2018 US Open SF - Rafael Nadal (1) vs JM Del Potro (3)

[RF-18]

Bad ending but congrats to Del Po.

 

[tennis4me]

Just started watching from beginning of 2nd set. When did this 'injury' started? Did it start from the start of the match? thanks

 

[Deleted member 756486]

Thiem is the reason Delpo won. That’s what I’m telling myself so I can feel somewhat content.

 

[Slightly D1]

Have people even watched this tournament at all? Nadal’s knee has been an issue for a few matches now and it showed. “He’s tanking to avoid Djokovic!” seems to be something a lot of Federer fans seem to be saying when their man got smacked around by a bum even without any ailments.

 

[2011]

'Fraud and dull' retired before potential beatdown against nole...huh...#********moto

Nadal can't stand b2b tough matches now, in AO diego-cilic combo, and now kach-bash-thiem trio...any tough match in RG too might bring same result in future

 

[alexio]

Fake retirement

if you really think so you very stupid sorry

 

[FedEx23]

Fed fan here. This is desperately sad to see. No joy in watching that end.

Nadal is indeed epic.

When he's playing I can't stand how epic he is. But when he walks off all beat up like that, it's sad.

 

[zagor]

no i know, I missed the match so perhaps i have no room to talk but its just seems to be that the longer/more physical a match becomes, the more enjoyable it is and I don't necessarily believe that.

Oh sure, I don't subscribe to that mentality. I want variety most of all, I can enjoy a heavy topspin slugfest but I also want a steady diet of low bouncing fast court matches, Basically i want the 90s back.

 

[maxrenn]

Work killed me today, I'll be ready for the final

Ahh harsh man, I'll be rooting for Delpo too he's such a dude, my second favourite player.

 

[lud]

Same old story..
Djokovic = fear incarnate for Federer/Nadal

 

[ak24alive]

So the slam difference will remain the same in 2019 as it was after FO 14.

Yeah we should talk about that. Its the only thing that matters.

 

[NoleFam]

he can win RG till the day he dies, but he has to change his playstyle on HC unless he gets another 2017 USO road.

He just wasn't playing well this year and too passive. Then he got drawn into long slug fests where he had to employ too much defense to offense and wore himself out. He didn't play well last year either imo and won it because his draw was rather kind. But sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

 

[Technology Ruined Tennis]

With Joker back to respectability, I have a feeling that someone has found their reason for skipping the O2 Exho.

 

[Deleted member 756486]

Sucks for Nadal, feel for him...but Delpo was due one of these. Long overdue

All jokes aside, happy for you.

 

[chicagodude]

Fed fan here. This is desperately sad to see. No joy in watching that end.

Nadal is indeed epic.

Nice to see some actual decent tennis fans here, sometimes I forget how toxic many threads here become.

 

[AlexanderTheGreat08]

Delpo knew he was injured

 

[AndyM]

Well delpo can send some gift basket to Dominic thiem do you think if thiem would have won that match hehe would have been okay to fight delpo today or would he have been sluggish

 

[redbirdone]

What a ****** kitty kat. Knew he couldn't compete so threw in the towel. What a female anatomy part. This is why I love Fed. Fed loses and admits he sucked. Nadal loses and claims something something something hurts.

 

[underground]

Thiem is the reason Delpo won. That’s what I’m telling myself so I can feel somewhat content.

Honestly think Rafa was done after the Khachanov match, given the conditions and everything else.

 

[West Coast Ace]

organizers probably knew rafa was in tough shape

No. Blowouts can happen. Just fair warning to Djokovic and Nishikori to get their hits in.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Wow, first slam Djokovic wins not playing one of the big 4

Djokovic has not won the match yet Have some respect for Nishikori please

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Real shame it ended this way. Another bad thing is it's tough to expect from Nadal to be ready for the Davis Cup tie next week.

Congratulations to Del Potro on another big step in his return during these few years.

 

[icedevil0289]

Oh sure, I don't subscribe to that mentality. I want variety most of all, I can enjoy a heavy topspin slugfest but I also want a steady diet of low bouncing fast court matches, Basically i want the 90s back.

but apparently according to some the 90s was all serve and boring with no rallies..never mind that baseliners were plenty successful iiirc from that era.

 

[davced1]

if you really think so you very stupid sorry

No it's just my sense of humor. Of course I know he was injured.

 

[wim2015]

I agree 100%. But it's really a 1-2-3 punch. KAchanov- baishavalli - Thiem.
Thiem was obviously the hardest match by far. But if it was only 1 match, then maybe Rafa would have survived.
But three tough matches back to back, does it undone. He ran more in 5 matches, than he did in all 7 last year. Plus he is older now.

Thiem is a tough opponent, but it's Nadal's fault not to finish Khachanov and Baishavalli earlier. I watched this two matches and felt Nadal was old for the first time.

 

[mule250]

lol. I was going to, but it would seem like a low blow considering the circumstances.

What is the 0-23 referencing?

 

[Poisoned Slice]

For my man Burt Reynolds. JMDP has the touch.

 

[metsman]

He just wasn't playing well this year and too passive. Then he got drawn into long slug fests where he had to employ too much defense to offense and wore himself out. He didn't play well last year either imo and won it because his draw was rather kind. But sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

I think QF-F he played way better than he did this year (low level from opponents helped, but he was legit great for most of those sets) but last year's Nadal with this year's road may not have won.

 

[dudeski]

Hey everyone. What did I miss? US Open website told me that Nadal is fighter like no other. I am assuming he is still on track to win this US Open?

 

[NatF]

You want Nadal to be out as long as possible. Quit the act.

Won't say too much to this, understandable that you're pissed (especially with some of the responses in here).

I've never celebrated anyones injuries.

 

[TennisFan3]

Nadal has come back from bad knees 50 times in his career. Lol. He is going to win more than 1 more RG. He will recover from this and come back.

I hope. But he's 32. Lot of mileage, getting older. And definitely not as strong as Novak.
He might retire next year, who knows.

 

[Federer and Del Potro]

All jokes aside, happy for you.

Thanks man I wish it would have come under better circumstances though. IE A fit RAFA. Winning that Wimbledon match would have been epic.

But I'll take it obviously. Let's see what he can do Sunday.

 

[metsman]

Oh sure, I don't subscribe to that mentality. I want variety most of all, I can enjoy a heavy topspin slugfest but I also want a steady diet of low bouncing fast court matches, Basically i want the 90s back.

90s surfaces might be too fast for poly. I think 03 had the best speed of surfaces for the modern game.

 

[Deleted member 120290]

Congrats to Delpo. Well played. He would have won anyway. Don't take anything away from the victor.

Hope to see Nishikori/Delpo final. We don't need 3 players sharing 200 GS titles

 

[FedTheMan]

You want Nadal to be out as long as possible. Quit the act.

Lol. I won't pretend that I am not glad that Nadal is out of the tournament as he is Fed's greatest rival and the biggest threat to the slam record. I am sad however, that he was injured and could not compete to the best of his abilities. I thought Delpo would win in 4 sets based on their respective forms this edition but it's a shame it was not a match.

Hope Nadal is back and healthy next year at the AO along with Fed, Djoko, Murray, Stan, Nishi, DelPo, Cilic, and the usual suspects. At this point of their careers, only slams matter and their legacies are set in tennis.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Ahhh...bummer. I still think DelPo was the better in form player, but hate injuries.

 

[NoleFam]

The signs were there at the Khachanov match. I wonder how much painkillers he’s been taking since then.

The signs were there but he's pulled out tournaments before with a bum knee. The slow court mixed with him not being aggressive enough caused him to play too many long matches and made his injury worse.

 

[Backspin1183]

Sucks for Nadal, feel for him...but Delpo was due one of these. Long overdue

I am happy for him, like I was happy for Federer after AO'17. Well deserved victory.

As for Nadal, if he continues going deep on non clay Slams like this year, he will hold some more titles for sure.

 

[chicagodude]

Nadal has retired in 2/4 Slams citing injury this year. I wonder if he really did it both times if he was in winning position.

You seldomly get into winning position in the latter stages of a major if you're injured, so it's an odd question to ask.

 

[tennisaddict]

@Sport in the Thiem Rafa QF thread I told you I felt bad for Rafa as this match will ruin the end if year for Rafa and the points gap with Novak will now vanish in no time paving the way for Joe to get back to No 1 early 2019 and you didn't like what you heard.

It is there plain for everyone to see

 

[Chanwan]

Commiserations to the good Nadal fans. Icwanted Delpo to win, but not like this. Injury is a horrible way to lose.

Let's hope he will recover and end this season on a high note.

Agreed. Except for the high note

 

[bezs]

Happy for Juan Martin, hopefully he goes all the way.

 

[DRII]

retired in both HC majors this year. Nadal has to do what he did at Wimby and be more aggressive in the early rounds. Those Basilashvilli type matches and Khachanov/Thiem grindfests are way too much for him at this age. In this way, the slow HC may actually be working against him because he's not comfortable attacking a lot on these courts.

his knee problems were not because of long matches.

started after his 1st rd win, which was a quick one.

this loss was not due to some endurance issue, it was because of an injury!

 

[West Coast Ace]

It doesn't look good on him anymore either. He's too old for the sleeveless look.

Rafa watching 2022 World Cup

 

[Incognito]

Thiem is the reason Delpo won. That’s what I’m telling myself so I can feel somewhat content.

Just stop! Juan has been playing well these whole two weeks. Even if Rafa wasn’t injured, delpo could still have beaten him. DelPo is also very fresh and his backhand is back.

 

[Red Rick]

Screw him. Absolute disgrace of a “journalist”.

Absolute disgrace of "intelligent" life

 

[Rina]

retired in both HC majors this year. Nadal has to do what he did at Wimby and be more aggressive in the early rounds. Those Basilashvilli type matches and Khachanov/Thiem grindfests are way too much for him at this age. In this way, the slow HC may actually be working against him because he's not comfortable attacking a lot on these courts.

But, this was obviously not by choice. Clearly if he could have avoided the grinds he would have. The whole tournament it was clear he was scraping by mental fortitude and weakness of his opponents. Del Potro wasn't going to allow that. He is 29 after all, not measly 25 year old like Thiem.

 

[Sudacafan]

No winners in the poll. It was Delpo in 2.

 

[Jontyg]

Let's wait for press conference.

No need..we all know..its one m

He didn’t retired against Wawrinka , Glad to see know you watched the match

He should have retired at the AO 14 finals..... I am merely pointing out the fact that..for some reason a guy who retires during matches is revered for his fighting spirit while a guy who just mentiones that.."At some point you just want the match to be over" is vilified for it..go figure..

 

[Deleted member 756486]

Real shame it ended this way. Another bad thing is it's tough to expect from Nadal to be ready for the Davis Cup tie next week.

Congratulations to Del Potro on another big step in his return during these few years.

Yeah I don’t think Nadal will be fit for DC. Huge blow for Spain.

Hope he can play Shanghai.