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| Weekend - for you (I'd say, you don't know what you're missing but you do...) http://join.austar.com.au/Join/Pages/DealsAndOffer s.aspx |
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| I can't watch the match skip because I don't have pay tv | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The SF matches aren't on until tomorrow night - its the girls tonight. If Rafa has had any blister problem, it will sure have benefited him with an extra day to rest before his SF against Djerkovic. Both SF's should be great viewing - only hope to stay awake. I think we will have a repeat final of last year, well finalists anyway.... Can't see Rafa not making it through to the final, he is playing like a machine this week - pretty sure Novak won't be a sook and retire because he got a lot of flak after Monte Carlo. So he'll have to stay for the whole beating... Anyone care to guess final scores for the 2 x SF's...? |
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| I doubt Novak can beat Rafa in a 5 setter, blisters or not. Nobody fights like Nadal! I wasn't impressed with Novak's game in the quarters, was quite lucky to not drop at least one set. On the other hand, Rafa hasn't looked like dropping a set. |
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| Why can't you watch the match weekend? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If Rafa plays like he did in the quarter its a real possibility. Novak is good but how long can he hold his nerve before temper temper comes into it. How many times will we see the trainer called out this time. The balls will probably have to be changed every 2nd end if his service game goes for long. He'll be bouncing it over 20 times to try and put Nadal off. It won't worry Nadal. It's going to be a matter of who wants it the most. Rafa is looking pretty hungry right now. The match is a best of 5 too. That's Novak's only chance. If he can keep himself in the game. Win one of the first 3 sets but keep the scores to at least a total of 10 games per set and about an hour for each set as well. Novak's only chance is Nadal's blisters. The longer the match goes on the more chance Djokovic will have of winning it and he knows it too. I wish I could watch the match because Djokovic won't be going for winner after winner if he has the brains to do it like that. He should be playing each point for as long as he can so we would see some great rallies. Then its a matter of who will last the longest in each point before making the play. And pulling it off. Hard to beat Nadal with that. But blisters or no blisters Djokovic is going to literally have to drag him off the court kicking and screaming. It won't matter to Nadal how much pain he is in. He won't quit like our princess has done. He currently holds the title, and already has one hand on it. A win tonight and he gets a days rest before the final. |
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| Weekend, your wish is my wish - a win for Rafa is the result we're after but an absolute thumping is icing on the cake! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Good to see your safe and sound geoff. I've got one wish. Only one. For Nadal. Can you repeat your quarter final performance against Djokovic and match it set for set. Please. 6 - 1, 6 - 1, 6 - 1. Boy would I love to see that. It would be interesting to see what our little Princess would have to say after being completely outclassed on court like that. Not sure how Nadal will go though. He has had "easy" matches in regards to time on court. It has done his blisters the world of good. I'm sure Novak will try to run him around the court again but if Rafa can repeat his 47 winners to 9 unforced errors, we could well and truly see the same score line he had in the quarter final. |
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| Big congrats to Monfils - I am glad he got through to the SF. Lets hope he keeps up his good for during the rest of the season (although not in the SF against Roger?) Geoff, wondered where you were...safe flight |
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| sorry skip I meant to comment on your masterful commens our ful,as always about our dear friend. I mad wondeful reading | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sorry for the silence but work has taken over and the DVR in the hotel has been working overtime . An easy comment first the two Serbian girls. I can't waitfor that match tomorrow. Ivanovic to com through and squash that little no gamesmanship person. I think the finals will ve Ivanovic and Kuzy i can't believe the way that Rafa is playing blisters and all. He hs lost 16 games in the last 4 matches that makes 84/16..the man is a wonder machine. Someone said below and I can't rmember who but itdid make me smile that they wanted the Princess to match up against the mighty Roger just so RF can dethrone him...but that aint going to happen it will be Rogr and Rafa as it really shold be the #1 & #2 head to head. They have so much respect for ech other both on and off court. as to the victor I dont think any of us are brave enoguht to predict...Just leave it as may the best man win and it wont be that Princess...maybe I sholdn't have said that as it might jinx tomorrows match. can't you just see the viral overload when ND goes bye byes. I leave for home friday night so will be home in time for the finals |
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| Ah, the americans - they certainly have a different style of reporting, from the tone, I thought I was watching 'Extreme Makeover - Home Edition'. Once you get to this link, take a look at the video under Mad Dog Minute: Can Federer beat Nadal? This guy IS EXCITED!!! http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/3032986/ |
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| This one is an interesting pick up. It is probably when Federer made the comment about a certain player taking too many breaks when they weren't needed. I have copied it from Roger Federer's playing activity in 2006. It was Davis Cup matches against guess who. Serbia. And look who the two players are. SUI v. SCG WG PO, Switzerland DC, 22-Sep-06, I, Hard , Draw: 4 RR Tipsarevic, Janko (SRB) N/A 6-3 6-2 6-2 RR Djokovic, Novak (SRB) N/A 6-3 6-2 6-3 |
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| My pleasure for the link skip. They aren't commentating in English. At least you can get a good look at the shots being played. I agree with Nye too. I would love to see the scoreline as per what Nye has when they play on Thursday night. It would make it interesting for the following 3 - 4 weeks as they both go straight over to play at Queens followed by Wimbledon. Djokovic will not get a rest unless he bypasses Queens which is not a good idea going into Wimbledon. Federer plays the tournament Halle as his lead up event to Wimbledon and had to miss it through injury or illness last year. He had won it 4 straight years prior to that. 4 straight years for Halle and 4 straight Wimbledon titles. No lead up event to Wimbledon last year and it's the closest he has come to losing his title. |
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| Agree Nye - although perhaps add retired due to 'hurt' feelings? Just checked TAB - they're paying $1.15 for Rafa and $5.00 for Novak "I am the number 3 in the world (repeat 5 trillion times)" Djokovic Weekend - I can't get those videos, whole heap of bloody german on the site I got to and my german isn't that good anymore but I did look around goroger.net - very interesting, thanks |
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| My prediction Nadal wins 6-4, 6-3, 2-0 (ret) |
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| Comes back to that article re the US open first round 'injury' time outs against his so-called best mate! Might see him retire 'hurt' in the semi I think! |
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| It is only on a tv website when they are speaking about the tennis but it just shows how much bulls#%t is said when it comes to Djokovic and his "ability". The quote from the website when they are talking about the Nadal v Djokovic match up is: But Djokovic is not in an entirely hopeless position. He may have lost seven of the pair's 10 meetings, but has shared the last four while two of his defeats - at Wimbledon in 2007 and here in the 2006 quarter-finals - have come about through an injury-enforced retirement. If you have a look at the scores in those two matches, i think you can get a pretty clear judgement on who was going to win. The scores when he retired "hurt" are: Roland Garros 2006 - 6-4 6-4 RET. Might be worth mentioned the score at: Roland Garros in 2007 - 7-5 6-4 6-2. I can't see much of a difference. And we had a different Djokovic at the time. He was playing a lot "better" according to him especially Wimbledon 2007 - 3-6 6-1 4-1 RET. Retired "Hurt" just doesn't sound right. |
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| I agree with most of that skipp. One thing though, I doubt Novak knows he can't match Federer at his peak. After the US open final last year his family made a few disparaging comments against Federer and claimed the number 1 ranking was Djockovic's, Federer just didn't know it yet! I truly believe that Novak thinks he is a better player than the master, his ego will not allow him to entertain otherwise. In a way I would like to see him beat Nadal in the semi so that Federer can 1 - claim his first French title, and 2 - punch a giant hole in Novak's ego. |
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| If you would like to see Federer's highlights from his matches you can go to this website. You get at least 3 minutes of action compared to just one or two shots. http://www.goroger.net/ This link is the match he played where he dropped the first set before finishing his opponent off 6 - 1, 6 - 0, 6 - 4. You can see he has lifted quite a few gears in the highlights for the second set and how determined he is to finish it off. I would love to see a Federer playing like that in a final for the French Open against Nadal. I think he has to be at that level to beat Nadal. http://www.sf.tv/videoplayer/api/current/sfVideoPl ayerEmb.swf?cvisurl=http://www.sf.tv/cvis/cvis&seg mentid=67fc0254-07ba-4975-94d1-64ba5ab87806 |
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| Yep skip your right on track with this. If Federer is back to his best, I don't think Djokovic will be able to handle the pressure. Esp if Nadal continues his rise on the hardcourts. It's taking a while for Nadal to do so but year by year he's getting closer to taking out one of the 2 grands slams played on hardcourt. Nadal has that bite in him where he will not lay down and I don't think Novak can swing hard enough to knock him down. One very interesting thought would be a Nadal v Djokovic on hardcourt at a grand slam. They haven't clashed at one yet and are 3 and 2 to Novak on the hard court with every game at an ATP Masters series. |
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| pt 3 (whew) While all this is being played out, Federer is getting even more anxious to wrest back whatever ground he has lost specially to Djokovic. He wants to turn Djokovic into another Rodd.ick. He knows he has all the tools to execute it to perfection. Although the time line is moving in opposite direction for Federer and Djokovic (Federer getting closer to senior citizen status, while Djokovic is moving towards his peak), the talent disparity is so huge that if Federer regains his complete physical fortress, youth will be defeated on a purely skill plane. Don't believe it? Look in the history books of careers of the best in any sport. They got there mainly on the ridiculous superiority of their talent and skill. That quality is so rare and ferocious that youth and ambition alone cannot not even touch it, forget about winning against it. Bottom line is this: Djokovic is where he is because of many reasons. The likelihood of all those reasons coming together again, to sustain that run, is very slim. The only material that can save the house against those blowing wolves is talent. Nothing else can stand the test of time. Without it, sooner or later the house will come down like the proverbial house of cards. History has numerous examples to support that. The only other way to gain some semblance of respect for Djokovic is for Federer to continue down the path he has been on since the beginning of the season. Any turn around from that, and Djokovic is in deep @#$%. If it happens, it will turn into a severe mental battle for Djokovic, for the journey upwards is as much fun as coming down from it is disheartening. With Federer showing signs of life, this is bound to get ugly before it gets better for Djokovic. |
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| pt 2 While Djokovic may not be that far down the food chain, he is pretty close to the dilemma faced by Will Smith. Djokovic slayed the shark once. He knows exactly how and why it all came about. While he loves the attention that ensued and wants it go on forever, the time to repeat that act is drawing near. Last time he reached there, he realised first hand how big the shark is. To save face among his people he faked injury to live for another day and hopefully continue the frenzy over him back home. To add to his misery, Federer appears to be returning to his old self. Every freaking person on this earth, most of all, Djokovic knows that if Federer returns to his form there is no way Djokovic is going to have a chance. This BS that other players have caught up to Federer is all cr.ap. Reality is that Federer has slipped to narrow the gap. If Federer gets his act together, the difference that Djokovic has to make up to match Federer is so huge that it makes you feel you are running your wheels for nothing. If it happens, Djokovic will have to wait for Federer to taper physically - naturally - before he can make a charge. Djokovic's dilemma is to find a way to somehow extend his reputation of being a shark slayer before the curtain falls and he is proven a fake. The only hope of that happening is if Federer continues to follow the pattern developing since January. The freaking point is this: Djokovic has built a building on shaky foundation and has invited his countrymen to live in it declaring them unequivocally to not worry about the shark. If it comes, he will slay it again to protect them. But inside, Djokovic knows the danger is real and is hoping that Federer fails in his attempt to regain form so people continue to worship him as a shark slayer. His retirement against Federer was a direct result of that bloated ego, refusing to accept defeat in front of his loyal fans. |
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| Weekend - pt 1 Djokovic has been forced on to the pedestal by rabid home fans, desperate for a national hero to represent Serbia internationally. While initially Djokovic loved the attention and the adoration, he is just starting to realize that he has been shoved past his actual and real standing in the tennis world. Consequently, he is now expected to blow out each and every opponent. Forget about losing. While AO title may have been mostly won on his own merit coupled with Federers illness and Tsonga's sudden emergence, it propelled him to a place he had not arrived, all on his own. The rush to crown him the national hero with the what the prime minister of Serbia showering accolades, he suddenly found himself on foreign territory which was not annexed by sheer talent and skill, like Federer has. Now with all the load of these heavy expectations his 20-year ego naturally bloated beyond recognition, forcing him to live up to them while not still in possession of the skill set to execute. He, more than anyone else, knows he is nowhere near the domination Federer has had. But since he is following right after him he is expected to trounce that huge achievement. Did you see that movie with Will Smith and Robert De Niro about the sharks and stuff, A Sharks Tale? Will Smith is a small fish and in one encounter with the fearsome sharks, he erroneously is believed to have slayed a shark by his people. Since then he becomes a super hero within his community. He keeps the drama going by not telling anyone that he had nothing to do with it. Soon he is asked to repeat the act to save his community from the oppressive sharks. That is when the movie becomes interesting. |
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