Legend of Lukas Rosol

I know the name is a bit sensitive to some die hard fans here but I seriously thought we need a topic on Rosol's spectacular win and how he would be remembered in the history. Ok so here is the question how would Lukas Rosol be remembered? will he be remembered as

1]Rise of the Underdog?
A Warrior who came believing himself to down a former champ, a top favorite and the World No.2

or

2]Terminator II [The Judgement day]
As a terminator who exposed what any player can do Rafa's game if they showed a bit of character and a played the right shots , A victory for aggressive play vs defensive play.

If a player is talked every where for just one good match in his entire career, certainly he did something right, so whats it among the two?

It could equally be either. Rafa knows well than on a good day there are many agressive players who can blow him off the court, he also knows that this is so hard to do that there will not be many such days to worry about.

This stuff happens

Falla was once serving for the match in the 4th set vs Roger at Wimbledon.
Benneteau was 2 points away this year vs Roger in the 4th set.

Soderling beat Nadal at the FO, and beat Federer the next year.

Yeah could be either. I think a lot of credit should go to Rosol for recognising his only real chance was to swing at anything in his hitting zone. What was perhaps a bit fortunate was the amount of times Rafa left the ball a couple of feet too short for him to do it.

That's the danger with Rafa's game against a guy of Rosol's strengths. If his length isn't there it can leave a guy of Rosol's stature with lots if 'hit me' balls at an appealing height. I don't think Rafa moved badly or lacked intensity, but he didn't play with any variety. In the next round Rosol was sliced and mixed to death. The surprise was Rafa was unable to do that when things started to go wrong.

So it looks more like Rise of Underdog than Rafa playing poorly, I then share the same argument with majority.

All the top players should now be aware that Nadal´s fate could befall anyone of them.. 2013 is the rise of the underdog namely Rosol
Watch your backs boys

Nice article IC! I think you really nail the point here. The right answer for me is:

2]Terminator II [The Judgement day].

Rosol definitely exposed a weakness in Rafa's game and a certain lack of character of the many who went that close to win, but for some reasons couldn't in the end get to the finish line. He was clever enough not to fall victim of the Nadal's tricks and in the end he catched the big Mallorcan fish!

And presumably JK if he is as good as you obviously believe him to be I look forward to him catching the Swiss Cheese. (bound to find the shakey back hand )he Donkey Breeder and the Scottish Salmon (bye the way the word is caught not catched!!)
Happy New Year Rosol

Thx JK

Btw Haddie, its a light banter thread to get some activity going on 606v2, I know you generally take it easy, so lets keep that going.

Then perhaps the light banter could include something other than the Rosol/Nadal match... there must be other things to talk about. For most of us whether Nadal fans or not we are looking forward to seeing him back fit and well again.. so lets keep THAT going and wish him well eh ????? There are those I know who dont .. but the season of good will should extend to all men including Rafa

The latest Times articles with Harman posted on Wooffie's Rafa blog make for interesting reading and give more insight into the weeks preceding the Wimbledon loss, his time away and obvious apprehension at coming back. Worth a read.

Haddie-nuff wrote:Then perhaps the light banter could include something other than the Rosol/Nadal match... there must be other things to talk about. For most of us whether Nadal fans or not we are looking forward to seeing him back fit and well again.. so lets keep THAT going and wish him well eh ????? There are those I know who dont .. but the season of good will should extend to all men including Rafa

Rafa adds variety to the sport, I would be bored of a sport that has just one dimension to the sport, I don't mind defensive tennis, I don't mind aggressive tennis either , indeed the sport is at the best when aggression is pit against defense.

But one thing for sure Rosol do touch the senses of Rafa fans and when ever his name is raised they just don't like it.

invisiblecoolers wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:Then perhaps the light banter could include something other than the Rosol/Nadal match... there must be other things to talk about. For most of us whether Nadal fans or not we are looking forward to seeing him back fit and well again.. so lets keep THAT going and wish him well eh ????? There are those I know who dont .. but the season of good will should extend to all men including Rafa

Rafa adds variety to the sport, I would be bored of a sport that has just one dimension to the sport, I don't mind defensive tennis, I don't mind aggressive tennis either , indeed the sport is at the best when aggression is pit against defense.

But one thing for sure Rosol do touch the senses of Rafa fans and when ever his name is raised they just don't like it.

I thought better of you ic... really here we are Boxing Day and you are still going on about it.
The day after Rafa has called off Abu Dhabi.
What Rafa fans dont like is that 7mths after that match you insist on going on about it and then you
object to being called a WUM. What is the matter with you people that you find such amusement in kicking a man when he is down. Maybe you will be happy if after this year he hangs up his Babolat... and maybe you will be equally happy if Rosol beats Federer... but there some people have nothing else better to do on Boxing Day .. and before you say neither do I ... Im here on my own whilst my husband is in hospital.

Hope he gets better soon Haddie

I don't think IC is a Nadal hatah, I think he just likes the fact Rosol was a big underdog and still won.

As for the Nadal hatahs out there, they may be celebrating today; but they know Rafa has already won 11 slams and inspired many. The battle has already been won, Nadal is a hero.

Found a James Blake interview which was interesting:
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-09-08/201209081347132610283.html

'Rafael Nadal. He seems fearless on the court.'

James Blake
Nadal hatahs

sorry to hear that HN hope your husband and you are ok!!
from a fed fan to a rafa fan

Ok ic.
Its a long story and obviously I cant tell you on here but my husband was ill 3 yrs ago and it is a reoccurrence of that.. enough for my son to hop a plane and come over from Canada. He will be here Sat thank God Naturally I have had a rotten Christmas and a worrying one... but he has a wonderful specialist at the hospital so I know he is well looked after.

Im hoping that Rafa will be back on his feet soon.. I dont hold out any hopes for the AO in fact I hope he doesnt. I think its well recorded that for the past couple of months I said he would not play until the clay court season and I think Im being proved right. I hope all is well with you all and that 2013 is kind to you

Haddie - sorry to hear you've had a tough Xmas and I hope things work out well for you and ur husband.

As for Rafa haters, I've said it before and I'll say it again... I don't know why he attracts so much venom from tennis fans. I'm a Murray fan and his record against Rafa I have more reason to dislike him than any of the other top guys. But Rafa brings so much to the sport. He is a tennis warrior and I love watching him, particularly against any of the other 3 guys.

I don't dislike any of the top guys, I think they make tennis brilliant to watch. Take those 4 away and how boring would it be right now? Here's hoping we see Rafa back to his best (or at least close to) in 2013.

Merry Boxing Day.

Danny

Thank you all of you your kindness is appreciated Im off to see him now.

Sorry to hear that Haddie, best wishes and health

Haddie-nuff wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:Then perhaps the light banter could include something other than the Rosol/Nadal match... there must be other things to talk about. For most of us whether Nadal fans or not we are looking forward to seeing him back fit and well again.. so lets keep THAT going and wish him well eh ????? There are those I know who dont .. but the season of good will should extend to all men including Rafa

Rafa adds variety to the sport, I would be bored of a sport that has just one dimension to the sport, I don't mind defensive tennis, I don't mind aggressive tennis either , indeed the sport is at the best when aggression is pit against defense.

But one thing for sure Rosol do touch the senses of Rafa fans and when ever his name is raised they just don't like it.

I thought better of you ic... really here we are Boxing Day and you are still going on about it.
The day after Rafa has called off Abu Dhabi.
What Rafa fans dont like is that 7mths after that match you insist on going on about it and then you
object to being called a WUM. What is the matter with you people that you find such amusement in kicking a man when he is down. Maybe you will be happy if after this year he hangs up his Babolat... and maybe you will be equally happy if Rosol beats Federer... but there some people have nothing else better to do on Boxing Day .. and before you say neither do I ... Im here on my own whilst my husband is in hospital.

Thx for the support IMBL appreciated , come on Haddie I never hated Nadal, I do like him, I like Fed-Nadal matches more than Djoko-Nadal matches coz its complete different style and irrespective of the result the matches have been interesting, 2008 Wimbledon in my view ranks as one of the best if not the best eventhough I would have loved to have seen Fed with the trophy coz it might have helped him win 7 WImbs in a row but I still enjoyed the match.

@ hn its really sad to know ur husband is on hospital , I pray for him and hope he will be back to normality sooner

No worries IC

Ic

I did not say you hated him.. you saw an opportunity as many have done to have a little dig (I get told off for that from BB if I so much as much as mention RF in any shape or form.. not that it is a habit of mine). But the Rosol match has been done to death and whether it had been Nadal or not I would still be up to my back teeth with it... going into 2013 I earnestly hope that we can say "when something is dead the decent thing is to bury it".

Onwards and upwards guys.. again I thank you for your good wishes.
I will not know until this week-end whether they are going to let my husband home.. "Its a long lonely Christmas" as Dana once said.
My son ic is on his way from your neck of the woods and will arrive tomorrow .. oh to share the load.,

HAPPY 2013 FOLKS..TO YOU AND YOURS.. KEEP DRY SAFE AND WARM.

Well hes a flash in the pan, yes he played one match very well, people only talk about it a lot since it was the last match nadal has currently played... or in the case of this thread to specifically try and wind people up cos they think its fun like a teenager.
Soderling blasted his possible flash in the pan status by beating roger and reaching the final of french twice in a row, and getting a masters and world number 4 after his FO win over rafa, Rosol has quite a bit more to do.. consistency would be a great start for him this year, he certainly could go on and do big things, if he fancies it

Also my thoughts to you and your family Haddie as i raise my glass tonight (it's only milk sadly) , don't let the forum get you down, get your husband back to health, well all still be arguing when you get back

Why is everyone shocked about Nadal losing to Rosol at Wimbledon? If you look back over Nadal at Wimbledon, you'll find he's had a large number of cliffhanger-type matches in the first week. Look at 2006 - Robert Kendrick took him to 5 sets; 2007 - both Soderling and Youzhny took him to 5 sets; 2008 - he had a tough 4 sets to Gulbis; 2010 - both Hasse and Petzschner took him to 5 sets. That's a lot of tough matches early. This isn't surprising, given that Nadal has usually come off a dominating season on clay by winning just about everything from Monte Carlo to The French Open. All those winning matches catch up with you at some point, and when you switch to a faster surface that catching up happens quickly. Odds were always in favor that one of those tough matches early at Wimbledon would go against him rather than for him at some stage. It happened last year. His history there told us it was only a matter of time before it did.

What is surprising about Nadal at Wimbledon is the sheer fact that he's made 5 Finals there after owning the season on clay. This can't be understated. The toughest transition to make is from clay to grass - ask any pro out there. The fact he's done it well enough to win the French and Wimbledon double twice - and make 3 other Wimbledon Finals - is what's so stunning. It's a testament to his sheer will. Grass court tennis brings out "The Athlete" in a player. To prove the point, since 2003 only 3 men have won the Wimbledon title: Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. So Nadal's body is suited for grass perfectly. His game isn't. The adjustment he has to make in how he plays is considerable - especially returning serve. That he's made the transition so well over the years is what's extraordinary.

I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

However I disagree with the reason for his early round struggles.

I think it's more to do with court conditions. In the first week the grass is fresher, the court slicker, the bounce lower. Hence Rafa struggles. By week two it's transformed into a virtual clay court (especially CC). Rafa can stand further back and basically play his natural clay game with just a minor variation. If Rafa were to play Fed in week one conditions he would be eating breadsticks and bagels all day. Even so, the transition from clay to week 1 of W is much less stark than it used to be in Borg's day when the grass courts were lightning fast with very low bounce.

Rafa is very lucky to be playing in the era of homogenised tennis. If he had been a player in the nineties, he would not have won any W titles and most definitely not a USO.

Sampras would have chewed him up and spat him out like a dried up fish bone, and then gone on to maul Agassi in the final. That's assuming Rafa would've even made the semi, which I think he wouldn't have. Boris, Stich, Krajiceck, Rafter would all have stomped on him.



emancipator

Antonico

Emancipator, dream on

imbl i assume you believe that nadal would have won at wimby and the US in the 90's correct?

LS, Eman edited his post to include the USO in the 90s thing.
I wa saying 'dream on' at his comment Federer would bagel Nadal if they met in the first week.

As for how Nadal would do in another era, we don't know.
Just picking out Nadal is hilariously selective.
Technology and surface conditions are rapidly changing, so probably not.

Would Sampras be as successful now?
Would Laver be as good in the 90's?
Would Federer be as good in the 70's with completely different racket technology?
Would Nadal be as successful in the 90's where the surfaces were generally faster?

Probably no to all of them, but just picking on Nadal is silly.

antonico wrote:Why is everyone shocked about Nadal losing to Rosol at Wimbledon

emancipator wrote:I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

It's a tricky one isn't it? It was such a shock that Lukas Rosol has become a legend and the match is still such a talking point and will continue to be so for a long time? And it's not a shock because Nadal is not really that good on grass anyway? (seriously?)

I don't agree with the reasons but I do agree about the match being both a shock and not a shock. It was a shock for a player who had either been in the final or won (since he was barely out of his teens) to lose early especially as he was number one in the race and had just won RG again. But it wasn't a shock when it was known that he was playing injured... He did well to survive the first round.

The idea that Federer would bagel Nadal if they met in the first week is hilarious. Yes I know Nadal takes a bit of time to complete his transition from clay to grass, hence sometimes he has had difficulty early on, but apart from 2012 he made it through every single first week he played from 2005.

The grass is quite fast in the first week, but faster than Miami in 2004? Faster than Dubai in 2006?

Dubai 2006 was fast surface (for pre-2002) and Nadal beat Federer.
Miami 2004 is the fastest surface they have played on, and it was a demolition job from Rafa.

lower bounce at wimby?

Hardly these days.

Miami? It's the slowest hc on tour.

Didn't borg have the same issue? Such a natural clay courter he struggled to adjust, as of course you do, and had a few close calls in the early rounds. I remember an indian tennis player, I sadly can't remember his name, but he nearly had borg in the first week of Wimby once, but couldn't finish him.
Rosols case was very similar to when Haase pushed him, swinging from the hips. It's not a game plan that'll forge him a career in the long run, but unlike Haase he managed to pull it off.

emancipator wrote:I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

However I disagree with the reason for his early round struggles.

I think it's more to do with court conditions. In the first week the grass is fresher, the court slicker, the bounce lower. Hence Rafa struggles. By week two it's transformed into a virtual clay court (especially CC). Rafa can stand further back and basically play his natural clay game with just a minor variation. If Rafa were to play Fed in week one conditions he would be eating breadsticks and bagels all day. Even so, the transition from clay to week 1 of W is much less stark than it used to be in Borg's day when the grass courts were lightning fast with very low bounce.

Rafa is very lucky to be playing in the era of homogenised tennis. If he had been a player in the nineties, he would not have won any W titles and most definitely not a USO.

Sampras would have chewed him up and spat him out like a dried up fish bone, and then gone on to maul Agassi in the final. That's assuming Rafa would've even made the semi, which I think he wouldn't have. Boris, Stich, Krajiceck, Rafter would all have stomped on him.



emancipator

You can play that game in reverse, too, and say Sampras is "lucky" he played in an era where he never had to cope with the spins, pace and outrageous angles of the game today. If Sampras were playing today he wouldn't even be Top 10. In fact he wasn't in the Top 10 when he quit. His brand of Serve & Volley would be helpless today with all of the power and topspin coming from the back of the court. That's exactly why his ranking started to tumble. The Serves he kept firing - which were often good enough up until about 1999 - kept coming back with a lot more regularity after that. Thanks to the widespread use of Luxilon and other polyester strings. Sampras was getting beat even making it to the Service Line to attempt his volleys because the ball was already below the net before he could get there. So more and more guys were getting essentially mid court drop volleys as Sampras replies, since he was behind the Service Line far too often at contact. These "sitters" were eye candy to his opponents, who then hammered Sampras with the passes. That's why he fell from #1 to #17 within two years. His Serve wasn't doing the heavy lifting for him anymore; the ball was coming back more than he was ever used to seeing. So the rest of his game became much more attackable. And his ranking sank. He'd be passed left and right today - and by Nadal especially. Let's be clear. Sampras never in his wettest dream could have ever reached a French Open Final, let alone win the French Open. Nadal has won two Majors on his "weakest" surface - and reached the Final of the US Open once and the Australian once in addition. Sampras never even got to the French Final once, on his weakest surface. And forget him playing The French Today. He'd never make the 2nd week of Roland Garros if he was playing tennis now.

emancipator wrote:Miami? It's the slowest hc on tour.

It wasn't in 2004

And what about the fast courts of Dubai 2006?

antonico wrote:

emancipator wrote:I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

However I disagree with the reason for his early round struggles.

I think it's more to do with court conditions. In the first week the grass is fresher, the court slicker, the bounce lower. Hence Rafa struggles. By week two it's transformed into a virtual clay court (especially CC). Rafa can stand further back and basically play his natural clay game with just a minor variation. If Rafa were to play Fed in week one conditions he would be eating breadsticks and bagels all day. Even so, the transition from clay to week 1 of W is much less stark than it used to be in Borg's day when the grass courts were lightning fast with very low bounce.

Rafa is very lucky to be playing in the era of homogenised tennis. If he had been a player in the nineties, he would not have won any W titles and most definitely not a USO.

Sampras would have chewed him up and spat him out like a dried up fish bone, and then gone on to maul Agassi in the final. That's assuming Rafa would've even made the semi, which I think he wouldn't have. Boris, Stich, Krajiceck, Rafter would all have stomped on him.



emancipator

You can play that game in reverse, too, and say Sampras is "lucky" he played in an era where he never had to cope with the spins, pace and outrageous angles of the game today. If Sampras were playing today he wouldn't even be Top 10. In fact he wasn't in the Top 10 when he quit. His brand of Serve & Volley would be helpless today with all of the power and topspin coming from the back of the court. That's exactly why his ranking started to tumble. The Serves he kept firing - which were often good enough up until about 1999 - kept coming back with a lot more regularity after that. Thanks to the widespread use of Luxilon and other polyester strings. Sampras was getting beat even making it to the Service Line to attempt his volleys because the ball was already below the net before he could get there. So more and more guys were getting essentially mid court drop volleys as Sampras replies, since he was behind the Service Line far too often at contact. These "sitters" were eye candy to his opponents, who then hammered Sampras with the passes. That's why he fell from #1 to #17 within two years. His Serve wasn't doing the heavy lifting for him anymore; the ball was coming back more than he was ever used to seeing. So the rest of his game became much more attackable. And his ranking sank. He'd be passed left and right today - and by Nadal especially. Let's be clear. Sampras never in his wettest dream could have ever reached a French Open Final, let alone win the French Open. Nadal has won two Majors on his "weakest" surface - and reached the Final of the US Open once and the Australian once in addition. Sampras never even got to the French Final once, on his weakest surface. And forget him playing The French Today. He'd never make the 2nd week of Roland Garros if he was playing tennis now.

I agree that each player is a product of his era.

The moonballer is lucky to play in era of homogenised surfaces and advanced string tech. Taking those out (in any other era) he'd be scrambling, retrieving and moonballing in the challengers.

I hope that's clear

You've lost it.

antonico wrote:

emancipator wrote:I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

However I disagree with the reason for his early round struggles.

I think it's more to do with court conditions. In the first week the grass is fresher, the court slicker, the bounce lower. Hence Rafa struggles. By week two it's transformed into a virtual clay court (especially CC). Rafa can stand further back and basically play his natural clay game with just a minor variation. If Rafa were to play Fed in week one conditions he would be eating breadsticks and bagels all day. Even so, the transition from clay to week 1 of W is much less stark than it used to be in Borg's day when the grass courts were lightning fast with very low bounce.

Rafa is very lucky to be playing in the era of homogenised tennis. If he had been a player in the nineties, he would not have won any W titles and most definitely not a USO.

Sampras would have chewed him up and spat him out like a dried up fish bone, and then gone on to maul Agassi in the final. That's assuming Rafa would've even made the semi, which I think he wouldn't have. Boris, Stich, Krajiceck, Rafter would all have stomped on him.



emancipator

You can play that game in reverse, too, and say Sampras is "lucky" he played in an era where he never had to cope with the spins, pace and outrageous angles of the game today. If Sampras were playing today he wouldn't even be Top 10. In fact he wasn't in the Top 10 when he quit. His brand of Serve & Volley would be helpless today with all of the power and topspin coming from the back of the court. That's exactly why his ranking started to tumble. The Serves he kept firing - which were often good enough up until about 1999 - kept coming back with a lot more regularity after that. Thanks to the widespread use of Luxilon and other polyester strings. Sampras was getting beat even making it to the Service Line to attempt his volleys because the ball was already below the net before he could get there. So more and more guys were getting essentially mid court drop volleys as Sampras replies, since he was behind the Service Line far too often at contact. These "sitters" were eye candy to his opponents, who then hammered Sampras with the passes. That's why he fell from #1 to #17 within two years. His Serve wasn't doing the heavy lifting for him anymore; the ball was coming back more than he was ever used to seeing. So the rest of his game became much more attackable. And his ranking sank. He'd be passed left and right today - and by Nadal especially. Let's be clear. Sampras never in his wettest dream could have ever reached a French Open Final, let alone win the French Open. Nadal has won two Majors on his "weakest" surface - and reached the Final of the US Open once and the Australian once in addition. Sampras never even got to the French Final once, on his weakest surface. And forget him playing The French Today. He'd never make the 2nd week of Roland Garros if he was playing tennis now.

Thats a fantastic post Antanico

Btw, welcome back Antanico

The ghost is giving it his/her? best, surely the master of the trade but can he really hold such a bold statement together

looks like its on

ps, i think the ghost may be off the mark too

emancipator wrote:

antonico wrote:

emancipator wrote:I agree that it's not as huge a shock as people make out given Rafa's less than stellar record in the early rounds of Wiimbledon.

However I disagree with the reason for his early round struggles.

I think it's more to do with court conditions. In the first week the grass is fresher, the court slicker, the bounce lower. Hence Rafa struggles. By week two it's transformed into a virtual clay court (especially CC). Rafa can stand further back and basically play his natural clay game with just a minor variation. If Rafa were to play Fed in week one conditions he would be eating breadsticks and bagels all day. Even so, the transition from clay to week 1 of W is much less stark than it used to be in Borg's day when the grass courts were lightning fast with very low bounce.

Rafa is very lucky to be playing in the era of homogenised tennis. If he had been a player in the nineties, he would not have won any W titles and most definitely not a USO.

Sampras would have chewed him up and spat him out like a dried up fish bone, and then gone on to maul Agassi in the final. That's assuming Rafa would've even made the semi, which I think he wouldn't have. Boris, Stich, Krajiceck, Rafter would all have stomped on him.



emancipator

You can play that game in reverse, too, and say Sampras is "lucky" he played in an era where he never had to cope with the spins, pace and outrageous angles of the game today. If Sampras were playing today he wouldn't even be Top 10. In fact he wasn't in the Top 10 when he quit. His brand of Serve & Volley would be helpless today with all of the power and topspin coming from the back of the court. That's exactly why his ranking started to tumble. The Serves he kept firing - which were often good enough up until about 1999 - kept coming back with a lot more regularity after that. Thanks to the widespread use of Luxilon and other polyester strings. Sampras was getting beat even making it to the Service Line to attempt his volleys because the ball was already below the net before he could get there. So more and more guys were getting essentially mid court drop volleys as Sampras replies, since he was behind the Service Line far too often at contact. These "sitters" were eye candy to his opponents, who then hammered Sampras with the passes. That's why he fell from #1 to #17 within two years. His Serve wasn't doing the heavy lifting for him anymore; the ball was coming back more than he was ever used to seeing. So the rest of his game became much more attackable. And his ranking sank. He'd be passed left and right today - and by Nadal especially. Let's be clear. Sampras never in his wettest dream could have ever reached a French Open Final, let alone win the French Open. Nadal has won two Majors on his "weakest" surface - and reached the Final of the US Open once and the Australian once in addition. Sampras never even got to the French Final once, on his weakest surface. And forget him playing The French Today. He'd never make the 2nd week of Roland Garros if he was playing tennis now.

I agree that each player is a product of his era.

The moonballer is lucky to play in era of homogenised surfaces and advanced string tech. Taking those out (in any other era) he'd be scrambling, retrieving and moonballing in the challengers.

I hope that's clear

Yeah, sure is. Then I guess Federer's lucky too, having been to five French Finals by mooballing his way into each one, huh?

Hope that's equally clear

Incidentally, where's "The Legend of George Bastl" thread, anyway?

antonico wrote:Why is everyone shocked about Nadal losing to Rosol at Wimbledon? If you look back over Nadal at Wimbledon, you'll find he's had a large number of cliffhanger-type matches in the first week. Look at 2006 - Robert Kendrick took him to 5 sets; 2007 - both Soderling and Youzhny took him to 5 sets; 2008 - he had a tough 4 sets to Gulbis; 2010 - both Hasse and Petzschner took him to 5 sets. That's a lot of tough matches early.

Very good points, he has also struggled against many other players in the previous Wimbledon as well, but some how he has scraped a win in most of the conditions and thats why Rosol win is special as far as I am concerned, while many had the talent to beat Rafa in these slow grass Wimbledon days not many achieved the success and some how faltered in the end, in comparison I haven't seen enough evidence from Rosol's game to suggest he has talent to beat Rafa yet he beat Rafa and thats why the win looks special to me.

A win over Fed/Nad in GS is special and if its done by some rank outsider its really something to be remembered off.

@ Haddie, glad your Son left Canada now, its snowing pretty badly , hope you have great time with your son and husband soon.

Emancipator.
What I love about you is that you do not hide your light under a bushell do you.??
Your Nadal bias is out there for all to see .. Micky mouse can beat Nadal on a good day can´t he em.. ??? Even if everyone else in the world forgets the Rosol match you will keep it rumbling on until the year DOT. Enjoy if thats what makes you happy.


Thank you ic .. yes he left just in time to arrive here in 22deg- We are both very worried about my husband who is in intensive care they have stablised a critical condition. Surgery is trying to be avoided but we see that there is likely to be no alternative. Im just so glad I have my son here. But I do so appreciate your concern ic... your a scholar

Why Haddie Rafa is one of my favourite players. I just like to make honest assessments of his on court prowess.

More importantly, I hope your husband gets better. It must be tough.



emancipator

Why is everyone shocked about Nadal losing to Rosol at Wimbledon? If you look back over Nadal at Wimbledon, you'll find he's had a large number of cliffhanger-type matches in the first week. Look at 2006 - Robert Kendrick took him to 5 sets; 2007 - both Soderling and Youzhny took him to 5 sets; 2008 - he had a tough 4 sets to Gulbis; 2010 - both Hasse and Petzschner took him to 5 sets.......... This isn't surprising, given that Nadal has usually come off a dominating season on clay.....Odds were always in favor that one of those tough matches early at Wimbledon would go against him rather than for him at some stage.
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Some good points there, but remember that:

*Rafa went from 5 consecutive finals to a second round defeat.
*Rosol was ranked about 100, the other players you mentioned were probably in and around 20 or 30.
*Most of the matches you cite are before he became a multi Wimbledon champion.
*He hadn't lost in the first week of a slam since Soderling, or before R4 since 2005.
*Rafa was leading the race in 2012, winning the FO and other clay tournaments, with the AO final.
*Melzer was Rosol's previous biggest scalp, and he has never reached the second week of a slam.

So yes it was a shock.

No player continually cruises through any slam every year in 3-set matches. By your logic, Federer is seriously overdue a first week slam loss.

I doubt Emancipator's comments about Federer bagelling Rafa in the first week are meant to be taken 100% seriously anyway.

Interesting that even after Djokovic being #1 for 2 years in a row it's still a big Fedal fight on the boards. Poor Djokovic.