For the most part, Rafael Nadal has set the NextGen charge back 100 years.
Well, maybe not that long; but the Spaniard has certainly played his part among the old guard in putting a real dent in the youngsters’ metal. Nadal will look to inflict more damage when he goes up against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals of the Australian Open on Thursday night.
Putting any concerns about injuries or rust to rest, Nadal has run roughshod through the draw so far this fortnight–including at the expense of up-and-comers Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe. The 2009 champion also made straight-set mincemeat out of veterans James Duckworth, Matthew Ebden, and Tomas Berdych. Nadal, who is quite obviously more well-rested than rusty on the heels of his most recent layoff, has been pushed to only one tiebreaker by Berdych. And it should be noted that the first two sets of that contest were 6-0 and 6-1. The world No. 2 surrendered only 16 total games in his two matches against de Minaur (seven) and Tiafoe (nine).
Tsitsipas knows the feeling. He is 0-2 lifetime against Nadal with two straight-set losses, and three of their four sets have been 6-2 or worse.
“(It) is not like don’t give them confidence or not,” Nadal responded when asked about his dominance of the NextGen. “I know they are good. I know they will be fighting for the most important things during the next couple of years…. I just take it like a difficult match against players that they have a lot of energy. That’s all. (It) is another match…. When you face these young players, they are in permanent improvement. [Tsitsipas is] with confidence; he won a lot of good matches. Will be a tough one.”
Tsitsipas has been the sensation of this tournament, surviving tough four-setters against Matteo Berrettini, Viktor Troicki, and Nikoloz Basilashvili before doing the same–in much grander fashion–against Roger Federer with a 6-7(11), 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-6(5) upset on Saturday night. The 20-year-old Greek followed up the biggest win of his career by beating Roberto Bautista Agut, who was also running low on emotional and physical energy, via a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) quarterfinal scoreline.
“It almost feels like a fairytale,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m living a dream–living what I worked so hard for. I told people before that reaching Grand Slam semis was my goal. When I was answering that question I thought I was crazy. But no, it’s real. It happened.”
The world No. 15 will have to rearrange his goals in a hurry, because Nadal will pounce on any sort of satisfaction or complacency. Happy to be in the quarters, Tiafoe came out flat against Nadal, dropped serve right away, and never got into the match en route to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 destruction. Tsitsipas cannot afford a similarly slow start.
Given the enormity of the stage and their respective paths through the event, this should once again be one-way traffic for the 17-time major winner.
Pick: Nadal in 3
[polldaddy poll=10220174]
I think Tsitsipas will get a set. Nadal in 4.
Agree, but I really, really, REALLY hope that Ricky’s right this time!
That was his goal to get to the semis. Now he wants to beat Rafa and Djoker for the trophy. He says he played Rafa before and knows how to beat him. I thought nj he went from complacency to overconfident real quick.
Nothing wrong with aiming high. I don’t agree that he “knows how to beat him”, but I can get behind the belief that he CAN beat him…otherwise why even try?
Never said he knows how to beat him but rather he knows his game better and believes he might get it. Although the mentality has to be there. You need to enter the court thinking “I am here to win”. I really hope he does and why not winning his first slam just for the historic moment and the epicness of such an achievment.
I agree. It’s good to reach beyond your goals. You should go in it to win it. I think Rafa is going to be a tough out. He’s been on fire. Great to see after the uncertainty.
Nadal in four. This could be a really good one 🍿
Nadal has been the best player in this tournament so far, with the possible exception of Raonic. I’ll certainly be cheering for Tsisipas, but I don’t see him taking more than a set, if that -unless Rafa’s abdominal injury hampers him.
Rafa also had a relatively easy draw to be honest. If Stef manages to take the game in tie breaks he has an advantage. Rafa is playing great but I think Stef will take one set minimum and if it goes to the 5th I vote Stef for the win.
“Given the enormity of the stage and their respective paths through the event, this should once again be one-way traffic for the 17-time major winner.”
Isn’t one of Tsitsipas’s standout attributes is that he rises to the occasion?
He’s got nothing to lose given he’s almost guaranteed many more semis and final due to being the best prospect of the next gen.
I think Tsitsipas serve and backhand down the line will be key to this match and how well he hits his forehand when he gets the opportunity.
Federer and Tsits have similar styles so they traded shots from the back of the court a lot and the winner was the one who won the key points. Every set could have gone either way. Fed should have had a Plan B. B-Agut had the advantage to take the first 3 sets but somehow let Tsits in at the business end when all B-Agut had to do was hold serve. Rafa is a very different player he will not sleepwalk through the match and take Tsits for granted, he will compete at the highest level.
I agree. I think it said more about Tsitsipas than it did about Roger. He kept his head, didn’t let the moment get away from him. But the physicality of Nadal’s game and his intensity level is oppressive even when Nadal is playing mediocre tennis. With the way he’s playing in Melbourne, it’s hard to imagine that Tsitsi’s optimism is going to be enough.
Rafa in 3. Rafa will expose Tsisi bh. The game plan is simple, move Tsisi wide on the bh side and then fire a winner up the line.
Another beat down coming barring any abdomen issue.
Like others above, I really HOPE that Tpas can get a set, but I just think that Rafa is too strong right now…rafa in 3.
Rafa in straight sets, maybe a couple of them competitive. Until I see one of these young guns beat an in-form Rafa/Novak at a major, no one can convince me that it will happen. We’ve seen this over, and over, and over again for years straight. Taking out a 37 1/2 year old, who announced he’s “just trying to have fun at this point”, really means nothing to me when we’re talking about beating in-form Rafa or Djokovic at a major.
If Tsitsipas does the unthinkable, THEN I will start entertaining the idea of an upset at future majors. We’ve just been burned literally hundreds of times in thinking that a young gun will finally take down in-form Big 3 guys. I’m done with it haha.
Wait..Tsitsipas DID take down an “in-form Big 3” guy. At least the pundits *thought* Federer was in-form. He was the 2nd favorite going into the AO. He’d looked great at the Hopman Cup. And it was a very, very close match. Still, Fed’s results at the last 3 majors have been poor by his standards. Oddly, all his losses were very close matches but they all came a lot earlier than we expect Fed to go out and not to the guys we expect Fed to lose to. I think what you’re really saying is that there IS no more Big Three. Maybe a Big Two still as long as Rafa and Djokovic can stay healthy. But it’s a lot harder for two guys to fend off the young guns than it is for 3. It must happen sometime. But, like Rafa says, “they can wait another year”. I hope!
Also, re Federer, he’s an emotional guy. Don’t trust anything he says off the cuff as written in stone.
U know what, its going to happen when we least expect! Ha!!
On a side-note, Roger Federer has officially started his farewell tour, and should no longer be considered anything more than a dark horse at any major he plays from here on out.
I’ve said for the last couple years that the moment that he decides to play the clay season is the moment when he’s called it a career, for all intents and purposes. The only reason he has for playing the clay season and RG would strictly be to just show up at those tournaments one last time to say farewell.
The other thing that gave it away to me, as I said above, is when he said after the Tsitsipas match, “At this point I’m just trying to have fun.” Those are not the words of a guy who truly believes he can contend for a major title anymore. Sure, he will still be a dark horse, and will have as good of a chance as the second-tier top players. But there is just no reason to view him as a contender anymore. I believed that this tournament was his last chance to really contend, and I think he knew that, too.
It’s remarkable that he was able to bag 3 major titles in his mid-30’s. I honestly never thought that would happen for him or any other player, given that no one had done it since Rosewall in the ‘70s. Therefore, no Fed fans should feel like he’s left anything behind. He overachieved at the end of his career. Alrighty, that’s it for my “side-note”. 😂
I think Federer is playing the clay season because he needs the points. He’ll be down at #6 on Monday because he couldn’t defend his AO title like he did last year. He can’t gain any points at Rotterdam as the defending champion and he’s got final points to defend at IW. If he doesn’t defend Rotterdam and match last year’s performance at IW, he’s only got room to move in Miami before Wimbledon where he’s got to make the QF not to lose any points.
He can, at least get some points in the clay season otherwise he might be heading to being outside the top 10.
Yeah, I think Nadline’s take is more reasonable. He certainly wants to remain in top ten to avoid meeting the top two guys before the QF.
I think he feels that he’s still able to beat the rest of the players most of the time, and he still has hope of winning at Wimbledon. He’s a bit unfortunate losing to Anderson after having MP; and imo he had a good chance of winning it if he got to the final, as Djoko after his tough SF vs Rafa, wasn’t exactly on fire in the final (more like Anderson was half dead in the final so easy meat for Djoko). Fed could deal with Isner type of player (probably beat him in four) and had enough energy for the final.
In fact Anderson could’ve won his SF in four sets when he had broken Isner’s serve but he duly lost his in the next game. He’s so ‘useless’, couldn’t take advantage of that so bye bye to his Wimbledon hope!
PS. I blame Anderson for costing Rafa a Wimbledon title too. Had Anderson finished off Isner in four sets, Rafa would be able to play his SF in outdoor conditions and I do feel he would most likely win the match in four sets. Rafa playing like that would be good enough to deal with Anderson in the final.
The SF loss to Djoko had cost Rafa his YE no.1 ranking!
Tsitsipas in 5
I think we will see tsitsipas do a tsonga victory like in 08 and djoker will get no 7 Aussie openqnd 3 ga to match fed and Nadal since 17
Now whether tsitsipas does a top 3 upset and ends up a sensational young grand slam winner will be the final script
I think we will see tsitsipas do a tsonga victory like in 08 and djoker will get no 7 Aussie openqnd 3 ga to match fed and Nadal since 17
Now whether tsitsipas does a top 3 upset and ends up a sensational young grand slam winner will be the final script
Insyaallah Rafa in 3…
Vamos Rafa!….I love u!!
Tsitsi will be brilliant for a set and a half but wont be able to cope with the physicality
Raf in 4
As others have said, Nadal is the expert at breaking down right handers’ single-handed backhands. It’s virtually a fundamental strategic strength. Tsitsipas will have to find a way to avoid this dynamic, or it’s pretty much game over. Can he hit over the BH like Federer in 2017? Based on his (limited) history against Rafa – probably not.
If he can then it will be more interesting, although he’ll still need to match the intensity/consistency of Rafa over best of five. I thought that he lapsed a few times against RBA, and really was saved a bit by his opponent having too many miles in his legs. Beating Fed was an impressive scalp, although Fed’s recent history in big moments is not very good – shanking forehands, losing a higher % of breakers, repeatedly missing break point opportunities. Nadal doesn’t look like being that charitable.
Rafa in 3
Vamos Rafa!
Keep your mind sharp and focused, remain confident, be strong and show your warrior spirit, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxqFaJJX0AAmQUr.jpg
Augusta no news about rafa practice today?
The AO organizers moved Rafa’s practice indoors due to the hot weather:
https://twitter.com/aarenas_/status/1088293916556779520
https://twitter.com/ClinicaTenis/status/1088319890241536000
Will the roof remain closed for Rafa’s match?
The roof will remain closed. The commies say they can hardly breathe, it’s that hot.
They are opening the roof, according to Eurosport. What????????
I know it’s hot but I just don’t want Rafa playing under the roof. He doesn’t like it. And I received a notification from the AO site that outside courts have resumed play delayed due to heat…so it must be cooler outside…
Vamos Champ!
He REALLY doesn’t like it. It’s not hard to understand why. It gets all…weird and damp and the court plays so differently.
The roof is open. It’s strange that my commentator here said that if roof is open, advantage Rafa. I mean, isn’t this supposed to be an outdoor event, so what advantage he’s talking about? Everyone has to play outdoors, so what kind of advantage Rafa has? It’s only when the roof is closed then we can talk about who’s at a disadvantage!
Luckystar, exactly.
Tournaments are now using the roof to manipulate things.
Is it just me or i sensed that Rafa is not his ‘cheery & vibrant’ self like usual?
Rafa squandered all the BPs. I know Tsitsipas is bold when saving BPs, S&V and big serving but I sense that Rafa is too cautious, if he just goes for his shots he may land one in.
Rafa leads 2 sets 0. 62 64
Vamos!
What a joy to see Rafa playing like this. One hour and a bit for two sets😳.
Ppl Rafa is doing everything right at the moment…….Rafa will not let Tipsi bet him….no WAY!!!
But truth be told….Tipsi is not playing as well as he was in the last rounds to me….esp his serves, however, the commies just explained y. Its Rafa’s weight of shot, Tipsi cant handle it, unlike Roger’s!
VAMOS Rafa!!
Monalisa, Tsitsi wasn’t playing Rafa in the previous rounds. Fedr should have beaten him if he’d thought outside the box and stopped trading OHBH with him. RBA, had the advantage in every set and somehow flunked it in the end.
Goodness gracious. Nadal is on a mission.
I am sad Fed didn’t make it to the semis. It would have bene revenge time for Rafa BIG TIME.
Like I said, I expect this Rafa to win this in 3 sets and also win the title assuming no injuries rock his boat.
Beautiful to watch!
Vamos Champ!
This is the I’ve seen Tsitsi play in this tournament.
U mean worst…..well Rafa is not letting him play hid game!!!
Now he’s just being mean. haha.
1.91 looks like good value for Nadal in the final.
So many varieties in Rafa’s game! He is such a complete player! I am so proud of his constant improvements and added value to his game! 💪💪
I can smell a bagel in the oven. O
The commentator just said: it’s impossible to play against Nadal today! 😀
It seems Rafa has not been broken since the 1R by Duckworth.. Who does he think he is? Karlovic
Damn it Did I just jinx it
I didn’t expect Tsits to take a set, I must admit.
Vamos!
I really thought it would be a more torrid affair to be honest! But im not complaining!!
1 hour 46 minutes! GSM Nadal!!!!
Vamos Champ!
Rafa wins
62 64 64
Young gun still has some work to do.
Rafa wins
62 64 60
Young gun still has some work to do.
Vaaaaaamoooooos Rafa!!!!!! ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌
Vamos Rafa, into another AO final! So happy for him!
One more match to win, come on Rafa! Vamos!
Moya has more than proved himself.
Vamos Moya!
This why I like Rafa, he takes his matches seriously some might say too serious.
Well done Rafa but Djokovic might win the trophy 🏆.
Is Djoker in the final yet?
U know?!!!
It sounds like the sleeveless shirt is here to stay.
Yessss!!…Alhamdulillah!….FINAL!HERE WE COMES!!WOOOHOOOO!!…Thank u Allah!!….Vamos Rafa!!
Yay so happy for Rafa, went to water aerobics class for an hour, then came back but didnt expect Rafa to be two sets up, and leading two love in the third, so happy to see him been aggressive, and playing so well whatever happens in the final ….
Dont care who he faces in the final as long as he bites the trophy, VAMOS RAFA lets do it 🙂
One thing Ive to say, ie, whether it is a tough match or an easy match, Rafa can simply make it looks so interesting by hitting those amazing shots time and again.
Cynthia Chan, I totally agree.
I’m now waiting to see how Pouille plays against Djoko. They’ve never met before, so the first set should be interesting.
If Pouille plays like the way he played against Raonic, then maybe he could make a match of it. Djoko will just get every ball back and frustrates his opponent, so Pouille has to be aggressive and be patient at the same time.
Amélie Mauresmo seems to be pointing Pouille in the right direction. He played a very intelligent, patient match against Raonic not his usual ball bashing game. They should come up with a plan to counter Djokovic’s style.
Most important thing for Pouille – don’t fall into the same old trap that many of Djoko’s opponents fall into, ie being dragged into endless baseline war with Djoko, no one can beat Djoko from the baseline, not even Rafa, perhaps only a Stan at his best.
Pouille can play with varieties, Fed is his idol so he tries to play like him. I feel he really needs to play like Fed or Tsitsipas to have a chance to beat Djoko. An old Fed in 2014/2015 could push Djoko to the limit and beat him a few times, I don’t think the Djoko now is better than his 2014/2015 self.
Pouille is of course no Fed, but he’s young and as long as he can hang in there with Djoko, comes forward to attack and plays with varieties to keep Djoko guessing, he may have his chances to beat Djoko. If he plays a baseline game, then sayonara good bye to him.
VAMOS RAFAAAAAA!!!!! Very well done, champ! Now, I gotta go watch it. 🙂 Match time of 2:30 am is about as bad as it gets for me but time was I would have gotten up for it.
Rafa, Moya, Uncle Toni the 3 musketeers, great job by all 3, congrats
WTF??!!!
Is Rafa in God mode or is everyone else not as good?
WTF?
Is Rafa in God mode or just had an easy draw….?
Even tho Rafa still not playing in the final yet…but i think this is the most perfect,almost flawless,amazing tennis i’ve ever seen Rafa play on HC in my whole life!…Oh God!….i really love what i saw!….This new Rafa will rock the RLA this sunday!…Wooohoòoo!!
Donno bout u guys…but i have a good feelings about this!…Let’s hope Rafa will be blessed with a good health for the final…Vamos Rafa!!
I think Rafa is ready for Djoker. He is fresh and going for his shots. Today he volleyed well as well. He gets two days off. So, he is prepared for a grind against Djoker as he is very fresh.
I think Djoker will win his match easily as well as he would like to finish the match quick as well. Its going to be a cracker of a final , Djoker can lift his game significantly, interesting to see how Djoker returns Rafa’s changed serve. Very interesting match if it happens as it might decide wo goes on to become the GOAT.
AndyRoddick said Rafa versus Fed in AO 2017 could end up a very important match in the history, I believe this final could well be a more significant encounter.
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/tsitsipas-reaction-australian-open-2019-thursday2
I think this is what Berd,DeM,Tiafoe,Ebden & many other’s felt too when Rafa crushed them…I sympathise with them of coz..but yeah….
I think Tsitsi is in a different place from the others. In a way this was a bigger shock because he’d gotten a couple of previous beatdowns from Rafa and really thought he’d improved and figured Rafa out, at least on hardcourt. Instead he got cold water in his face and a glimpse of how far he has yet to go. And a good look at how far Rafa, at 32, has come! What Tsitsi should take from this match is: you’re never done, you never stop learning, you never stop competing and you never, ever give up.
Exactly, that’s what Rafa said when told about Tsitsipas was feeling very down after the beat down. Rafa said he himself had faced many losses and feeling upset too but he knew that’s sport – every week there’s only one winner and so the rest all lost their matches.
Tsitsipas has to get used to losing and sometimes suffering beatdowns along the way. After all he suffered at the hands of an ATG, not any Tom Dick or Harry! ATGs do suffer beatdowns too during their careers.
Hello everybody!
I haven’t commented for a long time for various reasons, but Rafa’s absolutely incredible and totally unexpected run into another AO final merits that I come out of retirement for a bit. Congrats to all rafafans☺
I was extremely busy with various projects, which is always a good thing. But I was also more than a bit bummed out by the state of affairs in mens’ tennis. For rafafans in particular there wasn’t much to be cheerful about ever since he had to retire in the US Open semis against Delpo. Also, why this might seem very unfair and subjective, it is what it is: I’m not at all a Djoker fan, and while I objectively totally admire his incredible resurgence, I am less than happy about it. I had really hoped that his incredible dominance around 2016 was a thing of the past. It remains to be seen if he can fully re-establish his suffocating dominance. Maybe not, since he also aged a bit since then and seems to be slightly more vulnerable. But considering that the young and not so young guns – although they are knocking successfully at the doors more frequently – still are not able to fully and consistently develop into top dogs, a new Djoker dominance is a real possibility – and personally I’m not looking forward to it. Especially since the dominance of the Big Four is now definitely a thing of the past. Murray, has retired, and I really believe that age has finally caught up with Roger. He may be able to do a thing or two on grass, but I would be very surprised if he wins many more big trophies. A graceful retirement it probably not too far away. This development was of course to be expected, and at his age this is hardly surprising. What was surprising, is, that he was able at all to be so wildly successful in the past two years. He has probably had the best ever late-age career. Only Rafa and the Djoker may be in a position to come near a somewhat similar late-age success.
Anyway, this means that a resurgent Djoker has very little stable competition right now. It remains to be seen if Rafa can provide the much needed challenge, although so far he has been hands down the best player at the AO. And while his draw wasn’t extremely tricky (the Djoker’s draw turned out to be fairly easy,too, since all serious challengers on his side, like Zverev and Raonic, faltered), I supect that Rafa would’ve beaten anyone across the other side of the net. He was that strong. But the Djoker is a different animal altogether. I suspect that to a certain degree he is still a little bit in Rafa’s head, and the latest heart breaking loss at least year’s Wimby has certainly not helped. It may Well have ruined Rafa’s last great chance to win a third Wimby trophy. I really think, he would’ve handled Anderson.
I fully expect Rafole to meet on Sunday, and that will be another very crucial encounter. Many things seem to be on Rafa’s side this time around. He is most certainly not overplayed and in an incredible form, he hardly spent any time oncourt. His service and his overall hardcourt game seems to be much improved, and from what we have seen, the Djoker doesn’t seem to be in a totally stellar form atm. And yet – I’m extremely wary. The Djoker has given Rafa so many losses in matches which Rafa probably could’ve won – it will hurt Rafa incredibly, if the Djoker will again ruin one of Rafa’s long held ambitions: to win a double career slam. IMO Rafa has more to lose than the Djoker should they really meet in the final. And so far Rafa hasn’t been tested at all during this year’s AO. This might not be an altogether good thing, and he might be slightly undercooked. Against all other players that might not be a problem since he’s so experienced and a great fighter and tactician. But as I said – the Djoker is different than all other opponents when he plays Rafa.
But whoever will lift the trophy on Sunday – Rafa has exceeded all expectations already and has mounted the umpteen’s successful comeback in his unique career. I’m in total awe that he is able to do it again and again! Let’s hope that his body, which has been his worst opponent during his career, will hold together for a while!
And congrats of course to all Djoker fans here. My personal attitude towards the Djoker is totally subjective. We are all tennis fans after all.
Hi littlefoot! Good to see you back here.
littlefoot,
Great post! You have been missed! You said so much of what I am thinking and feeling. Like you read my mind! I also am not happy about Novak’s resurgence. I do think Rafa would have won his third Wimbledon if not for that tough loss to Novak on the semis. I respect what he has done, but am not a fan. I do. It want to see him dominating again and with Andy Murrau retiring and Fed looking like he is near the end of the road, Rafa is the only other top player remaining. I am always very nervous about Rafa playing Novak. He may be a little on Rafa’s head. I do not want him to suffer another tough loss at his hands.
Watching the match now, Rafa is playing some of the best tennis I have seen from him. So I do like his chances this time.
My personal attitude toward Novak is not meant to disrespect him or his fans.
NNY and Ramara, thanks for your nice words ☺
I hope, you are all well!
It took me literally hours to pluck up the courage to come here and find out the score! I was practically sick with nerves. But it’s testimony to how much I love and respect you guys that I came here first!!
Vamos Rafa and Tenngrand!!👑👑💪💪🐂🐂💜💜
Nny and mira!! Group hug!!☺💜💜😘😘
So relieved rafa won!! Was so nervous!!
amy,
Hugs to you, too! Also to Mira! My recording screwed up and when I woke up at 6:30 am o realized that most of it did not record. But I saw that he won. Losing only six games! Now they are replaying it on the tennis channel. Rafa looks like a man on a mission!
I am over the moon! Rafa gets to play for the double career slam again! I was SO nervous for this match!
😍😀🥳
Me too nny!! I was literally sick with nerves.
Major congrats should go to Carlos and how he has got Rafa playing! And of course Vamos to our darling amazing Rafa!!☺
amy,
I was afraid to turn on the tv and check the score! I tried to stay up, but I am too old to do it anymore at these god awful hours.
Then I saw that my recording messed up. But I did see that he won and when I heard he only lost six games, I became very emotional.
I went back to sleep knowing that Rafa will get another chance at history. I am glad that the tennis channel is replaying the match now. Rafa is playing like a God!
It’s so great to be here with you and other long suffering Rafa fans to celebrate!
Tsitsipas got a reality check and now knows that he has more work to do.
🤗💪🤙💝
Yeah nny! I was so nervous I could scarcely bear to see the score! Great to share these wonderful moments with you!💖💖💖
Hugs group to amy & Nny!!….Wooohooo!!…
God!…yesterday was sooooòooo AWESOME!!…Like u guys,i’m so very very very happy to watch Rafa sailed magnificently to the final….without dropping a set!!…Can u believe it guys????At AO??Where everythings always turned painful….for him & for us!…Oh my God!…Tho..be still my heart!….Keep colm!…Don’t be 2 xcited!..It’s not over yet!…
But,gotta admit..this is the 1st time when i don’t feel so scared when Rafa were to face Novak…And i think Rafa too will be very confident going on court this time knowing he has something different to challenge Novak…bsides he defeated Nole on HC b4 at USO10,USO13,Montreal13…so,can’t wait for their clash….Insyaallah the result will be different this time around….Vamos Rafa!!
Tsitsi’s PM press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eKczOvTixw&feature=push-sd&attr_tag=gk5diwno4HLdNTn8%3A6
By the way, I was very sorry that Tsitsi was one of Rafa’s victims. I really like the guy and only wish bin the very best. He may not be quite as talented as Zverev, but I like his personality very much. Although I’m German I never liked Zverev a lot. He is still young and might mature into a more rounded personality, but so far he still comes across as an entitled and somewhat spoiled brat. I’m sure, though, that Lendl won’t encourage these tendenciesand will try to develop his fighting spirit. I really wonder when Zverev will be finally able to make his mark at the slams. He’s too talented for not winning a slam eventually. Heck, he could’ve won the AO this year – or could’ve at least reached the final, where he probably would’ve lost against Rafa! Zverev reminds me a bit of a certain player long ago called Roger Federer, who also took his sweet time until he became successful at the slams☺
Anyway, Tsitsi became very quickly one of my favorite young guns. And he seems to be a quick learner and an already very mature personality. Maybe, he profitted from not having been exposed to all the early premature hype – unlike Zverev who has been declared the future no. 1 player like forever. Until he broke onto the scene last year Tsitsi flew a bit unser the radar and that may have been a good thing!
Nah, Tsitsipas is many times more talented than Zverev! Zverev’s game is more one dimensional; it’s surprising to me that he used to play doubles with his Brother Mischa and yet he doesn’t have good hands at the net.
Zverev just serves big and hit hard from the baseline, doesn’t have Tsitsipas’ deft touches or volleying skills, doesn’t move as well as Tsitsipas, and doesn’t have Tsitisipas good instinct on how and when to approach the net.
Tsitsipas plays like Fed, his game is varied enough that allows him many options he could employ, it’s just that he’s lacking in experience, big match experience but he’s learning fast. He just ran into a Rafa who happened to be on a Mission and could do nothing wrong; it’s a learning experience for him.
Agree lucky about him having a good game similar to Fed, but less experienced, which is normal. I think Roger would have lost to Nadal, but made it more difficult than Stefanos. And that is due to experience. I would also add tiredness, Tsitsi played so many more sets than Rafa. Let’s not forget.
Eugene, I agree. Rafa would probably have won against Roger, too, today. But it would have been more difficult.
As a rafafan I regret a bit that Rafa didn’t have the opportunity to prove himself against Roger. It would have been nice, if he could’ve broken the recent string of consecutive losses against Fed. But this is a minor detail in their respective careers and won’t change the overall picture. And Rafa may get a shot at Fed later this season – if both of them stay healthy.
Interesting assessment, Lucky. I’m not saying you are wrong, but I guess most experts would disagree. Unlike Zverev, who has been declared the future no.1 for the last few years, nobody has engaged in such hyperbole in connection with Tsitsipas – yet. It will be very interesting to see how both players will fare this season. Zverev is of course already extremely successful in best-of-three format. If I remember the statistics correctly, he may have even been slightly more successful in 2018 than Novak, Rafa and Roger – if we substract the slams.
Whatever – Titsi is definitely stronger than Zverev in the mental department. And he seems to have a high tennis IQ, as his steep learning curve demonstrates. This didn’t help him a lot against Rafa today. But Tsitsipas is here to stay. He’s very good already, and he will get better. As to Zverev – Lendl will try to improve his oncourt mentality. We will see how success he will be. As I said before, Fed only started to be really successful when he had turned 22. We have said this for a few years now after every early slam Exit, but it is still true that Zverev is young and that the slam success may come eventually.