French Open Won’t Seed Rafael Nadal Higher

Pfffft FO officials. They didn’t change the seedings in 2013 why would they do it now!
No matter!

April 27th, 2015 at 10:13 am

Other than Wimbledon (which objectively changes seedings every year based on a formula that heavily weights grass results), no other slam has subjectively changed a seeding in the open era. Ever.

This is a non-story drummed up click-bait “debate”.

Hilarious!

April 27th, 2015 at 10:22 am

As per their policy it is very clear that follow ATP rankings as it is. There is no reason to change it to suit as per the wishes of his fans.

April 27th, 2015 at 12:46 pm

@ Elina

Yes, the grass season is so minute compared to other surfaces that Wimbledon always takes into account Halle/Queens and 2 previous years of Wimbledon results to achieve its rankings. Nole and Federer will be well favoured based on last year’s Wimbledon final. Some value, but less, will be part of the calculations for the previous year.

Halle(250) and Queens(500) will be very important this year in the calculations of ranking for Wimbledon 2015 – even more difficult to forecast a winner….Queens being raised to a 500 is possibly why Nadal is returning to Queens following absence.

April 27th, 2015 at 3:27 pm

“as per the wishes of his fans.”

No, as per the media looking for a story where there is none. I haven’t seen one of his fans say this.

I believe that it is the other fans that are more preoccupied.

Nice try though “Wimbledon”.

April 27th, 2015 at 3:38 pm

Rafa is playing Queens because his contract with Halle is over, not because it is a 500 event!

April 27th, 2015 at 3:52 pm

Other than Wimbledon (which objectively changes seedings every year based on a formula that heavily weights grass results), no other slam has subjectively changed a seeding in the open era. Ever.

False. See US Open 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/25/sports/an-angry-kafelnikov-withdraws-from-open.html

If the French wanted, would put Rafa Nadal in the top 2 and nobody would say anything, not even Federer, but I am sure would generate controversy and they will not want that. Rafa Nadal will have to win their tenth RG of the hardest way.

April 27th, 2015 at 9:57 pm

Rafa Nadal will have to win his tenth RG of the hardest way, should say.

April 27th, 2015 at 10:10 pm

@ Giles

I would have thought Rafa could still play Halle irrespective of a contract – given that Queens is upgraded is a good enuf reason (he’d be daft if the upgrade wasn’t at least a factor in his decision)- it’s proximity to Wimbledon makes it a bit more convenient as well.

I hope he’s a finalist at both Queens & Wimbledon……but the Winner is……(forgotten his name).

April 28th, 2015 at 4:17 am

Rafa 9 French opens won

Give him the number 2 ranking for Roland garros so he can play Djokovic in the final if they should make it that far ?

Djokovic vs Federer semi final

Nadal vs Nishikori semi final

But the French won’t help Rafa

April 28th, 2015 at 4:25 am

KatH. I remember Rafa saying Halle played very fast so a couple of factors at least to dissuade him from playing there.
I know he has always praised Queens, likes playing there. The only downside is the greedy UK tax system. He will be playing Stuttgart as well, I believe, so provided there are no early mishaps, should have sufficient practice pre-Wimby.

April 28th, 2015 at 4:45 am

Zozza,
Ce est la vie, mon petit ami!

April 28th, 2015 at 4:54 am

I cannot imagine a French Open with a healthy Nadal not winning at the end. If played today, Djokovic will likely beat him but Rafa still has ample time to build himself up. I don’t see anybody beating him by 3 sets in the first week. When the second week rolls in and Nadal still there, we all know how much tougher he becomes. A French final not featuring Nadal and Djokovic will be anti-climactic. I still feel that Nadal will win. The French Open will become Novak’s career bete noire.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:07 am

I feel that as well Markus. The final of Barcelona was an anti climax because everyone knew that Berd wouldn’t win.
Whereas a RG final between Nole and Rafa, well who knows?
If they can’t/wont seed Rafa higher than two, then I believe they’d be crazy not to somehow put them on opposite sides of the draw.
Not that I’m saying draws are in any way there to be rigged of course.
*Whistle*

April 28th, 2015 at 7:34 am

My gut feeling is that Nadal and Djokovic with end up on opposite sides of the draw…as “luck” would have it.

April 28th, 2015 at 8:58 am

“will” not “with”. I wish there is a “review post” prior to the “submit comment”.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:01 am

Right Giles -I do recall Rafa (& I think RF) – commenting about UK Taxes — (we’ll make them honorary UK citizens given that we all resent the taxes as well)….

I note Wimbledon has raised the prize money – just a nudge away from US Open prize money.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:25 am

People bring the seeding up at RG every year, and while it makes a lot of sense considering there are clay court specialists and Wimbledon adjusts seedings, it’s not going to change. When Rafa was #2 rankings wise, everyone knew he should be the #1 seed at RG. This year is different, but it would be such a let down if him and Novak end up in the same half and meet earlier then the final.

TBH, I think that it was worse that they didn’t put Rafa on center court last year for his first match. That topic has already been discussed into the ground, but the fact that they’re being so defensive about his seeding makes me wonder about how the tournament directors really feel about him.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:41 am

Emily

…..they wish he’d get his ranking up so they can breathe easily and put him in where he belongs…

April 28th, 2015 at 9:46 am

@KatH, I’m sure that’s the case really, b/c they want the same final everyone else does.

Just on another topic, tennis channel was showing the 2005 Rome final last night b/w Rafa and Coria, which was a 5 hour epic match. I didn’t know much about this match, but it was so great to watch b/c Coria was such a great player at the time and the fact that 18 year old Rafa not only stayed w/ him, but beat him.

This baby faced kid was playing such special tennis that completely justifies his comments about the current teenage generation just isn’t at the same level as his. Also, Tony seems to be a much happier person before the Fedal rivalry got going.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:59 am

“..b/c they want the same final everyone else does.”
And who is that?

April 28th, 2015 at 10:04 am

read an interesting piece on kei this morning, noting how he is “better than djokovic and nadal”. matsuoka also notes the following:

“”And he can also play mind games if he has too. He is very adept at reading his opponents and out-psyching them. He can lull you into thinking he`s down and out — and then hit back and knock you out in the fifth set.”

the rest of the article is here:

http://zeenews.india.com/sports/tennis/kei-nishikori-better-than-novak-djokovic-says-former-mentor_1586467.html

bodo at espn also has an article suggesting kei could be the one to win the french open. he’s getting lots of hype / notice.

April 28th, 2015 at 10:39 am

The way the official describes it, there clearly WAS leeway for them to make the change if they wanted to, and they obviously considered it.
With such being the case, it’s idiocy NOT to give Rafa the #2 seed.

In any case, he can only play Novak once. If they are indeed the best, they will get their match and it doesn’t really matter what round it’s in: it’ll be televised all the same.

Life goes on!

April 28th, 2015 at 10:41 am

@jane
Kei certainly didn’t look unbeatable against the “Fab Pab.”
I really like him, but…..And doesn’t the media love to big up the “new?”
Lol….watch me have to eat my words after RG!

April 28th, 2015 at 10:53 am

For me, Coria was the most intelligent CC player in the last decade. To watch him lose against Rafa was very painful, and a lesson that in life prowess, grace, intelligence, are powerless against brute force.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:20 am

Kei stats are nowhere near the stats of the big three. The key stat here is the domination ratio, and we can clearly see that there are some kind of players and a kind of game that can hurt him very much: while he likes to play against baseline players that give him rhythm, he has difficulties both against power players and creative players with a large palette of shots. In this moment, I believe that Berdych is a better clay player.

To make a long explanation short: Nishikori is a younger version of Ferrer, with better nerves.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:32 am

@mat 4
Ashe v Connors (Wimbledon?). Beauty beat brawn then.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:36 am

@Margot:

This fight was a fair one. Not Rome. Just watch some highlights, to refresh your memory: the ferocity of Rafa’s shots is absolutely stunning.

Look here, Rafa at 17:

http://www.protennisfan.com/images/nadal_rafa.jpg

and this

https://fearofbliss.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/31549_rafa3_122_450lo.jpg

And this is a guy that, by his own admission, never, never lifted weights…

April 28th, 2015 at 11:43 am

That Rome final really helped me remember why I love watching matches on clay so much. It requires intelligence, stamina, and incredible movement that covers the entire court. The line clippers from both in that match are astounding.

I always felt it was such a shame that Coria never won a slam after coming so close at the French. He was often intelligent, but he couldn’t use the same tactics b/c of the brute force of Rafa’s shots. I think that might be the case with Kei, since he is vulnerable against power players. I think the comparison to Ferrer is a good one, and maybe he can go one step further then him in a slam, but it won’t be this year.

April 28th, 2015 at 12:40 pm

How did that song go? Something like goo goo g’joob?

mew!

April 28th, 2015 at 3:06 pm

For me, Coria was the most intelligent CC player in the last decade. To watch him lose against Rafa was very painful, and a lesson that in life prowess, grace, intelligence, are powerless against brute force.

Lol! Coria is one of most overated players in the last decade. And one of the mentally weakest, see the final against Gaudio at RG 2004. A big choker!

And, come on, mat4, you always have to say something negative about Nadal, a player who obviously hate calling him doped, being ironic when your favorite player Novak Djokovic. The player who won the final after nearly six hours after another match that lasted five hours against Murray.

You’re not only predictable but flamboyant with your statements that show the lack of objectivity with your national hero, a guy who can not stand that has two rivals much more popular than him, being visible his hypersensitivity that shows when people clap his rivals instead of him even in Australia, where it is assumed because of its success in recent years, he should have more support than anywhere else, but see his match against Wawrinka, to realize that it is not.
Even Becker recognized that. Enjoy the moment while your hero wins, he will always be remembered for being the third man. While there is nothing wrong with that.

April 28th, 2015 at 3:53 pm

@MSN:

That’s what I wrote here, a few hours ago:

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2015-04-24/19144.php#comment-596223

“We know that doping gives also confidence and a certain winning rage, a feeling of invincibility (it also make me think that something was happening with Novak in 2011), and suddenly we discover that Rafa recovers much slower from small injuries, that he has a lack of confidence, and his physical decline seems obvious.

There’s nothing proven here, but it all looks a bit murky. Most of French and Belgian players were astonished by Fed’s stamina ten years ago, Novak was shockingly good in 2011, Murray changed his overall aspect in four months, but the most suspicious case, for me, remains Rafa. And not just for me, but for many players too, and I already gave links here (the QA with Cedric Roelant, among others).”

As you can see, I have my doubts about Novak too. I am not always objective — no one is — but your assessment of my posts is far from the mark. I don’t understand why writing the truth is a sign of hate.

April 28th, 2015 at 4:24 pm

MSN and Mat4,

Here is something to read on the issue:

http://oncourt.ca/news/2013/03/22/michael-emmett-is-there-a-connection-between-rafa-and-lance/

April 28th, 2015 at 4:36 pm

No for me most recently and more suspiciously is the tireless walrus.

Goo goo g’joob,

But they are all under suspicion as far as I’m concerned.

April 28th, 2015 at 4:47 pm

@TB:

Thanks. Another article:

http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/curious-case-of-rafael-nadal.html

@Elina:

“But they are all under suspicion as far as I’m concerned.”

I agree, although I believe things have changed a lot since the introduction of the blood passport. The catch is that the doping instance don’t have to prove any more that a banned substance has been used, just to acknowledge deviant values.

April 28th, 2015 at 4:53 pm

Lol, Travis, who is this guy?.
Are Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Tipsarevic, Troicky, Cilic, Serena Williams and Venus Williams dopers?
Can you give me the evidence?, please, I beg you

April 28th, 2015 at 4:59 pm

Margot,

You say pistols at dawn,
I say kisses at sunset…

Whatcha gonna do, girl???

PS
I know you’re not a Federina and are one of the patient ones (a.k.a. Murray fans).

I was merely noticing how you “cheque” the grammar Tennis X uses in their write-up on Federer collecting a pay “check” :-)

April 28th, 2015 at 5:02 pm

Well if the baseline is deviant to begin with, then there will be no deviance.

I’ll have the regular, eggs over easy.

As for a 34 yr old going 4-3 against the world No. 1 since 2014, suspect indeed!!!

Listen, the only crime that Armstrong committed compared to the rest is getting caught.

April 28th, 2015 at 5:20 pm

I don’t understand why writing the truth is a sign of hate.
What truth? Your truth, your bias, your “evidence”. Your guy, your national hero won the most physical match ever and you can claim this! Lmao! What guts you have!
Your fake little words, you are too pretentious, big words do not make you smarter.

April 28th, 2015 at 5:37 pm

MSN raises a fine point on that Aussie final.

I’m ok with a discussion on doping/PED use in general but accusing a player without evidence who has a winning record vs your personal favourite is, as you’ve said, subjective. At best.

Low brow and transparent more likely (like the author of the article you referenced (am guessing is a Roger fan based on probability).

I even suspect one of my two personal favourites. Gulbis not being one of them or he needs a new chemist.

April 28th, 2015 at 5:56 pm

@MSN:

You obviously have a problem with selective reading, and probably with text understanding. I am deeply sorry I can’t write better, or use very short sentences to help you.

About that “most physical match ever”, we know that last time they played, Rafa was running about 100 m by game, and Novak 5% to 7% less. Stats shows that Rafa took 52 seconds by point before 2013, Novak 41. It is relatively easy to guess that on hard court, they ran about 5 km in 6 hours, and it doesn’t seem too much, impossible certainly not. On another side, Djokovic has about 15 pounds less than Nadal, so anybody who know a bit about athletics and sport knows that he is built to run longer distances, while Rafa should be faster — which he is, without any doubt.

So much about it.

Then, I don’t have to give proofs for “suspicions”, for “nothing is proven”, “it is a bit murky”. The truth is that I have suspicions, and that I find some things “murky”.

I hope it helped. Sorry you didn’t understand from the first go. Sorry also to disturb you, make you lose your temper a bit and act silly. Wasn’t my intention.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:03 pm

@elina:

Why don’t you check the site and see if the author is a fedfan? He isn’t. There are a lot of posts about Novak too.

Rafa has a losing record against Novak since 2013, and the trend is not good for him. Check the stats of their H2H at tennisabstract.com. In the last matches, he won about 40% of points.

I answered about the Aussie final, and it is not the first time I did it here.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:09 pm

Federer fan, Nolefam, whatever. The song remains the same.

Got a reference on that 52 and 41 seconds. With all that rest and doping, surprising that they were both cramping heavily at the end. Note the word both BTW.

Check the h2h in the big events over that same period and get back to me (including hard court at USO). What about since 2012? We can all cherry pick starting dates. What matters is slams from what I understand.

Again, suspect one, suspect all IMO. Anything else is just a bit self-serving.

I will be the first to congratulate Nole should he win RG this year. He is certainly deserving after having gotten his hopes up time and time again in Masters best of three events.

However, I hope he doesn’t run into Federer again like he did in 2011 when Nole was undefeated. The Madrid crowd is nothing like the French and they will be relentless.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:29 pm

mat4, this your answer?.
I do not expect someone as arrogant as you and hypersensitive as your national hero, can be objective, unfortunately I can not. You have selected information that fits with your viewpoint, hence your bias. Affirm categorically about others but eliminate any possibility of guilt to a tennis player, you like it or not, it is more like Nadal than Federer, what you arrogantly call and quote your words, “brute force”. Is not it ironic?
You have not bothered me at all, you do not know me and I do not know you to you, then leave the personal side, your serious allegations are unfounded to cling to, all I’m saying is that the Serbian is so “guilty as the Spanish and even you can not deny it. Goodbye, petite monsieur.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:30 pm

@Elina:

“Again, suspect one, suspect all IMO. Anything else is just a bit self-serving.”

I have already agreed with that.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:35 pm

elina, not saying novak will win; i pick rafa as the favourite and acknowledge the many lurking dark horses and so forth that have already been pointed out, but as to the french crowd, i believe they appreciate novak and his efforts to win there. case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12wt2TiKR3o

April 28th, 2015 at 6:41 pm

Be careful mat4, somebody is very edge today, what did you do to upset him/her?

April 28th, 2015 at 6:42 pm

^^ should say “edgy” and not “edge” but “edge” could be use too, no?;)

April 28th, 2015 at 6:48 pm

@MSN:

I am sorry, it is not “petite”, but “petit”. Oh, but I guess it was just a mistyped letter e.

You are quite right: you don’t know me, just as I don’t know you. That’s the reason why I just commented mildly your inability to read what’s written.

So sorry, but I obviously didn’t write that you were arrogant, flamboyant (what does it mean?), pretentious, biased, nor did I mentioned Serbs or Spaniards, something clearly out of topic here, although I like Spanish wines.

Can I also add that you quoted “brute force” out of context? So sorry, but it would be better to quote it that way: “in life prowess, grace, intelligence, are powerless against brute force.”

So sorry if I upset you, it certainly wasn’t my intention. You seem to be a sensitive person. So sorry.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:49 pm

@WB:

Don’t worry, WB. Just read and enjoy.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:54 pm

“Again, suspect one, suspect all IMO.”
Well I guess that throws out the phrase “if there is smoke, theres fire”. ;)
@Wog boy,
Well at least here its almost Beer time. :/

April 28th, 2015 at 6:55 pm

We need a mew here, where is elina?

April 28th, 2015 at 6:56 pm

mat4,
That is exactly what I sm doing, btw, nice win by Tipsarevic over Tomic in Munich.

April 28th, 2015 at 6:56 pm

here, it’s almost wine time. :)

April 28th, 2015 at 6:57 pm

@skeezer,

Good on ya, here is too early for beer, but one Irish coffee will do nicely:)

April 28th, 2015 at 7:00 pm

Can you deny and put your hands into the fire that Novak Djokovic, you national hero, never was doped even once in his career, can you?
And that his surprising transformation since 2011 is the elimination of gluten which prevented him last in long matches, that’s the only reason, there is nothing hidden that allowed Roddick mocked him and even Federer agreed with him in Australia 2009.
And the 11 hours that played in the semifinals and the final against Murray and Nadal, the latter match cataloged by the international press, as The most grueling match in tennis story, are the fruit of an arduous physical preparacipon and nothing else, really ?
Just ask and you say categorically that Nadal is doped with nothing to endorse you, you can give you local hero, Novak Djokovic, has also doped as his change over 4 years is itself “miraculous”.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:09 pm

Rafa played a 5-hour, 14-minute semifinal at the 09 AO against Verdasco that started at dusk Friday and ended at 1:07 a.m. Saturday. He then went on the next day (the Final) to beat Fed in a 5 hr 23 min match.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:29 pm

so you agree that Nadal and Djkovic are dopers?

April 28th, 2015 at 7:41 pm

Jane, that was against Nadal.

Against Federer is quite another matter. In that 2011 semi, you could tell who won the points quite easily just by listening to the crowd response even on Nole’s unforeced errors.

In the 4th set tiebreak, an amazing winner from Novak was met with restrained applause whereas the crowd was raucous when Federer won a point (sometimes even before the point had ended and Nole eventually won)!

Skeezer, colour me impressed when Nole and Federer fans like yourself and mat4 know more about Rafa’s match stats and practise better than Rafans themselves! giggles.

mew

April 28th, 2015 at 7:43 pm

@MSN:

So sorry, MSN, but can you deny and put your hands into the fire that Rafael Nadal, your national hero, never was doped even once in his career, can you?

For the rest of your post, I beg you from the bottom of my heart to be a little bit more clear, since I haven’t understand a word you wrote.

So sorry, but what is “preparacipon”?

@elina:

You completely missed the point about the AO, it seems. I wrote about it earlier, so I won’t repeat myself now.

About the losing record: I meant since 2011, but it is the truth since 2013 too, and this stat is very important, since there has been an important increase in Novak domination over Rafa in their matches, the FO 2014 excepted. The dominance ration was very huge for Novak, with the exception of the FO where Rafa was the better player.

Here you have a link:

http://www.tennisabstract.com/cgi-bin/player.cgi?p=NovakDjokovic&f=Acx2013082620150412qqITop_5qq

You’ll see: Beijing, 2.81, WTF 1.43, Miami 1.97, Rome 1.39, FO 0.84, MC 1.44.

You have an explanation about the dominance ration on tennisabstract, in case you need it. You can also check the previous values, in 2011 e.g., and you’ll see that the matches were much closer. The dominance ratio is a better stat than the number of points won, since it takes in account the fact that one player serves more than the other.

Yolita, jane posted different stats comparing Novak and Rafa since Novak peaked and improved his game in 2011, and it is easy to find. The trend is over 20 matches, when Novak wins 2 matches out of 3, although they played about half of those matches on clay. It is also easy to check and find the precise numbers.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:44 pm

that was also 2011 elina, this is 2015. since then novak has played his heart out at roland garros several times. a lot has changed.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:46 pm

@elina:

Sorry, I forgot: mew.

April 28th, 2015 at 7:46 pm

I also think they should have been talking about Dojovic’s sudden and drastic improvement in stamina back in 2011 when he came out of nowhere to win nearly 50 matches straight with no signs of any of the maladies that plagued him prior to that. Especially because they want us to believe he fixed all of his problems in a month’s time at the end of 2010. What he’ been doing could not be any more obvious.

April 28th, 2015 at 8:17 pm

MSN:

There was no sudden and drastic improvement in stamina in 2011, it is a misconception, and it has been dissected many times here. Just do a search.

April 28th, 2015 at 8:31 pm

Fans feeling cheated and wanting to believe that their favorite athletes are above reproach? They’re not.

April 28th, 2015 at 8:35 pm

MSN:

So sorry, but do you feel cheated by your favourite athlete? Do you admit that he is not above reproach?

April 28th, 2015 at 8:39 pm

msn, much clearer writing at 8:17 compared to 7:09. kudos!

April 28th, 2015 at 8:42 pm

mat4, forget MSN, when was the last time you have watched this movie:

http://youtu.be/5haOY5SF7qQ

April 28th, 2015 at 8:50 pm

@jane:

Pure poetry.

April 28th, 2015 at 8:51 pm

jane, lol, I have to thanks to mat4, a mix of Zola, Rimbaud and Baudelaire, only without the recognition he deserves!

btw, jane, as a serbian, What about your countrymen see Nadal with the vision of someone who has used substances that increased his athletic performance, if so, is not Novak Djokovic another players who have benefited from the absence of control of the ITF and WADA benefiting biggest names in the sport?
There was considerable controversy with the case of Victor Troicki.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:00 pm

MSN, how long have you been on TX, or you turned up just now, if you don’t know tha jane is not Serbian, not even European?

April 28th, 2015 at 9:20 pm

i will always go with “innocent until proven guilty” on this topic, which is an ugly one anyhow, and waaaay outside of the realm of poetry, wherein i prefer to reside. and forget “countrymen.” love knows no boundaries. <3

April 28th, 2015 at 9:23 pm

sorry, Wog Boy, I was confused, I thought she was from Belgrade, the emerging city of the Balkans.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:30 pm

How dumb you have to be to assume that ANY person that likes Djoker must be from Serbia? Or, perhaps one is being cheeky and provoking the reaction.

So either dumb or provoking? In this particular case I will bet on the former.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:30 pm

@jane:

If we had won that unfortunate war in 1754, who knows? Then, we could all read not Rimbaud, but Vigny, in French:

“Seul le silence est grand ; tout le reste est faiblesse.”

April 28th, 2015 at 9:40 pm

Chill out, dude, do not take it personal, I am confused no more, no need for drama like in the film of Robert De Niro.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:41 pm

“I thought she was from Belgrade, the emerging city of the Balkans.”

Another wrong, you just can’t get it right today, can you? Belgrade was always strategically the most important city in the Balkans, that is why all empires fought for Belgrade and destroyed it so many times, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, AustroHungarians, Germans and lately Americans. I didn’t include pre Roman period since the first know residents of Belgrade were Celts, maybe that is why we are so stubborn.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:44 pm

MSN
all people who like Nishikori are Japanese….no?

April 28th, 2015 at 9:46 pm

@django:

This was the coup de grace.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:57 pm

wog boy, if you undestand spanih, read this, you can translate if you want.
http://tusdestinos.net/turismo-en-serbia-belgrado-fin-de-semana-en-la-ciudad-mas-emergente-de-los-balcanes-2/

Maybe there is confusion about the meaning of the emerging word.

April 28th, 2015 at 9:58 pm

MSN, I don’t speak Spanish but I get it, I saw the word “rakija” in that article, emerging in the sense of tourist destination, yes. Recently some London travel advisory company declared Belgrade best kept secret when it comes to tourism, I am to laisy to look for the link.

April 28th, 2015 at 10:07 pm

@WB:

Did you watch Shengelaya’s “Blue Mountains”? One of my favourite comedies ever. And so true. I also like Mamin “The Fountain”.

April 28th, 2015 at 10:34 pm

mat4, indeed. and to wit, i think i’ll be silent just now.

time to go drink wine and watch a film. i’m noting down your recommendations for future viewing.

April 28th, 2015 at 10:56 pm

@mat4, no I haven’t, those were the years when I already was poised to move west believing that money grows on trees there, didn’t watch Soviet movies in those years, once I moved to Germani then Australia I didn’t watch movies at all, for 20+ years I was working 60+ hours a week, mon-sun, starting from nothing…I found out that money doesn’t grow on trees in the west, but mortgages coming one after another until you realize that you actually mortgaged your life, but then is too late. As of lately I am trying to go back and watch the movies that I enjoyed in my life withou mortgages, “Deer Hunter” is one of them.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:12 pm

@jane:

They are difficult to find with subtitles, although I found in Wiki that The Fountain was distributed in the US.

But those films are so true, despite their buffoonery.

And easy recommendation could be “Andrei Rublev”.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:16 pm

@jane. I just watched “Knife in the Water” a 1962 Polish film-English subtitles. Black and white. No big name actors. Roman Polanski directed. Loved it!

April 28th, 2015 at 11:17 pm

^^
You will be pleased to know that we watched a lot of French movies though, they were very popular same as French music. Italian movies and music too. They were different days…I think I am getting old..

April 28th, 2015 at 11:20 pm

That was for mat4, but you can read it too jalep:)

April 28th, 2015 at 11:22 pm

Oh thanks Wog Boy. I like most French films better than Italian ones – except Italian one called “The Bicycle Thief.”

April 28th, 2015 at 11:33 pm

Happy to see Tipsa won his match too. Hope he can get back to his top form.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:36 pm

jalep there are so many good Italian movies , directors, actors, actresses that I can’t even remember the name, just take Federico Fellini and “La strada” or “Armacord” though for the second one you have to be familiar with those years to understand it better.

April 28th, 2015 at 11:43 pm

Thanks again Wog.Boy. of course I’ve heard of Fellini. Been a long time and couldn’t remember# the names of which ones

April 28th, 2015 at 11:52 pm

thanks to all for the film recommendations.

there still seems to be no official news as to whether nole will play madrid.

April 29th, 2015 at 11:10 am