[1] NADAL vs. [3] FEDERER - Semifinal Miami 2011

Who will be a 2011 Finalist?

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Marius_Hancu said:
Such as which one exactly?
Those are normal and realistic questions.
This is what the public wants to know.
.
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The problem is not with asking questions.The problem is that they kept pressing on with the same thing after Fed had already given a reasonable response to the slam question before.
 
I have been stating ever since Rome 2006..Fed should have serve and volleyed against Nadal. For years fed would crush someone 1st rd,2nd rd etc
clear he would win after 1st set..he couldhave got better at aerveandvolley and tuned for nadal...

Sambras serve andvolleyd his way to three miamititles..including beatingguga in2000. wow..andeveryone thiks sambras is stubbornLOL
 
Roger said in his presser " Yeah, I think Rafa is going to give Novak a run for the money, and I'm going to pick Rafa. "

Djoko does not get any love from Fed and he's friendly with Rafa. Good choice Rog. You pick the right champion. And I guess if it was Djoko vs Murray, he'd pick Murray as well....just a hunch.
 
mandy01 said:
The problem is not with asking questions.The problem is that they kept pressing on with the same thing after Fed had already given a reasonable response to the slam question before.
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And they will keep doing it until Roger decides to get out. That is the "game." It is not pretty but that is how it is. The media is always looking for the next hot thing and the rise and fall story.

I agree though that it would drive me crazy being asked the same questions every day but it won't change just because we don't like it. Roger can choose to not answer but he knows it is part of the game.
 
It was always gonna be tough for Federer here in Miami against the likes of Nadal or Djokovic.Pretty much every serve he hits is returned and he has to play a rally.He went with the mindset that he had to shorten the points and go for a little more then usual against the other tour players.Also for him it was tough to take positives from this week except maybe the Monaco match cause his other opponents were really poor and Simon was injured.
 
My observations (i.e. just repeating **** everyone has already said)

- Roger was so farking SLOOOW out there.

- How many times did Rog hit the farking netcord? About as many times as I do in an hour and I'm a ****** weekend warrior.

- Roger's errors made my jaw drop. Not in the quantity but in how freaking bad they were. Like totally FUBAR UEs.

- Roger's presser comments? One word: DELUSIONAL.

- Roger's defensive skills are seriously lacking especially if he's moving slower than Aunt Jemima (the woman or the syrup, take your pick). He won't be able to get it done agains Nads and Djoker if he thinks he can get away with just trying to play offensively and hitting a milllion FUBAR UEs in the process.

Roger needs someone to light a fire under his ass. I am offering to help in this matter. I would do it for free.

Or maybe Martina can go off on him again and remind him that a great deal of effort is required to get the job done after 30.
 
If we compare to soccer Federer feels like Real Madrid.U are up there in the rankings,win consistenly but when u play Barcelona(lost 5-0 last time)u are always going to struggle.
 
From the press conf:
I was determined and trying to cut down the length of the rallies, taking the ball early, serving well and mixing it up well ‑ and then a few specific details I'm not going to share ‑ but I wasn't able to do to tonight; Rafa was able to do his game plan, and he deserves to be in the finals.

Found this interesting. Wonder if he has anything up his sleeve?
 
Bah...people are way too dramatic. Losing a semi in a 1000 event is a decent result. Even prime fed did this. Last week Nadal lost in a semi.

Bad game plan and terrible execution though. Federer was going for broke on every ball when he didn't have to. He gave up the middle to go for high risk shots and left himself wide open on the fh side. IMO, the bad matchup is based on the fact Federer hits that inside out fh right into Nadal's fh and Nadal's best shot is the fh dtl.
 
I've gotta say, in the last few Fed v. Djokovic matches, despite the eventual result, Fed was not wrong in saying that it was just a few points here and there that made the difference in each one. But yesterday, it was not a few 'here and there' details. But for a few moments of brilliance, Fed was basically nowhere :(
 
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Wow, what a weird result. I expected Nadal to win, but not this easily. I thought Roger would win a set and make it a competition. But I'm looking at the bright side, consistent results for Fed. Nothing fancy, but Fed hasn't lost before a SF at any event since last year's USO, so eventually he'll win some.
38 UEs from Roger (or something like that) is just unacceptable however. I think Roger should really reconsider his relationship with Annacone. His new game is good enough to beat most guys but way too shanky and shaky to beat the likes of Rafovic.

Many might not agree with me, but I think what ruined it the most for Roger was his lack of a proper QF match. Nadal had to sweat for his, and Roger came for five minutes. I think if he'd have won a real competition against Simon he'd have probably hit the ball more cleanly. Oh well.

Great win for Rafa of course, like I said I'm picking him to win this event, he's the right guy to stop Djokovic's run.
 
Wilander Fan said:
Bah...people are way too dramatic. Losing a semi in a 1000 event is a decent result. Even prime fed did this. Last week Nadal lost in a semi.

Bad game plan and terrible execution though. Federer was going for broke on every ball when he didn't have to. He gave up the middle to go for high risk shots and left himself wide open on the fh side. IMO, the bad matchup is based on the fact Federer hits that inside out fh right into Nadal's fh and Nadal's best shot is the fh dtl.
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In the final.
 
Pavlos said:
I've gotta say, in the last few Fed v. Djokovic matches, despite the eventual result, Fed was not wrong in saying that it was just a few points here and there that made the difference in each one. But yesterday, it was not a few 'here and there' details. But for a few moments of brilliance, Fed was basically nowhere :(
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In IW yes, but not in Dubai. Dubai was a total Federer shankfest. I think it even had an identical scoreline. Not sure though.
 
Fedace said:
Nadal is just insane good for Federer. Roger decided he can't beat him anymore.
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I don't tnink Roger would have bothered going into court if he didn't believe in his chances. These guys are comeptitive players, they want to win, they want to play the best they can, they love the challenge. I remember that after the AO final Roger was asked if he believes he can beat Nadal again, and he said yes. At the time it seemed like he's wrong, but Roger beat him twice since then, on two totally opposite surfaces.

The thing is, you can never know what you're going to get from Roger at any given day now. He can, at one match, hit insane shots and move well and serve well and everyone will go "Oh Roger teh GOAT is backk its like 2007 Again!!!111" and in the next match ******** will appear and everyone will go "Fed needs to retire".
 
Magnus said:
I don't tnink Roger would have bothered going into court if he didn't believe in his chances. These guys are comeptitive players, they want to win, they want to play the best they can, they love the challenge. I remember that after the AO final Roger was asked if he believes he can beat Nadal again, and he said yes. At the time it seemed like he's wrong, but Roger beat him twice since then, on two totally opposite surfaces.

The thing is, you can never know what you're going to get from Roger at any given day now. He can, at one match, hit insane shots and move well and serve well and everyone will go "Oh Roger teh GOAT is backk its like 2007 Again!!!111" and in the next match ******** will appear and everyone will go "Fed needs to retire".
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What do you mean here? Don't think Federer can just arbitrarily decide not to play a match, whoever the opponent.
 
Fedace said:
Nadal is just insane good for Federer. Roger decided he can't beat him anymore.
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No matter how many times he's lost to him he will always feel he can beat him on any given day since he has beaten him 8 times, yesterday was just a bad day, and the perfect conditions for rafa and probably worst for roger, roger just hasn't played well in those important matches lately all he needs is one good match which could change everything around, which im sure is right around the corner, to get back into the mix with rafa and novak. This is rafa's perfect opportunity to finally win this tournament for the first time, everything seems to be working, especially his serve, even though against roger all he did was serve to the backhand, but against berdych it really saved him. Its strange actually that rafa has yet to win this tournament, this type of court suits his game perfectly, and now that he has a much better serve than a couple of years ago i would go as far to say this type of hardcourt fits his game just as good if not better than on the clay courts apart from RG. Should be a really good match against novak, im saying rafa in 3.
 
This comment just about sums up what I watched last night. Greg Garber, ESPN Desportes.

There were times during Nadal's 6-3, 6-2 humiliation that Federer looked like a man chasing a bus -- with his hair on fire.
 
Well, Federer, has won almost everything at least once, with the exception of a few tournaments, including Monte Carol and the Italian Open, not to mention an Olympic gold medal in singles (although he has an Olympic gold medal from his doubles win in Beijing with Wawrinka). But it's unlikely that Federer will win a tournament like the Italian Open at this late stage, unless his main rivals lost in earlier rounds before he got a chance to play them. Yet, listening to Federer, it seems that he wants to play on for several more years. Which is nice for all of his fans, myself included.
 
Wow I expected Nadal to win but did Roger ever suck. His decline is really picking up speed now. I would be amazed if he doesnt retire late in 2012 at the latest if this is the best he can produce now. It really shows the complete lack of depth in the field today that only Nadal and Djokovic can beat him right now when he really isnt that good a player anymore.

Nadal looked great though. I am excited to see him play a much more consistent match after the up and down Berdych affair. Hopefully he can win Miami for the first time.
 
Awesome tennis from nadal, federer had nowhere to go. So smart and flexible too, I saw a million 120+ mph serves this week from nadal, I saw one in this match. His 1st serve % must have been above 70.

Good luck novak djokovic. :)
 
bolo said:
Awesome tennis from nadal, federer had nowhere to go. So smart and flexible too, I saw a million 120+ mph serves this week from nadal, I saw one in this match. His 1st serve % must have been above 70.

Good luck novak djokovic. :)
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Loved the high defensive backhand lobs that landed on the baseline.
 
So, let me get this straight some of you actually expected Federer to beat Nadal on a surface that takes away winners and aces with its ridiculously slow pace, and bounces very high?

It's not a shock,a prime Federer would still struggle playing on this surface against Nadal.

Federer has had some early round losses in tournaments on slow HC against consistent counter punchers nearly every year of his career prime or not.
 
TBH, all I wanted to see was Federer FIGHT! I know he probably was, but he didn't seem to show much fight. Has the fight gone? I guessed he would lose from the outset but I wanted to see a more competitive match. Leave your guts on the court like Nadal usually does.
Nadal's fans flock to him because he fights and dies for every point (usually).
When Fed rose briefly, you could see what he was capable of. Blast to Nadal's BH and then finish off cross court. Seemed to work the few times he tried it. Going to Nadal's FH side seemed like suicide, leaving the court open as the Sahara.
 
Cesc Fabregas said:
Loved the high defensive backhand lobs that landed on the baseline.
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He did everything at a high level and ofcourse federer isn't as fast as he used to be.

I want to see what kind of mph nadal will go for on grass vs. federer. Stick with the 08 serve or bring out the 2010 serve. :) Maybe they will meet once this year either at Wimbledon or the Olympics.
 
Rafa played a really great match. Really, no one can dominate Fed like Rafa does. The last 3 losses Fed had vs Djoko were nowhere near as one sided. Rafa can truly annihilate his game and confidence completely. First time it's happened on hard though :)

(This board is as delusional as ever, the # of people predicting "Fed in 2" at the begginning of this thread is puzzling. Fed couldn't even do straights indoor vs a washed out Rafa. Amazing how people like living in la la land in here!)
 
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bolo said:
He did everything at a high level and ofcourse federer isn't as fast as he used to be.

I want to see what kind of mph nadal will go for on grass vs. federer. Stick with the 08 serve or bring out the 2010 serve. :) Maybe they will meet once this year either at Wimbledon or the Olympics.
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I don't see how Nadal's 130+ MPH serve(even on grass) would be as effective against Fed...which is why I think Nadal has never decided to serve like that against him. I'm sure Nadal realizes that Fed can return serve bombs much easier(Roddick anyone?) than angle and placement serves, that he continually produces, especially on big points. Plus, they way Nadal is already serving against Fed is clearly effective so why would he change it?
 
It's not the first time I've seen Federer giving up against Nadal. FO final 08, Federer clearly just didn't try in that match.
 
NadalAgassi said:
It really shows the complete lack of depth in the field today that only Nadal and Djokovic can beat him right now when he really isnt that good a player anymore.
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Which pretty much will allow Rafole to share the majors this year.

AO Nole
FO Rafa
W Rafa
USO Nole

You have the top 2 and then a HUGE gap and then Fed and then a Super HUGE gap.

:shock:
 
For those of you using the "surface" excuse, you are clearly past the "denial" phase and now into "rationalization". The surface does not explain many of the terrible events of last night.

What really worried me was how SLOW Roger was. I am really hoping he was just "off" as I don't recall seeing him so slow in recent matches.

The other worrisome thing was his total brainfarts, in particular some of the volleys which were easy put-aways. I really think his mental game and confidence are off and this is something that is very difficult to turn around esp. if he is always losing to the same two players. Its hard to reconcile this with his press conferences where he continues to exude confidence. I don't get it. Maybe he's putting on a brave face.
 
It's cool that Rafa took it to Fed(on my birthday no less) and I liked his level but Fed was :shock:

Shoulders slumped from the first points, having lots of UE, playing like crap. I liked a Rafa victory as much as the next fan but this was just sad. I actually felt that Rafa took his foot of the gas for the last bit of the second set or else he could have bageled Fed.

Fed needs to ask himself if he wants to still stay in the game with this attitude. I saw several threads(beside the troll threads) in which they were discussing Fed's game, the age gap and so on, but I think Fed has problems with MOTIVATION.

Where was Fed at his highest motivation wise? In WTF. Why? Everybody was writing him off. He then beat Murray,Djoker and Rafa, and he played his best in the final to avoid the shame of having lost to Rafa in another major venue.

In Miami he had NO FIRE. It was embarrassing to be honest, for a guy of Fed's stature, to not even fight against a rival, and on your wife's birthday. I've seen some craptacular matches from old man Sampras where he got owned but I've rarely seen him give up within the first few games of a match. I would have thought Fed would have come out firing on all cylinders. I doubt anyone would have berated him for losing to Rafa on a slow surface.

But to go out like this. Fed needs to ask himself what he wants out of tennis. Don't listen to the media BS and just try to enjoy tennis. Fed puts too much pressure on himself IMO at times.
 
Mkie7 said:
I hope he does not give up mentally. He needs to make a comeback like Agassi did in his 30s.
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Not happening. Rafole are tons better than the players Agassi had to deal with 10 years ago. Johansson winning a major when Agassi was making the great comeback proves it.:oops: No way a Johansson would be winning a major now.....
 
veroniquem said:
Rafa played a really great match. Really, no one can dominate Fed like Rafa does. The last 3 losses Fed had vs Djoko were nowhere near as one sided. Rafa can truly annihilate his game and confidence completely. First time it's happened on hard though :)

(This board is as delusional as ever, the # of people predicting "Fed in 2" at the begginning of this thread is puzzling. Fed couldn't even do straights indoor vs a washed out Rafa. Amazing how people like living in la la land in here!)
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The usual BS from you.First off-Nadal had PLENTY of rest before WTF.And anyone could very easily claim that Federer was just as tired as Nadal supposedly was (LOL! one slugfest of a match is apparently all a world class athlete like Nadal needs to show up 'exhausted'.And mind you only he can use that excuse) if not more given how much he'd played.Not just that,he finished his match late.
Secondly-This surface plays completely different from indoors where the ball stays low naturally giving Nadal less time.He couldn't hit those supposedly 'legendary' passing shots ,Roger's volleys were just dying on the court except a couple which sat up and he didn't cover the pass.
Thridly-This wasn't entirely Nadal-demolition.There was plenty of self-destructing from Federer.Something similar to what we saw in the Dubai final against Djokovic( and he STILL manages to get more winners than Nadal.LOL!)
 
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Fiji said:
Not happening. Rafole are tons better than the players Agassi had to deal with 10 years ago. Johansson winning a major when Agassi was making the great comeback proves it.:oops: No way a Johansson would be winning a major now.....
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It will be especially difficult at #3 where, as in this tournament, he would have to beat both Nadal and Djokovic to take it. At #2, he might get Murray, Soderling, Berdych, etc., in a semi.
 
angiebaby said:
What do you mean here? Don't think Federer can just arbitrarily decide not to play a match, whoever the opponent.
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I mean that these guys are professional competitors. They like the challenge, they like the competition. Fed could have easily "invented" some injury and skip the match (like many other players do), but he didn't. If you don't believe in your chances to win, there's no reason to go into court or play the sport for that matter.
 
veroniquem said:
Rafa played a really great match. Really, no one can dominate Fed like Rafa does. The last 3 losses Fed had vs Djoko were nowhere near as one sided. Rafa can truly annihilate his game and confidence completely. First time it's happened on hard though :)

(This board is as delusional as ever, the # of people predicting "Fed in 2" at the begginning of this thread is puzzling. Fed couldn't even do straights indoor vs a washed out Rafa. Amazing how people like living in la la land in here!)
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300+ posts of mine and you're the only poster in this forum who I consider a "pure troll". Well done :-)
 
namelessone said:
It's cool that Rafa took it to Fed(on my birthday no less) and I liked his level but Fed was :shock:

Shoulders slumped from the first points, having lots of UE, playing like crap. I liked a Rafa victory as much as the next fan but this was just sad. I actually felt that Rafa took his foot of the gas for the last bit of the second set or else he could have bageled Fed.

Fed needs to ask himself if he wants to still stay in the game with this attitude. I saw several threads(beside the troll threads) in which they were discussing Fed's game, the age gap and so on, but I think Fed has problems with MOTIVATION.

Where was Fed at his highest motivation wise? In WTF. Why? Everybody was writing him off. He then beat Murray,Djoker and Rafa, and he played his best in the final to avoid the shame of having lost to Rafa in another major venue.

In Miami he had NO FIRE. It was embarrassing to be honest, for a guy of Fed's stature, to not even fight against a rival, and on your wife's birthday. I've seen some craptacular matches from old man Sampras where he got owned but I've rarely seen him give up within the first few games of a match. I would have thought Fed would have come out firing on all cylinders. I doubt anyone would have berated him for losing to Rafa on a slow surface.

But to go out like this. Fed needs to ask himself what he wants out of tennis. Don't listen to the media BS and just try to enjoy tennis. Fed puts too much pressure on himself IMO at times.
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Not this **** again. He's already said he wants to get back to number 1. His best chances of doing that are to improve his slow surface points from last year and go all out to win on his best surfaces in grass and fast hard courts. If he was not motivated to win he would have no reason to be out there.
 
Im glad Nadal won but these journalist's are being absolutely classless to Federer. I can understand the sensationalism of a legend "on his way out" but even a non fan like myself can see that man has done too much for the game to be treated so disrespectfully in his twilight.
 
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