Novak Djokovic captures the Abu Dhabi title with a straight-set win over David Ferrer on Saturday, while Rafael Nadal gets past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for third place. Faithful Grandstand follower “nadline28″ was on hand to to document the action.
Rafa said that the court in AD is faster than in Montreal and more like Shanghai…but he played better today than he did against David Ferrer.His thoughts on the wave of appointments of ’80s champions as coaches: it would be great for tennis to have them around at tournaments, but he thinks far too much emphasis is put on coaching. He says tennis is not complicated. He says that because he’s never been coached by any of them, he can’t say how good they will be; only time will tell.
Novak thinks Boris Becker will help him organize the off-court demands and manage his time better, and so far he is pleased with what Boris has done. Ferrer’s new coach will be joining him in Doha and he is trying hard to improve his game. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn’t think anyone was interested in his thoughts about the current craze of ’80s champions as coaches, but he is not planning to go down that route.
They were all asked what they would change in tennis if they had the chance. Rafa said he would get rid of the second serve because players are much taller now than they were when two serves were introduced. He thinks that the two-stroke points are boring for the fans because they prefer to see the rallies and strategies in a match. He cited the 2011 USO final as one of the best matches for fans’ enjoyment. He thinks that the big serve makes the game too simple.
Nole would like slams to be played over 10 days and not stretched over two weeks. He thinks something should be done to relieve the pressure on players having to go from one surface to another with a couple of days in between having to go from one time zone to another with very little time to adjust.
look at rafa’s right quad in pic 2 ! enormous !
great work nadline and Ricky ! So the court was playing really quick…I was satisfied with rafa’s performance against Tsonga…
LOL, abolishing the 2nd serve !! come on rafa, that would be a hugee change haha… federer was once asked during wimbledon whether he wanted to see the 2nd serve abolished and he instantaneously voted against it ! and the contrast in both men’s opinions is not surprising at all
Ricky,last para’s 2nd line..’something should be done to RELIEVE…’