Nadal Leads Spanish Party in Madrid, Closes on No. 2 Ranking

It’s over for Fed at Estoril. Here’s a prediction. Nadal is going to be number 1 again very soon. And Fed’s decline has begun for good.

May 8th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

I’ll say it again. Montanes is a rough customer on clay. The way Federer has been playing, I don’t know why anyone would be surprised that he lost to Montanes at the same venue Montanes won last year.

Beating Federer in five sets is a lot tougher than beating him in three. And he still has Madrid to get his act together before Roland Garros.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:08 pm

Jurastick, please before making spam-like comments, try to at least explain what you mean by very soon.

There’s about a 4000-point gap between Fed and Rafa at the moment. The way I see it, Rafa can only pass Fed if Fed has very weak results in Madrid, RG, Halle (which he didn’t play last year), and Wimbledon (which is highly unlikely). Rafa can become no.1 after Wimbledon at the earliest.

I kinda missed these senseless comments from Rafa fans for 11 months. I’m glad Rafa is playing well again so that they can come and post such comments. Makes the blog a lot more fun :D

May 8th, 2010 at 2:12 pm

Federer is going to lose ranking points by losing fairly early in Madrid. I’ve seen no reason to believe he will have a decent run there. When have we seen Federer lose to players of the caliber of Baghdatis, Berdych, Gulbis and Montanes? Not since 2002/2003. And when a player like him starts losing without seemingly have a major problem that he can pinpoint (like Sampras could with his bad back in his later years), it’s clearly got to be a decline in footspeed, hand-eye coordination, and maybe even eyesight. Combine that all with the major junk in his head right now, I see no reason to believe that he will do his now-famous rope-a-dope and come out a winner even in a best-of-5 format like in the French Open.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:15 pm

If he knows he is going to play like this, Fed better not play at all.

He can withdraw citing “Clay Allergy”, which is actually true.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

Last year in Madrid Fed beat every eventual 09 grand slam finalist/winner. Has this ever been done in a Masters tournament before?

1st rd bye
SODERLING – 09 FO finalist
BLAKE
RODDICK – 09 Wimby finalist
DELPO – 09 US Open champion
Nadal – 09 AO champion

…and even with that preparation and confidence building he had to fight tooth and nail through the French draw winning 2 four set matches and 2 five set matches.

Unless Fed has a remarkable turn around here in Madrid things are not looking good for the French. You can never count him out entirely in a slam, but I don’t think Fed has ever played this poorly coming into a major.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

And, BTW, after Wimbledon is not too far away, even if that is when he will lose the top spot. As for my being a Nadal fan and some of kind of spammer, not true. The writing’s on the wall for Fed, that’s all I’m saying.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:18 pm

Winners for the rest 3 slams of 2010:

FO: Djok
WO: Andy R or Andy M
USO: Andy M or Djok

Why whould anyone complain about a 28-year old father with a slam win for the season even though he has a cute last name?

The gold lining for Fed’s missing of Sampras’s 286 is that it may give him one reason to try harder for the years to come. LOL!

May 8th, 2010 at 2:24 pm

After missing Pete’s 286 no.1 mark and ending the slam semi-streak at FO, Fed can then REALLy play just for fun — something he truely deserves.

To give is to gain.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Djoker for the French? I wish.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:41 pm

Twocents, your predictions for Wim and USO are reasonable. How do you think Djoko can win FO? Considering his current form, fitness and allergy issues, he would probably be the least favored in the top bunch.

Well…now you can throw Fed into that least favored bunch as well I suppose.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:41 pm

I’m very happy to see Djok paces himself towards big ones, as young as he is, though I did not doubt his illness.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Blank,

Apart from Nadal, who would you pick for FO? But Nadal hasn’t convinced me yet…

May 8th, 2010 at 2:43 pm

isner is playing belgrade..not estoril

May 8th, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Devil-ish I am, the worse Fed plays on clay now, the bigger smirk on my face thinking of his FO win last year.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Heart says Federer, but mind begs to differ. As long as Nadal stays on the court, I can’t see him losing this year on clay. If not Nadal, then anybody can win I think. No one is playing particularly that brilliant at this moment. I am not convinced Ferrer or Verdasco can win a slam.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

A big Boo! to Kimo for lumping all Nadal fans together (an unfortunate practice for any partisan).
It is not fault of Nadal or his fans that Federer lost his tournament, which of course is the root of such a lashing-out.
Coming from a ‘Respectful-of-Federer-yet-prefer-Nadal’ type, (and there are many, Kimo) Federer knows more than any of us how to get his act together and I am sure he will soon enough. Just breath!

May 8th, 2010 at 2:48 pm

hm, good point, Twocents. one would hope so.

great video and pictures of fernando verdasco but not such good news when he says the only one he fears is countryman, rafa nadal. *oh really, nando?* vamos!

get rid of the fear, hot sauce! win your home tournament, buddy!
http://www.gototennisblog.com/2010/05/07/fernando-verdasco-adidas-commercial-nando-no-longer/

EG has a tough draw. and here’s hoping he didn’t party away the entire time off after rome. c’mon. be a “tennis freak,” ernie!

congrats and kudos to sevastova for winning estoril.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

Rafa will be Champion sure!!!! no one can beat him

May 8th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

How epic would it be if Murray won the FO?

May 8th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Agree with everything you said except the Nadal part, Blank. Nadal was even hotter last year this time. Taking out Fed and Nadal, the remaining Slam-ready guys: Djok, Andy R/M, then Davy, Soderling, Cilic…the edge goes to Djok. His FO performance since 07 stood out.

May 8th, 2010 at 2:56 pm

The water of the English Channel will boil…

I think Andy M has a real shot at FO, only next to Djok.

The sweetest dream would be Wndy M beat Fed at WO final, for the British Empire. It’s totally doable. Just the stupid British press will kill Andy before he stpes on court, as usual.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Let’s hope everyone is fit for the FO. It will be interesting to see if anyone can take it to Nadal.

Twocents – I agree the edge goes to Djoko, but that’s assuming he’ll be fit mentally and physically. And for Djoko, that’s going to be a challenge.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:05 pm

if djoker and murray were in form, davy and del potro weren’t cripples, federer would be in even more trouble in the next few months. as it stands he’s pretty lucky only nadal is looking dangerous.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

i mean he seriously lost estoril? that had to be the poorest estoril field ever, and this is estoril we’re talking about.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

For the longest time, Federer only had a number of challengers. And they all slowly but surely made their way into the top 5. Sometimes top 10 was sufficient plus Nalbandian. This year, random players have beaten him. No disrespect, Baghy, Berds, Gulbis, and even Montanes are all capable players. But they’ve never been pegged as THE challengers to Fed’s reign. So, it really doesn’t matter who’s injured or not anymore, anyone can beat Fed.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:16 pm

Ben, That all the more reason to believe that the primary issue with Federer now is mental as opposed to age or physical.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

Nah, fitness is part of the game. Most players deal with fitness issues daily, but few broadcast them. The one who wins all 7 matches is the champion.

Both Djok and Andy M are maturing nicely.

Guys, Albert Montanes is the defending champion. Every dog has its day.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:24 pm

It’s a bit mental in itself to think that Fed should still dominate the tour like when he was 25 :-)).

May 8th, 2010 at 3:29 pm

The overreaction to Federer’s struggles is unbelievable.

He may lose early in Madrid, but I like his odds a lot better against Wawrinka on those clay courts than against Montanes (again, shockingly underrated on clay, partly his own fault because he doesn’t come to play every week) in Estoril. Montanes has won nine consecutive matches there now.

Federer still has more game on clay than anyone but Nadal. Fewer people can beat him on the dirt than can beat him on hard courts, as the last five years has proven conclusively. He’ll have to pick up his game substantially in Paris, but there’s no reason to think he won’t.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Two Cents@ 3.00: “British Empire”!! Lordy, lordy what’s that when it’s at home? We used to have an “Empire” my lovely Shakespearian panhandler, but alas now all we have is a “British Debt”, bout the size of the old Empire I guess…
Love your pics for the Grand Slams BTW. However, the way Andy’s been playing lately, bit of a long shot.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:38 pm

margot,

Only the rich has debt, the poor is trying desperately to be in debt. At least you are yet to see the comedy act on London Exchange like our NYSE here last Thursday. On days like that, one wonders what a luxury to lose a tennis match?

The sooner and the more the young guns suffer, the sooner and the better the harvest. Have faith in Murray.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:47 pm

Gorgeous day here in Texas, mid-70s. Off now.

Nice weekend, everyone.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:49 pm

Two Cents: re suffering, is that a Texas truism lol? I do have faith in Andy but he is a fragile flower and I do worry
We have “hung” Parliament here. Lots of deals being done behind closed doors. Expect stock exchange madness Monday. Don’t think u r right re rich and poor debt. Crippling debt repayment to IMF crippling many African countries.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:55 pm

Twocents comes in like a breath of fresh Texan air and then departs. Hope he has a great weekend.

Just got home and saw Fed didn’t pull through; sorry to Fed’s fans, but all is not lost. Madrid is around the corner. And remember his record in 5 set matches! The slams are around the corner too.

Kudos to Sam Q. – an all American clay final! I hope for Sam to win but either way, these two should feel quite proud.

May 8th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

margot – I heard about the “hung” Parliament. Strange times. Anyhow, keep the faith in Andy M. I will be rooting for him to do well at Madrid! It’s a faster clay court so maybe this is a chance for him to make some noise.

May 8th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

speaking of madrid and the atp draw challenge. i still don’t know those who come in first do it. maybe they have worked it out ten ways and have as many alias’s.

picking the ultimate winner is not terribly difficult.

but, NELTA-
when i now understand that where the qualifying winners are placed is random, like you explained, good luck, right?

giraldo or volandri could land anywhere. and i hesitate to pick ernie because he may be partying non-stop since rome. “safinitis”

May 8th, 2010 at 4:11 pm

Comments are out from Roger:

“I’m not worried. It’s too far away. My goal isn’t to win 12 tournaments a year, it is the big events: the [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000s, the Grand Slams, [Barclays] ATP World Tour Finals and keeping the No. 1 ranking.”

“My decision to come to Estoril was the right decision. I would like to return again in future. I know that good things are around the corner.”

“The conditions were extremely slow, but I don’t mind that,” said Federer. “I grew up with it in Switzerland, where we have a lot of rain.

“I’m disappointed to have played a match like this, where I got off to a bad start again. I didn’t play that badly in the second set, I had my moments but my movement was a little slow. I didn’t have confidence in my movement. I have put in a lot of work.”

“I’m lacking matches,” said Federer. “I’ll keep practising hard again. Conditions will speed up in Madrid and Paris [at Roland Garros]. I must take positives into the next few weeks.”

May 8th, 2010 at 4:12 pm

I don’t know which Roger Federer showed up today in Estoril against Montanes, but it was definitely someone else with a very flat affect, who looked depressed, worried, and basically not motivated or interested. Can’t see Federer picking up speed in Madrid that quickly. Hopefully he can pick up momentum for the FO because I would love for him to make it to the final and have Nadal kick his a.. one more time! I can’t see anyone beating a healthy Rafa on clay over 5 sets. As for the others,in Madrid,it’s anyone’s guess. Gulbis plays a lot of guys, all in finals in different cities this weekend and it will be hard for them to pick up again and beat a rested Gulbis(unless he’s been busy flying around the world on his daddy’s plane). Roddick may be the only one to stop him. Oh yeah, and Djokovic for the FO? The allergies are probably affecting what’s between his ears! I would be shocked. Here we go again with Andy Murray’s chances of winning a slam? On Clay? Oh say ye not, you merry ‘ole British fans. But then again, when he loses, he’s a Scot again.

May 8th, 2010 at 4:15 pm

exactly right about gulbis, leo vixen.

would like to believe ernie will go deep and he absolutely could.

it all depends. if i could be assured he partied one day and got back to serious? he can take out youzhny. as it stands, it’s a match too tough to pick, unless baggy wears youzy down.

picking EG over youzy is risky.

May 8th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

wait. cilic beat baggy today.

hm…

“god this is kiiling me.”

May 8th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

roger is not only afraid he is terrified
of rafa. that’s why he can’t play anymore.

May 8th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

lol, fed is afraid. it’s clear that is what you believe. your nickname suits you.

who isn’t afraid of rafa? who will step up and receive a pummeling from rafa in madrid? that’s what i am wondering as i work over the brackets.

any thoughts about the “other” finalist?

May 8th, 2010 at 4:48 pm

having a tough time picking federer over moya or becker. lol..

help!

okay moya is old but he’s spanish. though….becker, it is.

but can federer get by benny becker? is fed afraid of benny becker too? hey, fed is afraid?

wawa is not afraid of his swiss #1, like nando “fears” rafa.

picking wawa over federer. the end. bitter end.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:00 pm

i still believe in federer. i cannot think otherwise.

fed is afraid, you are a joke here. why so cruel? nothing frightens roger except roger himself, when he has bad days like this. he has to go back to the drawing board. is all he can do. Jesse Levine is around somewhere right now and no doubt will take a plane (if he can), to play some practise matches with roge and step it up for when he plays rafa in the finals.

go roger!

May 8th, 2010 at 5:02 pm

bitter end for what contador?

May 8th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

madmax, you know i love federer but i am trying to pick objectively.

you are still up?

please look at the challenge draw…would be fun to see who you pick all the way through in each match-up!

May 8th, 2010 at 5:10 pm

oh i should have put like a smiley face there, madmax.

the bitter end of the tie breaker today still stings.

but i am picking stan over roger : )

the clay will be different in madrid and so on, fed may get inspired and i hope so. also hope ernie doesn’t show up with a headache and a”hang over.”

May 8th, 2010 at 5:14 pm

fed is only afraid of rafa.
but the way he is playing now,
he should be afraid of everyone.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:14 pm

I hope Roger continues in this form until Wimbledon so that Rafa can take back the §1 ranking.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:15 pm

you must write poetry, fed is afraid.

i think federer is afraid of himself right now. his self-confidence desperately needs a boost.

i don’t think federer’s slump is physical at all.

madmax, i think federer will pull out of the slump when he gets to the grass.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:21 pm

there are some very nice nadal fans-

Ezorra, comes to mind.

the way federer is playing, he will lose his #1. to rafa? maybe. but i think wimbledon gets a new winner this year other than federer or nadal.

go andy roddick! c’mon. he beat nadal soundly on hc. he just may get his chance on grass. would be especially possible if roddick takes out federer on the way. what a huge get for A-ROD!

think about it, tennis fans…. : )

May 8th, 2010 at 5:28 pm

Lol – Actually Fed is Afraid is a Pachelbel descendant
and has simply included prose to his/her less illustrious canon.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:33 pm

hahaahaaaa

Rsutherland, if i may,

do you think andy murray can get by pablo cuevas on clay and if he does, could he beat either volandri or santiago giraldo?

hmm. if i only knew the muzza was his old self.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

Contador – Well as reformed Murray-basher (or any basher of any tennis player aside from one J.H.), I hope he can get over it.
I would venture to guess it is in his head – the British Press after years of Tim Henman falling a bit short, loss to Federer etc… Public pressure can be daunting (from personal experience) to the mind.
Also, we (I) tend to forget that these are very young people yet.
The very young prodigies are mostly ambivalent regarding nerves but once one gets into their late teens and early twenties, one becomes way more affected in their performance by their public surroundings.
As I feel Murray has been growing out of (what I felt was) brattiness, he will hopefully grow into his nerves, if that what it really is and beat some of the Humpty-Dumpty players (relatively speaking) you mentioned.
Some do not unfortunately. A few meltdowns and then the meltdown expectations become a given.
With Murray, only time will tell.

May 8th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

oops. again i struggle over andy murray. cuevas is good on clay but he could have to play giraldo, volandri, some other clay courting qualifier.

fed is afraid who do you say will play rafa in the madrid final? with federer in a slump and nole out of the draw?

who is least likely to be afraid and most likely to be up for a nadal semifinal flogging? verdasco, soderling, berdych, ferrer, almagro, bellucci, isner, tsonga…

counting on a spaniard to take one for the team again.

soda is afraid. my new nickname?

May 8th, 2010 at 5:58 pm

I doubt “Soda’ is afraid. I suspect he is a far bigger monkey on Nadal’s back than any of the others. I also suspect that match-up is still personal and there is much more pressure on Nadal in that instance.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:05 pm

thank-you, Rsutherland. ( you mean J.H. = federer? J.H. , as in john henry?)

tsk, tsk.

i loved your post though. food for thought about growing pains and players. imo, murray is too talented and hard-working not to pull out of his slump. like you say he has matured. maybe he’s had time to sort it all through and will come back stronger. Or, i wouldn’t blame him if he bagged the whole thing, with the amount of pressure he’s taken.

given muzza’s present state though, i wonder, can he knock off a rather formidable up-coming “humpy-dumpty” clay courter like giraldo. i’m imagining volandri’s performance in rome was assisted by the home theater.

okay you say “time will tell.” true. however if i put myself in murray’s clay tennis shoes i think he has been inspired by federer’s lousy streak.

i’ll pick murray to get through to the quarters. i have until 3 a.m. my time to change my mind.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

No – I have great respect for Federer and do not ‘get’ how one could not. J.H. is a female player.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

“roger is not only afraid he is terrified
of rafa. that’s why he can’t play anymore.”

It is surprising you have not yet changed your user name to ‘fed is terrified’. LOL

May 8th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Rsutherland-

soda is not afraid. you say?

well, i would hope someone isn’t.

i don’t think EG is afraid but is EG sober?

soda will be under more pressure at RG, don’t you think? he has had some “niggles.” i should think my mr. dimples might be wanting to go rest and not run into verdasco again. Then again, verdasco admits in the link i posted above that he “fears” nadal. so, perhaps someone altogether a surprise gets to the semi in that half.

nalby? he’s not afraid. but not in shape, i should think. tough one to pick.

what are the chances of isner knocking out rafa in the quarters?

lol…just kidding. i think

May 8th, 2010 at 6:25 pm

Rsutherland-

a justine basher? no, i won’t ask.

the only pick i am sure about is rafa. unless his knees give him any trouble. if they do, i think this year he is smart enough to retire, as he did at the AO, saving himself for FO.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:31 pm

Isner vs Nadal?
Could you possibly have two greater contrasting styles; between the ultimate scrambler and one of the bomb hurling giants (whom I still think look like they are moving in slow motion)?
I think Isner has ‘eclipsed’ Karlovic among said giants and has the ability to beat just about anyone one a special day. Nadal on clay though?…. very special day; Calling Nostradamus!

May 8th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

and i have great respect for rafa. i only hope for a great match-up in madrid. sort of tired of him rolling over his “mates.”

RG is the real battle looming. some of his non-spanish injury prone opponents like soderling, might be thinking ahead.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm

LOL, love it, RS.

isner does appear to be moving in slow motion. and i honestly think the contrasting styles makes a decent match-up. delpo wasn’t afraid. and he was improving on clay, don’t you think?

i hope he gets back to the tour soon but having had carpel tunnel repair- he should take his time.

nostradamus just text’d me from the beyond, sayin ” no, no don’t pick isner, are you joking?! even if it’s a great serving day big john’s nerves will crack. it’s simple. rafa nadal”

May 8th, 2010 at 6:48 pm

If Nadal is going to lose on clay, Madrid is the spot.

The problem is figuring out who will win the tournament if Rafa goes out. Good luck with that to anyone who has the guts to pick against Nadal in the draw challenge.

May 8th, 2010 at 6:56 pm

contador – Ah, DelPo…Now probably would have been his time…what a shame.
Delpo never got the memo the the ball is supposed to move slower on clay, even if it looked like he was (moving slower) so yes, he coulda (shoulda, woulda) upended Nadal….?
No, as a person of the theater, I long to see another epic, scowling, obssessive-compulsive-habit-imitating, grudge match between Soderling and Nadal!!!!

May 8th, 2010 at 7:17 pm

Incidently, does anyone know if the ‘o’ in Soderling’s name is supposed to have an umlaut? If he were German there well could be (in which case, we should spell it Soederling – or just stick to Soda…or Soeda???)

May 8th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

I´m disappointed ,even though when you look at it Roger still has won the most important tittle of the season so far.Plus we were in a worst situation last year and the next two months turned out alright!!!
Nadal was almost a year without a title,all players have slumps, but these two are great champions!

May 8th, 2010 at 7:48 pm

Contador, I see you have started the draw challenge. I got only 51 points last week..and this week is even harder.

these top players in a slump does not help the mind. the muzza, the federer..oh dear

OK, maybe we have to think madrid clay, ultitude. Who would like those conditions? Nadal does not like too much..ok he said so last year but still its hard to pick against him.

Roddick, might like this. His serve will penetrate in madrid clay. Soda..soda might be affeceted by UE. the ball flies in madrid..is that true?

Verdasco has berdych. The new verdasco, madrid is his home town but “fears” rafa…that makes me very sad. Now he knows there is no way he can reach the final in madrid…he is hoping for a rafaless draw in FO, good luck to him

Rsutherland. wiki has soda name as Söderling with 2 dots on the ‘o’

May 8th, 2010 at 7:52 pm

Frankly I think Fed just plays these “small” tournaments for practice and cares little about winning them……he’s into the Slams only now….Madrid will be his practice for RG….

May 8th, 2010 at 8:12 pm

Hey Kimmi!

i finally finished picking. yeah this one gave me a headache. for rome i just picked off the top of my head-bing-bing-bing, hardly any thought into this at all and beginners luck got me 114 points.

madrid, clay, altitude…attitude…burn out…player strategies with FO coming up… more unkown variables than i can imagine.

wish the designers of this game would give us a break and at least let us pick when the final qualifiers are placed. grrrrr

yeah, the top players, except nadal, in a slump.

thinking the spaniards might have a master plan here to protect their leader and allow verasco his due. then back to rafa leading the armada in paris. hehehee those spaniards.

and the swiss are worse. federer pretending he can’t play tennis anymore? it’s a screen. all the players are relaxed and thinking federer is toast. then the old federer comes out. end of story, Kimmi.

*bely laughter* Rsutherland says:

‘No, as a person of the theater, I long to see another epic, scowling, obssessive-compulsive-habit-imitating, grudge match between Soderling and Nadal!!!! ”

great one. i LONG to see that too! no more mr nice guy tennis. i want some drama, comedy, dueling to the death.

however i think the best script awaits at the FO. i hope so!

May 8th, 2010 at 8:29 pm

All you federer haters will eat ur words after madrid and french open
I know federer will come back no doubt don’t care if he losses to a 300 ranked player
In a little tournament! Watch madrid he will beat rafa and then everyone will be quiet and give
Fed a rest! Good luck roger federer all the best! He alwayz has the belief in skills and will fight like a warrior
And fair play if he can’t then he can’t I would be dissapointed but the man has achieved so much give him a break
Tennis is so lucky to have him, his talent on court is absolutely unbeilevable!
And I bet all you federer haters would be sad even if u didn’t admit it now if fed retired 4 example nex. Tournament
You would all realise without fed tennis won’t be the same! So stop critisicing after every loss he is human like everyone else
Glad I got that off my chest! I’m a federer fan and I never disrespect other players coz the people who say all this crap
Are propably ppl how can barely hold a racket and hit the ball over the net and aint got a life so all they wanna do is disresspect grow up u haters! Wish all the top players the best in madrid!

May 8th, 2010 at 8:36 pm

yeah, forget nostradamus. kimmi, i am picking someone other than rafa to win. ahahhaaaa, seriously!

for some reason….and that’s all i will admit .

but…8 hrs left. plenty of time for second guessing.

May 8th, 2010 at 8:37 pm

Rs-

have been catching up on all the news i can get about delpo.

right wrist carpel tunnel surgery. had to be a difficult decision for him. 2011 will be his comeback.

delpo v murray is always a good one!

May 8th, 2010 at 8:47 pm

I rekon even tho federer lost early in rome and estroil I just think he will win in madrid and like last year
Will probz be the tuning point in his season and I rekon he will beat rafa in the final and will tie rafa wid 17masters!

Sayin that rafa will reclaim his number 2 ranking and then them to will be top seeds for most propb the rest of the season if they stay fit and healthy!

I wish roger turns it all around and I’m so confident he will do it I mean come on the man is a g
He is slikkk and now he is the best just hasn’t been showing it in these lil tourneys! But who care as
Long as he keeps winning slams these recent losses don’t mean nuffing!

So can’t wait for the touney 2 start should be a good one!

May 8th, 2010 at 8:52 pm

I have been travelling like hell across US, Europe for the past two weeks barely managing to chk news related to fedex “losses” which seems to be more and more obvious.. infact i am very surprised these days when he wins matches!!!!

Cant blame him for lack of motivation… but the worry is that he doesnt accept it and keeps giving useless excuses…

Feddy.. just shut up.. go off to sleep.. take care of the twins and just play four tournaments in an year.. i guess thats enuff and you have nothing left to prove…

Yawn… Just cant bare to see rafa destroyng everyone on his way.. 90% of them already lose even before playing…

Its gonna be one boring FO…

May 8th, 2010 at 9:02 pm

I am a Federer fan but I believe that claiming that Federer does not care for the smaller tournaments and only aims to win the majors is a form of denial. He is running out of tournaments to lose. The French is coming soon and the probabilty of losing that one too is becoming more of a reality. I have prepared myself to see him lose the French, even before the finals. If he wins, I will be happily surprised. But I would not delude myself into thinking that he can do it. Not with the form that he has been showing lately.

May 8th, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Federer can still win many tournaments he has many years to play tennis his style of play is perfect for tennis
He can play till 35 like he has said many times he wants his daughters see him play there’s his motivation and just the love the game he will have!

One thing I will say is form is temporary but class is permanent!
Wathc fed at fO gurantee u hw will do well
And I won’t be surprised if he wins the fO and if he beats rafa in the final!

He is just that damb good I don’t care what enyone thinks I know how good he is and
I know no one is on his level wenhe brings his a game!

And guess what his a game usually kicks in , in the big tournaments not these lil tourney that dnt mean nuffing!

He plays his best in the biggest tournaments that’s what counts end of the day how many majors u win!
Roger 16 and counting should reach 20 majors and even more is defenently possible but it takes patience
And time! How much more majors can he win from now till he’s 35! Wow it will be too good a stat
But he is the goat!

May 8th, 2010 at 9:17 pm

contador, have to start my picks, have not done any yet. I will go with my instinct again..which did not help in rome..aaargh!

well, its all in good fun for me. hope i do better this week. Go Muzza, federer! oh and my lovely nando!

May 8th, 2010 at 9:18 pm

Polo,

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2010-05-08/4116.php

Skeezer…

May 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm

Federer himself said recently that he gives 100% in the non-Slam tournaments he enters. He said it would be an insult to the fans to play half-assed. If Nadal’s knees hold up, he wins the FO. His record the past 5 years on clay is something like 150-5, including a 90+ clay match winning streak. No other tennis player alive can come close to that on any surface. It took a few months for him to recover from injuries, but his tennis game and his mental game are back, and his confidence is growing with each win. Keep that in mind when picking against him. Sure Federer is likely the best ever. Props to him, he’s earned it, but he’s not playing well right now, and time is running out. Plus, he’s earned his one French Open, he can let it go now, and get his game back on grass, his favorite surface. With DelPo, Davydenko, and probably Djokovic out with injuries/illness, and Murray floundering on every surface. With Soderling losing to Verdasco on clay, and Verdasco admitting that he’s afraid of Nadal, who is left to challenge him? Here’s hoping for a more interesting Wimbledon.

May 9th, 2010 at 12:01 am

Fed’s roll can’t go on forever and I agree with some that this is the start of his downward spiral. He will no longer win the locker room battles, he now has to fight on court and it’s getting tougher.

And for the one who said fed haters will be sad when fed retires, don’t make me laugh. Tennis will be far better when we don’t have the world no. 1 making excuses and taking dirty jibes at those who beat him fair and sqaure. Off with the smug preening arrogant poser with a sharp excuse-givign tongue!! He’s not above tennis and its rules (and that includes Hawkeye challenges!).

May 9th, 2010 at 2:39 am

Big BOO….. to all Nadal fans. Even he is good at Clay, he can’t achieve most of the records set by Federer. Federer and Nadal’s records will more like records of Sampras and Aggasi. Federer and Sampras got the Most Grand Slams, Year End tournaments, World no.1 rankings, when Nadal and Aggasi can only get the most in Master series titles in their career. Nadal and Aggasi can’t never ever reach the records of Fed and Sampras. For Federer, it is all enough for him for his career. He has got whatever he wanted.He can retire anytime. He can just play for fun. He said he is playing tennis as he wants his kids see him play. He never mentions he is trying to win all the tournaments. As far as i am concerned, no one in this generation of playing tennis can surpass Federer’s records except Master series and clay titles from Nadal. It could only be the next or further next generation can surpass Fed’s records. I am sure not this generation. Now Nadal is 24 very soon . Same age as me. With his bad injury, the most years he can play will be the next 6 years. Suppose , just give that 6 French Slams to Nadal for the next 6 years, it could be only 12 grand slams in total for him. He has very little chance of winning other slams to surpass Fed’s 16 and counting Slam titles. As other players like Djokovic, Del Potro, Nikolay Daveydenko, Roddick, Murray will not give chances to Nadal to win other slams apart from The Red Dirt Clay of Nadal. Let’s see whether what i said is true or not in the next 6 years ahead.

May 9th, 2010 at 4:17 am

Fed fan says:

“Big BOO….. to all Nadal fans”

My question is: WHY? Why to ALL Nadal fans?

May 9th, 2010 at 11:22 am

Ezzora – That was my question in a post here a while ago. “The big Boo’ went to actually anyone that lumps all Nadal fans,,or anyone else who stereotypes any group…unfortunate in any setting.So now a “Big Boo” to the person with the screen name
‘Fed Fan’
Kimmi – (Maybe too late to read this) but thank you for the response regarding Soderling’s name. The two dots over the ‘o’ are are an accent called (at least in German) an unlaut. For those of us who are not computer savy enough to make those dots, one is to re-spell it oe rather than o/umlaut. Cheers!

May 9th, 2010 at 11:51 am

umlaut (sorry – typo)

May 9th, 2010 at 11:52 am

Rsutherland – So how is Soderling pronounced? Is it /oo/ as in moo, /a/ as in ball or /o/ as in so?
Lord knows should I ever be introduced I wouldn’t want to mispronounce his name. He gives off a Hannibal Lecter sort of vibe.

May 9th, 2010 at 12:15 pm

Also, it changes the pronunciation – Rather than “So… as in ‘soda-pop’, it becomes something like Soe as in the er in ‘Certainly’ but not the American, back-of-the-tongue ‘er’ sound – more like the Queen’s English ‘er’ sound.
Oh yeah, I am in Tennis-x land, sorry…
“Federer is better than Nadal”
or
“Nadal is better than Federer”
There we go, now I belong!
Cheers again

May 9th, 2010 at 12:17 pm

@Fed Fan

Rafa will have more than 20 GS by the time he is Fed’s age.

Fed stops at 16.

May 9th, 2010 at 12:45 pm

Great stuff about Soderling. One of the things that’s fun to watch about Nadal is his ferocity on the court. He leaves it all out there every time, and now that his injuries seem to have healed, he’s turned into the Ogre again. Would love to see a cage match between him and Soderling again. Despite what they say, you know they don’t like each other. Ogre #1 vs Ogre #2. Here’s hoping.

May 9th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

YAY! Sam won in Belgrade! Woot! Congrats to him; he can play well on clay.

May 9th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Isner won the 1st and was up a break in the 2nd so great comeback by Querrey.

May 9th, 2010 at 1:24 pm

Rsutherland: thanks for the soda pop pronunciation. Got to say it right. He is one of my faves.

Jane, i followed little bit of live score on sam vs isner. Isner was serving for the match at 6-3 5-4..querrey broke him and the rest is history.

Poor Isner, he gave away another title match to querrey as in Memphis, remember?…not good, isner will kick himself.

Youzhny got the better of Cilic, poor cilic, he played well this week but just not enough. He has maxed out on 250 ranking points anyways from his wins in Chennai and Croatia so he won’t get any points in munich… but gets some match play which he needed it.

And the federer killer defends his title..congrats to him.

May 9th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

NELTA, just post before reading your post. Yes, great comeback by querrey.

May 9th, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Nadal wont win anything after Paris, see DelPo waxing in New York and Murray down under!

May 9th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

Thanks RS! Love your posts! If not knowledgeable then entertaining and sometimes both.

May 9th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

@ Karen
It is so funny Karen. You said Nadal will get 20 slams at Federer’s age. now he is 24 and he has another only 4 years to reach Federer’s age. Now Nadal has only 6 slams. So to get 20, he still need another 14 slams. That means he need to get 3 Years of Calender Grand slams in 4 years to get it winning all the grand slams in 3 years. That means he will even be better than Rod Laver as Rod only did 2 years of Calendar grand slams. I will say ” Yes” if Nadal is Injury-free, expert in all the different courts as he can do in clay. So just think about it whether it makes sense or not.

May 9th, 2010 at 10:16 pm

Twocents Says:
The water of the English Channel will boil…

I think Andy M has a real shot at FO, only next to Djok.

The sweetest dream would be Wndy M beat Fed at WO final, for the British Empire. It’s totally doable. Just the stupid British press will kill Andy before he stpes on court, as usual.

May 8th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
______________________________________________

LOL!!! Have you seen Andy Murray on clay? It is an absolute travesty. Sam Querry has a better chance at raising the FO trophy. LOL!

May 9th, 2010 at 11:46 pm

Kimmi and Rsutherland-

i do not have an umlaut option on my ‘puter.’ so, soda-ling to “soda” made sense to me when R. Dimon from TT called him that.
*******************************************************

but, i remember reading a comment or two recently about the confusing nicks and “monikers.” it’s nothing complicated and the intent is mostly for convenience…”mostly.” no “moniker” dictionary required, okay.

a nickname is nice to shorten a name for a hyper and excitable poster having difficulty even forming a coherent sentence during a match. an example: “hot sauce” is a great nick for fernando verdasco but nando is easier to type or gonzo, soda and so on…

( apologies for digressing from the topic at hand: madrid, nadal and the draw. )

moving on. in other instances it’s necessary to simply abbreviate names: PP = philipp petschner; PK = phillip kohlschrieber. and as for mikhail youhzny, i can’t seem to spell his name right two times in a row, therefore it’s “youz” or “youzy.” sometimes the name is short enough: rafa, cilic…other names are impossibly long for practical purpose in the cyber world, not that in real life the name is not spectacular in its entirety. thinking here of names like, horacio zeballos aka z-ball, and olexsandr dolgopolov jr. aka “dolgo,” and of course the great juan martin del Potro aka my most missed player on the tour, affectionately, “delpo.” roger federer has the most poster nicks of all, for ALL kinds of reasons, some reasons are not intended to be nice but most are out of convenience or are endearments; others trendy. like darth federer or fedex. “fed” is easiest.

there. that should do it. i think. no offense intended. obviously the cheesy puns come tumbling out as well during a match, it’s tough to stop them or put a ‘sock in it,’ or a ‘lid on it,’ so to speak. it’s all in good fun.

anyway…

Kimmi-

i’m psyched. this week there will be so many matches! i’ll check in often while at work and if possible, wake up at 4 a.m. and watch some. i want to see the points going up by my name, getting the right picks, yesssss – but i didn’t get an “A” today. only had 2 of 3 right and that kinda grade isn’t a good start.

for some crazy reason i picked korolev over dr. ivo. dumb mistake.

speaking of oleksandr dolgopolov jr., he knocked out fish in a tight match, i see. now he (dolgo) plays seppi. i didn’t pick a qualie over a main draw player this time around, so….

in tomorrow’s match-ups i see:

seppi. should be a solid win over dolgo, but…

PK over red hot columbian santiago giraldo? if PK is at all tired after munich, he might not have much choice about going out early. giraldo is on his way up the ranks. the clay ranks, anyway. imo.

almagro, monfils and melzer picks should be fine over their respective opponents.

less certain….

french benny over leo mayer
lopez over kubot.
german benny over moya ( both will fight to their death to have a shot at feddy… so true. *nervous giggle*

and that’s my bedtime tennis bracket story.

best of luck with your picks for tomorrow!

May 10th, 2010 at 1:24 am

conty: I don’t think u were posting here November but I was at O2 and mentioned watching Delpot and Fed and British fans were shouting “Come on Delboy!” He was much loved character in British soap and indeed the fans seemed to love JMDP too.

May 10th, 2010 at 7:39 am

hi margot=

in november? i was reading more than posting on Tx; still posting on TT.

i do recall reading that you were at O2 and feeling bad for you and the british fans there after fed beat muzz. federer had not been playing his best tennis ( benneteau defeat in paris ) and seemed to come out of nowhere with his best against andy.

i watched as much of the O2 as possible. about the federer v delpo match, i remember thinking the crowd was solid behind delpo. what was more memorable was the way delpo beat federer. fed faded against delpo…again.

i’ve heard that watching a delpo match is jaw dropping fun because of how hard he smacks the forehand. some friends of mine had seats close to the court at the us open final. they said fed looked “completely out of it” by the end of the match.

don’t you think the british delpo love will fade if delpo and muzz meet at a wimbledon? i should think. but i would be surprised if delpo is back at all this season. : (

did you enter the atp bracket race?
i see melzer beat anderson . * got a point *
but, seppi is having trouble with dolgo jr,

monfils and countryman stephane robert are on. not too worried about gael there, unless his finger was it is ? is still hurting ( reason he missed estoril) after playing so much poker in monaco.

benneteau v leo: french benny cannot be trusted of course. ; )

later-

cheers.

May 10th, 2010 at 10:36 am

conty: a footnote, Delboy was serving the ball SO hard u couldn’t see it…..and Fed was getting it back! As the Yanks say, “Awesome.”

May 10th, 2010 at 12:21 pm

margot-

that’s why i want delpo to take his time: he needs that right wrist 100% again.

i have one eye on the livescore from work.

dolgo won his chance to play rafa. good for him!

bad on me for not piking “qualifer” to beat seppi and followed my hunch there.

but if you check out “Bogusolivios” on the leaderbaord, i see his/her picks for the top brackets are exactly as mine.

most of the leaderboard has federer going to the final, of all things. wow, what faith those fedfans have! of course they all picked nadal to win. it’s interesting.

i think i messed up the bottom half, except for nadal.

May 10th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

correction:

the prescient “Bogusolivios” picked qualifier over querrey. and qualifier over seppi.

looks like a good day for underdogs. they do have their day,

and bogus picked mayer over benny, i see. knew i shouldn’t trust benny. he’s hanging on by a thin thread atm.

but bogus went down in flames with me by not picking “unkown qualifier” over PK. who woulda thunk he’s get red hot giraldo. ???

for rome i picked a lot of qualies. a shot in the dark helped, too.

May 10th, 2010 at 1:01 pm

R’land

the “o” in soderling is pronounced “er”, so it’s ser-der-ling. big debate about this, funny enough, on sky over in UK, main presenter marcus buckland, kept mis pronouncing his name by saying “sod” “er” “ling”. The sod.

But about 200 people emailed in and put him right!

Seeerrrrrr derrrrrr lingggggg.

Contador, havent done any picks yet.

But liking the statement fed put out. (the ever optimist, and why not?).

So am going to pick Fed to win Madrid and then to win the FO. Howaboutthatthen?

Go fed!!!!

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322954,federer-clay-confidence-high-despite-lack-of-results-so-far.html

May 10th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Margot,

I have found a link to Andy Murray, giving a presser today which I thought you might be interested in. There hasn’t been much about him lately, but he looks happy in his photos – which is a good sign.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/murray-feeling-confident-as-host-of-big-names-tumble-in-madrid-1970051.html

May 10th, 2010 at 2:41 pm

you are too late madmax. you have to pick before the qualifiers are done qualifying, which is a dirty trick, imo. : )

next opportunity to play the bracket challenge isn’t until rogers cup.

but on the atp site, it’s fun to see how the best pickers pick.

check them out for fun, if you have time. you’ll be happy, madmax. most the leader brackets i looked at today had federer all the way to the final. so take heart, more heart, i should say, since you already are the optimist, indeed.

you know me, i have to go by what i have seen. and what i have seen of federer since AO makes me grumpy and so does most of my lousy picking today. something should go right, right? tomorrow will be a better day, maybe.

saw your post to me on another thread and you asked me if i am well. i am okay. in life one has to “suck it up” somtimes, right? has nothing to do with tennis.outcomes. don’t worry. i love tennis, even if grumpy.

and i hope you are well, madmax.

soda is a soda to me, correct pronunciation or not. : )

i don’t claim to be right.

he’s no sod or serd to me. but i have heard a brit commentator or two calling him sordarling. i hear 2 “r’s” in sordar from the british accent….anyway. soda fits him imo. my mr dimples. at any rate, i didn’t pick him to get too far in madrid.

what do i know? i have been pretty much wrong all day.

even victor troiki appears to be taking almagro to a decider. good for vic. if nic loses to vic it means i end up with only 4 of 8 on the day….sheesh. i quit.

May 10th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

make that 4 of 8 on the day if becker wins.

madmax-

i did pick feddy to beat becker OR moya. hehehehee

May 10th, 2010 at 2:56 pm

conty, unless Moya gets it together soon, he could even face a double bagel. He’s down love-6, and now love-3. Oh-oh.

May 10th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

oh poor moya, jane.

i just saw that. i never like to see that someone was made to suffer double bagels.

and nic won. okay then, 5 of 8 for the day. assuming becker holds up.

cheers jane and madmax. “i’m out.” stealing one from skeezer.

May 10th, 2010 at 3:10 pm

conty, have a good day. At least Moya averted the double bagel and managed to nab two games.

May 10th, 2010 at 3:25 pm