Topic: ATP - 2009 Australian Open: Jan. 19 - Feb. 1

[dmastous]

Siddy, you posted the same thing three times. You see how obsessed you are now with Murray?

You should see the "Insane (insufferable),positive.RockN'Rollin' Thread". Sid has been known to post the same thing about 20 times in succession.

[conchita]

do you think the AO needs to upgrade Flinders Park? it was reported that the tennis complex was old and small and Sydney wanted to host the AO in the future?? I was quite shocked because the 5 main courts at the AO are excellent and the capacity is not a probelm. ShowCourt 3 (5th court) has a capacity of 2,000. The rest of courts -from Court 4 to COurt 19 probably need an upgrade but in those courts there are not big matches. Another problem is perhaps the lack of bar/resturants, etc....

[Clay Death]

do you think the AO needs to upgrade Flinders Park? it was reported that the tennis complex was old and small and Sydney wanted to host the AO in the future?? I was quite shocked because the 5 main courts at the AO are excellent and the capacity is not a probelm. ShowCourt 3 (5th court) has a capacity of 2,000. The rest of courts -from Court 4 to COurt 19 probably need an upgrade but in those courts there are not big matches. Another problem is perhaps the lack of bar/resturants, etc....

i would not mind seeing this first slam on a later date. too much gap between this on and the next 2. and the next 2 are so close together.

this would also give the sport a bit of a off season which the players need.

[Start da Game]

wow, the discussions are already getting hot..........i am enjoying it...........

[falcon]

wow, the discussions are already getting hot..........i am enjoying it...........

it deserves it! the year 09 is going to be one of the biggest years in tennis

[huntingyou]

wow, the discussions are already getting hot..........i am enjoying it...........

it deserves it! the year 09 is going to be one of the biggest years in tennis

it couldn't get bigger than 2008......the fall of Roger and the rise of Nadal with Olympic Gold to boot......too hard to top that!

[kittens25]

wow, the discussions are already getting hot..........i am enjoying it...........

it deserves it! the year 09 is going to be one of the biggest years in tennis

it couldn't get bigger than 2008......the fall of Roger and the rise of Nadal with Olympic Gold to boot......too hard to top that!

I very much enjoyed both those things.   

[TennisVeritas]

another bout of arrogance from Fed:

Federer won't lose sleep over Djokovic
Wednesday, 19th  November, 2008
Roger Federer has said he is not that bothered about Serbia's Novak Djokovic closing in on his ranking as world number two.
 "I'm going to sleep well for a month. He (Djokovic) is not going to pass me anytime soon," Federer said.
"For me, honestly, ranking two, three, four, five, 25, it doesn't really matter a whole lot, you know. For me it is either number one or being in the main draw," added the Swiss.

Djokovic, who won the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Monday, is just 10 points shy of Federer in the world rankings.

Federer was in the Malaysian capital for an exhibition event which also featured world number 10 James Blake and former tennis greats John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

Last week Federer, complaining of injury and a stomach bug, lost to Briton Andy Murray at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The Shanghai loss was Federer's 15th in a season when he lost his world number one ranking and Wimbledon title to Spain's Rafael Nadal, prompting speculation that he had lost his edge.

Federer, who has won 13 grand slams, told reporters that at 27 he was still confident he had "many more years" of tennis left in him.

simply brilliant rubbish. first he says that Djokovic is not going to catch him. then he says he doesnt really care about being #2 or even lower. seems to me that he has already said it a number of times. he has said that beig #2 does not sit well with him. well get used to it Fed because #3 is coming. and then #4 of course.

so what happens if Fed is upset by the quarters or the semis or worse beaten badly--like in straight sets--by none other than Djokovic at the Australian Open?

would not that amount to Fed having run his mouth recklessly? he has just offered Djokovic all the motivation he will ever need and some additional incentive.

not only is Fed just 10 points ahead of Djokovic but he could be #3 as early as the Australian Open.

its called pressure folks. watch the pressure do its thing. some cant handle it now that it is real.


here is where he said that he does not like being #2:

Of his current predicament, Federer said, "I just don't like the ring of it when I'm being introduced on the center court as the No. 2 in the world because it just sounds wrong. Either I'm No. 1 or I'm a Grand Slam champion, but not No. 2, it just sounds awkward to me because I've been up there for so, so long. It's just unfamiliar, but at the same time it is a challenge to get back up there."

i guess we now have to revise the ranking system so he is not #2 anymore. well how about #4 sound since that is coming within a year?

 And what is the problem: As he said he can accept to be N#25 GIVEN THAT this still offers to him to be a GS contender (at least to participate to it)..Man takes some red pills and go to sleep..calm down: You hate too much this guy..

There is nothing arrogant in his remarks..Already last year he said that what matters it is the N#1 spot in the ranking now he is no more there who cares..

Please answer: 1) If you do not like him (hate him): What is the purpose to read all his interviews?

2) What is your final purpose? IT IS YOUR OPINION THAT FED IS ARROGANT AND YOU HAVE PRESENTED 100000000000000 OF TIMES ALREADY:

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE CONVICE EVERYONE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT? Give us a break!!! 

Fed is a very gifted athlete. one of the finest ever the sport has produced. i am just discussing things. hate has nothing to do it with it really. i have to call it like i see it. you can do the same. no problem here.

i probably hate Nadal more than i hate some of the others. i hate him for not taking care of himself and taking his fitness a little higher.

i also hate him for not getting some help with volleys and the slice. i hate him for his ridiculous scheduling. i also hate him for not maximizing match play and practice on soft clay and minimize exposure to hard courts as much as possible.

i beleive that he doesnt really work on his return like the way, say, Lendl and Muster used to. Lendl would hire young Sampras to come over to his home and have him hit serves all day long so he could really work on his return.

Nadal did make some improvements like in positioning on quicker courts but he could have already been doing so much more which would have made the game so much easier for him. as it stands now, he still has to give all he has got to win his matches for the most part and it leaves him spent and vulnerable to fatigue and resulting injuries.

in any case, its not really about hate. its all about just discussing tennis and having fun. i see things one way and others see them another way.

Man, man, please

How you can be so severe about Rafa this is just out of this world (he is human like all of us: he has the right to do some “mistakes” if any)…And you are a fan of him!!

Come on at the age of 22 this guy has achieved already a lot of stuff on Tennis.

More, he proved he was able to learn quickly to work even harder to reach even more high goals.
Come on! When everything started, the man was playing the same way everywhere:
He was just "one dimensional" a very strong one BUT still one dimensional.

The amount of progresses he was able to pile up in the last three seasons in order to become a more complete player are IMO just amazing. Indeed:

His serve has improved a lot (in particular his first serve), he just discovered and improved his net skills (nowadays he can volley when three seasons ago everything was tentative and approximation) finally, his ability of aggress his opponent, to transform defense on offense which was there only on clay form the beginning (and now it is at its best in this surface) has been integrated and used on other surfaces, in PARTICULAR ON grass (there his slice BH is now a real weapon for instance to create an offence IMO) ..

Clearly there are still parts of his game that can be improved but still he did a great job.

Next, about his schedule: I really do not see what he did wrong? In order to become the N#1 and given the high standards imposed by FED in the recent pass, what the hell of another schedule he should have taken??

Now, the fact he is injured it is related to his style of playing: his fantastic physical aspect (on that side Rafa is like Borg is bringing the physicality of our sport to a new unreached level and the new generation will take him as an ultimate reference on this domain).

On this area, his current improvements on serve and his more "aggressive" attitudes should help him to obtain more "easy" points in the near future and then use less of his body in particular on the HC season (in particular this should assure him more easy first rounds in these events). The man (and his uncle) is intelligent enough to see that.

So, it remains only one "hate" aspect on his game: I.e. the way in which the man he is using his "off" time during a match. I had always a major issue with his "waste" of time during serve or even before receiving. Still, even on that domain the man has improved: He is speeding up lately and so even there he is more easy to follow..

As a conclusion: I will be never a fan of him (his background is the defensive-clay court Tennis- that I just do not like as such) still the man is already an all time great at the age of 22 and this is just impressive and deserve a lot of respect.

[swish]

This past year wasn't that surprising for Nadal, Djokovic lost his mojo and played poorly for months. Fed had the same problem for different reasons and still was able to make finals, besides that he did little.
With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it.

Nadal made a lot of points when the top guns were having sub par play. Murray and Petro didn't come on till later in the year. Still a great year for Rafa.

This past year Nadal did improve his play by a noticeable margin but that wasn't the only reason for his success. I don't want him to have too much credit for what happened, it would be wrong. That I don't see anyone mentioning the competition or lack of, lets me know that there is little objectivity, only taking the positive and throwing away anything that would diminish his achievements, this isn't reality.

He's done enough this year, no need to make it more than it is.

I've mentioned this before and got all kinds of crap about it. I'll take any of Fed's top 3 or 4 top years over this one by Nadal.

This coming year will be the true test of tennis superiority.

Nadal has to back up this great season with another similar season. I'm talking about all-time greatness here, not just a good season.

Now what about Fed. I don't know if I'm buying the stomach bug and back problems, he looked pretty good against Murray, didn't seem to be hurting.
Listening to him lately it's suspect to me that he is making some excuses for his play, just too many excuses. Mono was for real but the stomach bug, not time to practice, my schedule was in disarray, tired from a long season. They may be real but it does sound like he just can't face it's just his game not working.

Again, this coming year will answer these questions, has Fed really lost what it takes to win regularly and was Rafa just a beneficiary of a weak field in 2008.

[Clay Death]

another bout of arrogance from Fed:

Federer won't lose sleep over Djokovic
Wednesday, 19th  November, 2008
Roger Federer has said he is not that bothered about Serbia's Novak Djokovic closing in on his ranking as world number two.
 "I'm going to sleep well for a month. He (Djokovic) is not going to pass me anytime soon," Federer said.
"For me, honestly, ranking two, three, four, five, 25, it doesn't really matter a whole lot, you know. For me it is either number one or being in the main draw," added the Swiss.

Djokovic, who won the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Monday, is just 10 points shy of Federer in the world rankings.

Federer was in the Malaysian capital for an exhibition event which also featured world number 10 James Blake and former tennis greats John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

Last week Federer, complaining of injury and a stomach bug, lost to Briton Andy Murray at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The Shanghai loss was Federer's 15th in a season when he lost his world number one ranking and Wimbledon title to Spain's Rafael Nadal, prompting speculation that he had lost his edge.

Federer, who has won 13 grand slams, told reporters that at 27 he was still confident he had "many more years" of tennis left in him.

simply brilliant rubbish. first he says that Djokovic is not going to catch him. then he says he doesnt really care about being #2 or even lower. seems to me that he has already said it a number of times. he has said that beig #2 does not sit well with him. well get used to it Fed because #3 is coming. and then #4 of course.

so what happens if Fed is upset by the quarters or the semis or worse beaten badly--like in straight sets--by none other than Djokovic at the Australian Open?

would not that amount to Fed having run his mouth recklessly? he has just offered Djokovic all the motivation he will ever need and some additional incentive.

not only is Fed just 10 points ahead of Djokovic but he could be #3 as early as the Australian Open.

its called pressure folks. watch the pressure do its thing. some cant handle it now that it is real.


here is where he said that he does not like being #2:

Of his current predicament, Federer said, "I just don't like the ring of it when I'm being introduced on the center court as the No. 2 in the world because it just sounds wrong. Either I'm No. 1 or I'm a Grand Slam champion, but not No. 2, it just sounds awkward to me because I've been up there for so, so long. It's just unfamiliar, but at the same time it is a challenge to get back up there."

i guess we now have to revise the ranking system so he is not #2 anymore. well how about #4 sound since that is coming within a year?

 And what is the problem: As he said he can accept to be N#25 GIVEN THAT this still offers to him to be a GS contender (at least to participate to it)..Man takes some red pills and go to sleep..calm down: You hate too much this guy..

There is nothing arrogant in his remarks..Already last year he said that what matters it is the N#1 spot in the ranking now he is no more there who cares..

Please answer: 1) If you do not like him (hate him): What is the purpose to read all his interviews?

2) What is your final purpose? IT IS YOUR OPINION THAT FED IS ARROGANT AND YOU HAVE PRESENTED 100000000000000 OF TIMES ALREADY:

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE CONVICE EVERYONE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT? Give us a break!!! 

Fed is a very gifted athlete. one of the finest ever the sport has produced. i am just discussing things. hate has nothing to do it with it really. i have to call it like i see it. you can do the same. no problem here.

i probably hate Nadal more than i hate some of the others. i hate him for not taking care of himself and taking his fitness a little higher.

i also hate him for not getting some help with volleys and the slice. i hate him for his ridiculous scheduling. i also hate him for not maximizing match play and practice on soft clay and minimize exposure to hard courts as much as possible.

i beleive that he doesnt really work on his return like the way, say, Lendl and Muster used to. Lendl would hire young Sampras to come over to his home and have him hit serves all day long so he could really work on his return.

Nadal did make some improvements like in positioning on quicker courts but he could have already been doing so much more which would have made the game so much easier for him. as it stands now, he still has to give all he has got to win his matches for the most part and it leaves him spent and vulnerable to fatigue and resulting injuries.

in any case, its not really about hate. its all about just discussing tennis and having fun. i see things one way and others see them another way.

Man, man, please

How you can be so severe about Rafa this is just out of this world (he is human like all of us: he has the right to do some “mistakes” if any)…And you are a fan of him!!

Come on at the age of 22 this guy has achieved already a lot of stuff on Tennis.

More, he proved he was able to learn quickly to work even harder to reach even more high goals.
Come on! When everything started, the man was playing the same way everywhere:
He was just "one dimensional" a very strong one BUT still one dimensional.

The amount of progresses he was able to pile up in the last three seasons in order to become a more complete player are IMO just amazing. Indeed:

His serve has improved a lot (in particular his first serve), he just discovered and improved his net skills (nowadays he can volley when three seasons ago everything was tentative and approximation) finally, his ability of aggress his opponent, to transform defense on offense which was there only on clay form the beginning (and now it is at its best in this surface) has been integrated and used on other surfaces, in PARTICULAR ON grass (there his slice BH is now a real weapon for instance to create an offence IMO) ..

Clearly there are still parts of his game that can be improved but still he did a great job.

Next, about his schedule: I really do not see what he did wrong? In order to become the N#1 and given the high standards imposed by FED in the recent pass, what the hell of another schedule he should have taken??

Now, the fact he is injured it is related to his style of playing: his fantastic physical aspect (on that side Rafa is like Borg is bringing the physicality of our sport to a new unreached level and the new generation will take him as an ultimate reference on this domain).

On this area, his current improvements on serve and his more "aggressive" attitudes should help him to obtain more "easy" points in the near future and then use less of his body in particular on the HC season (in particular this should assure him more easy first rounds in these events). The man (and his uncle) is intelligent enough to see that.

So, it remains only one "hate" aspect on his game: I.e. the way in which the man he is using his "off" time during a match. I had always a major issue with his "waste" of time during serve or even before receiving. Still, even on that domain the man has improved: He is speeding up lately and so even there he is more easy to follow..

As a conclusion: I will be never a fan of him (his background is the defensive-clay court Tennis- that I just do not like as such) still the man is already an all time great at the age of 22 and this is just impressive and deserve a lot of respect.

i hear you tennis veritas. i just hate to see him suffer. he was hurting even in 2005 at age 19 when he took the madrid masters title on indoor hard courts. in fact, both of his knees were hurting.

i just think a very strong orientation towards fitness and one built around keeping those knees strong would have helped his cause. some players--in order to eliminate excessive wear and tear on those knees and joints---have taken to cycling. Lendl himself had to take his fitness several steps higher once he realized that he basically had to grind out his matches. he would hit the bike for at least 30 miles a day. this kept the knees healthy and furnished him with some endurance.

as you know, cycling is low or no impact. i know the clay monster hits those elliptical machines but he has to take it further. spinning and cycling needs to become an integral part of his fitness programs.

secondly, you have heard me and huntingyou mention this. stay off those hard courts as much as possible. Dubai and Rotterdam should never be on the table. hit the south american clay circuit instead to keep the knees healthy and get that ground game going.

there is no need for 18-20 doubles matches a year. like i said, he plays from the backcourt in those doubles matches and very seldom at the net. this just means extra work and pressure on those knees and joints.

finally, once the #1 rank has been secured, you have to call the dogs off and let your body recover. failure to do that is what is keeping him out of davis cup today. it has also made his knees worse. he also says that he is really worn out.

he was hurting in madrid so what does he do? he had added a sore shoulder to his knee issues.  he shows up in Paris when he did not have to. he said he was hurting and completely worn out when he pulled up in paris. that paris masters should have been the last thing on his mind. instead, he gets in 4 matches--2 singles and 2 doubles on dreaded hard courts--and then can barely walk.

agassi has said this countless times. either change training and scheduling or have a very short career. agassi knows a thing or 2 about fitness. he must be smart and know when to call the dogs off.

the tour is too demanding and vast majority of the tournaments are on hard courts. you just cant dominate on every surface. nobody can. not even the greatest of the greatest can or have been able to. and finally, you must protect your health and your fitness if you want to keep playing.

[falcon]

This past year wasn't that surprising for Nadal, Djokovic lost his mojo and played poorly for months. Fed had the same problem for different reasons and still was able to make finals, besides that he did little.
With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it.

Nadal made a lot of points when the top guns were having sub par play. Murray and Petro didn't come on till later in the year. Still a great year for Rafa.

This past year Nadal did improve his play by a noticeable margin but that wasn't the only reason for his success. I don't want him to have too much credit for what happened, it would be wrong. That I don't see anyone mentioning the competition or lack of, lets me know that there is little objectivity, only taking the positive and throwing away anything that would diminish his achievements, this isn't reality.

He's done enough this year, no need to make it more than it is.

I've mentioned this before and got all kinds of crap about it. I'll take any of Fed's top 3 or 4 top years over this one by Nadal.

This coming year will be the true test of tennis superiority.

Nadal has to back up this great season with another similar season. I'm talking about all-time greatness here, not just a good season.

Now what about Fed. I don't know if I'm buying the stomach bug and back problems, he looked pretty good against Murray, didn't seem to be hurting.
Listening to him lately it's suspect to me that he is making some excuses for his play, just too many excuses. Mono was for real but the stomach bug, not time to practice, my schedule was in disarray, tired from a long season. They may be real but it does sound like he just can't face it's just his game not working.

Again, this coming year will answer these questions, has Fed really lost what it takes to win regularly and was Rafa just a beneficiary of a weak field in 2008.

Yeah...the incredible double at the french and wimby and topping it all an olympic gold medal and winning everything in sight barring a couple of tournaments where he wasn't 100%....sure rafa's year wasn't all that great....and not to forget, toppling perhaps an all time great in the rankings...surely a mediocre year 

[Start da Game]

This past year wasn't that surprising for Nadal, Djokovic lost his mojo and played poorly for months. Fed had the same problem for different reasons and still was able to make finals, besides that he did little.
With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it.

 

aah, look who's talking now..........a "fan of none"..........where were you this year when rafael edged out djokovic and demolished his psyche at hamburg, roland garros and queen's when djokovic was totally closing in on him rapidly?  where were you when nadal was on the edge of taking federer(who din't lose a set mind you reaching the final) out in straight sets at the wimbledon? you are just losing your respect with such cheap comments...........need i go on and tell you what nadal did to federer at RG final? the jealous is quite obvious..........even a player like nalbandian found some of his magic and took federer out not once, but twice late last year.........now was that something like pre-mono effect? get over it and start admitting the obvious..........they are not some clowns, federer and djokovic whom nadal over took in a heroic manner to become no.1...........and mind you, it's only after nadal ousted djokovic in a quite a few intense battles that he lost focus and started playing badly..........he just destroyed djokovic's confidence by taking him out in straight sets at queen's, a result which was unexpected for most, but not to me as i already said it was going to be a straight sets win............

[TennisVeritas]

another bout of arrogance from Fed:

Federer won't lose sleep over Djokovic
Wednesday, 19th  November, 2008
Roger Federer has said he is not that bothered about Serbia's Novak Djokovic closing in on his ranking as world number two.
 "I'm going to sleep well for a month. He (Djokovic) is not going to pass me anytime soon," Federer said.
"For me, honestly, ranking two, three, four, five, 25, it doesn't really matter a whole lot, you know. For me it is either number one or being in the main draw," added the Swiss.

Djokovic, who won the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Monday, is just 10 points shy of Federer in the world rankings.

Federer was in the Malaysian capital for an exhibition event which also featured world number 10 James Blake and former tennis greats John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

Last week Federer, complaining of injury and a stomach bug, lost to Briton Andy Murray at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The Shanghai loss was Federer's 15th in a season when he lost his world number one ranking and Wimbledon title to Spain's Rafael Nadal, prompting speculation that he had lost his edge.

Federer, who has won 13 grand slams, told reporters that at 27 he was still confident he had "many more years" of tennis left in him.

simply brilliant rubbish. first he says that Djokovic is not going to catch him. then he says he doesnt really care about being #2 or even lower. seems to me that he has already said it a number of times. he has said that beig #2 does not sit well with him. well get used to it Fed because #3 is coming. and then #4 of course.

so what happens if Fed is upset by the quarters or the semis or worse beaten badly--like in straight sets--by none other than Djokovic at the Australian Open?

would not that amount to Fed having run his mouth recklessly? he has just offered Djokovic all the motivation he will ever need and some additional incentive.

not only is Fed just 10 points ahead of Djokovic but he could be #3 as early as the Australian Open.

its called pressure folks. watch the pressure do its thing. some cant handle it now that it is real.


here is where he said that he does not like being #2:

Of his current predicament, Federer said, "I just don't like the ring of it when I'm being introduced on the center court as the No. 2 in the world because it just sounds wrong. Either I'm No. 1 or I'm a Grand Slam champion, but not No. 2, it just sounds awkward to me because I've been up there for so, so long. It's just unfamiliar, but at the same time it is a challenge to get back up there."

i guess we now have to revise the ranking system so he is not #2 anymore. well how about #4 sound since that is coming within a year?

 And what is the problem: As he said he can accept to be N#25 GIVEN THAT this still offers to him to be a GS contender (at least to participate to it)..Man takes some red pills and go to sleep..calm down: You hate too much this guy..

There is nothing arrogant in his remarks..Already last year he said that what matters it is the N#1 spot in the ranking now he is no more there who cares..

Please answer: 1) If you do not like him (hate him): What is the purpose to read all his interviews?

2) What is your final purpose? IT IS YOUR OPINION THAT FED IS ARROGANT AND YOU HAVE PRESENTED 100000000000000 OF TIMES ALREADY:

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE CONVICE EVERYONE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT? Give us a break!!! 

Fed is a very gifted athlete. one of the finest ever the sport has produced. i am just discussing things. hate has nothing to do it with it really. i have to call it like i see it. you can do the same. no problem here.

i probably hate Nadal more than i hate some of the others. i hate him for not taking care of himself and taking his fitness a little higher.

i also hate him for not getting some help with volleys and the slice. i hate him for his ridiculous scheduling. i also hate him for not maximizing match play and practice on soft clay and minimize exposure to hard courts as much as possible.

i beleive that he doesnt really work on his return like the way, say, Lendl and Muster used to. Lendl would hire young Sampras to come over to his home and have him hit serves all day long so he could really work on his return.

Nadal did make some improvements like in positioning on quicker courts but he could have already been doing so much more which would have made the game so much easier for him. as it stands now, he still has to give all he has got to win his matches for the most part and it leaves him spent and vulnerable to fatigue and resulting injuries.

in any case, its not really about hate. its all about just discussing tennis and having fun. i see things one way and others see them another way.

Man, man, please

How you can be so severe about Rafa this is just out of this world (he is human like all of us: he has the right to do some “mistakes” if any)…And you are a fan of him!!

Come on at the age of 22 this guy has achieved already a lot of stuff on Tennis.

More, he proved he was able to learn quickly to work even harder to reach even more high goals.
Come on! When everything started, the man was playing the same way everywhere:
He was just "one dimensional" a very strong one BUT still one dimensional.

The amount of progresses he was able to pile up in the last three seasons in order to become a more complete player are IMO just amazing. Indeed:

His serve has improved a lot (in particular his first serve), he just discovered and improved his net skills (nowadays he can volley when three seasons ago everything was tentative and approximation) finally, his ability of aggress his opponent, to transform defense on offense which was there only on clay form the beginning (and now it is at its best in this surface) has been integrated and used on other surfaces, in PARTICULAR ON grass (there his slice BH is now a real weapon for instance to create an offence IMO) ..

Clearly there are still parts of his game that can be improved but still he did a great job.

Next, about his schedule: I really do not see what he did wrong? In order to become the N#1 and given the high standards imposed by FED in the recent pass, what the hell of another schedule he should have taken??

Now, the fact he is injured it is related to his style of playing: his fantastic physical aspect (on that side Rafa is like Borg is bringing the physicality of our sport to a new unreached level and the new generation will take him as an ultimate reference on this domain).

On this area, his current improvements on serve and his more "aggressive" attitudes should help him to obtain more "easy" points in the near future and then use less of his body in particular on the HC season (in particular this should assure him more easy first rounds in these events). The man (and his uncle) is intelligent enough to see that.

So, it remains only one "hate" aspect on his game: I.e. the way in which the man he is using his "off" time during a match. I had always a major issue with his "waste" of time during serve or even before receiving. Still, even on that domain the man has improved: He is speeding up lately and so even there he is more easy to follow..

As a conclusion: I will be never a fan of him (his background is the defensive-clay court Tennis- that I just do not like as such) still the man is already an all time great at the age of 22 and this is just impressive and deserve a lot of respect.

i hear you tennis veritas. i just hate to see him suffer. he was hurting even in 2005 at age 19 when he took the madrid masters title on indoor hard courts. in fact, both of his knees were hurting.

i just think a very strong orientation towards fitness and one built around keeping those knees strong would have helped his cause. some players--in order to eliminate excessive wear and tear on those knees and joints---have taken to cycling. Lendl himself had to take his fitness several steps higher once he realized that he basically had to grind out his matches. he would hit the bike for at least 30 miles a day. this kept the knees healthy and furnished him with some endurance.

as you know, cycling is low or no impact. i know the clay monster hits those elliptical machines but he has to take it further. spinning and cycling needs to become an integral part of his fitness programs.

secondly, you have heard me and huntingyou mention this. stay off those hard courts as much as possible. Dubai and Rotterdam should never be on the table. hit the south american clay circuit instead to keep the knees healthy and get that ground game going.

there is no need for 18-20 doubles matches a year. like i said, he plays from the backcourt in those doubles matches and very seldom at the net. this just means extra work and pressure on those knees and joints.

finally, once the #1 rank has been secured, you have to call the dogs off and let your body recover. failure to do that is what is keeping him out of davis cup today. it has also made his knees worse. he also says that he is really worn out.

he was hurting in madrid so what does he do? he had added a sore shoulder to his knee issues.  he shows up in Paris when he did not have to. he said he was hurting and completely worn out when he pulled up in paris. that paris masters should have been the last thing on his mind. instead, he gets in 4 matches--2 singles and 2 doubles on dreaded hard courts--and then can barely walk.

agassi has said this countless times. either change training and scheduling or have a very short career. agassi knows a thing or 2 about fitness. he must be smart and know when to call the dogs off.

the tour is too demanding and vast majority of the tournaments are on hard courts. you just cant dominate on every surface. nobody can. not even the greatest of the greatest can or have been able to. and finally, you must protect your health and your fitness if you want to keep playing.

Ok thanks for your further comments..I see now your points..still, I believe you are too severe with this choice of the doubles: I agree might be lately he has exaggerated a bit, still the double has improved a lot his attitude (and skills) at the net: he is definitely more confident out there, he knows now what to do and this is (and has been) very important, in particular out of clay (and in particular on grass IMO)..

Come on!! I agree he did only a serve and volley during the entire Wimblendon final this year still against a very smart guy as Murray he was ready to play a lot better any short balls and same against a power machine as Gulbis IMO..

This XTRA confidence at the net is related with his double IMO..

Now, it is true, for the future and given that he has the top spot, he can easily decide to give up this additional "training" and preserve himself and his energy for the single..

But, once again, he is intelligent and smart and so it is his uncle so I just find exaggerate your worries about him.. 

[britbox]

Depending on the draw, I think Federer or Djokovic will win the AO with Tsonga being the dark horse.

[Clay Death]

Depending on the draw, I think Federer or Djokovic will win the AO with Tsonga being the dark horse.

is Tsonga really that consistent. i realize he had a great tournament here last time around but the competition is vastly improved.

i give him an outside/slim shot at the semis at best. best possible prediction for him the quarters at best. he is capable of an upset or 2 early on but i dont think goes all the way to the final this time.

[britbox]

Depending on the draw, I think Federer or Djokovic will win the AO with Tsonga being the dark horse.

is Tsonga really that consistent. i realize he had a great tournament here last time around but the competition is vastly improved.

i give him an outside/slim shot at the semis at best. best possible prediction for him the quarters at best. he is capable of an upset or 2 early on but i dont think goes all the way to the final this time.

Just a dark horse choice - I don't think he'll win it, but I agree that he could be a spoiler that takes out one of the big 3 or 4.

[swish]

This past year wasn't that surprising for Nadal, Djokovic lost his mojo and played poorly for months. Fed had the same problem for different reasons and still was able to make finals, besides that he did little.
With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it.

 

aah, look who's talking now..........a "fan of none"..........where were you this year when rafael edged out djokovic and demolished his psyche at hamburg, roland garros and queen's when djokovic was totally closing in on him rapidly?  where were you when nadal was on the edge of taking federer(who din't lose a set mind you reaching the final) out in straight sets at the wimbledon? you are just losing your respect with such cheap comments...........need i go on and tell you what nadal did to federer at RG final? the jealous is quite obvious..........even a player like nalbandian found some of his magic and took federer out not once, but twice late last year.........now was that something like pre-mono effect? get over it and start admitting the obvious..........they are not some clowns, federer and djokovic whom nadal over took in a heroic manner to become no.1...........and mind you, it's only after nadal ousted djokovic in a quite a few intense battles that he lost focus and started playing badly..........he just destroyed djokovic's confidence by taking him out in straight sets at queen's, a result which was unexpected for most, but not to me as i already said it was going to be a straight sets win............

That's how I see it, nothing more. I said he had a great year, if you want me to kneel down next to you it won't happen. I gave Nadal enough praise, what more is there to say, I can't overlook ALL areas and only focus on some that you want.

I can reply to many of your posts and argue about it but Nadal's your man, enjoy his success's but don't expect all others to follow, that would be unrealistic.

[Start da Game]

This past year wasn't that surprising for Nadal, Djokovic lost his mojo and played poorly for months. Fed had the same problem for different reasons and still was able to make finals, besides that he did little.
With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it.

 

aah, look who's talking now..........a "fan of none"..........where were you this year when rafael edged out djokovic and demolished his psyche at hamburg, roland garros and queen's when djokovic was totally closing in on him rapidly?  where were you when nadal was on the edge of taking federer(who din't lose a set mind you reaching the final) out in straight sets at the wimbledon? you are just losing your respect with such cheap comments...........need i go on and tell you what nadal did to federer at RG final? the jealous is quite obvious..........even a player like nalbandian found some of his magic and took federer out not once, but twice late last year.........now was that something like pre-mono effect? get over it and start admitting the obvious..........they are not some clowns, federer and djokovic whom nadal over took in a heroic manner to become no.1...........and mind you, it's only after nadal ousted djokovic in a quite a few intense battles that he lost focus and started playing badly..........he just destroyed djokovic's confidence by taking him out in straight sets at queen's, a result which was unexpected for most, but not to me as i already said it was going to be a straight sets win............

That's how I see it, nothing more. I said he had a great year, if you want me to kneel down next to you it won't happen. I gave Nadal enough praise, what more is there to say, I can't overlook ALL areas and only focus on some that you want.

I can reply to many of your posts and argue about it but Nadal's your man, enjoy his success's but don't expect all others to follow, that would be unrealistic.

when did i? but you know, when you bring comments like  "With Fed and Djoko absent who did Nadal play that was worthy? Just think about it."   to the fore, it gets funnily serious............

[conchita]

Depending on the draw, I think Federer or Djokovic will win the AO with Tsonga being the dark horse.

Djokovic USO 2007 finalist and AO 2008 champion
perhaps Murray USO 2008 finalist and AO 2009 champion.

[Start da Game]

many have high hopes on murray but what i feel is, if the surfaces are going to play any slower, i think murray will struggle from round 3 itself.........