Nadal is mentally tough but visibly tired. This is his eighth final in five months of gruelling tournaments and he has won 30 consecutive matches. I think Novak will be scenting blood and go for a kill - sadly.

I picked Nole to win this title at the very beginning. I hope Rafa proves me wrong. But yea I pretty much agree with the guy above :-D
Vamos Rafa X-)

RAFA is at the stage of his tennis career where is just unbeatable. No exaggeration. IT'S A FACT! Why is it that no homo sapien can see that this is the HUMAN side of THE BULL! He's been waiting for 4 long years. The Bull's time has come. You bet your b****** $ RAFA will WIN IN CINCY, BEIJING & USO.

I'm banking of Rafa's will and motivation to give him the edge. Go the Spaniard!!!!

ed251137,i agree with you. i think rafa is really tired,rightly so. actually,it was the first time in recent months that i saw rafa tired last night. even if he loses to novak (very likely),it will make him good as he will be a little bit rested and relaxed until olympics and us open. but still,if he had to lose,i would want him to lose to any other guy than novak. just imagine what novak would say after beating such an in-form rafa.

Like you sisterofnight - I cant bear the thought of the smirk on his face and the smug comments he will make if Novak beats Nadal. He lacks Nadal's delightful manners. Do you remember how low-key he was when he beat the living daylights out of Roger in the French Open and his gracious remarks to Roger both then and at Wimbledon?

I think Rafa is going to beat Novak in 3 sets and take the title, but the olympics and the open are all Fed baby

Nadal is just openning the doors to all the players for the chance to beleive in themselves. He showed everyone that Roger is not a god after all and anyone can beat him if they beleive and try hard.
VAMOS RAFA!

Well, 6-1 against Nadal... Who is able to do this except Novak? BTW. Janko Tipsarevic wounded Federer on Australia O this year. He, not Nadal showed that Federer is not untouchable

This is what Djokovic had to say after defeating Nadal:

"Well, nobody is unbeatable, obviously, but the way he was playing we all thought that he's not going to lose any time soon," said Djokovic. "I just tried not to think about his winning streak and his new ranking spot. Not official still. I tried just to focus on my game and I won against him three times before on this surface, and I know what it takes to win against him on hard courts. I got the best out of it in last couple of matches we played in this surface. I knew that I have to step in and be aggressive and take the chances that have been given me, so that what's did."

(From http://www.cincytennis.com/1/en/news/newsarticle_1393.asp )

Are these the 'unbearable' "smug comments" that some of you were anticipating?

When will you people realise that there are players who say far, far worse things than Novak and give him a break, those others going beyond what you call 'arrogance' to pure vindictive maliciousness? (Soderling and Fish come to mind.)

Oh, and he definitely did NOT have a "smirk on his face" at any time during the match. In fact, he visibly applauded a number of Nadal's shots. Come to think of it, no one player applauds their opponent more often than Novak.

I see nothing wrong with Nole's comments but he has been verbally arrogant until recently so people are always going to be influenced by his past comments and expect him to continue. Whilst I don't think that's fair, Nole's to blame for that rather than the audience. The next few months should tell us whether he has indeed toned down the arrogance he's been displaying thus far. One thing I remember about Nole was at this year's Oz Open. After one of his matches (either QF or SF), he apologised to the crowd in the immediate post-match interview for behaving badly because he hadn't handled the pressure very well. I thought that was pretty big of him and despite his arrogance since, I always remember that moment. There are other disgraceful players I can think off immediately who should have had more reason to make such an apology but never did.

indigo,i also said somewhere else that i'm observing a decline in novak's arrogance in recent months and i respect him for that but still,you cannot pick up just an interview of him and say he's not arrogant. i can show you lots of counterevidence for that.

[quote] (sisterofnight12) "but still,you cannot pick up just an interview of him and say he's not arrogant."]

That was far from my intention. I'm not trying to prove that Novak is not arrogant (because although I believe otherwise, it would be a waste of time trying to convince any of you). My previous post was more of a response to your comment (among those from other posters):

[quote] (sisterofnight12) "just imagine what novak would say after beating such an in-form rafa."]

Now, having read Novak's comments after "beating such an in-form rafa", did he say what you expected him to say?

indigo,to answer your question,no. actually i was quite surprised with the level of novak's arrogance. i was expecting a statement like "i'm the favorite for the olympics and us open". he was much more modest than i expected and i apologize for that.

Novak, Novak, Novak, foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever, what to do, that's the fact.