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Rafa does it again.

43 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/rafa-does-it-again.107799/

dreamcatcher
dreamcatcher Original post #1
Feb 1, 2009 at 7:51 PM
Rafael Nadal. Remember this name. Coz this man is capable of streaming tears down the most affluent of athletes. A man of which, to score a point, you have to play it thrice. A man, who after a grueling 5 hour match 48 hours earlier comes back and wins the Australian open, that lasted for more than 4 hours. A man,who has indescribable physical ability, a man whom at 22, has shaken the world with his godly performances.

Rafa, as we fondly remember him, is the Australian Open Champion, 2009. Congrats dude, we see you and cheer. You tire us watching you drive back even the fiercest of shots.You convert a two hour game into a 5 hour marathon. You refuse to give up. You refuse to accept defeat. You are as close to perfect as you can be. We hate you for that. We are jealous. But we want to hate you for the rest of our lives. You Rock Rafa. You inspire us to perspire. You are a god to atheists and we want you to remain so.

CONGRATS!!!!
Coool
Coool #2
Feb 1, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Nadal rocks!!!!!!!!
latino_ansari
Feb 1, 2009 at 10:45 PM
He is the 2009 australian open champion... not the 2008... Correct ur post
red_devil
Feb 1, 2009 at 11:55 PM
Rafa, as we fondly remember him, is the Australian Open Champion, 2008.
he ain't dead and he never made it to the 2008 finals...he got pwned by Tsonga [i guess]

You tire us watching you drive
TRUE.

You convert a two hour game into a 5 hour marathon.
the way I see it, its hardly a complement :rolleyes:
Coool
Coool #6
Feb 2, 2009 at 8:43 AM
hey, have a look at this video......:( :(
*in.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPEwjTFc-I
M
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:31 PM
the semis between nadal and fernando was awesome--fernando should have won the match--the moment nadal won i knew he would defeat roger.
N
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Roger federer is the the best!!
no doubt his aura of invinciblity is now getting dented by rafael nadal
desiibond
Feb 2, 2009 at 1:53 PM
^^ Dented. He doesn't have an answer.
N
Feb 2, 2009 at 5:11 PM
Winning 2 sets,i think he has perfectly answered nadal.
Now now how can u compare 6 time g.slam winner vid 13 time superstar!!
he is not even half way federer.
dreamcatcher
Feb 2, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Well nadal is 22 and federer is 27.That explains a lot. :D
N
Feb 2, 2009 at 6:10 PM
then nadal also has bandaged his knees !!!
his knees r gone....
having gone under knee surgeries more than 3 times explains his future brightly!!
n forget not federer suffered frm a glandular fever vich was very severe and he dropped just 1 place in ranking whereas Ancic ,1nce ranked 20 th lost 200 ranks!!!:Dfederer is just about class ,elegance and skill ...rafa is just run run n run!!!!!!11:cool:
he has only 1year more!!!
dreamcatcher
Feb 2, 2009 at 8:14 PM
Yea, playing a 5 hour marathon a few hours before the final, and coming back with the same enthu and dedication in the final. You guys should be praising him rather than bashing. He had not lost a set in the entire tournament until the run in the semis. Thats speaks a lot about his commitment and level of brilliance. Federer all but stormed into the finals.
red_devil
red_devil #14
Feb 2, 2009 at 8:43 PM
mate, is there any term called ELEGANCE in Rafa's game ? nope.... its only power...when he came up against an equally powerful opponent in Verdasco in semis he got the game stretched to 5 sets...he might have even lost it if not for Verdasco's inexperience and that bloody double fault....


yes I do accept that Rafa is a good athlete....he's even better an athlete than Federer but he sure isn't a tennis player greater than Federer..

Its only time when someone powerful and young comes along and will just bead Nadal in his own power game...[like what happened with Williams sisters....]

there is this cliched saying in cricket "Form is temporary, class is permanent"

I would twist it a bit in tennis and say, "Power is temporary, Elegance is permanent" :D
desiibond
desiibond #15
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:13 PM
then nadal also has bandaged his knees !!!
his knees r gone....
having gone under knee surgeries more than 3 times explains his future brightly!!
n forget not federer suffered frm a glandular fever vich was very severe and he dropped just 1 place in ranking whereas Ancic ,1nce ranked 20 th lost 200 ranks!!!:Dfederer is just about class ,elegance and skill ...rafa is just run run n run!!!!!!11:cool:
he has only 1year more!!!

huh. He is the only player after Agassi to win Grand Slams on all three surfaces. He is on track to be one of the few to win all four Grand Slam titles.

Rafa is not just about running, look at the angles that the creates.
red_devil
red_devil #16
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:17 PM
^ and even after creating all those angles, he almost lost to Verdasco... guess its about time when verdasco gets better of Rafa !!

[Roland Garros will probably the place ;) ]
G
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Nadal Rules
desiibond
desiibond #18
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:30 PM
^ and even after creating all those angles, he almost lost to Verdasco... guess its about time when verdasco gets better of Rafa !!

[Roland Garros will probably the place ;) ]

Did you forget FedEX's fourth round match against Tomas Berdych??

See, I too am a fan of FedEx but I just can't stop appreciating the amount of high quality tennis that was played in the final and there is no doubt that FedEX was outplayed by Rafa. Had Rafa played a 3-setter in semi's, this would've been a 4setter.
red_devil
red_devil #19
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:42 PM
federer lost the first 2 there but the remaining 3 were a master class for Berdych...sadly the same cannot be said of the Rafa-Verdasco match..

and I'm not saying Rafa is bad...i'm only saying that Rafa's game is all about power, stamina by which he can chase down a lot of great balls...Federer is a class apart from Rafa..
desiibond
desiibond #20
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:55 PM
^^ yes. But also remember that Berdych has a strained hamstring for 4th and 5th sets which made the task easy and on the other hand, Raja was playing with another Rafa in semifinals :)
red_devil
red_devil #21
Feb 2, 2009 at 9:57 PM
ok ok.... peace :)
dreamcatcher
Feb 3, 2009 at 4:35 PM
BTW, nadal and federer have met 15 times. Nadal leads federer 13-6. I have no idea what you are saying. Talking of class, federer doesn't seem to negotiate nadal's backhand chop, which has a kick of topspin in it. If you are a legend, you should be able to manage them. And nadal is just 22, and has won 6 grand slams. Federer at this age had won only 2. The way he delivers winners out of nothing is an achievement in itself.

We will see who rules.
Career Singles Matches:
Nadal (344–78) = 81.5% Wins
Federer (626–151) = 80.5% Wins

Career Double Matches
Nadal (73–45) = 61.9% Wins
Federer (112–71) = 61.2% Wins

Head to Head...
Nadal 13
Federer 6

GrandSlams by age 22
Nadal 6
Federer 2

french open still left, and we all know how federer fares there. Clay courts. Bleh!!
N
Feb 3, 2009 at 4:45 PM
rafa himself said that he wants to b "NEXT FEDERER " now whats more!!
dreamcatcher
Feb 3, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Well yea, if he has more grand slams than federer he undoubtedly becomes better than federer. And remember, Rafa has an olympic gold too, that eluded federer.
N
Feb 4, 2009 at 7:52 AM
yes but for now federer is 1 of the all time g8's and rafa is on verge of becoming 1 !!! n mind u its not "ELUDED" federer it "ELUDES" federer.....may b not after 2012
red_devil
red_devil #26
Feb 4, 2009 at 12:34 PM
@dreamcatcher

mate, once Rafa plays as much as Federer has, even his career record wouldn't be like what the numbers seem to suggest now....

Nadal (344–78 ) = 81.5% Wins
Federer (626–151) = 80.5% Wins


I mean look at that !! Federer has played twice (almost) as many matches as Nadal..yet his winning percentage is 80.5% that tells you how great a man he is...

and dont forget, Federer has pwned most of his opponents and now Rafa has come along...same thing will happen to Rafa...someone more powerful [a la Verdasco] will come along and then he'll find it difficult to match him....afterall Rafa is human too..so once he starts getting older, the power in his strokes will die down...but even at his age, Federer has the CLASS and the TOUCH and that doesn't die down with age...
Brute force isn't always the answer....


Bottomline... Nadal is good. But he still has a long way to go to prove that he can match Federer's [let alone go past him]
dreamcatcher
Feb 5, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Let's see where Roger was, when we compare the two at Rafa's age, 22 years, 7 months, 28 days.

Rafal Nadal/ Roger Federer.
Overall record: 344-78/ 259-112
Titles: 32/ 14
Hard court titles: 8/ 9
Major titles: 6/ 2
Weeks at #1: 24/ 10
Record vs #1: 12-6/ 2-3

Well. Need I say more??


@niraj- You dont assume federer will win the olympic gold at 2012, do u??
maybe yuki ;)
Coool
Coool #29
Feb 5, 2009 at 5:23 PM
^ well said bro :D
red_devil
red_devil #30
Feb 6, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Let's see where Roger was, when we compare the two at Rafa's age, 22 years, 7 months, 28 days.

Rafal Nadal/ Roger Federer.
Overall record: 344-78/ 259-112
Titles: 32/ 14
Hard court titles: 8/ 9
Major titles: 6/ 2
Weeks at #1: 24/ 10
Record vs #1: 12-6/ 2-3

Statistics are like mini-skirts .. they give you good ideas but hide the most important parts :D
confused!!
Feb 6, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Statistics are like mini-skirts .. they give you good ideas but hide the most important parts :D

I have to agree on this because of the mini skirt quote :D:D
dreamcatcher
Feb 7, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Good one. :lol:

But doesnt change the fact that nadal is probing and will eventualy better federer. Temme, if he is so great, what happens at Paris?? Why does he whimper there?? Last year Nadal screwed him in straight sets. 6-1 6-3 6-0 :lol:
red_devil
red_devil #34
Feb 7, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Good one. :lol:

But doesnt change the fact that nadal is probing and will eventualy better federer. Temme, if he is so great, what happens at Paris?? Why does he whimper there?? Last year Nadal screwed him in straight sets. 6-1 6-3 6-0 :lol:


now you're on the right track....Fedex is UP THERE...nadal is trying to reach those heights....but at the moment he is not...[and no stats please]


Will he get there ? possibly wrt the number of grand slams he wins but he can never match what Federer has got..CLASS. Nadal is a hard working bull...its just brute force...he will never acquire the finesse that is so wonderful to watch.

and i do agree clay is not one of Federers strong points and how he lost in straight sets is rather surprising but then again Federer has screwed Nadal over in other matches too...

But to say that Nadal is great cos he screwed Federer means that you are too looking at Federer as a benchmark...anyone who beats Federer convincingly is called a great player which only states that FEDERER is THE MAN TO BEAT.

Speaks volumes of the man...doesn't it ? ;)
dreamcatcher
Feb 7, 2009 at 1:20 PM
Well yea. Isnt it obvious?? Federer is and will be a benchmark for many years. Nadal may surpass him, but federers forehands will go back in history as one of the best.

But nadal prizes the criterion for being a genius. 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Federer is more inspiration and is bound to do mistakes when made to perspire more.

I hope Nadal becomes the frst ever to win all four grandslams this year. Or better, nadal wins 3 and federer equals sampras.
red_devil
red_devil #36
Feb 7, 2009 at 1:27 PM
^ so we reach a middle ground... ;)

just make that nadal wins 2 and Federer goes beyond sampras :p
confused!!
Feb 7, 2009 at 1:36 PM
^^yeah that will be lot better with both getting a pie
dreamcatcher
Feb 7, 2009 at 1:38 PM
That means Wimbledon goes to federer, french being a distant possibility. Too much to ask for. ;)

Federer can wait till next year. :lol:
confused!!
Feb 7, 2009 at 2:19 PM
Hmm I would like to see federer with french open and nadal with US open.. that would make them even
Coool
Coool #40
Feb 7, 2009 at 4:36 PM
^ that wont happen.....Nadal gonna take both with him:D
red_devil
red_devil #41
Feb 7, 2009 at 4:41 PM
^ ...or hopefully Nadal will get pwned in both of them :D
confused!!
Feb 7, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Talking about Nadal and Federer...What if somebody else say Murray or Djokovich or anybody else beats them...I mean that is still remotely possible(Apart from French Open where I think nobody can beat Rafa)