2013 Indian Wells Final: (5) Rafael Nadal vs (7) Juan Martin Del Potro

Who won the real 5th slam?


  • Total voters
    110

ductrung3993

Hall of Fame
I think Ralph take this one easily. We all know how terribly Delpo is physically and he has spent like six hours in the last two days on court.
 
N

NadalAgassi

Guest
Even though I am a Nadal fan I hope Del Potro wins. He deserves a Masters title finally. I am not sure what will happen though. Nadal definitely has the physical advantage, has spent less time on court, but I dont think he is back at his full best yet. DP has played some of his best tennis in awhile at this event. 50-50 call really.

I think it will either be Del Potro in 2 fairly close sets or Nadal in 3. Dont think DP can win this match in 3.
 

norbac

Legend
Glad it's not another Djoker/Rafa final. Would be nice for either one to win. Rafa winning would get Ferrer out of the top 4 and Delpo winning would cement him back into the conversation of threatening the top 4.
 
N

NadalAgassi

Guest
Oh Nadal winning would drop Ferrer to #5. In that case I might have to cheer for Nadal just because of that (otherwise was going to cheer for DP to win his first Masters). Hopefully DP keeps up this form through the year too and Ferrer is never in the top 4 again. Sorry it just makes the slams unbalanced, basically everyone except Muray on clay has a bye in the semis.
 

eliars

Hall of Fame
When was the last time a player beat 3 of the top 4 (real top 4) in succession? Has it ever happened before? If JMDP pulls this off it would be amazing. Today was a grueling battle though and let's see if he can recover. I hope Rafa wins, but I would be totally fine with Delpo taking home his first M1000 title. He's such a likeable fella.

As for the match Delpo can't use the slice to effect like he did today vs Djokovic. Rafa will just kill it with his FH cc. We'll see how things go tomorrow. Vamos!
 
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veroniquem

Bionic Poster
1- Rafa is achieving the best tennis comeback ever: 4 events played, 4 finals and this time nobody will be able to whine that it's "just" clay.
2- If Rafa wins tomorrow, I predict he will get #1 back at some point during the season
3- Delpo may be having that breakthrough moment everyone was waiting for him to have since his brilliant win of the USO.
Delpo is trying to score his second title of the year and his 1st master title, Rafa his 3rd and with it tie Lendl for most master titles won: 22. It would be Rafa 's 3rd IW title. It is his 4th final there, all in odd years!! (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) If he wins, Rafa will propel to #2 in the race on Monday (and so will Delpo).
 
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N

NadalAgassi

Guest
Rafa will have a hard time getting to #1 this year IMO, even if she somehow repeated his 2011 3 slam sweep. He took a fat 0 for not even playing the Australian Open which will hurt him alot, and that combined with likely a usual poor post U.S Open would not give him the points for #1, no matter what.
 

ark_28

Legend
Really hope Del Po wins! Huge respect for Rafa but Del Po has gone through Murray and Del Po finally someone outside the top 4 has answered the call we felt Del Po should be the guy and he is delivering it also sucks that he has never won a masters!

Rafa is back he will be the man to beat on clay he will be winning his masters and slams I am sure! But I really hope Del Po has his moment tomorrow he deserves it!
 

TheF1Bob

Banned
Rafa in 2 because Novak was ****e and let the tired Delpo beat him.

1- Rafa is achieving the best tennis comeback ever: 4 events played, 4 finals and this time nobody will be able to whine that it's "just" clay.
2- If Rafa wins tomorrow, I predict he will get #1 back at some point during the season
3- Delpo may be having that breakthrough moment everyone was waiting for him to have since his brilliant win of the USO.
Delpo is trying to score his second title of the year and his 1st master title, Rafa his 3rd and with it tie Lendl for most master titles won: 22. It would be Rafa 's 3rd IW title. It is his 4th final there, all in odd years!! If he wins, Rafa will propel to #2 in the race on Monday.

Are you the new NSK?
 

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
When was the last time a player beat 3 of the top 4 (real top 4) in succession? Has it ever happened before? If JMDP pulls this off it would be amazing. Today was a grueling battle though and let's see if he can recover. I hope Rafa wins, but I would be totally fine with Delpo taking home his first M1000 title. He's such a likeable fella.

As for the match Delpo can't use the slice to effect like he did today vs Djokovic. Rafa will just kill it with his FH cc. We'll see how things go tomorrow. Vamos!

Del Potro was the first man ever to beat Federer and Nadal back to back in a Slam.
 

DragonBlaze

Hall of Fame
Wow, Rafa actually has a great shot at coming back on HC after a year and winning the title! That is half parts awesome and half parts hilarious :lol:.

Imagine if he wins, the confidence he gains, I'm thinking another clay sweep yet again. Interesting times.....Is Rafa playing Miami?

Poor Delpo though, I want him to get his first masters but with all that time spent on court, I wonder if he'll be up to it.
 

pds999

Hall of Fame
Wow, Rafa actually has a great shot at coming back on HC after a year and winning the title! That is half parts awesome and half parts hilarious :lol:.

Imagine if he wins, the confidence he gains, I'm thinking another clay sweep yet again. Interesting times.....Is Rafa playing Miami?

Poor Delpo though, I want him to get his first masters but with all that time spent on court, I wonder if he'll be up to it.

Good post. A win tomorrow takes him back to no.4 in the world which is obviously key to get easier draws ahead on the clay. If he wins tomorrow, he may opt not to play Miami and could in theory still stay ahead of Ferrer, unless Ferrer goes quite far in Miami (Ferrer is defending QF points from last year). Miami doesn't suit his game as well. Slow court but lower bouncing and doesn't take the topspin as well as Indian Wells.
 

malbaker86

Hall of Fame
1- Rafa is achieving the best tennis comeback ever: 4 events played, 4 finals and this time nobody will be able to whine that it's "just" clay.
2- If Rafa wins tomorrow, I predict he will get #1 back at some point during the season
3- Delpo may be having that breakthrough moment everyone was waiting for him to have since his brilliant win of the USO.
Delpo is trying to score his second title of the year and his 1st master title, Rafa his 3rd and with it tie Lendl for most master titles won: 22. It would be Rafa 's 3rd IW title. It is his 4th final there, all in odd years!! (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) If he wins, Rafa will propel to #2 in the race on Monday.

You gotta chill out
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Wow, Rafa actually has a great shot at coming back on HC after a year and winning the title! That is half parts awesome and half parts hilarious :lol:.

Imagine if he wins, the confidence he gains, I'm thinking another clay sweep yet again. Interesting times.....Is Rafa playing Miami?

Poor Delpo though, I want him to get his first masters but with all that time spent on court, I wonder if he'll be up to it.

Yep, get ready for another clay sweep.
 

TheF1Bob

Banned
Delpo will be good for a set, that's it. It's a darn shame to see Nadal gifted a title. (only way he's gonna win a HC event)

Disgusting.
 

fundrazer

G.O.A.T.
Probably the first match in a long time that I'm looking forward to. Hopefully Delpo can finish off a stellar tournament with a win over Rafa.
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Good post. A win tomorrow takes him back to no.4 in the world which is obviously key to get easier draws ahead on the clay. If he wins tomorrow, he may opt not to play Miami and could in theory still stay ahead of Ferrer, unless Ferrer goes quite far in Miami (Ferrer is defending QF points from last year). Miami doesn't suit his game as well. Slow court but lower bouncing and doesn't take the topspin as well as Indian Wells.

Thank God, get Ferrer out of there!
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Imagine if he wins, the confidence he gains, I'm thinking another clay sweep yet again. Interesting times.....Is Rafa playing Miami?

.


Good question. I think he should. He has the momentum with him and he didn't exert himself that hard in IW. But everybody seems to believe he'll skip it. So, we'll see.
 

mattennis

Hall of Fame
Whoever wins tomorrow will get to nº2 in the Race Ranking.

Defeating Murray and Djokovic back to back on hard courts (M-1000 level also) is a great feat.

Del Potro slowly coming back to his top-5 "real" level.

Tomorrow final? I have no idea.

If Del Potro is not too spent, I give 50-50.
 

pds999

Hall of Fame
Whoever wins tomorrow will get to nº2 in the Race Ranking.

Defeating Murray and Djokovic back to back on hard courts (M-1000 level also) is a great feat.

Del Potro slowly coming back to his top-5 "real" level.

Tomorrow final? I have no idea.

If Del Potro is not too spent, I give 50-50.

It's not 50:50 even if Delpo is fresh. That court plays as much like a claycourt as anything outside the red stuff itself. Topspin bites a lot on the rough surface and the ball bounces high. Perfect for Rafa. Not so much for Delpo.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
You gotta chill out

I'm chilled all right. What part of my post is not true? (The #1 thing is just a prediction, Rafa is gonna become super confident if he wins his 1st title on hard since 2010 and confident Rafa is very, very hard to beat so it's not like it's an extravagant prediction. He was also the USO finalist in both 2010 and 2011, so it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to do well again there this year). Other than that, everything in my post is just plain facts.
 
Wow, Rafa actually has a great shot at coming back on HC after a year and winning the title! That is half parts awesome and half parts hilarious :lol:.

Imagine if he wins, the confidence he gains, I'm thinking another clay sweep yet again. Interesting times.....Is Rafa playing Miami?

Poor Delpo though, I want him to get his first masters but with all that time spent on court, I wonder if he'll be up to it.

Don't you worry about Delpo he is so high on adrenaline because he is in the final of a masters 1000! He won't let tiredness get in the way.

Imagine if Delpo wins then he gets massive confidence and he is a player who can beat Nadal on clay unlike a Tsonga or Murray.
 

pds999

Hall of Fame
Good question. I think he should. He has the momentum with him and he didn't exert himself that hard in IW. But everybody seems to believe he'll skip it. So, we'll see.

Yep I agree he will probably skip it, especially if he wins tomorrow. But if he does, he loses the 360 points he got last year in Miami from reaching the semis. So he would get the no.4 ranking back on Monday then lose it straight away to Ferrer after Miami. That Top 4 ranking is important going into the clay season as he isn't going to be able to gain any points on last year other than in Madrid (as he won everything). That potentially leaves him at no.5 for Wimbledon, not a good draw.
 

TheF1Bob

Banned
I think you are wrong about that. He is back and fresh as a daisy.

Rafa's health has nothing to do with this. Delpo needs to be 100% to beat your man and that ain't happening.

It will be a dark day for tennis when Rafa is victorious over the tired, exhausted Delpo.
 

malbaker86

Hall of Fame
I'm chilled all right. What part of my post is not true? (The #1 thing is just a prediction, Rafa is gonna become super confident if he wins his 1st title on hard since 2010 and confident Rafa is very, very hard to beat so it's not like it's an extravagant prediction. He was also the USO finalist in both 2010 and 2011, so it's perfectly reasonable to expect him to do well again there this year). Other than that, everything in my post is just plain facts.

I'm just not trying to jinx Nadal in thinking all of what he can accomplish with a win tomorrow. I'm nervous!
 
It's not 50:50 even if Delpo is fresh. That court plays as much like a claycourt as anything outside the red stuff itself. Topspin bites a lot on the rough surface and the ball bounces high. Perfect for Rafa. Not so much for Delpo.

Delpo beat Nadal on a similar court a week ago and thats the same argument for why he couldn't win today, he couldn't hit through Novak. :-|
 

mattennis

Hall of Fame
When was the last time a player beat 3 of the top 4 (real top 4) in succession? Has it ever happened before? If JMDP pulls this off it would be amazing. Today was a grueling battle though and let's see if he can recover. I hope Rafa wins, but I would be totally fine with Delpo taking home his first M1000 title. He's such a likeable fella.

As for the match Delpo can't use the slice to effect like he did today vs Djokovic. Rafa will just kill it with his FH cc. We'll see how things go tomorrow. Vamos!

In 2007 Canadian Open M-1000 Djokovic defeated nº3 Roddick in the QF, nº2 Nadal in the SF and nº1 Federer in the Final.

In 2007 Madrid M-1000 Nalbandian defeated nº2 Nadal in the QF, nº3 Djokovic in the SF and nº1 Federer in the Final.

Two weeks later, in Paris-Bercy M-1000 he defeated nº1 Federer in R16 and nº2 Nadal in the Final.
 

The-Champ

Legend
Good question. I think he should. He has the momentum with him and he didn't exert himself that hard in IW. But everybody seems to believe he'll skip it. So, we'll see.

Win or lose, Nadal should skip Miami. He's played 4 events already. If he wants a shot at winning anythinng during the clay season, he best rest those knees..
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Who the hell cares about Rafas health? Delpo needs to be 100% to beat your man and that ain't happening.

It will be a dark day for tennis when Rafa is victorious over the tired, exhausted Delpo.

My post was in response to your post saying that the only way Nadal can win a title on HC is if he plays an exhausted Del Potro. You are implying that if he played Djokovic on hc he would lose. I am not so sure about that.

And Nadal is not my man, I am a Federer fan but I am not blind and stupid.
 

eliars

Hall of Fame
In 2007 Canadian Open M-1000 Djokovic defeated nº3 Roddick in the QF, nº2 Nadal in the SF and nº1 Federer in the Final.

In 2007 Madrid M-1000 Nalbandian defeated nº2 Nadal in the QF, nº3 Djokovic in the SF and nº1 Federer in the Final.

Two weeks later, in Paris-Bercy M-1000 he defeated nº1 Federer in R16 and nº2 Nadal in the Final.

Nalby also beat Djokovic that time around? Wow. It has been done before then. Thanks for the info.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Yep I agree he will probably skip it, especially if he wins tomorrow. But if he does, he loses the 360 points he got last year in Miami from reaching the semis. So he would get the no.4 ranking back on Monday then lose it straight away to Ferrer after Miami. That Top 4 ranking is important going into the clay season as he isn't going to be able to gain any points on last year other than in Madrid (as he won everything). That potentially leaves him at no.5 for Wimbledon, not a good draw.


I agree: momentum + points: he should play. He would easily make the quarter at least. Totally worth it imo. Unless the knee is bothering him of course. It really sucks to be #5 when everybody knows he's a better player than #4 on paper.
 

TheF1Bob

Banned
My post was in response to your post saying that the only way Nadal can win a title on HC is if he plays an exhausted Del Potro. You are implying that if he played Djokovic on hc he would lose. I am not so sure about that.

And Nadal is not my man, I am a Federer fan but I am not blind and stupid.

The only way Novak would lose to Nadal, on this court, if he played like he did today or like he against Wawrinka at AO.

Rafa needs Novak to play ****e for him to beat him, on a HC that is.

It's not fiction, it's a damn fact.
 

mattennis

Hall of Fame
Nalby also beat Djokovic that time around? Wow. It has been done before then. Thanks for the info.

If Del Potro wins tomorrow, it will be up there with Djokovic's and Nalbandian's 2007 feats (even if Nadal is not currently top-3, but defeating back-to-back-to-back Murray, Djokovic and Nadal on this so slow hard court is an amazing feat).

I can't see Tsonga or Berdych or Ferrer (LOL) doing something like that.

Del Potro needs to get to top-5 as soon as possible.
 
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