Nadal bests Soderling, Abu Dhabi Tennis Day Three

Ben; You are spoiling us with a tourney update everyday. Love it. Pls keep it up.

Yeah..venus is not looking good. Its going to be even tougher for her now we are adding Henin and Clijsters in the list. Oh well…she always lights up at wimbledon – there is still hope for her of winning the big one..

January 2nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm

Can’t believe the conclusions people draw from the result of an EXHO (in capitals as people apparently seem to forget that), where certain players not even cared to try at all.
I guess we’ll be reading all about Nadal winning the Calender Grand Slam in case he wins Doha hereafter…
In other words: a little level-headedness wouldn’t be a bad thing.

January 2nd, 2010 at 2:21 pm

high five on the level headedness….after the AO last year, Nadal was basically going to take over men’s tennis, win a career grand slam, federer was done etc etc.

and of course, murray was going to win every grand slam he entered…

bwah ha ha…

January 2nd, 2010 at 2:29 pm

Who knows what is in store, but it’s level-headed enough to say that this was an important win for Rafa be it an exhibition match or not, since Soderling had become something of a foe last season. So to beat him beginning this one must feel good. That’s all Ben is saying the way I understood it. Things ebb and flow; players have up and down periods, peaks and valleys. That is the reality.

Looks like it’ll be a Fed/Rafa final in Doha, with Davydenko and Youzhny as potential “spoilers” there. Brisbane, in some ways, has a much more competitive draw, with Roddick, Monfils, Gasquet, Berdych, Chardy, Stepanek, Blake, Querrey, Dent, Baggy, etc…, all playing there. Soderling, Wawrinka, Cilic and Tipsy are all playing in Chennai; I also noticed Moya on the draw there! I think a Sod/Cilic final would be fun to watch.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Hi Kimmi: What’s Murray doing right now? I hope for our sake that both Fed and Murray have a great year!

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Its Nadal that needs a high five for winning abu dhabi, even though the tourney was only an exho..I am sure nadal and his team will be very happy for this win. Looking back at the Nadal of late 2009..a number 2 ranked player who could not win a match in WTF…played better in some tornaments by reaching semi and final but the nature of his loses was what was worrying him imo. (loses to delpo, Cilic, Djoko, Davydenko and even Soderling)

Anyways, he still has a long way to go but to be able to beat soderling is a very good start. If he is able to do the same to Djokovic and Delpotro then I will say Nadal is really back.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Doha draw sucks, I like Brisbane and Chennai draws more, they’d be fun to watch!

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 pm

huh, I wouldn’t say the Doha draw “sucks” – after all the number 1 and 2 players in the world are on it, and if they do make it to the final, I for one will be glued to my seat to watch – and there is some competition there for both Fed and Nadal, though I think the Brisbane draw is just deeper for some reason.

Fed and Rafa played only twice in 2009 as far as I can recall, with, ironically, Rafa winning on hard court and Fed winning on clay!! So it’d be fun to see them in a final again, even if it’s not a major event. In fact, if Cilic and Roddick and Fed/Rafa all make the finals next weekend, I won’t know which match to watch.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm

Hi huh, Murray is playing in Hopman cup. Pairing with an up and coming laura Robson. Did you see the link I posted on the other thread? he is changing his schedule in order to climatize better for the AO. So I hope it works for him.

You know what huh, by missing Doha, murray will lose his #4 ranking to delpo when the AO draw is made, he will be ranked # 5 instead…but it looks like he is not worried one bit or he would have defended his points in doha.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:08 pm

I am also interested to see Murray playing mixed doubles with Laura Robson at the Hopman Cup this week; if anyone knows when their matches are scheduled, and/or where they can be viewed, please post the information. I know margot will probably be watching.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:12 pm

Kimmi:

Murray actually needn’t worry about anything, he needs to concentrate on GS and win one and shut down his doubters, e’s more than capable of winning a slam, no matter who he faces, my only concern is his physical conditions,if it remains at the best throughout a slam, he can win one. I think if Murray reaches his second GS final, he’d win it.He’s too good to lose his first two GS finals (if he reaches the 2nd one) consecutively! I clearly want his arrival on the greatest stage this year, I’ve waited long enough for is success.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Hewitt’s also playin Hopman and won his first match already, yes! I really like Hewitt! Hope he does very well in all slams and big events this year.

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:27 pm

roger we need your victory….!!!!!!!!!! hmmmmmmmm

January 2nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm

BP, love the updates! Love the posts!

January 2nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm

all i can say–i hope roger has a great year

January 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 pm

Nadal will have a terrific 2010, and is the most likely to end up as World #1 by years end – he has a large upside to gain lots of points this year at both Roland Garros & Wimbledon, both of which he’s already won. Del Potro will also have a great year. If Djokovic fails to win a Major this year, or at least make it to a Final, then his slide into One Slam Wonderhood will be on it’s way. His advantage is that he’s effective on all surfaces, unlike Murray (weak on clay) or Del Potro (grass will be his biggest challenge). Speaking of Murray – he won’t be winning a Major any time soon unless he develops a Weapon Shot, which he doesn’t have. He’s a creative & artful counterpuncher, but for a counterpuncher to win 7 Best of 5 Matches he has to hope a lot of bigger hitters lose before him, and also has to hope that a lot of his own opponents aren’t strong enough to force him to beat them. Murray basically waits for his foes to lose to him, and counterpunchers are ripe for the taking when they have to continuously win that 3rd Set from everybody they play. Federer, Nadal and Del Potro all have much bigger Forehands than Murray, and in 5 Sets that’s a huge advantage.

And speaking of Federer. More talent than anyone for sure. But…he’s got plenty to defend over all having been to the Final of every Major last year. In his prime no one ever really made him work that hard, except Nadal on clay. Now it’s much different. In three of his 2009 Major Finals he had to go to 5 sets, and lost two of them to other Top 10 men. And in the 3rd one he had to go to ridiculous lengths to win it against another Top 10 guy. His French Final was the easiest of the four, mostly because Soderling was much lower ranked then (#23) and was obviously overwhelmed by the occasion. That said, Federer had to go to 5 Sets twice and 4 sets twice at last years French just to get to the Final. So his trips THROUGH the Majors in the last two years hasn’t been as breezy as they used to be from 2004-2007. Talent he’s got in spades. But will he have the legs to fend off a group of younger guys who have clearly narrowed the gap on him in the last two years?

January 2nd, 2010 at 6:53 pm

Voicemale1, I agree/disagree with your assessment. There are too many factors out there to determine how great a year Federer and Nadal will have. And I don’t fully agree that Djokovic will be a one slam wonder if he doesn’t win a slam this year. Sampras took 3 years to win his second major. One thing for sure is that Murray won’t be winning a slam any time in the near future.

January 2nd, 2010 at 7:22 pm

Ben:

You’re already on record as being a huge Djokovic & Federer fan, and an anti-Nadal guy. So your reply to mine is understandable, as well as utterly predictable. But for a guy who made actual predictions for an Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, why would you take anyone else’s prediction to task, especially after you were wrong about the Final there ?? :) I stand by the prediction I made. Nadal will have a better year than last year (he’s got more upside regarding points – it’s just mathematically that simple, as much as that will frost your butt), and Federer will have a 2010 that won’t be as good as his 2009. Period.

You’re going WAY out on a limb to compare Sampras & Djokovic. Sampras had something Djokovic doesn’t have: a decisive weapon shot that can see him through a Best of 5 Match consistently (his serve). If you look at Djokovic in his H2H against both Federer & Nadal, you’ll find a telling subset stat. Djokovic does his best in the Masters Series type events, or any other Best of 3 Match against either of them. Looking at his H2H vs. Federer & Nadal at The Majors you’ll find Djokovic’s record against them is abysmal. In eight meetings to either of them at the Majors, Djokovic has but 1 win: he beat Federer in Australia 2008. He’s lost his other seven matches to either of them, including a straight set loss to Federer at last year’s US Open. It’s not hard to understand why this is so: Djokovic’s Forehand isn’t as good as either of the other two on a consistent basis. And that’s why he’s never progressed beyond World #3 since he took that position 30 months ago. And now, with the advent of yet another superior Forehand in Del Potro, let’s just say the road for Djokovic at a Major is now tougher than it was before Del Potro became what he’s become.

January 2nd, 2010 at 8:16 pm

I’m not anti-Nadal, I simply said there are a lot of factors when determining how good both Nadal AND Federer will do this year. I never said you were wrong. I just don’t fully agree. But honestly, I feel like there is a better chance that Nadal will have a better ’10 than ’09 whereas I think Federer will be less of the same. I also don’t care as much about Federer as I used to but there are others I favor more than Nadal. My only hope is that Nadal has a healthy year for a change. Beating Soderling is a good start and I don’t really see how it’s a big deal that I got that wrong, it’s tennis, it happens.

I totally agree about Djokovic but I’m not ready to lose faith. Don’t forget Sampras had a big forehand to compliment his serve. I’m not going out on a limb, I’m just saying that there are plenty of players who took more than a year to win their second major. If Djokovic doesn’t win one this year, that doesn’t mean he won’t win one in 2011. Safin took 5 years but he still did it. Is that a better comparison for you?

Can you name someone who does have a good record against Federer and Nadal at the majors? Del Potro? Murray? Roddick? Any of these guys faring better than Djokovic right now? Not particularly.

January 2nd, 2010 at 8:30 pm

I completely agree with Voicemale1’s prognosis on Djokovic’s future. I’ll add that

January 2nd, 2010 at 11:27 pm

I completely agree with Voicemale1’s prognosis on Djokovic’s future. I’ll add that if he doesn’t at least reach a final in 2010, his attitude will play a huge factor in him ending his career with one major title. I feel he gets unnecessarily frustrated during matches, like when he loses almost irrelevant points on his opponent’s serve, and more so when he loses matches. His frustrations may potentially accumulate, especially after he loses his #3 ranking to Del Potro, and as a result, attribute to his lack of important hardware.

In addition, comparing Djokovic to Safin is very disappointing because if Safin had Djoker’s work ethic, he wouldn’t have finished his career with two grand slam trophies. Safin had far more lethal weapons in his arsenal, whether it be his backhand, serve, or power.

Nadal is more than a legitimate threat to become #1 and Federer continuing ’09’s success will be a far greater chore in ’10 due to the huge increase in competition.

January 2nd, 2010 at 11:44 pm

Hey did anyone catch the Nadal Vs Federer friendly Match at The Yas Hotel? Wow.. lucky me got to be ball girl and meet them. They are just the nicest!!!

And Nadal Rocks. After meeting him, i can safely say he has no airs and garces. he is very down to earth and extremely friendly. Go Nadal!!!

Federer was quite nice too!!!

January 3rd, 2010 at 8:42 am

Catherine: Completely agree with your January 2nd, 2010 at 2:21 pm post. It’s just a stupid exho, nothing more.

January 3rd, 2010 at 9:05 am

You know why people liked to say that, Soderling is Nadal’s nemesis? Because they are Federer fans so that they could use that an excuse to argue that, Nadal is not a better player than Roger is! And they’re all know that, it is only a wishful thinking. Well, for Soderling. He just doesn’t has the mental thingy for the top 5 players. You could tell by whenever he gets to a final or anything. He just get thumped by everyone. They are handful of players who could beat on the tour these days. Murray, Del Potro, Djokovic, Gillies, Tsonga, Warinka. Now even Soderling, Davydenko learnt to beat him. And Roddick was giving him a tough run at the Wimbledon. I am so glad that players like Murray, Djokovic and Del Potro are joining the rescue team for the ATP Tour. How boring it is, if Nadal is injuried. Then you have Roger winning everything and falling back to the number 1.

January 3rd, 2010 at 11:06 am

Congrats to Nadal! Finally he beat another top 10 player! Although, Soderling is not in the same league of Del Potro, Murray, Djokovic or Davydenko! Soderling has a pretty bad mental game like Roddick. You could tell by how he fears and having too much respect for Darth Federer’s game. Unlike the new champs Djokovic, Del Potro or Andy Murray. Although, he has beaten Federer in the semi. But in real competition, Federer should be able to gets him easily.

January 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 am

You people are nuts! Djokovic is a much better and more complete player than Del Potro or the others behind him, pleeease… I’m really confident about him winning another Grand Slam title soon, his game of late was superb and playing like that he could beat Federer, Nadal and whoever was against him. I don’t agree at all about Djoko not having any major weapons, c’mon don’t be blinded by your hatred. How come he’s been a consistent nº3 in the world for so long? His backhand is lethal and he has an excellent forehand and serve (though I admit his serve is worse now than before for some reason). I think 2010 will be the definitive year for Novak though I agree he has to sort out his head a bit. When he does that he will be unbeatable.

January 3rd, 2010 at 12:05 pm

I totally agree Djokovic has some mental issues to figure out before he becomes the champion he can be, but he has a lot of shots in his arsenal. He’s the ONLY player after Federer and Nadal who can play well on every surface. He’s clearly lost some of that edge he had in the beginning of 2008 but I still think he can get it back.

Rick, how can you say Soderling is as weak mentally as Roddick? He fared pretty damn well in his first YEC, beating Djokovic and Nadal in straight sets and barely losing to Davydenko and Del Potro.

And most people don’t say Soderling is Nadal’s nemesis, simply he’s a guy who doesn’t match up well with Nadal. It has nothing to do with Federer. But if you wanna compare Fed and Nadal, the numbers speak for themselves.

January 3rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm

Everybody is only guessing and hoping for their favorites to do well this season..which is okay. Nadal fans says he will win many GS while discounting others from doing so.. Federer fans think he will always be the guy to beat. Djokovic fans thinks 2010 will be his year. Delpo fans say he will win many more now he has broken through. Murray fans also think this could be his year. You see! The list goes on and on and on.

People!! The year is too long to predict who will finish where, players jump from good form to out of form, injuries, back luck etc. We could see completely new faces breaking through and the usual suspect could be nowhere near.

Let’s sit back, relax and see what 2010 will bring, I am sure there will be a lot of surprises on the way.

January 3rd, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Kimmi, that’s why I originally told Voicemale1 there are too many factors in determining how well Nadal and Federer will do.

However, no one can resist making predictions in sports. We have a contest for who can guess this year end’s top 10 for Sampras’s sake! I didn’t even wanna do it last year because it’s just impossible to get right. I gave it a shot this year because there’s no loss, but still.

One thing I think we can all agree upon is that if Nadal plays a dumb schedule again, we’ll be seeing more of the same injury issues. If he’s smart, he could very will win a slam or two and end the year a clear cut number 1.

January 3rd, 2010 at 2:31 pm

DD,

you are spoiling us with posts EVERYDAY!

I wanted to comment on this little bit here:

“For me, it’s important to come over here and have a perfect preparation, getting back in to the swing of things,” said Federer.

“Perfect” is an odd description of his weekend.

Federer has played a right hander (soderling), and a left hander (Ferrer), that’s “perfect preparation” for him – it’s balanced out – now he has to move on to Doha to be able to fine tune his skills, try out a few new shots, and that will be “extra preparation” for the AO. Federer is in a good place right now, building himself up and believing in himself – nothing wrong with that.

January 3rd, 2010 at 2:49 pm

David Ferrer isn’t left handed…

January 3rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm

“Imogene Says:
Hey did anyone catch the Nadal Vs Federer friendly Match at The Yas Hotel? Wow.. lucky me got to be ball girl and meet them. They are just the nicest!!!

And Nadal Rocks. After meeting him, i can safely say he has no airs and garces. he is very down to earth and extremely friendly. Go Nadal!!!

Federer was quite nice too!!!”

U R A LUCKY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! How Great Luck!

January 3rd, 2010 at 3:06 pm

Is Ferrer left handed madmax? I know Verdasco and obviously Nadal are, so is F-Lo, but is Ferrer? I don’t think so for some reason.

I agree very much with Kimmi’s post; who knows how these guys will fare this year. It hasn’t even begun, or barely.

But one point to add about Murray: people have said he can’t play on clay,or he can’t play well on clay, and I have to disagree. Sure, it may not be his best surface, but he reached the semis in Monte Carlo last year, and took Nadal to a tiebreak there; he also got to the quarters at the French, I believe, which was better than both hardcourt slams. I wouldn’t put it past him to improve even further on clay.

I agree grass will be Del Potro’s biggest challenge; but again, other than movement, I can see no obvious reason why his game shouldn’t translate to grass eventually.

Djoko has proven that he can play on all surfaces already, having reached the semis and quarters at Wimbledon, as well as finals at Queens and Halle; having reached the semis at the FO twice, only to be stopped by Nadal both times – ditto for most of his losses on clay actually (i.e., they’ve mainly come at Nadal’s hands), and on hard court, he’s won the AO and reached the finals of the USO.

Murray and Delpo have proven themselves on hardcourt, having reached a final of one slam (in DP’s case winning it), and Murray seems to have the game for grass, and Delpo definitely does for clay (he won the FO as a junior didn’t he?)

So there is no doubt these 3 will be in the mix at the top with Rafa and Fed; really, we have much to which to look forward in 2010. To me, it’s tough to predict where any of the top five will end up in the rankings, or even to say who will win what slam. It’s more open.

January 3rd, 2010 at 3:28 pm

SPECIAL POST FOR RICK and other screwed ones like him (NOT intended towards good Rafa fans like Ezorra, Jugadore De Tennis, etc ) :

I’m glad that Soderling thumped Rafa at RG last year and DP, Djoko etc. too pretty much mauled him and even Davydenko, not to mention the straight-setting he received at Federer’s hand at his home, OTHERWISE idiot @$$-kissers of Rafa like Rick woulda gloated endlessly about how better Rafa’s in comparison to Federer! Even Murray quite a few times beat Rafa and I also believe he’s not going to coolly take defeats from Rafa in the future either! Fed’s already achieved everything and he needn’t give a damn about what anybody thinks of him.Fed’s done his job in a great way and he’s forever one of the greatest now. Nobody can take anything away from Federer. Rafa’s already taken much advantage of being 5 years younger to Federer selling his ‘Fed’s the GOAT’ theory and not to mention Fed’s dip in form etc., very much in the same manner as Fed’s taken advantage of Rafa’s inexperience in the beginning at Wimbledon finals when he faced him etc. Rafa actually hadn’t beaten the Federer of 2004-07 to win Wimbledon, hard to accept for these Rafa-is-infallible-unbeatable theory propounders, but that doesn’t make it one bit false. Of course we also know that Rafa’s also not reached his scintillating best by 2008, but who cares? And it doesn’t matter much either coz all things considere Fed’s just pretty much ahead of Rafa upto now and unless proved otherwise, it’s futile and also illogical and impossible to deny that Fed’s better than Rafa. Period.

And hmmm, by the way DP,Nole,Muzza,Cilic and players like Davydenko,Soderling and others too are not gonna make it any easier for Nadal, another one or two are soon arriving within a couple of years too, and all will be out to prove themselves against Nadal too and not just against Federer. And Rafanatic headcases like Rick’d have tougher time than they expect for themselves. These idiots need to understand that Fed’s done everything now, pretty much realised a tennis player’s dream by winning loads of slams and further also having at least one of each. So what’s left to be done now is only by their fave, the so-called clay GOAT Nadal! So they need to put their energies towards wishing good for their dahlin Rafa more instead of directin it towards endless unjustified criticism and bashing of Fed, living in their false and fake Rafa’s-world, plotting the demise of Fed.

Moreover before makin fun of Fed, who’s relatively an aging player and also a father, they need to get it that none remains at the highest stage forever. Fed was successful, but now he’s struggling. What even if Rafa’s successful? He’d also start struglling some day, mind it! But if you stomp over someone when he’s down, the turn of the stumped one to scoff at you’d also come coz there goes the saying: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND and not to mention KARMA IS A B**** & IT BITES U FROM THE BACKSIDE!

January 3rd, 2010 at 4:02 pm

“Kimmi Says:
Everybody is only guessing and hoping for their favorites to do well this season..which is okay. Nadal fans says he will win many GS while discounting others from doing so.. Federer fans think he will always be the guy to beat. Djokovic fans thinks 2010 will be his year. Delpo fans say he will win many more now he has broken through. Murray fans also think this could be his year. You see! The list goes on and on and on.

People!! The year is too long to predict who will finish where, players jump from good form to out of form, injuries, back luck etc. We could see completely new faces breaking through and the usual suspect could be nowhere near.

Let’s sit back, relax and see what 2010 will bring, I am sure there will be a lot of surprises on the way.”

Dear Kimmi, thanks for this post, it was nice and also objective and reasonable, I totally agree with u here! But sadly, some’d never get it.

January 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 pm

“We have a contest for who can guess this year end’s top 10 for Sampras’s sake!”. Lol! ;)

January 3rd, 2010 at 4:13 pm

Typo correction for my 4.02 pm post

“Of course we also know that Rafa’s also not reached his scintillating best by 2008, but who cares?” SHOULD BE

Rafa also not reached his scintillating best until 2008, but wo cares?

January 3rd, 2010 at 4:20 pm

Rafaworshipper Rick:

U r totaly obnoxious! As perhaps ur Fed-bashing didn’t satisfy u, u also needed to state ur nonsense about Roddick callin him a mentally frail guy. I mean, do u know how pathetic u are? Praising Rafa or giving him credit’s one thing, but when u try to give credit to Rafa by way of putting down Fed, and not just Fed, but also denigrating Roddick, who’s Fed’s one of the truly greatest rivals apart from Nadal, you are stooping to the lowest, lower than I could have imagined you stooping to! Sheesh!!!

Totally illogical and brainless you’re apart from being a vacillator and intolerably arrogant! If you weren’t so, you’d have never compared Soderling to Roddick. Roddick’s won not only a slam, he’s reached the Wimbledon final thrice, gave his all that he coulda given on those days and also fought ferociously with Fed on arguably Fed’s best surface, that too 2006, a time when Fed was pretty much unbeatable. You definitely have no knowledge about tennis at all. It’s bad luck for Roddick that he always ended up facing Fed in the slam finals, a guy whom he probably does not match well with, gamewise. And he’s also numerously been dealt a blow by none other than only Fed at slams. If Fed wasn’t there, then Roddick might probably have had almost as many slams as your Nadal. So keep that in your mind before spouting garbage. Oh ignorant one, Roddick has alos won nearly 30 titles, including a slam, some MS shields and much more. What the hell has Soderling done apart from bursting the bubble of Rafa (rightly so)? NOTHING!And here you still say Rod’s mentally weaker than Sod! I don’t know you’ve even a mind or not, let alone mental-strength! How else would one scream so much nonsense off his head? I’m stunned!!! You truly need counselling!

Moreover when Nadal wins a slam, it means he displayed the maximum mental strength, if he wins MS shields, the same! But only when Fed or Roddick or someone else wins those things, then it is mental lapse on their rivals’ part, luck, easy draw, blah blah blah form people like you! But u know what? It doesn’t make any sense for any tennis fan unless they’re having a sickening and disturbed and insecure mind like you. I think it’s most probably coz of your obssession with Rafa. I guess your day must be beginning with praying Nadal’s photo and ending with sleeping fancying kissin Nadal’s @$$ at night in dreams. That’s why u r so bored with ur life and are criticisin many dignified individuals and achievers like Federer and Roddick. Well ,please take my suggestion and take care of yourself or a nervous meltdown is not far! That’s all for u for now.

Last but not the least, try to carry on more a bit more smartly here by fixing up your screwed mind and sorting out your mental ailments and strengthening up ur frail psyche! Counseling needed for u, seriously!

January 3rd, 2010 at 5:01 pm

“I guess your day must be beginning with praying Nadal’s photo and ending with sleeping fancying kissin Nadal’s @$$ at night in dreams. ”
LMAO someone really hates nadal’s guts with a furios passion ..take a chill pill dude..guys like novak, DP, soderling, murray and obviously y Roger and Nadal make tennis interesting for all of us true tennis fan. i may like and dislike some players game..and i have favorites as well,i love competion. Every single top player brings something different to the court which im thanks for..CHEERS to good tennis and to thmbs down to fans here who take this beautiful sport personal

January 4th, 2010 at 6:16 am

Well said jason j. – “Every single top player brings something different to the court which im thank[ful] for..CHEERS to good tennis”

January 4th, 2010 at 10:05 am