Nadal News 2.0

haqq777

haqq777

Legend
Alright, that's whats up! Was a great match, somewhat scrappy but what do you do against a hot serving Kyrgios? I loved the way Rafa gave his post match small interview kind of thing they do. He didn't want to comment even when the interviewer asked him about Nick's behavior and particularly Nick calling the umpire a "disgrace". Such a classy guy Rafa. On to Tsonga now. Vamos!
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
RNadal said:
That was a very good match from Rafa. At times I thought he could get in trouble because of the way Kyrgios was serving, but Rafa never wavered on serve as well. Mentally wise so solid.

If he beats Tsonga I say he’s a heavy favourite to win the whole thing!
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I don't see him having too much trouble with Tsonga, to be honest.
 
D

Deleted member 763999

Guest
Great win for Nadal but still really needs to improve the serve and especially the return. Nadal's return is really bad man, why can't he stand closer to the baseline on the grass?
 
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vanioMan

vanioMan

Legend
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1146854992176795648

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K-H

K-H

Hall of Fame
Robin3381 said:
Great win for Nadal but still really needs to improve the serve and especially the return. Nadal's return is really bad man, why can't he stand closer to the baseline on the grass?
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Return is pretty bad at times. Was costly against djokovic last year
Serve isn't too bad right now. Not perfect but not a liability
 
R

RNadal

Professional
clayqueen said:
I don't see him having too much trouble with Tsonga, to be honest.
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I surely expect the match to be easier than today, but nonetheless, Tsonga is a good grass courter and gave a lot of trouble to Roger in Halle. Hopefully this will only make Rafa stronger and ready to the final rounds!
 
D

Deleted member 763999

Guest
K-H said:
Return is pretty bad at times. Was costly against djokovic last year
Serve isn't too bad right now. Not perfect but not a liability
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Serve is not too bad, but the first serve % can be better. Return is absolutely the worst aspect of his game right now.
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
RNadal said:
I surely expect the match to be easier than today, but nonetheless, Tsonga is a good grass courter and gave a lot of trouble to Roger in Halle. Hopefully this will only make Rafa stronger and ready to the final rounds!
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Even Bautista Agut gave Federer trouble at Halle.

If Tsonga serves well, he can be dangerous I admit it. But to use the argument that "he caused trouble to Federer" is irrelevant, as Federer's form was not impressive at Halle.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
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Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Robin3381 said:
Great win for Nadal but still really needs to improve the serve and especially the return. Nadal's return is really bad man, why can't he stand closer to the baseline on the grass?
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There is nothing "bad" about Nadal's return, Kyrgios was just on fire with the serve and Nadal broke him twice and won two tie-breaks against him. Djokovic received 31 aces against Querrey at Wimbledon 2016, while Nadal received 29 aces today, yet Kyrgios is a better server than Querrey. Djokovic also received 29 aces against Federer at Wimbledon 2014. So there is nothing indicating that Nadal's return is bad.
 
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S

StrongRule

Talk Tennis Guru
Sport said:
There is nothing "bad" about Nadal's return, Kyrgios was just on fire with the serve and Nadal broke him twice and won two tie-breaks against him. Djokovic received 31 aces against Querrey at Wimbledon 2016, while Nadal received 29 aces today, yet Kyrgios is a better server than Querrey.
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There is. His return position is very problematic on grass. It is very easy to servebot against him on this surface, and many players are enjoying doing that. Last year he couldn't return Djokovic's serve just like he couldn't return today.
 
pedro94

pedro94

Semi-Pro
Great match from Rafa today. Given how soft and kind of a personality Rafa has, I was afraid that Nick's mental games would get into Rafa's head and he'd falter. At times he did, but he handled everything incredibly well.

44 winners against 16 unforced errors is a great performance, and the best thing is that Rafa's only gonna get better as the tournament progresses!

Now Tsonga... Minus the serve, does Tsonga have a better all-round game than Kyrgios? Based on the level Kyrgios showed today, I'd say no. And I also think Kyrgios's serve is better than Tsonga's. All this together with the fact that Tsonga is now 34 years old, I say given Nadal was able to defeat Kyrgios, he shouldn't have too many problems with Tsonga! However, he can definitely be dangerous as he showed against Federer at Halle. If Rafa gets more 1st serves in than today and tries to be more aggressive on return and stand a little bit closer to the baseline, he will reach the 4th round! From then on it's the 2nd week, and the deeper Rafa goes the better his game becomes. VAMOS!
 
Cupcake

Cupcake

Hall of Fame
pedro94 said:
Given how soft and kind of a personality Rafa has, I was afraid that Nick's mental games would get into Rafa's head and he'd falter.
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I think Rafa is kind-hearted and a well-grounded human being. But I dont think of him as soft at all. He's a seasoned professional with a full range of experiences - both his and those of others around him. You could tell this match was very important to him, but for the most part he was ready and seemed to ignore the Kyrgios negative aura, and focused mainly on hitting the ball.

Well done, Rafa!
 
D

Deleted member 763999

Guest
Actually Nadal just has to get through Tsonga. He should be able to get through the 4th round and QF pretty easily.
 
Rafa24

Rafa24

Hall of Fame
Did Nike not make a celebration shirt for Rafas 12th french like they did 10 and 11? Seems odd that they didn't especially at his age he might not win it again. I bought the 10 and 11 and wanted the 12th!
 
DSH

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
Robin3381 said:
Great win for Nadal but still really needs to improve the serve and especially the return. Nadal's return is really bad man, why can't he stand closer to the baseline on the grass?
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His return of serve allows his opponent to attack him and defend on grass is much more difficult than on other surfaces and that cost him some matches before at Wimbledon.
 
pedro94

pedro94

Semi-Pro
Cupcake said:
I think Rafa is kind-hearted and a well-grounded human being. But I dont think of him as soft at all. He's a seasoned professional with a full range of experiences - both his and those of others around him. You could tell this match was very important to him, but for the most part he was ready and seemed to ignore the Kyrgios negative aura, and focused mainly on hitting the ball.

Well done, Rafa!
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‘Soft’ wasn’t the best word to use I agree. I meant to say that Rafa is a kind-hearted individual who doesn’t seek out situations where he gets angry. Fired up yes, but not angry. :giggle: And I definitely didn’t mean ‘soft’ as in not a seasoned professional or inexperienced :-D That is the opposite of what Rafa is!
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
StrongRule said:
There is. His return position is very problematic on grass. It is very easy to servebot against him on this surface, and many players are enjoying doing that. Last year he couldn't return Djokovic's serve just like he couldn't return today.
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There are two sides to every argument and you are always on the wrong side.
 
Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
StrongRule said:
There is. His return position is very problematic on grass. It is very easy to servebot against him on this surface, and many players are enjoying doing that. Last year he couldn't return Djokovic's serve just like he couldn't return today.
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No, there is nothing bad. His return position is optimal to reach more serves. Djokovic received the same number of aces against Federer in 2014 than Nadal did today, so there is nothing wrong with receiving 29 aces. And Kyrgios' serve is far more powerful than Federer's one. Nadal also broke Djokovic's serve multime times in the 2018 WB SF, so it is completely false that he couldn't return him.

Nadal is a better returner on grass than Federer in the last 52 weeks. Nadal is the 9th best returner on grass of the last 52 weeks:

https://www.atptour.com/en/stats/le...&surface=grass&versusRank=all&formerNo1=false
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
I am glad that we are on an every two day schedule so I can relax today and not get so stressed! I always want my Rafa to win so badly! :)
 
Cupcake

Cupcake

Hall of Fame
octobrina10 said:
I'm glad that he chose tennis. :)
.
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Me too.

I'm old. I've been watching tennis for literally decades. Rafa is without doubt the most exciting player I have ever watched - hands down, my all time favorite.

And the fact he is still playing and winning at 32 33 is icing on the cake. What a gift!

I could not watch the match live yesterday. Too stressed. (Besides, I was playing tennis myself at the time.) After I knew Rafa had won, I was able to watch and totally enjoy the Kyrgios match later in the afternoon. :cool:
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
Apun94 said:
The first match on centre court will be the Murray/Serena mixed doubles match, before the singles start
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Are you sure? Wimbledon website, in the order of play section, suggests the match will not be before 5:30pm and says court is yet to be decided.
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Prayer circle for Rafa today! :) It's highly likely he will win today but it's always stressful! (;

Am I right that if he gets through to the next round he would play the winner of the Nishikori-Johnson match?
 
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