Rafa does it again.

[dreamcatcher]

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]

Nadal rocks!!!!!!!!

[latino_ansari]

He is the 2009 australian open champion... not the 2008... Correct ur post

[red_devil]

Originally Posted by dreamcatcher

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

[Liverpool_fan]

[Coool]

hey, have a look at this video......
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPEwjTFc-I

[manishjha18]

the semis between nadal and fernando was awesome--fernando should have won the match--the moment nadal won i knew he would defeat roger.

[niraj trehan]

Roger federer is the the best!!
no doubt his aura of invinciblity is now getting dented by rafael nadal

[desiibond]

^^ Dented. He doesn't have an answer.

[niraj trehan]

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]

Well nadal is 22 and federer is 27.That explains a lot.

[niraj trehan]

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!!!federer is just about class ,elegance and skill ...rafa is just run run n run!!!!!!11
he has only 1year more!!!

[dreamcatcher]

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]

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"

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by niraj trehan

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!!!federer is just about class ,elegance and skill ...rafa is just run run n run!!!!!!11
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]

^ 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 ]

[gopi_vbboy]

Nadal Rules

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by n6300

^ 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]

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]

^^ 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]

ok ok.... peace

[dreamcatcher]

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!!

[niraj trehan]

rafa himself said that he wants to b "NEXT FEDERER " now whats more!!

[dreamcatcher]

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.

[niraj trehan]

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]

@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]

[niraj trehan]

well said bro

[dreamcatcher]

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]

^ well said bro

[red_devil]

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