Semis are set and very mouth watering

First topic message reminder :

Lets hope that the matches are a bit more interesting and close in the semis and finals as now the big boys play for all the chips. This is about the best we could hope for with the sole upset of Tsonga early on and no Murray or Nadal. But I think we are in for a treat. I think JMDP and Djoko final will be straight sets for Novak. As well as Juan has been playing Novak has been sensational so far this year and really back to the end of last year. He has now won his last 16 matches. I just think he will be too much for Juan, Novak can get and Del Po's second serve which isn't a poor second delivery when Novak isn't the one returning it. Additionally the superior variety, speed, and angles Novak can get will be too much for the big man. Right now no one can test your ability to cover the whole court like Djokovic and both defend you and make you work just as hard on the defensive end chasing his shots. Hopefully, Del Po makes it a tough 3 setter but I think he loses in two close sets.

Berdych and federer this is really a tough semi as well. I am going with Federer against Tomas. I think Berdy is good enough and will like the speed of the court but Roger is starting to get into the tournament and his shots are starting to flow. I don't see him losing before the final this week as well. His serve and knifing slice play really well on this court. Plus look out for windy conditions, then Roger would be a huge favorite because Berdy is just a very poor wind player. Roger in 3 sets.

Final Prediction: Novak beats Roger in straights in two close sets.

Lets have your picks!

Oh what happened there? David holds.

summerblues wrote:Amri, staying late or waking up early (I am assuming you are watching)?

Just woke up now.
What the feck is going on?

How is this even possible? Will read the comments now.

How is Nadal winning 6-0 2-1???

This makes no sense.

socal1976 wrote:at his best he is good enough to beat any player on any surface and that includes Nadal on clay.

Yes, I tend to agree that Nole at this best would have a good chance even against top form Nadal on clay.

It Must Be Love wrote:How is Nadal winning 6-0 2-1???

This makes no sense.

Time to bump him up to #7 favorite for RG maybe?

summerblues wrote:

socal1976 wrote:at his best he is good enough to beat any player on any surface and that includes Nadal on clay.

Yes, I tend to agree that Nole at this best would have a good chance even against top form Nadal on clay.

Don't think so SB.

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:How is Nadal winning 6-0 2-1???

This makes no sense.

Time to bump him up to #7 favorite for RG maybe?

Ferrer breaks back to make it 2-2.

It Must Be Love wrote:Don't think so SB.

No, you would not.

summerblues wrote:

socal1976 wrote:at his best he is good enough to beat any player on any surface and that includes Nadal on clay.

Yes, I tend to agree that Nole at this best would have a good chance even against top form Nadal on clay.

And it looks like we will get the best or near best version of Nadal this year at RG, he looks ferocious almost 3 months before RG. I can't wait because I think Djokovic is primed and Nadal will be there as well at the end of spring.

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Don't think so SB.

No, you would not.

2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.
2008 FO, or 2012 FO is Nadal nearing his best on clay. See his 2012 FO performance against Monaco. In 2011 he struggled against Isner.

Feck, that was a sensational forehand by Kneedal.

socal1976 wrote:I can't wait because I think Djokovic is primed and Nadal will be there as well at the end of spring.

Agree, it could get very interesting. I do not like Rafa's game but I want him to play well and be right in the mix - I actually like having both my "heroes" and "villains" near the top, so to speak.

It Must Be Love wrote:

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Don't think so SB.

No, you would not.

2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.
2008 FO, or 2012 FO is Nadal nearing his best on clay. See his 2012 FO performance against Monaco. In 2011 he struggled against Isner.

And Djokovic wasn't at his best in 2012, lets see what happens in 2013.

socal1976 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Don't think so SB.

No, you would not.

2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.
2008 FO, or 2012 FO is Nadal nearing his best on clay. See his 2012 FO performance against Monaco. In 2011 he struggled against Isner.

And Djokovic wasn't at his best in 2012, lets see what happens in 2013.

True too.
Nole seemed flustered.

This year I still think Nole will win, he looks in another zone right now.

It Must Be Love wrote:2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.

Who said he was? Look, clearly Nadal is overall superior to Novak on clay by a margin, and I am not saying it is certain that best Nole beats best Rafa on clay. But I do think that when Nole plays his best, his game works really well specifically against Rafa. I just do not think Rafa has many places to go to.

Your boy ain't looking too bad either IMBL, as nostrafreakingdamus predicted. The guy is looking fierce on the clay as always, humiliating poor ferrer who is a top 5 player.

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.

Who said he was? Look, clearly Nadal is overall superior to Novak on clay by a margin, and I am not saying it is certain that best Nole beats best Rafa on clay. But I do think that when Nole plays his best, his game works really well specifically against Rafa. I just do not think Rafa has many places to go to.

I agree Nole is not a good matchup for Nadal despite Nadal's overral superiority in the h2h and his 3 clay court wins last year.

socal1976 wrote:Your boy ain't looking too bad either IMBL, as nostrafreakingdamus predicted. The guy is looking fierce on the clay as always, humiliating poor ferrer who is a top 5 player.

Ferrer is a top 4 player

socal1976 wrote:

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:2011 Nadal on clay was not Nadal at his best on clay.

Who said he was? Look, clearly Nadal is overall superior to Novak on clay by a margin, and I am not saying it is certain that best Nole beats best Rafa on clay. But I do think that when Nole plays his best, his game works really well specifically against Rafa. I just do not think Rafa has many places to go to.

I agree Nole is not a good matchup for Nadal despite Nadal's overral superiority in the h2h and his 3 clay court wins last year.

It's very different from Fed-Nadal on clay.
Very fine margins, and the player who is mentally stronger on the day normally wins. This is why I think in 2013 Nole will win, he is on ridiculous form and is oozing confidence.

...and here we are. Rafael "Busted Knees" Nadal scrapes through the #4 player in the world and three time defending champion 6:0 6:2. I think he will be fine for the RG.

I tend to agree with your anlaysis IMBL but it won't be easy I think we will see a very strong Nadal in 3 months from now at the RG final. I don't see anyone beating before the final and I don't see anyone beating Djoko before the final either. Lets just hope they aren't in the same half. The RG people should just make nadal the #4 seed despite the points that is really the logical thing to do.

Fecking WOW.

Well worth getting up for. Horrific timing for the UK, but I'm still gonna watch the trophy ceremony.

socal1976 wrote:The RG people should just make nadal the #4 seed despite the points that is really the logical thing to do.

If they were really logical they should make him second seed. Not gonna happen though.

It Must Be Love wrote:If they were really logical they should make him second seed. Not gonna happen though.

Why would they do it? There are seven players that have a better chance to win (and if Mugro's form improves between now and then, then eight).

BTW, are you still offering 50:1 odds or have they shortened somewhat?

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:If they were really logical they should make him second seed. Not gonna happen though.

Why would they do it? There are seven players that have a better chance to win (and if Mugro's form improves between now and then, then eight).

BTW, are you still offering 50:1 odds or have they shortened somewhat?

LAL

This is Nadal's best ever result against Ferrer.

It Must Be Love wrote:This is Nadal's best ever result against Ferrer.

Is it? I was just going check that out on the ATP website too.

He thanks the crowd, and says congratulations to David.

summerblues wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:This is Nadal's best ever result against Ferrer.

Is it? I was just going check that out on the ATP website too.

He only lost 2 games. Normally matches against Ferrer are tight 2 setters. Ferrer has won many.

I am already looking forward to Monte Carlo and the rest of the clay court season. Funnily, even though I am not a fan of clay court tennis per se, that is my favorite stretch in the tennis calendar - Monte Carlo through the French and then up to Wimbledon.

IMBL can take some of that 50-1 action as well? But I want money I don't want to ban you.

socal1976 wrote:IMBL can take some of that 50-1 action as well? But I want money I don't want to ban you.

It's dropped to 45 I'm afraid

Anyway, do you think Sagna can stop Bale today? No offence but at WHL Bale could rip Arsenal up. Arsenal need the key trio of Wilshere, Walcott, and Cazorla to play well.

summerblues wrote:I am already looking forward to Monte Carlo and the rest of the clay court season. Funnily, even though I am not a fan of clay court tennis per se, that is my favorite stretch in the tennis calendar - Monte Carlo through the French and then up to Wimbledon.

Same here.

socal1976 wrote:I don't want to ban you.

Money much better. The ban would be so harsh too. If Nadal loses, socal is banned for a week, if Nadal wins, Amri is out for a year.

It Must Be Love wrote:

socal1976 wrote:IMBL can take some of that 50-1 action as well? But I want money I don't want to ban you.

It's dropped to 45 I'm afraid

Anyway, do you think Sagna can stop Bale today? No offence but at WHL Bale could rip Arsenal up. Arsenal need the key trio of Wilshere, Walcott, and Cazorla to play well.

Arsenal is up against it, bale is a terror, but lets hope the good guys win that is all I can say on that score.

socal1976 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:

socal1976 wrote:IMBL can take some of that 50-1 action as well? But I want money I don't want to ban you.

It's dropped to 45 I'm afraid

Anyway, do you think Sagna can stop Bale today? No offence but at WHL Bale could rip Arsenal up. Arsenal need the key trio of Wilshere, Walcott, and Cazorla to play well.

Arsenal is up against it, bale is a terror, but lets hope the good guys win that is all I can say on that score.

'Good guys'
You almost sound like the NRA

summerblues wrote:

socal1976 wrote:I don't want to ban you.

Money much better. The ban would be so harsh too. If Nadal loses, socal is banned for a week, if Nadal wins, Amri is out for a year.

I don't care about bans, drinks and money those are the two things I bet for. And if Nadal loses at the RG I will be happier than a pig in a pile of fresh poo, I don't see anyone else staying in front of Djoko on clay.

4-2 Arsenal baby you heard it here first.

socal1976 wrote:

summerblues wrote:

socal1976 wrote:I don't want to ban you.

Money much better. The ban would be so harsh too. If Nadal loses, socal is banned for a week, if Nadal wins, Amri is out for a year.

I don't care about bans, drinks and money those are the two things I bet for. And if Nadal loses at the RG I will be happier than a pig in a pile of fresh poo, I don't see anyone else staying in front of Djoko on clay.

Yes, simply only Nadal can stop Djokovic at RG this year.

socal1976 wrote:4-2 Arsenal baby you heard it here first.

Possible.

I can only see one of two winner at RG, IMBL, one is djokovic the other is nadal. And that about sums it up, I will be stunned if anyone else wins it frankly.

socal1976 wrote:All that moaning about the end of Nadal seems to be pretty misplaced and comical right now. As usual nostrafreakingdamus predicted that as one of th Rolls royces of this era Nadal would return to triumphant domination. I hope he wins everything on clay up till RG where he will face hopefully the best version of Djokovic and have it taken away, that way there will be no excuses.

Well I hope you consider me an exception to that Socal .. I had no doubts that providing Rafa´s knee held out he would be back.. and he is. Hungry.. BUT.. true your boy looks invincible at the moment.. but RG is Rafa´s believe me

It Must Be Love wrote:
Yes, simply only Nadal can stop Djokovic at RG this year.

I don't agree with comments like this.

Tsonga had MPs last year against Djokovic at RG.
Stan was within a hairs breadth of beating him at AO.
There are players out there who can turn it on and Djokovic tends to have one poorer match per slam.
Sure, Djokovic is #1 so his seeding points to getting to finals, but it isn't only Nadal who can stop him.

Great win for Rafa, the scoreline surprised me.
Being outside top 4 or 2 seeding at RG would be ridiculous planning...eg Nadal vs Djokovic in quarters would be silly. But the French don't ever take to Spaniards so Nadal has no chance. Can he even get to #4 ranking by RG...probably requires him to win everything on clay and expect Ferrer to drop points.

Ferret has few points to defend at IW/Miami...225 in total plus can gain points at Madrid. He didn't play MC last year either so could enter that too. Nadal is defending a stack of points between now and RG including 720 between IW/Miami. His ranking could actually still go down - although unlikely as Berdych is relatively defending a lot of clay points too.

But I'd be surprised if Nadal entered Miami as well as IW, he's going to need a rest before Monte Carlo...unless he gets dumped out in R1 at IW if course...and let's not underestimate how difficult it'll now be to adjust to HC after all this clay and not playing on the surface for a year.

he did play at MC he just lost in like his first match, sorry im being pedantic, but your right he could play and gain a lot of points there.

summerblues wrote:SJ, will the 606v2 tour continue with Indian Wells?

Yes

Draw is on Tuesday I think.

Haddie, no I think you were pretty balanced and even keeled on Nadal's comeback. But we saw a lot of people talking about Nadal as if he was damaged goods and that tennis as we know it is over as Roger is losing and Nadal is a shell of himself. One astute poster who will go nameless even had him as 8th favorite for RG! laugh out loud! Others were talking about how long it would take or if he would ever get it back. When I saw Nadal play I thought he looked rusty, but scarey enough his serve looked better and more fearsome.

Thanks Socal I do try to keep my feet on the ground where Rafa is concerned
I have my hopes (along with a few fears) one swallow doesn´t make a summer and he still has a long way to go.. but the signs look optimistic