Dubai 2012 - Semi-finals

First topic message reminder :

Murray v Djoko

Can anyone be sure of the winner?

I'll pick Murray to tease NITB!

Delpo V Federer

Pretty tough one to call. Can Federer again keep Delpo on his toes and force him into errors? The fast conds coudl work for both. I am not sure which way it's going to go.

Ok...Federer cause I like his game.

BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

[quote="barrystar"]Compare Murray's win with the recent experience of Nadal - wouldn't Nadal have loved to have won this match?

I wonder if it would have been more important to Djoko had Nadal been his opponent - any thoughts?quote]


Of course Nadal would’ve loved to win this match and I think
he would’ve been able to do so without much difficulty.

I don’t think the question with Djoko right now is who’s
across the net but that he has been lackluster all week.He hasn’t been in
winning form to impose his will on either Murray or Nadal. Even Delpo or Tsonga
can beat him the way he lost to Murray
just now with so many uncharacteristic mishits. So I don’t think he could’ve
willed himself to victory the way he did at AO12 even if it was nadal he was
playing. Just a temporary drop of form. The guy is allowed to show he’s human after all.

Fed Delpo such a great match-up. Delpo wants this one.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Aren't Federer's volleys under rated?

I reckon Nadal's volleying is seriously underrated the most. Probably the only watchable shot he does.

I think it's over rated actually. He doesn't volley from tricky positions. He never goes to te net unless he has too or forced to. It cannot be considered a volleyer.

HOwever he has a big arm and a light racket meaning he can make the most of his reflexes and control the volleys very well when at the net or if handling a powerful ball.

But I very rarely see him volleying deep and long.

Fed giving away the TB.

pretty poor TB from Fed so far...

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

It probably has something to do with your unrealistic expectations...

Linesmen are an embarrassment to the tournament.

Go Delpoooo.....(!)

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Aren't Federer's volleys under rated?

I reckon Nadal's volleying is seriously underrated the most. Probably the only watchable shot he does.

I think it's over rated actually. He doesn't volley from tricky positions. He never goes to te net unless he has too or forced to. It cannot be considered a volleyer.

HOwever he has a big arm and a light racket meaning he can make the most of his reflexes and control the volleys very well when at the net or if handling a powerful ball.

But I very rarely see him volleying deep and long.

Tenez, you're worse than me

6-5 in TB. Fight Fed.

6:6. 4 set points saved.

unbelievable, Fed saves four set points in the TB.

Cooo it's tight as a gnat's chuff isn't it

Omg what a point. 7:6 Fed.

take a bow Mr Federer, that was superb defense.

Federer is a genius!
He is "the Artist"!

Fed takes it. What a TB. Well done to both for superb game.

Poor Delpo

Tenez wrote:Federer is a genius!
He is "the Artist"!

Nicely played TB from Federer.

Can Federer improve his h2h with Murray?

Poor players go to Oxfam, Good ones go home and lay down the prom queen.

at 2-6 in the tiebreak he made a call to Fedemperor, last spotted in WTF tournament.

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Jahu wrote:Poor players go to Oxfam, Good ones go home and lay down the prom queen.

noleisthebest wrote:Poor Delpo

I agree. I don't like to see him lose.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Spoken like an experienced fan

I couldn't watch it properly because of ^&%$ing £$%^ bandwidth. I think the only points I saw properly were an ace and a quick SV point. Guess I'm glad Fed won I could see that he saved 4 set points somehow.

That point at 6-6 in tie break. Wow Federer...

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Spoken like an experienced fan

NiTB. Look forward to IW/Miami.

Credit to Murray for playing a good match.

That was Wimbledon final 2009 2nd set all over again.

Tough one to call tomorrow.

Yes, Fed using his speed and defense to win a point like he often has in the past, completely passively running down Del Po's power till Del Po errors, looked like Andy Murray at 6-6 in the second tiebreak.

Pretty dull tournament so far, if this is the type of tennis turned out in fast conditions I say slow the conditions down further. Awful tournament so far.

Tenez, being a gentleman and a scholar, open us a Dubai Final thread

laverfan wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Spoken like an experienced fan

NiTB. Look forward to IW/Miami.

Credit to Murray for playing a good match.

I've always been like that...horrible, really, but would't change a thing

Social, get off that Kool-Aid. This tournament has had very good QF & Semis.

andy roddick can rest easy now, 2-6 is when Fedgoat appears apparently.

The matches I have seen have all been dull, really terrible tennis in these fast conditions. Reminds why the tournament directors wisely slowed down the courts in the early 2000s. No wonder Fed fans love it so much Roger plays behind his serve and gets to the final without even facing break points. No wonder they want faster conditions. So far, this has been a fast condition tournament and has been completely and totally dull in terms of match play.

hawkeye wrote:That point at 6-6 in tie break. Wow Federer...

OMG, OMG, he came back at 0-5. I want to cry for Roger's genius. I adore Delpo too. He gave it all he could. Better luck next time.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Spoken like an experienced fan

Yep! I have been backing up talented losers all my life. From Mecir to Medvedev including such hopeless cases as Gasquet and Coria.

But don't worry Djoko will be back soon.

message to federer: houdini wants to know when will you return his soul.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:BTW, I hate it when Nole loses...feel physically miserable and the worst bit...I cant help it !

Don't worry, you will get used to it!

Spoken like an experienced fan

Yep! I have been backing up talented losers all my life. From Mecir to Medvedev including such hopeless cases as Gasquet and Coria.

But don't worry Djoko will be back soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJiPPsHJEQ&feature=related

Hahaha, come on he didn't face a match point, just a set one, wasn't too tight yet, for Houdini spirit request.

Federer contained Delpo's unashamed all-out assault on his backhand beautifully.

I guess we can expect the same from Murray.

socal1976 wrote:The matches I have seen have all been dull, really terrible tennis in these fast conditions. Reminds why the tournament directors wisely slowed down the courts in the early 2000s. No wonder Fed fans love it so much Roger plays behind his serve and gets to the final without even facing break points. No wonder they want faster conditions. So far, this has been a fast condition tournament and has been completely and totally dull in terms of match play.

I prefer slower courts too but Federer made that fast court look slow. He just floats around the back of the court as if he's got all the time in the world. I know your a Novak fan but surely if you've seen much of Federer this week you can appreciate what he does and how he does it. He was also excellent against Llodra earlier in the week. Llodra tried to do all that serve and volley stuff that everyone advises on a fast court. Federer just lined up and hit passing shot after passing shot...

Andy has a more stable sustained shot making, not as powerful as Delpo but
he can hit longer with less mistakes.

Will be great tomorrow hopefully.

We have to go back to that point that saved the SP for Fed (or is it the one that gave Fed MP)?

Some say Fed was defending...I disagree. he tried to stay toe to toe with Delpo and a few of his SBHs were hit through and not sliced like a retriever woudl typically do. When you are under Delpo's heavy shots there is little one can do, yet Fed was trying to move Delpo as much as teh other way around.

An amazing point.

Tenez wrote:We have to go back to that point that saved the SP for Fed (or is it the one that gave Fed MP)?

Some say Fed was defending...I disagree. he tried to stay toe to toe with Delpo and a few of his SBHs were hit through and not sliced like a retriever woudl typically do. When you are under Delpo's heavy shots there is little one can do, yet Fed was trying to move Delpo as much as teh other way around.

An amazing point.

What are u talking about he was chipping everything and running down Del Po's shots six or seven in a row and then Del Po errored. The 6-6 point in the second set looked like Fed morphed into Murray or Nadal, he was the one absorbing the pace. So even when Fed defends his defense is superior to other people when they defend?

hawkeye wrote:

socal1976 wrote:The matches I have seen have all been dull, really terrible tennis in these fast conditions. Reminds why the tournament directors wisely slowed down the courts in the early 2000s. No wonder Fed fans love it so much Roger plays behind his serve and gets to the final without even facing break points. No wonder they want faster conditions. So far, this has been a fast condition tournament and has been completely and totally dull in terms of match play.

I prefer slower courts too but Federer made that fast court look slow. He just floats around the back of the court as if he's got all the time in the world. I know your a Novak fan but surely if you've seen much of Federer this week you can appreciate what he does and how he does it. He was also excellent against Llodra earlier in the week. Llodra tried to do all that serve and volley stuff that everyone advises on a fast court. Federer just lined up and hit passing shot after passing shot...

I think Fed is great, the best player of the modern era. My posts criticizing this tournament aren't about Fed or Novak. This type of variety I can take about once or twice a year. Short points and a bunch of unreturned serves, that is what passes for exciting? Ok to each their own. But I have yet to see a truely high quality and gripping match this entire tournament, there wasn't one last year either when Novak won the thing, so it isn't about Novak. It is about which conditions produce better matches and competition, and the fast conditions produced a complete yawn of tournament so far. Lets hope for a classic final to ressurect this corpse.

moved to the 'Final' thread