Rafael Nadal The First To Qualify For The ATP London Finals, Increases No. 1 Race Lead

I don’t understand- I thought Slam winners get an automatic entry regardless of final ranking.

June 13th, 2017 at 4:13 pm

Sean,
You are not serious about Nole coming back to #1, are you?

June 13th, 2017 at 6:34 pm

@TV – there is some sort of rule like that, but I think the slam winners still have to end up in a certain position (not the top 8, but not too far down the list).

June 13th, 2017 at 6:36 pm

^ I think the main point with the ATP saying that Rafa has already qualified is that based on the # of points he’s accrued so far in 2017, he is guaranteed to finish in the top 8; therefore he would be in the field for Finals event even if he didn’t play for the rest of the year.

June 13th, 2017 at 6:41 pm

Overheard on the grass courts…

There is a lot of grass growing over there. Good thing we have both goats back. The younger one is always the best. Humble yet gets it done.

June 13th, 2017 at 9:09 pm

Unlikely for Federina to win at Wimbledon. He was thumped by Raonic last year. And also, he was on holidays for like two months. He might not be able to pick up his game easily like he did Down Under. Also although he won Miami and Indiana Wells. But that was with absence of Murray and Nole.

June 14th, 2017 at 12:47 am

Wimbledon is much more interesting this year. For Federer will clay court break help?. For Nadal whether he will reach second week this time?. For Murray will home support will help in defending his title?. For Djokovic Does he actually cares about his freefall?.

June 14th, 2017 at 1:13 am

I consider Federer as the favourite followed by Murray, Nadal and then Djokovic. Outside of these guys I seriously doubt anyone getting hands on trophy. You never know what might happen so enjoy the break before serious business starts again

June 14th, 2017 at 1:15 am

Rafa won´t go to Queens, finally, in order to rest properly

June 14th, 2017 at 2:50 am

well done, I suppose, but knowing that 1st WB week will be still more dangerous for him

June 14th, 2017 at 2:52 am

gonzalowski. Rafa is going to Queens, he has to to get some grass practice. As for rest, he will have had a week to recover from La Decima. He should be fine hopefully.
Vamos Rafa!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

June 14th, 2017 at 3:52 am

PS. Sorry just seen headlines that Rafa has withdrawn from Queens. This means he will not have any grass court practice prior to Wimby!!

June 14th, 2017 at 4:02 am

I Dont know if its wise to go to W with no grass court practice hmm m ….

June 14th, 2017 at 4:49 am

He will no doubt play a couple of exos prior Wimby so no need for hmmm!!

June 14th, 2017 at 5:37 am

Federina usually had alot of practice going into Wimbledon. And get beaten by Nole, Raonic and all these guys. What a joke!

June 14th, 2017 at 6:47 am

Yet hes won SW19 7 times hmm ….

June 14th, 2017 at 6:49 am

@Rick Federer is a gem on grass

June 14th, 2017 at 6:51 am

On grass he is like an old furniture now.

June 14th, 2017 at 6:54 am

That was like ages ago. Just like Boris Becker won his last grand slam at the Australian Open

June 14th, 2017 at 6:56 am

Sampras also won it 7 times. So I consider him the favorite if he returns. Haha

June 14th, 2017 at 6:59 am

Federer was the favourite along with Rafa to win Wimbledon I thought… But that was until I saw his new haircut… 😬😬😬 It could be a bad omen for Fed to change the thing that bode well for him: haircut!!! If Fed would now do bad at Wimbledon, God forbid, then I would know why,and will be no surprise!!! 😡😡😡😬😬😬😕😕😕😣😣😣😤😤😤

June 14th, 2017 at 9:33 am

https://twitter.com/mallorcaopen/status/874960602434854913
Rafa will practice at the Mallorca Open

June 14th, 2017 at 10:37 am

Nits order of favorites sounds reasonable to me.

June 14th, 2017 at 11:30 am

Haha Amit. I wouldn’t worry about it. I remember he won a bunch of tournaments after cutting his ponytail-length hair. Someone back then asked Andy Roddick if there was anything negative he could say about Fed, and his response was something like “well he cut his hair. That’s all we had going for us.”

June 14th, 2017 at 11:32 am

RZ

Haha,thanks for the reply.. And the roddick quote too.. 😍😍😍 I like roddick,both his game and wit were worth loving😍😍😍😘😘😘
However,I do think Fed shouldn’t have changed his hairstyle,its not good omen,at least in my opinion… 😒😒😒

My Wimbledon fave list changes: Now Rafa and Murray are my favourites to win Wimbledon… And I think that if Fed meets Rafa at Wimbledon,his haircut would be the biggest reason of likely loss..😒😒😒

June 14th, 2017 at 11:47 am

@RZ :) :)

June 14th, 2017 at 1:32 pm

Haha,time for Federina to pay for having a 2 months vacation going into a grand slam.

June 14th, 2017 at 4:43 pm

@Rick

Sorta like his 6 month vacation before the last slam he played and won.

June 14th, 2017 at 4:56 pm

Fed coincidentally looks young when Djoker joins his brother’s mental illness cult.
Then when Haas beats him, it’s because Fed never cares and feels sorry for Haas.
Convenient, really.

Poor Fed even said he dominated the 5 months of late 2011-2012. Now Fed pretends he cares about Djoker talent level.

June 14th, 2017 at 5:24 pm

No! Its her haircut that ruined her return. I am waiting for Sampras to return. The grass courts were really slow. Grass courts were supposed to be all serve and volley.

June 14th, 2017 at 5:30 pm

No the haircut wasn’t the problem, if you are 0-7 in break points and can’t convert, most likely you’ll be the loser.
Note: Rick only comes out when Fed loses. Would have loved to have him post the first quarter of this year. Where were you rick? On Holiday?

June 14th, 2017 at 6:05 pm

One dimensional players and an almost 40 year old guy beat Fed.

However, Roddick couldn’t even benefit on grass vs. Fed.
Must be GOAT Fed stuff, since Fed’s acting dramatically wounded like Murray does.
Best player ever Fed, you know!

June 14th, 2017 at 6:53 pm

“Best player ever Fed..”
#Truth

June 14th, 2017 at 7:33 pm

Nits:

Federer gets the most “home support” rather than Andy. Wimbledon quarters, semis and finals boast an audience of “the great and the good” from the rich the world over. Us ordinary UK folk simply cannot afford centre court in the second week.

June 14th, 2017 at 7:39 pm

I think many players have a chance. I don’t think Federer’s too concerned, better to lose early in Stuttgart than lose early at the big Wimbledon. However he now lacks match practice, aka matches, real life ones, heading into Wimbledon, and that’s going to plant a seed of doubt.
Nadal looks formidable but he too will be a little rusty with the time off – grass is all timing even if it plays more like a hard court these days.
So that should benefit other guys like Murray and Raonic, maybe Stan Wawrinka too. Others as well.

June 14th, 2017 at 8:50 pm

Andrew, Giles, Willow, Gonzalowski:

Rafa will not get match practice but he will get a good two weeks of grass practice. He’s on the Wimbledon-quality lawns of the Mallorca Open, the WTA tournament starting next week. Uncle Toni is the director there and, for this interested in the WTA, he has secured Azarenka and a host of other top players, such as no. 1 Kerber and crowd pleaser Genie Bouchard.

So, he may come (practise-wise) better prepared than any other years and makes it even more clear why Rafa pulled out if Queen’s.

June 14th, 2017 at 9:03 pm

correction: “for this interested” should be: for those interested and a few other typos…

June 14th, 2017 at 9:09 pm

I believe Federer and Djokovic are natural all-court players, while Rafa had to will his way to grass and medium fast hardcourt titles and never could adapt to indoors play. And Andy came out of the gates good on grass and hardcourt, though he sucked on clay for years.
The point being that 3 of the Big 4 don’t need much acclimatisation to grass, but Rafa should get at least some solid expo tim in and rely on his “been there, done that” history to sail through the 1st week and hone his timing. And grass is the surface most acute knee, hip, ankle and back injury happens on. And this has come up in Nadal interviews – grass surface play is a risk for him. He wants to do well, but he wants to minimize risk. And he has a decent shot at a Final, perhaps a semi.

TRuth – “Poor Fed even said he dominated the 5 months of late 2011-2012. Now Fed pretends he cares about Djoker talent level.”

Truth be known, Roger did rise up and get some nice wins when Djokovic hit the Wall in his 1st super season and just couldn’t play at a high level anymore.

June 15th, 2017 at 2:42 pm