Rafael Nadal v Bjorn Phau -- 1st Rnd USO

iriraz

Hall of Fame
For Nadal at almost every tourney he plays he starts really slow and builds up momentum towards the second week.
The only concern for him is his movement.
 

Cloudy

Semi-Pro
Phau has a breakpoint but Nadal is missing a lot and kinda falling into his clay court game it seems. Just kinda trying to retrieve and add as much top spin as possible. He should mentally put himself on grass when he's on hard courts, it's amazing how different he plays.

Phau is hitting some pretty good stuff though, his backhand is pretty darn good.


When Rafa gets tired he goes into defense mode. Look how far back he is standing to return serve. Too far back he should be attacking.
 
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TennisandMusic

Guest
When Rafa gets tired he goes into defense mode. Look how far back he is standing to return serve. Too far back he should be attacking.

I think it would be more of a lack of confidence than being tired. It's the first match and he had a week off after the Olympics. This kinda play will get eaten up by a top hard court player.
 
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TennisandMusic

Guest
I think the blisters/tired talk is getting a bit over the top...
 

rafan

Hall of Fame
Having followed Rafa for 2 years I find his first matches are as nail biting as his finals. I think he has worked out a system to pace himself.
 
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Deleted member 25923

Guest
To tennisandmusic, the blisters and tired talk aren't getting very old because Rafa looks tired and it seems like he has a blister on his foot. IMO, it shouldn't be too big a deal, but nothing to just shrug off.
 

Cloudy

Semi-Pro
Having followed Rafa for 2 years I find his first matches are as nail biting as his finals. I think he has worked out a system to pace himself.

Thats totally true I try not to worry in his first round matches until he is 2 -0 down and 5-0
 

Tarsier

Professional
Thats totally true I try not to worry in his first round matches until he is 2 -0 down and 5-0

At least this time he avoided being broken right at the start of the 2nd set and trailing then. So this looks like a promising start.
 

Ian Stewart

Professional
Rafa to serve for it. But this match is already over 2.5 hours long!

Nadal seems to lack the ability Federer had to cruise though the early rounds with minimal stress on his body. I wonder if this will cost him in the long term?
 

Cloudy

Semi-Pro
He is always rusty in first round matches but then normally plays very well in tournies its like he needs a long warm up match.
 

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
nadal got pushed, for sure. it sometimes sucks though, this guy played awesome tennis, but because he got nadal it wasnt enough..

but awesome play, and even more awesome backhand.
 
People shouldn't make a big deal out of this. He didn't look all that bad, no worse than he usually looks in his first round matches. I mean, he got pushed to 4 sets by Alun friggin' Jones in the first round last year playing God-awful. This was nothing like that. Phau was playing out of mind at times. That backhand is brutal.
 

AR15

Professional
It's a great day when you can watch a fine tennis match like that.

That was exceptional tennis from both sides.:)
 

rafan

Hall of Fame
People shouldn't make a big deal out of this. He didn't look all that bad, no worse than he usually looks in his first round matches. I mean, he got pushed to 4 sets by Alun friggin' Jones in the first round last year playing God-awful. This was nothing like that. Phau was playing out of mind at times. That backhand is brutal.

Yes I quite agree - we expect too much. He often gets a close first set and then relaxes on the second and fights back in the last set but this time it seemed out of balance somehow
 

VamosRafa

Hall of Fame
People shouldn't make a big deal out of this. He didn't look all that bad, no worse than he usually looks in his first round matches. I mean, he got pushed to 4 sets by Alun friggin' Jones in the first round last year playing God-awful. This was nothing like that. Phau was playing out of mind at times. That backhand is brutal.

I agree. And I think there is a different attitude about playing a first round match against a qualifier as opposed to a top player in the quarters or semis. At this point he wants to get through the match and put himself in a position to get used to the conditions and improve as the tournament goes forward. He wasn't facing Djokovic, so he didn't have to pull out all the stops.
 

tennispal

Rookie
phau was amazing. just look at that backhand and his explosiveness. i dunno how hes not in top 100.maybe he makes too many dumb mistakes?
 

FEDXFAN

Rookie
Phau was unbelievable, how bout running down that top spin lob. This is probably the fastest guy Nadal will play in the tournament. Wouldn't be to worried if I was a Nadal fan. He just ran into a guy today that played WAY over his head. That's the down side of being #1, some guy like this has absolutely nothing to lose, and goes for everything. And when you add in that kinda speed, it's tough.
 
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Deleted member 21996

Guest
Wow. total beat down by Jesus Raf. and those TB... blisters and tiredness. plus it was all about nadal. nothing due to Phau.

well what can we say: It never rains when it Bjorns...
sarcasm.jpg
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I thought Nadal was very, very lucky to get out of this match with a win. If Phau hadn't taken his eye off of the ball on those too easy volleys, the result could have been quite different. Phau had so many break chances throughout the match and just wasn't able to capitalize on them. Very, very close match indeed. Judging from this match, I don't think Nadal is going to win the US Open this year. And I still think a great serve and volleyer like Pete Sampras would destroy Nadal on that court.
 

vbranis

Professional
Amazing tennis by Phau, didn't know he had it in him. I hope he'll rise in the rankings, it's a shame to see him at #136. He should be in the top 50 soon if he continues playing like today.
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
I thought Nadal was very, very lucky to get out of this match with a win. If Phau hadn't taken his eye off of the ball on those too easy volleys, the result could have been quite different. Phau had so many break chances throughout the match and just wasn't able to capitalize on them. Very, very close match indeed. Judging from this match, I don't think Nadal is going to win the US Open this year. And I still think a great serve and volleyer like Pete Sampras would destroy Nadal on that court.
Didn't you say something like this after Nadal's first round against Starace? We found out what happened in Beijing after that. I assumed Nadal would struggle today. Nadal still has some jetlag I would assume from the 12 hour schedule change. He's got 2 days off so hopefully it is all gone by Thursday.
 
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TennisandMusic

Guest
I thought Nadal was very, very lucky to get out of this match with a win. If Phau hadn't taken his eye off of the ball on those too easy volleys, the result could have been quite different. Phau had so many break chances throughout the match and just wasn't able to capitalize on them. Very, very close match indeed. Judging from this match, I don't think Nadal is going to win the US Open this year. And I still think a great serve and volleyer like Pete Sampras would destroy Nadal on that court.

Didn't Nadal have WAY more break points he didn't convert? I thought Phau had a fraction of the break points Nadal did...
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Didn't you say something like this after Nadal's first round against Starace? We found out what happened in Beijing after that. I assumed Nadal would struggle today. Nadal still has some jetlag I would assume from the 12 hour schedule change. He's got 2 days off so hopefully it is all gone by Thursday.
Nadal left Beijing over a week ago.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Did you just hear all the excuses that Nadal made in his press conference (clip just shown on USA)? He's said he didn't play with his usual intensity, he was tired, etc. He never gave Phau any credit for playing well or mentioned his opponent at all. It was all about Rafa and not his opponent according to Nadal. :-?
 
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TennisandMusic

Guest
Um....you were posting here during the whole match. I wasn't. My first post in this thread was well after the match was over.

I think they miscounted. I'm pretty sure Phau had more than 3 break chances in those 3 sets.

BTW, not everyone watches the US Open just for Nadal. No, not everyone will stop watching if Nadal loses early as the other poster implied.

No he didn't, the commentators late in the third set said at his first break point chance that it had "finally come" or something like that. There was no miscounting whatsoever. It was just Phau playing great and Nadal playing like crud, and Nadal still pulling it out in straights.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
No he didn't, the commentators late in the third set said at his first break point chance that it had "finally come" or something like that. There was no miscounting whatsoever. It was just Phau playing great and Nadal playing like crud, and Nadal still pulling it out in straights.
His first break chance in the 3rd set.

No, Nadal was not playing poorly at all. He played how he always plays on hardcourts. Phau just took it to him. Phau didn't have as much trouble with Nadal's topspin shots as Nadal thought he would. That rattled Nadal and Phau took advantage.
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Nadal left Beijing over a week ago.
Change your sleeping habits by 12 hours and see how you feel. I think it would take 2 weeks to do such an extreme change and feel your best. No disrespect to Bjorn as he played a very solid match but I expect much more from Nadal. The courts are actually slower here than Beijing imo so I like Nadal's chances.
 

VamosRafa

Hall of Fame
Did you just hear all the excuses that Nadal made in his press conference (clip just shown on USA)? He's said he didn't play with his usual intensity, he was tired, etc. He never gave Phau any credit for playing well or mentioned his opponent at all. It was all about Rafa and not his opponent according to Nadal. :-?

You did say "clip," right? Sound byte perhaps? I bet you'll find that he will give credit to his opponent in his full post-match interview.
 

VamosRafa

Hall of Fame
I thought Nadal was very, very lucky to get out of this match with a win. If Phau hadn't taken his eye off of the ball on those too easy volleys, the result could have been quite different. Phau had so many break chances throughout the match and just wasn't able to capitalize on them. Very, very close match indeed. Judging from this match, I don't think Nadal is going to win the US Open this year. And I still think a great serve and volleyer like Pete Sampras would destroy Nadal on that court.

Yeah, really lucky to get out of it in 3 sets.

At which point exactly was Rafa really on the ropes? I watched the whole match and missed that part.
 

Fedace

Banned
Well, Nadal didn't play badly today. you guys have no idea how good Phau can play. I seen him play in person at a challenger event. the guy is full of Talent. His backhand is one of the purest shots in the game today. I would put him 2nd after Gasquet in 1-handers today. Why has he not made it in the tour ?? He has gone thru many injuries in his career.
 

edberg505

Legend
Well, Nadal didn't play badly today. you guys have no idea how good Phau can play. I seen him play in person at a challenger event. the guy is full of Talent. His backhand is one of the purest shots in the game today. I would put him 2nd after Gasquet in 1-handers today. Why has he not made it in the tour ?? He has gone thru many injuries in his career.

Yeah, I want Phau's backhand.
 
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