Tennis Thread 2011

wr8_utd said:
Nadal playing some Dodig in the semis. He gets an early break and then once again gets broken back. I honestly don't know what's up with his game but his serving has been absolutely shocking over the two tournaments. He used to be pretty much unbreakable on clay.
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You're going to spiral out of control wr8 when his game takes a nosedive the way Federer's has when he goes past his peak. Relax, it's just form. One day he'll be past his peak too like Federer is, so enjoy his tennis (given your a fan) now as much as you can.

I for one miss the genius that was Federer.
 
I know. And he's going to nosedive far earlier than Fed has done due to his style of play. But having watched him since that match in Miami, it's been a privilege to watch him.

My one regret is never going down to Chennai to watch him when he used to come to India! :(

Nadal two games away from the final of a pointless tournament now.
 
wr8_utd said:
Nadal two games away from the final of a pointless tournament now.
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I used to think the same, but looking at the points Nadal has to defend and the threat of Djokovic, the points he could gain here might actually be a useful buffer if he wants to keep the #1 spot.
 
Yeah from a purely ranking point of view it does make sense but ideally he should limit his playing time really.

But if he wins then it's 500 points that will take a lot of pressure off him. But tbh I don't care if he loses the #1 ranking as long as he can continue to win the Slams.

And yet another Ferrer Nadal final it will be tomorrow. Too predictable.
 
Nadal took the first set 6-2 vs Ferrer and had an early break in the 2nd but has been pegged back to 2-2.

Nadal is breaking his opponents with ease on clay this year but his serving has really disappeared. If he can start getting some control on his serving he'll ease to the French Open title.

PS: This match is utterly bizarre. Neither seems to want to hold and on the Ferrer serve neither wants to win the game it seems. Strange match.
 
And now Ferrer breaks for a 4-2 lead. Honestly I have absolutely never seen Rafa serve this bad. Almost every time he serves now he looks like he'll get broken.

He also looks like he can break his opponent at every game though.

And in the very next game he's already had 4 break points on the Ferrer serve . And he breaks back. Crazy. I have no words to describe this match :lol:
 
Game Set Match. Rafael Nadal becomes the 1st player in the Open Era to win 2 events at least 6 times.

Really strange match this. 9 breaks of serve in total and very very few comfortably service holds for either of these two all match.
 
So the Madrid Masters has started and I think this tournament is a real chance for someone to beat Rafa on clay. It's the Clay court tournament that he dislikes the most due to altitude and not really behaving like a clay court at times.

I know he's probably the GOAT on clay but his draw is insanely difficult.

Nadal's path:Baghdatis, Del Po, Melzer, Federer and Djoko/Murray/Ferrer potentially.

Federer's path: Lopez, Malisse/Lou, Soderling, Rafa and Djoko/Murray/Ferrer.

Djoko's path: Anderson, Lopez, Ferrer, Murray/Berdych and Rafa/Federer.

Murray's path: Simon, Mayer, Berdych, Djoko/Ferrer and Rafa/Federer.
 
So Nadal beat Baggy 6-1 6-3. He played well today which is surprising considering he struggles quite a bit at Madrid by his standards.

Djoko beat Anderson 6-3 6-4

PS: Murray just lost his 2nd set to Simon after winning the first. Back to his pre Monte Carlo form?
 
Some pics Novak put up on Twitter from the Madrid Masters

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Del Po pulled out of his match vs Nadal :(

Fed won an epic 3 set struggle vs Lopez last night with each set going to a tie breaker and the first one going to 15-13!

He's having a much easier time today against Malisse and Djoko's walkover continues as he's comfortable dealing with GG Lopez
 
And the Murray we know is back. Crashes out 6-4 6-2 to Belluchi.
 
Apparently he was passive once again. Fast losing faith in him.
 
Soderling is the Slamless Roddick. Such a brainless player who just tries to smash the ball as hard as possible without really thinking. Fed wins the first set Tie Breaker. The winner of this match plays Nadal tomorrow in the semis.

You can see why the players don't much like this tournament. High altitude, lots of wind, lose top soil and is just way too fast for a clay court. Not the ideal prep for the far far slower courts of Paris.
 
Hopefully it's as one sided as most of their meetings on clay :)

But Fed has a good chance. Madrid is the best chance for anyone to beat Nadal on clay.

I'm worried about Djoko. He could really extend his run of form vs Nadal in the final (if they both make it). Djoko just broke Ferrer to serve for the first set. I thought this could be a potential banana skin for Djoko :(
 
Somewhere around the time that Fed's match started today so that's around 2-3 hours ago.

Djoko was a set and 2-0 up on Ferrer and seemed to be coasting to the win but Ferrer's come back and leads 4-3 now.
 
Turnaround time. Ferrer takes the set 6-4 after finally breaking. He had so many break points in the end!

Hopefully he keeps this up in the final set.
 
Nadal had tears in his eyes as the Seve tribute was played. Lets hope he can win this :D
 
Nadal breaks in the first game of the match. Fed just threw it away from game point.
 
wr8_utd said:
Nadal breaks in the first game of the match. Fed just threw it away from game point.
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It's painful to watch Federer these days, especially having supported him through his career. That opening game was a prime example. A double fault, an unforced error on the easiest of put aways and a shank to cost him the game. It's as if he's just transformed into Marat Safin.
 
if he doesn't have the motivation anymore he should just quit and not embarrass himself
 
They're both playing some poor tennis right now. Fed is shanking everything and even Nadal's playing a strange game. He returns better than he is right now.
 
FreakyJim said:
if he doesn't have the motivation anymore he should just quit and not embarrass himself
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I reckon he wants to win another Slam before he goes but the way he's been playing over the last year or so that doesn't really look too likely right now. Especially with Nadal and Djokovic both in form.
 
FreakyJim said:
if he doesn't have the motivation anymore he should just quit and not embarrass himself
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Well it's embarrassing by his old standards but yes I agree there's no point just carrying on if he doesn't have the burning desire. Not sure if that's the case but I can't quite figure out how his game has degraded so much.
 
Madrid was the first to introduce umm "models" as lineswomen no?

Comfortable holds for both there.
 
Well Fed was complaining at the ball girls I think :lol:

Anyway another tough service game for Nadal. Neither of these two have been particularly convincing at holden serve.

And Fed breaks back. Sigh. Play this way and Djoko is going to hammer either of them in the final.
 
Bloody hell Nadal that's just pathetic. 3 BP's to serve for the set and quite typically he wastes them all :mad:
 
And then very tamely gets broken in the next game to lose the set 7-5. That's the spirit Nadal. Waste break point after break point and then just throw your service games away.
 
Federer was superb to be in the second half of that set. His comes rarely these days but still a treat to watch when it happens :drool:

The passing shot was brilliant and some of those returns were pure murder. Expecting a few awful games now for the cycle to be tact!
 
Apart from the first three points of the game where he went love 40 down of course :lol:
 
Nadal served at 85% to Fed's 45%, was 4-2 up and had 3 BP's at 5-5 and still somehow threw it away. It's just baffling. Madrid seems to bring out his worst tennis. Sigh
 
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