Rome 2013 SF : [5] Nadal vs [6] Berdych

Predict the SF result


  • Total voters
    41
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Deleted member 77403

Guest
it looks loke Berdych has already conceeded the match.

The King is like a Tsunami. You can prepare for it all you want, it's still going to wipe you out if you try to confront it.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
To Magnus: But so many players can squash him before he even gets a chance :twisted:
And it's not like Rafa is getting tired with this match, lol
 

Magnus

Legend
The pigeon is half done. Rafa has perfect timing for GOATing (just before RG :))

You can kid yourself all you want. True, Rafa won Madrid and will likely win Rome and RG, but look how close he got to losing? Ferrer in Madrid, Gulibs and Ferrer in Rome (not to mention losing his precious MC), Nadal just doesn't have those clay matches where he loses a game or two, players are getting closer and closer to beating him. Its only a matter of time. I'm patient :)
 

jelle v

Hall of Fame
Nadal is unbelievable.. so good on clay. I just wish he had more competition on clay. Djokovic seems to be the only one who can make things difficult for him on clay. I wish Nadal would have had the clay competition from the 90's. I still think that Nadal would have ruled, but things would have been a lot more difficult for him with a lot of other clay court specialists around. :cool:
 

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal is unbelievable.. so good on clay. I just wish he had more competition on clay. Djokovic seems to be the only one who can make things difficult for him on clay. I wish Nadal would have had the clay competition from the 90's. I still think that Nadal would have ruled, but things would have been a lot more difficult for him with a lot of other clay court specialists around. :cool:

There is more than enough clay as it is. Thanks but no thanks.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
You can kid yourself all you want. True, Rafa won Madrid and will likely win Rome and RG, but look how close he got to losing? Ferrer in Madrid, Gulibs and Ferrer in Rome (not to mention losing his precious MC), Nadal just doesn't have those clay matches where he loses a game or two, players are getting closer and closer to beating him. Its only a matter of time. I'm patient :)
Which is good because you may have to wait 5 more years before Nadal starts letting go of clay :)
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
You can kid yourself all you want. True, Rafa won Madrid and will likely win Rome and RG, but look how close he got to losing? Ferrer in Madrid, Gulibs and Ferrer in Rome (not to mention losing his precious MC), Nadal just doesn't have those clay matches where he loses a game or two, players are getting closer and closer to beating him. Its only a matter of time. I'm patient :)

And what of their mentally? Nadal is still mentally superior in crunch moments, he has that special thing that they simply don't. It could be a long wait.
 

Sorana fan

Banned
Nadal just doesn't have those clay matches where he loses a game or two, players are getting closer and closer to beating him. Its only a matter of time. I'm patient :)

Eventually it will happen, of course. By then, he'll have won 9 or 10 RG
 

Magnus

Legend
Which is good because you may have to wait 5 more years before Nadal starts letting go of clay :)

Nope, its already happenning. Look at MC, he lost there after 8 years of winning, its Djoko's title now. Madrid - he was 2 points away from losing the match against Ferrer. Gulbis totally choked his match and should have won it straights. Next year he'll lose another title. Nadal just doesn't look unbeatable on clay anymore, he seems to be surviving more by his intimidation rather than his tennis. He hit 13 winners in the Gulibs match, that's laughable. Even Simon hits more.
 

jelle v

Hall of Fame
There is more than enough clay as it is. Thanks but no thanks.

I'm european, I grew up on clay, so I like watching clay tennis best, you can't blame me for that :wink:

But I'm not saying there should be more clay tennis, i just wish Nadal had better competition on clay. The clay competition from the 90's untill early 00's was so much better than it is today. That's the result of all courts getting more equal. Would be nice to have players like Bruguera, Muster, Coria, Kuerten etc. around to make things a little more difficult for Nadal.
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Nope, its already happenning. Look at MC, he lost there after 8 years of winning, its Djoko's title now. Madrid - he was 2 points away from losing the match against Ferrer. Gulbis totally choked his match and should have won it straights. Next year he'll lose another title. Nadal just doesn't look unbeatable on clay anymore, he seems to be surviving more by his intimidation rather than his tennis. He hit 13 winners in the Gulibs match, that's laughable. Even Simon hits more.

No offense but I think you may be delusional. :)
 

Magnus

Legend
And what of their mentally? Nadal is still mentally superior in crunch moments, he has that special thing that they simply don't. It could be a long wait.

Nope. Djokovic is there already. Dimitrov seemed to be there in MC and was sadly cramping in the end. Nadal is quickly losing his clay aura, it was apparent in several matches in both Madrid, Rome and MC. He also lost 2 clay matches this season already.
 
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Deleted member 77403

Guest
Has Berdych even once got the King into a vulnerable position? I don't think he has even once found that wide defensive backhand from Nadal. The King is easily dancing around that backhand to play his favorite forehand from that position.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
It's a damn shame that the Nadal killer wasn't out to do fulfill his duty today.

A damn shame.
It's a shame for his own sake. It's good for tennis in general because it means Fed won't win the event thanks to a combination of cake draw and finalist's exhaustion. Something that would be too unfair to bear.
 

Magnus

Legend
No offense but I think you may be delusional. :)

I was stating facts, so delusional is not an option. Nadal DID lose MC after dominating that event every year (it was his most dominant one of all clay events). He was so close to losing in 3-4 matches. Seriously, he's the strongest on clay still, but the margin isn't that big anymore, and its getting smaller and smaller.
 

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm european, I grew up on clay, so I like watching clay tennis best, you can't blame me for that :wink:

But I'm not saying there should be more clay tennis, i just wish Nadal had better competition on clay. The clay competition from the 90's untill early 00's was so much better than it is today. That's the result of all courts getting more equal. Would be nice to have players like Bruguera, Muster, Coria, Kuerten etc. around to make things a little more difficult for Nadal.

I think you're not giving Nadal enough credit in your assessment of today's competition. Nadal would have bulldozed the claycourters of the 90's etc. imho.
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Nope. Djokovic is there already. Dimitrov seemed to be there in Madrid and was sadly cramping in the end. Nadal is quickly losing his clay aura, it was apparent in several matches in both Madrid, Rome and MC. He also lost 2 clay matches this season already.

No he is not. Not yet.
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
I was stating facts, so delusional is not an option. Nadal DID lose MC after dominating that event every year (it was his most dominant one of all clay events). He was so close to losing in 3-4 matches. Seriously, he's the strongest on clay still, but the margin isn't that big anymore, and its getting smaller and smaller.

I am not so sure we are there yet. When he actually loses more clay matches and starts to lose earlier in clay events then he will be less of a threat. He is not there yet imo.
 

Magnus

Legend
I am not so sure we are there yet. When he actually loses more clay matches and starts to lose earlier in clay events then he will be less of a threat. He is not there yet imo.

He lost twice this year on clay already. That's more than what usually happens. And RG/Rome haven't started/aren't finished yet.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
I was stating facts, so delusional is not an option. Nadal DID lose MC after dominating that event every year (it was his most dominant one of all clay events). He was so close to losing in 3-4 matches. Seriously, he's the strongest on clay still, but the margin isn't that big anymore, and its getting smaller and smaller.
Most seasons, he's lost 1 of the 3 masters. Means absolutely nothing as long as he keeps winning everything else.
 

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
I guess peak Nadal only showed up for 1 set. The 2nd is much more closer, Berdych is hardly losing any points on serve so far.
 
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Deleted member 77403

Guest
No he is not. Not yet.

Exactly. Why is that so difficult to see? :?

No one is saying he is in 2008 FO beast mode. But he is still King on this surface, and after all this time, only one player...one player has dared to challenge his reign.
 

Sorana fan

Banned
Nope, its already happenning. Look at MC, he lost there after 8 years of winning, its Djoko's title now. Madrid - he was 2 points away from losing the match against Ferrer. Gulbis totally choked his match and should have won it straights. Next year he'll lose another title. Nadal just doesn't look unbeatable on clay anymore, he seems to be surviving more by his intimidation rather than his tennis. He hit 13 winners in the Gulibs match, that's laughable. Even Simon hits more.

Did you take into account the fact that he's been out for 7 months?

He's not peak because of this mainly. He gets older too the same as everybody, but he hasnt showed a significant declining like Federer
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
He lost twice this year on clay already. That's more than what usually happens. And RG/Rome haven't started/aren't finished yet.

I think he has slowed down a little on clay but his competition is so laughable on this surface I don't think it will matter much.
 

Magnus

Legend
Most seasons, he's lost 1 of the 3 masters. Means absolutely nothing as long as he keeps winning everything else.

Means a lot when the one he loses is his best one, MC, a place he's been more dominant and fits his game more than any other clay court. Suddenly players found cracks in his game, and it continued on to Madrid and Rome, where Nadal has been nothing short of lucky to win/stay in.
 
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