There was little doubt when the French Open draw came out that a semifinal showdown between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal would come to fruition.
That is indeed the case, as the two all-time greats will square off for the 58th time in their careers on Friday evening.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head series by an incredibly slim 29-28 margin. The fact that it could be all tied up after 58 meetings is fun to think about, but it is hardly the most relevant statistic. This is what matters: Nadal is 5-0 in their last five clay-court contests, while Djokovic is 10-0 in their last 10 matches on hard courts and grass. Nadal hasn’t won on anything other than clay since the 2013 U.S. Open final.
Good news for the Spaniard: we are once again only talking about clay.
In fact, it’s more like great news. Nadal’s perfect 5-0 mark on the slow stuff, which dates back to the start of 2017, also includes an 11-2 sets record at Djokovic’s expense. Their 2020 French Open matchup came in the final and the King of Clay dominated it 6-0, 6-2, 7-5. They most recently faced each other in last month’s Rome final, with Nadal recovering from a mid-match hiccup to triumph 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
None of those results bode well for Djokovic. Conditions at a most unusual 2020 Roland Garros event–held in October instead of June–were far worse for Nadal, and he still had no trouble giving the Serb a free clay-court lesson. It is also no secret that Nadal is much tougher to beat in Paris than in Rome. Take 2020, for example. He lost to Diego Schwartzman in the Rome quarterfinals only to dominate the French Open without dropping a single set in the process–including a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0) semifinal beatdown of Schwartzman.
If Djokovic could not beat Nadal in Rome, what’s to say he can do it now?
His form, although decent, definitely doesn’t. The world No. 1 cruised through his first three matches of the fortnight in straight sets, but he lost a pair of tiebreakers to Lorenzo Musetti on Monday and then required three hours and 28 minutes to get past Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in the quarters.
Nadal, on the other hand, has been entirely dominant. The third seed crushed Alexei Popyrin, Richard Gasquet, Cameron Norrie, and Jannik Sinner in straight sets to reach the last eight. Schwartzman ended Nadal’s French Open set streak at 36 on Wednesday, but the 34-year-old responded to that test by winning 30 of the match’s last 35 points en route to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
With five more wins under his belt, Nadal is now 105-2 lifetime at Roland Garros. He is 13-0 in semifinal matches. Add finals to the mix and he is 26-0 in his career once he advances to this stage of the French Open.
There is no reason to think such perfection will end on Friday.
Pick: Nadal in 3
WWW?
I can’t see y Rafa won’t win either but I doubt it will be in three, lol!! But I do wish it would be
Bold call to say Novak won’t win a set. I think he wins at least one; Nadal in 4.
Ricky has a lot of money on Nadal to win the final (obviously) and takes offense to anyone suggesting things could be a bit more competitive than he’s predicting.
He clearly didn’t like the fact that I said both the favs will need to maintain their levels otherwise they could lose.
He’s shown a tendency to be aggressive and competitive which is very unfortunate.
Sorry, excessively-competitive. Anything in excess is never good.
Some people are so competitive it doesn’t matter what you do for them they’ll always resent you. These types of people you’re best off stay right away from. I’ve seen a lot in my life.
I’d be careful what you discuss in here also. The other sites are just copying everything that gets discussed in here.
@Anonymous/Roger you are absolutely correct.
I mostly agree, but I don’t think the Rome final is especially relevant. Djokovic played for nearly 5 hours the day before, and did well to make it relatively close.
I pick Rafa in 4, possibly 5.
Rafa in five , almost a repeat of the 2013 Semi with controversial moment(s)
No, please. That 2013 was a heart-breaker. Rather not remember it. I do not plan on watching the Rafole this year. I will watch and enjoy the other semi. And then the final when it is Rafa v ? That will be good.
Great tennis in Stuttgart! Humnbert for the title
Ugo
Finally, I might be able to pick Ugo and not lose a point! Good on grass 🤞🏻.
It’s too hard for me to pick # of sets for the Rafole. I’m not sure about Nole. We have not seen much of his God mode. If he has some, now is the time to bring it. Ricky could be right, Rafa in 3.
I believe Novak will play better this time around. I think Rafa is more confident now when facing Nole but I also believe Novak will not want to go down with another bagel. I think he was quite surprised by Rafa’s level of play last year and had do plan B nor answers. But this tie I think he’ll be more prepared, and that makes me a bit nervous. But anyway, VAMOS Rafa!!
Insyaallah Rafa in 3 or 4…Many peoples doubting Rafa this year bcoz of the vulnerabilities they saw in his game…In all in his previous matches,he had a blip,lost of focus in the middle of the game(i think it’s normal when u 35 yo,u succumbed to nature a little bit)
But i think those peoples who doubting him forgot that RG is a very very special place for Rafa…Everytime he step on court,he will become extra motivated,have extra wanting to win another & another & another…Today is gonna be the same…I really believe Rafa will find another gear at important moments like he always did…Just hope he can finish it in straights so he can save some energy for those brats😁
#21ispossible!!…C’mon Rafa!!…Woohoo!!
Nadal in 4 (maybe 5)
The underdogs can win. It’s not out of the question.
Both these matches look like 5 setters to me.
If it does go to 5 wouldn’t that favour the Serb?
I’m not sure a 5 setter favors him because he’s Serbian.
Keep your mind sharp and focused, remain confident, be strong and show your warrior spirit, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3mRwFRWQAAy2QK?format=jpg
Nadal in FIVE.
It makes me feel good most believe Rafa wail win but it’s what happens in the courts that matters, and in the day! I am already super nervous, can only imagine how the players themselves feel. Nevertheless, VAMOS Rafa!!
Mona,
I agree. Predictions are fun and nice to read, but Rafa has said in the past that it’s what happens on the court that matters. I am getting very nervous. I checked the listings and saw that the second semifinal will be broadcasted by NBC. That us not good news because the commercial networks don’t stay with the matches. If this goes long I don’t know if they will cut away for regular programming.
Nny ..cmon give us hope…if u nervous ,I feel u getting bad sensations (:-
I am currently watching it on live stream. It’s a good one just about a game delay from the live scores, lol. It’s a site called steam2watch.
On to other news, seems Zverev will go home in str8ts. Really thought match would at least go to 4.
Haha!
Very apposite tweet from Ricky:
“What was the point of even having the bottom half of this draw?
Just use the top half as the entire tournament and call the next match the final.”
Absolutely!
Sorry wrong thread!
Amy .I’m telling u again .everyone is underestimating tsitsipas. I think his time is due. He is not going to roll over in the final
That match too is so boring making me sleepy, sigh!
Calm down sanju!
Please!😀
Ricky’s tweet is 100% accurate.
Am going to go and do the washing up as this match is less than compelling..
N tsitsi gets broken start of third..cmon tsitsi finish this in straights
Agreed! Even with Zverev getting the break, I’ll go shave my legs 🤣🤣🤣🤣 bcos I won’t be able to focus on anything else when Rafa steps on court. I will e a hot mess!!
Positive side is amy rafa gets on court on time n gets sun :-).
Tsistipas always seems to get a dip in third set! That’s y I will not be nervous if he meets Rafa in final. He seems not to have stamina needed for match like this with Rafa
Let rafa get there first mona:-)
Yes, that’s y I said’ ‘if’ 😁
N. Djokovic might surprise us all he might win this one.
If this were any other court except clay it would be a guaranteed win for Novak but on clay Rafa is a beast.
Hope Rafa loses lol and if he doesn’t stefanos tsitsipas will get it done, it seems zverev might win the 3rd set forcing the match to 4th sets and maybe 5th like both players who ever wins a 5 setter would be amazing but will be a disadvantage to them in the finals.
Oh, plz!! Like it was a guarantee at the US open? Ure name alone already speaks volumes!!
It’s Stanley back to troll is with his extraordinary mastery of the English language.
Hello Amy darling 😂😅😘 have a good one 👍.
That’s not my name moronlisa.
Novak has defeated Nadal many times on clay and even in the French Open not impossible just not easy.
I think rafa is the obvious favorite to win and should win but Novak can surprise us just saying its my opinion and if rafa doesn’t win it would be a major upset 😔.
I hate when ppl talk as if Rafa has no chance of winning outside of clay simply bcos his performance is so extraordinarily dominant on the surface! He has 7 slams outside clay much more than so many other players, some of whom r even perceived to be more respectful players on hc for example than Rafa is! Rafa is being punished for his mastery of a surface rather than being lauded for it! He is good on ALL surfaces just so much better on clay!! Also, neither Roger or Novak are near as dominant on surfaces outside clay like Rafa is on clay! That doesn’t seem to be an issue, is it?!!
Calm down dear you got it all twisted u misunderstood me ok.
Maybe shave your legs, take a shower, drink something nice(not alcohol) and chill.
It’s just sports no need for that, take care 👋 👋 👋
Just got back from doing the washing up to see Zverev up a break.
Was hoping this match had been put out of its misery.
The worst thing is this going on forever…
Tbh Amy, I’m really not looking forward to next match, lol! But hope Zverev holds here! Drama!!😁
I understand Zverev’s point but he has to focus no point wasting energy on a lost point!
Well I don’t much want to watch hours of this Mona!
I think Zverev getting fired up might help him actually…
Tsitsi drops his serve in pretty pathetic fashion..
Yes, so I c! Could this be heading to a fifth? If Zverev wins this I’ll bite myself!! 😂😂🤣🤣
Honestly I know Rafa would win but in my heart ♥😂😂 I want Djokovic to win 😥😢😥 please win 😁
Y do u want Novak to win? Ure a fan?
Yes dear but not exclusive I’m a fan of multiple players Novak is in that list.
That is the major issue with Steph! He can’t sustain a high level in 5 sets, and so with him he has to win in 3!! He needs to work on his fitness! No way he can beat either Rafa or Nole in this shape!!
Amy..I’m getting wimby 18 sf vibes. .the Isner anderson match went too long ..n then nole rafa had to be played under roof..n rafa lost
This match is dragging to fifth n second will start late n then no sun..no pop (:-
That was played over 2 days sanju.
But the bad thing is They have to clear the court at 10.45 for the curfew. What a farce!😠😠
2 days yes but because of delay amy n under roof .here though roof won’t come on but no sun
The issue is no sun ,not roof
38 grand slams and 14 FO titles waiting in the wings while this goes on.
Terrible scheduling.
It’s already nearly 6 in Paris.
I’m not getting any bad vibes bcos of delay! Rafa just has to play well…….that’s all! Roof or n roof, subordinate no sun!! Vamos!!
Wow! On to a fifth!! Imagine that?! 🤣
I asked y did they start so late!! At least one hour before! Even in St. Lucia where I’m from, starting 2 semis at 9 am is late! If Rafa and Novak go to 5 this will end at 7pm or even later!! That’s a whole damn day of tennis!! And perhaps unnerving for Rafa and Novak!
I’m getting very pissed off. This whole combination of the seeding and scheduling is BS!
I wasn’t that nervous before but this is hard on the nerves..
They’re playing at a much higher level now…
I still want it to be over asap.
If they both start playing well this could go on for ages.😠😠
Rafa was scheduled to start at 11:30 am it’s now 12:07, so hopefully this should end in 45 mins or so
Can we please get real about Tsitsipas? Ricky was right! The second semifinal is the real final! Neither of these guys has a prayer of winning the final!
My boyfriend says the same thing!! He says these guys won’t beat Rafa at RG!! He also is super confident that nobody’s beating Rafa here, and EVERY year he assures me of it! He keeps asking me to bet but I don’t 😂🤣🤣
Having NBC broadcast the second semifinal is a disaster. They will never stay with the match until it’s over. Networks don’t want to give up their programming. The tennis channel should broadcast it. If they put it on that stupid peacock live stream, no one has it.
Why are they so stupid about scheduling? They could have started earlier.
He’d better serve this out!
I can’t take any more of this.
4 MPs gone for tsitsi
Oh thank god!
Now get them off the court fast.
Phew finally it’s over
Vamos rafa ..cmon
I honestly couldn’t care less about either Tsitsi or Zverev.
Uhmmmm, Novak says he and Rafa are next gen, so if he wins it would be interesting if he plays Steph and beats him to make his point loud and clear! If Steph beats him then what will Novak look like?! 😂🤣🤣
Let’s not talk about Novak in the final please!
🤣😂😂😂😂 ok Amy! Let’s not!
Okay, may the best win, but go Rafa!
Amy!…Warm up yor feet right now!..Just in case they’re needed for honourable service later!..U hear?
Feet ready!
Am already tired after waiting so long!
Go Rafa!
I can’t help but notice Rafa has so much support here!! 😃
This could be Nadal’s last chance to win another major. He’s sliding.
Great hold rafa!
Reckon Djoko might do Fed a favour.
That point right there before Novak’s failed smash is y Rafa is so tough to beat! I like Rafa’s composure too! Vamos!!
Djoko’s looking sharp. Nothing like last year.
Yesss!!…woohooo!..broke!..there!!!
yesss! Brilliant play by rafa!
Amy!…I’m sure Rafa heard u warming up yor feet!..Thank God!
Yes feet still.ready mira!
Fortunately not needed!
Amy!…Things not gud!…Yor feet!..On to RG!!…NOW!..HURRY!!
Feet applied mira!
Now serve really well rafa!
Brilliant rafa!
Yes!! Brilliant!!! I just want him to go up two breaks!! He needs to secure that break!!! Cmon Rafa!! Vamos!!
Djokovic always gets emotional when Nadal gets on top early. He needs to toughen up.
2breaks! Now hold again darling!
Bathroom break for Novak!! 🤣😂🤣😂
But Rafa needs to keep up the intensity!! He better do t let off bcos Novak does well playing possum!!
5-0 Rafa!!😀
We want a bagel!
Like the commies said Novak wants to forget this set and start priming for set 2!! So Rafa better beware and prepare!!! Vamos!!
Jeez!
Come on Rafa break him again.
Like usual!…Rafa & his lack of focus!..Urgh!!
Exactly!! Should have been on set 2 already!! Novak’s playing better now!! This is terrible!! Sigh!!
Y Rafa likes to do things hard way?! Sigh!
Rafa should play aggressive & not take his feet from pedal when he was 5 2!…God!..i donno what he was thinking!..Shouldn’t give Novak the belief & confidence!….He should know that!…Now,i hope he can finish it!
I think he’s nervous!…He’s sweating like crazy!…Make uncharacteristics erroes too!!
Come on Rafa!
Thank duck for that!
So many sps!
I did kick him mira!😀
Ohh amy!…I think u should be alert again!..Rafa seems don’t get enuff of yor kick!😁
True enuff!…he’s got broken!
After bagging 1st set,now i am waiting nervously for Rafa to went awol as he always did that after brilliant start…Hopefully,his miss awol went shopping 2day!😁
Rafa plays so much better when he’s back is against the wall but he had no business giving Novak belief in not being able to close games and sets!! Choops!!
Don’t think I can watch this now! Going to take a shower
Mona,i think u should stay!…Rafa is about to break back!…Yess!…there it is!
Damnit! Come on rafa break him!
3 bps! Take one Rafa!
Yesssss! Rafa playing better returning!
Now hold darling!
I can’t stand the sea saw!! My stomach is in knots I’m ick!
I think Rafa’s quality of play is slightly better in october than today…God!…so many uncharacteristic errors!
Yuk! This is stressful!
Come on break him back!
Rafa not going fhdtl.
Needs that shot!
If Rafa don’t start play aggressive,only hit to cc all the time,he will not have much energy come sunday!…Novak too seems out of breath..
Rafa should have broken there.
His level.has dropped off.
Yes but let’s be happy Rafa is getting looks into Novak’s services. At least he can look forward to that other sets
Great job Rafa by letting Novak off the hook!..Urgh!!….Now,i’m sick & tired!…Better go to sleep!😈😡
Y does he have these drop offs in form in the second set?!
Come on Rafa play with colm and raise your level again
Far better game to start the 3rd.
Gr8 fhdtl.
Ppl, this is not looking good. Not al ALL!!
🙂
Yeah Mona!…Not looking gud at all!..The way he makes ue’s,it’s like he’s not practice at all!…What the heck!
This is exhausting.
He has to return to how he played in the first set.
Best rally of the match
He has already won a lot, so if he loses here, it’s ok for him and his fans I think? After all, win or lose, he’s still Rafa. He’s still the same man whom his fans so admired.
Tsitsipas is looking good and should give whoever wins here a hard time in the final. Seriously, these two older men are not helping themselves, this match may go to four hours!
4 hours if 4 sets. 4.45 if 5 sets.
4 hours minimum here.
Lucky!…Nope!…he has to win 21st!
Sorry, no way he’s going to win playing like this. I think 20 is his limit.
Yessss!!
Sigh. Rafa breaks then he makes a string of ues.
All tournament we have seen these bizarre changes in form.
Yep!! He’s getting chances but not capitalizing on them. Such a shame! He’ll be down 2 sets to one and then it will have to go to five if he wants to win it, and then have to go and play Steph?! For a 35 year old, that’s a real uphill battle
Novak is the better and more aggressive player out there.. Rafa returns to his mode where Novak gets in his head…
Yes, and Novak seems calm and collected, Rafa is flustered!! I thought he would stamp authority in second set but instead he lost his intensity! That was his big mistake! Let’s hope he wins fourth set at least he will go down with a fight and not with his tail between his legs, sigh!
Know the problem? His BH, and he’s still insisting on hitting that BH no matter what! He’s running out of ideas! Djoko isn’t playing all that well either but when it matters Djoko is able to produce shots that win points; that’s the difference.
He played brilliant tennis in the first set!
If he can do it then he can do it again.
However I think he has lost it mentally.
I thought he had against Diego and he suddenly raised his level but I don’t know if he can do it here.
Doesn’t look like it right now.
Finally his fh returns!
Please God let this continue
I think if rafa manage to win this sets,like in Schwartzy man,it will be a turning point…let’s c!
Yess! Great hold by rafa!
His fh has definitely come back.I think!
Now break Nole.
Nadal’s cheap tactics is wearing Djokovic out.
It’s a great strategy on clay; just keep puddling it until your opponent doesnt have the energy to hit any more winners.
Well Djoko wins the TB and the third set; he’s not no.1 for nothing! When it matters he can produce!
If Djoko wins in four sets here, then he’ll have a good chance of winning the title this Sunday; if he wins in five then Tsitsipas for the title!
That was a bad volley miss by Rafa
After working so hard to get back in set and having match points and still lose set! Very disappointing
One more set 😂 one more set 😂 one more set 😂😂😂.
You can do this Novak come on,vamoooossss!😉
It’s not over tho.
Spectators not leaving yet? It’s getting close to 11pm local time.
Yesss! Now hold!
Early breaks r NEVER a good thing!! It’s too much pressure to hold serve all through
Better than not breaking.
Rafa holds serve with no first serves!
Come on Rafa. Find your serve.
They said Djokovic is starting to go bigger this set
Well this is great.
Serving second with no first serve.
Just imagine how different this would be if Rafa was serving better.
Exactly!!! That’s y it’s better if he got break like at 4 all then he can serve for set, smh! This is so tragic
Not looking good for either of them; this will be a > 4 hours match; I hope Tsitsipas wins his first slam this Sunday, if it’s not Rafa across the net.
Y does he keep going back to Nole’s bh corner?!
Ok surely that’s it.
That wasn’t a good game.
Finally he unleashes his fh!
He has no chance unless he used itm
Sigh! I have lost all faith. This is the worst Friday ina long time and my weekend will il be even worse. Rafa, Rafa, Rafa!
What a HUGE disappointment!!! 🥲🥲🥲
a bunch of double faults from Rafa.
Djoko is the better player and deserves to win this match. Rafa’s game is crappy, well at least he makes it to four sets! But, I see a new slam winner this coming Sunday, Tsitsipas for the win!
Sigh. That was garbage.
It’s been like this all.tournament with him suddenly going walkabout mentally. I thought he might pull it back when his game suddenly reappeared at the end of the fourth set but he missed chances and this set he had zero serve and lost his way again.
He really needs to get his head sorted out because he plays brilliantly one minute then seems crippled by self doubt the next.
He played amazing tennis in the first set so it’s not his underlying level.that’s the problem.
And his serve is simply a disaster area.
The serves certainly let him down and he knows it!! And if his serves t not working his game goes awry. Oh I’m just glad it’s over for me
Mona time heals all wounds don’t get too down,you will be fine it’s just sports.
Wooooooohooooooo 😂😂😂.
He did it.
Vamoooossss Novak.
My deepest sympathy 🌹 to all rafans your boy will bounce back don’t worry ok 🙂
This ends the goat debate…beating Rafa in his house … Djoko gonna end up with mid 20s slams
@AVN Novak will definitely win more slams in the future but he hasn’t won this one more match to go.
I see the local incel convention has invaded the site.
They really are pathetic.
So it’s pathetic to celebrate another players success and achievement If it’s not Rafa, got it.
You need to look closely you are they intolerant, self-absorbed pathetic fool.
amy,
When you have nothing else in your life and you are an empty shell of a human being, you come here and post anonymously like the wretched soul you are. This is a pathetic loser who has absolutely nothing better to do.
Just feel pity for the poor slob.
He is utterly pathetic nny.
And quite possibly psychotic.
Hugs darling!
It’s only a tennis match!
amy,
A very disturbed individual. If that is what you need to do to make yourself feel better, God help you.
I was out for most of the afternoon, but I followed the score. I sensed it after the third set. It was not meant to be.,
Hugs to you, too! With all that has happened in the last year with the pandemic, this is as you said, just a tennis match. Nobody died. It’s sad to see but it’s part of the sport.
Hugs darling!
We’ll talk tomorrow.
I am really tired now so need to get some sleep.
Poor mira must have been practically up all night.
I hope she’s ok.
Love to you both nny and mira.
Take good care of yourselves my darlings.
Xxx
Heh heh…I was up to 4:30am amy!..and all i got was kick in the backside from Rafa!..Urgh!…Thank u so much Rafa!..This how u treated a loyal fan??..😉
Btw,hugs to u too amy!..There goes our 21st!🙉
Nothing against the champion Rafa, just calling it as it is. This is a huge achievement and in my view ends the goat debate. But I speak to a rabid Rafa fan base who can’t accept this
You’re right Avn some of the rafa fans here are crazy unlike other places.
They are immature or possessive something is wrong with them.
Amy, nny etc are old lonely gals with just their cats so you can understand why they act this way just move on nothing good comes out from reasoning with this old lonely gals believe me I have tried years ago total waste of my time so I stopped.
Stanley,
Still a misogynistic loser! Yawn! Get some new material you creep. Who has cats? How would you know?
Old ladies? You are a lonely sad sack who has nothing and no one.
I would feel sorry for you, but you are such trailer trash that I can’t bring myself to do it.
LOL!
AVN,
Whoever the hell you are, it takes a piece of trash to try to take digs at fans of a player who has lost.
I don’t roll that way, thank God! You are full of shit and even you know it!
This does not make your guy the goat. Nice try, but you have zero class. Not surprising.
Take care mira and mona.
Nice to be with you my dears!
Hugs
Xx
Hey amy!…Yeah!…great to ‘talk’ to u too!…Sorry!..i was disappeared just like that!…Urgh!!…too painful too stick around amy!…Hope u’re ok over there!👋🥰
Also much much congrats to RC,Big Al for Novak win!…Enjoy it guys!👍
To the sweetest, fairest, smartest tennis poster and Rafa fan – thank you, Mira Andi. I know you don’t particularly like Novak, but that doesn’t matter in our case. 🥰😊
tinyurl.com/2pc5kd42
His problems are his serve and his BH! All tournament, in fact throughout this clay season they are the problems.
Well he can’t always win, may have to stop at 20! He playing like this won’t do well on grass either! I hope he doesn’t drop out of top ten, I like to have his this record still ongoing!
He playing like this will drop tons of points, esp he’s the defending champion at the USO and Canada. Well Rafa, take a good rest and then ponders what’s wrong with your game. Why so stingy when using your FH, and since your BH is so crappy why not move your legs more to hit your FH instead?
Congrats to Djoko, he’s the better player this match and so wins it rightfully. But, I hope Tsitsipas wins the title this Sunday.
Oh for heaven’s sake! Really? Hope he doesn’t drop out of the top ten? Maybe he can’t get more than 20? Are you for real?
With all that Rafa has done he does not deserve that. Good grief!
Why so angry? He’s not getting any younger and who knows how many more chances he will have? Also, he may want to start a family, and he said it himself, that he would like to be with his children as they grow up, and not wanting them to travel with him so often to tournaments.
He has already won a lot, and as somebody mentioned earlier, win or loss, Rafa would get over it maybe after a few weeks or so. His fans should also do the same.
After all, it’s just sports, and he can’t win all the time especially when he’s no longer that young.
Hmmm…Yeah!…Lucky has a point!..there’s a possibility too that he maybe want to start have a family…Maybe this loss will trigger it…but,maybe not!…Maybe this loss will make him more determine to win 1 more RG next year..Who knows!…Wallahuallam!
Agree. His game is a breath of fresh air esp on clay.
Correction: he’s not the USO defending champion but has champion’s points of 2019 to defend.
It really is disgusting that this site is full of gloating trolls.
We don’t behave that way when their faces lose.
But then we have lives and are not psychotic losers.
Actually on the contrary you are acting exactly like a psychotic loser you just can’t see it because your hypocrisy blinds you so 😔.
Wow, reading your messages you are lost and can’t acknowledge that maybe Rafa wasn’t playing his best tennis because Novak was actually the better player. He was rattled and not at his best because of the level of his opponent. Reading your messages is so painful. lol
what an opportunity for Stefanos on Sunday.
He can take inspiration from Wawrinka who beat Novak in 2 grand slam finals including one here.
I always said Rafa’s serve is the key for his game… lousy serve causes doubts.. 8 dfs? That is just so miserable… this was a very bad match for Rafa..he showed weakness against both Shwartsman and Sinner, I knew it would be like this if he failed to improve for the semis…
Rafa is healthy and should just go back home with his beautiful family to rest and enjoy the summer… for Wimby I have no expectations and let’s see which Rafa will show up at USO…
Novak deserves this win…played some amazing points…congrats to his proud fans!
Yes he deserves congrats, after the previous final. I havent seen much of the match yet .
Thank you, Natashao
He did play amazing points and so did Rafa. It was greatly entertaining!
Going to get some sleep now as too tired to write anything.
Congratulations to dear Elizabeth.
Nny and mira I just left you a message on the previous page.
Love to you both
Xxx
I will not congratulate Novak fans after the crap I had to read on this site from a few of them. I do not engage in this nonsense of jumping all over favs whose player has just lost. I have no intention of ever doing that. But I will nit congratulate them because some of the Nibsk fans are the nastiest, vindictive favs there are. They should be ashamed,
I well remember when Fed lost Wimby two years ago. Gut wrenching with two match points. I was very supportive of Fed fans. So were others on this site. It’s the cheapest of cheap shots to take advantage of fans when they have watched their guy lose a tough one.
It is a dirty, classless thing to do. Fabs should be given some space to just feel bad or sad if whatever they need to feel,. Without being insulted by those who use a loss to dig the knife in even more.
It is despicable behavior.
Of course I meant NOVAK fans! Autocorrect!
Doesnt Novak deserves congrats , even if his fans dont
Because it’s you, one of the good Novak fans along with RC, I will congratulate Novak.
Thanks for that- I’m one of the good ones .
And so frustrating my Eurosport recording only got the first two sets- it was one of the best matches of all time ,so they say.
That’s me, NNY, I try to be civil and nice. 😇 I have reformed.
Doesnt Novak deserves congrats , even if his fans dont
This is ridiculous and delusional. The Rafa bias on here is insane. No comment mentions how insanely great Novak played today. Like all about Rafa. He just crumbled on his own and lost. Novak took it to him. Wore him down. Played the angles insanely great. Utilized the drop shot great. Nadal was the more tired player at the end. End of story. Give credit where it is due.
Thanks, amy. It was a surprise. Sorry for your loss. Rafa isn’t done winning like some are saying. I underestimated Novak and certainly, he could lose to Tsitsipas tomorrow. It’s not over yet.
As I had feared ..had this intuition n expressed it too
The minute novak said after Belgrade hope to win RG, I knew it that he will take it. I told rc the same multiple times.
Sunday – novak maybe tired but tsitsi is no stan who had great firepower n loved the big stage . He can get passive n I doubt novak will let go off this oppty. It’s 90 percent novak
Vis a vis rafa – it’s good it ended ,had to end one day. I hope no more talk of the invincibility at french. The 21 along with french was maybe a bit too much to handle. Maybe his 21 needs to come at some other slam where he is not hyped up a lot, maybe it will come at the least expected one. I don’t want to be downright pessimistic as lucky by saying 20 it is, it may well be but who are we to say .
I read rafa is healthy and not injured , so maybe he can now work with a fresh mind and less pressure
I don’t believe in any astrology or tarot reading but just watch for the heck of it and an indian tarot reader had predicted ,rafa wont win the French n may get injured later ,fed will retire this year and will do very well at wimby (may win or go very deep) and novak will likely win 2 of the 3 ( rg, wimby,uso ).
Excited for wimby ,no pressure in that slam for rafans
Who do you think will most likely win at Wimbledon? I can’t think of anyone favourite for the Wimbledon title.
With Djoko fighting so hard here to reach the final, and there’s only a two weeks break between the two slams, I doubt Djoko has enough energy to win both. He couldn’t do it in 2011, 2015 his two best years, neither in 2016, and he was much younger back then. I doubt he can do it now at age 34.
None of the other players are promising favourites, not even Fed as he hasn’t have much match play. It’s anyone’s to win, maybe Shapo is the dark horse, as he skips the FO and concentrates on playing the grass season. His game is well suited for grass.
Maybe we will finally see more of those born in the 1990s starting to win slams this year.
Its a bit early to start predicting Wimby…
But I cant see Shapo winning
Nor me. FAA has more chance. But Tsit with his aggressive game must have a chance too. Don’t discount Med either, has made it clear he plays for the slams. And Nole of course. Depends on the draw.
I like Meds game on grass.He could do very well. There’s so many dark horses like Opelka, Harris,the Italians, (unfair to call Berrettini a dark horse) Cilic, Raonic etc
The favs are novak and fed in that order …if they get drawn in the same half will be interesting .however I don’t see the rg fiasco repeating again where they put all 3 in same half
Sanju,
it sounds like that Tarot guy knows more about tennis than Patrick Mouratoglou, who predicted Rafa would win RG again this year, just sayin’ 🤣
Sanju, June 11, 2021, at 5:56 pm.
You were right! I thought that his declarations of winning RG at Belgrade were bravado. Not that he couldn’t win RG, but I believe Rafa has superior prowess on clay. Rafa’s win in Rome also convinced me. Lastly, it’s the French Open, it is crazy to pick against Rafa.
I spent the day shopping with my neighbor and had a late dinner with him. I didn’t know that Nole had won until this morning! hahaha
The Rafole, (found it on Youtube) was amazing to me, a Nole fan. After many years of wanting him to win it and he could not. Then after he finally did win RG, I did not dare imagine he would win it again. There is still a very real chance that he won’t win tomorrow. Nole’s win in the Rafole simply means Nole stays in the mix with the greats of the era. To me, that is where he belongs.
…though I hope Rafa could regroup and wins the USO for a fifth time. He really needs to stay as fresh as possible physically for the HC season ahead; hopefully he skips the Olympics and plays just the Canada Open and the USO. And, he better improve his serve and BH if he wants to win the slams,
He mentioned that he was a bit tired during this SF match, I guess age played a part, and with his unreliable serve, he had to work so hard to win points.
Djoko OTOH had his more reliable serve to depend on, so he was able to get himself out of troubles so often especially during his earlier matches.
Lucky was it just fatigue in 4th set or was there something else…an injury ? Losing 6 games in a row is not normal on clay
Sanju, Rafa didn’t mention any injury, so I think it’s just fatigue.
The main problem imo is his serve, and then his BH is also unreliable. If he had a better serve, he would be able to shorten some points and perhaps won’t need to run as much, so then fatigue might not be an issue. I remember last year’s final, Rafa looked a bit tired by the third set and fortunately he was able to win that third set and so the match; had it gone to a fourth set, perhaps, Djoko might just got the upper hand, physically at least.
I think these two years because of the pandemic, the players won’t be able to train as normal; Rafa may be lacking in stamina plus he’s already 35 yo. Djoko no doubt is also not that young, at 34, but he really has a good to great serve to get him out of troubles so often. Watching Djoko during BPs faced by him, he would take his time before he served, but more often than not, he would produce a serve with such precision that he would hardly miss the mark, and his opponent could hardly got his racket on the ball.
Djoko is still the no. 1 player for a reason; after winning so much, he comes into each match feeling confident about his own abilities (including saving BPs). I’ve to say having saved championship points to win his 5th Wimbledon title, that would certainly give him the confidence and belief, that he has the ability to fight against any adversity to win, no matter what.
Rafa doesn’t have such confidence (we all as his fans, know that he needs practice, training and match plays to build his confidence). Rafa said that he always have/had doubts and he would think that’s normal, he’s built that way, not a confident guy from the start ( and not helped when his uncle as his coach kept him in check, not to become complacent, but wanted him to respect all his opponents and thought of them as very tough opponents).
Natashao and Luckystar I mature rafa fans their comments are mostly reasonable and respectful win or lose unlike other batshit fans like nny,amy etc you lonely old gals need to grow up 🙂
Stanley,
Go play with your toys.
You’re my toy dear 😘😍😘 my one and only toy I love you 😂😂😂😘.
Don’t get too upset it’s just sports you need to take things easy and smile a little don’t get too combative when Rafa loses or when someone disagrees with you.
Xoxo 🙂
Stanley,
Get some help. I am concerned fir your obvious lack of a real life. Coming on a forum to insult or diss strangers doesn’t cut it. You need to try and find something else worthwhile to do.
Now you can go back to your toys! Have fun playing!
I will love to play with you 😄.
Sexist right to the end.
🙄
Hypocritical pig,you insult me non-stop 😂 but when I respond with a little humor I’m the sexist 😂 aah.
You need to look in the mirror pig and you will see who you are clearly if you have eyes to see.
Anyway this is a new day don’t have time for unproductive things, that’s enough take care darling.
Love you 😘😘👋
Mira- was it just fatigue in 4th set or was there some injury..losing 6 games in a row is not normal
In a Spanish interview he said that he has had a foot issue and is not sure whether he will play Wimbledon or not. He was very clear that this had nothing to do with his loss (don’t want to start that rumor). But he said he needs to take some time to think about his calendar going forward.
Ohh thank u for the info Ruby!
Hey Sanju!…I scoured the news all morning 2day..but can’t find any suggesting that injury is lurking around…Honestly,i don’t think it’s an injury…but fatigue,yeah!…Rafa himself admitted it..
I think it’s get down to mental as the usual culprit…When the condition got a bit slower later on,ball became less bounces less top spin & favoured Novak..plus when he made many mistakes,it all seeped his confidence..also the constant pressure from Novak,it’s all got to his head Sanju…but what i don’t understand why he can produced a very amazing tennis last october when the condition also not favoured him?What’s difference between last nite & last october??
It was like the same loss to Tsitsi at AO last january right?Almost the same pattern..I think the right answer is..he is declining…Old age made him like that Sanju…There is no escape…I guess we better accept that..Maybe when he go to RG next year as an underdog,he will play amazing again bcoz it’s going to be less pressure..Let’s hope Sanju!
Here is the link to him talking about the foot if you want it: https://www.ttdeporte.com/necesito-digerirlo-y-vacaciones/
Well I don’t think he rules out wimby n he is saying this issue is since 2005 n he has to manage it .it’s not a new thing
Yes mira..the decline has clearly started..n it’s stsrting with physical fitness n that then affects the mental part
Yes Sanju!…It’s happening with Fed long ago,and now it’s Rafa time..i hope when Rafa got his 21st,he’ll retire…i just can’t bear to see him lose to anyone anymore..esp young guns..and Novak too of coz!…Ohh those lost of chance to equal h2h with Novak!…Urgh!…it’s hard to take as fan!
H2h is least of the issues .the key is just 2 things .fix the serve n get the physical conditioning back
I noticed this as early as last year’s wtf finals where I felt he was getting tired in 3 sets itself..the sf against meddy he was tired in third set. The match against tsitsi at ao qf .he was done in fifth..the match yest..done in fourth.
So the key is fix the serve n get the physical conditioning in shape else there will be no 21..it’s not easy to last best of 5 for 7 matches in a row n now qf onwards all matches will be super tough .tsitsi ,zverev ,Medvedev ,thiem etc
Exactly Mira, he’s getting older and is declining, esp physically.
It’s very obvious this FO, he could win the first set, be it easily or struggling to win, and then he couldn’t sustain the winning momentum and in the second set he would go downhill, it happened during the QF and this SF; in the fourth round Sinner wasn’t experienced enough to force a fourth set.
The way he was playing, I was wondering had he won the SF, would he be able to take down Tsitsipas in the final. He kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again – the DFs, the subpar hitting of his BH; the insistence of going to Djoko’s BH all the time, etc and etc.
How many UEs he made during the match, and with his BH? I was thinking to myself, for goodness sake Rafa, moved your legs and hit your FH even when you’re at your BH corner, be it DTL or I/O CC FH. He didn’t, and I think his legs were too tired to do that. In the past, when he was younger, he used to dance around and used his FH DTL at his BH corner, when his BH DTL shot wasn’t great. He couldn’t do that now.
You made exactly the same arguments as this practically word for word in 2015 lucky.
You refused to look at the mental side. You saw everything as fatigue/ decline/ poor technique.
When I first came on this site in 2015 Hawkeye showed a link to a post you wrote during the clay court season in 2014 when you said he was in decline/ past it. Exactly the same. Hawkeye actually showed the post as an example of ritb ‘s bad temper because she attacked you.
Up to 7 years ago you were saying exactly what you are saying now. I have to say that it is blindingly obvious from this history that you are very very quick to write his tennis obituary.
And you were wrong! Now maybe one day as he gets older you will be right. But that’s not the point. The point is that you go in all guns blazing to write him off.
You started doing it 7 years ago. Since then he’s won 7 slams.
It’s abundantly clear to me why people who are Rafa fans on this site, including ritb, have got angry with you. I see why nny got angry with you yesterday.
I am tired of it as well. It’s very insensitive. Also as tennis analysi s it’s been categorically proven over the course of the last 7 years to be utter rubbish.
amy,
Thank you! I think that Rafa fans might just need 24 hours to deal with this loss. To feel sad, disappointed, whatever emotions they have. But to see a Rafa fan write his epitaph right after he lost, was just more than I could take.
So Rafa may not win more than 20 slams? And? In men’s tennis nobody has ever won more than 20 slams to date. Does anyone here not think that Rafa knows what is wrong with his game? He also revealed something we did not know after the match. He was feeling tired. He rarely mentions physical issues. He even said that the support from the crowd was great and they helped give him the strength to go on fighting. That should tell us a lot. Rafa is 35. He’s getting older and there are things that happen. I watched the third set again and saw him pushing so hard to get back in the set. He fought hard and gave as good as he got. He had set point. But he didn’t get it done. I don’t know if he would have won the match if he had won the third set. But he would have had a better shot at winning. He could have shifted the momentum.
Rafa had clarity in his post match presser. He knows his important it was to win the third set. He had a tough draw this time. The match with Diego was very physical. So Rafa is human after all. I also think that the pressure of going for # 14 and his 21st slam may have gotten to him.
Rafa said it was not his day. But this idea that suddenly someone is praising Novak to the heavens. Is ridiculous. He did not face a single decent player up until the quarterfinals. He had a crappy clay season leading up to RG. He was down two sets to the likes of Musetti, ranked # 78! He needed a fifth set TB at midnight to beat Berrettini, so why all this fulsome praise? On this day he gut the better of Rafa who had to battle a tough draw.
I think it was quite insensitive and unnecessary to trash Rafa an hour after this loss. It’s easy to support a player when he is winning, but it’s something else to be there when he loses.
Sorry I meant the fourth set with Novak’s match with Berrettini.
Yes, Novak had a crappy clay season but he was more than ready for RG when Rome concluded. That was evident from his QF, SF and Final performances there. Plus at the beginning of the year itself, he has already said that the majors will be his top priority. So we shouldn’t really have been reading much into his clay season.
Sorry NNY that you think I’m trashing Rafa. I’ve seen Rafa lost important matches, and I’m always honest with how I feel about the way he plays/played.
If he’s good I would praise him for that and if he plays poorly I would say that he’s bad. I’m sorry that my comment sounded harsh and insensitive to some of the Rafa fans here, immediately after a Rafa loss.
I think we have to learn how not to be too disappointed each time Rafa loses, as by now he has already achieved so much, that anything else that he wins it’s a bonus.
Rafa himself has accepted the loss and said that this is sports, you win some you lose some. I’m sure he can deal with this loss and moves forward, the important thing now is that he isn’t suffering from any injury, that’s the main concern for the rest of the season.
I hope he can come back strong to win the USO, to get to 21 and not stop at 20.
Amy, Rafa is 35 now and so a physical decline is reasonable. When the match got to five sets, he struggled to win (USO 2019 final Vs Medvedev), lost a five setter against Thiem at AO2020 and lost in five to Tsitsipas from two sets up at the AO this year. In the past he could at least outlast his opponents in five setters.
As for my comment of 2015, after Rafa’s injury plagued 2014 where he lost the AO final with a back injury and then had to skip the USO where he’s the defending champion because of a right wrist injury, he then came back on tour in 2015 a shadow of his usual self, no longer the mentally tough warrior but a player lacking in confidence and full of self doubts. He couldn’t win a single title on clay until he played at Hamburg. Now on hindsight he had a poor 2016 too with another wrist injury. At that time he’s approaching 30, and with all the injury issues, I couldn’t help but felt negative about Rafa’s future back then.
I was and am so glad that Rafa had proven me wrong and came back to have a glorious 2017, winning two slams that year. As for now, I certainly hope that I’m wrong again, that physical decline or not, Rafa could win his no.21 slam (at the USO this year!).
Lucky..i understand what u’re saying & i respect very much what u wrote…I always loved to read yor comments about Rafa…everytime Rafa lost,i need to know what’s going on with him…i feel very unsettled if i didn’t ..and yor post usually fulfilled that…and i love reading other Rafans post too of coz!hehe😁..ohh Novak fans(RC,Big Al)..and Fed fans too!😁
Hi Mira, thanks for your comment. I know many here are sad about Rafa’s loss so I may sound harsh saying that Rafa MAY stop at 20 and I hope he WONT drop out of top ten.
Some here are so upset about my comment, that they think I’m saying that Rafa WOULD drop out of top ten!
Both Fed and Djoko did drop out of top ten (due to injuries) so I hope Rafa won’t be like them. I hope Rafa will remain in top ten for the rest of his career, a sign of how great he is!
When I said Rafa may stop at 20, at that moment I was disappointed by how he played, losing a winnable important match.
I do hope that I’m wrong about Rafa stopping at 20 slams; I think if Rafa improves his serve and BH, and shortens points by playing inside the court more often, and most importantly be very fit physically and mentally prepared, he can do well at the USO this year, After all, he should be having good feelings there at the USO, winning four titles already and being through some tough moments there too. Also, it’s unlike the FO where everyone expect Rafa to win, so may be less pressure on Rafa.
Correction: I posted that ‘I hope he doesn’t drop out of top ten’.
And yeah, for the reason that I mentioned (ie unlike Fed and Djoko).
Lucky…Once again i will say i understand what u’ve been saying…sometimes when we’re frustrated & angry,we tend to say something that other’s don’t like…God knows i tried very hard to not come here & commenting when Rafa is playing coz i know other Rafans don’t like to hear critisism towards Rafa no matter how bad he is playing & i try very hard too to respect their wishes coz i know they love Rafa to bits!😃(just like we do!)..Our ‘mom'(Nny) sure very defensive towards her baby bear!….our sister too!(amy)😁..hehe
Ohh bout Rafa stop at 20,ermmm…i personally think he’s gonna win at least 1 more(if not 2@3)Lucky..and yeah!..agree with yor suggestion that he needs to improve many things in his game in order to win another slam!..i don’t understand why he’s so reluctant to shorten the points against Novak if he felt a bit fatigue?Many times he only pummelled novak’s bh side 4,5 times in a row when fh side was empty for him to take!..I donno why the passivity?Why the heck is that?We also saw he executed 1,2 punch as well at some point..and succeed!..Like u said,if he wants to win another slam,he gotta make some big changes in his game! ..he’s got to!…heh heh..enuff rumbling!..Now its time to take cover behind the sofa!!😁
N mira do keep us posted if he is injured or not. N if he is playing wimbledon
Sanju..As far as i know,Rafa still undecided to play Wimby or not..but he already pulled out from Mallorca Open next week…
I guess after ‘vacationing’ on the sea,take a rest a little bit,then he will decide what to do..maybe in 3,4 days we will know his schedule..But if he decide to pull out from Wimby,i’m ok with that too!…Just concentrate on USO swing..For me,he still a contender at USO..
I think is not that Rafa didn’t want to shorten points but mentally he’s not that confident to do so.
For one, he must have a dependable serve to start with, so that he could at least have the chance to rush forward into the court; but as we could see, he missed his first serve so often and his second serve wasn’t that powerful, and worse still he had DFs (8 in total!).
No.2, I think he was feeling fatigued so he couldn’t move quickly enough, if not he could’ve move around to hit his FH DTL or CC at his BH corner when his BH kept failing him.
I think fitness is an issue for him now, probably because of the pandemic, that he couldn’t train that much unlike during normal times. We know Rafa needs lots of training and practices to make him feel confident about his game.
I also think that the back issue, since beginning of the year, has affected the way he serves, that’s why we are seeing so many DFs.
So, I hope Rafa can skip the Olympics if not Wimbledon too, and concentrates on recovering physically, and works on his game and especially his serve. For, when Rafa is confident with his game and physically in tip top conditions, he’ll then be mentally prepared to fight the battles on court.
Mira 2/3 at rg itself is impossible …it will mean he needs to win till 38
Or are u talking of other slams too
Once again 100% agree with yor post Lucky!😃👍
Ohh…i’m talking about other slam too Sanju!…Very Possibly RG next year or USO this year(depends on draw & luck of coz!)…AO,Wimby..i doubt it coz Rafa seems suffering from lack of belief when playing in those 2 event..
I think Rafa will determined more than ever win RG next year Sanju bcoz the pressure is off from his shoulder..i don’t think he take this loss very kindly!…Nope!..So pressureless & determined Rafa is a very dangerous beast!..Can’t wait!
I read somewhere his interview after the loss, that he said he’s going back to Majorca with his family, and will look forward to coming back next year to RG to try to win again. I think that’s good news, that he’s not ready to retire anytime soon, whether he’s starting a family or not. I hope that in future, Xisca could take care of the kids when Rafa is still out there playing tennis!
Sorry thats Luckystar.
Novak started serving very well in the fourth, he was hitting lines
I thought it was an amazing match, so full of courage, artistry and sublime tennis. Some of those shots just weren’t possible.I was glad I didn’t have a dog in the fight and could simply enjoy it all! Congratulations and commiserations all fans.
I just looked at the odds for the final, and I don’t understand why Nole is such a heavy favourite.
Stefanos took him to 5 sets last year, and I think he’s playing better now. To me it’s more like 50/50.
Tsitsi is the younger player who should have more energy.
Novak will not let this oppty pass..he knows great chance to get 19 n take advantage of tsitsi first slam nerves
Agree Sanju!…but he also playing a lots of tennis in the past 3 weeks…In fact i am very surprised Rafa looks more fatigue than Novak!…Novak didn’t rest at all a week b4 FO..he was playing Belgrade…
Tsitsi should capitalize his fatigue form…but he could also turned out like Daniil at AO!😁…1st timer at slam usually unreliable!😁
Dannil first time was uso 19 n he gave rafa such a scare
The tsitsi match won’t be settled in straights ..will go 4 atleast
N fed fans .please pray if you want fed to win, he needs to be in same half as novak..chance of beating novak in qf or sf easier than final..in final pressure will be huge
Mira, do you remember how many champions won their first grand slam final?
McEnroe, Borg, Connors, Becker, Sampras, Hewitt, Courier, Kuerten, to name a few 🙂
Rafa too right ..fed too..isn’t it
Hehe…sorry guest!…i should say ‘some of them’ …
But he did not play Madrid meera .so it balances out .plus rafa played a match more in mc,Barcelona n 3 more in Madrid than novak .
Secondly novak played no quality opponent in Belgrade..so it was just warmups
I guess it depends on how the two of them play. I hope Tsitsipas learnt his lesson last year, it’s silly of him when he said he could play differently (as in the third and fourth sets) and yet he insisted on playing the way he played in set one and set two! I mean when he lost set one, he should be thinking of changing the way he played and started to play differently from set two onwards; why wait till you lost two sets then you decided to change? What made him think that playing set two like the way he played in set one would give him a different result??
He then ran out of steam during set five, and lost. At the AO this year he came from two sets down against Rafa and won in five, but that’s at the beginning of the year when physically he was fresher (than the FO last year during Oct).
If Tsitsipas is really determined to win this Sunday, then he better play it smart, learn from last year’s experience, be aggressive and tries to win the first two sets ASAP. Perhaps he could also learn from Mussetti, on how he played the first two sets against Djoko. He has to play with varieties and moves forward as much as possible, and of course serves well to hold serve; staying at the baseline to rally all day with Djoko would play into Djoko’s hands.
Hi mira and sanju how are you today?
I’m okay amy. I told you I was expecting it..I have recalibrated my expectations too. Rafa has painful losses like ao 17,wimby 18 against his 2 chief rivals but none at his fav gs, well we saw that too. So now nothing to fear ,seen it all.
I think it’s good that he lost so that there is no pressure anymore and he can play freely next year.
Key is his health ,physical conditioning and his serve..needs to fix it
I’m curious whether he will play wimby or not, I think he will.
I am not expecting any addition to 20 ,anything that comes will be a bonus. Best way to not feel disappointed 🙂
Ok sanju! Glad you are not too upset!
I am.just physically and mentally drained today because watching live and blogging is very tiring.
I don’t think he will do well at wimby. He is a confidence player and this hasn’t been a good tourney for him.
I don’t know what exactly is going on with the serve as it was changed because of his back problem but it is a disaster area. If there is no longer a back problem they should return to the old serve! If there is a back problem so they can’t change it back then that might explain some of the problems.
Also you can’t play on grass without a good serve!
Hey amy!…hehe…i don’t want to be exaggerated!…but..oh God!..today is one of the most BLACKEST SATURDAY EVER for me amy!😆
I know it’s stupid to feel this way over tennis..but i can’t help it!…But insyaallah,i will lift myself up pretty soon!..hehe…what about u amy?Ok?Nobody got injured from yor frustration?😁
Hawks are you around? I’d like to talk to you…
I really don’t know why people are saying that was a great match. It had great moments but
Rafa played poorly for large parts of it.
If a set goes on for 93 minutes it qualifies as great I think .I think ppl are talking more about the third set only
Sanju, Rafa played poorly for a lot of that set just as he was doing against Diego. Then, exactly as against Diego, he suddenly got his nerves under control, and started to hit his fh. He could have won the set.
If he had hit his fh all along them he would have won the match.
He was obviously very tired in the fourth after putting himself under so much pressure. He had no first serve in the fourth.
I knew against Sinner, Norrie and Diego that he had a big problem with his nerves. The same pattern happened again.
If it’s fatigue how come he can suddenly turn it on late in the third set?
Only moya can answer what’s the real issue with serve .it’s time to maybe dig out some interview of him or someone to ask him that question
Tbh sanju, as you know I didn’t see any warm up tourneys , but I read what moya had to say at the beginning of RG.
He talked about Rafa ‘s dfs and sudden inexplicably poor play as with the match against rublev. I actually found what he said very unnerving but thought that maybe because he had won Rome he had got his head together.
It became very very clear to me that there was a big problem going on quite early on at RG.
This can’t simply be attributed to fatigue! Although it’s true that Rafa does get tired in ways he didn’t before.
What did he say abt the serve..I don’t think he referred to a back issue
People need to stop looking for excuses. Djokovic lost 3-0 last year but no one was talking about how he played, it was all about how great Nadal was.
The way I see it is Nadal had 4 sets and 4 hours plus to play his best and he played his best possible match all things considered and cam up short on this occasion.
Nobody is looking for excuses! Rafa does not lose at the semifinals of RG. Hello! So it’s natural to want to analyze it. So let us do it!
Last year no one on this site took shits at Novak fur losing the first set 6-0. The first time he was ever bagejed in a slam. We did not make fun of him. Not like the vile crap I had to read yesterday. Some Novak fans have zero class! That’s just the truth! So you don’t get to tell us that we are looking for excuses!
SHOTS!
Congrats to Al as well as Elizabeth. Sorry I forgot you!
You didn’t forget me amy! xxoo
Me too, Im a Nole fan and of many players , but Fed is still my fav.
Nadal was horrible, period. Nothing great about the match. Djoko played well and Congrats to him and his good fans. Djoko will win the final in 3 sets easily. Tsitsipas will choke as usual.
Rafa is a legend and will always be win or lose,he had a great tournament and played really well, Djokovic was just better I this match.
How many times has Rafa won FO or defeated Novak here? Nothing to be disappointed about.
To Amy, nny etc please calm down and have fun wins or loses no need for sour/sadistic comments just relax who knows Rafa might defeat Novak on hard or grass this season it would be very difficult but not impossible.
https://youtu.be/3bnmkMx2x_8
Rafa played really well especially in the 1st set it just wasn’t his day.
Okay, my opinion.
Why Rafa lost? It’s simple. A mix of physical and mental tiredness, which are interdependent on each other, the trigger can be any of them. Novak was solid, but again he won because Rafa was not even at his 75%, not because he was soo good. Rafa was vulnerable yesterday, could have lost to quite a few players; no need to make Djoko a hero, but he deserves to be given the credit, sure- for being there and holding his level, although he did nothing new as usual -serve well, return deep, which was enough to beat Rafa. This moment had to come. It can be a blessing. He has nothing to prove at RG. This loss can in fact make him feel better and less anxious,because the weight he had around this invincibility talk and stats was too heavy.
It’s a bit silly to fantasize that it’s over and be may drop outside the top 10. He’s not done for sure.
This win for Novak is essential at a personal level only and may remain just that if he fails to win tomorrow, which is possible.
Thank you Eugene! You are indeed the true voice of reason and encouragement. Thanks again.
Agree Eugene on the loss being a blessing in disguise
Who knows maybe rafa will beat novak on hard or grass too in return. We nevee know the future .
Agree that if he does not win tomorrow , beating rafa means nothing. Finally he wants the slam
@Eugene you must be drunk or high on something stupid.
Listen , Stanley, I am not drunk and don’t take drugs.
You’re just a stinky mushroom that appears after rain ( when Rafa loses). Also, the 2nd reason you’re a stinky mushroom is for assuming something about me, when you don’t know me at all.
Word of advice. Find a life, buy a cat, do an activity you like or just fyyk yourself.
Eugene,
Love it! Well said! Stinky mushroom!
But we need to let Stanley go play with his toys now. He needs all the help he can get. Hasn’t been the same since Trump lost the election! Too bad!
😂😂😂 Did I hurt your feelings kiddo? You need to stop being high on stupid that way you will reason sensibly.
Congrats, one of the stupidest comments across all forums and twitter combined.
If not for Novak, it was going to be number 14, even if he had to hypothetically play Diego, thiem, tsisipas back to back in qf,semis and finals.
I am not sure if you referred to my comment. I don’t think so – not so fast with the 14th assumption; Tsitsipas would beat Rafa tomorrow, if the Spaniard won against Djokovic. The pain would just be postponed by 2 days.
It’s a much needed break to revise his strategy, serve and schedule.
The stupidest moron on this site is the coward who posts as Anonymous!
You know nothing about tennis and have no decency. Loser!
Eugene,
Bless you fir this comment! So well said! You summed it up perfectly! Novak did nothing special. He didn’t have to! He had a cakewalk draw up to the quarterfinals and still had trouble! Rafa was nowhere near hus best level. I am do agree that this could be a blessing in disguise.
Thank you for saying it is ridiculous to say he could drop out of the top ten. From a Rafa fan no less! Honestly, there is nothing more to say. You put it in perspective and I thank you!
Thanks NNY. All the best to you, too!
My take on the match: Nole has been in much better form this RG than Rafa. Yes, he was pushed by Mussetti and Berretini, but they were playing out of their skin. Rafa’s match against Sinner was just too crappy. Sinner never really took advantage of Rafa’s poor game play and just kept spraying errors.
So, I would just say that Nole was more mentally ready and prepared for this match than Rafa. Plus no one gets on Rafa’s nerves more than Novak. Same is true for Novak also while facing Rafa on clay. That is why we saw so many of Rafa’s errors and Novak’s poor selection of dropshots. All attributed to the nerves.
Ultimately, Rafa was too fatigued mentally just trying to stay with Nole throughout the match. He looked completely spent by the time 4th set started. Hence, the scoreline. This loss was inbound for a long time. Rafa has prevailed many times against Novak here but only last year’s final was one sided. He was pushed all the times over the last decade. Novak’s resilience had to come through one day and that happened to be yesterday.
Tactically, Nole changed his strategy towards the end of the 1st set and just placed Rafa in a BH jail for the rest of the match. Rafa’s BH wasn’t ready for the peppering. I feel his serving was good. Yes he served multiple double faults,but they really weren’t at inopportune moments less 1 in the TB. It was just that he was facing Novak’s returns who was returning it deep and centre almost every time even when Rafa hit the out wide sliders and kickers.
So I would say Nole just outmatched Rafa yesterday with his unwavering focus to attack Rafa’s BH and his superior returns that only he can make. Rafa for once, couldn’t respond to this level of pressure, even though it was RG and that’s OK. He will move on from it easily.
U think he will abhirf ? The fitness issues is what concerns me. He can’t win a slam if he gets tired in 3-3.5 hrs
Relax Sanju!
Rafa has been that way for well over past 3-4 years now at least when the matches have gone to a 4th or 5th set. The only match I could recollect where his energy levels didn’t wandered too much over a longer match was the Wimby’18 SF where the break helped him. But still he has won GS titles, no?
So yes, he may not win many down the road with progressing age. I still feel he will win at least 1 more. There aren’t many threats on clay. Winning a non-clay slam will be very very difficult for him now with Stef, Sasha, Thiem, Medvedev, Federer all capable of beating him there. And Nole will always be tough.
abhirf,
After what I had to read from the nasty and vindictive Novak fans here, I am tempted to rub their noses in last year’s loss at RG. But the Rafa fans did not do that. We could have if we were as petty as the jerks here mouthing off after Novak’s victory. I won’t forget it.
Maybe this was always in the cards, maybe not. On clay the match is on Rafa’s racket. This time he was not able to bring his best. Strategies employed by Novak would not mean anything, especially if Rafa had his DTL backhand. Novak has done it all and it usually does not work. But Rafa is human after all.
I watched the third set again and am so proud of how RAF fought. He made one final run there. Knowing he was not at his best and letting the support from the crowd lift him physically he gave it one more shot. But it was not meant to be.
God bless Rafa for all the thrills and joy he has given his fans.
Hi everyone its been a while, hope your all well,RC,AM , Amy, NNY ,Margot hugs xx ,anyway by the law of averages the streak had to end sooner or later, and as a fan yes it does hurt, doesnt mean hes done, wont win another GS, drop out of the top 10 blah, blah, just means hes a step slower than he used to be, father time catches up with everyone in the end, hes been written off so many times ive lost count,so whats new,hell be back,just wont dominate anymore ? Novak was the better player end of, time will tell if he wins the title, its hardly the second coming ,maybe Sissy will surprise us all ,you never know, probably time that some new blood breaks through anyway, Hugs to you all, except the trolls go play marbles on a motorway ….
Hey Al!…Where have u been??We missed u here u know?Hope u’re ok over there Al!😃👋
Alison!
Phew, you are alive and made it through Covid. I salute your bravery. Thinking you still work where you used to I have been worried about you. Nice to see your post. 🤗
Meant to add congrats to RC,Big Al and the nice Nole fans 🙂
Of course, we are, and you have always been a nice Rafa fan 😘
What , arent all Rafa fans nice?
I have not always been nice, Big Al. My teeth are sharp and do know how to speak with a forked tongue. But when I came to this blog as the only Novak fan, I had no home for posting comments and talking WTA. This was my last outpost and I had to reform, as I mentioned elsewhere.
Rafa fans are hugely defensive of their man. I knew that. Some Novak fans and Fed fans are just as bad. In the old days, before 2010, let’s say, all blog posts were at war. This era is quite peaceful by comparison.
There is one, maybe two troll(s) here. That’s nothing.
Djoker continuously peppering Rafa’s BH and pushing him on corner and Rafa unable to stay in that rally and unable to hit DL BH just nailed it.
This plan is known to lot but very few can even execute this. I thought Djoker played really well yesterday barring first five games (even first two games were good level from Nole also), Rafa not so good. I thought his BH deserted him yesterday.
Hi there AM thanks and lovely to see you too and the other lovely ladies I haven’t blogged for a while as I’ve been having a lot of personal problems and had such a lot going on been a tough couple of years hope you and all your family are doing well xx
Alison,
How wonderful to see you here! You have been missed! Thank you for your thoughts about Rafa and this loss. Much needed. No it’s not the end of the world or the end of Rafa. He has nothing left to prove at RG. Novak got the win, but it’s not like he reinvented the wheel. His behavior lately has been very off putting. The screaming and bellowing, the kicking things, the sense of entitlement and temper tantrums, are not befitting the # 1 player.
Please come around more!
😀
Alison,
I thought that I posted something to you but don’t see it here. I just want to say that it’s great to see you here! You have been missed!
Thanks so much for your words about Rafa. No it’s not the end of the world. We have lost over half a million people in the U.S. to COVID. That is a tragedy. This is sport. I am not thinking up scenarios where Rafa drops out of the top ten, never wins another slam and on and on.
I really would like the trolls to go play marbles on a motorway. Just get the hell off this site!
NNY,
It is a shame no one is minding the store. The trolls have it.
It sounds perhaps like two voices but one voice is familiar. The writing style is getting quite familiar the more serious about tennis he writes. When tossing out vulgarities it could be anyone. But he is not here to do only that. He wants to be taken seriously. He also demands silence from the females here, the ones he thinks are thick as thieves and would be after him/her if using a previous moniker. A misogynist troll is not necessarily male, of course.
You have to grow a very thick skin to exist on the net.There are a lot of very angry, scary people out there and the net is a “safe” place for them to vent.
And of course never take anything personally, but me oh my that one takes a lot of practise. 🙁
Hey back Al!..I am so sorry to hear yor ‘difficulties! Al..I know u’re a very strong & brave women ..I hope u will get thru it unscathed!..
Wish to ‘c’ u here constantly from now on Al!..Who knows when we chat about Rafa more,all that pain will go away?👋😍
Good to see you Alison. The last 15 months have been horrible, let’s hope better times are ahead. x
Despite the loss, Rafa would still win 23 to 24 slams by the time he retires. 3 or 4 more FO is very possible for him. One loss after 2015 is very human. He would win slam until older age than Fed. Nole would eventually reach 26 to 27 slams.
Nny…I found an article today that i think u might interested to read…
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Rafael_Nadal/99321/-it-is-true-that-rafael-nadal-had-a-few-small-problems-but-says-top-coach/