Federer Vs Nadal

[Nelson]

This is why i never could like him.
He's a front runner, the same way Sampras was ( but to a lesser degree)

This is supposed to be the greatest tennis player ever, and he blows like that the fifth set of a major ?

And he was like this since the start of his career ...

i would tend to agree with you.

he seems to want to win without being bothered. he wants to hit great shots on his own timetable, not when he has to. until then, he just wants to carry on in his composed and meticulous way. but that's not cutting it against dogs like nadal. he has to get off his throne and scrap for the meat.

you saw in his second to last serving game - he blitzed the spaniard. yes, nadal dumped one of the points, but on the other you got just a glimpse of what he can do on the attack.

instead of crying afterwards, he needs to get angry and look the fookin tape. nadal is awesome but he CAN be beaten. fed must be aggressive. he must quit that defensive slicing and blocking crap and do more inside out and pus-pounding on that weak second serve.

nadal is not going to defeat nadal. that's fed's takeaway here. it requires POSITIVE ACTION on fed's part if he wants to win another slam, because he's going to have to go thru this guy every single time.

geez, it's so easy to see from the outside. makes me wonder how fed sees it from his POV.

 

[Nelson]

fed is like a football team that does better in no-huddle or two-minute mode. quit bawling bitch and start ATTACKING. it's not far off. nadal has ZERO beyond what he showed. what his coach should be screaming at him is you didnt leave it all on the court! you had energy and all kinds of shots left in the bag when nadal took your pie. fed missed a real opportunity. he should have won this. it is more true, imo, that he LOST this than that nadal WON it.

 

[Nelson]

here's the way i see it:

fed BARELY lost. and he barely lost while serving like utter crap for most of the match, and refusing almost entirely ever to take the offensive. never came into net. never tried to hit winners. just sat and pretended nadal was roddick and would eventually explode if he kept blocking the ball back.

 

[JCoverS]

Counterpoint, Nelson. Rafa beat him soundly even after the epic Verdasco match. There is no denying that Fed had some built-in advantages going into this one. Yet, he still lost. Perhaps Rafa wipes the court with Fed had the Verdasco match not happened? I just find it hard to say Federer LOST this one, only. Rafa clearly WON with grit. It was NOT given to him....come on, now. Surely you can look objectively at this, aside from your wager, and see that Rafa was (and still IS) the better player. :shrug:

-JC

 

[BasketballNut]

its not even an argument now NADAL IS BETTER THAN FED. Period.

If Nadal had been born the same year as Fed, Fed would have a career of 5 titles or less.

 

[crow]

I remember watching Fed when he was 20; if somebody had said to me this lazy boy was going to become more successful than Pete or Andre, i would have laughed.

When Agassi was 18 he was pushing Wilander and co in a fifth set at Roland and leaving the courts half dead.

There's not enough scrapers like Nadal or Nalbandian in the game; otherwise Fed wouldn't have so many majors.

 

[THE_THONG]

Fed knows he can't carry Nadal's jock now

against Nadal, he submits to the moment

 

[crow]

The guy just brought home half a mil $, and he cries. :142smilie

BIG BOYS DON'T CRY, RODGER !! :nono:

 

[punchmaster]

Counterpoint, Nelson. Rafa beat him soundly even after the epic Verdasco match. There is no denying that Fed had some built-in advantages going into this one. Yet, he still lost. Perhaps Rafa wipes the court with Fed had the Verdasco match not happened? I just find it hard to say Federer LOST this one, only. Rafa clearly WON with grit. It was NOT given to him....come on, now. Surely you can look objectively at this, aside from your wager, and see that Rafa was (and still IS) the better player. :shrug:

-JC

I have to agree with Nelson, it was more Federer losing it, he basically choked. That was a heck of a time to have your worst first service perecentage in the tournament. If Fed serves anything like he did in earlier matches, the game was his. The frightening thing was Nadal, despite a few out of this world, inhuman plays was vulerable and not at his sharpest and Fed played scared and gave it away.

 

[Nelson]

interesting to read the different perceptions.

fed DID choke in the last set. but more significant to me was that he never attacked. his attack is the one area he can get nadal scrambling and on the defensive, and he only attacked on a handful of points the entire match, most of them in the second to last game. it just beggars understanding. you can beat probably 90% of the tour if you're as good as fed just by hitting the ball back but not the top handful of guys. nadal is not going to crack in mind or stroke, he has to be cracked from the outside, and federer CAN ... STILL do that. but he must believe he can and then go do it. otherwise it's going to be more of the same.

really do any of you think nadal was holding back or seriously off-game for being tired? i dont. i thought he might lose a little, but i really dont think he can play much better than he did. whereas i think federer exited not only with plenty of energy but with all kinds of shots left in his bag, and i think he was AFRAID to try them. he let his fear of making errors make him passive and reactive, and gave away a match he could have won. my last comment, thanks for your insights guys, more tennis betting to come!

 

[baby johnson]

loving it for nadal

 

[baby johnson]

nadal is the an

 

[MonsterNco]

i think federer exited not only with plenty of energy but with all kinds of shots left in his bag, and i think he was AFRAID to try them. he let his fear of making errors make him passive and reactive, and gave away a match he could have won.

Maybe is was afraid to use his shots. But the shots he did use seem to lacking something from what I saw last year.

He should have had more in the tank but I wonder if he was tired from the Tourney as a whole. He would great shots every once and a while but would be off for periods.

I have really have not watched a lot of Tennis in my life so that is what a novice took from the game.

I appreciated the plays Made good Money on Federer against Roddick because of Nelson's post. So thanks and I'm looking forward to more plays throughout the year.

 

[crow]

I think Fed doesn't go for his shots because he simply just can't sustain it anymore over the long run

It doesn't excuse the fact he regularly caves in mentally on important points and fails to give his best like a champion should ( all to the contrary of Nadal, who gets STRONGER on important points)

Nadal definitely showed fatigue in the middle of the second set and thereafter. Had he enjoyed a n additional rest day, he would have won in 3.

 

[el JB]

I think Fed doesn't go for his shots because he simply just can't sustain it anymore over the long run

It doesn't excuse the fact he regularly caves in mentally on important points and fails to give his best like a champion should ( all to the contrary of Nadal, who gets STRONGER on important points)

Nadal definitely showed fatigue in the middle of the second set and thereafter. Had he enjoyed a n additional rest day, he would have won in 3.

you have to give credit to the swiss and his aging process, as Tennis is a sport of aging and keeping your abilities as you age. Was he same age and in his top skill he'd beat the hell outta Nadal . Now he just simply can't do a thing unless Nadal falters or injures himself.

 

[punchmaster]

you have to give credit to the swiss and his aging process, as Tennis is a sport of aging and keeping your abilities as you age. Was he same age and in his top skill he'd beat the hell outta Nadal . Now he just simply can't do a thing unless Nadal falters or injures himself.

So age 27 a decline???????? I don't know, I know tennis is a young man's sport but I don't think that can be use as an excuse at this point. Federer's first serve was horrid from the start. Nadal was there for the taking and Fed just mentally choked. Time for some type of coach to help.

 

[crow]

Was he same age and in his top skill he'd beat the hell outta Nadal .

Not so sure.
Federer has been sort of an enigma for me.

When he started his career he didn't look anything special; i would have put him in the category of a Tommy Haas or a Henry Leconte.

Could play very good, but didn't show the stomach to scrap for it.

Then his technical play improved as did his physique, and the result was dramatic.

There were only a few players on the tour that could compete with him. But the few that could showed Fed , when pushed, still had his fragile psyche and the same non chalant attitude he displayed when younger.

Nadal makes you work like no one; he's still improving as well.

Prime for prime, Nadal has what it takes to compete with Fed on even terms.

He's kind of what Wayne Ferreira was for Sampras.

 

[THE_THONG]

So age 27 a decline???????? I don't know, I know tennis is a young man's sport but I don't think that can be use as an excuse at this point. Federer's first serve was horrid from the start. Nadal was there for the taking and Fed just mentally choked. Time for some type of coach to help.

yes, in tennis

roddick is 27, believe it or not, he is old in tennis years

there are 18-20 year old phenoms

fucking james blake, he's 30, he plays like an old man for real