R Nadal vs. JM del Potro ::: Miami QF

Who will go on to the Semis?

  • Delpo in 2

    Votes: 6 5.8%

  • Delpo in 3

    Votes: 33 31.7%

  • Rafa in 2

    Votes: 57 54.8%

  • Rafa in 3

    Votes: 8 7.7%
  • Total voters
    104
  • Poll closed .
Love Game

Love Game

Talk Tennis Guru
After Rafa Nadal's win over Stan Wawrinka in their amazing battle Tuesday evening, it's hard to imagine any matchup could be more challenging, but Juan Martin del Potro has been in excellent form here in Miami, winning each of his matches without dropping a set. Delpo and Rafa are scheduled to meet in the QF on Thursday.

__________ edit:

[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [6] J Del Potro (ARG)

will be played in Stadium Court after the
Kuznetsova vs. Azarenka semifinal, but
"not before 3:00 PM"

2ennvw1.gif
 
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I'm thinking Del Potro will be a much harder opponent than he was @ IW, but in the end Rafa will come through in 2
 
shadows said:
I'm thinking Del Potro will be a much harder opponent than he was @ IW, but in the end Rafa will come through in 2
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good morning, Friend :) I gotta agree, except that delpo could take a set, even tho Delpo looks better here in Miami than he looked even in Auckland, which he won. Plus the Stadium court is a much different proposition than the Grandstand, and Rafa's played in Stadium for all of his matches (so he'll be more comfortable there), while I believe Delpo played there for only one of his?
 
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will be interesting to see how DP handles Nadal's low slices... I expect Nadal to mix up the pace alot more than when he played Stan (against whom Nadal's slices were having zero effect).
 
muzza123 said:
will be interesting to see how DP handles Nadal's low slices... I expect Nadal to mix up the pace alot more than when he played Stan (against whom Nadal's slices were having zero effect).
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i was thinking the same thing, almost sreaming at the TV, stop slicing and hit the ball, you have a weapon in your 2hbh use it.
 
ezdude1970 said:
i was thinking the same thing, almost sreaming at the TV, stop slicing and hit the ball, you have a weapon in your 2hbh use it.
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well i think nadal quickly cottoned on to the fact that his slices werent really having any effect against Stan, hence I saw alot less slices than usual. Of course, there were times he was rushed on his backhand so the slice was the only sensible shot to play. Come to think of it, Stan was crushing every ball so Nadal did well to keep his slice count down!
 
Sadly Del Potro already lost this match without even playing it. He is not convinced that he has the game to defeat Nadal. If he goes in with the right attitud the it may be a close match, otherwise...
 
If the del potro I saw in miami is typical del potro power (more power, hit deeper, in the 2nd set though), then I don't think he can hit through nadal; at that point nadal is in control of all rallies.

Nadal in 2 or 3, probably 2.
 
del potro has been showing an amazing consitency of losing to top 5, and losing badly, unless he proves himself at least once, there is no reason in backing him.

nadal in 2 sets!
 
Del Po is playing better than in IW and Nadal not quite as well. I still expect Nadal to win but the match might be tighter.
 
jmverdugo said:
Sadly Del Potro already lost this match without even playing it. He is not convinced that he has the game to defeat Nadal. If he goes in with the right attitude the it may be a close match, otherwise...
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this is confusing because, as they say, you can't have it both ways.

#1 you say delpo's mental attitude is so bad that he might as well just roll over ("He is not convinced that he has the game to defeat Nadal" and that he has "already lost without even playing the match")

#2 and then you turn around and say the opposite, namely, that, "If he goes in with the right attitude the it may be a close match," when you've already stated he does not have the right attitude.

----------------
My opinion, having seen all of delpo's miami matches, is that delpo is brimming with confidence in himself and his results here so far, and he has every right to that confidence. every one of his 3 opponents in miami thus far has been picked by someone(s) to beat Delpo, and none of them has--not because they were so inferior to Delpo, but because on the day that they played him, none of them could solve him.

One of the things I love about nadal is that he gives each opponent respect and plays them as such. nadal will not discount anything about delpo, but he knows that delpo w/b playing him in his house, for starters. yes, stadium court is rafa's house. delpo has played one match there, while rafa has played all of his this year plus all of his last year, so that's one advantage for rafa.

another advantage for rafa is that delpo is younger and less experienced. delpo is still feeling his way, gaining the experience that rafa already has after 4 more years of experience. delpo turned pro in 2005 (4 years ago), while rafa turned pro in 2001 (8 years ago), so rafa's been on the professional tour twice as long as delpo has.

rafa is more mentally and physically developed than delpo, but delpo has been in the zone in miami/key biscayne. World No. 7 will give World No. 1 a better match than he did at IW a couple weeks ago, IMO. all he needs to do is play within himself, and just at the moment, that's a good place to be.

none of delpo's opponents has been able to take him out of his zone in the week since March 28, whereas both gabashvili and wawrinka have been able to take rafa out of his zone.
 
^^ Ok let me put it this way, he needs to change his attitude if he wants to win, not only against nadal but agains anyother top 5.
 
jmverdugo said:
^^ Ok let me put it this way, he needs to change his attitude if he wants to win, not only against nadal but agains anyother top 5.
Click to expand...

only so many of the 100+ atp players per year get into a position to play the "top 5."

delpo is world no. 7 now, and i'm guessing his ranking might go up after miami. dont know enough about the point system to say so for sure, but we shall all see after it's over.
 
@lg, I believe davydenko will be dropping down so Del Potro will be top 6 at least, not sure what he'd need to do to pass Roddick, if they both go out in the 1/4s I doubt he takes enough.

I believe he's going to always go in with the right attitude, it's just a matter of finding his feet at the start of a match and not getting overwhelmed. It'll be interesting to see what happens if he starts getting wins over those guys, anythings possible.
 
maybe last weeks match against nadal may give del potro some confidence going into tomorrow's match. The way nadal competed against wawrinka was scary, Stan played one of his best matches of the year. It's too bad, nadal is just a different animal. Del needs to come out firing with confidence in order for him have any chance against Rafa!
 
ezdude1970 said:
del potro has been showing an amazing consitency of losing to top 5, and losing badly, unless he proves himself at least once, there is no reason in backing him.
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really? 'cause i cant figure your criticism out at all, ezdude. Could you please mention all the "top 5" players to whom you say Delpo has been losing so consistently?

Doesn't seem like much of a criticism, since Delpo, himself, has only been in the top 10 since when? November 2008? December 2008? less than 1/2 of one year? How long do you usually give a player to actually play and win "consistently" against the "top 5" before you start dissing him for not doing so?

and i'm interested in this "amazing consistency of losing to the top 5" that you find compelling enough to put into words, because I suspect (but i'm willing to have you prove me wrong) that the same, exact words could be used about most players in the top 50. Delpo was @ #54 at wimby 2008.

In fact, your statement might actually be less true of Delpo than of the others in the top 50, but it's your criticism, so I'm willing to see you put some flesh on its bare skeleton ...keeping in mind that a player has to ACTUALLY PLAY a "top 5" in order to "lose consistently" to him...

Plugging in the names and tournaments to this "amazing consistency" of which you speak would go a long way to revealing where youre coming from, ezdude.

as Joe Friday said, "The facts, ma'am; just the facts." thx, :)
 
Delpotro can beat players that are below his level but as soon as he versus a big gun he gets destroyed!
 
Josherer said:
Delpotro can beat players that are below his level but as soon as he versus a big gun he gets destroyed!
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and? :confused:

that's essentially the same criticism as the one i answered in the previous post. so i'd appreciate it if you'd answer the same points i raised there.

bottom line: i picked rafa to win the miami 1000, so by definition that means he'll also have to win this QF matchup.

so please name the players about whom your same exact criticism is NOT true, namely, "can beat players that are below his level but as soon as he versus a big gun he gets destroyed!"

and then mention all the players who WERE ABOVE his level when he beat them between stutgart and tokyo 2008, but who less than 1/2 year later are NOW BELOW his level and he has beaten them again.
 
veroniquem said:
Del Po is playing better than in IW and Nadal not quite as well. I still expect Nadal to win but the match might be tighter.
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Is it my imagination or has Rafa lost quite a bit of weight? His shorts looked less fitted than usual and that famous derriere was not quite so noticable! I'm not sure I like the old 'colonial 'look - when men used to wear those knee length wide shorts
 
Love Game said:
good one, edmondsm! :lol:

which of delpo's 3 miami matches have you seen:confused:
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i was particularly impressed with delpo's game vs ferrer. he was hitting the ball with lots of power and authority. he plays like that against nadal, their match won't be a blow-out like before. he can even snatch the win if he brings his head with him on the court.
 
Love Game said:
good one, edmondsm! :lol:

which of delpo's 3 miami matches have you seen:confused:
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Um, well I'm not going to judge Del Potro's chances against Nadal off a match with Tipsarevic. :confused:

Instead I'm going to look at how Del Potro has performed against good players like say the top 4 (he's 0-12).:neutral:
 
Normally i would say Rafa in 2 straights easy.

But watching Rafa vs Wawrinka he looked pretty fatigued and seemed to be having trouble with his returns...

Still i would imagine Nadal in 2
 
I think Nadal will bounce back after his Wawrinka match. He usually comes out more focused the next match when the last one is too close for comfort. I say 6-3/6-2.
 
Love Game said:
good one, edmondsm! :lol:

which of delpo's 3 miami matches have you seen?
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edmondsm said:
Um, well I'm not going to judge Del Potro's chances against Nadal off a match with Tipsarevic. ???

Instead I'm going to look at how Del Potro has performed against good players like say the top 4 (he's 0-12).
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i'm not sure i'm interpreting your answer correctly, but since you answered my question by only mentioning delpo's match against tipsarevic, should i assumed that you did not see his other miami matches (the ones against vassallo-arguello and david ferrer)?

dzhu07.png


and now you, like some before you, have latched onto a "top 4" criticism, which is a narrowing of the "top 5" criticism, which--as I've written against those who use it--does not seem like much of a criticism at all, because Delpo, himself, has only been in the top 10 since when? November 2008? December 2008? less than 1/2 of one year?

Since your "top 4" criticism seems just as harsh-yet-untenable as the "top 5" criticism of ezdude and the "big gun" criticism of josherer, here's the question for you that neither of those two has answered ...

question for edmondsm (since I know for a fact that Delpo has not played, as you put it, "the top 4 (he's 0-1)" since he, himself, entered the Top 10): How long in the top 10 do you usually give a player to actually play and win against the "top 4" before you start knocking him for not doing so?
__________

personally, i'm very impressed with the plan that's been directing Delpo's career path and the execution/working of that plan by Delpo, himself. Delpo began his amazing rise in the ranks from #54 at wimby 2008 (a mere 8 months ago), and after his exit from miami 2009, he will no doubt have risen higher than the no. 7 at which he entered it.
 
IvanAndreevich said:
Not really, but http://www.atpworldtour.com/tennis/...?player1=nadal&player2=Del+Potro,+Juan+Martin

He just owned him in IW.
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That's an odd characterization, considering the fact that:
Nadal owned Murray worse than he owned Del Potro @ IW.

* nadal is world no. 1
* murray is world no. 4
* del potro is world no. 7
* compare Del Potro's results against Nadal in IW.
* with Murray's results against Nadal in IW:

2cfv9dc.jpg


Nadal vs. Murray IW result: 6:1, 6:2 = Andy won 3 games from Rafa!

..... compared to .....

Nadal vs. Del Potro IW result 6:2, 6:4 = Delpo won 6 games from Rafa!

14j2o41.jpg


http://www.atpworldtour.com/tennis/en/players/

* At IW nadal was able to get the better of murray 29 minutes faster than he was able to get the better of del potro. it took rafa 110 minutes to get the better of del potro, but it took rafa only 81 minutes to get the better of murray, iow 1 hr, 21 mins to get rid of murray, but 1 hr, 50 mins to get rid of del potro.

* Combining all the categories, it appears to me that Del Potro did better against Nadal than Murray did.

* Taking just the last category in particular:
* Murray won 36/93 points from Nadal, equalling 38%.
* Del Potro won 58/133 points from Nadal, equalling 43%

Bottom line (just to put your criticism into perspective): Nadal owned Murray worse than he owned Del Potro @ IW.
 
you will figure out that anyone playing nadal on these forums gets the double bagel prediction and there is no arguing a *******s logic.


i see nadal winning but in 3 sets due to nadal having to grind out longer points.

DP is on his way to becoming a solid top 5 player and will remain in the top 10 for this year, sometime later this year he needs to have his break out preformance. he has several months left for it.

as for someone saying after a tight match he plays better, well Gil wasnt easy and he came out to play again against wawrinka and actually played the same mediocre tennis as 2 days before.
 
If Nadal has a very good match he will win something like 6-2 6-3,if he has an average match he will win 6-4 7-5 and if he has a pretty bad match he will win 6-7 6-3 6-4
 
deltox said:
you will figure out that anyone playing nadal on these forums gets the double bagel prediction and there is no arguing a *******s logic.


i see nadal winning but in 3 sets due to nadal having to grind out longer points.

DP is on his way to becoming a solid top 5 player and will remain in the top 10 for this year, sometime later this year he needs to have his break out preformance. he has several months left for it.

as for someone saying after a tight match he plays better, well Gil wasnt easy and he came out to play again against wawrinka and actually played the same mediocre tennis as 2 days before.
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Grinding out longer points??? lol so Del Potro's key to taking a set is to grind out points with Rafa.....sounds good except for that little thing about Rafa being the best at grinding...hmmmm.....If Del Potro wants to give himself a chance he needs to be on the baseline taking control of the points and give Rafa less time to sit back there and do what he does best.
 
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