posted Nov 17, 2007

Because Fed got a set from Gonzo, so he had more sets won overall which comes before H2H.

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posted Nov 17, 2007

So Ferrer is in the final!

He will prefer playing Nadal than Fed. My prediction:

Ferrer d. Nadal in four
or
Federer d. Ferrer in four

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Vamos Ferru!

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Nadal, though one of the best ever on clay, is just not an outstanding all-court-player like Agassi, Becker or Wilander who could give the likes of Pete or Lendl a run for their money. Apart from one good final ( Wimby 07) where he got there through the forfeit or injuries of his opponents (Youzhny, Berdych and Djokovic), he failed to make any other GS semis other than FO. So his no. 2 ranking is kind of misleading, because he got most of his points in his outstanding clay-court-season

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Folks, what a match!

For the first 30 minutes it was a tight match - as all Roger-Rafa matches are. Roger wins the first game 40-15, and Rafa wins his 40-0.

The first break opportunity came to Nadal , as seems to be the case in their matches. Roger played a clutch point with a second serve and coming to the net and saving the break point.

At 5-4, Roger returned all serves and earned himself a 0-40 with three set points. On the first he sprayed deep with a backhand. He converted the second after a long rally with a forehand winner after getting Nadal out of position. The first set is Roger's.

He served amazingly, came to tne net, hit a variety of shots and his backhand helped him get the break points. Nadal played very well, actually with a better second serve winning percentage, but the last game was the whole difference.

In the second game of second set Roger put the squeeze on and got to 0-40 on Rafa's serve again. And converted. After Roger-Roddicks' match Rafa said that if Roger plays like he did that he would have "no chance". That soon began to unfold as Roger ran to a 5-0 lead. You could see the full variety of Roger's shots and his second serve percentage also improved. Rafa held once at 5-1, fought in the next game, but Roger closed it out at 6-1 with a very subdued celebration.

It is incredible to see how he conquered his nemesis today.

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posted Nov 17, 2007

"Nadal, though one of the best ever on clay, is just not an outstanding all-court-player like Agassi, Becker or Wilander who could give the likes of Pete or Lendl a run for their money.."
Yes, however, he is still young and you can see he is trying to make changes to his clay court game and not doing too badly.
Rafa's big problem, as we all know will be longevity (sorry if spelling is wrong) I hope not, because he is great for this game of ours.

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Congratulations Roger, another superb display. I was hoping Nadal wasn't bageled in the 2nd set - no way would he deserve that. Still think Nadal is a fantastic player and competitor, and deserved of his No 2 ranking, albeit most of his points were picked up on clay. I don't think he's looked himself lately. He would never make excuses, but I just wonder if his knee is fully healed. I'm sure he'll be fine for 2008, he had a great Masters.

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Get in there. From 4-4 onwards, Federer was imperious!!! What was it - 85% first serves in - sublime serving.

Now for the best server vs the best return of serve tomorrow. Hope I wake up in time!!!!

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posted Nov 17, 2007

Well done Fed,brilliant,can't wait to see you win tomorrow.He's absolutely the best! Congratulations!!

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posted Nov 17, 2007

In the US, "And ESPN2 switched on Saturday morning to "Bass Masters Classic Year Book" right after Roddick/Ferrer match and away from Federer/Nadal match. Can you imagine? It is a meeting between No.1 and No.2 on hard court (most unpredictable matches among these two). "

This is the "bitter, twisted, conspiracy" I was talking about when I talk about the paucity of coverage Rogers gets in the US.

As a tennis fan you would be shell shocked with the callous disregard of ESPN and other media in the US. The arguent goes that ESPN is a commercial entity and that people here in the US want to see a Roddick match and not the Roger-Rafa match. That's exactly what I am talking about. What about tennis fans? What about Roger or Rafa fans? Unless they play an American you can't see them.

Folks, I suggest all tennis fans to subscribe to ATP masters TV. For some $60/year, you could watch all 10 master's series live (you can select the match to watch if multiple matches are going on), and also archived watch versions and interviews 24 hours a day. Perhaps even better than watching on TV as you can select the match you want to watch.

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