Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will kick off their Halle campaigns on Thursday. They are set for respective openers against Dustin Brown and Joao Sousa.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (WC) Dustin Brown
Nadal will be right back in action four days after winning his ninth French Open title when he takes the court on Thursday at the Gerry Weber Open. The top-ranked Spaniard generally struggles–understandably so–making the extremely quick transition from clay to grass without a week in between. He has a single match victory in two previous Halle appearances, having most recently lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the 2012 quarterfinals. Similarly, Nadal has made it past the Queen’s Club quarterfinals only once in five forays to that event (he won the title in 2008).
Up first for Nadal this week is Brown, whom the No. 1 seed has never faced. Brown did almost nothing on clay aside from a Houston upset of John Isner en route to the quarters, but his attacking style is always going to work better on grass. The 83rd-ranked German successfully qualified for Wimbledon each of the past two seasons and he reached the third round in 2013. This should be competitive in part because of Brown’s grass-court prowess, but mainly because of the fact that there is no way Nadal will be 100 percent physically or mentally. Still, the favorite should have enough left in the tank to get through at least one match this week.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing more than 8 games
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Joao Sousa vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Sousa will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Thursday. The 32-year-old Swiss is coming off a French Open quarterfinal loss to Ernests Gulbis, but he will be well-rested and obviously motivated to succeed at what is basically a home tournament for him. Federer is 43-5 lifetime in Halle with six titles and he has made it to the final in eight consecutive appearances.
Sousa broke onto the scene last season and he has a decent 10 ATP-level match victories this year, but he also has 18 losses. Although the world No. 47 is a solid all-court player, he would obviously much rather contest this one on clay as opposed to grass. He opened his week on Monday with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 beatdown of Jan-Lennard Struff. Sousa will make Federer work, but this should be one-way traffic from start to finish.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 5-7 games
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He can eat a breadstick on the plane to Mallorca I guess.
https://twitter.com/The_Changeover/status/477129919970160640
#Ooooofff
*groan*
Now Dustin Brown has a positive H2H against Rafa…………..THAT I am not happy about. I don’t mind Rafa losing…………..the H2H thingy, I mind…..
Ben Pronin will be happy.
#DavyOrNotDavy
American tennis.
#Sigh
#Oxymoron
What changed from Clay? Brown’s serves are like bombs now.
Grass is far more entertaining!
LOL…grass can be entertaining but this was JUNK tennis
Any Rafa loss is entertaining to a fedbot fanboy.
hawkeye63 ( at 4:57 pm);
…any loss of Maestro of the Federazzi is entertaining to me (without watching his matches).
Absolutely incredible tennis from Dustin brown. 0 margin for error but executed perfectly. An outstanding number or delicate drop volleys, ferocious winners and pinpoint lobs. Like Murray’s defeat to stepanek today, yes fatigue and other factors may have contributed to the upset, but you have to just take your hat off and say well done to the opponent for playing out of their skin and not giving the favourite a chance
:thumbsup: to Dustin
Rafa hasn’t had the extended vacation Roger had after his normal FO failure.
Let Roger and Nole have the small fish.
Revisit in three weeks.
Yes, it is very entertaining !, you have any problems?
Take care of your cats sabs. And try to get outside for a walk.
Enjoy your “victory” since punchbag can’t get it done for you anymore.
hawkeye..did sabs not say Rafa would lose to Novak in straights? Someone remind him what was the result .. To me it seems he just comes here to mouth gibberish 🙂
Dustin played lights out. Full credit to him.
Rafa himself said in more than one presser more than one time between RG and Halle that he was “dangerous” and a “tough draw”. Credit where credit is due.
That said, it takes the man a minute to warm up & get his rhythm at the start of any tournament, and that challenge is exacerbated when you’re talking about transitioning between surfaces.
(Ask Andy Murray – or the Bryans – who also got upset today.)
Especially if you go so deep that you’ve won the tournament.
All that said —
Dear Tennis Gods,
There are three quarters other than Rafa’s at Wimbledon. Please put the thunderous, hard-striking Dustin Brown in one of those.
Unlike some who are not giving Dustin enough credit for his lights-out play today, some of us had already suspected how good he is (including Rafa himself).
So Rafa has had his turn; someone else should have to duel with him now.
Thank you.
Your friend,
M
^^I join you in that prayer, @M. Yes, Rafa was tired, obviously. And Yes, Dustin took advantage, executed his game plan to perfection, well done to him.
M @June 13, 2014 at 12:00 am
—(Ask…the Bryans – who also got upset today.)
Wow! Thumbs up to Murray J.&Peers J. for beating Big brothers!
Had a hunch that Rafa would be out by tomorrow. He more or less told us in advance: He said yesterday, it’s very possible to lose here in the first round and Dustin Brown is no slouch on gras. Last Wimby he eliminated Hewitt.
That said, I’m slightly worried that his back acted up again. Gras can do that to you, if you suddenly have to reach deep, and Rafa was hardly moving. Also, it’s not good for his self confidence to have won so few gras matches in the last 3 years.
Let’s wait and see, what comes next. Hope for a kind draw at Wimby…
Aww, sorry @littlefoot! You were hoping to see Rafa tomorrow, no?
I am not surprised Rafa lost at all. Actually, I am sorry he lost, but glad he gets to go home and recover. Honestly, he needs to recover from the rigours of the clay swing! Let the Dustin Browns have their 15 minutes of fame. Rafa will be ready for Wimby as long as his body is okay.
It is not norman have such an emotional day as he did on Sunday and toady he is expected to turn it on like that. No, not normal.
Vamos Rafa!
Yup, RITB, it will be Rastaman instead of Rafael for me tomorrow. I will hardly notice the difference 😉
Enjoy your day at the tourney @littlefoot! Now that Rafa’s out, I will be rooting for Rastaman today, but I do not think Kohly will give him a look in……………
Yes. We don’t want any Dustin Browns in his path. I was rooting for Kuznestov in Rnd 1, because I knew Rafa wouldn’t enjoy playing Dustin.
I’m sure Rafa is happy to go home. Too much is asked of players. Rafa is not a machine. Considering how exhausted he was at RG, to expect him to just turn round and play another tournament on a different surface couple of days later is cruel.
Wimby should be played in July.
Andy’s loss is a boon for Fed, now he is safe at no:4
My how standards drop.
#PunchbagHopes
You better watch your back and knee, fan girl!
C’mon sabs. Surely you can do better.
#Uninspired
#Yawn
Fed needs the 250 points.
Rafa lost to Rosol and Darcis, that has had no impact on his career. He is #1 in the world and one of the greatest players ever. A legend.
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/477131324936159233
Dustin Brown has an interesting background. I’m happy for him. If Rafa had to go so early, it’s nice that a true journey man (he used to travel to challengers in a camping van) had the experience of his life in front of a home audience. Because he’s German. 🙂
His father is from Jamaica if I remember correctly and his mother is from the North of Germany.
Nadal has only made it past the quarter finals once in a grass tune up event.
Loss here means nothing.
Rest well GOAT.
I swear I saw him tank matches to Mahut, Lopez and Tsonga at Queens. In fact when he was playing Mahut, I was thinking, why can’t he just do this or that. That’s because he wanted to go home. He didn’t want to put himself out to win.
In 2007 when he lost to Mahut, Mahut was immediately given a WC for Wimbledon, Rafa made the final and Mahut went out in the 2nd round.
@nadline, you know, that the t-word is a no-no at most sites. If you suggest it, you get trashed by fans and foes alike. Yet Rafa DOES tank occasionally, as probably every player has done during his career.
Today I don’t think Rafa was consciously tanking. But his body language displayed a deep unwillingness to pull it together. Yet, when he played his last service game and avoided to get bagelled, I swear I saw him straighten up and doing his thing one more time. And he served very well, winning that game with relative ease. It was almost as if he wanted to prove to himself that he can do it. And you have to give it to Brown, he didn’t fold. He maintained his level of crazy good serving and closed the match out.
littlefoot..what makes u say his back acted up again? Is he injured? Oh no my dream of French, Wimby double in jeopardy?
Two things, Sanju. Apparently Rafa said yesterday something like ‘I’m in no condition to play here, but I’m going to try anyway’ . The other thing was an interview with Nicolas Kiefer, who stressed, how hard the transition from clay to gras is on the back, and that many a player complains about back aches during the early gras days.
Rafa is probably not seriously injured or he wouldn’t have played at all. But I don’t think the back problems are a thing of the past. He might have to manage them somehow. That could mean not to try too hard in a 250 p. warm up tourney.
We can always dream of a RG/Wimby double, but we have to realize that it gets harder and harder for Rafa to pull it off. And without perfect health the chances are slim.
Let’s just cross our fingers and let’s continue to enjoy his 9th.
Brown’s so called ‘retard’ play gave him the win so kuddos to him. As to Rafa, for sure he tried to win the 1st win and since I didn’t see the match I can’ say what happened in the 2nd, whether he gave up or something else, it’s not like Rafa to just give up like that unless something isn’t totally right….
Yes, he definitely tried to win the first set and had a few openings. When the first set was gone, he was either not able or he was deeply unwilling to pull himself together and win that set. Maybe because winning the set would’ve meant a decider, and he was just not willing to go into a deep tussle against a crazy good serving ‘n volleying opponent so soon after Sunday’s final. Hopefully it was just that and nothing more serious. Who knows? But I swear he made a conscious effort to win his last service game.
littlefoot,
Rafa said in Halle that at Roland Garros he had some cramping and that made him feel a little bit tired. I am sure he is still TIRED. There was less than 24 hours between the FO final and his first practice in Halle on Monday. He couldn’t rest properly after the final – he celebrated his victory on Sunday evening and had a photo shoot on Monday in Paris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdgp7q-p5MQ
@augusta, I saw that interview. But I had the tv on today and German commies for a change, who did extensive backgound reporting. Apparently Rafa had hinted to them that there might be more than just tiredness and the cramps, but that he simply wouldn’t pull out twice in a row. There might be more than tiredness and exhaustion. Or the German reporters losf slmsthing in translation. But they all speak English very well. We simply have to wait and see and cross our fingers.
littlefoot ( at 6:45 pm)
I don’t believe that Rafa hinted something to these commies. I think, these commies are trying to create rumors.
Nope, augusta. I’ve known some of the journos for quite some time. Why should they create rumors? Not everybody is engaged in a dark plot against Rafa. Besides, who would benefit from such rumors? Either Rafa plays well at Wimby or he doesn’t. Rumors don’t influence his level of play or his chances at Wimby. Besides, it would hurt their fantastic narrative about Dustin Brown from a German perspective.
Misunderstandings are more likely.
And in the end it doesn’t matter. Only Rafa’s first Wimby match will tell us more.
littlefoot ( at 10:57 pm)
—Besides, who would benefit from such rumors? —
It’s bread and butter for journos.
Guys, Rafa was cramping in the 3rd and 4th sets of the RG final. He was cramping so bad (a) he couldn’t hold the trophy at the end (b) he needed an IV medical transfusion after the match for the cramps. He had no business being in Halle and he knew it. The only reason he came to Halle was he could not pass twice in a row and he said that. It is absolute murder to expect him to turnaround after that grueling RG final to play the likes of Dustin who have absolutely nothing to lose.
After RG, he should have gone straight back to Mallorca for some hydro-therapy and rest.
I am glad he gets to go back home! I don’t think there is anything seriously wrong with Rafa apart from the usual niggles. I have a feeling we will see him at one of the pre-Wimby exhos next week.
Vamos Rafa!
When Nicolas Kiefer stressed how hard the clay/gras transition is on the players’ backs – he wasn’t even talking about Rafa, but about his own experiences – the thought crossed my mind, that Rafa wasn’t going to risk anything here. If he had been able to pull off an easy win – fine, but he wasn’t going to kill himself over a few points in a warm-up tourney. And Dustin Brown did well. Kudos to him.
I have a hunch though, that Rafa will try hard this season to do reasonably well at Wimby. He would hate to go out early three years in a row. If his body permits it, a warm-up exo might indeed be a good idea.
Yes, I saw him almost wanting to sit down with the cup before the photo session. Thank goodness the match did not go into a 5th set.
Rafa’s next match would not have been any easier against Khols. I hope he hasn’t signed on for years because he would be better off not playing any warm-ups before Wimbledon. Even U. Toni is taking a rest.
Rafa can now watch the WC and relax.
I came on to see that Rafa lost his match to Brown. I had a feeling it could go this way. Without having seen the match I can’t speak to how either guy played. But I just feel that Rafa wasn’t up to it after that tough final. I don’t think he was ready or willing to kill himself to win a match at this event.
I am not going to engage in any speculation about his back. For now I am just chalking this up to the physical fatigue from RG. I think Rafa did feel an obligation not to pull out again and maybe get some time on the grass. Hopefully he will show up at an exho event before Wimbledon.
I am certainly not reading anything more into this loss than what it was – Rafa’s tired and needs a break.
http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/11070600/rafael-nadal-falls-halle-1st-match-french
“Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the second round of the grass-court Gerry Weber Open on Thursday, losing 6-4, 6-1 to German wild card Dustin Brown.
“I didn’t play,” Nadal said. “That can happen when you play an opponent like this. But I don’t want to talk about the opponent.”
Brown, the world No. 85, broke Nadal’s serve at the fifth attempt to win the first set, and he pulled off two audacious lobs in succession to break the Spaniard again early in the second.
Nothing Nadal tried seem to work in his first match since winning his ninth French Open title. He had a first-round bye at Halle, where he was the top seed.
“The only way I could have tried to do more was resisting with my serve, something I hadn’t practiced a lot these days,” said Nadal, who was unnerved by Brown’s unpredictability.
“For the first four games he didn’t put any returns on the court and then suddenly he was playing winners from the return, so it’s difficult to analyze these kinds of matches. The only thing I can do is keep working the way that I did the last three days, because I came here, I tried hard, I tried my best.”
@nadline10, do you know which exhos are played the week before Wimby? I know there’s Boodles or something like that but Djoker likes to go there so I don’t think Rafa should go there and give away his secrets! Muzza also lost early at Queens so I expect he will also be looking around for an exho to play before the big ‘un…………
Last year Rafa played at Hurlingham club in Fulham, along the Thames, against Nishikori, he may do the same again this year.
Every pundit and his dog is saying Rafa losing to Dustin Brown is hardly good preparation for Wimbledon. Fine. I wonder what they make of Djokovic’s preparations then? He is in Ibiza frolicking, I guess THAT is good preparation. Ok, got it…………favourites can do what they want I guess and it would still be good enough.
I wonder if Rafa will bump into Djoker. Maybe Rafa will stay away from Ibiza until he leaves.