Vamos David - good luck and have a great match.

I want to see how Berdych apporaches this match. Will he improve match by match, from losing when in a winning position, to barely squeezing out a win from an opponent who had beaten him more often than he beats his opponent. Will he improve further by beating Ferrer with a convincing win.

If both Berdych and Tsonga can do well here, I feel that they're the two guys to look out for in the slams in 2012, if Nole and Murray are still bothered by injuries and Rafa still hasn't found his mojo back. They may be the two guys to stop Fed in his quest for more slams if the top three guys are not there at the later stages of the slams. They both had already stopped Fed in slams in the last two years, they may do so too come next year.

Luckystar,
its highly unlkely Novak & Murray shall not be in the latter stages of the slams come next year.
Murray needs a week to 10 days off, no training.
Novak apparently about the same.
I'm (as I know you are) interested to see how Novak deals with defending all of those titles he won this year.
Let's just hope for a better share around next year, shall we?

A few weeks ago we were surpised at the schedule Murray made. He wanted to cream Fed in Basel. Some of us warned Murray that that decission could backfire upon him. It did and do not think that only 10 days will be enough for Murray or Novak to heal their bods then come again. They have and still are putting their body and mindset in the red. If I can see that happening then there is something wrong with their take on things and teh people around them. December is almost upon us and then time to practise and train is only 2 weeks? away.

I dont think Fed will fear Berdych/Tsonga this time when it comes to the quarters. He will be ready more then last year.

Wow already everybody is taking the rise of Fed very serious.

Sienna, "Wow already everybody is taking the rise of Fed very serious."

That's a very good sign. lol

bleck
Luckystar is already hoping and praying Berdych and Tsonga will stop Fed in his hunt for #17.

Heh heh, I only hope for Rafa to win slams. I think Fed won't win any more slam, that's my take. For two years now he can't win any, not going to happen for him (Fed), with Nole, Rafa, Murray around, plus Delpo, Tsonga and Berdych. He has to wait for the stars to align for him, ie all these players are sick or injured, and no promising new kids on the block, before he can win another.

And I only Andy Lucky!
I'm not taking the rise of Fed seriously,
He has long arisen & is always a threat, IF the stars align for him.
Just because he flattened Rafa in this tournament chages nothing in my estimation of him, or his chances next year, which was already high.
But never the highest, I mean come on his time of dominance has long passed.
Murray had a few niggles , he's played the least of the 4 and he'll be ready.
And this time, it shall be inevitably better all around, judging from the last 6 months anyway.

If Berdych wins this, no matter the result, he will win the group and playing Tsonga in the semis avoiding Federer. So double motivation for him.

Keeping this in mind, I give Thomas the edge on this match..

Surely Berdy cannot top the group?

Heh heh I think Fed won't win any more slam, that's my take. For two years now he can't win any, not going to happen for him (Fed), with Nole, Rafa, Murray around, plus Delpo, Tsonga and Berdych. He has to wait for the stars to align for him, ie all these players are sick or injured, and no promising new kids on the block, before he can win another.

Is thsi man serious? Berdy Tsonga Del Potro Murray even? They are clearly favorti if they meet Fed. LOL
Nadal? has unofficially retired yesterday. Novak is outting his mind and body in the red and he will wake up after the olympics. He is a gonner.
And who agrees with Luckystar ? Nadaline.
And who agrees with Sienna? Rod Laver.

In the mean time Djokovic suitcase is packed and he is wishing that berdy takes the set so he can leave for home.

If Daveed would just slow down instead of rushing and making stupid unforced errors.
Berdy is keeping his head. Think he will take this one just as long as he doesn't choke at the final moment so still touch and go who will win.

Not so touch and go now. lol. Short of a mega lapse Berdy has got it sewn up.

It's hilarious too see the hardcore Nadal fanatics are not yet going away, even after such thrashing he got at the World Tour Finals! They like it or not, time now is much more favorable for the big servers one more, and except for the French, Nadal is not going to make much in any of the other slams.

It's all about Federer for sure! Such is the elegance and movement of the maestro on court, it feels like Slams are boring with him gone early. So, needless to say, Tennis is looking forward to a good time with Nadal almost gone except grass, and players like Isner/Del Po/Murray etc. etc. will muscle it out with Novak and Federer. Hope he and Federer shares the 4 slams next year.

About this ongoing match, what happens if Berdych looses this match in 3 sets? Who gets through to the semis from Group- A?

Ferrer has already qualified so he should ease off now and not tire himself out for the SF tomorrow.

If Berdych loses in 3 Djokovic goes through on the basis of h2h with Berdych. I don't think that situation will arise as Ferrer can't win this match now.

Fed/Tsonga will be the final.

Solitudine, I remember you spouting out after Rafa pulled out of the AO against Murray in 2010 that he was just a claycourter and would never win on any other surface.

Rafa went on to win RG, but Wimbledon, Olympic Gold and the USO.

So keep it up, you are a great mascot.

Back to reality/Planet Earth for Ferrer.

Heh heh, I seemed to remember Rod Laver also predicted that Fed would win the AO 2009, and looked who was reduced to tears! This year wasn't Fed one of the favorites at the AO after his WTF showing last year and we saw what happened!

What have 'beautiful' tennis got to do with winning? So Fed losing to Tsonga at Wimbledon and Nole at the AO/USO meant that he's not playing 'beautiful' tennis??

Congrats to Berdych, should be a good semifinal between Tsonga/Berdych. These two guys have been playing some good tennis during this hard court swing, bode well for them for the coming season. They may not be as outstanding as the top four but with them around playing some good tennis, they'll make the competition more interesting.

If Berdych had lost to Ferrer, Djokovic would have gone through and could have ended up winning the trophy even though he did no better than The Special One in the first three rubbers. In fact Rafa won 1 more net game than Djokovic.

What a farce!

Heh heh, I wonder who are the ones who reached the hard court slam finals this season. The old guy only shines indoors these days and I don't seem to remember any slams being played indoors, well his fanatical supporters certainly hope for rain to come during the AO and Wimbledon. Shame that the old guy is having such fanatical supporters, they're the ones who made people want him to lose, just to have them smacked on the face for their smugness!

heh, heh, luckystar and nadaline are holding the ford, but it all will be in vain. Their guy has just retired himself from toptennis. No passion, no spirit, no lust, no training but complacency, self destruction, layziness.
I feel sorry for Rafa but feel joy for those ignorant Fedhaters. They deserve to go through this humiliation their fallen idol under goes.

It's a shame that sienna here is at her ignorant self again, spreading rumors about Rafa. May I offer you a little help here, go look for his presser transcript, read and hopefully you can manage to understand what's he's saying. He's not going away, sorry the Fed fanatics, Rafa is here to stay and we'll see Fed's slam dreams thwarted again and again, not only by Rafa, but by Nole and those giants!

Heh heh, Has Costa already announced theteam he'l pick for the final?
Probably he wants to wait a few days and see how the train. If he really was looking for spirit he would not even select Rafa as a substitute. My goodnes what a wreck that man will be next week.

Heh heh, Maybe they can fly Novak's POD over from the USA. So Rafa can work on fitness without having to work for it.

Enough of sienna BTW, I'll leave her with her compatriot(s) to gloat for this precious little part of the season.

Berdych vs Tsonga, I hope for a Berdych win. Tsonga seems too rash a player and often goes for broke and makes some stupid shot selections. I think Berdych is slightly better. So happy to see him held his nerve and won the second set. I hope they don't grind each other to dust and have nothing left for the final. Best of luck to both.

Commies to Ferrer too, still, he's in the semifinal. Best of luck too for the semi, he certainly needs that.

Heh heh, Gloating will happen if you and youre fellow Nadalfans are claiming Fed played like a god to beat Nadal.
Because Nadal was not sick or injured so it must be god who defeated him.

If Berdych wins this, no matter the result, he will win the group and playing Tsonga in the semis avoiding Federer. So double motivation for him.

Keeping this in mind, I give Thomas the edge on this match..

Emiliano55 , 11/25/11 7:18 PM

I'm hot with my predictions lately hehe :)

lucky,

I see you are still here, trying to talk tennis in the midst of the silliness.

Don't worry, we know that this is just a brief moment for them and they have to make the most of it. There has not been much to celebrate this year for Fed fans, so this is their time. It's a nice run for Fed, but will not mean much in the long run.

I expect Murray to come out strong in 2012. He has shown some great form in the fall hard court season and some signs of maturity. Nole will get some rest and then be back to try to defend all those points. I hope that Rafa and his Spanish team can win DC and end the year on a high note. I also hope that Rafa gets some rest and a chance to clear his head and focus on his goals for 2012. I am so proud of him now that I know just how ill he was and that he fought well in spite of it!

I think it's 50/50 with Berdy and Tsonga. It should be Berdy, but if Tsonga plays his best then he could get the win. Berdy has been playing well and should have won that match with Nole. He cannot afford any brain cramps against Tsonga. It should be a great match.

Ferrer has nothing to be ashamed of in this tournament. He has already exceeded expectations. I am really happy for him. People forget that he is not a kid. He is 29 and is now playing some of the best tennis of his career. It's a great inspiration to us all.

I am marking all these sentences made by few posters here

Rafa has lost the sprit, Rafa is done and dusted
Rafa will win no more slam in future
Rafa will win nothing outside RG
Rafa s no more elite top class player
Rafa may fall outside Top 5

Just time to bookmark these sentences..and I hope Rafa proves all these statements wrong so that certain fingers get tied n dont type and certain lips get sewn and regarding the ill conceived negaive thoughts..well negative and spiteful people will face their karma anyway in life for wishing and hoping bad for others..thats simple principle of life..Well BUT IF Rafa comes n negates all above statements and does win slams on clay and outside clay..I think Rafans on this site will not have a cahnce to gve it back to the spitefuls because they anyways wont come online and post during those high days for Rafa,Nole,Murray :-)

lucky..I agree it is difficult for Fed to win slam because his concentration goes wayward these days in matches ..He has lost matches in USO, Wimby this year being 2 sets to love up..but I think it is not impossible at all for him to sneak a last one..He can and is capable of it..though may need sum intangible help though..

lcky..you ahve stats of how many matches Rafa has won and lost /year from 2005 onwards..Is it 60 plus every season?

lucky..And roger too from 2003 onwards till 2011

@sanju , 11/26/11 8:41 AM

All this in the year when Rafa ends the year as No 2, won a GS and reached 10 finals including 3 slams and 5 Masters as opposed to Roger who made 5 finals including ONE slam and ONE Masters.

I can see where Fedfans are coming from, they hate Rafa because he is a thorn in his side. In 2010 when a Fedfan predicted that Rafa would fall outside the top 10, he won 3 slams and ended the year as No 1 with points well above Nos 2 & 3.

It just shows how expectations of Roger by his fans have fallen so low that they are happy to munch on crumbs that fall from Rafa's Quelys.

sanju,

Good for you! That is what I wanted to do. Save all those statements and make the people who said them eat their words when Rafa proves them wrong. We have been through this before. I remember very well how in 2010 when Rafa injured his knee in his quarterfinal match with Murray, many were writing his epitaph here. It is something that I never forgot. Rafa proved how wrong they were by making 2010 his best year.

I have never written off Fed. I am not foolish enough to underestimate a great champion. If things align right, I think he could win another slam. As long as he is going deep in slams and giving himself chances, then he is not done. All I have said is that he won't dominate the game anymore. But he has shown a desire to continue to compete at a high level and that is admirable.

People should not be foolish enough to make the same mistake about Rafa. He is not going anywhere.

Nobody drove the Fed fans off this site. We didn't have to. They absented themselves after Rafa started winning in 2010. I remember one Fed fan who famously wrote poems right before th 2010 RG final in which Rafa would play Sod. This person was writing these silly poems about how Rafa would again be humiliated and history would repeat itself. It went on and on, one poem after another. Well, after Rafa beat Sod in straight sets, this person disappeared. Soon the rest of the Fed fans followed.

Now they are back because Rafa has had some tough losses this year, while Fed has not exactly been burning up the courts. It's what they do. Watch and see for yourself. If Rafa starts winning in 2012, they will become extinct again!

sanju, as I mentioned in one of my above posts, everything has to be in place, ie the stars must align, before Fed can win another slam. Your observation is right, that Fed can't sustain his concentration for long, especially throughout a best of five sets match. What happened at Wimbledon and USO this year might be a clear indication of how things would go going forward. I believe I did mention last year that the WTF suited Fed, not only because of the surface, but the format too. The RR matches are best of three, yet players are given a day's rest between matches until the SF and F. It allows sufficient recovery time for a 30yo player like Fed. Fed himself brought up this point (about having a one day rest in between RRMatch) during one of his interviews at last year's WTF. The one day rest may be important because unlike a normal Masters event where the first few rounds are against lower ranked opponents, the WTF players are all the top eight guys.

We've seen how things turned out at tha AO this year for Fed, after he won WTF followed by Doha, so my fingers will be crossed about Fed's 2012 AO campaign even if Fed wins the WTF title this year. Of course fans will always be fans and they have high hopes for their fav player to do well, but it's not necessary to go too far ahead of themselves, or trash other players to make their own fav looks good.

I do not have all the stats off hand, you may check them from the ATP or itf websites. I did check in the past, for Rafa, since 2005, he has been playing more than 80 matches a season except maybe 2006 when he missed the AO (that year he played only 16 tournaments). His best years in terms of ranking points and slam titles, are 2010 followed by 2008. His best year in terms of titles won and Masters titles won is 2005, winning 11 titles , including 1 slam and 4 Masters (2 clay, 1 outdoor hard and 1 indoor hard). He won his most matches in 2008, more than 80 matches, in 2005 he won 79 matches out of 89 or 90 matches. Among his seasons from 2005 to 2011, this 2011 is his worst season, winning only three titles and on clay only.

He reached the most finals in 2005, 12 in total, winning 11. He also reached 10 finals and winning 8 of them in 2008; 10 in 2011 winning 3; 9 in 2010 winning 7; 9 in 2007 winning 6; 8 finals winning 5 in 2009; and 6 finals in 2006 winning 5.

lucky..I didnt get the number of matches won/year from atp site..hence asked..it only shows 46 titles of Rafa and split /year and overall match record

sanju, I did it the longer way by going to tournaments played year by year at the ATP website. A simple calculation would give you the figures. I have not engaged the help of wikipedia, maybe you can get info from there?

Sanju @ 8.41am - I too hope TSO will get his energy back and blitz these statements into the dust.