We'll see whether he can back this up with other consistent victories!!!

Its worth to mention JMDP also put up a good fight against Murray; which I believe is a sign that victory over nadal did change his attitude. Didnt play amazing tennis or anything, but tried his best when it looked as murray would cruise easily.

ur officially my favourite person for the day ricky- thank u so much for writing this!!!! obviously as a massive del po fan, i loved it. thanks :)

Jumping the gun a little bit, aren't we Ricky? DelPotro still doesn't have the game to be in the big 4. That he has one victory against a World #1 who was clearly playing his 'D' game, is surely not career defining. It wasn't even Delpotro's best tennis. DelPotro played better against Roddick for his previous
title win, then he did against Nadal.

Rafa's match was an amazing disaster. He clearly has some issues. I've never seen Rafa play before like that after 2006. As I said before, I'm willing to bet my house, that Rafa will beat the crap out of DelPotro next time.

As for Delpotro being a rising star, like Nadal would say ' We're gonna see'.

imjimmy,actually your post is a longer version of my short "we'll see" kind of post.I had some arguments against Del Potro here before;therefore, I didn't want to say it again.However,it seems to me that Ricky is jumping on Del Potro bandwagon a bit early...

Come on, people! Del-Po is a rising star. It cannot be helped that you just don't like him for some reason. No, he's not in the big 4 right now, but he did beat numero uno and gave Murray a run for his money. He's only 20. Yes, Murray's young and so are Rafa and Jokes. I do not know what his game is like on clay as I only started hearing about him during U.S. hard court season last year. Ricky, what is his record on clay?

imjimmy - as i said, "only time will tell"

as I also said, I couldn't care less how Del Potro played. The point is that he WON. I don't care if he didn't play his best tennis. He has a win over the world No. 1, neither I nor he cares how it happened.

Sisterofnight12 (nice nickname BTW..),
I agree. I just don't see that flash of greatness in Del Potro. There's nothing exciting or promising about him or his game. Even though he is young, I don't see him ever being #1 or even #2. He might work hard to get in the Top 5. But he's not a genius like Federer or Nadal.

Time will tell how good he will be, but the point about this win should be del potro hung in there till the end and did everything he can. His talent was never questioned but his fighting spirit was and he showed he can fight till the end; thats whats important. I dont think he will consistently beat top 4 but Im %100 sure we wont see Oz QF again.

orion is completely correct. The win was about DP's mental game, not his physical game.

imjimmy - Del Potro is already in the Top 5 when the rankings come out on Monday!!!!!

this win will help del potro's mental game, but if he ever wants to do it again, either his tennis has to get a lot better or the top players will have to play like crap every time he's on the other side of the net.
del potro wasn't playing his best and neither was nadal, but if both had been playing at their top level, not many people would pick del potro to win. rafa is number one for a reason...and, frighteningly enough, probably still getting better.

Ricky: DelPotro's #5 was assured even if he had lost to Rafa. But do you seriously think that he can beat Rafa, Roger, Murray or Djokovic consistently in the near future? If not, then #5 is the ceiling for him.

If he's got to 5, then all I can say is there's a mighty gap between the top four and the rest.

Exactly my thinking deuce. He's still a long way from challenging the supremacy of the big 4.

Adopting the 'wait and see' too. Believing the hype can be a budding star's undoing. As long as he doesn't start strutting over-confidently like a certain Djokovic this time last year. He clawed his way back and played big points like true champion material. To his credit he eked out a win not playing his best- but that just means had he played typical Nadal he would have been punished comprehensively. So can he beat the big guns on their best day? I'll wait and see but I do hope he makes it 'the big 5'.

Uve got to be kidding. This guy has made it from nowhere to number 5 in under a year and u guys are questioning his TALENT and his GAME! Because he is not a 'genius' (ur words not mine) like Nadal or Federer? del Po is younger than all of the big four, do u guys have any idea the amount of records he holds for his youth? And what the stats are for someone so young wining so much and becoming number 4? Its freaking promising. If you dont admit he has talent, potential, and a hell of a bright future then you are a freaking nuts. I dont think Ricky is jumping on a bandwagon at all, hes bin around for a while now. I duno why you guys are being so cynical... could be cos he beat Nadal I guess.

I'm not saying hes gonna be number one this year or next yr, but hes got a great shot at it one day for sure. In del Pos own words, numbr 5 is good... but I wanna be better.

and by number 4 i meant number 1. its something like 11/12 guys that have won more than 3 titles as a teenager have gone on to be number 1. ricky will know im sure- im on dial up and cant be bothered looking it up.

"I duno why you guys are being so cynical... could be cos he beat Nadal I guess."

wrong,kaitepai...There are many players out there who beat Rafa at least once (although that doesn't happen very often nowadays) and even though I'm a big Rafa fan,I'm not against most of them.So,my unliking of Del Potro has nothing to do with this,just so you know!
Moreover,although I'm not a big fan of Del Potro as you may have noticed,I think that he deserves to be no.5 as he's the best and most consistent right now (along with Roddick) after the Big 4.

Delpo has good height and what scary is his serve and forehand is still not dangerous yet. He can change direction of the ball well which is what talented players do and if he continues to improve every aspect of his game. He can challenge the top 4 soon. His mentality is also getting better.

yeah sister I know u dont like him for otehr reasons- that was directed at those who jumped on the 'smash him murray' bandwagon cos he beat rafa.we have bin arguing back and forth about del po for a few months now. i still dont really know why u dont like him... is it cos hes rude and intimidating, not a particulary fantasticaly nice person (who I happen to have a huge crush on)?? or is it his game (which i also love)?

At the rate Djokovic and Fed are going you'd have to think there is only a BIG 2. And I think Delpo has a chance against both of them if they continue like this.

Aside from Rafael Nadal on clay, it's safe to say that anyone in the Top 6 is capable of beating anyone else in the Top 6 on any given day.

Agree with you Ricky, but I'm beginning to think Murray is an indestructible wall on hard. I know how frustrating that will seem for players who flatten it out and be aggressive. But he's a smart wall too.

nadal just completely owned him, del cuda won too if he cud keep it up. hes not indestructibe, but u were bang on with wall.

With all said and done......there is just one incredible fact..........anyone who beats Nadal......the odds are definitely against them to win their next match!!!! Nadal just wears you down.....it happens all the time. So for those players who have to play against Nadal in any given tourney.......they're almost better off losing!!!

MonaLisa - good analysis...until the last sentence, which obviously makes no sense!!!

BUMP

Loss to Del Potro will help me improve my game

Rafael Nadal

Hello and goodbye to all,

It has been great being able to be with you all these past two weeks. In the end I left NY on the final Sunday but unfortunately it was not after playing the final. The semi-final match was not the best I've played and that loss will help me think about some things and hopefully keep improving. I wasn't really there yesterday. The other guy simply played much better than me and I feel I am not playing at that level needed to win a major.

Lots of people asked me about my injury and also if that affected my game. The truth is that I didn't play well and there is no excuse whatsoever for the defeat. He played better and deserved to win. Now I am flying back home and also would like to get my abdominal muscle checked. It doesn't look too good since I am in pain when serving but hopefully it is nothing serious.

I didn't want to talk about the injury during the US Open. There were several reasons for that: 1) I didn't want to give any extra information to my rivals. In the end I am playing, I knew I was going to go out and compete and there was no reason why to say I'm injured. 2) for respect to my opponent. I wouldn't feel too good if someone who says publicly that he is injured beats me and 3) I didn't really want to stop and wanted to play no matter what. I didn't want it to be checked after I did the last one a week before the tournament started.

Now I am back and will do everything to get it checked.

Once again many thanks for this opportunity of writing the blog and I hope to be back with you all soon.

Rafa

A star is born that stopped federer!...how about that for a story!

A star is born that defeat the AO2009 champion 6-2,6-2,6-2. LOL

Fed had 11 double faults and still lost in 5-setter.

Fed had 11 DF which is one of the reasons he lost the 5 setter torres! You make it sound like fed should have won regardless of 11 DF!

No f4t, it means Fed has a better chance of winning if he didn't have 11 DF.

ANYONE has a better chance of winning if they don't DF 11 times! LMAO

yeah, I've obviously stated the obvious, genius f4t.

Torres ,
Your comments are funny & rediculious
You sound like many of Fedex lovers who owe Nadal's defeats to the opponents' strength & Fedex defeats to Fedex not being in the "MODE TO WIN"
LOLOLOLOL

Carrie,
Everytime I read Nadal's comments after losing I respect him & more everyday & I realize more that whoever hates him (knowing your right not to be a fan of him though) & bad mouth about him & his injuries calling them execuses, they just hate tennis & themselves, but when I look at Fedex face & watch his attitude, I really feel that this is not a surprise
If you know what I mean!

smartcuty, you have only been here for about 3 days. Do you know how many times Rafans said Fed only wins against Nadal is not 100%? If you don't know anything, don't make blatant accusations.

I didn't want to talk about the injury during the US Open-But he dis mention about it anyway LOL

2) for respect to my opponent. I wouldn't feel too good if someone who says publicly that he is injured beats me. Same as saying,'I don't want to say that all this while I am injured but still I beat some players but I am not gonna talk about it'.

If Nadal is truly mahatma Ghandi, you guys won't even know he has injuries. Pffttt...

Torres,
Just ignore my comments & don't even address anything to me coz I am not interested at all in reading yours or reply to your funny posts
Peace!!!

smartcuty,you have found a home:) rafa fans welcome you with and open keyboard:)

Like we said back in April, Delpo is the REAL DEAL! Yeah, come on!! (Where is zoey on this? :D :D :D)

smartcuty , 9/17/09 1:19 AM

You are spot on. Whether you've been here 5mins or 10 years, the facts are still the same. You don't have to be on TT for ever to have a view.

VAMOS RAFA!

Thank you Alik & Carrie,
It just happened that I found this great site & forum now but I have been practicing, coaching & watching tennis for the last 25-30 years
Having said that I am sure you guys know more than me on almost everything & I just say what I feel & see from my point of view with full respect to the other opinions because noone is perfect in this world & sometimes we get carried away & see things from one angle
Therefore I will try more to see the other angle even though I feel & know why we don't like Fedex (persnally before style of play) but for Rafa...why would you hate a guy with his style and attitude?
Humble, kind, serious in playing, great sportsman ship, excellent tennis show, sweat for every single point, earn his credit by his arm only, rallies so beautiful,no harrassement for fans or refrees, no proud comments, not praising himself often, sign autographs even after great defeats (Delp's US Semi-final 2009), smile when lose & condolence opponents & praise them while winning (Fedex Australia 2009)...etc, what else is required to be a NOT HATED tennis & sports player?
!!!!!!!!!!