weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
If he has a strategy to use to beat Nadal on clay, he's better off keeping it in his back pocket for RG and taking the L tomorrow.
2021 Rome masters final :- (1) Djokovic [SRB] v/s (2) Nadal [ESP]
- Thread starter Rafa4LifeEver
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If he has a strategy to use to beat Nadal on clay, he's better off keeping it in his back pocket for RG and taking the L tomorrow.
Very good exposal. Tsitsipas and Schwartzman are labelled tough Semis for Nole but weak opponents for Rafa.
RG GOD
Semi-Pro
Wow man, stop with your low quality trolling.
E36BMWM3
Hall of Fame
Djoker not good enough to end Tsitsi in 5 and somehow that gave Rafa the advantage hahahaha. That demolition job in the final was not due to a tired Djokovic
They both played the semifinal on Friday. Why does Djokovic need five sets to beat Tsitsipas?
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
And it was played indoors for no reason.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
It is an important match in their rivalry. If Nadal wins, he will tie Djokovic with Masters titles and likely be favored to win that race in the future with his dominance on clay. He will also be within 1 win of tying the head-head record which is another metric that Djokovic has over him currently in the GOAT race.
Apart from the #1 weeks record, Novak will have less of an overall edge over Nadal if he clearly doesn’t finish ahead in the Masters race and head-head record IF they both are tied on Slams (ahead of Federer) possibly at the end of their careers. For me, the two Olympic golds neutralizes the 5 WTF titles which is the only other significant difference in their careers. Also, the unparalleled clay dominance over two decades (and several generations of players) should be celebrated rather than used as an excuse to diminish Nadal’s total Slam title count as being unbalanced.
Apart from the #1 weeks record, Novak will have less of an overall edge over Nadal if he clearly doesn’t finish ahead in the Masters race and head-head record IF they both are tied on Slams (ahead of Federer) possibly at the end of their careers. For me, the two Olympic golds neutralizes the 5 WTF titles which is the only other significant difference in their careers. Also, the unparalleled clay dominance over two decades (and several generations of players) should be celebrated rather than used as an excuse to diminish Nadal’s total Slam title count as being unbalanced.
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SonicNirvana
Hall of Fame
Don’t expect an easy win for Rafa tomorrow. nothing thus far indicates it will be.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Seriously, Djokovic is annoying in Rome. Starting from 2008 he had just two relatively early losses, in 2010 and 2013 1/4 finals, both times lost very close matches. In all other years he reached the final, except for 2018 when he met Nadal in the semifinal. I hate this tournament because of him. He just appears in every final.
K-H
Hall of Fame
@Hitman what you thinking based on rafas level so far this tournament.
Any other year, I would favour rafa with it being on clay.
This year he hasn't been himself. It seems like he's slowly peaking for RG, but don't know if he's quite there yet.
2019 the whole tournament rafa was onnit. Cant say the same this year.
Rafa goes in as favourite, but don't think we'll be seeing any bakery products
Djokovic dialed in mentally it seems
Any other year, I would favour rafa with it being on clay.
This year he hasn't been himself. It seems like he's slowly peaking for RG, but don't know if he's quite there yet.
2019 the whole tournament rafa was onnit. Cant say the same this year.
Rafa goes in as favourite, but don't think we'll be seeing any bakery products
Djokovic dialed in mentally it seems
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
Rafa not playing well enough seemingly to make it easy. Obviously Nadal at his best would come through like a bulldozer tomorrow.
Sport
G.O.A.T.
I concur with your logico-methodological analysis.
Legend of Borg
G.O.A.T.
Clay GOAT in straights, what else would make sense at this point?
I don't think Rafa's in the mood for freebies just before RG, he's gonna go hard on this match to make a statement.
It could help his mental game against Djokovic outside of clay too, imagine they face off at Wimbledon again that would be big.
I don't think Rafa's in the mood for freebies just before RG, he's gonna go hard on this match to make a statement.
It could help his mental game against Djokovic outside of clay too, imagine they face off at Wimbledon again that would be big.
BomBomBecker
New User
I don't know how anyone can bet against the most complete player ever.
MeatTornado
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, let's use one of Nadal's worst seasons against one of Novak's best. Sounds fair.
You have an aneurysm every time someone mentions a 2015 match, but 2016 is relevant?
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal has been "annoying" in Rome since 2005
If Djokovic is annoying in Rome, what is Bull at RG lol?
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
He had much more early losses.Nadal has been "annoying" in Rome since 2005
SonicNirvana
Hall of Fame
Having a “nadal fan” complain about someone else’s success on clay is hilarious.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
It indeed was some of his worst tennis. Any better Nadal would have won this match. However, even this Nadal had chances in both sets, but just never stopped choking. He clearly has mental problems.
Also, let's not ignore that Rome 2018 was a close straight set win, Nadal struggled to close the first set from 5-2 up. Then in 2019 he choked the second set in the final after missing tons of break points. These are all signs of mental weakness. He got away with it in these 2 matches, but it doesn't mean he will get away with it again.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal has just 1 more Rome final, and much less of them in the last decade.
SonicNirvana
Hall of Fame
Number 1 vs Number 4 in terms of clay winning percentage.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
C'mon Rafa you got this! show no mercy.
show no mercy.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
A 6-2 final set isn't anywhere close to "almost beating" anyone. Give me a break.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
He still won 2 sets, right? And lost 2 in tiebreaks.
Nadal_King
Hall of Fame
What gives me confidence for rafa is win against Zverev,I feel currently Zverev is a tougher matchup on clay for rafa than djokovic. Zverev return of serve is quite good( not at level of djokovic) and his backhand certainly holds up well against rafa'forehand but rafa did quite well to win that match.
Also this match will be decided by how well djokovic serves for nadal service is directly proportional to how well he does in return games which is why you see those bagels and consecutive streaks of game he goes in. If djokovic can hang tight with his serve then on nadal serve you would see nadal being passive and nervy but if djokovic is getting hammered on his serve then it will be an easy victory for rafa.
Also this match will be decided by how well djokovic serves for nadal service is directly proportional to how well he does in return games which is why you see those bagels and consecutive streaks of game he goes in. If djokovic can hang tight with his serve then on nadal serve you would see nadal being passive and nervy but if djokovic is getting hammered on his serve then it will be an easy victory for rafa.
GabeT
G.O.A.T.
Are you sure about this? I’m trusting your judgement and expertise here
ACE of Hearts
Bionic Poster
Novak deserves to get trounce for not finishing sonemug in two sets.
T
TheNachoMan
Guest
Clay skewed H2H returns
mike danny
Bionic Poster
As @StrongRule would say, Novak should never play this tournament again.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Djokovic is winning his 6th title here.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Not even gonna bother with this BS. If the show was on the other foot, you'd complain of how lucky Djokovic was with the schedule because Nadal had to play 2 matches in 1 day.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Yes--if Rafa had lost to Z, it would have been his 4th in a row, 2nd in a row on clay...and difficult questions would be asked.
Every time Rafa wins a match, we go right back to 'he's the GOAT and can't be stopped'.
Having said all this, I really don't know who's going to win. Djokovic seems less consistent these days, but I think he's currently capable of summoning a higher peak level than Rafa. But...maybe not on clay, not after what we saw last year at RG.
Sorry_to_tell_you_mate
Professional
He could have won in 3 sets if he had won the TBs.
marc45
G.O.A.T.
@ozmo_sasa
·Novak: Rafa and I had a little laugh in the locker room after I won against Tsitsipas, like "the old guys are not giving up". I saw that he said that we are old, but I disagree, we are showing that we still have the energy (smiling).
·Novak: Rafa and I had a little laugh in the locker room after I won against Tsitsipas, like "the old guys are not giving up". I saw that he said that we are old, but I disagree, we are showing that we still have the energy (smiling).
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal had no rest at all compared to Federer in AO 2017, I don't hear Federer fans ever talking about it. Madrid 2009 as well.
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Not a chance. They will put him as close to Djokovic as possible, like always.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Come on, how is AO 2017 even similar to this? Nadal still had a day to rest and didn't have to play 2 tough matches in 1 day.
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
The only thing that is a guarantee with the draw is that either Nadal or Djokovic will draw the Federer QF. I don't think they feel the need to force a Djokodal SF necessarily.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
He played 5 hours in one day against a very in-form opponent, and the match ended late at night. A day of rest was for sure not enough. Funny enough, while Federer fans ignore that, they somehow make an excuse for Djokovic in RG 2020. (even though his match against Tsitsipas was not even comparable to the brutal Nadal-Dimitrov match in AO 2017. Leave alone the fact that he didn't have any tough matches before that)
Nadal has big mental problems against Djokovic, so he might easily find a way to choke this match away. Mentality matters a lot in tennis.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
It's not even comparable and you know this. Not like Federer didn't have his own difficulties and was also 5 years older. That's why this excuse is BS.
Tenacity
Hall of Fame
But we heard they all hate each other to death, like so many people do on here. How can it be..Very cute, they are the best of friends
Nadal_Django
Legend
Poor tired and physically hampered Nole. He absolutely doesn't have a prayer against the fresh, healthy and well playing the organisers darling Nadal. The only question tomorrow is how many bagels Nole will receive this time around.
StrongRule
Talk Tennis Guru
Oh yeah, when Nadal loses, you will ALWAYS find an excuse. But when he wins, it is always unfair. Like you complained about Rome 2019 (where Djokovic didn't play 2 matches on the same day, he just played night sessions), but didn't say a word about Schwartzman being in the same position in Rome 2020.
Federer being 5 years older is irrelevant. He was fully rested in AO 2017, had more rest, and his 5 set matches were not nearly as physical. Nadal who showed up in the semifinal would have probably beaten Federer. (even though Federer fans will never admit it)
Hitman
Bionic Poster
I think Rafa has shown a lot of grit this week, very impressed with the mental approach to all matches, he has always seemed to be focused. His game was a little up and down more earlier on, but the quality was becoming more and more obvious with each match. A solid ending to Sinner match, good fight and hussle against Shaps, then really went up the gears on Zverev. He's here to make a statement.
He is ready for RG and tomorrow I expect him to show no mercy to Djokovic. He will want to make sure that not even a slightest amount of positive thinking manifest in Novak's mind about trying to beat Nadal in Paris. He will want him to have zero mometum, that includes not even giving a hard fought loss, that Novak could build on. Djokovic is playing, so not sure about bakery products, but he WILL be tired after playing over five hours of the highest quality, no way will he be fully ready, mentally he will want it, that much is certain, but don't think his body will help him tomorrow.
Nadal in straights, but I don't think Djokovic is eating bakery products tomorrow.
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