Tennis 2018

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Just seen the result. No idea what the circumstances were but that's a hammering.

Put a fair bit on Nadal to win it, shortly after he beat Zverev in the Davis Cup. Even more confident on that now, so fingers crossed.
 
Sadly I don't see Grigor fairing that much better tomorrow. If he wins 6 games, I'd consider it a relative success.
 
Superb match between Zverev and Gasquet. Thoroughly entertaining. Zverev's getting better on attitude and to keep fighting throughout a match but his serving hasn't been good at all on clay, including Davis cup. He is able to break so often though that he is getting through even good players. Won't stand a chance vs Nadal though, if he makes the final.
 
Anyone watching the Monte Carlo Masters Finals between Raf and Kei? It starts at 1.30 p.m. if anyone's interested.

Obviously I would be shocked if this isn't a victory for Rafa.
 
I'll be watching.

Good that Kei is back and seems to be playing well. Imagine Rafa to take it in straight sets though.
 
saivet said:
I'll be watching.

Good that Kei is back and seems to be playing well. Imagine Rafa to take it in straight sets though.
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Yeah I can't see anything but a Rafa victory. I love Kei but was disappointed when Alexander lost yesterday. He has the better serve so would probably have been more competitive than Kei. Then again, you never know..
 
Jazz said:
Yeah I can't see anything but a Rafa victory. I love Kei but was disappointed when Alexander lost yesterday. He has the better serve so would probably have been more competitive than Kei. Then again, you never know..
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Nah, I think Nishikori if he’s 100% can give Nadal more trouble on clay. Only issue is Nishikori has had a tough route to the final. Four out of five matches have finished in three sets. If he wants to win today then it will be another long physical match.

Zverev played Nadal a few weeks ago and it was a stroll in three sets.
 
Bojan11 said:
Nah, I think Nishikori if he’s 100% can give Nadal more trouble on clay. Only issue is Nishikori has had a tough route to the final. Four out of five matches have finished in three sets. If he wants to win today then it will be another long physical match.

Zverev played Nadal a few weeks ago and it was a stroll in three sets.
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You might be right. I vaguely remember Rafa and Kei playing one of these Masters (can't remember which one) and I think Kei was poised to win but got injured? Maybe I'm misremembering though..
 
Oh yes, they've just mentioned it was the Madrid Masters and he got injured.
 
What a nice shot by Kei.. needs to win his service game though
 
Kei has two break points...
 
Kei breaks!:eek:
 
Will be a straightforward win for Nadal today (early break aside) but great to see Nishikori back. Think he's got Rafa in R2 or R3 in Barcelona but will be interesting to see how he gets on in the rest of the clay tournaments, think he's only defending quarter finals in Madrid and Paris so plenty of points on offer given the lack of quality clay courters around.
 
Annnd.. Kei gives the break right back:lol:

Good game so far though.
 
Giggsy92 said:
Will be a straightforward win for Nadal today (early break aside) but great to see Nishikori back. Think he's got Rafa in R2 or R3 in Barcelona but will be interesting to see how he gets on in the rest of the clay tournaments, think he's only defending quarter finals in Madrid and Paris so plenty of points on offer given the lack of quality clay courters around.
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Yep Rafa potentially has to go past Kei, Djokovic, Dimitrov and Zverev or Thiem
 
Giggsy92 said:
Will be a straightforward win for Nadal today (early break aside) but great to see Nishikori back. Think he's got Rafa in R2 or R3 in Barcelona but will be interesting to see how he gets on in the rest of the clay tournaments, think he's only defending quarter finals in Madrid and Paris so plenty of points on offer given the lack of quality clay courters around.
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I doubt he’d play Barcelona after the week he has had.
 
saivet said:
Yep Rafa potentially has to go past Kei, Djokovic, Dimitrov and Zverev or Thiem
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Dimitrov will presumably withdraw because of his shoulder, don't think the rest are playing well enough to even take a set off him on current form.
 
More of a competitive set than I anticipated.
 
It must be terribly intimidating to play Rafa - easily the greatest clay court tennis player in the history of his species - on clay. Players must come int half defeated before a single ball is struck.
 
Result was never in doubt. At least Kei didn't disgrace himself.

Rafa on clay is just phenomenal, we'll never see someone like him on clay in our lifetimes again.
 
Djokovic loses to 140th ranked player.

He needs to go back on the training court and realise that in his 30s he needs to change his game. Federer did it. Nadal did it last year.

He needs to improve the serve and obviously make points shorter. He’s not going to be able to grind opponents down like he used to. He needs to play points shorter and be aggressive.
 
Forgot to put notifications on for the matches today. I see Nishikori withdrew with an injury
 
Novak having some personal issues it would seem. I don't think he has a coach either.

On the tennis forums they've talked about his diet and if it's having an effect on his stamina. Anyone here from Serbia can confirm this?

He does look slightly thinner than usual..
 
Not heard of him until this tournament but Tsitsipas has beaten Schwartzman, Ramos Vinolas and Thiem all in straight sets.

Only 19, so possibly one to look out for.

Likely to play Nadal in the next round.
 
Jazz said:
Novak having some personal issues it would seem. I don't think he has a coach either.

On the tennis forums they've talked about his diet and if it's having an effect on his stamina. Anyone here from Serbia can confirm this?

He does look slightly thinner than usual..
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I don't know anything about any personal issues he might be having, but if he does look somewhat more slight - and I would agree that he doesn't seem to look quite as powerful as he has in the past - I would suspect that it's purely down to him not being able to practice to anything like the level/extent he has in the past. It looks to me like he's still being bothered by his injury - and I'm not sure he's ever really been open as to the exact injury and the extent to which it is hampering him both in-match and when trying to practice - and he's just trying to play through it.
 
Klizan giving Nadal a good game. Threw away a few set points.
 
Brophs said:
I don't know anything about any personal issues he might be having, but if he does look somewhat more slight - and I would agree that he doesn't seem to look quite as powerful as he has in the past - I would suspect that it's purely down to him not being able to practice to anything like the level/extent he has in the past. It looks to me like he's still being bothered by his injury - and I'm not sure he's ever really been open as to the exact injury and the extent to which it is hampering him both in-match and when trying to practice - and he's just trying to play through it.
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To be honest, he doesn't look injured to me (imo), he just looks slightly jaded. I dunno, it seems more psychological to me. Still early in the season, so let's see how he get's on.
 
saivet said:
Not heard of him until this tournament but Tsitsipas has beaten Schwartzman, Ramos Vinolas and Thiem all in straight sets.

Only 19, so possibly one to look out for.

Likely to play Nadal in the next round.
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Just watching him now. He's very good:eek: Unusual to see the one handed back hand from a young player as well.
 
And this Stefanos kid is in the final. He's hugely impressive! I expect Rafa to win later (and tomorrow as well:lol:), but very interested to see how the kid approaches a final, and one with his likely opponent being Nadal.
 
Hopefully Tsitsipas can build on this quickly, the tour's in desperate need of decent clay court players right now. Could be a bloodbath against Nadal tomorrow given how knackered he looked towards the end but some impressive wins from him in the last few weeks.
 
Jazz said:
Just watching him now. He's very good:eek: Unusual to see the one handed back hand from a young player as well.
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Still not seen him. Will watch him in the final tomorrow, and with PCB it's a very decent (not special) group of half decent clay court players
 
I checked the Nadal score early doors and it was 0-2 to Goffin

Check again now and 6-4 5-0 to Nadal

I've got tickets to the RG final, so will be great to see Rafa play a slam final. If he stays fit it's hard to see past him making that final and winning it.

Anyone know when Stan is back?
 
saivet said:
I checked the Nadal score early doors and it was 0-2 to Goffin

Check again now and 6-4 5-0 to Nadal

I've got tickets to the RG final, so will be great to see Rafa play a slam final. If he stays fit it's hard to see past him making that final and winning it.

Anyone know when Stan is back?
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Last I saw, Stan is suppose to be back early May - should make it back for the Madrid Masters.

As for you having tickets to the RG final - I am proper jealous here:D Enjoy!
 
Jazz said:
Last I saw, Stan is suppose to be back early May - should make it back for the Madrid Masters.

As for you having tickets to the RG final - I am proper jealous here:D Enjoy!
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I see. Was hoping he'd be back sooner.

Cheers, hopefully I'll see Nadal as the only other time I went to RG was in 2016 and he withdrew mid tournament
 
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