Anyone know where I can watch the full match? I forgot to set if for record.
Tennis 2017
- Thread starter The Man Himself
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Just catching up on highlights. Not from today, but a prettt amazing set of points in this set.
If you get a subscription for Tennis-TV (about 10 Euros a month) you can watch full replays. That's the only reliable way I know of.
I wouldn't mind Nadal losing pretty early in Rome. He's played a lot of tennis and is clearly in top form but he should not overexert himself before RG.
Not sure why'd you want that as a Nadal fan.
He needs to overexert himself because this is basically his season. I don't see him doing much on grass or the hard courts.
He's won all these tournaments back to back plenty of times before. He is building that invincibility back on clay. Which he has lost since 2014. If he loses in Rome then all that momentum goes. Also Rome has the closest courts in terms of condition and speed to the French open.
For me he needs to go to Rome and beat Djokovic again. That will deflate Djokovic even more.
And again besides Fognini and Kyle Edmund, I don't think he's been out on the court far too long in this clay season.
He's done the entire clay run before but that was when he was a lot younger than he is right now. After last season, when he got injured at RG when playing pretty well, I'm a bit worried. He's not had too many tough tests and I'd like for him to face a couple of big hitters and Stan before RG but I'm not entirely sure I want him playing nonstop and making the finals at Rome as well.
He's played Kyrgios and won comfortably.
His projected draw in Rome is:
R2: Seppi
R3: Sock
QF: Thiem
SF: Novak
F: Murray
Seppi and Sock are unlikely to cause him too much cause for concern. He beat Thiem easily in Barcelona (see how it goes tomorrow), beat Novak comfortably today and Murray, well I doubt he'll even make the final. That half of the draw will probably be Goffin. Don't see Raonic making the final, and Stan doesn't seem to be playing all that well.
Especially if he win tomorrow, I'd say Rafa should just skip Rome.
Yeah I'm fine with this too. It just seems a bit too much to play 21 odd games in 5-6 weeks before RG at his age now.
Vamos Rafa!.What do you think about Thiem? The future in clay?
He's a good clay courter. I do think he plays too much and I'm not sure whether he has the right mentality.
Think he'll probably grab a RG in his time. I probably prefer Goffin though, even if he's a few years older than Thiem.
Think he'll probably grab a RG in his time. I probably prefer Goffin though, even if he's a few years older than Thiem.
First break goes to Thiem. Nadal has made a very erratic start.
Thiem throws it away, of course
Big serving there from Thiem to save the set points
Thiem's put up a decent fight without ever really looking like taking the set. Could do with working on his volleying.
Brilliant shot by Nadal.
Good first set. Thiem played well, but just not enough.
Final game was a battle, but Rafa does it. 30 Masters 1000 titles, level with Djokovic
Thiem is probably the best player on clay right now after Nadal. Hopefully Nadal avoids him in the RG draw. 30 Masters titles now 
First time he's done Madrid, MC and Barcelona in the same season since Madrid became clay.
First time he's done Madrid, MC and Barcelona in the same season since Madrid became clay.Rafa up to fourth in the ranking. Rome will be a test but he's capable as he most likely won't play until Wednesday afternoon.
I really wish he was not playing yet another match but I guess he wants the momentum.
Federer not playing FO, presumably saving himself for Wimbledon.
With Serena and Roger out, there goes my two I support.
Federer withdraws. Very unsurprising news really. The way he was talking post Miami you kind of knew this would happen. He's played no clay court tennis and he won't stand a chance on the surface with his serve rendered useless.
Might as well hand Nadal the trophy today!
Not like Federer would have been the one to stop him. Djoko, Thiem and Goffin are the worries.
So far this season, with their respective form, only Federer and Nadal can stop each other.
On all other surfaces I'd absolutely agree with you but on clay, Federer definitely wouldn't beat Nadal right now. Without the free points on serve and the massive long rallies, Fed at this age (or in his prime) wouldn't really stand a chance at RG against Rafa. Still I'm glad from the mental point of view that he's not here just incase he has gotten into Nadal's head now.
I think we can safely assume that even with their history Nadal would much, much rather face the likes of Goffin or Thiem than Federer. Disappointing but not surprising that he's skipping it. At this stage the only semi-realistic possibility of an interesting Roland Garros is Stanimal showing up, but if he does then Federer would likely be out of the top 4 seeds for Wimbledon... Tough times.
That's a bit disappointing really especially with Federer missing quite a few European tournaments. He said he looks forward to being at Roland Garros next year. Which is a strange comment to make especially as he could have played the tournament this season.
Would have liked to see him play Nadal on clay.
Murray has a banana skin match against Fognini tomorrow.
Would have liked to see him play Nadal on clay.
Murray has a banana skin match against Fognini tomorrow.
I doubt we'll ever see Fed again on clay tbh. At his age, it kind of makes sense to skip it entirely and focus on the winnable stuff.
Federer might be a mental block (only because of this season) but purely on form (on clay), I'd rather Nadal face Federer than those two or even Djoko right now. There wasn't much between Fed and Nadal on a much faster hard court than usual at Australia so you'd think on the clay, Nadal would find it much easier.
Also as for Top 4 seeds, they love Federer at Wimbledon and they've bumped his seeding even before and they'll do it again. I'll be stunned if Fed doesn't get a Top 4 seeding there irrespective of his rank.
No Maria sharapova at RG, not been given a wild card
Great decision, delighted.
Djokovic seriously needs to get rid of that Pepe Imaz guy. It's brutal to see one of the greatest tennis players in history to go into self-destruction mode. It's mystifying that he is still unable to re-discover his motivation. I wonder what it is. He doesn't care about the no1 spot, that's irrelevant. As for masters, he's now equal with Nadal. Fine. GS? Surely that would be something to inspire him. Get two more and equal with Nadal and Sampras, right? No clue what's happening.
Fognini 4-0 up against Murray in first set.
Murray falling apart. Has he actually fully recovered from his elbow injury?
To be fair Fognini was quite unlucky last week not to beat Nadal.
He seems to have carried that form into this match and obviously now has the Italians behind him. So it was always going to be tricky for Murray. But he's not helped himself with his poor serve.
Fognini breaks in the second set.
Murray looks lost. Just seems to have very little power in his shots.
You had that feeling last week Nadal will win eventually. You just don't with Murray at the moment.
Murray looks lost. Just seems to have very little power in his shots.
You had that feeling last week Nadal will win eventually. You just don't with Murray at the moment.
4-1 in the second set.
Murray seems to be doing what I used to do in virtual tennis and just spam a shot with no power to the middle of the court.
Murray seems to be doing what I used to do in virtual tennis and just spam a shot with no power to the middle of the court.
I fancied Fognini to beat Murray but the score indicates a beat down which surprises me.
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