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Observations of Rafa’s Latest Rampage On Roger
26 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
The Hall of Fame boxing champion Archie Moore once said the worst feeling in the world was being in a fight he knew he couldn’t win. The Ol’ Mongoose admitted these feelings in his fourth-round KO loss to the young Cassius Clay. Moore had no chance to win and he knew it.
It looks like Federer has no chance to even win a set from Rafael Nadal at this point, even if the ATP World No. l has a nasty blister on his palm.
Heck, I would hesitate to bet on Rafa losing to Federer even if he played on roller skates. It just seems no matter what Federer throws at him, he ALWAYS has an answer for it and can adapt to anything.
It’s almost weird how good Nadal is at tennis. Some of his shots are just unbelievable. I can’t think of any player who has made more impossible shots than Nadal. And he never relents for a millisecond. He plays like he despises Federer (of course he does not) and would like to win every single ball. 606060 seems to be the goal. I’ve received texts today from friends who even go so far to wonder if Nadal is “human” or “alien” a “scientific experiment created by mad Spanish scientists.”
I wonder if Nadal is just too good for this sport. As if he’s underutilizing his very special talents on such a silly endeavor as chasing a yellow ball around a white-lined rectangle. Maybe Nadal would be better suited for establishing world peace. Program him with a tank and body armour and he could go around the world forcing dictators and world leaders to stop their imperialism and thirst for more power and just abide by peace.
He just never stops until victory is obtained. Nothing can stop him, not a bad knee, a bloody blister, not even Roger Federer.
Last night Rafa made the great Roger Federer look like a college player or a practice partner. The outcome was never in doubt. When the TV cameras showed the Rafa box I half-expected to see Toni, Sebastien or the other fellas nodding off.
Poor Stan Wawrinka has to step into the firing line next. I don’t think two Stan Wawrinka’s would have a chance vs. Rafa right now. And that’s no disrespect to Stan The Man. It’s really a compliment to the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport, the greatest champion we have ever seen wield a tennis racquet, Rafael Nadal.
The "rivarly" is now a mismatch
Mitch · January 24, 2014 at 11:59 am
You really believe that Federer can’t win a set against Rafa? I’m sure they’ll play more tiebreaks, like they did last night, and that Fed will steal a set that way, as he typically does. I hope Stan can keep it competitive; hopefully he won’t get overwhelmed by the occasion or settle for “just happy to be there.”
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 12:19 pm
I don’t Mitch, when Rafa bears down and really wants it Roger is helpless to defy him. There’s no pattern he can go to. The only points he wins are when he fires a laser winner or Rafa misses which are random occurences. He just can’t make Rafa look off balance or vulnerable, like Ana did to Serena.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 12:20 pm
Also worried Stan will just have the happytobethere attitude. Being 0-26 in sets to Rafa is going to take a miracle to overcome. If Stan wins it might be the greatest upset in sports history since Buster Douglas beat Tyson.
CS3 · January 24, 2014 at 2:56 pm
Rafa-Roger hasn’t been a REAL RIVALRY for quite some time in reality… They’ve produced some of the great matches in Tennis history but it’s pretty much always been 1 sided… Future meetings figure to be as decisive as today’s match was… Roger can delude himself all he wants but the days of him being able to seriously test Rafa & The Djoker are a thing of the past… A healthy & fully motivated Murray is too much for him as well IMO… Rafa has & always will be Fed’s KRYPTANITE as his physical, athletic brand of Tennis is all wrong for Fed’s easy going, more natural game… When the history books are written on the Big 4 Era, which will go down as Tennis’s Best, Novak Djokovic will be remembered as The Only True Rival & Challege for Rafa… With a win on Sunday, I think Rafa will firmly solidy his standing as THE BEST ALL SURFACE PLAYER OF ALL TIME because to become the first Double Career Grand Slam Champion in Tennis’s True Modern Open Era is as impressive an accomplishment as there’s been especically considering the level of his peers who’ve occupied the other Top 3 spots… Fed still has Top 10 level game probably even higher but winning Slams even Masters 1000 events where Rafa, Novak & Murray are in the field will be an UPHILL CLIMB to say the least… ALL TIME GREAT CHAMPIONS are the last to know when their time has passed! On a final note, this more aggressive Rafa with the MUCH IMPROVED point ending backhand is absolutely LETHAL on hard courts now & he was never strictly a 1 trick pony ‘Supreme Clay Court Specialist” like so many have falsely labeled him as being over the years… If he maintains this level of play, a calendar slam just may be a possibility though I wouldn’t bank on it! VAMOS
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 3:08 pm
CS3, pretty much agree, but Roger was a rival for Rafa for a few years, once Rafa won Wimbledon the rivalry dissolved and it started to become the mismatch it is today. I think last night we saw the end of Federer as GOAT, Rafa is officially clearly and unquestionably the greatest tennis player we have ever seen. Federer played the nicest tennis, Rafa plays the best tennis.
CS3 · January 24, 2014 at 4:02 pm
I agree Scoop… Roger plays the most artistic brand of Tennis in history… Rafa & Novak play the most effective & grueling brand of Tennis in history!
Patrick · January 24, 2014 at 5:35 pm
“Moore in 4”
And he made it stick. Why in the world did Archie even take that fight? He was way too old and respected to be used as a casual tune-up. And he knew how good Clay was; he’d trained him for a while (Clay didn’t like that Archie made him sweep the floors of the gym and such, and so he went looking elsewhere and ended up with Dundee).
Patrick · January 24, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Roller skates? Heck, put a tennis court on a hockey rink, and I’m still taking Nadal. Put them on a basketball court coated with Teflon. My money’s still on Rafa.
Michael in southern England, UK · January 24, 2014 at 5:50 pm
Excellent post, and some great comments too, thanks everyone.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 5:53 pm
Patrick, Not exactly sure, it was well before my time, why Archie signed for that fight but it was probably monetarily related 🙂 Applying the modern formula I’d have to guess Moore was a perfect big name opponent to help build Clay’s public persona at a time when there weren’t many big name heavyweight names to pick from (post Marciano era). Promoters probably offered Moore more than he could resist. I believe Moore was the first big name opponent Clay had faced up to that point. Had the chance to meet Moore and interview him in the 90s. Still haven’t read his biography but will this year.
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 5:55 pm
By next year or the next Patrick, ATP might just give all the other players one of the alleys to hit into. That MIGHT make it fair 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · January 24, 2014 at 6:32 pm
Thank you very much Michael, welcome to the site.
Doogie · January 24, 2014 at 7:36 pm
Djokovic has not to be mention in same sentence as Rafa,Fed or Sampras.
At the Moment he is miles away from them – of course it may Change at some Point but for now – NO!
Andrew Miller · January 24, 2014 at 8:09 pm
I’m picking Wawrinka because he is playing like a champ. You have to in order to unseat a champ. I think Nadal was pprepared by Dimitrov for the Federer match and Nishikori too -,they picked on Nadals BH so much that Nadal improved his ability to run around it and probably that practice helped him out with Fed. Fed could do worse than watch some Nalbandian tape or practice his drop shot and dropshot Nadal for an entire match . hit those crazy balls that bounce on one then another side of net. Or moonball him whole match. If you can’t win you may as well have fun with it.
Coach Skelly · January 24, 2014 at 10:00 pm
If Federer added another 12 to 14 lbs of tension to his strings he would start playing Rafa on a level keel again!He just added some kilo s recently to compensate for the bigger racquet head!You can see him actually hitting thru the ball for first time in his career.But not enough.Feds groundstrokes till this year has been 100 per cent spin.Every stroke off both sides!! If he were to drive thru a ball like doko or even Wawrika he would nail the back fence.The reason being is because until this year Federer always strung his racquets at 39 lbs!!
Its unheard of!Id say 80 percent of tour players are in 55-63 Range! Fed got away with the spin for so long because of perfect footwork,balance ,looking at everyball etc. Hes always done those things better than everybody,!Look at his head after he hits a forehand.Hasnt moved!!!Nobody does that.Getting back to the SPIN.It caught up to him.The spin was ending up in everyones wheelhouse and forced Fed to start playing more defensive tennis.Everybody s been teeing off on his groundies.You have to hit thru the ball!!!I dont care who you are.You must combine nasty spin with hittin thru it.As far thru ball as possible.Thats what Nadal does everytime!But you must have the proper string tension to do so.Right now Fed is probably around 44 lbs.He got to get in 56-60 range .It would take him 15 minutes to figure it out.He already got the nasty spin.But you gotta have both.Gotta have weapons!Its a drastic change but if he ever does figure out he will be the GOAT because he will win a few more Slams.Scoop go get an old racquet strung At 39 lbs and hit some balls.You will understand what im saying and also Have even more respect for what Fed has accomplished.Guys a magician!A classy one at that!!
Bryan · January 25, 2014 at 3:36 am
Unfortunately I agree with Scoop regarding Stan’s chances against Rafa, who he’s never beaten. It would be some great drama if he pulled off the upset but I just can’t see that happening.
But IMO Federer beating Nadal is possible still and taking a set here and there will happen for sure. The only reason Fed lost that first set tie breaker was unforced errors. He sprayed 50 errors in just 3 sets so at that rate he’d lose to any top 10 player.
tootsie · January 25, 2014 at 5:03 am
Federer beating Nadal is still possible????? He hasn’t beaten Rafa in a slam since 2007 when Rafa was 20 years old. Their record on hard outdoor courts is 8-2 for Nadal and Fed’s last HC win in IW in 2012 was when Rafa hurt his knee and had to retire from the next tourney in Miami and then couldn’t play for the last half of the year.
Fed has consistently beat him on indoor until last year but other than indoors, he has beaten him only SIX times in his whole career while Rafa has won TWENTY-TWO times.
Of Fed’s 10 total wins in his career against him, six of them came when Rafa was still a teenager. Of the other four, one was on clay in Madrid after Rafa and Djokovic killed each other in the semi-final, one the aforementioned win in IW, and two at the WTF. Fed’s not gonna win another match against Rafa. Sorry.
Dan Markowitz · January 25, 2014 at 7:01 am
Love the analysis, Coach Skelly. Geez, 39 pounds is less than what even Johnny Mac strung his woodies. You sound like Spadea when you say to hit through the ball and then apply the spin at the end of the shot, but Nadal, does he really hit through the ball when he hits that wrap over his ear forehand? And what does he string his stick at?
I’ve got to look for a sports bar in San Jose tonight to watch the finals. What time is on in Eastern Standard Time in U.S.?
Andrew Miller · January 25, 2014 at 7:32 am
Nadal is 55 pounds everywhere every time.
Sock is 40 pounds!
Jordan Willis · January 25, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Hi guys, love the site–I’ve always enjoyed the reading the different insights and perspectives shared in the articles and comments.
I agree with Andrew that Stan is playing like a champion, and he should not be underestimated. I think Stan is really a lot more talented than a lot of people realize. He’s absolutely the underdog in this final, and his record against Rafa is awful. He’s never won a set.
But Stan’s record against Novak was pretty awful too–he’d given him some great battles in 2013 but he’d lost to him 14 times in a row. If he has the game and mental toughness to take out Djokovic–the 3 time defending AO Champion who hadn’t lost a match since last August–I think he has the mental toughness to bring a good fight to Nadal.
The last time they played, Rafa very narrowly beat Stan in two tiebreak sets. Stan actually won more total points and return points than Rafa in that match–it came down to a couple of points in the tiebreakers.
I wrote more about the matchup in my post last night:
http://atpcrosscourt.blogspot.com/2014/01/previewing-2014-ao-mens-final-who-stan.html
I’d certainly like to hear opinions on whether Stan’s backhand is as susceptible to being attacked as Nadal’s–I’m inclined to think it isn’t, but I’d like to know what you guys think.
And on Federer and Nadal–I think it’s going to be tough for Fed to get wins over Nadal at this point in his career, unless it is a very fast surface and Fed’s game is really on. I thought Federer had a decent shot at winning given Nadal’s questionable hand situation and the fact that he didn’t exactly blow away Dimitrov and Nishikori.
And Fed was looking sharp against Tsonga, which raised my hopes that he might be regaining his old form but credit to Rafa for raising his level and really playing well against Roger. And even if Fed plays well, Rafa always has a big tactical advantage against Roger for crosscourt rallies, and arguably a pretty big psychological advantage as well.
Jordan Willis · January 25, 2014 at 3:28 pm
Just caught an error in my post–I meant to say “I’d certainly like to hear opinions on whether Stan’s backhand is as susceptible to being attacked as Federer’s.”
Stan’s backhand is a wicked shot–but can Nadal break it down the way he does to Federer? I’m not sure that Stan’s backhand will eventually fall apart against Nadal’s forehands. Does Stan use a bit of a different grip than Roger on his one-hander, or am I wrong?
Bryan · January 25, 2014 at 3:39 pm
Well, Dominika crash and burned against Li Na as expected. I’d be surprised if Stan extends this beyond 3 sets. Hope I’m wrong but both finals are looking like afterthoughts.
Bryan · January 25, 2014 at 3:41 pm
“Federer beating Nadal is still possible????? He hasn’t beaten Rafa in a slam since 2007 when Rafa was 20 years old.”
Tootsie, I didn’t suggest he’d beat Rafa in a slam. He may beat him in 500 level tournament though. It’s a long season and players have off nights since they peak at different times. If Federer catches Rafa during a lull while he’s trying to peak that could be the difference.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2014 at 8:33 pm
Jordan thank you for the kind words about the site and welcome. Good point about Stan having the mental fortitude to keep believing he could beat Djokovic and he finally did it, even after last year’s heartbreaking loss. This showed Stan is an extraordinary player and fighter who is capable of magical tennis (remember his OLY gold medal doubles performance he played better than Roger). The gut feeling is to heavily favor Rafa but like you say, the last match was very tight 67 67. Stan knows he’s very close to figuring out the Rafa puzzle. He is not one to give up or tank after heartbreaking close losses such as the one to Djokovic last year. They apparently make him stronger. The first set will be important. Stan is on a career high right now. He has waited and suffered long enough, it’s his time to shine, his time to become a champion. If Stan can come out relaxed and focused, pumped up, and he can win the first set it will be a 50-50 match. Hopefully the Aussie crowd will take Stan’s side and inspire him to victory, nothing against Rafa but he’s won more than enough already 🙂 Would be so nice to see Stan become a legend.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Cibulkova just got beat. She played well but Li Na is playing lights out tennis. Doesn’t matter than the second set was a bagel, Li Na was amazing. It was a compelling match to watch. Cibulkova has nothing to feel bad about, she made history for her country Slovakia, she is the first Slovakian to play in a major singles final.
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2014 at 8:37 pm
Bryan, when Rafa is in full throttle mode, he owns Federer. Fed’s best chance is to catch him somewhere like Halle or Rotterdam, even then if Rafa plays his game, Fed’s gonna have to come up with the magic.