‘I Saw the Real Rafa in Australia’ – Bjorn Borg Compares Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open Victory to 2021 French Open Loss
- Thread starter weakera
- Start date
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
How many of the experts here thought Rafa was injured before the Djokovic match at the 2021FO or even during the match. I did not spot anything different during the match or in the run up to it, but then again I am only an enthusiast and not an expert.
Bumbaliceps
Professional
At the time I thought he was just playing through exhaustion, but I remember noticing that throughout the whole match he looked in great pain, his face between points was not usual, he was clearly suffering in an abnormal way.
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
Are you kidding here? There was exhaustive conversation on this forum about Nadal's condition going back to his Monte Carlo loss to Rublev when he set a career high for double faults.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
I honestly dont care. Im not that much into tennis anymore, in case you didnt notice im posting 1/10 of what I used to, a trend that started in late 2017.
And btw I still think Djokovic will win more. And I still wont care then.
onefineday
Hall of Fame
The pros understand how tough it is to play forever injured.
Think we are talking about different things. You are saying what was the most dramatic matches where I am saying which we're the most anticipated matches before they began. Was AO 2012 keenly anticipated? I thought Djokovic would hammer Rafa. I felt the fact it was so close helped Nadal in their rivalry big time. He never lost at a Major to Djokovic again until 2015.What's more historic than 5:53, their 2012 AO Final? It probably should have ended in 4 sets, but predictably Nole drops serve to allow Nadal back in! The rest is history with Nadal in control, then missed a passing shot a truck had room to scoot thru! Physically I think I'm sorta still trying to recover from that match watching it from beginning to end! I was up all night until 9 AM the next day! That's one failing of Novak's; he's just the unluckiest guy at times when serving for a match allowing a break! Then there's an extension of a set for no other good reason than his competition just "red lines" to get back to even when down!
Mustard
Bionic Poster
I got up early for the 2012 Australian Open final. I felt optimistic about Nadal's chances.
At that point I thought Djokovic was going to win everything. I thought he was going to become the Greatest ever. Even though Nadal lost that match restored my faith in Rafa as I felt he had turned the corner and he did as he won 6 of the next seven matches between the pair.
Since then Djokovic has never beat a fit on form Rafa except W2018. The rivalry could have been very different had Djokovic straight setted Rafa that day as I thought he would
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