Do you think Rafa would have lost to Novak in 2011 FO ?

Who would have won FO 2011 if they met in the finals ?

  • Total voters
    45
tennisaddict

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
For a moment let us assume Novak beat Fed in the semis of FO 2011.

Was he really going to beat Rafa in the finals ?

I did see Madrid, Rome and all the earlier finals and Novak ended up winning every time . But we forget that all but one of the earlier 2011 wins came in BO 3 and a few of them were close.

Was Rafa going to lose the major that is so close to his heart given that he lost the AO leading 4-2, 30/15 in the 5th ?
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
It's tough to say. I think Rafa was mentally tormented by Djokovic at that time. Djokovic may have been favored.

I mean it's not that tough to imagine. Nadal was better on grass than Djokovic yet still lost pretty easily.

Djokovic would have had his chances. He was owning Nadal on every surface. Plus Nadal wasn't exactly brilliant at RG that year
 
vanioMan

vanioMan

Legend
To all of you people saying Nadal was lucky, why don't we say that Djokovic was lucky? I doubt he'd go on to win W and USO had he lost vs Rafa in the finals.

I'm not saying that Djokovic was lucky or that Nadal was. But please, be objective.
 
bjsnider

bjsnider

Hall of Fame
Nadal wasn't playing well, Djokovic was. No question in my mind Djokovic would have won. He beat Nadal 6 times that year, including twice on clay, with Nadal varying tactics unsuccessfully. Djokovic's loss to Federer can partly be blamed on Foggy.
 
RF-18

RF-18

Talk Tennis Guru
vanioMan said:
To all of you people saying Nadal was lucky, why don't we say that Djokovic was lucky? I doubt he'd go on to win W and USO had he lost vs Rafa in the finals.

I'm not saying that Djokovic was lucky or that Nadal was. But please, be objective.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to be objective, and it's nothing wrong with saying Nadal was lucky cause until may Djokovic was pounding him and Nadal was still out of ideas when it came to djokovic, still confused.

Nadal had heavy problems with fed in the final, lost almost the first set being down 5-2, losing another set, etc. Quite simply, djokovic was in his head.
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
Honestly 50/50 on this, Federer had chances in all 3 of the first 3 sets of that final. I imagine Djokovic with the psychological edge and game style he had would do better assuming Nadal played as he did and Djokovic wasn't over awed by the occasion.

Nadal was nervous before the final, if Djokovic could of taken advantage by playing without fear he'd have a very good shot. However if Nadal was fired up and determined to end the losing streak (unlike SW19 and the USO) I'd favor him...
 
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
vanioMan said:
To all of you people saying Nadal was lucky, why don't we say that Djokovic was lucky? I doubt he'd go on to win W and USO had he lost vs Rafa in the finals.

I'm not saying that Djokovic was lucky or that Nadal was. But please, be objective.
Click to expand...

Please, do not ruin their fantasy.
Play along.

Voted Djokovic.

Because Nadal has a terrible record in matches that never happened.



:grin:
 
Gazelle

Gazelle

G.O.A.T.
I really thought so back in 2011.

Now, three Nadal-Djokovic RG encounters later, I'm not so sure anymore. But certainly would have been the Serbs best chance.
 
Emiliano55

Emiliano55

Professional
Absolutely yes. Nadal wasn't playing good in that RG. In fact, Federer could have beaten him if it wasn't for the mental block/fear he has against him.
 
D

Deleted member 688153

Guest
Going with Nadal in the poll, he is the favourite in any RG match no matter what.
 
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
I also believe that Federer would have beaten Nadal in 2006 FO final had the actual match never taken place. Such is Nadal's poor record in matches that never happened.
 
vanioMan

vanioMan

Legend
Backspin1183 said:
I also believe that Federer would have beaten Nadal in 2006 FO final had the actual match never taken place. Such is Nadal's poor record in matches that never happened.
Click to expand...

The Matador from Switzerland would've definetely won that match, easily.

The glorified Mallorcan Maestro would have losing H2H vs the big4 if we look at matches than never happened, but he decides to protect the H2H and actually play them. Genius at work.
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 716271

Guest
OP is wrong factually...Djokovic beat Nadal 6-4, 6-4 at Rome after beating him 7-5, 6-4 at Madrid.


Anyways, I still would have favored Nadal. This year is Djokos best chance...he needed Rafas level there to drop a bit. We saw in 13 and last year that the clay masters don't guarantee anything...Rafas a different beast at RG with the BO5 pressure and the open court and June heat.

For this year in a potential final or semifinal meeting, I'd favor Rafa 60 40. If it was wet or under 70 degrees, I might give Novak the slight edge. It's his best shot.
 
tennisaddict

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
Backspin1183 said:
I also believe that Federer would have beaten Nadal in 2006 FO final had the actual match never taken place. Such is Nadal's poor record in matches that never happened.
Click to expand...

If you use satire occasionally, it will have effect. If you do it every alternate post it looses its sting.
 
AngieB

AngieB

Banned
At their best, #Novak and #Roger were never defeating #Rafael in a #FrenchOpen final. If #Roger couldn't do it, #Novak never will.

#PTL #JC4Ever

#AngieB​
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
Djokovic couldn't even beat Federer on clay. He was not beating Nadal in 2011.

xan said:
would have bet my house on Novak that year.
Click to expand...

You'd have been living in this

g90eh7mvm.jpg
 
moonballs

moonballs

Hall of Fame
No way anyone could lose all the clay masters finals to the same opponent and still win RG. AO2012 was close but that was after the year end break. Nadal's confidence at RG was no where near as related as at the AO.

Besides Nadal is good at best of five for a simple reason: he has better stamina. But in 2011 there was another guy having even better stamina and that guy was Djokovic.
 
cc0509

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
This again?

IMO Nadal would have probably won. He is a different beast at the FO as we have seen time and time again and until he loses the FO crown there is no reason not to believe that. Will it finally happen this year? We are going to see, no?
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
moonballs said:
No way anyone could lose all the clay masters finals to the same opponent and still win RG. AO2012 was close but that was after the year end break. Nadal's confidence at RG was no where near as related as at the AO.

Besides Nadal is good at best of five for a simple reason: he has better stamina. But in 2011 there was another guy having even better stamina and that guy was Djokovic.
Click to expand...

2/3 ≠ 3/5
 
tipsa...don'tlikehim!

tipsa...don'tlikehim!

Talk Tennis Guru
hard to say but considering the balls used that year made the conditions faster than usual + that mental edge Djokovic had, if i had to bet it would be on Djokovic

Not a lock at all though, i could read in the past Djokovic was a lock to win that hypothetical final - i disagree it would be close - 55/45 for Djokovic

Anyway as Backspin said, "Nadal has a terrible record in matches that never happened." :mrgreen:
 
tipsa...don'tlikehim!

tipsa...don'tlikehim!

Talk Tennis Guru
Backspin1183 said:
I also believe that Federer would have beaten Nadal in 2006 FO final had the actual match never taken place. Such is Nadal's poor record in matches that never happened.
Click to expand...

If Nadal didn't lose to Verdasco in that 5 hours match in Australia, Federer would have won quite easily in the final IMO - especially considering how tired Nadal would have been after a 5 hours match
 
Bender

Bender

G.O.A.T.
tipsa...don'tlikehim! said:
If Nadal didn't lose to Verdasco in that 5 hours match in Australia, Federer would have won quite easily in the final IMO - especially considering how tired Nadal would have been after a 5 hours match
Click to expand...


Agreed; because Verdasco is a much better hard courter than Nadal. Federer would have the advantage too because the surface is fast and favours attacking players like Tsonga and Federer. The moon balls would be ineffective because HC doesn't bounce as high as clay.
 
N

Nathaniel_Near

Guest
I would have favoured Nadal but it would have been Djokovic's best chance IMO and he could have won.
 
N

Nathaniel_Near

Guest
Backspin is pretty hilarious with his "poor records" statement on Nadal, especially given that Nadal has the best record in matches that never happened along with Federer, with both supposedly being on about 25 Slams by now.

Nadal not beatable when healthy, etc etc.

But no, throw a single bone to Nole and you get certain fools trying to be funny about it.

:lol:
 
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