Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been the somewhat unexpected stars of 2017, and there is no reason to think anything will change during the stretch run. With Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Stan Wawrinka among those injured, Federer and Nadal should get used to being the top two seeds at big tournaments–just as they are for the upcoming Rogers Cup.
Although it may not be easy to predict the respective form of those two all-time greats for their first hard-court event after Wimbledon, it is even more difficult to see who will challenge them at this Masters 1000 stop in Montreal. No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem has been outstanding in 2017, but he has done most of his damage on clay and he lost early in Washington, D.C. to Kevin Anderson. Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev is heading straight for the World Tour Finals if he maintains anything close to his current level of play, but he is making a quick turnaround in Montreal on the heels of a final appearance in D.C. Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Juan Martin Del Potro have been less than their best this summer. David Goffin, Pablo Carreno Busta, Jack Sock, and Nick Kyrgios have been plagued by physical problems.
That being said, no trip to a Masters 1000 title match is ever a cakewalk on paper.
Nadal has an especially tough draw. The Spaniard, who will regain the world No. 1 ranking if he advances to the semifinals, could meet the winner of an opening Del Potro vs. John Isner showdown as early as round three. He may run into the huge serve of Raonic in the quarters and possibly either Zverev or former champion Tsonga (2014) in the semis.
Federer, on the other hand, is sitting pretty at the bottom of the bracket. The reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion will kick off his campaign against a Canadian wild card (Vasek Pospisil or Peter Polansky) and none of the seeds in his section (Nishikori, Sock, and Roberto Bautista Agut) look daunting right now.
In addition to Del Potro vs. Isner, first-round matches to watch include Carreno Busta vs. Karen Khachanov, Kyrgios vs. Viktor Troicki, Feliciano Lopez vs. Hyeon Chung, Sam Querrey vs. Gilles Muller, Benoit Paire vs. Donald Young, and Gael Monfils vs. Steve Johnson.
Quarterfinal picks: Rafael Nadal over Milos Raonic, Alexander Zverev over Karen Khachanov, Tomas Berdych over Dominic Thiem, and Roger Federer over Roberto Bautista Agut
Semifinals: Nadal over Zverev and Federer over Berdych
Final: Federer over Nadal
[polldaddy poll=9803280]
who ya got?
“With Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Stan Wawrinka among those injured, Federer and Nadal should get used to being the top two seeds at big tournaments–”
Since when have Roger and Rafa had wait to be top seeds because of the absence of Stan and Murray? We must not forget that Rafa’s low ranking in the past couple of years has been due to him not playing a full season because of injury.
Lol…that line ruffled some feathers!
Rafa is not losing to Fed again in any tournament this year except indoors. Rafa will win Montreal and regain #1 in style.
you have it out of order
he will regain #1 in syle…. and then lose to Federer in the final
Nah, Rafa will go all out to win now, as he’s not worried about his clay court season, unlike earlier on during the season. I think Rafa will win at least one of Montreal or Cincy. If he plays aggressive tennis like he did in 2013, I like his chances.
Hehehe….Agree Ricky!….that or he will lose to Roger at Cincy or USO and lose his No 1 again!…
Mira, so little faith! Not good as a Rafa fan.
Lucky…I think faith got nothing to do in this lucky…i need to see more from Rafa outside of clay…i need to see him beat Roger on HC…he’s 0-3 to Rog since Rog regain his top level this year…i want to see he conquers his nervousness when things got tight in crucial moment like at Wimby…Until then i will be cautious Lucky!
Mira, at Wim, Rafa will always be nervous because he hasn’t being past R4 for the last six years! Why would Rafa be nervous on the HCs when he could reach three finals this season, including at the AO?
For all we know, Rafa will be well prepared this second half HC season, and especially when the USO is looming. After all he has already gathered enough momentum, even feeling relieved, when he has won four titles on clay including la decima on three of them! I’m sure he’ll go all out to win at the Masters plus the USO, as there’s no worries about the clay season this time.
Lucky!…I wish with all my heart that you’re going to be right with everything u said…After i watched how uselessly rafa squandered his good chance at Wimby and i say this considering he just bagged his 10th FO..riding on 9th sky,confidence & self believe was unbelievable!..knees for once was in excellent shape…and everything was perfect for his 1st final in many years…but,what happened at Wimby was totally unexpected!…sure Gilles played unbelievably too that day..and credit to him for that..but to me Rafa actually lost to his own demon that reside within himself for the past 2 years…
If Hawks is still here,he would agree with me..right Hawks?…
Grass or HC…it doesn’t make any difference Lucky…what makes the difference is how Rafa handle himself that day…if he can conquer his demon/nervousness…he’ll past the test..if not..he’ll lose Lucky…and he will get nervous..u know that…especially there’s a bunch of dangerous big servers in his draw…Coric is dangerous,Big John too considering his hot form atm..and Milos after that..and IMO,his true test lie in Sascha who’s just won Washington and in really impressive form…and if i’m guessing right,he will face possibly Rog in final…If Rafa can win the title here..i certainly will shout at the top of my lungs and forsake all my neighbours!..but,before that happen..like i said up there..i need a prove first Lucky!…Love Rafa or not,i won’t jeopardize my feelings once again after what he did at Wimby..Nope!
Lucky u didn’t seem to think past results would affect Rafa at all before his Muller match. I know for a fact you were literally discounting my argument in which I said Rafa would be nervous playing a big server and having lost early at Wimbledon for the past several years. Now you are finally agreeing with my argument to make an excuse for why Rafa will do better here!! Unreal!!
Mira, when did Rafa ‘uselessly’ squander his good chances at Wim? It’s Muller who’s clutch in saving all those BPs. If anything, it’s Rafa refusing to change his return positions that’s the key to his loss. If Rafa had changed his return positions earlier on in the match, perhaps he won’t even need to push the match to 13-15 in the fifth!
Rafa was already being clutch saving MPs in the fifth but he couldn’t go on saving MPs forever if he did nothing to change things up.
You can’t compare playing on grass to playing in HCs for Rafa; I mean he reached three finals on HC this season and lost two to Fed; his loss to Querrey at Acapulco was disappointing but he at least reached the final. Do you expect Rafa to be so nervous that he’ll lose early on the HCs and continues to do so going forward?
If he puts himself in positions to reach finals most of the time, chances are he will win one or two of them! And, he reaching finals most of the time will ensure that he gets many ranking points to help his course in getting the YE no.1.
I am baking a nice humble pie which I look forward to serving you next Sunday Ricky……..
Yeah I agree with RITB, Rafa will not want to lose to Fed in a Masters final again this year, so it’s highly likely he’ll go all out to beat Fed, which he’s capable of doing I’m sure.
I agree with my fellow Rafans. Rafa will go all out in the NA summer hardcourt season. He wasn’t happy about his loss at Wimby to Muller in the fourth round. I expect Rafa to come out determined to do well.
Rafa has the tougher path as usual. But he is up to the challenge. If he gets to the final he is not losing to Fed.
“Won’t want to lose” yeah I’m pretty sure nobody wants to lose. I don’t think Rafa wanted to lose the last four times he played Fed. Just some food for thought lucky.
Benny, I said it before, Rafa would be nervous at slams, and maybe Masters finals! However, he was able to overcome his nerves MOST of the times! Don’t tell me Rafa didn’t say that it’s normal to be nervous! And I said he won’t be nervous, meaning not to the extent that he would let his nerve overcome him that he lost the match.
The Wimbledon R4 loss was unfortunate, as he was close at 13-15 the fifth set despite him being nervous and lost the first two sets easily. It’s not like Rafa let his nerve overcome him that he lost in straight sets, he had overcome his nerve and fought on to make it a five sets close affair.
Come on Benny, trying to pick on me? Do note the gist of my posts, don’t just pick on the words that I used! Who am I to say that Rafa won’t be nervous when he himself said he has/had his nerves at the start of his matches? Clearly, it’s the way he could overcome his nerve that’s the key ( and the meaning of my posts)!!
Do exercise more thinking while reading my post! Likewise when reading ‘wont want to lose’, or shall I explain it to you here in case you really couldn’t understand? It means, after losing two finals to Fed, Rafa clearly and certainly won’t want that to happen again and so will fight even harder not to lose again.
He probably didn’t want to lose for the second straight tournament to Roger in the Miami final but look what happened there. Also you were really keen on saying that the recent confidence from the clay courts were significantly more important than his past results at Wimbledon ahead of his Muller match any time I said Rafa would be nervous against Gilles because of his past results. That is what I am referring to.
To add to my post, I was disappointed when Rafa lost the second set in that manner, but I was more disappointed with him playing the way he played in the fifth set, after having fought hard to win the third and the fourth sets. It’s a winnable match but he lost it and in that manner.
It’s easy for us to say he lost it due to his nerve, but how many times Bo5 matches were won in straight sets, vs tough opponents? Chances are nerves come into play in every match any one plays, except maybe those where the level between the two players is too lopsided. Five sets matches were not won in the first two sets but in the fifth.
Benny, Rafa did overcome his nerves in the third, fourth and fifth sets, don’t you think? Or, you’re still thinking that Rafa was nervous throughout the whole match and yet he was able to play so well to win the third and fourth sets?
Rafa will always be nervous vs big servers, but how many times you see him losing his matches to big servers out of nerve? He always overcome his initial nerves in his matches and fight/fought on! His records vs big servers shown us he’s more successful over them than the other way round.
You seem to argue for the sake of arguing. If Rafa won that R4 match vs Muller, would you be asking me the same question about Rafa’s nerves in the match?
Rafa’s failure in that match imo was due to him not changing his ROS positions especially in the fifth set, when Muller raised his level again after losing the third and fourth sets. What worked for Rafa in the 3rd and 4th sets might not work for him in the fifth, yet he didn’t adjust his positions accordingly. Of course if he had won one of the first two sets then he would’ve won the match already after winning the fourth set; and so, many of us said that Rafa lost the match when he lost the first two sets and he lost them due to his nervous play. However, didn’t Rafa had his chances when he’s able to win the next two sets and pushed the match to a fifth set? Had he won the fifth set, we won’t be here talking about him losing in R4 of Wimbledon due to his nervous play!
And Benny, I thought we had discussed till death about Rafa’s loss in that Miami final? I said it again, Rafa played with the burden of the clay season looming round the corner. He looked hesitant during his match vs Fed, looked slow, as if undecided what shot to play. Do I expect him to play this way should they meet again here or in the other tournaments? I certainly don’t expect that from him, but would expect him to go all out to win. My take.
G. Muller was the better player, I and many others saw it b4 it happened.
I still see it happening in Montreal if J. Isner & A. Zverev don’t get eliminated early, Spanish bridge is falling down, falling down x2, Spanish bridge is falling down my dear Rafans, my dearrrrrrrr rafansssssss.
I have a great voice, you should hear me singing this song, i will make you smile especially at the end.
Please I llke R. Nadal don’t get it twisted!
My point isn’t that I think he will play nervous here. It’s that I find it funny how you basically denied that nerves from his past results at Wimbledon would be a huge factor before he lost to Muller and now you are saying what I was saying (aka what you denied) and somehow using at as another argument in favor of Rafa. I’m actually impressed LOL
Benny, nerve is a factor but not a HUGE factor! I don’t think that’s difficult to understand. I mean you think Rafa will always lose before R4 at Wimbledon with no chances of going beyond that? And that’s something I object against. And, Rafa lost to Muller not because of nerve, but he losing the first two sets was due partly to his nerve, and partly to bad luck in the second set. If he lost in straight sets then perhaps you can say he lost because of his nerve, but Rafa didn’t lose in straight sets but in five sets!
I don’t think I contradict myself in anyway, it’s you who always seem to misinterpret my posts, intentionally it seems! And, I don’t see Rafa being as ‘nervous’ on the HCs, for he’s having better successes on the HCs. I hope that’s not too difficult for you to understand this time, unless you choose not to!
And Benny, do you know you’re discrediting your fave Muller, when you insist that Rafa lost to him due to nerve? Credit has to be given to Muller, for not losing heart after losing the 3rd and 4th sets; and he wasn’t losing those two sets to a nervous Rafa, but a Rafa who fought hard to win after overcoming his initial nerves.
I’m not discrediting. I don’t think Rafa lost because of nerves at all that day. Muller was too good in big moments with his serve in my opinion and played clutch grass court tennis. My whole point was that in the tourney now you’re saying he will be less nervous than he was at Wimbledon because it’s hard courts even though you basically didn’t think Rafa was going to be nervous at all before his match with Muller. Just the way you said it implied to me like you were saying he was really nervous at Wimbledon because he lost many times before which was my initial argument before their match. The argument you consistently disagreed with. I honestly don’t think Rafa lost that match due to nerves at all though. He just ran into one of the best grass court players in the world. And I’m not trying to make a big argument I’m just saying I find it kind of funny that you disagreed before their match and now you are saying he WAS nervous there in your argument that Rafa won’t be nervous here. I might do the same if Fed was in that situation but he doesn’t really have that problem at Wimbledon lol.
Wait my bad you did think he would be nervous you just didn’t think it would affect him greatly. You were right about that I don’t think nerves were a huge factor. I’m saying your statement about Rafa being way less nervous here makes it seem like you are saying he was way more nervous in that match than at other places. Never mind though we will see how the tournament ends up this week. I just thought it was a kind of funny/ironic thing you said but it’s no big deal.
RITB 3.0,
I love/admire your support for R. Nadal but R. Federer is just too good, his playing incredibly well.
Rafa might regain #1 but I don’t think he would defeat Roger federer this season/year.
Question- If they(Roger & Rafa) both make it to the final and R. Federer wins, will Rafa still be higher in the rankings?
@Stanley, yes, Rafa will still be #1 even if Fed wins Montreal (which he won’t).
Fed has played very well this year, especially when playing Rafa. However, he played Rafa before Rafa sharpened his play on clay. Also, Fed was lucky at Wimby, he was not really challenged. Rafa will beat Fed when next they meet.
Was Rafa “lucky” at RG because he wasn’t really challenged? As good a case can be made for that claim as for yours. Both men dominated their respective fields in those slams, period. Only difference is that while Rafa was in Fed’s field, Fed wasn’t in Rafa’s.
Fed had a cushy draw at Winby, just as he has one at Montreal. He always has cushy draws. Rafa had tricky opponents at RG. It may not have looked like it but that is because Rafa is so good……..
Uh huh, right. Spoken like a true believer. I’ve never understood why Rafans can’t rest on their man’s (considerable) achievements, but have to undermine his chief rival’s accomplishments too. Federer won most of his slams during the weak era, Federer always has cushy draws, Federer always gets prefential treatment, blah blah blah.
There are no cushy draws in a slam or masters 1000. These are the best tennis players in the world and even the top ranked guy can lose on any given day. You have to come ready to play your best tennis each match, and if you don’t you can lose. That is Nadal’s mantra, which he repeats in interviews pretty much before every match. He believes it, because it’s true! (actually believing it is a big part of why he’s so good). His fans should learn it.
Yeah Roger had tough opponents at Wimbledon. Two former Wimbledon finalists and a US Open champ in the final. But he made it look easy cuz he is just so good.
Ricky,
There are too many Rafans on this site, please, please, plzzzzzz suspend some of them, they love their guy soooooo much and that’s making some of us jealous.
Am making a list of those you might want to consider for suspension, I will post their names when am done.
Yours sincerely,
Stanley.
Kkkkkkkkk……..you made me laugh @Stanley! Even if Ricky suspends us all, we will still find a way to send Rafa some love……..
I love your spirit RITB 3.0, when you are baking a humble pie for Ricky bake some for me too okay, not a humble pie but a real one.
RITB 3.0 I don’t see you on the daily page, why don’t you drop by when you can, so that we can talk & fight Lol! No fighting just chat okay.
The daily page is too serious for me @Stanley, one has to actually think, I mean serious predictions and all! But tell you what, I’ll give it a go, since you asked nicely…….
Cheers.
RITB 3.0 please come and contribute, just warn people not to take your picks seriously if you are not sure about it okay!
Some people stake some good money there but don’t be scared, sometimes a clear mind like yours is what we need.
I like your nickname, can you give me a good nickname too, don’t rush it take your time.
@RITB 3.0 if you continue praising R. Nadal, you might convince me to become Rafan and I don’t want to be Rafan, so please stop loving him for a while just for a week or 2 okay plzzzzzz am begging you.
@Stanley, if you need convincing to be a Rafan then I have to be genuinely concerned. So easy to be a Rafa, you only have to watch our Rafito play, you will be hooked! I honestly do not understand people who are not Rafans……..world mystery.
Rafito, I like that.
Do you know how to bake or where you joking, you made me hungry.
If you don’t mind me asking are you a man or a woman? Your nickname doesn’t give your gender away.
Rafa will win, he’s playing so much better than in Indian wells and Miami. He’s hungry for the number one spot, he will have a fuller schedule than Roger and, I reckon, will hold onto number one until this time next year
Good call, Ricky. Federer is playing the best tennis in the world right now. Yes, he could certainly be beaten by a good player on a given day, but he is the objective tournament favourite. With the confidence he has gained this year with his great results, he is playing with house money at this point.
Rafa obviously improved over the clay court season, and played better than he has for years at wimby. But it’s still been three years since he won a HC tournament and he has a very tough draw. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him eliminated before the final here. Isner and Zverev could be especially tough, and even Coric in the second round could prove a shocker; Boric has beaten him on HC before.
We mightn’t have a Fedal final ,that’s my gut feeling as well.
Rafa is absolutely, imo, at least making semis and regaining #1. Aside from that, I think it’s funny that people are saying, “_____ IS winning it!” We haven’t seen any of these players on a hardcourt in months. I understand having a hunch that a given player might win. But how can anyone possibly claim to know that any player WILL win when we haven’t even seen current form? I’ll never understand it…
Excuse me, let me rephrase so as not to be hypocritical: I have the feeling that Rafa will make the semifinals, this getting back to #1. I have no real evidence to back this up since he hasn’t been on a hardcourt in months. However, based on how confident and consistent he has been all season, coupled with the lack of Djokovic, Stan, and Murray, it’s hard for me to imagine Rafa not making the semifinals…
Yeah, Kevin, I was a bit worried about the hypocrisy there as well!
I’m glad I was able to notice my blunder before you or someone else could tear me a new one, Joe. 🙂
I would also like to make another prediction: I predict that Federer could have two possible outcomes. Both times he has comeback from time-off this season, he has lost in his first match back. Therefore, I would not be surprised if he loses to Vasek Pospisl in his first match. Pospisil is Canadian and has made the semis of this tournament before. If Federer’s first-match-back pattern is to continue, then I believe Pospisil would be the perfect candidate to cause the upset.
The other possibility is that Federer at least makes the final… If I had to bet money, I would bet that he will either lose first round or make at least the final. Sounds stupid, I know, but it’s happened twice this year. I’ll go even further with it- I wouldn’t be surprised if Federer lost first round in Canada, and then goes and absolutely demolishes the Cinci field for the title there without dropping a set… Is that whole scenario really that out of the question? I think not… 🙂
Depends on the draw at Cincy though. We do not know whether Murray and/or Cilic will be back at Cincy. If Murray plays at Cincy, then Fed will be seeded third and chances of him meeting Rafa in the SF of the draw is 50:50. It’s not that likely Fed won’t lose a set during Cincy.
lol I would be shocked out of my mind if Fed lost to Pospisil. If pospisil can’t beat the Swiss number 3 Laaksonen, I don’t think he will do much better vs the Swiss number one.
among other reasons!
Yeah,like how can he not win a trophy with his name on it?
Do we have any draw conspiracy theorists left on this site with Hawks and Mary both gone missing? I’ve been wondering why Fed suddenly decided to play Rogers Cup after years of skipping it. Nice for the tournament with so many big names (Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka) MIA, of course. Nice enough that they guaranteed Fed a cushy draw if he would play? H’mmmm.
I mean, if # 1 was on Fed’s mind this year, why on earth would he skip the entire clay court season? If he’s after the majors surely he’d be better off with his usual Cincy warm up? Obviously he does not require extensive tournament play to get ready for a major.
2 warmup tournaments is not too many
I find it funny that so many think Rafa will end the year at number one. Roger has absolutely no points to defend from now til next year Melbourne. Rafa has minimal points to defend til then too but not zero. Also Fed has lost one match on hard courts this year. I actually don’t know how Fed couldn’t be considered even by Rafana as the favorite at the US Open and the World Tour finals. Honestly I only see Roger ending up less than one in the world at the end of the season if he either skips a bunch of big tournaments or his level play significantly drops.
Benny, do you think Fed will play a full schedule and winning all of them? Chances are he will lose most of them; so, he will most probably skip a few events, like the Asian swing and maybe Paris masters, and concentrates on Basel and WTF after the USO.
In fact he playing Montreal may be a risk for him, what if he goes deep in both Montreal and Cincy but at the expense of his USO?
Imo, Fed clearly has the no.1 ranking in his mind, if not he could just concentrate on playing at Cincy as a warm up event before the USO and conserves his energy for the USO.
It may be a wrong move by him, we shall see. Perhaps he’s thinking that without Djoko, Murray, Stan and Cilic, his chances of winning at Montreal without sacrificing his chances at Cincy and USO will be higher and so decides to play there.
Yeah he will probably skip a few. I meant like four events when I said a bunch.
IF R. Nadal wins Montreal and that’s a big IF(in capitals) my respect for him will more than triple, his draw in all honesty it’s really tight.
I don’t see him beating J. Isner or A. Zverev, if he(Rafito) makes it to the finals then they need to give him the trophy without him playing R. Federer or someone else( I don’t think there will be a someone else).
He is going to meet some HOT potatoes/players brimming in confidence & success and he won’t be able to drop them like it’s HOT, I think RITB’s Rafito will choke( no offense my dear RITB 3.0) I hope you don’t read this, please Ricky delete this post b4 she/he wakes up.
RITB 3.0 you are sleeping right? Sleep my Angel, don’t read this OK but even if you do read this it’s only a dream or someone is impersonating me I didn’t post this.
Fed has to be favorite over Rafa for the rest of the season unless Rafa proves otherwise.
yep. on this surface for sure.
LOL All Rafa fans could dissapear, and this could be a Rafa fan free forum, with happy talk and posters agreeing on everything, happy talk day in day out, but whats the point in that, surely variety is the spice of life ? ….
Alison,
Yes! Love it! Well said!
It’s unfortunate that anyone would even go there publicly on this forum!
?
I Always look and matches in isolation, Rafa had had the monopoly in the rivalry a number of times over the years, and lately its swung in Federers favour, so what it could easily swing back again the other way too ! ….
Alison,
Again, great comment! You make an excellent point! Why can’t Rafa reverse this very recent trend with Fed? I am surprised that anyone would discount his chances. To read done if the comments here, one would think thatcrsfs had never done well on hard courts.
What about 2013? Rafa winning the NA summer slam!
?
Sorry I meant to say that to read some of the comments here, one would think that Rafa had never won on hard courts!
That will be great. Rafa can certainly reverse the trend. But for now, Fed is favorite, IMO.
Actually, it doesn’t matter who’s the favorite. In the last few years, Djoko was the favorite over Rafa at the FO, but Rafa beat Djoko there three out of four times they met since 2012. It doesn’t mean that the non favorite cant win the titles.
Because of RITB’s love for Rafito, I want R. Nadal to succeeded by going far in this tournament but not winning it.
NNY we hear the same cliches over and over again about Rafa, without clay whats he got ? first of all clays a perfectly legimate surface, and second of all he still has 5 GS almost as many as Becker, Edberg, Vilas won in their whole careers, and as many as Sharapova has in her whole career, nobody pulls any of them to pieces (not that they should), so why do it to Rafa, 15 GS and 10 of them on clay, and 5 off clay, jeez what a failure *ROLLS EYES * ….
NNY yeah Rafa i believe is the only player to have gone unbeaten on grass in a season 2008, unbeaten on clay in a season 2010, and unbeaten on the USO American HC season in 2013, furthur more hes the only active player to have multiple GS on all 3 surfaces, still no point saying any of this, as it all falls on deaf ears anyway ….
In 2010 he won GS on 3 different surfaces, in 2008 he won GS on clay and grass, and an OG on HC in the same year, hes done the channel GS twice, in 2008 winning RG/ Queens and W B2B, difficult to do with not much break in between ….
Alison,
Please stop praising the guy(Rafa), you will make me support him.
I like Rafa but am not a Rafan.
Rafa has a hard draw and i think he might lose to J. Isner or A. Zverev.
What do you think, can he beat this guys on hard court?
Alison,
More great comments from you, with the facts to back up your confidence in Rafa’s ability to change recent history against Fed.
I remember all too well how I read online that Rafa would NEVER beat Novak again after losing to him for the seventh straight time at the 2012 AO! I remember telling people online – never say never! I knew that Rafa had found the answers in that loss and I knew he would beat Novak the next time they met! Which he did during the clay season that year. Rafa would go on to get the better of Novak in slams for the next two years.
It would be a huge mistake to underestimate Rafa! Recent losses can be reversed. Things can change. I can see the so-called experts making Fed the favorite for the NA summer hard court season. But that does not mean that Rafa can’t get the better of Fed, just like he did with Novak!
Federer is the favourite to win Canada and be YE#1, sure. But it certainly isn’t the given a lot of Fed fans on here seem to think it is. Rafa is more than capable of winning a big title this US series.
And as for the French Open/Wimbledon debate. Whilst both Rafa and Roger had to face some challenging players – Rafa had Thiem who’d beaten him on clay recently and Wawrinka who’d beaten him in a Slam, whilst Roger had Cilic, who’d beaten him at a Slam as well as having MP’s against him at Wimbledon the previous year – neither player had particularly challenging tournaments. I never expected either of them to lose. Basically, they were both playing so well, they’d have beaten anyone on their respective favourite services.
However, there can be NO denying that Fed has a SIGNIFICANTLY easier draw in Canada this year than Rafa.
Arthur,
Thanks for your comments. I guess what bothers me is this assumption that it’s just a given that Fef will win. That is quite annoying. Considering how Rafa got the better of Fef throughout most of their careers, I think it is foolish to dismiss Rafa’s chances now. He’s
healthy and playing well and winning again. His slump and troubles seem to be behind him now. I also think that the disappointment of Wimbledon will make Rafa more determined than ever to do well here. Rafa has defied expectations so many times in the past, that I can’t see why anyone would bet against him.
If course I meant to say FED! *
I agree with you, NNY. It is very foolish for anyone to say that either Fed or Rafa is a given to win this tournament, especially when we haven’t seen them play on hardcourt in months, and no tennis at all since Wimbledon. I wish people would just wait to see where things are at before claiming to have any idea who “will” win. Super-fans of Fed and Rafa will always want to claim that they know their guy will win, that’s just the way it is… People get so passionate about those guys, it’s easy for them to “predict” their guy will definitely win, based largely in emotion. I
People are only dismissing his chances because of the much better hard court results for Fed over the last couple of seasons. Rafa hasn’t won a hard court title in a couple years now. Fed won the sunshine double this year and the Australian open. I am not one of the foolish Rafa dismissers though. I may be a big Fed fan but I still respect and enjoy watching the total badass fighting and vicious forehand of Nadal. He is one of the worst guys to dismiss the chances of anywhere he goes.
Yeah, Benny, I hope you know that anytime I call out the insecure, delusional Rafa/Fed fanatics, I am absolutely NOT referring you. 🙂