Thanks Rotla.

I can see you are eager for Tsonga upset , wonder why he,he


Look forward to tennis today, yes, Bird will be stuffed by the wind, same as he was in Monte Carlo.

I think this is a case of Nadal asking to play at midday, at max temperature (max bounce) and sun in the eye of berdych's serving.

I am stunned that Nadal manages to never play at night/evening sessions.

Djokovic has beaten Tsonga last 2 or 3 times and this is Tsonga's least successful surface, Djokovic to take this in 2 easy peasy.

Yes, I'll go Djoko, Ferrer, Nadal, Federer.

The doubt is actually Federer v Seppi. his wants to rest and the crowd will get on his nerves.

@nitb
I can see you are eager for Tsonga upset , wonder why he,he
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There is always little fun when picking the underdog.

I see you had no fun with Seppi, though ....

No I don't pick anyone against Fed. Its my rule if you like put it that way.

Gasquet takes the ball too late for my liking. He just can't do anything much worthy with that. His back-lift off that wing is too high, thats why maybe he lack ability to take it any earlier than standing 3m behind the baseline.

Some put his backhand to be best SHBH, but I just can't say that. Its too loopy and often falls short for players to attack .

If Ferru goes through and Berdy is unable to stop Nadal, will ferru have the courage to beat Nadal. He played quite well against him in Barca. Can he get that big monkey off his back?

Gasquet takes the ball too late for my liking. He just can't do anything much worthy with that. His back-lift off that wing is too high, thats why maybe he lack ability to take it any earlier than standing 3m behind the baseline.
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Spot on. I think he has the ability but his lack of guts/confidence has prevented him to do it often enough to be good at it. He is just happy in his 3m behind comfort zone.

And I agree that because of that, it cannot be the best BH. He makes up for it by generating more power than most but that is not good enough versus the top player.

In that respect he is very over rated. Certainly his BH is.

Berdy a break down. Its difficult to rush Nadal on this surface. Its very slow. He can go back far behind and reach the ball and hit a pass. String and racquets these days allow blistering winners even from 3m behind the baseline.

Nadal is standing so far back, at occasions he is beyond the camera views.

raiders

I think the best tactic against Nadal on this surface is taking the pace off the ball and not going cross court too much, he runs out of ideas when you return to his feet.

I agree. Its very difficult to hit through on this surface. Berdych needs to play more tactically. Its strange he or his coach never works those out. He may still lose, but why not try something different. He is playing like he did on the blue fast clay of Madrid.

What's killing me Nadal is how he manages to generate so much power from such awful position as we just saw on that 30/0 point. He just throws his arm standing on an awful position but it's enough to send a 150kmh FH.

Ridiculous. Shots nowhere to be seen end of season.

@tenez
He just throws his arm standing on an awful position but it's enough to send a 150kmh FH.
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Even the commentators talking about it. Its almost unnatural someone generate those kind of power shots on the run.

BTW do you believe in such supernatural "freaks of nature" as Agassi once called Nadal?

Berdy playing good, but just the court doesn't suit his game. Nadal can run around anything to hit a winner. Djo is most likely to beat Nadal on this surface. He won't hit through Nadal but he also doesn't have to.

BTW do you believe in such supernatural "freaks of nature" as Agassi once called Nadal?
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Of course I don't! As said previously, we thought Nadal was a freak of nature and then in 2011 comes another freak of nature being able to last the distance comfortably with Nadal and beat him 7 times in a row in the most gruelling rallies.

So suddenly we have 2 freaks of nature. But not surprisingly those freaks of nature get tired end of season while Federer carries on playing at the same level all year round at 30.

I think it's going to be tough for Djoko too. Nadal playing once again better than ever.

However, I am not impressed by Berdych. His shots are not really hurting as hard as Delpo's woudl .

This is the match where we can clearly how a FH or BH from Nadal requires twice if not thrice the energy than any other player.

He stands so far back that by the time the ball comes to him, it's a dead ball and had therefore to generate himself all the power and spin. In teh BH it's even worse as he has to twist his torso like we do when drying a towel.

That is actually Berdych sole chance cause as the match goes on, Nadal loses power and shots become shorter allowing the player to hit through the ball with more ease.

This is how Verdy did it in Madrid. When Nadal loses a bit of his power, he becomes easy meat...even for the likes of Dodif, Mayer.

But to make him run enough to get to that stage it's tough work...and it's also a seasonal thing with him.

Berdy needs a drop shot. He can learn a thing or 2 from Murray. Winners are not all that are hit through the courts.

I'm telling you don't get too hopeful with Delpo. The moment you begin to keep some hope for him doing better, he will pick up an injury or something and will slid down.

Super Tommy. This sport needs more Tomas's. Big balls!

I'm telling you don't get too hopeful with Delpo.
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Yeah but what about Berdych unable to convert his own game points when it matters!!!!

Too harsh on Berdych I feel. The ballsy player on tiebreaks the last 3 months.