Fed beats Nadal on a high bouncing court?

[CDestroyer]

Nadal must be injured or something right? Maybe he has lost the mental edge on Federer since Novak wiped the court with him so easily, so many times last year. It was great to see Fed destroy Wafa. And then run the stone handed giraffe around the court like a headless chicken in the finals.

Fed is really on a roll.

[kragster]

Originally Posted by CDestroyer

Nadal must be injured or something right? Maybe he has lost the mental edge on Federer since Novak wiped the court with him so easily, so many times last year. It was great to see Fed destroy Wafa. And then run the stone handed giraffe around the court like a headless chicken in the finals.

Fed is really on a roll.

Great win for Fed but I think that it shouldn't be a surprise to see Fed win matches against Rafa even on slower surfaces. Similarly I wouldn't be surprised if Rafa pulls one back against Nole. What would be interesting would be if Fed were to go on a big streak against Rafa or Rafa were to go on a streak against Nole ( to clarify, by surprising I don't mean from an ability standpoint but rather as a function of what has been the norm recently).

[Nathaniel_Near]

Nole needs to fix his form asap. He's living off reputation at the moment - his actual play is leaving a lot to be desired. He was virtually impotent against Isner in the semi-finals of IW. At one point, Isner had hit 18 winners, and Nole just 4! He is hitting with too much margin and when he decides to pull the trigger he is not at all confident he's going to make the shot and often makes a complete hash of it. He needs to rectify his form ASAP during Miami.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by CDestroyer

Nadal must be injured or something right? Maybe he has lost the mental edge on Federer since Novak wiped the court with him so easily, so many times last year. It was great to see Fed destroy Wafa. And then run the stone handed giraffe around the court like a headless chicken in the finals.

Fed is really on a roll.

It is about confidence. It can do amazing things, especially when you are as talented and hardworking as Roger is. All those tough matches, and I go back to Davydenko in that epic in Rotterdam, helped him be more calmer on the court. Because it was those type of matches that he was losing.

You can see his gameplan now against Nadal, that that immense backhand abuse. Tactics he employed well indoors, seem to work outdoors also. However, I do believe that he is still vulnerable in the best of five matches against the big guys. If he can start pulling those matches out again, then he could be on a serious roll again.

But they say, every journey starts with one step. He has been making small steps at first, by winning Basel, those steps are getting bigger by his emphatic win in IW to become the greatest IW champion of all time.

[joeri888]

Those so called ownages of Nole over Rafa and Rafa over Roger aren't as huge as their fans make it out to be. The differences are small and a few points can turn it around

[kragster]

Originally Posted by joeri888

Those so called ownages of Nole over Rafa and Rafa over Roger aren't as huge as their fans make it out to be. The differences are small and a few points can turn it around

Great point, I very much dislike the use of the word ownage as it is pretty demeaning to these guys who are all champions. I believe the term originated from kids playing video games and I'd rather it be left there.

[kragster]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel_Near

Nole needs to fix his form asap. He's living off reputation at the moment - his actual play is leaving a lot to be desired. He was virtually impotent against Isner in the semi-finals of IW. At one point, Isner had hit 18 winners, and Nole just 4! He is hitting with too much margin and when he decides to pull the trigger he is not at all confident he's going to make the shot and often makes a complete hash of it. He needs to rectify his form ASAP during Miami.

I agree, despite his AO win I have not been impressed. I like Nole a lot better when he is aggressive and going for the lines. In fact I think by the second half of 2011 Nole had already started to live off his reputation.

Now that his mojo is gone, he better start getting more aggressive. I really hope the motivation to win his first FO brings back his aggressive game.

[LeeD]

Back to Fed, IW, the ball screamss thru the desert air, giving opponent's little time to react, even if the bounce is slow.
Rafa a little injured.
DJ winds on consistency, not multitudes of clean winners. He was waiting for Isnner to implode, but Isner decided to UP his service.

[DjokovicForTheWin]

I don't think you can conclude things out of singular matches and ask "Oh what happened?". Both guys are great players and well to put it bluntly, sh!t happens and anyone can win on a given day. It's just over many instances you can draw out patterns. Hell, Fed could beat Nadal on slow clay and Nadal could beat Fed at WTF. There is always an element of random variation that cannot be accounted for by Fedal canon law.

[Leto]

No conclusion can be made when the weather conditions are that bad.

I would make the statement also if Rafa had won.

[Swissv2]

I was at the tournament, sitting 6 rows up from courtside so I could tell what was going on where they both played. It was very cold, windy, and wet; I would have wanted to wear a jacket during the match because it was so bad. Nadal could not get a good whack at that ball and Federer had to rely on his timing and footwork to even hit some of the balls. Both players were trying to play with/against the wind - though Federer handled it much better.

[kragster]

Originally Posted by Swissv2

I was at the tournament, sitting 6 rows up from courtside so I could tell what was going on where they both played. It was very cold, windy, and wet; I would have wanted to wear a jacket during the match because it was so bad. Nadal could not get a good whack at that ball and Federer had to rely on his timing and footwork to even hit some of the balls. Both players were trying to play with/against the wind - though Federer handled it much better.

I would imagine that the conditions would balance out strengths though. Wind should favor Rafa since Rafa hits with more margin while Fed plays a precision game. Dampness on the other hand should favor Fed, damper courts/higher humidity should equal slightly lower bounce.

[Leto]

Originally Posted by kragster

I would imagine that the conditions would balance out strengths though. Wind should favor Rafa since Rafa hits with more margin while Fed plays a precision game. Dampness on the other hand should favor Fed, damper courts/higher humidity should equal slightly lower bounce.

Very thoughtful, but maybe too intellectual for your own good...

Let's face it....the weather just plain out sucked.

Why try to draw any conclusions from it when MOST matches will never have to factor in all of that stuff?

[Marius_Hancu]

I love that Fed won, but this isn't really a high-bouncing court, or wasn't on that day. Just average.

[MichaelNadal]

Originally Posted by Swissv2

I was at the tournament, sitting 6 rows up from courtside so I could tell what was going on where they both played. It was very cold, windy, and wet; I would have wanted to wear a jacket during the match because it was so bad. Nadal could not get a good whack at that ball and Federer had to rely on his timing and footwork to even hit some of the balls. Both players were trying to play with/against the wind - though Federer handled it much better.

Pretty much this. Not sure why people are so surprised at the result in the conditions that they had. One player was going to handle it better than the other.

[veritech]

Originally Posted by Swissv2

I was at the tournament, sitting 6 rows up from courtside so I could tell what was going on where they both played. It was very cold, windy, and wet; I would have wanted to wear a jacket during the match because it was so bad. Nadal could not get a good whack at that ball and Federer had to rely on his timing and footwork to even hit some of the balls. Both players were trying to play with/against the wind - though Federer handled it much better.

credit due to roger; both played under the same conditions and he was able to handle it much better than rafa.

[mellowyellow]

Nadal had a much tougher quarter match and is coming off a long layoff.

[mellowyellow]

This is what will make things interesting if Nadal were to ever drop from the top 4 spots, he would likely have to play 3 good opponents to win a tourney. If history is a good indicator, on anything but clay he can't do this. Just like Isner can't back up a big win with another big win. The match is so exhausting he has nothing left n the next match.

[CDestroyer]

Originally Posted by Swissv2

I was at the tournament, sitting 6 rows up from courtside so I could tell what was going on where they both played. It was very cold, windy, and wet; I would have wanted to wear a jacket during the match because it was so bad. Nadal could not get a good whack at that ball and Federer had to rely on his timing and footwork to even hit some of the balls. Both players were trying to play with/against the wind - though Federer handled it much better.

Nice. First hand experience of the conditions. Thanks for posting. It seems Nadal usually plays better than Fed in poor conditions iirc.

I hope it continues.

[tistrapukcipeht]

It wasn't bounsing high on that day, it cold and windy to say the list.

Nadal is trying to play more aggressive, therefore He made many more UE than his usual, but Nadal hasn't played that great as well.

However Fed is playing some insane tennis, I never saw somebody hit half volleys like if it was just regular practice. that was unbelievable what He did that day.