Mana Games

[Serena Williams]

i think he is but it wil take a while...

[Roy Patrick]

Nadal is currently set up rather nicely to take the #1 ranking back after Wimbledon. He has 4th round points to defend in Roland Garros and nothing to defend in Wimbledon. I doubt Federer is going to be able to defend his French win this year so that will swing more points into Nadal's favor. On top of the points he will be gaining from Shanghai and the WTF (which he also has nothing to defend at) that seems to be the most likely time he will overtake the ranking.

[Richou]

agreed with Roy, nadal will almost certainly win RG next year and wimbledon a final is almost guarenteed. it also depends upon how he does in WTF at the end of the year, if fed does shit and nadal does well he could take the position. If federer also misses paris and nadal does well i think he could take the rank

[bobi]

Im a Fed fan but he's form is just low now and if nadal pushes a litlle harder than he will get the no1 place again...

[Tennischampion]

lol he shud see first how to save his 2nd spot.andy murray and novak djokovic are always looking to overtake him.surprisingly davydenko had defeated nadal today.but ofcourse he is now safe with no.2 spot but andy murray and novak djokovic are not too far behind him.well next year ,yeah its gonna be advantage to nadal(at RG and wimbledon) but remember he shud defend his titles specially australian and indian wells....(total 5titles) otherwise there is less chance for him to overtake mighty Federer
lol i feel that Fed wud break the record of pistol pete for standing most weeks as no.1!! by next year

[Richou]

lol he shud see first how to save his 2nd spot.andy murray and novak djokovic are always looking to overtake him.surprisingly davydenko had defeated nadal today.but ofcourse he is now safe with no.2 spot but andy murray and novak djokovic are not too far behind him.well next year ,yeah its gonna be advantage to nadal(at RG and wimbledon) but remember he shud defend his titles specially australian and indian wells....(total 5titles) otherwise there is less chance for him to overtake mighty Federer
lol i feel that Fed wud break the record of pistol pete for standing most weeks as no.1!! by next year

how was that suprising? davydenko always does well against nadal. and with nadal still not back to his best davydenko was able to win

[btaylor]

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Nadal's fitness OR technique in this tournament...he's seems to be moving even BETTER than before his knee problems

Davydenko's best surface is hardcourt and his game plan was to stand inside the baseline, take Nadal's shots on the rise, hit angles to open up the court, and otherwise rob Nadal of time...

In short, he simply had a solid game plan and was able to implement it...

[Togtdyalttai]

And with the way Davydenko had played against Djokovic and the relatively unimpressive play from Rafa of late, it seemed to me a given that Davydenko would take the Shanghai shield.

[btaylor]

If Rafa's play of late has been unimpressive or otherwise sub-par, it's probably because the bigger power players in the game now ( Cilic, Delpo, Soderling) are able to out serve him and hit THROUGH his topspin....especially on the faster courts...

Davydenko is a special case in that although he's not very big, he has great strokes, endurance, and speed around the court AND has impeccable timing...

If Blake could ever learn to use more angles (which he probably won't, unless kelly Jones can persuade him to) with his speed and power, he too, could turn the tables on Rafa...

If more players start to use this strategy (they're already in the locker room going..hmmm...) and Rafa continues to run helter-skelter all over the place look for his supposedly "tender" knees to flare up again...

[Tennischampion]

how was that suprising? davydenko always does well against nadal. and with nadal still not back to his best davydenko was able to win

dont say nadal is not playing his best.its been three months already and no more hiding saying he is struggling with injury (davydenko had also missed a lot in this year due to injury and he was also struggling if so) but the thing is many players are playing better than him these days...and i also see nadal is playing a bit more defensive rather than attacking and i think thats the problem for him

[btaylor]

Nadal has no other choice but be defensive...he simply cannot change the way he plays...
If he can't get in the first strike he then is at the mercy of the other players who can then move inside the baseline and dictate play...Soderling has paved the way on clay and other players like Delpo and Cilic may do the same...

Look for more and more players to use this tactic, especially the new guard of younger, taller, and stronger atheletes...

It's my opinion that Federer in Madrid used this tactic of staying near the baseline to great effect..not so much that Rafa was "tired" or whatever...

If Rafa WAS indeed "tired" then he should have changed his tactics and played shorter points, something that he simply doesn't seem to be able to do...

[Richou]

yeah i think next year if nadal wins RG then itll be a much tougher route if he gets these tall players who can take his top spin on the rise. then fed can win it again

[TTennisfan]

No way Nadal being no.1 again, he better retired and work for Nike Shorts in Madrid, this guy is just an egg. that's my opinion Nadal being no.1 again with Fed on top shape no in hell!!!!!!!

[Tennischampion]

yeah i too think the same.Mighty Federer shud retire if Nadal wants to be no.1 becos Fed is more consistent,has good fitness and more importantly he is getting back to his top form and i dont think Nadal can beat him if he plays like this and his topspin is not even bothering thing to someone like DELPOTRO,SODERLING... becos del potro has got enough height to play nadal's topspin shots

[amelie mauresmo]

he'll after 2012...if his knee won't go wrong...