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| Rafael Nadal |
Roland Garros wrapped up with a rather uneventful final that saw Rafael Nadal win his eighth title in Paris with a 6-3 6-2 6-3 over David Ferrer. There were some good points here and there, but there was never a doubt that Nadal would be the winner. The biggest talking point from the match was probably when a crazy man with a flare jumped onto the court, but thankfully security were on to it pretty quickly. Nadal has been simply sensational over the last couple of months with titles in Sao Paulo, Acapulco, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. He is the clear leader in the Race, but I am intrigued to see how he gets on at Wimbledon. He missed so much time with these troublesome knees and has played a lot of tennis recently so I doubt whether it will all be plain sailing; what can be guaranteed is that the mens championship is going to be fascinating at Wimbledon because I think the top four will be relatively equally matched in terms of their chances. It's time for the grass courts baby!
A big thanks to everyone who has followed my blog throughout the last two weeks and thanks for all the comments. It means a lot to me to know that there are actually people out there who take an interest in what I write. The grass court season is my favourite time of the year and I will be visiting some of the events over the next couple of weeks. I will be attending Birmingham, Eastbourne and now Wimbledon as my rather awesome brother got some return tickets in the ballot and very kindly has decided to take me on the middle Saturday. Along with my normal previews, I will be uploading some of my photos and experiences at each event. Next up is Queens, Birmingham and Halle so please keep following Moo's Tennis Blog because the next four weeks are going to be a lot of fun :-)
Final Nadal vs Ferrer
ReplyDeleteAs everyone predicted the meeting Nole vs El Toro was already true final !
But do not remove the merits of Ferrer ... which is suffering pain Djokovic-Federer- Nadal and Murray.
Nadal has withdrawn from the tournament in Halle, which does not bode well for Wimbledon.
As I said in one of my posts, I will gladly follow your blog to Wimbledon :-)
(I do not know Aachoo copain and nana ... but it seems pretty tennis fan).
I am very happy for you that you could see some game (thank you to your brother) and I am delighted to see the pictures.
Rafa should be careful not to get injury again-it was an intense comeback week after week with many close matches which culminated in Roland Garros-phew!!! Want to see him in the other 3 GS's this time. Also hope he doesn't burn out. I'm burned out just watching them. So many close matches! Also if he warms up in Halle 3 setters he risks breaking his phenominal momentum/form which he's accumulated esp from the Djokovic match. His game has upped itself by 10-20%%?? backhand placement,serve percentage/potency,even his forehand topspin(he's able to hit it faster and lower like Andreev) and seems to have covered the tactical baseline weaknesses which Djokovic exposed and others like Ferrer(as just one example)used. A more agressive game which makes him a bigger threat on other surafces. In fact he's using Djoko's tactics on Djoko himself lol. He's evolved in a way that noone else could-through playing matches as opposed to extensive training and prep. Also his game might even slump playing in Halle 3 setters vs inferior opponents giving him a bad intro to the grass courts. He needs to play people at the top of the game like Djokovic etc. Rest and accumulate the momentum during the matches-that must be his plan for Wimby. Hope he doesn't slump from complacency after the monumental acclompishment of an 8th RG. He has a score to settle with the current no.1! and we all like to see a rivalry! If he's up to the task I bet he'll come out on top sooner than expected since Djoko doesn't strike me as real rivalry material esp if the other rival starts to get the upper hand ever. Just as losing RG to Djoko would've been potentially devastating to Nadal I believe that losing the next GS-Wimby would do a lot of damage to Djoko esp if he were to lose to Nadal-so much that he might even give up the US open as well. I suspect that he's already feeling the pressure-afterall RG and Wimby are less than 2 weeks apart and if anyone can make such a transition its Nadal-he's shown it before on paper-being the only person to win a GS on all surfaces within the same calendar year and most notably back to back on Grass and Clay-twice. Then we dont have a real rivalry anymore. Maybe I'm biased against Djoko and not giving him enough credit but he doesn't strike me as a person to take a real rivalry face to face?? Now Nadal has adjusted himself fully making the transition between playing Fed to playing the 'player of the future' Djoko and Djoko must be feeling the pressure now. The upperward walk of a REAL rivalry is there whether and I suspect he's in somewhat of a denial. The rivalry wasn't there last year and Djoko failed to deliver in all but one of the slams-his favorite Aussie vs a disappointing Murray who I imagine has put most of his chips into Wimby's grass courts this year. This tournament is the most important for Djoko and Murray. Can't count out Fed-he lost Olympics last year but it took 2 players to knock him out-the gruelling match with Del Potro and a fresh and well prepared Murray in front of a very different Olympic home crowd.
ReplyDeleteomg I didnt know my last post was so long-only for Rafa!! thank you for that 8th!!
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