dudeski
Hall of Fame
If I were to chose result of just 3 matches for the rest of this year I would like to pick results of Nadal opening matches at TO, Cincy and USO.
Nadal Will Win USO and Sweep the North american HC swing.
- Thread starter The_Mental_Giant
- Start date
If I were to chose result of just 3 matches for the rest of this year I would like to pick results of Nadal opening matches at TO, Cincy and USO.
Omega_7000
Legend
I'd go with Cincy, USO and WTF :grin:
dudeski
Hall of Fame
I am pretty confident about WTF results. Plus picking just one match isn't good enough there. Also, it would be a real shame if Nadal won a match in TO/MO.
Yep, his 'mental' game is the greatest tennis ever saw and I don't see anyone overcoming him in that regard anytime soon, if ever.
He was coming of 4 final losses against Djokovic and lost the first set... He could've folded in the 2nd set but he battled back. His level of competitiveness is just absurd.
To the point that we can call the GOAT Nadal's pigeon... As crazy/unfair as that sounds. More than the looping FH to BH thing, Nadal destroyed Federer mentally. Fed plays his worse matches against Nadal of anyone in the top10. The way he came back against Djokovic on that 4th set down 2-5 to win 5 games in a row, going for lines, returning everything deep, etc, he'd never ever do that against Nadal. He'd just give up..
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Traditionally, that was indeed the speed ranking of the Slams. This held firm from the time the Australian Open moved to rebound ace in 1988, right through the 1990s.
In 2000, the tournament organizers gave the AO courts a fresh lick of paint, and the court was much faster that year. As the new Ashe stadium in New York was also (at the time) very fast, and much faster than the old Armstrong (it's the reverse today), in 2000, there were three Slams on very fast courts. I'd say it was almost RG > AO=UO=WI.
In 2001, the AO courts were a little slower again, and by 2002 just as slow as they had been in 1997, 1998, and 1999.
In 2002, the new grass at Wimbledon was much slower, and you're right that for some years the UO may have been faster.
But starting in 2011, there's been more sand in the UO mixture, and it's gone from being very fast for a hard court to extremely slow.
Right now, I'd say it's RG > UO = AO > WI.
D
Deleted member 716271
Guest
Interesting quality information, thanks!
To me the USO still seems a bit faster than the AO...it's definitely not a fast hard court anymore though. I'd say USO represents kind of a medium between slow hard courts (AO, Miami, Indian wells) and fast ones (Cincinnati, indoor season etc.)
On a continuum, I'd say RG-slow, A0 slow-medium, USO medium, Wimbledon medium-fast
At times, AO seems slower than RG and some question if RG is still the slowest slam, but no bounce is as high as RG on a hot/dry day, so RG will play slower overall, just by virtue of being on clay at a low altitude.
JohnnyMac Fan!
Legend
veroniquem
Bionic Poster
It's gotta happen one day though. So, why not this year?
Nadal is the best at surprising people. That has been my impression of his career. It could be awful or it could be awesome. Equally hard to predict with him. IMO, he is the most unpredictable top player.
It's gotta happen one day though. So, why not this year?
Nadal is the best at surprising people. That has been my impression of his career. It could be awful or it could be awesome. Equally hard to predict with him. IMO, he is the most unpredictable top player.
Why does it "gotta" happen? Because it's "due?" The only thing due is the mortgage. The Cubs won 2 championships in 3 years, and they've been due to win another one, too bad that was 106 years ago.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
Moral of the story: don't mess with Billy the Goat!
moonballs
Hall of Fame
I am not even sure defending USO is even "due". The next thing would be to defend a lessor title, not a slam.
chicagodude
Hall of Fame
Don't see it happen, this year more than ever before, Nadal looks exhausted....Also Djokovic is likely to be on great confidence after winning Wimbledon.
Unless Nadal is completely refreshed and injury-free after his vacation, I see Djokovic winning the bulk of tournaments.
Unless Nadal is completely refreshed and injury-free after his vacation, I see Djokovic winning the bulk of tournaments.
Down_the_line
Legend
Agreed with this. No way Nadal repeats his 2013 NA hard-court swing. I could see him winning one of Canada/Cincinnati though - which would be a feat in itself given he's never defended a non-clay title in his life.
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
If Rafa wins the USO and the final round robin in London a the end of the season - he will be number one by about 1,000 points! Go RAFA!
beast of mallorca
G.O.A.T.
Chico
Banned
LOL this is 2014. Sorry, Nadal has never ever defended a title off clay. He will not start doing that now at the age of 28+. Let alone three of them.
Noleberic123
G.O.A.T.
he has the most chance now, since he won everything in the NA HC swing last year.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
I think the best chance is the three titles get split and Nadal may not win any of them. An outsider could sneak in for one of the MS1000's (Gulbis, Dimitrov, Rainic) while one of the top 4 seeds wins the other and another wins USO. A Raonic, Rogi, Wawa sequence is not more improbable than a sweep by any player.
But bookies play one set of punters against the other. They do not care what SPORT merits of given players are.
They care about making money.
If money is flowing against one player, they will adjust the odds to reflect that.
Smasher08
Legend
Yes, he's got 3 shots in very short order. Toronto is the likeliest candidate imo.
But realistically, his non-clay performances this year are probably the best indication of what to expect from, so I just don't see it happening.
Smasher08
Legend
Tough to see that happening.
All the waterworks in Melbourne suggest that even he realized it.
That's quite ambitious.....
unclenimrod
Rookie
what the…? Rafa is going to look substantially older this year than last. Hard court HURTS him. Raonic is going to have a great summer…Dimitrov is on a mission and will cause problems for the top guys on hard court…and there are a heap of guys even younger than those two that will cause problems all up and down the top 20. The North American Hard Court is going to become as unpredictable as clay used to be, IMHO. This is the year the top four run out of time to collect titles. Rafa is going to lose much of his points, culminating in a SF or earlier loss at the US Open. He will have to work very hard to stay in the top 5 from now on. He's the only guy who works way too hard for victories anymore. Even old-dog Federer's most difficult victories lately aren't actually physically taxing, so his body will hold up. Rafa's style is catching up quickly.
stringertom
Bionic Poster
Shhh! Logic of this kind is frowned upon around here!
Smasher08
Legend
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Unbelievable how much has changed in 1 month. Neither Nadal nor Nole has won a masters in this American HC season and one of them is skipping the USO. Feel sorry for Nadal now
Down_the_line
Legend
Ouch, well that's gotta suck for The_Mental_Giant.
InvisibleSoul
Hall of Fame
Strong prediction. A++.
Well, there's one problem with the title: you forgot to add the year!
A good option would be to add 2015 in the title...
underground
G.O.A.T.
Nice jinx thread. :lol:
victorcruz
Hall of Fame
lol what a horrible jinx SMH
Good thing he has 2013 sweep to lean back on
Good thing he has 2013 sweep to lean back on
dunlop_fort_knox
Professional
oopsy. umm never mind then?
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