Another installment of a blockbuster tennis rivalry will take place on Sunday in London. Rafael Nadal is going up against Roger Federer for a place in the title match of the year’s final tournament.
It has been an unusual season for two of the all-time greats, but it will near its end with a familiar sight: Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer.
Nadal missed the entire first month of 2013 but returned with a bang and mostly dominated the tour. His ascension to the No. 1 ranking already includes 10 titles, among them the French Open and U.S. Open. Nadal is 74-6 for the year following round-robin victories in London over David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Tomas Berdych.
Federer has plummeted to No. 7 in the world after starting the season in the second spot behind Novak Djokovic. The 32-year-old Swiss is 45-16 with a lone title coming at a 250-point event on the grass courts of Halle. Demons from shocking Grand Slam losses to Sergiy Stakhovsky (Wimbledon) and Tommy Robredo (U.S. Open) are being erased with a much-improved fall. Federer finished runner-up to Juan Martin Del Potro in Basel, reached the Paris semifinals, and beat Del Potro and Richard Gasquet this week after losing his opener to Djokovic.
Nadal and Federer will be facing each other for the 32nd time in their careers and for the fourth time this season on Sunday. The Spaniard upped his head-to-head series lead to 21-10 with wins in Indian Wells (6-4, 6-2) Rome (6-1, 6-3) and Cincinnati (5-7, 6-4, 6-3). Seven of their 13 hard-court encounters have gone Nadal’s way. Federer last beat his rival at the 2012 Indian Wells tournament.
All four indoor meetings have gone to Federer (all four at the year-end championships; two in Shanghai and two in London). At the same time, though, Nadal had advanced out of YEC group play with an undefeated record only once before (2010). While he may not be as dominant as he was this summer, Nadal’s late-season form is arguably the best it has ever been.
On this relatively slow-playing indoor surface, Nadal should be able to contest long points and finish them with heavy topspin high to the Federer backhand, thus opening the court for inside-out forehands.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
“Nadal had advanced out of YEC group play with an undefeated record only once before (2011)”
Rafa was annihilated by Federer in his second RR match in 2011 WTF
nor did he even make it out of RR play in 20111
yea so how was he undefeated in group play then? Am I misinterpreting something? :S
no.
i misinterpreted a 0 as a 1
haha oh yes , all good ! he was not beaten in 2010 RR play. true
I’m reposting my comment in this thread because it seems more appropriate here rather than where I originally posted it.
“If someone were to write a script about Rafa’s comeback year, a fictional final act could not have been better than the real final act. Here it is, Rafa in the year end championship tournament, playing his long-time rival, Roger, and should he beat him, he’ll likely play his current and probable rest of his career rival, Novak. Rafa has a good chance to beat Roger for the first time on an indoor hardcourt, and then probably Novak, who will be the favorite, just as Roger has historically been on this surface. Should Rafa manage this double victory feat, I think we will see Rafa overcome with emotion as we’ve never seen him.”
I’m going to be optimistic for once and say Rafa in 2. With the slower court, Rafa will be able to employ some of the traditional methods he uses to beat Roger and when Roger is unable to control the point, watch for the ever present lefty top spin forehand to Roger’s annoyed and weary backhand.
I’m not so sure Novak should be the favourite if he meets Rafa in the final Rafa is 2:1 against Novak at the WTF plus Rafa has played the best tennis this week. Novak has been taken to 3 sets in all his RR matches.
Rafa never gets any credit until people see the print of the nail.
Roger won’t be able to come back from behind to snag sets from Rafa, that’s for sure.He’l have to be on the front foot throughout the match if he is to win.
Everyone here in Nevada must be loading up on Fed..Nadal went from 3.5 fav to 2.5 favorite..Is there an upset brewing here?!
nope
Well, I do feel that Fed will most probably take a set, but the court conditions and Fed’s level of play both are against Fed.
Rafa is the favorite to win this one.
I am so not sure on this one. I just cant rule out Fed here
vamosrafa ..your pred?
Novak is the only one who has lost a set to Gasquet, yet everyone is portraying him as the unbeatable one here. ALL his matches went to 3 sets!!!!!!!!!!
OK, Delpo lost a set to Gasquet as well, but Novak has not been invincible by any means.
@nadline, I did not watch the match but was very surprised at the scoreline. Gasquet picked a set off Novak? Given that Wawa has given Novak more trouble than Gasquet has in the past, I would not be surprised to see Wawa pull off an upset!
Me too was surprised he lost a set to Gasquet..he actually did himself a disservice..he is playing back to back..should have conserved energy
Gasquet played really badly at the beginning of the first set, then about 5:2 h in the 3rd for he picked up his game and started serving well and dominating the rallies to take it to a tiebreak which he narrowly lost. Gasquet kept on dominating in the 2nd set and won it 6:4 but when he lost his serve in the 3rd to go down 1:2 he seemed to lose his fire and made a lot of UEs so Djoker just finished him off then.
If Stan keeps a steady head, he has a chance.
I don’t think anyone here is saying that Djoker is invincible. I thought we were talking about Rafa/Fed. That is the match that concerns me at the moment.
I did see the match with Djoker and Gasquet. I thought that Gasquet played very well, considering that there was nothing on the line except his pride. I didn’t think Djoker was giving it his all. I would think he might want to go out there and do what he could to close it out quickly. No way did I expect the match to be so competitive for two sets and go to three.
However, I am not going to judge Djoker’s game by his performance against Gasquet. He has at times seemed to lose his focus and concentration, but I expect him to play better now that it’s crunch time. I think Stan could get a set, but I don’t think he will win.
what you think about Rafa and Fed?
Sanju,
If you are asking me, I picked Rafa to win in 3 sets. I don’t think Rafa has played his best either. But I do expect him to be ready for this one. He knows that this court suits Fed’s game well and that he’s never beaten him. But as I said, Rafa loves challenges. I think he really wants this title.
I was surprised to see Delpo lose that way to Fed, being up a break in sets 2 and 3. I am thinking that maybe Delpo was feeling it after a long season and that it wasn’t about Fed being that good.
I think the match should be competitive, unless Rafa really comes out aggressive and just takes it away from Fed. We will see. It’s crunch time in London.
I think it’s a disservice to Gasquet to suggest that Djoker wasn’t giving it his all. As far as I could see Djoker just got out-played towards the end of the first set and in the 2nd set. Djoker could have easily lost and I can’t believe how anyone can suggest that he wasn’t giving it his all when his aim is to get the maximum 1500 points should he win the whole thing.
I think sometimes there is a need to disagree just for the sake of it. I certainly am not doing any disservice to Gasquet, given that I said he played very well. There may have been 200 points on the line, but he was already out of contention and could have just gone through the motions. But he didn’t do that and good for him!
Djoker was never going to lose this match. The third set wasn’t even that competitive.
Actually, Gasquet could have won 200 points, so there was something in it for him. The fact that Gasquet put up a good show against Djoker doesn’t affect how Djoker would fare against anyone else, but let’s give Gasquet where it is due.
……..let’s give Gasquet credit where it is due
—On this relatively slow-playing indoor surface, Nadal should be able to contest long points—
The court surfaces in London and Basel are IDENTICAL. So, the surface in London is made suitable for Fed!
¤¤¤ Tennis – Javier Sanchez says courts in London same as Paris and Basel
09 Nov 2013
Tennis – While there has been some speculation about the speed of the courts at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Javier Sanchez, the former player and owner of GreensSet which lays down the courts in LONDON’s O2 Arena, says the courts are the SAME as those being used in recent weeks in BASEL and Paris.
Speaking to TENNIS.com, Sanchez says, “The courts are exactly same: The same speed, the same material, same guy who builds them. It could the perception of the players [that the speed is different] because this arena is bigger than Paris, so your feeling is different. The only DIFFERENCE between London and PARIS is that Paris is built on wood underneath, because normally it’s an ice hockey arena so they have to fill the hole to make it level with the concrete, and here [LONDON] it is just on concrete. In BASEL it’s just on concrete.” ¤¤¤
http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Tennis—Javier-Sanchez-says-courts-in-London-same-as-Paris-and-Basel-articolo14604.html
Thanks for discussing this and the link. It’s a totally unproven statement, that the court is slower and higher bouncing than in previous years. Tignor in his semi prognosis just perpetuated this. And predictably there are the first conspiracy theories out there, that London was slowed down intentionally for Rafa, in order to provide him with a fairy tale ending of his great comeback year. The players themselves are contradicting each other re: court speed.
Haha when did theATP start doing things to favour Rafa..Is all that priviledge reserved for just exclusively 1 person
The court may be slower but I simply do not agree on higher bounce..yest Feds slices were getting wicked low bounces
and of course if Rafa beats both Fed and Novak on his way to his first WTF trophy, they will have been part of the “conspiracy”…………Fed by fighting so hard to beat Delpo, he (Fed) is Rafa’s bunny after all, Novak by tiring himself out by dropping a set in each of his RR matches……………
#RafaCannotWin
#JankoSigh
suitable for Fed would be an ice rink.
this surface is definitely NOT suitable for Fed
would that be a blue-dyed ice rink?
sanju, i pick Rafa in 3. i made a longer comment on another thread 🙂
sanju, i am not too sure of the bounce on the court but when I saw ferrer vs berdych live in the O2,the bounce was surely not low! When sonebody says that the court is high bouncing, he is talking about the effect of topspin,not slices… Yes,even watching it live,even mediocre slices from berdych ferrer were staying low so it is a balanced court perhaps…conducive to both topspin and underspin
Fed is playing in top form right now…I like the Master in 3.
No, scootd, he’s playing better, since the tour has moved indoors. But top form??? Though nobody has played near his top form during this week, and an upset is always possible.
The only sure way to determine the speed of the courts is whether Rafa wins or not. If he wins the court is slow if he doesn’t it’s fast. Lol
Yes, quite simple. And according to that rule, Ricky must be right: the court IS slow, lol!
So, how come, that Paris was deemed suitable for Ice-Fed, but not London, which is supposed to have the same court? Not saying, you are wrong, but how Do you explain this?
This reply was meant for Ricky.
Rafa in 3
Losing which set?
Nervous..Still thinking whether to watch it or not..lol..but the wait and tension to slowly come and peek at the scores afte 2 hrs is equally worse..lol
Keep calm, stay focused, remain confident and be strong like a lion, Rafa!
Roger starting with 2 aces
ace. Serve and volley winner. Forehand winner. Nadal backhand error.
Javier Sanchez says the courts in both tournaments were built exactly the same way. Some players say O2 plays faster, other players say the opposite. So the man who should know and the subjective views of the pro players agree.
We rarely get such clear facts that this court is not slower, or has been purposely slowed down. But that won’t stop any number of people from claiming the opposite if Rafa wins today or today and tomorrow.
#AsterisksAreFree
#EmperorsAndClothes
If we so nervous wonder what Rafas family must be going through..
Cahill picks Fed (:-
Both playing well
Fed servig 1st advantage to Fed unless Rafa gets a break. Business end it will matter a lot
Rafa shanked 2 returns bad..cmon Rafa
Rafa not returning well, nor smart.
needs to take cuts at second serves. Needs to chip/block back those first serves. He is doing the opposite.
Fed had a good look at BP there
Rafa’s ROS abysmal so far………
Fed is serving very well; not easy for Rafa to do much with the return.
And the same old story of failing to convert BP’s continue. No way Fed is winning this one 🙁
much needed easy hold for Rafa
break from out of nowhere
Very unfortunately, I do not have access to streaming or TV right now 🙁 please keep up the updates and describe what both players are doing well etc …. RAFA BREAKS 😀
You better go tomorrow.
That break sums up the week for Federer, one randomly poor game costs him big time. Nadal, solid as ever. Vamos
yep. That WAS random.
This season and esp. this fall has made me believe Fed’s notion that ‘the match is always on his racquet’ . Either he destroys or self destruct. 🙁
God how could Rafa not serve out the set tat was pathetic
He played so well to break Roger and then surrendered his serve meekly
serve-fest to break-fest
3 consecutive breaks..what is happening..both seem too tight
Random break followed by random break back, followed by a typically relentless Rafa break. His mental game is impeccable. A pleasure to watch.
both are playing decent from baseline. Just bad serving.
No Ricky..Rafa is serving well..Even Fed..both are making 70% plusssssss..how is that bad?
I said in those 3 games. In general both serving well.
Phew what a way to serve out the set..astounding serving..3 huge serves
Rafa keep up the intensity please
Set Rafa
Rafa takes the 1st set 7:5
Federer’s spirit seems to be broken. He started on fire but Rafa has extinguished some of it.
Vamos Rafa!
I have just arrived! and rafa broke and took the first set! How was the first set any way?
up and down. I thought it was mostly pretty good. Some think it was bad.
thanks 🙂
It wasssssssssssss good I think..out of 12 games..atleast 9 were good
thank you sanju 🙂 now I think you get why I am so calm 😀
did rafa’s ROS improve or fed just started serving poorly?
Both
Poor serving from Fed!
sick ace by Rafa
1s set Rafa, with more winners and less UEs than Fed….
And that perrenial attack on the BH by the FH continues.
Probably Fed should have developed a 2-hander just for Rafa!
I am sensing a quick set from Rafa to finish it off now.
No I doubt anything quick ..Rafa can never ever give his fans a smooth ride..it has to be roller coaster
That’s Muzza Trademark! No one does it better than him.
Rafa shanking a lot of FH in 2nd set..focuss Rafa
Fed will put up a fight
Fed choosing his serving spots very well in 2nd
fed is playing better now! he is easy with backhands! but I’m still calm 🙂
RT @PseudoFed: “Courtside tweetings: Looking at uncle Toni for advice”
Clutch holds from Fed
Why can’t Rafa be more consistent with his serve? One game he serves unreturnable bullets and the next it’s all over the place and he gets broken…..
fed has won 6/.16 on 2nd serves….
clay-court statistic
sick return
Rafa breaks.
rafa breakkssss 😀 Can somebody now break down this game and tell me how rafa managed to get the break?
Ricky’s pred will be spot on I guess…
Rafa’s perfection BPs today, 3/3………
bah bah
Well vamosrafa..Fed hit most shots into the net in that game he got broken
Rafa getting good depth on the backhand
^^^improving, it was letting him down early on…….
Shank you very much, Fed!
Rafa please 1 more serve..no drama please..
bah bah again 😀
Rafa wins – 75 63
The courts must be slow.
Vamos
^^indeed.
Rafa’s in another final………..
Once again, note how deferential Rafa is toward Roger. Rafa’s in the finals and he barely demonstrated any emotion…very subdued.
Rafa was perfect at the net, 4/4, he was also perfect in BPs, 4/4
RT @SI_BTBaseline: “Nadal: 2 Aces, 0 DF, 4/4 on BPs, 15 W, 14 UFE, 4/4 at net. Federer: 6 aces, 1 DF, 1/4 on BPs, 17 W, 32 UFE, 5/11 at net. #FinalShowdown”
RT @TennisReporters: “Nadal now 22-10 v Federer, has beaten him at nearly every local that matters, on every surface, now including indoor. Rivalry fading”
This is why Rafa will not celebrate wins over Fed, he knows he is slowly but surely dis-robing the Emperor…………..
Roger just couldn’t keep up the intensity he started the match with. Rafa has always been too much for Roger even when Roger was at his best and Rafa was still learning.
Vamosssssssssss
Rafa played the big points really well and Fed horribly. That was the difference
Feds body language after he lost serve in 2nd said it all..he was resigned..He just did not believe he cn take it to Rafa..He did not even make Rafa serve for the match where Rafa would have been edgy
RT @fwildetennis: “Roger Federer’s last seven matches versus Nadal, Djokovic and Murray: L L L L L L L. #ATP”
#StrongEra
#TheEmperorHasNoClothes
All this year ..all 7 losses this year
”Strong era” LOLZ!
Where were these same guys in 2012? Not strong then. It’s more a case of Fed’s real decline this fall rather than the ascension of other 3. They have been strong for 5-6 years now.
abhirf,
Don’t let it get to you. I am not going to trash Fed after this loss. It’s not necessary. Fed is declining and it’s obvious to anyone who watched his matches. This is what happens when you are 32 years old.
I am not going to go there with the strong era versus weak era. I am sure it’s not easy for you to watch Fed losing like this.
You must know that it’s been a great ride with Fed, but it’s Rafa’s time now. He earned a well deserved first win against Fed on indoor hard court.
now I am starting to feel nervous about Djoker 😀
what time is tomorrow’s match?
I aam not..I am never nervous for Rafa Djoko except on clay..On HC I am never nervous as Rafa is always the underdog there and most ppl dont expect him to win against Djoko on HC..so wenever he beats Djoko on HC its a big positive bonus
I’m not feeling nervous – the best man will win. Rafa has more than surpassed all expectations this year. He has been the best player at the O2 so far this year, only dropping a set. Nole has won all his matches in 3 sets.
http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en/schedule
Oh they made it evening session for final..usually it never used to be at 8 PM..it used to be earlier..maybe as final was played on Sunday
head to head even more skewed now
thanks 🙂
Roger looked very slow in the last 2-3 games.
Vamos tennis virtuoso Rafa!!!!
Vamoooossss!!!!
Rafa still being kind to Roger saying he may have been possibly tired
#Nadal on making the final in London: “Perfect way to finish the season. Probably he was unlucky to have a difficult match vs Del Potro”
It may be prefraable that Stan beats Novak today so that Rafa has it easier tomm..but true icing on cake will be if Rafa beats Djoko for title match. It will be perfect end to outstanding season
Rafa’s racket has spoken – Fedfans can never say that Rafa hasn’t won Fed indoors hard courts. It’s a sweet victory!
RT @russellcfuller: “Nadal the winner 75 63. Fed fhand & volleys below par, but Nadal proving that, despite his record indoors, he has a glint in his eye this wk”
#Believe
RT @SteveTignor: “Tactically excellent match from Rafa, went forehand to forehand a lot, used his serve well. Will play 2nd WTF final tomorrow. #atp”
This proves that Rafa is no one trick pony. He changed his tactics today and targetted Fed’s FH more than his BH. He noticed that Fed’s FH has become a liability too, so started by breaking that down, with the option of going after the BH in reserve should that tactic become necessary…….
#GeniusAtWork
Feds tactics to be patient were never going to work long term. Not sure why BG was so excited that they worked for 1 game.
Ricky,
I didn’t get that from BG either.
Oh God Rafa..please be careful
risha; @risha_ 10m All that tripping talk at the start of the match: Rafa nearly tripped on the camera wires just now as he walks to the SkyPad interview-
Darren Cahill @darren_cahill 4m A pleasure to sit courtside & watch Rafa this year. Thought the court would work against him but like many things in 2013, he overcomes it.
Fed is truly delusional:
RT @bbctennis: “#Federer: 2014 needs titles to be “exciting”. Not interested in rankings if not number 1. “5 titles or something like that” is the aim.”
Where is Fed safe now? Clay, grass, HC (indoor or indoor? He should retire while his dignity is still intact.
RT @juanjosetennis: “With today’s win, Rafael Nadal can claim to have beaten everyone else in the Big 4 in this, his worst event.”
thanks for all the wteets RITB and sanju ! masterclass from rafa 😀 He is FRESH at this year’s WTF and he is unbeaten so far
vamosrafa,
Now that I have watched my recording of the match, I can say that Rafa was hitting his backhand much better. I think this is the best match he has played yet in this tournament. The forehand is doing so much damage. Rafa served very intelligently, taking some speed off to get a higher percentage of first serves in. He was getting about 90% of first serves in early in the match and later on it will still about 85% first serves in, according to the ESPN commentators. I think that was one of the things he wanted to do here – not give Fed too many looks at a second serve. I also noticed throughout the tournament that Rafa is hitting his second serves with more speed, in the 90’s more of the time.
Rafa is so good at taking Fed out of his game and comfort zone. Good stuff from Rafa!
Even though I fully expected this outcome, this loss really hurts a lot. I would have been okay if Fed had played good at least. Losing like this is really disgusting.
Can he avenge this by beating Rafa once more on clay? (even though time is on Rafa’s side).
Anyways, congrats Rafa for reaching the final!
And finally, the Horrendous Tennis season is over!!
In my view, @abhirf, Fed needs to play more, not less, to cut out those errors. The best practice is in real matches, not just on the practice courts. There is no other way……….
He will definitely play more next season!
abhirf,
This must be very hard for you. I have always considered you one of the fair and decent Fed fans. You hang in there. It’s not easy to see your guy get older. This is tough because it’s Rafa first win against Fed on indoor hard court. But I think this has been Rafa’s time. He is healthy and fresh and playing so well in this tournament.
hahah abhirf, I can understand how horrendous the season must have been for you…. I hope to see you posting in 2014 ! we need you 🙂 you are a good fed fan ..
Ah not surprising the dig from Fed..Fed when are you gonna stop your backhanded compliments, you are looking like a fool, not an expert. Grow up finlly please 🙂
Federer: ‘Unbelievable [Nadal] gets away w/ playing so far back indoors these days but that’s conditions. Credit 2 him 4 making that work’
^^Forgive him, @Sanju, he is just a cranky old man now. If he is not careful he will find himself out of the Top 10 pretty soon.
Great win for Rafa! I am so proud of him…he composed himself, did not look puzzled when Fed broke back….that is what I would like to see against Nole… Rafa also was serving very well…Fed OTOH was terrible and did not put any resistance in…he made so many UEs…I agree with Rafa: Fed must have been tired…still big success for Maestro to reach this far…
Nice and easy win for Rafa! Beautiful indeed! Now, let’s just enjoy the evening, Rafa and get ready for the big finale tmrw!
Vamos Rafa!
Atleast Roger looks into Rafas eye when shaking hands. He barely looked at Djoko both in Paris and London
WHAT THE HELL :O did federer really said that? LOL.pity.
And I just dont agree with Fed that Rafa was far behind baseline in the match. He stepped in beautifully to hit so many winners where required esp on big points and did he not make more or equal winners as Fed. What is Fed even talking? Rafa was changing defense into offense so well on big points
yeah. Rafa actually wasn’t far behind the baseline today.
This ones better
Fed: Nadal ‘better’ today: ‘Margins more on his side, was more consistent, solid, he plays way he always plays. I couldn’t come up w/ shots’
Fed could steal a set from Djoko indoors but not from Rafa..what do we infer from this?
exactly, rafa has been sticking to the baseline so often this year on hard courts and he was stepping up often to punish Fed..
so fed still thinks the only way he is losing to rafa/nole/murray and even others is due to slow conditions LOL…. cincinnati please? fed’s fav outdoor hard court…what happened there Fed?
according to shanghai’s tournament director,the courts this year were prepared to be faster than ever at his event….the rating was ‘fast’ this year and ‘medium fast’ last year …a guy called monfils beat you there too right?
the only reason**
Federer: ‘Unbelievable [Nadal] gets away w/ playing so far back indoors these days but that’s conditions. Credit 2 him 4 making that work’
You couldn’t make it up.
Epic
I saw the interview where Roger said that and just cringed. It’s in stark contrast to Rafa, who in his on court interview offered that Roger was tired from the match with Delpo and therefore unlucky. It’s a pattern we see every single time Rafa beats Roger. Rafa is almost apologetic for the win and offers excuses for Roger. Regardless of whether or not Novak is sincere, Novak at least knows the script for offering gracious congratulations. Roger, apparently, does not.
I am fed up with Fed’s (and his worshippers’) eternal whining about the court conditions.
Next he will complain that the O2 is not indoor enough and will demand that the tournament be played in an anti-nuke bunker!
Nice comments
Martina Navratilova @Martina 9m Well done Rafa, Roger sure had his chances… Needs to mix it up more and most of all, knife that BH approach more.
Matt Cronin @TennisReporters 7m @Martina Fed doesnt think slice works well v Rafa Martina, which is why he hit over backhand more: “He does a good job picking up the slice” Martina Navratilova @Martina 6m @TennisReporters but not when he is coming in- you have to keep the ball low and get in quick- not possible while coming over the ball
Smug till the end 🙂 Mr. Fed.. just face it, you’re just not the world’s best any more.
Congrats to Nadal for reaching his 2nd final of this phoney trophy (IMHO).
Shireling………..happy that Rafa made the finals here, but I really think they make way too much of a big deal of this poxy WTF!!! Could it be bcos the Mighty Fed has won it 6 times?!!!
I don’t. WTF is VERY hard to win. Maybe the hardest tournament to win.
RT @linzsports: “Did I just read that Federer’s making it a *goal* to win 5 titles next year? WTH? Maybe he should start with 2.”
Nadal looking to the final: “We’ll see what’s going on tomorrow. I was able to play better and better a little bit every day during …”the tournament. We’ll see if I have the chance to play better than what I did. If that’s happens, I hope to have my chance.”
Unlike Fed, Rafa is not complaining about having to play on consecutive days…….
Fed really is a spoilt brat…………..
Rafa on skypad analysing the match
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1717i8
Jpacnw@November 10, 2013 at 5:50 pm
I add Rafa’s on-court interview :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEiBDCRxBmw#t=37
augusta08: Thanks for adding the interview. I watched the match on ESPN2 on television, but I also had it on my laptop on Skysports so that I could see all of the post match interviews, including the analysis by Rafa. It never ceases to amaze me that Rafa can just continue to be so deferential toward Roger, not just in speech but in mannerisms such as what we saw at the end of the match where Rafa barely celebrated, even though this was a huge win for him, putting him into the finals in a tournament where he traditionally has played less than his best tennis. It just makes me admire him all the more.
Thank you Augusta. They didn’t show the court-side interview on my tv channel.
jpacnw, I think that Rafa has been brought up – and brought himself up as well – to consistently find the most gracious ways of behaving especially when it matters. So he would be this gracious esp when speaking about the most celebrated male athlete of their sport even if he had no personal admiration or respect for him. I am not saying he does not have admiration or respect for Roger, quite the opposite, he has lots of both. He is not naive about Fed’s psychological defenses that come out in those back-handed compliments etc, it doesn’t take much to see through it and through various people’s ways of trying to save face. But putting aside those aspects, it has been clear all these years that Rafa has tremendous respect and admiration for Roger. And regardless, he would have been courteous in such an interview even if privately he didn’t feel that way towards him. I don’t recall Rafa ever not being respectful and using his intelligence to find ways to be courteous no matter the circumstances. Even that time when Berdych’s behaviour was getting to him (in Madrid years ago), the way he handled it and spoke about it was in essence courteous.
As the years go on I keep seeing how having grown up to have his feet firmly planted in realistic views of himself and all that surrounds him in the world of tennis has only helped him be a better player as he has worked at improving what he can partially thanks to that, and has been able to take in stride, no matter how painful, all the setbacks, defeats, injuries, scheduling challenges, you name it, without resorting to distorted views of things or inflated views of himself. This attitude alone, were it missing in his character, might have been sufficient for him not being able to navigate the months of recovery from the partially torn tendon last year, those months when his team and he kept trying different things most of which did not work and all the while it was uncertain what would work, whether anything would work sufficiently so he could practice well and then play again on the pro circuit.
I hope that someone writes a short book around the time Rafa retires to examine all that he has done with his potential and his deep desire to succeed, from his childhood on, through all the struggles. There is well more than one or two or three deep lessons in those 20 years of dedication.
NID break back
Rafa wll end year with atleast 690 points more than Novak after todays win..Go Rafa make it 1690 by winning he final(+500 for your win and +500 for Novak not winning).
That will be a good buffer to start next year as you can add to that total in AO
huge difference. 690 very close. 1690 not.
Rafa is great human being who is brought up to respect his opponents and people in general…I admire Rafa for being what he is: deferential and honest…Rafa always says how his rivalry with Fed made him a better player…he was pushed to improve in order to challenge and beat mighty Federer at Wimby and USO…that can not be forgotten…Rafa admires Fed and you will never hear him badmouth him…and I truly believe that is the right way to be…arrogance and disrespect have never been on Rafa’s agenda…
Vamos Rafa!
Bryans win 10-8
Bryans will meet Spaniards D.Marrero & F.Verdasco in the final.
So if Rafa wins this “phony” tournament, are some here going to change their tune? Will it then become more important?
For myself, I don’t care what Fed says about the match because he was clearly outplayed in the end and outsmarted once again by Rafa. He’s just going to look petty and foolish if he starts talking nonsense about Rafa winning by playing way behind the baseline. Anyone who saw the match will know that was simply not the case.
I am just happy for Rafa and refuse to let anything Fed says spoil my party! 🙂
Exactly! I join your party! 🙂
I watched the entire match on mute. And rewound important points. Maybe it’s just me but I felt that while they showed replays when Roger did something good they failed to do so on a number of occasions when Rafa did something incredible. Like that return of serve Ricky called sick. That was just awesome, truly like a hole in one.
I felt that Roger played with fewer nerves than I expected and did play well for most of the first set, and parts of the second. Rafa did outplay him in most games. I loved his placements just a tad to the left of Roger with serves and with some other strokes. They seemed to all end in an UE.
So Ricky’s initial prediction re Rafa winning tomorrow seems not far-fetched. Let’s see how good is the best Novak can bring this particular week. (Or Wawa,)
^^Has Ricky said Rafa’s winning the tourny? Not good…..
You know Ricky’s a closet Federista, maybe still upset Rafa wacked Fed…..
no (in more ways than one)
ritb, don’t you remember someone here at grand pointing to another site where ricky mentions his favs of several sports and the boy from the village who brings flowers is the one for him in tennis. That would be the boy from the village of the island, that is.
ricky @8:37 pm NID break back
since you posted this well after the match was over, and below my long-winded post, I am clueless as to what you are referring to with ‘break back’. Please tell.
was posted right when Djoker broke back in the first set
I thought as much. But this problem is new to me: that it got posted much later, and also apparently as a reply to my long post hours after the match. Glitch in the software?
ok, the penny has dropped. I first thought you were writing about the break back in the fedal match…
This is always a great match-up. The two are the best in the world and never cease to entertain.