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Tennis: Australian Open - Who opens the new season with a bang (1 Viewer)

Dentist said:
tdoss said:
Dentist said:
AAABatteries said:
Yes! Federer wins. Nadal-Fed should be fun.
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I doubt it.

Fedal matches haven't been good in many years now since Federer began his decline and Nadal continually has been improving in off-clay surfaces.

If 2009 Federer and 2012 Federer (both slam winning years and years with time spent at #1) couldn't be Ralph, then even the biggest Federer fan like Fedentist would have to be delusional to think that Federer could win.

Here's the formula.. Roger will have one set most likely where he plays lights out and wins.. either the first or 2nd set most likely.. he'll troll his fans into thinking that he might win the match, then he'll come off of that high and starting Federrror-ing it up and quietly donk out of the match.

Rafa even describes how to beat Federer in his book... he says that for stretches of time Roger will play simply unbelievable tennis... tennis that is unmatchable and that no one can beat.

The trick is that most players witness that tennis, lose their mental state, and lose the match.

Ralph knows that especially in a 5 set match that if he can just sustain himself during these stretches of brilliance, then attack when the impossible to sustain level eventually drops that he can win sets, get back into the match mentally, and make Federer doubt himself.

Federer is an amazing front-runner.. which is why he has won an amazingly high percentage of matches after winning set 1... but his record in 5 set matches is remarkably poor for someone as successful as he has been. It's like if the going gets tough, he checks out far too often... but if he runs hot and gets the other guy to check out mentally then he'll blow them out rapidly.

Sure i think it's a slight advantage that he's got this terrible blister... but Ralph's a fighter and generally can overcome his ailments unless it's the knees. He knows how to beat Federer... Roger knows this and almost goes into the match already beaten.
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I'm enjoying this new Dentist. It's refreshing to see you finally come around to what I've been saying for years about Federer.
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I still hate Nadal with a burning passion, fed is still the goat until this guy gets to 18 and I will root for him to tear both Achilles heals simultaneously in every match he plays.

But until that happens there is no doubt he is the best currently playing and his hard court skills have really evolved. I still wish note hadn't donked out.

This final should be one of the lowest rated ever. Why would anyone other than a die hard nadal
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I agree with all of this with the exception of Nadal being hurt.

I hope he gets killed by a rabid wallaby.

 
My 2 favorite players in the final. I'll be up for it. I like Stan, but I want Nadal to eclipse Frauderer. A grand slam win here and 1 more this year will make it very scary for Fed getting surpassed in GSs

 
Popinski said:
With Nadal being the clear favorite in the AO finals and the French Open coming up, is it safe to say that Nadal seems like a very strong bet to break Federer's 17 GSs?
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Nadal's going to run into the same problem vs Djokavic, age, that he had as an advantage vs Federer. Murray too if he gets healthy. And that's not even looking at Nadal's injury history.

Even if Rafa wins tomorrow and in Paris 17/18 are nowhere near guaranteed yet.

 
Agreed, this time last year with Rafa sitting out if you said he could possibly leave the 2014 Australian Open with 14 titles you'd get laughed at. No one was predicting possibly 3 majors in his first year after a long layoff. Even 2 would have seemed optimistic. Things can turn quickly.

I still feel like he's got to get this one to complete his second career slam.

 
Dentist said:
Federer is an amazing front-runner.. which is why he has won an amazingly high percentage of matches after winning set 1... but his record in 5 set matches is remarkably poor for someone as successful as he has been. It's like if the going gets tough, he checks out far too often... but if he runs hot and gets the other guy to check out mentally then he'll blow them out rapidly.
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I think (and tell me if you disagree) that when Federer made the decision to have kids, he made a conscious decision to put championship tennis on the back burner. From what I've heard of him (he vaccums and tidies his own hotel room on his off days at slams!) he seems like the kind of guy who isn't going to go absentee husband/father and leave everything to the wife/nanny. So instead of putting that extra hour in on the practice court or on the bike, he's going home to see his kids. And I think we can all respect that?

Come to think of it, I can't remember a slam winner (men's side) who did so with wife and kid(s) in tow. Maybe Fed got one or two when the twins were newborns.. don't remember. Seems like to be a slam winner tennis has to be a guy's ENTIRE life.

 
Nadal will retire as the GOAT. He would already be there but for his injuries. He is the best to ever play. Not a huge fan of his or anything but it really is undeniable. He'll take down Fed's major record by the time the 2015 french open is over. Probably sooner.

 
zoonation said:
Nadal will retire as the GOAT. He would already be there but for his injuries. He is the best to ever play. Not a huge fan of his or anything but it really is undeniable. He'll take down Fed's major record by the time the 2015 french open is over. Probably sooner.
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If by take down you mean pass, then sooner would be the 2015 Aussie Open if he doesn't lose a major so essentially that's predicting him winning 6 straight majors. Even passing him at the 2015 French means he can only lose 1 out of this year and first two next year. Either is very unlikely to happen.

 
Was the match even exciting? was it just Nadal peppering Fed's one handed back hand with top spinners like every match I've watched over the last few years? the one handed back hand looks funny compared to the guys who load up swing for the fences.

 
zoonation said:
Nadal will retire as the GOAT. He would already be there but for his injuries. He is the best to ever play. Not a huge fan of his or anything but it really is undeniable. He'll take down Fed's major record by the time the 2015 french open is over. Probably sooner.
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I disagree and again it seems like folks only look at the recent…not picking on you Zoo. There are so many great players, many never had the modern conveniences and weapons that the modern player brigns on the court…but we do know that some players played with wooden rackets and then changed over to metal or graphite along the way and for many it improved or lengthened their careers. Jimmy Connors played with wood, that little metal Wilson, then the graphite composites later and he almost made the US Open Finals in his late 30s…let's see if Nadal is still doing that come 35+.

Nadal is a terrific player but I believe he would have had his hands full in the Connor/McEnroe/Borg era of Tennis. You can disagree but there is much to debate and the eras are totally different. Also there isn't a lot of great secondary players like we had in the 70s and 80s, guys who would grab a GS once in a while like a Pat Cash, Yannick Noah, Michael Chang, Edberg, Becker, Lendl…I would say the level of play is not as intense or deep as it used to be.

I don't see many kids playing tennis around where I am and I live in one of the best year round areas for Tennis in South Florida. When I talk to kids about playing or try to teach tennis to newbies I get strange looks. The sport does not appeal to a lot of young folks.

 
Barry said:
Was the match even exciting? was it just Nadal peppering Fed's one handed back hand with top spinners like every match I've watched over the last few years? the one handed back hand looks funny compared to the guys who load up swing for the fences.
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There were some great points. Nadal made a bunch of great gets. Federer choked in some big situations. Nadal was never in danger of being broken in the 1st set and dominated the tie breaker. As dominating a 7-6 set can be. Once he broke Federer early in the 2nd, the match was for all intents and purposes over. The crowd tried to will federer to stay in it but Nadal just too tough. Nadal had his blister treated in the 2nd and the crowd gasped when they showed the blister on the jumbotron. Never seemed like it affected him though.

 
TenTimes said:
Dentist said:
Federer is an amazing front-runner.. which is why he has won an amazingly high percentage of matches after winning set 1... but his record in 5 set matches is remarkably poor for someone as successful as he has been. It's like if the going gets tough, he checks out far too often... but if he runs hot and gets the other guy to check out mentally then he'll blow them out rapidly.
Click to expand...
I think (and tell me if you disagree) that when Federer made the decision to have kids, he made a conscious decision to put championship tennis on the back burner. From what I've heard of him (he vaccums and tidies his own hotel room on his off days at slams!) he seems like the kind of guy who isn't going to go absentee husband/father and leave everything to the wife/nanny. So instead of putting that extra hour in on the practice court or on the bike, he's going home to see his kids. And I think we can all respect that?

Come to think of it, I can't remember a slam winner (men's side) who did so with wife and kid(s) in tow. Maybe Fed got one or two when the twins were newborns.. don't remember. Seems like to be a slam winner tennis has to be a guy's ENTIRE life.
Click to expand...
Federer didn't make the decision to have kids. It was an accident because he had to have a quick wedding and everything.

I think that has negatively impacted his career but not as much as just age

 
Zam - sure you've answered at some point but I don't recall. Why do you dislike nadal? I happen to really enjoy watching all four of the "best" guys from recent years. Different styles, really enjoyable.

 
Ministry of Pain said:
zoonation said:
Nadal will retire as the GOAT. He would already be there but for his injuries. He is the best to ever play. Not a huge fan of his or anything but it really is undeniable. He'll take down Fed's major record by the time the 2015 french open is over. Probably sooner.
Click to expand...
I disagree and again it seems like folks only look at the recent…not picking on you Zoo. There are so many great players, many never had the modern conveniences and weapons that the modern player brigns on the court…but we do know that some players played with wooden rackets and then changed over to metal or graphite along the way and for many it improved or lengthened their careers. Jimmy Connors played with wood, that little metal Wilson, then the graphite composites later and he almost made the US Open Finals in his late 30s…let's see if Nadal is still doing that come 35+.

Nadal is a terrific player but I believe he would have had his hands full in the Connor/McEnroe/Borg era of Tennis. You can disagree but there is much to debate and the eras are totally different. Also there isn't a lot of great secondary players like we had in the 70s and 80s, guys who would grab a GS once in a while like a Pat Cash, Yannick Noah, Michael Chang, Edberg, Becker, Lendl…I would say the level of play is not as intense or deep as it used to be.

I don't see many kids playing tennis around where I am and I live in one of the best year round areas for Tennis in South Florida. When I talk to kids about playing or try to teach tennis to newbies I get strange looks. The sport does not appeal to a lot of young folks.
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:lol:

 
JAMES! said:
Barry said:
Was the match even exciting? was it just Nadal peppering Fed's one handed back hand with top spinners like every match I've watched over the last few years? the one handed back hand looks funny compared to the guys who load up swing for the fences.
Click to expand...
There were some great points. Nadal made a bunch of great gets. Federer choked in some big situations. Nadal was never in danger of being broken in the 1st set and dominated the tie breaker. As dominating a 7-6 set can be. Once he broke Federer early in the 2nd, the match was for all intents and purposes over. The crowd tried to will federer to stay in it but Nadal just too tough. Nadal had his blister treated in the 2nd and the crowd gasped when they showed the blister on the jumbotron. Never seemed like it affected him though.
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Pretty much it. Fed came out with his very best in the 1st and it got it to 7-6 for Nadal. That was pretty much all Fed had. Not physically...but mentally. You can tell that Nadal is all in his head. 2nd set had it's moments...Nadal was just ON for just about every single point. That level of concentration and expertise is just unreal to deal with...Fed would try to get into the point but Nadal would just cross court him with unreal speed/power/placement. Everything was sent deep and fast. Even when Fed got ontop of that backhand and really ripped it...Nadal found a way to poke at it and get it back across. There was one moment when Nadal sent it back and Fed was completely taken by surprise. I don't think anyone expected Nadal to get to it...much less send a winner back at Fed. It just broke his spirit. Nadal broke him and it was over. Nadal kinda took it easy on Fed's next service and then just ripped him a new one on his service and finished the set.

3rd set...more of same...Nadal broke Fed and it looked over but heart of a champion actually reared it's head in Fed and Fed stepped it back up and broke Nadal. I honestly think Nadal thought it was over so he let off a bit...Fed capitalized. But that only served to awaken the giant...Nadal came back and broke Fed to win it all.

Honestly...all Fed has is his serve against Nadal...it's the only thing that keeps him even remotely competitive. He gets more aces, especially down the line and just serves harder still than Nadal. I remember when Nadal's serve was absolute trash. I honestly feel that was the last piece for Nadal to become GOAT. His serve is now just a tad under Fed's...an incredible improvement. He still has trouble serving down the line on the ad-court...but he knows he only has to get that 2nd serve in a decent spot and he'll be right back in the point.

I really would like to know what Agassi could do against Nadal's serve...especially those 2nd serves. I still don't remember anyone returning serves like that guy and I hated him. I think Sampras would be the best one to play Nadal.

It's really hard to go further back and compare. I love Jimmy Connors...I'd have to think he'd have a shot but who knows...this technology really has changed the game. I really miss serve & volley.

But I think Nadal would hold his own in any era...the guy is just a competitor...it's not just about skill, speed, power, etc...which is all top notch...it's about competitive spirit. Knowing when to maintain a level in order to weather someone when they're in their groove (which is what he does with Fed...stay with him...keep poking it back and Fed will eventually go for something one time too many and end up with an unforced error for the most part). Then capitalizing when there's a crack...he plays much like a python kills. He just wraps around you...calmly and cool...he squeezes a bit when he can...then maintains when you struggle...not letting you break free...then when you exhale from all that struggle...he squeezes a bit more.

 
tdoss said:
he plays much like a python kills. He just wraps around you...calmly and cool...he squeezes a bit when he can...then maintains when you struggle...not letting you break free...then when you exhale from all that struggle...he squeezes a bit more.
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funny, I was thinking the exact same thing watching last night. He's like a snake in that once he's got you wrapped up, you're dead. There's nothing you can do. Like a really good wrestler. Once he's takes you down, he's on top of you and you're not breaking free. Just gets control and that's all she wrote.

 
JAMES! said:
tdoss said:
he plays much like a python kills. He just wraps around you...calmly and cool...he squeezes a bit when he can...then maintains when you struggle...not letting you break free...then when you exhale from all that struggle...he squeezes a bit more.
Click to expand...
funny, I was thinking the exact same thing watching last night. He's like a snake in that once he's got you wrapped up, you're dead. There's nothing you can do. Like a really good wrestler. Once he's takes you down, he's on top of you and you're not breaking free. Just gets control and that's all she wrote.
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Exactly.

 
Does it matter about grand slam wins now? Is Nadal ahead of Federer? Five year age difference pretty large in tennis. Prime Nadal basically got to face Federer on the second half of his career.

How many grand slam wins did Federer have at 27? Nadal going against Federer, Djokovic and Murray whereas Federer's comp not as difficult perhaps.

 
That's an amazing stat: going back to the 2006 US Open, the winner of the first set has won 27 of the last 29 women's GS Finals.

Li Na was the loser in both exceptions.

Don't think that happens again here.

 
Daywalker said:
This chick hot.
Click to expand...
Yes, yes she is. I thought she had a shot in this one. Got down early, stormed back, gained momentum and then let Lithium Sodium back into the thing. It was a very enjoyable back and forth for a while, but when Na finally captured the first set, she broke the hot girls little back. The second set was nasty.

 
Dentist said:
TenTimes said:
Dentist said:
Federer is an amazing front-runner.. which is why he has won an amazingly high percentage of matches after winning set 1... but his record in 5 set matches is remarkably poor for someone as successful as he has been. It's like if the going gets tough, he checks out far too often... but if he runs hot and gets the other guy to check out mentally then he'll blow them out rapidly.
Click to expand...
I think (and tell me if you disagree) that when Federer made the decision to have kids, he made a conscious decision to put championship tennis on the back burner. From what I've heard of him (he vaccums and tidies his own hotel room on his off days at slams!) he seems like the kind of guy who isn't going to go absentee husband/father and leave everything to the wife/nanny. So instead of putting that extra hour in on the practice court or on the bike, he's going home to see his kids. And I think we can all respect that?

Come to think of it, I can't remember a slam winner (men's side) who did so with wife and kid(s) in tow. Maybe Fed got one or two when the twins were newborns.. don't remember. Seems like to be a slam winner tennis has to be a guy's ENTIRE life.
Click to expand...
Federer didn't make the decision to have kids. It was an accident because he had to have a quick wedding and everything.
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Heh, go figure. Never knew that

 
General Malaise said:
Daywalker said:
This chick hot.
Click to expand...
Yes, yes she is. I thought she had a shot in this one. Got down early, stormed back, gained momentum and then let Lithium Sodium back into the thing. It was a very enjoyable back and forth for a while, but when Na finally captured the first set, she broke the hot girls little back. The second set was nasty.
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Max, agent. Make me rich.

:lol:

 
Daywalker said:
Does it matter about grand slam wins now? Is Nadal ahead of Federer? Five year age difference pretty large in tennis. Prime Nadal basically got to face Federer on the second half of his career.

How many grand slam wins did Federer have at 27? Nadal going against Federer, Djokovic and Murray whereas Federer's comp not as difficult perhaps.
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It's neck and neck at this point if you compare age. At the end of 2008, Federer was 27.5 and had 13 majors won, Nadal finished 2013 at 27.5 (Fed has Aug birthday and Nadal June) and sits on 13. In 2009 Federer would win 2 so for Nadal this is a big one for him to keep pace since he's obviously the French favorite and no gimmie at the other two. If Nadal wins two this year to stay even, the pace would be 1 in 2015 and 1 in 2017.

As for the slams wins question, that seems to be the only thing that matters to a lot of people these days which is odd. I don't remember growing up hearing Emerson was the GOAT because he had 12 or Sampras was the GOAT when he passed him. Sampras was part of the conversation but certainly was no gimmie or even the favorite for many. These days it seems it is a much harder line.

I certainly believe that Nadal has had the tougher competition to run through, coming up with a dominant Federer and having same age contemporaries like Djokovic and Murray is a lot harder than Federer's list of same age peers of Roddick and Hewitt. Federer got to win a lot of titles before elite players emerged.

 
Master of Past and Present said:
Daywalker said:
Does it matter about grand slam wins now? Is Nadal ahead of Federer? Five year age difference pretty large in tennis. Prime Nadal basically got to face Federer on the second half of his career.

How many grand slam wins did Federer have at 27? Nadal going against Federer, Djokovic and Murray whereas Federer's comp not as difficult perhaps.
Click to expand...
I certainly believe that Nadal has had the tougher competition to run through, coming up with a dominant Federer and having same age contemporaries like Djokovic and Murray is a lot harder than Federer's list of same age peers of Roddick and Hewitt. Federer got to win a lot of titles before elite players emerged.
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Best posting I've ever seen on these boards.

 
God I hate what happens to this site at midnight and 1am pacific...

Just locks up as it's backed up or something...

 
Stanimal is really unreal...cannot believe how much power he has with that one arm.

Nadal can't simply maintain and pick moments like he does with Fed...he's got to go for winners a LOT more against this guy because he's going for winners almost every other shot.

Stan has a great serve...better than Nadal's.

Nadal shots are landing too shallow...gotta loosen up and find that baseline...back Stan up a bit.

 
The only thing that comes to mind when watching Stan serve is that it will save his legs, and it will hold up. Thats the only way I can make sense of that form but hell, even at 40%, its working.

 
Nadal starting to find Stan's speed and placement...getting rhythm now.

He still may drop this first set though...but you can see Nadal is finally starting to wake up, up his game and find a way.

 
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