During the heyday of their dominance, a Grand Slam semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would have been thought of as some sort of punishment inflicted by an unfair draw.
But it’s 2019 now, and any reinstallment of arguably the greatest rivalry in tennis history has to be treated as bonus. No matter that it will take place in the semifinals instead of a final. Given the current state of things in the men’s game, a Fedal semifinal feels just about right.
That will be the case when the two veterans square off for the 39th time in their careers at the French Open on Friday. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 23-15, including 13-2 on clay and 5-0 at Roland Garros. But it’s not all bad news for Federer; not even close. The 37-year-old has won five in a row at the Spaniard’s expense dating back to 2015, including in the 2017 Australian Open title match to go along with a trio of victories at Masters 1000s and one in Basel.
Virtual home-court advantage goes to Nadal this time around, even though the crowd will surely throw its support behind Federer. The 11-time French Open champion is an absolutely outrageous 91-2 lifetime at this tournament, losing only to Robin Soderling (2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015) before withdrawing prior to the third round in 2016. He has been up to his usual tricks this fortnight with routine wins over Yannick Hanfmann, Yannick Maden, David Goffin (in four sets), Juan Ignacio Londero, and Kei Nishikori.
Federer has also surrendered only a single set. The third-ranked Swiss’ disposed of Lorenzo Sonego, Oscar Otte, Casper Ruud, and Leonardo Mayer in swift fashion before beating Stan Wawrinka 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Tuesday. He is now 9-1 on clay this spring, a record that also includes mostly successful returns to Madrid and Rome.
“I (have already) exceeded my expectations here,” Federer said following his win over Wawrinka. “You know, after missing the French for so many years it’s nice to be back in the semis. So that’s a great feeling…. Now I have the match with Rafa, and I’m clearly excited. I hope I can recover well in the next couple days, which I’m sure I will, and I’ll give it my best shot on Friday.”
“I really expect that he (is) gonna play aggressive, changing rhythms, going to the net,” Nadal noted. “That’s my feeling, that he (is) gonna try to play that way, because he’s playing well and he has the tennis to make that happen. I have to be solid; I have to hit the ball enough strong to [not] allow him to do the things from good positions. I need to let him play from difficult positions, so from there he (is) gonna have less chances to go to the net or to play his aggressive game.”
The 17-time major winner has almost always been able to execute that plan on clay, pinning Federer on the baseline and exploiting his one-handed backhand with heavy topspin forehands. It is difficult to see anything different transpiring on Friday, as even though Federer’s return to clay has been impressive it still doesn’t include any wins over anyone in the top 14.
This will not be a complete rout; the world No. 3 is too good for that. But on this surface it likely won’t go more than three sets.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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who ya got?
Federer in 3. Yes, you are hearing it for first time. Federer’s ROS will be more than enough to go deep on almost Nadal’s every service game, and creating astronomical chances to break Nadal frequently.
Nadal may break Federe 1 time in every set, but Federer has the capability to break Nadal at least twice in every set, thanks to Nadal’s no so good service.
So, Federer in 3.
Federer’s ‘nothing to lose’ attitude would be the biggest weapon against Nadal this time. I am surprised why people are not realizing this important factor. Federer with ‘nothing to lose’ attitude is probably one of the most lethal things of any sports.
I have not even talked about Federer’s latest confidence against Nadal, and his big racket, Neo Backhand weaponry and currently ultra aggressive tennis. He sounds ready for a dogfight to beat Nadal one last and first time at French Open.
Fedalovic, I see you are dong a great job at convincing yourself there!!!
Fortunately Rafa’s serving good this tournament and I believe the Roger ROS was the biggest reason for this victories in 2017.
Rafa’s backhand has also been working great this clay season and while the forehand has been a bit error prone, he is going for his shots and will clean it up further. Rafa will mentally be ready and handle this in 4 sets.
Fed will try to play very aggressively but I don’t think an upset is happening here.
Hi VR, I tend to agree about Fed’s ROS in 2017. I do remember Rafa wasn’t serving great during 2017 HC season; it’s until the clay season that year that he revealed his incredible second serve. I think he or Moya mentioned that with his improved second serve, Rafa need not worry when delivering his first serve and he could rely on his second serve (and Rafa won over 60% of his second serves that year on clay!).
Yep, Rafa’s second serve is tougher to attack now and he improved it after those losses to Fed. The Fed backhand will hold up better but it is not going to create that winning edge for him.
I don’t like the weather thought. Would prefer hotter and dry conditions
I have Nadal in 4. I think Fed is playing well enough to get a set, but not more than that.
I honestly don’t know about this one.Nadal at his best will win,but he mightn’t be,and Fed could have the mental edge.
I still can’t pick against Nadal at RG though.
Good to see rafa expects fed to be aggressive and go to the net , so I am hoping he and moya will strategise accordingly and be prepared.
Though ricky ,nadal in 3 is slightly optimistic..federer with nothing to lose and really raring to go for this will definitely not lose in 3 though I hope he does 🙂 ..however more outrageous is the Fed in 3 pick above 🙂
Still dreaming…Fed in 4….and what an honor and privilege it will be for ALL of us to watch these two champions play once again!
Nadal has lost 2 sets to 3 players during his career on this court. It was against Djokovic, Soderling and Isner. Fed came close in 2006 I think.
Currently, i think there’s only 1 player that can win 2 sets and thats Djokovic.
Nadal’s results this year are as ruthless as theyve ever been. Not sure its a good thing for Fed that Nadal lost a set to Goffin also.
Nadal in 3
Im leaning towards 3 but i give Fed a chance of winning a set.
Fed will win a set. He is playing to well not to.
That said, its going to be extremely windy on Friday in the afternoon. I dont know how that changes the dynamic.
Rafa would have hoped for sunny and dry. But, thats exactly what its not going to be.
The wind will affect both players, not only Rafa. Rafa has played and won on that court in many years and many times, rain or shine.
Fed will have nothing to lose. But, if & when he is ahead, he will have everything to lose. LOL
What Roger said in his presser about the match
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/press-conference-federer-quarterfinal-rg19
What Rafa said in his presser about the match
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/press-conference-nadal-quarterfinal-rg19
Rafa in 4. Maybe 3. Best for Fed is 4 tight sets. I’d be happy to see either guy win, though.
I have a feeling about this one , its going to be much closer than in the past because Roger isn’t going to play Nadal’s game this time.
Ash Barty, Konta, both attacking players, neither expected to do this well on clay.
The big difference is mental,Rafa’s not as confident , Roger has nothing to prove at his age so will play more freely than say in 2006-7 .
The damp weather will probably help Fed also.
However, I still wouldn’t bet against Rafa at RG.
Its really annoying not just for the players having to wait around for matches ..
This site these days is a combination of group-think and gamblers’ fallacy. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to think Fed will lose in 3, when Goffin took a set off Nadal a few days ago. Nor is Nadal’s incredible record at RG relevant to right now, when he’s clearly not the same player.
Ricky says that Fed has yet to beat anyone in the top 14, but he has played very tough competition in Thiem, Coric, and Stan, all of whom played great against him. Imo Thiem played better against Fed than he did in beating Nadal. Yet Fed held two match points and was inches from winning. Rafa has not defeated tougher competition except for Djokovic, who was very sub-par and still managed to take a set.
Fedalovic makes some very important points that most people are overlooking. With the new racquet, Fed is a different player, even on clay. He will threaten to break Rafa’s serve in many if not most games and this time he will be much better than 2 of 18 on BP conversions. His BH will be as much a weapon as a liability. And he will hold comfortably in most of his own service games. Add in the fact that all the pressure is on Nadal, and that adds up to a convincing victory for Roger. Federer in 3, at most 4 sets, for the win.
This site these days is a combination of group-think and gamblers’ fallacy.
true true
This site these days is a combination of group-think and gamblers’ fallacy.
True true true
I agree with Joe Smith. This is exactly what I was trying to convey and the people are not being to realize. Stan Wawrinka had one of the finest ‘Serve’day I have ever seen in a long time. Apart from last set Wawrinka, was making astronomical set of First Service IN percentages but Federer was still doing deep in almost every other service game. And Nadal will never have the luxury of Stan’s incredible serve, and Federer will literally get into almost every other service game.
The only way Federer was not able to convert most of BP’s against Stan due to stunning day of service by Stan. And Nadal wouldn’t be getting this luxury again. The only way Stan survived 3 set defeat due to his amazing service day and still Federer created gigantic set of break points. And this thing is not being highlighted by certain analysis.
Stan’s serving was clutch for sure, but overall he’s just a different style of player. Nadal won’t generally hit many big serves or get free service points the way Stan does, but nor will he make the unforced errors. Also, Fed’s BP conversion is always likely to be worse on clay, as the surface rewards defence and makes it harder to hit quick winners.
When Stan is on fire he’s extremely difficult to beat as he basically just paints lines and he can hit them from anywhere. But in most matches he’ll throw up enough UE’s for an opponent to create chances. Nadal plays with a lot of margin and will commence many neutral baseline rallies, which is much easier for him to do on clay.
The 1st set is obviously critical for Federer, as at this point he has his best chance of hitting through the court. The longer the rallies go, the longer the match goes, the more difficult it is to maintain the aggression – we have seen that story before. Even against Stan you could see this shift and as time went on Wawrinka could hit through the court better. At that point it may become tempting for Fed to go to the net i.e. maximum aggression. The problem is that this can be somewhat successful on a HC, but on clay it’s worse. This is one part of why the 2008 final was so one-sided. Federer had realised that going toe-to-toe from the baseline with Nadal was a recipe for losing again (he was right about that) and that he had to change something. So he went more aggressive and high risk, but instead of being ground down at the baseline, he lost quickly as Nadal had so much time to hit past him.
On HC/Grass the strategy for Fed against Nadal is now pretty clear: Hit over the backhand including on ROS, maintain aggression, serve/volley & use the full court to avoid Rafa getting into a rythmn. This may continue to work for him on those courts into 2019. On a clay court this strategy is not likely to be as successful, it’s just hard to play a lot of short point tennis.
With Fed’s new racquet, I think Nadal has only a slight advantage from the baseline, which can be neutralized by aggression coupled with judicious net approaches and sharp angles. That’s what we saw in 2017, even on very slow HC. True, PC court will be even slower, but Fed is still more than capable of hitting through Nadal.
As I said before, the main thing is to commit to an ultra aggressive strategy and not revert to long baseline rallies. Fed started with that in 2011, but gave up on it much too early. His model needs to be something like Dustin Brown at Wimby. I don’t know how many times he got passed in that match, but he kept coming and it paid off in the end. Obviously Fed is not going to come in that much to the net, but the point is to commit to an aggressive strategy and not lose heart when he gets passed or Nadal hits a fifth or sixth aggressive shot back.
And people here are advocating how Nadal almost won Australian Open 2017. The scoreline indeed sounded close. But, the thing is. Nadal had no business winning that AO & getting that close.
Federer was comfortably cruising and was two sets to one up in no time without any trouble, but after 3rd set, the old memories of Nadal got into Federer’s mind, creating pressure and self doubt, and match got that long to the extent that Federer literally had to play one of the finest display of tennis to comeback in 5th set.
Now that pressure is gone after AO 2017, and Nadal has not even broken Federer after AO final. Such is the the confidence.
I guaranty u if Federer and Nadal meet again under same condition of AO 2017 – but Federer with confidence after winning 5 consecutive matches and with the mindset up of getting the monkey off his back – Federer would beat Nadal in straight sets at AO again. That AO 2017 5 set stretch was the function of Federer’s old self doubt against Nadal, otherwise that match should have been won by Federer in maximum 4 sets.
Now, With Federer’s latest aggressive brand of tennis, extreme confidence, backhand no longer a liability, excellent service, decent ROS, ESPECIALLY NOTHING TO LOSE MINDSET, and Nadal’s weak serve are one of those factors I believe Federer would beat Nadal in straight sets at French Open 2019. At max, I can’t see Nadal winning more than 1 Set honestly.
Extreme confidence still got his serve broken by Stan, who’s not even the best returner of serves! Had Stan been a little bit fresher, he would’ve won the third set and Fed would need to go the distance against Stan.
Against Stan Fed is already so ‘not Confident’, what about against Rafa?
Stan’s level in that QF was probably not far from what Rafa’s will be in the SF. And Fed should have won that match in straight sets. Fedalovic is right, for instance, that Fed basically broke himself when serving at 1-1, 40-15 in the second set.
Fed breaking himself is a bad thing, you know….
True, but it’s something within his control, on his racquet. My main point is that those who think Rafa will bring a whole different level from what Fed just saw and beat in Stan in the QF are almost certainly wrong. It will be a different style of tennis, no doubt, but likely in the same ballpark in terms of overall quality.
In Rafa’s words… we gonna see, no? Considering Federer has all these advantages over Rafa, it will be a massive upset I guess if Rafa wins against all odds
Lol haha..just as djokovic caused massive upset in AO final beating Rafa in 3:-)
No one is saying that. But virtually everyone on this site, including Ricky, is picking Nadal in 3. If they were saying 5 I could see it, but it seems Fed is getting no respect here from most of the Rafans. Apart from the historical record on clay (last match: six years ago), it’s hard to see it on current form and more recent H2H.
You can’t criticise people for not respecting Federer when you’re equally disrespecting Rafa. You said earlier his brilliant record at Roland Garros doesn’t count in today’s match? Of course it does! Rafa has an aura about him at Roland Garros that isn’t the case at other clay tournaments. It doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable, but he’s still heavily the favourite, and nothing he’s done this year changes that, including losing a set to Goffin in what was otherwise a straight forward match. And he’s not the same player? Rafa’s not playing that differently to how he did in the early stages last year, where he still went on to win. He’s been serving well and playing fine, on and off, since Rome. Rafa’s C game is still enough to beat the majority of people at RG. And if Rafa isn’t the same player anymore, Federer certainly isn’t either.
You big up the amazingly challenging players Federer has played and nearly beaten on clay, yet you totally dismiss the fact that Rafa bagelled and breadsticked Djokovic in Rome, putting all the onus on Novak being tired, which is totally unfair on Rafa. I’m not saying Rafa will beat Federer today, but to say it’s ridiculous to predict that Nadal will beat Federer in straights at Roland Garros, and then go on to say that you think Federer will beat Nadal in straights, is bizarre to me. I know you criticise people on this site for attacking you for your opinions on Rafa, but you do seem very keen to give him little to no credit whatsoever.
Amen Arthur!!……..could not have said it better. And there many of them like that here om this site!
Well, if Stan who’s not known to have good ROS, could break Fed’s serve to win a set and almost two sets, I think Rafa will do better to break Fed’s serve more than twice to win the match. Fed despite serving well still got broken by Stan, I think he should be worried about his own service game.
I don’t see Rafa not feeling confident against Fed, after all he own Fed on clay, whatever happened on the HCs are irrelevant; Rafa is beating all his opponents so confidently here, esp against Kei. He also played the right game plan to beat Djoko at Rome, why would he fear Fed? Fed’s SHBH greater than Djoko’s DHBH? I doubt!
Those players who played aggressive tennis to win here? Well, are their opponents by the name of Rafa Nadal?
Luckystar, just because Federer has great serve, it doesn’t mean he will never be broken by Nadal again. I categorically stated in my very earlier comments that Nadal indeed may break Nadal but Federer will break more and get into deep of almost every second game of Nadal’s service.
I am saying that Nadal may find it hard to break Federer is the fact Nadal has never broken Federer post AO 2017 Final, even hardly created break points in those matches. This is what the confidence and inspiration has done to Federer against Nadal.
Regarding Stan breaking Federer twice, I couldn’t watch the 3rd set how Stan broke Federer – may be due to the frustration Federer was carrying for not being able to convert break points.
But, I was watching the second set where Wawrinka broke Federer out of nowhere. More than Stan, it was rather a self-break destruction by Federer himself in that service break. I think Federer was cruising that service game with 40-0 or 40-15 when out of nowhere Fed started made sloppy errors to break himself, honestly. Until then Federer was not even giving Stan the flexibility to even get 40-30 into his (fed) serve games, let alone facing deduce or fighting break points. I don’t think Federer will lose concentration like this against Nadal, or having relaxation to self break like this in 2ND set against Wawrinka. But, again, this does not mean Nadal might never break Nadal, the point of ponder is that Federer would probably break Nadal more and create infinite break chances against Nadal service more than Nadal breaking Federer or creating more break chances.
Secondly, Federer’s Forehand has surprised me little as I was not expecting that Federer’s forehand would start clicking and hitting that much harder than I have seen in a long time. May be his forehand has started working like old at the right time at the right place.
Dear Friend, if Fed could get frustrated by Stan, then more so by Rafa!
Rafa hardly got broken here at RG, what make you think he would suddenly be broken by Fed, when Fed isn’t a great returner of serve to start with. In fact I think Rafa being better at returning serves would most likely break Fed’s serve more often than Fed breaking Rafa’s.
Fed shanked quite a few BHs when pressurised by Stan, Rafa’s lefty FH will make it worse for Fed. Fed was also slow to cover his FH corner and mis-hit his FH on the run, Rafa will make him pay with his (Rafa’s) lethal CC BH.
Dear luckystar, The result of Nadal’s service games in previous matches may not be a great comparison with what Federer can do. Nadal has never faced a single player who is capable of current Federer in previous 5 matches.
And I do not think that anyone would agree with you here, even deep Rafa fans, that Nadal has better serve than Federer.
Federer indeed has a better ROS, and the reason why Federer can break Nadal more is the fact that Nadal has weak service and Federer will literally exploit it. Just like Nadal was seemingly doing everything better before the 2019 Australian Open Final, but he eventually faced Djokovic and we saw what happened there. Same goes here!
Trust me lucky we can compare a lot of things between Nadal and Federer. But, you are forgetting two important factors that can alter Nadal’s play in that match.
First factor (Huge Factor): Federer’s nothing to lose position that could literally put a tremendous pressure on Nadal.
Second Factor: Federer’s latest mental edge that he acquired especially after 2017 Australian Open.
Mentality can play a huge role in determining how a player will play against a certain player. Just like Nadal got intensively nerves and just could not recover mentally in AO 2019 Final, ultimately leading him to play bad against Djokovic in Australian Open Final, 2019.
Mentality makes or breaks matches. In the past, Federer and Djokovic both had this issue mentality issue against Nadal, that kept them playing their best against Nadal. Djokovic reversed this pattern in 2011, but Federer reversed this in 2017. But, I must give Nadal that he used to have incredible nerves and mentality against both Djokovic and Federer in the past, especially against Federer. And unfortunately, this is no more the issue.
Come on, both Fed and Rafa got broken and did break their opponents serve in almost all their matches save one; there’s no proof that Fed could hold serve better than Rafa. Also, Fed has not met an opponent of Rafa’s caliber, what make you think he would not be broken more often by Rafa?
What make you people think that Fed has nothing to lose? In fact, I think he has everything to lose, because he knows he won’t have many more chances of meeting Rafa here, all the more he wants to do better and tries to beat Rafa one last time on clay.
In fact I feel Fed will be more nervous than Rafa; Rafa will as usual go through his own routine and game plan, whilst Fed has to think hard how to handle Rafa’s topspin, not only from the FH but also from Rafa’s BH.
Interestingly, when Ricky wrote the post with the headline “With nothing to lose, can Federer be dangerous against Nadal?”, I was personally thinking as if Ricky is making his mind and is probably going to make the greatest prediction of all time as Federer beating Nadal in straight sets or in 4 sets, and shocking almost everyone on this website.
But, Ricky in fact shocked me when he posted the Prediction as Nadal beating Federer in 3.
Hi, Ricky, you just missed the chance to predict the greatest prediction of all time by not choosing Federer to beat Nadal in straight sets or in 4. 😊
Federer is going to shock, except me and Joe Smith, everyone on this website including Ricky.
If you are super confident you should logically throw some money behind it, as Fed is still like $6-7 to win.
If you’re right then all credit to you, but yeah even as a Federer fan I’m just struggling to see it.
Dear luckystar, The result of Nadal’s service games in previous matches may not be a great comparison with what Federer can do. Nadal has never faced a single player who is capable of current Federer in previous 5 matches.
And I do not think that anyone would agree with you here, even deep Rafa fans, that Nadal has better serve than Federer.
Federer indeed has a better ROS, and the reason why Federer can break Nadal more is the fact that Nadal has weak service and Federer will literally exploit it. Just like Nadal was seemingly doing everything better before the 2019 Australian Open Final, but he eventually faced Djokovic and we saw what happened there. Same goes here!
Trust me lucky we can compare a lot of things between Nadal and Federer. But, you are forgetting two important factors that can alter Nadal’s play in that match.
First factor (Huge Factor): Federer’s nothing to lose position that could literally put a tremendous pressure on Nadal.
Second Factor: Federer’s latest mental edge that he acquired especially after 2017 Australian Open.
Mentality can play a huge role in determining how a player will play against a certain player. Just like Nadal got intensively nerves and just could not recover mentally in AO 2019 Final, ultimately leading him to play bad against Djokovic in Australian Open Final, 2019.
Mentality makes or breaks matches. In the past, Federer and Djokovic both had this issue mentality issue against Nadal, that kept them playing their best against Nadal. Djokovic reversed this pattern in 2011, but Federer reversed this in 2017. But, I must give Nadal that he used to have incredible nerves and mentality against both Djokovic and Federer in the past, especially against Federer. And unfortunately, this is no more the issue.
Correction: Luckystar, And I do not think that anyone would agree with you here, even deep Rafa fans, that Nadal has better ROS than Federer.
Additionally, Federer has both better serve than Nadal, as well as better ROS than Nadal. I would like to see if anyone else on this website may disagree with me about Federer having better ROS than Nadal.
Laughable, Nadline for sure will disagree with you, and not only her but most fans on this site. The stats supported what I said, Rafa is among the top two or three in terms of returned games won, Fed is not among them.
Why don’t you look at the stats at the atp website on the players themselves? Clearly, Rafa has better stats on the return points and return games won whilst Fed has better serving stats.
Nice to see that I found someone who seems to think how Federer will beat Nadal.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1136927/Roger-Federer-Rafael-Nadal-French-Open-Daniela-Hantuchova-Roland-Garros
So, it is good that apart from me and Joe Smith, someone from tennis background realizes how Federer can beat Nadal.
As expected .women’s semis on lenglen n Simone matheu n fedal on PC at 1 pm
Amy how’s weather 1 to 4 pm please..most reliable site ?
Fedal will finish tomorrow. the other semi might not.
Exactly my thoughts!
Not good on all weather sites sanju! Best weather is from 6 onwards. Have read all weather forecasts!
I think Fedal is likely to be delayed by rain. Even if rain stops and they can start around 3pm, it will be cool and windy, with wind increasingly through the aftenroon. Not ideal conditions, but I don’t think it favors either player. Ball won’t bounce as high, but also harder to hit through the court.
Don’t know why lucky thought rafa was adversely affected by wind the other day. He has always been great at playing in the wind. I think she said it affected his serve after injury? Lucky over to you.
Amy, his serve was affected badly by the wind in MC! You forget he got broken in every single service game in the first set against Foggy? At that time it’s rather windy at MC (and at Barcelona too).
He has improved at RG but I’m not sure when he’s a bit nervous, will the windy conditions affect him or his serve again. We shall see…
Men’s semis will be scheduled for 1 on Chatrier.
The women’s semis are at 11 on the other courts.
Most people think fedal will be on first. Lot of rain forecast!
love to see it
Yes, Fedal first on Chatrier. The scheduling actually makes sense for once since they’re the far more rested of the men’s semifinalists.
I’m sure rain is in the forecast but it’s Roland Garros, notorious for inaccurate weather forecasts. It seems to be able to rain in the rest of Paris but not at RG – and vice versa, of course.
Loved listening to fed!Always have a chance because rafa might be injured! Sick! Or may be helped by on off rain delays!
Rafa’s knees may give out, the dog may eat his homework, he might have a fight with his fiancee, Carlos may decide to spend the day with his kids. Lightning may strike him. Toni might have a heart attack. There may be an Act of God. The possibilities are endless.
Haha yes exactly! But Roger coming up with these negatives made me laugh!
Sorry to say haha again but that was very funny Ramara. I was imagining all these events occurring simultaneously!
Yeah! It was hilarious. I pictured ljubicic spiking Rafa’s paella as Roger was saying he could fall sick with a glint in his eye 🤣
I actually thought Fed was being self-deprecating, as if of course Rafa is the heavy favorite but you never know what could happen…
How are you feeling sanju?! Are the nerves kicking in?!
Yes big time .I won’t watch it .I am just hoping for a win .hoping hard .reading messages here making me more nervous 🙂 I would have felt better had there been sun but…
Best to ignore a lot of what people say sanju!
From 6 onwards there may be sun as they may not be able to play before. Lack of sun means lack of pace for Roger which won’t help him so works both ways. Was cloudy in 08!
Yes roger got beaten many times in cloudy n damp squib conditions ..also his serve may not find spots in breeze n wind..so yes it goes both ways..
All we can do is hope our Rafa wins …
The weather is good today n Saturday .why did it have to be cloudy n rainy Friday n Sunday
The forecast for Sunday is now good on most sites sanju! No rain low 20s with some sun.
08 Rafa was at another level..as he was in 17 n I think 10 too..
No set dropped all tourney
I know this is wrong thread but did anyone else see Simona go out? She was so disappointing although Ansimova was very good.
Shocking to see her go in straights .I think konta barty final..unexpected finals ..
Think Ansimova may beat Barty!
Saw that match, was great! You could not tell who would win till the end!! Very nice match although i am not familiar with either one, lol!!!
Good to see how Barty held her ground after losing first set when 5:1 lead and serving for it!!
Laver says that Roger will try and bring Rafa forwards all.the time with short serves and drop shots and volleys. That’s potentially very risky against Rafa as he is so good at net and if Roger isn’t accurate he will get passed all the time.
Laver said Rafa will win ao against Novak..he is wrong most times though these days ..ofcourse roger won’t sit n grind at baseline with Rafa but all the time .he is not a s&v player..
I think Roger will have to be aggressive but play with variety. That will mean go for a lot of winners, hit sharp angles, come into net, and hit the occasional drop shot. That will mean bringing Nadal in sometimes, but if Rafa is stepping into the court on his own terms, then of course that will not be good for Fed.
Bringing Rafa into the net is a different tactic and may throw him.He’s a good volleyer, but so is Fed.
And that’s exactly what happened. Roger simply had NO answers for Rafa today!! NONE!!
They have officially put Fedal on at 12.50 for tomorrow. Best result for us rafa fans is Rafa winning and the others having to play on Saturday!☺☺
Why have natashao and Mira not posted anything yet ? I don’t rem seeing anything from them at all..
Not seen much from NNY too..
Keep your mind sharp and focused, remain confident, be strong and show your warrior spirit, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D8cHzlqXYAAovtx.png
It is time folks!
Yes! I expect sanju is near death from nerves right now!!☺
So am I… hope our Rafito can get off to a good start and does not get broken in the first game
Yeah we are all really nervous!!
We couldnt have asked for a better semi-final lineup. Seeds 1, 2, 3 and 4
Federer is better in the wind than Nadal. Nadal is terrible in the wind.
Oh damn getting it here. 3-0
The fearhand down the line makes it appearance
Are we here now!
Rafa is hitting way too much to the backhand!
Omg gave the break back
Break back. Nice.
That’s a statement.
Yesss!
Yess another break! Is serving one side tougher than the other?
I am trying to wake up. Just started watching. I see Rafa is up a break. Weather looks lousy.
The interesting things is Nadal is not out-hitting Fed. Fed has just framed a lot of shots because of the conditions. If he can limit the miss-hits we could have a competitive match on our hands.
Nice play rafa!☺
Come on Rafa!!
Rafa has to serve for the set into the wind
Damn the moment of truth
Yessss!☺☺☺😊
What a freaking backhand!
Comeeeeeee on!!! First set since Australia
Yes, Rafa gets the first set!
Watching Rafa serving for set or match is really a torture these days; he almost always makes hard work of it! Thankfully he wins the first set.
I was a wreck just watching Rafa serve for the first set! What a backhand!
NNY, You say u?
The weather was lousy but i didn’t even notice bcos I was so nervous. I had a huge sigh pf relief when Rafa won first set. People really wanted Roger to be more competitive. After a while they first resigned themselves to the fact the Rafa is just too good, conditions or not!! And Roger knew it too!
Awesome set of tennis from Nadal. If he continues to play like this and wins, it will be no shame for Fed. Roger is playing well but it’s been a different of a few points. Most crucial was his inability to hold when he had game point at 2-3. I don’t remember a match where the wind has been such a huge factor just in terms of side of the net. Come on Rog!
Thanks for the updates guy.. watch or Not watch. Being a Ratan is torture 😆. Atleast until he wins and thats when my bp / heartrates get normal.
Glad he won the 1st. Hopefully one more and then one more
Cold and windy. Worst possible conditions for Nadal. He likes it hot and dry.
I felt that coming!😢
But atrocious it was as if the player for whom the ball stayed low the least won the game
Everyone in the crowd is wearing winter jackets and look like theyre freezing.
We were!!! After a point my teeth were chattering!! lol!!
Yess! Break back!☺
Now freaking hold serve!
Rafa is federeresque ln bps today
Yes it is doing my head in!
He should be further ahead!
Huge break for Nadal. Some poor decision making, imo, from Fed. A lot of head-scratching approaches on 2nd serves. But Rafa’s shot to break, off a Fed overhead, was incredible.
Complete change up by fed!
Yeah feel the second set is going Feds way. Too unpredictable the conditions. Making the match more equal
Some back hand pass to avoid breakpoint there but roger makes some awesome gets of his own to win the next
Some incredible shots by rafa!
And the forehand flick there to avoid bp again
Pulled that out of his bum
Feel that rafa isn’t being aggressive enough in the return game s
Federer is crushing it
which match are you watching????
Hahahahahaha!!!!
Yess! Rafa heard me!☺
Rafa has to serve into the wind again
Boring!
Omgggggg if you have to explain to a newbie why rrafa is king of clay, that game should be shown
Absolutely terrible game from Fed from 40-0 to get broken. Some great shots by Rafa, but bad decision making and really reminiscent of old Fed on this surface. He’s hitting the ball as hard as he can, but not taking enough care with placement. This was really a set he should have won.
Second set rafa!
Rafa has looked like an absolute superstar at times!☺
Some shots have just been genius!☺
Amy you are my lucky mascot..
Why do we feel set is going feds way when it’s on serve 3-4.. guess it’s never over until over.. but atleast now Rafa relaxes and cleans it up.
Can’t you watch PK?
Oh no. My BP shoots the roof. And someone said 3-0 first set and I got worried and looked up scores and next thing he gets broken back. happy for Rafa and am enjoying your updates.
Yes, Rafa wins the second set! So happy for him, no hiccups when serving for the set. Vamos! One more set to go!
And set 2 in the bag. Rafa has a neat two set streak going now against the fed
Apparently, Roger wanted windy weather.
Such a shame at the end of that set. Nadal won the first set, but Fed had more to do with losing the second one. Biggest difference in the match is that Nadal has played the biggest points brilliantly. The commentator just said that if you took Rafa’s best six shots of the match, they’d pretty much correspond to the biggest six shots, which I think is exactly right. I’m not giving up on Fed just yet, though. He’s playing well enough to win this match, even if it would be slightly miraculous if he did so at this point.
Has Nadal done his girly screech yet?
The cat screech lol
What good is a Rafa match without a running FHDTL
The one blight has been rafa not converting break points!
Jim Courier JUNE 7, 2019 AT 12:54 PM
Has Nadal done his girly screech yet?
I don’t think so since he’s not having to over-exert himself too much
2 more break points!
Yes break!☺
Wow fed playing sublime tennis… for a doubles court
Roger is getting frustrated. Understandable, but he has to keep his head up. He’s missed some easy shots and hit some others into the wrong place, but Nadal is not giving him any margin for error.
Lolololol federer gets a ball abuse warning. But sportsmanship award already has his name on it
lol!!!! U guys crack me up!!!
4 more sets to RG 12th
Loving this now… 😃😃😃😃😃
Rafa’s crosscourt backhand has been fantastic this match!☺
Yeah amy.. it has not succumbed to the weight of expectstipns or the weight of Feds heavier racket
Double break!☺
Fed trying to land the ball on Suzanne lenglen
Phew, at least Rafa breaks twice in the third set, so in case he’s serving for the match and any hiccups, at least he has some buffer for that, and not let Fed level the set.
Third set has been all Rafa, but this is really the first time it’s felt like he is dominating play and totally in control, at least to me. Fed’s first serve % has been atrocious in sets 2 and 3 and Nadal has maintained his extremely high level.
Is it because Nadal is so awesome or because he has simply developed an almost unbeatable formula on this court?
I reckon its the latter which makes it a tad boring at number 12. Just MO.
Where’s Robin Soderling when you need him?
Jim Courier June 7, 2019 at 1:17 PM
‘I reckon its the latter which makes it a tad boring at number 12. Just MO.’
Just dont’ watch it then.
As entertaining as the “unbiased” previews are, the “refusal to eat humble pie” reviews are even more so🥧🥧
Nmk1…..u cracking me up!! But I agree
The pre-match reviews were laughable if not stupid!!!! Rafa beats Roger in str8t sets just like Ricky predicted while others felt Fed would win in 4 or str8ts!!! Are you kidding me? At RG?!!!
Come on a break here would bring back some great 2008 memories😛
Rafa should have given a little applause there for the half volley dig😉
Nadal 79-0 in FO when win first set
Rafa in the final!☺
Ah thank you. Finally! I can enjoy a Friday night with friends. Thanks everyone..
Now have to hope Thiem takes care of Djoko
Have a,good time PK!
Thank you Amy. Back home. Saw ur updates on the Djokovic match. I prefer Thiem. Would be a lil simpler for Nadal even if its not guaranteed. Have a nice nite guys. This is quite a family and I hope we get to celebrate Rafa’s 12th.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Awesome match by Rafa !!!!!
What’s all this racquet about?
#GOAT
#VAMOS
What would the score had been if it was Rafa weather?
What would the score have been if it was Rafa weather?
Fedalovic got the number of sets right though so was not completely wrong
Well done Rafa, another final, vamos!!!!
Sanju you can come on site now!☺
You said we could all strangle you!☺
Ricky had it spot on with his prediction. I thought Fed could get a set. But Rafa was too good. Very proud of him for playing so well in these conditions.
I was a bit concerned that Rafa might not have been challenged enough with his draw. But today he raised his level of play and just took control of this match.
Rafa will get a chance to play for #12!
😍
Big hug nny!!☺
Very proud of Rafa!
amy,
Right back at you! 🥰
Glad we could watch rafa together nny!!☺☺
He was a genius at times today!
Rafa was absolutely awesome today!☺
Well done to Rafa and his fans! Obviously I was wrong about the outcome, but I have to say: for a match that was won in 3 sets with a scoreline that didn’t look that close, that was played in terrible conditions, and that my guy lost, I found this a very enjoyable and high quality match to watch!
Although the 3rd set was all Rafa and he totally deserved the first set as well, I really felt like it was a match until the end of the 2nd set, which Fed should have won. The key games, imo, were 1) Fed failing to hold at 2-3 in the 1st set when he had several chances; 2) Fed failing to hold at 2-0 in the 2nd set; and 3) and most of all, Fed failing to hold at 4-4, 40-0 in the 2nd set. In all those circumstances, Nadal played phenomenal tennis, but I think Fed also under-performed at those key junctures. Fed’s 1st serve pct. was terrible in sets 2 and 3, which pretty much doomed his chances. Still, well done for him to make it this far. At no point did I think he looked like a nearly 38 year old out there.
Nadal’s level was extremely high, higher than I thought it would be. I think if he plays like this he should win the final, though I guess if Novak ratchets it up a couple notches, he may have something to say about that.
Well said, Joe. Roger is indeed a phenomenal player for any age! Kudos to him for for playing the clay this year. He got quite a few ranking points out of it too. I know he’s no longer gunning for #1 but he won’t want his ranking slipping too far down and he’s been seriously unlucky at the majors for over a year now.
No one expects objectivity from you where Federer is concerned. Just understand that Rafans can’t be objective either! It’s the curse of fandom.
Its hard to make sense of how to read into Rafa’s play today given the conditions. He did play the big points better, which was a positive. Hopefully he does the same vs. Novak on Sunday.
Wooohoooo!!! Vamos Rafa, now and always! Great job, champion!
The level of play given the dreadful conditions was very very high! Fed played some very good tennis but rafa was unbelievable.
I agree, Amy. It was extremely high level tennis given the conditions, obviously more so by Rafa, but still high overall as well.
I actually felt sorry for fed in the final set. Not being patronising. He was really beaten up in the final set and it was quite hard to watch.
Commies to you and fed will have a great shot at wimby.
Thanks, Amy. Fed did look a bit dejected out there in the 3rd set. He didn’t stop competing, but he was just getting dominated in a way that he wasn’t earlier in the match. I don’t think he really recovered from the collapse at 4-4, 40-0. And Rafa just took it up a notch once he got that break.
Tennis is way better for fed playing Joe! He done good as we brits say! Had a very good tournament overall!
Even though fed lost that match that was a great advert for tennis and a reminder of the greatness of the Fedal rivalry and how much they have given the sport.
Imagine if not for a person called Rafa, Rpger would have been in the final being nearly 40!
Well done to dear Rafa! He plays so well today. The ex-player Randy Lu (Lu Yan Soong if I’m not wrong), guest commentator at Fox Sports here, remarked that Rafa played it smart in the wind – when he’s playing against the wind, he hit harder his shots, but when with the wind, he hit more topspin.
I’m so glad to see that and hear that, that means our Rafa is back! He’s able to overcome windy conditions, and he serves so well and so intelligently. He’s simply incredible at the FO!
Rafa served incredibly well. I thought Fed returned ok, but should have experimented with stepping back a couple steps. Bigger problem was that he hit so few of his own 1st serves in.
Vaaaaaamoooooos Rafa!!!!!!
✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✌
Yeah awesome job by Rafa no matter what happens on sunday.. but that once incident where Roger tossed the ball into the crowd earning an abuse. I understand he was frustrated but Rafa was in the same position on a court he is expected to win on. Getting broken because of the conditions. But rafas demeanor vs the supposedly greatest of all time’s behavior tilts the scale in favor of rafa😊
And with Rafa doing his stuff quickly, i can go to work too
Would love to see DT win the other semi to have another crack at the KOC ….
So does Rafa stay no 2 through wimbledon or do the seedings may mean roger gets bumped to no 2?
I believe Rafa stays at #2 for now but it probably won’t matter much for Wimbly seedings since they have their own formula which takes current rankings and grass court performance over at least the last year, maybe longer. You’ll have to look up their formula. I’m sure Djokovic will be seeded #1. Rafa made the semis last year which will help. Fed did the quarters and was finalist in Halle? Won in 2017 but I’m not sure that counts.
Last 2 years counts .but I think 2017 has less weightage..fed won Stuttgart n Halle final..I doubt he will play Stuttgart next week..so points drop there..
Neways first let Rafa defend his 2000 points here..
Now I get to actually watch the match, having wimped earlier. I have my choice of NBC (McEnroe), which I would normally go with, but he’s a Fedfan and the obnoxious Mary Carillo is doing 2nd chair) or Tennis Channel with Jim Courier (who I usually like) and Ted Robinson (nonentity).
/rant on
OK, TC it is but the first words out of Courier’s mouth are “ALL of Rafa’s *surgeries*”. I swear I’ll attack Courier with a scalpel and demonstrate some surgery! OK, at least Rafa has now had ONE minor surgery to remove a bone spur but does he also count appendectomy? Wisdom teeth removal? Wart removal as a child? What?
/rant off I now return you to your regularly scheduled predictions, forecasts, backcasts, celebrations, whatever….:)
Wow, Thiem already a break up. Novak cant hit through him in these conditions.
Could be a long day for Novak.
Sorry guys that i stank these boards past 3 days n freaked out like crazy. I worried about feds words, his intent, some 2011 signs, some posters confidence on fed here and the weather and I just did not trust in Rafa. I am honestly surprised to see this being done in straights. Very happy though.
Yes you can strangle me..just not hard though 🙂
Rafa gets to play for 12th n hoping for Thiem to be there..I may watch Rafa Thiem 🙂 I like both. If it’s djoko I am not watching 🙂
Was this feds last at RG ? Next year is Olympics..I doubt he will play clay next year..n post that will be 39 or 40..if this was his last at french..great his last match was against his friend n biggest rival too who both took tennis to different levels of fandom. Well done by Fed to get 1080 points in clay .it’s a good buffer to have..we will see if it helps him in wimby .too early to say now.
Hey Sanju- any time you’re feeling worried and Mr. Kevin tells you you need not be worried, just have faith in me! 😉😂
Thiem could well win this match.
Congrats to the Rafa’s! Fedfans- I really do commend you for daring to dream, as it literally would be a dream scenario for 37 year old Fed to beat the King of Clay at RG. But this result was never in doubt to me. I did think it could have been at least a little more competitive, but my brain just could not rationalize anything but a comfortable win for Rafa. Also to me, the conditions made absolutely no difference. Sure, heavy wind makes it harder to serve and Fed’s serve is the cornerstone of his game, and the slower conditions make it harder to attack. But Rafa also would have played together if it were not windy and warmer, so it would just cancel out any advantage that better weather gave to Fed. Wind or no wind, warm or cold- Rafa was always going to win this match comfortably. This is his court, and his tournament. As I’ve said before, the ultra-aggressive game style that Fed has adopted in order to compete at an old age can be a bit deceiving, as it was largely a necessity for him due the the natural loss of pure firepower from the back of the court that comes with old tennis-age. And playing on clay against the best clay players in the world showed this. You just cannot realistically beat guys like Rafa and Thiem on clay if you lack the ability to create a lot of firepower from the back of the court. Fed never had the nearly the same raw power from the baseline that Rafa has, which is part of why Rafa has dominated Fed in clay so overwhelmingly. But when he was younger, Fed did still have a lot of power, just not as much as Rafa. Now, at almost 38, it’s naturally much more glaring. Fed has done amazingly to reinvent his game to be able to compete at the top of the game at an age when everyone else has always been retired. And I was greatly impressed that he was able to make the Semis at RG playing this way. But the guys it worked on are not Rafa or Thiem- not even close. And even then- Thiem is not Rafa.
I don’t want to take anything away from Fed because I never imagined he could make the RG semis at this age. I guess maybe he could have served better and maybe made the match just a LITTLE more competitive, but I don’t even know about that. Rafa dominated, and always was going to dominate. NID. 🤷♂️
The REAL test for Rafa, if there is even supposed to be a test for him at RG, will be against Novak or Thiem. When Rafa is in the final of RG, particularly after only dropping 1 set, that is literally THE worst nightmare for a male tennis player. Thiem technically has a chance to beat Rafa like Fed technically had a chance, but it’s an extremely low chance. Much higher than Fed’s chances, but still quite low, imo. As has been the case for years, Novak is the only guy in the world who has a truly realistic shot at beating Rafa at RG.
There is no question, to me, that Rafa has had the best form through 6 rounds. But we have seen many times Novak lift his game in the Final. And we saw him do it against Rafa at AO this year. Leading into that final, Rafa looked nearly unbeatable to me. He looked so good that it starting getting hard to imagine Novak lifting his game THAT much for the final, even though it was Novak’s best court. But he suddenly became a different player for that match. I’m not saying that that is likely to happen at RG, but it shows that Novak is still capable of considerably lifting his game. I just realized that I’m typing this without thinking to check the score of Novak vs. Thiem! Everything I said about Novak could be irrelevant depending on that score haha. 🤦♂️
But, Djoko has never beaten Rafa in a FO final or a SF. Rafa is 2-0 in finals and 3-0 in SFs vs Djoko.
What you’ve posted about Djoko in slam finals, well, those happened in non clay slams; in fact Djoko was pretty disappointing in FO finals – he’s 1/4 in FO finals, losing two to Rafa and one to Stan, his worst performing slam.
Poor at USO conversion too right..3 out of 6..better than french though yes
3 out of 8 at the USO! He made finals in 2007, 2010 to 2013 (four in a row, quite incredible, Fed made five and won five 2004-2008); 2015-2016 and 2018. So, his success rate there is 37.5%, still better than at the FO’s 25%.
Djoko quite incredible at the HC slams, reaching 15 finals, one more than Fed; he’s 100% at AO finals and comparatively being poor at the USO, at 37.5% despite reaching one more final there.
OKay, I would like to share some points specifically about this match and then about Fedal in general.
1. Points regarding this particular match
– It was quite a spectacle to see these two INCREDIBLE champions adapt to these crazy conditions. These two artists on the court and the skill-level was on ultra high mode to navigate through these conditions.
-Both men started with nerves and were a bit hesitant due to the conditions and also due to their own reasons (Rafa being a bit nervous owing to his losing streak and Fed facing Rafa on Philppe Chatrier after 8 years.
-I mentioned a few things in my pre-match post and I was glad to see they were all quite relevant points in deciding the outcome. Federer DID lack belief in my opinion as contrary to some pundits and fed fans, he knows what a monster Rafa is at RG! Fed couldn’t fully commit to a some tactics at times.
-Rafa is just UNPLAYABLE when he plays like this. When he overcame nerves and got a bit used to the conditions ,he was merciless and he actually ended up hitting EIGHT more winners than federer!
-I mentioned Rafa’s backhand being fire since Barcelona and I was confident it would hold up well today. It was devastating and even toppled the mighty fed forehand often!
-As I said before the match, Rafa was READY to counter Fed’s return and of course the surface helped him.
-I HATE it when people reduce Rafa’s genuine to ‘brute force, power..’ etc.! He is a genius on court and tactically the smartest in my opinion. He is the ultimate problem solver on the court. Federer was intentionally using more slices due to the wind, going for more drop shots to take rhythm away but Rafa countered everything and showed us his own varieties.
👍 VR. Agreed.
Rafa is a genius on court, a tactical genius. He said it himself, that his game is not about overpowering his opponents with his aggression, but to make things difficult for his opponents and preventing them from playing their game well.
I like him and his game because he’s playing a thinking game like he’s playing chess. I value a good tennis brain more than anything else.
2. General points on Fedal After their 39th Meeting
-Massive respect for Fed for trying to make an impact (may be for the last time?) at the French?). He is so impressive in all regards and still is one of the best movers on the tour on clay even at 37.
-I am SO glad this match happened because being honest, it was to me frustrating to listen to all those tall, unsubstantiated claims that Fed would have taken Rafa down at RG had he switched to a larger racket. To me that was so absurd a claim and I was always trying to explain that a change in a few sq inches of racket head hasn’t made Fed’s backhand like Stan’s or Thiem’s; it was more a surprise element for Rafa in 2017 and finally a weapon to punish some old patterns from Rafa to which I referred to as ‘bad habits’ post their 2017 matches. The backhand effect was so much blown out of proportion. It was just silly to say this match is on Fed’s racket!! Rafa is now 92-2 on clay and is probably going to make it 12 French opens.He has been destroying opponents even when not at his best and here we were, expecting Fed to dominate him?
-Rafa demonstrated once again what makes him almost insurmountable on clay. If you pull out statistics, he is the king of saving break points at RG. He does that to EVERYONE and his level goes even higher.
-Roger’s biggest weapon in 2017 was his return and he really took Rafa by surprise. While the surface was a key thing here but I think Rafa was just totally ready with the right adjustments and he was very dominant from the baseline. You couldn’t have told watching this match that Fed’s backhand was that much different compared to earlier years. Sorry to disappoint those who were expecting Fed to rip 95 MPH backhands past Rafa’s defense.
-Rafa ALWAYS shits gears in the semis and finals, yet people always forget this. I expect him to raise it a tad more in the final or at least sustain it.
-Fed can cause Rafa trouble on his (the Swiss’s) preferred surfaces and it would be interesting to see their outdoor hard court matches.
-Finally, I am glad we got to witness Fedal at the French ONE MORE TIME 🙂
on the BP point, I meant Rafa being the strongest on important points. I will share some statistics later.
What effect will this match have on their future non clay matches..it sure has to have some effect..fed racked up those wins in 2017 only n his bh n ros were largely better that year compared to 18 n 19..yes this was not a drubbing like 2008 to leave huge mental scars but I am sure atleast for Rafa it will be positive if not negative for fed.
I saw large parts of match n fed played well in first n second. He could have won second had he been bit more careful but Rafa was largely superior . Fed gave up in the third as it was a lost cause anyway.
Federer’s press conference:
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/press-conference-roger-federer-semifinal
Fed is right about Rafa’s incredible shot-making and movement, but there was no mention of his own poor serving. In contrast, Nadal served great and generally dealt with the wind much better.
I had nightmares about Federer returning to RG after 3 years absence, winning the title after winning it 10 years ago and taking Rafa out on the way! I cannot imagine the hyperbole that Federer would have enjoyed had that happened. I’m so glad I woke up to the reality.
Have you guys read this..it’s nice article
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/sports/tennis/rafael-nadal-roger-federer-french-open-carlos-moya.html
Yep, read that already. Anyway thanks!
I’m really glad that Rafa is able to get Moya as his coach, because Moya is someone Rafa knows from young and someone he can trust as friend and coach. I think Rafa’s team is a closely knit one, to get a new coach for Rafa is not that simple or easy and then Moya comes along and is available as a coach to Rafa.
Moya has given Rafa some new ideas and manages to change some of Rafa’s approaches towards his practices/training and actual matches. The shortening of points issue has been discussed so often among us in the past, glad that it’s been implemented once Moya joined the team and replaced Toni.
Rafa is playing smart tennis now, reducing the grinding and upping his aggression by shortening points with good serving, and moving inside the court and approaching the net more often. He’ll be awesome once he’s able to combine his new found aggression with his unbelievable defensive skills.
Hi VR, thanks for your thoughts. I disagree strongly about the BH. That was a minor factor in this match. More relevant, was that Nadal reserved some of his most spectacular shots in response to shots off Fed’s racquet (both FH and BH) that would have been winners against any other player (indeed, against Nadal on most days). And, most important, Nadal played the big points much better.
I agree that Fed lacked self-belief; you could see it in his face. Partly, I think, that was because of the aforementioned unbelievable shots on big points by Rafa. But more generally, Fed’s 1st serve % was terrible, especially after the first set. It really let him down at 2-3, game point in the first set; and 2-0, game points in the second; and (especially) 4-4, 40-0 in the 2nd. 3rd set was all Nadal, partly because Fed had lost all belief that he could win.
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the match would have had a very different character had Federer been able to serve better and in particular hit a few good 1st serves on important points. At the very least I think it would have gone to a 4th set.
I would say, in sum, that while Nadal left no doubt about who was the better player on the day, I think were they to play again in a week I would predict a closer match just because I would think Fed would serve better.
If Fed-Nadal play 5 matches on clay, Fed might win one set. Thats it.
Agree.. first set was on roger’s racket.. the wind affected his ball toss which took some pace off the ball and Rafa was extremely lucky that some of the balls which were going out landed in. Second set was a case of the tennis gods playing a cruel game where some net cords threw roger off else he would have won it. In the third set roger played strategically since taking the match into the fourth would have meant hurting his chances for the grass season. If the grass season was not so close, third set was definitely Roger’s since luck and wind cannot favor Rafa for three sets on the trot.
Rafa will be mighty relieved that the wind helped him pull out this impossible task of taking down Roger on Chatrier in the semi finals of roland garros
Haha .love the sarcasm ..hehe..
Me too, lol!!!
Joe, thanks for your reply.
Not sure which part exactly you disagree with but the fact that the backhand didn’t have much to do with this match is also another evidence to support my point that it was really blown out of proportion. It WAS a noticeable upgrade for Federer and it did impact their 2017 matches. But all those claims that Fed would have owned Rafa had he switched to a larger racket and won won multiple RGs were so absurd in my opinion. It was an upgrade but his backhand is NOT a stan wawrinka backhand and will always be at the mercy of Nadal’s mighty forehand. THe fact that Fed didn’t have enough self belief is perhaps the biggest evidence as nobody would know better than he does how much dynamics differ against Rafa at RG when wielding a larger racket.
To me the ROS was the biggest issue. Roger hit 85% of backhand returns with his topspin backhand in that AO 2017 and that was a big chance. The new racket gave him more confidence, more penetration and Rafa was NOT ready to face that. Rafa is now better prepared and his second serve is also stronger.
Yes, Federer could have served better and he normally does serve better. He might have won a set but being honest I never thought their RG match would be close, esp when Rafa regained his form in Rome.
Like I said, I would love to see their future non-clay matches. Indoor matches certainly will favor Federer and I am most keen to see their outdoor non-clay matches.
As expected, Rafa just too good. I was hoping Fed might be able to win a set, but alas he only had a few chances and they went begging. The extreme wind would’ve made it harder, but even without it he may have lost in 3 sets all the same.
Disappointing that the second match has been delayed. It’s really not fair the way these things go, they should reschedule for Monday assuming conditions allow it.
So, those who said that Fed would play with nothing to lose attitude were wrong. And, those who said that after Fed’s five in a row win over Rafa, his mental block against Rafa was gone were also wrong.
Like I asked earlier on, who said Fed won’t get nervous facing Rafa on clay at RG? Playing Rafa on clay is a whole different issue from facing him on the HCs. And on clay, Rafa has no mental block against anyone (not even against Djoko), hence he’s able to raise his level appropriately to handle the situation on hand. Even in the Rome final when facing Djoko, he’s able to come out all guns blazing, and one would expect Djoko to fight back (knowing him, more so in a final) but Rafa handled the situation well after losing the second set.
For Rafa, the problem is with himself – his injuries and self doubts. He did poorly at MC and Barcelona because he was filled with negativity, doubting himself and so he’s not motivated. His body language then was so un-Rafalike, no emotions, no joy, it’s like just going through the motions, so soulless and that was so worrying for all his fans.
Moya revealed all these in his interviews, and he had done a good job of having a good talk to Rafa, showing his care and understanding (not only him but the whole team showing affection and care for Rafa) and making him believe in himself again. It’s all in the mindset, once Rafa overcome the negativity, we can see his improvement tournament after tournament.
I think the same could be said of Djoko after his FO QF loss last year, he was full of negative thoughts after that and even thinking of giving up. But, he did overcome that negativity and then what happened? He went on to win three slams in a row. It would be a big mistake if he quit after that FO loss!
Same with Rafa here, the fact that he’s in another FO final means his game is still there, and he may win another FO title again this coming Sunday!
So how do you think their next non clay match will pan out ? I think it will be positive for Rafa and not negative for roger either..Rafa will go in with good mentality
Press the reset button. It will be business as usual for Fedal.
If you ask me, meeting on grass adv Fed, on clay adv Rafa; on slow HCs adv Rafa, on quick HCs and also indoor HCs adv Fed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PArdGuzZOac
Rafa’s SF post match presser
All the commentators said the weather was a leveller between them because it would favour Federer as Rafa prefers hot dry conditions.
I think it can be a leveler in some sense, as both players will have to struggle with the conditions so much, which may reduce the favourite’s (Nadal) advantage by getting in the way of their usually successful tactics. That being said, as soon as I knew it would be extremely windy, I thought Fed’s already very slim chances got somewhat slimmer.
Hot weather in general is good for Fed, as the ball moves through the air quicker. I believe Rafa also prefers hot weather on clay as if it is dry he gets a lot of bounce off the court and the top spin has maximum effect. Wet weather on clay isn’t really good for either, as although it can reduce the bounce/rotations for Fed it doesn’t help aggressive play. You could argue Fed still wouldn’t mind if it were wet overall, as Nadal’s ball wouldn’t generally be up around his shoulders so much (this did help Soderling out a bit in ’09).
The wind is an interesting factor, as people have claimed recently that Rafa hasn’t played so well in windy conditions. This seems counter-intuitive if true, as Nadal generally plays with a lot of margin and gets so many rotations on the ball which help control it. If you play with more margin than your opponent, wind is generally good. That being said, Rafa’s game is now more attacking than it used to be, so that may be a factor. Federer plays with far less margin, goes for the lines, and relies on his serve quite a bit, so heavy winds are generally pretty bad for him.
A main example of this could be seen in yesterday’s match. Rafa hit a very high number of first serves, but often played it relatively safe with them. Federer could follow this same sort of tactic (go for the lines less, impart more spin), but the net result is not good for him as he has basically ‘withdrawn’ his main weapon. Nadal hasn’t lost much in that sense, as his serve is obviously solid but not really a weapon to begin with.
Wind can help Fed a bit in terms of the ball landing awkwardly mid court (providing attacking opportunities) and may help with drop shots as well, but it’s basically going to make playing an aggressive game where you go for the lines more difficult. As I’ve said before though, at the end of the day I don’t think it makes much difference to the result as it was likely going to be three sets either way.
Deserved win for Rafa ,I was expecting a closer match but could only see one winner.
At least we can give Fed some credit for not skipping the clay season and shying away from another RG Fedal match as some suggested.
Disappointed not so much because he lost, but that we never got a better day for tennis .
Actually, since I watch all my tennis on catch-up ,it’s very hard not to know the result which completely spoils it ,in this case as well.
After watching the other men’s semi, big props to both Roger and Rafa for the thoroughly professional manner in which they conducted themselves in very trying conditions.
True.. apart from Roger earning a warning for ball abuse.. they were very professional.
Two players with the most sportsmanship awards after all😌