Le Big Match - Nadal v Federer

First topic message reminder :

After a breathtaking day of semi finals, we have our two men to compete in the final.

Who wins?

Not only did that break kill Roger, but the crowd too.

It seems that Fed zones from purple patches to black patches with not much between.

You keep saying that socal but he's still in the match...I think you're saying it as reverse tempt fate thing

Come ON Fed! Believe! Lovely drop.

This French crowd....disgrace!

The parisian fans show how "knowledgable" they are again by booing nadal for challenging a call on game point that was easily out. Love that knowledge from the parisian crowd. god they are awful.

lydian wrote:It seems that Fed zones from purple patches to black patches with not much between.

You keep saying that socal but he's still in the match...I think you're saying it as reverse tempt fate thing

Rafa is simply relentless. The drop in play comes when you have to win ten winners just to win a point.

Agree, the crowd is terrible. Boo'ing the guy because Fed's ball was out? Ridiculous.

That retrieval lob was just ridiculous!

As the sun sets on the court, as does Rafa on his 6th FO title. Poetic

The end is near for Roger.

Nice try Roger, but Rafa has too much game.

Winners
Federer 64
Nadal 41

Unforced Errors
Federer 55
Nadal 27


Rafael Nadal new balls and serving for the match 5-1 up in fourth set.

God I love Rafa's sister, I hope she is of age and I am not too pervy, but she has to be one of the most gorgeous girls i have seen. Rafa i want to be your brother in law.

Come on Rafa...

championship point

Nadal well done just too good for Federer

Resume
Roland Garros titles:SIX
Slam Titles:Ten
Age 25

Well done Rafa. 10 GS titles. Amazing.

Congrats Rafa you desrved it, the best clay courter ever. congrats Fabio fognini you found away to influence the outcome of the french open without even playing.

Congrats on slam #10 Rafa.

Roger fought the good fight, but was simply not good enough.

Well done Rafa...just too strong at the end of the day, kind of always has been on clay.

And well played Roger, much better than I expected a few weeks back, he's going to be a danger at Wimbledon, on this form maybe even the favourite.

Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

10 wins out of 12 Slam finals and Just turned 25!

No more arguments about GOAT until he hangs up his racket.

Well done Rafa.

the power of national anthem,,it melts ur heart.

No but I hate to say it lydian as great as Rafa is this french open will be tainted in my book if Fognini shows up for the wimbeldon warmups. If he is seriously hurt well tough luck to Novak but if he shows up in a week or two to play this french open will always be tainted in my mind. Yes Rafa is great, yes Roger is great. The record books won't reflect it, the points will be the worth same, the check will be worth same, the record books will show it as #6. But if fognini could have played and didn't well it is a tainted FO in my mind. Nole could get by the two sets of rust fognini handed him and in my mind he would have gotten Fed in semis and would of won this thing. But would haves and should haves.

Awesome match. Rafa just way too good on this surface, but even then it could've been different. Outstanding quality by both players - don't think I've ever seen them both look tired in the same match! Maybe a sign that the Fedal era is nearing an end, but with matches and tournaments like these for both of them, who knows? When they've both hung up the rackets, I'll forever be proud to have witnessed both of them throughout their careers.

Rafa - so consistently good after the initial meltdown, he just keeps running and makes you play that extra point time and time again. Record-equalling title and well deserved, truly immense performance today. It's going to be fascinating to see how the grass court season plays out with the four guys at the top. Great post-match interview and humility as well!

Fed - not sure I've ever seen a losing finalist play as well as this, any other surface and it almost certainly would've gone the other way. But this is clay, after all - just wasn't quite consistent enough to trouble Rafa over the 5 sets. 29 years old and playing like this...ridiculous.

Amazing match either way. 6 RG titles for Rafa, 5 RG finals for Federer. Rafa's greatness on the surface speaks for itself, but although it's easy to overlook with Rafa around, history will almost certainly view Fed as one of the greatest clay-courters ever too. Hard to argue with his record, particularly given who he's had to compete against!

lydian wrote:Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

Yes, he can. Nadal doesn't win physical battles against Djoko. Today Nadal won another one

I don't think even think Rafa played that well.

Great post silver, can't disagree with anything you have to say there. rafa is just too good on clay for federer. Roger didn't capitulate he played well till the end.

socal1976 wrote:No but I hate to say it lydian as great as Rafa is this french open will be tainted in my book if Fognini shows up for the wimbeldon warmups. If he is seriously hurt well tough luck to Novak but if he shows up in a week or two to play this french open will always be tainted in my mind.

I doubt whether Fognini would have won at Roland Garros. Djokovic pulled out of Queens quoting tiredness and a knee problem.

gallery play wrote:

lydian wrote:Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

Yes, he can. Nadal doesn't win physical battles against Djoko. Today Nadal won another one

Funny I though Nadal had already beaten Djokovic 16 times...

Tom_____ wrote:

Tenez wrote:

you have to say thats also because Nadal found a way to play effectively against Federer on all surfaces.

Oh yes very clever. They all hit relentlessly Fed's BH, trying to put as much spin but not many manage to actually beat him. I wonder why Nadal is more successful? of course...I forgot...more talent!

And bloody Federer must be a bit thick. He is always beaten the same way and cannot find out an alternative tactic. I wonder how he won so many slams with such a lack of tennis strategy. Nadal has more know-how, it's obvious.

Er... are you OK Tenez?

My point was that if Federers game is truely undone by one shot, then why is it not the case that other players exploit the same weakness - sure we have seen Djoko and Murray to an extent have more success playing to Feds BH constantly; but the ability to hit it well enough to stop Federer having time to run around it takes ability in other areas - such as picking up low shots or blocking shots to a length repeatedly - Not all of Nadals shots to Federers backhand come from power, forehands or topspin - many times its great placement dug out from a tough position

But Djoko and Murray have much more variation than Nadal to undo Federer.

The reason why Nadal's one shot is so efficient is not because it lands on his BH or because it has topspin...It's because it has more weight than any other player can deliver.

This is where Nadal's big arm comes into it and trying to dismiss that is absurd.

As Lloyd said, Federer had no choice to go fr too risky shots. Ask yourself why is that!!!

Silver wrote: ... Maybe a sign that the Fedal era is nearing an end, but with matches and tournaments like these for both of them, who knows? ...

Rafael has won four out of the last five grand slams and the one he lost he had a leg injury (muscle tear). This is hardly a sign that Nadal's era is nearing an end.

Nore staat, fognini not playing really hurt Nole's preparation for the semi. I am not saying fognini would have won. But if Fogi shows up Novak ties mac's record and plays the semi with much less pressure. Novak played two garbage sets against federer and the 4 day lay off and the build up of pressure had something to do with it as great as federer played. If Fogi just shows up that pressure is cut in half for Novak by being able to tie the record. Espn reported he wasn't even limping in and out of his interview. If he shows up for the wimby warmups then he has perpetrated a huge fraud on the record books, on Novak, on the french open and on Novak Djokovic.

And your point Tenez? If you have a valuable and successful weapon/tactic in any sport then you use it. Every player in the game has their own strengths and weaknesses it is how you deal with those that seperates the winners from the losers.

socal1976 wrote:Great post silver, can't disagree with anything you have to say there. rafa is just too good on clay for federer. Roger didn't capitulate he played well till the end.

Thanks socal - agreed that Federer didn't throw it away, although he was tight after the blistering start, I can understand why. Nadal started to rev it up, and it's just so difficult to even survive your own service games when that happens on clay. If Fed keeps striking the ball as well as has done here, then he's got to be favourite for Wimbledon, where the speed will assist his play.

Edit: Although I must disagree with you on Fognini, sadly. That Djok - Fed match was easily the highest quality match of the year, so saying that Nole wasn't prepared seems a bit flimsy. If he wasn't prepared, he would've been absolutely destroyed by that barrage of shots from Fed - and Nole was very close to taking the match to a decider! He was just beaten by the better player on the day, even the man himself admitted that, saying that the delay didn't cost him.

socal1976 wrote:Nore staat, fognini not playing really hurt Nole's preparation for the semi. I am not saying fognini would have won. But if Fogi shows up Novak ties mac's record and plays the semi with much less pressure. Novak played two garbage sets against federer and the 4 day lay off and the build up of pressure had something to do with it as great as federer played. If Fogi just shows up that pressure is cut in half for Novak by being able to tie the record. Espn reported he wasn't even limping in and out of his interview. If he shows up for the wimby warmups then he has perpetrated a huge fraud on the record books, on Novak, on the french open and on Novak Djokovic.

Sour grapes.

Federer beat Djokovic because he was better.

CaledonianCraig wrote:And your point Tenez? If you have a valuable and successful weapon/tactic in any sport then you use it. Every player in the game has their own strengths and weaknesses it is how you deal with those that seperates the winners from the losers.

My point, if you had been following the discussion, is that Nadal strength is actually his power and stamina...certainly not his talent.

sonic_boom10 wrote:

gallery play wrote:

lydian wrote:Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

Yes, he can. Nadal doesn't win physical battles against Djoko. Today Nadal won another one

Funny I though Nadal had already beaten Djokovic 16 times...

And he hasn't beaten him this year on clay or hardcourt. Lets call it the fognini effect.

Nore Staat wrote:

socal1976 wrote:No but I hate to say it lydian as great as Rafa is this french open will be tainted in my book if Fognini shows up for the wimbeldon warmups. If he is seriously hurt well tough luck to Novak but if he shows up in a week or two to play this french open will always be tainted in my mind.

I doubt whether Fognini would have won at Roland Garros. Djokovic pulled out of Queens quoting tiredness and a knee problem.

At the end of the day players have to be able cope with whatever gets thrown at them, be it pull outs, ankle injuries, broken teeth or whatever. Djoko had opportunity to beat Federer and didn't take it, its not like he got mugged or injured by outside forces before his match. He knew the situation in advance and had time to prepare for it. Its unfortunate yes, but to say Fognini not playing taints the FO is plain wrong in my view. The flip side is had Djoko gone on to win the FO with a W/O in the QF, some people would undoubtedly had argued his FO win was tainted as only 6 games were required for the title rather than 7. Some people would have also said Fed was disadvantaged in a losing semi as Djoko had extra days off. Its all conjecture

the only time i really think something has been tainted was when Seles got stabbed. The French crowd come close to tainting things imo. Hingis for example i still think was bullied even though i was happy to see graf win. To be honest i think the crowd in the Fed SF may have influenced Djoko's FO more than Fognini

Sonicboom, I am sour, peed as hell, if Fogi shows up for the wimbeldon warmups he should be investigated by the ATP and probably suspended for the rest of the year that is how awful what he did was if he wasn't really that hurt. First two sets Novak played like garbage thanks to the rust Fabio Fognini hands him. Fed fans were complaining about the one minute nadal took to have his ankle taped in the first set, well what about the 4 day hiatus imposed on Novak in the middle of the grandslam. 4 days is longer than the down time between the final in Madrid and the second round in Rome. Nice assist by fognini. The tainted french open of 2011 in my book.

come on socal,,get over that fognini matter

but fed was too good in that match for novak,,,about 18 aces or what in the final set,,tht was just ridiculous service games

socal1976 wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:

gallery play wrote:

lydian wrote:Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

Yes, he can. Nadal doesn't win physical battles against Djoko. Today Nadal won another one

Funny I though Nadal had already beaten Djokovic 16 times...

And he hasn't beaten him this year on clay or hardcourt. Lets call it the fognini effect.

Call it what you like.

Nadal was waiting in the final, Djokovic was a no show

Tom, it is basically like Novak starting a new tournament with a federer who is in great form and at the end of the tournament. Like I said the record books, the prize money, the ATP will all say that it counts the same. But my personal opinion unless Fogi is really, and I am really hurt; then this FO has a taint in my book. only my personal opinion but that is what it is.

At the end of the day players have to be able cope with whatever gets thrown at them, be it pull outs, ankle injuries, broken teeth or whatever. Djoko had opportunity to beat Federer and didn't take it, its not like he got mugged or injured by outside forces before his match.

------------------------------------

agreed with tom____

ebar86 wrote:come on socal,,get over that fognini matter

but fed was too good in that match for novak,,,about 18 aces or what in the final set,,tht was just ridiculous service games

Not really, novak nearly won the match after laying an egg in the first two sets.

... what about all the other stuff that you can bring about tennis that is positive? Try focusing on that for a while, or is your fun on tennis boards really just about having a go about an individual player and winding members of the public up?

Yes, or learn nonviolentcommunication at cnvc.org. Using NVC you might express your feeling as in ..

When I see nadal winning cos hie hits the ball with more venom than any other
player through his physical strenght and so constitently over long matches I feel sad and frustrusted because I really enjoy seeing variety in a tennis game as I love this game so damn much.

This way people know what is in your heart, rather than the toxic thoughts in your head... we all have plenty of that stuff.

And thanks Mr Admin, i love the tech on this site that allows you to make certain individuals invisible. Game over!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you feel when reading this?

Tenez wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:And your point Tenez? If you have a valuable and successful weapon/tactic in any sport then you use it. Every player in the game has their own strengths and weaknesses it is how you deal with those that seperates the winners from the losers.

My point, if you had been following the discussion, is that Nadal strength is actually his power and stamina...certainly not his talent.

Tenez,

Have a look at a replay of todays match and see just how many of Nadals shots to Feds backhand came without max power or topspin. As i said many of them are well placed dug out pickups or blocks deep to Feds backhand. Nadal hits those shots through ability. At those points it nothing to do with stamina and power, but more to do with shotmaking talent.

Are gallery play and Tenez related...lol. Both seem to keep saying the same thing. Yeah thats right Tenez, keep peddling that Nadal has no talent whilst he keeps racking up slams.
And then you say Murray and Djoko have much more talent to undo Nadal...I'm sorry, who did he beat in the semi in straights again? Again due to a lack of talent I'm sure. You need to stop eating lemons Tenez because you're becoming far too bitter.

Funny thing is that if Roger had been playing the way he did today against ANY other opponent, he would have had a better opportunity to wn.

It is a testament to the greatness of Rafa.

Roger will have to regroup and get ready for Wimbledon.

I hope he doesn't have to cross paths with Rafa, as I believe that Rafa has a definite psychological (as well as tactical) stranglehold over him.

But then maybe he should meet Rafa so that he can exorcise his mental demons.

sonic_boom10 wrote:

socal1976 wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:

gallery play wrote:

lydian wrote:Fair enough socal, but you cant assume Nole would have beaten Rafa today...

Yes, he can. Nadal doesn't win physical battles against Djoko. Today Nadal won another one

Funny I though Nadal had already beaten Djokovic 16 times...

And he hasn't beaten him this year on clay or hardcourt. Lets call it the fognini effect.

Call it what you like.

Nadal was waiting in the final, Djokovic was a no show

Like I said Nadal deserves his win just like Fed does, but I know in my mind Novak doesn't play that way in the first two sets if he isn't rusty. Whatever you guys want to believe, believe in my mind unless Fogi is really hurt and that means he doesn't play till wimbeldon then this whole final has a taint to it. Especially in light of Novak's unbeaten record (without dropping a set) to nadal this clay court.