Federer can win Australian Open - Nadal

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Federer can win Australian Open - Nadal

ESPN staff October 28, 2013
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Roger Federer lost the Swiss Indoors final to Juan Martin del Potro © Getty Images Enlarge

Rafael Nadal insists Roger Federer can bounce back to his best next season, starting with the Australian Open.

Federer, 32, has accrued 17 grand slam titles throughout his career, and is considered by many as the greatest player of all time.
However he failed to reach a grand slam final for the first time since 2002 this year. Currently ranked at sixth, Federer still faces a fight to confirm his place at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Still, world No.1 Nadal, who won the French Open and US Open this year, believes rumours of Federer's demise are greatly exaggerated.

"I don't have any doubt that he will be playing better than what he did this year," Nadal said at a press conference ahead of the Paris Masters. "No doubt about that. His talent allows him to keep being one of the favourites, to keep winning the best tournaments of the year. "His goal probably will be to finish the year well and be ready to start well in Australia next year.
"If that happens, he will be one of the candidates to win the first grand slam of the season. That's something that really motivates him. "I am sure that he's not finished. He will work hard in the off-season to be ready for 2014. I am sure he will be back playing great tennis again."

Federer has spent 302 weeks at No.1 in the past, though Nadal feels the Swiss will not be focused on reclaiming top spot.

"Talking about if he's able to be back or try to be back in the No. 1 (spot), I think it's not his goal," said Nadal. "Because, at the end, he already has been there. He has been in the top positions of the ranking for a long time.

"At the end, what really makes you happy is to go on court with the feeling you can win the tournament. That's probably the only thing that maybe worries him."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd



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Nadal tries to be hyper-humble in interviews to extent that it sounds phoney. Like how he was saying he wasn't the favourite at MC/RG.
 
both laver/nadal said the same thing about federer. i dont beleive them for a minute

how would you feel if federer dont make WTF this year

i will be sad
 
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MonkeyBoy said:
Nadal tries to be hyper-humble in interviews to extent that it sounds phoney. Like how he was saying he wasn't the favourite at MC/RG.
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Rafa lost in MC finals, didn't he?

Everyone is not cocky & arrogant like Nole. He's the only one who says things like "I'm the favourite. I know how to defeat him" before the match.
 
I don't see anything wrong with what Rafa has said. He knows first hand what Roger is all about. It takes a champion to know a champion, and he also knows him personally to know what drives him.
Whether Nadal puts on an overly exaggerated humble persona is debatable, and questionable, sure. But his immense respect for Roger is real, and I would rather take what a champion like Nadal is saying about someone who he walked into battle with, than those that don't know Federer on that same level.

Roger can bounce back and have a remarkable two weeks. This is sport, and Rafa being a prime example himself knows, you should never count a champion out.
 
Like people wouldn't be hating on Nadal if he had said "No, Roger is done, he has no chance". Nadal can do no good according to the haters.
 
Hitman said:
I don't see anything wrong with what Rafa has said. He knows first hand what Roger is all about. It takes a champion to know a champion, and he also knows him personally to know what drives him.
Whether Nadal puts on an overly exaggerated humble persona is debatable, and questionable, sure. But his immense respect for Roger is real, and I would rather take what a champion like Nadal is saying about someone who he walked into battle with, than those that don't know Federer on that same level.

Roger can bounce back and have a remarkable two weeks. This is sport, and Rafa being a prime example himself knows, you should never count a champion out.
Click to expand...

Great post. Despite his 21-10 H2H over Federer, Rafa knows what Federer even at 32 is capable of. Rafa needed to play really well and fight for each point to see off Roger in their last match at Cincy. He knows how good Roger is.

All Rafa is saying is that Roger CAN win the AO if he plays well which is true. He's not saying Roger WILL win the AO. Rafa himself is gonna fight hard to win the AO in 2014.
 
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Whatever Rafa says... Can't please everybody.
Rafa has always been like this, he is a special breed.

He has never said Gulbis can win it.. Or players in that caliber. He actually believes Roger can do it.
 
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Chico said:
LOL. Nadal is playing mind games with both Djokovic and Federer. More gamesmanship from the "humble one".

Why didn't he say Federer is going to win FO????
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LOL if saying that fed can win AO is mind games, then saying he could win RG would be one massive head ****!
 
Nadal is a champion like Federer. He knows what's happening. Roger will not just lose his talent overnight.
 
I strongly agree with Nadal on this. Roger is just too talented to go away like that, he'll definitely bounce back from this lackluster year. I also don't think that Roger is aiming to go back to #1 in the world, he's already got the record and it probably won't be broken anytime soon either, his closest competitor retired over 10 years ago. What matters is that Roger still believes he can win tournaments, even slam. Let's face it, the guy still loves the game, he doesn't mind the travelling, he's still got the talent, so why would he retire after his worst year?
 
Hitman said:
I don't see anything wrong with what Rafa has said. He knows first hand what Roger is all about. It takes a champion to know a champion, and he also knows him personally to know what drives him.
Whether Nadal puts on an overly exaggerated humble persona is debatable, and questionable, sure. But his immense respect for Roger is real, and I would rather take what a champion like Nadal is saying about someone who he walked into battle with, than those that don't know Federer on that same level.

Roger can bounce back and have a remarkable two weeks. This is sport, and Rafa being a prime example himself knows, you should never count a champion out.
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Of course you don't, only dumb haters would. I wonder what would happen if Nadal actually was in any way a sour winner, their heads would probably explode.

Rafa's actually talking in a very assured way about it. He knows what he's talking about.
 
honestly the only reason Nadal never admits he is the fav is because he desperately wants to convince himself that he is the underdog so the pressure is off and he can perform well and it has worked very well for him.
 
RF20Lennon said:
honestly the only reason Nadal never admits he is the fav is because he desperately wants to convince himself that he is the underdog so the pressure is off and he can perform well and it has worked very well for him.
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Yes, I do agree that it works for him :)

But I think in the Indoor season, he really never was & never will be the favourite, no? :-?
 
Cup8489 said:
Actually Djokovic shares the top title numbers at the AO with two other men.

So it really isn't his alone at all.
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Yes that is technically correct, but we are talking about the present, not the past.

In that case Nadal shares the FO with Borg who would have 8 FO titles or more if he didn't skip the FO couple of times to play World Team Tennis (would not have to do it if the price money awarded to the FO winner was comparable to today's) and/or retired early.
 
beast of mallorca said:
Two opposite opinions re: the topic. The first one depicts a troll post of a butt hurt kind. The second one shows a real tennis fan with an objective mindset. Respect Hitman.
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I know the truth hurts. I am just saying it as it is. Nadal has been doing this king of mind games for years now. Straight from the Uncle Tony's kitchen.

Anyway, why is one opinion "troll" and another "objective"? That makes no sense. We are all entitled to our opinions. Thank you.

Also why is opinion "objective" only is it favors Nadal and "troll" if it criticizes Nadal? That also makes no sense. Thank you again.
 
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Let's understand how it works with the press so we can avoid threads like this. Nadal didn't go out and call a press conference to announce that he thinks Federer can win the AO. THAT would be interesting. No. Nadal was being interviewed about something or other and the reporter says, "so, Rafa, do you think Roger can bounce back and be a threat to win in Melbourne next year?" Rafa, as anybody in this position would do, says "sure, Roger still has the ability to win a major." So, it's a standard gentlemanly response to a silly question, hardly worthy of discussion and certainly not worth presenting here as what Nadal truly believes.
 
People are reacting as though Nadal said Roger WILL win the AO. Acco to the OP's title it is "can", and acco to the quote it is "he is one of the candidates". That's quite right. It's not playing games. It's a rather unremarkable statement to make, not even thread-worthy.
 
Crisstti said:
Of course you don't, only dumb haters would. I wonder what would happen if Nadal actually was in any way a sour winner, their heads would probably explode.

Rafa's actually talking in a very assured way about it. He knows what he's talking about.
Click to expand...

He does. Two of the best matches he and Fed have ever played were there. The '09 final was every bit as good as the classic Wimbledon. And the SF in '11 was also a great match.

Federer plays well there...4 titles and it has taken some exceptional tennis to beat him there in the past.
 
Chico said:
I know the truth hurts. I am just saying it as it is. Nadal has been doing this king of mind games for years now. Straight from the Uncle Tony's kitchen.

Anyway, why is one opinion "troll" and another "objective"? That makes no sense. We are all entitled to our opinions. Thank you.

Also why is opinion "objective" only is it favors Nadal and "troll" if it criticizes Nadal? That also makes no sense. Thank you again.
Click to expand...

This is why people criticize you for your post, Chico. You present your opinion (i.e. Nadal has been playing mindgames for years) as a fact, which it is not.

Apart from that, let's look at the what Nadal said: the interviewer asked him whether he thought Fed could win the AO2014, and Nadal answered as any top player would have done taht of course Federer could win AO2014.
If they had asked Djoko the same question, what do you think he would've answered? I'm pretty certain his answer would've been almost identical to Nadal's.
You're looking at a fairly mundane, almost cliche, response to a question, but in your eyes it's mindgames.
 
It will always be dangerous to write Federer off totally. Somebody who has that experience of winning so much is always capable of turning the clock back for a time. Sampras at the 2002 US Open is an example.
 
ollinger said:
Let's understand how it works with the press so we can avoid threads like this. Nadal didn't go out and call a press conference to announce that he thinks Federer can win the AO. THAT would be interesting. No. Nadal was being interviewed about something or other and the reporter says, "so, Rafa, do you think Roger can bounce back and be a threat to win in Melbourne next year?" Rafa, as anybody in this position would do, says "sure, Roger still has the ability to win a major." So, it's a standard gentlemanly response to a silly question, hardly worthy of discussion and certainly not worth presenting here as what Nadal truly believes.
Click to expand...

I think we all understand that, but I still think Nadal truly believes what he's saying here. He's not stupid enough to write Federer off.
 
RF20Lennon said:
honestly the only reason Nadal never admits he is the fav is because he desperately wants to convince himself that he is the underdog so the pressure is off and he can perform well and it has worked very well for him.
Click to expand...

Actually I think you're right. For Nadal, it works best if he convinces himself he is not the favorite.
Likewise, for Djokovic I think it works best if he convinces himself that he has it in the bag. He needs the conviction to play his best.
 
objectively speaking good little nugget by nadal

although whenever he speaks well of fed in regards to a tournament fed goes onto lose that tournament
 
I never understood why people can't just accept things as they are. Both Nadal and Federer are nice, humble guys. I absolutely believe Nadal is sincere. I also believe Federer when he says he enjoys the rivalry with Rafa. Sure, the matchup has heavily favored Nadal, but unlike many, I think Federer has typically played some great tennis in their matches. Nadal, as he often does, manages to win more of the big points. Very few of their matches have offered a sub-par level of tennis and very few have been lopsided scorelines.
 
spinovic said:
I never understood why people can't just accept things as they are. Both Nadal and Federer are nice, humble guys. I absolutely believe Nadal is sincere. I also believe Federer when he says he enjoys the rivalry with Rafa. Sure, the matchup has heavily favored Nadal, but unlike many, I think Federer has typically played some great tennis in their matches. Nadal, as he often does, manages to win more of the big points. Very few of their matches have offered a sub-par level of tennis and very few have been lopsided scorelines.
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Yeah. Sometimes people don't realize how good they are. Rafa is just like that. He knows he is good, he just doesn't realize how good he is.

And winning majors is very hard. It's smart that he doesn't underestimate the competition.

Fed underestimates the competition some times and doesn't change his game. Goes against him. Like USO 09 final, for example.
 
jg153040 said:
Yeah. Sometimes people don't realize how good they are. Rafa is just like that. He knows he is good, he just doesn't realize how good he is.

And winning majors is very hard. It's smart that he doesn't underestimate the competition.

Fed underestimates the competition some times and doesn't change his game. Goes against him. Like USO 09 final, for example.
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No, Rafa knows how good he is, he just doesn't explicitly tell anyone. In fact, he often downplays how good he really is.
 
jg153040 said:
Yeah. Sometimes people don't realize how good they are. Rafa is just like that. He knows he is good, he just doesn't realize how good he is.

And winning majors is very hard. It's smart that he doesn't underestimate the competition.

Fed underestimates the competition some times and doesn't change his game. Goes against him. Like USO 09 final, for example.
Click to expand...

That shows their different mentalities. Federer has supreme confidence in himself and his game, and can underestimate his opposition, as you say. He is also stubborn on occasions. Nadal seldom underestimates the opposition and likes to play down his own chances. Nadal trusts in his ability to try his hardest and to adapt his game. He stays in the present and tries his hardest, hoping for a positive result.
 
Nadal and Toni had a good laugh afterwards.

Watch for Toni to list his AO favorites now - and omit Fed's name.
 
LazyNinja19 said:
Rafa lost in MC finals, didn't he?

Everyone is not cocky & arrogant like Nole. He's the only one who says things like "I'm the favourite. I know how to defeat him" before the match.
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Show me a direct quote where Novak outright said "I'm the favorite." etc. I know he has said "I know how to defeat him"....but that's usually in the context of saying that he knows he has to play well, he's motivated, he knows he can defeat his opponent, etc.
 
sureshs said:
Nadal and Toni had a good laugh afterwards.

Watch for Toni to list his AO favorites now - and omit Fed's name.
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There are many things Toni and Rafa doesnt agree on. Maybe this is noe of them, but you dont know. Roger has been consistent in AO, check the stats.
 
Sentinel said:
People are reacting as though Nadal said Roger WILL win the AO. Acco to the OP's title it is "can", and acco to the quote it is "he is one of the candidates". That's quite right. It's not playing games. It's a rather unremarkable statement to make, not even thread-worthy.
Click to expand...

For the Nada haters, it is.........:twisted:
 
[Quote:Originally Posted by spinovic
I never understood why people can't just accept things as they are. Both Nadal and Federer are nice, humble guys.]

QUOTE=Povl Carstensen;7855184]Yes, sadly people who are not equally nice and humble will more or less involuntary interpret it differently.[/QUOTE]

You guys cool...
 
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