That is why Nadal is King of Clay and world's number one !!!
He never gave up and kept on with his amazing fighting spirit to get the win
Many congratulations Rafa YOU ARE THE BEST !!!Vamos

what is happening to nadal ?? !!...

I think only Rafa and his camp can answer that question! Nobody knows what happen, we can only guess!

Thank goodness for the win. I want Rafa in the finals.

I am a bit nervous for the Rafa match against Soderling in quarters..given Robins history of taking out World No 1 cum defending champ last 2 times

What do you guys think?

Isner played out of himself rather than Rafa played bad.

I did not see the match, only saw parts of it and the fifth set after Rafa broke Isner...but from what I have been able to see, and you all who did see the match please tell me if I am wrong, Rafa's balls were dropping short, and he looked a bit slow on the court...I must admit I have been living in denial, although I did say at one point that for Nole to be this dominant on both surfaces it takes Rafa, Fed and Murray to play bellow their usual level...and Rafa proved today that he is nowhere near his best, he is not even 50% of his last year's form...that is so unfortunate, so sad...and if you add his low confidence factor to the equation (which is mainly why he loses those tie-breaks more than before), he has become an easy target for any player who has something to say and to show on a given day, like Isner had today...this Rafa will struggle with Davy and unless he drastically improves his game he will go home soon...

Who the heck is Pablo Andujar?

Who the heck is Pablo Andujar?

I only asked once..........honest, Bill Gates' fault...............

Rafa didn't play badly at all; anyone would have had trouble with the way Isner played today, his serve was on so it was very difficult for Rafa to win a point off the first serve. Rafa only droped his serve once in a 5 setter, how can that be called playing badly. He played a bad game when he was broken in the 2nd set and I think he started to panic and wasn't able to break Isner again so he was nervous in the tie-breaks.

To come from losing 2 tie-breaks in a row and down 2 sets to 1 then totally dominate the 4th and 5th sets is truly remarkable.

natashao, Rafa will not lose this RG without giving his 100%, if any1's gonna beat him it'll take more than just super-serves...

Rafa didn't play badly except for his poor ROS. His serve is solid today and that's his saving grace. His court positioning however leaves much to be desired, and that's where Isner took advantage of him. Rafa didn't have any problem with Isner in the past, it's only this year that he has problem. Isner always comes to the net after serving his big serves out wide and forced Rafa far back away from the baseline. He has so much success doing this all the time and it's frustrating to see Rafa scrumbling around trying to get to the ball at the net. I do think that Rafa's footwork on clay has deteriorated this year, he appears slower and even slips a few times during the match.

Agree with torres9, Rafa will fight tooth and nail to eke out a victory here. This is his kingdom. I am happy that he got a workout today. He was facing one of the biggest serves in the business and lost two sets in TB's. His play in the rounds ahead will give us a clearer indication of his level

I wonder how many 5 setters Borg had to play in the first round here.

Don't worry. As we post here Rafa's team is coming up with a reason for his struggles today in order to attempt to restore his image/rep. Fever has been overdone so I'm guessing it's going to be something more exotic this time :)

torres9, I know Rafa will not lose without giving his 100% and I never have doubts about it...but one would think he does not need to give his 100% to be able to beat Isner or at least to be able to win his early rounds...I am always nervous when I see Davy on the other side...sometimes when I watch Nole wining those rallies against Rafa I come to think how Nole adopted some of Davy's tactics and game...taking Rafa's balls early, hitting the ball hard and deep and moving him around...I just think that Rafa should not let it happen this time, not again, not with Davy...I also know Davy isn't playing his best tennis these days, but I expect him to be encouraged seeing Rafa struggling today...

número, you think too much! I think you're more busy than the Rafa team, thinking up excuses for Rafa! Your effort is much appreciated. Rafa needs no excuses, everyone can see that his problems lie in his court positioning and his ROS. Once he started to play more aggressively, he beats Isner easily in set four, with Rafa having zero unforced error! So if Rafa wakes up from his 'sleep' and decides to play aggressively from the very beginning of each of his match, he can beat anyone. The problem is, is he willing to do so going forward?

numero, although I am a fanatic Rafa fan, I can't help it but laugh at your comment...well, anything that can make me laugh these days should work...and I must be in a desperate mood when I interpret your sarcasm as witticism...

Isner played out of his skin, he served very very well and was able to save several break points with aces. Rafa broke Isner 5 times in the match inspite of Isner serving bombs most of the time. I am really happy with the way Rafa played.

His positioning on court was hampered by having to take awkward positions to return serve so he couldn't get to where he would have liked to be easily. IMO, this was the best ROS I've seen Rafa display when confronted with a big server. He was returning much better than he did against Isner in Madrid last year - I watched that match several times in the past few days leading up to this one.

Luckystar, you obviously know about the technical aspects of the game but I think you are being a little bit to critical on this occasion.

Nats, Davy didn't have to play Isner.

natashao, what happened in the Rafa vs Nole matches were similar to what happened in today's match, that Rafa stood so far behind the baseline and allowed Nole to boss him around. Because of his court position so far behind the baseline, his returns were usually short, allowing Nole to come into the court to take the ball early and took control of the point. We saw how when Rafa started to play more aggressively when he was 0-4 down in the first set of the Madrid final, he was able to win points and games to level the set to 4-4,5-5. So, the key is for Rafa to play aggressively and close to the baseline. When he's close to the baseline and hits his shots deeper, Nole won't have the chance to step in to take the ball early. Nole has more problems with players playing aggressively than against players playing defensively. Even Murray played more aggressively against Nole than Rafa did!

nadline, it's a matter of opinion. I believe I've seen Isner serving better than today, though maybe not on clay. I think how good or how bad Rafa's ROS is depends on his court position. Do notice that on hard court this year, he was standing closer to the baseline when receiving and returning serves. Hard court surfaces are quicker than clay but Rafa still managed with his ROS and played aggressively to beat the likes of Berdych, Karlovic, Federer. He wasn't being pushed around on the hard courts like he was on clay! And that's why I said his ROS is giving him problem on clay, because of his court position so far behind the baseline that his returns become short returns and are easily attackable by his opponents.

Funny but I am rooting for Rafa this RG. Dunno why, maybe because it reminds me of Fed defending his WImby crown against Rafa. Although Fed lost in the end, I was overjoyed when he at least managed to defend it in 2006,2007.

What is so similiar this time around is that I will get to see how a champion acts when he is pushed to the very limit.

I think so far in his career, Rafa has never been really pushed to the limit by chasers and players who were all aiming at Fed's head beforehand. Now everyone's gunning for Rafa's scalp. I wish to see him prevailing.

He can't fend them off forever but boy will he fight more than ever.

The thing about this match was that Nadal played his B+ game throughout. And usually this is enough to get by someone like Isner in 3 sets. BUT, the difference this year, is that Nadal has lost a step - so he cannot return serve from 15 feet behind and except to dominate from the back. I've also never seen Nadal miss as many passing shots, which tells me that he's lacking the extra bit of explosiveness that he used to before. Even Virginia Wade said a couple of days ago, that Nadal should be more aggressive on the ROS and stand closer to the baseline in general. Same thing everyone else i.e JMac, Becker, ESPN crew: Cahill, Gilbert, PMac are saying. I don't know why Nadal and his team persist with the old tactics.

For a large part of the match (set 1 to 3), Nadal did what he usually does when he's not confident. That is, leave the DTL-Inside Out forehand in the locker room. not be aggressive, hit 95% cross court forehand, shaky backhand and drop everything short.

Fortunately, Rafa got more aggressive in set 4 and dominated that set, and from there on it was unlikely that he would lose. The 5th set was a little tense than it should have been, but I guess he'll take it in the end.

Overall this performance while not encouraging, is still only in Round 1. There's 2 weeks left, and Nadal can tell himself that he'll only improve from here on. This is one of those matches you forget and just move on.

However, Rafa's camp needs to look at making some changes. Nadal needs to get his game back ASAP, or this F.O will start looking like Fed's WImb 2010 where he was taken to 5 sets by Falla in R1 and destroyed by Berdych in QF.

Even before the final, Nadal has Davydenko, Verdasco, Soderling and Murray -- all of them formidable opponents, and perfectly capable of exploiting the chinks in Nadal's armor. So let's hope Nadal takes this as a wakeup call...

Everyone knew this was going to be a tricky match, so we shouldn't be surprised that it proved to be tricky.

I do not think Rafa cud have done anythign much today with his ROS.

The ball was bouncing crazily, so when rafa did decide to move up, he cudnt connect due to the arkwardness of the bounce. He had a hang back to return properly and there was nothing he cud have done about it.

I thougt he played a decent game today. R2 will give us more understanding of his level

I've always maintained that since 2008 ( especially after injury), Rafa's return game has been hit and miss. Unfortunately, this year it's been more miss than hit. And surprisingly it's worse on clay, because I think he didn't do too bad in AO, IW and Miami. Fact is Nadal has beaten an Isner, who played better than he did today, far easier in the past. And I can bet that the Nadal of 2010 or before, wouldn't have dropped a set - or perhaps even gone to a TB.

But as I said before, I wouldn't put too much weight in a first round match against a tricky opponent. If Nadal plays like this in week 2, then it would be more worrying..

imjimmy, you know what, the likes of Gilbert, Cahill and PMac never set the world on fire when they were playing, Cahill was No 22 for 1 week in his entire career and he spent most of it outside the top 100. PMac lost more matches than he won and he only won 1 title, and Gilbert would have given his right arm to achieve half as much as Rafa has so far.

I'm sure Rafa cares a lot about the opinions of people like them.

How bad was Rafa's ROS if he broke Isner 5 times?

@injimmy - what miss are u taking about????

Barring AO, rafa has made the finals or better in all tournaments he has entered. Comeon, give this guy a break.

I think he is doing pretty well and has a very sound shot at retaining his FO crown

nadline: Don't be defensive. What other people are doing is only constructive criticism for Rafa. Nadal is a great player, and 99.5% of the tour would give one hand to play at even his B game.

But everyone knows, what Rafa is capable of. He can hit the ball as cleanly as a Agassi or a Connors and still maintain the tenacity/athleticism of Borg - so when he doesn't play up to his potential - that's when everyone gives their suggestion. I doubt there is any malicious intent; everyone wants Rafa to do well - because he is an all timer and a potential legend..

?What it came down to is the way he played in the fourth and fifth sets,? Isner said. ?I haven?t seen tennis like that ever. That?s why he?s No. 1 in the world and one of the greatest players ever.?

As I mentioned, if Rafa plays aggressively from now on, he can beat anyone and wins the title. I think expert or no expert, anyone can see that. I'm sure Fed or Nole or Murray won't think that Rafa is easily beatable. It's precisely because he can survive Isner despite his less than ideal court positiioning that will make players wonder how much better Rafa can get if he decides to come closer to the baseline and plays aggressively. These players have played against Rafa often enough to know what he's capable of, especially when Rafa's back is being pushed against the wall.

Nadal is in decline.

Unreal he went to five sets in the first round!

Just unreal.

He is in decline.

I recorded the match and was watching it and got so nervous that I finally had to see the score. So it took five sets for Rafa to win this thing! I thought he had things under control being up a break in that second set, but once he was broken back then I had a bad feeling and then losing the tiebreak I knew it was trouble.

I am still watching the match, so I will wait until I see it all to post more thoughts. The commentators were saying now Carlos Costa and Uncle Toni have been trying to get Rafa to move closer to the baseline. They even showed him video of his matches from last year to show him how different his position is now. For some reason, the message isn't getting through to Rafa.

When you let a guy into a match, then this is what can happen. I am hopeful that this match will be a wakeup call for Rafa. It is concerning to see some of the comments here, though.

Daren Cahil said on ESPN2 he was watching the Soderling/Harrison match on court SL when they announced that Rafa had beaten Isner and half the crowd booed. I guess the French crowd still doesn't like Spaniards.

Isner served well. Maybe the new balls did help him. Let's keep in mind that he is now 10-13 on the year though so really he hasn't even played like a top 40 player most of this year. It was the most exciting match I've seen Rafa in here since 2 years ago. Last year Rafa lost no sets. This more human Rafa is better to watch.

yeah, I thought the crowd was cheering for Isner which I don?t care if they were! It?s up to them after all...but to be rude that is another story...I can?t believe those people...they are pathetic not to respect champion like Nadal...anyway, I have never forgiven them the way they supported Sod when he beat Rafa...it came as a surprise for me back then but now I know what to expect...
numero, it may be for you, but for me superhuman Rafa is much better to watch...

there was no amazing fighting spirit required to get the win nadal played 2 poor TBS and thats why the match went to 5 sets, You cant rely on serve alone when you play on clay Isner ground strokes are weak that's what ultimately cost him in the 4th and 5th set

Nada in decline ????????? JHAHAHAHAAHAHA

Remember last Wimbledon ? He was in the same situation against Haase and Petzschner matches... then he won the tourney really easily.

C'mon guys, I can't believe some of you are on the "decline" wagon... he will breeze into this GS and win it... that's FOR SURE.

Emil,

At Wimbledon last year nobody was on a 40 match winning streak and nobody had beaten him in 4 straight Masters finals. He had just breezed through the clay season dropping 2 sets. Big differences.

He may win it but it's no sure thing. Have you seen the way Nole's playing?

Emil, If Rafa, Fed, Murray said Nole confidence is the only key which has make Djokovic better than others this season, so you still think Fed and Rafa is not in declining? I think imjimmy and luckystar has the awsome technical judgment on this rather than being so defensive..

How can Nadal be in decline? He is just 24. It is only after 27 or 28 that a player can be deemed to be in decline.
At 24, if he is not playing well, he is not in form or lacks fitness. In other words unless he has suffered some career threatening or career ending injury, he will bounce back sooner or later.

I'm not sure what decline means for Nadal but even during MC some "experts" saw some early signs even though he was winning so for all you Rafaholics I say don't be too disappointed if he does lose this torunament . His physical game is not going to last much longer!

There is a difference between being in decline and not playing your best. Rafa fans who stand up for him should not be deemed defensive. It's called supporting and believing in your favorite player. I am aware that Rafa hasn't played his best tennis, however I do not agree with imjimmy's reasoning because he was saying the exact same things right before the USO last year. He was wrong at that time, but has never admitted it. He said Rafa would never win the USO because he didn't have the game to win it. So this person is now someone who has technical judgement, or is he just saying what some want to hear?

Rafa has been written off so many times in the past too many times to count. Today he showed that he is capable of fighting back and Isner forced him to raise his level of play and produce some great tennis in the fourth and fifth sets.

We know that some of the Fed fans are savoring what they hope is Rafa's decline. They are saying it to take the attention off Fed's decline, which is real. Rafa's still got it or he would not have been able to come back and win the match.

Clearly understand nny.. I'm in favor of he's not playing his best.. Really look forward of him playing his..

From my opinion, unless he's favoring 1 or 2 courts (say clay and grass) and neglect to becoming best in Hard (slow and fast), he may get his best performance.. I notice that becoming all-courter (best playing) really influence his overall scheme of play.. The way he play best not adopted in every court he encountered..

Or else, if he pass this struggle and maintain consistently his top performance in all court, then he'll be no.1 legend.. I'm a nole fans since he's junior, but following Rafa's mentality and technic of play, I have confident that he can reach this level.. Of course it will cost him a lot since he has already experience knee injury, but I still wait to see the results..

Let's be perfectly clear.... of all the people commenting here there are more or less two kinds... no matter which player they favour: those that want to see what is true as much as possible, and thus will occasionally change their views or one things and another... and those that like to see things as true based much more on what they would like to be real, sometimes not able or wanting to know the difference.That goes for any of the fans of the top 5 players: we are each and every one more or less in the first or the second group.

Now, I've just gone to see whether Steve Tignor had written and posted an article on today's Isner/Nadal match. He did... and it is far more lucid and illuminating than just about anything I've read anywhere on tt lately about ... Nadal among other things.

So if you consider yourself to be in the first camp, no matter who is your idol, I suggest that you take 5 minutes and read The Fifth Set Is All About ... carefully and with an open mind. (This by the same author who has level-headedly written several high lauding articles on Novak of late). Then see if any of your views on today's match or on Nadal's form of late have shifted at all.

I've read Tignor's piece. I always like his writings, very insightful indeed, and unbiased, whether it's about Rafa, Fed or Nole.

Rafa is certainly NOT in decline. If a player can reach six consecutive finals in a row and still be considered in decline, then I don't know how ridiculously good that player is before his decline! Imjimmy may sound harsh or pessimistic at times, but I know he's a Rafa fan and is concerned about Rafa's performances.

To me, in terms of speed and physical power, Rafa of 2011 definitely can't compare with the Rafa of 2008 and the first half of 2009 before his knee injury. Had it not for his knee injury, I feel that Rafa's peak and prime might have startted mid 2008 right up till now, and he might have won three slams in a row in 2009 and three in 2010 too, instead of wasted eleven months of his precious prime winning nothing. Since his 2009 injury, he has changed the way he plays and improves various aspects of his game, in particular his net play and his serve. Also he no longer chases after every ball like nobody's business, but only concentrates on the important ones, and tries to shorten the points as much as possible. If all these improvements in his game are called decline, then who cares whether he's in decline or not. In fact I'm in the belief that Rafa is moving his game to another level, he's playing more aggressively on the faster courts (grass and hard) and is having very good results there, that he now has some problems adjusting back to clay. Maybe the way forward for him on clay is to play on clay like he does on hard courts. He may have to sacrifice his dominance on clay for better results overall. To me, as his fan, as long as he gets his sixth FO title and ties with Borg for the record, it's OK that some other players win the FO after that. After all it has become a burden to Rafa at the FO. He mentioned that he was nervous especially during the two tie breaks becasue this tournament meant a lot to him, understandable as he's the defending champion for so many years.

PS I think those spectators at SL court during the Sod/Harrison match booed after learning of Isner's loss because many of them are Anericans. Please don't always blame the French for booing. I feel that they are not treating Rafa badly after last year or rather after 2009.

http://www.racquetrequired.com/?p=986

isner's post match presser

Thanks for the link, Chlorostoma. This is what separates GS tennis from the rest of the tour, you get to see five-setters with so much at stake.

The article Champions Dividend is very insightful as well. Tennis is a sport where intangibles can play a part like no other.

Nadal is short on confidence after losses to Djokovic. Chinks have been exposed in his game on a few occasions. There is a similarity in his losses at French Open 2009, Australian Open 2010 and 2011, losses in the four finals against Djokovic this year. Players who attack with consistency have more chances to succeed against him. He is vulnerable to big servers in tie breaks. If you let a 220 kph serve from a tall guy reach you head high standing miles behind the baseline, you are inviting trouble. If you do not take the ball early, you will run from side to side, dancing to the tune of your opponent. Neither Isner nor Karlovic have proved to be demons to good returners, not on clay at least. It is not necessary to do post mortem by dissecting Isner?s game. Problems have to be attended at own doors first.

Mats Wilander had a rather different opinion on the match. He said that this wasn't as difficult as it looked for Nadal, especially the way he dominated the fourth and fifth set. He never got into real problems in those two sets.

But he stated that Nadal needs to change his game and needs to take charge of the rallies and not be content by being to passive and wait for the other player to make a mistake. Wilander also said that Nadal's intensity compared to the past, has dropped a level which is only natural.

I totally agree with Wilander for once, Rafa was superior to Isner throughout the match unfortunately he dropped his serve and his concentration went with it but he put himself together again in the final 2 sets and showed what he is made of, when Isner was totally out-played.

Hi, this is my first post. I am a longtime Rafa supporter (since the Miami final of 2005), and really appreciate and enjoy the analysis and discussions all of you undertake on this website. And I really enjoy Luckystar's views on Rafa and his tennis. Luckystar, you always seem to dissect the technical and strategical parts of Rafa's game beautifully. But i would like to disagree partially on some technical aspects like Rafa's volleying skills. I believe Rafa played his best net game (and probably his best return game) in the Wimbledon Final of 2007. In terms of a quick approach in the forecourt and slice backhand volleys that was best I have seen Rafa volley in his career. Also his returns were much better from both wings.Although the low bouncing grass aids both these shots. I always wonder about why he never adopted and improvised on that type of play consistently in his career thereafter. But being such a champion, instead he improvised and adapted his clay court game to both grass courts and hard courts, and conquered all the slams thereafter. His serve has definitely improved although has been a bit inconsistent in crunch games recently.
Also, you have posted Rafa has lost a bit of speed and power from his 2008-early 2009 days (post injury). I agree on this. But didn't he changed his strings at the start of the 2010 season to compensate for this. Thereafter he added speed and depth to his shots from both wings, and this was demonstrated in the most flawless set of hard court tennis that Rafa has played in his life in the Doha Final vs Davydenko.

Lately that depth is missing from both the wings. As per the posters in this discussion, this has been due to him standing far behind the baseline. But why doesn't that depth allow him to take big cuts on both sides; and the increased length of the court would still allow for deep balls from his racquet.

This post is a bit jumbled up, but I would still love to know what everybody thinks of my analysis. Also, I sincerely wish Rafa is able to raise him game in the future matches (combine all positives of FO 08, W 07,08,10 AO 09 and USO 10), and we will see him biting the trophy on 5th June 2011.

I am not in any way saying that imjimmy thinks Rafa is in decline or isn't concerned about Rafa. Not at all. I am simply saying that it seems to be the same detailed, shot by shot analysis every time and then the incessant complaint about the scheduling. The last time I looked, Masters tournaments are mandatory, so there was nothing Rafa could do about playing Madrid and Rome back-to-back like all the top players. The only tournament Rafa added was Barcelona. He played it after MC and then had a week off. I don't think that tournament hurt Rafa in any way, nor do I think it was draining or hard on him. He managed to gain 500 points and win another title. Those are good things. I think Rafa is doing the best he can with his schedule. He did come back from five weeks off after he lost in the quarterfinals with another injury. So he did have some time off.

I think Rafa's problem is lack of confidence and he had it when he came back at IW, even before all the losses to Nole. So it's about something else. We can have our theories, but none of us can know for sure. When he isn't hitting that cc backhand for winners, then I know he's not feeling confident. In the fourth and fifth sets, Rafa found his game. He got that cc backhand ripping for winners and that dtl backhand was also on fire. His game came together. I don't know why it took him being down two sets to one for it to happen, but I am glad that it did. At least Rafa knows that he still has it.

As far as the fans at RG, they have been abominable to Rafa too many times. I will never forgive them for the way they behaved when Rafa lost to Sod in 2009 in the fourth round. Were they Americans then? I am not attacking all French people, just the ones who attend RG.

Steve Tignor has so eloquently said everything I've said about this match.

If Rafa was lacking in confidence coming into RG, I think his match with Isner would have gone a long way to restoring it.

I agree that Steve Tignor wrote an incredible blog about Rafa's match, especially that fifth set. Beautiful stuff!

It is my hope that Rafa found himself in this tough first match. He seemed to come alive in a way that I haven't seen for a while. He also played two sets of absolutely brilliant tennis. I hope he takes that with him the rest of the way.

Good luck in your next match, Rafa!

NNY - I do agree that right now what Rafa lacks is confidence. As I've mentioned many times, it's his illness plus injury that affected his fitness when he came back to play at IW/Miami. His missing his Rafa slam, though we know he tried to downplay his chances, had also affected him. It's no wonder that he was lacking in confidence starting from IW. In addition the losses to Nole, even on clay, had further dented his confidence. He may be a step slower on clay this year, but I find him still quick around the hard courts(strange I may sound). It seems that he has forgotten how to slide well on clay. He's still brillant on clay of course, no need to doubt him, as once he's aggressive we see how well he played, eg his match with Monfils at Barcelona. I do agree that this Isner match will help Rafa, going forward, as he has confronted his problem (his ROS problem) and somehow overcome it, that'll give him more confidence in his future matches. After all it's confidence he's lacking. I'll say it again, if Rafa plays aggressively, he can beat anyone on clay, yes anyone, for he's not the king of clay for nothing!

I'm with you concerning Rafa playing in Barcelona. I think he made the right decision playing there this year, as I can see him being rusty in MC, unlike last year where he almost beat everyone 6-1, 6-0 there. I find Rafa playing his best clay court tennis this year at Barcelona. It's a shame that Rafa's confidence was affected after his two losses to Nole on the hard court and he approached his Madrid final with a tentative mindset rather than going all guns blazing at the get go. I believe if he approached the match with an aggressive mindset, things might turn out differently.

Concerning his schedule, I can't speak for imjimmy. For me, what I'm complaining is his year end scheduling. He had insufficient rest period end of last year and that's not a good preparation for him to win his Rafa slam. I hope his camp learns from this mistake and not repeating that again this year. I think after his 2009 disaster year, his camp has learned a lesson and so far in 2010 and 2011, Rafa has not been overplaying.

vivekm - welcome to TT. I need to re-watch Rafa's Wimbledon 2007 final to recapture how well he volley then.(I've not done so yet). I do remember Rafa playing very well then at 2007 Wimbledon, pushing Fed to the limit. Fed really needed to win two tie breaker sets to stay with Rafa before going ahead to win the championship. Since his 2006 Wimbledon final, Rafa had put in the effort and improve his grass court game. His 2008 Wimbledon performance to me is still the best so far, better than his 2007 and 2010. I also like the way Rafa sliced the ball at Wimbledon 2010. His slices stayed so low and yet made it over the net that left his opponents helpless when trying to return the low flat slices.

As to why Rafa didn't implement his grass court style( that of Wimbledon 2007) onto the hard
courts, I think he needed time to do so as he was still figuring out how to play well on hard courts. It was after his embarrassing defeat at the hands of Tsonga at AO 2008 that he finally woke up and decided something must be done for his hard court games. He did mention that after losing the Miami final to Davy in 2008, that he finally knew how to play the hard court game. That year we saw him winning Toronto and the Olympics, and also reached the semifinal at the USO for the first time. Of course later he went on to win his first hard court slam at the AO 2009. It's a pity that injury had derailed his career for eleven months and he suffered a great deal during that period. It's his strength of character that helped him overcome whatever problems he had and came back strong to win three slams in a row in 2010.

Yes, I do know that he changed his strings at the beginning of 2010, to help him hit with more penetrating shots, basically to deal with the big hitters, after suffering at the hands of Sod and Delpo in 2009. It did help him in 2010. Why not in 2011, so far? I did mention before, that Rafa's shots this year lack weight and pace. I believe after his illness, his fitness was affected and he couldn't hit as hard as he did in the past. However right now, he's slowly getting back to his normal fitness level and I think he'll be hitting more penetrating and weighty shots going forward in this tournament. We shall wait and see how things go from here, but I'm positive that things can only get better.

luckystar, 5/25/11 12:21 PM
'......., but I'm positive that things can only get better'.
I like your optimism :) but things can turn pretty bad, pretty fast too!
It's good that Rafa managed to get through against Isner but this is not what we expected from Rafa.
If he hadn't reached the final of all these tourneys he's played this year, I'd be pretty pesimistic about this RG edition as far as his chances are concerned.
For now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt :) (win or lose I'll always be with Rafa btw).
I just don't understand how he just hands it over to the guy in front sometimes, it's like he likes to run from one side to the other!
vamos Rafa!!!

luckystar, thanks for such a informative reply. IMHO also, Wimbledon 2008 was his best grass court performance to date. I just mentioned Wimbledon 2007 final to emphasize his net game. I also hope he regains the fire in his shots as well reignites the fire in his belly, and wins the FO 11.

Besides, don't forget Nadal has a REALLY easy path to the semis. Do think Davydenko and Verdasco could bother him ? He's already in the semis... and he will probably face Murray, which don't have the power to beat him on clay. So, to me, Rafa fans can sleep in peace.... he is already in the finals.

Oh Gosh!!!!!!!.................give Rafa a break!!!!!!!! So what if he won in five sets................he still won!!! What is it you people want.............its the best three out of a five set match!!!!!

That was a good match for Rafa so that he knows the areas has to brush up on................its good that it happened now and not in the later rounds where he could be stunned by a better player!! You guys complain sometimes that its not always a good thing when a players breezes through his early round matches, and now that Rafa was taken to five sets................then its still a problem!!!!!!............gosh man!!!!!!

VAMOS RAFA........one match at a time!!

"Besides, don't forget Nadal has a REALLY easy path to the semis."

Emiliano55................really?!!!! Well ALL the top four have easy passes to the semis then!!!!

Emiliano,
Are you not being a little one-sided? Claycourts are fairly prone to upsets and we may be very used to fedal almost always reaching finals or close to finals so we might lose sight of how tough it is even for the top 4 or 5 players to win every single match on the way to the last rounds. If this was Rafa of '08 on clay or '10 then you would be right: anyone preventing him from reaching the final was not likely at all. But for whatever reason Nadal has been playing far below his 95% level for quite a while now and so reaching the final is going to possible but more difficult than in his best-so-far clay years.

Rafa's on-court habits:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/multimedia/index.html

Rafa admitted he did not play the tie-breaks well because he played "too nervous" a game and as a result was on court for two hours longer than he should have been. "These are things that happen. It's the first round," he reflected. "I could have done better, quite clearly. But you need to see the positive side of things. I was stressed, but I managed to overcome my stress. The negative is that I was in control of the match, and then I lost control and I spent two hours more than what I should have. So I made mistakes, but I accept I was nervous. I knew that I would not play the tie break very well. I accepted that. It should not have happened, yet it did."

I would not consider Rafa's draw an easy path...no way...out of Isner, Davy, Verda and Murray I would definitely consider Isner the easiest opponent on clay and just look what happened...I just hope Rafa can concentrate to play HIS CLAY game...it's then irrelevant who his opponent is...

chlorostoma,

Nadal could not be the one he was at 2008... but you really think Verdasco and Davydenko can take him out from the French ???

Think again, do you really think so ? LOL.


I think its time for you all Nadal fans to see the whole picture.

Fortunately I'm not a Roger or Rafa fan, so I can see the things objectively.

Emiliano55 is clearly a Fed fan although he claims he is not. In any case he is delusional and weak on logic like numero and torres9, thereby eminently qualifying him to be a Fed fan. numero insisted that Isner was a walkover. Now this guy says Davydenko, Soderling and Murray are no threats.
I suppose he thinks Federer's path to the finals is laced with big threats who can take him out from the French? Poor Fed having to face big threats like Maxim Teixeira!
His quarter final opponent is Ferrer who couldn't even win at Nice, has two ATP titles this year, withdrew from Rome, never been beyond the quarters in French Open (2005, 2008), ranked 7.
Soderling comes off wins in his three singles rubbers at Dusseldorf, has 3 ATP titles this year, has been the finalist in the last two French Opens taking out in both cases the defending champion and no 1 seed on his way to the finals ( was he a threat, Emiliano55, in 2009 and 2010 to the then world no. 1 and defending champion?) and is ranked 5.
What whole picture is Emiliano55 talking about?
And as for claiming he is objective, not only do his posts prove he is delusional, but they prove his logic is poor. According to him, upsets don't exist so we can all relax and in no Grand Slam is a top player ever eliminated before the finals because Emiliano55 says so and E55 is objective.
Rafa can think that though he has an adverse head to head with Davy and lost to him even at the last meeting, he need not worry because E55 says so and E55 is objective.
Rafa needn't worry about Soderling although he took out Rafa in the 4th round of this very slam because Emiliano55 says so and Rafa fans can relax because Emiliano55 is objective.
Rafa needn't worry about Murray although Murray reached the semis of the two clay masters he took part in and gave Rafa and Nole a fight. Why? Because E55 says so.
Andy has never defeated Rafa on clay, so he never will.What if Djoko recently showed that for a 24 year old superstar, there could be a first and even a second time.
Why should we assume that 24 year old Andy who has shown signs of improvement on clay is no threat? Because E55 is objective and he says so.
Hey E55 , I suppose Fed wasn't worrying about Djoko in this year's AO because you would have seen the big picture and assured him he had nothing to worry about and that you were objective?

It is impossible to discuss with some fanboys... honestly. I'm not going to enter into this stupid game pointing facts because I will have to write a long text and I don't want to.

Enjoy tennis and stop crying about how Nadal will lose this tourney, because you all know that is not gonna happen, at least until the final. That's all I'm gonna say.


PS: And yes, Federer has a difficult path also, don't be surprised if Ferrer takes him out.

E55, look we are not saying that Rafa will lose.............well, what I am saying is that Rafa does not have an EASY draw like you say. Now everyone is playing better than last year and getting closer to Rafa's level..........so his draw is not as easy as you make it out, but I have no doubt that Rafa could make it to the final! But like I said before, one match at a time!

monalysa, that is exactly what I am thinking...and I just want to see Rafa playing his game again...and I hope he will get to it...the rest will solve by itself...

Ha E55 claims Federer has a difficult path to the finals although the only guy with any credentials in his quarter is Ferrer and as I pointed out, his credentials are very poor compared to Soderling's.
So the objective E55 has proved my contention that he is a deluded Fed fan and if he is objective then I am Einstein.
No one's crying. We are just analyzing the draw and the difficulty of getting through the quarter.
So can you deny that Rafa's quarter is more difficult than Federer's?
If you think 29-year-old Ferrer, who is Federer's contemporary and who when in his prime did not give Fed any trouble, will now give him trouble but 26-year-old Soderling, still in his prime, and who had given Rafa trouble in this very tournament is no threat, then you really need to question your objectivity.
This is not to rule out the possibility of Ferrer upsetting Federer or Rafa rolling over Soderling. But just to tell you that an objective person with the data available, will put Soderling's chance of upsetting Rafa higher than Ferrer's chance of upsetting Federer.

lucky,

I always like to read your comments. I do agree with you about the scheduling after the USO. I thought it was too soon for Rafa to come back and play three tournaments. I believe he will not be playing Bangkok again this year. I do hope that he can continue to try and be as reasonable as possible, given that there isn't much room in the tennis calendar.

I don't we have any real areas of disagreement.

vivekm,

Welcome to the site! I loved reading your thoughts about slams finals in which Rafa played his best. Great to have you here!

I think it's truly absurd to act as though Rafa has an easy draw. The criteria for what is an easy or difficult draw should take into account how the player matches up against those in his part of the draw. Tall big serving guys like Isner are always capable of giving Rafa trouble. Having someone like that in the first match is truly a nightmare. Davy has always been problematic for Rafa. Even though he has dropped in the rankings and is no longer playing as well as he did in the past, he still has the kind of game to give Rafa trouble. He is one of a very few players who have a h2h advantage. Another matchup with Sod could also be dangerous, providing he is in good form. We all know how Murray can trouble Rafa.

Why people have to play games and pretend that this draw is so easy, I have no idea.

I see holdserve is still upset by the humiliation I gave him the other day. Do you really want some more of the same? Yeah that's what I thought. Don't forget your place next time.

So it's logical to think that a player who is 10-12 on the season and playing on his worst surface would be the first opponent to force the King of Clay to 5 sets? I didn't see anybody predicting that. In any case my 'prediction' was reverse psychology and I was very pleased that Isner stretched him that much.

So by your logic, every fan who doesn't agree with your arrogant opinions must be a Fed fan and it's up to you to say that they are even if they deny it. Apparently there are a lot more Fed fans here than I thought. Congratulations on your status 2% ...err make that Albert Einstein.

Numero you did not humiliate me. You harassed me. You are a troll . You have no logic and are just full of allegations and petty enough to rejoice in the treatement given by Parisians to their great champion.
Why should I feel humiliated? But logic clearly isn't your strong point. Harassing others with false allegations is.

Numero, anyone who attacks Rafa and acts deluded is a Fed fan. Though as many of them are now becoming Nole fans, I should say Fed or Nole fans.
the logic is quite simple, my dear numero-troll. Elementary my dear....