Nadal/Coria 2005

[gsharma]

Man Coria was good and fast! Thanks for posting a video. Would've been a great rivalry.

[basil J]

Nadal hit through his forehands 90% of the time back then before he embraced the buggy whip forehand as his go to shot these days. I remember watching this match thinking "this is the guy who is going to bring tennis up to another physical level". Just amazing never say die attitude. I wish he could go back to this type of play, but I think that ship has sailed. Way too tough on the body.

[xanctus]

I miss Coria more than anybody else... . He was always one of my all time favourite with his drop shot.

[papertank]

This match is absolutely amazing. THE best clay court match I've ever seen. It obviously showcases vintage Nadal, but it also shows just how great Coria was. He was absolutely ferocious in this match. Only the future greatest clay courter ever could take him out.

[The-Champ]

Originally Posted by basil J

Nadal hit through his forehands 90% of the time back then before he embraced the buggy whip forehand as his go to shot these days. I remember watching this match thinking "this is the guy who is going to bring tennis up to another physical level". Just amazing never say die attitude. I wish he could go back to this type of play, but I think that ship has sailed. Way too tough on the body.

He will never play like that again, unfortunately. The speed and killer instinct are long gone..

[Andres]

Originally Posted by NadalAgassi

Rosewall was 41 years old by then though and Newcombe was also past his slam winnning days. Are those bigger wins at the time than prime Coria, prime Nalbandian, and prime Hewitt at the 2004 French?

Not only Coria, Nalbandian and Hewitt, but he also had Guillermo Cañas in R1 and Andreev later.
One of the toughest clay draws of all times.

[NDFM]

Originally Posted by The-Champ

He will never play like that again, unfortunately. The speed and killer instinct are long gone..

it's a shame though, this is the best of rafa. I'm a still a fan today but we only get rare appearances of this rafa today, last I can remember was in some matches at the AO this year.

[BauerAlmeida]

Originally Posted by Andres

Not only Coria, Nalbandian and Hewitt, but he also had Guillermo Cañas in R1 and Andreev later.
One of the toughest clay draws of all times.

And Jiri Novak too.

[Steve0904]

Originally Posted by tacou

He made a USO QF after that. Could've got to a hard court SF (where he would've played Agassi I think?) but double faulted twice in a row to lose to Ginepri in the 5th set. Great, great match.

Imagine if Guillermo Coria made the 2005 US Open Final.

Yeah, I don't want to imagine that because it would've been a terrible match against Federer. He would've gotten destroyed.

[MichaelNadal]

Originally Posted by NDFM

it's a shame though, this is the best of rafa. I'm a still a fan today but we only get rare appearances of this rafa today, last I can remember was in some matches at the AO this year.

Yeah really, when Rafa plays that way it's just magic for me. The 4th and 5th sets of the AO final this year reminded me exactly why I liked his style so much. It's a shame it's no longer day in and day out.