A great champion, which Nadal is, should be able to focus and concentrate on winning the match. It just shows that he is as human as Federer and also it shows just how difficult it is to maintain a No.1 position and keep on winning. It also shows that being No.1 doesn't mean that you cannot be beaten on any one day.

"It's personal." Oh geez, anything that's THAT personal and managed to destroy Rafa's impressive concentration definitely piques my interest.

Though IMO I think his concentration hasn't been fully there since Februrary's Davis Cup, and it's a testament to his skill that he managed to rally his wits together at crucial points (see: Nalbandian) until now. So if you ask me, he's had this coming for a month or more.

What I don't get is that if there really is something personal (and there must be;otherwise,why would he say something like this?),then has this "personal thing" apperead suddenly? In Indian Wells,he still managed to win the tournament beating Murray and Nalbandian even though not being 100% clearly.I've heard something about his parents divorcing,I hope everything's ok and his tennis won't be affected...
I guessed that he was not gonna win Miami as nobody can win all the time but the way he's lost the match is frustrating!

I honestly don't know what to think about the "personal" thing anymore. Yesterday, after discussing this with some people of the website, I copypasted Nadal's statement to a friend that is a professional translator and she said she thinks Nadal means personal as in meaning every match is different: you loose or you win depending on what you do during the game...In the end is your responsability (=something personal?). So maybe he's not having any private issues at all and he just had a bad day (week).

What's sure is he didn't mention any private issues to the Spanish journalists and none newspaper reflects anything related to these rumors... but this doesn't mean they aren't real. After all, us, the fans who know how he usually behaves on court, could foreseen something was going wrong during his last matches. Wether it is the pressure he's feeling for being numer 1, a concrete moment that it's temporary or some big deal related to his family enviroment... only Nadal knows. I guess we'll have to wait to see his performance during the clay season.

i dont think there is anything wrong with him nor is there any personal issues what so ever. when he said "personal" i doubt he meant "private life" ... no tennis player is going to tell reporters that I have a problem with my private life !
And this new feed is simply just journalist putting one statement under the microscope and blowing things out of proportion.
And we as fans ( well , not me though) need to stop giving feeding the press with ammunition by making up excuses that we are not sure about ( ie : hair loss , gf break up , parents splitting ...dog died ? i added the last one for fun :P )

Nadal's form has me very worried. Anyone who's observed him properly in Miami and in IW, would know that there's something really wrong. His whole game has fallen apart. Against DelPotro, he was missing forehands in the middle of the court by miles. When you hit that much of topspin, you only miss when you go for the lines or net the ball when you try extreme angles. Rafa was self-destructing against Delpotro. Much like Roger against Djokovic.

This is the worst I've seen Rafa play since 2006. That there are issues besides tennis, is beyond doubt.
Anyway he's the best clay-court player in the world. He's expected to win everything here in straight sets. I hope he can recover quickly.

I definitely agree that there was something wrong with Rafa in Miami. Despite getting through in straight sets up until that final match, people watching the matches rather than just looking at the scoreline would have realised there was something wrong with him. However, i think the lost in translation theory is probably true, because I reckon if Rafa had personal problems such as the ones mentioned, he would rather just keep quiet about it altogether instead of letting rumours fly around. He would have just said he played badly and left it at that

He didn't play badly at Indian Wells though. Not as well as in Australia, but he did manage to save five match points and then breeze through the rest of the tourney. If whatever problems that bothered him in Miami had been present there, he would have gone out to Nalby

Hope he manages to recover in time for clay court. Rafa on clay is a great sight to see :)

Let's NOT repeat history here. Let's not DO what we've DONE to Federer. Making Nadal a "supreme being" and expect him to WIN in every tournament will exacerbate the pressure for him to do more than what he can.

>>"Making Nadal a "supreme being" and expect him to WIN in every tournament will exacerbate the pressure for him to do more than what he can.">>

Well..that's a part of the package of being the best player in the world. Nadal has to learn to deal with it. If you're #1, you're supposed to win everything. Federer did that for 4 years. Rafa has to try do that as long as he can.

OK, I'll rephrase ... RAFA FANS, let's NOT repeat history here....(same text follows... I'm lazy) .

agf25agf : I'm a Rafa fan too!

another case of looking at different directions!

just makes betting all the more interesting now when one knows a player isn't unbeatable... hahhaha

Cheryl wrote this on another thread:
"I made and off-the-cuff remark that I wondered if he broke up with his girlfriend. Hardly the stuff of scandals. And his remark WAS about tennis, because he said that it was why he didn't play well. In my opinion, that makes it 100% relevant.
cherylmurray , 4/4/09 12:18 AM "

Did Rafa or Bodo tell you his GF was the reason he didn't play well?

come on people! rafa can barely speak English(lol) yes it as gotten better but please.he does not know the correct words to use to express himself(lol) this is the same guy that came up with the description of his lost as"an amazing disaster".(lol)

i agree that something was bothering him but for everyone to take one word as 'personal" and try and dissect it ..really.

with him being in public eye i am sure if there is a major problem going on we will all know in due time.

Alik: What's wrong with 'Amazing disaster' . To me that's a perfect description of his loss to DelPotro. Plus the way he said personal..''Always is a reason..but it's personal '- means he knew he screwed up. There's a reason for his loss of form.. It's something he cannot tell the press coz it's not related to tennis. It's personal.

Rafa is a person who would fiercely protect the privacy of his family and friends. If he had a problem related to tennis, or his health he would have said so. He's usually very honest about these things. The fact he did not say anything means it really IS personal.

He didn't play his best tennis, we all saw that. I really hope he's ok and that it was simply a language issue or just a bad week, we all have them, no?

I hope he spends time with family/friends and is able to Be With Calm... ?

Holly - he doesn't have much time to spend with his family/friends. Monte Carlo starts next week. And he needs to train for that. Basically he would just have got a weekend with his folks.

Anyway I hope he can skip Madrid and maybe another event before the big French Open. It would be disastrous if he does not win the French Open. I can't even imagine that. He needs to be at his best before then.

We know Rafa is mentally tough - the next few months until Wimbledon will just tell us how much.

Why do people care so much about one word? There's no proof anyway. Maybe if there is a recording of Rafa going out with Ana Ivanovic after playing golf together, then maybe we could look into this deeper. But he said 'personal'. And it's just a word. His English is defintiely not the best, no? maybe what he referred to is that the reason was his 'personal' battle with himself.

well , its rumors.
am not worried about Rafa at all . all the luck for him , and uncle toni

No wonder Rafa can't concentrate! He's got Shakira shakin' her hips in his face!

mercedes20

Who is your favorite player? Tell me who has not lost matches when they are no.1. When one is not playing the best game on a particular day this is what happens. So this is very common in any sports. I think you have not come of age to understand all this.

p66, you are overreacting to a joke.

We've seen Nadal tired and not 100% before. The thing is that he pushes so hard that when his tired, his level will fall dramatically.

I suspect it was more a question of Nadal being tired mentally than physically and we have seen that before. But tired physically? The whole world expected that he would buckle after the SF marathon at Melbourne and look what happened there!

ed251137 ..that ws exactly what I ws abta to say...that effort ws physically the most daring and amazing in the history of slams may b....sumhow beating nando in thath epic...coming back within less than 40 hrs to overcum ur arch rival in 5!!! and it ws fed who startf luking tired in the 5th..rafa did luk a bit listless in the 4th set bt kept up his intensity...fatigue forces his level down no doubt abt that bt he stil wins so much!!

Which is why he lost to Delpo? And the fact that Nadal fans gloat on 1 win on AO compared to Fed winning it 3 times is a good joke.

we have atleast sumthing to gloat on every surface...plexicushion=1 Oz title...decoturf=olympics gold...2 major prizes on hard courts overeall.....on clay WOW!! on grass one wimby title..u dont have anything to gloat ur player has won on clay!! and if rafa has 1 title roger 3...they have a age diff of 5....think before u write...as always u tend to write emtionally and tend to neglect the wider sphere of matters

rafa played bad after leading the deciding set 3-0.....it appeared to me that rafa's defensive game was not matching up very well that day against del potro.....his high topspin shots were being countered easily by the tall argentine..(argentinians are givin him a scare lately........lol).......well hopefully hell do better at clay....and win...go rafa..........

vamosrafa ....roger pretty much has done it on every surface ...and to answer ur question on clay....hamburg 07 if im not mistaken (and he beat rafa) . and im in no way gloating ...comparing their past achievement right now is NOT a battle you are EVER going to win . in addition it does not make sense to compare their achievements cos ur player, as u said is much younger and fed aint going no where for now .....so it aint over . ur own words ...think before you write emotionally ....

yup.. its not wise to cmpare their achievements..as u said rafa is too yung is roger is far from finished....and i ws talking abt BIG prizes like slams and olympic gold(that comes after 4 yrs) ..masters events are nt that imp so i ws not considering them..better attack the person who startd the comparison b/w nadal federer achievements from nowhere!!! read the above posts and u'l find it who did it..m nt pointing out!!! it ws ___ who startd it again!! not me!!

vamosrafa, it's easy to judge who reacts emotionally in this blog. It's the one who post lengthy posts to my comments.

Agassi won on every surface. But many considers Sampras better. If you don't want to compare, then please don't talk about h2h, win in every surface bla bla bla and then when I point out a simple fact that Fed won more AO than Nadal, you react like you touched a hot kettle.

i guess the "it's personal" thing was just taken out of context and is blown out of proportion...i don't know if he means that or simply because he can't seem to find an appropriate word/sentence on how he feels that day..anybody if not everybody loses at some point and being number one does not mean that you're unbeatable and there'll be no bad days ahead of you..let's just leave it at that....

Personal?!...the guy was just politely saying : MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!
Sorry, no dirt for you to live off media darling...

"Agassi won on every surface. But many considers Sampras better."

But would they still think this if Agassi had won on every surface AT THE SAME TIME?

The following comment from Nadal made during an interview with the French newspaper l'Express could go a long way to explaining his remark about the reason for the patch of poor form he experienced in Miami being personal:

" When I was young, I always had this dream : I was at the bottom of a huge mountain and I was looking at the top. When I beat Roger Federer in January, in Melbourne, in the final of the Australian Open, I felt an animal excitement. But afterwards, I felt an emptiness and a loneliness indescribable. As if I had no more aim/no more purpose. To me, Federer is still the number 1 in the world. I want to meet him again on court. I know he can beat me."

OMG..cant believe rafa said this!!! he is full of motivation!!! cant b true!!i dont know why but after all this specualtion abt personal problms i feel a bit scared..i hope all this is crap and he dominates the clay season!!!

Correction: I should have written l'Express is a weekly magazine, not a newspaper.
The article was published in the 3rd April edition. Hopefully he is only suffering from adrelanin withdrawal after the mammoth effort it took to win the AO and that once back on clay he will regain his former indomitable form.

It's easy to see why Nadal said that. Nadal is a tennis player unlike all of he clowns here. He knows how good Fed is which is why he trained and trained just to beat Fed. I am saying there's nothing wrong with that. He couldn't beat Fed with racquet skills so he decided to take the physical and psychology path. Good strategy. So he beat Fed and then he feels empty because the man he have beaten is who he considers the ultimate champion. Nadal never really cared about other players. His ultimate rival is Fed. But I believe if Nadal wants challenges he can focus on Murray now. Fed is finding his groove again. Now it's the Nadal-Murray show.

It is just possible that after four years of winning against Federer - including the RG wins, snatching the Wimbledon crown, the OG gold medal and then the AO title (not to mention the No.1 position) that Rafa has lost the taste for battling and beating Federer. He hinted as much in the l'Express article quoted above where he sounded almost as if he wanted Federer to beat him again. Certainly since Melbourne some of the desire to win - or as he once put it 'the desire not to lose' - seems to gave deserted him. It has been our good fortune to have witnessed an unparelleled rivalry which spurred both men to ever greater heights. I sincerely hope I will be proved wrong, but I am not totally convinced Rafa will relish a rivalry with Murray in the same way.

It is just possible that after four years of winning against Federer - including the RG wins, snatching the Wimbledon crown, the OG gold medal and then the AO title (not to mention the No.1 position) that Rafa has lost the taste for battling and beating Federer. He hinted as much in the l'Express article quoted above where he sounded almost as if he wanted Federer to beat him again. Certainly since Melbourne some of the desire to win - or as he once put it 'the desire not to lose' - seems to gave deserted him. It has been our good fortune to have witnessed an unparelleled rivalry which spurred both men to ever greater heights. I sincerely hope I will be proved wrong, but I am not totally convinced Rafa will relish a rivalry with Murray in the same way.

Before any beady eyed person points it out to me, I know he didn't play Federer at the Olympics but he did walk away with the Gold which Roger had so badly wanted to win.

yeah rite mate....roger has made 3 attempts on his favorite surface to win a medal but hasnt been able to win even a bronze ...rafa on debut won gold on his weakest surface.....great...... my brother torres..u knwo i like arguing wid u ..lol..actually i enjot it i dont know abt u...so ill continue........."He couldn't beat Fed with racquet skills so he decided to take the physical and psychology path."...can u elaborate...i mean what the hell do u mean here... firstly "he cudnt beat federer....this according to u shud mena that federer used to beat rafa quite often in the beginning until it ws rafa who came up wid a magical strategy..bt m sorry rafa lead 6-1 at a time!!!it becane 6-4 at a stage and j ust when u startd to think federer now mite win majority of their future matches after 6-4 then .....wow rafa makes it 13-6 eventually....great rafa....

"He knows how good Fed is which is why he trained and trained just to beat Fed. I am saying there's nothing wrong" and " the man he have beaten is who he considers the ultimate champion"...well..that is what u call a true champion!!!!! now u understand what sportsmanship is??? even though le leads 13-6..beaten roger verywhere ..won past 5 meetings...leads 6-2 in slams meetings still he says fed is the man....federer doesnt even say sumthing like this on clay!!! forget other surafces...!!!!!!!! whats next now

and sorry one more thing abt "He couldn't beat Fed with racquet skills so he decided to take the physical and psychology path".........alrite so what do u call that unqiue,classy,tennis revoluitonizng heavy topspin forehand that federer can hardly manage with hsi backhand???? is that psychology or sumthing physical??? i think none of them...doesnt he do it with his RACQUET??? so isnt it a racket skill??? i think it shud be ..what do u ppl think?? tough decison na? lolllzz.....and the unreal passing shots he hits with both forehand and backhand,unbelieveable dip/spin/trajectory/pace even of the backfoot or off-balance (which no other player can hit including federer...no matter how physcical or tactical the player is)"......

i am amazed at how much is expected of this guys. (roger and nad). i must confess i was shocked at nadal's loss. but for goodness, is good for them to lose sometimes, so the other guys can play for something reasonable.

totally wid vamosrafa.....whenever rafa beats them..its a combination of skill(raquet skill precisely) and a lot of atheletism.......its an insult to federer and all other great players actually if their fans think that such a great person has been beaten 13 times out of 19 they have played coz of superior physicality or some mental issues only.....i mean COME ON....THATS WAT U HAVE GOT TO SAY ABT ALL THE RAFA FED MATCHES WHERE FEDERER HAS LOST........i want all of those who think like that to watch the wimby final 08 and french open final 08..AGAIN....i mean just hear the commentory......jo mac knows more than lot of us....he has praised rafa's raquet skill too...his forehand is great(read murray's interview after he lost to rafa...he praised his forehand by saying that it was the heaviest he has faced on grass)...its just plain dumb to say that rafa only outruns and tires all his opponents to win....he has beaten fed in three simple sets in a grand slam final.....fed doesnt get tired in three sets....he was simply OUTPLAYED.......YEAH OUTPLAYED BY SUPERIOR RAQUET SKILLS.......

too much fumes in here too :-))

fumes..lol..... yes VRAEL...rafa losing 4 games at RG final to arguably the best of all time...that shud mean rafa used a magic stick or black magic may if its wasnt racket skills??!!! because it ws A SHEER MASTERCLASS FROM START TO FINISH...he hardly made any unforced errors (again i think psy or physical rite?????)fed got broken in the opening game and if it were a physical/psycological reason then i wud advise him to quit tennis ,sit at home and relax becoz if he gets tired in the opening game or gets affected by psy issues so early on then what kind of a playr is he???

U guys like to take one bit of my comment and exaggerate it so much. Typical Nadal clowns. Nope, if Nadal had superior racquet skills he need not run so much. Most of Fed losses to Nadal is because he lost in the mind, that's all.

mental strenght is almost as important as rackets skills are..so u cant escape with it by saying "if" he had the mental strenght then ..bla bla bla....then i cud also say IF rafa had the superior racket skills THEN what wud happen?just imagine..and this statement "Most of Fed losses to Nadal is because he lost in the mind, that's all" typical of those who donot use their brain to good effect...look..ws this mental block against rafa present in his mind since birth?? i dont think so..wht do u ppl think ??!!! i think any sane person wud say OFCOURSE NOT...it ws rafa's greatness that he induced such great fear and mental blocks in the mind of roger who is such a great player..so no words can describe this attribute of rafa..simply inexplicable..and if u say that he used his clay victories to do so..thats even more idiotic...if even it were clay doesnt matter ..it is tennis both played fair and rafa beat him so consitently...BUT the mental block of which u are talking abt is present in fed's mind..no doubt...but after the RG 08 final..it strenghthned after wimby and is now so dominant in his mind after Oz!!! so full credit to rafa...from now on if roger loses then u can say mental hiccups to sum xtent.and such big happenings are never the result of ONE factor..there are plenty involved.When nadal lead 6-1...they met in grass 06 wimby final...fed ws still the fav despite 1-6 becoz he has the master of grass and rafa ws just a quick learner at that time...result roger won in 4 sets..where the hell was all those shitty mental blocks that time??6-1 is good enough to create such mental barriers!!! and after the 07 wimby win one thing might have been entrenched in fed's mind..that no matter what happens he always wins on grass even against nadal..bt 08 final!! rafa beat him !! yes he did by playing superior 'tennis' that includes evertything..physicality..mentality...talent..racket skills..so on, in Oz fed might have been confident that rafa wud lose becoz rafa ws also deprived of his big strength i.e PHYSICAL ENDURANCE...still he won ?? what the hell might be the reason there...ans=rafa ws beter every time!!! so this proves how silly the mental block xcuse is!!!

yeah, maybe Roger should use those superior racquet skills to his advantage rather than rolling over every time....

No use having 'superior" anything if you are going to lose everytime to the same person !! Is there?

I don't know - why don't you ask Agassi why he lost to Pistol Pete every time? Some guys just don't match up well against certain players. Why does Roddick lose to Fed every time? Why does Roger lose to Rafa? I think in the past, Roger saw it as a puzzle to be solved. OK, I work on my backhand, I get more aggressive with forehand down the line, then a funny thing happened....he was working on how to beat Rafa; meanwhile, others who have been studying how to beat Roger for the past 5 years, suddenly had some answers and some belief. He still has super ability - do not kid yourself, nam1. I'm not saying he's going to go to RG and beat Rafa in 5. BUT! You are sadly mistaken if you think he's just rolling over. If the back holds up, I have no doubt Roger will be a major force at Wimby and USO (that is not an excuse, it is a fact.)

rafterfan..i dont have any problm wid ur last sentence..its a fact i know that!! 100% AGREE! he is a big big threat at both the slams...but plz tell me 1 thing if i write " rafa is going to beat sampras 14 slams record 'IF' his body holds up"..and i say its a fact coz he is the quickest among all in getting 6 slams..if i say this which i have said in the past iam going to be badly attacked by many!! now can u tell why???

roger has 5 wimby's nd 5 us open's(back to back)...so there should be no debate as to wether federer can repeat them again or not.....he can do it if he plays better than who is against him in the finals......he did it against roddick,marat,hewitt,against rafa in 06 and 07 wimby's...so roger will always be expected to win....its just that he isnt playing the way he used to in my opinion...fed is no where close to where he was in 07...thats a fact...nd another fact is that rafa is better now...murray,to me is the best right now on the hard courts....nd u cant count out others like gilles,tsonga......roger not winning most of his finals and semi finals is due to tougher competition and a lil decline in his play too....last year he lost to karlovic,blake and some others too...it was an indication that he isnt that good now.....having said that,i still believe roger will always be able to reach grand slam finals coz they are best of 5....to take 3 sets out of him is not easy....and nobody(not named "nadal") has been able to do that...nobody has even beaten roger in a grand slam final except rafa.....so these two guys are always safer to predict for gs finals...hope roger does find a way to beat rafa......it will make tennis more exciting....atleast for me...

Vrael.......i might be going out on a limb here but i get the sense that you are a Fed fan....

Nevertheless......i would just like to say that YOUR blogs represent some of the most objective and impartial on this post!!!.....and i think thats just great!!

I am a Rafa fan but I also would like to give Fed his credit where it is due. He has contributed emensely to the sport and it is chiefly bcos of him that tennis is at the level it is today....i mean Rafa had to try THREE times before he could beat Fed at Wimby while the other guys never even came close!!! So for me......when Fed eventually retires (hope far way)......tennis will mourn for a very, very, very long time!! People like Fed and Rafa come once in every light year!!!

But I like Rafa....bcos for me.....he represents the balance that tennis lacked during the time when Fed was dominating......and Rafa has inspired all the other tennis players ro raise the level of their game bcos they want to be part of the conversation!!! Before Rafa....no one trully believed that Federer was beatable......rafa changed all that....and thats why he'll remain forever a huge part of the conversation.....regardless of the healt of his kness!!!!!

Vamos Rafa!!!!

Losing one match does not spell disaster for any player, especially Rafa, after all in 2008 when he was easily beaten at the beginning of the year by Tsonga in the AO, and that was his best year so far, and ended up as No 1 WAY AHEAD OF EVERYONE ELSE. He will continue to be the force he has been so far, fear not!!!!!

MonaLisa, I agree. Tennis was boring because players did not aspire to being No 1, they accepted the status quo until Rafa started challenging Federer, and beating him.

Rafa is the best thing that's happened to tennis since the 'golden era' of the 80s........players lik McEnroe, Connors, Borg, Becker and Edberg.

monalisa...i love rafa more than anyone else at the atp circuit playing tennis right now....just love him...nd i do admire fed too....but rafa has been and always will be my idol....these two r my favorites(roger only 2nd to rafa)......dont know y u think im more of a fed fan???

agree wid ur previous comment......rafa truly showed the world how to beat roger...i was der at the aussie open this year wid my family at the finals......rafa is just a different being against roger...he really steps up his level doublefold...plays very solid...

regarding rafa's health and longevity in the sport....i believe hell play top notch tennis till...atleast 2014.....hell be ok...has an excellent team to to keep his knees OK

Fed has always been my idol. People who call Fed, a 13-GS winner are ridiculous. I don't think Rafa is the best thing that ever happened to tennis. He didn't set the bar, Fed did. Now Fed has declined so he is taking advantage. Big deal. Murray is also rising and also Djoker. It is just a transition.

But the one who set the bar was Fed. He made Nadal needing to have superior fitness and speed to counter Fed skill and variety. And Murray showed that Nadal is not unique because any player can train hard but to have the skills of Fed, we need to wait a lifetime to witness.

torres9........i agree wid u partially......federer did set the bar......he has been the best mascot tennis ever had.....fed's skill,variety...his playing style..all awesome....but i dont agree wid u when u say that murray is as unique as rafa...rafa is a 6 time grand slam champion...murray is 21,when rafa was 21 he had 4 gs's.......murray has 0........rafa is still a much better all court player than murray.......i dont believe they both are equally talented too....murray is awesome on hard courts......rafa is awesome on grass,hard and CLAY............rafa has gs's on all the three surfaces...initially taglined as a "clay courter".......he raised his game.......and yeah he definitely set the bar...he beat roger when he was at his best too(mostly on clay actually...)nd if u really feel roger is a more complete player...he must have had beaten him on clay too...which he didnt do that well.......rafa has lots to achieve to match federer..and he is closing up....atleast rafa's and roger's name can be taken in the same breath....cant say that abt murray right now....u feel that rafa is basking in glory becoz fed has declined???fed was at his best at wimby 08...rafa beat him....rafa has beaten fed in his prime also.......i really dont think rafa is no1 right now becoz of a "declining fed".....HE IS DER COZ HE DESERVES TO BE DER....

yes..i agree federer set the bar...sooo high!! but torres u xpectd an 18-19 year old rafa to set the bar??? he is doing it now!! he has done it on clay already!!! no one had eve rplayed near his level on clay!!! i dont care abt anything now...just watching rafa play rite now!! superb as xpected..that forehand is the best shot on clay!!! so heavy and accurate and he is also flatenning it oput when needed!!!! artist on clay!!!

Vrael, if you said fed was at his best at wimby 08 then you havent been following tennis long enough. I believe Rafa can win more GS IF he keeps up like this but Murray is proving to be a big threat every minute that passes. And Fed still is in a level good enough to win GS titles so I will say Rafa needs to improve his level more. In terms of domination, Rafa is the best on clay no doubt. But on hard courts, a good JMDP can beat Rafa on a bad day.

Rafa is yet to defend his Wimby and Oz Open and if he does it, I will delightfully claim he can dominate like Fed.

torres9, you are just going to keep repeating like a mantra that JMDP beat Rafa on HC, as if Rafa did nothing else on HC this year. Is that all you got? I'm still waiting on your answer from a good while ago as to who has had a perfect tennis season, losing NO matches.

Torres..before we proceed further wid this argument...ans these 2 qs

1.....wht the hell..how the hell did federer lose to guilermo canas in 07 north american hard courts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????? twice in a row to a qualifier on his favorite surface in his peak days???? atleast Delp is a top 5 player rite now !! fed lost 6-2 7-5 in 1 of their meetings (with canas) stragiht sets??!!

2.why the hell does roger has a 0-2 record against a player of simon's caliber...yet to beat simon..such a shame!!adn the match ws once again played on roger's favorite surface (quick hard courts)!!!! simon is so one-dimensional and even then roger cudnt beat him...so doesnt this show that federer isnt versatile enuf to deal with such good counterounchers??? isntead is saying these players dont have variety (murray,nadal,simon etc..altho murray nadal have got a big arsenals)...look at it thie the other way around..FED NOT GUD ENOUGH TO BEAT THese TENACIOUS GUYS!!!! he didnt face such players in his peak years!!! thats for sure...

AND...roger ws almost playing at his best in wimby 08 final!!! yes he ws!! i can prove it....luk at the resutls of his past matches....he dispacthed safin almost as easily as he did in 07 even tho safin ws playing better...he didnt drop a set to any one else....and chek the winers-unforced errors ratio and comapre with his previous wimby finals!!! wimby 08 stats will come out among the top 3!! he ws playing almost at his best!!! u cant even identify wht department of his game wasnt at his best...RAFA OUTPLAYED HIM ..only marginally tho!!!

fan4tennis, Fed best year, he lost only 3 times. Nadal lost 3 already this year. Am sure he will lose some more so whether he can dominate like Fed remains to be seen.

Vamosrafa. 1. Canas is a counterpuncher like Nadal, Murray Simon. Same type. What he lacks is speed like Nadal. So u dont need to be Einstein to figure that out. And Fed lost to a player just came back from injury not someone who he just beat so convincingly in the previous tournament like Nadal did with JMDP. Just show Nadal level can drop dramatically when he has no speed and fitness.

2. Same answer as above. Nadal is 2-1 against Nalbandian. Every player has a losing record to sumone. Nadal got owned by Blake and now Nadal is 3-3 against Blake becoz Blake is declining. Same story.

Your questions can easily be answered by common sense which is why I am reluctant to answer stupid questions like these. I suggest taking a course in 'thinking' Thank you very much.

In Fed's best year he only lost 3 times? What year was that and who did he lose to?

2005 his record was 81-4 (sorry I missed it by 1 loss (too much stats in my head)). Hard being a Roger fan with so many records to remember. Lost to Nadal and Gasquet. Nadal best year is 82-11 which is last year and only reached 82 because he played 19 tournaments. Fed played 15 tournaments to reach 81.

And 2007, Fed is 92-5 playing only 1 tournaments.

Anything else?

Typo - 92-5 (17 tournaments)

Murrray is 26-2, Nadal is 24-3 this year. To me, Murray is a gift to tennis world for Rafa to taste his own medicine of boring tennis. Thank you Murray for showing that showing.

It's funny that everytime u Rafa fans disagree with me, Rafa will come out saying, ' To me, Fed is still no.1'. Maybe Rafa is blind too?

torres..wht abt playing ur own tricks on u this time...THNX ALOT FOR THESE 'STATS"..but i can read them on WIKIPEDIA or sumwhere else...dont provide them here.thnk u very much!! rafa saying these things...thats humility and class thats beyond ur comprehension...

And what type of bloddy xcuses is that.?? fed lost to canas coz canas is a counterpuncher?? this shows federer lacks the dimensions to deal with such players??!!! a big chink in his armour can be deduced here...canas didnt have speed...roger still lost to him twice!!!! big shame! simon and nalby...gotta b kidding...nalb can becum a world class player when on fire ..rememerb he beat roger the same time he beat rafa in 07??!! cant u apply common sense here?? nalb ws unplayable that time..beating djo once,fed 2 times,rafa 2 times,,and talking abt other h2ds....well rafa is doing so well to counter the power games(the game that can trble him on h.courts like counterpunching trbles roger) of players like berdych..blake..youzhny..bla bla...not like federer and his fans...siting back and throwing stupid xcuses " he is a counterpuncher ,irritating playing style, relies on speed..bla bla thats y i lose?? loser attitude i must say..learn from rafa...when he is faced with a challenge he comes up wid a positive reply...0-3 against blake..2-3 now...0-2 nalb...1-2 now....5-3 against berdy from 1-3..7-3 youzhny from 3-3!! he solves the problems despite being so young and inxpericned!! learn from this gr8 champ!!inappropriate xcuses have no places in tennis...federer is a genius so why cant he solve these problems?? he didnt face adversities and obstacles in 05-06..bt when obstacles started to cum his way ...he failed to overcum them ...and once more stupid xcuses that roger is declining...rafa dethroned him !!! every analyst said it last year.. roger's fall to no.2 is a reason of nadal rasing his level to untouchable heights...nuthing much to do wid fed's decline..how many beat him in slams?? not many!! ONLyRAFA STANDS OUT!!!

torres..now i am gona analyze a very vital stat!! not just 'state' a stat!! read carefully...

U talkd abt ups and downs of level...here is sumthing regarding that...a consistent player has to play at a high sustained level thru out his career..nt only in a few years

roger federer career win-loss record =635-153..impressive man..ratio=4.15 per loss

rafa...360-80!! incredible..ratio =4.50...did i write 4.50 in comparison to 4.15?? yes i did becoz its true..rafa at teh age of 22 posses a better win loss ratio than roger does??!! wht the hell is this man!!lol....whose more consistent?? roger at 22 had a pathetic 2.67!!! pathetic in compariosn to rafa...including his years till 06 he managed 3.86!! again pathetic in comparsion to mr consistent nadal!! despite 81-4 92-5 still wayyy behind! !!!! luk..every player undergoes stages...maturing/developing/peak years/struggling years and son on..roger even after enjyoing peak years is at 4.15??!!! rafa just entered his peak time and is already at 4.50!!! wowwww!!! we all know rafa has been posting atleast 6.5 wins a loss everywhere and is getting better and better so m sure that 4.50 will cross 5.0 soon!!! matchless in consistency is nadal..isnt it??? that is how u back up ur point..i used stats bt nt obly stated thm!!

Torres wrote: "2005 his record was 81-4 (sorry I missed it by 1 loss (too much stats in my head)). Hard being a Roger fan with so many records to remember. Lost to Nadal and Gasquet. Fed played 15 tournaments to reach 81."

Have looked at the ATP site and they show Fed as having a 17-4 record in 2005 (which means more than 15 tourneys). It also shows he did lose to Nadal (RG) and Gasquet (MC) that year, along with losing to Safin (AO) and Nalby (TMC). If you are going to provide stats torres, at least make them the correct ones! I should've just asked Ricky or malteser instead.

I'm no statitician, but let's just see how Rafa is playing when he's 26-ish, or even 25. If he has GS record by then, I'll eat my words and gladly praise him. His fans say he'll have the GS record way before then. I don't think so...

agree wid rafterfan here.....let rafa play 3-4 years more....all will be clear then

Vamosrafa, again coming up with emotional lengthy comments with no points. I was only putting up the stats because fan4tennis asked me to. Isn't it amazing that Fed can go from a 2.67 to 4.15? Nadal has a good ratio but I am sure this will go down rather than up because Murray is there. And players like JMDP, Tsonga can beat Nadal on a good day.

fan4tennis, go to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer. and scroll down and see how much tournaments he played at 2005. 15 or am I blind? Advice: please do your own research instead of asking people for it, lazy bum.

Agree with Rafterfan and vrael, Rafa can beat all records but with the emergence of younger players and I am sure Nadal will not get any younger, it remains to be seen if Nadal can even go close to what Fed has achieved. As for Fed fans, just enjoy the ride appreciate the beautiful game while Fed is still around before the ugly game takes over.

''''It's funny that everytime u Rafa fans disagree with me, Rafa will come out saying, ' To me, Fed is still no.1'. Maybe Rafa is blind too? '''

No he's not blind, it's the other way around I believe. He says that in reference to Roger's record (not his game in particular) that Rafa is trying to demolish most of them if not all. If he manages to achieved that goal, you won't be hearing him anymore saying the same thing because Facts and Stats suggest otherwise.

"""Isn't it amazing that Fed can go from a 2.67 to 4.15? Nadal has a good ratio but I am sure this will go down rather than up because Murray is there."""

Have it crossed in your mind that the same scenario regarding that RATIO is very much applicable too with Roger and everybody else? The point is, who has better and higher ratio.

Rafa's ratio will go down??? alrite..thats enuf...u have shown ur mentality and caliber..nuthing more to say! rafa's ratio wil deterioraet ..ur confident abt that...buahaahaha....what a joke...u'll regret and u lack common sense ..quite obvious..the kind of numbers he is posting even on hardc ourts alone is incredible 23-4 this year on hard courts his weakest surface is 5.75 and clay is here where he hardly loses!!! so we will see!!!

The problem wid u is taht ur thinking sphere is so narrow that u cant grasp many valid pnts...what a pity! teh ratio shows rafa has been more consistent and common sesne indicates his ratio will improve tremendously!!

rafa's win to loss record is increasing each year....hez being more consistent too....im surprised wid all the prediction making here......while statistical trends say that rafa is winning more,many here are saying that OHHHHHH....HELL START TO LOSE....every1 here is a soothsayer or wat??? same wid fed...some sayin he is over...some say hez gonna win 5 gs's more...this is supposed to be a tennis forum...discuss wat is happening on the court.....wats the point in discussing wats gonna happen at the court after so and so many years

Am I the only one who does not appreciate Fed's 'beautiful game'? I'd rather watch a programme I recorded earlier than watch Federer play live, and that's a fact. Nadal? Never get tired of watching him.

torres9......i have been following tennis for about 7 yrs...i dunno if thats long enuf in ur book(to answer ur remark)...have seen federer rule the tennis world...have also seen him deposed by rafa...nd out of all the matches fed has lost to rafa...wimby 08 was the closest...so i made that point... nd u dont agree???u remember any other match where federer has played better nd still lost to rafa other than wimby 08?? i certainly think that was the best wimby final ever...nd i believe that that was the best rafa-roger final ever....jo mac...borg..willander all agree wid me....so why dont u...lol??/

LOL!
torres9 has run out of arguments and left in a huff.

Me run out of arguments? LOL... I am just busy completing my thesis.

Raindrops, you are not nadal so you don't know what he's referring to, thanks for halucinating that you are in Nadal's body and think you know what he thinks. Nadal only has a higher ratio because he plays in more tournaments. What a stupid way of looking at statistics.

Vamosrafa, Read the above. And the fact that you fail to look at stats correctly shows how low education is. Please try to get enough money to get to university.

Carrie, watching Nadal play is like watching Planet of the Apes over and over again. Exciting at first but then got very boring.

Vrael, I agree with you. I am not really predicting but the gap between Nadal and Murray is not a lot so I will say he wouldn't dominate like Fed did until proven otherwise. And if Fed finds his groove again, I am sure Nadal will be a 'claycourter' again.

danny, please wipe your @$$ after $#!tting, it's smelly in here.

playing in more tournaments means ratio improves...such an idiotic statement!!! incredible mate!! i mean listen guys..did u know that u just have to play more tournaments to have a good win-loss ratio!! doesnt matter how u fare at the tournaments...even if u losr ur ratio will improve just becoz u enter so many tournaments..is it clear guys??sounds confusing tho...becoz A CONFUSED MAN WROTE IT!!! lol

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/157300-comparing-roger-federer-and- rafael-nadal-are-we-overlooking-rafa

Didnt know Nadal wasnt white

Hahaha!
Saying that just by playing more a player can improve his win-loss ratio (regardless of the result?) is the height of idiocy! No need for thesis in that.LOL

torresNAH

Admit it, you like the smell of my @$$, that's why you keep coming back for more!
Hahaha

Vamosrafa and danny, please learn maths, playing a lot tournaments does improve the ratio as long as you get to the quarterfinals of semifinals. Seriously, please increase your education. Don't embarass your country. Danny, you are sick if you think your @$$ smell nice. Maybe your nose is that of a p!g.

torres9
And you are more sick in the head, arguing with a sick man like me!
You must have a very unhappy childhood for you to be this mad at the world.

torres9..its just the matter of time before every one here declares u as mentaly sick..plz change ur atitude/thinking or whtever...and one more thing...DID ANYONE FORCE ROGER NT TO PLAY MORE TOURNAMENTS????!!!i dont think so..u have options and everything has an opportunity cost...its very easy for us rafa fans then to say that "had rafa played less tournaments ,he had been very fresh in 07-08 and possibly won US open!!! he has always arrived there tired so we can say that if he hadnt played so much tennis unlike federer his win-loss ratio there wdunt have been relatively bad!!! get that?? and roger didnt play more becoz he knew it ws beyind his physical capacity to play at a consistent level everywhere all the time!! so its a god's gift to rafa and his super talent taht he is physically so strong that he manages to play so much!!! we didnt prohibit roger to play more....so shut up now!!! as usual shitty arguments!!

Vamosrafa, as long as I have my laptop and the internet, you won't be able to shut me up. Nice try. Thanks for making it clear that Rafa fans like you make excuses for your man. You are not Roger and you certainly do not know whether he has the physical capability to play more tournaments. If Rafa has the physical capacity, then he would have won all tournaments he played didn't he? Seriously, can you be more dumb? I hope you learn some logic.

Danny, why am I mad at this world? I am finishing my degree and I enjoy tennis and everyday I visit this website, clowns like you and vamosrafa keep making me laugh with your ignorance and dumbness.

SSDD

Torres--- YOU'RE deprived of attention all your life! HERE, you have to be in "combative" mode to see to it that people are paying attention to you. You feel a lot of pleasure when people are throwing stinging comments AGAINST you...
TO TOP IT ALL, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MENTION ALL SORTS OF SELF INDULGENCE --- "finishing your THESIS" (???), I have a LAPTOP. , I'm finishing my DEGREE(???), I am THIS and THAT... I have THIS and THAT.---- JUST TO PROVE YOUR WORTH in this world!!! AS if we care if you're a child of your President!
You always have time to argue HERE>>> finish your degree(???)...your thesis(???)!SO YOU'LL HAVE A LIFE! How can you concentrate ? You probably spend more time here than your studies(???)! GO GO GO!!! try to acquire another degree on "GOOD MANNERS AND RIGHT CONDUCT" (or go back to primary ed!)!!!!

one of those ppl who never shut up!completely illogical!! IS THERE ANY 1 who supports this guys arguments??? read al his view pnts and i am sure no one is gona support this guy!!! u dont know anything torres...u just know how to write..nt difficult..everyone can do that...baseless wrtings!!! federer didnt play tournaments ..why?? can u tel me then?? rafa has a better ratio..more consistent career ..shut the hell up and stop these nonsense comments kindly! davydenko plays more tournaments than any of the top 5 ..including 06-08..why the hell didnt he have a better ratio than rafa?? whts ur dumb ans now?? carry on n keep damaging ur reputation..my man keeps doing his tasks..winning..14th masters shield is coming his way!! 14th??whaattt?? 14th??? OMG!! at 22 14?? roger has 14 na?? isnt it??hell wid his consistency that he has been only able to collect 14 shields at 27!!! and most of them are played on hard courts!!! rafa's weakest surface roger's favorite in a sense....and dont tell me that roger didnt as many AMS tournaments!! he plays almost all of them!!! whts ur xcuse now...as usual dont run away like a coward!!

vamosrafa,
"roger has 14 na"
kabayan?

danny,

he meant no? a la Rafa.

here's the real kabayan lolz.

I see, thank's Raindrops.
Glad to meet a kabayan and a fellow rafa fan here.

haha..no guys..nt a kabayan...ive just developed the habit of writing 'na' after reading so many rafa pressrs...lol... 6-3 rafa...and 2 brk pts to get bak on serve!! cumon!

wats a kabayan???some ethnicity or a language???

vrael,

It's Philippines' language, kabayan means Countryman.

kabayan=dusht in India :-)

vamosrafa, keyali bai?

sorry mate..wht language is that?? :S