Day 13- French Open Men's semifinals

First topic message reminder :

Friends, v2ans, countrymen lend me your ears.
I have come to preview this semifinal fixture not to curse it;
The memory of the matches that these men play often live after them;
The unforced errors are often interred with their bones;
So let it be with Roger. The noble Novak
Hath told you Roger is ambitious;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously Roger might answer it;
Roger was my friend, faithful and just to me;
But Novak says he was ambitious;
And Novak is an honourable man;
He had brought many Grand Slams home to Switzerland;
Whose gleam did fill the trophy cabinets;
Did this in Roger seem ambitious?
When his twins have cried, Roger has stayed up;
Ambition should be made out of sterner stuff;
You did see in Paris many times now;
Thrice the 'Grand Slam' was presented;
Which he did thrice refuse; was this ambition?
Yet Novak says he was ambitious;
And Novak is an honourable man
You did all love him once, not without cause;
What reason withholds you to cheer for him?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts;
Bear with me, for now I must pause to do this preview

http://www.presentationmagazine.com/famous-speeches-friends-romans-countrymen-11673.htm


Mens semifinals:

Nadal(2) vs Ferrer (6)
Head to Head Record: Nadal 15-4 Ferrer
Last meeting: Rome Semis Nadal 7-6 6-0 Ferrer
Head to Head in Grand Slams: Ferrer 2-1 Nadal
Clay Head to Head: Nadal 12-1 Ferrer

Djokovic (1) vs Federer (3)
Head to Head Record: Federer 14-11 Djokovic
Last meeting: Rome Semis Djokovic 6-2 7-6 Federer
Head to Head in Grand Slams: Federer 5-4 Djokovic
Clay Head to Head: Federer 3-2 Djokovic

Predictions so far:
Ferrer- Invisible Coolers
Nadal- Lydian, Jahu, Haddie Nuff, Bogbrush, Social, Barrystar, Legendkiller, Mangamuri, Tom, Summer, SFP

Federer- Jahu, Lydian, Invisible Coolers, Haddie Nuff, Legendkiller, Tom
Djokovic- Barrystar, Bogbrush, Social, Mangamuri, Summer, SFP

The turnout is quite frankly embarassing. I mean its the semi finals for gods sake! You hardly ever see Centre Court at Wimbledon without a full crowd

Ferrer has already missed a bp and got himself another in game 4 - he so needs to take advantage of a slow start by Nadal if he can.

oh man that was awful from Ferrer. He should have broken there

That BP illustrated why Ferrer will never win a slam. He had two easy put aways and completely fumbled them

Olly wrote:The turnout is quite frankly embarassing. I mean its the semi finals for gods sake! You hardly ever see Centre Court at Wimbledon without a full crowd

It's bizarre too because with rain forecast they will most likely miss the tennis otherwise. I would not particularly want to watch Nadal vs. Ferrer, but with Nadal matches it's always the 1st set that is likely to provide such drama as is going so I'd make sure I was down quick for that. If he won it I'd be off for lunch during the 2nd set against an opponent like Ferrer (not Fed or Djoko).

emancipator wrote:oh man that was awful from Ferrer. He should have broken there

And he himself is broken. First set to Rafa, barring a poor service game from him.

emancipator wrote:That BP illustrated why Ferrer will never win a slam. He had two easy put aways and completely fumbled them

Nadal's break to love immediately after saving those bp's probably means that the decisive phase of the match has now passed.

Oh dear. Ferrer blazing off UEs and over pressing. This could be all over very quickly

It is sad in a way that in a match that one break of serve has literally taken the set and the match away. The gulf in class is scary given that Ferrer has been the second best form player only to Nadal.

On the attendance issue, the only time I actually saw the stadium packed was when Tsonga faced Djokovic. After the 4th set it was virtually empty.

David has now lost the last eight points on his serve. The scary thing is that he has played some good shots, only to see them returned with interest.

It's shocking. NO atmosphere whatsoever there.

Ferrer doesn't have what it takes to take down the big guns.

The guy looks like a rock against the other players but the moment he steps on court against Rafa or Roger he starts spraying balls all over the place.

Of course that it mostly due to his opponent but today, for example, Rafa is yet to do anything special.

First set to Rafa 6-2. Most thought it would be a battle at least til the end of the first set but it was only a match for the first four games.
How many games is Ferrer gonna win here in total. Six, seven? May be that's optimistic.

LK, I;m at work listening to it on Radio RG whilst PowerPointing...they were saying how at this very pinnacle its all about mind-play early on. That battle for early supremacy and sabre-rattling.
As soon as Nadal showed his mettle at the 2-2 BP Ferrer mentally shrunk back and showed Nadal he wasnt up to the task. Since then Nadal has gone into overdrive, Ferrer the opposite...as you say the gulf is class is shocking.
First set 6-2. Given Ferrer was supposed to push a tight first set this could be a Monaco-like mauling.

sirfredperry wrote: This could be all over very quickly

I think we both know that is not going to happen - Rafa can't even win 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 quickly. It's already 1hr after the scheduled start and they've played one knock-down set.

emancipator wrote:I wouldn't make anything of that LK,

Fed always comes out on top in these polls.

It's just his fans voting with their hearts and not their heads.

Well I voted for Fed and Im not a fan

Oh I dont know barry...39 mins for a set on clay between Nadal and Ferrer is somewhat shocking, lol

Nadal wrapped that set up in 39 minutes. Even for his 'time delays' that is pretty impressive given Murray and Ferrer had much longer rallies.

lydian wrote:Oh I dont know barry...39 mins for a set on clay between Nadal and Ferrer is somewhat shocking, lol

Quite, bearing in mind the fact that the last 4 games involved around 18 points, 16-2 to Nadal (or thereabouts) 39 minutes seems pretty damn long.

Sounds like rain might be on the way...dark clouds gathering they're saying. Its very little drizzle at the moment.

Has there ever been a player capable of playing the big points as well as Rafa ? Any sniff of danger and he just stamps it out. (Whoops - mixing my metaphors there)

Barry

Ferrer v Murray. 6-2 took 42 minutes. 6-3 took 50 minutes. 6-4 took 66 minutes!!!

Not sure who is on the ITV commentary team is but love the way they are commenting on the match.

Yep If Ferrer wants to win this he has to go all out and go for it .. should be a attitude coach that guy

Unbelievable point that Rafa won after falling over and playing the ball while lying on the ground. Bound to be a YouTube hit.

Nadal's literally on his butt, and still wins the point, and then subsequently breaks. If that does not break someone's spirit, I don't know what will.

Okay, well if Nadal's playing drop shots while sitting down I don't see what chance anyone has in this tournament. Amazing point !

Jim Courier's an excellent commentator. The other guy meh. He doesn't know sh1t about tennis.

legendkillarV2 wrote:Barry

Ferrer v Murray. 6-2 took 42 minutes. 6-3 took 50 minutes. 6-4 took 66 minutes!!!

Yes - but there are 6-2 sets and 6-2 sets; by describing the number of points played in the last 4 games I was noting that it was a total gubbing which still seems to have taken a long time. 6-3 and 6-4 sets can be tight.

Ferrer given up before the match, on yesterdays interview.

Yep jahu......
This isnt Barcelona or Rome...let's face it, at this slam level he just cant compete with Nadal.
Ferrer's saving grace may be that he gets time out with his coach soon when the rain comes.

The amazing thing is that against most other players, Ferrer may actually be in a competitive match. Against Rafa, he is down a set and a break.

1'st serve Nadal 81%, Ferrer 43%
UE - Nadal 11, Ferrer 18

ALPanorak wrote:Okay, well if Nadal's playing drop shots while sitting down I don't see what chance anyone has in this tournament. Amazing point !

Ferrer. Has he heard of a Lob? After playing three shots at the net he expects his opponent to be at the net, so this energiser bunny should consider a lob.

Ahh .. Couldn't recongise the voice at first when you said that name it light a bulb ..

hmm i might be writing the conclusion too soon here but its going to be straight sets unless ferrer pulls something out of miracle bag ..

Break down in the 2nd now - will he get swamped like in the first set?

I would not bet against it.

barrystar wrote:

legendkillarV2 wrote:Barry

Ferrer v Murray. 6-2 took 42 minutes. 6-3 took 50 minutes. 6-4 took 66 minutes!!!

Yes - but there are 6-2 sets and 6-2 sets; by describing the number of points played in the last 4 games I was noting that it was a total gubbing which still seems to have taken a long time. 6-3 and 6-4 sets can be tight.

There is one constant in both cases.......

Ferrer

Nadal: Ferrer will always be same as Djoko:Tispy, Fed:Waw

Play suspended

Quite - I wonder if Murray is watching or following the match.

With rain now and damp clay, Fed will find it very hard to push those heavy balls on slow clay. Unless we have a 30C temperature immediately for the rest of the day.

kemet wrote:Nadal's literally on his butt, and still wins the point, and then subsequently breaks. If that does not break someone's spirit, I don't know what will.

Anyone remember Jonny Mac doing that in the final of Wimbledon against Jimmy Connors on his way to a 1, 1 & 2 win?

bogbrush wrote:

kemet wrote:Nadal's literally on his butt, and still wins the point, and then subsequently breaks. If that does not break someone's spirit, I don't know what will.

Anyone remember Jonny Mac doing that in the final of Wimbledon against Jimmy Connors on his way to a 1, 1 & 2 win?

Not specifically, but I remember the final, one of the greatest displays of destructive tennis I've ever seen.

bogbrush wrote:

kemet wrote:Nadal's literally on his butt, and still wins the point, and then subsequently breaks. If that does not break someone's spirit, I don't know what will.

Anyone remember Jonny Mac doing that in the final of Wimbledon against Jimmy Connors on his way to a 1, 1 & 2 win?

I do.

Wasn't that the 1983 final by where Connors didn't miss a thing that day.

Rain saves Ferrer...for the time being. Reckon without it Rafa would have wrapped this up in double quick time. He looks unbeatable at RG.

It was 1984, Connors beat Mac in 1982 and Mac beat Lewis in 1983.

Question: What do you think is Federer's best ever clay-court match (I dont mean winning FO09 final)...but quality of win?
I'm going for his victory here last year over Djokovic.

Looks like Rafa, being the nice bloke that he is, is attempting to finish this match as quickly as possible, so that Nole and Federer have the best chance to get their match in today.

lydian wrote:Question: What do you think is Federer's best ever clay-court match (I dont mean winning FO09 final)...but quality of win?
I'm going for his victory here last year over Djokovic.

The 2011 SF is the best I have seen for quality of play and quality of opponent, but his 2009 SF vs. Del Boy pushes it very close indeed, Del Boy looked unbeatable during patches of that match.

kemet wrote:Looks like Rafa, being the nice bloke that he is, is attempting to finish this match as quickly as possible, so that Nole and Federer have the best chance to get their match in today. :D

Nah He wants to get off and watch the football..!!!

barrystar wrote:It was 1984, Connors beat Mac in 1982 and Mac beat Lewis in 1983.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoOwJlysdLI

With Rafa almost home and dry - well dry-ish - against Ferrer, the rain could mean the other two semi finalists might have to play an exhausting match tomorrow with far less time to resover before playing/being beaten by Rafa on Sunday. Best thing for them would be to have a dry day tomorrow and for it to rain on Sunday with the final pushed back to Monday. A;; pretty academic, though. Rafa's got this in the bag. Awesome display today, complete with that remarkable sitting-down shot.