It was close. It was awfully close. But in the end #1 (still!) Rafael Nadal managed to beat Italian #148 Paolo Lorenzi 6-7 6-4 6-0. Kudos to Lorenzi and the Italian crowd for making this match truly exciting. Lorenzi fought like a madman and played extremely well at times. Normally this wouldn’t have been enough but on a day like this Nadal looked tired. Andy Murray’s mother Judy even said …
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Novak Djokovic just wrote the a new chapter in tennis history when he beat Nadal in straight sets in the Madrid Masters 7-5 6-4. On clay! This is truly now the rivalry to watch, although Federer might still want something to say about that. For now, before Rome, we need to congratulate the Serb on an amazing performance – extending his winning streak to 32-0. He seems almost impossible to …
Yes, he didn’t win. I don’t think anybody thought he would. But he won a set. He threw a tantrum*. He fought hard. And he forced Nadal to play his best tennis to win. This was the real Federer, the one who can play better tennis than anybody else on the planet when he’s on his game. It’s pretty clear that Federer can be brilliant in streaks, the question is …
Federer and Nadal on adjacent practice courts. Please put them on a match court as well! At the time of writing Afro Murray has just lost the first set to Bellucci and we’re seeing how Murray’s passive playing style can be a problem against guys who can control the court like Bellucci can when he is on his game. Lot of tennis left though of course. Side note: I think …
Yes, this week in tennis was all about D. Djokovic, Davydenko, and Del Potro won a title each and especially for Davydenko it was a sign of good old form. A few things I noticed before Madrid: 1. Djokovic doesn’t look as comfortable on the clay as he does on the hardcourts. I don’t think he’ll be able to beat a fit Nadal. 2. Djokovic looks silly in long sleeves. …
I don’t think there was a single soul in the “stadium” in Monte Carlo who was surprised when Nadal threw his Schwartznegger-like arms in the air and celebrated his seventh Monte Carlo Masters title. He is Rafael Nadal and on clay, there is nobody in the history of mankind that can outfox him. The recent results of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal has made me think a bit about the GOAT …
It happened again. The Fed Express hit a wall. I am getting so used to it now, it doesn’t even sting anymore. Which is a strange thing to say for a Fedophile. I wrote an article about Federer’s failure in Dubai some weeks ago that I’ve pasted below. Then I wrote another one where “Nadal taught Federer a lesson” – I am too lazy to link it, but it’s up …
Well, there’s not much excitement in predicting today’s matches. Troicki vs Ferrer Ferrer has played great tennis at the start of the year with a semi-final at Australian Open and a win at Heineken open. He is as usual in great shape and forces his opponents to come up with some pretty fantastic tennis to win a point. Troicki is a talented player that’s definitely on the rise, but I …
Bring on the clay! Spring is in the air when you can hear feet sliding on red dirt. I am really looking forward to this year’s season which has a lot of interesting questions to answer. Will Nadal be as unbeatable as always? How will Djokovic perform after a spellbinding start to the season? Can Federer be able to convince the fans that he’s still a force or will the …
Tennis writer Steve Tignor had something to say on Federer’s recent performance in contrast to Nadal and Djokovic. I paste a part of his post below. You can read the full thing here. As the most painful downtick in the very slow but inevitable decline of Roger Federer His semi with Nadal may have been the worst I’ve seen him play. Rafa was very good, and very solid when Federer …
