I managed to watch about a set of the finals of Barcelona between Nadal and Ferrer. For some reason, Tennis Channel opted to show it tape delayed even though it showed earlier rounds live. I knew Nadal had won the first set comfortably, and I knew Ferrer was up a break in the second based
You just can't beat him. Not unless he's injured. David Ferrer won fairly easily yesterday over Nicolas Almagro, but he said it took a lot out of him. And his reward? Play Nadal. Again. He just played him in Monte Carlo, but couldn't take a set off him. Ferrer didn't start well going down two
Nadal is at it once again. Ever since he burst on the tennis scene, he became the king of clay, and nothing has really stopped him except his own injuries. Nadal beat Dodig, a Croatian that's maybe a year older than Nadal, but far less successful. Dodig is having his best week in some time
Of the eight quarterfinalists in this Barcelona event mostly owned by Nadal, 5 were Spaniards. This included Nadal, Ferrer, Ferrero, Almagro, and Lopez. The other three were Gael Monfils, Jurgen Melzer, and Ivan Dodig. Ivan who? Yeah, basically. Is Dodig a up-and-coming 19 year old ready to make a big splash? No, not really. He's
Monfils isn't such a good match for Nadal. You would think he would be. Tall, French, and flashy, you might think his athleticism would make a difference. But there are reasons Nadal tends to own Monfils. First, Nadal is quick enough that even when Monfils goes for a big shot and makes it, Nadal is
Rafa is among the toughest players to beat. This is one big reason he's number 1. Let's first go through his strengths to see why he's so tough. Everyone starts with Rafa's tenacity, his never-say-die attitude. This is clearly important, but if he couldn't hit shots, it wouldn't matter. Rafa doesn't play badly very often,
It's hard to fathom 7 times in a row. With his tight victory over fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal just won Monte Carlo seven times in a row. There are "couldas and wouldas". Had Federer won Wimbledon 2008 then captured it in 2009, he would have 7 Wimbledons in a row. He's had 5
When racquets were tiny, and the ability to hit a good shot merely meant to keep the ball in play, the ultimate in strategy was pure steadiness. Before Nadal was king of clay, there was Bjorn Borg. Thin, wiry, iconically Swedish, Borg was the stoic player. When the world was playing slice and Continental grips,
The match almost didn't start at all. An announcement was made at the start that Murray wasn't ready to play right away due to a possible injury and it would start 15 minutes late, if at all. But Murray did show up, and the question became, what's his health like. Murray immediately opened with a
It was said, when you had a player that scored as much as Michael Jordan, that he would get his. You just hoped to contain everyone else. When Nadal is on clay, he generally gets his. You have to be playing some amazing dirt ball, and then, you have to hope he's injured. If you
