2015 Internazionali BNL d\'Italia…ATP 1000…Rome, Italy

[stroke]

Stan, very impressive, too good.

[klacr]

Stanimal.

Great first set tie-break to break Rafa's spirit.

Nadal with even more pressure to claim his Roland Garros Title. Bring on Paris

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Stan Wawrinka vs. The Skunk

I have been timing Nadal between points against Wawrinka and sometimes he is taking 35 to 40 seconds on the bigger points. The tiebreak was ridiculous...35 seconds between points minimum he was taking to serve. It\\\'s taking ages to get through this match. Only twice had he delivered his serve within 20 seconds so far....

Bring on the BIG white clock...

Check out this highlight video of the Nadal/Wawrinka quarterfinal in Rome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvaMisiXQME

Sometimes when I am watching Roger Federer play I only watch Federer and don't watch anything else. Not the ball…not the opponent…just Roger. I heard Rod Laver say the same thing once. But this time I was only watching Nadal. As you may have figured Fafa Nadal is not my favorite player. In fact, I might go so far as to say that I detest him. I cannot stand the sight of him.

Watching only Nadal was pretty disgusting for me but it was necessary to prove my point to myself. His game is positively hideous. Everything about it runs contrary to what I believe is good and true about tennis. His form and technique is "rodeo style" as I described it so long ago. But the sound effects that go along with it are downright disgusting. Every shot is punctuated with his grunt or his groan…whatever it is. It is an attention getting device just like everything he does on the tennis court.

I am glad that Wawrinka beat him. I am glad when everyone or anyone beats him. The skunk. I only wish this time it had been Roger…but the up side is a Wawrinka vs. Federer rematch. Federer seems to bring out the best in Wawrinka sometimes and with any luck he will do it again. It's good for Wawrinka to play Federer too…to play against his idol and his Davis Cup partner makes him elevate everything about himself. He needs this if he is going to be a regular top player. He has to learn to do this day in and day out when he isn't so inspired. But that's another story. It's enough that the skunk is off someplace licking his wounds…which are mounting.

[stotty]

It's the blatancy of Nadal's time wasting that I find baffling. It's not as if he's breaching the rules by a second or two here, sometimes he's taking 40 seconds between points. I really cannot understand why he isn't getting pulled up on this. The match with Wawrinka took over two hours to complete for a bog standard 7-6 6-2 scoreline.

The game would greatly benefit from being speeded up. It would make it fairer too.

[klacr]

Stanimal played with Tiger Blood and Adonis DNA last night. Not willing to take Rafa's BS. Wawrinka lacing shots into the corner, making Rafa use his speed to the max and come up with some gets that left him more vulnerable. A few approaches to the net helped Stan. A few that were misplayed but I applaud the Swiss player in his willingness to push the gears and take care of business. He needed this confidence boost and he got it in a big way.

Oh and that backhand...Gawd...I need to be out there playing!!!! Inspiring stuff

Next up...Federer. Grab your popcorn.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Stanimal.

Great first set tie-break to break Rafa's spirit.

Nadal with even more pressure to claim his Roland Garros Title. Bring on Paris

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

I really did not feel Nadal got discouraged after he lost that 1st set tiebreaker. I even felt like Nadal had very positive body language even as he continued to be outplayed and really bullied around the court by Stan in the 2nd set. Stan really looked like he was playing downhill, keeping Nadal pinned way behind the baseline. Stan just played every point, just as Nadal always does, and his game really shined. Now Stan needs to keep up that play every point style.

[klacr]

I really did not feel Nadal got discouraged after he lost that 1st set tiebreaker. I even felt like Nadal had very positive body language even as he continued to be outplayed and really bullied around the court by Stan in the 2nd set. Stan really looked like he was playing downhill, keeping Nadal pinned way behind the baseline. Stan just played every point, just as Nadal always does, and his game really shined. Now Stan needs to keep up that play every point style.

Nadal is great with the body language. Outside was a facade, inside he was no doubt surprised and dissappointed he let those set points slip away. Stan looked awesome.

Unfortunately, Stan not playing with same level against Federer right now. Lost first set. But it's not over yet...

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

I really did not feel Nadal got discouraged after he lost that 1st set tiebreaker. I even felt like Nadal had very positive body language even as he continued to be outplayed and really bullied around the court by Stan in the 2nd set.

Yes, he didn't even consider he might lose the match until mid way through the second set. Nadal is baffled by his own lack of form and struggling to understand it. If he starts hitting his forehand any shorter and retreats any further back behind the baseline, just about everyone is going to fancy their chances. The French is up for grabs....

[don_budge]

Transparency…Nadal?

Yes, he didn't even consider he might lose the match until mid way through the second set. Nadal is baffled by his own lack of form and struggling to understand it. If he starts hitting his forehand any shorter and retreats any further back behind the baseline, just about everyone is going to fancy their chances. The French is up for grabs....

Clearly there is something going on with Nadal that we are not privy too. He has always been a very strange phenomena in my book. It never seems to add up with him. His interview personna is such that he seems really disingenuous.

The French is up for grabs? It's as if someone has given Nadal an order to stand down. I haven't heard a believable explanation for his performance as of late or for his latest injury timeout for that matter. He has wrapped himself into a riddle inside of a riddle…he is an enigma. Among other things…perhaps a pathological liar.

Speaking of enigma's…what about that Wawrinka? None of it adds up. He kicks the begeezus out of Nadal one day then the next he starts out blazing with all guns firing…then he lays down for Federer. It doesn't add up. I cannot connect the dots. Big Time Wrestling anyone? Surely the announcing has morphed into some sort of facsimile.

[stotty]

Time to call time...

Clearly there is something going on with Nadal that we are not privy too. He has always been a very strange phenomena in my book. It never seems to add up with him. His interview personna is such that he seems really disingenuous.

The French is up for grabs? It's as if someone has given Nadal an order to stand down. I haven't heard a believable explanation for his performance as of late or for his latest injury timeout for that matter. He has wrapped himself into a riddle inside of a riddle…he is an enigma. Among other things…perhaps a pathological liar.

Speaking of enigma's…what about that Wawrinka? None of it adds up. He kicks the begeezus out of Nadal one day then the next he starts out blazing with all guns firing…then he lays down for Federer. It doesn't add up. I cannot connect the dots. Big Time Wrestling anyone? Surely the announcing has morphed into some sort of facsimile.

I have nothing against Nadal. Mystery surrounds the man but that's likely normal in a family-run, closed shop like he's in. I just think he would be much better to watch if he were made to speed up his service routine. The rules cater for him to be put straight yet he is flagrantly allowed to break those rules week in and week out. Like I said, at times in the Wawrinka match he was taking up to 40 seconds between points and getting away with it.

I really don't understand what the problem is with the umpires, letting Nadal breach the rules by such a wide margin. At the end of the day, you simply have to lay blame with the umpires. It's their job to call time and they simply are not doing it. It's unfair to allow the games greatest ever retriever so much time to recover between points. In a few years Nadal's career will be over and he will have got clean away with all this.

[stroke]

Oddsmakers have Novak as the favorite today at 2/5. Roger is 1/2. Another very interesting match, Roger looking like his usual inimitable self on court. To me, Rodger has the better forehand, serve, slice backhand, volley/hand skills. Novak of course has better movement, better topspin backhand, and better service return.

[klacr]

All Djokovic, all the time.

Does not matter if Federer had the better or nicer looking strokes, Djokovic absorbed all of it and neutralizes better than anyone I can remember.

The Rome final was a snooze fest. Djokovic so good he makes it boring. I still like Roger though. How can you not? As a coach, teacher, student of the game, I don't know if I could take someone seriously if they didn't like Roger

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[tennis_chiro]

Oddsmakers have Novak as the favorite today at 2/5. Roger is 1/2. Another very interesting match, Roger looking like his usual inimitable self on court. To me, Rodger has the better forehand, serve, slice backhand, volley/hand skills. Novak of course has better movement, better topspin backhand, and better service return.

I have said before in this Forum that tennis is CAP, consistency, accuracy and power, necessarily in that order. For the power player to win, he has to make the steady player play at his higher pace where he is no longer more consistent. No one can play big enough to make Nole inconsistent, at least not on normal surfaces. Perhaps on very fast hard and maybe on grass or indoors, but not on the vast majority of surfaces. He is too consistent and accurate with his depth. His power is not too bad either even if it is less than Fed's.

don

[stotty]

I have said before in this Forum that tennis is CAP, consistency, accuracy and power, necessarily in that order. For the power player to win, he has to make the steady player play at his higher pace where he is no longer more consistent. No one can play big enough to make Nole inconsistent, at least not on normal surfaces. Perhaps on very fast hard and maybe on grass or indoors, but not on the vast majority of surfaces. He is too consistent and accurate with his depth. His power is not too bad either even if it is less than Fed's.

don

Good post. I think the control thing is a key component with Djokovic. When playing well, he hits an amazing length which very much negates what players can do against him.

[stroke]

I have said before in this Forum that tennis is CAP, consistency, accuracy and power, necessarily in that order. For the power player to win, he has to make the steady player play at his higher pace where he is no longer more consistent. No one can play big enough to make Nole inconsistent, at least not on normal surfaces. Perhaps on very fast hard and maybe on grass or indoors, but not on the vast majority of surfaces. He is too consistent and accurate with his depth. His power is not too bad either even if it is less than Fed's.

don

This was really evident at 4 games all 1st set. Roger really put the pressure on Novak, played really big, but as you say, Novak absorbed it all and did not appear to be scrambling to do so. His footwork and core body posture ia really something.