ATP master TV is a great buy and I highly recommend it. The live streaming can be found on the internet but the quality is no where near the ATP TV. beats cable for sure. ( no, I am not ET and I don’t work for ATP!)

but if you don’t have it, try these:
http://channelsurfing.net

scroll down for the links

or this one
http://justin.tv

goto sports, find a link

this one was showing the matches yesterday:
http://www.justin.tv/slazenger

for TV schedule:
http://www.tennis.com/tvschedule/tvschedule.aspx?id=67

let’s hope Rafa can win today!

Someone correct me if I am wrong (this is what it is going to be after the Olympic when everything is normalized and calibrated).
[1]
Federer…..6230 (if he wins the Olympic Gold)
Nadal…….6226 (if he loses at the quarter at Cincy and 1st Rd. at the Olympic)
—————————————-
[2]
Nadal…..6250 (if he loses in the quarter at Cincy and Rd. of 32, i.e. 2nd Rd. at the Olympic)
Federer…6230 (if he wins the Olympic Gold)
—————————————
[3]
Nadal……..6275 (if he loses in the quarter final at Cincy, and loses at Rd. 16, which is 3rd Rd.)
Federer……6230 (if he wins the Olympic Gold)
————————————-
[4]
Nadal……..6325 (if he loses in the semi at Cincy and 1st Rd. of Olympic)
Federer……6230 (if he wins the Olympic Gold)
——————————————-
[5] Most likely scenario (Nadal will be leading Fed by around 1000 points at the time US Open begins)
Nadal….6805-7000 (if he wins Cincy and reaches between semi with Bronze and Olympic win)
Federer…5830 to 5930 (loss between 1st Rd. and Quarters at the Olympic)
————————————————-
Willie from the other thread (for those who are critical of Fed):
“He’s like ‘No. 2, No. 3, it doesn’t matter much. It’s No. 1 that matters.’ But now that Rafa is about to take the No. 1 spot, he’s like ‘I don’t care.’”
————————————–
Quote of the day from Fed to his fans:
“I’m on a great run with my No. 1 ranking. If I would lose it I would want it back…”

what am I seeing? Murray gets broken in the opening game?
Moya, the man (sounds sexist, let me qualify, as opposed to baby Murray), has been doing something incredible all along this tournament. And after taking the break, he holds easily).
After the slow start, I hope Murray turns it around.

Yeah, I also commented about this - its pretty sad, but whatever. It was inevitable that Federer would lose the number 1 ranking pretty soon considering the way he’s been playing this year. During the majors - he played well, but Nadal is becoming a bit too strong. However, if Federer gets a consistent coach and works hard instead of focusing on fashion I’m sure he can reclaim his spot as Number 1. Anyways the ONLY way Nadal can become Number 1 is if he wins the tournament. But, he will have to potentially face Djokovic and Murray - two formidable opponents who are fully capable of stopping Nadal on hard court. It should be an interesting tournament to watch now.

VISIT MY BLOG AT: talkaboutsport.blogspot.com
- Talk about All sports

With the double break, it looks like Moya is gonna win the 1st set. When Moya’s forehand gets going, it is hard to stop him. Murray is in trouble.

Projected Winner: Moya
Too early to make this call but, what the heck. This is close to certain now, after a set up and a break up early in the 2nd set.

Suddenly Murray is rising from the ashes, hitting more winners and serving better. On the other hand, Moya starts showing signs of weakness.
And now I am forced to take back my projection. So the projection changes to “cannot be declared yet.”

Momentum shifts to Murray as he takes lead with a break.
Now, it is almost certain that Murray will win the 2nd set. If he can keep the momentum going, he will be the winner. This is what I like to watch in tennis. If Moya were the playwright of this tennis drama, this is the moment of bathos, as he unintentionally overshoots the mark and drops into trivial or the ridiculous.

Murray is able to keep the momentum going. He has resuscitated into the same Murray that eliminated Djoko at Toronto. He is replaying the same excellence. There is every reason to believe now that he will win the match.
Thank you.

i never saw willie’s thread (just reading the excerpt above).

although i don’t think roger has said he doesn’t care if nadal takes the ranking (most of the reports i have read has him commenting that nadal deserves it), i will say that he has been dismissive with losses in the past year.

after montreal last year he claimed the loss was ‘insignificant’ which struck me as a little petulant, but not doubt he was still thinking of that volley at 40-0 loved he missed to close out the first set.

i actually find it kind of fascinating to watch how he is reacting to these losses. time will tell if it’s only a bad year or the start of more of the same patchyness.

andrea

they ask these questions right after the match and it goes on and on and on. They guy just lost a match he would have won most of the times and is likely to lose his No 1 ranking. That’s why even a Rafa fan, I don’t care about those comments either. he has praised Rafa many times and said that if he wasn’t No 1 , he wished for Rafa to replace him. that’s enough for me.

Andrea,
Willie combined what Federer said yesterday and back in September 2007. Here is the link to the old interview if you missed to read(it is at the bottom of the page): http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen07/news/story?id=3012146

Shital:

Thanks for that link. Interesting comments by Fed. He’s always stated, and rather emphatically too, that he likes being No. 1 — it’s very important to him. The reasons he gave were: (1) People show you more respect; and (2) They listen to whatever you have to say.

If Federer loses the No. 1 ranking, he will be heartbroken. He likes the status and all of the accolades abd adulation that’s given to a No. 1 ranked player. He’ll have a very difficult time adjusting to No. 2. If we think he’s having problems now, as the saying goes, “you ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.” Simply put, he’ll be devastated.

Here actual Q/A from the presser:

Q. To what extent would you hope that Nadal doesn’t win this tournament?
ROGER FEDERER: I don’t care.

The question was ‘how desperately you want Rafa to loose now?’. This was asked right after a loss to frustrating player like Karlovic. Also we don’t know anything about the tone of the reporter who is asking the question and Roger’s history with that reporter.

so many times people throw in one or two lines from players post match interview (not talking about just Roger here) and try to understand his psyche. If Roger was such a cocky/arrogant a**hole, why on earth will he win the sportsmanship awards??? there he gets voted by fellow players who know him lot better than any media person or fan will know. I will take their word over anyone else.

lol, I cant get enough of his royal highness losing.

To the dude with remarks instead of names:

Like I said earlier that I am a Nadal fan and was half hoping for RF to lose to help Nadal get No. 1 faster, but your continuous gloating of Fed’s loss is really distasteful.

I’m sure Nadal would rather take over the no.1 position with Federer playing his best anytime.

I have been amazed by the outpouring of support for RF on his website. Almost 2 million, a big jump since he has been going through a slump. His fans who would normally stay in the background have taken time to write to show their support. And that is a real tribute to RF and what he has accomplished over the last few years. I wonder how you guys are going to spin this. Journalists seem to have a licencse to say anything they want, spin it anyway they want and there are people who are morons out there who are unable to read and evaluate what the truth is. Or is it that some people would like to believe the worst of people. I guess it makes them feel powerful. How would any of you like to be hounded with stupid, inane and mean spirited questions when you are down? Give RF a break. He is trying to get back his rhytm. What a bunch of blood sucking vampires out there.

zola,

thanks for posting the match links; as a result, i am able to watch the matches today instead of the scoreboard. in canada we’re getting just women’s at the moment, and there is not much there to shout about it!

Shital - Novak’s looking more focused today isn’t he? But his first serves are still at only 62% - better but not enough. He needs to get more easy points off his serves, because then he can expend his energy on breaking and making matches quick.

Hi Jane !

A little better for sure, yet not enough,” like you said.
There is glimmer of hope, at least in this match.

Yes- he served very well in that last game to take the set, and upped his percentage to 69%. More of that please Djoko!

Djoko is showing his ball striking abilities; he’s playing very well with some brilliant shots and placement. I hope his energy will remain at a high level because some of the rallies are pretty long. He’s showing great respect for Gulbis’ game. Gulbis is also displaying some of his great shot-making abilities. His cross-court forehand shot is similar to that of James Blake’s when he is playing at his best.

Fedophile Files: The GOAT Factor

http://gototennis.blogspot.com/2008/07/fedophile-files-goat-factor.html

Ravi,
It is great that Federer fans are supporting him uring this hard time. that’s what the fans are for. about the questions, yes, they can be very cruel at times.

also please read my response ( 2:06 pm) to andrea on the same subject.

Jane,
you are welcome.
I am glad Ivo won.He is so likeable!
same as Gulbis, but he cannot outplay Djoko. Seems Djoko is getting better with every match!

JCF
that’s a fun page!

Von,

Djoko’s energy seems fine so far, but he does have the tendency to get discouraged and lose focus. Too many unforced errors too but at least that first serve % is better.

Thank you Djoko, you made my day !
Thank you, Jane !

And the invincible will be waiting for him tomorrow, so he needs to watch how the best player plays this evening and practice some serve before going to bed.

Von,
I am happy regardless of how he will do tomorrow. I can only hope he puts up a good fight.

Shital - I agree; last year he lost in the first round here so this is a great improvement and he seems to be getting back into a groove.

jane, Sar & Shital:

Djoko did it in stright sets no less!! You should all be happy.

Gulbis seemed to be suffering some pain from his knee, and he made too many UEs. He’s got to learn to curb that forehand from overhitting. Djoko played a smart match; he anticipated Gulbis” moves and was able to reply to his shots with good placement. Also, he at times, closed down the net, thus disallowing Gulbis to volley. all in all, Dxjoko has gotten better with each match and is looking fresh. Today, ending that match in straight sets has allowed him to conserve some energy. Keep smiling. Shital, I know you like to keep your elation under wraps, but today you’re allowed to celebrate a bit. So what are you waiting for, smile.

Some interesting quotes from after Fed’s last grand slam win. I am quoting an article that has some of his quotes.

“New guys challenging me — this is my biggest motivation out there,” Federer said. “Seeing them challenging me, and then beating them in the finals.”

…

About an hour after Sunday’s match, Djokovic walked outside the stadium to a players’ area, where a dozen friends and relatives awaited. Djokovic posed for photos, then Dad helped him pop a bottle of champagne. Clearly, Djokovic was happy to be here.

Federer cared only about getting the victory.

He was asked whether Djokovic is ready to overtake the second-ranked Nadal.

“No. 2, No. 3 — it doesn’t matter much,” Federer said. “It’s No. 1 that matters.”

Von,
I am smiling.
Earlier I remembered you in my post on the other thread.
Thanks.

Correction: not “on the other thread.”

Gulbis has knee pain, too? Murray complained about it. Rafa has his knees taped. and I won’t even start with women’s tour.

tennisontherocks,

Rafa said in his interview that the locker room is full of players icing their feet and knee. Hard courts are the worst for human boy and yet there is a full 9 months of them. pluse the olympics now! no wonder.

several players are out with injury, Baghdatis, Tsonga,…its just not friendly to the body.

I meant human body!

The “d” on my keyboard is on strike today!

tennisontherocks:

Is your post name saying that tennis is going down the tubes? Gulbis’ knee had to be taped due to pain emanating from the patella. Murray has a split knee cap which flares up very often. Baghdatis is out with wrist problems and Sharapova with her shoulder. I don’t think Murray’s problem is from the hardcourts — it’s a birth defect. Neither is Baghdatis’ and Sharapova’s problem - upper body.

‘Is your post name saying that tennis is going down the tubes? :)’

its more for my drinking preference, like ’scotch on the rocks’ etc…but it so sounds depressing, no

Neil Diamond used to sing : “Love on the rocks…” That’s even more depressing, yes?

Could the ATP lessen the hard court season without finding themselves with another Hamburg case on its hands?

Hamburg should grow grass on their courts and make it a masters series event. They have roof on their stadium, too.

earlier this year, someone talked about making miami the green clay event. at that point, I did not think much about it. But considering how badly US players do on clay, that may not be a bad idea. Miami courts are already slow and green clay is faster than regular clay.

Thanks. I was not sure how hard it was for an event to change the court surface.

“No. 2, No. 3 — it doesn’t matter much,” Federer said. “It’s No. 1 that matters.”

This line does not bode well for him right now. I’m no longer certain about how he will react to this. Will he come back even stronger, or will he pull a Borg and lack the will to continue the fight, with nothing left to defend?

My hope is the former, but these are some very strong words he uses.

“Could the ATP lessen the hard court season without finding themselves with another Hamburg case on its hands?”

I would like to know what happens if the ATP sinks. Will men’s tennis continue on with another organisation taking the reins? They better find a successor quickly. Or will men’s tennis be cancelled? Someone may have to donate to the ATP.

“earlier this year, someone talked about making miami the green clay event. at that point, I did not think much about it. But considering how badly US players do on clay, that may not be a bad idea. Miami courts are already slow and green clay is faster than regular clay.”

Green clay is not an official surface endorsed by the ATP tour. That’s something some juniors might grow up on, but it’s used as often as synthetic grass.

I am pleased that this match is much more interesting than IVo-Kohl match. So far Lapentti is hanging in there with Rafa. He has amazing baseline game, and that kinda matches with Rafa’s. I just hope the match remains close till the end.

Gotta give Lapentti some credit; he’s playing very well against Rafa. The commentators said he scoped Rafa’s match with Haas himself.

Nadal took the first set but Lapentti is playing well. Match could still go either way! Even if Rafa makes it through today, hard to see him beat Djoko in the semis.

Lapentti simply wowed me in the 1st set, though he lost. This first set was almost as good as the set Gasquet played Rafa.

Lapentti has the right game plan against Rafa - he’s really mixing things up and not trying to play lights out tennis. He’s using the backhand slice well, and coming to the net, keep his groundies deep etc. It’s just that he’s not always been able to execute when it matters, on break points and such. But a good effort nonetheless and fun to watch so far.

He’s spent now though. This match is done and Rafa is the new numero uno.

Yes! Nadal will be No.1 finally! But all credit to Lapentti who played well right to the end.

Fabulous Rafa elevates his level and breaks Lapentti. The new number 1 plays like one. Who can think about beating this guy when you can hardly take a set away?
Congratulation to him for the win and another spectacular athleticism!

Congrats RAFA! You’ve earned it!

Vamos Rafa !

All hail the new #1!

“F” Cincy (and at this point, the No. 1), Roger’s all about the Olympics! Since he’s so obsessed with winning the Gold, I think his success there (or lack thereof) will be the best way to measure his game and confidence since Wimbledon.

Rafa’s amazing, but I think he’s still better on grass and clay than on hard courts. But Roger’s “fear factor” has plummeted, so who knows what freakish loss he could sustain in Beijing. Oh, and there’s always Djokovic to contend with

We shall see!

“jane Says:

Gotta give Lapentti some credit; he’s playing very well against Rafa. The commentators said he scoped Rafa’s match with Haas himself.”

He did. I saw him in the audience in the Haas-Nadal match. The commentator was too inexperienced to recognise him however. He’s done well for himself. Played an entertaining match. Rafa hit some crazy winners near the end though. In the last service game of Lapentti’s, Rafa hit 3 running forehand winners which were quite impressive. I hope tomorrow’s match against Djokovic will be a great one, regardless of who wins.

Congrats to Rafa Nadal…….a born warrior.

“Or will men’s tennis be cancelled? Someone may have to donate to the ATP.”

Fed can fly the players around on his Netjet. He’ll have time since Masters tourneys no longer mean anything.

mean anything to him.

Ouch. More and more tournaments fade into irrelevance by the day.

One has to wonder how the f— the ATP, administrators of the men’s tour, awarded AMS status to tournaments without some out-clause that allowed them to rescind that status. Ignoramuses.

In all honesty, Hamburg should be removed and a grass AMS should be added somewhere, though admittedly that will be difficult. Neither Wimbledon or RG will budge.

5 out of 9 masters are on hard, and 3 on clay. One for grass would be nice.

WOW!!!
Congrats to Rafa. Unbelievable player.

Although I’ll be rooting for Nole tomorrow, I can not say I’m a big optimist.

Giner:

“He did. I saw him in the audience in the Haas-Nadal match. The commentator was too inexperienced to recognise him however.”

On the Tennis Channel delayed broadcast - different commentators, the cameraman spotted Lapenti, without a cap on, and the commentators said “Look who’s here”.

I hope Djoko’s coach scouted the match tonight.

_____________

Lapenti played very well for a former No. 6 player. It was entertaining tennis for the first 75 minutes, and then he slowed down. The guy’s 31, playing against a 22 year-old. Similar to Sampras and Fed, but he made it competitive. There’s life in “old” legs too.

___________
Mary:

“Fed can fly the players around on his Netjet. He’ll have time since Masters tourneys no longer mean anything.”

You’re funny. Isn’t Fed somewhat like a shareholder in the NetJet company? I don’t think he owns the aircraft but requisitions it when it’s needed? Or does he own it outright? How does that work.

BTW, are you the same Mary who gave us the Justin/Slazenger link last week for the Toronto match? Thanks a lot. I saved it on my “favorites” and today I was able to pull it up.

I think Djokovic should be the fresher of the two going into tomorrow. Nadal’s last two matches weren’t easy, and he’s played a lot more tennis than Djokovic lately.

He’s got one monkey off his back now, so losing to Djokovic would be a fitting way to go out. He’s done what he’s needed to do and will be top seed at USO. How Fed reacts to being #2 in his pressers will be something to look forward to. The media are not going to give him a break.

An interesting yet forgotten statistic is that as great as Rafa’s year has been, it wasn’t until late April that Rafa won his first title this year, at the beginning of the clay season (Monte Carlo). By that time, Djokovic had already won AO and Indian Wells, the first two big tournaments of the year, and it was he, not Nadal who looked poised to usurp Federer’s throne. Nadal’s season really began with the clay.

If he had skipped Rome instead of losing to Ferrero (he was in no real position to play), imagine his winning streak now… adding Monte Carlo and Barca to it. 7 tournaments and still alive.

I give him about a 40/60 chance against Djokovic. Doable, but he’ll have to rely on out-mentally-toughing Djokovic. e.g. Djokovic chokes.

Does anyone know what Djokovic’s record in 5 setters is? He has yet to convince me that he has the fitness to go the distance on the big stage. He’s mostly been winning it easily.

At this point, Fed should worry about ND in the race for 2nd. After Cincy, Fed will be third in the championship race.

Could someone fill me in on this ‘Masters 1000′ business starting next year?

If Masters series are going to be worth 1000 points, will Grand Slams be worth 2000? Will smaller tournaments get their points doubled also?

If so, what was the point of this exercise?

What will the surface be in Shanghai, which replaces Hamburg?

Isn’t it too early to implement this new system with a litigation pending this late? What if the lawsuit isn’t settled by next year?

Congratulations to Rafa , the new world No 1 and to all his fans and supporters.

Loads of respect to Federer, always a great champion.

Lapentti playe great. I feared Rafa might lose this match! I think Rafa was a bit tense as well, but the last two games of the match, he just went up a gear and that was it!
btw, I saw him in the crow yesterday as well. He was there during the whole match. Haas was also watching Rafa-Serra, the night before.

Tomorrow, tough match , very tough match against Djoko. Rafa has played a lot and I think he is really tire.Djoko is more fresh and played much better today. Besides this is his best surface. RAfa needs to play 10 times better than today to have a chance to win tomorrow.

I am just happy with the result today. He is now No 1. If he wins tomorrow, it will be the icing on the cake, if not, he can take a couple more days to rest and will be No 1 on August 18! Vamos! what a historic day!

sorry, the “d” on my keyboard is just not cooperating!

and by “saw him in the crowd”, I mean, I saw Lapentti in the crowd!

Von: Yes and you’re very welcome for the link.

I didn’t get a chance to watch the match. What was Nadal’s reaction after winning?

Mary: The same as usual. Just a fist pump I think. I don’t think he celebrated becoming #1, only winning the match.

The interview will be where we find out, though I get a feeling it will be boring, and he will try and pay as much homage to Federer as possible, for example reaffirming that Federer is still the best player in history.

Kroll makes a very true point that Nadal is boring in the press room. His responses in Spanish tell much more than his english responses. They should ask more questions in spanish. The modesty is taken to such an extreme that it’s fake. The players do respect him for it however.

I can’t believe it for so long I’ve been rooting for Nadal and to finally see a new freakin number 1 brings tears to my eyes especially that its my favorite player out on tour at the moment. Vamos to you RAFA! I hope Fed continues to choke. Do a Borg and quit Federer while your still excepted as a great player left in the game.
Anyway long live our new Champ and top seed at the US Open Rafael Nadal!
The man to catch Nadal will be Djokovic my prediction to win Cincy this week and take over Federer in the ATP Race!

Everyone I am sooo excited that we will finally finally have a brand spanking new world number one player! After a long and horrific four year domination by one player we will finally see the dawn of a new, invigoring, and refreshing young world champion in Rafael nadal. Nobody deserves it more than Rafa so congratulations to him on finally achieving his life long dream.

This is one of the most exciting moments in history to be a tennis fan and I feel privileged to witness this historic changing of the guard.

TD (TAM)
‘This is one of the most exciting moments in history to be a tennis fan and I feel privileged to witness this historic changing of the guard.’

Could not agree with you more my friend best comment apart from my previous one I’ve read. It is the changing of the guard!

Congrats to the Nadal fans for your boy taking the #1 ranking. ESPECIALLY to Zola! One of the best Nadal fans on the board….! Go Zola! Rafa’s now “officially” #1!

Giner,

“The Masters 1000 events will be worth the same amount of points as the grand slams,” ATP spokesman Stephen Duckitt confirmed on April 10, 2007.

When will this reduction for slams begin? I don’t know. For 2009, I think, but not sure, slams may have 2000 points.

You already know which tournaments are 1000 series.

The 500 series include Rotterdam, Dubai, Acapulco, Memphis, Barcelona, Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, Basel and Valencia.

The 250 Series include other smaller tournaments. They are too many, so I am not going to list here.

ATP writes, “The new look calendar, with revised scheduling and mini swings running into each Grand Slam and the ATP Tour Finals, will ensure the season is more understandable for fans and media,..healthier for players.”

TD (Tam) Says:

“Everyone I am sooo excited that we will finally finally have a brand spanking new world number one player! After a long and horrific four year domination by one player we will finally see the dawn of a new, invigoring, and refreshing young world champion in Rafael nadal. Nobody deserves it more than Rafa so congratulations to him on finally achieving his life long dream.”

A short-lived one you hope. Otherwise we’d be replacing one dominant reign with another, leaving us back where we started.

Rafa fans: Please set a better example than Federer fans. Don’t rub it in by badmouthing Federer, and saying ungracious things like “I hope Fed continues to choke. Do a Borg and quit Federer while your still excepted as a great player left in the game.”

You will give the rest of us a bad name, and I think we are better than that. Please respect other players and their fans. By all means, do criticise, but also be judicious in how you do so.

Giner, I believe the new tournament in Shanghai will be played on indoor hardcourt at the stadium where the Tennis Masters Cup has been held the last few years.

Good question re the lawsuit, I can’t imagine how’re they’re going to roll out all the changes in time for the 2009 season with the lawsuit pending.

“The Masters 1000 events will be worth the same amount of points as the grand slams,” ATP spokesman Stephen Duckitt confirmed on April 10, 2007.”

I am in disbelief here. If that is the case, I do hope the ATP loses this suit and goes bankrupt. This is just stupid. It’s beyond stupid. It’s asinine. I don’t know how they even came up with this suggestion. Ettiene de Villers should be fired.

Winning two Masters would be better than winning one GS. Twice as good. A guy could win the calendar grand slam and still be #2 to a guy who won 5 masters. This undermines the importance and class of the slams which have been the holy grail of Tennis since forever.

Giner,
Check out Richard Vach’s post on April 10, 2007. Here is the link.

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-04-10/241.php

JCF, maybe it’s their way of forcing players to commit to all the Masters events? Agree about it being stupid though.

FoT,
thanks dear and a big hug to you and your man. I don’t know how long Rafa will stay there but I am glad he is not”the best number 2 who never got to be No 1″.

This is much more enjoyable because of many gracious Fed fans like you and everyone on the other forum.

Giner and JCF,

Here is the correction on that.
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-04-11/242.php

OK, that’s better.

It would have been very difficult for Rafa to defend his #1 ranking when all Federer has to do is win Masters 1000 tournaments, 6 of which are on hard court, and 2 on clay.

I still don’t see the need for doubling all points however.

If Djoko can win this tournament, which is unlikely, given the new number 1’s momentum, he’d have accomplished a sweep of the North American Master Series events: Miami (07), Canada (07), Indian Wells (08), and Cincinnati. But I have to give Rafa the edge in the semi; it’s difficult not to give Rafa the edge!

I have been celebrating Rafa’s ascension to No. 1 for several days now. I don’t have anything left to make my praise more effusive.

There is one more good news for Djoko fans as well as Rafa fans: Djoko may not be playing Rafa in as many semis as he did in the past. He will be meeting Federer in the semis more often and will get to play Rafa more in finals. I am excited about this new landscape.

Wade- “Could not agree with you more my friend best comment apart from my previous one I’ve read. It is the changing of the guard!”

*cheers*!

JCF- “A short-lived one you hope. Otherwise we’d be replacing one dominant reign with another, leaving us back where we started.”

Yes I agree. I donot think that Nadal is capable of dominating as many tournaments for as long as Federer has but I am very happy for him to finally attain that world number one status that he has craved for so long, and he really deserves it too.

Shital Green- “I have been celebrating Rafa’s ascension to No. 1 for several days now. I don’t have anything left to make my praise more effusive.”

lol Shital you must be plum tired by now!

“I am excited about this new landscape.”

AMEN. This new generation coming up and the new rivalries will be fun to watch. I am looking forward to it.

JCF
‘Rafa fans: Please set a better example than Federer fans. Don’t rub it in by badmouthing Federer, and saying ungracious things like “I hope Fed continues to choke. Do a Borg and quit Federer while your still excepted as a great player left in the game.”

You will give the rest of us a bad name, and I think we are better than that. Please respect other players and their fans. By all means, do criticise, but also be judicious in how you do so.’

I understand JCF and sorry for the comments earlier its just that its been to long that I’ve been taking crap from the dam federer fans and to finally get them back is sweet now that the tides have turned and a new dominant number 1 is born!

Anyway long live our new Champ and top seed at the US Open Rafael Nadal!
The man to catch Nadal will be Djokovic my prediction to win Cincy this week and take over Federer in the ATP Race!

Since January 2007, Djoko played Rafa 6 times in the semis (4 MS & 2 GS); and with Fed, only twice in the semis (1 MS & 1 GS).

This will reverse. Much to the relief of Rafa and Djoko. And this reversal will increase Djoko’s chances to be No. 2, sooner. Thanks to Rafa, once again.

JCF:

“Rafa fans: Please set a better example than Federer fans. Don’t rub it in by badmouthing Federer, and saying ungracious things like “I hope Fed continues to choke. Do a Borg and quit Federer while your still excepted as a great player left in the game.”

You will give the rest of us a bad name, and I think we are better than that. Please respect other players and their fans. By all means, do criticise, but also be judicious in how you do so.”

Kudos to you for that statement. You’ve just risen to 10 feet tall in my opinion of you. Taller than Dr. Ivo. Very sound advice and one which is worthy of praise and demonstrates good character. As the saying goes, “be careful you don’t choke on your gloat.” Good for you JCF and if ever you forget it, I’ll remind you. You know that memory of which you’re so scared. Cheerio, and all that good stuff.

Mary:

You wanted to know Nadal’s reaction to being No. 1.

I watched the ESPN broadcast. He did a fist pump and his usual ovation to the crowd. Chris Fowler asked him how he felt about being No. 1. Nadal stated it felt good, but he didn’t mind being No. 2, because he was still winning slams and MS tournaments, but anyway it was good to be No. 1. Chris asked him if he was going to party tonight, to which he replied, not yet.

This is not verbatim — just a paraphrase. synopsis.

What was those passing shots from Nadal in second set 1-4 30-30 Lapenti serving?!!! I was amazed!!
Enphatic Number 1 shots, he deserves it!

But I think the edge tomorrow goes to Djoko. Today, sometimes, Nadal didn’t went for the shots he was doing last week. I noticed that he made even less noise than he usually does when he hits those crushing forehands and some of his balls were short.

Eventually he is going to feel the stress and since his “mission” is done (secure on August 18th) tomorrow if Djoko starts playing great Nadal won’t put the same effort as late. Djoko is a number 3 player, much more respectfull to lose a winning streak to.

Daniel,
I give the edge to Djoko too. RAfa said twice today that he feels tired and his movement is not good. A loss tomorrow to Djoko is quite possible.
Djoko has less milage on his legs and this is his surface.

Shital reen:

“This will reverse. Much to the relief of Rafa and Djoko. And this reversal will increase Djoko’s chances to be No. 2, sooner. Thanks to Rafa, once again.”

I see your brain is working overtime, my friend!! You’re already scheming and conniving for Djoko to be No. 2. Guess what, Roddick will be the new No. 1, in 6 months. Now that’s something to get everyone laughing; but, I can dream can’t I?

Shital: Gosh, I’m sorry, I’ve done it again, I misspelled your last name. No offense intended. I need to cut my claws.

Sucked in Federer Fans and Roger himself your streak is over my friend say goodbye to number 1 forever you had ya time now get lost. Djokovic is next to hunt you down which will be very soon considering his now back in front of you in the ATP Race for the year.

If Hewitt ever overcomes his injuries everyone tour will lose to him he has the best head to head record with all the top players bar the man who is on his way to crap Roger Federer the world number 2! Hahahahahahahahaha

Nadal number 1 seed at the US Open oh YES! We’ll now be looking at Federer all the way at the bottom of the draw table hahahaha.

But who knows he could be back in the top half when his number 3 in the world which will be very soon!

“Shital Green Says:

Since January 2007, Djoko played Rafa 6 times in the semis (4 MS & 2 GS); and with Fed, only twice in the semis (1 MS & 1 GS).

This will reverse. Much to the relief of Rafa and Djoko. ”

What makes you say that?? the chances for a n3 to land on a n1 or n2 side of a tournament draw is the same…

Great peroid to be a tennis Fan.

Congrats to Rafa.

Rafa fans you are allowed to be happy but tone down the celebrations,Our man has a difficult Job of defending his points,sure Fed will be back and Huckleberry is a great player.

Then to fed fans you should be happy that the person fed passed over the mantle to(mind i did nt use dethroned) is worthy of the honor.You can