The top two players in the world, who will swap spots in the rankings shortly after this match, will be squaring off for the Beijing title on Sunday. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are set for a rematch of their recent U.S. Open final.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will facing each other for the 38th time in their careers and for the fifth time this season when they collide in the final of the China Open on Sunday.
Nadal leads the back-and-forth head-to-head series 22-15, but Djokovic has won 11 of their 18 hard-court encounters. Djokovic ended his rival’s Monte-Carlo reign this spring with a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory, but the tide has since turned. Nadal has won their last three meetings; at Roland Garros (9-7 in the fifth), in Montreal (in a third-set tiebreaker), and in the U.S. Open final (6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1). Following seven in a row to Djokovic from 2011 through the 2012 Australian Open, Nadal has won six of their last seven showdowns.
The Serb is not the only one struggling against Nadal these days. In fact, the second-ranked Spaniard has dominated the tour in 2013 since returning from a seven-month absence. He is undefeated on hard courts this year, with a 26-0 record that includes titles in Indian Wells, Montreal, Cincinnati, and at the U.S. Open. Nadal advanced to the Beijing title match with victories over Santiago Giraldo, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fabio Fognini, and Tomas Berdych. The No. 2 seed needed three sets–and a comeback from 6-2, 4-1 down–to get past Fognini, so a first-set retirement from Berdych was not an unwelcome development.
Djokovic also dropped just one set en route to the final. He hammered Lukas Rosol, battled past Fernando Verdasco in three, then rolled over Sam Querrey and Richard Gasquet. The world No. 1 is 56-9 for the season (55-6 against everyone other than Nadal), with titles in Melbourne, Dubai, and Monte-Carlo to his credit.
This may not be a huge title by their standards, but both Djokovic and Nadal will be eager to win this one. Nadal’s berth in the final assures that he will become the top-ranked player in the world on Monday, so Djokovic will at least want some kind of consolation prize before it happens. Nadal clinched it through the back door against Berdych, so he will want a real and true triumph to cement his upcoming status.
Nadal looked much better during his brief time on court against the Czech on Saturday than he did versus Fognini, when an injury scare occurred after the very first point. The left did knee did not appear to be an issue in the semis–thus the door is open for Nadal’s unbelievable season to get even better.
Pick: Nadal in 3
[polldaddy poll=7451465]
Oh no, please don’t tell me: until Djokovic beats Rafa, Ricky’s picking Rafa from hereon!
Here’s hoping Rafa plays well, beats Djokovic so he drops points, wins his 11th title of the season and goes into Shanghai as the man to beat. I want Rafa to wrap up YE#1 quickly so he can relax before WTF……
Cant call this one. Can go either way. Djoko will be very inspired to get back at Rafa for taking World No 1 from him..Rafa will want to continue beating Djoko to sustain his winning advantage
^^^and Djoker will be motivated to exact revenge for Rafa making him cry after Rafa beat him in the semis at Beijing Olympics. Yes, folks, Rafa has reduced both Fed and Novak to tears after best-downs.
I dont think Djoko will have that match in mind as revenge..it happened 5 years back 🙂
I expect Djoko to really bring his best tomorrow and Rafa needs to be prepared
Rem last year against Murray..Andy beat Djoko in Olympics and USO final and then Djoko beat him in Shanghai, WTF and AO..he wanted to prove a point.
But then Murray is no Rafa in the mental resolve and toughness department..
RITB: Yes and Rafa gave Novak a false sense of hope, and his fans worldwide a collective heart attack, by going walkabout in the 2nd set.
Who had Ricky picked in USO final? Djoko in 5 if I rem correctly?
BTW I watched highlights of both Montreal and USO on YT today..the Montreaal semi was of far far far higher quality than USO final..the entire match of Montreal was played at insane level and the quality of winners from both Rafa and Novak were out of the world. I think Montreal semi and RG semi both can rank in top 3 matches of year from quality perspective.
I was very encouraged by what little we saw of Rafa for the Berdych match. He was aggressive, using his forehand well, and pushing Berdych around the court. Given that, I’ll go with Rafa in 3. I said it once before that as long as Rafa and Novak are in the 1-2 or 2-1 positions, they will always been in opposite halves of the draw and as long as both of them are healthy we will be in for many more of their battles. Andy will be there sometimes and there will be the occasional spoiler, but I think I’d better get a full supply of tums because these clashes will be ever-present in the foreseeable future.
Just so long as they don’t run each other into the ground in the process.
I think both Rafa and Nole realize that being defensive against the other will not get the job done, so they will look for opportunities to end the points quickly. We got a glimpse of this mind set with Novak’s sudden interest in doubles play, he wants to be more effective in the forecourt. We know that has been the key to Rafa’s success on HC this year, being more aggressive. So, I doubt we will see a long, drawn out match, more a high tempo thriller with the one who varies his play more prevailing.
Sorry Ricky. I hadn’t seen this thread was up when I left a cheeky comment on the Tokyo thread. Agree with your penultimate para and was thinking along the same lines. Nole’s pride is at stake but Rafa’s competitiveness will win out.
6-7, 6-4, 7-6.
I voted.
I can’t remember whether I’ve voted in the poll or not!
—Nadal advanced to the Tokyo title match…—
Beijing. 🙂
^^^^Well spotted.
Thanks!
I expect this to be similar to Montreal semi in terms of quality. Unlike USO final, Rafa will be VERY aggressive.
Exactly..I expect the same..Montreal semi was kickass quality
Though I hope match wraps up soon and does not drag too long..not worth a long match for a ATP 500
RT @juanjo_sports: “With tomorrow’s match, Djokovic and Nadal will achieve the amazing feat of playing at every ATP level: 250s, 500s, M1000s, WTFs, GS, DC, Oly”
#RealRivalry
Incredible. Fedal have not met in DC, 250s and Olympics. There is no denying that djo-nadal is a more complete and intense rivalry. I would still call fedal the most entertaining rivalry though !
I voted for Rafa in three sets. After seeing how he looked against Berdy, I think he will go out there to beat the guy whose #1 ranking he has just taken back. He will want to put an exclamation mark next to his achievement. I think Rafa will be very motivated.
Djoker may well have revenge on his mind. He has just lost two straight hard court matches to Rafa in Montreal and the USO. So he may well want to come out and try to turn the tide which has been in Rafa’s favor.
I agree with vamosrafa and Sanju. I expect this to be a high quality match.
I also wanted to say that I think Ricky made a good point last night about Berdy giving Rafa a walkover. Of course Rafa wanted to win the match outright. But given that he banged up his bad knee in the Fognini match and that there is more tennis next week with Shanghai, I think it might have been better for Rafa to get that break.
I hope it’s “Fungus” Murphy in the chair………….we KNOW he will give Rafa a TV warning like, in Rafa’s 3rd service game in the 1st set, making Rafa mad. We know what happens when Rafa gets mad, he focuses better and takes out his frustration on the yellow fuzzy ball!
I really think Nivak will be so motivated to beat Nadal. If he focuses he can usually get it done. Hope so.
Novak fan! welcome. need more of them!!
guys, I was not able to preview any matches due to my busy schedule . I look forward to doing some for Shanghai 🙂 . For now, I want to share a few things
The only concern for rafa right now is the regularity with which he has been capitulating his service games and how he is not able to save break points like he has been doing like a boss throughout the season.
**So far in Beijing, rafa has gotten his serve broken a ‘whopping’ 9 times 8 sets of tennis. An average of 1.13 service breaks per set
**prior to Beijing, rafa got his serve broken ONLY 20 times in 22 matches ( 58 sets) on all hard court in 2013 ! an average of 0.35 service breaks per set !
1.13 vs 0.35 is way off rafa’s usual serving standards for 2013 on hard courts.
Rafa had his baseline game firing against Berdych. He is going to hit his backhand much more aggressively than he did in the USO final. I hope he serves more ACCURATELY because djokovic was eating up his first serves in the USO final whenever rafa lacked accuracy and landed his serves in djo’s strike zone.
The ROS has been extremely good and consistent all week. Expect rafa to hug the baseline in his return games tomorrow and not let the USO final’s sets 2 & 3 patterns to recur where he was standing too deep in the court to return and was unable to send back deep returns. and then get bullied in the rallies.
I also think we are not giving sufficient importance to the MENTAL ASPECT. Because these two are extremely closely matched up , having the mental edge alone can decide their matches. Rafa undoubtedly has the mental advantage and he is looking to book a permanent residence in djokovic’s head by beating him for the third straight time on a hard court.
If rafa can pile the pressure right from the beginning, it won’t be surprising to see another meltdown from djokovic ,similar to the ones he has depicted in his last three matches against rafa ( final game of RG semi , tie break of Montreal semi, 4th set of USO final)
vamosrafa,
I pointed out Rafa’s subpar serving in his match with Fognini. I did not see his first two matches. However, I appreciate you coming up with those stats. The comparison between Beijing and prior is particularly concerning.
We know that Rafa’s serve has to stand up to Djoker’s ROS. He must raise his percentage of first serves in and also first serves won. In both the Fognini matcfh and th abbreviated match with Berdy, his serve stats were below average.
I did see Rafa hugging the baseline in the match with Berdy. I noticed in the USO that he would stand a bit behind the baseline and then once his opponent hit the serve he would move up a step or two. He started doing that more in the latter stages of his match with Fognini. It’s like he finally woke up and a switch went off in his head. I think the knee wasn’t bothering him as much and he was able to play without any worries or loss of concentration. I also noticed Rafa stepping standing either on the baseline or inside the baseline when receiving second serves in the Berdy match. That was good to see.
I think that I made the point after the USO final, that mental strength is key with Rafa and Djoker. They are both so closely matched that in the end, it will come down to who is tougher mentally and more confident. That is where Rafa has the edge right now.
Djoker will want to have a moral victory here by beating Rafa in the final and stopping the hemorrhaging. He also is defending 500 points and won’t want to lose any more ground to Rafa. That is where the pressure is now – Djoker has a huge chunk of points to defend in this part of the tennis year. He cannot gain any points at Shanghai either. Even though I think Rafa has a tough draw at Shanghai, he will be able to play more freely, knowing that he can only gain points with every match he wins.
Good post NNY… This match is critical for djokovic to stop the bleeding.
You have made a good observation about rafa taking a couple of strides in to move closer to the baseline to return serve. Yes, he did that in USO but in the final of USO, rafa did not do that consistently. He was too deep in the court and whenever he was unable to generate good depth on his returns, he was in trouble. However, I do not see rafa doing the same here as he won’t be anywhere near nervous. I am confident rafa’s court positioning will be more like it was in the semi of Montreal.
finally, yes, keeping a high first serve % and winning a good chunk of points on them are two of the keys for rafa to get his 23rd win over djokovic. Bring it on !
vamosrafa,
You are correct about Rafa’s positioning in the USO final for returning serve. He was doing it in his earlier matches, but not consistently in the final. That is one reason why Djoker was able to come on strong in the second and third sets.
I do hope that he will be aggressive in his court positioning. It’s one of the keys to beating Djoker.
I am actually going to stay up and watch the final. It will start at 1:00 am my time. I will have to rely on the espn3.com stream again. I can’t believe I am doing this, but I just don’t want to miss it. I think the tennis channel will be showing it on a tape delay at 4:30 am my time! Crazy!
Next week at least there should be live coverage of Shanghai on the tennis channel.
I am quite excited about tonight’s match. I won’t be anxious and can watch it with calm because for the first time since 2011, I can watch the match without feeling I will die if Nole wins.
It would be great if Rafa wins. He will continue his unreal streak on hard courts!
But if he doesn’t, that’s ok too. It will just be the see saw effect in a great rivalry.
Vamos Rafa!!!
It will be actually tomorrow ( Sunday) 1 am my time ( pacific) !
yeah ,holdserve… If rafa wins, he’ll continue to astonish the world with his miraculous win streak but even if rafa does not win, it’s acceptable. However, I am really hoping that rafa can strike another mental blow to djokovic . If rafa can beat djokovic on hard courts a couple of times before Oz open 2014, I would absolutely LOVE that 😉
GO RAFA GO !
AO 2014 would really be exciting especially if Muzz is back in form. Muzz has reached 3 AO finals showing AO turf is favorable to him.. Djoko has reached 4 (just 1 more) but he won all 4. So the margin between the two is small.
Rafa’s been to 2 and won 1. He was very close to beating Nole in 2012 despite his knee problems ( remember the knee pop while he was sitting?).
yes, I am excited about this China Open match as it can give us glimpses of what we can expect next year in this rivalry..
Any contest between these 2 could go either way, but on the whole, Nadal is 60-40 the favourite. Wanting revenge or trying to prove a point is neither here nor there. I think every time a player walks onto a court, he wants to win.
Nadal in 3
+150?
Djoker will want to win this because he needs this win. I am sure he would love to break another winning streak of Rafa’s as he did at MC earlier this year. Now that he has lost the #1 ranking, he needs something to boost his confidence. He also needs to defend his points. Rafa has already gained just by getting to the final.
Rafa has winning in his DNA. He wants to win every time he comes out on the court. He will want to keep the winning streak going and beat Djoker again.
I don’t know that beating Djoker again on hard court will destroy him mentally. We do have to remember that Rafa lost seven straight times to Djoker and there were those who insisted that he would never beat Djoker again. Never say never! I knew that Rafa would find a way to beat him. It was a challenge and Rafa loves a challenge!
Good luck, Rafa!
Good attitude, Novak:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/10/40/Beijing-Saturday-Djokovic-reaction.aspx
“Djokovic takes solace in the fact that the season is far from over and there are plenty of points up for grabs. “I have some room to get points here and there, but generally I just want to keep on playing well. I’m just happy to be in the finals here,” he added. “Hopefully if I maintain this rhythm, the end results will follow the good performance…I’m looking forward to the challenge tomorrow. Regardless of the rankings, I’m going to fight for the trophy tomorrow.”
Vamos Rafa!
Well played Brad Gilbert for picking Rafa to be #1 way back in May 2013 when the points gap between him and Novak was 7,000.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dont-write-rafael-nadal-off-the-no1-spot-says-brad-gilbert/388877-5-22.html
Brad is a long term fan of Rafa and for years was fairly contemptuous of Novak.
^^^Fair to say a lot of people WERE fairly contemptuous of Novak pre-2011 because he clearly had talent but did not seem to be fully committed to using it…..
Good for Brad Gilbert for being smart enough to know that Rafa was going to be a force this year!
RT @christophclarey: “Amazing: #Nadal now has winning record vs. every man in top 40 except 40th ranked Pospisil & that’s probably because they haven’t played”
Rafa finally prevails in a neck-n-neck fight.
Nadal’s has nearly as many Race points as Djokovic and Federer put together. How about that for a ne
How about that for a neck-n-neck fight, I meant to say.
Keep your mind focused, remain calm, stay confident and be strong like a lion, Rafa!
Brad Gilbert who is usually right with his prediction is picking Djoker for the title
And he has predicted it in 2 tight sets (:-
Is anybody der?
Djoko is playing better first few games (:-
Yes, I am here. Djoker has come out focused and aggressive. This is just what Rafa did not need, an early break.
Djoko all over Rafa like a rash……..
Yawn………let’s go to Shanghai already…
Rafa just not having any timing..looking to be like MC final (:-
Djoko should be he one who should be tight, surprisingly Rafa is
I don’t know, Sanju. Rafa looks slow to me, not tight, like he would rather be somewhere else. Djokovic to me looks tight, like in highly strung, highly motivated. Rafa does not look overly-concerned, he wants this to be over quickly…..he has bigger fish to fry.
Oh maybe it’s me who couldn’t give a toss about this match!
Avoids a bakery product at least…..
Hold serve here Rafa, make Novak serve it out
Well Rafa cannot behave as if he wants to be sumwer else..he has to keep screws tight on Novak
The one who wins 1st set wins their matches..(:-
Actually the way Novak is playing, he deserves to win..he is soo aggressive and playing so well..executing so well..blasting winners like crazy
Deserved 1st set for Novak…….
I honestly hope Rafa takes time off after Shanghai to re-charge for WTF, he’s got to be very tired…………
I reckon it mental tiredness more than physical.
How many UE will u make Rafa/ stand closer to baseline
i cant take any more of Jason drooling over Djokovic. Switching to French TV.
Match over (:-
Novaks defense is out of this world..simply
Unbelievable point from Djokovic to break Rafa’s 1st game!
Rafa is not in the zone today.
Vamos Rafa!
The understatement of the week!
I said out loud to Rafa that if he was broken again in the first game, then it was over. Djoker is just playing too well.
NNY: You should know by now not to count Rafa not out until the last ball is struck.
Novak where are the huge number of errors you were leaking in USO final? Get them back 🙂
Nole is playing very well and Rafa is playing poorly, not good.
#Vamos Rafa
Can you guys imagine Novaks roaring and screaming once he wins the match? 🙂
He cam roar and rip his shirt all he wants, he’s lost the #1 ranking……..
^^”can”
I expected this guys, an emotional let-down for Rafa after taking #1 yesterday. He expended so much emotional energy in that match against Fogna and you could see he was digging deep yesterday to clinch the top ranking. So, not surprised at all he is a little flat today…..
Vamos!
As long as its just today and does not become a pattern.The mental advantage is huge to keep
Rafa is over the mental block against Novak. Even if he loses today, it will not linger with Rafa. He is just tired….
That point from Rafa was a beauty..very high risk tennis..
Will this turn the tide and match?
He saved 2 BPs..rem USO final 3rd set?
He was in similar situation in USO final set..down 2-0 and in his post presser he said it was imp not to go 2 breaks down..he had to fight BPs in his 2nd service game n did it
This is very different from a slam final. You have more time because it’s best three out of five. This is best two out of three and all Djoker has to do is hold his serve. Rafa hasn’t had a whiff of a break on his serve. He is struggling just to hold his own serve.
I hope this is any easy hold for Rafa.
Fantastic hold, Rafa, well done!
I think UEs re creeping now slowly in Novaks game..hope hope
4 UE in a row there from Novak..sustain it Novak
If this was a Slam I would hope too @Sanju, but in a best of 3 the window of opportunity is fast shutting down for Rafa….
Can Rafa do another Houdini?
Vamos Rafa
atleast no bagels or breadsticks 🙂
Anyways take solace guys..This is a 500..The slams and Masters matter more..as long as Rafa wins der..who cares about 500?Right?
At least Ricky will be back predicting Novak to beat Rafa henceforth!
#SilverLining
This will be just like the Monte Carlo victory for Djokovic, completely pyrrhic……..
pyrrhic? what does that mean?
Wikipedia:
“A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way; however, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit.”
The heavy toll being the loss of the #1 ranking……..
^^^good observation.
Rafas DTL FH is just not working today..hes dumping all in the net
I mean Rafa is actually hitting ball well..but Novak is getting every damn thing back and that is forcing Rafa to make errors
Are you sure @Sanju, with the number of UEs Rafa’s made?
Every DTL FH is hitting is misfiring..he did not misfire any in Montreal and USO
THat shot alone has made him lose 5-6 points till now
one main Problem is that rafa is unable to finish the points today. not a good performance
^^Am sure Rafa will say exactly the same….
We can talk about pyrrhic victories all we want, but the fact is that Djoker winning here will end Rafa’s unbeaten streak on hard court this year. Just like he ended Rafa’s streak of consecutive wins at MC.
Rafa does have the #1 ranking, but he has to play better to keep it.
It was bound to hppen right nyway? He wouldn’t have stayed unbeaten all year anyway..
Its in a way okay he gts beaten here..atleast no pressure on Rafa to stay unbeaten as well as be No 1
Snap, @Sanju!
I for one am not hung up on the streak, it was bound to end at some point. I don’t think Rafa headed to Asia hoping to keep his HC streak alive………..
Having said that, it was nice while it lasted, no? Not bad for someone who does not like HC much……………..
Don’t know why rafa’s level has dipped :S djo though, generally has played better than USO though
Well deserved Noval..excellent play
At least he was not humiliated. Totally understandable result. However Rafa will be pissed off at that loss.
Novak brought his best game today.
^^Agree ed251137. However, I don’t think Rafa will be too pissed off. He needs to keep his eyes on HIS goals, not get side-tarcked into thinking he can win everything.
Secured #1: check.
Onto Shanghai!
That was not over the top..a bit muted.
Yep, totally deserved, the better player on the day won.
Congratulations Novak!
Congratulations Rafa for making another final, all you need to do is go deep in the next couple tournaments to clinch your ultimate goal, YE#1!
Rafa simply did not play well today, too many errors. Congrats to Nole, he was definitely the better player today but that’s not to say Rafa won’t be in the zone next time.
^^^^I said the other day, I reckon he has been briefed to cut down on the displays of triumphalism. Better late than never. It was very unbecoming behaviour.
Well I hope that Rafa gets pissed off enough to find his best tennis. He’s got a tough draw in Shanghai.
So Djoker got his consolation prize. Rafa has the #1 ranking.
It’s the wee hours of the morning, so I am off to bed.
not going to say this was only a 500 so does not matter etc etc… I think it matters and rafa once again was UNABLE to perform at his best against djokovic… Not sure why he was so untidy today :S yeah the conditions were quick, favored novak …credit to novak for rushing rafa and being very aggressive on both wings , but rafa played an average match… He SHOULD have made set 2 more competitive at least… he could not even generate a single break point
Wow, you are a hard task master @vamosrafa! Not even cutting Rafa a little slack for:
a. re-gaining the #1 ranking in such a short period of time;
b. making another final;
c. showing signs of the inevitable fatigue from such a long and profitable season for Rafa;
d. still being on course to attain his other MAIN goal, winning WTF
No excuses, Novak was in the zone today………….
vamosrafa,
I commend you for keeping it real. I also appreciate your honesty. It was the way Rafa lost, not the mere fact that he lost. All it took was for him to get broken in the first game of each set. His serving is what concerns me. When he beat Djoker, his serve was able to stand up well. Here he was back to struggling in so many service games just to hold.
It’s clear from Djoker’s comments that he believes that he could have or should have won the USO final and Montreal semifinal. He is entitled to see those losses any way he pleases. That’s why I do not think Rafa is in his head. If he was able to absorb all these losses and still come back strong in this match, that bodes well for him going forward.
Nobody is minimizing any of Rafa’s great achievements. I don’t know why that even needs to be said. It’s not just the loss, it’s the way Rafa is playing. He seems mentally tired. This is normally a very good part of the tennis year for Djoker. He knows that he must defend his points if he is to stay close to Rafa. This part of the year has never been great for Rafa.
Rafa will have to serve much better to do well in Shanghai.
Rafa looked like he didn’t have enough passion to play. I hope, he’ll regain his passion in Shanghai.
The mental and emotional fatigue was inevitable. Don’t forget Nole was totally wiped out by this time of the year after his 2011 winning streak.
^^^In fact, Novak skipped the Asian swing altogether in 2011! Rafa only made it this year to lock up the YE#1.
Of course this is an important victory for Novak but guys, let’s get real: you can’t really compensate losing at Roland Garros, the US Open, and losing the world’s number 1 with a win here, but Rafa has to play much better or he will suffer the same fate in Shanghai.
RT @SI_BTBaseline: “Nadal will still take over No. 1 tomorrow. That’s a pretty solid consolation prize. #atp”
Coudn’t agree more………………
If Rafa is indeed mentally and emotionally fatigued..what is the possibility he will win any title going forth rest of the season? It will only get worse right the more he plays..it means he will not win any title rest of season
Yes he was a bit slow but I think Novak put on a master class and Rafa made so many UE..
@Sanju, I think he has to think what his objectives for the rest of the season are, and stick to them, that’s all. He should not engage himself in a “pissing” contest with Novak, or anyone else for that matter. Rafa needs to just “stay in his lane”.
Novak vs Fed on fast courts of Shanghai could be interesting :-). I would not be surprised if Fed hands Novak a loss
Congratulations to Nole and his fans, wherever they are 🙂 Thought he played really well, especially ROS and backhand.
Commies to Rafa fans, as RITB said No 1 isn’t a bad consolation prize!
Yeah, thought he looked tired tbh.
will Rafa play Shanghai?
The Shanghai Masters is a mandatory event.
I don’t see why not. All Rafa wants to do is lock up the YE#1, preferably before he gets to the WTF so that he only has one objective to focus on: winning WTF.
To be YE No.1, Rafa has to earn more points than Djoko can add at the Paris Masters & Davis Cup final (& at a smaller tournament, if he decides to play).
Rafa needs to somehow get around 1200 points between Shnghai, Basel, WTF
It would help if Novak loses in Shanghai early 🙂
He should play Shanghai and withdraw from Basel and Paris both..and turn up straight for WTF
Also in his other best seasons 2008 and 2010, lets not forget he really did not do anything much in the fall season post USO..hope its a lil different this year
Another thing, I do not see Novak letting down in the home stretch, he will want to keep the pressure on in case Rafa totally breaks down and unable to finish strong. This means Novak will also have a lot of points to defend next year, when Rafa has 4,000 points from Wimby and AO to play with.
So, I am pretty confident Rafa can end next year as #1 as well if he stays healthy…..
Being reported on other sites that Rafa will not be playing Paris after all. This would make sense to me, having gone deep in Beijing. And also he needs to take a break the week before WTF otherwise he would be playing Basel, Paris and WTF on the trot…..
Rafa never likes playing Paris so it won’t be a surprise if he pulls out, but Nole could gain a lot of points there.
Guys Novak is not gonna win Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, WTF on a trot..he will lose sumwer..
Quite agree @Sanju. However, even if he does:
a) just means he will have a lot of points to defend next year
b0 all Rafa has to do is get to the finals in Shanghai and Basel and he ends up Ye#1. Rafa is going to win some RR matches at WTF anyway………..
The match to watch will be the possible Fed-Novak quarterfinal encounter in Shanghai. Fed has semi final points to defend and he needs to add Race points to assure WTF participation so that is a match I am looking forward to…..
Which is why Rafa needs to do well in Shanghai to take the pressure off. I hope Rafa makes one last push in Shanghai, wins it and makes Paris results irrelevant. Then he would only need to get to the final in Basel and YE#1 would be locked in…………
Nadal didn’t get much rhythm from his last 2 matches, The Fognini match was awkward then Berdy pulled out, so that didn’t help.
For sure Rafa needs to raise his level in Shanghai………………….
I am expecting Fed to help Rafa by bumping out Novak..he surely can in the QF
As for Rafa’s possible withdrawal from the Paris Masters, it would be convenient to “conduct promontional activities” in Paris – to avoid a penalty. He has done this in previous years. In 2010, he had a photo shoot at Disneyland. (The Paris Masters 2010 was held on Nov. 8 – 14.)
Rafael Nadal at Disneyland Paris:
9 November 2010
http://www.diszine.com/content/rafael-nadal-at-disneyland-paris
The ATP website:
—Players with direct acceptance who do not play an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament will be suspended from a subsequent ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, which will be the next highest points earned ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event within the next 12 months. If an injured player is on site within the first three days of a tournament to conduct PROMOTIONAL activities over a two-day period, a suspension will not be enforced.—
Rafa lives with the knowledge his knee/knees could break down on him at any point. My feeling is he’s hell bent on playing as much as he possibly can while he is healthy and, set his heart on reaching YE No.1 and World No.1. If he achieves both those goals I think he’ll play less next year and only when he feels he has a fair chance of going deep in the majors and masters.
As Ricky often reminds us, accepting a financial penalty is neither here nor there. We also know he is not unduly concerned about breaking records for their own sake. He has pushed himself to the limit this year. Having proved to himself he can do it and brought unlimited happiness to all his fans in the process I think it’s time to cut him some slack if he doesn’t bring home the bacon every time.
^^quite agree, Rafa lost a battle but won the war for #1
ed251137@October 6, 2013 at 12:21 pm
—As Ricky often reminds us, accepting a financial penalty …. —
A financial penalty??? As for me, I’m talking only about ranking points penalties!
I’m only saying this because an underlying theme running through the threads is ‘Rafa MUST do this, that, or the other …………….’
You’ll recall he did not look particularly devastated during the presentation. On the contrary, he was quite relaxed – almost as though he was not surprised. Of course he would have preferred to win but he was sanguine about the loss.
“I didn’t see the way to stop him this afternoon. This afternoon he was too strong for me. I didn’t play my best match this afternoon, but he played at a very high level with his serve. I was not able to have any chance when I was returning during the whole match”, said Rafa.
“He had the ball staying very low. It was very difficult to create spin on this ball. He was able to hit all the balls where he wanted. When that’s happening against a player like Novak, you are dead. You don’t have not one chance.”
“I am back at the No. 1, something that I really thought that I would never have the chance to be back there,” Rafa said. “I’m playing one of the best seasons of my career, probably one of the more emotional years, if not the most for so many facts.”
http://rafaelnadalfans.com/2013/10/06/china-open-2013-final-photos-rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-world-no-1/
Hahaha! Now we know where Shanghai Rolex Masters stand on the GOAT debate:
http://www.whosay.com/status/bryanbros/747236?wsref=tw&code=Sup6UQo
They have a GOAT gala dinner? Would love to know who was invited…………..
So what will they do for the GOAT slayer?
The media and tournament promoters are not going to give up easily on the subject of his goatdom. I can envisage a scenario where Roger is wheeled onto the court and hoisted onto his feet to play so they can wring every last drop of publicity out of his presence.
As Cheryl said on her blog recently, imagine the catastrophe for the organisers if Andy has to forego WTF and Roger were not to qualify………..
“As Cheryl said on her blog recently, imagine the catastrophe for the organisers if Andy has to forego WTF and Roger were not to qualify………..”
If Rafa is there you don’t need anyone else. I’ve been o the O2 3 times and Rafa is treated like a rock star.
all 4 of them are, I’m sure (wherever the go)
ed, where did you see Cheryl’s blog recently?
Well, Fed better get his WTF skates on, he is in serious danger of not qualifying. He needs to go beyond the quarters in Shanghai to stave off the pack in hot pursuit……..
(My comment containing a link went obviously into a moderation queue. I’m trying again. This time I use a tinyURL)
As for Rafa’s possible withdrawal from the Paris Masters, it would be convenient to “conduct promontional activities” in Paris – to avoid a penalty. He has done this in previous years. In 2010, he had a photo shoot at Disneyland. (The Paris Masters 2010 was held on Nov. 8 – 14.)
Rafael Nadal at Disneyland Paris:
9 November 2010
http://tinyurl.com/pnyhz4w
The ATP website:
—Players with direct acceptance who do not play an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament will be suspended from a subsequent ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, which will be the next highest points earned ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event within the next 12 months. If an injured player is on site within the first three days of a tournament to conduct PROMOTIONAL activities over a two-day period, a suspension will not be enforced.—
^^^^I rest my case.
@RITB, haha,..well, that last post of mine came as a result of frustration…of course I am really happy rafa made it to the no.1 ranking and I could see he was fatigued…what I am worried about is that rafa has NOT been able to produce his new aggressive brand of tennis against novak …even in the USO final, that did not happen on a consistent enough basis but rafa got saved there thanks to his incredible fighting abilities…
I have to leave right now so will talk about this in more detail when I come back..
lastly, I do think rafa will play shanghai but I am not sure how his season is going to be from now on…this is why I was not having a good feeling about him playing DC and davis cup…the guy needs rest.. anyway, nothing to be so negative about !
Let’s hope rafa can rebound in Shanghai
vamosrafa,
I totally understand where you were coming from in your other post. I respect what you said because I feel the same way. I absolutely agree with your concerns.
You know my thoughts about DC. I rarely get as upset as I did when he had to jet back after the USO final and play two matches back-to-back. I thought it would take a toll on him.
What I find interesting, is that when some of us express our very real concerns about Rafa playing too much as he did at DC so soon after the USO final, then we get criticized. Then when we see the result of that catching up with Rafa at Beijing, we are supposedly not appreciating what Rafa can do or the fact that he has to live with knees that could go any time. That is exactly why I did not want him to play DC! Rafa cannot do it all. He is human. But some thought that I was overreacting. I was being realistic. There is a cost to doing something like that.
I am just grateful that you see things the same way. I didn’t freak out over the DC matches just for fun. There was real concern that was well grounded.
DC and BEIJING***
You are right to be apprehensive @vamosrafa. When you look at the Race rankings right now it looks like Rafa is untouchable but all it needs is a bad showing in Shanghai for Rafa and good showings for Novak in Shanghai and Paris and it becomes tight………
Clearly Rafa’s exhausted, with good reason. Let’s hope Rafa can dig deep and make one final push for a title at Shanghai.
#OneTournamentAtATime
Sorry, these China Open winners’ trophies look so……………….cheap.
That’s why he let Nole win it 😉
Beautiful picture of Rafa and his runner-up plate. I agree with queridorafa, it looks better than the winner’s trophy!
http://queridorafa.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/TennisNewsTPN/status/386824567626272769/photo/1
Nadline: Just Google CM + tennis and it’s the first item
Did she say it last year? I thought CM had a new blog somewhere and was referring to the O2 this year. Of course last year Rafa was out of the circuit.
http://www.tennistalks.com is Cheryl’s site. Ricky’s predictions are on there as well but last article was Oct. 4th after Rafa burned off The Fog.
it’s all of ours. we just aren’t doing anything over there yet. and won’t until we get it looking better.
Roger will qualify..
Augusta..wat if Berdy withdraws from Shanghai..wat will happe? who will take his place?
Sanju@October 6, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Berdy’s place will be taken by a Lucky Loser.
—A lucky loser is a sports player who loses a match in the qualifying round of a knockout tournament, but who then enters the main draw when another player withdraws after the tournament has started because of illness, injury or other reason.—
augusta..I mean in the Shanghai draw..I hope they dont bump Fed up..I so want a Fed Novak QF to take place 🙂
Thanks Agsta..thats good news 🙂
Guys apart from Isner (whom I think Rafa will beat)..the real danger is Delpo in the SF..it could be a huge banana skin
Sanju!
Ricky has posted Shanghai previews. I’ll comment about Berdy there.
Nah! Sanju, Delpo is not that much threat to Rafa.
Djokovic defeats Nadal – https://tenngrand.com/2013/10/06/djokovic-defeats-nadal-as-consolation-prize-for-ranking-swap/
Shanghai previews and picks – https://tenngrand.com/2013/10/06/shanghai-masters-preview-and-picks/
Ricky Dimon says:
October 6, 2013 at 10:16 am
will Rafa play Shanghai?
Pfft.
#BaitingTheHook
#RickyNotRafa
#FigurativelyNotLiterally
#HypotheticallyYesTechnicallyNo
Ricky, have you taken leave of your senses? If Wawa beat Rafa that would be a Tsunami if you say Rafa is hot. Rafa is below par, I have to admit. He is mentally drained after playing so many matches but I still don’t think Wawa has got what it takes even against a tired Rafa.
I thought Rafa would win Beijing but he didn’t so I’m not going to say he’ll win Shanghai, but I expect him to make the final. It would be interesting to see where Federer is after so many knocks and I would love to see him play Nole.
I would rather that the law of averages catches up with Rafa in these fall tournaments. He needs time to recover from the mental toll of the season he has had so far.
^^^Agree, but not before he clinches the YE#1! Going deep in Shanghai would be a start…………