posted Mar 6, 2008

i think he need to adjust some points in the way he is playing tennis, i think toni Nadal can't learn him more new things, and the players do know how to play against Nadal

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posted Mar 6, 2008

I regret not putting Money on Lopez today - Ferrer has been off this week.

Re Nadal - this court is playing fast and to be fair a lot of Nadals losses recently have come to players who have been playing out of their skin.

I'm Thinking vs Nalbandian, vs Youzney, vs Tsonga (no hope), vs Roddick today.

At the end of the day he improved to Aus semi's this year, so not bad really.

I do worry about his knees - ironically if he gets injured some other way it would be good for him to have a break, i still think Murrays wrist has actually done certain parts of his game and fitness lots of good.

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posted Mar 6, 2008

Just to add to what NadalFed said (can't believe your allowed to mention both in one nickname!!??!)

er... Yes, Nadal i think, needs to work on shot selection on Hardcourt, i've noticed a few times when the opponent plays an approach shot, Nadal seems to favour cross court pass rather than a more sensible down the line shot. The cross court seems to get to easily volleyed away(unless its a pure genuis blinder) or fly out of the court all together.

Even these top players have things to work on, just ask Feds coach..... oh yeah i forgot.

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posted Mar 6, 2008

Excellent win for Roddick today and what a great atmosphere - tennis entertainment at its best.

Impressed with A Rod's improved movement and he seemed to be playing a much more natural game.

Its shows again that Rafa is not suited to H/C when up against big hitters - he just doesnt have the same reaction time as on clay.

It will be interesting to see how he performs on the clay circuit this year as like Fed he does seem more vulnerable.

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posted Mar 6, 2008

Interesting to see that Roddick has split from Connors as a coach.

I am sure he was helped by the arrangement but maybe the extreme tantrums will disappear as he starts to enjoy his tennis again.

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posted Mar 6, 2008

"If anyone deserves to take over the no 1 spot from Fed it is Nadal."

I disagree totally. Clay courts aside, Djokovic has been much more impressive and consistent than Nadal during the past year. I think Djokovic will be number two before Nadal is number one. In fact, I would be surprised if Nadal ever made it to the top spot.

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posted Mar 7, 2008

Tom - I do not agree about Nadal. The only Top 20 players he has beaten on hardcourt in a knockout match in the last year are Murray and Moya (ranked 16/17 at the time) and he has also lost to players well outside the top 20. This suggests to me that high seeding which enables him to avoid Top 20 players until the QF at least is flattering his genuine level on hardcourts.

I also do not buy the 'opponents playing out of thier skin theory'. I think a growing number of players have sussed his game and know how to beat him on hardcourts. So they are going into matches against him with a gameplan which works and that makes them look like they are having a great day. In short the surprise factor of his unusual style of play and great athleticism he had in 2005/6 is no longer there and many opponents know how to play him.

I agree he did better in the AO this year than last but look at the draw he had. He did not have to play a Top 20 player at all (including semis) so it is not really surprising and does not indicate that he has improved since 2007 when he had a much tougher draw.

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"Re Nadal - this court is playing fast and to be fair a lot of Nadals losses recently have come to players who have been playing out of their skin.

I'm Thinking vs Nalbandian, vs Youzney, vs Tsonga (no hope), vs Roddick today.

At the end of the day he improved to Aus semi's this year, so not bad really."

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posted Mar 7, 2008

WilsonHH

I think thats a pretty good summary of Rafa's hardcourt results and limitations.

Players lose to him when he is allowed to dictate and draw them into the long loopy rallies.

Players who can hit through him now are not disadvantaged and even his superb athleticism is not enough on the faster courts where he does not have that little extra time.

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posted Mar 7, 2008

"At the end of the day he improved to Aus semi's this year, so not bad really."


While that's true, he did have a ludicrously easy route there:

Troicki, Serra, Simon, Mathieu, Nieminen.

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posted Mar 7, 2008

you can't blame the guy for his draw..can't help it if other seeds are falling to the 'easy players' he gets to face.

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