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 .
Breaker said:
There are two months separating the Australian Open final and Indian Wells..
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Well its Hardcourts lets not forget which can be rough on the legs. And Indian Wells was just a week or so ago. So thats still quite a bit of tennis for Nadal considering what he had to go through at the AO and winning IW. I doubt this loss will be a big deal to Nadal
 
Very strange match, not the best quality, since the error count was rather high on both sides, but very entertaining because it was a roller coaster for the entire last two sets. Strange also because I think it is the first time I see Nadal lose after being up two breaks in the final set. I don't think he was tired (if anything, Del Potro seemed to be the one who was a bit tired) but the drop in his concentration (not to be confused with "choking") after he got his second break just took too long to go away, and by then Delpo was clearly on the rise again, not being afraid to rally and making the right decisions when to pull the trigger. As I said last year during the USO, after I watched him play and lose against Murray, Del Potro has a very cool head on top of very good strokes, and he is definitely top 5 material and he is there to stay. His current ranking is no fluke, his winning streak last summer was no fluke. And refusing to go away after being two breaks down to Nadal in the final set is no small matter. Very good player.

Nadal, who hates to lose as only winners do, is no doubt disappointed and angry at himself for spacing out with such a comfortable lead, but he should be told to take the only silver lining available in this cloudlet: a chance to rest and prepare better for the clay.
 
GameSampras said:
Well its Hardcourts lets not forget which can be rough on the legs. And Indian Wells was just a week or so ago. So thats still quite a bit of tennis for Nadal considering what he had to go through at the AO and winning IW. I doubt this loss will be a big deal to Nadal
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Tennis season just started recently why cant he just have a bad night and not need the tired excuse thats getting old, hes the most fit tennis player in the game and does this non stop 24/7 hes not tired. Hes the best player right now but he lost, no big deal.
 
Rafa's Interview:

Q. You're usually a favorite here. Have you ever heard a crowd pull for the other guy? Was a lot of Argentine fans out there.
RAFAEL NADAL: No, the crowd was good, no? That's good for tennis have a crowd like this. Sometimes a little bit too much when I was close to some guys.
No, it was really nice atmosphere.
Q. Did it affect you at all? It was just a wonderful match. How did you feel out there?
RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe wonderful for the crowd. Terrible for me. Yeah.
Q. You came back very strong and won the second set. Up two breaks in the third. What happened in that moment?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I didn't came back very strong, no? He start to had a lot of mistakes, no? I think I played really bad all the time. That's the true of the match.
Later when I have 3-0 in the third I played worse. So, yeah, I have the match -- it's 6-4, 2-1 I playing terrible. Later he have mistakes and I was there. And later with 3-0, it was amazing disaster. Yeah.
Q. What was the problem for you? The feel of the ball or...
RAFAEL NADAL: No, you know, this maybe was the -- I didn't was all focus like usually. Yeah, it's not usually I lose a match with two breaks in the third in hardcourt.
So, yeah, I didn't play well during this tournament. A little the first day against Gabashvili, but, no, I played bad all the time. Anyway, champion in quarterfinals is a good result. That's the positive thing of the American hardcourt season.
Bad thing is I didn't adapt well to this tournament this time. Yeah, I played really bad.
Q. Mentally hard, or...
RAFAEL NADAL: You never know. Maybe. But, yeah. I started the season very well. I had a lot of the matches, very concentrate. Yeah, the last two matches wasn't really good.
But anyway, I want to congratulate for my team and Del Potro. Yeah, he started the season playing well. It's a good win for him. Yeah, congratulate him.
Q. Did it kind of feel like a Davis Cup match to you?
RAFAEL NADAL: No.
Q. 40 some unforced errors and the whole tournament was kind of iffy. Are you going to take a break?
RAFAEL NADAL: Two days, three days, yeah. I have to adapt to clay another time. I have to be 100% ready mentally, physically.
The most important thing, playing well, so for Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid maybe.
So, yeah, no, I am really happy to come back to clay. I am excited to start to play on clay, try to play good matches on clay another time.
Q. Two questions: What makes De Potro so tough? Obviously his serve and forehand are effective. And does Indian Wells carryover just eventually wear you down when you go to the finals every year at Indian Wells and win it and then come right here?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no, no. I don't know. No excuse. Last week I played much better than this one.
Yeah, and maybe it's one month, Indian Wells and Miami. One month is a lot, because when you finish Indian Wells you have one week practicing here.
So after I came back from Australia I have Rotterdam after three days. Later, Davis Cup. So it's a long, long time.
But anyway, you can say one thousand things about this, but in the end, the important thing is I didn't play well. I lose and he play better than me.
Q. And Del Potro again, what makes him so effective?
RAFAEL NADAL: I think he didn't play one of his best matches, no? That's what I feel. I don't know. You can ask him later maybe.
But I think he played well. His level is 7 of the world, no, so he's very good. I think he didn't play an unbelievable match, but I didn't play on my best level today.
Q. How many days would you wish to rest before the clay court season in the ideal situation?
RAFAEL NADAL: You never know.
Q. How many days will you rest before working?
RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe I gonna arrive Saturday Mallorca, so I start Monday.
Q. Are you mystified or puzzled by how you played during this tournament, or do you understand why you didn't play well and know what to do next?
RAFAEL NADAL: Always is a reason because you are not playing at your level during the tournament. No, I am calm. I am happy about myself, about everything this year, yeah. I don't know. Always is a reason, but it's personal.
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Nothing too interesting. Doesn't seem too beat up about it.
 
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And Del Potro's Interview:
Q. What do you think was the difference today for you? You've never beaten him before, never taken a set off him, I don't think. Why today do you think it turned?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Because always I was keep going and keep trying. I beat him with my mind and with my game. When we played long points, I was dominating every time, so that was the key of the last set, of the tiebreak.
But I beat for first time.
Q. Did you come into this match thinking differently about him, or did you just come in the middle of the match and you realized you had a chance?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: No. I know him since 12 years. We play many times. Sometimes I can play good and sometimes bad, but today I did everything. I served very good, and with my forehand with big confidence.
To beat Rafa, you have to be in good shape and every part of your game, and today I did a great job.
Q. Did it feel like Buenos Aires out there, and how much did that help you?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah, a lot. There are many Argentinians and Latina, they all support me a lot. They help me too much for this victory.
Q. Rafa did not think that you played unbelievably good. He didn't think it was one of your better matches. He thought he really played terribly? How would you categorize your play tonight?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: I played unbelievable. I beat the No. 1 of the world. If you don't play unbelievable, you cannot beat him. I'm happy, but tomorrow I will play again, so I have to think in the next match.
Q. It looked like when you were down 2-3 in the tiebreak that you got aggressive and you took the match to him. Did you feel that way?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, I have a little bit lucky in the tiebreak. But I fight like three hours to be in the tiebreak, so five more points will be to decide to the match, and I was trying until the final. That's was the big thing of the match.
Q. You're down 3-0 at the beginning of the third, two breaks. What are you thinking right then?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Well, I start to enjoy the match, the people, the crowds, the quarterfinals. And I start to play more relaxes and more aggressive, too.
Then the match going different. I broke his serve in 3-0, and then 3-2. When I was 5-4, I say, Now I can beat him. That's was a big difference in my mind.
Q. Even when you had three match points and you had the forehand set up, even when you missed that, you still believed?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Yeah. Because Rafa did two aces, and then I have my opportunity with my forehand. But sometimes go in and sometimes no. The important is I was fighting until the final, and now I'm happy for the victory.
Q. Is this the biggest moment of your career?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Of course.
Q. How about a win on Sunday? Would that be better?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: It would be better, but I have to play tomorrow.
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vtmike said:
Your welcome! Here are the excuses in text format in case you want to reproduce them :mrgreen:

List of excuses by Nadal_Freak during and after the match between Nadal & Del Potro:-

~Nadal tanking like he needs to do. Less than 2 weeks is the clay season.

~Nadal decided he wants to win this match afterall. I think Del Potro pissed him off.

~Yeah I can. Rafa looked uninspired and quiet for a set in a half. He got annoyed with Del Potro calling late challenges and started to bring in the intensity soon after.

~Nadal has 13 days to rest for Monte Carlo if he loses. I didn't know they squeezed the schedule again this year. I thought they fixed that.

~It's a complaint about how compact the schedule is. For good reason Nadal should lose. He probably isn't thinking about that right now but he does seem to act tired. He probably would enjoy that extra rest.

~Well Rome is on clay. Nadal had some struggles there as well. Hamburg is also very humid. No surprise the tournaments Nadal struggles with are the most are humid. Nadal's shots go short and don't bounce as high. Just look how much Nadal loved Indian Wells.

~These humid conditions are really detrimental to Nadal's game. Nadal would rather play indoors imo than in Miami.

~The only way humid conditions can help is if it can tire the other opponent more as well.

~AH I'm angry.

~Nadal lost in Miami. So what? Yeah he is way ahead of everyone on the rankings. The conditions don't suit him there. Monte Carlo is only 13 days away. The exciting times are just beginning. Vamos.

~Yeah really. This loss will benefit Nadal. He will be fresher for the clay season due to it. He needs every bit of those 13 days to recover fully for the clay season.

~Nadal gave DP this match. DP did nothing to earn it.

The last one takes the cake! :lol:
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Now, what exactly is your point? Some TT member is offering up reasons/opinions about why he thinks Nadal isn't winning. I guess I don't understand your intent.

Is your point that Nadal Freak represents everyone who appreciates Nadal as a tennis player?
 
WHAT,,,,,Impossible,,,, How did Rafa lose to this 0ne-dimensional Juan ??? does anyone have this match on download ?
 
Gugafan said:
Just accept the fact Nadal got beat by the better player. He is never going to dominate on hardcourts like he does on clay. Nalbandian should have beat him at IW and Wawrinka certainly had his chances in Miami. ...You dont blow a 3-0 lead in the third if your burnt out.
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Del Potro is better than Nadal now? Del Potro played a great match but Nadal didnt play too well. Remember Indian Wells. Nadal put the smackdown on Del Potro. Nadal no doubt is a bit fatigued and needs a rest.

No big deal. Del Potro is NOT better than Nadal. He was better today but not the better tennis player
 
Leublu tennis said:
Thats an interesting observation but I am just to lazy to go back over the last 2 - 3 years to see what happened.
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The conditions in Miami are probably not the best for Nadal. Last year he was a finalist but in 2007 he also lost in the quarters and the year before he lost in the second round (but first match played after bye) against Moya. Of course in 2005 he played that memorable final against Federer there that he lost in 5. I have no idea what the reason is but Rafa was far from his best tennis all week.
 
veroniquem said:
The conditions in Miami are probably not the best for Nadal. Last year he was a finalist but in 2007 he also lost in the quarters and the year before he lost in the second round (but first match played after bye) against Moya. Of course in 2005 he played that memorable final against Federer there that he lost in 5. I have no idea what the reason is but Rafa was far from his best tennis all week.
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It was fatigue IMO. Simple fatigue. Others want to disagree and bash Nadal but I dont doubt the AO and Indian Wells hasnt burned Nadal out a bit. I think there was a reason he wasnt playing great tennis all week. Hes obviously burned out a bit.
 
veroniquem said:
The conditions in Miami are probably not the best for Nadal. Last year he was a finalist but in 2007 he also lost in the quarters and the year before he lost in the second round (but first match played after bye) against Moya. Of course in 2005 he played that memorable final against Federer there that he lost in 5. I have no idea what the reason is but Rafa was far from his best tennis all week.
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You're a Nadal hater...give him a break...the guy was 19 yrs old back then...he has only hit his prime in 2008!!
 
vtmike said:
Your welcome! Here are the excuses in text format in case you want to reproduce them :mrgreen:

List of excuses by Nadal_Freak during and after the match between Nadal & Del Potro:-

... Blah, blah
Click to expand...

Here is the only quote that matters from Nadal himself.

Q. Two questions: What makes De Potro so tough? Obviously his serve and forehand are effective. And does Indian Wells carryover just eventually wear you down when you go to the finals every year at Indian Wells and win it and then come right here?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, no, no. I don't know. No excuse...


His statement is what matters not some TT board member.

So, please get over it.
 
veroniquem said:
The conditions in Miami are probably not the best for Nadal. Last year he was a finalist but in 2007 he also lost in the quarters and the year before he lost in the second round (but first match played after bye) against Moya. Of course in 2005 he played that memorable final against Federer there that he lost in 5. I have no idea what the reason is but Rafa was far from his best tennis all week.
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How do you know RAFA isn't just dumping it cause he needs the rest. He won the BNP paribas this year so his knees must be feeling like Jello about now. It is Far better that he lost today. though i was hoping it would be a blow out loss for him so he wouldn't had to put so much stress on his kness today.
 
edmondsm said:
No way. Del Potro had many errors in this match, as did Nadal. It was kind of sloppy honestly. Del Potro made a lot of errors to go down 0-3 in the 3rd, and then Nadal made just as many errors to give up his double break lead. Many of the top players, playing well, could have beaten either player today.
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__________
36_1_19.gif
___________

spoken like a true fan! :lol:
 
Fedace said:
How do you know RAFA isn't just dumping it cause he needs the rest. He won the BNP paribas this year so his knees must be feeling like Jello about now. It is Far better that he lost today. though i was hoping it would be a blow out loss for him so he wouldn't had to put so much stress on his kness today.
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Dumping it by going to a third set tiebreaker and going up a double break in the third..that makes a lot of sense.
 
Crap happens, I suppose. All credit to Del Potro for sticking with the match, though; I thought for sure he was going to go away again.
 
babbette said:
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Babbette, don't be too upset. I remember when Rafa lost in the first round of Rome last year, I thought it was terrible news but he ended up winning Hamburg, RG, Queens and W in a row afterwards! This loss may have the "advantage" of giving him more time to rest and prepare for an awfully packed clay season, so it may work in his favor in the end.
Also despite this loss, Rafa still has posted the best results he's ever had in the start of the year hard court season: 1 slam + 1 master, not bad at all considering hard court is not his best surface and his start of the season has tended to be slow in the past!
Finally, no matter who wins Miami, Nadal will remain the best player of the year so far (Federer would score his first win of the year, Murray his third but 1 master and 2 smaller tournaments cannot compete with 1 slam and 1 master).
So cheer up please :)
I would like to add that the way Rafa was struggling (frustrated with his game) in this tournament, I didn't really think he was going to win it. I didn't expect him to lose today but I thought he would go out in the semi (Murray has been playing very well this week). So no regret for me, you can't win them all even if you're #1 !
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Breaker said:
Dumping it by going to a third set tiebreaker and going up a double break in the third..that makes a lot of sense.
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Those ATP tour officials are watching every move. Tanking is taken very seriously by the officials. Rafa had to put on a good show....:)
 
Fedace said:
Those ATP tour officials are watching every move. Tanking is taken very seriously by the officials. Rafa had to put on a good show....:)
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As usual Nadal proves that he is the best in all areas of the game, let's see Federer pull something like that off :)
 
Some facts about the match. Humidity started at 75% and got up to 93% close to the end of the match. The temperature was like 75 degrees. You could definitely see the effects of it. Nadal's shots were dropping short and not bouncing much. Breaking serve was pretty easy as proven by the 4 breaks in the last set. Nadal does great on clay because he gets very high bounces. Hard courts don't bounce as much anyways. Add humidity to it and Nadal looks very vulnerable. Nadal's slice was not looking good and he seemed to get very impatient. He was very negative and I made me a little angry watching him act that way. Just a bad week for him. Clay should change his frame of mind. :D
 
betovanbuuren said:
very nice match, good job for delpo. first time he defeat rafa
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thank you for bringing that up.
i was sorry to see rafa lose,
but he's still head and shoulders above the pack,
so it's nice for delpo's sparkling week to pay off so well thus far.

iow to all those of little faith,
(and you sooooooo know who you are)
Delpo defeated the World No. 1
(damn good way of beating a "top 5/top 4")
 
Nadal_Freak said:
Some facts about the match. Humidity started at 75% and got up to 93% close to the end of the match. The temperature was like 75 degrees. You could definitely see the effects of it. Nadal's shots were dropping short and not bouncing much. Breaking serve was pretty easy as proven by the 4 breaks in the last set. Nadal does great on clay because he gets very high bounces. Hard courts don't bounce as much anyways. Add humidity to it and Nadal looks very vulnerable. Nadal's slice was not looking good and he seemed to get very impatient. He was very negative and I made me a little angry watching act that way. Just a bad week for him. Clay should change his frame of mind. :D
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What effects did the humidity have on the player in the match not named Rafael Nadal? Or was it humid on one side of the court.
 
Breaker said:
What effects did the humidity have on the player in the match not named Rafael Nadal? Or was it humid on one side of the court.
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I'll try to explain this the best I can. Humidity makes the ball slower and lower bouncing. I think conditions like this favor the flat ball hitters. Defensive players find it tougher to defend when their shots sit up nicely for the other player rather then jumping up rapidly at them. The flatter hitter finds it easier to control the ball due to the balls not flying on them as much.
 
Love Game said:
oh my gosh! I swear as the match progressed i was starting to wonder whether it might happen.

is argieland in love w/Delpo tonight? :D
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Of course we are. We are "fickle" after all, remember? :twisted:
No, seriously, I'm very happy that Delpo finally got his head and game together to beat Rafa. He showed a lot of heart specially being down two breaks in the third.
 
random guy said:
Of course we are. We are "fickle" after all, remember? :twisted:
No, seriously, I'm very happy that Delpo finally got his head and game together to beat Rafa. He showed a lot of heart specially being down two breaks in the third.
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and i'm so glad you are :)
Delpo w/b sooo happy he has redeemed himself,
especially looking forward to Czechs in summer.

one thing puzzles me (well there are several in the translation that puzzle me), but in particular, what is "stick and pole" ??

quote: "Played in a big way and won in tie break in the third set, after more than three hours of stick and pole."
 
BreakPoint said:
What's important is not how you feel you played but how you feel the other guy played.
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I would disagree. Confidence, which I'm sure most people would believe to be very important in any sport, does not come from how you think the opponent is playing or played, but from how you view the game. If you believe you can win and can play well or are playing well, your confidence goes up, you relax more, and can play better.
 
YES! Go Del Po! I knew he would pull through for us fans someday! I hope he starts beating more top 10 players, because thats the only thing thats holding him back right now

I'm so happy right now, I hope he goes far in this tourney!!
 
Nadal_Freak said:
I'll try to explain this the best I can. Humidity makes the ball slower and lower bouncing. I think conditions like this favor the flat ball hitters. Defensive players find it tougher to defend when their shots sit up nicely for the other player rather then jumping up rapidly at them. The flatter hitter finds it easier to control the ball due to the balls not flying on them as much.
Click to expand...

Also, this court is much faster than last year, and definitely much faster than IW (the sliced backhand is skipping so much more on this court vs IW). I have not seen Nadal hurried as much this year as he was in this match. He always has had trouble against heavy flat hitters, and today was no exception, especially on this court. His UE count was probably higher than any time in the past three years.
 
Love Game said:
and i'm so glad you are :)
Delpo w/b sooo happy he has redeemed himself,
especially looking forward to Czechs in summer.

one thing puzzles me (well there are several in the translation that puzzle me), but in particular, what is "stick and pole" ??

quote: "Played in a big way and won in tie break in the third set, after more than three hours of stick and pole."
Click to expand...

It is a slang, a "palo", in this context, means a hard hit, the exact translation is stick. so the translation would be three hours of hard hitting.
 
jmverdugo said:
It is a slang, a "palo", in this context, means a hard hit, the exact translation is stick. so the translation would be three hours of hard hitting.
Click to expand...

thank you :)

i started imagining one of those log rolling contests in the water where each guy is using a pole to knock the other off his log :lol: in a way it was kinda like that! :D
 
coloskier said:
Also, this court is much faster than last year, and definitely much faster than IW (the sliced backhand is skipping so much more on this court vs IW). I have not seen Nadal hurried as much this year as he was in this match. He always has had trouble against heavy flat hitters, and today was no exception, especially on this court. His UE count was probably higher than any time in the past three years.
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Why would the court be much faster than last year?
 
veroniquem said:
Why would the court be much faster than last year?
Click to expand...
Maybe they resurfaced it with less sand to make the court more smooth or the natural progression of a court getting smoother when getting played on a lot. Combine a pretty fast court with heavy conditions and Nadal's got problems.
 
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