19.03.2014 Sony Open Tennis
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Lets get this party started.
Rafa and Ana.
what a dynamic couple they would make.
lets get this party started. who is the heavy favorite for the title in Miami?
I think one of Djokovic/Nadal wins Miami. It could be Murray too. Doubt Stan or Federer wins this.
If Nadal is hitting good, I'll take him. If he's struggling to hit deep like at IW, he's gonna lose to one of the in form players again.
I hear ya general backspin.
jury is out for Rafa for now as far as I am converned. I am just going by what he said: he said that he was not able to serve for 10 days after Rio.
that tells me that back continues to flare up. that is my biggest worry. he has to be willing to let the Miami deal go if he is still struggling.
his clay season is way too grueling. he has so much to defend and he cant afford to let RG go.
lets see how it goes.
I think one of Djokovic/Nadal wins Miami. It could be Murray too. Doubt Stan or Federer wins this.
If Nadal is hitting good, I'll take him. If he's struggling to hit deep like at IW, he's gonna lose to one of the in form players again.
Why do you doubt this? Especially Federer? I think he's playing and if he gets lucky, may end up winning it. I'd say he has better chances than Murray although Andy might feel comfortable there given his 2nd home.
But you were right about Nole winning IW in 3 but don't tell that to Federer fans here.
Finally a decent draw for Nadal
welcome to Camelot Hoshi.
agreed. finally a decent one.
now he has to try to make the most of it if possible. all the best to Rafa and his team.
Finally a decent draw for Nadal
Hoshi,
I had the same problem with my avatar showing up. It was too big. So, I copied it in Microsoft Word, cropped it into a smaller size, saved it, and fiddled with it until it fit.
Interesting draw. Thanks for posting it.
I have mixed feelings about it for Rafa. On one hand, all of other 3 of the "Big 4" are in the Djokovic half.
On the other hand, almost all of the big hitters or servers are in Nadal's half or even quarter.
Historically, it has been the big hitters that have given Rafa most of the problems in the past.
But Rafa will likely start out in the second round (1st round bye) against one of the game's best fighters, one of the 7 active major winners, 2 time slam winner, Lleyton Hewitt.
Rafa is 5-0 in their clay court matches (4 at RG, 1 Hamburg), Hewitt is 3-1 in their hard court matches (2 at AO, 1 Toronto, loss in Beijing) and 1-0 on grass (Queens Club), albeit years ago.
It's amazing that Hewitt has finally been able to come back to a decent level and seeding after all of the years debilitated by injury.
He is around #44 in the world after being as high as #233 in the summer of 2012.
But he has failed to show renewed consistency as of yet.
Because of his class (inc. 2 majors), he always is a threat when he is able to put it all together, but those days are not so often anymore, which is expected. He is also a victim of the generally slower and higher bouncing conditions over the last few years and the stylistic change to mostly a power baseline game that gives him fewer targets, with which to use his counter punching skills.
All that said, Hewitt has never won the Miami title, his best showings are 3 consecutive semifinals long ago, lately not going past the second round, losing to Gilles Simon. I think the court is just too slow for him and his best days behind him. Rafa has to be the favorite here and now at Miami.
If Nadal beats Hewitt, he'll likely contend with Tursunov, then who knows, maybe Janowicz or Fognini, though Janowicz has not been in the hunt lately, then finally meet whomever comes out of the Del Potro 1/8th, where Raonic and Pospisil also reside. Of course the big unknown, and I mean big, is Del Potro. Obviously, if healthy, he can give Rafa trouble. The problem is that he hasn't been healthy, retiring in Dubai due to his left wrist injury and withdrawing from Indian Wells for the same reason. If it is still bothering him, I expect him to exit early.
In the other quarter in Rafa's half, the main contenders are Wawrinka, Berdych, Isner, Haas, Cilic, Dolgopolov. Who knows who will come out of that quarter to possibly face Nadal.
Though I'm pretty sure a majority of Rafa fans would disagree, I think it might be a blessing in disguise for Rafa to go out earlier here rather than later, so he can get off the hard courts and start his clay court preparation earlier for the clay season's ultimate prize, Roland Garros. But Rafa is one of the biggest fighters, so who knows?
In the other half, it's hard not to see a Murray-Djokovic quarter final, but perhaps Tsonga and Gulbis might have some say in that. Tsonga has been pretty woeful lately, and it would be sad for me to see him slip further away from the top players. Gulbis seems on verge of a break-through if he can control his emotions.
In the other quarter in the Djokovic half lurk Federer and Gasquet, Ferrer and Dimitrov with Anderson and Nishikori as spoilers. Ferrer is coming off an injury, so it's hard to know what his form will be. But he is the finalist from last year, so he can't be dismissed. It would certainly help him for Federer to lose as he has never beaten him, but he would have to get past the in form Dimitrov first. I think it is a good opportunity for Dimitrov to go far here, though I think he would prefer faster courts. I'm still not sure of his stamina against the best players, and Miami is not generally a court that favors attacking players.
Anyway, that's how I see it as of now. But as we all know, things can suddenly change in a draw, surely evidenced by most of the top 10 seeds ouster at Indian Wells prior to the quarter finals, excluding Djokovic and Federer.
Best of luck and health to all the players!
Respectfully,
masterclass
great analysis general masterclass.
with nadal it all depends on how well he returns and how well he is hitting his backhand. so he has to get that going to make it easier on himself.
you cant try to return from downtown Miami and then play the match from your forehand corner. you are at a huge disadvantage if you do that against anybody today, let alone the top players.
I just have a feeling that it will take clay for nadal to really get going this year. he could surprise as he has been doing for years and years now. just look at his performance in 2013. he ran over them all on the hard courts.
the favorites for the title are in this order:
1. nole
2. fed
3. andy
4. rafa
Yes, general, and the biggest key for him is staying healthy, that's the thing I fear the most given his long history. Seems he can't go more than a year or two at most without something to sideline him, and it's my belief it is mostly because:
1. His relentless drive to win every point, every game, every match.
2. He plays so many tournaments, especially on slower hard courts that do the damage.
3. He goes deep in so many tournaments because he is a great player, which gives him less chance to recover.
So in a way, he is own worst enemy, but what can you do? He is only one man. You just can't win everything without it taking it's toll.
You may be able to do it for awhile when you are at your peak, but it definitely gets tougher as the years go by.
So that's why I say he might be better off not going deep in Miami. Also, I'd like him to play one less clay tournament, like Madrid.
That might give him a better chance to get to Wimbledon not so exhausted.
Respectfully,
masterclass
