RedAssedApe
Banned
think rafa needs to go even bigger with his racquet. beyond oversize
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The 2015 US Open |OT| 31th August 13th September
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TJ Verboten
Member
Really fun 5th set
He didn't have any points to defend, so this doesn't hurt his ranking.
RedAssedApe
Banned
gotta check out the postgame later. basically...go for broke against nadal
Battersea Power Station
Member
And even that is a new trend, started with the dominance of Federer, and then Djokovic and Nadal. The consistency of the top players has been amazing. Back in the day, it wouldn't be such a huge deal for Sampras or Agassi or Connors or Becker to go out in the 3rd round every once in a while. Nowadays it's big news.
Simply Sami
Member
That was sad to watch, if you like Rafa.
Too many times this year he's lost like that. I know Fognini should get credit.
But that was similar to the Dustin Brown loss at Wimbledon. Brown hit a lot of similar shots to Fognini and people were giving him credit. Rightly so. Rafa just made it easy for them by not even being aggressive himself. Nearly all of Nadals defeat have really been similar.
I think Rafa is just going out there hoping his opponents are going to make crazy amount of errors and he will win the match. He's not playing to win. He's just hoping that his opens are going to mentally crack.
It's a upset because Nadal was two sets and break. But before the match if you said Fognini is going to win, I wouldn't say it's a upset as he's beaten Nadal twice already this year.
Nadal needs to get a new coach alongside Toni. Someone with new ideas. Improve that serve and get that Forehand back to how it was.
He literally has no offence now. 30 winners in a match with that many breaks is shocking. Just shows that Fognini was going to win it or win it for Nadal.
Too many times this year he's lost like that. I know Fognini should get credit.
But that was similar to the Dustin Brown loss at Wimbledon. Brown hit a lot of similar shots to Fognini and people were giving him credit. Rightly so. Rafa just made it easy for them by not even being aggressive himself. Nearly all of Nadals defeat have really been similar.
I think Rafa is just going out there hoping his opponents are going to make crazy amount of errors and he will win the match. He's not playing to win. He's just hoping that his opens are going to mentally crack.
It's a upset because Nadal was two sets and break. But before the match if you said Fognini is going to win, I wouldn't say it's a upset as he's beaten Nadal twice already this year.
Nadal needs to get a new coach alongside Toni. Someone with new ideas. Improve that serve and get that Forehand back to how it was.
He literally has no offence now. 30 winners in a match with that many breaks is shocking. Just shows that Fognini was going to win it or win it for Nadal.
milanbaros
Member?
Agreed. It is federer, Djokovic and murray's consistency which is incredible in the history of tennis. When you have a guy who has won two slams making it to every quarterfinal for years an all time great going out early is startling. Nadal's career trajectory is more normal but surrounded by crazy.
Simply Sami
Member
Dustin brown hit 58 winners in four sets at Wimbledon.
It's not really impressive anymore. Nadal is basically letting his opponents dictate points as he has no weapon because his forehand is so poor at the moment. It's either they hit a winner or error.
Battersea Power Station
Member
A and B. Nadal's balls were really short compared to his prime form, but Fognini was taking full advantage of it by hitting some incredible angles. Another player would've just played back to Nadal's strength.
Simply Sami
Member
Anyone else see Nadal retiring before Federer or even at the same time.
Federer clearly wants to go for the singles gold in the Olympics next year. There's a chance he could retire after 2016, but it also depends on how he is playing.
If Nadal plays like this next year, I see him retiring. I don't think he's the type of player who will accept not winning a slam or even being close to winning a slam.
Will be sad if they both retire at the same time.
Federer clearly wants to go for the singles gold in the Olympics next year. There's a chance he could retire after 2016, but it also depends on how he is playing.
If Nadal plays like this next year, I see him retiring. I don't think he's the type of player who will accept not winning a slam or even being close to winning a slam.
Will be sad if they both retire at the same time.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
genuinely didn't see that one coming, what a thing to wake up to.
I'll go watch the replay - was it Nadal being bad or the Fog GOATing?
I'll go watch the replay - was it Nadal being bad or the Fog GOATing?
FortuneFaded
Member
Will people finally accept that Nadal is done now?
Until RG next year for me.
https://vine.co/v/eTUaAa331HW
I actually feel a little bad for him now. Can't get more broken than that.
I actually feel a little bad for him now. Can't get more broken than that.
Nadal has always been an extremely defensive player. What's changed is that he's slower and he's forehand lost power, spin and depth, so his opponents can handle it much more easily, whereas in the past they struggled against it mightily. As for Fognini specifically, he was already spanking Nadal like a schoolboy in Beijing 2013 before choking horribly.
Shame I couldn't stay up last night to watch this match as it sounds it was incredible. It's tough to say who will win the R16 match between Lopez and Fognini. Kinda want Lopez to win that one, but I'm OK either way. Maybe Fognini if he could realize that Djokovic is also vulnerable here so he should be just as relentless as he was against Nadal...
John Dunbar
correct about everything
problem with that is that not even a subpar djokovic is going to get broken 9 times, and fognini is not going to have any easier time holding his own serve. if djokovic and fognini meet in the quarters, the only question is will fognini win over 10 games.
Simply Sami
Member
I am sure there's a stat that the last 5 or 6 guys to beat Nadal have gone on to lose the next round including Fognini himself.
And Fognini has no chance if he faces Djokovic. Djokovic won't be so kind with his serve. Anyway I fancy Lopez to beat him in four.
And Fognini has no chance if he faces Djokovic. Djokovic won't be so kind with his serve. Anyway I fancy Lopez to beat him in four.
Seppi played like shit and still broke Djokovic twice and had BPs on several other occasions. Fognini-Nadal had typical serve/return dynamics until the final set. Still, Djokovic is the overwhelming favorite to make the semis. But I'd prefer if players approached him like every other opponent, those endless chokes in Cincinnati were embarrassing.
Sad times, I can't believe he lost after being a break up in the third, I mean wtf. This year has been a write off but like Fed and Murray in the last few years he may bounce back.
If Nadal doesn't show anything at RG16 and through the clay court season then he is actually done for at the top level.
If Nadal doesn't show anything at RG16 and through the clay court season then he is actually done for at the top level.
Simply Sami
Member
Nadal is actually playing like Murray of old before Lendl came along. Just keeping the ball in play and hoping the opponent just makes errors.
Yeah he was a defensive player. But at his peak he was also aggressive. You don't win grand slams by your opponents just making unforced errors. He always seemed to have a game plan about him. Now when he's lost momentum of a game he just can't seem to wrestle it back.
Federer has Edberg. Djokovic has Becker. I think Nadal should get Sampras. If anybody could help him with that current poor serve of his it is Sampras.
Diprosalic
Banned
i just looked it up:
Qatar: lost against Berrer 1R, Berrer lost 2R
AO: lost against Berdych QF, Berdych lost SF to Murray
Rio: lost against Fognini in SF, Fognini lost Finals against Ferrer
IW: lost against Raonic in QF, Raonic lost against Federer in SF
Miami: lost against Verdasco in 3R, Verdasco lost in 4R
Monte Carl: lost against Djoker in SF, Djoker wins tournament
Barcelona: lost against Fognini 3R, Fognini lost in 4R
Madrid: lost in Finals to Murray
Rome: lost to Wawa in QF, Wawa lost to Federer in SF
French Open: lost to Djokovic in QF, Djokovic won SF but lost Finals to Wawa
Queens: lost to Dolgolopov 1R, Dolgo lost 2R
Wimby: lost to Brown 2R, Brown lost 3R
Montreal: lost to Kei QF, Kei lost to Murray SF
Cincy: lost to Lopez 3R, Lopez lost next round against Federer
USO: lost to Fognini 3R, ???
so only Djokovic managed to beat him and win his next round, but only once he won the tournament.
there are 3 strategic Federer tanks in there. :O
Yes, when push came to the shove Nadal was capable of aggressive play. But it's clear he's now unable to reproduce that because he's body isn't what it used to be, he's slower and less explosive, he'd probably leak a ton of errors if he tried to play exactly like he did in 2010.
Dunno how Sampras could help Nadal? It's not like Nadal is going to reproduce Sampras's serve motion or as if he could successfully start serve & volleying.
IMO Nadal should do what Federer has been doing the past two years, which is to experiment and innovate with different point patterns and increase his variety, there's no going back to the monotonous forehand moonballing.
Nadal does need a new coach just to give him new ideas and like you say he needs to find a way to change the way he plays some of the points as he needs to find a way to keep them shorter now.
If Nadal doesn't get a new coach by the year end he never will.
Same. Although I woke up randomly at about 3.30am, so checked the score and seen he had won the first set, so I thought to myself Rafa has got this, then when I woke and seen the score I was like wtf especially being 2 sets up.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
If he fails to make WTF 2016, he's done. Until then, I'm willing to wait; remember Federer 2013?
John Dunbar
correct about everything
gasquet seems to be giving tomic a lesson. of course richie can always implode at any moment.
Good point. Everyone on the Internets has been predicting Feds retirement for years after every slam loss. He may not win slams anymore but he is still #2 in the World.
You can watch any court on ESPN 3, either through the ESPN 3 site or the US Open site (think you need a cable login though). Not sure what else is available offhand, and haven't tried the US Open app.
Diprosalic
Banned
Federer broken for the first time since Wimbledon i believe
Diprosalic
Banned
ReBreak
WTAerer
WTAerer
Diprosalic
Banned
Fed doesnt want to peak early so he's playing like shit on purpose.
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