Well, Fed failed when attempting his Fed slam or the calendar slam; Rafa failed when attempting his Rafa slam. Let's see whether Nole can get his Nole slam this year. To be honest, I don't think he can do it. I think he missed his chance last year, when Rafa looked more vulnerable.

I've watched the Rafa/Nole 2008 FO SF again, noticed that as usual Rafa always started playing his normal not too aggressive game. Mind you, his normal game was good enough to beat everyone on clay! So it was 6-4, 6-2 the first two sets, Rafa winning comfortably. Came the third set, Nole was playing more freely, throwing everything at Rafa by the kitchen sink, coming to the net as much as possible and played very aggressively, he even had a set point at 6-5. However, Rafa decided to play his aggressive game and first, saved the set point and forced a tiebreak, next he played his aggressive game and won the next six points in a row and got to 6-0 in the tie break. Nole fought back to win three points before losing the tiebreak 7-3. To me, once Rafa decided to play aggressive tennis, he'll be almost impossible to beat.

Even when he's not playing well at Madrid last year in the final, when he was 4-0 or 4-1 down, once he started playing aggressively, he managed to win the next four or five games and got to 5-5, and only an unlucky net cord caused him the first set. I've been wondering why in the first place Rafa won't play aggressively from the very beginning, but had to make life difficult for himself by giving chase all the time. The same happened in his match with Delpo at IW. Was it nerve, or was it because he just can't play his aggressive game all the time? And being aggressive is what he needs to beat all the players out there, especially Nole.

This is not the same Nole of 2008. If anyone can beat Rafa in a RG final, I would say it's Nole, maybe Fed a close 2nd (unfortunately he's getting on in age and was nearly beaten by Nole in last year's SF and can't always stay focus an entire match). Rafa may get aggressive but don't think that Nole will just stand there do nothing, he raised his level at the AO finals when Rafa got aggressive. Nole has proven enough of what he can do to Rafa in slams, even beating him on GRASS which people are still saying is his worst surface. Don't forget Nole had a walkover last year at RG before he met Fed, which probably didn't work in his favour. Like Fed, Nole is very good at managing his schedule whereas Rafa is crap at that (although getting better albeit slowly).

IW will probably tell us where Rafa and Nole are. And maybe Monte Carlo for Rafa (although it didn't help him last year). Of course we know not to write off Rafa and his comebacks. Also, unlike Rafa, Nole is not negative about himself and whether or not he can hold 4 slams at once (and probably doesn't have an uncle telling him there are players better than him!!!) - all great for self belief!!

Rafa did not play aggressively the whole of the AO final and that's the problem for him. He regressed back to his old way of playing CC forehand to Nole's backhand in set 2 and 3, and that's why I mentioned on another thread that Rafa had his strategy wrong. If he continued playing aggressive in the second set, he'll most probably won it. The third set might be a breather and Nole would win, and Rafa had to play aggressively again in the fourth to win the match. Do note that Nole was employing that strategy at Wimbledon final last year. He capitalized on Rafa's nerve in the first set, then he played aggressively in the second to win it. Two sets up, he could afford to breath a little bit easier in the third, and got back in the fourth to beat Rafa, after Rafa spending so much energy in the third to get back a set. The same could be said of the USO final too. The problem with Rafa was that he started his matches (against Nole) with unsure footing and took a long time to calm his own nerve. He got his strategy wrong too by choosing too late a time during the match to be aggressive. At AO this year, he was having the winning momentum after the first set but didn't choose to continue playing aggressively to win the second set.

What he needs to do going forward, is to start being aggressive at the get go and tries to win the first two sets. He's always putting himself at the disadvantaged position when he started playing defensively instead of playing offensively. He needs to overcome this flaw in his game. Two three years back, ain't people saying the same thing about Nole, that he didn't have the belief that he could beat Fed or Rafa? See how things change now, that when Nole starts winning, here comes his confidence and his abilities to dig out a win even under a losing situation. Didn't we used to say the same about Rafa a few years ago, when he was sky high in his confidence and simply refused to lose, and how many times he won his epic matches by simply digging deep and snatched victory from the mouth of defeat? I see we all have short memories. Will we be saying the same thing about Nole, once he starts faltering and losing his matches?

To me, Rafa lost the AO final not because of that missed passing shot in the fifth set, but rather that double fault in the second set which cost him the second set. Winning that second set we might not even have a fifth set!

Time and again, we can see that once Rafa plays his aggressive game, he can beat anyone, like his Wimbledon wins against Murray year after year, his wins over Nole in the past. The problem now for Rafa is how to sustain that aggressive play throughout a whole match. I doubt he can play four or five sets of non stop aggressive tennis, so a more sensible aproach is to time his aggressive play properly, ie by winning the first two sets playing aggressively, relax a bit in the third, and getting back to business in the fourth or even the fifth.

How he plays at IW/Miami, followed by MC and Barcelona will tell us where his game is at this year; if he continues to start slow in his matches, then I'm afraid he's in for a hard time this year. I think he may skip Madrid this year, if he's going to Barcelona. I heard he's unhappy about the blue clay at Madrid, so I think he may find an excuse to skip Madrid. I don't think he's playing all five clay tournaments this year, especially when the Olympics is round the corner, so the earliest that Rafa and Nole may meet in clay may be at Rome, assuming Nole is playing the Serbian Open and may give MC a miss.

I am in agreement with jean regarding how difficult it is to play aggressive tennis against Nole these days. As she said, it's not like Nole is going to stand there and be passive. The key is to look for the opportunities and be aggressive at the right moments. Rafa did very well to win the first set, something he was unable to do against Nole in their slam finals last year. The reason he double-faulted the second set away, had nothing to do with defensive play. He wasn't able to get a crucial first serve in at that point. So he was faced with having a second serve against a great returner like Nole. The pressure of that situation is what caused him to double-fault. He was pressing and didn't have confidence in his second serve. How often do we see Rafa double-fault a set away?

I think the third set was a key in this match. After losing the second set in that way, Rafa seemed to lose his focus and confidence. That was when he reverted to defensive mode. Nole had already raised his level of play and was able to dictate the points throughout that third set. Rafa was totally out of it and couldn't seem to find his way out of trouble. It looked like this would be another typical four set Nole win.

However, Rafa started fighting back in the early games of that fourth set. He sensed what was happening and was able to turn the tide and get back in the match. I thought that was another key point in the match. This was something that Rafa had not done in his previous slam losses to Nole last year. This was the difference.

It's not like Rafa has a switch he can throw to play aggressive tennis. The most important thing is for him to be feeling confident, have belief that he can take on Nole and be mentally strong. He showed those qualities in the fourth set and into the fifth set.

When all is said and done, it's not as simple as just saying - play aggressive. Rafa managed to seize the initiative and change the dynamic of the match in that fourth set. That will help him the next time he faces Nole on court. If it was easy to play aggressive tennis against Nole, believe me Rafa would do it. It's a challenge because now Nole has that belief that he can find a way to win even when his back is against the wall. He is winning the way Fed and Rafa always did it.

I/W will give us some answers, but there's a lot of tennis to be played. We will also see how Rafa looks when we get to the clay court season.

Not true, it's not only against Nole but also against Delpo at IW. So it not that it's difficult to play aggressively against Nole, as Fed was able to do just that. The problem lies with Rafa himself, because he doesn't come with an aggressive mindset, especailly when he's low in confidence. It's only when hrs desperate to win, that he started off playing aggressively.

I remember we had a discussion about Rafa playing aggressively during early 2010. It was during Doha that year, when Rafa came out all guns blazing in the final against Davy. He beat Davy 6-0 in the first set, all because he played aggressively, but once Davy fought back in the second set, Rafa couldn't sustain his aggressive play. And that's why I said, it's a flaw in Rafa's game, that he couldn't sustain his aggressive play for long, and he ended up having to grind his way to a win, and sometimes even a loss.

Rafa did revert back to his CC forehand to Nole'a backhand play in the second set. He simply couldn't play as if his back was against the wall, in the second set to win it. He could only play theta way when his back was really against the wall, in the fourth set. I guess it's something very hard for him to change, so he had to resort to grinding out wins most of the time.

Congratulations Nole, what a fabulous year you've had! Now come on Andy, wake up!

Congrats to Nole, he truly deserves it.

Tennis should be truly proud to have conered the market on the Laureus Award.

If the last two comments are a hint to get back on topic, then I will drop this discussion about Rafa.

Congratulations to Nole for a well deserved award.

a while to go before the French Open; there is no doubt it would be centred around the Nole Slam (aka Serena Slam in open era) and whether he can achieve it; I don't think he will although he is in supreme form;

I think Murray will make his first French Open final (either by beating Djoker if the draw similar to Aussie open or as per the draw even Nadal if they are drawn to meet; I think it might even throw up a surprise by Federer beating Nadal in the semis if drawn like the Aussie open; and if Djoker makes the final I believe Fed/Nadal would deny him this; if Murray makes the final I think Federer will beat Murray for his fourth GS final loss with Murray taking at least a set or two off Federer; then the next final Murray reaches he will win to follow Lendl's footsteps)

Good for tennis that Fed, Rafa and Nole all have won this award. Rafa missed his award in 2008, losing to Usain Bolt. Seeing Jensen Button of F1 had won this in 2009, I thought Sebastian Vettel might win it this time given the season that he had last year, from start to finish, so it's good that tennis triumph in the end.

I thot discussing about Nole winning the FO and Olympics would inevitably lead to discussion about Rafa, as Rafa is the defending champion of both tournaments. Time to stop discussing I think. The Nole fans should be on this thread instead, I'll take my leave then. Good day everyone.

Congratulations to Nole! He has been truly great and exceptional in 2011! Not many people will be able to repeat such results...and even more amazing is Nole's optimism and his determination to continue the way he did last year...I really admire his attitude. Great job, Nole!

If you believe you can do something, the chances are greater you'll do it. It doesn't mean you WILL, but the chances are much higher. So, Nole definately has a good chance of completeng the "Nole slam".
A top athlete will always strive to be the best, he will always find motivation to win trophies. It's why I respect Fed (the tennis player, not the man), even at this age, he won everything, got loads of money, and he's still playing top level tennis.

Congrats to Novak and his fans - a very worthy recipient of the award.

The biggest mistake Nadal made in strategy was not running Noles the entire game and especially the 4th and 5th sets. It was clear to everyone that by the end of the 4th that Noles was having trouble moving his feet, even the announcers said it during the tie break when Noles missed because he didn't move his feet.

Had Nadal came out in the 5th set and ran Noles as much as Noles was running him around the court, the 5th would have been a cake walk for Nadal. If you get a chance to watch the 5th set again, watch how many times Nadal would hit a ball almost right back to Noles, barely making him move. Four, five or more times in a row. Nadal looked like he thought he was in warm-up, all the while Noles, playing likes he's actually in championship match, is moving Nadal around the court on almost every shot.
For a player of Nadal's caliber and experience to fail to use one of the most basic strategies in any sport where stamina is an issue, wear your opponent down, was an epic failure. How Nadal could play such down right stupid tennis is beyond me.

It's not like Nadal was fresh either.