Choose your upset pick for the Men's French Open Semi's! (Page 5 of 5)

What a great final! 

Roger played brilliantly, but for two and a half sets Rafa was able to win by relying on his impenetrable defense.  Then Roger raised his game to a new level late in the third, when the new balls came in.  It was unexpected and beautiful.  For the first time, Rafa realized, it was necessary to become more aggressive, and he did.  He upped his serve (and pretty much everything else) by 5%.  That was a genius move because it did not cause Rafa to miss more often, and the little bit of extra aggression made all the difference.  Wonderful stuff!

Wimbledon should be interesting.  Based on everybody's form at Roland Garros -- IF it carries forward -- I like Federer to win.  Of course, that gets dicier if he has to play Rafa.

Now that I have replaced my poor dead computer, which finally gave up the ghost for good just before the RG draw came out, I'll be crossing my fingers and picking a team for that one along with the rest of you good folks.  It will be a brave (and probably foolish) thing to omit any of the top 4 men from that team.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 5, 2011 3:21pm)

As a footnote, Rafa was just interviewed by Johnny Mac.  As usual, Rafa could not have been more humble.  He persists in calling Roger "the greatest player of the history" in spite of his 17-8 record against him and dismissed as laughable the suggestion that he, Rafa, is "the best."

I would argue that it is precisely this humility -- combined with his hunger to improve his game and the intelligence of the Nadal camp in making the right changes to accomplish that -- that makes Rafa so formidable.  The first time he won RG he could only spin his serve in, his backhand was weak at best, and the net was foreign territory where you actually had to hit a volley, God forbid.  Today he stepped up his much improved serve at the critical moment.  His backhand is an utterly reliable weapon and Rafa actually passes better off the backhand than the forehand.  Though he did not need to venture forward to beat Roger, Rafa is now one of the best net players in the game.

Djokovic has owned Rafa so far this year.  My take on the near future: look for Rafa to change and improve exactly the parts of his game necessary to answer Djokovic's challenge, and expect the resulting fireworks to be memorable.  My guess is that Rafa's biggest competition at Wimbledon will be Roger (yet again), not Novak.

Right now I like Del Potro, Djokovic or Nadal to win the US Open, but really it's way too early to tell.  Nor is Nole the only "pretender to the throne": Delpo has the right stuff to be number one if he stays healthy.  Tono's right about that.

Men's tennis at the top is the greatest it has ever been, and it's getting better all the time.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 5, 2011 6:00pm)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: 
if Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time -- and he unquestionably is -- then Rafael Nadal is the best player who ever played the game.  For the present, at least, I stand by it.  I think it will last awhile longer.

For all their potential greatness, Djokovic, Del Potro, Murray and the boys have a long way to go to catch up with the two great champions whose rivalry is, to tell the simple truth, unmatched in men's tennis history.  The only other that has matched it in frequency is McEnroe/Lendl, and who could prefer that matchup?  Also -- beyond mere frequency -- for drama and quality Nadal/Federer exceeds every other men's rivalry, including Sampras/Agassi and even Borg/McEnroe.  We are enjoying the greatest rivalry of all time, even now, still yet.  Or so I continue to think.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 5, 2011 7:18pm)

Well, sure you did, Tono.  You're no fool.  Rafa was 5 championships in 6 tries.  Nice odds, mate.

Also, I think that the huge importance of Nole's flexibility goes largely unremarked upon, which is just wrong.  Used to be, he was a physical wonder with limits.  Because of his team's commitment to extraordinary conditioning and improved nutrition, Nole has overcome his prior physical limitations to the point that people on TV actually say things as goofy as that he might be able to outlast Rafa (WOW!!! -- dude -- y'think???).

To me, based upon pure athletic ability alone, the two best natural athletes ever to pick up a racquet are, in some order, Nadal and Djokovic.  Yes, Federer's baby canoe was taken from the Rhine and blessed by the gods of tennis, as everyone knows.  But for all his gliding and spectacular timing, he could not be a professional in a third as many sports as could Nole or Rafa.

I put Djokovic on a par with Nadal athletically.  Then a drop off to Fed.  Then a big drop off to everyone else in tennis history.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 5, 2011 8:05pm)

Well said guys. Good to have you back, Don!