Rafa Nadal

[Gingerale]

it was as i predicted: novak in 4

but i had my doubts after the 3rd set and djokovic's mto.

that was a great match - better than their 4 sets at wimbledon. djokovic gets 3 of the 4 grand slam titles in 2011.

4 GS total. he only needs 12 more to equal federer.

 

[Ferminal]

Without his knee injury Nadal could have done it last year.

Has it ever been done by the way? Not really familiar with all these tennis records, there are so many. I know Djokovic is the youngest player ever to reach all the finals of Grand Slams though.

Rod Laver is the only one to do it in the professional era (I think).

Novak hardly ran in the 4th.

 

[Andynonomous]

Has it ever been done by the way? Not really familiar with all these tennis records, there are so many. I know Djokovic is the youngest player ever to reach all the finals of Grand Slams though.

Winning all 4 "grand slam" events in a calendar year has been accomplished 3 or 4 times in the history of tennis (Rod Laver did it twice - once as an amateur and once as a professional, and Don Budge did it once as an amateur). But the last time it was done was in the 60s (Laver).

Note that the level of competition was much lower, and the game was much less physical in the "old days".

 

[Spider1964]

You guys really hate Nadal if you think he dopes, but Djokovic doesn't. Djokovic used to tire out very quickly before 2011, but now he gets every single ball back. It's the equivalent of Brajkovic winning the Giro or something this year. Or why not, Cobo.

Djokovic was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in late 2010.

http://tennisconnected.com/home/2011/04/27/djokovic-attributes-celiac-disease-to-new-found-form/

But you go right on thinking he's a doper.

Cheers.

 

[El Pistolero]

it was as i predicted: novak in 4

but i had my doubts after the 3rd set and djokovic's mto.

that was a great match - better than their 4 sets at wimbledon. djokovic gets 3 of the 4 grand slam titles in 2011.

4 GS total. he only needs 12 more to equal federer.

That record is officially in danger if he keeps this up.

Nadal can beat Federer most times these days, but sucks against Djokovic. While Federer is probably the only one that can really make it hard for Djokovic.

 

[El Pistolero]

Djokovic was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in late 2010.

http://tennisconnected.com/home/2011/04/27/djokovic-attributes-celiac-disease-to-new-found-form/

But you go right on thinking he's a doper.

Cheers.

The old "I changed my diet" excuse. Bah.

If I need more convincing you just did it.

If Cavendish lays of the candy next season he's sooo going to win the Tour de France.

 

[Andynonomous]

That match was a war of attrition. Those weren't human beings out there. They were robots.

You never saw anything like todays match before Nadal came along. Nadal is used to the other player caving in, but Djokovic is as "fit" as Nadal. Now we have two robots battling it out for supremacy. It's damned ugly.

 

[Gingerale]

if/when novak wins French Open, he'll be in an exclusive club of players in our era winning all 4 grand slams. nadal and federer have both won all 4.

nadal missed out on the 'calendar slam' by losing in the quarterfinal Australian Open 2010. (retired during match vs. murray with an injury)

federer lost out on the calendar slam by losing FO in 2004, 2006 and 2007. nadal really prevented federer from winning all 4 in 2006 and 2007. but now that djokovic has the form he has, nadal doesn't match well against him. it's a fun match-up to watch but not good for nadal to lose 6 titles in a row this year, 2 of them grand slams. that has to be demoralizing in a similar way nadal was for federer.

 

[Parrot23]

You guys really hate Nadal if you think he dopes, but Djokovic doesn't. Djokovic used to tire out very quickly before 2011, but now he gets every single ball back. It's the equivalent of Brajkovic winning the Giro or something this year. Or why not, Cobo.

Hard to miss the way overdeveloped muscles on a guy who never works out in the gym. Not "quite" so "obvious" with Djokovic.

Analogy with cycling is entirely tenuous. Tennis of course is mainly skill, which is NOT to say you don't need the steroids, blood doping etc., whatever they're doing at the highest levels, but it sure ain't cycling. The drugs don't determine the winners superimposed on "natural talent" (V02 max largely genetically gifted, then 10-years of training etc.) as they do in cycling, which is not to say they aren't a sine qua non in tennis at the highest levels.

The Cavendish analogy is ridiculous. And none of this is to say that Djokovic is clean or that I'm a fan of his. It's merely to say the obvious.

Cavendish ain't smart enough to win at competitive tennis. Unfortunately there aren't much smarts or skills required in cycling compared with tennis. It's different ball of wax, but still a great sport in its own right.

 

[Gingerale]

That record is officially in danger if he keeps this up.

Nadal can beat Federer most times these days, but sucks against Djokovic. While Federer is probably the only one that can really make it hard for Djokovic.

yes. that's what i was trying to say. djokovic>nadal and nadal>federer. and i'm not sure if federer is slightly better on clay or djokovic had an off day during that semifinal loss in this years FO to federer.

djokovic beat nadal on clay in rome and madrid. my guess: if he'd have beaten federer, i think he would have beaten nadal on clay in the FO final. but winning the french and wimbledon back to back is maybe like winning a giro-tour. it's tough to do. rafa did it in 2008 and 2010. not sure djokovic would have recovered well enough to beat nadal at wimbledon. federer did it in 2009 with nadal taken out of FO by soderling and nadal pulling out of wimbledon with a knee injury. but federer lost US open that year to del potro. it's no easy feat to win multiple slams per year but federer, nadal and now djokovic have made it appear that way. it's almost expected.

murray could use whatever djokovic's on... hopefully before the australian open.

 

[Spider1964]

The old "I changed my diet" excuse. Bah.

If I need more convincing you just did it.

If Cavendish lays of the candy next season he's sooo going to win the Tour de France.

And if I ever needed more convincing that you are an immature fool, then you just did it.

Great analogy with Cavendish too.... Not. You sure are shooting blanks today popgun.

From personal experience I know that if you are diagnosed with cealiac disease and you take gluten products out of your diet, it makes a huge difference. So do drugs, but I didn't mention that did I? I'm not taking sides either way fyi.

Bye now PopGun.

 

[sniper]

I say holy mother of sweet jesus,
has anybody seen those two guys run tonight?
that's doping taken to a whole new level.
I've never seen anything like it.
Djokovic is obviously on to something powerful and clever (not too muscular, but very strong nonetheless, and very very very fit).
What I like best about the Djoker is that he keeps Nadal (arguably the most annoying and unsportive athlete ever to have walked the face of earth) from winning.

 

[euanli]

From personal experience I know that if you are diagnosed with cealiac disease and you take gluten products out of your diet, it makes a huge difference. So do drugs, but I didn't mention that did I? I'm not taking sides either way fyi.

But how many cealiacs say:

Last night I didn't have any gluten. Tonight I will have a lot of gluten. And alcohol.

?

I've dated two girls who have either had cealiac or gluten allergies and I know how sick it makes you. How many people intentionally poison themselves that much? How many of them are international sports stars who credit the removal of gluten from their diet as the reason for their transformation?

Hell I've not got either and have recently removed gluten from my diet and I know how much it sucks if I have a sandwich now. Its all smoke, mirrors and higher cadences.

 

[Spider1964]

But how many cealiacs say:

Last night I didn't have any gluten. Tonight I will have a lot of gluten. And alcohol.

?

I've dated two girls who have either had cealiac or gluten allergies and I know how sick it makes you. How many people intentionally poison themselves that much? How many of them are international sports stars who credit the removal of gluten from their diet as the reason for their transformation?

Hell I've not got either and have recently removed gluten from my diet and I know how much it sucks if I have a sandwich now. Its all smoke, mirrors and higher cadences.

C'mon.. Seriously? The guy is taking the p!ss. You don't think he may have been joking just a little? Talk about context?

And your experience with cealiacs is from two girls you dated?? Thanks for the lulz. Go on over to the Babes on Bikes thread and share some photos... I'm sure they're hotter than donut grease.

As Serena would say..

WOW? You’re a hater and you’re just unattractive inside

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2011-09-12/201109131315873854121.html

Last year, Novak Djokovic made his second career run to the US Open final, overcoming a two-set deficit in his first round match, defeating five-time champion Roger Federer in the semifinals in five sets and then played a solid final against Rafael Nadal, despite a loss.

Since then he has not made any major changes to his game, but wins and more experience like those, changed his mental approach to facing other top players. He is hitting shots he did not in the past few years, and with more aggression and confidence, and made a change in his diet in the offseason to being gluten-free.

The result has been one of the greatest years in the history of tennis, which Djokovic made even greater Monday.

 

[El Pistolero]

Hard to miss the way overdeveloped muscles on a guy who never works out in the gym. Not "quite" so "obvious" with Djokovic.

Analogy with cycling is entirely tenuous. Tennis of course is mainly skill, which is NOT to say you don't need the steroids, blood doping etc., whatever they're doing at the highest levels, but it sure ain't cycling. The drugs don't determine the winners superimposed on "natural talent" (V02 max largely genetically gifted, then 10-years of training etc.) as they do in cycling, which is not to say they aren't a sine qua non in tennis at the highest levels.

The Cavendish analogy is ridiculous. And none of this is to say that Djokovic is clean or that I'm a fan of his. It's merely to say the obvious.

Cavendish ain't smart enough to win at competitive tennis. Unfortunately there aren't much smarts or skills required in cycling compared with tennis. It's different ball of wax, but still a great sport in its own right.

The tennis Djokovic and Nadal show have more to do with returning impossible balls from impossible locations and that for hours after hours. Djokovic seems to never tire out anymore which was his main weakness in previous years. It's clear and crystal, bring on the bio passport, tennis needs it. To say doping isn't important in a sport where they run around for hours for 2 weeks is ridiculous. And these guys serve pretty hard you know, another thing doping can boost. There are hardly any tests in tennis and even if you f*ck up your whereabouts you're not getting punished because no one cares(Yanina Wickmayer). Tennis is a joke. Federer has a very technical playing style that benefits less of doping, but you just can't say the same of Nadal and Djokovic. I'm sure they're also very talented, but that is not to say they don't dope. Some of their rallies were like seeing Rassmussen and Contador duke it out on Plateau de Beille!

 

[sniper]

The tennis Djokovic and Nadal show have more to do with returning impossible balls from impossible locations and that for hours after hours. Djokovic seems to never tire out anymore which was his main weakness in previous years. It's clear and crystal, bring on the bio passport, tennis needs it. To say doping isn't important in a sport where they run around for hours for 2 weeks is ridiculous. And these guys serve pretty hard you know, another thing doping can boost. There are hardly any tests in tennis and even if you f*ck up your whereabouts you're not getting punished because no one cares(Yanina Wickmayer). Tennis is a joke. Federer has a very technical playing style that benefits less of doping, but you just can't say the same of Nadal and Djokovic. I'm sure they're also very talented, but that is not to say they don't dope. Some of their rallies were like seeing Rassmussen and Contador duke it out on Plateau de Beille!

I was thinking the exact same thing last night.

 

[Cycle Chic]

That match was a war of attrition. Those weren't human beings out there. They were robots.

You never saw anything like todays match before Nadal came along. Nadal is used to the other player caving in, but Djokovic is as "fit" as Nadal. Now we have two robots battling it out for supremacy. It's damned ugly.

Well said. That was a ridiculous match to watch last night - even to the naive. Good to see Nadal's face though - p***d off that he has met a fellow doper.

 

[Parrot23]

Of course, Nadal and Djokovic seem doped to the gills. Hard to deny that. Who'd be surprised? Their mothers? You guys?

BUT all the doping in the world is not going to turn you or them into good tennis players (or result in even an iota of the skills shown yesterday).

Not so with cycling at all (though you have to start with a genetically gifted, high VO2 MAX to begin with). There are practically no genetic gifts in tennis. It's 95% skill. Not so in cycling at all.

Your serve, Cavendish, ROFLMAO

Let's face it, the avg. tennis player is a hell of better athlete than the avg. cyclist, ha, ha! (NB: I'm still a cycling fan.) In purely athletic terms, Contador or Evans or Gilbert etc. are rank amateurs, just mice, compared to the top tennis players. Ha, ha, but it's true!

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Of course, Nadal and Djokovic are probably doped to the gills. Hard to deny that. Who'd be surprised? Their mothers? You guys?

BUT all the doping in the world is not going to turn you or them into good tennis players (or result in even an iota of the skills shown yesterday).

Not so with cycling at all (though you have to start with a genetically gifted, high VO2 MAX to begin with). There are practically no genetic gifts in tennis. It's skill, it's practice, practice, more practice, some more practice, practice, practice....much more than 10,000 hours. Did I say practice yet? Analogy with cycling doesn't work.

Your serve, Cavendish, ROFLMAO

Let's face it, the avg. tennis player is a hell of better athlete than the avg. cyclist, ha, ha! (NB: I'm still a cycling fan.)

That sounds a lot of practice..... I wonder is there a PED that could help with that endurance that would help them practice more and more?

 

[Ferminal]

In any sport I play I find it very difficult to execute skills when I am heavily fatigued. I'm sure part of this is training constantly in the state to learn how to do it, but there is also a point where no amount of skill can overcome the complaints of your body. Otherwise why do biathletes tradeoff ski speed and shooting.

 

[movingtarget]

I believe that some 10 years ago or so, Venus and Serena Williams (then ranked No. 1 and No. 2) played Karsten Braasch, at the time ranked outside the top 200 in the world. He was a notorious chain smoker. He even smoked at the change of ends.
The idea was, as they were dominating the ladies' game at the time, they were as good as some male players.
Braasch played a set against each sister, I believe the scorecard was 6-1 and 6-2. They were demolished by a nobody basically.

And what does that prove ? Men are stronger than women ? I like watching the women's tennis except for some of the screamers and the moronic behaviour of Williams. The men's is too predictable.....the top three men win everything.......the women's is more unpredictable. And three good sets is often better than some five hour mens match on clay courts.

 

[Parrot23]

I think what the U.S. Open organizers should have done is this:

Dope test Nadal and Djokovic before the finals. Then we would have an exactly level playing field, so we'd have an equal competition, LOL.

Then hand them tricycles and the winner is the first one who completes 1,000 laps of the court. That's pro tricycling for you, ha, ha!

Fans would go wild watching 4 hours of this--and it would be a perfectly fair competition. The world's greatest tricyclists.



10,000 hours of practice. Piano players on PEDS, too? Probably are, might make a big difference, but it ain't make them good piano players.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Here is a little something to ponder.

Bill Gifford asked this question on his twitter yesterday -
"Q: What do Nadal, Federer, the Williamses, & Sharapova have in common? A: Each missed an out-of-comp drug test in '09:" http://twitter.com/#!/billgifford

The ITF did a total of 2126 tests in 2009 - of that just 154 were 'out of competition', but of that 154 an amazing 49 tests were missed.

The ITF posted the statistics in this document - but redacted the names of the players, fortunatley someone had kept a copy of the original document with the names of all those who had missed OOC tests.

*Hat tip to @tehaspe on twitter for highlighting the documents.

 

[Parrot23]

In any sport I play I find it very difficult to execute skills when I am heavily fatigued. I'm sure part of this is training constantly in the state to learn how to do it, but there is also a point where no amount of skill can overcome the complaints of your body. Otherwise why do biathletes tradeoff ski speed and shooting.

Yes, agree. Good point. So among equals, the PEDS might make the difference (or be a requirement to win, as it seemed yesterday).

But the PEDs won't get you there, to the top, no matter how much you take, in a skill-based sport.

 

[just some guy]

I think what the U.S. Open organizers should have done is this:

Dope test Nadal and Djokovic before the finals. Then we would have an exactly level playing field, so we'd have an equal competition, LOL.

Then hand them tricycles and the winner is the first one who completes 1,000 laps of the court. That's pro tricycling for you, ha, ha!

Fans would go wild watching 4 hours of this--and it would be a perfectly fair competition. The world's greatest tricyclists.



10,000 hours of practice. Piano players on PEDS, too? Probably are, might make a big difference, but it ain't make them good piano players.

Beta Blockers and they are used a lot