ATP 250 Buenos Aires Semi-final: Nadal vs Thiem (Who's the King of Clay)

[Meles]

Thiem 3 clay tiles in 2015, Gstaad, Umag, and Nice.

Nadal 2 clay titles, Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Nadal far from sharp this week, but Thiem has been pumping out the UEs too. Luckily Thiem had a relatively easy QF win, so he'll be ready to give his best.

Oldal still has a foot speed advantage, but Thiem has had matches with sublime footwork this year. If Nadal does not hit with authority and short, Thiem will probably crush him. A great match and hopefully we'll see a few more Nadal vs Thiem clashes on clay this year.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

it's thiem!

a quick denadalization in 2... we don't want the bull to get cooked under the sun, do we?

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

(We all know who is the King of Clay)

Rafa in 3.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

(We all know who is the King of Clay)

Rafa in 3.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Rafa: *gulp*
I miss the bunny already.

 

[Wynter]

Thiem in 2

 

[Meles]

Rafa: *gulp*
I miss the bunny already.

Rafa's bunnies lately:

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Rafa's bunnies lately:

Rafa has been trying to use the holy hand grenade to remove that problem but he keeps counting wrong.

 

[Meles]

Bunnies makes me think of @tennis_commentator who ought to be providing insights for this match. Its OK TC, Verdasco withdrew from the tournament.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

and this is just the beginning of the revenge of the bunnies...

 

[Meles]

Thiem vs Nadal on court in about 10 minutes after rain delay.

 

[vanioMan]

Any stream?

 

[Meles]

They are on the court!

 

[Meles]

try batmanstream

 

[Meles]

Bigger cheer for Rafa's intro, but Thiem got some love.

 

[coolschreiber]

Thiem blows too hot and cold in general I feel. Hopefully not today. He needs to find that consistency gear when things are not going well on overdrive.

 

[Meles]

Thiem blows too hot and cold in general I feel. Hopefully not today. He needs to find that consistency gear when things are not going well on overdrive.

Lots of UEs this week, but Nadal rusty. It will be interesting to see if both bring their A game.

 

[Meles]

Warmup done.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Do it fast Rafa.

 

[Meles]

Was that Vilas the crowd went nuts for?

 

[vanioMan]

try batmanstream

Thanks.

 

[Meles]

Nice hold Rafa!

 

[Meles]

Thanks.

Glad your watching, but that looks like Sentinel's old Avatar.

 

[insideguy]

The thing i will give nadal who i dont like is no one and i mean no one would generate this much interest playing in a clay 250 in feb. Lol.

 

[Meles]

Ugh. The Thiem UE machine appears to be working again.

 

[Backspin1183]

Until I see Nadal destroy one of the top dogs on red clay this season, I won't believe he will win the French Open again.

 

[vanioMan]

Glad your watching, but that looks like Sentinel's old Avatar.

I'm @Sentinel now.

It's complicated...

 

[coolschreiber]

Break back woot!!!

 

[Meles]

Thiem breaks back! Thiem breaks! Thiem serving 1-2.

 

[Pidgeon]

Nadals FH is just AWOL atm... Thiem not playing good either.

 

[Deleted member 3771]

what the...that was one of the worst games i've ever seen Nadal play.

 

[insideguy]

Tracey and justin talking bout different balls. Is there any other sport that uses different balls all the time?

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

You are you actually supporting now Meles?

 

[Meles]

I'm @Sentinel now.

It's complicated...

I'm telling. @Sentinel

 

[Meles]

You are you actually supporting now Meles?

Thiem 100% on clay. Still love Rafa. Hoping for awesome match.

 

[insideguy]

Rafa just goes on walkabouts for games now a days. You just cant do that against top players on any regular basis.

 

[Meles]

This match is going to be really good. Rafa getting worked up. Battle of top spin and who can hit heaviest. Rafa has had good depth so far.

 

[ForumMember]

any stream pls?

 

[Tomxc]

any stream pls?

http://live.robinwidget.com/streami...thiem-atp-buenos-aires-tennis-atp-249444.html

 

[Uncle Ebeneezer]

Rafa just goes on walkabouts for games now a days. You just cant do that against top players on any regular basis.

Yup. And usually at worst times (like right after breaking opponent.)

 

[insideguy]

You can see rafa pattern against one handed backhands. But his serve to the backhand doesnt work against joker.

 

[Meles]

Tight match so far. Both playing well.

 

[NextGeneration]

Break point for Rafa

 

[DTLFH]

aghhh Break Point saved

 

[Uncle Ebeneezer]

aghhh Break Point saved

That was awful. Second serve and Rafa just dumps FH into net on return...sigh

 

[Sentinel]

Tight match so far. Both playing well.

what is the score. i cant find it on http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/rotterdam/407/live-scores?

okay got it, no longer all on one page. 4-4

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Just checking in. Come on Rafa you have to play better than this.

 

[Meles]

Thiem! double break point!

 

[NextGeneration]

Theim breaks!

 

[LinePainter]

Love how Thiem just smokes the ball, 5-4!