Arguably the greatest rivalry in tennis history is picking up steam in a major way. And it is doing so 13 years after it first began–at this same Miami Open.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be facing each other for the 37th time in their careers and for the third time already this season when they battle for the Miami title on Sunday afternoon. Federer and Nadal went 15 months without a single meeting before colliding at both the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Masters earlier this year. The Swiss survived a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 thriller to triumph Down Under before destroying Nadal 6-2, 6-3 in an all-too-early fourth-round showdown in the California desert.
Nadal still leads the overall head-to-head series 23-13, but it is now tied up 9-9 on hard courts. The two all-time greats have squared off three times in Miami, where each of their first two encounters took place. Nadal cruised 6-3, 6-3 back in 2004, Federer prevailed 2-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1 in the 2005 final, and Nadal got the job done 6-3, 6-2 in 2011.
This one almost did not come to fruition. Federer has been the dominant player of 2017 with an 18-1 record and titles in Melbourne and Indian Wells, but it was far from one-way traffic for him in the quarterfinals and semis. After saving two match points to outlast Tomas Berdych 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6), the 35-year-old returned one day later and battled past Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) in three hours and 10 minutes. Federer preceded those results with more routine defeats of Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Roberto Bautista Agut.
“He’s playing so good,” Nadal commented. “That’s all, no? He’s playing great. When (a) top player like him is playing that well, then it’s always a big challenge for every player. That’s all.”
Nadal endured only one real scare on the way to his fifth Miami final. The sixth-ranked Spaniard got bageled in the first set of his third-round date with Philipp Kohlschreiber, but he recovered to win 0-6, 6-2, 6-3. Nadal also boasts straight-set victories over Dudi Sela, Nicolas Mahut, Jack Sock, and Fabio Fognini.
The 14-time major champion is still in search of his first Miami title, currently saddle with an 0-4 record in finals. This one should be more competitive than what transpired in Indian Wells, but Federer is battle-hardened thanks to Berdych and Kyrgios and a full day off will restored whatever energy was sapped in those thrillers. Given the way he is hitting his backhand, which had been his waterloo against Nadal in the past, Federer should make it three in a row at his rival’s expense.
Pick: Federer in 2
[polldaddy poll=9713040]
There is a good chance Rafa may do better on clay than 2015 and 2016..
he does not have the invincible pressure on clay this year since he has not performed that well on clay from 2015 onwards..last year yes he got injured but 2015 was a huge let down anyway..
RG it depends on the draw and I expect as always he gets a bad draw at RG (clubbed with Novak)
In Miami, the first set score could have been 6 3 in Rafas favor too..he was a bit unlucky to be honest..he should have played more brave on BPs
Fed seems to have clearly turned this rivalry to his side now..23-10 to 23-14..
reminiscent of Novak..Rafa..it was 16-7 at one time and then Novak got it to 16-14 and then rafa took it to 19-15 and finally 22-15…ofcourse after that 2015 started and no need to tell further..
From Next Year Rafa should skip Indian Wells/Miami to remain fresh on European Clay swing to enhance chances of winning masters and RG.
If he continue to play tournaments after tournaments like this year, it will cost him dearly as he is getting older and already reaching 31.
Yeah, I feel the same too. Rafa should just forget about IW/Miami and concentrates on the clay season, just like Fed skipping clay events (except the slam) to concentrate on grass.
Rafa will be 32 next year, just concentrate on events that he has better chances of winning. It’s not necessary to win at Miami; Fed has not won at MC and Rome too but it doesn’t bother him; Djoko hasn’t won Cincy and the Olympics; there’s always something missing in each of their CV, so it’s not a big deal winning Miami or not.
Fed has not win Gold at Olympics singles too 🙂
I agree with you, Luckystar. At this point in his career, I don’t think Rafa should be as concerned with non-clay surfaces, with the exception of the three non-clay slams maybe. The only hardcourt event that Rafa hasn’t won yet that I would love to see Rafa win before he retires is the WTF, but if he doesn’t win it, it really doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Same with Olympics singles for Fed.
I really think Rafa is in such a good position to do extremely well in the clay season. His court positioning is absolutely different, or better, than it was the previous couple seasons, and I think that will make playing against Rafa really difficult for these other players. Even if he played Fed at RG, I still see Rafa as having a solid advantage on clay because it still favors his style much more than Fed’s. It is much harder for Fed to hit through Rafa on clay, and as long as Rafa stays closer to the baseline and hits deep shots, he can keep Fed or anyone else pinned back much more and can impose his game and dictate. Just because Rafa didn’t take a title on hardcourts, to me it is not reflective of how poised Rafa is to kick ass on clay… He just came up against a guy who was playing really aggressive, effective hardcourt tennis. I truly believe that you should be psyched for Rafa in the clay season, Luckystar. 🙂
Yes I will, Kevin. I’ve confidence in Rafa, that he will do well on clay; and if he wins the FO, I feel he will carry that momentum to the USO series, just like in 2013. It seemed that Rafa did better at the USO series since 2010 compared to AO/IW/Miami (except 2015/2016 when he did poorly at both).
Yep, Rafa would definitely be so much better off in summer hardcourts if he can win RG. I even think he could do well at Wimbledon if he picked up confidence on clay. I, personally, really hope that Novak and Andy can get back to good form for RG and thereafter… It would be cool if we could have more than just Rafa, and maybe Fed and Stan, contending for RG. I liked how in last year’s clay season, Djok, Murray, and Rafa were all in good form going into RG. I hope for the same thing this year, except I REALLY hope that Rafa doesn’t get hurt pre-Roland Garros… That should be obvious, though- no one should ever want anyone to be injured…
I agree with Fed, Rafa will tear through the clay season. If Djoko and Murray can’t get back to top form, then Fedal may end season as the top two.
I think Fed knows Rafa better than anyone of us know him (Rafa). Fed probably knows Rafa is steadily getting back to his good to great level. If Rafa can make HC major/masters final without playing his best tennis yet, what more Rafa could do on clay!
I’m not worried about Rafa’s H2H vs whoever; if he bags a few important clay titles including the FO, he’ll be back to his old self and his old self will be hard to beat.
Rafa is steadily improving his BH and his serve. He needs to improve his FH and ROS, and tries playing more inside the court, to compensate for loss of speed.
Yes I always pay rapt attention to what Fed says about his rivals..He surely knows what state Rafa is better than any of us.
Just watched the highlights of Nadal Dimitrov from AO semi..where has that Rafa gone…from that tourney, Rafa has regressed so much..the Rafa we saw in Zverev, Milos, Dimi match..the one who fought fought fought, showed aggression..where art thou Rafa?
Sanju, the others you mentioned are not able to exploit Rafa’s weaknesses as well as Fed can. To beat this Fed, Rafa needs to be fast but his speed is reduced and his lateral movement is slow. He used to chase down every ball but he can no longer do so. To beat Fed who is an amazing athlete, Rafa has to be fast. He is not fast enough to move fast enough to his left to hit DTL FH most of the time so he plays safe and goes CC but even that is impacted ( errors or not enough depth) because in his slower scramble, his footwork isn’t what it was. I do not know whether this is temporary or permanent. Let us hope on clay where the ball moves slower this lack of speed will not be that critical. Hope they don’t install fast clay at RG like they did at Madrid.
Nah, why then Rafa could do it at the AO final despite his 5+hours SF match with one less day of rest (compared to Fed)?
To me the differences are : 1) AO is a slam so Rafa would go all out to do his best; 2) Miami conditions doesn’t suit Rafa, he dislikes humidity; 3) Rafa may not want to stress his knees or gets injured when the clay season is around the corner, unlike at the AO when Rafa would still have time to heal or recover; 4) the IW match vs Fed came too soon when Rafa was still finding his way and adjusting to the conditions whilst Fed being better on the HCs had no such problem.
Rafa will be fine on clay, it’s important he arrives at clay in good physical conditions and battle ready which I think he is now.
Of course another reason is that Fed is playing extremely well at the moment. I know Fed is going all out to win points because he has the intention of getting as many points as possible so that he can afford to skip the clay season except the FO, and still can have a good seeding on grass. Fed’s target is Wimbledon, not the FO.
They are both targets – Wimby being the biggest.
Fed doesn’t need lead ups to do well in Paris. Only top form Rafa or top form Nole have more than 50% chance to stop him fro m keeping Grand Slam run alive.
I don’t know what is ailing Rafa but his lateral movement is impaired. I am not the only one who has noticed this. So I am waiting for Monte Carlo to see whether his movement and his forehand is better on clay. No matter how good your defence is, you need a great weapon. Without that forehand working Rafa will not be invincible on clay.
One of the reasons Muzz was slow in the slam stakes was because his forehand wasn’t good. The first thing that Lendl did was to work on it.
Poor Muzz! I am not surprised Muzz got shingles. Apparently it strikes if you are too stressed But on the other hand if you have taken the chickenpox vaccine, it shouldn’t happen. Probably Muzz already had chicken px in childhood in which case the virus would forever lurk in his system and strike when Muzz is under great stress.
maybe abhirf knows, he’s a doctor I believe.
Fed has a lot of respect for Rafa on clay! But if Rafa doesn’t play well at the other clay events leading up to RG, Fed will likely make RG his target for a double career slam. That maybe more prestigious than surpassing Sampras on grass. Besides if Muzz doesn’t get back his form, Wimbledon may also be Fed’s. US Open is always willing to pull out all stops to please Fed so winning RG will keep alive the dream of a calendar slam. But I think US Open is always kind of wide open and nobody can count on winning it. I don’t know why this is so. Near the end of the season? The top players have already played three slams so whoever is freshest among them or someone else if all four are not in A form?
Mary, why are you thinking so far ahead? How can Fed win FO when he won’t be having much warm up on clay? You talk as if he’s superman!
Fed knows very well he won’t have the energy to do well on clay plus on grass; I think he’s the one who knows very well what he can and what he can’t do, not his fans or any other fans! It’s only his fans own fantasy of a double career slam for Fed, whenFed doesn’t even bother about spending much time on clay.
Even if we take out Rafa,Djoko and Murray from the equation, there are still Stan, Thiem and Kei. On clay they are formidable opponents for Fed. Don’t forget Stan and Kei took Fed to five sets on quick HCs at the AO, what more when it’s on slow clay.
Fed is realistic and wants to concentrate his efforts at Wimbledon; at the USO there will be many players who are capable of winning there – Rafa, Djoko, Murray, Delpo, Cilic, Stan, and maybe some young players like Zverev and Kygrios. The USO is much harder for Fed to win imo, after all the matches he would have played during the season as a 35 yo.
Federer IS superman in tennis sense with Rafa traditionally his kryptonite.
He practically had no lead up to Australia except a couple of Hopman exho matches and he did quite well in Melbourne.
Only in-form Rafa or in-form Nole have a better than 50% chance to stop this Fed in Paris.
Fed made USO final in 2015 and only God-mode Master Class Nole could stop him there. Fed is even better now. Only peak Rafa and peak Nole have better than 50% chance to beat him there.
Lucky star, any of the big 4 CAN win any of the four majors if they play well enough compared to the others. I certainly don’t think that Fed will win FO, but I’m not naive enough to say he can’t… It goes to back to the same thing I’ve said to you before- just because someone says that Federer, or any player, can win Roland Garros or back to back masters or whatever it may be, there is no reason to think that anyone thinks that he is therefore “Superman” or “unbeatable” or whatever else you think that people think he is. And anyone who ever says that anyone, including Rafa, “will definitely win” any given tournament is a moron and not worth listening to… No one is EVER guaranteed to win any big tournament. No one is EVER unbeatable… It’s ok to admit that any number of players CAN win RG without it meaning that they are superhuman.
Kevin what are you talking about?? Fed not playing any warm up event on clay is not going to win the FO, simple as that and that’s my take. He’s not Superman!
I dont know what your post is all about, you’re very confusing, at least to me.
lucky,
I am with you in being quite confused as well. I do not get it.
Why would winning RG without playing a warmup tournament make him “superman”? It would be incredible, yes, but I’m quite sure he wouldn’t be the first person to win a major without playing a warmup. What if he had a really good draw? What if he didn’t have to face any of the big 3 for some reason? Or what if he did have to face one of them and played an incredible match? I know this is clay we’re talking about, but he managed to pull off the AO with on a few exhibition matches in the previous half a year. He wasn’t superman for doing that, he just played really well, and the defending champion lost early. Why couldn’t that potentially happen at RG? Yes the chances are low, but why you say it’s not possible?
Saying Fed is not going to win Paris so absolutely is as absolute as saying that he’s unbeatable.
#IronyIsEverywhere
I read somewhere that Fed is skipping most of the clay season because it does something bad to his knees. If true, then Fed is not going to go all out to win unless he finds himself in the final after going through a favorable draw ( euphemism for rigged draw : courtesy RG) and without facing the big three (probably laid low by food poisoning -courtesy RG?).
Fed does have a chance to win the French. Do people think he’s gonna not practice on clay during those weeks. He just won’t be in as many intense situations during those weeks to come up against in match play. Roger probably wants and needs a mental break just as much as a physical. He will be fresh both mentally and physically just as he was in Melbourne and we know what happened there. Yes his chances aren’t high because it’s the French but with Novak and Andy slumping and his four consecutive wins over Rafa, a French open title for Fed is, in my opinion, for likely tis year than it has been in a while.
Fed said after a break, he’ll practice on hard court and switch to practising on clay two weeks before RG.
Practise???
One.
…
……More.
…
…………..TIME!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI
Why do you persist in using words like “moron” when talking about other people’s opinions or predictions? No one here is an expert by any means. We are all equal and gave a right to our opinions, even if you happen to disagree. I don’t see the need to characterize anyone’s thoughts as “moronic”, yet you have done so more than once.
No one here is God. All opinions should be respected.
My comments about Fed were grossly misconstrued. Now I see that he is being installed as a favorite for RG. This is the thing that I was attempting to address in saying that some Fed fans appear to think that their man is now unbeatable. Is that “moronic”? That is how it seems. So we are picking Fed to be the favorite for RG, Wimby and the USO?
I am with lucky in not assuming that Fed will be the one to beat at RG. I can see Fed being a serious contender at Wimby. We will have to see how Novak and Murray do as they resume playing.
I also think that Rafa has been the favorite in the past to win RG. He was the closest to being a sure thing, if ever there was one. Just one loss at RG in 2009 to Sod in the fourth round! I don’t think it was moronic to install Rafa as the odds on favorite at RG. Then Rafa had his slump after 2014 and things changed. But even now, his record at RG is unmatched. Records that may well never be equaled.
I just don’t understand why anybody would fw the need to use offensive language when referencing other people’s thoughts. Disagree if you will, but being insulting is the last refuge if those who cannot make an argument.
Again, from what I read, he didn’t insult anyone here because no on said he was unbeatable.
That was his point.
Amazing.
Who did I insult? When I say moron, I’m referring to when someone says that any player is “unbeatable”. Perhaps moron is too strong a word? I would never disrespect anyone for having an opinion on something. Saying that any player “can’t be beaten” is not an opinion because it’s not humanly possible… “Federer is going to be really tough to beat!”- That’s an opinion! “Federer is unbeatable. No one can beat him!”- That is a rather moronic thing to say isn’t it? Especially given that he just lost a month and a half ago? And the context of this is that Luckystar said a little while back that someone had said that Fed is unbeatable, and my response was that I don’t know why Lucky would even consider such a statement worth thinking about, let alone discussing! To me, saying flat out that any player “cannot be beaten”, or “no one can beat them”, is no different than someone saying that someone can’t die. 🙂 And I thought of the same thing when Lucky just said that Federer isn’t Superman. I was was originally trying to support Lucky in saying that she shouldn’t give any weight to any suggestion that Federer is unbeatable, or Superman, or whatever, but I seem to be getting a lot of push-back from this. It seems like a simple concept to me, but I guess not?
Kevin, the lesson here is not to waste a lot of energy on a strawman argument as that is what they are designed to do in lieu of a reasonable one…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfil34ayaEU
I add to My post AT 8:10 PM,
The best approach is to identify it as a strawman because, alternately, any defense of the position you didn’t take to begin with, will just reward the strawman argument and will be countered with additional strawman arguments and round and round we go ad nauseam yada yada yada.
If Kevin wants to defend a position he did not take, let him. We can have fun as observers!
I don’t find watching a strawman fallacy succeed entertaining in the slightest.
I’d rather call it out for what it is.
Who did Kevin call a “moron” or who’s thoughts did he say were moronic here? No one here from what I can tell.
Who did he disrespect?
Who made him favourite?
Who said Fed was the one to beat at RG?
Googles of strawman arguments are everywhere.
I agree with hawkeye. Kevin did not call anyone here a moron.
Thank-you Mary.
Recently I saw a crazy movie called “Burn after Reading”. Sometimes what goes on here reminds me of that movie.
?
Strawman argument becomes euphemism for not having an argument or being lazy. LOL!
It’s quite amusing to have others characterize my words. But I am quite capable of speaking for myself and not being told what to think.
I was the one who made the comment that some Fed fans seemed to think he was now invincible or unbeatable. So now saying that any player is considered unbeatable is moronic! That is implying that anyone who says it is moronic. Why bother to even go there? To make a point?
I do not believe Fed to be unbeatable. I have said that more than once. I guess that I can assume then that my comment is not moronic! What a relief! LOL! But using that term that indicate that anyone who may think Fed is unbeatable is moronic, is unnecessary.
It seems that this has become a battle of egos, with being right the most important thing. I feel compassion for anyone who has to throw around the words strawman argument to carelessly dismiss someone else’s argument. Winning an argument at any cost, meaning disrespecting others specifically, is a rather pointless exercise.
“I feel compassion for anyone who has to throw around the words strawman argument to carelessly dismiss someone else’s argument. ”
Another strawman fallacy.
This was your statement…
“I am not one who has bought into the Fed invincibility nonsense. ”
No one else did either . It was a strawman.
No such qualifier of “seemed to think” as claimed above.
https://tenngrand.com/2017/04/01/miami-final-preview-and-prediction-federer-vs-nadal/comment-page-1/#comment-257521
Followed by…
“I am using invincibility because that is how some are perceiving Fed. Just read some of the predictions and comments from the Fed fans.”
Again, no qualifier of “seemed to think” but that they did perceive him as such. With no reference to where it came from.
So you are changing your own words now. No one else is.
Wow..so people here are making Fed favorite for RG too? Interesting
Ofcourse he can but a peak Nole or peak Rafa having only 50% chance to beat him? As far as I know he has never beaten Rafa at RG and even with Nole he is tied 1-1 at RG .
I think as of now no one is the fav at RG, it all remains to be seen.
Yes but of the 4 slams , RG favors him most in terms of draws, whether intentionally or not, I cant comment but his draws are softer at RG akways. I ma very sure Nole and Rafa will be in same qtr of half and maybe even Stan thrown in there 🙂
Who made Fed favourite? I didn’t.
Who said peak Nole or peak Rafa only had only 50% chance to beat Fed? I didn’t.
Rafa is the current betting favourite to win RG outright.
Please read more carefully sanju. Otherwise those are careless strawman arguments you just made.
No it won’t be – Murray, Djoko, Stan and Rafa would most likely be the top four after Rome and so two of them on each half of the draw. Whichever quarter Fed falls in, it won’t be easy for him, as those four are the four best players on European clay, at least in 2016.
Rafa will have a tough challenge passing Fed for No. 4 spot before Paris.
Possible for sure. Most likely? Bold.
He’ll likely need two titles and a final. Or one title and three finals. Assuming he plays all four traditional lead ups.
I don’t know why people underestimate Fed on clay. Fed could have had 2 calendar slams but for Rafa. He has made the finals of RG 5 times, winning once. Of the current players, his record at RG is better than anyone else’s other than Rafa.
No one underestimates Fed on clay; but Fed had never enter FO without any warm up events. I doubt he would win now, when in the past he couldn’t even win when he was better prepared.
Fed needs warm ups on grass by entering Stuggart and Halle, what more on clay which is not his fav surface?
He can warm up with the easy matches in the early rounds.
You have to warm up on grass because it’s so different and mostly because there is more chance for upset and also because as I said it is Fed’s Top Priority but FO is definitely on his radar so his only chance to win both is to focus on grass with best preparations and hope that he can play himself into form in Paris, which I think is possible against mostly qualifiers and other mid-30 gen players.
Because Federer isn’t as good on clay as he once was and hasn’t been for years? He hasn’t made the RG final since 2011. I think the last “clay” title he won was on the blue ice at Madrid? He didn’t make his first RG final until 2006.
The clay will play “blue” in Paris just like AO was fastest Jim Courier could ever recall to the point that players in the locker room said courts were made fast for Fed.
#FoolMeOnce…
#HowManyTimes
#Business101
If Rafa seems vulnerable on clay, you can bet 100% Fed will target RG. Right now he thinks it is better to conserve his efforts for grass because Rafa rules RG. But that could change if he sees that Rafa is not the Rafa of old even on clay.
He already knows he’s not the Rafa of old. He wouldn’t have beaten him three times, twice easily, if he was.
Rafa’s been vulnerable on clay for years now.
Not vulnerable enough at RG because he is so determined to win there. I am convinced he won at 2014 mostly on will and passion. I could see he had physical issues. Last year he probably would have won but for his wrist and from his statements it looked like he wanted to ignore it and still play until convinced it would destroy his career. Probably the memory of AO 2014 reminded him that sometimes you cannot, even with the strongest will in the world, rise above physical limitations.
It’s not only Rafa, don’t underestimate others like Stan, Thiem on clay!
Fed looked vulnerable at Miami too, it’s just that Rafa didn’t go for the kill when he had the chances. I doubt Fed would be all conquering on clay.
And fed will conserve energy for grass regardless of what happens.
He knows, while not ideal, he can play himself into form at RG with easy early rounds and preferred scheduling from the French.
Enough for today, I’m in need of sleep now. No point going back and forth when we are not the ones deciding who would win or who would not.
Probably night matches and fast clay too.
Well, no night matches unless they install lights just for Roger.
Clay will be fastest in the history of the RG slams, just like AO was the fastest HC in at least fed’s career, IMO ever.
#NID
Speeding up clay would be stupid… Many people have been calling for the unhomogenation (dishomogenation?) of court speeds for some years now, so varying the hardcourt speed is much needed, imo, and in the opinion of others. But that doesn’t mean speed up EVERYTHING. That would still make them homogenous haha. The point is to have variation, meaning speed up some of the courts that used to be faster before they made almost everything slower, such as Wimbledon and some hard courts. But clay?? That would be ridiculous. Keep the clay and about half the hardcourts slower. I’m very much skeptical the idea of a business/marketing-fueled, entire-ATP/ITF-involved, Federer-specific speeding up of the AO, especially when I’ve been hearing many people involved in tennis (not all Federazzi) complaining about almost complete lack of variation in non-clay court speeds.
BUT, Hawks, if there really does end up being a BLANANT change of speed at RG, I will absolutely recognize your argument as a good possibility! 🙂
Players already complained about AO being sped up to benefit Roger. Not just me. It was hastily denied.
I just predicted it before it happened.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/27/australian-open-boss-roger-federer-not-getting-favours-with-faster-courts
Happened in Madrid with blue clay and succeeded in its intent.
However, Jim Courier proved A0 was fastest AO in recent years and faster than Wimbledon.
French Open in.recent years is also faster than it was over 10 years ago.
Faster than 2016 Wimbledon I meant to say.
Courier says the AO courts were “faster than we can remember”…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftS5DL36aY4
(I don’t care for the title of the video but it does suggest that AO was significantly faster than any previous AO of Courier’s memory and faster than last year’s Wimbledon).
Kevin, how do you plan to measure court surface speed ? Many players said AO speed had been changed and it was suspected that AO had done it to favor Fed. You obviously did not buy that story. So what will convince you about the speed change at RG if players claim it has happened?
I don’t think the draw rigging argument also cut much ice with you. Hawks pointed out that there were 13 consecutive non clay slams with Fed and Nole in the same half ( probability of 1 in 8192 -surely pretty blatant).
So I am curious. What will convince you that the surface speed has changed ?
Kevin, they gave the court speed for AO this year as 45, even faster than the fastest surface of them all, i.e. Shanghai at 44. So, yes, the court was sped up, whether intentional or not.
I would like Fed meeting Rafa on RG clay. Rafa will destroy him and everyone else on his path to the 10th! You will see!
Vamos!
I would welcome the chance to see that!
?
Yeah, agreed, Nats and NNY.
Hey guys…especially Nny,Lucky,Sanju,Nats and other’s…here’s an article,if you’re interested to read..
http://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Rafael_Nadal/42107/rafael-nadal-had-his-best-start-of-the-season-ever-is-the-glass-half-full/
MA,
It’s great to have a chance to chat with you! Just a good-hearted soul with a generous heart who wants to have a real discussion about Rafa!
I read the article and found it interesting. One can indeed look at Rafa’s start to this season in two ways. I have gone back and forth myself. I can see both the glass half full and the glass half empty.
The question is, where does Rafa go from here? The failure to win any titles is a concern for me. I thought Acapulco gave Rafa a perfect opportunity to win a title. But it didn’t happen. Now Rafa has lost to Fed three times.
I wonder what might have been if Rafa had won the AO final. Would that have made the difference?
I don’t know if Rafa’s best tennis is behind him yet. But I think we will get the answer in the clay season. If Rafa can’t turn it around and win titles in the warm up tournaments leading to RG, then that will tell us a lot.
So we will have to sit back and watch it play out. I am hoping that Rafa will do well in clay and that he still has great days ahead of him!
Thank you my angel for all your support during this difficult time for me. Your messages every day really helped more than you know!
You are a genuinely decent person!
?♥️?
NNY, even Fed had said that Rafa would tear through the clay season (something to that effect), so have some faith in Rafa on clay. His main rival knows him well esp after playing against him thrice this season so far. Mind you, two of those three victories were hard fought ones, where Fed had to play with much focus and intensity, if not the matches might have gone the other way in his opponent’s favor.
Lucky,
Yes, I did read what Fed said. I guess he ought to know! I really am trying to have faith and believe that Rafa will get it together on the clay. Nothing would make me happier. It’s true that he’s playing much better than he was last year up to the clay season. Then he caught fire and who knows what would have happened if not for the wrist injury.
Your positivity is great to read!
Well, nothing in the article that we have not already known. We are know Rafa failed at crucial moments when he had the chances to secure the set/match or to turn things around.
It has been like that since 2015, though he has improved, from losing matches in the earlier rounds to at least losing in finals. Hopefully this year can be like his 2010 where he could turn things around in his favor when he plays on clay at MC.
I agree with Hawkeye about Federers decent chances at RG. I think Hawkeye is right to say that Djokovic and Nadal would have to be in decent form to beat this Federer even on Clay. I would be honest here, right now RG could go either way depending upon number of factors like draws, the type of form Novak appears, and ability of Nadal whether he can regain the old forehand and athletisim at RG.
Federer’s new improved weapons like ROS, especially backhand could get him a decent chance at RG. If Federer says he doesn’t care about RG that much, I think he is being tennis-political. He would certainly take a rest before RG and would go for RG with a certain will to get double carrier slam knowing his chances better than ever especially when he has nothing to lose at this point and his mind is full of confidence. I think Federer will adopt the clay playing first few rounds. His tennis genetics are so wonderfully programmed that he doesn’t need that kind of hectic number of matches to adapt on certain surface.
We might think that Wawrinka’s backhand and aggression made him win RG in his 30’s against super Novak and right now Federer’s backhand is almost as good, if not better, as Wawrinka’s and his remaining arsenals are, may be, slightly better than Wawrinka’s like forhand, movement, agression, ROS, netplay, and probabily serve too.
Nadal is no doubt the biggest favourite going this years’s RG considering his clay court record and probabily current decent form but it is still not a guaranty due that he will win RG for sure due to certain factors.
I would take Stan’s BH on clay over Fed’s. On clay Stan could blow anyone except Rafa off the court with that BH of his. Fed may not have the chance to move forward if Stan hit his big BH to push him back. On clay Stan has time to get to the shot; don’t forget that on quick AO court, Stan pushed Fed to five sets before losing.
Wawrinka’s backhand might have not blown off OLD Rafa at RG but he can actually blow current Rafa off, pardon me, on RG. I am not sure if Rafa can regain his old sharpness, athletisim, worrier type defence while running relentlessly and forhand at RG. If Rafa may meet Wawrinka, I would go for Wawrinka to be honest. But, I think if Nadal might meet current Djokovic in RG final, I think might have an upper edge.
I am not sure about what can happen if current Rafa could meet current Federer in RG final. May be 55 to 45 in Rafa’s favour. But, it could get either way. Apart from RG 2008, RG finals between Fedal were pretty competitive despite of Federer’s less confident appearance against Nadal and defeat scares.
I personally feel if current Federer with full of confidence, nothing to lose mindset, having almost no more fear against Rafa and with new weapons might have met Nadal in 2011 RG final, I think Federer might have won. But again, lets see what happens if Fedal meets again in RG final, and if they meet again things could GO really INTERESTING, trust me.
Correction: I think if Nadal might meet current Djokovic in RG final, I think Nadal might have an upper edge.
The misfiring of his FH? Well that’s most likely due to him not willing to chase down every ball, a little bit of hesitant and he would be a split second late hence the misfiring.
Also, he was playing from so far back that he netted a few FHs; on clay as the ball bounces higher, he would not be hitting into the net that often.
Nah, Rafa’s topspin FH on clay is special and Stan’s SHBH won’t be able to deal with it all day.
I bet at the FO, it’s the Rafa of the AO at least that would turn up to play, not the Rafa of IW/Miami! Rafa at AO didn’t hit his FH short, and hardly misfired that.
Like I said earlier on, Rafa won’t kill just to win IW or Miami; he had the clay season in his mind, quite evident about it as after the final, he said it right away that now he would focus on clay his best part of the season.
Playing not that well he still could reach finals at Acapulco and Miami, what more when he returns to clay like fish back to water?