Wimbledon 2010

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Redrage

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You've got to admire Emile Heskey. He had a disasterous World Cup, came home, put a frock on and won the Women's Title at Wimbledon.
 

wr8_utd

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I was playing the local player, and the respect on the court was amazing and that doesn't happen on every court in the world so thank you very much.

Very obvious dig at the French Open by Rafa :lol:

Vamos Rafa! 8 slams at 24 now! :devil:
 

wr8_utd

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Is the Aussie OPen cursed now? :lol:

Nadal won it last year and he struggled for a year after it. Fed won it this time and he's struggling ever since.
 

Allforone

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At the age of 24 Federer had won 5 grand slam majors against a relativly mediocre field.

Having just turned 24 last month Rafael Nadal has won 8 grand slams (having to fight back from carear threatening tendonitits) against a far more competative field:

Out of the 10 grand slam finals Nadals already competed in hes won 8 of them (still only ever lost a grand slam at wimbledon), he has a 5-2 head to head slam final record against the supposed 'greatest ever' aswell with Federer only ever beating Nadal in a major at Wimbledon, whilst Federer was winning his titles against the likes of Andy Roddick a heavily declining Hewitt and co Nadals been wining his against players like Federer himself, a far greater achievement.

We'll probably have to wait another 3 to 4 years but only fitness stands in the way of Nadal eclipsing all Federers records in a much tougher field.
 

wr8_utd

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Well tbh I can't see Nadal winning 8 more. He's at his peak again now but the style of tennis he plays, he can't maintain it forever. Though he will probably win 2 more French Opens atleast and 1-2 more Wimbledon's. That itself would put him at around 12 slams. He's already a great but he just needs to win the USO to go down as a proper legend.

2 Wimbledons, 1 Aussie Open, 5 French Opens is not bad for a guy who was called very "one dimensional" by a certain Swiss after Rafa beat him in the semis at the French in 06.

What's amazing is how much of a weapon the Nadal serve has become. Not many aces but he's placing it perfectly. To win 2 slam finals in 2 months without losing serve once and not even going to a tie break is remarkable.
 

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Well tbh I can't see Nadal winning 8 more. He's at his peak again now but the style of tennis he plays, he can't maintain it forever. Though he will probably win 2 more French Opens atleast and 1-2 more Wimbledon's. That itself would put him at around 12 slams. He's already a great but he just needs to win the USO to go down as a proper legend.

2 Wimbledons, 1 Aussie Open, 5 French Opens is not bad for a guy who was called very "one dimensional" by a certain Swiss after Rafa beat him in the semis at the French in 06.

What's amazing is how much of a weapon the Nadal serve has become. Not many aces but he's placing it perfectly. To win 2 slam finals in 2 months without losing serve once and not even going to a tie break is remarkable.

I can myself, the French open is Rafas anytime he wants it, there’s hardly a player in the game today who can even muster up a fight against Nadal on clay, only Almagros kept the scorelines barely respectable on the surface in recent months..…i can see him winning another 4 french opens i really can, if hes fit no ones beating him at Roland garros for the foreseeable future.....then there’s Wimbledon, Federer is in decline and no longer the player he was so thats Nadals main rival at SW19 already on the wane, i don’t see many other players capable of beating Nadal at wimbledon really, hes just won this major winning the semi and final in straight sets, all to comfortable really i can see him winning another 2 Wimbledon’s for sure, hes the top bloke on Grass as well as clay now.

That would put him on 14 majors without any hard court titles of which im convinced he’ll win at least one probably more, HC is obviously his weakest surface but hes no pushover on it, he won the Australian last year and hes featured in semi finals on the HC slams a plenty so hes clearly got the game to win the HC titles, i think he'll have won the US before hes past his best and another aussie open.

With Federer a clear second best to Nadal these days on any surface now really (certainly Grass and Clay) that’s Nadals main threat to majors almost out the way, thers plenty of excellent young HC players all capable of winning the 2 HC titles but on the clay and Grass I see Nadal as clear favourite for the next 3 to 4 years at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

I reckon he could easily end up on 17 majors.
 

wr8_utd

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I can myself, the French open is Rafas anytime he wants it, there’s hardly a player in the game today who can even muster up a fight against Nadal on clay, only Almagros kept the scorelines barely respectable on the surface in recent months..…i can see him winning another 4 french opens i really can, if hes fit no ones beating him at Roland garros for the foreseeable future.....then there’s Wimbledon, Federer is in decline and no longer the player he was so thats Nadals main rival at SW19 already on the wane, i don’t see many other players capable of beating Nadal at wimbledon really, hes just won this major winning the semi and final in straight sets, all to comfortable really i can see him winning another 2 Wimbledon’s for sure, hes the top bloke on Grass as well as clay now.

That would put him on 14 majors without any hard court titles of which im convinced he’ll win at least one probably more, HC is obviously his weakest surface but hes no pushover on it, he won the Australian last year and hes featured in semi finals on the HC slams a plenty so hes clearly got the game to win the HC titles, i think he'll have won the US before hes past his best and another aussie open.

With Federer a clear second best to Nadal these days on any surface now really (certainly Grass and Clay) that’s Nadals main threat to majors almost out the way, thers plenty of excellent young HC players all capable of winning the 2 HC titles but on the clay and Grass I see Nadal as clear favourite for the next 3 to 4 years at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

I reckon he could easily end up on 17 majors.
As much as I love to see all that happen I think your overestimating Rafa and underestimating his weak knees. He's not going to win 4 more Slams on Clay imo. He's great and by far the best ever but his knees are not going to let him perform at this level for another 4 years imo.

2-3 more Rolland Garros' is easily possible. As are a couple of Wimbledons. I think he'll trouble Sampras's record but not Fed's. I can see Fed winning 1 or maybe 2 more actually
 

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As much as I love to see all that happen I think your overestimating Rafa and underestimating his weak knees. He's not going to win 4 more Slams on Clay imo. He's great and by far the best ever but his knees are not going to let him perform at this level for another 4 years imo.

2-3 more Rolland Garros' is easily possible. As are a couple of Wimbledons. I think he'll trouble Sampras's record but not Fed's. I can see Fed winning 1 or maybe 2 more actually
Well by that your saying you think Nadal winning 13 majors (not including any HC titles) is very possible, thats hardly a world of difference from where im coming from, i think he can win another 4 french opens and a couple of HC titles before he packs in, add the wimbledon ones we both seem to agree he can get and thats nearing the 17 mark.

Well lets just say if we're both around on here in 4 years we'll see :) i believe its very possible, i think Federers grand slam winning days on Clay and Grass are gone (his 1 clay major was won by default anyway really) and with it Nadals main threat certainly on grass, i think Federers best chance of another major is the Australian these days as id fancy the likes of Murray/Del Potro/Soderling/Djokovich over him at Flushing meadows now.

Ill say now i dont think Federer will get past the quater finals at the US this year and i think Murray will make the final.
 

wr8_utd

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Well by that your saying you think Nadal winning 13 majors (not including any HC titles) is very possible, thats hardly a world of difference from where im coming from, i think he can win another 4 french opens and a couple of HC titles before he packs in, add the wimbledon ones we both seem to agree he can get and thats nearing the 17 mark.

Well lets just say if we're both around on here in 4 years we'll see :) i believe its very possible, i think Federers grand slam winning days on Clay and Grass are gone (his 1 clay major was won by default anyway really) and with it Nadals main threat certainly on grass, i think Federers best chance of another major is the Australian these days as id fancy the likes of Murray/Del Potro/Soderling/Djokovich over him at Flushing meadows now.

Ill say now i dont think Federer will get past the quater finals at the US this year and i think Murray will make the final.
well it all depends on how Del Po does on clay and grass actually. If nadal can finally beat DelPo and assert his dominance over him too on these surfaces then yeah grass and clay would be his domain.
 

Raees

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Poor final, but Nadal won it at a canter.

Can he beat Fed's achievements... I don't know, the field is becoming very competitive and the French apart, the other three surfaces will be difficult for Nadal to consistently dominate.

He has definitely had to win his events in a harder way than Federer and in my opinion he's already an all time great.

I think Murray in a few years will be able to match up to Nadal on grass if he can break his slam duck on the hardcourts and develop a champions persona and outlook.
 

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Murrays got a great chance at the US this year, a really great chance, Federers not even the player he was last year, its Nadals weakest surface at the end of a tough year, Del Potro is a likely absentee aswell, Its Murrays favourtie grand slam to.....hes got as good a chance as he'll ever have really, i think he'll atleast make the last 4 probably the final.

I fancy Soderling will be a major player this year to.
 

wr8_utd

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Hope Del Potro can make it back for the US, the tours missing him.
Well I hope for Nadal's sake he's not back this USO. Let Rafa win one and then Del Po can come back and smash people to smithereens :D

Oh and I think today's final was rather poor also due to the terrible wind conditions. Even Rafa was hitting far more errors than usual. Quality was on the lower side today
 

Raees

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Murrays got a great chance at the US this year, a really great chance, Federers not even the player he was last year, its Nadals weakest surface at the end of a tough year, Del Potro is a likely absentee aswell, Its Murrays favourtie grand slam to.....hes got as good a chance as he'll ever have really, i think he'll atleast make the last 4 probably the final.

I fancy Soderling will be a major player this year to.
Murray with a grand slam to his name would be a completely different player... he wouldn't fail to build upon it like a Djokovic.
 

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Well I hope for Nadal's sake he's not back this USO. Let Rafa win one and then Del Po can come back and smash people to smithereens :D

Oh and I think today's final was rather poor also due to the terrible wind conditions. Even Rafa was hitting far more errors than usual. Quality was on the lower side today
Even if he is back i doubt hed win it straight from coming back from long term injury, hes a very talented strong young player but hes still got a way to go to be up there with the best, it would just be nice to see him back on the tour, hes one of the games gems and Tennis needs such players challenging.

And yeah todays final was a bit of a damp squib but that was always likely with the quality gap between the two, the conditions didnt help, Berdych never really got into the match and Nadal was a good few levels below even his Murray performance of the last round and still was a class above Berdych, he just did a job on Berdych today, but it was a pretty poor spectacle in truth.

Really looking forward to the HC season now, the US major is as open as its been for years.
 

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Murray with a grand slam to his name would be a completely different player... he wouldn't fail to build upon it like a Djokovic.
I dont disagree, Djokovic is a choker and Murrays got alot more cleverness to his game and is just a better player, but i still dont believe Murrays got the game to consistently beat the Nadals of this world and win the number of majors the true great players do, i can see Murray ending his carear with 3 or 4 grand slams and i do see him winning wimbledon one day.
 

Raees

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I dont disagree, Djokovic is a choker and Murrays got alot more cleverness to his game and is just a better player, but i still dont believe Murrays got the game to consistently beat the Nadals of this world and win the number of majors the true great players do, i can see Murray ending his carear with 3 or 4 grand slams and i do see him winning wimbledon one day.
Thing is Murray has a potential longevity to his game that the others don't really posess. He is still physically nowhere near his peak in my opinion, still plenty of scope for him to add extra muscle.

He has shown that he can beat Nadal in big matches on hard court surfaces, but obviously Grass still favours the power hitting of Nadal.

I'd back Murray to be a consistent challenger for grand slams if he was to win a grand slam and be Nadals biggest challenger... at the moment however Murray seems to be beating himself and despite him playing well against Nadal the other day.. when it came to the big decisive points, he faltered and didn't display the variety that led to his win in Melbourne earliar on in the year.

He needs to come to net more and kill off points earliar... also the forehand is key, make that a weapon and get the fear of utilising it out of his system. The wrist injuries have had a toll on his mental side more than physical.
 

wr8_utd

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Murray will win 5 Slams at most imo. He's already what 23? If he does not win the USO this year I he's not going to win a slam for a long time then.
 

wr8_utd

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More than anything else Murray just needs to learn to serve at above 46% on his first serve. That itself would be a big help.

I see Del Po as Number 2 with Murray at 3 once Fed bows out.
 

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Murray V Nadal should have been the final. At least Murray forced Rafa to play his best tennis of the tournament.

Next step for Murray should be the flatening out of his cross court forehand. That was the one area where he struggled against Nadal, he'd get Nadal moving but then use his looping forehand cross court but Nadal can just run them down which lost Murrays momentum.

It should really be a put away shot.
 

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Murray with a grand slam to his name would be a completely different player... he wouldn't fail to build upon it like a Djokovic.
Don't worry, Murray will be able to win as many Grand Slams as he likes when Federer retires and Nadal gets permanently injured.
 

wr8_utd

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Murray V Nadal should have been the final. At least Murray forced Rafa to play his best tennis of the tournament.

Next step for Murray should be the flatening out of his cross court forehand. That was the one area where he struggled against Nadal, he'd get Nadal moving but then use his looping forehand cross court but Nadal can just run them down which lost Murrays momentum.

It should really be a put away shot.
Actually Nadal played his best tennis in the Soderling and PHM matches. He was not really spectacular against Murray. Just efficient. His final was an even poorer performance but he controlled Berdych.

But Murray I really think will win the USO. It's his best chance. He just needs to improve his 1st serve %
 

wr8_utd

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Don't worry, Murray will be able to win as many Grand Slams as he likes when Federer retires and Nadal gets permanently injured.
You underestimate Del Po.

And there will be some new kid on the block, just like Nadal emerged some one will come up again in a year or two.
 

Raees

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Del Potro is someone who is a cut above the likes of Berdych and Soderling... possesses a champions mentality to go with a ferocious power game and for Murray that spells danger.

Nadal, Del Potro and Murray I expect to be the top three when Fed enters decline and I expect the others to win their fair share too... the mens game is looking very healthy.
 

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So unlucky Nadal, if it hadn't been for his injuries, at least a few of the extra Grand Slams Federer sneaked in would have been his.

GTFL Federer no more Grand Slams for you unless Nadal gets injured again :nervous:
 

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Interesting article in the Telegraph today on Nadals victory at wimbledon and how Federers well and truly his bitch.

Wimbledon 2010: Rafael Nadal shows a purity that puts him above Roger Federer - Telegraph

Usually people ask "is he the greatest" when they are deep into emotional extra time after an epic match, but it is a deeper question after an anticlimax like this. Yesterday's final took place in the shadowlands of greatness because Nadal was far too good for Tomas Berdych. Is he now the best tennis player of all time?

The Federalists will squawk in disbelief and point out that their man has 16 grand slam titles, twice as many as Nadal. It's statistically incontrovertible, but Roger Federer beat a long list of not-quiters, has-beens or youngsters in those finals. Look them up if you don't believe me. The only thing golden about Federer's era was the appalling number 15 he wore on his tracksuit after last year's smug Wimbledon triumph.

Thank goodness we didn't get that sort of syrup from Nadal yesterday. The Spaniard may have more tics than a mangy horse, but he knows how to behave in victory and defeat. He even took the trouble to thank the Centre Court crowd for "the amazing respect" they showed him during his semi-final victory over Murray. Even in his moment of ultimate triumph Nadal was still thinking back to that match.

The only amazing thing about the final was Nadal's rise and surge on the big points. The Spaniard has a mind forged from Toledo steel. Maybe Donald Bradman may have been more unflinching, more remorseless than Nadal, but it's a close run single.

Nadal saved the first break point that he faced with a big serve and a colossal forehand, but the second was erased with cold-hearted calculation. Nadal hit a second serve at just 93mph with such spin and accuracy that it swerved away from Berdych's scrabbling racket. The Czech must have felt like throwing himself into the river Vltava.

It is that purity of thought at the big moments that gives Nadal the vote over Federer. It's the brain against the body. It's Fangio against his Ferrari. Surely no one has ever moved better than Federer on a tennis court, but he has never had Nadal's strength of mind. The Swiss cried tears of self pity when Nadal beat him at the 2009 Australian Open and said: "God, it's killing me."

It was an admission that Federer at his best didn't think he could beat Nadal at his best. The Spaniard kept raising his game against Federer to the great man's despair, but against Berdych yesterday Nadal only needed what Tiger Woods used to call his 'B' game.

Nadal probably missed more forehands in the final than he has in the rest of the Championship put together. Some of that was down to the fact that Berdych was trying to play Nadal with short slow balls. It worked for Arthur Ashe in the epic 1975 final against Jimmy Connors, but Berdych is not such a craftsman, Nadal missed a lot of shots, but he never looked as if he really thought he had to raise his level.

Everyone loves Rafa, but could someone please have a word about some of these tics. The 24 year-old seems to suffer from some strain of obsessive compulsive disorder. Nadal's two drink bottles have to be replaced on exactly the same blades of grass, he towels off between every point, he picks at his shorts, he won't step on lines.

In the third set new balls were bowled into play and Rafa wouldn't accept delivery until he had moved the ballboy back into his original position. Even then he asked for three balls to sort through and they hadn't even been used.

At that point you could begin to sympathise with Federer saying: "God, it's killing me", but Berdych just looked happy to be there. A deep English male voice shouted out: "I love you, Rafa," but nothing could quite spike the match into life. It was as inevitable as Saturday's women's final. Another voice shouted: "You're a genius, Rafa."

Ah, but genius is sometimes rather boring. Some of Tiger Woods's victories have been as exciting as a five hour airport delay. It was like that with Nadal yesterday. I almost yearned for the return of Federer.

Then the memory flashed by of the Fed saying on his way out of here: "Rafa's played terrible lately." Is that the same Rafa who leads you 14-7 in all-time games, 6-2 in grand Slam matches and 12-5 in finals? The Fed is dead, Viva la Rafa-lution.
 

Nearco

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Name a player to beat him on any surface. And then compare that beating to the one Nadal would inflict on clay.
 

wr8_utd

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That article has a number of valid points but he seems to hate Federer and it's showing.

That last line was said sarcastically by Fed.
 

wr8_utd

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Who cares about clay? It's lawn tennis and plenty of players have been better than Nadal on grass.
You could say who cares about Grass considering the grass court seasons lasts just 3 weeks.

It's harder to win on clay than to win on grass.

And WHO is better than grass on Nadal? 4 back to back finals. 2 back to back titles on grass.

And let's remember than before the 2006 Wimbledon Nadal had played less than 10 matches on grass in his entire life. He had absolutely zero experience of grass courts and yet he has reached finals on all of his last 4 appearances.
Nadal won on Fed's favorite surface before Roger could do on nadal's (and even then Fed din't have to face Nadal).

Nadal can beat Fed on his favorite surface in a Slam, Fed can't do the same to Nadal on his favorite surface.
 

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That's just says that the standard of men's tennis on grass is at an all-time low.
No it says your talking rubbish, only 5 men in the history of the game have reached 4 Wimbledon finals in a row, Nadal is one of them so to say theres been plenty of better grass court players is utterly ridiculous and totally unfounded because there clearly hasnt, pure baseline bullys with ‘no invention or finesse’ dont reach final after final on a lesser favoured surface let alone win back to back titles on said surface, the history of Tennis shows that.
 
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