Indian Wells 2015 Thread

[dash]

Way to go Milos!!

 

[Hs0022]

Boy was I wrong!! Milos came back from a set and a break down against THE grinder. RAFA has to be demoralized about this loss when he had the upper hand against someone who had never beaten him before. It should be interesting to see how he does in the clay swing as there would be more guys unafraid to take it to him. Rafa's game is there but he is susceptible and vulnerable to losses just like Federer due to all the mileage and years. It's hard to sustain the fire all the time.

 

[Hs0022]

Milos played exactly how a big guy should play against Nadal. And to say he is all serve and no movement guy is totally wrong. He didn't break Nadal's serve twice with a serve. He did that by returning well and taking advantage of Nadal's lapse.

 

[cezero]

Milos played exactly how a big guy should play against Nadal. And to say he is all serve and no movement guy is totally wrong. He didn't break Nadal's serve twice with a serve. He did that by returning well and taking advantage of Nadal's lapse.

he moves as well as he possibly can, but it's still very poor mover. and you're really stupid if you think he's anything approaching a good returner. lol. come on. nadal was serving at about 90 MPH on average in the last set of the match.

• 23%1st Serve Return Points Won
• 44%2nd Serve Return Points Won
• 76Break Points Opportunities
• 29%Break Points Converted
• 209Return Games Played
• 11%Return Games Won
• 30%Return Points Won

those are his return stats this year. clearly one of the worst returners in the top 20.

raonic's main reason for winning was in spite of his lumbering movement and awful return. big serve followed by a big shot to rafa's backhand, and then his favorite shot (inside out forehand) into the ad court. wash, rinse, repeat. exactly how he should play nadal, like you said.

nadal is noticeably slower now than he was even a year ago, especially running to the ad court. this was one of the few times i've seen him unable to keep his level of play high due to legs in a 3 set match.

 

[bksballer89]

Just got home to see Raonic won!!!

 

[cezero]

i almost want to see nadal vs fed on an outdoor hard court again now. maybe it won't be such a horrible beatdown now that nadal is a step slower.

 

[Hs0022]

he moves as well as he possibly can, but it's still very poor mover. and you're really stupid if you think he's anything approaching a good returner. lol. come on. nadal was serving at about 90 MPH on average in the last set of the match.

• 23%1st Serve Return Points Won
• 44%2nd Serve Return Points Won
• 76Break Points Opportunities
• 29%Break Points Converted
• 209Return Games Played
• 11%Return Games Won
• 30%Return Points Won

those are his return stats this year. clearly one of the worst returners in the top 20.

raonic's main reason for winning was in spite of his lumbering movement and awful return. big serve followed by a big shot to rafa's backhand, and then his favorite shot (inside out forehand) into the ad court. wash, rinse, repeat. exactly how he should play nadal, like you said.

nadal is noticeably slower now than he was even a year ago, especially running to the ad court. this was one of the few times i've seen him unable to keep his level of play high due to legs in a 3 set match.

Nadal's glaring weakness in the last five years have been his FH side which Fed has himself exploited by running around the BH and hitting inside out and Nadal was helpless. Milos just took a page out of Fed's book on how to beat Nadal on this surface. I have no doubt Fed would have crushed Nadal and given their h2h a better definition had Nadal made it to the SF, but again our golden BP evaded Roger like he has done countless times before. I was really rooting for a Fedal SF.

 

[Hs0022]

Nadal is slower but not by much. The game gets fast sometimes and passes you by and I think the vamos Nadal is off cycle. That is why there is no oomph in his serves or ground strokes or energy.

 

[cezero]

awful wta match on right now

can't wait for some good atp semis tomorrow

 

[Hs0022]

This is the Nadal that Roddick waited for but never got. Roddick would also have beaten this Nadal, maybe he should unretire.

 

[cezero]

lol

yeah, nadal haters should be happy. he lost to one of the poorest movers and returners in the top 20, and looked haggard by the end of the match.

and it's on the IW surface that rewards nadal's topspin more than any other hard court in the US.

not a great sign for the spaniard. clay is his panacea, though.

 

[bksballer89]

Nadal has become a one surface player. Don't think he win another GS at Wimbledon or on the hardcourts

 

[cezero]

pretty sure serena just withdrew

 

[bksballer89]

Sucks.

 

[Old Lion]

Nadal has become a one surface player. Don't think he win another GS at Wimbledon or on the hardcourts

You could be right. I would never write him off though. He could muster up another now and then. He is also not guaranteed to win the French any more either. He will most likely still get some more though.

 

[Liberal Icon]

Sometimes it gets amusing to see fans and pundits write off opponents of their favorite player just because someone is in a funk as it happens to even the best. This happened when we saw fans and pundits write -off Federer as done when he was losing consistently. They claimed he would never win another big one before Federer came back and beat the top player.

They are doing the same to Nadal who is coming from an injury after a long lay-off. Nadal is finished, he would never win another big one, blah, blah, blah. They never learn. And they think they know tennis more than anybody else. Unbelievable.

 

[cezero]

Nadal is noticeably slower. I thought that maybe in Australia, it was because of a layoff, but it's the same or worse now.

And he just came off a tournament win, so he's not coming in to this spring US hard court season cold or anything.

He might win another major off of clay, but I think it's very reasonable of people who understand tennis to be skeptical of it. For people who just go by their emotions/feelings, not so much. No matter what, I still like Rafa's chance of beating Fed in any final on any surface except indoor hard court.

 

[bksballer89]

Patiently waiting the semi finals.

CBB games are terrible

 

[bksballer89]

Novak vs Andy is about to get started on ESPN.

 

[cezero]

murray off to an awful start