2023 Australian Open R128: [1] Rafael Nadal vs Jack Draper

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Your prediction:

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Well, here we go. Best of 3 sets. Game on.

I honestly wasn’t too impressed with Draper’s level aside from that 2nd break game, which was admittedly solid movement and some courageous running DTL shots. But most of that was Raf making dumb UEs and playing with 2015 level confidence (saw almost no approaches)

While Draper’s serve is quite good and he deserves a lot of credit.. will the real Rafael Nadal please stand up in this set? He’s clearly got a bigger toolkit from the baseline and Draper isn’t hitting through him, not even close. Just look like you care out there man. All I ask. That 2nd set was PATHETIC. Looked like he was trying to figure out how to play tennis after a long break.
 
Mivic said:
Yeah Nadal is close to done. It's kinda crazy how this era has normalised the idea that a guy can fluctuate in intensity from set to set as drastically as Nadal does these days yet remain a top player and a contender at every slam with no end in sight according to most observers. I don't care how weak this era is though, this simply isn't a sustainable way to win, especially not for an older geezer like Nadal. Until recently you at least had to be playing at a semi-respectable level in order to coax these intensity dips from Nadal beyond just having fresh legs but these days more and more opponents are able to induce these dips merely as a result of their superior energy level and youth (nothing really do to with any sort of notable quality). I get how people thought it was crazy to pick Draper prior to this match because he really isn't particularly threatening but one of these days Nadal is going to be washed up and just isn't going to have it in the tank anymore. The writing has been on the wall for a while now even though he won a couple of slams last year. The rapid physical decline is self evident.
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He won 2 slams last year playing that way. We need to see it come to and end with our own eyes before believing it's actually over. No reason to write him off now, 2 sets into his 1R match.
 
I wonder if Nadal got COVID after the USO and has long COVID symptoms. I have been suffering from it for 3 months and random dips in energy, trouble with hand-eye coordination and making more errors than usual when hitting closer to the lines are things I’ve been experiencing too. Nadal is just making too many unexplainable errors for a guy who is deadly consistent typically,
 
MichaelNadal said:
He's fine, I didn't take it that way.
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I don’t need a reason to send a bot to the scrap heap ;)

shawn-michaels-entrance.gif
 
The Blond Blur said:
You were taking at shot at him, I returned fire. Don’t be such a baby about it. If you troll all the time don’t be surprised or butthurt when you get called out for it.
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How dare you call him a baby. you wouldn't say this to his face, he's jacked. not only that but he wears the freshest clothes, eats at the chillest restaurants and hangs out with the hottest dudes. yall are pathetic lol.
 
Kralingen said:
Well, here we go. Best of 3 sets. Game on.

I honestly wasn’t too impressed with Draper’s level aside from that 2nd break game, which was admittedly solid movement and some courageous running DTL shots. But most of that was Raf making dumb UEs and playing with 2015 level confidence (saw almost no approaches)

While Draper’s serve is quite good and he deserves a lot of credit.. will the real Rafael Nadal please stand up in this set? He’s clearly got a bigger toolkit from the baseline and Draper isn’t hitting through him, not even close. Just look like you care out there man. All I ask. That 2nd set was PATHETIC. Looked like he was trying to figure out how to play tennis after a long break.
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Draper is clearly playing way better than your usual R1 opponent.
 
Mivic said:
Yeah Nadal is close to done. It's kinda crazy how this era has normalised the idea that a guy can fluctuate in intensity from set to set as drastically as Nadal does these days yet remain a top player and a contender at every slam with no end in sight according to most observers. I don't care how weak this era is though, this simply isn't a sustainable way to win, especially not for an older geezer like Nadal. Until recently you at least had to be playing at a semi-respectable level in order to coax these intensity dips from Nadal beyond just having fresh legs but these days more and more opponents are able to induce these fluctuations merely as a result of their superior energy level and youth (nothing really do to with any sort of notable quality). I get how people thought it was crazy to pick Draper prior to this match because he really isn't particularly threatening but one of these days Nadal is going to be washed up and just isn't going to have it in the tank anymore. The writing has been on the wall for a while now even though he won a couple of slams last year. The route to victory isn't sustainable and the rapid physical decline is self evident.
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Excellent post. The best post in this thread.
 
InsideOut900 said:
Draper is clearly playing way better than your usual R1 opponent.
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idk about way better. A lot of this is on Nadal playing pretty poorly.

Which isn't too out of the ordinary for him to still struggle to find the range on his forehand the first day of a tournament. He always gets better as a tournament goes on and he gets used to the conditions.
 
MeatTornado said:
He won 2 slams last year playing that way. We need to see it come to and end with our own eyes before believing it's actually over. No reason to write him off now, 2 sets into his 1R match.
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Indeed he did but it's clear that he was winning matches by the skin of his teeth and having to dig into his deepest reserves to come through. That's not sustainable for an athlete that's declining as rapidly from a physical standpoint as Nadal is. Look at the difference in footspeed compared to even a year or two ago. I fully expect him to pull through here too, this isn't a reactionary take. Many top athletes meet a very quick demise and fall off a cliff in the latter stages of their careers, especially if your wins are based on shaky foundations consisting of intangibles such as one's willingness to suffer and outlast opponents the way Nadal's have been recently (unlike Federer who was still able to blitz inferior opposition in his mid thirties). I'm not expecting a slow decline in results but a very rapid one when the time comes, which I believe will be soon.
 
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Mivic said:
Indeed he did but it's clear that he was winning matches by the skin of his teeth and having to dig into his deepest reserves to come through. That's not sustainable for an athlete that's declining as rapidly from a physical standpoint as Nadal is. Look at the difference in footspeed compared to even a year or two ago. I fully expect him to pull through here too, this isn't a reactionary take. Many top athletes meet a very quick demise and fall off a cliff in the latter stages of their career, especially if you're winning the way Nadal has been (unlike Federer who was still able to blitz inferior opposition in his mid thirties). I'm not expecting a slow decline in results but a very rapid one when the time comes, which I believe will be soon.
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Then I don't really know what your point is. No one's saying this is going to keep going on for another decade. We all know the end is coming. Just that he continues to be one of the top favorites at every tournament he enters until proven otherwise. For all his struggles and decline, he's the top seed here for a reason.

Back in 2019 his legs already looked like they were done and the cliff was near. But he kept finding ways to win and here we are.
 
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