egn
Hall of Fame
Main purpose of this thread let's answer the following questions.
1. Will Ferrer/Verdasco repeat their success in the master series?
2. Djokovic or Federer who will have the better clay court season?
3. If someone not Nadal wins a master series who will it be?
4. Who is going to be the French Open finalists this year?
5. Do you think Nadal will lose the French Open?
My answers.
1. Starting with Verdasco, I do not seem him keeping that success. He had a great run last year for a while, but faded fast. His game is strong but he himself is not mentally there. He is just on a slow downward spiral and might do decent, but I don't see him beating any of the top guys on clay this year especially with most being fired up. Ferrer will probably not do as good in my eyes, but I think he stands a strong chance at defending most of his points. He did have his best season in a while last year, but he is on a bit of high after a good run in Australia. I can see him at least making a master series final.
2. Going to go with Federer actually here. Djokovic has been struggling for a while on clay and has not been performing great there. It's going to be close but I can see Federer outdoing Djokovic in the clay court season this year, but not by much. Both have huge motivation to try to get to number 1 and Federer in best of 3 sets has been playing great, besides Fed wants to at least get a shot at beating Nadal on clay again.
3. This is a long shot but I could see Almagro grabbing a clay court master series. He needs to work on his consistency, but just looking at last year he definitely challenged Nadal the most. Pushed him hard in the master series and was the only one who came close to taking a set in France. Nadal actually had to work extra hard against him. He is higher ranked then last year, although not by much so this should help him in getting at least better seedings. He seems to be making progress, we shall see.
4. Well Nadal will be one I believe and this is hard to predict based on seeding, but I'm not sure yet. I feel as if Almagro, Djokovic, Monfils, Fed, Dologopolov are going to be really strong in France however nobody knows where they will be. However I don't see Dolgo winding up near the finals. I'm excited to see Stan in France as well, but I am not going to really be too surprised if the final is Nadal/Djokovic. I don't see Sod getting to his third straight final this year, people are probably going to finally catch on to his game. However I did say that last year.
5. I don't think the tour is ready to beat Nadal on clay yet, but it is a possibility. Almagro could have won last year had he played better on the big points, but thats how a lot of matches go. The person who beats him though is going to have to play a hard hitting game such as Sod did and Almagro was doing etc. Defense is good but they are going to have to turn the rally in their favor for obvious reasons that I do not need to go into. However if Nadal makes it to the semis he is a lock I feel, he needs to be upset early.
1. Will Ferrer/Verdasco repeat their success in the master series?
2. Djokovic or Federer who will have the better clay court season?
3. If someone not Nadal wins a master series who will it be?
4. Who is going to be the French Open finalists this year?
5. Do you think Nadal will lose the French Open?
My answers.
1. Starting with Verdasco, I do not seem him keeping that success. He had a great run last year for a while, but faded fast. His game is strong but he himself is not mentally there. He is just on a slow downward spiral and might do decent, but I don't see him beating any of the top guys on clay this year especially with most being fired up. Ferrer will probably not do as good in my eyes, but I think he stands a strong chance at defending most of his points. He did have his best season in a while last year, but he is on a bit of high after a good run in Australia. I can see him at least making a master series final.
2. Going to go with Federer actually here. Djokovic has been struggling for a while on clay and has not been performing great there. It's going to be close but I can see Federer outdoing Djokovic in the clay court season this year, but not by much. Both have huge motivation to try to get to number 1 and Federer in best of 3 sets has been playing great, besides Fed wants to at least get a shot at beating Nadal on clay again.
3. This is a long shot but I could see Almagro grabbing a clay court master series. He needs to work on his consistency, but just looking at last year he definitely challenged Nadal the most. Pushed him hard in the master series and was the only one who came close to taking a set in France. Nadal actually had to work extra hard against him. He is higher ranked then last year, although not by much so this should help him in getting at least better seedings. He seems to be making progress, we shall see.
4. Well Nadal will be one I believe and this is hard to predict based on seeding, but I'm not sure yet. I feel as if Almagro, Djokovic, Monfils, Fed, Dologopolov are going to be really strong in France however nobody knows where they will be. However I don't see Dolgo winding up near the finals. I'm excited to see Stan in France as well, but I am not going to really be too surprised if the final is Nadal/Djokovic. I don't see Sod getting to his third straight final this year, people are probably going to finally catch on to his game. However I did say that last year.
5. I don't think the tour is ready to beat Nadal on clay yet, but it is a possibility. Almagro could have won last year had he played better on the big points, but thats how a lot of matches go. The person who beats him though is going to have to play a hard hitting game such as Sod did and Almagro was doing etc. Defense is good but they are going to have to turn the rally in their favor for obvious reasons that I do not need to go into. However if Nadal makes it to the semis he is a lock I feel, he needs to be upset early.
