This is actually the most consistent Roger has been for a while.

The last time he lost before the semis was at Wimbledon. He's lost to all top 5 players with the exception of Monfils. You couldn't always say that. Last year this time he was losing to Bagdatis and later even Montanes and Hewitt on grass.

If he stays this consistent Nole will cool off and Rafa may not do as much as last year so there will be chances.

Rafa is in better condition this year than last year. Remember he still had to undergo his knee treatment midway through the clay season last year. This year he's better off physically, why he won't be as good as or even better than last year? In fact points won so far this year is akreay better than last year same period. While Fed is doing better in IW this year, he's not doing as well at the AO. Unless he wins or reach the final of Miami, he'll have lesser ranking points than he had last year same period. Fed has also played many matches so far, 21 if I'm nit wrong, so if Nole is exhausted, Fed at age 29 would also be tired by now. I don't see Fed having any advantage over Nole or Rafa during the clay season.

To doubt Roger Federer is ignorant and dumb. Federer could regain the No 1 ranking after Wimbledon. Since 2010 Wimbledon, Federer has the best record and won the most ranking points: Federer (7,160), Djokovic (6,890). Nadal (5,225). In all his 12 tournaments, Federer has a 53-7 win-loss record, Djokovic 49-8 and Nadal 38-8. Unlike Nadal and Djokovic, Federer has reached at least the semifinals of all his 12 events tournament (5 titles, 8 finals, 12 semifinals). Both Nadal and Djokovic have lost early on multiple tournaments. Against top ten players since Wimbledon, Federer is 13-6, Djokovic is 11-7 and Nadal 5-4. At the prestigious World Tour Finals, Federer demolished Djokovic, Nadal and 3 other top players. Federer beat Djokovic 3 times in a row in Fall last year, and Nadal once. At both Indian Wells and Australian Open, Djokovic won only 51% of the points (arguably, Federer lost the match in the third set more than Djokovic won it). What is even more amazing is that Djokovic and Nadal are 6 and 5 years younger than Federer, yet Roger has outshone them in the last 8 months!

Dave stop calling people dumb! You forget Fed won only on the hard courts? Did he win anything on clay and grass last year? If you are talking about ranking points, come second half year Fed would have more than 5,000 points to defend. I seriously can't see him defending all of those, with Nole, Rafa, even Delpo in the mix. On clay this year, Fed still have to compete with Rafa and a red hot Nole. Fed had only won a 250 hard court event so far and lost his three other tournaments to Nole. In terms of race points, ie points earned so far this year, he's no. 2 now behind Nole. The Miami results will determine who'll be no.2 and no.3 this first half of the hard court season just before the clay season starts. If Rafa is fit and healthy, he'll most likely come through as the no.1 in race points after the clay and grass season. I strongly believe Nole will at least be no.2 after the clay and grass season, by virtue of all those points he raked in during the early hard court season. Come the second half hard court season, with 8,000 over points up for grabs, the competition will heat up and I guess is these will be shared by at least three to four players. So, to think that Fed will be able to do as well as last year's second half hard court season and grab the no.1 position is a bit unrealistic. If Fed had won the AO this year, then I think it's still likely that he could be no.1, too bad he didn't win it.

If you prefer to use unintelligent and delusional, that?s fine with me. Your flawed argument for Nadal disregards the reality: Nadal?s results after Australian Open to US Open last year were largely due to the absence of challenge from his main nemeses: Federer, Djokovic and Murray were in a slump while Del Potro and Davydenko were injured for large parts of 2010. If those 5 players were healthy and in form, Nadal would likely not have taken the No. 1 ranking from a slumping Federer. As well, Nadal?s results this year are due to the easy draws in Doha, AO and Indian Wells. In his 17 matches thus year, Nadal has not beaten a single player ranked higher than 15 this year. He lost in straight sets to No. 22 Davydenko and also to No. 7 David Ferrer. Had Federer not drained Djokovic, No. 3 Novak would have probably crushed Nadal in straight sets. It is delusional of you to claim that Federer is tired -- the fact is you do not know whether he is tired or not. The fact remains that -- compared to Nadal and Djokovic for the last eight months -- Federer has been the most consistent player, won the most matches and lost the least matches. Federer does not care about Miami, what he wants is the No. 1 ranking after Wimbledon. Djokovic has never been the second best player in any clay season, while Federer has done it multiple times. You conveniently forget that Federer?s form last year on clay and grass was severely impacted by a bad lung infection after Australian Open 2010 and back/leg problems during the grass season. In the 3.5 months between the Australian Open and Madrid in 2010, Federer won only 5 matches, all to players ranked between 43 to 138. That is why Federer?s clay and grass season last year was unusually bad. You may be in for a surprise this year when you see Nadal struggling on clay to cope with Federer, Djokovic, Del Potro, Soderling and maybe even Ferrer. When it comes to grass season, let?s see whether Nadal can stand up to a fit Federer this year. In Nadal?s entire career, he has failed to defend every non-clay major he won (e.g., Wimbledon 2008, Australian Open 2009). So let?s first worry about whether Nadal is able to defend the massive number of points during the clay and grass seasons over the next four months before worrying about the second half of the year, lol. Don't presume too much.

Dave. It pays to be respectful. Fed Is Rafa's nemesis? And you are arguing about Rafa's clay court credentials? With or without Fed and Nole, Rafa will still come up on top in the clay season. If you choose to think that Fed will win Wimbldon and go on to win as many titles as he did during last year's hard court season, it's up to you! Let's see who is 'disillusional' by end of the season. We'll see, I'm not going to argue with you now till no end.

dave says: " may be in for a surprise this year when you see Nadal struggling on clay to cope with Federer, Djokovic, Del Potro, Soderling and maybe even Ferrer."

That statement is incorrect. Nadal will beat everyone in the clay court season providing he is healthy. However, I agree with everything else you said.

Hang on to your words DAVE and do return to post here after wimbledon is done....

Yeah, Fed can be injured and had his lung infection, but Rafa cannot be sick and down with virus, and Rafa cannot be injured during a match! So Fed had tired out Nole in the semi? So we had a tired Nole vs a out of sort Rafa. And the out of sort Rafa almost beat this tired Nole in straights. A Nole who is not tired can trash this out of sort Rafa in straight? Then, I'll say a
top form Rafa will beat this Nole, tired or not. Speculations and more speculations. Why not wait for their next meeting, when both are fit and healthy, not out of sort and not tired?

Nadal?s results after Australian Open to US Open last year were largely due to the absence of challenge from his main nemeses: Federer, Djokovic and Murray were in a slump while Del Potro and Davydenko were injured for large parts of 2010.

If those 5 players were healthy and in form, Nadal would likely not have taken the No.

dave , 3/24/11 6:48 AM


dave, Rafa has a massive lead in the h2h over all the people you mentioned above except Davydenko and to follow your argument, it was only because of Rafa's injury in 2009 that the likes of Delpo even came close to beating him and that's what enabled Federer to regain the No 1 ranking. Murray and Davy have a knack of running across Rafa when he is not at his best, and as for his 14.8 and 16.8 h2h with Federer and Djokovic need I say more.

Do you know the meaning of the word nemesis? How could someone be your nemesis when you've beaten them twice as many times as they've beaten you, or are you just trying to wind Rafans up?

This is the same propaganda that I have read elsewhere. Sounds very familiar, hmmm?

This is all hypothetical baloney disguised as statistics and facts. The problem is that when someone uses only those statistics that presume to make their own argument and reject other evidence, then their case is built on a house of cards.

However, the really devious nature of these comments is revealed when this Fed fan uses precisely the same excuses about illness that Rafa fans are always trashed and attacked for using. You see, with Fed there can be excuses, but with Rafa it's a capital offense.

If you try to argue with this kind of person on their terms, then you will always lose the argument. Do NOT get sucked in to this absurd nonsense!

Rafa didn't win three straight slams through smoke and mirrors, magic, chicanery or any irrational claim. As far as the ranking of players he met in said tournaments, Rafa has no control over who gets through to meet him. If the other top players are not holding up their end of the bargain by getting through to the semis and finals of the tournaments, then that's on them. It is illogical to hold Rafa responsible for the poor play of Fed, Nole and Murray last year. So this means that his grand slam wins are meaningless? That's when you get into dangerous territory, for Rafa fans can make the same argument about Fed's slam wins and the level of competition he faced.

If it was easy to duplicate Rod Laver's feat of winning RG, Wimbledon and the USO in the same calendar year, then it wouldn't have taken over 40 years for someone to do it! Rafa exceeded that feat by winning on three different surfaces. He earned the #1 ranking fair and square and skewed statistics don't mean anything.

Also, don't you know that Rafa fans can't bring up the h2h argument? In other words, if you want to have a discussion with this person, then be prepared for an onslaught of meaningless selective numbers and figures that are meant to distract you from essential facts, reality and truth.

Hey everybody-- remember 2008 when Fed had severe mononucleosis and still got to all Slam semis or finals and won USOPEN? Frequently he doesn't talk about his injuries -- he's had back problems for years--- it's called being an athlete! One thing that's for sure NEVER EVER count Fed out or Nadal and Fed is five years older-- He's still beating the hot youngsters-- and will always be a frontrunner for Number 1 this year and probably next year too. If you know tennis and stats and records - it's a mistake to say "he's over"-- it was just a couple of months ago that he killed at the World Tour Finals!

@amparker , 3/24/11 10:07 AM


That's because he probably didn't have mono. If you want to see the effects of mono, just think of Ancic.

Federer doesn't talk about injuries? Pull the other one.

Nobody wants to write Fed off! But to say that Rafa was back to No1 because Fed and the rest of the tennis elite had slumps and were injured or so is really stupid...what if Rafa fans start the story of how Rafa failed to defend his Wimby title and why he lost to Delpo in a manner he did. Well, HE WAS INJURED...but Fed wasn't...at the USO 2009 when Fed lost to Delpo he was HEALTHY and he LOST...so why do you even bother looking for excuses? And the easy draw?! c'mon...that is so ridiculous...the easy draw does not exists...you would say Karlovic is an easy draw...or Deverman to that matter...please, dave, go away and feel free to worship Fed's past results...you aren?t going to get those any more...he may shine from time to time but he is where he is...and be realistic: Fed is fighting to regain No2 not No1...you think Nole will let him back easily...hahaha...look who is being delusional...

@amparker, 3/24/11 10:07 AM
---Frequently he doesn't talk about his injuries---

He talks when he loses.

Federer is now aiming at SFs not even finals let alone titles. He's lowered his expectations and I suggest his fans follow suit.

Just as a point of reference, because we so easily forget the not-so distant past...last year at this time, the hot player was Federer. He'd won the AO and was playing well coming into Miami. Nadal was NOT playing well at all. It isn't wise to judge Rafa's coming clay season results based on these first few hard court tournaments of the year.

Want to know how Rafa's going to fare on the dirt? Take stock of his game in Monte Carlo. That year he lost to soderling at the French, he had a shaky MC. He won, but it surely wasn't convincing.

Rafa even when no playing well, due to illness or rustiness, still managed to reach semi, QF and final of tournaments, need we doubt him when he's in top form? Even without his usual good first serve, he still managed to reach the final of IW and gave Nole tough time for two sets, and these were hard court tournaments we are talking about.

Rafa not meeting any top players en route to the final? That shows the difference in class between Rafa and the rest of the top players. When not playing well, he reached the final. When others were not playing well, they couldn't survive the earlier rounds to meet Rafa, any question about how good Rafa has become on the hard courts?

If anyone want to question Rafa's no.1 rankling in 2010, then we also have to question Fed's no.1 ranking in 2009, after Rafa was injured and unable to defend his Wimbledon title in 2009. Even if Delpo and Davy were not injured in 2010, and Fed and Nole were in their best form in 2010, Rafa would still be able to win FO and Wimbledon and the clay masters. His results would most likely be something like his 2008 even if he didn't win the USO. He would still be in a strong position to finish last year as no.1. If I'm a betting person, I'll bet that Rafa will win Wimbledon, more so than Fed. Rafa has already master the grass court game and right now he's truly the favorite to win the channel slam. I can't say the same for Fed, whether it's now or back then from 2006-2008, with the presence of Rafa at the FO.

Why take the bait? 99% of the time you are not going to convince people of the opposite of what they are currently believing.

As for Rafa on clay this year... the last time anyone has defeated him on the surface when he was not injured (bad blister, or very bad knees) or dead tired was ... in 2005.

Cheryl is absolutely right that we will know after MC where Rafa's form is.

amparker, 2008 and now 2011, there's three years difference. End of 2009, Fed had already had difficulty beating Delpo, slam or non slam. He had difficulties beating Murray all along in non slam tournaments. Right now, he has problem beating Nole. So, how then can be lord over these youngsters from now onwards, given that they are in their prime while he's in his thirties?

WTF? Sure when the format suits Fed, best of three sets matches with one day rest in between matches. Had he reproduced that form yet this year? Can he reproduce that form again this year?

luckystar: You should practice your own advice ?it pays to be respectful? and ?speculations and more speculations? before foisting it on others, lol. Before my first comment, you reached the delusional conclusion ?so if Nole is exhausted, Fed at age 29 would also be tired by now?. It?s delusional to presume that Federer would be tired when you have no inside information on Roger?s fitness. And it?s disrespectful to make such comments given that even at age 29, Federer is still able to play far more matches than Nadal -- on hard courts, no less. This should not be surprising. Unlike Federer, Nadal has been the player who most whines about the ?long season? (yet then plays big-money exhibitions like Bogota and Abu Dhabi as well as in Bangkok, where Thai newspapers reported Rafa received $1.5 million in appearance fees). In 2006, Federer played almost a 100 matches without whining. That year Federer battled Nadal for over 5 hours on clay at the Rome finals (Fed held two matchpoints in the fifth set). What is even more amazing is that Federer played long matches in the Rome quarterfinals and also semifinals, both matches lasting almost as many points as the Nadal-Djokovic Madrid semifinal in 2009! In 2008, in the wake of his mononucleosis illness, Federer still managed to battle Nadal at Wimbledon for almost 5 hours until fading light helped decide the match. If any top player has a track record of proving he has the fitness and resolve to withstand a long, grueling seson it is Federer. Yes, we will see where Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are after Wimbledon and after the World Tour Finals. We?ve all heard Federer?s naysayers before predicting his demise but when he proves them wrong they grudgingly try to rationalize down his results.

vrael: I?ve got better things to do than hang on to my words. It?s only a sport. In Nadal?s entire 2010 clay season, he had easy draws -- he played only 2 top ten players in 22 matches. Furthermore, potential challengers like Federer, Djokovic, Davydenko and Delpo were slumping or injured. I personally rank Nadal as (currently) the co-greatest clay court player of all time along with Borg, even though he is behind Borg and Max Decugis in number of French championships won. But in sport anything can happen. It happened to Nadal on clay in 2009, and Federer on grass in 2010.

Nadline: Nadal?s h2h -- most of his wins came on clay -- over Federer and Djokovic did not stop them from making Nadal look like a beaten and baffled man in the third sets of the finals of both the World Tour Finals and Indian Like you said, Nadal has a knack of running across Federer and Djokovic when they are not at their best. In 2009, Del Potro beat Nadal at Miami immediately after Nadal beat him at Indian Wells -- this was long before Nadal?s injury claims, which independent sports medicine experts and knee surgeons said was not career threatening and would require just a few weeks of rest to heal. All the players who beat Nadal in the second half of 2009 were all players who had the ability to beat him on hard courts: Djokovic, Davydenko, Del Potro, Soderling and Cilic. Mats Wilander observed that after being bashed up 10 times in four months by these big-game players, Nadal changed to new strings (designed for him) in January 2010 which gave him more power, depth and spin.

Nativenewyorker: You?re spouting the same mumbo-jumbo, baloney and propaganda I have read many times elsewhere. I?ve run out of time to debate you on irrelevant issues. One issue, however. Anyone can all find something that any top player has done and say ?wow, that?s the first time it was done since Rod Laver? but in tennis history only Federer has won three majors in three different calendar years. Regardless, let?s not pretend that the Wimbledon grass that Nadal played on is anything like the grass played by Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg or Pete Sampras. The slower and higher bouncing Wimbledon grass today is disparaged as ?green clay? -- that?s why today?s clay courters play Wimbledon while many clay courters in previous eras avoided Wimbledon. Also, when Laver won the Grand Slam in 1969, he played more top ten players than Nadal did in winning his three majors last year. Gosh, even Federer played more top ten players in 2010 than Nadal did last year. Finally, since you are prepared for my ?onslaught of meaningless selective numbers and figures that are meant to distract you from essential facts, reality and truth? (lol), here is something devious for you from the Wall Street Journal?s Yale-educated and respected Number?s Guy: ?Reinventing The Way We Rank Tennis Players.?
http://tinyurl.com/4usp4kd

natashao: The claim is often made that Nadal will win everything IF he is healthy. The ATP physios will tell you that every player plays with some injury or sickness often times. None of Nadal's injuries have been career threatening, yet he whines the most about his injuries to the point he has people believing when he does not win something is because of his injuries or illnesses (he's "not 100%"). Of the top players, Nadal publicizes his injuries the most (and sometimes the most drama out of his injuries) -- multiple times every year since 2005. When he lost to David Ferrer at this year's Australian Open, Nadal claimed he did not want to use injury as an excuse. Lol. A few days later, he publicized the nature of his injury, treatment and rest required. One week later he publicized that he did not need the full rest prescribed by his doctor and was able to start his training earlier. In other words, the injury was relatively minor.

You asked "what if Rafa fans start the story of how Rafa failed to defend his Wimby title and why he lost to Delpo in a manner he did. Well, HE WAS INJURED"? Well then I would say that -- regardless of the quadriceps tendinitis he claimed to have had after losing to Soderling at the 2009 French Open -- it appeared that Nadal was fit enough to play the 2009 Wimbledon. Nadal played two back-to-back exhibitions on grass against Lleyton Hewitt and Stan Wawrinka at the Hurlington Club. According to the Irish media (RTL), at his second exhibition match against Wawrinka, Nadal "showed few obvious signs of pain from his knees on Friday? the assembled media only had eyes for Nadal's knees. Every bend and stretch was a potential Wimbledon wrecker for Nadal, who gave precious little away with his body language throughout what was a reasonably strenuous work-out against the Olympic doubles champion. Those looking for clues as to whether his knees would prevent him defending his title were left frustrated, although one incredible sprint from behind the baseline to near the net post before flicking a winner in the second set did not look like that of a man in pain.? So why did Nadal withdraw? The fact is that Nadal suspiciously withdrew from Wimbledon just a couple of hours after the Wimbledon draw was done. He could have easily withdrawn before the draw (he would have known if he was fit enough to play immediately after his second exhibition match), but instead chose to wait until the draw came out. I'm only speculating of course, but I believe Nadal withdrew because he saw that Lleyton Hewitt would have been his second round opponent. Hewitt had just beaten Nadal in their exhibition, then Hewitt went on to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals (where he lost in 5 sets to eventual finalist Andy Roddick). More importantly, Nadal knew that Hewitt's win-loss record on grass is similar to Pete Sampras, so Hewitt would have been a formidable grass opponent. Yes, my speculation is that Nadal chickened out because he feared he might lose early to Hewitt. If Nadal had integrity he would have withdrawn before the Wimbledon draw, not two hours after the draw.

natashao: "at the USO 2009 when Fed lost to Delpo he was HEALTHY and he LOST?? Nope, not according to renown tennis journalist Tom Tebbutt who stated ?it appears more and more obvious that Roger Federer?s troublesome back was at least a partial explanation for his late-match fade in the U.S. Open final against Juan Martin del Potro.? This is what amparker meant when he rightly said that Federer ?frequently he doesn't talk about his injuries?. Federer has been playing far longer and more matches than Nadal, but whines far less. Federer holds the ATP record for not retiring even once from a tennis match in his entire career, regardless if he was sick or injured. He sucks it in.
http://tinyurl.com/y9ecbd4

Ivo Karlovic was ranked No. 239 (that?s Number Two Hundred and Thirty Nine... 238 positions below Nadal) when he came close to beating Nadal. That?s embarrassing. Somdev Devvarman was ranked No. 84 when he played Nadal. Federer played in second gear when he took out Devvarman in Dubai, infront of a large number of cheering Indian supporters in the stands.

What was that you said about "really stupid"?

OMG... another fedtard is here... with so long posts like he (she) has nothing to do in his (HER) life...
And...what is the point... we should all understand that EVERY LOST from ExFED is because of mono ( that he did not had, if you ask me), lung infection... (I was operated on 3. Feb... and wake up from anesthesia with heavy lung infection, two weeks of antibiotic and it was gone) and ( my favorite) mysterious back injury... LOL..
Not to mention that his comments are always about his good health... and injuries talk came always after defeats...
In the meantimes Novak is acting and faking... kid with asthma, operated nose and heavy allergies... Tennis Federation of Serbia had thrown Nole out...he was champion of Europe, 14 years old. Big experts said that he has weak hearth, breathing problems so he is not potential top player... hehe...some experts...
Rafa... same story... he has serious illness of knees, and it always come back, can't bee cured permanently... he is also accused for acting, taking to much time for serve... disrupting opponent's rhythm with MTO...
So Dave you are using such double standards...
...
Nole is bouncing the ball.
Fed: "Bouncing, bouncing...A??"
Nole: "Yes I am... will you let me serve?"
Fed: "C?mon you have bounced 12 hundreds time. Can we go little faster..?"
Nole: "OK. But I can'T do it faster than 2 sets...:)"
...
...
Normally Nole will lost sometimes... It can't go forever... I don't know who will break him, but I know one thing. It won't be Fed!

dave, I don't know where to start, your response to my post leaves me wondering whether you had trouble understanding what I said. I don't recall saying that Nadal has a knack of running into Federer and Djokovic when they are not at their best, in fact the things you say are so ludicrous that I can only put it down to the fact that you are a totally disillusional Fedfan who sees him in rose tinted specs. Does it matter which surface any of these contests take place, you might as well point out that virtually all of Federer's triumph over Nadal was not on clay, considering that hardcourt is the latest surface to be included in the ATP tour. Perhaps you don't realize that the USO and the AO were played on grass until about 40 years ago, the USO even played on clay between 1975-77.

If you are suggesting that all of Nadal's victories over Federer and Djokovic was when they were not at their best, then all I would say to that is that they can't be at their best most of the time to have a h2h of 14.8 and 16.8 with Rafa. Rafa needs to have a matching pair of h2h and make Federer's 16.8.

I seem to recall amny experts pronouncing that Rafa's knee injury was so serious that it would end his career and one expert actually said he had the knees of a 35 year old so I don't know which planet you were on when anyone said his injuries weren't serious.

You seem to be very good at re-writing history and you are able not to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Well Dave, Fed when answering some questions during his presser in Miami, said that yes, maybe he was a bit tired. Stop comparing him as of now against his haydays back in 2006. I'm not being disrespectful about this, while you're because you call people unintelligent or disillusional, dumb or whatever.

Sigh...so Fed lost to Delpo because of bad back? The one that accuses Rafa and his fans for making excuses for his losses, yet make the same mistake and uses injuries to explain away Fed's losses. It must be the greatest joke on earth, and yet this same person still has the cheek to post such a long comment here telling people off! Well for once I'll be disrespectful and call this person disillusional!

nad, that is exactly what I was going to reply about Rafa's injury...I read the same article and I remember how I was crying being devastated about Rafa?s injury...it was written all over the place and everyone was talking about Rafa having knees of a 35 year old and possibly ending his career...uh, I just want to erase those days from my memory...

dave, in Miami 2009 was the first time Rafa had heard about his parents definitely getting divorced and we all know how difficult it was for him to accept it...he is a family guy who adores both of his parents and it did affect him badly as it would have any other family attached person...I happened to be there in Miami and all of us who had been watching the match new that his mind was not focused on the match...I am not trying to find an excuse, just telling you how it was...they are all human and they are not immune to family issues...whether you want to recognize it or not I wouldn't care less...so, now, you are so insightful to educate us that Rafa faked all his injuries...oh gosh, dave, I wish that was true...I wish Rafa's knees were perfectly ok and that we his fans can expect him to play at least as long as your dear "hidden injury" Fed is...

So I see, all these years of following tennis I was blind and had to wait to run into you to enlighten me ...you obviously have some inside information about Fed's injuries...please, do not do that...Fed is a great champion who DOES lose his matches from time to time and he will...just live with it!

Yes Natashao, I remember distinctly Rafa writing in his blog during Miami 2009 that he had issues that he could only discuss with his family and his team and no one knew what it was about. All those who have selective memory about Rafa's loss to Delpo in Miami in 2009, please go and read tis thread by Cheryl at the time, I'm posting a little excerpt from Cheryl's blog:

Rumors about Nadal fly in Miami

2009-04-04 05:11:01
?It?s personal? doesn?t seem like a controversial thing to say. But if you are Rafael Nadal, you just lost a match everyone expected you to win, and THAT?S the reason you give for losing? It becomes VERY interesting. When was the last time Nadal lost a match because he could not concentrate well enough? Never? OK. Maybe that fluke loss last year in Rotterdam against Seppi qualifies, but otherwise? Just doesn?t happen.

The match itself was one raging disaster after another for Nadal. His game was riddled with errors off both wings and he was soundly outplayed in the first set. He was being soundly outplayed in the second set as well, but Del Potro tightened up a little and opened the door for Nadal. He was able to take advantage ? at least for a while. And then the unthinkable happened. He lost a two-break lead in the third set.

I mean, this is Nadal we?re talking about here. Nadal who saved 5 match points against Nalbandian last week. Nadal who gave up a two sets to love lead at Wimbledon, missed match points in the fourth and STILL managed to win it in the end. I mean no offense to Del Potro when I say that this is not normal Nadal behavior.

So you can all see for yourselves that Delpo's win over Rafa was a shock for everyone.

When you resort to throwing around personal insults, that's when any argument you make becomes meaningless.

There are so many outright falsehoods and untruths in the last response to me, that it would take a day to respond. I don't intend to get into that kind of pointless, endless nonsensical endless discussion with someone who so obviously is a Rafa hater.

What I will address is the cheapest shot of all - that Rafa withdrew from Wimbledon out of cowardice. This is the same lie that has been promulgated on pro-Fed and anti-Rafa tennis forums since Rafa had to withdraw due to knee tendinitis. Despite the evidence of mri's and ultrasound testing and Dr. Cotorro's account of Rafa's knee problems, there is this persistent need for rabid Fed fans to promote bizarre conspiracy theories. The tactic is to find someone who is supposedly an expert in knee issues and the quote an article written by this person who will admittedly never have examined Rafa. No doctor can make an accurate diagnosis when he has not personally examined someone. Anything that person says is groundless and baseless. Further more, reputabl doctors would not even attempt to make any kind of reasonable diagnosis.

This despicable idea that Rafa withdrew out of fear and not because of a serious knee problem, is probably the most spurious accusation among many that have been thrown at Rafa. The idea that Rafa would be afraid of anyone on a tennis court would be laughable, if it wasn't so incredibly insulting.

There is no way to stop this continued attempt to defame Rafa. It will go on and nothing any of us say will ever stop it. As chlorostoma said, it's better not to take the bait. You cannot change the mind of someone who is not dealing with reality and just spews out distortions and misconceptions.

All sensible posters on this forum should refrain from responding to dave. Responding would encourage him to post more trash without adding value to our discussions.

OMG, made a mistake, I think, registering. been reading articles over the past month. This is a badddd place for a Fed fan. These people are quick to complain of personal insults but are the guilty ones. Man, they sure beat up on Fed and Roddick posters and lotsa fighting. time to splitz.

who be the sensible posters coz not many around, you not one for sure. ROFLMAO

Maybe Juliette should read what Dave had written before jumping into conclusion if you are a fair minded Fed fan. Your previous two posts seem to reveal you're not one fair minded one.

" So we had a tired Nole vs a out of sort Rafa. And the out of sort Rafa almost beat this tired Nole in straights. A Nole who is not tired can trash this out of sort Rafa in straight? Then, I'll say a
top form Rafa will beat this Nole, tired or not. Speculations and more speculations. Why not wait for their next meeting, when both are fit and healthy, not out of sort and not tired? "

Bunch of nonsense. Poster changes tune like the wind. Only Nadal can be outa sorts not Fed. One mouth says Nole is the hottest player, other mouth says, Rafa was outa sorts. So, Nole only hot for Fed not Nadal, coz nadal is da man. Kinda strange how Nole love goes away coz he beat Nadal. Don't worry, Poppa Rafa will open a can of whupa$$, next time they meet. Madre dios.

c'mon, don't get your knickers in a bunch. I read dave's comments and lotsa other stuff on previous threads. I get the picture about you and a few others. Don't talk about fair minded, coz you ain't fair minded. Not gonna argue with you. Coz I'm never gonna come out being right, moderation on your side.

Ha ha Juliette, the more you post the more irrational you become. Those quotes were definitely some sarcastic remarks in response to what dave had written earlier on about Fed tiring Nole out. If you can't understand the gist of it, pls try not to interfere. It will only embarrass yourself for doing so, having no understanding of what was the ongoing discussion!!

Can the insults. Not gonna get into anything with you. Remember, I said I get who you are. You like to poke insults in an underhanded way, coz that's your style, then ya complain about people being insultive. I s'pose you're the only one who can interfere? Gr8, gotta to say,, you sure know how to play the game.

"It will only embarrass yourself for doing so"

Read this sentence again, and tell me who's doing the embarrassing. LMAO I may not be real smart but you ain't any better.

Smart or not it's not up to you to judge! You think you're smart, well that's your choice. Obviously others may not think so. However you want to view my comments, well that's your choice. I've already mentioned long time ago I'm not a Fed fan, while I'll not praise him for most things, I'll always be realistic about what he can or cannot achieve from this point onwards. Unlike some Fed fans, who still thinks he's the same Fed from three four years ago.

Well Juliette, one last post to you and I'll stop here. I'm not going into war with you, so whether who is smarter than who it doesn't matter. What matters is we support our own favorites, and engage in rational discussion. If you read through some of the posts at the beginning, even though most of us here are Rafa fans, we are being realistic about Fed's chances of regaining the no.2 and the no.1 positions. We explain what we see as difficulties faced by Fed and yet dave jumps in and starts calling people dumb for doubting Fed. We have our rights of opinions and it's certainly disrespectful calling people dumb right away. I responded to remarks sarcastically about Fed tiring Nole before the final and yet you just picked on that response and started this 'debate'. It'll reach no end if we continue, so I'll stop here, whether you accept my point of view or not.

Hey luckystar, could this Juliette be Von? Von too used to respond without understanding sarcasm or humor. Juliette, like Von, claims moderators are not on her side. Juliette claims we are bad to Fed and Roddick fans : "Man, they sure beat up on Fed and Roddick posters and lotsa fighting". She, like Von, insults us but claims that we are beating up on Fed and Roddick fans.

@luckystar: no prob, we don't have to agree.

holdserve: Anyone not pro-nadal is Von? Wowser. You got it out real bad for Von. BTW, I agree, I don't have any understanding of the stuff you guys write. On the moderation thingy, it's what I've observed from reading.

juliette, If you don't understand, why do you respond? In fact it is not a response at all but some irrelevant post if you don't understand.
I think that numero, dave etc are not pro-nadal and yet no one has suspected them of being Von. So your logic is faulty.

dave and numero are men. I believe Von is a woman, so why would ya call dave, Von? I see what ya trying to do, but no way. Ya want to make me angry so that Ms. Murray will warn me, and then you'll get rid of me. not gonna happen, but good try with the conspiracy theory. he he. Ii'm tired already.

dang it, I forgot to answer. on the understanding thing, that was me playing your game by agreeing with ya. It's a lot easier that way.

The other day, Navratilova said that Federer was done, that he would never make it to No 1 again, here is Federer's response:


Federer responds to Navratilova No. 1 comments

Roger Federer responds to Martina Navratilova?s contention he?ll never regain the No. 1 ranking. "Maybe she missed the London World Tour Finals," said No. 3 Federer, who won that tournament but has lost to No. 2 Novak Djokovic three times this year. "Maybe she was somewhere else climbing Kilimanjaro. I love her. Look, I think she's been an inspiration to my wife [mirka] and I always love seeing her, but if you had the microphone in front of you and you get a negative question, you get dragged into it. And she's in front of the microphone a lot of times like other experts and eventually you can't just say only good things. You have to also say more negative things."

Federer also said that he feels better physically today than he did at 22 and is more aware of how far he can push his body.

Andy Roddick defended the 16-time Grand Slam champion?s recent play. "It's ridiculous," Roddick said. "Whoever wants to criticize Roger for the way he?s playing tennis right now better be very, very good at their job."?Matthew Cronin

Why is it wrong if Martina Navratilova thinks that Federer won't regain the No. 1 ranking? And she WAS awfully good at her job.

Nothing wrong with it but she'll look pretty stupid if he's able to do it.

Is Roger implying that Martina didn't really mean it, she was 'dragged' into saying it?

So because Roger won the WTF he thinks it's a precursor for taking back the No 1 ranking............he may or he may not, the only reason he did in 2009 was because Rafa couldn't defend his Wimbledon title.

hmm...do you think so, numero? She's just giving a prediction.

I suppose he COULD get the No. 1 ranking back, but if he's going to do that, something has to change...because he hasn't been getting it done at the majors recently and he probably won't get back there without them.

the only reason he did in 2009 was because Rafa couldn't defend his Wimbledon title.

nadline , 3/25/11 1:41 PM


I read it somewhere in this forum and it was surprising very much ...
Rafa has not defended a single non-clay tournament in his entire career...!!!

So its not opponent problem that he is not able to compete

It's injury problem that prevented Rafa from defending his Wimbledon title in2009. In my opinion, he'll most likely defend that title successfully if not for the injury. I hope he can defend his Wimbledon title this year, same for his USO and Tokyo Open titles.

Does defending a clay title not count? Rafa couldn't defend his Wimbledon title in 2009, so we'll never know.

@mani4Tennis, 3/25/11 2:31 PM
Rafa has competed very well against Fed in his entire career. Fed has said himself that Rafa has been his problem.

mani4Tennis, could you tell me which clay titles Federer has defended?

WOW! This post has generated quite a discussion. I think Roger responded fairly well to the critics in this particular instance. A player SHOULD believe in himself and his chances to win, otherwise, why try at all?
On the other hand, the way things are at the moment it does not seem likely that Roger can climb over Nole and Rafa in their current form. Rafa as we already established is at level with the best HC players in the world, while on clay, he absolutely dominates. No other player can claim dominance over any surface as Rafa has on clay. That makes him, overall, the BEST player in the world.

We can talk about stats, numbers, injuries, easy draws, etc., etc., until the cows come home, and still we won't convince each other. Why? Because ALL players have trouble, ALL players get easy draws and tough draws, ALL players have good days and bad days. But there ares so many tournaments, so many games, sets and matches played, all those circumstances average out to be more or less even for everyone. Once we put those things aside we are left with the simple results: Who is no. 1 in the world? Who has won the last 3-4 Masters? Who has won the last 3-4 Majors? Those are the best right now. And like cheryl said, for Federer to get back to #1 something has to change. Martina is being "positive" about the players who are now on top. It is kind of self-centered or Roger to call her comments "negative", isn't it?

For a change, I think Fed was quite nice in his response to Martina. Of course, he won't believe he is done. Most elite players are usually in denial in the twilight of their careers. I think it is possible for Fed to win a gs title but to be #1 requires sustained excellence throughout the year and in a field having greats like Rafa, Djoko and Murray, I would rule out Fed getting to year end #1.But not mid season #1. Fed can still have a shot at mid-season (July) #1 if Rafa fails in the clay season and stumbles on grass. Small chance of that though!

Federer will certainly be one of the best top 5 players of all time.

@nadline, 3/25/11 6:00 PM
A scientist from Northwestern University has ranked Fed seventh.

^^^Augustina, he also ranked Rafa 24th or something like that behind players no one has ever heard of, so I would discount that particular study,

Radicchi's top 30 rank: A bit jumbled up but easy to read.

1. Jimmy Connors 11. Boris Becker
21. Mats Wilander
2. Ivan Lendl 12. Arthur Ashe
22. Goran Ivani?evi?
3. John McEnroe 13. Brian Gottfried
23. Vitas Gerulaitis
4. Guillermo Vilas 14. Stan Smith
24. Rafael Nadal
5. Andre Agassi 15. Manuel Orantes
25. Raul Ramirez
6. Stefan Edberg 16. Michael Chang
26. John Newcombe
7. Roger Federer 17. Roscoe Tanner
27. Ken Rosewall
8. Pete Sampras 18. Eddie Dibbs
28. Yevgeny Kafelnikov
9. Ilie N?stase 19. Harold Solomon
29. Andy Roddick
10. Björn Borg 20. Tom Okker
30. Thomas Muster

the problem for Fed beingNo3 is that he will be meeting Rafa a lot in the semis, and he and Rafa will rule each other out and whoever wins will be tired in the finals...we can not ignore the rivalry, it is still there but will be exercised in the semis... on the other hand, Nole, if keeping his current form, will be waiting in the finals without having so much trouble getting there...so it is more likely to have Nole keep his spot and threaten No1 rather than have Fed come back to the No2...

Please, please, please!!!!!!.................lets stop deluding ourselves here!!! There is NO way the Federer can reclaim the number one spot, except if both Nole and Rafa are dead!!!!

Federer is still a good player but he cant beat the best any more, not consistently .................its as simple as that!!! Federer performs worse at each tournament!!!! When Federer plays a match we are not sure any more which Fed will turn up...........is that someone we expect to regain the number one spot?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And by the way..............how did Rafa get invloved in this topic?!......................its not his fault that Federer is being written off!!!!!!!!..........neither is Nole's!!!!

mani4Tennis, could you tell me which clay titles Federer has defended?

nadline , 3/25/11 3:09 PM


I knew that you will raise this point ...

But you have to accept that roger was 2nd best clay-court player and lost argubaly the best clay courtier numerous time in final consecutively (especially MC & RG) but same was not the case with rafa he has lost many times before final when it comes to defend non-clay title..isnt it??

OTOH ..i think rafa still have 2 good years ahead him ..so he can makeup for that .

For your question ...

I just checked ..Roger has won back to back Hamburg masters in 2004 & 2005 on clay :)

@mani4Tennis, 3/25/11 8:16 PM
---Roger has won back to back Hamburg masters in 2004 & 2005 on clay---

It's a hudge achievement (for so-called goat)!

I just checked ..Roger has won back to back Hamburg masters in 2004 & 2005 on clay :)

mani4Tennis , 3/25/11 8:16 PM


Rafa must have been injured. Lol

Please, please, please!!!!!!.................lets stop deluding ourselves here!!! There is NO way the Federer can reclaim the number one spot, except if both Nole and Rafa are dead!!!!

Federer is still a good player but he cant beat the best any more, not consistently .................its as simple as that!!! Federer performs worse at each tournament!!!! When Federer plays a match we are not sure any more which Fed will turn up...........is that someone we expect to regain the number one spot?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And by the way..............how did Rafa get invloved in this topic?!......................its not his fault that Federer is being written off!!!!!!!!..........neither is Nole's!!!!
Monalysa
, 3/25/11 7:31 PM

roger has every right to fight for the no.1 spot again and there is no reason why he shouldn't gain some ground on this over the next few months. as you know anything can happen.

No. nadline. Rafa must have been injured or retired. lol. It's usually one or the other. I was just wondering how many times roger had retired? I cant think.

good on roger for once again ignoring the ignorant.

Rafa didn't play in Hamburg 2005 because back then Rome and Hamburg was back to back. That year in the Rome final, Rafa was battling it out with Coria in a five set match that Rafa finally won. Hamburg started the next day, so Rafa withdrawn from it if I'm not wrong.

I knew there was a reason why Federer won on clay twice in a row, there was no Rafa. When the cat is away, the mice will play.

yeah that's right nadline, rafa was injured or retired lol. i suppose you are able to have a short memory and forget when rafa didnt win a title for almost a year, everyone said he would never get to no.1 after being no. 3? for over 3 years, but he fought back.

no federer fan will ever degrade roger's sublime tennis career. It is a pleasure to watch to him play and still be no.3 at the age he is, and still love tennis so much. he brings us many smiles. It's unfortunate for rafa that he also has novak snapping at his heels. Roger is still the most consistent player over the last 12 months, you can go onto the atp website to see the proof.

I think you must be a bit misguided. Federer won twice in a row because he's the greatest player ever to play the game. Sticks in your throat doesn't it?

Says who? maxi? Haha, if it helps you to feel happy , please believe it but as far as i know, there is no official word on who is the greatest player. Why should your opinion carry so much weight that it would stick in anybody's throat?

Maxi... can I ask you something?
Why are you doing this, entering and backing up the poster dave... who claims that EVERY time WHEN FED LOST.... the reason was illness or injury...
In the meantime Rafa's and Nole's problems with health don't exist...
Do you really believe in that theory?

2004-05 and prior, Fed had Kuerten and Coria to deal with on clay, so not everything was easy for Fed, then came Nadal.