Australian Open 2014

walshb · 24-01-2014 1:13pm

John.Icy wrote: »

Must be 60 of them tonight? .

50. Twice as high as Nadal's. Nadal is just putting the ball into the court. They are not forced errors.

Pighead · 24-01-2014 1:13pm

Mousewar wrote: »

What sport have you been watching for the last nine years? I've seen this guy play live. His shots clear the net by about 4 or 5 feet. He grinds his opponents down with long rallies where he just concentrates on keeping the ball in play until they make a mistake, aided by slow slow slow courts.
Not sure where the confusion is.

Think you need to find out what the term 'moonballing' means.

Nadal's shots may clear the net comfortably but he puts a ferocious amount of top spin on most of his shots. A moonball is miles away from this. Nadal's shots are way too aggressive to be considered moonballs.

Compare and contrast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Jmi739lvM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPnxNAMz8_s

the_monkey · 24-01-2014 1:15pm

Slashermcguirk wrote: »

Djokovic will finish with 10 slam I reckon. At least another oz and us open or 2 and should win 1 French, too good on clay not to. Still the only player to beat nadal 3 times on clay and was so close at the French last year

I hope you're right ..

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 1:16pm

He's not called the Mallorcan Moonballer for nothing.
Let's just leave it. I couldn't disagree with you more.

Up Seven · 24-01-2014 1:17pm

Mousewar wrote: »

What sport have you been watching for the last nine years? I've seen this guy play live. His shots clear the net by about 4 or 5 feet. He grinds his opponents down with long rallies where he just concentrates on keeping the ball in play until they make a mistake, aided by slow slow slow courts.
Not sure where the confusion is.

And then cheats by breaking the time allowance between points. He wouldn't be able to keep grinding for so long without cheating between points.

walshb · 24-01-2014 1:21pm

Excuses excuses excuses. Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players in history. He's phenomenal.

Pighead · 24-01-2014 1:21pm

Mousewar wrote: »

He's not called the Mallorcan Moonballer for nothing.
Let's just leave it. I couldn't disagree with you more.

Ha ha! And apart from some eejits on a few tennis forums around the world who exactly calls him the 'Mallorcan Moonballer'. That's like saying Amelie Mauresmo is definitely a man because you read it on a forum somewhere.

Up Seven · 24-01-2014 1:24pm

walshb wrote: »

Excuses excuses excuses. Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players in history. He's phenomenal.

Of course he is one of the greatest, but he still cheats.

walshb · 24-01-2014 1:27pm

Up Seven wrote: »

Of course he is one of the greatest, but he still cheats.

By the time allowances between points? I don't agree with that, but that says a lot more about the authorities for allowing a player to abuse the rule.

the_monkey · 24-01-2014 1:55pm

I think Nadal does rub a lot of people up the wrong way, his behaviour is annoying , he does over do it , and uses his agression to mentally bully players - over celebrating at small points - constant fist pumping , going on between games about his "injuries".

The other players are pros tho, they need to deal with it.

Fair is fair tho ... instead of going on a rant about him, I'll just patiently wait for him to pass by.

Too Tough To Die · 24-01-2014 2:50pm

Nadal is the GOAT. Absolutely decimated the previous GOAT in h2h encounters and will go on to break his GS record in what is the strongest era of that sport. Like or loathe the man or his style you cannot deny that he is the greatest player of all time.

walshb · 24-01-2014 2:55pm

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Nadal is the GOAT. Absolutely decimated the previous GOAT in h2h encounters and will go on to break his GS record in what is the strongest era of that sport. Like or loathe the man or his style you cannot deny that he is the greatest player of all time.

He definitely deserves to be considered as the GOAT. In history on their absolute best days I would only give Roger/Novak and Sampras a real chance of beating him. Nadal at his best vs. these guys at their best it's 50-50.

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 3:12pm

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Nadal is the GOAT. Absolutely decimated the previous GOAT in h2h encounters and will go on to break his GS record in what is the strongest era of that sport. Like or loathe the man or his style you cannot deny that he is the greatest player of all time.

Technically he is miles behind nearly every other player in at least the top 20. His serve, his volleying, his changeup are all technically deficient. His forehand and backhand are only good insofar as they are strong and have tons of racquet technology-inspired top spin. He is a one-dimensional grinder that out-endures his opponents through attrition tennis. The fact that that this tactic is successful is down to the fact that every court has been slowed down hugely in the last 15 years. Put Nadal in any other era in tennis history and he's a top 30 player at most.
When any other sport has such an ugly style of play dominating it they do something to change it (Backpass rule in football, various rules in Rugby). Tennis does nothing though. Joke of a sport at this stage.

Up Seven · 24-01-2014 3:18pm

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Nadal is the GOAT. Absolutely decimated the previous GOAT in h2h encounters and will go on to break his GS record in what is the strongest era of that sport. Like or loathe the man or his style you cannot deny that he is the greatest player of all time.

His weeks at number one is only 119. He'll need to get at least 200 weeks imo and win at least 1 or 2 WTFs.

Federer has been number one for 302 weeks and won 6 WTFs.

24-01-2014 3:19pm

I'm up for Wawrinka in the final. He's up against it though obviously with a 0-12 head-to-head record up to now!

mickmackey1 · 24-01-2014 3:28pm

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Nadal is the GOAT. Absolutely decimated the previous GOAT in h2h encounters and will go on to break his GS record in what is the strongest era of that sport. Like or loathe the man or his style you cannot deny that he is the greatest player of all time.

Rubbish, Laver is the GOAT. Two calendar Grand Slams and most of his career he didn't even play in the majors!

24-01-2014 3:35pm

glasso wrote: »

I'm up for Wawrinka in the final. He's up against it though obviously with a 0-12 head-to-head record up to now!

in fact Wawrinka has never won a single set against Nadal...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=N409&oId=W367

although 2 sets both went to tie-breaks in the most recent match. (ATP finals, on hard court in London)

cathalobrien · 24-01-2014 3:43pm

Go RAFA!!!!

MisterAnarchy · 24-01-2014 4:02pm

walshb wrote: »

He definitely deserves to be considered as the GOAT. In history on their absolute best days I would only give Roger/Novak and Sampras a real chance of beating him. Nadal at his best vs. these guys at their best it's 50-50.

If prime Sampras played Nadal at any of the majors bar the French Open on late nineties court speeds and rackets he'd easily beat him .He'd absolutely destroy him on grass .

Nadal played very well today ,best performance of the tournament by far ,he really upped his game for Federer.

Federer played better than previous encounters and looked more comfortable on his own serve however his return of serve was poor ,he should be breaking Nadals average serve more than once .

yerwanthere123 · 24-01-2014 4:23pm

*sigh*
Is there any point getting out of bed to watch the final on Sunday?

walshb · 24-01-2014 4:47pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

If prime Sampras played Nadal at any of the majors bar the French Open on late nineties court speeds and rackets he'd easily beat him .He'd absolutely destroy him on grass .

Nadal played very well today ,best performance of the tournament by far ,he really upped his game for Federer.

Federer played better than previous encounters and looked more comfortable on his own serve however his return of serve was poor ,he should be breaking Nadals average serve more than once .

FO Nadal whups Sampras. Hard and Grass I would favor Pete, but no way it's easy. Nadal would run him ultra close. He's a different breed of athlete. As athletic and agile and quick as Pete was, I believe some players today are faster and stronger and fitter. The game has really evolved in the past 10-15 years. Nadal's court coverage and fitness and speed would be very dangerous against the best hard court Sampras. Nadal always makes you play the extra shot(s).

walshb · 24-01-2014 4:49pm

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Rubbish, Laver is the GOAT. Two calendar Grand Slams and most of his career he didn't even play in the majors!

Good point, but against each other he barely wins a game against the best today! The game has so so improved.

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 4:53pm

walshb wrote: »

FO Nadal whups Sampras. Hard and Grass I would favor Pete, but no way it's easy. Nadal would run him ultra close. He's a different breed of athlete. As athletic and agile and quick as Pete was, I believe some players today are faster and stronger and fitter. The game has really evolved in the past 10-15 years. Nadal's court coverage and fitness and speed would be very dangerous against the best hard court Sampras. Nadal always makes you play the extra shot(s).

Nadal could run all he wants. The ball would be long gone. That's the whole point. Today the balls are bigger, heavier and fluffier. They travel through the air slower. And the courts are slower too. Without that, the serves and forehands would be flying past Nadal before he even started moving for them. Doesn't matter how fast he is.

walshb · 24-01-2014 4:56pm

Mousewar wrote: »

Nadal could run all he wants. The ball would be long gone. That's the whole point. Today the balls are bigger, heavier and fluffier. They travel through the air slower. And the courts are slower too. Without that, the serves and forehands would be flying past Nadal before he even started moving for them. Doesn't matter how fast he is.

But Nadal's shots could also be faster and stronger. You make out that the balls and court speeds are just favouring Pete.

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 4:59pm

walshb wrote: »

But Nadal's shots could also be faster and stronger. You make out that the balls and court speeds are just favouring Pete.

They favour the person hitting flat serves and forehands. Nadal's never hit a truly flat shot in his life.

Pighead · 24-01-2014 5:02pm

Mousewar wrote: »

Nadal could run all he wants. The ball would be long gone. That's the whole point. Today the balls are bigger, heavier and fluffier. They travel through the air slower. And the courts are slower too. Without that, the serves and forehands would be flying past Nadal before he even started moving for them. Doesn't matter how fast he is.

Disagree. You seem obsessed with the fact that the courts are slower. They may have slowed slightly (is there any official data out there to compare actually?) but the game hasn't changed a whole lot since the 90's when Andre Agassi had a decent head to head record against Sampras.

Agassi was an amazing player but I think most agree that Nadal will go down in history as being better than him. Therefore it's probably fair to say that Nadal could very well have had the upper hand against Sampras.

walshb · 24-01-2014 5:03pm

I'll go with on their absolute best day:

Federer
Nadal
Sampras
Novak
Agassi
Becker
Kraijchek
Murray
Hewitt
Rafter

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 5:04pm

Pighead wrote: »

Disagree. You seem obsessed with the fact that the courts are slower. They may have slowed slightly (is there any official data out there to compare actually?) but the game hasn't changed a whole lot since the 90's when Andre Agassi had a decent head to head record against Sampras.

Oh dear god. Sorry, but I have to assume you don't actually watch this sport. This isn't a conspiracy theory. You do know they openly admit to slowing them down...

walshb · 24-01-2014 5:06pm

Mousewar wrote: »

Oh dear god. Sorry, but I have to assume you don't actually watch this sport. This isn't a conspiracy theory. You do know they openly admit to slowing them down...

I don't think he is disputing this. You seem to making it out as a bigger issue than it probably is.

Mousewar · 24-01-2014 5:09pm

He just said the game hasn't changed a whole lot since the 90's which, I'm sorry but is borderline moronic.
Tell that to Nicholas Mahut who served his apprenticeship as a serve volleyer only to find the sport utterly changed once he became professional. Poor guy couldn't even have a proper career because his style of play was utterly eradicated almost over night on the back of complaints from casual TV fans who didn't like short points and Spanish players threatening to boycott Wimbledon.

Australian Open 2014

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