you can see he's where Isner was there years ago;
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I think he is already as good as Isner. He did not play very well today bit so close to get Ferrer to a 3rd set on Ferrer's best surface in front of his home crowd.

Very good effort. He is going to be top 10 most likely at the end of the year.

but he woudl not have to improve much to reverse the score of that match.
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True, but even so there is a fairly long way from say barely beating Ferrer to really threatening the top guys in biggest tournaments.

Also, in spite of the tight scoreline, Ferrer always looked the more likely one to win.

True, but even so there is a fairly long way from say barely beating Ferrer to really threatening the top guys in biggest tournaments.
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It's a pretty flat pyramid. Look at last year when Djoko became just a bit better. It was enough for him to become invincible almost. If you can beat Ferrer on clay after having beaten Almagro and Murray, he is in the mix with the top player, imo.

BUt sure, he is not there yet..but not that far.

"I think he is already as good as Isner"
His movement is better,and so is his offence. However, Isner has really improved his returns and that made a huge difference against Federer in that Davis Cup match.
Isner is also more level headed and has different temperament.
Raonic is trying to find the right balance between the predominately natural attacking game and keeping himself afloat when the opponent pins him way behind the baseline like Ferrer did today.

could be another monte carlo 2010 job here atm :/

it already is....if you are watching, feel free to express your enjoyment....

dont have much today, im ill, leeds lost AGAIN :'( and the aussies beat the windies

6:0 6:4 win for Nadal.

So it will be another Nadal Ferrer final tomorrow.3PM

@ amritia3ee

You are trying to put my words in wrong direction. You always do, nothing different here. I already know trying to explain you never helps. So I'm just answering it, assume whatever you want to.

Murray credentials are heavily brought out in terms of those 8 masters he has won. These 8 masters put him ahead of Guga , Courier and even Becker in the list to of total ATP masters winners. Now this gives a wrong impression because Becker's all Msters were 5 set finals and winning them could be more tough compared to bo3. This number 8 is increased because its a shorter format. I said he was fortunate in Ciny 2011 win, and I stick to it.

Is there any h2h involved here? Murray never played against any of the Becker or Courier. I'm not comparing any h2h. I'm just saying shorter format of the Master's finals has helped Murray get those numbers.

About Fed's h2h. All Nadal's fans are always hung on to this because where else will they go?

I agree that if the matches are bo5 Fed will find it more difficult to beat Nadal. Was Fed lucky to have those bo3 wins against Nadal? May not be. For me winning is not as important as the manner of win. Fed's wins against Nadal are not scratched out with a skin of teeth. A lot of those Nadal's wins against Fed were very fortunate. e.g. Rome 06 masters, AO 2009, FO 2007, Wimby 2008. There is rarely any time when Nadal can outplay Fed even on his own best suurface clay like Fed does to Nadal in his wins.

Just having a +ve h2h doesn't make a Player better.

MOTD Time:

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
v
[3] David Ferrer (ESP)

What has Ferrer got that can hurt Nadal? Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. Ferrer's experience and Raonic's lack of it gave those 2 TB to Ferrer yesterday. But this is a totally different match. Ferrer will do lot of scrapping and will keep long rallys, but on almost all those Nadal will come out winning the point. Nadal can play what ever kind of game he wants in this match, Ferrer just has nothing to hurt him. More winners for Nadal surely. I can say Ferrer will create some BPs but won't be able to make use of those. Maybe will get a break but will be broken immediately.

An easy 6-4 6-3 kind of win for Nadal. Those knees become absolutely alright as I see them, even in MC no traces of anything. Miraculous. I just wonder how stupid can some of his fans be who actually believe in those knee injuries. Well its their choice to believe or not.

You are absolutely correct rotla....but I am just hoping that Ferrer can keep those long rallies and make this a gruelling match for both.

I'll probably be watching it.

I too will watch it. I like watching tennis in general. It won't be a beautiful match, but I'll watch it anyways. Lets see if Ferrer has something that Verdasco( the fiasco ) doesn't.

I too will watch it. I like watching tennis in general. It won't be a beautiful match, but I'll watch it anyways. Lets see if Ferrer has something that Verdasco( the fiasco ) doesn't.
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Exact same sentiments here. I watched the first three games against Verdasco yesterday but planning to watch the whole thing - or most of it - today.

Ferrer has no way to win this but he is steady and does not normally fold, so should provide enough resistance to give some indication of how good Rafa may be.

Still disappointed with MC final last week. That was going to be the one match that would have told us most about where the top dogs are on clay but Nole was so below par that we did not learn anything about Rafa's game either.

ferrer holds!

and ferrer breaks!!!

surprise surprise hes broken straight back

ahh. and the break back with 4 UEs. Just as I predicted in my MOTD prediction.

I just didn't get why was Ferrer trying to hit winners, he could well be whacking the ball in long rallies and let Nadal do getting the winners.. If one can rally, its always safe to do it rather than trying to hit winners against Nadal. He must remember how Djo beats him.

That third game was a bit of a disaster from Ferrer. For Verdasco that would be par for the course, but somewhat unusual from Ferrer.

i think its what got him the break though at least its a positive outlook

I watched some clips from last year's USO....can't wait for the big action to resume and for some inexplicable reason look forward to USO the most

is that because it was the place where your favourite tennis moment ever occured?

Simon won Bucharest

could be. I like the Arthur Ashe cauldron and the tennis it produces. Night matches. Staying up late.
It's not poncy like Wimbledon and it's gentler than RG.

It's a real hard-court slam.

If one can rally, its always safe to do it rather than trying to hit winners against Nadal. He must remember how Djo beats him.
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True, you do not want to go for winners blindly. But also it is not just about endless rallying. What works for Djokovic is that he can rally with Nadal so he does not need to go for winners when there are none to be had while at the same time he is also able to play more aggressively than Nadal when an opportunity presents itself.

its my least favourite of the slams

wimbledon is and always will be the best :D
as i worked there it makes it feel even more special which i didn't think it could