Spain is one win away from a return trip to the Davis Cup World Group heading into doubles action on Saturday. Fernando Verdasco and Rafael Nadal roll to singles wins on Friday to put the home team in front.
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Verdasco improved to 3-0 lifetime against Dolgopolov by kicking off the Spain vs. Ukraine Davis Cup playoffs tie with a four-set win on Friday afternoon in Madrid. The Spaniard needed two hours and 33 minutes to complete his comeback from a one-set deficit. It was Dolgopolov who got off to an impressive start, breaking twice in the first set without facing a break point on his own serve. Little separated the two players in the second. Verdasco won two more points than his opponent, but he saved one break point and capitalized on one of his three chances before serving it out at 5-4.
Sets three and four, however, were more straightforward for Verdasco. The world No. 33 generally held in far more routine fashion than Dolgopolov in the third even though it was decided by just one break. Verdasco closed it out at 5-4 then dropped only four points in his last four service games. Dolgopolov committed 14 unforced errors in the fourth to end his hopes of ever getting back on track in the match.
Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-0, 6-0, 6-4
Playing just four days after winning his second U.S. Open title, Nadal clearly had no interest in staying on the court any longer than necessary. The world No. 2 lost just four games and needed only one hour and 42 minutes to put Spain ahead of the Ukraine 2-0. Stakhovsky, who famously upset Roger Federer at Wimbledon this summer, did not even win a single game in the first two sets. He won a mere total of nine points in the entire second frame of play–six on serve and three on return.
Stakhovsky finally got on the scoreboard in set three, and he did so on four straight service occasions. The world No. 92 fought off five break points along the way, but Nadal finally converted his sixth chance of the set at 4-4 with a perfect passing shot. Nadal held easily one game later to wrap up the proceedings in style. The 13-time Grand Slam champion will team up with Marc Lopez on Saturday in hopes of clinching the tie and sending Spain to the 2014 World Group.
I find the rankings points so confusing at times. So Djoker has to defend his points and can only gain in Paris. So if Rafa plays Beijing and Shanghai as scheduled, he can only gain points.
This has never been Rafa’s best time of the tennis year, but given the way he has been playing I think he can get some good results.
Regarding Rafa’s evolving game, it’s true that he is not as fast as he was when he was younger. But he has compensated for that with this aggressive game, more power on his shots and his brilliant tennis mind. There is not a better tactician in the game. Rafa’s game has more variety than in 2008. His serve is so much better, he is so much more comfortable volleying at net, his ROS has improved greatly and he is hitting his backhand better than he has in a long time.
Luckystar and I used to have these great discussions comparing the 2008 or 2010 Rafa to the 2011 or 2012 Rafa. It’s also fun to compare those years with the Rafa of 2013,
I think Rafa’s willingness to adapt and keep tweaking his game and working on certain aspects, is the secret to his resurgence. I admire him enormously for being willing to keep making whatever adjustments are necessary to keep him competitive in this strong field of men’s tennis players.
Just so long as Rafa finds the right balance and does’t play himself into the ground. I’m trusting in him not to make that mistake in an effort to regain the No.1 spot.
As it is he has a tough 2014 ahead with all those titles to defend.
Actually, ed, if you think about it, Rafa didn’t play AO’13 or Miami; he lost in the 1st Rnd at Wimbledon and he has been defending his clay titles for yonks. So he has got wriggle room. Even if he doesn’t win all the h/c titles he’s won this year, he’ll go deep so wouldn’t lose too many points.
I said the same in an earlier post, @clayqueen. Next year, he can compensate at Oz2014, Miami, Wimby for any dropped points in all the tournaments he won this year. I see him ending 2014 as #1, health permitting.
That’s my girl. Always looking on the bright side.
Really do wish @Twingey was here………….so I can say, “told you Rafa would be back!”
None of the folks back on TT who used to derive pleasure in denigrating Rafa will have the guts to come back here and face us :-). I bet though most of them are def reading our comments and burning within đ
Which is a pity, I actually enjoyed some of the back and forth we had with some of the guys, the good humour parts, not the nastiness. The really “bad” ones like the ones with the Fed-Nole name amalgams will definitely not show their faces because their “tool”, Novak, is not doing what he was supposed to do: stop Rafa accumulating slams!
But like life, tennis is a game of ups and downs, who knows what will happen tomorrow. We certainly went through many painful downs, Rafa’s beatdowns by Nole in 2011 and his injury absence in 2012. We deserve some happiness, and I for one am making the most of it!
Sanju,
Well said! I know that the troll Fedkovic23 aka JamesDjokovicFan aka novakisthebest aka Danny Morris, just disappeared after trashing talking Andy’s chances in the final at Wimbledon.
That’s what chr18 used to do. When Rafa started winning, then he would just completely disappear for months on end.
They are freaking out because Djoker was supposed to stop Rafa from equaling Fed’s slam total.
I agree that we deserve some happiness and respite from the hatefest! That’s why I can come here and say what I think now without fear of some disgusting cheap shot or nasty personal attack.
i ‘miss’ Twinge as well. We had many arguments about whether Rafa was a spent force behind Djoker and Muzz and I even suggested that there should be an asterisk against their achievements in Rafa’s absence. I also ‘miss’ chr18, rbennett and many others whose names escape me right now.
All those who kept saying Nolandy had raised tennis to a higher level in Rafa’s absence now have to eat their words.
I actually believe Novak believed the propaganda that Rafa was done, and this was heightened by his victory at MC. My sense is Muzza and Fed did not.
This accounts for that far, far away look Novak had just before the trophy ceremony at USOpen 2013.
From The Bleacher Report:
When Will Rafael Nadal’s Reign at No. 1 Start and How Long Will It Last?
By
Jeremy Eckstein
(Featured Columnist) on September 15, 2013
Rafael Nadal is ready to take the ATP World No. 1 ranking at the China Open in Beijing on October 7. Currently, Nadal (10,860) trails Novak Djokovic (11,120) by 260 points.
With both players slated to play Beijing, Djokovic can only defend his 500 points by winning the tournament. He can still hold the No. 1 ranking if he drops 200 points as a finalist and Nadal is quickly eliminated. If he does not make the final, he will fall behind Nadal
Nadal can clinch the No. 1 ranking by making it to at least the finals regardless of Djokovic. He would add 300 for this achievement because he did not play in Beijing last year and has no points to defend. If he wins the tournament, he will gain the full 500 points. Barring a major upset, Nadal will be No. 1.
Djokovicâs reign as the No. 1 player will have lasted 101 weeks, including all but 17 weeks since assuming the top position on July 4, 2011, with his Wimbledon title.
Nadal, who currently has 102 career weeks as No. 1, looks to reign at the top for a long time, perhaps a very long time.
Post from another site:
Rafa has 150 points in his Non-Countable category from Vina del Mar that he will be able to count as soon as his zero point penalty in the 500 category expires on October 7. He is not as far behind Djokovic as you claim so that changes the scenario of who has to win/final/get to semis etc.
In fact, Rafa should have been officially #1 after his USO title if it wasn’t for those stupid zero point penalties imposed on him when he was INJURED.
Sanju@September 17, 2013 at 10:23 am
The 150 points from Vina del Mar will replace ‘0-points’ from Beijing 2012 in case Rafa won’t play in Beijing or he’ll earn less than 150 points there (but then the points from Beijing will be not counted).
The same story with Basel.
In case Rafa will earn over 150 points in both Beijing and Basel, the points from Vina del Mar will be out of his ‘SIX best results’ and will be not counted.
ritb, I think you are right. Both Fed and Muzz actually said in so many words that Rafa would come back strong. I remember Fed saying, to a question about how well Rafa had done since his come back, ‘he is Rafael Nadal’.
Djoker also believed that he had no weaknesses in his game so has done nothing in the past 2 years to improve. Lately, he is trying to play an all court game rather than just hit winners from the back of the court. One of his main assets in 2011 was his accuracy. He made very few errors then which gave him even more confidence and demoralized his opponents, now he is making a lot of UEs.
Have you guys seen this?
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/09/37/Nadal-SportsCenter-Ad.aspx
A lot of confusion is caused by posters who seem to think defending points is relevant for year end ranking. It is NOT.
Defending points is relevant only for the 52 weeks rolling ranking points. The year end ranking depends only on points won THIS year and confers no advantage on anybody who did not play last year.
However for rolling ranking, somebody who did not play the previous year, cannot lose points as the year progresses but if he doesn’t win points this year, he cannot hope to be no. 1 merely because he cannot lose points.
Chile points are not currently countable for the rolling rank but they are already counted in the race points. .Also while Rafa is trailing in the rolling ranking points, he is having a big lead in the race points.
The trouble is we are now entering Nole season when Nole can easily win 3000 or more points and surpass Rafa’s current 11015 points.
So Rafa has to try to reach beyond 12325 to ensure it is impossible for Nole to surpass him even if Nole gets the maximum points in all the remaining tournament of the year.including the Davis Cup bonus for the player of the winning team who has played 7 singles rubbers.
If Nole gets less than 2905 points in the remaining part of the season, Rafa will end the year at no. 1 even if he does not win any more points.
option 1
Nole 1310 points, (Rafa is no. 1 irrespective of Nole’s performance in this part of the year i.e even if Nole maxes all the tournaments)
I prefer option 2.
Once again I repeat: Defending points will not affect year end ranking. Only winning points will.
Rafa will get the rolling ranking no. 1 if he reaches the Beijing finals but it will not ensure his year end no. 1.
I absolutely agree, holdserve,
Year end No 1 ranking has nothing to do with defending points. Rafa leads the race with 3000 points. If the Djoker wins everything from now on and Rafa wins nothing, Novak will be year end NO 1. If Rafa manages to collect between 1000 and 1400 points from his remaining tourneys, he will be year end NO 1, even if Novak wins everything. It’s doable, but it won’t be a cake walk.
How soon Rafa gets to No 1, is largely irrelevant. Rafa himself has said many times, that he only cares about the race, and that his actual ATP ranking is only important for seeding purposes.
The above post has got mysteriously missing parts.
So here they are:
option1
Nole 1310 points (Rafa is no. 1 irrespective of Nole’s performance i.e. even if Nole maxes all the remaining tournaments).
I prefer option 2 which depends on Rafa rather than option 1 which depends on Nole performing below par.
once again portions of my post are getting removed. Must be some dumb bot in action.
I give up!.
Ernests Gulbis strikes again! Is this guy for real, can he EVER keep his mouth shut?
http://www.onthegotennis.com/home/ernests-gulbis-doesnt-like-novak-anymore.html
“I don’t like Djokovic that much. We know each other since I’m 12. He was a normal guy then, but since his first big success he changed, his eyes changed. We never fought, but I felt he changed because of success. And I don’t like people like that. I like strong characters that don’t change because of success or money. That’s why I be careful not to change myself”.
Well, he became successful, Ernie, you…………………well, stayed rich.
RT @linzsports: “Well, Ernie. I’m certainly not worried about success changing you.”
Zing………….
ToucheĂŠ
Ernie is not the only one to say this about Nole, so there must be something in it. Jerzy said something similar. Does anyone remember the skit Tipsa did about Novak in his jacket and sunglasses?
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlfBv4nRY6g
First time I’m seeing this……….oh my……
Priceless!
Hilarious!
In the link posted above by JCKNY of the match, it appears that Novak swore at Rafa for breaking him back to 3-4 back on serve in the 2nd set. About 1hr 20 mins in.
Wow! This new Rafa ain’t playing, Brazil 2014 will be a HC, right? This shows Rafa is determined to defend his points next year.
RT @christophclarey: “Looks like Rafael #Nadal and South America is becoming a thing. Brazil Open announces he’ll play the 500 event in February #tennis”
what in the actual Hell?
More on the Rafa-Brazil story. Rio will be clay, new on the Tour and a 500 event. Last year Rafa played Sao Paolo which was a 250 event.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/09/38/Nadal-To-Play-Rio-Open.aspx
This is great, so he gets to play 1 for the price of 2 (Vina del Mar and Sao Paolo) in terms of points…….and it’s clay, confidence building going into the North American HC Masters swing.
Rafa is preparing for the Rio 2016 Olympics! đ
I was wondering whether he would play SA next year. I’m glad that he will. The 7 months out made him realize that he should make the most of it whilst he can as it’s a very short career.
Will there be a stampede of Roger, Murray and Nole to SA?
Sorry, this is off topic but nowhere else to post it:
Poor Djokovic. He still has no. 1 ranking but he still hasn’t recovered the magic from his 2011 campaign and came up short in his two biggest battles against Nadal this year. He came into this Open on a wave of nice publicity from a big New Yorker profile and the release of a new memoir-cum-diet book, Serve To Win. (That book, like Djokovic’s performance in the fourth set, turned out to be really flat. Three weeks after its release, it’s sold just 1,500 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan. A bomb.)
http://deadspin.com/heres-what-led-rafa … 1281001710
1,500 copies…………doesn’t even cover his neighbourhood in Belgrade, no?
The gluten diet certainly seemed to help his breathing problems but I simply cant swallow that it explains the huge leap forward in his performance. The main catalyst was the surge of confidence from the Serbian DC win and his role in that. If they go on to win the Cup this year then we may well see his his results improve once again.
Geez, people need to stop frazzling about Rafa’s schedule:
RT @TennisReporters: “Tweeps clearly Nadal has pullout options but he’s good at fulfilling commitments so I suspect he’ll play at least 4 out of 5 this fall”
In other news, Charly Moya is about to be announced as replacement for Corretja as Spanish DC Captain.
Oh dear – another unconscious pun on my part đ