Tennis Thread 2013

wr8_utd

Ripped :'(
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So the Indian Wells final will be Rafa Nadal vs Juan Martin Del Potro.

Nadal beat Berdych in straight sets some hours back after beating Federer in straight sets in the Quarters. Really surprised to see Rafa in the finals because this is just his 1st hard court tournament since Miami last March and just his 4th tournament since his 7 month injury lay off and the first one where any of the top 3 have been involved. He was quite wonderful today vs Bird man!

And JMDP just beat Djoko in a 3 set epic half hour back to finally hand Djokovic his first loss of the season. It was quite easily the match of the tournament and one of the matches of the season so far! He was 0-3 down in the final set and came back to win :eek: He's beaten Murray and Djokovic in successive days...can he beat Rafa too now? Should be a brilliant finale!
 
This is awesome stuff from Nadal at the moment. As a Nadal fan I am delighted. Couldn't have expected this level of play on his return to hard courts after so long.
 
Del Potro looks absolutely wrecked out there, no surprise really after two tough matches against Murray and Djoko.

Nadal wins this IMO and I'll be delighted for him.
 
What a match. What a champion. What a tournament. I'm still in shock! I honestly didn't expect him to win more than 2 matches here. Winning in Mexico and Brazil was fine but this is something else after 7 months out! Still can't quite believe it :devil:
 
Pretty amazing how little attention GB's win over Russia in the Davis Cup gets. Came back from 0-2 down to win 3-2, without Murray.
 
Oh dear, awful match. Murray lost 6-1 6-2 to Wawrinka in less than 1 hour. Looked so uncomfortable out there on the clay and it's Stan's best surface probably. More practice needed.

Back down to no.3 ranking again, lost 90 points on last year and 10 points away from Federer now. Unless he plays in Barcelona next week, that'll stay like that until Madrid and Rome masters and it'll affect his French Open seeding. Fed won Madrid last year and was SF in Rome but with this extended break it's difficult to see him coming back and straight to a title win. It's touch and go whether Murray gets that no.2 ranking back by the French Open. He didn't play Madrid last year though, any half decent performance there should see him do it.

I think he should play Barcelona, it makes sense and the quicker he gets used to the clay the better. He's had like 2 hours court time so far. Reaching QF's in the 3 upcoming tournaments would be an okay return.
 
Not well enough!

The last time Rafa lost a match at this tournament he was 16 and Roger Federer hadn't even won a GS title yet.
 
Hell has frozen over. Nadal is beaten in Monte Carlo.

Djokovic 6-2 7-6.
 
Serena vs Sharapova and Nadal vs Wawrinka in the Madrid finals today. Nadal has played in 7 tournaments since his return from a long layoff and he's reached the final in all of them now :drool:

This tournament has had quite a lot of shocks as usual with Djokovic losing his very first match to Dimitrov, Federer losing to Nishikori and Murray losing to Berdych (not really a shock)
 
So this Laura Robson has beaten four former Grand Slam winners this year. What does this mean?
 
Nadal is incredible this year so far. Only 2 defeats, the freak one in Chile against Zebellos and the one where he finally lost in Monte Carlo against Djokovic, he's won every other tournament this year.

If he beats Berdych in Rome then he will have reached all Masters finals this year, apart from Miami where he didn't play. Berdych too is on a very good season so far, and his amazing win over Djokovic today will have done his confidence the world of good.

Rafa looks like he'll breeze to another French Open at this rate, but if he comes up against Djokovic, will that Monte Carlo defeat play on his mind. Murray should sit it out, he'll never win a title on clay and should prepare for Wimbledon, where I think he's got a very good chance to win this year.
 
I don't think Nadal has been incredible. He has been his usual self on clay, and in my opinion looked more beatable than he has in previous years. Obviously still amazingly good, but Djokovic has a chance at the French this year, IMO.

Agreed on Murray, completely useless on clay.
 
Coming back in this way from a long injury has been pretty incredible in my eyes. There's only Djoko that can stop him at the French and because Rafa will be seeded 4th or 5th, he'll most likely play him in the QF or SF.

Although he beat him at Monte Carlo, Djokovic has had 2 poor tournaments since, including a surprise throwaway today against Berdych when serving for the match. After winning the Aussie as he has done the past 3 times, this is actually his worst start to the season for 3 years as far as the following Masters tournaments go.

The win in Monte Carlo will mean so much though and give him confidence he can finally cement his greatness and complete the career Grand Slam, but the only thing standing in his way is the greatest there has ever been on the surface.
 
Murray has pulled out of the French Open. Good decision, so that means we are lined up for a new name in the final which is good for the game. Djoko will meet Nadal in the SF and I don't expect the GOAT to get to the final here. Berdych has been good so far on the clay this season, maybe it's his time.
 
Should be an interesting end to the tournament I reckon. Biggest name out so far is Cilic so all the best still in really. Nadal doesn't look the all conquering beast he usually is here but will still be hard to beat. Fancy nole to sneak it.
 
What is happening with Nadal? First set dropped in previous 2 games, and now he looks like he'll drop it in his third now! Nothing to worry too much about, but he doesn't look as invincible here since he knee went.
 
I think he will be just fine next week. Hopefully weather would be a bit better as well for him as well.
 
Nadal usually is a bit slow in the first week of Slams but this has been spectacularly poor stuff from him this time but it's not too surprising really. It's consistent with how he's played on clay all season really. He's really not played any more than 5-7 good matches on clay in the 7 tournaments he's played on clay this year. Surprisingly his most commanding tournament was at IW on the hard!

Djoko just hammered Dimitrov in straights and he's looking in fine form. As things stand, I really can't see Nadal beating Djokovic in the semis.
 
Amazing from Robredo again. The third match in a row that he's won from 2 sets down, a feat that hasnt' been achieved since the 1920's. But he now plays Ferrer who is the last guy in the world you want to play if you are feeling physically drained. Ferrer will take him out in straight sets I'd imagine.

Watched Tsonga before, he looks good as always, and the QF it'll be him v Federer (maybe, but he's down to Simon atm), always a great watch and is the matchup I enjoy watching most. Winner of that will face Pusher Ferrer in the SF. Interesting to see how Djokovic is going to do tomorrow, his old coach died yesterday and he was very upset. Rafa is still not firing properly but he's getting through the rounds.
 
Coming back now. Should be a good final set unless Fed just steamrolls it here.
 
I was at Roland Garos yesterday and Nadal was absolutely terrible by his standards. At the moment, I don't see anyone winning this tournament other than Djokovic. He will steamroll Nadal if he doesn't increase his level by a good 60%. Nadal does usually play below his best in the first few rounds but as I said earlier in this thread he has not looked like the old Nadal at all since his return. It's fine against 99% of players but against Djokovic he will be outplayed.
 
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Rafa through to the QF with his best display yet against Nishikori. The organisers brought on a massive birthday cake for Rafa, which was a nice touch.

Battle of the one handed backhand on court right now. Gasquet v Wawrinka, in the 5th set and its 6-6.
 
Go Jo! Federer is there for the taking at all events this year, with the possible exception of Wimbledon because of his history there.

Tsonga is in as good a shape as I've seen him.
 
Rafa has not been up to scratch but I always knew his career would play out like this his game is so physical I agree he will not beat Djokovic playing like this. Federer he is a true veteran now he beats the majority with tennis smarts and technique but against anyone in the top 10 he is vulnerable now.
 
Came into this kind of expecting Tsonga to win........I don't even know why, his record is 3(one a walkover)-9 vs Fed.....it's not even lopsided be old matches either.

Last two grand slam matches went the distance though....
 
The Vulture is through, losing just 4 games. That's damn impressive.
 
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