ATP Masters 1000: Indian Wells

It's amazing....Nadal's main tactic is to send moonballs. As high as possible so it's hard to time.

Rafa fighting like a beaver here!

What a crazy TB!

Well done Raonic!!!!

5 SPs needed......though.....as bad as Delbonis nearly.....

Milos deserved that, great effort.

Can he go all the way now?
This TB will give Raonic much needed confidence, and Nadal can't trouble him any more than he already has, so ...

Nadal way past it, still fighting hard and making a match of it.

I just can't believe how much muscle goes into Nadal's every shot.
I'd be dead after 15 minutes.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal way past it, still fighting hard and making a match of it.

clown!

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal way past it, still fighting hard and making a match of it.

Very thoughtful of him.

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal way past it, still fighting hard and making a match of it.

Very thoughtful of him.

It's 1 set all, 1-1 in the 3rd set.

Nadal now trying to drain Raonic's legs, but he himself looks spent.
This is where Nole has a huge advantage as he doesn't panic like Raonic may.

noleisthebest wrote:Nadal now trying to drain Raonic's legs, but he himself looks a bit deflated.
This is where Nole has a huge advantage as he doesn't panic like Raonic may.

2-1 Nadal now in the third set, on serve.

The sun is not onto Rao's eyes anymore...

Tenez wrote:The sun is not onto Rao's eyes anymore...

Pretty sure it's not the eclipse in California now

Good net clearance there from Nadal, adjusting just in case the net becomes 20 metres high.

Why on earth are the lights on??

Does that mean he is moonballing kim k?

Nadal's winners 20.....Rao's UEs 52.......

Says it all about Nadal's matches

Rafa winning his games much more comfortably once again.

Rao is tired....and Nadal reads Rao's serve better now.

Has anyone seen Carlos the referee in IW? I doubt Larry has invited him.

Nadal doing the screen whipper at the back of teh court as usual.

Milos breaks!

Allez Rao....keep your nerves.....it's certainly not over with Nadal!

Raonic's serve just too good.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Raonic's serve just too good.

Nah....Fed will bring it back tomorrow.

Nadal was a shadow of his former self there, his forehand was non-existent.

It was very clear that with the temps dropping, the ball was more controllable for Rao and that allowed him to cut the UEs and the confidence in his BH started to grow.....crucial v Nadal.

Nadal won 10 more points than Raonic, still not good enough

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal won 10 more points than Raonic, still not good enough

Reminds me the time when Fed was constantly winning more points than Rafa yet ended up losing the match.

Nadal was playing as well as ever....certainly won matches playing much worse in the past ....but nowadays, it's just tougher.

So Murray back in 3rd.

Rao is certainly more solid than the other youngsters for now....better than Dimi no doubt. Wins like that will give him great confidence....and he will be hard to stop with confidence.

Tenez wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Nadal won 10 more points than Raonic, still not good enough

Reminds me the time when Fed was constantly winning more points than Rafa yet ended up losing the match.

I can't recall that ever happening.

I don't agree at all that Rafa was playing as well as ever. 
Deffo not as well as he was when he won it in 2013.

luvsports! wrote:I don't agree at all that Rafa was playing as well as ever. 
Deffo not as well as he was when he won it in 2013.

A typical case of because he won then he was better then.

He struggled on the way versus Gulbis, just sneaking through thanks to Gulbis's losing his mind again and then he shoudl have crushed by Delpo had Delpo not been running out of steam after having beaten Djoko and Murray in 2 gruelling 3 setters....

But yeah......the difference is that had Nadal won on of his 3 MPs he had today....we woudl have carried on talking about Nadal playing great.....There was nothing in those first 2 sets that made Nadal looks any worse than in IW 13.

Yes but Tenez I disagree that every player improve the further into their career they get. Some peak earlier than others, that is certainly conceivable.

If he keeps losing Tenez, could it not be a combination of both decline and improving opposition?

luvsports! wrote:Yes but Tenez I disagree that every player improve the further into their career they get. Some peak earlier than others, that is certainly conceivable.

Not every..but many. otherwise you slide down the ranking...like hewitt, Melzer and many more. Nadal played some fantastic shots today.....So fitness wise he is as good as ever as he got to some amazing balls at times. Of course he is not going to produce best perf each time....but frankly there was nothing today that would allow us to say he has lost a step or power or reflexes.

Look at Berdych, he is also playing as well as ever (or nearly)....certainly better than 2 or 3 years ago....did not help him v Fed today.

People underestimate how work and progress the youngsters do...Rao just proved it again today. Delpo almost proved it in 2013 on the same court.

luvsports! wrote:If he keeps losing Tenez, could it not be a combination of both decline and improving opposition?

You don't decline at 28. Not in  tennis no way as there is so much room for improvement in all other department without losing fitness before maybe 31 ...unless there is an injury. There is too much craft and knowledge into the game. Sure someone like Nadal uses less of it and more pure power.....but still till he is 30 we won't see him decline....however his game will have no mistery for the opposition by then.

And remember I used to believe players were peaking at 26/27....so I know the arguments against.

Are you still continuing with this theory that every player gets better into their thirties ??

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Are you still continuing with this theory that every player gets better into their thirties ??

It's not a theroy....it's a fact. Proven at the pre-open era and now again that most parameters have settled over the last 10 years. The average player in teh top 10 is 29yo!! Time you start accepting facts.

However your Rafa relies too much on fitness and less craft to be amongst those who will do well late.

It's not a fact.
Even if the average players got better into their thirties (which I don't accept), it may not be the case every player does.
I don't see it as age, but number of years on tour, and as Nadal started pro so early his 'tennis' age is more like 30/31.

The only reason the top 10 is not older than 29 is that the youngsters benefit greatly from the experience of the older when learning the game. We can see guys like Kokki or Coric will reach levels than Nadal will only dream off...like Rao will become a much better player than Ancic, like Nadal became a better player than Chang and hewitt.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:I don't see it as age, but number of years on tour, and as Nadal started pro so early his 'tennis' age is more like 30/31.

That is certainly "your theory".....but it has no ground as I proved it to you on another thread.

Well when Rafa is on he can hit that fhdl all day long. He couldn't do that today in the second half of the match. That could be down to confidence.

Just watch Nadal at his prime winning the US Open on youtube, and then see him now struggling against Berlocq, losing against Fognini and Raonic... if you can't see Nadal is declining then there's not much more to say. Denial of the obvious.

luvsports! wrote:Well when Rafa is on he can hit that fhdl all day long. He couldn't do that today in the second half of the match. That could be down to confidence.

he could do that in the first part of the macth....but then something really changed in teh 3rd. Rao started to finally keep his own FH in court and attacking Nadal's FH so of course the ball was much harder to control for rafa. Rafa earnt something like 50 UEs from Rao in the first 2 sets...but only 9 UEs in the 3rd set.....Don't you think that played a role too? .

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Just watch Nadal at his prime winning the US Open on youtube, and then see him now struggling against Berlocq, losing against Fognini and Raonic... if you can't see Nadal is declining then there's not much more to say. Denial of the obvious.

Told you go and watch his matches on clay in SA in 2013.....as bad as this year.....and then suddenly he played much better in IW this week like in 2013......so that's a very poor argument.