nadal over djokovic it is,provided rafa figures out his serve(which he will since uncle toni is coming to miami)

You called a Petzschner-Melzer match interesting. :D

you really think Ivo will make it that far? no way...Almagro will beat him...

I think this time Nadal Vs Murray final

I will go with..

SEmi

Fed vs Nadal ..
Djoker vs Wawrinka..

If wawrinka plays well get ready for djoker's 1st lost of the session.

Murray vs Nole QF will be interesting. Not another Rafa vs Karlovic QF please. I don't mind a Rafa vs Berdych QF, with Rafa winning of course. Berdych has plenty of points to defend here, he was the runner up last year, but sorry QF is the limit for him. I don't mind a Rafa/Murray final, a Rafa/Nole final isnalso good provided it's Rafa winning.

so much of Golubev...bageled in the third by Dodig...

^^ i called it!

söderling will probably be upset by dodig as well

nooo davy's out. what horrible bracket picks i made.

Davydenko gone, Tomic gone, Golubev gone. It's a slippery ladder to the top.

I sincerely hope Ricky is wrong with another quarterfinal match between Rafa and Ivo. No way do I want to have to bite my nails through another horror like that. I also honestly don't see Ivo getting to another quarterinal again. He almost didn't even get into the tournament. I would much prefer that it be Rafa meeting Berdych.

I don't think Sod will go as far as he should, given the foot problem and the fact that he was battling a viral infection at IW. Murray is a question mark until we see him play.

I think Rafa is going to be even more motivated after his tough loss at IW. It would be quite something to see him meet Fed in a semifinal. We will see. If it happens then I think Rafa will win. I expect that Rafa will work out the serve problems with Uncle Toni's help. I am glad that he will be there in Miami.

If Rafa plays Roger, it could be the best match of the season, with both players not playing at their best. Roger's been inconsistent with his forehand and Rafa with first serve %. I wanted Davy to go far here. And no way is Fish getting past Gasquet :)

CherylMurray - no I didn't. I said the Melzer-Petzschner MATCHUP was interesting bc they are dubs partners. I didn't say the MATCH was interesting.

RickyDimon - phew! I was afraid you were traveling to Miami with fever-induced hallucinations.

I'm taking Fed in the Finals....and Joker will NOT make it that far! SD in atl.

SD - could be. Fed has a favorable draw...and since Miami isn't the best surface for Nadal, he might avoid the Spaniard in the semifinals.

SD and cherylmurray - Nadal is going to make the semis with that draw, even if the surface does not suit him.

And it's going to be Federer-Nadal. Now that they can play each other in semifinals finally, the Fedal era could be back!!!!

Why the Mami surface doesn't suit Rafa? In 2005 when the surface there was quicker, Rafa as an 18 yo managed to reach the final and gave Fed a run for his money in the final, pushing Fed to the limit before losing in five sets. Yes he lost early in 2006, but reached the QFs in 2007 and 2009(lost to Nole and Delpo respectively). He reached the final in 2008(lost to Davy) and last year he reached the semi. I don't think Rafa can't play well on this surface, if he can fix his serving problem, he'll beat Fed in the semifinal. He had his chances in the IW final of beating Nole before his serve fell apart in the second set. I don't think he'll repeat that aweful play again in Miami.

In 2004, Rafa as an 17 yo defeated Federer in round of 32 in Miami (6-3, 6-3).

I don't have any crystal ball but what would make me happy would be a Rafa vs Murray final with Murray to win.

Augustina,

Thanks for reminding us all of that great result. The tennis channel replayed the 2005 classic five set match with an eighteen year old Rafa and Fed already the world number one. I have never seen it and it was fascinating. You could see that this was the beginning of a new challenge for Fed. Rafa came out with no fear whatsoever and just took it to Fed. What a delight to see him when he was much younger!

Lucky already made the case for Rafa's good results at this tournament. He has already shown that he can play on fast hard courts by winning the USO.

I will go with Ricky's prediction that Rafa and Fed will meet in the semis and Rafa gets the win.

holdserve, whatever you're drinking- I'd like some ;)

deuce...you are hilarious...:)

unfortunately, I also think Miami is not Rafa?s favorable surface as it is fast and with his serve, well, there are no advantages...it suits more Fed and Nole...but, what is favorable for Rafa in Mimi is the weather and the fans...the whole city is crazy about Rafa...he has to be double motivated to win there...I was there when he lost to Delpo in 2009, and I was so disappointed not to see Rafa in the semis...I, however, recall in the finals watching Murray vs. Nole, and people were screaming from the stands: Vamos Rafa!!! :)

Apparently, the people in Miami are so crazy about Rafa that the organizers broke with tradition and advertised his first match on Saturday in order to sell tickets even before they published the order of play.

nad, yes..that is so funny...:)

nadline - he is insanely popular in Miami. Perhaps moreso than Federer, actually.

It's not the speed of Key Biscayne that makes it difficult for Rafa. It's the low bounce plus the heavy, humid conditions which keep the ball from kicking up. He's never won Miami.

What a shame it's not his best surface but we'll see. The USO wasn't supposed his best surface either, but he doesn't seem to be at the top of his game at the moment.

Rafa has made the finals twice in 2005 when Federer beat him in 5 sets also in 2008 and actually beat Federer there in 2004 as a 17 year old, so he can't be that bad on the surface.

I don't know how popular Roger is in Miami, but certainly Rafa seems to surpass him there, otherwise they would have advertised Roger's first match as well even before the draw was done.

2004 and 2005 are a LONG time ago. He's "bad" there...but it's Rafa-bad, if you know what I mean. He can make his tennis work just about anywhere...but that court is just not conducive to his game. He's susceptible to the big hitters (I believe he lost to Roddick there last year).

Still, he IS Rafael Nadal, so it's not like a Miami title is out of the realm of possibility.

^^^I understand Cheryl, you mean relatively speaking.

It all boils down to his serve. Once he can fix that problem, I'm confident that he'll win Miami. From what I saw from his IW matches, Rafa had improved yet again his hard court game. He wasn't standing too far away from the baseline and he's more aggressive when receiving second serves. His net game and ROS were outstanding, DTL forehand was good. He needs to hit his backhand deep and not give his opponents any short balls. Overall I like his game now if he can fix his two main problems.

Rafa and Jeremy Chardy have never played each other, how weird.

Excerpt of an


Exclusive Interview with Rafael Nadal
By Serafin Gómez
Published March 23, 2011
| Fox News Latino


Even though he is European, Nadal also told Fox New Latino he genuinely appreciated the support of his Latino tennis fans.
"In every place around the world, I feel the support of the people. Thanks very much to all the fans around the world that make me feel fantastic every time we go out on court. But for sure the Latin people are closer to me, not just for the language," Nadal said." For me, the Latin crowd was always a really important crowd for me, and you know, in the United States there is a lot of Latin people. When I am playing here (in Miami) I feel the support of the Latin community. For me, it is fantastic, and I thank them very much for their support."
The final question: does the world's No. 1 imbibe in a celebratory drink after a big win?


"At this point for tennis, we don?t have a lot of time for celebration because we have the calendar very, very tight and it is difficult to stop and celebrate when you win a tournament," Nadal said. "When I have time, and you win a tournament, I like the cocktails. And I like the Tequila."

Well, I don't know but when I was there people who follow tennis and who know about the surface were educating me Miami is even faster surface than USO, something like Cincy..I would not know as I come from Europe...it may as well be wrong, but I figured that was why Rafa had no significant success there...we shall see...I just hope he serves well, and the rest will come together on it's own...

natashao, cheers :) not everyone "gets" my humour ;)

Chardy is a weird one...occasionally brilliant, often terrible. You never know which one you're going to get.

I'll go with Federer over Nadal in semis, and Federer over Someone in the finals. I think Djokovic will lose in this tournament,maybe even to Murray.You never know when will Murray re-Master himself.It would be unreal if Djoko reaches finals or wins this one.He must save something for the clay season, too.

It's always easy to spot a Fedfan, they will go for anyone over Rafa.

Thank goodness for Rafa, without him, people would have been bored stiff of tennis by now with boring old Federer winning everything.

It will be Rafa v Nishikori, he's just closing his match with Chardy in two sets Rafa hd better get his serve going pretty soon.

As u were saying cheryl re Chardy ;) good 4 my bracket though :)

I think Fed has no chance to make it to the semi..he'll probably lose to Roddick, who is the defending champion here. Let's see...

Nadline, boring old Fed, is he now?
Lemme see, the world begs to differ. His matches have the highest viewer ratings, ALWAYS. Rafa's popular, but doesn't come close. And why is that? Cuz he's graceful on court and he's gliding on the surface. I'm sorry, but people prefer watching that to a determined brute scampering from side to side, impressive as that may be. The tennis world isn't irrational. In saying that, you, however, are. Too bad he stands in Rafa's way to become the best player of his generation. Don't fret, he'll finish ahead of Djoker and all.

Let me know from which tv rating you talking about DanyalRasool.....

Accoding to Observer.com, the highest rate is John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg in 1980, Roger vs Andy in 2008 is the lowest rate. Nadal also got the lowest rate against Berdych last year wimbledon. I think this is not because of the popularity but based on who against who in the final....

According to sportsmedia watch, men's final bnp paribas last week drew the highest rate with 1.3 ratio while the semis was 0.9

Some of the Fed fans have the habit of making statements without verifying facts (eg Danyalrasool) or presenting biased stats to prove that Fed is great or Rafa is not great(eg dave). Feel sorry for them because their man is past his prime.

Wimbledon 2009. Highest Tv ratings since the 1999 Sampras-Agassi final. Too bad you can't accept Fed's popularity. Feel sorry for you guys.
http://buckmire.blogspot.com/2009/07/wimbledon-2009-mens-final- highest-tv.html

DanyalRasool, Who are you feeling sorry for and why?

@DanyalRasool, 3/25/11 7:43 AM
---Wimbledon 2009. Highest Tv ratings---

Those ratings were high due to Roddick (who is an American!), not Federer!

Federer turned a lot of life long tennis fans away with his lack-lustre game; Nadal came along and injected new life into the game and brought back fans who had voted with their feet and content only to learn who the next player was to present with a win without even trying..

You see Federer now boasts about making SFs because if he made the final he'll only get another plate, and he's got enough plates already, with his peers handing matches to him on a plate.

On another not, very very surprised that Harrison lost to Reiner.

DanyalRasool @3.09 "brute scampering from side to side." Am not a Fedal fan but I cannot let u get away with this! a) It is incredibly insulting and if u use language like this, no wonder Rafa fans go mad and b) If ever Rafa played a purely defensive game, he certainly doesn't now. Did you not watch the first set of tennis at IW final? Rafa's game was thrilling. U r living in the past.
PS is that...um..really your name....or is this some sort of massive tease?

Nadal fans and their pathetic excuses! Anyhow, yeah its surprising. Harrison's a talented player, though I'm sue he'll have discipline issues in future.

one fedfan is really cannot accept reality.... living in the past....

anyone know of a tennis forum with people who are really interested in tennis, and not just bully kids with a pop star view of tennis??

croc, are you suggesting that Rafa is a rock star?

Shakira is a pop star, Steven Tyler is a rock star, Rafa is a tennis player. The Bryans play in a band so they're the closest to rock stars that tennis has to offer.

I think Rafa has rock-star like appeal. One could swoon over him. Not over Bryans. Definitely not over Federer who despite his out of the world tennis doesn't have a beautiful body nor that ability to stir our emotions powerfully while he plays his tennis.

Speaking of Rafa's body, the Spanish online newspaper Sport reminded readers of it yesterday.

http://www.sport.es/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=44&idiom a=CAS&idnoticia_PK=739760&idseccio_PK=1266

croc don't get upset, I like your posts and I enjoy our gentle bickering. Lol we're just like an old married couple ;)

Let's just say Federer will never be asked to advertise Armani underwear.

Yes, of course, Rafa is a tennis player but he looks like a rock star.

Haha, I can just imagine Fed in Armani poses!
Re: Miami, I am still hopeful of a Rafa-AndyMurray final. That would be my dream final.

holdserve, judging by Andy's start I hope u r not holding your breath :(

Oh my God, what's happening? I can't believe Andy is trailing a virtual unknown in the 1st set 0-4! Please Andy, you have to justify my faith in you!

wawrinka got bagelled?! unexpected!
speaking of unexpected, seems like murray's struggling to stay in the second set. come on andy!

oh no andy,. what is going on with you?! i hope there's some consolation for him in the doubles - he officially needs help.

Andy gone! Verdasco gone! Wawrinka bagelled in the first set!

Wawrinka is on his way out, he's down 2-5 in the third.

and he's out. my my, what surprises! and in just one day!

Nadline: Let's just say Federer will never be asked to advertise Armani underwear.

Lets just say Nadal will never be mentioned to symbolize tennis grace. Enough said.

"Lemme see, the world begs to differ. His matches have the highest viewer ratings, ALWAYS." DanyalRasool You've said it all. The Fed still got his mojo with fans. Gotta keep believin' in the Fed.

wassup with Verdy and Wawa? dunno but looks like Verdy in a big slump this year. Wawa looked good at AO, but disappeared since then. not good guys.

"Nadline: Let's just say Federer will never be asked to advertise Armani underwear.

Lets just say Nadal will never be mentioned to symbolize tennis grace. Enough said."

both guys have their strengths and weaknesses. Lemme just say it's why we are individuals, and you have articulated that very well. don't think we need a Fed or Rafa clone.

All these players gone so clear the way for Nole to reach the final. We still have a not so good form Sod and Delpo(if he gets pass Kohl) and Ferrer. I believe none of these players can stop Nole. Nole is playing scary tennis, beating Istomin losing only one game! He's starting Miami like he did in IW. I think only a top form Rafa or Fed can stop this Nole. Both had chances in IW but couldn't bring their best when facing Nole. Fed had his chances when he put in some varieties at the net and won the second set. Too bad he couldn't sustain that into the third set. Rafa, what to say about Rafa in self destruct mode! I noticed those who lost badly to Nole, made the mistake of taking him on at the baseline. Massive failure, as Nole's defence now at the baseline is as good as Rafa's in his haydays (Rafa's defence haydays I mean) and is even better than Rafa's now and also Murray's. The only way to beat him is to come forward and take away his time, and in my opinion only two guys can do that successfully against him, ie Rafa and Fed, and both have to be in top form. That's how scarily good Nole has become!

I think that Rafa had exactly the right game plan against Nole in IW and executed it to perfection in the first set of the final. Then his first serve went completely awol and so much for the game plan.

Rafa was coming forward and taking time away from Nole and frustrating him at times with his aggressive play. He couldn't keep it up. That's the key. His serve has to be working so he doesn't lose focus trying to figure out what is wrong during a final. He has to be able to play at a high level for more than one set. He had Nole talking to himself and looking out of sorts in that first set. Now he just has to try to do it for at least two sets to get the win.

Yes agree with you NNY. Once Rafa has his serve problem fixed and plays the way he plays in that first set, he'll have his chances of beating Nole. I also think that Fed had his chances too in the semi and again it's his serve that had gone away. If Fed can serve as well as his WTF championship, and plays the way he plays there, I think he still can have an edge over Nole. Too bad that Fed didn't appear.

Delpo has won the match...

Good to see Delpo doing well here. What a prospect, to see Nole vs Delpo in the semi, and hopefully Rafa vs Fed in the other semi, and we'll have the same four guys again in the last four. I'm eager to see Delpo vs Nole, though I feel Nole will beat Delpo if they meet.

luckystar,

I think that would be a straight set match...

If Delpo find his Service power than he can think about challanging Djoker, otherwise Djoker for another Final..

Yeah Champ, I think so too. It's hard to overpower this Nole physically. Fed made the mistake of going toe to toe with Nole from the baseline in the first set of the semifinal. Had he done what he did in the second set, ie mix in some varieties, at the very beginning of the match, he had a good chance of winning that match. Delpo can't play like Fed or Rafa where varieties are concerned, so I don't think he stand a chance of beating Nole, unless we have a subpar Nole.

Now that Novak's path to final is cleared, he will win Miami. In semis, Novak over Delpo and Rafa over Fed. In finals Novak over Rafa. Rafa had shown signs of fatigue against Novak in IW finals and I think he will have a tough match against Fed and he will not be able to stop Novak. At this moment Novak is physically and mentally better prepared.

I hope Rafa is well prepared for Nishikori because he is a great competitor. Nole doesn't seem to have any tough matches on his way to the final, so seems like the tide has moved Djoko's way again, because Nadal and Federer still have each other to face if they get that far.

Just hope Rafa has ironed his serve out.

It is true that there seems to be no one in Nole's path to the final. Now Rafa is the one who will have to deal with a potential semi with Fed. No qualifiers early in this tournament! It's a quality player right out of the gate with Nishikori. Normally I wouldn't be concerned about him, but with Rafa's recent serve troubles I won't feel good until I actually see him serving in that match.

Ricky- I'm surprised you picked Nadal to win over Djoker again considering Nadal didn't play all that well in IW. What made you decide to pick him? I think you should pick the obvious, pick Nole to win coz everytime you pick Nadal to win, he loses. LOL:) Vasmos Rafa!!!

^^^^Let's just hope that on this occasion Ricky is right. He's got to be right one day.

nadline, I share your hope.
Ricky can't be wrong all the time.

simon's through yay!

and roddick's down a set.

O. Rochus beats Baggy.

I'm hosting a couple of Swedish exchange students and they've just told me that Sod suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder which explains why he's so wound up a lot of the time.

Now Gulbis is out in 3.

They are showing the Nole..Muzz doubles match on SKY so I;ve switched to to it.

The Betting Odds are still showing yesterday's matches.

good stuff, this doubles match! quite entertaining

and as soon as i said that its back on serve :/

nolandy threw the match away in the end.

I think Roddick is still suffering from mono. He looked sick as he did in Memphis. He can't be all of a sudden sickly. Don't underestimate the effects of mono.

WOW, seeds falling like crazy in Miami. Roddick, Cilic and Melzer out. dunno what ailed Roddick today, but agree he looked sickly.mono, bad news for any player;look at Fed and Ancic. dunno why Cilic played so poorly either, he looked outa sorts.

Murray's woes continue. He can now rest up for clay.

Cilic has one of his knees taped up, so this loss may a blessing in disguise. Let him rest up and prepare for the clay season. Hopefully he can do better during the clay and grass season. Anyway he's still alive in the doubles, so good chance for him to improve his net game. I hope to see him do well for the rest of the season and reach top ten next year.

Gulbis actually won a set? Color me surprised.

Numero, you said it about the mono. You don't just snap your fingers and get over it.
Get better soon, A-Rod.

Delpo vs Sod should be interesting. Delpo spent 3 hours beating Kohl, that may work against him. I think Sod may win this one despite his foot injury, as he has many points to defend and needs to get to at least QF to retain his no.4 ranking so it's likely he'll go all out to beat Delpo.

Speaking of surfaces, 'one man' said that the surface in Miami is quite slow and it feels like clay (!). Rafa doesn't agree.

An excerpt from Rafa's press conference on 26.02.2011:
<<Q. Earlier today Roger said that the surface is quite slow and it feels like clay. What do you think?
RAFAEL NADAL: Never. Never can be like clay on hard because the movements are completely different. So that's makes impossible have a similar than clay when you are playing in hard, because in clay you cannot slice and you have more time. For sure I am not agree on that. The court is not very fast, not very slow, is average court. I think is normal one like probably the rest of the normal tournaments on hard. So no, I feel that the court is like every year. >>

i dont understand why some of h/c tournaments need to slow down their surfaces?

I think the main characteristic of h/c surfaces is that it should be quite fast as compare to clay!!

I read Rotterdam tournament director interview somewhere and he was saying that they are planning to reduce the court speed considerably from next year!!

They quickened the Paris Masters surface and some players, like Sod, was saying the surface was too fast for them. He and many others did struggle to beat Llodra, the present day S&V king. I guess a mixure of slow, medium and fast courts should be fine.

@mani4Tennis, 3/28/11 10:35 AM
The main characteristic of hardcourts is that their maintenance costs are lower than those of other courts. That's the reason why hardcourts are used.

Rochus has beaten Youzhny in 3 sets.

Majority of players prefer HC, coz it's cleaner and easier to play on and less playing time involved..

I would also add that there's no movement issues on the hard court, unlike clay and grass. Movement on clay and grass needs time to master, so it's natural that players who don't grow up on these surfaces prefer hard courts as anyone can move reasonably well on hard courts.

lucky, who on earth "grows up on grass" these days? Certainly not UK kids now or in the past. Unless of course mummy and daddy kindly had a grass court in the back garden ;)

I remember Gulbis said that Clay is the hardest because you have to physically very strong since you need to generate your strokes longer to shoot for a winner.... you need to run here and there a lot.... I do believe a great player should be able to play all type of courts...

No thread for Simon/ Tipsa? Anyone expect a Simon upset?

Well stu, I expect to be very "upset" if Simon doesn't win ;)

its not an upset if simon wins. btw is this the fourth round now? then the winner will face fed right..

looks like ricky's prediction is going to be spot on ! nadal over federer and then nadal over nole

HELLO VAMOSRAFA....did you see the match??? im not not talking about tennis...:P

oh helllloo there mate :D yes yes I did watch the match , OF COURSE I DID..cricket here means a lot to us! many congrats to you and your nation for that historic triumph :) my team tried hard but i guess the poor fielding standard displayed made the difference .. anyway , I am happy we made it to the semis because nobody was calling us a strong contender prior to the cup :)

india -srilanka is ON ..62-2 from 12.0 this one is tough to call

thanks vamosrafa....we are world champions now....YAAAY

congrats vrael!

how did your exam go?

exam went well chlorostoma...thanks

screwed up a question on 3-phase delta configurations for electrical circuits....but thats ok....i did everything else correctly..:)