Who can stop Rafa ?

Centre Court

Centre Court

Semi-Pro
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon. I don't see Murray winning against Nadal, and I think even Federer ( if he gets that far) would struggle, and if Djokovic were to win against Federer I think he would struggle too. Unless there is a role reversal where Nadal may get nervous of the fact he could play Roger, considering his loss to him the last 4 times they have played. Nadal seems to be a player that gets stronger the more times he wins, and I can see a Djokovic-esque 2011 year where he goes on a major match winning streakwhich would take a clinical performance to stop him. Barring injury, or complete and utter burnout,who can realistically stop him from dominating the rest of the year, apart from maybe Federer on a very good day
 
Backspin1183

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Oh and you're over thinking. Weren't you the one who said Khachanov would beat Rafa? This is still grass and a good serving day and baseline game from an opponent can trouble him on this surface. He still has doubts on grass due to the losses in recent years. RG is perhaps the only Slam where he has great confidence even if he starts slow because he has won so many times there.
 
Centre Court

Centre Court

Semi-Pro
Backspin1183 said:
Oh and you're over thinking. Weren't you the one who said Khachanov would beat Rafa? This is still grass and a good serving day and baseline game from an opponent can trouble him on this surface. He still has doubts on grass due to the losses in recent years. RG is perhaps the only Slam where he has great confidence even if he starts slow because he has won so many times there.
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No I said Rafa would win haha!
 
Krish872007

Krish872007

Talk Tennis Guru
I'd recommend reducing the number of daily threads - these thoughts can easily be posted in the general discussion thread in Pro Match Results.
 
K

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
Nadal's last opponent basically beat himself. We saw all this in Miami - sweeping through the draw then Fed dominated him in the final.

I do think a Fedal final here would be an epic 5 set, or tight 4 set match though.
 
Mazz Retic

Mazz Retic

Hall of Fame
Backspin1183 said:
Proud Nadal fan here.
As long as Rafa is playing well, it would take a herculean effort to stop him. Would be a great match even if he loses.
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I agree with you. I respect both federer and nadal, i admire both players actually, but before I was a fan of both I was always rooting for federer. And in those days I was always cautious of Nadal and what he is capable of. He indeed has a huge chance here.
 
D

Deleted member 512391

Guest
I watched the end of the second and the whole third set against Khachanov, and there were many short responses from Nadal that Karen didn't (for whatever reason) punish. He won't have that luxury against some other players, Federer in particular, who killed such short replies in IW and Miami. Maybe Nadal didn't play like that in the first two sets, but regardless...he still needs to improve, even though his current game is really encouraging. He still has several big obstacles before the final, Muller, Čilić, probably Murray...so it's a long way.
 
N

Newcomer

Hall of Fame
I wonder if this thread is a joke. Sure, Nadal is much better than in the last few years but his level is not ideal. I think even Muller will have a realistic chance to stop him if he serves well. Nadal already lost serve 4 times in this tournament, he can't let that happen against a servebot like Muller. And about a theoretical final vs Federer...Didn't Nadal himself say a few days ago that he is afraid of facing Federer? Not to mention his pathetic performance in Miami final. No need another proof he has mental issues against Federer this year.
 
Krish872007

Krish872007

Talk Tennis Guru
Martin J said:
I watched the end of the second and the whole third set against Khachanov, and there were many short responses from Nadal that Karen didn't (for whatever reason) punish. He won't have that luxury against some other players, Federer in particular, who killed such short replies in IW and Miami. Maybe Nadal didn't play like that in the first two sets, but regardless...he still needs to improve, even though his current game is really encouraging. He still has several big obstacles before the final, Muller, Čilić, probably Murray...so it's a long way.
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Nadal was at a brilliant level in the first set and a half, he did drop after that and just about managed to hang on in the third, stepping up in the TB
 
D

Deleted member 512391

Guest
Krish872007 said:
Nadal was at a brilliant level in the first set and a half, he did drop after that and just about managed to hang on in the third, stepping up in the TB
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Yeah, I thought so. As many posters have said, he has a tendency to drop his level during the match in recent years, something that rarely or never happened back in his best days.
 
N

namui

Rookie
In the 3rd set, 4-3, Nadal serving, Khachanok hit a solid return on the baseline at a break point, but got intervened by lineman calling the ball out (challenged to be clearly in). Nadal did struggled with that return and if had broken, Khachanov would've had a very good chance to get the 3rd set.

If Khachanov had got the 3rd set, would you still see Nadal as strong ?

Nadal is clearly strong though. He has absorbed Moya's intimidating style, stepping in to increase aggression.
 
Jackuar

Jackuar

Hall of Fame
I'm not concerned, yet, about how good Nadal plays. More about Federer now, that he's taking his time to hit a better-than-just-good stride. If he can pick up some more momentum just when needed, I wouldn't bother how well Nadal plays. I only hope Federer's tactic to take more rest hasn't hurt him by making him slow and rusty.
 
Newballs

Newballs

Professional
Rog needs a little time yet, not a lot mind you.
Rog can do this...
And by 'this' I mean win/beat Rafa.
However (comma) if Rafa wins I won't be dissapointed.
 
BeatlesFan

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Centre Court said:
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon.
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Sadly I agree with you. I absolutely have Nadal as a lock to get to the final and he won't lose a set to either Cilic or Murray. In fact, I think he will come close to triple bagelling Muzz (and that's no joke). The conditions are beastly slow and we'll probably see a boring grindfest in the final between Rafa and Nole.

Wimbledon organizers should hang their heads in shame over these clay court like conditions, which were confirmed again today by Goran, who says, "crazy how slow grass is here. Slowest like... ever!"
 
C

CR7

New User
Centre Court said:
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon. I don't see Murray winning against Nadal, and I think even Federer ( if he gets that far) would struggle, and if Djokovic were to win against Federer I think he would struggle too. Unless there is a role reversal where Nadal may get nervous of the fact he could play Roger, considering his loss to him the last 4 times they have played. Nadal seems to be a player that gets stronger the more times he wins, and I can see a Djokovic-esque 2011 year where he goes on a major match winning streakwhich would take a clinical performance to stop him. Barring injury, or complete and utter burnout,who can realistically stop him from dominating the rest of the year, apart from maybe Federer on a very good day
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Nadal wont play Cilic until Wednesday. Cilic can stop him. No doubt.
 
T

Tatenda

Semi-Pro
Centre Court said:
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon. I don't see Murray winning against Nadal, and I think even Federer ( if he gets that far) would struggle, and if Djokovic were to win against Federer I think he would struggle too. Unless there is a role reversal where Nadal may get nervous of the fact he could play Roger, considering his loss to him the last 4 times they have played. Nadal seems to be a player that gets stronger the more times he wins, and I can see a Djokovic-esque 2011 year where he goes on a major match winning streakwhich would take a clinical performance to stop him. Barring injury, or complete and utter burnout,who can realistically stop him from dominating the rest of the year, apart from maybe Federer on a very good day
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What exactly that you sacred of?
You seem to dread Rafa doing well more than you support fed.
 
Get A Grip

Get A Grip

Hall of Fame
Centre Court said:
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon. I don't see Murray winning against Nadal, and I think even Federer ( if he gets that far) would struggle, and if Djokovic were to win against Federer I think he would struggle too. Unless there is a role reversal where Nadal may get nervous of the fact he could play Roger, considering his loss to him the last 4 times they have played. Nadal seems to be a player that gets stronger the more times he wins, and I can see a Djokovic-esque 2011 year where he goes on a major match winning streakwhich would take a clinical performance to stop him. Barring injury, or complete and utter burnout,who can realistically stop him from dominating the rest of the year, apart from maybe Federer on a very good day
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well, you writing this as a Fed fan, I think this is very respectful of you truly. And quite clear sighted.
I think so far Nadal has been better.
Just watched the last set of M Zverev, Fed was as good as he needed to be, but Zverev was camping out at the net on very weak approach shots, making himself a sitting duck. I did notice Fed missed a few east serve returns, and a few easy passing shots. But it didn't matter in that match. It would against Djok or Nadal.
They do have a habit of raising their level to meet that of their opponent's, so maybe what we're seeing now is not what we'll be seeing in a few rounds.
But so far, Nadal has looked stronger. Stronger than Djok too, IMO. I consider Murray the weakest of the 4.
 
ojo rojo

ojo rojo

Legend
mannarino-full15.png


?
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Nadal has played the most impressive tennis so far, but he has also dropped in level during matches in a way that wouldn't be good later in the tournament, so he has to work on his consistency of play during matches. Federer is just cruising and playing his way into the tournament, and Djokovic is on the way back up. Murray is having a harder time of it compared to the other members of the big 4 so far, but he's battling away.

Muller and Cilic are a potential danger to Nadal because of their serving power, but if Nadal gets over that problem in a convincing manner, then great.
 
C

CR7

New User
KINGROGER said:
Fed can most certainly beat Nadal. If they meet I'd have Fed to win in 4 sets.
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I think its highly unlikely they meet but i cant see Federer beating Nadal as his BH had reverted back to type. Every time Zverev served the slice serve to his BH which strangely wasnt often, Federer really struggled.

Tbh ive a feeling Dimitrov will take Federer out. Maybe 0-5 h2h but Thiem had never beat Djokovic before either.

It looks all set for Djokovic. Court is almost tailor made for him the way its playing.
 
J

Jonas78

Legend
Centre Court said:
Proud Federer fan here, and hopefully he puts in a good performance against Zverev later today, but realistically if Cilic loses to Nadal on Monday, I can't see anyone this year stopping him from Winning Wimbledon. I don't see Murray winning against Nadal, and I think even Federer ( if he gets that far) would struggle, and if Djokovic were to win against Federer I think he would struggle too. Unless there is a role reversal where Nadal may get nervous of the fact he could play Roger, considering his loss to him the last 4 times they have played. Nadal seems to be a player that gets stronger the more times he wins, and I can see a Djokovic-esque 2011 year where he goes on a major match winning streakwhich would take a clinical performance to stop him. Barring injury, or complete and utter burnout,who can realistically stop him from dominating the rest of the year, apart from maybe Federer on a very good day
Click to expand...
It's the same thing people wrote about Djoker after he won AO, IW and Miami last year. Some meant he was a lock on doing the sweep on clay, then he would go on doing the season slam, and break Rogers slam rec and weeks at nr1 rec. Then what happened after FO? The funny thing is that Rafa hasnt won anything big outside clay sinse USO13, and that includes ATP500 and Masters. He sure isnt a lock on grass.

Things change fast in tennis, one tournament at a time.
 
Tennisanity

Tennisanity

Legend
Law of averages catching up to Nadal. 2006, 2007 Nadal fluked his way to the final. 2010, depleted draw. Only 2008 was legitimate. Proof? 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 :)
 
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