Vamos Rafa!

They are playing for a spot in the Qtrs aren't they?

All the live streams I have tried this week seem to be buffering a lot. So frustrating.
Can anyone recommend one that is working well in Europe??

Vamos Rafa...................damn work, can't watch him play!!

ed, try Fromsport.com. It's a European site. Click on the first match link, that says 'video' and wait for the adverts to clear. Go down to the right bottom which will bring up a square box, click on that and you'll get a full screen.

thanks. off to try that now.

Good luck Rafa - Vamos .................

fromsport always works great for me.

Mayer playing really well so far.

Nadal saved 2 BP at 5-4. Crap...

wow. That was great tennis.

'Save' doesn't do them justice.
Quite stunning.
He's not just here to make up the numbers is Mayer.

Now he loses to Mayer. God damn it, Nadal is becoming quite an idiot.

Excuse me. He has lost a set. Not the match. Well at least not just yet.

I'm not watching the match just following the scores.
But was nadal that saved the SP or was Mayer that wasted them?

Anyway 1st set Mayer 7-6.

Mayer is playing some superb tennis. He's very under-rated IMO.
@bleck, why aren't you watching the match? It's very high quality tennis. If i might add, ore pleasurable than USO.

Simon lost to Ebden in three sets. The seeds are falling like nobody's business here. Too much tennis for being successful during the season?

Hnd Murray the Shanghai Open title..without a doubt he will take it esp with Tsonga, Fish, Simon all falling by the wayside

Nadal - Over to 2012..Dont have any hopes now for 2011.

Well it's academic now as he lost the set, but he most definitely saved them!
Nadal quite often loses the first set & then goes on to win, but he's not been in the most positive frame of mind recently, that's for sure.

Er I meant the 1st set is often close with Nadal.
Losing it is perhaps a bit too close.

The Rafa we're seeing now is one that can't have the clarity of thoughts on the tennis court. in the past he's so good in problem solving, now we're seeing a confused kid out there. Go take a long break Rafa, and then come back fresh and healthy and prepared for the new season. Its OK that you're not winning anything for the rest of this season, you've already played and done enough for this season.

@scoretracker, I have other things to do. So I just check the scores every now and then.

@bleck, I'm off today, but I worked last night. Now I'll have to sleep all day.
Mayer has some good S&V skills and nice net play also.

Well Mayer has to keep playing amazingly to win or he's toast Luckystar.
Always the way with Rafa unless you're confident & patient (& talented) enough to shrink the court a bit & wait for your chances as Murray and Novak have demonstrated this year.

@scoretracker, I've seen Florian Mayer play a couple of times he is definitely an unorthodox player. I like this kind of players like dolgopolov, santoro, dimitrov,...
Players that mix it up, play varied shots, come to the net every now and then.
So I actually enjoy watching mayer a lot.

Have a nice sleep.

@bleck, it's the unpredictability that you like. I happen to like that too and find it very exciting. Thanks, I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby, as it's way past my bedtime.

Mayer is in every one of nadal's service games, which does not bode well for nadal.

Oh noo..down a break in 2nd..really bad bad

Though Mayer deserves to win..playing really unorthodox, gutsy and mixing it up really well

Whats gotten into you Rafa?

Has there ever been a year where both Rafa and Fed have played below par for full season?Welcome 2011

oh, oh, Mayer brok. He's dropping the balls very low to Nadal's feet which makes it difficult for him to get his racket on them.

too good

All I can say is that Mayer is in the zone, and Rafa is just mystified.

Well that's all done and dusted l-(( It's up to Andy now to profit from a clear path to the final.

Wow. Mayer really earned that one.

No sosueme, I've seen Rafa play enough to know that whether he'll win or not. Today is not the day he'll win.

So Mayer wins, Congrats to Mayer, well done. I always know he is a special player.

@Ricky & cheryl, did you guys expect to see this from Mayer?

lucky : Do you ahve any hopes for Rafa in Paris, WTF? Or its curtains down?

What do you guys think will Rafa do n 2012? I dont know what to expect? Either he will rise like a phoenix or go downhill from here..I dont think there will be a middleground..

When Fed was having his bad year in '08, even Bennetau beat him. Canas beat him twice., yet Fed rebounded in '09, and achieved excellent results. As Yogi berra says, it's not over till the fat lady sings.Comms to ed .

Oh my goodness, sorry all you Rafa fans :( Rafa has definitely lost some fire/fight but Mayer has been playing the tennis of his life. Take lucky's advice, Rafa.
Not counting Andy chickens yet, didn't look that gr8 against Stan.

well even Rafa had a brilliant 2010 after having a disastrous second half in 2009 plagued by injuries and losing to Top 10 players continuously in 2nd half

I hope Rafa really bounces back in 2012..and atleast takes 12-13 slams :-)

But not in my wildest dreams I would have thought Rafa would be stuck at just 3 titles for the season (:-

Florian Mayer's performance :worship:

scoretracker - I thought Mayer would take 1 set, not 2. I DID know that he'd give Nadal trouble. He's been playing REALLY well recently, but I didn't think Nadal would lose to him.

And Ricky, good for him playing like this in the "Autumn" of his career. I like "late" bloomers...;)

There seems to be a trend for players in their late 20s, who have been under the radar for most of their career, to emerge and start playing the kind of tennis that can beat the big boys. Melzer did it last year, Fish is still doing it, and now Mayer.

Deuce: I'll have that double whisky sitting on the sofa now.

ed, here you are, cheers m'dear. We'll just sit back and watch this in a stress free way. Hope Mr Delicious Eye Candy wins...but he probably won't, Big Bird is playing too well.

Sanju, Rafa's ROS really sucks, but I've to say Mayer serves very well today, mixing his serves so well. As i've mentioned before, Rafa's tools are getting rusty this year, the serve, the backhand, the court position and the ROS. Time to go polish up all his tools! Rafa does have the varieties in his game but he's always not using them until its too late, when he's chasing from behind.

It will be interesting if both Mayer and Murray can make it to the final and we can see them out foxing each other.

nobody KNEW Mayer would give Nadal trouble

Nadal usually devours opponents who play like that. The normal recipe to beat Nadal is ball-bashing or being Novak Djokovic.

Also don't be too harsh on Rafa, he has already tried his best, its just that his best is not enough during this period of the season. As good a season as he had last year, he also succumb to Melzer at the same stage here in Shanghai. This is the first time he plays Mayer so he doesn't know what to expect, and he's definitely mentally tired during this part of the season. Let him goes back and takes some good rest, think of what he has to do to polish up his game. He has already played 79 matches this year and there'll be more to come. He played the most matches this year and yet he's resting the least among the top guys.

The positive thing is come next year, Rafa can skip this Asia swing as he doesn't have many points to defend, and next year being the Olympics year, every player involved will have a hard time playing the full schedule. To me, Rafa will bounce back for sure, he's too good not to. Nole has also injured himself after having this good season that he has. Its Murray's time to shine this part of the season so let's watch how he deals with the rest of the field here in Shanghai.

I'm pretty much glad the "regular" season is over for Rafa and all that's left for him now is the World Tour Finals and Davis Cup. While it's been a good season for Rafa, it's also been a long season, filled with a bit of injury, sickness, and disappointing losses that have put a serious crack in the confidence of the guy who is usually the most mentally tough player on tour.

When Rafa said that he vowed on both coming back stronger and solving the Djokovic problem in 2012, he meant it, and I believe him. The real Rafa is planning to return in 2012 with a vengeance, and I expect that he will waste no time making his intentions known and crystal clear. With that said, I do hope that Rafa avoids all the unnecessary exhibitions and traveling, and gets the rest that he really needs. If he is to turn things around, plenty of off-season rest is and will be CRUCIAL.

Is there anyone LEFT for Andy to play against in Shanghai?
I was looking forward to a possible Nadal/Murray showdown here.
Dang!
I just hope Andy takes these journeymen type players seriously however.
We all know what happens when he doesn't.

sosueme, I'm looking forward to Murray vs Mayer now, though there are still matches to be played. As I said earlier on, it'll be interesting to see the two outfoxing each other. A Murray vs Dolgo match may be interesting too. Also Mayer vs Lopez should be nice too.

Assuming Mayer gets past whoever's next,
Usually these players when they scalp a big one...
Well, they get a nosebleed don't they & come crashing down & then out.
Maybe Mayers stoic German reserve shall immunise him against this.
Anyway, by the time they meet (if), Murray will have adapted to the courts/balls.
And Mayer will be a goner...
I'm  into Dolgo's unconventionality, although he can look a bit amateurish sometimes as well.
Yeah, let's see how it goes shall we?
Anyhoo, not too long till London!

Sorry had to rush off after that welcome drink. Was it a good match?
You have to admit Berdy is pretty easy on the eye too ;-)

At least I'm now freed up to cheer Andy all the way. I'll not forgive him easily if he doesn't clinch this one.

No, Mayer seemed steady and matured enough not to be overwhelmed by the victory. He also played well to knock out Nalby earlier on. His next opponent Lopez plays the S & V game and is competent at the net, so it will be an interesting encounter. I feel that Lopez may fare better than Rafa against Mayer, so it may go to three sets.

Well, I woke up to find that Rafa lost to Mayer. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that this might happen. I knew that Mayer was playing well. Rafa seems to be in some kind of funk now.