Rafael Nadal: I don't want to face Roger Federer if I reach final

octobrina10 said:
Yes, you are correct. He not only 'merely suggested', he skkiped...
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Both Nadal and Federer have been honest to not wanting to to face each others at RG and Wimbledon respectively. Federer skipped RG but that's only negative for him in the sense of missing a chance for the double career slam and improving his clay resume while Nadal is going to give it a try at Wimbledon and maybe do very well.
 
He said the same thing about Djokovic at the French Open 2012, and 14. He prefer a weaker opponent...
 
Not surprising that most people here don't even bother to see if Nadal was joking when he said this (he was) though obviously he has lots of respect for Roger.

Another useless thread to attack people based on non news.
 
Newcomer said:
Nadal should stop respecting his rivals so much.
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Come on, this is all gamesmanship, which Toni perfected at least 12 years ago. It's all scripted for Nadal to say this. It's no different when he says, predictably and inevitably, every single year in May, "I not favorite for Roland Garros, no?" Same with Fed when he said he wasn't going to beat Nadal this year at FO. Same when Toni announced a few weeks ago, "Federer is the favorite for Wimbledon!"
 
Sarzy said:
I'm surprised he actually said that. The 'I don't like to face the best players in the final' doesn't sound like something he'd say.
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Agree. Surprises me he would even talk about the final. He never talks about making the final of an event early. Always one match at a time.

And about not wanting to play the best players in the finals 10 of his 15 slam wins have come agains fed and djoker.
 
The_18th_Slam said:
"If I reach the final, I'd like to face a different opponent than Federer," said Nadal, who beat Federer in the 2008 final after defeats in 2006 and 2007.

"I don't like to face best players in the final and I think I played against Roger already enough times this year."
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he is afraid of the GOAT. dont' blame him, he cleaned his clock 3 times this year already.... Nadal has become Roger pigeon.
 
Can't say I blame him if their three matches this year are anything to go by but I'm surprised he felt the need to express it. Having said that he might just be playing mind games and when they do meet in the final, goes all Raging Bull on Roger's arse. :eek:

#RevengeForMelbourne
#8NotHappening
 
I see nothing but a brutally honest answer. His best chance of winning the title, is by NOT playing Federer. In fact, the best chance of anyone winning the title is by NOT playing Federer. He just went out and said it, and that is Nadal for you, he just can be brutally honest at times.
 
Honestly if I'm a Fed fan I'm nervous and wouldn't wanna see Rafa.

If Rafa makes to final it's either two things:

1) Draw was so easy he is fresh and rested well.

2) He's in his old grass form which could give current Fed some issues.
 
Ha ha @ Nadal. Nadal and Federer are taking turns with the gamesmanship/lowering expectations comments for this tournament. First Federer says Nadal is the favorite to win the tournament and not him to lower Federer's own expectations and try to have underdog status like how he did at the AO and then you allegedly have Nadal saying he doesn't want to see Federer if he reaches the final and that he doesn't like playing the best players in finals.

If Nadal makes the final and has to play Federer he'll be like a man on a mission after that razor thin AO loss. A confident Nadal in the final is the last person Federer would want to see. It's true Federer has finally figured out how to play Nadal in a smarter fashion and won their last three encounters but a Nadal in top form knows how to play Federer and has only improved his play since the AO. If they meet in the final, Federer will have a slight edge but it it will basically be an even match-up which could go either way IMO.
 
deBroglie said:
"I don't like to face best players in the final and I think I played against Roger already enough times this year."

The above, is literally, unbelievable. Champions rise to the occasion and always play their best when they are against their best rivals. In every Slam match Federer lost to Nadal, (except the 2008 FO final, which is debatable), Federer always brought some sort of crazy moments and made the match an epic. Nadal and Djokovic have done the same thing with their rivalry, and we saw something similar in the 2014 Wimbledon final. It is utterly incomprehensible to me why Nadal would say such a thing.
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become his coach. he is in desperate need of championship guidance.
 
Not big news. All sports stars do that. Steph Curry of the Warriors said similar about Lebron James and Cleveland before the NBA championships. Tom Brady talked the same stuff about how great the Atlanta Falcons were before the Super Bowl. No big deal. It is called not giving your potential opponent stuff he can put on the locker room wall.
 
The_18th_Slam said:
Federer merely suggested something similar about not wanting to face Nadal at the French Open and a lot of the Bamos Vrigade called him a coward and a paper champion.
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Idiots always talk too much. :)

Why in heaven's name would Fed want to play Nadal at RG or Nadal Federer at Wimbeldon?????

That said, a Fedal final would be epic. ;)
 
Anyone who ever listens to Rafa being interviewed during a tournament will know that he ALWAYS says he would rather not meet any top player in the final. In fact, I'm surprised he went that far before he's won the SF, because he never talks about who he could meet in the final until he actually gets there, he always says I can't talk about playing whoever because we can only meet in the final and I've got a tough draw to go through before I get there so I'm only thinking about my next match.

I can understand why FedFans are ****-a-hoop about Rafa being afraid to play Roger, having been able to crack a smile this year after years of suffering the massive gulf in their head to head..
 
Sartorius said:
Nobody plays tennis better than me. Nobody. I have the shots, the best shots, believe me. Yuge serve, bigly forehand. You have no idea. People come up to me and say, from all over the world, they come up to me and say, wow you play so great, you have great shots. They say your era is the strongest. And believe me, it is the strongest era, because I play in it. I will make tennis great again. #MTGA

I also just learned past great female players see me as their husband. What can I say? I'm not surprised. Not surprised at all.
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:cool:;)
 
vanioMan said:
Because every normal human being would prefer the easiest possible path to achieve their goal rather than the hardest one.
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Wow you don't say?

So you mean I was wrong to wish I had the most impossible path to my own career success?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Feather said:
Nothing special. That's how almost all players think. Statement is obvious
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Considering some of the posts in this thread, apparently it's not so obvious.

These guys clearly enjoy the thrill of wishing themselves the most difficult obstacles in life as possible, just so that they can attempt to overcome them.

Which is why they waste their own time joining losers like us on these boards just so that they have less time to tackle whatever obstacles they have in their own lives.

After all, a Wimbledon trophy should be asterisked unless it was won against strong opposi--HEY WAIT A MINUTE!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Goddamn can all the Fed fans calm their t1ts? Of course he doesn't wanna face a guy who's beat him 3 times this ear, has won this tournament 7 times and is coming in as most peoples favourite. Just speaking his mind, which is a nice change from all the typical answers all athletes give.
 
This isn't surprising, if in fact he actually said it. Why would Nadal want to face a guy who's beat him 3 times this year and on Federer's best surface historically and (now) Nadal's worst? Yeah the H2H is still in Nadal's favour, but recent history is not. That said, just because Nadal says he doesn't want to face Federer doesn't mean he won't beat him in the final if it happens, but it's easy to tell why Nadal said this at this particular juncture in the H2H story. It's not rocket science.
 
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deBroglie said:
"I don't like to face best players in the final and I think I played against Roger already enough times this year."

The above, is literally, unbelievable. Champions rise to the occasion and always play their best when they are against their best rivals. In every Slam match Federer lost to Nadal, (except the 2008 FO final, which is debatable), Federer always brought some sort of crazy moments and made the match an epic. Nadal and Djokovic have done the same thing with their rivalry, and we saw something similar in the 2014 Wimbledon final. It is utterly incomprehensible to me why Nadal would say such a thing.
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because he primarily wants to win and he knows his chances are better vs. Berdych than Roger, no?
 
Chanwan said:
because he primarily wants to win and he knows his chances are better vs. Berdych than Roger, no?
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Of course, you're right. I've come to that conclusion too, but I'm just surprised he actually said it. Did he say it in Spanish (possibly mistranslated) or some other language he speaks to some extent (English, French)?
 
deBroglie said:
Of course, you're right. I've come to that conclusion too, but I'm just surprised he actually said it. Did he say it in Spanish (possibly mistranslated) or some other language he speaks to some extent (English, French)?
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don't know. But as clayqueen pointed out, the real surprise is him talking about the final at all. That must mean he's very very confident and that those knees are at a 100 %.
clayqueen said:
Anyone who ever listens to Rafa being interviewed during a tournament will know that he ALWAYS says he would rather not meet any top player in the final. In fact, I'm surprised he went that far before he's won the SF, because he never talks about who he could meet in the final until he actually gets there, he always says I can't talk about playing whoever because we can only meet in the final and I've got a tough draw to go through before I get there so I'm only thinking about my next match.

I can understand why FedFans are ****-a-hoop about Rafa being afraid to play Roger, having been able to crack a smile this year after years of suffering the massive gulf in their head to head..
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Steve0904 said:
This isn't surprising, if in fact he actually said it. Why would Nadal want to face a guy who's beat him 3 times this year and on Federer's best surface historically and (now) Nadal's worst? Yeah the H2H is still in Nadal's favour, but recent history is not. That said, just because Nadal says he doesn't want to face Federer doesn't mean he won't beat him in the final if it happens, but it's easy to tell why Nadal said this at this particular juncture in the H2H story. It's not rocket science.
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Pretty much. IF they both made the final, Nadal would do everything in his power to abuse Fed.
 
Sarzy said:
I'm surprised he actually said that. The 'I don't like to face the best players in the final' doesn't sound like something he'd say.
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Nadal has said this before earlier as well when he was losing to Novak. He said he just wanted to speak the truth and the truth was that he would like to win, and facing somebody other than top players like Novak would be easier for him. Credit to Nadal for that.
 
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