Which movie will we be watching?
I am talking about the FO, though it is still some months away.
Rafa has to make a last stand at the FO, it is a do or die situation for him. Otherwise, he will be consigned to history as the greatest player that never was. There is no question that without Djokovic around, Rafa would have had 13 slams by now and would be well on course to becoming the GOAT. But with Djoker around, Rafa will struggle to win more than 3-4 slams at best, if that. And of course, emergence of 'new' Murray does not help either.
Djoker, on the other hand, has won at all other majors except the FO. It is the final frontier for him and I do believe he will conquer it, sooner or later. His clay court game is there and I am convinced that last year, if he had passed Federer in SF, he would have had a great opportunity against Rafa in the final. It took Federer a superhuman effort to stop him and I do not see that happening this year.
Of course, things will happen before FO that may give us a better idea of what to expect at the FO. But in a strange way, I wish they could skip all that and go straight to FO.
'Rafas last stand' or the 'Final frontier'?
posted on 5/2/12
i agree blade. Rafa is known for good reason as the king of clay. he's become a fantastic all round player on all surfaces.
he has though met his nemesis and given the way Djoko performed on the red dust last season, winning 2 masters finals against Rafa i'd actually put Nole as favourite at the moment for Roland Garros.
Of course i'm now bouyant by as you say the "new" Andy Murray and given his mentor/coach's proficiency on clay i'm expecting great things from oor Andy come Monte Carlo. of course before that he's got a great chance of picking up points at IW and Miami.
anyway it's looking a great year and imo it really is a big four now
good luck Nole but much better luck to Andy
posted on 12/2/12
No Nadal will thrash Djokovic at French Open.