I'm sure Djokovic fans will enjoy this prediction given my Djokovic jinx history:

Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

i've noticed that regardless of how djokovic is struggling when he faces nadal he likes to make a statement. he gets the energy from somewhere; more often than not he plays nadal fiercely. it doesn't mean he wins more often than not, but at times he can give nadal all he can handle. that said, i expect novak to play better. i'll be surprised if he doesn't! vamos, rafa!

c'mon Rafa thrash the confidence of Nole one more time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rafa should beat djoker in straight sets.

but...i expect djoker will try to play his very best, he always has good matches against rafa, its a real fight, and i love their rivalry, even though it is rather one-sided at the moment, but its better than watching rafa-roger.

cant wait for this match to start. VAMOS RAFA!!! good luck djoker!!!

Unfortunately, your prediction this time is pretty spot on, Ricky. Even though I believe Novak is patriotic, his mind is not into the DC. I even believe he was expecting the tie to end today, so he can return to business as usual, IW and Miami. The doubles, spoiled the plan. I sincerely hope he makes a statement tomorrow, but I doubt it. We are talking about Nadal, on clay in Madrid! Novak will have to raise the level of his play, because if he plays the way he played Ferrer, Nadal will finish the job in no more than two hours. So Ricky, your prediction is realistic this time. No doubt.

RickyDimon,

you are the man with big balls predicting Nadal on clay!

nadal won 61 60 62 against tipsarevic
not 60 61 62

1st set 6-4 NADAL.
better rallies in the second.

SPAIN WON! as expected!

Decent play Nole, you are on the right path.

Congrats to the Spanish team for the victory.

Congrats to Djoker for his decent play ??????? congrats to Rafa for his outstanding play !!!!!!!!!!

ah, I underestimated Djoker again! I said he would get 8 games in 3 sets, but he comes up big and gets 9 games in 3 sets.

Ricky 1 cannot be 100% correct !!!!!!!!! u came too close to be 100% !!!!!!! three clap clap clap 4 u !!!! & a standing ovation for Rafa as he made me happy !!!!!!!!! lol

Nole was better than I expected... I think that Rafa will have problems with Nole during clay season... Overall, I think that Serbs performed better than numbers shows... It would be more interesting to see those matches on different surface, this way Spaniards are too superior...

Ricky, yout premonition is scary.

RickyDimon,

yes you did indeed, but you also have shown your true character which is more important.

I almost forgot Ricky,

why are you registered with 2 nicks one being RickyDimon and the other tomnjerry2, kind of split personality syndrome?

i've learned a long time ago to never make the mistake of basing anything on one match, sometimes not even twomatches, depending on who's playing, especially in regards to players of nadal and djokovic's caliber. clearly, nadal didn't play his best tennis. he did enough to win! in my opinion, novak getting 9 nines is not an indication that he will cause nadal any more problems on clay this year than he has in the previous years! i don't think rafa was completely pleased with how he played. i didn't see his post-match interview, but one thing is for certain, he's the best at problem solving!

Rafa committed an uncharacteristic 29/24 forced/unforced errors... lucky Novak especially in the 2nd set, Rafa was spraying shots that went long all over the place. Better performance from Djok compared to yesterday... some of the drop shots were so amateur....some rallies were entertaining.
GOOD SHOW overall.

I liked Djokovic's overall intent to fight and stay in the first two sets, but to be more effective against Nadal on clay is a mental issue. He should not opt out of rallies with negative shots like the drops.

Having said that, both players weren't at their best. But what we are seeing is ominous; I have a feeling Nadal will annihilate and humiliate opposition on clay once again, and nothing will stop him.

Djokovic however, is at his best on hard courts. If he can find his best form, he can still beat anybody and I hope he gets back to business at Indian Wells. I'm rooting for you all way, Novak. And all the best to Rafa too; every win he dishes out is well deserved.

atg, teams have to earn the right to choose the surface for davis cup. when serbia wins, they will get that advantage. spain is the defending champions and they chose clay!

"every win he dishes out is well deserved." - truer words were never spoken, sampra. I think as long as Nadal is fit and healthy, he'll dominate on clay again, especially FO. This guy is just not satisfied with 'not' improving.

Djoker didn't do well last year at Wimby, surprising considering his run at Queens. I expect to see him do well again on HC but with his calibre he really should be doing better all round and being more consistent. Personally, I would like to see him finish matches and just stay under the raddar for a while. It might help him forcus more on his performance. This new tourn in Serbia worries me, I hope it doesn't take too much out of him.

memi - being the defending champs has nothing to do with it. Whoever has home-court advantage chooses. Serbia got it last time it played Spain, so this time Spain got it.

Ricky, thanks for pointing that out. don't want to communicate wrong information! thanks!

i think u r in shock after Djoker lost to Rafa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! don't worry it happens !!!!!!! everything will be alright !!!!!! get well sooooooooooooooon !!!!!!!!!!!

tat's for Posmatrac !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tomnjerry2, i'm not sure you're referring to me, but either way you're right, something is always shocking me in tennis! maybe everything will be alright at indian wells!

i don't know who's talking to me :)

I think TnJ is talking to you posmatrac but this is getting hilarious!! :)

memi, you are so right. IW is starting wihch means everyone will have a bunch of opinions again. Brace yourself memi.. wait for it...

who cares ????????? i m just 1/2e as ever !!!!!!!!!!!! Is Roger participating in IW ?????? if anyone can tell ????????? pls

Yes,Roger will be there for both IW and Miami.

thnx. Janhavi.

It always a pleasure to watch him(RF) playing.Welcome back dude !!!!!!!!! missed u soooooooooooooo much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gay.

Well Rafa is Rafa. Never underestimate him on clay. He did not even play at his 100% , but still managed to win. On the other hand Nole is far from his best and managed to stay with Rafa for the first two sets. Still has to make a statement with his game this year. I expect him to really get his game and act together for the clay court season. Ultimately, the DC is already an event of the past. On to new events. IW, Miami with Murray, Federrer and everybody back in action.