and now Nadal has seven losses against Novak. That's quite worse for a guy who is No.2 in the world. even federer has not lost seven straight times to Novak. what happened to the head-to-head excuses by nadal fans??? head-to-head doesn't matter at all. now nadal will find it even more difficult to beat novak. his best effort so far against Novak is not enough. If Novak wins the french open, then get ready for a Novak slam, folks. The only one that can stop the Novak slam is Roger Federer not Nadal. If Nadal keeps playing 6 hrs matches, he won't have enough left in him for the rest of the year. Novak is five grandslams and counting. he is catching up to Nadal verey fast. Novak is dominating tennis just like federer.
Re: NADAL'S BEST EFFORT FAILED TO BEAT DJOKOVIC
by naveen mahajan on Jan 30, 2012 02:26 PM
Very true actually.It is Federer who can generate class to beat any1...He actually hv dat class...
Re: who will win next Grandslam??
by A Singh on Jan 30, 2012 12:18 PM
Nice riddle. Do you think you have a chance? BTW how many times did Djokovic fail against Federer last year?
Well well, Nadal seems to have an edge on Federer but DJ is have a sharp edge on Nadal now! And Federer used to dominate DJ all the time! Nadal's game is power game and DJ is matching him with his power game now. Federer still have that class in his game and that'll be interesting to see how far Nadal can go with his power game from here on!
With Djoko cutting Nadal, Federer's 16 Grand Slam Titles Appears to be Safe. Djoko reaching 16 is very difficult,even though he is in his Top form. Tally after 3-4 years will be - Federer 18 GS Nadal 15 GS Djoko 12 GS Others - 10 GS
I could almost attest to the fact that Nadal deserved to win the fifth set and match with the way he was playing the first games till he broke Djokovic serve. Then 3-2 up serving, and 30-15 point, Nadal lost a very makeable backhand down the line from net with Djokovic out of position (as commentators said - he would make it 99 out of 100 times) from there he lost his edge in the set. Djokovic broke Nadal back in that game. Errors crept into Nadal's play while Djokovic regained some lost strength and toyed with Nadal inducing tired errors.
I wasnt a great fan of Djoker till yday. Now I could see that he is among the best ever almost to the level of legends, among all time top 10 atleast. But he has to play at this level for another 4 years to have any comparison to Federer.
For sheer physical effort, it might as well have been a World Heavyweight Boxing bout, with both players throwing punches and counter-punches with amazing speeds and neither willing to relent. Tennis 20 years back was clearly a different ball game. The physical nature of the game has put players like Roger Federer who depend upon finesse out of the race. The modern game not only demands extreme physical fitness, it also demands total control of the mind. With defined limits to physical fitness, it is the mental toughness that decides the issue. The player to blink first must lose. The Federer-Nadal encounter was a case in the point. Federer clearly had more skill, but he blinked first, and went for the lines when he should have been playing a waiting game. More often than not, he did not hit the lines. My mind goes back to a statement by the defeated finalist of 2007 US Open Final, when one Mr Novak Djokovic said," Federer is not Great, he is just lucky. He goes for the lines and hits them." Federer clearly has that tendency to go for the lines, and fitter players like Nadal and Djokovic can feast on him now. Sadly, I have to predict that it is all over for Federer.
Re: Was it Tennis?
by V S on Jan 30, 2012 09:44 AM
Rafa cannot beat Djokovich because Djokovich is returning deeper and flatter.. and not going for the lines like Federer early which causes mistakes by Federer.
Djokovich is also having similar stamina to Nadal so now Nadal has to deal with a power hitter.
Even against Del Potro who hits flat and straight Nadal was thrashed.
Nadal's whipped forehand is effective only when there's enough time to hit the ball back.
Re: Was it Tennis?
by bango tango on Jan 30, 2012 09:47 AM
u r not correct.... admit Fedex will loose 9/10 times to novak/nadal on clay/grass/hard courts , at his age of 30 ....
but put him into any indoor carpet matches with novak/nadal ....where the ball does not bounce more than the hip ....he will thrash them 9/10 times....the only reason for Fedex loosing to so many players these days is due to his single handed backhand...today's tennis is getting physically brutal & courts are also not getting any faster :-) .....Federer plays the most skillful tennis ...
i doubt if nadal/djko could have won so many slams had they played in the 90's & early 2000's....
Re: Was it Tennis?
by bango tango on Jan 30, 2012 09:50 AM
if the stipulated 25 seconds serve time is strictly followed, then i doubt whether nadal could any more slams :-)
Re: Was it Tennis?
by sandeep singh on Jan 30, 2012 12:21 PM
did fed play in final. OMG I miss fed, nadal & joker final. Real fed hater. Nadal should tnanks fed , who beat joker in french open, otherwise it should be 9 not 10. She rember joker but forget what d potro said, I want to aggresive like fed. he takes risk, it is his game. joker take risk by closing his eye and hitting. nadal play aggresively when start losing in 2 and 3 set. aggresion is fed playing style but not nadal and joker style. So who take risk, who change the game plan or who stick with game plan. check report card of first set bw nadal and fed, everybody said it is treat to watch fed game which drop afterfirework. in contrast 1st set in final was 82 min but dull
WOW what a match !! It made me restless in last one and half hour.
Great Win for Novak, he certainly has acquired a permanent property in Nadal's mind. This will be the hardest defeat to digest for Nadal because he was in a winning position in the final set and certainly seems to be more active of the two for time he was leading. You will not see Nadal loosing a match from that position too often especially the Grand Slam final. In the 3 set ATP tour level matches it may have happened but I don't remember seeing one. The top 4 players in the men side are certainly at different level that the rest. With Murray being the weakest among them. Though he can beat anyone of them on his day, but he hasn't really shown his potential, probably the pressure of a British player winning a GS tile is proving too much for him. He will have his time soon, with Lendal as his coach things may turn out different for him.
The problem with Federer is that he wants to improve on his record against Nadal, but he is in a denial state that he has a mental block while playing Nadal. Till the time he doesn't work on this is his not going to win again against Nadal. Here also he was the best player compared to others till his SF match where he ran into Nadal and lost.
The men tennis is certainly very existing and interesting these days.
Re: Truely an Epic encounter..
by Sanjeev Sekhar on Jan 30, 2012 08:14 AM
Rafa has lost many finals and semifinals in hardcourt and grass courts, before he won few of them. Rafa is the toughest player mentally and will overcome Djokovic's challenge too. Rafa has worked out many part of his game against djokovic and it showed yesterday. Rafa's dodgy second service was the issue yesterday which allowed Djokovic to make deep returns, only difference between them in yesterday's finals. Perhaps Rafa will work that part out or get his shoulder treated. Guess he might get back to earlier service style which won him US open...Let us see....2012 is a cracker of a year for Tennis. Expect a fight back from Rafa has he has done yesterday..
Re: Truely an Epic encounter..
by Sanjeev Sekhar on Jan 30, 2012 08:15 AM
Rafa has lost many finals and semifinals in hardcourt and grass courts, before he won few of them. Rafa is the toughest player mentally and will overcome Djokovic's challenge too. Rafa has worked out many part of his game against djokovic and it showed yesterday. Rafa's dodgy second service was the issue yesterday which allowed Djokovic to make deep returns, only difference between them in yesterday's finals. Perhaps Rafa will work that part out or get his shoulder treated. Guess he might get back to earlier service style which won him US open...Let us see....2012 is a cracker of a year for Tennis. Expect a fight back from Rafa has he has done yesterday..
Re: Re: Truely an Epic encounter..
by V S on Jan 30, 2012 09:42 AM
Rafa cannot beat Djokovich because Djokovich is returning deeper and flatter.. and not going for the lines like Federer early which causes mistakes by Federer.
Djokovich is also having similar stamina to Nadal so now Nadal has to deal with a power hitter.
Even against Del Potro who hits flat and straight Nadal was thrashed.
Nadal's whipped forehand is effective only when there's enough time to hit the ball back.
there was never such a close gap between the top three in the history. anyone can beat anyone on his day. Fed won the grand slam cup of last year inspite of his age. novak is having the edge of his youthfulness. rafa is different league of sylye but lacking required physical strength for his kind of play.anyway it is a heyday for the tennis watchers because they are assured of much much closer title battles with quality ahead.
