just had a guy with a flare on the court - security did a good job of getting him out of there quickly
Pointless final
Roll on Wimbledon
Absolutely incredible. Amazing. After such a tough semi final against the world number one and having so long out with injury.
Truly amazing.
Well done Rafa!!!
Rafa is crying again. He's so humble in all the interviews. He's also way too handsome for my liking data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Result NID.
Now on to more a interesting Slam. I love this period of the season where Wimbledon follows almost immediately after RG. I should be going to SW19 a few times, gonna be fantastic data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Agreed to both comments.
Ferrer was never, ever going to beat Rafa on Clay and I would wager he was psychologically beaten before he went on court . To have any chance what so ever, he needed the first two sets and tbh, today is as good as he has played in his career and bearing in mind how he blew Tsonga away in 3 sets in the semi, he was still a million miles away and it just shows how far behind Nadal and Djokovic, he and the rest are. Murray is probably the closest.
Clay suits Nadal. It's a slower surface and suits his all action style a treat and allows his to get into position. Now the real competition slams start- the faster surface slams where you need guile, ability, shot making and athleticism to cope with the ball pinging around at stellar speeds.
I like Nadal but he needs a bigger spread of Slams to cement his place in the pantheon of greats imho. He is already one of the best ever but 8 French out of 12 slams is very top heavy compared to Federer's haul of slams won here there and everywhere. 7 Wimbledons, 4 Aussie, 5 US and 1 French (which he admits is his worst surface yet still won), is simply astounding. I don't see how Nadal can surpass Federer's record for 3 reasons.
1. Injuries - His game is based on power and running as he lacks the natural athleticism of Federer and Novak hence, why the slower clay courts suit his style. He's already had a glut of injuries to his knees and at 27 it's only going to become more prevalent.
2. Time - He's running out of time. Barring injury he has 3-4 years at the top left. To pass Fed he's going to need to win about 2 a year which is possible but unlikely due to point one and point 3.
3. Djokovic - His nemesis. Without question a better player on all other surfaces and Nadal knows it due to his natural athleticism, speed and power on the fast courts. He's very reminiscent of a more direct Federer. Again barring injury, he will always be the obstacle in Nadal's way as the other 3 slams are on hard and grass. Djokovic has the measure of Nadal both mentally and physically in the other Slams and is practically on the verge of conquering him on clay in his backyard.
Should be an interesting season from here..data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
The lack of hard court Slams is the 'issue' with Nadal's achievements that IMO prevent him to be considered truly up there. He's won just 1 Aus and 1 USO, to put that into context, Djokovic has won double that amount in Australia titles alone. Djokovic has as many titles in Australia as Nadal has won of the 'other' Slams. Considering two of the four annual Slams are played on hard courts then Nadal is substantially falling short in comparison to his other rivals. As 8 of his 12 Slams come from a surface that holds only 1 Slam then you can see he's not as truly all-court as Federer. It'd be better to have 8 GS split between the two hard courts rather than all in RG or Wimbledon if that means you're lacking elsewhere. If Nadal manages to end his career with at least two of each Slam then that'll put him alongside Federer IMO, if he wins 3 of each then he'll go down as the greatest. Not sure I can see him doing either.
As for Wimbledon, the draw will be odd considering Nadal's still going to be ranked fifth. However the special Wimbledon seeding will probably put him into the top four. Djokovic will fancy his chances against Nadal on grass but not so much with Murray and Federer who he currently has a bigger match-up issue with IMO. However, Wimbledon allows for upsets so can't be too confident in all four reaching the SF though Murray and Djokovic's consistency at Wimbledon the last few years is impressive. This Slam is considered Djokovic's weakest and many experts deem him the least likely of the top four to win Wimbledon because he does not move so well on grass. Personally I don't believe that, his performance in the 2011 final was complete annihilation of Nadal bar the third set. However, it remains his only final there whereas Nadal has 5 at the tournament.
Hard court is slightly unfair.
50% of the grand slams are on hard court.
Yet it's only a third of the three surfaces.
Ie.... Federer has won just one gran slam on clay court (and that was the year he didnt have to face a fit Nadal).
I consider Federer the greatest of all time; and that's when he's been as poor on one of the three surfaces just the same as nadal has been. (Federer clay, nadal hard court)
Anyone know what time the 128 player singles draw for Wimbledon will take place on Friday?
Am looking into a work sweepstake. In the name of charity of course. Does not leave much time to collect money before start of play next Mon!
Might have to exclude the qualifiers to give more time...
Seeds are out.
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Roger Federer
4. David Ferrer
5. Rafael Nadal
That means Nadal can get any of the 4 above him in the QF. We could have a Djokovic vs Murray Grand Slam final again. I hope Ferrer is in Nole's half and Federer is in Murray's along with Nadal.