man, novak-simon..*torn between faves*

nole >> simon

whichever player doesn't retire will be the winner

haven't seen nole play in shanghai. does he seem tired? also, simon's knee seems fine if he beat berdych so convincingly...it might be a good match....

no, stu, he doesnt! :) I think Nole will win this one.. .

wow, Davydenko beat Forehando?!! that would be an easy semi for nole! Olly, is it too early to start imagining him with the trophy again?

haha stu yes it is too early! remember that he's never won 2 in a row before..
oh i cant choose ebtween him and simon..its too damn difficult! simon has final points to defend and i dont wanna see him fall out of the top 10. lets just say i dont care who wins, as long as the winner of this match ins the tournament :D

mmm...stu, what to say - he looks great with trophy.. :D
Seriously, I think his game looks good..great shots again today. Lack of concentration was present AGAIN in 1st set but I think it happened because he was bored. :) We'll see tomorrow..If he keeps focus throughout match, Shanghai will be his. :)

The problem is that people who can beat Nadal from his side of the draw are falling in a row, like apples from the tree..., Verdasco, Karlovic, Delpotro, Tsonga, Monfills... Only Soderling left, but it won't be enough this time. It'll take Nole to do the job.

Duro, i'd actually like to see nole win this by beating rafa. it would make the victory so much sweeter.

before you rafa fans pounce on me, my prev. statement was just an acknowledgment of nole's tough losses to rafa.

stu, as a Rafa fan I always like to see a Novak/Rafael final ... I like to see Rafa win, but I'd rather see a good match with them both playing well regardless of who wins.

Duranole, Verdasco has never beaten Rafa. All those that you mentioned are no doubt a threat but most of the time, Rafa comes out the winner. Even when he is not at his best form now, he still finds a way to win. The match against Blake was a tough one, esp from the 2nd set onwards, however, Rafa still finds a way to win.

Djoko seems to be a bit tired in today's match. If he gets past Simon (no guarantee, if he shows signs of fatigue and Simon plays the match of his life), I think most likely he'll play Davy in the SF. Also no guarantee that he'll beat Davy, as Davy is playing very well in this tournament. Davy ran him close at the RR stage of last year's TMC in Shanghai. In fact, Davy was the better player for most part of that match, but as usual, he double faulted at crucial moments and allowed Djoko to take control of that match. Davy should be playing with his best effort now as he still has a chance to qualify for the year end championship.

luckystar, I didn't mention only the guys that have beaten Rafa, I said the guys that can beat Rafa, which means perfectly clear that I think Verdasco can.
About Simon and Davy I happen to agree with you, it won't be easy, but Nole all the way!
Alleeeez allez allez alleeeez, No2-leeee, No1-leeee...

As a Rafan, I never assume that he is going to beat anyone, even though he has a winning record against all but two players in the top 100, with Nalby and Cilic, and it's very marginal. All the players Duro listed have a losing record against Rafa - Verdasco 9:0, Djokovic 14:5 just to name two. Getting excited about who is going to win a match is all a waste of time, because no one knows. Wanting someone to win is quite different to knowing they would. I never assume Rafa is going to win any match even though he generally does, and has been in the top 2 for 4 years, barring 3 weeks due to injury. Federer is the only one who can boast of that kind of statistics, and even he has a losing record against Rafa.

Let's just wait and see, instead of getting excited by wishful thinking.

VAMOS RAFA!

whats your problem carrie? whats wrong with wishful thinking about Nole winning on a Nole thread?

in defense of nole's h2h on hard courts, rafa trails 5-3.

on clay, rafa undisputed king.

on grass jury still out. only met twice, nole still improving.

h2h are always subject to change as long as a player still playing. ( well maybe not in the case of rafa against another spaniard; rafa rules supreme there. )

and zoey, the queens club match on grass was SO close!

Stu, maybe it's because I don't let wishful thinking get in the way reality. I am always nervous no matter who Rafa is playing, because you never know. I still think Djokovic is his biggest threat in the top 100 even though Rafa has such a good h2h againt him.

this is the hc tourny and nole has the edge as zoey pointed out previously. carrie, let nole's fans dream a bit, nothing wrong with that; nole often doesn't get enough credit for his achievements as other top player do.

well stu, i may not like some of the trash i read some nole's fans spouting about federer but that does not mean i don't like nole or don't notice his changes for the positive, on and off court. i'm a bit of a closet nole fan. but since delpo is out, i have to be cheering for davy, since he is yet to qualify. i'll be surprised if anyone left can
beat nole at this point, including rafa.

Well didn't I acknowledged that 'they' are a threat? Isn't that good enough? As for Verdasco, in this tournament, even before he was ousted by Ljubicic, I wouldn't consider him a threat to Rafa, as he was playing in consecutive 3 weeks and I know he was carrying a foot injury that will require surgery later on after the season is over.

I'm more concern about Monfils as he played well in Tokyo (though now he was also out), and then Tsonga and Soderling. Let's see whether Rafa can get past Ljubicic first before talking about meeting Soderling, though I think and hope Rafa can get the job done and reach at least the SF. I also hope Lopez can take out Soderling, as I think Rafa is not in the best of form to deal with Soderling yet. All else can be discussed later, the final is still a long way off!

I'm not a dreamer myself, maybe that's why. But I do have a lot of respect for Nole and I do think he could beat Rafa any day, and I am not even thinking about Rafa playing Nole in this tourny yet because they can only meat in the final and there are a lot of serves, games, volleys, lobs, servis breaks and the rest to overcome before that stage.

VAMOS RAFA!

Great match, Novak played just enough to go through to QF and its well done . Best of luck.

stu,

That was gracious of you to clarify your comments, but I think you were just being honest. As an avid Rafa fan, I would feel the same way about wanting Rafa to win against Nole, given their history and storied matches.

I have been reading the discussion about your man and it's been interesting and classy. No cheap shots at Rafa. Thank you for that. The only reason I am not focusing on Rafa and Nole in the finals is because we are not there yet. I am superstitious by nature and don't want to jinx Rafa. He has to get there and so does Nole. I have a great deal of respect for Nole's game and his success against Rafa on hard courts. I know he will be a formidable foe.

don't get me wrong Native, i never said i didn't want nole to win :)
i'm a big rafa fan as well, just not obsessed like i am with nole :P. just being chatty here, i know not to count chickens before they hatch - especially with an unpredictable player like him...

stu,

I know you want Nole to win :) Good for you! So we will both cross our fingers and not count any chickens before they hatch! Rafa could have a battle on his hands with this guy Ljubcic, whose name I hope I can spell right!

But I do have to say, that Rafa and Nole would make one heck of a final!

don't worry, injured rafa >>> healthy ljubicic. the guy was good in his day, very powerful..but rafa's gonna have to find his pre-injury form sometime no?