yeah Nadal drubbed Murray. That'll teach murray for beating federer!

IT sure is LESS PAINFUL when Murray wins (again) over FED than Nadal beating him... AGAIN!
Did I forget to say AGAIN!!!!!!!

I think Murray has the ability to be mentally focussed and strong like Rafa (or close at least). He needs to win 1 or 2 or few majors and gain experience in dealing with various situations. All depends how the player reacts to the situation and their ability to cope and respond well. I believe Murray wants to get better and he will. He's already won about the same number of titles in 4 years that Henman took 11 years to build up and he's been in a major final too. If not for the conditions, he would have put up a better fight but that is the thing about this sport, you have to be prepared for anything and Murray wasn't but at the same time Rafa was.

AGAIN!!! Agf you are behaving like a jerk. AGAIN!!!!....So YOU carry on being a jerk. It's less painful for YOU to watch Murray because you don't recognise how brilliant Federer has been for the sport.....AGAIN!!!! You refuse to acknowledge it because you cannot stand the genius. AGAIN!!!! you moron. Every Fed fan recognises that Nadal is No. 1 and deserves to hold that position....and that Murray is also doing incredibly well right now. Problem is that until Murray wins his slam (which am sure will happen at some stage...) you cannot use 'AGAIN!!!!' in that sentence can you because he hasn't won one yet! AGAIN!!!! until Nadal has maintained his number 1 spot for almost five years...then you can start spouting. We all accept how incredible Nadal is, he is brilliant for the sport...yet you forget so easily Federer's accomplishments. You have no class Agf....

you know what i think about the conditions! i think that both players had to battle the same elements! the extent to which a player is able to adapt to any unexpected occurrance is a measure of a player's mind over matter! no player can know exactly what the weather conditions will be from day to day; no one does! it was one of those situations that is suppose to reveal just how well a player is able to adjust and do it successfully. anyway, certain situations demand that a player proves that he belongs and rafa proved once more that his hardcourt game is getting better!

The wind... slow courts... sandpaper-like surface... People continue to find excuses as to why Rafael Nadal, who is supposed to be vulnerable on hard courts, keeps crushing the competition. At the Olympics, then the next major Hard court event, the Australian Open and now, the first Masters event of the year, Rafa has shown that he has what he needs and more to beat everyone else consistently. It will take him winning the USA Open, and still people will say: "this year, the surface at Arthur Ashe Stadium was inexplicably slower than usual, favoring Nadal's game". Wanna bet?

grafight, i couldn't have said it better! i think you're right, people will continue to find a way to not accept how good rafa really is. since i've been following rafa's progress over the years, there have always been crazy reasons as to why he has done so well ; i.e. i heard it said more than once that he wouldn't have won wimbledon if the grass surface hadn't been so slow and according to some people, he wouldn't have won yesterday if the wind wasn't blowing. talk about absurb excuses! it's hard to believe that supposingly intelligent people actually think this way. when someone loses, unless the player is injured, i don't believe in all these other senseless reasons! whoever wins was better that time around! simple as that!

grafight,I agree with you 100%. Apparently,the wind yesterday was just another reason for people to underestimate another Nadal victory.Otherwise,why wouldn't other players beat Rafa? It's not like he's the best player of the world or something!!!

You're spot on grafight except for the fact that this will be added after what you said:

"So until Rafa's numbers equal Roger's numbers, don't talk about him being one of the greatest players. Roger is the greatest player bla bla bla"

Roger was compared to Sampras when he turned No.1 and was constantly talked about becoming one of the greatest players, but the Fed fans didn't mind it then even tho Fed's numbers were nowhere near Sampras' yet. Didn't stop them from talking then just like it won't stop Rafa fans from talking about Rafa as becoming one of the greatest now.

Why Oh why do people have to relate all Nadal's wins to the fact that the court was playing like 'clay.' Everyone had convinced themselves that Nadal is a clay court specialist, so they can't take it when he runs them out of town on grass and hard. Because they won't accept that they need to improve their game to beat Nadal, he will continue to beat them. Everytime Nadal loses, he admits that he has to improve his game, and the next time he plays he has got even better.

Would Roddick like to explain why Nadal won the AO?

memi, sister, fan4, livingdoll, thanks for the comments and support! We are at the point were Rafa is the best player on any surface right now. Of course clay is his favored/best, no question... but that doesn't mean he can't dominate everywhere else. His game seem to have evolved in an ideal progression, from slow to fast surfaces and it's obviously working wonders for him. If he continues like this, let's hope the rest of the pack rises their game so he can have some competition!

grafight,

I would disagree with you over here. I don't think we can conclude anything from Sunday's final except a little more of what we already know: That Rafa has exceptional mental fortitude and keen tennis acumen which enables him to mold his game according to the conditions. The final said nothing about whether Rafa is better than Murray on hard courts. Of course, Murray did his part, by not adapting to the conditions at all, whining all the time, and loosing the plot mentally. As for the tennis, it was not really Tennis: forehand slices, Murray first serving at 80-90 mph( usually it's b/w 120-135 mph), unusual no of unforced errors because of the wind. The match was more like what you would do on a Sunday afternoon after having a heavy brunch, rather than a proper master series final! The good thing for Rafa was that he still managed to win the tournament when he was far from his best. ( I remember that in the Roddick -Rafa match, I was hoping that the ball go to Rafa's backhand rather than his forehand, since Rafa was missing most of his forehands!!).

I think both Rafa and Murray might meet again in the Semifinal at Miami.I'm sure that match would be much more competitive. Based on Rafa's matchups with Murray in Doha, Rotterdam and the US Open, Murray still has an edge over Rafa on hardcours.

All in all, I think we are in for exciting times and are on the cusp of a great rivalry between these 2 players. Federer and Novak are out, it all Rafa and Andy Murray from now on. Both players are rapidly improving. Hopefully Andy Murray's evolution will force Rafa to play better tennis.

imjimmy, no problem. You make a good case for your point of view. To me the Indian Wells final was actually a good match, even with the wind factor. Both players made adjustments and Rafa did it best.
About Miami, Andy has a very rough draw, so he may not make it to the finals. Also I don't think that "Federer and Novak are out". They will re-emerge as they play their favorite tournaments. Both will pick up confidence in the upcoming clay season, where the Roger and Nole have an edge over Andy. I think these three players are going to be like a game of "rock-paper-scissors" this year, taking turns playing finals against Rafa. Andy might emerge the most successful of the 3 at the end of the year... but time will tell. Cheers!

Its a shame such a blockbuster match had to be played under such awful conditions; but I think saying murray played awful would be unfair to rafa. I think he looked bad because nadal was playing perfect considering conditions.

grafight, i don't know if it's wise to rule murray out of the miami final just yet! from what i've heard andy is the best right now on hardcourts. although he's in a tough quarter of the draw, he probably won't have the difficulty on the faster court that one might think. maybe with suitable conditions, he will prevail in what appears to be a pretty tough quarter,which includes, nalbandian, fish, verdasco, gonzalez, etc. personally, i've always thought nalbandian played rafa better than anyone else on hardcourts. nonetheless, if david and andy were to meet and david plays like he played rafa, it would be something to see. i'm definitely looking forward to miami with great anticipation! by the way, i just realized today that the head-to-head for murray vs. nalbandian is 2:0 nalbandian! let the games begin and may the best man be the last one standing!

malteser was very very angry!!!!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA!!!
You're ACCEPTING NADAL's brilliance NOW that you can't be proud of you're idol's wins (or loss) (except KOOOOOYong... you're very very proud of that!)
Ok, you have all the class in the world, BUT IT DOESN'T SHOW!

HOW can I recognize someone's brilliance if it's clouded by the FREQUENT LOSS TO THE SAME PLAYER AT IMPORTANT TOURNAMENTS! (Now there are TWO of them)

You're belittling Murray because he doesn't win a slam YET. I JUST WISH HE GETS ONE AT THE EXPENSE OF FEDERER! Let's see who will CRY again....and again....and again!!!

Next time you wish to sound smart and correct me be sure YOU UNDERSTAND what you've just read....airhead!!! You're making yourself sound desperate DEFENDING the "greatest" (sic) "master" OF all TIME (?)!

The crybaby wasnt funny when it was first made, it didnt get any funnier at the 999999999th time. Nadal said he cried after losing 2007 wimby final, footballers, rugby players cry in public when emotions run very high so I dont know why it is a deal?

IT'S THE WAY HE CRIED!
DID the people that you mentioned sobbed like a child looking for his lost mother?
They cried like a MAN!

agf, how do you know Nadal cried like a man? He cried in the locker. Don't tell me you are there when you saw him cry coz you're living in Fantasy land.

AS YOU WISH!......... STILL The WHOLE WORLD saw your idol CRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HE HE HE!!!!

Please everyone!!

Do not look at agf as an example of what all Rafa fans are like. Many do not spew the venom that agf does with such evil glee. It goes against all that Rafa stands for!

fan4tennis--- If you want to be eaten alive by those vicious Fed fans so be it. I can't stand them throwing criticisms to Rafa as they please.
Rafa could be very patronizing, but not me and I DON'T WISH TO SPEAK IN BEHALF OF OTHER PEOPLE because THEY HAVE THEIR OWN FREEDOM TO SPEAK THEIR MINDS OUT or not to do so if they want to.
I say what I want, when I want and i take responsibility for that. IF SOMEONE'S OFFENDED, it's their RIGHT to react and say whatever pleases them.
LET ME REMIND YOU.... this is an OPEN FORUM.... say as you wish! The MODERATOR has the SOLE responsibility to EDIT OR DELETE obscene comments.

Rafa is NOT patronizing! You would prefer he trash talk his opponents and because he doesn't, you call that patronizing?

I have no fear of being eaten alive by "those vicious Fed fans." There are still plenty of Fed fans here that can hold a rational conversation and don't resort to name calling and nastiness.

That's right agf, you are the only Nadal fan who is so over-the-top. And your comments are not based on statistics or have something new. It is just based on hate. Go to the freezer and get frozen and then your burning head might cool off a little.

Nalbandian beat Murray last year, can't remember where, he was playing amazing tennis but wasn't he really high in the rankings 2007? He's very talented but so inconsistent a bit like Tsonga again on song can beat anyone. I think it's a tough draw for Andy.

All the recently commented articles now are full of agf bashing comments lol. I think he likes it though so I dont feel bad

Thought this was a perfect place to put this article:

http://www.betus.com/sports-betting/tennis/articles/nadal- crushes-murray-for-atp-title-at-indian-wells/

It even includes the title of Ricky's blog in it's content.

That article is awful all round. It stole a lot from this site with no reference- not only ricky's headline but part of cheryl's blog as well. The picture is some random picture as well lol- at least s/he could have had the decency to take one from IW. Im not even going to talk about the "methinks" rofl

And whats up with the tone? I think half the posters here can write a better article than that.

Half the posters here have been saying all those things in the article to begin with!

Torres--- if you want statistics you can ALWAYS grab it from the net and PRETEND you know something about those data as what you are doing. I don't need to do that to sound that I have the knowledge about tennis. DON"T TELL ME, YOU DIDN'T "steal" THOSE NUMBERS TO MAKE YOURSELF LOOK SMART! Keep on fooling yourself, your the master of that game!

fan4tennis--- DO you really understand what patronizing really means? It's to treat someone condescendingly, and I cant do that to the LIKES of you, orion and torres. In as much as I want to, I CAN'T, because you don't deserve it AT ALL.
NADAL is always humble, so he's perfectly the person to do that.

fan4tennis -I dare you, name the FED fans who don't resort to name calling and nastiness EVER!

agf- tomnjerry

agf:
YOU are the one the called Rafa patronizing!
("Rafa could be very patronizing, but not me and I DON'T WISH TO SPEAK IN BEHALF OF OTHER PEOPLE because THEY HAVE THEIR OWN FREEDOM TO SPEAK THEIR MINDS OUT or not to do so if they want to. agf25agf , 3/25/09 1:27 AM)"

And then you turn around and say:

"DO you really understand what patronizing really means? It's to treat someone condescendingly, and I cant do that to the LIKES of you, orion and torres. In as much as I want to, I CAN'T, because you don't deserve it AT ALL.
NADAL is always humble, so he's perfectly the person to do that. agf25agf , 3/25/09 11:58 PM "

Make up your mind!

agf:

janhavi and samprillica come to mind and as I said in a post in another thread when I mentioned it, there are others and I apologize that I cannot remember all the names.
There are also plenty of Rafa fans that don't feel the need to trash talk other players or other posters on here.