2017 Shanghai SF - [1] Rafael Nadal vs [4] Marin Cilic

Who wins?

  • Nadal in 2

    Votes: 31 62.0%
  • Nadal in 3

    Votes: 10 20.0%
  • Cilic in 3

    Votes: 5 10.0%
  • Cilic in 2

    Votes: 4 8.0%

  • Total voters
    50
  • Poll closed .

The Green Mile

Bionic Poster
Nadal leads the H2H 4-1, Marin's only win coming in Beijing back in 09.

Does Nadal continue with his excellent form and reach the final, or will Marin spoil the party and make his 2nd Masters final?

Starts not before 4:30 pm, local time.

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Nadal in two.

Cilic is the perfect example why ranking and seeding is important, in 2017 he has defeated just one top 10 player and just one player seeded above him(Raonic on clay) and he is 5th or 6th in the race
 
It's gonna be a lot tougher than what y'all are saying LMAO
Cilic has the game to test Nadal for sure but I think mentally he has a block against the best players(he is one himself). Plus with Federer potentially looming? He'd rather bow out to Nadal in the Semis than get embarrassed in another final.
 
I hope Nadal will take it. Depends on him. I'm pretty sure Cilic will play a better match than in Wimbledon final, but the result mostly depends on Nadal. If he is physically fine (after so many matches in the last weeks) and will keep serving well then he really should beat Cilic.
 
Why can't we see the result without voting?

Here you go. So far:

20 Rafa in 2
3 Rafa in 3
2 Cilic in 2
4 Cilic in 3

But more often than not when TTW predicts an easy straightset for Rafa off clay or even on it, it usually turns out to be a tight match or/and not in straights and vice versa from my experience.

I'd prefer Rafa's chances under a closed roof. It was very gusty today and probably will be the same for the rest of the event due to the incoming storm. And he has played quite a lot in indoor conditions already.
 
Cant see it any other way except a routine Rafa win.
Btw, with fed almost a lock now for the final, Nadal needs to get that FH clicking, the way it was in Beijing. Every other part of his game is dialed in
 
Here you go. So far:

20 Rafa in 2
3 Rafa in 3
2 Cilic in 2
4 Cilic in 3

But more often than not when TTW predicts an easy straightset for Rafa off clay or even on it, it usually turns out to be a tight match or/and not in straights and vice versa from my experience.

I'd prefer Rafa's chances under a closed roof. It was very gusty today and probably will be the same for the rest of the event due to the incoming storm. And he has played quite a lot in indoor conditions already.
People just have fun with the polls because they don't affect anything.
 
Outside of Fed and Chap, Nadal's losses on HC this season have come to tall guyz in Querrey, Kyrgios, Raonic, Isner (Laver Cup is real, very real). Cilic destroyed Rafa the only time they played on the Asian Swing.




In other words, Nadal in routine straights.
That match in 2009 in Beijing, although I hate to say it, I think Rafa unconsciously tanked it. He was very unhappy at the time over his parent's divorce and he later said in his presser that it's hard to play when you are not mentally in the match.
 
That match in 2009 in Beijing, although I hate to say it, I think Rafa unconsciously tanked it. He was very unhappy at the time over his parent's divorce and he later said in his presser that it's hard to play when you are not mentally in the match.
That happened during AO 2009 though. He won titles in 2009 after that. I think it's more about an injury. He was really bad in the second half of 2009.
 
That happened during AO 2009 though. He won titles in 2009 after that. I think it's more about an injury. He was really bad in the second half of 2009.
His dad told him on the way home after the AO 2009. He did win titles after that, but things came to a head later on and he pulled out of Wimbledon with knee problems and his parent's situation which followed him all through the rest of 2009. I was at the O2 in 2009 and he was just going through the motions. He didn't even win the FO that year.

It's just my take on it. You may be right. I didn't actually see the match. I got my timing wrong and by the time I got up to watch it was all over. Posters said Rafa was 5:0 down within 15 minutes of the start of the match. There was obviously something wrong. Good in a way, because he would have lost to Djoko in the final in the state he was in and their h2h would now be 27-24.
 
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That happened during AO 2009 though. He won titles in 2009 after that. I think it's more about an injury. He was really bad in the second half of 2009.

I remember clearly he said, after the FO, it was both but maybe more mental than physical. His heart was not into it. Yep, that can happen even to him as well. But he got the balance and bounced back. In a way that period also helped him a lot I think, to have another perspective.
 
he's inconsistent and prone to choking but no weapons?

this is going too far

if he's firing on a given day he can take out anyone

he's kinda like delpo lite

Maybe a bit too far. But no way I'd compare him with Delpo though. Not for intensity, not for crowd catching and not for game vision. If I would compare him with another player, that would be Berdych.
The difference is that Cilic has 1 GS. The GS that Cilic won for me remains one of the great mysteries of modern tennis. Marin played perfect 2 weeks, like he never did before, and never did after. I really cannot understand what happened to Cilic in those two weeks, it must have been some incredible supernatural phenomenum.
 
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