*Official* Tennis Thread

[Swingpanzee]

has he been more attacking in his matches with nadal? people like mcenroe has been espousing a more aggressive serve and volley tactic for federer against nadal for years now, i haven't seen it...he has the game and the talent to pull it off but he just goes into a shell against nadal and gets whupped again and again...

erm not sure Nadal of 2015 is the same as Nadal of 2011 and other prime years. Fed and Nadal haven't played each other in ages. Either way I don't ever recall Federer playing completely defensively against Nadal. It's usually a case of Fed trying to attack but usually failing due to Nadal's (former) sheer defensive strength and also due to the mental domination Nadal possesses over him. It's not like Federer has not figured out that he has to play offensively against Nadal, it's just that he has never been able to execute it consistently. In any case it was ridiculously hard to consistently pull of an all-out attacking approach against Nadal when he was in his prime.

Mainly it is the fact that you compare Brown's victory over a severely declining Nadal to Federer's (and countless others) inability (oh and Federer is Nadal's bunny no doubt) to win against Rafa during his peak years that I find a bit ridiculous. The Rafa of old would have won against Brown in a pretty straightforward manner.

Oh and McEnroe spews a lot of bull****.

 

[Anil]

erm not sure Nadal of 2015 is the same as Nadal of 2011 and other prime years. Fed and Nadal haven't played each other in ages. Either way I don't ever recall Federer playing completely defensively against Nadal. It's usually a case of Fed trying to attack but usually failing due to Nadal's (former) sheer defensive strength and also due to the mental domination Nadal possesses over him. It's not like Federer has not figured out that he has to play offensively against Nadal, it's just that he has never been able to execute it consistently. In any case it was ridiculously hard to consistently pull of an all-out attacking approach against Nadal when he was in his prime.

Mainly it is the fact that you compare Brown's victory over a severely declining Nadal to Federer's (and countless others) inability (oh and Federer is Nadal's bunny no doubt) to win against Rafa during his peak years that I find a bit ridiculous. The Rafa of old would have won against Brown in a pretty straightforward manner.

Oh and McEnroe spews a lot of bull****.

well let's agree to disagree there...mcenroe may be a huge prick as a person but he is also a 7 time major champion and knows a thing or two about grass and hard court tennis...federer gets drawn into a baseline grind against nadal all the time (regardless of recent years or his prime years) and he cannot beat him that way given that he is already at a psychological disadvantage before he walks on to the court...i have never seen him consistently serving and volleying against rafa...

 

[Jono]

If Fed served and volleyed against Nadal all the time in Nadal's prime he'd be passed a lot though. I think you're right that Fed did get caught in a baseline rally with Nadal too much, but the players who beat Rafa in his prime were the ones who would hit him off the court (other than Novak who could just out-Nadal Nadal), not finesse him with volleys at the net.

 

[Jono]

Swingpanzee is right that comparing the way Dustin Brown beat Nadal to what Fed did wrong 5 years ago against Nadal is a bit misleading. Even with the mental barrier Fed likely beats Nadal on grass if they met this tournament. Nadal's confidence is shot and his mental ability to save break points (which he did vs. Federer consistently) is gone.

 

[harsh.ag]

Nadal in his prime would slaughter serve and volley. He would hit a passing shot so low and hard with a lot of spin. There was no way that was going to succeed against him. It's all about getting the way courts were designed, and with Nadal's pace and spin, there was just no way a serve and volley guy could beat him.

 

[Dan]

Where's Nadal's downward slide come from? Not like he's that old.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Where's Nadal's downward slide come from? Not like he's that old.

well he isn't young by any means, and his game is extremely reliant on athleticism. He's a step or two slower for sure.

Other than that a combo of wrist injury (minor) last year IIRC, rise of djoko and murray in their primes, players figuring him out, no confidence and Nadal himself generally declining on most surfaces other than clay imo. His forehand was poor in the match against Brown and he struggled at times to get a serve in.

 

[duffer]

Where's Nadal's downward slide come from? Not like he's that old.

He might not be old but given the way he plays he would have miles on his legs. Would take it's toll I'm guessing.

 

[Pratters]

One of my cousins who plays a lot of tennis said that Nadal would get injured later in his career because of the way he plays. His game was so physical that ultimately he broke down. Now, many sports people go through the body wear but for Rafa it's probably happened 3-4 years before he would have liked. Let's not forget that he has played a lot of tennis too.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Btw can we predict Djoko to possibly have a similar drastic decline like Nadal? He has a very physically-reliant game as well, it is possible that as he ages and reaches 30 or so he will be a tad slower. Although I think Djoko will adapt a bit better than Nadal has. Federer on the other hand, in contrast, has had a very slow decline compared to Nadal, spanning over years (he been declining since 2008? say really declining since 2010) and nowhere as drastic.

 

[Swingpanzee]

If Fed served and volleyed against Nadal all the time in Nadal's prime he'd be passed a lot though. I think you're right that Fed did get caught in a baseline rally with Nadal too much, but the players who beat Rafa in his prime were the ones who would hit him off the court (other than Novak who could just out-Nadal Nadal), not finesse him with volleys at the net.

yeah this. The more I watch players like prime-years Nadal and Djoko (atm) the more I'm convinced the only way to really beat them is to consistently hit really powerful groundstrokes off both wings, like Wawa does when he's on (Murray capable of doing it too). Really ****ing hard to execute, especially in a 5 set match, which is why I won't back Fed to beat Djoko anymore in a slam over a 5 set match.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Can anyone exp,lain to me how seeding works? Don't understand why Fed is seeded 2 over Murray.

 

[Pratters]

Wimbledon follows it's own seeding system which gives more weightage to grass court performances.

 

[Pratters]

Who are the four most likely to win in men's and women's?

 

[Jono]

Can anyone exp,lain to me how seeding works? Don't understand why Fed is seeded 2 over Murray.

Wimbledon follows it's own seeding system which gives more weightage to grass court performances.

Yeah but in this case that doesn't matter, because not only does Fed have a better grass-court record lately (made Wimby final last year for example), he's ranked higher than Murray anyway. There's no reason for Murray to be seeded higher at all.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Can anyone exp,lain to me how seeding works? Don't understand why Fed is seeded 2 over Murray.

Federer picked up a lot of points from Wimbledon last year until November, which keeps his ranking high.

 

[Jono]

Btw can we predict Djoko to possibly have a similar drastic decline like Nadal? He has a very physically-reliant game as well, it is possible that as he ages and reaches 30 or so he will be a tad slower. Although I think Djoko will adapt a bit better than Nadal has. Federer on the other hand, in contrast, has had a very slow decline compared to Nadal, spanning over years (he been declining since 2008? say really declining since 2010) and nowhere as drastic.

Yes but not to the same extent. Nadal was having knee issues in his early 20s. Novak hasn't. But Novak and Murray definitely won't play as well into their 30s as Fed and Agassi did (unless they somehow change their game, which they won't).

 

[Jono]

#nkrising vs. ***y backhand Gasquet. Huge rematch from their epic at Wimby last year.

This gonna be good.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Been ... entertaining.

Bored of the **** he's getting, I'm still on the bandwagon.

 

[Jono]

Been ... entertaining.

Bored of the **** he's getting, I'm still on the bandwagon.

giving up points cos he cbf was pushin my patience though...


But he's back in a big way here. Deadset threatening to repeat last year. Gasquet will have some serious dejavu nightmares if he loses the 4th here...