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| Cripes, stepped away for a while as I cannot watch anymore and find that before I can blink, RF is down a break in the third. Shame his name is not Djokovic, otherwise he would've been good to quit about now, then state that he was actually in control of the match ;-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After a first set train wreck called the Federer Express, there was a glimpse of something in the first six games of the second until the relentless play of Rafa showed its superiority (and improving superiority at that) on clay. RF is getting hammered worse than the Princess was. Unless something drastic happens, Nadal is a set away from #4. The one good thing (this year) for me is that I have viewed this match - based on semi final play - as one where I expect Rafa to win and win really heavily. I am trying to appreciate it for his skill level, but it is hard to watch as RF is making a lot of errors from the fact that Rafa has an answer to almost everything, and where he doesn't have an answer, his relentless play wins him the points. Almost an anti-climax to the hype surrounding this "dream" final. If RF does not win this third set, it will be the first time he has not won a set in a GS final. |
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| Nice pick up skip. I would love to see No. 2 happen. It would be almost like a repeat of Wimbledon happening. Whoever wins, I would like to see it go to 5. They just had on Wide World of Sports this morning a review on it where they interviewed John Newcombe about the final asking for his opinion on the result. His view was that its hard to see Nadal getting beaten but he wouldn't rule out Federer. But if Roger was to win he would have to shorten the rallies. And make those volleys he missed in the semi. His reasoning on why Nadal wins the points so easily is the longer the rally goes, the further back behind the baseline Federer goes. Starting at the baseline, after 8 or so points he's at least 1 m behind it which is where Nadal takes advantage of it to put away a winner. You can't just keep hitting it back to Nadal and expect to win every point. It would be good to watch the match tonight to see if Newcombe's theory is correct. And to see how Federer approaches the match to try and knock Nadal off. He's been coming to the net more and more as each match went by. I think he'll do it again against Nadal. If I can, I'll try and get this one on DVD. |
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| Skip, an interesting array of options. My preferences would be #2 followed by #4 for two reasons - hedging my bets with #2 being the preferred as it would see a win for RF and after what would no doubt be a great match by that point. It would be sweet for RF to claim the title after earning it against the current owner of the RG centre court. #4 becuase if RF ain't gonna win it, I would rather him learn this after three sets than toil for four or five to lose. |
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| Weekend, I didn't notice Nadal having any trouble at all with blisters - his movement was great, he was just everywhere. He truly is playing out of this world - I think Roger will be hard pressed to win tonight. Found this on Tennis Planet - I like No. 3 comment - quite true LOL "1. Federer wins in five after Nadal calls for the trainer in the fifth. 2. Federer wins in five. 3. Federer wins because Nadal retires, read: dies on court. He is not leaving the court alive. 4. Nadal wins in three. 5. Nadal wins in four. 6. Nadal wins in five. What is most likely to happen? No. 4 or No. 1." |
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| Love that comment at the bottom of your last message skip. Maybe that was what put Djokovic off. He was concentrating too much on making sure the ball bounced back into his hands than concentrating on the match. The scoreline certainly suggests it. I think he's feeling pretty lonely out on that porch at the moment. He's there all by himself. No one to keep him company. No. 4 and the rest aren't there to comfort him after his loss. Poor Princes. The No. 3 in the world but looking at this last day, there is still a long distance between the No. 2 and No. 3 seed in just how well they played. Just how close they are in points in the rankings weren't displayed too well. I wonder how Nadal's blisters are going. Did anyone notice if his movement was hampered at all. Maybe when it got to 3 - 0 in the third set he eased off with his trademark speed around the court. What would make me happy for the next 4 tournaments is the following results. Fed at Roland Garros. Fed at Gstaad and Nadal at Queens. And I think I would like Roger to break Borg's record to win Wimbledon for the 6th time. Should make it 5 tournaments and include Wimbledon 2009. Nadal over Federer. He's got plenty of time left. I'm sure he can pull it off. Looking at the history books though, Borg won his fifth Wimbledon title in 5 sets against McEnroe in 1980 in what many were saying was the best final played. Until last year's final ala Fed v Nadal 2007. In 81, McEnroe played Borg again but this time McEnroe broke his 5 straight stretch. |
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| Skip, geoff, kraavitz and anyone else I have missed out, nice to read all your messages. MOST OF THEM ANYWAY. :)Glad you enjoyed watching the matches. I got to "watch" it. A bit frustrating watching stats being put up on the computer screen in front of you. Would be much better live but its better than nothing. I was going to sleep through it but I woke up after the 2nd set had finished in the second semi so I had to stay up for the finish. I like to know who wins. Can be hard to sleep on it with a half finished match. Would have loved to have watched Nadal v Novak. Esp the first 2 sets. He must have crucified him on court. I watched the highlights on the website and Djokovik never really looked like he was in it. Almost as if he was lost being in the semi-final. I would have liked to have seen whoever was playing Nadal put up a better fight since it had come down to the last 4. Maybe our Princess might start to realise he still has a long way to go to catch Nadal. He thought he was close from Hamburg. Different match that was. Only 3 sets in that one. Good luck beating Nadal in 5 on clay. That just made be wonder. Since Nadal has had his run on the clay with only the 2 defeats, he's never been beaten in a best of 5 on clay. During that streak anyway. The best I can remember is Federer took him to 5 in Rome in 2006. That was anyone's match. I would love to have that one on dvd. We now have 3 years in a row, the top 2 seeds in the final at Roland Garros. The 2nd seed has won the first two. Can the top seed reverse the result this year. I hope he does. I don't want Nadal to lose. But I would love to see Federer pick up the trophy at Roland Garros. Another step closer to Sampras's record too. I think we would have a reversed result at Wimbledon too though if Fed won here. Nadal would be in a zone after getting beaten in the final on his home turf. What a match the final would be if it was another Fed v Nadal. |
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| Like this article from Sports Illustrated about the annual Rafa-Roger French Gala http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_ wertheim/06/06/five.things/index.html?eref=T1 and this line.... "For much of the three-hour match -- half of that was spent bouncing the ball -- Djokovic wasn't really in it." |
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| chorley = leica = des etc etc....just ignore the greatest tool on the yahoo boards. He always does the same, esp in the cricket. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TLF44 - chorleyduxford is desperate for attention and wants to be noticed. A bit akin to leicamoles and oft times zedbrat. I see upper case posts and generally ignore as they tend to be cr.ap crying out to be read. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| chorleyduxford - do you know what the "Caps Lock" key does? There is no need to shout at us - we are more likely to read your posts if you don't. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Geoff...agreed. I think it will be a split on the crowd for the men's final on Sunday. As much as I hate to say it though and as much as I wish for Rafa to share just one (teencie, weencie) title with Roger, it ain't gonna happen unless Roger has magically come up with a way to go gangbusters against Rafa (a la 2006 FO final first set; 4 games in the MC final second set this year; first 6 games of the Hamburg final this year) and continues with it. Otherwise, he will be 1-9 down to Rafa on clay and a three time losing finalist. Other thought is he could do a Tonya Harding! Most likely though, this tournament will be akin to the spot on the overall career of Sampras. It will be Lendl's Wimbledon! Roger has done everything possible (except serve and volley regularly against Rafa) to try to win the French. Sadly, despite being the 2nd best clay courter on the planet for near four years, the gap between best and 2nd best is glaring. Still, hope it is a great final with a surprise or two. Would dearly love to see Roger win. And against the nay sayers who dissed Roger this year - interesting to see a washed up player whose career is going on the slide in yet another GS Final. That's what - 11 of the last 12? Shocking record. I would be embarrassed if I were Roger and would quit the sport!! |
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| Skip, excellent assessment below. I think like with South Sydney, yhe Warriors and yhe Bulldogs in Rugby League, they are there this year to make up the numbers and let the top teams work out their pecking order. Maybe the FO organ.isers get the other 126 guys there to make it feel like they have a chance :-) "I'm stuffed so am off to bed" - Lucky for you indeed. It was a frustrating match to watch after that first set and you saw the best that RF had in that first set. It was a real struggle after he lost the break in the second. One could sense it was a matter of time before Gael kicked in with his talent and took advantage of the crowd and his brilliant ability to defend, defend, defend and also explode with his shots from eons behind the baseline. Magic stuff...and a great test. Not a great match for RF and despite winning 49/64 points on coming to the net, some of the volleys he missed were sitters that he normally would never EVER miss. Hard to watch, however one here is hoping that this was his shocker match before he has to play well. If he brings this game to the final, Rafa will happily grind him to the dirt. Overall though - a great, gritty match to watch. Never felt comfortable from midway through the second for RF and he did dodge a big bullet. Would love to see more of Gael at this stage in GS tournaments. Reminds me of Safin - flashes of brilliance and explosion when he is with his "ON" game. |
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| Well honestly I thought that Novak would have put up more of a fight and that Roger would not have had to work so hard yesterday. Still, its the result I was after and can't wait for Sunday. I don't know why the other players even bothered to turn up to Paris this year - it's like deja vu all over again. The orga.nisers could just have gone straight to the final, saved buckets of money - big question, will we have a repeat of last year's final at Wimbledon? |
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| Great fightback from the young Frenchman, but Roger always had that extra gear. Nadal will start favourite for the final, though Federer can still win it. I am just hoping it is another 5 set epic - these two are building a rivalry to savour! |
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| and I must go do some last minute shopping. I leave for the airport 3 1/2 hours...he is now serving for the first set at 5/1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Roger is playing beautifully - it seems certain he'll be meeting Rafa on Sunday. I'm stuffed so am off to bed (lucky Geoff, its the afternoon for him) Cheers all |
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| well Roger has come out charging and got the early break. You are right Len he is focused on that final and I really believe he will have at least 50% of the prtisan crowd for him. Yes I do get excited Skip..no time to preview |
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| Hi Len, Yep he's gone.. The virus has appeared but I dont think he will in here..he's a new link where someone was complaining they couldn't see the match..and they didn' show it live in the US either |
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| ""Djokovic is different. He is The Ambitious One, the one who wears his aspirations like a sponsor's patch on his sleeve. He is the guy who moved his cot into the room where Federer and Nadal were amiably crashed out on bunk beds and started talking, keeping them from sleeping." Brilliant. Thank you skip. I don't get the link from the writer between ambition and talking to prevent sleep. That latter statement is more akin to being a fly or mosquito in that one is a pest. Ambition is one thing, doing it by being a pest is another. I don't think Roger and Rafa are losing much sleep over this pest. He is just a little kid in a bigger kids world. The pipsqueak who is desperate to get a hair on his chest. Sadly, I think it is just a matter of time until he captures another GS tournament. Quite a few GS semis consecutively now. Not bad for someone his age, but not as good as Roger's 16 yet!! |
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| Just got in....missed the Rafa / Princess match. Ohhh so very, very sweet. That little bit.ch is out in straight sets. Just not ready to be the better player yet. Now in almost fairness to our Princess (despite that being hard to do)...I really feel that he has somewhat toned it down since the farce that was Monte Carlo and somehow I don't think he will be pulling out of tight matches against Roger or Rafa in the near future. In watching some of his matches since then, he still has some antics / gestures, however he really seems to have been pacified and I would not be surprised if MC had a lot to do with it. It may be one of the kicks in the butt that he needs at this young age. That said, viva Rafa...Here's to RF getting another shot at the title though. |
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| Can't wait to read No(not #2 yet)vak's presser... Geoff, I have noticed your typing gets real cr.appy when you get excited. Slow down dude, use the preview button because we want to know what you're saying.... PS You still in the UK? |
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| whew, bit of a scare there in the 3rd set. Novak did alright coming back from 3-0 to set point. I think Rafa may have been a bit overconfident and lazy towards the middle of the 3rd set. He seemed to lose focus for a while. Anyway, all's well and good for the final, just waiting for Roger. Found this on Tennis Planet - "Djokovic is different. He is The Ambitious One, the one who wears his aspirations like a sponsor's patch on his sleeve. He is the guy who moved his cot into the room where Federer and Nadal were amiably crashed out on bunk beds and started talking, keeping them from sleeping." I think Nadal sent Novak back outside to the porch tonight! |
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