Mana Games

[Stajus]

That was sad to watch....not sure if old Nadal will appear either

[vamos rafa]

nadal didnt play bad, fed is too good for him on indoors.
It wasnt something like he hit a flurry of errors. he hit only 7 UE compared to fed's 8
Fed was in god mode, even an in form rafa couldn't have done anythign when roger is in this type of mood
on a sidenote, i dont see rafa coming back to form ever again exception being some clay tournaments. He seems done and his body cant take it now

[Stajus]

I have to disagree. I've never seen Nadal so flat...A normal indoors match between Fed and Rafa could be the last year's final (although even there Nadal looked too tired in the final set but he took a set at least)...Last night he was really awful - average serve even for his standards, poor groundstrokes falling so short, forehand with no depth or power (either short and spinny or long out)...I don't think Fed was in "God mode", he played just slightly better than vs Tsonga (and he sucked vs Tsonga). Overall, the tennis at this WTF so far has been very poor, I guess everyone's tired except Fed maybe.

P.S. Nadal hit only 4 winners, so you can't just look at the errors...4 winners = paceless groundstrokes

[vamos rafa]

I have to disagree. I've never seen Nadal so flat...

he has been like this since shanghai final, 0-6 bagel to murray, losing to mayer in tokyo
he didn;t win against fish, he was awful that day too, half injured fish just managed to choke it out

nadal's confidence is seriously hurt by retirovic and he cant seem to recover, further he has exposed the weaknesses of rafa's game - attacking bh constantly catchign rafa offguard or trying to run around bh too much and then off court/inside out fh (taste of his own medicine )
rafa is done ! PERIOD

[Igor Josifoski]

LOL, yesterday Rafa wasn't focused to hit the ball I guess. Awful, didn't try to return a lot of balls that he always returns....

[Algo]

I hope he can play worse than that.

[Stajus]

I hope he can play worse than that.

[Mohamed]

Roger maestro
He played really good , no stupid errors. Sure rafa wasn't at his best but still he couldn't win on indoor with that level of Rog.

[The Maestro]

Nadal played badly but you can only play as well as your opponent lets you. Nadal had a 6 week rest so he shouldn't be tired and he was in 'perfect' condition yesterday so no injury excuses for all the Nadal fans. Federer was playing some of his best tennis way better than in the Tsonga match (I watched both matches). He was imperial on serve and with his forehand and he had a set tactic to play Nadal which was also dependent on having a solid backhand and staying with nadal in rallies. Nadal is a one-dimensional player so when his typical ploy for playing against Federer failed combined with him playing on his worst surface he couldn't do anything and Fed could swing freely. I've noticed Nadal rarely tries to change things up (like attack second serves) to come back in matches. He's the best ever at capitalizing on a drop in level of an opponent or firing himself up with a series of spectacular rally or passing shots. If he doesn't have these opportunities then its tough for him and yesterday Fed was extremely focused. He refused to give up in the return games even when where he was 30-0 or 40-15 down. About 60% of the time he folds in such games or claws back to deuce only to lose them.

[The Maestro]

I have to disagree. I've never seen Nadal so flat...A normal indoors match between Fed and Rafa could be the last year's final (although even there Nadal looked too tired in the final set but he took a set at least)...Last night he was really awful - average serve even for his standards, poor groundstrokes falling so short, forehand with no depth or power (either short and spinny or long out)...I don't think Fed was in "God mode", he played just slightly better than vs Tsonga (and he sucked vs Tsonga). Overall, the tennis at this WTF so far has been very poor, I guess everyone's tired except Fed maybe.

P.S. Nadal hit only 4 winners, so you can't just look at the errors...4 winners = paceless groundstrokes

RAFA cannot be tired unless he's been working himself out till exhaustion in the gym. He had a 3-6 week break!!! Even yesterday before the Fed match he posted a picture of him in the gym. He needs to strike a balance more between physical fitness and technical skills. The reason why its rare for Federer to go down so feebly is because he often tries to mix things up. (Exceptions: RG 2008 where he was outplayed and Miami 2011 where he sprayed countless UEs - Interestingly nadal only had 7 UE yesterday). This victory puts Federer's career into perspective. Federer would never lose like this at age 25 and Nadal will never beat a #2 like this when he's 30.

[vamos rafa]

Retirovic beaten too

[Stajus]

Retirovic beaten too

fellow (chuckle)

[kyuuji]

I hope he can play worse than that.

[SamModder]

The Maestro has said it all, Fed was simply too good for Rafa, this was even said my Rafa's own mouth in his interview, he even said that he didn't play "bad" but that he didn't give any "special shots" any additional thing to his match which is crucial in these kind of matches agains the top 10 players...

[Maxy]

The Maestro has said it all, Fed was simply too good for Rafa, this was even said my Rafa's own mouth in his interview, he even said that he didn't play "bad" but that he didn't give any "special shots" any additional thing to his match which is crucial in these kind of matches agains the top 10 players...

And Fed will win again a WTF