Topic: French Open 2012 - Final Pre-tournament Take

[swish]

What SF would you prefer?
Nadal-Fed
Djokovic-Murray
Or
Nadal-Murray
Djokovic-Fed

Either way Murray would have to beat both in SF if top 4 seeds made it,but thinking on this more i'd say Nadal ATM in SF.Djokovic & Murray just seem to be getting stronger,Nadal been around a long time now,@ some point it's going to catch up with him?will it be this year?

Fed I doubt would wear down Nadal too much.
But if Murray and Djokovic play in the SF it would be a long match I think.
 
This would leave Nadal with an advantage again like in the AO whether he played Murray or Djokovic.
 
Whoever Murray ends up with, he will tire them out or be more tired for the final.
 
 
 

[sid]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

I would not be so sure on that Alex,Murray has Ivan Lendl in his corner,this has to be respected.

[Alex]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

I would not be so sure on that Alex,Murray has Ivan Lendl in his corner,this has to be respected.

I truly believe that Lendl will help Andy a lot. to be honest with you I'd love to see Murray taking the FO and surprise everyone. I guess, I love drama, lol.

[falcon]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

That's being very rational Alex   

[sid]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

I would not be so sure on that Alex,Murray has Ivan Lendl in his corner,this has to be respected.

I truly believe that Lendl will help Andy a lot. to be honest with you I'd love to see Murray taking the FO and surprise everyone. I guess, I love drama, lol.

Would it surprise everyone now Murray has Lendl with him?

[HarryWild]

I have a feeling that Lendl is priming Andy for Wimbledon!  It does not hurt to finish in the semis or be a finalist in the French.  I do not think he can win it with Nadal, Federer and Djokovic ahead of him!  It got to be Wimbledon or nothing for Andy in 2012!

[Alex]

I have a feeling that Lendl is priming Andy for Wimbledon!  It does not hurt to finish in the semis or be a finalist in the French.  I do not think he can win it with Nadal, Federer and Djokovic ahead of him!  It got to be Wimbledon or nothing for Andy in 2012!

I don't know. Lendl never won W. I think he needs to give Murray that mental edge somehow. Also, Murray must improve his FH (I said this like 1000 times).

[Alex]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

That's being very rational Alex   

well, rational or not, Nole won last 7 matches they played. I realize you don't like it but ...

[hercules]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

well we have a similar feeling old friend. i think nadal is going to destroy nole in a RG final if nole can get there.

lot of payback is in store. i think nadal will produce his best tennis yet at a RG final this year. he has something to prove.

its his last stand and he will fight with all his might. its clay. he has the time he needs on clay.

[Alex]

well my friend... who knows. I think we deserve to see Nole vs. Rafa final at FO. the best man will win. I'm sure it's going to be a great match  if they finally meet.

[Start da Game]

Djokovic/Federer/Potty/Murray could all stop Nadal @ RG,the 2 biggest dangers will be Djokovic & Murray this time i feel.Djokovic is looking to get 4 Slams B2B & Murray his first,i think the pressure will be right on Nadal.Let's all not forget what happened with Borg,he won 6 times @ RG,then suddenly he was gone from the tennis world.I'm not saying Nadal is going to do what Borg did,but winning RG could end in a blink of an eye.Djokovic now is Amazing & so fit now,that means Nadal has no advantage over him.Murray has the Hunger to win his first Slam & just might have the right man in his corner to get his goal.I would love to see the top seeds in the SF's @ RG & have a real fight to be the winner over all.Soderling won't be a nice Draw if he gets on his best game.Soderling looks like he not playing Rotterdam,so will drop lower in Rankings,he is 14th ATM.

djokovic, d pot, murray and federer too? may i ask how many times fed stopped nadal in their 5 meetings at the garros? fed, murray and d pot have less than zero chance against rafa at the french open........murray just doesn't have the kind of game to challenge rafa on clay and d pot cannot last for 4 hours, let alone 5 or 6 or 7 hours.......

djokovic is going to bring his very best to the french open final and still the final won't go beyond 4 sets.......nadal really wants to make a statement with the french open.......he means damn serious business at RG 2012 and is determined as hell.......

 

[monstertruck]

I think the best way to sort out who's going to win the French is to watch the final.  Both playas should be hitting the ball pretty well at that point in the clay season.  I predict the guy that wins the last point is going to win the match.  No doubt about it.

[Start da Game]

shank and herc... I've known you guys for a long time (I love you both btw  but you go crazy about Nadal sometimes. all  I'm saying again it ain't going to be easy. I have a very strong feeling that Nadal will lose to Novak again.

it's good to have positive feelings about favourite players, alex.......you are well liked by us as well.......however i think the trend is going to reverse itself starting roland garros 2012 final.......i can see that nadal is over that hurdle, i mean those 6 matches he lost in a cluster are no more a factor in 2012 as evidenced through the greatest AO final recently.......

i am saying this only based on my observation and not with any other intention - djokovic is nearing the end of his magnificent run and i could actually see nadal beating him at indian wells or miami.......it's just unfortunate for djokovic and murray that they are having to deal with the grittiest player of all time who just keeps coming at you all the time.......djokovic could have taken 8 slams in a row from 2003 AO to 2004 USO had he belonged to that time but it's just not possible now.......

 
 

[Start da Game]

I think the best way to sort out who's going to win the French is to watch the final.  Both playas should be hitting the ball pretty well at that point in the clay season.  I predict the guy that wins the last point is going to win the match.  No doubt about it.

there has never been a better objective stance than that........

we should also go by the trend.......those 6 matches he lost last year are no more a factor, rafa looked upbeat even after his AO defeat because he knew that he got into a winning position at 4-2 30-15 in the fifth.......so that means he solved the first part of the puzzle which is to find a way to first get into winning positions in matches again against novak.......he's closing in and will finally beat him in the next match or the match after that.......

[monstertruck]

I think the best way to sort out who's going to win the French is to watch the final.  Both playas should be hitting the ball pretty well at that point in the clay season.  I predict the guy that wins the last point is going to win the match.  No doubt about it.

there has never been a better objective stance than that........

we should also go by the trend.......those 6 matches he lost last year are no more a factor, rafa looked upbeat even after his AO defeat because he knew that he got into a winning position at 4-2 30-15 in the fifth.......so that means he solved the first part of the puzzle which is to find a way to first get into winning positions in matches again against novak.......he's closing in and will finally beat him in the next match or the match after that.......

I agree with most of your conclusions, just not sure if/when he'll beat Nole again.  Best chance seems to be on clay, though I did like the fact that he was willing to step out of the box and try some riskier tennis.
Would love to see he and Nole in the RG final this year. 

[Alex]

I really do give credit to Nadal for being able to hang out with Nole for almost 6 hours. I mean it was completely crazy match and I guess this is what all tennis fans want. The only reason I think that Nole will win the FO is that he is fitter than Nadal atm. That might change. Nadal is a beast. I just enjoy this new 'era' so much. Sure, I support Novak but this so great for tennis.

On the other hand, both Nole and Rafa might lose early  . It's not very likely but it happened before.

[Start da Game]

the last thing we fans want them to do is pull off a couple of matches a la madrid '09 right before the french open.......they need to be fit for the french.......otherwise it will be very hard to stomach the hilarity of murray winning the french open for his first slam.......

[tennisfan78]

Rafa plays a lot of grinding style tennis on Clay. And he has been very successful over the years, and was simply untouchable. Will he continue to do play that style this year as well or will he be more aggressive? Additionally, will he play all the clay tournaments like he usually does? I am interested to see how things go in the clay season.

[Start da Game]

Rafa plays a lot of grinding style tennis on Clay. And he has been very successful over the years, and was simply untouchable. Will he continue to do play that style this year as well or will he be more aggressive? Additionally, will he play all the clay tournaments like he usually does? I am interested to see how things go in the clay season.

i would dearly like him to skip madrid.......montecarlo, barcelona and rome are more than adequate preparation for the french open.......he will play indian wells and miami anyway which play like clay in some ways.......

[Alex]

I just think that they both should really focus on majors. I'm still puzzled when it comes to Nadal's schedule. both Nole and Rafa are making some history in a way. They have nothing to prove by winning masters.  I don't think Rafa should play Barcelona this year. I also think that Nole playing Belgrade is stupid.