213 replies to this topic

[Apisith]

Better late than never...

Today/Night is the semis at Indian Wells, a Masters 1000 and we have another Federer v Nadal match.


Last year Rafa smoked Roger off the court in two easy. This year Federer's just recovered from a cold but played well against del Potro while Rafa struggled against Nalbandian. But with these two, it's all mental. If Federer can keep it together then he'll win, even on these ridiculously slow hard courts.

The other semi is Isner v Djokovic.

In the grand scheme of things, this Masters is not so vital except in the race for #2. If Federer beats Nadal today, he'll inch closer to the two spot and thus opening up the possibility that Rafa and Novak are on the same side of the draw at the French/Wimby/Olympics. That's going to be important for Federer's chances.

It's Miami in a week and then we're off to the European clay season.

[AMS25]

Isner's defeat of Djokovic was a bit of a stunner. But, he served very well, and that really is his strength. It will be interesting to see whether of not he can defeat the winner of Federer/Nadal.

[Deweys Stache]

Fed up 3-0 in the first, looking real good. I really hope Fed wins this. He's been playing out of his mind since the US Open at 37-2.

Edit: linky for anyone interested

Edited by Deweys Stache, 17 March 2012 - 07:50 PM.

[AMS25]

Eh, he started strong, but I (somehow) think Nadal will win this one..... Or not......

Federer is playing very well under awful conditions.

Edited by AMS25, 17 March 2012 - 08:48 PM.

[Deweys Stache]

Great win for Fed. Really seems to have his confidence back. Going for title #3 already this year tomorrow. Awesome to see him playing like this again. If Isner serves like he did today it will be very interesting.

[Apisith]

Great win by Roger. He can get #2 next week if he beats Isner and wins again next week.

[BigMike]

Roger has now won 6 of the last 8 events he has entered with his only loss being that epic choke job at the Australian open. The other event he didn't win he withdrew in the semis with a back injury

[Deweys Stache]

Roger has now won 6 of the last 8 events he has entered with his only loss being that epic choke job at the Australian open. The other event he didn't win he withdrew in the semis with a back injury

And he's only about 800 points behind Nadal for the #2 ranking. Miami next week is a huge tournament. Hypothetically, if Fed were to win and Nadal lost before the semis, Fed would be #2 in the world. Either way, he's made some great progress towards getting that #1 ranking back, if only for 2 weeks, to break the all time record for most weeks at #1.

Edited by Deweys Stache, 18 March 2012 - 08:41 PM.

[Apisith]

Federer is in Djokovic's half for this. He has a relatively easy run to the semis. Monfils is probably his toughest opponent but he's been in shit form and he always sucks against Federer.

Djokovic has Del Potro in his quarter, which is going to be a tasty encounter. Djokovic has looked more lethargic this year and Del Potro looks better with each passing week (except against Federer).

Rafa has a pretty easy draw until the semis. He has Tsonga in his quarter but Jo's been in bad form lately so I don't expect Nadal to have too much difficulty in getting to the semis, where he might face Murray.

It's going to be hot and the court is the slowest hard-court around so it's a good chance for Rafa to get back on course before we head into the clay season. If Federer can take out Djokovic and keep up his run, oh man, that'd set things up tastily for the clay season, even though Nadal would still be the favourite.

Edited by Apisith, 22 March 2012 - 11:55 AM.

[BGrif21125]

Great win for Roddick tonight over Federer, who he was 2-21 against before tonight.

Rogers's quest for #2 is on hold.

[Apisith]

Djokovic v Nadal for the Monte Carlo title on right now. Nadal is up by a break in the first and looking good. He's won this tournament 7 (!!) straight years, but hasn't won a tournament since last year's French, so this will be big for him entering the clay season, especially because it's against Djokovic. For Djokovic, if he dethrones Rafa here at MC then the mental advantage really, surely has to be with him at the French.

[Apisith]

Nadal battered Djokovic 6-3 6-1.

[BGrif21125]

Apparently Djokovic's grandfather died on Thursday and that was partly to blame for Novak's lethargic performance.

Regardless, it's still a big win for Nadal. He's still got the 3 straight GS final losses vs Djokovic to deal with, but at least the overall head-to-head losing streak is over.

[Apisith]

The Madrid Masters begin today. Rafael is the favourite, as usual, but this clay is different and it seems that Federer and Djokovic will enjoy the surface, too.

[DLew On Roids]

I'm not a tennis guy, but I heard Brian Baker's story (quit due to injuries, became assistant coach at Belmont, realized all his injuries had cleared, started playing satellite tours over the winter, and almost won last week's ATP tournament) on Slate's Hang Up And Listen podcast. He's playing on espn3.com right now, and is in the fifth set against #11 Gilles Simon. Baker is 27 and this is his first major since '05. Pretty cool.

[jon abbey]

Andy Murray in early trouble, down 4-0 in the first set and just took an injury timeout with back issues.

[Apisith]

He won in 4. I've had this on for 5+ hours everyday after coming home from work. Federer has looked rusty and out of sorts, Djokovic looks all right but he could definitely improve while Rafa is looking unbeatable. It's no surprise, I guess. The second week will be a lot more exciting, if Murray's backs improves and he can make it all the way to the semis. Rafa has a relatively easy draw all the way to the semis, with Raonic in R4 being the hardest match on paper. Federer has Berdych/del Potro in his quarter, which is making me quite nervous. If he doesn't improve, he'll be hit off the court like he was in '10.

[Infield Infidel]

http://espn.go.com/v...id=espn:7997347

crazy finish to this point.

Edited by Infield Infidel, 03 June 2012 - 02:54 AM.

[jon abbey]

14 men left currently after tough comeback wins from Djokovic (down 2 sets) and Federer (lost the first set), and all 14 are seeded in the top 20.

The top 8 are all still alive to make the quarters, not a lot of parity on the men's side these days.

[fletcherpost]

Nadal's looking very good on the Clay as ever. He could win the thing without dropping a set. I think Ferrer will get the best of Murray, but I don't mind so much as clay is his worst surface. You never know with Novak, he struggles along then can show up in a final and play till the other guy drops.

[jon abbey]

Two good matches right now (Tennis Channel), Federer down a set to Del Potro and they're in a second set tiebreak, and Djokovic and Tsonga tied at a set apiece and on serve in the third.

[jon abbey]

And now Federer is in a big hole, down two sets.

[jon abbey]

And all of a sudden, Federer is steamrolling and Del Potro is maybe hurt, 6-2 Fed in the 3rd and up 5-0 in the 4th.

Djokovic is in a bigger hole currently, down 2 sets to 1 and 2-2 in the 4th.

[jon abbey]

Looks like both will survive, Federer took the last three sets easily and Djokovic fought off 4 match points in the 4th and won an 8-6 tiebreaker, now he's up 4-1 in the 5th.

[MentalDisabldLst]

That 4th set with Djokovic was some of the most amazing tennis I've seen. I sports-hate Novak, but have some serious grudging respect after that one. Tsonga isn't some mincing qualifier, he's the #5 in the world.

Djokovic may shortly be playing for his #1 ranking, too. A loss there would have halved the point differential between him and Nadal.

[Apisith]

The Djokovic - Tsonga match was absolutely epic. It's been a pretty interesting ten days for this half of the draw. The other half, on the other hand.....

Although I reckon Almagro can take a set. His best shot is the first one. If he loses it then it'll be three easy.

[MentalDisabldLst]

Looks like Almagro may take Nadal to a 1st set tiebreak. I think most would take those odds given the circumstances.

[Apisith]

Incredible point.

[Infield Infidel]

That Errani Stosur match was pretty compelling. Howard Bryant said he asked an tennis analyst why Stosur only has three WTA wins when her game is so huge. The analyst simple pointed his index fingers at his temples.

Edited by Infield Infidel, 07 June 2012 - 09:19 PM.

[Apisith]

Here we go. Forecast is rain but hopefully they get it done today.

[BigMike]

Wow, I never liked Nadal, but lost a lot of respect for him for going full grown Pussy mode out there today.

Weather was terrible all day Nadal had nothing to say about it, but as soon as Djokovic started playing better and winning games, suddenly the court is unplayable and Nadal is whining like a petulant 10 year old.

Funny Nadal finally stops being a pussy, and instead plays hard in the 3rd game and wins it, then they stop play, and Nadal berates the official for a minute about why they were playing for the last hour (when Nadal was getting blown off the court)

[Apisith]

Yup. Classless. For the first time ever, the conditions at RG don't favour him so he whines like a twelve year old. The conditions were the same for Novak and he was hitting winners right, left and centre. It's still going to be tough for Novak but I think he's in Nadal's head now. If he gets it done, man oh man, that would be absolutely epic.

[bowiac]

In fairness, Nadal was complaining about the conditions when they had the first break as well. It's not shocking - he likes to play on dry clay. It's not an "I'm losing" effect, although that certainly heightened the complaining.

[jon abbey]

Just a heads-up, it looks like the continuation will be on NBC Sports Network, not NBC:

http://www.usatoday....work/55498962/1

[jon abbey]

Unbelievably high level of play so far, these two are incredible.

[Saby]

Really happy for Nadal, even though I've traditionally supported Fed.

Greatest clay court player of all time. No player has owned a surface like Nadal owns Clay.

[jon abbey]

Yep, an insane 53-1 career record now at Roland Garros. Congrats!!

[bowiac]

Also his 11th Major title overall. If he can break Djokovic in one or two non-French locations, and continue winning the French, he's got a real shot of catching Federer.

[Hendu's Gait]

Is that the most clutch service game or what? Amazing last 4 points.

[jon abbey]

He did that three times in a row in his last three service games, 12 points in a row where Nadal never had a chance.

[ethangl]

Dude was nails. Totally overpowered him.

[jon abbey]

That's a huge break for Andy Murray, since inexplicably Djokovic (1) and Federer (3) are on the same side of the draw again.

[coremiller]

That's a huge break for Andy Murray, since inexplicably Djokovic (1) and Federer (3) are on the same side of the draw again.

I've been wondering about this for a while -- why isn't the draw structured to set up a 1v4, 2v3 semifinal? The same thing happened at Roland Garros and I thought it was a big advantage for Nadal to avoid both Federer and Djokovic until the final.

[jon abbey]

I complain about it 4 times a year, every Grand Slam, it's ridiculous.

[hunter05]

Hoping like hell this opens door for Federer to grab another GS title.

[CSteinhardt]

I've been wondering about this for a while -- why isn't the draw structured to set up a 1v4, 2v3 semifinal? The same thing happened at Roland Garros and I thought it was a big advantage for Nadal to avoid both Federer and Djokovic until the final.

Because it would mean always the same semifinals, which apparently makes for worse TV if 2 never plays 4 and 1 never plays 3. So it's a random draw, and 50/50.

[jon abbey]

Because it would mean always the same semifinals, which apparently makes for worse TV if 2 never plays 4 and 1 never plays 3. So it's a random draw, and 50/50.

It would only mean the same semifinals if the rankings never changed, which of course they do, and if the same four players always make them, which admittedly has been happening in most recent men's majors but very rarely did before that.

It's an indefensible and silly way to do things, and I'd do all I can to get it changed if I was involved in the sport professionally.

[Apisith]

I don't really mind it, to be honest. The matchups in each slams are changed, although Federer always seems to get Djokovic (6 out of the last 7). I don't think there is any advantage there. Scheduling problems are a much bigger concern, like the unequal rest time after the AO semis and the ridiculous Super Saturday at the USO.

[Apisith]

Djokovic down a set against Stepanek.

[MentalDisabldLst]

...and now up a set against him. Things don't get interesting until the underdog has won two sets, before that point nobody really believes in him.