IW 2011 F: [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [3] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

How will the Nadal-Djokovic turn out?


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Weather forecast for tomorrow:

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Match is supposed to start around 1 pm local time (later if women's final runs long). Hope the rain stays away until after the match.
 
Weather forecast for tomorrow:

Match is supposed to start around 1 pm local time (later if women's final runs long). Hope the rain stays away until after the match.

This probably means that they will be playing in the late afternoon and into the evening and it will probably be quite windy as well.
 
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It's only a 30% chance and the rain could totally not even get there and showers there are unpredictable. But it'll be cool and humid and windy I'm guessing either way.
 
It's only a 30% chance and the rain could totally not even get there and showers there are unpredictable. But it'll be cool and humid and windy I'm guessing either way.

Do you recall the extremely windy final in 2009 with Murray?
 
Djokovic in three. He is on fire now and only if nadal plays at his U.S open level (which hasn't been seen at the tournament so far) or something close will he beat the "king of the hard courts" :D
 
What's for sure is that Djokovic is already unplayable but if he beats Raf this will be another huge breakthrough and he might completely blow off to win all 4 majors and the WTF... can't wait.
 
Ahh I don't think Djokovic has it to beat Nadal...If he does, it will be a close three setter...Don't know if he respects him too much or is afraid...either way he just hasn't proved to me that he can beat Nadal on the big stage yet.
 
Ahh I don't think Djokovic has it to beat Nadal...If he does, it will be a close three setter...Don't know if he respects him too much or is afraid...either way he just hasn't proved to me that he can beat Nadal on the big stage yet.

Djokovic beat Nadal at the big stage outside of majors!
 
Issue with Novak in Slams is he rarely has the stamina to maintain the level he always starts out with in the 1st set of encounters with Nadal. However we are now in a best of 3, where Nadal hasn't been playing his best, where Novak has been winning all but Federer's matches very easily, where Novak is riding a wave of confidence, and has has returned to his effective 07 serve.

Novak in 3.
 
I know, that's what has-beens do but it's not quite the same...

The tennis player you obsess over will be lucky to be in the same has-been status you claim Federer now holds. You have to constantly criticize Federer don't you? It is like an illness with you. You are like a vulture flying over an animal carcass as I mentioned in a previous post. Just wait, because Rafa will too one day have age slow him down. It is coming his way if injuries don't conquer him first. Will he be able to beat most of Fed's records before one of those things happen? Hmmmmm.......we shall see.
 
This match is extremely hard to predict.

In my opinion Nadal is still not playing close to his best tennis. His serve is sub-par- a pale shadow of the UsOpen serve. The backhand is consistent but not as devastating as it was in the USOpen (he's not hit any winners using the DTL backhand). The good old forehand is there, but he's making one too many UFEs with it.
The one thing Nadal is doing well is the ROS. And he should thank Dr Ivo for providing some great practice.

Nadal will also find a Djokovic, on the other side of the net, who is a much improved player from the one in the UsOpen. As with all of their matches, Novak will try to control the pts by being far more aggressive. He has a standard tactic against Nadal: Use his inside out forehand/cross court backhand to open up Nadal on the forehand and then attack in the open court with his down the line backhand..

Nadal's serve will be vital. Djokovic will put pressure on every single Nadal serve game. So it's crucial Nadal gets free pts on his serve, which he hasn't so far in the tournament.

If Nadal plays (and serves) the same way as he has so far this week, the Djoker should win in 3 sets, or 2 tight sets.

If Nadal raises his level and plays his A game, Rafa should get the W as this is probably the friendliest hardcourt for his game..
 
The tennis player you obsess over will be lucky to be in the same has-been status you claim Federer now holds. You have to constantly criticize Federer don't you? It is like an illness with you. You are like a vulture flying over an animal carcass as I mentioned in a previous post. Just wait, because Rafa will too one day have age slow him down. It is coming his way if injuries don't conquer him first. Will he be able to beat most of Fed's records before one of those things happen? Hmmmmm.......we shall see.
I wasn't criticizing. I observed it was not his day, which is true. You went completely ballistic over this. Relax, maybe Fed will have better luck in Miami.
 
I wasn't criticizing. I observed it was not his day, which is true. You went completely ballistic over this. Relax, maybe Fed will have better luck in Miami.

Come on, you and I both know that your comment was not innocent. You had a smiley face beside the "it's not Fed's day" statement.
 
Come on, you and I both know that your comment was not innocent. You had a smiley face beside the "it's not Fed's day" statement.
I see where the misunderstanding is. The smiley was after "congrats to them" (the winning team), not after- or related to- the mention of Fed.
 
You don't have to apologize for it, you can admit to not liking Fed. I recall some of your posts mentioning your psych background, and his narcissistic traits. I think that narcissism has decreased, largely thanks to his having the twins, and being brought down from his tennis throne.
 
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You don't have to apologize for it, you can admit to not liking Fed. I recall some of your posts mentioning your psych background, and his narcissistic traits. I think that narcissism has decreased, largely thanks to his having the twins, and being brought down from his tennis throne.
That's quite possible. Children have a way of changing one's priorities and general outlook on life.
 
All the Djok hype will be totally gone if Nadal wins this, it'll make it look like Djokovic only won things because Nadal wasn't there to beat him, and be 3 straight hardcourt wins for Nadal over Djok. Pretty massive match this one :evil:
 
This match is extremely hard to predict.

In my opinion Nadal is still not playing close to his best tennis. His serve is sub-par- a pale shadow of the UsOpen serve. The backhand is consistent but not as devastating as it was in the USOpen (he's not hit any winners using the DTL backhand). The good old forehand is there, but he's making one too many UFEs with it.
The one thing Nadal is doing well is the ROS. And he should thank Dr Ivo for providing some great practice.

Nadal will also find a Djokovic, on the other side of the net, who is a much improved player from the one in the UsOpen. As with all of their matches, Novak will try to control the pts by being far more aggressive. He has a standard tactic against Nadal: Use his inside out forehand/cross court backhand to open up Nadal on the forehand and then attack in the open court with his down the line backhand..

Nadal's serve will be vital. Djokovic will put pressure on every single Nadal serve game. So it's crucial Nadal gets free pts on his serve, which he hasn't so far in the tournament.

If Nadal plays (and serves) the same way as he has so far this week, the Djoker should win in 3 sets, or 2 tight sets.

If Nadal raises his level and plays his A game, Rafa should get the W as this is probably the friendliest hardcourt for his game..

Decent analysis, IMO :)
 
No it wasn't Fed's day today but I think he can always go polish his 67 singles title trophies if he is feeling badly. Maybe that will cheer him up?

He'll need to polish them TWICE to compensate for today's back-to-back beatdowns :)

Hope he has plenty Pledge.

Did I mention that Federer lost TWICE today?
 
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Wasn't Nadal the one to stop the Federer's streak in 04 and 06? It will take someone like Nadal, playing relentless tennis to stop Djokovic. Or else I don't see Djokovic losing a match this year.
 
lol Rafa. Getting Djokovic. This is a nightmare matchup for Nadal. Forget the US Open. Djokovic is an entirely different player now. So is Rafa btw. Djokovic in straight sets. Nadal could possibly get a breadstick like Djokovic loves to give to Rafa. ;) See Indian Wells in 2008 and Cincinnati multiple times on what I mean.
 
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