AO 2011 R32: Rafael Nadal (1) vs Bernard Tomic

Who wins?

  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .
M

meg0529

Guest
cucio said:
Yeah, and Hewitt said: "this kid is good, he might win Roland Garros one day." Seems like yesterday.
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No way! Really? That's amazing!

I love that that forehand DTL was just as awesome then as it is now. Footwork is certainly much better now but still.
 
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cucio

cucio

Legend
meg0529 said:
No way! Really? That's amazing!
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That's what she said. And this is what he said:

Hewitt said:
"He's like me when I was 16 or 17." The praise for Rafael Nadal comes from Mr. Intensity himself, Lleyton Hewitt who faces the 18-year old Spaniard in front of his home crowd Monday in the showcase encounter of Day 8 at the Australian Open.

The most explosive encounter of the fourth round pits an up-and-coming Nadal against a Hewitt who's arguably playing his best tennis since losing the world number one spot.

Speaking as a 23-year old old-timer, Hewitt discarded his straight sets win over Nadal one year ago in Melbourne in the third round.

For Hewitt, the 18-year old Mallorcan Kid is for real:

"He's hungry, he's intense, he's competitive, he's all of that. He's good for the game and I would be very surprised if he didn't win the French Open one day.

"The big matches don't worry him, he's that kind of kid," added Hewitt who compared Nadal's current form to his own in 1998 when at 17, he stunned everyone including Andre Agassi en route to victory in his home tournament of Adelaide:

“Hes a lot better player than whatever his ranking is, to not be seeded. Hes good on all surfaces. Hes hungry, he’s intense, he’s competitive, he’s all of that, and he’s good for the game.”
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ruerooo

ruerooo

Legend
cucio said:
That's what she said. And this is what he said:
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LOL. Nice that Rafa referred to remembering having played "local legend Lleyton" and being treated well by the Aussie crowd, in his interview, when the interviewers were asking him (and asking him and asking him) about Tomic.
 
flyinghippos101

flyinghippos101

Legend
Realistically, tomic has little if not 0% chance of pulling a win. Winning a set however might be possible. Rafa made some uncharacteric errors and had momentary lapses of fouces even he when was destroying his opponent. Now i by all means hope the kid is destroyed and im backing rafa 100% but you cant help but feel these federeresque loss of concentration might be exploited by tomic for a break, and maybe a set.
 
M

meg0529

Guest
cucio said:
That's what she said.
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LOL. Nice!

ruerooo said:
LOL. Nice that Rafa referred to remembering having played "local legend Lleyton" and being treated well by the Aussie crowd, in his interview, when the interviewers were asking him (and asking him and asking him) about Tomic.
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Yes, he really has a glow on his face in the presser when he was talking about being a young kid, playing Lleyton. Almost like he misses those days, where he could play worry free, not have the pressure to win the whole thing. Very insightful. He normally keeps his pressers straightforward but got all philosophical in this one. haha.

ruerooo said:
Wow, Baby Rafa!
Just as much intensity then as now.
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Baby rafa makes Tomic look like a noob. lol.
 
Legend of Borg

Legend of Borg

G.O.A.T.
flyinghippos101 said:
Realistically, tomic has little if not 0% chance of pulling a win. Winning a set however might be possible. Rafa made some uncharacteric errors and had momentary lapses of fouces even he when was destroying his opponent. Now i by all means hope the kid is destroyed and im backing rafa 100% but you cant help but feel these federeresque loss of concentration might be exploited by tomic for a break, and maybe a set.
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Even if Tomic gets the elusive break, I can't see him holding serve long enough to seal the set.

My prediction is that he will get broken right back as it happened in the first set against Lopez, except he ended up scrapping it in the breaker.

Nadal's intensity will test the young Aussie player thoroughly.
 
Lsmkenpo

Lsmkenpo

Hall of Fame
I am sure Uncle Toni has a good strategy to play Tomic, he will have Nadal stall and take a ton of time between points.

Tomic is only 18, he can not play very well past 11pm, at that point Nadal will strike and win easily.

In the post match interview Tomic's father will announce they are leaving Australia and moving to the United states, since Tennis Australia did not do any favors for Tomic by scheduling him to play so late against Nadal.
 
E

Enigma_87

Professional
[Z]engin;5346594 said:
Nadal's not tested,

I haven't seen Tomic play this tournament, but I doubt that he will push Nadal.
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agree.

Tomic doesn't have that big of a game that can compensate his lack of movement and footwork.

Nadal in straights.
 
Hood_Man

Hood_Man

G.O.A.T.
I'd love to see Tomic push Nadal to 4 sets, or at least a tiebreak or two, but I can't see it happening, not unless Nadal has a 2nd set blip.

Nadal in 3, 6-4 6-4 6-4 (or one break in each set, however that works out).
 
ruerooo

ruerooo

Legend
Hood_Man said:
I'd love to see Tomic push Nadal to 4 sets, or at least a tiebreak or two, but I can't see it happening, not unless Nadal has a 2nd set blip.

(or one break in each set, however that works out).
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That could happen. Remember IW, against Ljubicic?

Vamos Rafa!
 
ruerooo

ruerooo

Legend
The-Champ said:
What if Tomic actually pulls it off, like Rafa did in 2004 (at 17) against ONE of the best ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEJJpfcxHAM
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I don't think Tomic can do that. (Of course, I hope I'm wrong.)

I think Rafa at 18 had more mental strength than Tomic at 18.

Plus, I think Rafa took Roger completely by surprise there -- with all this advance coverage, Tomic couldn't sneak up on Rafa even if he wanted to (which I don't think he does - he seems to like the spotlight).


(You know, it's funny - I didn't even look at the clip; you might be talking about someone completely different. I'm just such a FEDAL girl that I read your cues and took a guess. :) )
 
Lsmkenpo

Lsmkenpo

Hall of Fame
If Tomic thinks the no pace slice shots will trouble Nadal he will learn quickly that they do not.

Nadal spends a lot of time practicing with his coach Francisco Roig and this is exactly how he hits the ball to Nadal, a lot of slice and not much pace. Nadal blasts topspin shots into the corners all day practicing against this shot.

This is also the reason Federer's short slice doesn't work against Nadal, he has years of practice against slice.

Tomic will have to hit through Nadal to have a chance, his usual game will not trouble Nadal.
 
Hood_Man

Hood_Man

G.O.A.T.
If Tomic does win a set (or however unlikely, more than one) it'll be at the tail end of a set either at 5-4/6-5 with Nadal serving to stay in, and the full force of the Australian crowd support behind their man, causing Rafa to lose concentration or get tight, make some unforced errors, and hand Tomic the set.

Not all that likely I'll admit, but I can't otherwise see Tomic having a chance to be honest. Plus he'd need to hold serve long enough to get to that point.

I just wish I could watch it, oh to be a student again...
 
B

bolo

G.O.A.T.
Nadal should take tomic under his wing and groom him to be his no. 7, right below federer, delpo, dasco, djokovic and murray. :)
 
M

meg0529

Guest
bolo said:
Nadal should take tomic under his wing and groom him to be his no. 7, right below federer, delpo, dasco, djokovic and murray. :)
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Nah! I bet Tomic thinks Nadal's not good enough to teach him. LOL.
 
DownTheLine

DownTheLine

Hall of Fame
I've never really liked Nadal and always want him to lose, but I hope he beats Tomic 6-0 6-0 6-0 in 50 minutes. There's too much hype for this sluggish 18 year old. I want him to realize how good those top players really are.


His arms gonna hurt after the match from Nadals heavy ball. ahahahha
 
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MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
DownTheLine said:
I've never really liked Nadal and always want him to lose, but I hope he beats Tomic 6-0 6-0 6-0 in 50 minutes. There's too much hype for this sluggish 18 year old. I want him to realize how good thpose top players really are.


His arms gonna hurt after the match from Nadals heavy ball. ahahahha
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I feel the same, I love when someone hyped up gets crushed.
 
DownTheLine

DownTheLine

Hall of Fame
Messarger said:
when was this?
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Announcers were discussing that he was up 4-1 in a practice set or match. If you've never seen pros play practice sets... well umm they don't really try.. to put it it lightly

Nadal was probably going about 50% and Tomic was probably going his hardest.
 
M

Messarger

Hall of Fame
DownTheLine said:
Announcers were discussing that he was up 4-1 in a practice set or match. If you've never seen pros play practice sets... well umm they don't really try.. to put it it lightly

Nadal was probably going about 50% and Tomic was probably going his hardest.
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but why would they play a practice match so close to the their actual one?
 
westside

westside

Hall of Fame
I feel sorry for the people that bought tickets for tonights session. It's going to be a very quick night
 
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