Nadal 6-2,6-1

chr18 - wow

Rafa has been in scintillating form this tournament, and I think this is where he will finally get that elusive title, the first in quite some time. Verdasco simply cannot win against Nadal given their respective forms, unless Nadal sustains some dreadful injury or suffers a mental blackout. I think it will be over in straights.

My pick:

Nadal 6-4, 6-1

there is not much to do today...
and even though fernando is underdog and i always have a soft corner for underdogs, here i am going with nadal..
nadal 6-3, 6-2
and to make it more competitive, how about predicting doubles too.. just for fun..
bhupati-mirnyi vs nestor-zimonjic
bhupati-mirnyi 2-6 7-5 10-7

nadal 6-1 6-2

Rafa beats Nando 6-3 6-3

nobody but fed and a healthy/in form delpo can beat Rafa on clay this year. Ah and I forgot Rafa's knees. Other than this nobody has got any chance of even taking a set of him on clay in 2010.

Rafa is racing against History to win 6 consecutive titles in one tournament and he can't afford to lose this chance. Expect him to be supremely focus (razor sharp) in this match.

Rafa shuts the door: 6-0, 6-1.

Vamos !!!

atul1985 - you're crazy; unless you mean a 100 percent Nadal. I assume your statements are under the condition that Nadal stays 100 percent, which might not be the case if he is stupid and plays Madrid and everything else.

At 100 percent, the only players who can beat Nadal on clay are Del Potro (no chance this season because he is hurt), Davydenko (no chance this season because he is hurt), and Djokovic.

nobody can beat rafa on clay if he 100% fit. if you look at his losses on clay over the last five yrs, hes only been beaten if hes injured or exhausted

Djokovic had multiple match points and took Nadal to a third-set tiebreaker in a clay-court match in which Nadal was 100 percent

it can be done

Ricky,

Yes, it's really not a good idea for Rafa to play Madrid, but what I see from his previous interviews that he is considering playing Madrid as well. He may stick to playing Madrid as that is only place where he has a chance to score points over Federer.

Ricky,

After what you have seen of Djoker lately, you still think he can beat Nadal at 100% on clay? If you asked me that a year ago, I might have agreed with you, but this year one never knows which Djoker is going to show up on any given day. There has been much talk about what has happened to Rafa in the last year, but what about Djoker? He's not anywhere near as good as he was when he took Rafa to the limit at Madrid last year.

As far as playing Madrid, I made my feelings known a while ago. It's a no-brainer for me. I don't care if Ion Tiriac shoots off his mouth goading Rafa from here on until the start of the tournament. Rafa doesn't play Madrid! If I could speak to Ion Tiriac, I would tell him a few words that he might not like hearing. He doesn't care about Rafa's knees. It's about money for him. Well, I do care about Rafa's knees. If he is to have a real shot at winning RG, then it's NO MADRID!

lol@ricky

when nadal is on form and healthy there is no man on this planet that can touch the guy on clay.
the guy to dominate clay like nadal has is either in diapers or have not even been born.
if rafa and xisca have a baby boy then baby rafa could emulate daddy rafa on clay dominance. baby rafa has probably got the only chance.

if rogi n mirka had a baby boy then baby rogi could be the next GOAT.

what is this del potro and davydenko hype on clay, nadal would school these mugs on clay.
only on hard court can they beat the clay court god.

100% fit and in form nadal is unbeatable.
davy and del pony would be lucky to get 4 games each set.

2008 french open nadal was in god mode.
that nadal is impossible to beat.

not even nextGOAT tomic can beat rafa when he is in god mode on clay.

@Ricky - yes I meant a 100% Nadal. Thats why I added rafa;s knees as the 3rd Reason/Person who can beat Nadal...lol

Frankly speaking, I dont think Rafa will play Madrid this year. He cannot announce that in advance since it is a mandatory tourney, but rest assured he will pull out of it after Rome citing fatigue etc.

P.S - I dont have any inside information, Just my personal belief regarding Rafa's plan of action with regards to Madrid:-))

Nando will blaze his forehand for a set, it won't be enough to take it but it will be entertaining, I hope. Rafa 7-6, 6-2

Nandos forehand cud catch fire for a set, but nadal should win.
Nadal ftw 7-6 6-3

No one wants a piece of Fer Ver? Nope, not me neither. This is a fun little game and the underdog pick is just sitting there and I'm a huge Rafan and not a bit superstitious no, not me, nothing I do or say can possbily affect the outcome of a tennis match half a world away. No way, no how. But I'm not making a pick. No. It'd be tempting fate. /nod

@ricky
i can see your logic abut a 100% delpo n djokovic havin a chance of beatin a nadal at 100% on clay. howerver, i cant see how davy can?(he doesnt have the firepower) I bet soderling wud have a better chance of beating nadal on clay thatn Davy.(when both nadal n soda are 100%)

I think it mighter tighter than we all think; Rafa is going to feel a tremendous amount of pressure today as EVERYONE expects him to win! He will, but I think Verdasco will put up a decent fight, he has nothing to lose anyway and no one expects him to win.

Rafa in 2; 7-5, 6-3.

nadal needs to send a message to the entire locker room, he needs to absolutely smash verdasco in the final.
finals are when ppl are watching as it the 2 best players going head to head, so nadal needs to build up that aura of invincibilty he had and put fear into players minds so in the future when they go against nadal, nadal will have the mental edge, would be as good as being up 2 breaks even before they enter the court.

if nadal cant win this, then this is absolute disaster, and i dont see how he cant recover mentally from it. his confidence will take a massive dive. he is 9-0 up against verdasco in H2H, so anything but a win will be considered a choke and many ''its time to retire'' comments will spring up from various ppl.

agree with ATR that rafa needs to send a message by smashing nando

AS for RICKY...madrid , do not even consider it clay ! it has no link with RG , opposite conditions ! and u think rafa was 100% that time? NOPES, he was nt even 100% for the entire clay season last year. i remember commentators saying something was missing frm rafa but he was so good that he was still winning matches easily.
I said it before and I am sayign it again, a 100% fit rafa can be beaten by one player , MR.INJURIES ! or the MR.MIRACLE ! lol.... all hsi past losses had rafa struggling physically and the opponent playing one of the best matches of their life.

plus, RG is best of 5, neither djokovic nor davydenko have the physical endurance to battle for , especially davy. delpo can battle but nadal moves a lot better than him so even delpo will find it ultra hard to push rafa to even 5...i may b biased but my words certainly have truth ! its clay, rafa-zone

my predicction 6-3 6-3 nadal

everyone needs to stop saying del potro can beat nadal on clay, there is no way.
del potro's weapons are neutralized on clay. and a fit nadal that is not playing like he did against soderling at the french can beat del potro on clay.

all this del potro hype because he beat an injured nadal that couldnt serve in the US open and then beat a choking federer is getting tiring. before nadal's boogeyman was nalbandian, then davy, now del potro and soderling.
nadal can beat all these guys on all surfaces when he plays attacking tennis instead of pusher 100meters behind the baseline.
if nadal is aggressive he has no problem beating these talentless ball bashers.
nalby is talented but the others are not.

whatever nadal does, he has to make sure he is 100% fit and healthy and in form when the french open comes.
that is the only thing that matters to nadal, winning slams, not winning masters series.
if he wants to be recognised as the undisputed GOAT in clay, then he has to beat borg's 6 french open titles. until that happens ppl will say but borg won more french opens than nadal so nadal cant be clayGOAT.

wimbledon, US open dont matter, only french open matters, before he is finished, he has to make sure he is the undisputed clay court GOAT.
then the other slam titles will make him an all round player and not just a clay specialist.

7-5,6-4 rafa...vamos

Nadal 6-2 6-4. tho i wish it would be more competitive.

tj600 - we already know what Nadal would do to Soderling at 100 percent on a clay court

6-1, 6-0 last year

first set taken by rafa.. 6-0..
already his 4th bagel this year..
the guy will get the golden bagel award this year too...

Rafa is just barely containing his absolute glee at winning atournament :)

WOHHHOOOOOO....I TOLD YOU SOOOOOO, HE DID SHUT THE DOOR FOR THE FIRST SET 6-0 !!!

Just leave one window open Rafa for the second set ---- 6-1, please

i hope raindrop wins this.. would love to see the score raindrop predicted..

if Nadal wins 6-0, 6-1, I will loan--possibly even GIVE--my Golden Racket to Raindrops.

ricky, start gift wrapping that golden racket for raindrops.

attackingtennisrulez - there is a difference between being 100 percent and playing your best.

100 percent means you are completely healthy. Playing your best means.....playing your best.

it's SO OBVIOUS that nobody can beat Nadal on clay when he plays his best.

But he IS beatable at 100 percent.

raindrops, could you pls predict the FO? :)

brilliance!!!
at the age of 23,16 masters!!
hats off to raindrops....
brilliant prediction..
vamos rafa!!

pending the approval of vamosrafa, I will relinquish either the Golden or Silver racket to Raindrops, depending on which one vamosrafa deems appropriate.

AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA...this is crazy...I did pick the right scoreline, can't be happy for more...is this real??? I can't believe it. Thank you very much BROTHER RAFA .... DOUBLE HANDS FIST PUMP WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

too much traffic at Nadal-Verdasco Square off thread, I can't get through it's clogging heavily i guess.

Ricky, vamosrafa may say, give both rackets to raindrops, because he will take one from secretly.

***because he will take one from ME secretly :-]]]]]]]]

Rafa shut that door! Congrats Raindrops!! Fantastic win from Rafa!

Raindrops - Congratulations for predicting the scoreline. I knew Rafa would win, but not that easily.

He looks so awesome, this win will spur him on now for the rest of the year. I just hope he defends all his points until RG, and then he is in a win win situation from then on.

HAHAHAH ...so much fun out there guys.... first of all a group-hug to all rafa fans and loads of fist pumping , this rafa is MATCHLESS, 14 games lost in a tournament and on avergae time spent on court was like 75 mins i guess....WOW

@Raindrops ,LOL@ ur comment

Anyway I invented this stuff so i am really glad ricky and you were waiting for my approval..lol....well here is what i think shud be done , we should have a golden racket for grandslams only, becoz making predictions over the course of 5 sets is diff...so why not introduce the silver racquet for the masters 1000 or any other best of 3 format??? what do you guys think?? I think it is approproate.

raindrops prediction was INSANE just as rafa's play was INSANE, so I award him , or We award him the prestigious Silver Racquet for this wonderful achievement :D
ricky still owns that golden racquet award and only french open ,wimb and US will be the venues where it can be snatched from him :) :) :)

if you guys dont agree please do share what should be done.

*coming next, the final standings of the first ever masters 1000 competition among experts.

Raindrops - that was amazing.
When you predicted it, I thought that was a little extreme, but I guess Rafa wanted to leave no doubt.

Nadline - the tricky part is if he decides not to play Madrid, he will lose those finalist points.

Raindrops - email me at ridimon@gmail.com or ricky.dimon@tennistalk.com for Barcelona guest picker details

@ricky/cheryl or the person responsibe for creating polls..
a small suggestion..
how about a new poll which asks..
when will nadal overcome agassi's record of 17 masters??
you can put 5 options out of which last 2 can be
-he will never overcome it(if this option is there this will get the least votes.. :P)
-fed will overcome the record of agassi before rafa does..
its just a suggestion..
i don'tknow how tt works but i will be obliged if this poll is considered
P.S in case no one has noticed rafa has made this current poll meaningless now..

P.P.S i was wondering who were those other than gomuzza who said rafa won't win anything in 2010..

After a great week, record books beings re-written , incredible tennis being on display and some great forecasting skills shown by our experts and the knowlegable TT users , here is the summary and the ending touch :)

1. Kelli Demario=10 points : Highly consistent all week and splendid forecasting skills shown to grab the top spot on dominate. She wins the first ever masters 1000 on TT among our honorable experts :) congrats Kelli :D

2. Cherl Murray= 9 points : persistently chased the leader but just fell short. of just 1 point Great effort to finish as the runner-up and beat the top seed(ricky dimon).

3.Ricky Dimon= 8 points: A shaky opening day of the tournament cost the top seed a 2 point-deficit from the leader and that was the deciding moment of the tournament. Fought hard to come back but the competition is getting stiffer ricky, better hire a coach now :P

*COngrats to kelli for winning and thanks to Kelli for not withdrawing :)

*Thnaks to the experts for regularly providing the experts picks which enabled me to conduct this competition.

*Raindrops is the first ever user on TT to earn an award, i.e he won the prestigious SILVER RACQUET but Ricky Dimon has his golden racquet booked atleast until start of RG.

*every one should hone thier forecasting skills so as to make an impact in just about after 10 days as we head towards ROME.

*lastly, many congrats to all the guest-pickers of this week,great job boys , now i have successors FINALLY ...LOL

*A warm good bye from MONTE-CARLO , see you at rome with a more competitive field :D

*

vamosrafa: well here is what i think shud be done , we should have a golden racket for grandslams only, becoz making predictions over the course of 5 sets is diff...so why not introduce the silver racquet for the masters 1000 or any other best of 3 format??? what do you guys think??

Sounds good vamosrafa!! you're doing a fine job!

well i have got a thumbs up from a lovely poster here, thank you homos :)
so its fair i think : raindrops =holder of SILVER RACQUET
Ricky=holder of GOLDEN RACQUET

well i have got a thumbs up from a lovely poster here, thank you homos :)
so its fair i think : raindrops =holder of SILVER RACQUET
Ricky=holder of GOLDEN RACQUET

Congrats to 'peg leg' Kelli and thanks again vamosrafa for such an enthusiastic report.
(great ideas.)

RAINDROPS- That was a BRAVE prediction and you've proven that you've got a GOLDEN TONGUE!!!!........... You're the BEST after RAFA!!!

Vamosrafa, you should consider writing a blog titled "The Best of Monte Carlo 2010" and you could address TT as one of the hot spots for expressing people's forecasting skills...:)

Raindrops, you are a prophet! Congratulations! Yes, please, tell us what would be your prediction for RG?

Ahem ahem,

Just like every Rafa fans, I still feel ecstatic with this success of Rafa. He's name indeed inscribed at the book of Tennis history and so happy for that. The long drought is over finally and WE (rafans) were rewarded with superb performance of our guy. It'ss quite satisfying to see him play excellent in the right time and in the right occasion.

That bold prediction of mine is not a product of my greedy self. I based it on 3 primary aspects:

1. Rafa's health & level of play - that is based from earlier rounds till SF. If you remember I predicted 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 scoreline for Rafa to win in SF and went on to say after the match that it was actually 6-2, 6-2 (honestly) that I really have in mind. I almost got that scoreline yesterday. I put 2-6 in between just a precaution in reference to his recent losses at IW & Miami.

2. The court, it is his favorite surface plus the guy on the other side of the net.

3. And then the occasion, as you can read my statement up the thread while making my prediction, that Rafa is racing against Tennis History, and glad he did it.

For that, CHEERS Rafans and other cool head Tennis aficionados.

Ricky, can I differ my prediction at the later stage of Barca Tournament, say QF? It's too crowded at early rounds. Aside from that, give me time to relish the virtual celebration of being the first EVER TT User to win an award from my fellow tennis fans. WOW, I own now the Silver Racket.

Thanks to all of you guys it's really fun here at TT Prediction Section.

Vamosrafa, I didn't know you are the one who initiated this blog?great job.

Lol, peg leg. That's awesome. :D Thank you very much, it was a terrific week. I don't expect this to ever, EVER happen again, but I'm glad I finally got a win.

I missed this match, on account of being in church praying Real Madrid would knock off Valencia. There will be a repeat at 22:00GMT here- wow, a bagel and a breadstick in a final? Amazing result.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone. See you for the Barca tourney. :)

haha, well done Raindrops *applauds*

LOL, Kelli. Rafa will be happy his team won. :-D

LOl..
@raindrops ,thanks *bows* for ur heroics :P
@natashao , thanks and I wud luv to do that :D :D

SO Ricky has a unique distinction of Golden Racquet for the GS and the wooden racquet for the masters.
Nice Concept though and at last the title drought comes to an end!

ricky holds the golden racket ((reserved for slam only) , raindrops holds the silver racket (reserved for masters only).

expert picks are coming back for the Barcelona final