Miami Open (Itau)...ATP 1000...Miami, Florida...United States of America

[stotty]

Yeah...I was going to say Petchey is a zero. Which is the equivalent to a donut...or a bagel. Nadal looks real bad. It looks as if Federer is just biding his time. He just bided his time in the first set and then he struck. It was over. I hope it is straight sets. Roger needs to get off of his feet and get some rest.

It should be done in two. But all it takes is a little dip with Nadal. Even in poor form, he's dangerous like that.

[don_budge]

Amazing to come back after that match with Nick "The Jerk" Kyrgios and beat Rafael Nadal. He looked completely exhausted but Nadal looked really bad. Here comes his runner up speech. Uh oh...he sucks at this.

Here is Roger's projected schedule.

https://www.facebook.com/RogerFedererTheOneAndOnly/posts/1020391361404037

[stotty]

Not the best of games.

Now, is it me or is Federer getting an amazing amount of luck in matches? Everything seems to be rolling his way right now. Shanks, net cords...right at key moments in all the big matches he's played this year. Sure, a player makes his own luck, but it all seems a bit uncanny of late. I have a sneaking feeling it will eventually run out...right at a key moment later down the line. Luck is like that.

[klacr]

If Federer wins, it's always a good result. Except for that quarterfinal on Thursday.

Anyways, here are some interesting stats...

-Federer becomes just third play to beat Rafael Nadal 4 times in a row. Djokovic and Davydenko are the other two.

-Federer has saved match points and gone on to win the tournament 6 times. World Tour Finals 2003, Dubai 2005, Halle 2006, World Tour Finals 2006, Shanghai 2014, Miami 2017.

-Federer 19-1 in 2017. 6-0 against slam champions (Nadal x3, Wawrinka x2, Del Po X1) 3-0 against slam finalists (Berdych x2, Kei x1).

-The 5 time Federer has ended the year #1, four times he has left Miami with the race lead.
Race Lead
1. Federer 4045
2. Nadal 2235

-Federer's 91st career title. 3rd all time behind Lendl (94) and Connors (109)


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

If Federer wins, it's always a good result. Except for that quarterfinal on Thursday.

Anyways, here are some interesting stats...

-Federer becomes just third play to beat Rafael Nadal 4 times in a row. Djokovic and Davydenko are the other two.

-Federer has saved match points and gone on to win the tournament 6 times. World Tour Finals 2003, Dubai 2005, Halle 2006, World Tour Finals 2006, Shanghai 2014, Miami 2017.

-Federer 19-1 in 2017. 6-0 against slam champions (Nadal x3, Wawrinka x2, Del Po X1) 3-0 against slam finalists (Berdych x2, Kei x1).

-The 5 time Federer has ended the year #1, four times he has left Miami with the race lead.
Race Lead
1. Federer 4045
2. Nadal 2235

-Federer's 91st career title. #rd all time behind Lendl (94) and Connors (109)


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Great stats as usual. I wonder if he will catch Jimbo up in career titles...must be on the cards.

Well, Djokovic must be fuming. He has owned this part of the season in the past and right now he has had to watch Roger steal his thunder.

But Nadal was awful today, truly awful. His footwork was way off and his forehand was even further off. His two key assets just aren't there anymore in the same way.

Roger looked knackered. He did what he had to and got off the court in two straight. He must be mightily relieved to have got away with that win so easily.

[stroke]

Minority opinion, Fed showed again why he is the best of all time. Nadal to me is the 2nd best of all time.

[stotty]

Minority opinion, Fed showed again why he is the best of all time. Nadal to me is the 2nd best of all time.

I'd put Djokovic in front of both.

[don_budge]

Miami Open (Itau)...ATP 1000...Miami, Florida...Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal

Yeah...I was going to say Petchey is a zero. Which is the equivalent to a donut...or a bagel. Nadal looks real bad. It looks as if Federer is just biding his time. He just bided his time in the first set and then he struck. It was over. I hope it is straight sets. Roger needs to get off of his feet and get some rest.

That was some match...and I don't mean that in a good way. I never imagined Rafael Nadal playing so abysmally poor. His forehand was a scattershot. Only Mark Petchey saw something of merit in the match and he realized how foolish he has sounded after it was all said and done. I don't remember ever seeing such a poorly played final.

Federer looked as if he could barely get his legs under himself. He badly misfired many times. He was missing by meters and normally it is by centimeters. Only his perfect service motion saved him. Even under such duress he was able to control that aspect of his game. He had the ball in his hand and all he had to do was toss it in the right spot then rely upon his motion.

It is amazing how far Rafael Nadal has fallen but in the same breath he made it to the finals. I don't know...that was one weird match. A final no less. The speeches were equally strange...Federer barely had anything to say. That match with Nick Kyrgios no doubt took a lot if not everything out of him. He looked as if he couldn't believe some of the poor contact he was making with the ball. I almost felt sorry for Nadal...that's how bad he played. Given how much I despise him...that is saying a lot.

Anybody else see what I did?

[stotty]

Miami Open (Itau)...ATP 1000...Miami, Florida...Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal



That was some match...and I don't mean that in a good way. I never imagined Rafael Nadal playing so abysmally poor. His forehand was a scattershot. Only Mark Petchey saw something of merit in the match and he realized how foolish he has sounded after it was all said and done. I don't remember ever seeing such a poorly played final.

Federer looked as if he could barely get his legs under himself. He badly misfired many times. He was missing by meters and normally it is by centimeters. Only his perfect service motion saved him. Even under such duress he was able to control that aspect of his game. He had the ball in his hand and all he had to do was toss it in the right spot then rely upon his motion.

It is amazing how far Rafael Nadal has fallen but in the same breath he made it to the finals. I don't know...that was one weird match. A final no less. The speeches were equally strange...Federer barely had anything to say. That match with Nick Kyrgios no doubt took a lot if not everything out of him. He looked as if he couldn't believe some of the poor contact he was making with the ball. I almost felt sorry for Nadal...that's how bad he played. Given how much I despise him...that is saying a lot.

Anybody else see what I did?

I saw it exactly the same way.

The media are full of superlatives about Federer and much of it is richly deserved, but Federer's sudden mastery of Nadal is not all one way as it is being portrayed....that's fake news. Nadal was downright awful in that final and he is still a shadow of his former self. His forehand, once the most secure in living memory, is often a weakness these days. His length in the final was shocking to say the least. I cannot see him winning a clay court tournament in his present form. Nadal is not the brightest button on the tour and is clearly bemused by his own poor form. Right now he is vulnerable to the big, tall hitters like Kyrgios and Zverez who are likely to beat him on any surface.

You had to give credit to Federer as he had by far the tougher draw in my view. He looked spent in the final and, yes, it was his serve that held it together for him, no question. But that was the worst final those two have ever played yet I have yet to read a press article that reflected the match how it was.

The fact you felt sorry for Nadal says it all. I felt sorry for him too. It all comes down to the game of tennis whoever we support....most of us just want to see a darn good game.

I didn't bother with the speeches...never do...banal affairs they are usually. I've switched off by then.

[don_budge]

Amazing to come back after that match with Nick "The Jerk" Kyrgios and beat Rafael Nadal. He looked completely exhausted but Nadal looked really bad. Here comes his runner up speech. Uh oh...he sucks at this.

Here is Roger's projected schedule.

https://www.facebook.com/RogerFedere...20391361404037

1.Hopeman Cup
2.Australian Open
3.Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship
4.Indian Wells
5.Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
6.Rome Masters
7.Roland Garros
8.Mercedes Cup
9.Gerry Weber Open
10.Wimbledon Championship
11.Rogers Cup
12.Cincinnati Masters
13.U.S Open
14.Shanghai Rolex Masters
15.Swiss Indoor Basel
16.Paris Masters
17.ATP WTF 2017

Now it appears that Federer will not be playing until Roland Garros. That is ten weeks to recuperate and absent from the tour. This doesn't make a lot of sense. If he was fit enough to take Indian Wells and Miami consecutively then why would he not be fit to play a tournament or two in the runup to Roland Garros?

This to me is suspicious. It reminds me of Nadal missing from the tour and coming back fitter and better than ever. Unprofessional? Afterall his comeback is the biggest story going in professional tennis and the tour is basically on life support without him. I would think a couple of weeks off and he would be fit for fight again. Strange. Very strange.