Fish vs. Nadal spoiler

vkartikv · 03-14-2006, 09:02 PM

I can't believe I am staying up late to watch Fish of all people, but anyway, he is not going to win by staying back and playing groundies. His approach shots are terrible too, don't know how he got this far in the tournament. 3-0 down righr now..

StraightSets · 03-14-2006, 09:21 PM

Is he injured? This has to be the worst footwork I've ever seen.

Oricus · 03-14-2006, 10:14 PM

I thought he played a pretty good second set, he had some chances, he was never able to take advantage of Nadal standing 20 feet behind the baseline.

Hopefully Fish will improve on his effort

edberg505 · 03-14-2006, 10:14 PM

Holy crap does Mardy Fish suck or what? The only thing that i see that he did good was in the last service game of the match. When he serve and volleyed he pretty much showed how weak of a return game Nadal has.

Oricus · 03-14-2006, 10:19 PM

Nadal must of scouted Roddick on that Return game of his, stand several feet away from the baseline. But hey I guess it works for him, but it does seem like it could be liability. Even Fish was somewhat exploiting that, although, it really wasn't ever in doubt

bcaz · 03-14-2006, 10:29 PM

Aside from Nadal being one of the best two players in the world, Mardy played a dumb match. I'm lefty and I can understand the appropriate tactics. I can't believe how many wide serves Mardy attempted from the ad court. Not smart! As good as his serve is, it wasn't there. And -- over the wide part of the net? To Rafa's forehand? On crucial ad points? Mardy smartened up in the final game and served up the middle but it was too late. How many times did Mardy actually try to feed Nadal's monster forehand with flat forehands up the line, many of which found the net? Sheesh ... I don't fault Mardy for being tight and butchering his volleys, which are usually strong -- they'll come around in future matches. But the basic tactical errors must be addressed, and he has to get those marvelous, well-disguised serves in far more often. When he was rolling two years ago, hed had a streak during the hardcourt season of something like 70-80 consecutive holds of service -- Sampras-like -- he can work on that, all day long, by himself.

jamauss · 03-14-2006, 11:44 PM

When I attended Fish's match against Andy Murray at the SAP Open earlier this year, I was more amazed by Fish's horrible play than I was impressed by Murray. I wished I could've gone down to the court and told Mardy to hand me his racquet and to sit down and at least let a "hack" butcher the match and not keep tarnishing the term "professional"

VamosRafa · 03-15-2006, 12:05 AM

Mardy's main problem was his serving. His first service percentage was awful, and Rafa was teeing off on those second serves.

Rafa played very well in the first set, though, and fairly well in the second, when Fish raised the level of his game somewhat.

As for Rafa being a weak returner, that is belied by statistics, which placed him at or near the top in all the returning categories last year. It's also hard to believe he won 11 tournaments last year if he is such a poor returner.

superman1 · 03-15-2006, 02:18 AM

Fish is a little better than I remembered. He hits the ball alright and has a great serve when it goes in. He would set points up and then not be able to finish them. He missed almost every volley he tried. He has a pretty solid backhand, but doesn't seem to be able to hit winners very frequently. He was trying to match Nadal up from the baseline but you can't do that. The biggest problem with him is he slumps around and acts like he is out of the match when in reality it is 4-4 and he has a chance to break and then serve it out. But for some reason he continues to act like the amateur playing with the pro.

edberg505 · 03-15-2006, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VamosRafa

Mardy's main problem was his serving. His first service percentage was awful, and Rafa was teeing off on those second serves.

Rafa played very well in the first set, though, and fairly well in the second, when Fish raised the level of his game somewhat.

As for Rafa being a weak returner, that is belied by statistics, which placed him at or near the top in all the returning categories last year. It's also hard to believe he won 11 tournaments last year if he is such a poor returner.

I would hardly call what Nadal was doing as teeing off on the second serves.

Jonnyf · 03-15-2006, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VamosRafa

As for Rafa being a weak returner, that is belied by statistics, which placed him at or near the top in all the returning categories last year. It's also hard to believe he won 11 tournaments last year if he is such a poor returner.

Well isn't Roddick meant to be a bad returner but he did well last year didnt he, wimbers final 5 tournies.

devila · 03-15-2006, 04:52 AM

Fish's not too bright, and his serve's not that good. If he was better trained and fitter, he'd be a top 30 player.

Roddick still managed to make him look good in Memphis. Roddick's stubborn streak and weight gain didn't do anything for his game either. Roddick admitted that he hated working a lot, like the Russian players.
Well, Fish can move back to Roddick's house.

Richie Rich · 03-15-2006, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamauss

When I attended Fish's match against Andy Murray at the SAP Open earlier this year, I was more amazed by Fish's horrible play than I was impressed by Murray. I wished I could've gone down to the court and told Mardy to hand me his racquet and to sit down and at least let a "hack" butcher the match and not keep tarnishing the term "professional"

amen to that. he just doesn't put the work in menatlly or physically

byealmeens · 03-15-2006, 05:12 AM

I can't believe the number of baseline rallies Fish got into with Nadal. Anyone see the interview prior to the match? He said the KEY for him was to get to net as much as possible. What happened to that??

Oricus · 03-15-2006, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by byealmeens

I can't believe the number of baseline rallies Fish got into with Nadal. Anyone see the interview prior to the match? He said the KEY for him was to get to net as much as possible. What happened to that??

He was missing some easy volley shots and likely lost confidence in himself.

And okay, if Nadal is not a bad returner, it's just not nearly as effective as other parts of his game. Just cause you can loft the ball back into play with high percentages doesn't really suggest he's a great returner, more like a consistent returner that isn't likely going to damage you too bad.

03-14-2006, 09:02 PM	#1
vkartikv Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2005 Location: The Gym Posts: 3,277	Fish vs. Nadal spoiler I can't believe I am staying up late to watch Fish of all people, but anyway, he is not going to win by staying back and playing groundies. His approach shots are terrible too, don't know how he got this far in the tournament. 3-0 down righr now.. __________________ There was significant shrinkage

03-14-2006, 10:14 PM	#4
edberg505 Legend Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 6,015	Holy crap does Mardy Fish suck or what? The only thing that i see that he did good was in the last service game of the match. When he serve and volleyed he pretty much showed how weak of a return game Nadal has. __________________ I believe in Taylor Dent.

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