Cesc Fabregas
Legend
Really? I thought of buying that too, but decided on Nadal v Federer Wimbledon 08 match.
Top 3 matches this year.
- Thread starter Cesc Fabregas
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Really? I thought of buying that too, but decided on Nadal v Federer Wimbledon 08 match.
D
Deleted member 21996
Guest
namelessone
Legend
Nadal had physical problems after Madrid and the Djoker match seems to be the most likely cause.
I actually felt the actual level of play was pretty low even if there was great drama.Nadal was showing a sub-par game like he did in the early rounds and djoker was too passive.Even as a Nadal fan I can clearly state that Novak played better and should have won but his head went away and Nadal managed to pull through.I think winning this match actually was more trouble than it was worth for Nadal and in hindsight he should have let Djoker win.In the final he played mediocre again and Fed beat him,he went to the doctor after Madrid because his knee was hurting again and I think it had something to do with the cumulative efect of playing the entire clay season(making finals in all of them) + the grueling djokovic match towards the end of the clay warm-ups. This way he didn't arrive at his best at RG both physically and game-wise but I guess it's his fault since he wants to play every goddam clay tournament.It's only a matter of time until you body give.With his style of play,Rafa should be playing fewer tournament and it's not like he is still 19,he is 23 and it will be harder and harder for his body to heal.
To get back on topic my best 3 matches of the year are:
Nadal-Verdasco AO 09'
Nadal-Federer AO 09'
The third is a tie for me between Gonzales/Gasquet at the AO and Murray/Wawrinka at WB.
Honourable mention goes to the WB 09' final.
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drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
already have that one, and saw it the other day as well.
Perhaps you should buy the Sampras vs. Mark Keil match.
Michael Bluth
Semi-Pro
1. Nadal vs Verdasco
2. Federer vs Roddick
3. Soderling vs Nadal
2. Federer vs Roddick
3. Soderling vs Nadal
AAAA
Hall of Fame
I'd recommend Sampras vs Krajicek Wimbledon, bigger event, Sampras firing on all cylinders, Sampras going for 4 in a row against a player who wasn't intimated by Pete's game.
namelessone
Legend
According to you. Perhaps some people don't see it that way. To each his own.
Fedex
Legend
That was a great match but also too much a war of attrition with one player being ground into submission in the end.
TheFifthSet
Legend
Funny that you say that after you criticize his opinion.
Fedex
Legend
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Cesc Fabregas
Legend
Nadal v Verdasco was better quality with better ralleys.
NonP
Legend
Yeah, talk about the pot vs. the kettle. I find it quite amusing (but not surprising) that anyone would accuse Cesc of trolling in this case. Nadal-Verdasco and Nadal-Fed Down Under both featured superior shot-making to Fed-Roddick in SW19, and Nadal-Djokovic in Madrid was easily the best clay match of the year, despite Rafa's subpar form in the 1st set and most of the 2nd.
P.S. I meant best clay 3-setter of the year.
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TheFifthSet
Legend
If he starts practicing what he preaches, sure. Before then, I think I'll just take his words with a molecule of sodium chloride.
abmk
Bionic Poster
AO final certainly had better shotmaking than the wimby final, but fed's serving was abysmal to say the least (in contrast to the wimby final which had terrific serving throughout from both) , even that might've been 'neglected' had the final set been of good quality , but it was pretty poor in contrast to the wimbledon final that had a never-ending , full of suspense final set.
norbac
Legend
I did cause they're my two favorite players....
Fedex
Legend
Sorry Fifth but I disagree with you there.
Gorecki's 'Opinion' post was in response to Cesc Fabregas' stating that his choices were high quality but Gorecki's weren't.
I didn't see Gorecki arrogantly judging anyone else's opinion in this thread.
NonP
Legend
The serve factor is why I put the Wimby final a notch below the two AO classics. The W was largely a serve-fest especially near the end. Anyway, as I said earlier I think we should differentiate between best-of-5 and best-of-3 matches, and I'd be willing to add the Wimby F as my 3rd best-of-5 pick.
BTW I don't think Murray-Wawrinka is up there, either. Andy served like crap in that match, barely over 50% and under 40% at one point. The serve also did him in against Roddick two rounds later.
TheFifthSet
Legend
I have no problem with him disagreeing with Cesc's opinion, but he shouldn't think his is untouchable.
Fedex
Legend
Rhinosaur
Rookie
Here's my top three tennis moments of all time:
1. Nadal not playing at Wimbledon 09.
2. Nadal making his "stroke face" while serving (numerous tourneys).
3. Nadal picking his butt (numerous tourneys).
drwood
Professional
Wimbldeon final was better than Australian Open final -- competitive the entire way, not just for the first 4 sets. I agree with Nadal-Verdasco and Nadal-Djoker for the other two.
No, it was perhaps the most important match of the year, but not one of the best. The level of play was no where near as spectacular as Djokovic vs. Nadal, Madrid Semis.
The level of play was higher, especially considering Djokovic towards the end of the 3rd set was gassed and doing absolutely nothing but pushing the ball with his forehand.
Soderling was zeroed in so much that Nadal was literally powerless despite his excellent defense that day. Everyone expected Soderling's level to drop, but it didn't. The guy just could not miss that day.
Most people here just think that a "great match" is one where two players compete fiercely against one another. However, some of the greatest matches are complete blowouts, where the guy on the receiving end isn't playing bad, he's just getting beat.
No way! Soderling was flying, but Nadal did NOT play nearly as well as he did in Madrid. It takes two to make a great match. Djokovic was just playing lights out, and then Nadal took it up a notch and he couldn't stay with him. That's the main difference.
Which is why I said it was one of the most important matches. NO ONE thought that Nadal would lose to anyone other than Federer. It had been declared inevitable by all the foolish talking heads, and even Federer himself seemed to be shocked when his rival went out. But for as well as Soderling played that day, I wouldn't say that this was a stupendous match in and of itself.
It doesn't take two to make a great or incredible match. Federer beat the living snot out of Roddick down under in 2007, but that was an INCREDIBLE match, because of how amazing Federer played from start to finish.
Same as the 1999 Wimbledon final between Sampras and Agassi. Total and complete blowout, but that doesn't mean the level of play was bad.
Have you ever thought that Nadal didn't play as well as he did in Madrid because Soderling didn't allow him to?
I have, and I would say no cigar. That just isn't the complete answer. I will definitely agree that Soderling's play was the reason he won that match, and not because Nadal played poorly. But I will not agree that Nadal was playing his usual high level of clay court tennis. It just isn't so, IMO.
Roddick is a different story. That guy throws the kitchen sink at Federer and nearly every time Federer just steamrolls him. If I recall correctly, Roddick was serving well, and not throwing in a lot of doubles, but Federer still just ran rough shod over him. That's why that is a great match. Roddick did do his part, it just was made to look pathetic by his opponent's superior play.
you think Roddick was made to look pathetic in the Wimbledon final? only time it's arguable that Roddick has ever outplayed Federer from the back of the court. you need to go away and learn some respect, and also learn something about tennis.
zagor
Bionic Poster
It's a matter of taste,I actually liked the fact that the final was a servefest,I miss my Wimbledon servefests where guys only had few small windows of opportunity to get that break.I don't want each slam to be a servefest but at Wimbledon I was used to them growing up(my favourite player from the 90s was Goran).
What made Wimbledon this year enjoyable for me was that the final was a servefest and the fact that Tommy Haas brought S&V back.Obviously as a Fed fan I was also glad that he broke Pete's record but I don't care that much about all that GOAT stuff and the player I enjoyed watching the most at Wimbledon this year was Haas,not Fed.
You're a spoiled kid. You take Federer cruisin to the final in great fashion too much for granted
Btw, how about Fed-Sod, Fed-Ivo those were servefests too
Federer_pilon
Professional
are you the one who's making fun of his OPINION in the first place? ironic eh?
zagor
Bionic Poster
You're a spoiled kid. You take Federer cruisin to the final in great fashion too much for granted
Btw, how about Fed-Sod, Fed-Ivo those were servefests too
Yes but Fed-Sod and Fed-Ivo were not that close matches(all straight set affairs).Also for some reason I just don't like Ivo's serve,it's seems like a slam dunk to me,that's what makes his matches boring for me sometimes more than the fact that they are servefests,he does have some nice volleys to make up for it though and his FH when he has time to set it up is really huge.
Yeah, well.. I don't think Ivo is that boring. Of course his serve IS a slamdunk, but can you be in awe of Goran all day, watch him serve aces just because of the technique? I think not.. I think it's more just rooting for a sympathetic guy who serves huge and what is nice is the excitement and tension around those matches. Everyone can beat everyone cause one net chord can decide a match. That feeling was there with Fed-Roddick in the fifth, not so much with Fed-Karlovic and Fed-Soderling. Everyone was complaining about Karlovic-Nadal at Queens 2008, but that WAS a match that reminded me of the 90s and I was really excited, quite contrary to general opinion.
zagor
Bionic Poster
Well you do have a point,Goran was a headcase on court,Safin like which was always entertaining and Ivo's seems like a very nice guy whose game is underrated in general so an easy player to root for.However I always loved Goran's first serve,more than anyone else's,he had that very low toss and lightning fast service motion,I really think he had the best disguise ever,nobody could read that thing.
Goran's first serve was unmatched. Especially at the time. Though Goran vs Ivo would go on for days (it really would if the courts were fast enough) I think Ivo is the next best thing if Goran's not around in that department. I'll root for Ivo, but prior to Wimbledon, unfortunately his Slam performances were subpar.
Btw, If you say Goran had the best 1st serve ever (which you don't do in your post, but you have said before), do you also consider him the most clutch, coming up with big first serves under enormous pressure. i think that's really important too, and I don't really know enough about Goran to judge that attribute for him.
P_Agony
Banned
Top 3 matches for me this year:
1) Federer vs. Roddick - Wimbledon 2009 final - high quality tennis, probably Roddick's best form in years, clutch serving from Fed, most intense 5th set I've watched in a while.
2) Gasquet vs. Gonzales - AO 2009 - A fun, high quality tennis match between two great players.
3) Sela vs. Youzhny - DC semi final - I may be a bit biased, but the 2nd and 3rd sets of this match were perfect by Sela, who was just beating Youzhny left and right with spectacular winners.
1) Federer vs. Roddick - Wimbledon 2009 final - high quality tennis, probably Roddick's best form in years, clutch serving from Fed, most intense 5th set I've watched in a while.
2) Gasquet vs. Gonzales - AO 2009 - A fun, high quality tennis match between two great players.
3) Sela vs. Youzhny - DC semi final - I may be a bit biased, but the 2nd and 3rd sets of this match were perfect by Sela, who was just beating Youzhny left and right with spectacular winners.
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zagor
Bionic Poster
No,can't claim that.He could come up with big serves on BPs and in tiebreak at times but I've also seen him hit some DBFs in worst possible moments.He was reasonably clutch but not among the best in that category.
So overall, best first serve ever when it landed in, but not the best server in history?
Federer played great but that 07 match was overhyped going in because roddick found some mojo in his ground game that tournament (beat safin along the way to the federer match IIRC). But there was never any real reason to think roddick would challenge federer on that surface.
zagor
Bionic Poster
Yes,best server ever when you factor in clutchness and second serve on top of first serve is Sampras.But best first serve ever is between Goran and Karlovic IMO.
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