7:9.

I can't decide whether Berlocq choked or tanked.

Are you saying Berlocq was 5/1 up or down....I only saw parts of the second set and Berlocq completely threw it away. He had easy points for 3/0 but lost it 5/2.

He was 5:1 up!

He was apparently 6:1 up.  I am glad I did not see that.

Judging by how tight their matches have been in the past, tomorrow's match has all the makings of a classic:

Nadal and Monaco have played 5 matches on clay so far.  Rafa won all of them.  In 12 sets they have played, the score distribution was:

6:0 - 3x
6:1 - 6x
6:2 - 2x
6:3 - 1x

Nadal served in 43 games, and was broken once.
Monaco served in 42 games, and was broken 30 times.

Tenez wrote:Are you saying Berlocq was 5/1 up or down

I do not know if you have seen this site, but I find myself visiting it when I want to see how the scores had gone:

http://www.scoreboard.com/game/nadal-r-berlocq-c-2015/vZmjVm47/#point-by-point;1

So Berlocq is now the biggest chocker ever.

His 2nd set was a disgrace too.

summerblues wrote:

Tenez wrote:Are you saying Berlocq was 5/1 up or down

I do not know if you have seen this site, but I find myself visiting it when I want to see how the scores had gone:

http://www.scoreboard.com/game/nadal-r-berlocq-c-2015/vZmjVm47/#point-by-point;1

Thanks . Did not know it.

noleisthebest wrote:Ferrer-Nishikori (very intriguing, on paper Nishi should win this, but Ferru needs this one more)

I hope Nishi wins. I was quite surprised when I was checking their H2H before their AO match how good Nishi's H2H vs Ferrer was. Nishi is now leading 7:3 and has won the last five. Hopefully he can make it six in a row tonight.

Yes but the first 4 of those 5 encounters between Nishi and Ferrer were pretty close.
....so not a gimme.

It's an interesting match-up.
If Ferrer holds his serve, Nishi might choke, he also comes and goes in waves during matches.

Ferrer beats Nishi in straight sets!

Joke of the Day:

Nadal -Monaco

noleisthebest wrote:Joke of the Day:

Nadal -Monaco

Not very funny!

News: Monaco is going to massage Nadal and tape his ankles before the match.

Should be a great match !

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Should be a great match !

In which way?

Tenez wrote:News: Monaco is going to massage Nadal and tape his ankles before the match.

And if Monaco is a good boy, Nadal will let him untape them after the match, and maybe even keep it!

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Should be a great match !

In which way?

Actually the match may not be great, I was being over enthusiastic.

Also another thing, I really love the court and how it looks in the day light. I'm not sure what it is about the court, but I just really want to play on it.

It's the deep orange colour of clay.

Camera in Buenos Aires's just shown two men in the crowd wearing RF hats...

starting now...very excited

Me too!
Let's hope for some nail-biting drama...

If Nadal plays as badly, he will not win a single clay tournament this year...any tournament....end of.

the level difference between Dubai and this is enormous. The court and conds certainly don't help.

Nadal asking Monaco's permission before sitting down.

Tenez wrote:the level difference between Dubai and this is enormous. The court and conds certainly don't help.

Yes! Hard to believe we are watching a 14 slam winner here...

The court turned from sandpit into mudpit.

It's one of the first time I hear Nadal having a off micro conversation (here with Monaco) and he doesn't sound a very bright guy.

Tenez wrote:It's one of the first time I hear Nadal having a off micro conversation (here with Monaco) and he doesn't sound a very bright guy.

Why so ?