Both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will be taking the court for the first time this week in Shanghai on Wednesday. Nadal is set for a second-round test against Viktor Troicki, while Murray is facing familiar foe Steve Johnson.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. Viktor Troicki
Nadal and Troicki will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when they meet in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday. All five of their previous encounters have gone the way of Nadal, who has won four times on hard courts and is 12-1 in total sets at Troicki’s expense. Their most competitive contest came on the Asian swing six years ago, when the Spaniard survived 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(7) in the Tokyo semifinals. They have faced each other only once since then–Nadal triumphed 7-6(3), 6-3 to lift a winner’s trophy last summer on the grass courts of Stuttgart.
This year has been a tough one for the 14-time Grand Slam champion, who has not yet locked up a berth in the World Tour Finals. Following a fourth-round U.S. Open loss to Lucas Pouille, Nadal’s Asian swing began with a quarterfinal setback at the hands of Grigor Dimitrov in Beijing. Troicki advanced through his Shanghai opener on Monday with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of qualifier Lukas Rosol. The 31st-ranked Serb has been extremely active already this fall, with a quarterfinal showing in St. Petersburg, a semifinal finish in Chengdu, and a first-round loss to Fabio Fognini in Beijing. Troicki may be in decent form, but not to the extent that he can be expected to reverse the course of such poor results against Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
[polldaddy poll=9547367]
Steve Johnson vs. (2) Andy Murray
Murray and Johnson will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 2-0 in favor of Murray, who prevailed 6-2, 6-4 at this same event last fall (also in the second round) and 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(2) at this summer’s Rio Olympics. The second-ranked Scot went on to capture gold in Rio, highlighting a current stretch in which he has won four of six tournaments–Queen’s Club, Wimbledon, the Olympics, and Beijing. He hopes to continue the hot streak in Shanghai, where he is 17-3 lifetime with two titles and one runner-up finish.
Although Johnson’s 2016 record stands at a modest 29-24, he has undoubtedly been playing the best tennis of his career throughout the second half of the season. Among the 24th-ranked American’s results are a title in Nottingham, a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, quarterfinal finishes in Newport, Rio, and Cincinnati, and a semifinal run in Washington, D.C. Johnson kicked off his Shanghai campaign on Monday by rolling over Martin Klizan 6-4, 6-3. Murray, of course, presents a much tougher test and this has to be considered one of the No. 2 seed’s favorite tournaments.
Pick: Murray in 2
[polldaddy poll=9547368]
TBH, I know Rafa will beat them once his wrist is back to normal. Rafa is mentally bode down by his wrist, not wanting to over exert it so he’s serving poorly and hitting poorly. He was trying his best to win at Olympics because thats very important tournament for him. He might have done some harm to his recovering wrist at that time and so thereafter his FH was again misfiring.
I do hope he really is shutting down now for the season to let his wrist fully recover and then work on his serve, FH, footwork and timing. I think he will qualify for the WTF given how poorly the other contenders for the last three spots are doing at the moment. The question is, can Rafa excuse himself from the WTF if he qualifies, without facing any penalty?
I know how much Rafa wanted to play the Olympics but I was so strongly against it as I was really worried that Rafa’s wrist could have not healed properly and that it was too early to compete…it turned out I was right since in USO Rafa complained about ‘feeling the wrist’ and was too wary with his forehand…well, damage is done and I agree Rafa needs time off to heal and work on his issues…
Natashao (AT 12:09 PM),
Rafa was happy at Olympics – take a look at the pictures of Rafa carrying the Spanish flag at the opening ceremony and celebrating after winning a gold medal in doubles. He would have been very unhappy if he had skipped the Rio Games.
Rafa was mentally bode down a loooooong time before the wrist.
Started shortly after the time violation rule was redefined and enforced after Roger complained. Started with ATP level and eventually was enforced at slams primarily against Rafa even though Murray, Djokovic and many others frequently violated the rule. That’s why I’ve advocated for a shot clock to show what a farce it is.
There were signs of Rafa’s anxiety becoming a problem at times even during his great year in 2013 but he was still able to quell his anxiety effectively before it became a serious problem.
The back injury in the 2014 AO final was the last straw and he really hasn’t been the same since other than his last hurrah at the French.
I’ll never forget a tweet I read just after Rafa’s 2014 win that Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg bet Mansour Bahrami that Rafa would never win another slam.
Even though, Rafa had not been his best in 2014 and signs of anxiety were steadily worsening, I thought that it was audacious to make such a bet. But it’s held true so far and looking more and more likely with Rafa’s streak of early slam exits continuing and now becoming a common trend even in non-slam events.
And he’s talking about more practice???
Rafa, you are sleeping. You do not want to believe.
#DefinitionOfInsanity
Nah, anxiety or not, Rafa did overcome it in 2013/2014. Its because of his multiple injuries – back, wrist and more wrist plus appendicitis – that made things worse for him.
Just imagine, if he hadnt had his injuries, he would most likely still be YE no.1 in 2014 (given how poorly Djoko played at Canada, Cincy, USO that year), until after the AO in 2015 when Djoko would take over the no.1 ranking. I bet we wont be talking about his anxiety issue should Rafa retained his YE no.1 in 2014, and who knows Rafa might just took back the no.1 ranking again from Djoko should Rafa remained healthy in 2015 and/or 2016. I even bet that a healthy Rafa would beat Djoko at FO 2015 and 2016 and Djoko would still be waiting to complete his career slam.
Both BB saw an injured back Rafa in 2014 hence their statement about Rafa not winning slam again, because they knew back issue could be career threatening or even career ending.
Rafa had shown at FO2016 that he could be back on track to win the FO if not for his wrist injury. He won MC and Barcelona beating Murray and Kei, two top ten players, so my take is, as long as Rafa has the desire, his wrist is fully recovered, he’s fit and healthy and work on improving his serve,the timing of his FH and footwork, the power on his FH, he can win a slam – at the FO if not at the other slams.
Rafa may not change the way he plays (much to my regret as I truly loved how aggressive Rafa was during his younger days in 2003 to 2005 and that Rafa had disappeared without a trace now) but I really hope for that Rafa of 2013 US HC series to appear come 2017. Though that Rafa wasnt playing much attacking at the net, he did play close to the baseline and was more offensive than defensive. I do feel playing that way will be good enough for Rafa to beat most players, and will help him win on clay.
The poster who inserted the comment AT 1:09 PM has been inconsistent:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr2WkjWW8AAJRmz.jpg
luckystar (AT 11:49 AM),
I think, Rafa can withdraw from the WTF due to a ‘recurrent’ wrist injury. 🙂
Thanks augusta for the info.
Or for a “mental problema”.
#ImWithRafa
#B1PrNews
I add to my post AT 4:08 PM.
Rafa says, “Maybe because I had an injury on the wrist, I am SCARED.”
#NotScarred
I add to my post AT 4:10 PM.
After losing to Dum Dum last week, Rafa said:
“I fighted until the last ball, but going all the time against the score and all the time against the bad feelings, psychologically bad feelings, because I was losing and suffering later with my serve all the time.”