Nadal vs. Agassi
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BiGGieStuFF
Hall of Fame
omniexist said:
I favored Agassi but after watching a few matches and seeing how slow the grass is this year, I felt nadal had a good chance. Unfortunately Nadal played great today as I was rooting for agassi but I knew it would be tough but man was it every tough for agassi. Nadal looked pretty at home out there.
Count Grishnackh
Banned
Too bad you Fed fans had to hope for Agassi to take out the man who's gonna beat Fed in the final again. Watch out Fed fans, Rafa is coming for you, you better pray Roddick or Hewitt are still in the tournament when he gets to the semifinal. Fed's pimp just owned Agassi today.
BiGGieStuFF
Hall of Fame
Count Grishnackh said:
I would love to see nadal make the finals against fed but not at the expense of agassi though
. I like to see rivalries and nothing would satisify me more than to see someone challenge fed at least, but I would still want fed to win but only because he beat the best out there.
federerhoogenbandfan
Banned
MR. 81 said:
Well Federer has played matches on grass with 60 winners and 12 unforced errors remember. Sorry I misinterpreted you the first time however.
FedererUberAlles
Professional
federerhoogenbandfan said:
You mean the match against Roddick?
federerhoogenbandfan
Banned
FedererUberAlles said:
Yeah that is the match I was referring to. Roddick is better then an old Agassi by a long shot as well.
BiGGieStuFF
Hall of Fame
I'm not sure if it's the fact that agassi strung his rackets looser as gilbert said but it seemed agassi was content hitting topspin shots instead of his normal flat approaches. I think that definitely allowed Nadal to retrieve a ton of agassi's shots and force andre to play another ball.
BiGGieStuFF
Hall of Fame
Man I predicted nadal to make the quarters but now looking he has a good chance to make it to the semis or even the finals if he can get past hewitt who I predict he'll meet in the semis.
I am watching the taped match on NBC right now and I honestly think Agassi played his heart out. He may hv won against somebody else, but not Nadal today...
This kid is REALLY too quick around the court. Against some other mere mortal, Agassi would hv had a boatload of winners; this crazy Spaniard runs down EVERYTHING.
Hope Hewitt stops Nadal in the semis...
This kid is REALLY too quick around the court. Against some other mere mortal, Agassi would hv had a boatload of winners; this crazy Spaniard runs down EVERYTHING.
Hope Hewitt stops Nadal in the semis...
VamosRafa
Hall of Fame
jaykay said:
I watched it again, as I watched it earlier on live streaming video. And having the benefit of knowing the result, and having listened to Jimmy Connors and Pat Cash doing commentating earlier, I was really entertained by the comments from John McEnroe and Mary Carillo.
John was of course very pro-Agassi at the beginning, and stayed that way for about a set.
And then after that things changed. Both he and Mary were impressed with the way Rafa played today, especially with his serving.
And then John McEnroe -- who certainly knows less about the sport than the folks here ;-) -- said that he was asked last month who would have the best opportunity to win -- Roger at the French or Nadal at Wimbly. John said that it would be Roger at the French, of course.
But John said given what he saw today, he may change his mind.
It was an impressive display of tennis by Rafa, given how many changes he has made to his game, in terms of his serve, his stance at the baseline, and flattening out his strokes. Maybe he can't maintain it, or maybe he was just having a good day at the office.
But if he has more of those on grass, he may just make a statement there at some point.
Also, it is somewhat surprising that aside from his two Roland Garros wins, this Round of 16 showing is his best in another slam event. And it's on grass -- the surface most RG champions have shunned for years.
Vamos, Rafael!
armand
Banned
props to Rafael
Nadal is a warrior. I'm not that impressed with his tennis, but rather his heart and zeal. He's just a winner, a survivor. When you look at him, you see much more than his tennis. In another time+place he'd be the first in history to summit Everest, the last man standing at Thermopylae and the only man you can count on in the beaches of Normandy. It's actually almost a waste that he plays a little game like tennis. Going from clay to grass? Pfff.
Now, I'm not expecting him to win, but I was just really impressed with the adjustments he's making. This guy does not know the meaning of surrender.
PS thank god for Mary Carillo, or else no one at NBC would know how to pronounce his name.
Nadal is a warrior. I'm not that impressed with his tennis, but rather his heart and zeal. He's just a winner, a survivor. When you look at him, you see much more than his tennis. In another time+place he'd be the first in history to summit Everest, the last man standing at Thermopylae and the only man you can count on in the beaches of Normandy. It's actually almost a waste that he plays a little game like tennis. Going from clay to grass? Pfff.
Now, I'm not expecting him to win, but I was just really impressed with the adjustments he's making. This guy does not know the meaning of surrender.
PS thank god for Mary Carillo, or else no one at NBC would know how to pronounce his name.
VamosRafa
Hall of Fame
Good comments, adely. I agree.
Also, I think what Jimmy Connors said earlier today is right. Once Rafa got through that Kendrick match, in which a big-server was on fire for 2 and a half sets, and yet Rafa still came out on top, it may have changed his mentality about his chances here.
Also, I think what Jimmy Connors said earlier today is right. Once Rafa got through that Kendrick match, in which a big-server was on fire for 2 and a half sets, and yet Rafa still came out on top, it may have changed his mentality about his chances here.
Count Grishnackh
Banned
Yeah I agree, his mental hurdle was against Kendrick. He would've lost that match in the past. But his attitude, fitness, ability to figure out his opponent and ride the storm prevailed. I saw him beating Agassi in 3 or 4, he's the in-form player right now. The weather is hot and dry, courts are hardening up like fast hardcourts now. Nadal is beginning to flatten out the forehand more and he's going for more winners. I know Fed fans are beginning to worry about it. If he gets past Hewitt in the SF they'll be sweating.
FedererUberAlles
Professional
I agree. Everyone else left in the tournament should just pull out.
VamosRafa
Hall of Fame
FedererUberAlles said:
*lol* That's right -- let's just put Rafa and Roger out on Centre Court on Monday and be done with it.
Seriously, I don't think Rafa will get to the final -- but I think the QF is do-able. And if he plays the way he did today, he could progress beyond that.
But he's still learning. With only 12 or 13 TOTAL grass matches in his back pocket (including the ones he has lost), he still has things to improve. But the improvements he's made in one week have been somewhat surprising.
FedererUberAlles
Professional
VamosRafa said:
Why even do that? We all know Nadal would totally win 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, DUH!!!!!!!!
VamosRafa
Hall of Fame
FedererUberAlles said:
If you say so. ;-)
Read Agassi's interview today, though. Because he knows he's retiring soon, he gave lots of interesting insights on Rafa's game. But I thought this one was interesting:
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2006-07-01/200607011151771076531.html
FedererUberAlles
Professional
VamosRafa said:
Obviously you don't even support Nadal!! TRAITOR!!!
FedererUberAlles
Professional
tlm said:
You sure showed them!!
oscar_2424
Legend
cant stand to see Nadal win in grass?FedererUberAlles said:
FedererUberAlles
Professional
No, you and Nadal!!! SOO COOL!!!!
DUDE OMG!!! Nadal is the greatest ever!!! Grass is his best surface, didn't you see today's match!! He's going to eat Federer alive!!
rrhstennis
Rookie
tlm said:
OK YOU GOT ME!!!!
Because of the fact that I thought Agassi was going to make Nadal play a game uncomfortable to him and take the win, that really meant I love Federer and I just can't stand that ass picking Nadal!
...
federerhoogenbandfan
Banned
Steve Dykstra said:
Actually on my thread asking about the match you said Agassi would have the edge you thought if the match happened.
K
kkladze
Guest
As someone said, Nadal won 'cause this grass is too slow, in fact it's not grass, it's clay painted in green, didn't you realize?. For next year I propose they play on ice, just to make people happy.....
saludos
saludos
oscar_2424
Legend
A commentary aside from the match:
Tennis will miss Andre Agassi what a player, i dont have nothing but respect for ANdre.
Tennis will miss Andre Agassi what a player, i dont have nothing but respect for ANdre.
superman1
Legend
These are not grass courts any longer. They are just slightly furry hardcourts. That was a hardcourt match out there.
Agassi should have closed out that 1st set, but once he missed that forehand and Nadal hit that insane passing shot, I knew he wasn't going to win the match. His back wasn't looking good, Nadal was making him move a lot, and he was just tweaking his back even more trying to return those spinning serves. The best returner of all time...when he could move well. It's amazing that just less than a year ago he was beating up on everyone, including Federer for a couple of sets.
Nadal has a decent shot at getting to the finals of Wimbledon. Isn't that scary? I'm sure Federer would be half excited about the idea and half scared. This kid is stalking him everywhere he goes.
Agassi should have closed out that 1st set, but once he missed that forehand and Nadal hit that insane passing shot, I knew he wasn't going to win the match. His back wasn't looking good, Nadal was making him move a lot, and he was just tweaking his back even more trying to return those spinning serves. The best returner of all time...when he could move well. It's amazing that just less than a year ago he was beating up on everyone, including Federer for a couple of sets.
Nadal has a decent shot at getting to the finals of Wimbledon. Isn't that scary? I'm sure Federer would be half excited about the idea and half scared. This kid is stalking him everywhere he goes.
Count Grishnackh
Banned
FedererUberAlles said:
Hmm, I see smoke starting to fume from Fed fans ears. He's starting to pick up steam on the grass courts, I know Fed is starting to get a little worried about meeting Rafa next Sunday. If that does happen, watch out. Now is the part where the delusional Fed fans dismiss what I say. But if he does get to play Fed on Sunday and beat him, it's over for you guys. Nothing to point to as an excuse and bragging rights go out the door.
Count Grishnackh
Banned
rrhstennis said:OK YOU GOT ME!!!!
Because of the fact that I thought Agassi was going to make Nadal play a game uncomfortable to him and take the win, that really meant I love Federer and I just can't stand that ass picking Nadal!
...
Exactly, you love Federer. No really, you're a Nalbandian fan. True?
superman1
Legend
If that first set had gone differently, if Agassi had made that routine forehand, maybe the whole match would have been turned around.
But even Nadal made the same prediction that we did 5 minutes into the warm-up. Apparently, during the warm-up Nadal could barely even return Agassi powerful, low groundstrokes and thought that he would lose the match easily. I feel like Agassi didn't hit the ball as hard as he potentially can during the actual match, and maybe that allowed Nadal to be more aggressive. You can't play the percentages against Nadal. But I'm sure Agassi did everything he could do with his physical condition.
But even Nadal made the same prediction that we did 5 minutes into the warm-up. Apparently, during the warm-up Nadal could barely even return Agassi powerful, low groundstrokes and thought that he would lose the match easily. I feel like Agassi didn't hit the ball as hard as he potentially can during the actual match, and maybe that allowed Nadal to be more aggressive. You can't play the percentages against Nadal. But I'm sure Agassi did everything he could do with his physical condition.
Kaptain Karl
Hall Of Fame
I've read only this last page. I told my wife -- as the third set was closing down -- "The guys in the booth are talking about Andre's rapid decline, but what they will recognize in a few hours is ... Nadal has, with this match figured out how to win on grass. This kid continues to impress me."
(Of course, he's won matches already; but he made it to another level with this match, IMO.)
- KK
(Of course, he's won matches already; but he made it to another level with this match, IMO.)
- KK
rrhstennis
Rookie
Count Grishnackh said:
Hahahaha, actually, I don't mind Bandy at all. My favorite is Blake, but you know, Nalbandian would be top 5 if I picked out 5 I'm sure. Fed/Nadal would not make the list, however!
superman1
Legend
sigh....
Q. You seemed to be moving very well, good rhythm very early. Were you happy with that as opposed to yesterday when it was, you know, a bit tougher?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, no, is okay. I think in the beginning I play good, no? On the warm up, the five minutes, I was thinking I gonna lose easy. Agassi was touching the ball unbelievable, very low, very tough. I can't return the ball. But in the match, always is different, no? Maybe I serve my best day in my career, sure.
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2006-07-01/200607011151772254609.html
Before you say I'm talking out of my ass, how about growing a brain and giving me the benefit of the doubt.
Q. You seemed to be moving very well, good rhythm very early. Were you happy with that as opposed to yesterday when it was, you know, a bit tougher?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, no, is okay. I think in the beginning I play good, no? On the warm up, the five minutes, I was thinking I gonna lose easy. Agassi was touching the ball unbelievable, very low, very tough. I can't return the ball. But in the match, always is different, no? Maybe I serve my best day in my career, sure.
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2006-07-01/200607011151772254609.html
Before you say I'm talking out of my ass, how about growing a brain and giving me the benefit of the doubt.
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