This time, Rafael Nadal did not get the help he needed
After Roger Federer’s win over Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for Nadal, the Spaniard’s semifinal hopes in London rested on the shoulders of Daniil Medvedev on Friday night. Medvedev failed to deliver, losing 6-4, 7-6(4) to Alexander Zverev–a result that put the German ahead of Nadal in Group A.
Zverev snagged the second seed out of Group A with his second victory of the week and will face Dominic Thiem in Saturday’s semifinals. Stefanos Tsitsipas, also 2-1, won the group and will meet Roger Federer. Nadal’s 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Tsitsipas in the afternoon match on Friday gave him a 2-1 record, as well, but a lower percentage of sets won cost him in the tiebreaker with Tsitsipas and Zverev.
Thus the reigning French Open and U.S. Open champion is heading out of London, but not without another trophy in hand. Following his win over Tsitsipas, Nadal was presented with the year-end No. 1 trophy during an on-court ceremony.
“For me (what) was important–more than being in that semifinals or not; of course I would love to be–is to go from here with the feeling that I did all the things possible to be there and to finalize the ATP year with a positive feeling,” Nadal explained. “And that’s what I did, because I think I played a good match today.
“I think this trophy is the work of the whole year, a great year in all terms. Yeah, (to) have this trophy with me is a big personal satisfaction. I think we did a lot of things well during the whole year. Of course the team and the family played a very important role this year, even more than other times because have been some tough moments at the beginning of the season in terms of physical issues that demoralize me a little bit. So they played a very important role, so I can’t thank all of them enough for all the support. Yeah, (I’m) super happy for everything, honestly. (To) have this trophy with me with this big gap between the first time until today, 11 years, is a big thing.”
Since finishing year-end No. 1 for the first time in 2008, Nadal has added four more such accomplishments to his resume for five in total. That ties current rivals Federer and Djokovic while trailing Pete Sampras by one.
“Of course it’s important to share five years each other with Novak and with Roger,” said the 33-year-old, who becomes the oldest-ever year-end No. 1. “(It) is something that gives me very personal satisfaction, because (to) have the chance to equal both of them after missing a couple of years [due to] injuries means a lot.”
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Davis Cup next for Rafa
Rafa produced some wonderful tennis this week despite not coming in at full health! Yes, this man CAN play on a fast indoor low bouncing hard court!
I give Rafa’s team and family full credit for their great support, but I give most of the credit to Rafa for turning his season around in Barcelona. He talked to his team and family then he went to his room and thought. He looked himself in the mirror and this man, who has been more praised for his attitude and fighting spirit throughout his career than any other player, said to himself “My attitude is poor. If I’m going to keep playing this season I have to change that.” He resolved to do so, and said he woke up the next morning “full of energy”. Amazing man.
Hi, all Rafafans and all tennis fans! I just have to chime in, since this year-end no.1 is huge for Rafa’s career! He’s now the oldest year-end no.1 ever (quite incredible considering that his body should’ve given up the ghost many years ago according to many experts) and he has now egalized Roger’s and Novak’s achievements in that department. Quite poetic! And Rafa made great strides as a GOAT claimant.
I don’t mind at all that the young guns are fighting for the title now. It had to happen eventually. We will have to get used to it, and Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and Thiem are the real deal. Zverev redeemed himself to a certain degree. We will see how they will fare at the slams during the next season. That will be the next big test for them. Thiem, Medvedev and Tsitsipas did already very well at this year’s slams and next season will be very, very interesting. It’s quite possible that it will be a transition year and there might be a slam or two where none of the Big Three will lift the trophy. The hardest task will be to separate Rafa from the FO trophy – if Rafa is healthy! He wasn’t always healthy during this season. He even contemplated to shut down the season after IW and had downright mediocre results on clay before the FO. This makes the year-end no.1 ranking even more valuable.
A word concernining Novak: He had a great season, too, and frankly, after Paris I thought, he had the no.1 position secured. He’s still full of GOAT ambitions, too, and he will be right there next season. However, he doesn’t seem to be quite as dominant anymore.
Roger is still a wonderful player, but I truly think that his big trophy winning days are finally over. He will probably be a contender for many important titles. He will even give the Olympics a Shot and will probably be a serious contender. But I suspect that there will always be someone now who will get him in the end. Age is an opponent even Roger can’t evade forever.
So of all the big 3, Rafa had the best WTF in terms of win and loss and he was not 100%. I think it just had to do with the supreme confidence of his awesome season. Even keeping the major wins side, last two WTF matches for Rafa has been a highlight for me considering that he was up against in-form players and came from a set down to win.
I hope he plays Davis cup only if he feels healthy.
Absolutely fedexal, I’m very impressed with his level of play here in his last two matches. He has had a terrific year and his MIND is his greatest asset, he is clearly the best player this year. He always comes back and defies expectations even when it seems hopeless.
Remember he had a horrendous 2009 after australian open till before monte carlo 2010 (full of injuries and terrible tennis) and people thought he would never get back and nadal because of the incredible fortitude of his MIND, refused to be down and came back and produced his best season ever, sweeping the clay court season without losing a single match, winning the clay slam, french open, wimbledon and US open with scintillating tennis and incredible serving display at the US open (his best serving display ever, did not lose his serve till the final i believe) and ended the year as a runnerup at the wtf beating djokovic and murray on the way only losing to federer (the best indoor player ever).
He did the same in 2013 sweeping the entire north american hardcourt tournaments (something djokovic and federer having done and yet nadal is just a clay court specialist they say). In 2017, he has done the same again after a 3 year drought without a slam and everybody said he should quit, he came back and produced the best clay court performance by any palyer male or female throughout the french open with that final performance being sublime. He then wins US open against all odds.
Now in 2019 with an ocean of injuries again, He has defied the odds again with 2 slams and 2 masters and year end world no.1. His MIND is a wonder and his greatest strength, perfect example is how he won those medvedev matches in US open and wtf.
I honestly feel like moya said that we have not yet seen the best of nadal. He has the potential to even be a better tennis player in the future regardless of age and injuries. I feel like with his incredibly strong and unshakeable mind, the best is yet to come and moya sees it that way too and I hope he and rafa achieves it.
Uncle toni deserves so much credit for rafa’s achievements and attitude imho. After everything he has achieved, he still remains very humble and polite Never thinking of himself as the best thing ever, just a normal guy with an unorthodox style of tennis and with that humility he will go very far.
He is such an inspiration to all of us.
Federer’s performance against djokovic this wtf is his best performance this year. If he can maintain that performance throughout a whole tournament, he will win a grand slam next year especially wimbledon. IMHO federer is the best server in the history of tennis male or female, he is better than sampras. One of the reasons why is because his serve and placement is so unpredicatble when he brings his A game. Imagine him serving like that (the way he did against djokovic here) in wimbledon, he may win it without dropping a set AGAIN.
The way he was playing aginst djokovc here made me marvel, it was like he was flying on the court. I dont see anyone beating him playing like that especially with that monster serve. He can play like that regardless of age because his tennis is effortless and less taxing on the body. He just has to be consistent with it and believe he can do it consistently and with that he can win a slam next year-wimbledon or austtralian open. It’s very possible and I believe in him.
To me, Federer’s tennis is the most beautiful tennis I have seen from any player. When he is at his best, its simply poetry in motion.
The more Federer wins a slam, the tougher it will get for Rafa to catch him. I hope we know that
Really too much from Happy!
Come on, Fed was really unbelievable against Djoko no doubt about that, but can you say that Djoko was at his best? If Fed could play that way the whole tournament?, problem is he couldn’t, if not he would’ve beaten Tsitsipas!
Don’t forget this is indoor HCs, and this year it’s quick and Low bouncing; with no wind, no heat whatever, Fed could serve impeccably, even then he just couldn’t do it consistently match after match.
As I said in my earlier post on another thread, if Fed was a few years younger, I’m sure he would beat Tsitsipas; and I add now that he would also beat Thiem, to win the title here. Too bad he couldn’t repeat that form in the SF ( and I thought if he could he would be unbeatable by all the players here, Rafa included).
Fed played the best he could at Wimbledon final, and should be the one holding the Championship trophy, I don’t know what happened to him, that he lost all three TBs, and Djoko wasn’t even playing at his best level (compared to his other Wimbledon). I’m not sure Fed could produce that level again at Wimbledon, or at the AO next year.
I’m also not sure he’s the best server ever, when there are other players like Sampras for example. But, he may be better than Sampras on all the slower surfaces, may not be on fast grass or carpet though. Fed may be the most elegant player ever, unless there comes someone who can be more elegant (than Fed).
Fed’s game is built to play on fast courts, that’s why he acquired a great serve, probably inspired by Sampras, and rushing the net as that’s the way to play and win on fast courts, taking away time from opponents, not giving them time or space to defend; that may be why Fed is the most attacking player around (given that he’s from the S&V era to begin with).
Hi luckystar, we can agree to disagree. IMHO he’s the best server bc for him to render djokovic helpless in the return department is amazing. Pete’s serve to me is predictable and one dimensional, fed has the ability to keep you guessing with his serve which makes it difficult to read and his placement and the power behind it makes it difficult to return. Saying that djokovic was not at his best is not a good argument because that argument can be used for everytime Federer lost to djokovic the last four years in that case. He beat djokovic period. Djoko being at his best wouldn’t have made a difference, fed is just a better indoor player than djokovic and that is just my opinion which you are free to disagree with.
What I said was not too much, that’s how I see it being that I am both a fed and Nadal fan which is a concept that seems foreign to some people. fed winning a slam again would be great whether some people like it or not bc apparently to some people it shifts the goal post further for Nadal. I don’t care who ends with more slams as long as it’s btw both of them but I won’t be surprised if djokovic ends up with the most slams as he is great and consistent in all surfaces including clay (winning four slams in a row)
Fed had no business losing that Wimbledon final. He was better than djokovic and should have won plus he beat Rafa in the semifinal too. So that tells me that he can win a slam again but his problem is consistency.
I disagree!!
On indoor surfaces it still very much depends on the court speed and bounce; I would say if its quick and low bounce adv Fed, if its slow and higher bounce adv Djoko. Djoko beats Fed many times at the WTF in the past, how can you disregard that? And the courts then were slow, unlike this year which is quick and low bouncing when Fed beat Djoko.
You can’t deny that Djoko is suffering from some elbow issue this WTF, hence he wasn’t his usual self when returning serves. I won’t say that if he’s at 100%,he would sure beat Fed, but he would fare better. As I said earlier, Fed playing and serving like that, he’s unbeatable by those players there.
And that leads us to his consistency. If Fed this or that, that doesn’t matter, as he’s not being able to play consistently well and that’s the problem. You’re basically saying something we already knew all along. I can say the same thing about Rafa, if he’s fit and not injured blah blah blah, the problem is he’s always injured!
I don’t think Fed is going to make the business end of slams come next year, because he simply hasn’t the stamina and yes, consistency, to go all the way, when he has to meet a determined Tsitsipas, a never give up Medvedev, or a very fit Thiem who’s reaching his peak not only on clay but also on the HCs.
These younger players become so hard to beat these days, they’re starting to reach their prime and will cause all sorts of problems for the big three.
As for Fed’s serve vs Sampras’, I’ll argue that on quicker surfaces, Sampras > Fed, cant argue with seven Wimbledon all won on fast grass; whilst Fed’s > Sampras’ on slower surfaces.
As for Rafa, I also said it before that I agreed with Moya, that the best from Rafa is yet to come, because Moya is still helping Rafa to reach his full potential. However, I find that it may be too late, with Rafa past his prime, full of injury issues, physically in the decline.
I feel had Moya been with Rafa earlier, ie during Rafa’s peak years or pre-prime years and helped him to reach his full potential, Rafa might be even more successful, harder to beat, more aggressive and perhaps with fewer injuries.
Rafa will be a more offensive player going forward as he gets older, and the way he changes things during a match, varying the way he plays is very interesting, but he will never be an attacking player like the way Fed is, and not even the way Tsitsipas is.
My hope is for Rafa to have fewer injuries as he gets more offensive and shortens points often, and wins a few more slams, maybe one or even two WTF, and some more masters ( including Miami, Shanghai and Paris) and extends his stay at no.1 for a bit longer, or even defends the YE no.1 for the first time in his career.
Moya doesn’t think it’s too late and he’s his coach and has achieved tremendous success with Rafa this late in his career. Look at what he did with rafa’s second serve, it became a weapon in 2017 which is really impressive. I agree with Moya and I have hope and faith in Rafa. Anything is possible. After all according to some people, Rafa should have retired many years ago bc of his style of play and injuries.
Too late as in when it’s nearing Rafa’s career end and not at the beginning or mid way through his career. By now, Rafa is already injured everywhere, damage already done, and won’t be at his physical best to execute all those offensive shots, or plays the full ATP schedule to win himself many titles within each season.
Of course still better than sticking with Toni right up to career end of Rafa.
Luckystar you are hilarious and I say that with utmost respect. I thoroughly enjoy your analysis and our discussions though I respectfully disagree this time. Djokovic himself said the elbow issue did not hinder his performance in the match, he said Federer was better than him in every department. Go and read his presser again. Also Federer almost won Wimbledon so he can be consistent which is my point. You don’t believe he can win slams again and you believe it’s too late for rafa for the reasons you stated above, I RESPECTFULLY disagree (please don’t crucify me for it, it’s just my HUMBLE opinion). The end.
It was Toni that left. Rafa would never have fired him! Moya’s been excellent but Rafa has been the driving force behind the changes. He’s not an idiot – he knew he had to make changes, probably quite awhile back but he wasn’t healthy enough to make them. Every time I’ve given up on Rafa’s game because of his many health problems he’s come back to prove me wrong! Maybe I should keep on giving up?
I also don’t think anything is too late for Rafa! I am amazed by the changes in his style of play: S&V game we all thought he would never be able to produce; his volley skills and net play have tremendously improved; his serve is becoming unpredictable and hard to read, great improvement in that corner as well! And his BH is becoming a lethal power! So, as long as Rafa doesn’t engage in long rallies and rushes the net more often he will be competitive and wining slams! Actually, it’s all I care about: his slam count! He has already accomplished it all and needs nothing to prove! If he wins more masters titles great for him, but slams are all that counts!
The next year is an Olympic year and Fed and Nole will fight the youngsters for the title! Rafa has the gold medal and he should focus on slams instead to win more next year!
In the end, i’ve got to say: I am so proud of Rafa! I am proud of his accomplishments this year, I am proud of his persistence, his competitive spirit, his never give up attitude! I am proud of the improvements and changes in his game! I am proud to be his die hard fan!
Vamos Champ!
Nats, I agree that Rafa should not waste his time on the Olympics next year. He has won it, slams should be his priority and breaking fed’s slam record. Let fed and Djoko fight for the Olympics.
I am just loving the fact as to how Rafa is doing S&V on slice BH. This could be one of the most defining tactics come RG against Theim.
Does anyone know if the USA is getting any TV coverage of this new Davis Cup? Tennis Channel does not have it.
nope
Too bad we won’t get to see any of the Davis Cup.
Ramara AT 5:07 PM,
Nativenewyorker AT 6:10 PM
It’s possible to watch the 2019 Davis Cup Finals live on the official website, but you need to pay to watch it 😞 :
https://video.daviscup.com/pricing
augusta,
Thanks so much for that information. However, I don’t think I want to pay to watch it.
But I really appreciate you responding and at least letting us know about our options! 😀👍
Thanks, Augusta!