Clarky21
Banned
Nole didn't really have a bad season though outside of the clay season.. But thats to be expected.. He isn't all that great on clay
What about on grass?
Nole didn't really have a bad season though outside of the clay season.. But thats to be expected.. He isn't all that great on clay
I think he's great on clay. It's just a colossal effort to beat Nadal on that surface. But Djoko has now won 3 clay masters overall and had another season of reaching 3 clay finals and it's pretty much better than anyone else not called Nadal these days.Nole didn't really have a bad season though outside of the clay season.. But thats to be expected.. He isn't all that great on clay
I think he's great on clay. It's just a colossal effort to beat Nadal on that surface. But Djoko has now won 3 clay masters overall and had another season of reaching 3 clay finals and it's pretty much better than anyone else not called Nadal these days.
Couldn't have put it better mate. This is the first time since 2007 that he's failed to win an MS (I'm assuming he doesn't play Paris) - but I wouldn't swap his 1 slam win for all 9 MS and the WTF. Been by far Murray's best season.
ha ha but Fed also beat Rafa at Hamburg and Madrid. It can happen from time to time but impossible to achieve on a regular basis and out of the question in a best of 5 unless Rafa's knees are completely shot. If Djoko thought he had solved Rafa on clay once and for all in 2011, he sure was in for a big surprise in the aftermath...Sure,I guess that's why Count ******* beat him easily on clay twice last year in back to back finals.
ha ha but Fed also beat Rafa at Hamburg and Madrid. It can happen from time to time but impossible to achieve on a regular basis and out of the question in a best of 5 unless Rafa's knees are completely shot. If Djoko thought he had solved Rafa on clay once and for all in 2011, he sure was in for a big surprise in the aftermath...
Just for Nole to reach the semis of wimbledon is a great result for him. Last year he went far and above the norm. Is that considered a "bad result" for Djokovic? Did anyone really expect him to successfully defend his wimbledon title?
Nole is at his best on hard courts. PERIOD.. Last year, I think Nadal was in a mental funk from the onset vs. Nole and it carried over into all surfaces.
But as Nadal showed, when hes on his game, no way Nole can hang with him on clay. Really Nole shouldn't even have beaten him in Australia this year.
But Nole a had a great year overall. To expect him demolish and destroy ala 2011 is not realistic.
Nole's norm is having the most success on hard courts.. And some solid success on clay and grass. But I wouldn't consider him a great player on neither of those surfaces.. So a good semis or finals appearance at either slam for Nole at either is a dang good result IMO
Of the 3 players of those I like:
Nadal- Yes I am happy. He regained his clay dominance, ended his dominance at the hands of Djokovic from last year, got the record and title of undisputed clay court GOAT, and he gets to rest injuries built up over many years now which could be a blessing in disguise. He also came very close to winning a hard court slam again, showing he still has it in him if healthy and fit.
My goals for Rafa in 2013 are:Only on clay. We don't know yet whether Nadal will be able to beat Djokovic on non-clay surfaces. .
veroniquem;6955987]My goals for Rafa in 2013 are:
1- play some pro tennis (given the circumstances, I have to start with the basics )
2- beat Djokovic off clay
3- win at least one title off clay
If he manages those 3 things, I will be totally elated and will consider the season a huge success. I will be happy too if he does well on clay but he already has all the records there. He has to re-establish himself as a threat on other surfaces now. I see that as the most pressing priority.
Definitely content with Federer's season. 3 Masters, Wimbledon, 300 weeks at no.1 and a handful of 500 tournaments aren't bad for a 30 year old in decline, no?
I am pretty gutted with Rafa's season (or lack thereof). I guess I'll quit watching tennis if he retires.
But Fed is not your idol, no? Quite the contrary, you have a pathological hatred for the man.
It's about your idol's performances this year, so LOLville, while it's obvious you hate Fed more than you love Nadal (if that makes sense) I'd say he's still your idol, you must be happy with Nadal winning 7th FO, no? He wasn't able to prevent a terrible disaster happening at Wimbledon but things don't always go the way you want them to.
Also regarding using # of non-slam titles in a year as an indication of form, we'd have to agree that 2005 was the best year of Nadal's career, no? He even achieved career highest winning % in that year.
I am a Federer fan...
I just don't show it.
Unlike many here, I am also not a hardcore Federer fan...
so my fanboy-ish nature may appear less obvious.
While there are definitely aspects of the man I dislike, the positives qualities definitely outnumber the negatives. So there.
I am pretty gutted with Rafa's season (or lack thereof). I guess I'll quit watching tennis if he retires.
This season you can truly say belonged to the big four. All four players dominated this year and played some great tennis. They all won slams, and pretty much shut out every other player.
Basically, if you are not a part of the big four, you are not winning any of the big prizes.
AO - Novak
IW - Roger
Miami - Novak
MC - Rafa
Madrid - Roger
Rome - Rafa
RG - Rafa
W - Roger
OG - Andy
Canada - Novak
Cincy - Roger
USO - Andy
Shanghai - Novak
This season you can truly say belonged to the big four. All four players dominated this year and played some great tennis. They all won slams, and pretty much shut out every other player.
Basically, if you are not a part of the big four, you are not winning any of the big prizes.
AO - Novak
IW - Roger
Miami - Novak
MC - Rafa
Madrid - Roger
Rome - Rafa
RG - Rafa
W - Roger
OG - Andy
Canada - Novak
Cincy - Roger
USO - Andy
Shanghai - Novak
Only on clay. We don't know yet whether Nadal will be able to beat Djokovic on non-clay surfaces. If Djokovic does well at the last few events of the year, he may regain his 2011 confidence and be very tough for Nadal to beat off clay.
Djokovic isnt the one to beat at Wimbledon anyway. Only in his most superhuman form (2011) can he hope to win on that surface. If Nadal cant even beat Djokovic on grass in the future he would have no hope of winning Wimbledon anyway even without him. As for hard courts Nadal will never find those easy to win in the first place, Djokovic is just an additional big obstacle there of numerous already present. They played only one match off clay this year and Nadal very nearly won on Djokovic's favorite surface, by favorite I mean specific type of hard court even, and he hardly played an unbelievable match to do so. In the event Nadal is fit and at the top level I am quite confident he has a fighting chance vs Djokovic on any surface (and a great one on grass where Djokovic isnt as good as Federer or Nadal or maybe even Murray anyway, but Djokovic isnt the one to beat at Wimbledon anyway) and if he isnt fit or at the top level he wont have a hope of winning slams off clay anyway. Either way I dont see a 2011 repeat of only Djokovic stopping Nadal everywhere. In the event Nadal isnt playing at the level to win slams or win slams off clay, there will be alot more to it than just Djokovic.
I've been content with Federer for years. He didn't have to win a 17th Slam tournament as far as I am concerned. I like the fact that he can hang with the younger players but obviously he comes in for unfair abuse/comparisons when the same players defeat him. In this context I think his retirement would be a relief for me.
You are making it way too complicated. The bottom line is Nadal has not shown that he can now defeat Djokovic on HC and grass since their last meetings at Wimbledon and the USO. Also, Djokovic has improved a lot on grass and since he is in his absolute prime, I think it would be safe to assume he may win another Wimbledon. None of us know what is going to happen in future matches between Nadal/Djokovic so until then the fact is that Nadal has not turned around their meetings any place but on clay. Do I think Nadal can beat Djokovic off clay in a slam again? Yes probably, but we will have to wait and see.
WOW!! Total Domination!!!!
There is no "big four". Stop with the bs.
Pretty disrespectful, given the cogent argument the poster you were responding to was making. How is there no big four? They all won majors this year. They won all the big events. It's been their year.
Preaching about disrespect on this forum is hilarious. It wasn't meant to be disrespectful anyway,so please spare me the indignation.
And again,there is no big four. There is only a big 3.
Lets go back further to illustrate the point even more.
MC 10 - Rafa
Rome 10 - Rafa
Madrid 10 - Rafa
RG 10 - Rafa
W 10 - Rafa
Canada 10 - Andy
Cincy 10 - Roger
USO 10 - Rafa
Shanghai 10 - Andy
Paris 10 - SODERLING
WTF 10 - Roger
Davis Cup 10 - Novak lead team
AO 11 - Novak
IW 11 - Novak
Miami 11 - Novak
MC 11 - Rafa
Madrid 11 - Novak
Rome 11 - Novak
RG 11 - Rafa
W 11 - Novak
Canada 11 - Novak
Cincy 11 - Andy
USO 11 - Novak
Shanghai 11 - Andy
Paris 11 - Roger
WTF 11 - Roger
Davis Cup 11 - Nadal lead team
AO 12 - Novak
IW 12 - Roger
Miami 12 - Novak
MC 12 - Rafa
Madrid 12 - Roger
Rome 12 - Rafa
RG 12 - Rafa
W 12 - Roger
OG 12 - Andy
Canada 12 - Novak
Cincy 12 - Roger
USO 12 - Andy
Shanghai 12 - Novak
ONLY Soderling has managed to take anything away from these four since Monte Carlo 2010. It just shows that these four are the BIG FOUR for a reason.
Your stupidity is hilarious. Keep on posting so I and everybody else on TW, can have a laugh :twisted:
None of them is my idol. The player I like most is Federer, though, and I'm very happy with his season. He had some big losses, which is understandable at this point of his career, and he also had huge victories.
Murray, imo, has grown into a scarly player (in a positive way). His ability to reach for every shot and hit them so well is amazing, and to me, he is the best player currently on the tour, despite his loss to Novak. He also won a gold medal and his first slam, so now that this burden is off his shoulders, except him to become even more dangerous.
Novak has been terrific, just not quite as dangerous as in 2011. He beat the big players, but also lost to them. Still, its tough to really top a year like 2011 (Fed's 2006 and that's basically it).
Nadal has been the worst out of the top 4. He did well to give Djokovic a good run in AO 2012, and did his usual clay thing. But other than that, Nadal has not been doing all that well. He lost to Federer (taking a toilet break on MP, ffs), lost to a player nobody even knew at Wimbledon, and then "suddenly" got injured.
Overall predictions for 2013: Federer will be done, he had a good run in 2012 (best run he could have at this point), but I can't see him staying that competitive for much longer. His game just looked broken in Shanghai against Murray, and while Murray was unbeatable at this match, Fed was rolling in serve, hitting extremely weak and incosistent strokes, and just not being the super sharp, focused Fed from the old days.
Nadal will be back but I don't think he'll dominate anything but clay, which he will still have good runs on. On HC he will need to be really lucky to dethrone Nole/Murray.
Murray and Nole are the future of tennis, and that future was predicted years ago, just came a little late due to Murray not winning slams and Nole staying a distant 3rd to Fed and Nadal until 2011. I think they will meet each other many more times and make for a nice rivalry.
I hope that 2013 gives younger players a chance to shine - Dimitrov (though I doubt it), Ranoic (probably), Young (highly unlikely).
I'm a huge roddick fan and I've been depressed ever since he retired at the us open