Possibly. I just hate when he goes out that way. He's so much fun to watch.
Nole is on fire. Will Roger be able to stop him? I don't know. I wasn't really watching his match so I don't know what happened. I saw that Rosol was up a break and then he was down a set. Looked like he phoned it in that third set, so...
It's hard to say. I'd say it's 50-50. Federer likes playing Nole.
Hi TT, there was no 3rd set in that match. Federer took Rosol out in straight...unless you meant the 2nd set then yes, he might have done so since he couldn't win more than 1 game.
And just like that Rafa is out of Monte Carlo. Well, he's had it coming for a long time against Ferrer, especially in the best 2 out of 3 format and he finally lost. 44 unforced errors in 2 sets - I don't remember Rafa ever erring that much. In addition, Ferrer played pretty solid which made it pretty tough.
Rafa needs to hit the practice courts ASAP, things are not improving.
he has been **** around mate.
how often does he lose to a 33 year old midget with no weapons at monte carlo? here is the answer: in the last 10 never but today because he does not work hard enough. you can just see how much fitness and how much muscle tone is gone.
general backspin also spelled that out recently. he looked slow and unfit in Miami. well he looked even worse in indian well.
and this is the same rafa that dominated the tour last year.
its clear that his fitness and his game has taken a hit. his lazy 2 hour training sessions where he just tries to hit mostly forehands was going to catch up sooner or later.
nole would demolished him in the final at this rate.
way too many diversions. what was the need for that stupid poker tournament. he should have gone out worked hard on his ground game for 4 hours instead.
he did the same damn thing in indian wells.
I didn't see the match. Do you think he tanked the match to avoid meeting with Nole or was Ferrer that good today? I can see Ferrer being that good only if Nadal is lacking confidence. But then again, that's not giving due credit to Ferrer. Although judging by the unusual amount of errors, it seems he didn't have enough confidence going into the match but Ferrer could have caused it too. I didn't see the mach so not sure what really happened.
I started watching at the beginning of the second set and Rafa was spraying errors left and right. He looked quite disinterested, no fire, no fist pumps. Ferrer was solid and aggressive, but Rafa was beyond awful. I don't know what the reason for that was, hopefully nothing physical. But his form has been crap lately and I am starting to wonder if he will be able to find it until Roland Garros.
Yesterday, I thought Stan would want to avoid meeting with Nadal if he's not ready though one must admit that, there's no shame in losing to Nadal on clay, but now I am thinking if Nadal lost deliberately today to avoid meeting with Stan in the next match. I mean the way Stan dismissed Cilic in the round before may have raised a few eye brows and he dismissed Raonic this morning too in straight as well, so clearly Stan seems to be ready given that that was the first match. And losing to Stan again this time on clay and there's always the chance of that, would really damage Nadal's confidence to no end.
I don't know about that emma. rafa does not ever lose anything on purpose.
the fact of the matter is that he is worn out already. that was the real reason he lost.
not sufficient energy and fire. even a very bad rafa does not lost to ferru at monte carlo.
nadal had no business being in Miami. he went there to pick up a few points and to collect his $1.5 million appearance fee.
what is at cost? maybe zero slams and nole taking over the rankings.
nadal does not need the money anymore. endorsements keep coming. his 8 French opens also will translate into nearly a $1 billion for him over a lifetime.
what he needs is his fitness and his ground game so he can compete with these guys. losing to 33 year old midget with no weapons at monte carlo no less is pretty damn bad.
nole lost the u.s. open and decided to change a few things. one thing he did was to decide to outwork everybody on the tour right away. he still talks about it. he says he is just going to outwork everybody.
nadal has too many diversions and his lazy 2 hour practice sessions are not paying off anymore. he is older and slower so he has to do more and he is not doing it.
he should have skipped Miami and gone home to get on the red clay. he hung around indian well to **** around for a few days after losing early. that was just a tragic lost of critical time which he could have used to work on his game on the red clay at home.
I can assure you that he is in real trouble and we all saw this coming months ago.
he is not scared of stan or anybody else on clay. he has been **** around and it costing him.
a 35 year old with little or no singles game almost beat him in indian wells and should have beat him.
his lack of sufficient work on his fitness and his game is costing him.
I don't know about that emma. rafa does not ever lose anything on purpose.
the fact of the matter is that he is worn out already. that was the real reason he lost.
not sufficient energy and fire. even a very bad rafa does not lost to ferru at monte carlo.
nadal had no business being in Miami. he went there to pick up a few points and to collect his $1.5 million appearance fee.
what is at cost? maybe zero slams and nole taking over the rankings.
nadal does not need the money anymore. endorsements keep coming. his 8 French opens also will translate into nearly a $1 billion for him over a lifetime.
what he needs is his fitness and his ground game so he can compete with these guys. losing to 33 year old midget with no weapons at monte carlo no less is pretty damn bad.
nole lost the u.s. open and decided to change a few things. one thing he did was to decide to outwork everybody on the tour right away. he still talks about it. he says he is just going to outwork everybody.
nadal has too many diversions and his lazy 2 hour practice sessions are not paying off anymore. he is older and slower so he has to do more and he is not doing it.
he should have skipped Miami and gone home to get on the red clay. he hung around indian well to **** around for a few days after losing early. that was just a tragic lost of critical time which he could have used to work on his game on the red clay at home.
I can assure you that he is in real trouble and we all saw this coming months ago.
he is not scared of stan or anybody else on clay. he has been **** around and it costing him.
a 35 year old with little or no singles game almost beat him in indian wells and should have beat him.
his lack of sufficient work on his fitness and his game is costing him.
These are good points too, as it's all true. His fitness is off and it shows.
Yesterday, I thought Stan would want to avoid meeting with Nadal if he's not ready though one must admit that, there's no shame in losing to Nadal on clay, but now I am thinking if Nadal lost deliberately today to avoid meeting with Stan in the next match. I mean the way Stan dismissed Cilic in the round before may have raised a few eye brows and he dismissed Raonic this morning too in straight as well, so clearly Stan seems to be ready given that that was the first match. And losing to Stan again this time on clay and there's always the chance of that, would really damage Nadal's confidence to no end.
I think these are good points, Emma. I'm inclined to agree. Knowing that his game isn't where it's supposed to be, taking a loss to Ferrer is ideal.
Even in the first rounds, although he won comfortably, he still didn't look like a man on a mission. He looked in both prior matches like he was trying to go on and off the court.
Dominating Seppi one minute and then going on a walkabout when he was so close to closing it out.
He's been doing too many unnecessary things off court, during this most crucial time.
Possibly. I just hate when he goes out that way. He's so much fun to watch.
Nole is on fire. Will Roger be able to stop him? I don't know. I wasn't really watching his match so I don't know what happened. I saw that Rosol was up a break and then he was down a set. Looked like he phoned it in that third set, so...
It's hard to say. I'd say it's 50-50. Federer likes playing Nole.
Hi TT, there was no 3rd set in that match. Federer took Rosol out in straight...unless you meant the 2nd set then yes, he might have done so since he couldn't win more than 1 game.
Hey Emma,
Another psychotic post from me, I can see how you read it that way. I was actually talking about the Fognini match when I was referencing the third set.
The Fed-Rosol match I didn't watch. Just fast forwarded through. I did see that he only won one game though.