Re: Fed has a tough FO draw.

On Mon, 28 May 2007 14:08:22 +0200, Luke Croll <Lukecroll@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Sun, 27 May 2007 16:00:36 +0300, thetjt@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sun, 27 May 2007 13:45:01 +0200, Luke Croll <Lukecroll@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Sun, 27 May 2007 05:15:51 +0300, thetjt@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On 25 May 2007 06:33:06 -0700, vojtova@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Not a bad draw at all. Nadal got both Berdych and Hewitt in his
quarter, Djoko in his half.


For Nadal....Djoko, Berdych, Hewitt + Nieminen (+blake) = Pretty much
everyone who could actually challenge him except Davydenko. NOT a good
draw at all.

ROFLMAO. Even if you keep telling yourself that, you won't make it
true. Berdych and Blake are no threats to him on clay, Djokovic might
slightly trouble him and as for Nieminen - Nadal is 3-0 against him.

Blake was a question mark. He has potential to trouble Nadal...It's a
matchup thing. Besides Blake honestly thinks he is better than
Nadal(he is an idiot).

On HC and grass, he might. Considering that Blake struggles mightily
on the clay as it is, to beat the leading claycourter of our time -
good match-up or not - is almost impossible.

So you didn't see Monte Carlo Nadal vs Berdych, second set was very
competitive. Berdych has game to trouble Nadal if Rafa is not playing
his best (then again if Rafa is playing his best none can trouble
him.)

He still lost in straight sets. Given that the FO is played over 5
sets, I can't see Berdych doing it. On HC, yes. On grass, yes. On
clay, no.


Nadal just won 81 matches in a row, so saying that Nadal did beat
someone previously is not a valid argument...
I was saying who would give Nadal MOST trouble, not that I believe he
will actually be beaten.
I stand by my position that these players are most likely to trouble
Nadal.

Against Djoko last time they met numbers didn't tell whole story,
Nadal was playing his best tennis that day.

As he could do again at the FO. It's the clay surface that makes all
the difference. Djokovic won't be able to boss the points against
Nadal on clay as he was able to at Miami.

Yeah. I was talking about Rome quarters though, numbers didn't tell
whole story for that match.
Point was that Djoko played so well and Rafa played his absolute best
imo, so when not playing his best it could be a different story. Not
that I would hope for that...

Nieminen is a good clay player. Choked the match against Djoko at
Hamburg, he was playing better than Djokovic. He was playing VERY
well. Last year Nieminen was the closest player after fed to beat
Nadal on clay. He is a lefty too.

He grabbed a set off him, but still lost pretty easily. I just don't
see it in any way, shape or form.

Again, if winning/losing is your criteria...we don't have much to
discuss if we're talking about Nadal's clay losses.

Jarkko played VERY well against Djoko in Hamburg, he looked to be on
form.


Since you seem to discredit my statement that these actually are the
most dangerous opponents for Nadal, maybe you can list who are more
dangerous...Ferrero, Gonzales? LOL.

Davydenko and Hewitt are the only people I can possibly think of -
apart from Federer, of course. Mathieu could play well over a set or
two, but I can't see him sustaining it. Gonzalez could well beat him
on HC or grass, but not on clay.

I agree(d) with you on Davydenko. Hewitt was in excellent shape in
Hamburg and already caused trouble for Rafa...So yes he should be
considered a tough opponent.
However, I don't believe that on Paris faster clay he can trouble
Nadal much...Then again he did get a set off Nadal last year.


Ferrero is a former FO Champion. How many FOs have Nieminen and Hewitt
won?

Ferrero plays like *** against Federer.

He does, but however much you try to play it down, he is a former FO
champion. Players want to avoid playing former FO champions, as you
never know what they might have in the tank. Look at Kuerten beating
Federer a couple of years ago, even though he was already looking
washed up.

Ferrero is no Guga. But yeah, have to hand it to you: a former
champion is a former champion...even though you beat him last 9 times.
.