Barcelona/Bucharest

Rafa & Granollers have just played the first two games of their match, consisting of 26 points.

Zverev with a good win against Bellucci.

Rafa now 4-1 up...

lydian wrote:Rafa now 4-1 up...

ZZZZZZZZZZ yawn !!

Yep it was a walk in the park.
The good news is that the FH was still on song today.
The seed plough never stood a chance.

I wonder how much Montanes is looking forward to this...

Played 7 sets against Rafa previously and won a total of 10 games.

Well Rafa likes a walk in the park..its might be a picnic so perhaps he will throw him a breadstick !!!

Teach me to speak too soon... Rafa is not on court at the moment !!!

2 & 2 for Rafa. Ominous.

Next up Fognini
That will be a litmus test (lost twice to him on clay in 2015).

mmm depends on what Fognini comes on court.
But Rafa needs to be caaaalm

Looks like the Fog was in the mood today.

I'm more interested to see what mood he is in tomorrow

Rafa looks great, really happy for him. As a Federer fan I don't really want Novak to win 4 slams in a row but at the same time don't want Rafa to get to 15 slams!

That being said, I didn't ever think I could miss Rafa playing like this but I actually do. That forehand is something out of this world when he clicks on it

CAS wrote:Rafa looks great, really happy for him. As a Federer fan I don't really want Novak to win 4 slams in a row but at the same time don't want Rafa to get to 15 slams!

That being said, I didn't ever think I could miss Rafa playing like this but I actually do. That forehand is something out of this world when he clicks on it

The above sentiments are no doubt echoed by a number of people. I've never been more keen for Rafa to do well, as I think he's about the only one likely to stop Djoko at the French. Besides, a fully-firing Rafa just adds to the fun of predicting the outcome of the big tourneys - a job made easy of late by Djoko's dominance.
I forecast at the beginning of the year that Djoko and Rafa would be number one and number two by the end of 2016. It's now looking a bit more likely.

Oh pleeeze..I had almost given up hope of that possibility

Paire and Nishi through so far in Barca. Now the crunch match of Fog vs Rafa. Which player will turn up?

I'm not watching but is Rafa good, Fog bad or a bit of both?

Foggy what a player. If he wasn't such a temperamental SOB he would've won a few Slams.

I just love Foggy... I really do. I just don't like him when he plays Rafa

Good win for Rafa...his level has definitely gone up markedly this past few weeks. Can he sustain it..?

Rafa is now no.2 in the race; not bad when earlier on he wasnt even in top ten at the race this year.

Yes he was down at #28 around IW...

The amazing thing race-wise is that Novak had already qualified for WTF 16 after Miami!

Is that the earliest ever wtf qualification? It must be close

Surely not.
He won Monte Carlo last year and got further in Dubai but less in Doha.

lydian wrote:Yes he was down at #28 around IW...

The amazing thing race-wise is that Novak had already qualified for WTF 16 after Miami!

No. Novak has 4350 race points and the qualification cut off is presently 6900

http://live-tennis.eu/race

Rafa winning MC and now being in the final, and possibly winning here too, will put pressure on Djokovic. Madrid and Rome will be interesting. I do not think either Rafa or Nole can quite afford to take it easy, lose early and avoid the head-to-head encounter. And if they do meet, I do not think they can afford to lose easily either. I think Rafa is in a better position. Unless Djokovic blows him off the court, he will have psychological advantage should they meet in Paris. That said, I would not be totally surprised if Nole did manage to blow him off the court in either Madrid, or Rome, or both.

On balance, I still think Nole is the clear favorite for RG, but if Rafa manages to beat him at least once before Paris (or even keep their match(es) really close) it could well change.

I think that is without doubt the best example of playing both ends to the middle I have seen for a long time

Since when has WTF qualification needed 6900 points for #8 entrant?
It's typically about 3200-3500 points for last one in. Novak with way over 4000 is already home and dry!

Yeah, Novak has qualified. Probably not as a mathematical certainty but highly probable to qualify even if he takes the rest of the season off.

Rafa takes the first set.

Nadal is playing a lot better than I have seen in ages. That fh is really firing.

Nadal is back. Not back back, but back.

And he takes Barcelona title #9 )

And his 49th Clay court title..

Does this mean Bernandes and Nadal are friends again?

And record 17th ATP 500 title.....

Even as a neutral surely one has to admire the way Nadal has hauled himself out of his doldrums and lowest ebb to come surging back into main contention like this. As they say...form is temporary, class is permanent. Still a long way to go to be in real contention for the slams but he's certainly starting to make a statement of arrival. The other players on tour will be taking note!

Nadal is such a confidence player and these wins are only going to make him tougher to beat for sure. For us Rafa fans these types of days have been hard to imagine happening again but it's great to see his dogged grit and determination in the face of people saying he was washed up and should retire. These types of resurgences will only ultimately enhance his legend and place in the game. I don't say it often but...vamos!

Yes! Very good win by Rafa, another confidence boost for him. He's getting better and better, in playing the big points and saving BPs. There's room for improvement of course, like serving better esp the second serve; better ROS and better court position, ie moving forward more often. The fact that he has to face so many BPs means there are still some parts of his game that need improving.

I now await the inquests to crop up here about Nishikori's forehand/fitness/mentality as Murray got the same for losing to Rafa in Monte Carlo albeit Murray actually won a set. But you know what? I won't hold my breath.

Well played Rafa and RG looks a far more promising prospect for him now.

Mentality of Nishi still in question for me.
Imo he's gone backwards since US open final 14. Maybe needs to get rid of Chang. He plays such a high risk game which can be brilliant but obvs high UE.

LuvSports! wrote:Mentality of Nishi still in question for me.
Imo he's gone backwards since US open final 14. Maybe needs to get rid of Chang. He plays such a high risk game which can be brilliant but obvs high UE.

Surely, has to merit a thread? Lydian can we please dissect and pull apart Kei's game please?

Yes Lydian it was hard to imagine that we would see these days again and the winning smile that we have missed... I did begin to lose faith and thought that his days were numbered.  We are only left to imagine what took him down to the level he went..

Just by way of a small observation.. his father has gone from being dark haired to pure white..not looking as young as he did.. left to ponder on that !! still..... probably there is no connection

Oscar Wilde: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

On a separate note: Well done to Rafael Nadal. I am hoping he & Djokovic are drawn in separate halves in next months French Open.

How about you give it a try CC, I look forward to reading YOUR analysis ;-)

Interesting HN, haven't seen Rafa's dad around much...ill-health?

Agree Kei is literally hit & miss...super talented but not as mentally strong over a match or season generally.  His game technically is probably only 2nd to Djokovic in its "perfection"...and next to Federer and Goffin one of he best early ball takers...but he's not as strong physically or mentally as Djokovic or Federer.

No lydian I'd like to hear what your thoughts are? Or is it that you only get pleasure dissecting Murray's game?

I may churn out a thread though theorising how on Earth Murray has won two slams, an Olympic Gold, a Davis Cup and just one Masters 1000 win less than Sampras when he has such flaws in his forehand technique, a second serve of such poor quality and dodgy mentality. Perhaps I will theorize that all he has acheived is down to either Lendll or Valverde as Murray surely has played no part.

CaledonianCraig wrote:I now await the inquests to crop up here about Nishikori's forehand/fitness/mentality as Murray got the same for losing to Rafa in Monte Carlo albeit Murray actually won a set. But you know what? I won't hold my breath.

Well if Kei makes ***** comments to the media dissing his opponents like Murray did no doubt he will attract the same sort of attention. But I wouldn't hold my breath because not all players are quite so... um... not nice.

Wake up and smell the marijuana hawkeye ...doping is going on. Better to talk about it than sweep it under the carpet.

Get her CC. SHe couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat.

Personally I am not really interested in Nishikori but as a sort of supporter of Murray because he is British (sorry I can't help my British bias) I am more interested in developing an understanding of Murray especially in relationship to the current three all time greats that some claim Murray should be beating if only he had better focus and mental strength.   So I for one have been particularly appreciative of Lydian in opening that other thread and gracing us with his expertise and analysis of some of the more technical aspects of the game of tennis.

I am happy to see that people are human in expressing emotion but sometimes that emotion can take us into a very negative space.

No for me it is more than that though. Lydian has never really been overly-impressed with Murray. This dissection of Murray comes from his record against the top players around and lets be honest here everyone has had problems beating them. But I just find it weird that lydian, who I've never heard say what Murray does well (if anything) then why is he expecting better stats from Murray?

It is akin to me not rating McLaren's 2016 F1 car then berating it for not earning podium finishes. It just makes little sense.