Wilander, Edberg, Mcenroe & Noah pick Nadal to win the Australian Open

[nadal_slam_king]

Yet even the 2010 hard-court results are massively in Federer's favour.

I'll take a bet with you that Nadal wont win the Aussie Open this year. Friendly bet or monetary if you wanna back your convictions.

But I've already said Federer is the favorite to win, in fact I said Murray and Federer are both the favorites. Nothing to bet on :lol:

If Rafa wins it'll be as the pure underdog vs those 2 favorites. Nobody knows who's going to win. But I hope Rafa the underdog prevails

 

[Deleted member 77403]

But I've already said Federer is the favorite to win, in fact I said Murray and Federer are both the favorites. Nothing to bet on :lol:

If Rafa wins it'll be as the pure underdog vs those 2 favorites. Nobody knows who's going to win. But I hope Rafa the underdog prevails

Rafa will never be a pure underdog against Murray or Federer. The guy has proven he is about as a bigger obstacle as they come. The guy won the last three slams, hardly underdog material.

 

[mandy01]

edit:- Predictable stuff from Wilander(s).

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

http://www.atpchampionstour.com/news138.html

disappointing stuff from edberg and noah,
usual verdasquism from wilander,
and mac... well, he can't be serious, can he ?!

 

[dandelion_smiley]

What is Wilander talking about? Federer HAS recently changed his game plan since hiring Paul Annacone. I seriously can't stand Wilander.

I think Wilander ment that Federer didn't change much throughout 2004-2007 while Nadal is constantly improving. The funny part is that still Federer from that period is miles ahead of current Nadal in terms of level of play. Federer didn't change cause he didn't have to. Why change if you're winning 12 titles a year, 3 Slams and you're doubling the points of the no 2?

 

[nadal_slam_king]

I think Wilander ment that Federer didn't change much throughout 2004-2007 while Nadal is constantly improving. The funny part is that still Federer from that period is miles ahead of current Nadal in terms of level of play. Federer didn't change cause he didn't have to. Why change if you're winning 12 titles a year, 3 Slams and you're doubling the points of the no 2?

If Federer was miles ahead he should have been able to at least win Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open in succession :lol:

 

[dandelion_smiley]

If Federer was miles ahead he should have been able to at least win Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open in succession :lol:

 

[angiebaby]

If they choose to not even mention Roger despite his recent form, then its writing him off.

...

I'm sorry to belabour the point but Federer was mentioned:

Stefan Edberg
The Australian Open is outdoors, it’s in the heat and I believe Rafa has to be the favourite and probably will be the winner. It is incredible what he has done over the past year and he does have a chance now to catch Federer (for the Grand Slam title record). It's not going to be easy, but he definitely has a chance. Federer is not finished yet, but Nadal is the favourite in Melbourne.”

John McEnroe
Winner - Rafael Nadal.
“I would pick Nadal at the Australian because I think he’s much tougher to beat in longer matches. If he remains healthy then he’s the guy I would pick for every Major right now until proven otherwise. I would love to see a guy like Del Potro or one of the other guys like Djokovic or Murray step up and really make an impact and win some Majors.
I think that would be important for tennis, but Nadal is the favourite, just ahead of Federer.”

To be fair, they were strictly answering the question that was posed which was probably who they think is the favourite and they didn't have to expantiate on who else they thought was in the running. Mac and Edberg did, by mentioning Federer was essentially a close second but they really didn't have to. Wilander just went out on a tangent as he usually does but I thought the other three were able to justify their choice well enough. And let's face it, most of us would agree with them at this stage.

 

[Messarger]

I wonder who did Borg, Sampras, and Laver pick.

 

[fps]

the idea that Federer hasn't changed his game is nonsense. If anything he always had more tools, but his defensive play now is out of this world.

 

[nadal_slam_king]

Also I think Federer should have won 5 straight slams if he wanted to be the best of this century. Because if Rafa wins the AO then he's very likely to win 5+ slams in a row. There is now a lot of pressure on Federer to stop this train in Australia, or watch it run through the English Channel.

 

[dandelion_smiley]

Also I think Federer should have won 5 straight slams if he wanted to be the best of this century. Because if Rafa wins the AO then he's very likely to win 5+ slams in a row. There is now a lot of pressure on Federer to stop this train in Australia, or watch it run through the English Channel.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

The difference is these guys can see reality, they don't worship fed like many here do.

quoted for truth; the Federer fanatics cannot accept opinions not celebrating RF in a period of Nadal majors dominance. For this group, Federer has to be praised 24/7/365.

 

[Sentinel]

Although i go with Nadal on every slam, but i loved this one...

Federer has always played brilliant tennis but you never really saw Federer change, whereas Nadal has actually changed his game after getting beaten a couple of times last year.

 

[cknobman]

Also I think Federer should have won 5 straight slams if he wanted to be the best of this century. Because if Rafa wins the AO then he's very likely to win 5+ slams in a row. There is now a lot of pressure on Federer to stop this train in Australia, or watch it run through the English Channel.

Holy crap, people aren't going to stop making fun of you for being stupid until you stop posting stupid crap like that!!!!!

 

[nadal_slam_king]

Holy crap, people aren't going to stop making fun of you for being stupid until you stop posting stupid crap like that!!!!!

Making fun?

Who exactly??

 

[sdont]

^^Who are these people? Are they from the forums at rafaisgoat.com?

 

[nadal_slam_king]

^^Who are these people? Are they from the forums at rafaisgoat.com?

Nope, they're from the biggest tennis forum on the internet, and just like this one, there are more Federer fans than Nadal fans.

 

[bolo]

lendl backs nadal.

http://www.sportal.com.au/tennis-news-display/lendl-backs-nadal-108078

 

[veroniquem]

This looks like a post addressed to yourself :shock:

 

[stanton warrior]

Making fun?

Who exactly??

I'm not a user at MTF, but I've been reading there for a while and most of those posters are the worst kind of fanboys.
Especially Everko, Start da game (with his terrible predictions) and the lunatic Topspindoctor.

 

[nadal_slam_king]

I'm not a user at MTF, but I've been reading there for a while and most of those posters are the worst kind of fanboys.
Especially Everko, Start da game (with his terrible predictions) and the lunatic Topspindoctor.

It's higher class there because the rules are much tighter. Posters aren't even allowed to hint at a clean player being a steroid user, for example, or a ban results. And abusive language isn't accepted as much either.

 

[bolo]

It's higher class there because the rules are much tighter. Posters aren't even allowed to hint at a clean player being a steroid user, for example, or a ban results. And abusive language isn't accepted as much either.

here people naturally stopped the steroid talk.

 

[nadal_slam_king]

here people naturally stopped the steroid talk.

:lol: yeah right :lol:

 

[Sid_Vicious]

It's higher class there because the rules are much tighter. Posters aren't even allowed to hint at a clean player being a steroid user, for example, or a ban results. And abusive language isn't accepted as much either.

MTF allows much more abusive language than this forum. You can say like almost every cuss word.

 

[nadal_slam_king]

MTF allows much more abusive language than this forum. You can say like almost every cuss word.

But you'll be banned if its directed at a poster. They aren't anywhere near as malicious toward each other due to this. Plus we just saw that Federer fan using cuss words repeatedly in the Nadal News Thread (using dashes between the letters).

 

[borg number one]

I agree with Lendl and his overall assessments. I really like his take on the players at the moment. He has a very shrewd eye.

"To me, the draw did not in any way influence who is going to have the best chance. You can never look past Roger, obviously he has a fantastic record in the past, and he's still a top player. But Rafa is a little bit of a favourite in my mind," he said.

 

[ruerooo]

What is Wilander talking about? Federer HAS recently changed his game plan since hiring Paul Annacone. I seriously can't stand Wilander.

That got my attention too.

I've never liked Wilander but I'm also wondering when they went to press with this article. Lead times can be long, and Rafa's being sick and Roger's changing his game both happened fairly recently.

I'm not sure how Roger's going to feel about his idol Edberg picking Rafa, though.

 

[stanton warrior]

It's higher class there because the rules are much tighter. Posters aren't even allowed to hint at a clean player being a steroid user, for example, or a ban results. And abusive language isn't accepted as much either.

There's a clean player? Which one? Must be ranked outside the top20

Besides, steroids are so 90s.

 

[cc0509]

Also I think Federer should have won 5 straight slams if he wanted to be the best of this century. Because if Rafa wins the AO then he's very likely to win 5+ slams in a row. There is now a lot of pressure on Federer to stop this train in Australia, or watch it run through the English Channel.

What are you talking about? Last time I checked, Federer had 16 slams and Nadal had 9. Has that changed since I last looked?

 

[wangs78]

I think even Edberg picked Nadal because he's well aware of how hard it is to win Slams as you get older. All of these talking heads stopped winning Slams after their mid-20s so just from their own experience they are going to be bet on the 24 yo and not the soon to be 30 yo. But yes, even I was surprised that Edberg picked Nadal. I would've thought that he'd at least support Roger in public given that he was one of Roger's boyhood idols and Roger's game is more reminiscent of Edberg's style (in terms of grace and artistry on court). But I guess Edberg's just being honest.

 

[Jchurch]

Federer leads Marcelo Rios 2-0
Federer leads Feliciano Lopez 7-0
Federer leads Greg Rusedski 4-1
Federer leads Fernando Verdasco 4-0
Federer leads Goran Ivanisevic 2-0
Federer leads Jarkko Nieminen 11-0
Federer leads Gilles Muller 3-0
Federer leads Stefan Koubek 4-1
Federer leads Michael Llodra 1-0
Federer leads Irakli Labadze 1-0
Federer leads Thomas Schoorel 1-0
Kenneth Carlsen leads Federer 1-0
Rafael Nadal leads Federer 14-8

When playing Federer, being left-handed is a disadvantage, even for talents like Rios, Rusedski and Goran.

If you truly believe that Nadal being a lefty delivers no advantage.... you are crazier than Howling Mad Murdock.

 

[Jchurch]

If Federer was miles ahead he should have been able to at least win Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open in succession :lol:

Well now Nadal has NO excuse for not winning the WIM USO AO combo. It's a piece of cake! Federer has done it twice. Nadal will do it without breaking a sweat!

 

[nadal_slam_king]

Well now Nadal has NO excuse for not winning the WIM USO AO combo. It's a piece of cake! Federer has done it twice. Nadal will do it without breaking a sweat!

He's just entered his prime on hardcourts, I think he'll win a lot of them hardcourt slams, looks very doable.

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Maybe the former pros picked Nadal because his knees are healthy, he's amped up his first serve quite a bit and he's coming off from winning the last 3 majors?

Doesn't seem like a stretch to me.

I think Federer is intent on raising the level of his game, which is a great sign that he's still motivated to reclaim the #1 ranking and a few more majors.

Should make for a interesting year if both Nadal and Federer stay healthy!

 

[mental midget]

depends which nadal shows up, although i suppose that's the case with many of the players. all i know is that if nadal uso 2010 and 'recent' federer meet, it could be a heck of a final.