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.
It was my understanding that they made Djoker change his shoes at Wimbledon. I remember the tv commentators discussing the fact that he was wearing special shoes.
As far as the pod thing, it was not considered to be illegal and was not banned. The statement from the governing body is that it was not in the spirit of the sport. There was a lot of discussion about it on various tennis sites, including TT. I thought that Djoker’s comment was to the effect that he had only used it once or twice. I don’t know if he has used this pod device since then or recently.
Regarding the little nubbie thingies on Novak’s shoes, in the American broadcast of Wimbledon, the commentators said that while Novak did not have to change his shoes, he did have to file off the nubs. Apparently, the Wimbledon regulations state that the nubs can only come up so far on the side of the shoe. They showed quite a few close-ups of Novak’s feet where you could see that the nubs had been filed down.
As for the CVAC pod, I posted this in another forum during Montreal:
The World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA], which just happens to be headquartered in Montreal, has taken the position that use of the CVAC pods “violates the spirit of sport.” However, they have yet to ban it because there is no reliable way to test for its use. For example, one can achieve similar results by training at high altitudes. This has been their position since 2006 and they’ve periodically issued statements that reiterate said position as well as the continued lack of any reliable usage tests. Until there is some way to test for usage, I just don’t see the ITF/ATP banning them. As far as I know, no large professional organization bans them, even those that have stringent anti-doping rules. Hyperbaric chambers, which are similar to the CVAC pods, have also been deemed to “violate the spirit of sport” by WADA, yet Michael Phelps used them in 2012 and some NFL players use them to speed up recovery from injury. Again, it just doesn’t look like a ban is anywhere close on the horizon.
As far as I know, Novak is the only high profile tennis player who has admitted to using one and I may be wrong, but I don’t think he’s publicly admitted to it since 2011, the year of his ascendancy to #1.
Clearly, Novak’s problems this year go beyond shoe nubs and probable discontinued use of the CVAC pods. Of course, his biggest problem, even more than himself, will be the one and only Rafa Nadal. I’m an old gal, but Rafa just brings out the fan girl in me.
@ NNYI dont believe he can still be using it. If he is then it’s not working for him any longer.
I wish that the real Djoker fans like zare and danica were posting here. I would be interested in their thoughts given what has happened.
Before TT closed down Danica told us she would be reading but not taking part in discussions because it had become too time consuming. She has young children.
Djoker fans will probably become active if and when Djoker starts winning.
^^^It’s the true, no? That is the sense I get with Novak fans unfortunately. There are one or two on other forums who post regardless of his results but the rest seem to only interested when he is winning. For a lot of Novak fans, the pleasure was not just in him winning and becoming #1, it was besting Rafa. And a lot of them had bought into the “love” bestowed on Novak by Fedfans, together with the notion that he was Fed’s true heir, he was the most complete player, he was the most talented, blah, blah, blah.
I will never forget their collective orgasmic joy after Novak beat Rafa at MC. Imagine the emotional letdowns now that Rafa is returning the favour, and it is clear Novak is not the only one with a complete game, and it is Rafa who is being talked about as the one most likely to equal or even surpass Fed’s Slam haul. It must sting like hell.
As for dear Danica being too busy to post, really, that is an old and incredible chestnut, sorry. Okay, even if one buys that excuse for her, what about the rest, have they all suddenly become busy too? She (and the rest) may have lost interest (most likely because Rafa is thrashing Novak and Novak appears to have lost his superman aura), that I can buy, but too busy? No. How long does it take to post: Adje Nole! Please……
Well we Rafa fans didn’t stop posting when he wasn’t winning and was on an injury layoff. We kept the faith. That’s the time to show that you are a real fan. When your guy isn’t winning and is having some problems. That’s what a real fan is all about. That’s why trolls and fakes like Fedkovic23 aka JamesDjokovicFan et al, are nowhere to be found.
ed,
I didn’t mean to say that I think Djoker is still using the pod. I don’t think he is using it now. As you said, if he is then it certainly is not working!
Jpacnw,
Thanks for posting the facts regarding using that pod device. I know that they did say it was not in the spirit of the sport, but it’s true that there is no way to test it to determine if it can give a player an unfair advantage. As for the shoes Djoker was wearing at Wimbledon, I thought that they made him change them, but according to your info they just made him file them down. I just admit that when it was revealed that he was wearing those specially modified shoes, it bothered me.
It’s in the nature of the man he wants to be at the cutting edge of any technology that could give him an edge over his rivals. As long as it is legal, why not.
ed251137, in a rare un-guarded moment during 2011, Novak did say he would do anything to win, as long as it was legal. This was when he was responding to questions about his diet.
Even further back (possibly 2007) he openly admitted to taking MTOs purely to gain an advantage during matches. We all know this happens from time to time but Djokovic actually spelt it out as being a legitimate tactic since it was within the rules.
SI writer responds to Pat Cash’s assertion that today’s tennis players are boring. She provides several links of amazing shots:
http://tennis.si.com/2013/09/18/pat-cash-novak-djokovic-rafael-nadal-boring/
Let’s be honest, who would remember Pat Cash today if it wasn’t for that cheesy CNN programme he fronts, Inside Tennis, or whatever? Some people cannot accept anonymity well…………
It is telling that he singles out Novak and Rafa as boring baseliners but not Fed. Like all Fedbots, he is so entranced by Fed’s ballet dancing, he forgets he does said dancing on or behind the baseline!
Next!
Well, glad I’m not the only one who thinks Cash is just another CNN hack:
RT @juanjo_sports: “Apparently, Pat Cash makes statements while on bath salts. Carry on.”
RT @juanjo_sports: “Just to be clear – Pat Cash has all the right in the world to find Djokovic and Nadal’s tennis boring. Nothing is objectively entertaining.”
RT @juanjo_sports: “But to say that Nadal and Djokovic aren’t as athletic as past generations? That’s just a very silly, and inacurate thing to say.”
RT @juanjo_sports: “A good time to remember that Pat Cash gets paid to emit opinions about tennis! Happy thought!”
RT @juanjo_sports: “CNN surely paid Pat Cash to write the quotes highlighted here: http://tennis.si.com/2013/09/18/pat-cash-novak-djokovic-rafael-nadal-boring/ … Think about that for a sec. He was compensated for it.”
Here is a YouTube clip of Elizabeth Kaye discussing her passion for Rafa with Andrew Burton of TennisWorld. Amongst other things she nails what she sees as the essential difference between fans of Rafa and fans of Roger. And also admits to her animosity towards Nole.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/l6x8vpt
Hehehe, so those who trashed me when I posted her article on TT were right: she is a Rafa fangirl just like me!
I thought this clip was quite interesting. I liked when Elizabeth Kaye said that Rafa would appeal to both Fitzgerald and Hemingway. F. Scott Fitzgerald is my all time favorite author. I loved hearing her mention these two great writers and how Rafa could appeal to both of them because of his different qualities. She also spoke so movingly about the contrast between the on court Rafa and the off court Rafa.
It’s obvious that she is a Rafa fan girl, big time! I also liked that she said you cannot be a fan of both Fed and Rafa and gave her reason why. I completely agree with her. It’s very personal, this business of having a special favorite player with whom you can connect. It’s intensely personal. I don’t think you can like both because they are so very different in their style of play and also in their personalities.
She also did reveal her bias against Djoker in saying that she liked to see him lose. Not a Djoker fan for sure!
I enjoyed listening to her interview. Good stuff!
Hurray for Elizabeth Kay! A journo who does not apologise for being a Rafa fan girl. I am so tired of Rafans being made to feel bad about being a Rafan. Nonsense like Rafans are people who just follow Rafa and not tennis. You had journos like Bodo and Neil Harman who are unabashed Fed and Muzza fans respectively and no one bats an eye lid. Tiggy is an obvious Rafa fanboy but one gets the sense he is afraid to “come out”. Bah humbug!
Hopefully, Rafa’s success continues and instills confidence in all Rafans for them to shout out his greatness without fear!
rafaisthebest@September 19, 2013 at 8:22 am
—Tiggy is an obvious Rafa fanboy but one gets the sense he is afraid to “come out”.—
He who pays the piper calls the tune! Journos have to keep the sponsors (of the websites and … so on) happy.
Carlos Moya has been confirmed as the new Spanish Davis Cup captain.
Kind of off topic, but many of the Internet postings of Rafa’s Charlie Rose interview left out about a minute or so of footage. This link has the entire interview. The part that was left out on most postings starts at about 12:41 or so. It’s significant too, because Charlie reveals himself as a Rafa admirer with this description…He says “You have a remarkable eloquence, too, the way you handle the post-game…” and he goes on. Rafa’s response is typical of his usual charming, humble self. So here it is for those who only saw the edited version.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14l3y0_charlie-rose-rafael-nadal_news
Where the heck is @willmw? I really miss him. He was such a useful punch bag during Rafa’s live matches! Come back @wills! Your antijinx-o-meter is sorely missed………..
This is more a confession than a comment, but anyway… I’m kinda new here and in tennis world in general…I’m following tennis since the 2011 US open final to be more specific, the first time that I saw Rafa playing and, even though he was losing, I remember that I was completely amused by all the package: the passion, the fighting, the tennis itself and, of course, the man who was carring all that. And today, well, I’m pretty much obsessed about anything tennis and anything Rafa related 🙂
I found this site some time ago because of the famous facebook chats and I just realized that there was a lot of Rafans discussion going on here… so it turned into a must read site to me…and also, I really like Ricky’s texts.
I’m not used to comment here, but I just love to read all the comments.
Greetings from another Rafan 😉
CapouPascap,
It’s great to have you here. We are all refugees from Tennis Talk. Ricky was a blogger on that site along with Cheryl Murray. It was a really great site with some wonderful people. Rafa fans were in the majority on that site, but we did get a nice cross section of fans of other players. Some Murray fans, a few Djoker fans and Fed fans who would come on there to get into a war of words with Rafa fans.
The site is now defunct and Ricky told us about his site here. Many of the regulars have now migrated over to this site where we could resume our tennis discussions.
I hope you feel comfortable enough to join in the conversation. 🙂
Thanks NNY (is that how they call you here, right?)
I appreciate the welcome 🙂
I’m not a native speaker…I’m still learning English, so I’ll try my best to keep the conversation here 😉
Anyway, thanks again and I really enjoy your comments…there are very insightful!
they are very insightful! 😉
By the way CapouPascap, don’t worry about how you write in English. There are many people who are not native English speakers and you won’t be criticised for making mistakes.
However, it’s good practise in learning to communicate in another language.
Welcome @CP! You are in good company here, feel free to gush about Rafa any way you want I.e. just be your honest to goodness self!
Thanks rafaisthebest 🙂
I’m sure I’m in very good company here!!!
Well, thx to all who commented further about Novak’s edgy strategies. As long as he doesn’t do anything illegal there’s no probem from my side. This phrase : ‘against the interest of the sport’ doesn’t really mean anything. So it’s racket-bashing and fake MTOs and players do it all the time.
Either you clearly say what’s allowed and what’s not or you just dont’ whine.
BTW, this chamber artifact Novak supposedly used back in 2011 reminds me of those Dragon Ball episodes when Goku trains at high pressure to easily trash the space warriors later.. has anybody seen those? 🙂
Shireling@September 19, 2013 at 9:02 am
— reminds me of those Dragon Ball episodes when Goku trains at high pressure to easily trash the space warriors later.. has anybody seen those?—
I only know that ‘Dragon Ball’ was Rafa’s favorite childhood cartoon, I haven’t seen it. Maybe – after reading CNN’s article explaining how Goku was Rafa’s childhood inspiration – Djoko got inspired too and wanted to become like Goku? 🙂
Excerpts from an article.
—Rafael Nadal: The ‘Dragon Ball’ of tennis.
When Rafael Nadal was a young boy on the Spanish island of Majorca, he used to run home from school to watch his favorite Japanese anime — “Dragon Ball”
The Toei Animation cartoon, adapted from a 1980s manga by Akira Toriyama, must have made an indelible impression on the young Nadal.
Like Dragon Ball’s hero Goku, a martial arts student who came from an extraterrestrial race called Saiyans, Nadal has also come to conquer the world, or at least the tennis world, with an unorthodox style that he seemed to learn on another planet. /…/
Rocketing across the court, twisting to hit winners from impossible angles, Nadal sometimes even looks like Goku, with his mouth open in a grunt that is both ugly and sexy for millions of his worldwide fans.
“It’s my favorite cartoon,” Nadal tells journalists in Japan who ask him about “Dragon Ball” after his opening round victory at his first ever Japan Open. “I have all the DVDs, from the first one to the last one.”
/…/ But off the court, Rafa has a simple islander charm /…/ Coming into the Ariake tennis center press room after his first round victory, the 24-year old Nadal, who has won more than $30 million on tour, apologizes like a schoolboy. “Sorry, I was a little bit late.” —
[CNN, 8 October, 2010]
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/play/rafael-nadal-dragon-ball-tennis-216638
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goku
(My comment that contained 2 links didn’t go throuh. I repeat the comment, splitting it into two parts – one link per comment)
Shireling@:September 19, 2013 at 9:02 am
— reminds me of those Dragon Ball episodes when Goku trains at high pressure to easily trash the space warriors later.. has anybody seen those?—
I only know that ‘Dragon Ball’ was Rafa’s favorite childhood cartoon, I haven’t seen the cartoon. Maybe – after reading CNN’s article explaining how Goku was Rafa’s childhood inspiration – Djoko got inspired too and wanted to become like Goku? 🙂
Excerpts from an article.
—Rafael Nadal: The ‘Dragon Ball’ of tennis.
When Rafael Nadal was a young boy on the Spanish island of Majorca, he used to run home from school to watch his favorite Japanese anime — “Dragon Ball”
The Toei Animation cartoon, adapted from a 1980s manga by Akira Toriyama, must have made an indelible impression on the young Nadal.
Like Dragon Ball’s hero Goku, a martial arts student who came from an extraterrestrial race called Saiyans, Nadal has also come to conquer the world, or at least the tennis world, with an unorthodox style that he seemed to learn on another planet. /…/
Rocketing across the court, twisting to hit winners from impossible angles, Nadal sometimes even looks like Goku, with his mouth open in a grunt that is both ugly and sexy for millions of his worldwide fans.
“It’s my favorite cartoon,” Nadal tells journalists in Japan who ask him about “Dragon Ball” after his opening round victory at his first ever Japan Open. “I have all the DVDs, from the first one to the last one.”
/…/ But off the court, Rafa has a simple islander charm /…/ Coming into the Ariake tennis center press room after his first round victory, the 24-year old Nadal, who has won more than $30 million on tour, apologizes like a schoolboy. “Sorry, I was a little bit late.” —
[CNN, 8 October, 2010]
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/play/rafael-nadal-dragon-ball-tennis-216638
And here is Goku (original):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goku
Hehe, wonderful stuff Augusta!
I have to say that I’m a bit long in the tooth to be talking about Dragon Ball but, what can I say? I’m one of those middle-aged men who never fully left their childhood in some ways, especially when it comes to cartoons. For a time I studied cartoon animation too and I like the good stuff. I consider Drangon Ball to be very nice – true, it is childish and a bit wacky in a macho Janpanese kind of way but they way Goku (and other characters) develop is very good as far as animé goes.
You know, I never thought about it but Nadal does fit the shoe of the ‘Gokuesque’ character, which is that of a pure and humble kid (ok, Goku is an alien but he doensn’t even know it at first) with amazing physical strength who gets swept into martial arts and just exceeds all expectations, his included.
(Also, Goku eats like a maniac, often flabbergasting everyone who’s around.. a imagine Nadal must also be a threat if you want to invite him for lunch after a match, lol)
Then, when the martial arts theme es exhausted, the script-writers keep coming up with meaner and harder oponents which are always more powerful than Goku and he needs to trains incredibly hard and re-invent himself all the time to beat the opposition.
Sounds familiar?
Yes, this sounds familiar. 🙂 Thanks for your lovely description!
Facebook chat: The tennis world reacts to Nadal winning the U.S. Open – https://tenngrand.com/2013/09/19/facebook-chat-the-tennis-world-reacts-to-nadal-winning-the-u-s-open/
RT @SteveTignor: “RT @simonrbriggs Andy Murray forced to address long-standing back trouble: operation next week, aims to be ready for start of 2014”
Get well soon Muzza!
RT @Metro_Sport: “BREAKING: Andy Murray to have back surgery next week, could be out for the rest of the season”
Oh NOOOOOOoooooo
dear. That sounds pretty serious. I hope that it is not a major surgery and that his recovery goes very well.
Even if he is fit enough in time for the AO it casts doubt on whether he would be wise to take on the added ‘burden’ of DC a few days later. Such bad luck just when GB have managed to fight their way back into the World Group 🙁
I just got here to read the news. I was hearing some rumblings about Andy’s back acting up again online, but this is such shocking news.
Maybe the back was the problem at the USO and it wasn’t just a post Wimbledon malaise. Is there any info about the nature of his back problem? I assume that this decision was made because there must have been some unresolved issues.
I offer my commiserations to Andy’s lovely fans. However, it seems that they want to do this surgery in order to give Andy his best chance to continue to compete well. It obviously wasn’t getting better and it seems that surgery was the best option.
All I can do is wish Andy a speedy recovery and a return to full health. Rafa fans have gone through this too many times. I like to try to look at this in a positive light and think that finally the surgery will correct the problem.
RT @andy_murray: “Thanks so much for all the nice messages today… Having operation on monday.. Will let everyone know how it goes.. Ill be “back” stronger”
http://the-slice.com/2013/09/rafa-covers-vanity-fair-5th-anniversary-issue/
Rafa the model. He wears a suit so well……………..
Everything he does, he does well – including being an art director’s dream on a fashion shoot.
Wow! Rafa looks fab in a tux! Our boy has grown up. 😀
One more photo for Vanity Fair. Rafa looks great in a tux and without it too! 🙂
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/541810_706981222649860_708707732_n.jpg