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Rafael Nadal

 
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:30 pm    Post subject: Rafael Nadal Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Well, after 4 and a half years of being #1, Roger Federer was surpassed in points today by Rafael Nadal-- who has been #2 for over 3 years! Both players set the record by miles for longest consecutive holders of both positions.

Either way, it's a pretty big deal. I'm sure Roger will say it doesn't mean much, and I'm sure Rafa will try to play it off as unimportant-- but it's really a changing of the guard you could say.

We just need to wait and see if Rafa can prove himself on hard courts. He has always struggled with that surface due to the strain it puts on his knees-- if he can show this year that he can win on that surface he won't just have earned the #1 ranking, but proven that he is truly the best player on the tour.

Tomorrow Rafa will have to play Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the tournament that just gave him the #1 place in the world. It's going to be a really good indicator of where he will stand for the US Open, expecially because by all counts Novak Djokovic has proven himself to be the better had court tennis player.

Thoughts? How long do you all think Rafa will hold the #1 spot? He's only a small bit ahead of Roger at this point (obviously). So, if Roger were to win at the Olympics, or to make it deep in the US Open he could easily reclaim the #1 spot before the end of the year.

However, I did make a prediction after the Australian Open that by the end of the year we would have a new World #1, either Rafa, or Novak-- and I wasn't false. We'll see how the rest of the year turns out.





....
To be honest, I think Roger should just take a long vacation. Just take all the rest of the year off-- and come back next year at the Australian Open. =P
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Woot! Rafa has his own thread! :D

If Rafa wins Cincinnati (sp?) he'll be the new No 1 this Monday. The difference between 2007 and 2008 is in my opinion: In the last years Rafa played only very good on clay but this year he improved a lot, he even won "Federer's Grass Tournament" called Wimbledon. Even if Rafa loses to Djoko or in the final against whomever he already improved on hard court and I'm sure he will continue to improve on the different courts - except on clay of course. Rafa already showed this year that he's the best player on tour. He won 7 tournaments (maybe 8 with Cincinnati), Roger won only 2 - both weren't THAT important, he didn't win one single Grand Slam. Winning both, the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year was a masterpiece what happened the last time nearly 30 years ago. And it's something that Roger never did. So no matter how Cincinnati will end: Rafa deserved to be No 1.

If Rafa can improve on hard court he will be the No 1 in 2008, I doubt that Roger can come back this year and beat him. It must have been mega-disappointing and mega-frustrating for him to lose with such a clear result in Paris and also lose in Wimbledon. I think Rafa is Roger's "scared opponent" so I don't think that Roger will win the Olympics, not to speak of the US Open. So I agree with you Gilly: Roger should take a long vacation. If he really does so then it would be interesting how he's doing at the Australian Open.

But maybe I'm wrong and Roger surprises me by winning the Olympics and the US Open ... :wink: .... even if he'll be the No 1 again this year: most important for me is that Rafa knocked him out so clearly at the French Open and defeated him on that court everybody thought Roger is unbeatable. That was much more than I could hope for.
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Even if Rafa loses today against Djokovic, he'll still become #1 on Monday. It will be an interesting match that I am most definitely going to watch, though. He has definitely earned the ranking of #1-- but in my mind he hasn't yet proven himself to be a better all-around tennis player than Roger Federer. If he can manage to win either the Olympics or the US Open, or the Australian Open next year I can accept him as the best player in the world. ;)

He definitely deserves the #1 spot at this point, though. Especially after 3 years of trying his best to obtain it.

edit: Djokovic just trounced Nadal pretty badly in Cincinnati. So for now, I remain skeptical about how good Rafa has become on hard courts.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Well, Rafa lost 1-6 and 5-7 so losing a set by 5-7 isn't "trounced badly" in my opinion. ^^ Roger lost the French Open final with 1-6 3-6 0-6 and I can't remember that someone was skeptical about his skills on clay court. ;-) So I still say Rafa improved a lot this year and getting to the semi final on hard court is an improvement for him. So no matter if Rafa lost or won vs Djoko, most important for me is that he's the No 1. No matter if he climbs the throne on August 4th, 11th or 18th.

I'm glad that Djoko won for this reason: hopefully he gets the points for winning the tournament and would get closer to Roger. So I start to support Djoko in the tournaments (US-Open for example) too.
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

First off, I have to say-- that is a very nice avatar. XD

Second-- Roger has proved his worth on clay by winning two masters series tournaments on that surface, and also making it to the French Open finals 3 times.

Third-- Roger was 'trounced' very badly at this years French Open. :)

As much as I love Djokovic, though, he's still over 2000 points behind both Roger and Rafa-- but he definitely is able to close the gap on the hard court season, which is his best. If he manages to win the US Open (which he most certainly could) it would put him in a great position for the beginning of next year.

But also-- WOW. Did anyone see the Andy Murray-Djoker final yesterday. It was a fantastic match-- and Andy definitely deserved the win. I think Andy Murray is going to be the first British slam contender in a long time. I think I see him in the top 5 in the near future.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Gilly wrote:

If he can manage to win either the Olympics or the US Open, or the Australian Open next year I can accept him as the best player in the world.


Rafa won the Olympics so do you accept him as the best player in the world? Finally? ;-)
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Currently he is playing the best tennis in the world, I accepted that fact when he earned enough points to become #1. However I'm still unsure of how he plays on hard courts, since I didn't really get to watch him play much. We'll see. I'll have more of an opportunity to watch him play at the US Open since it's in the same timezone as I am, and all.
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Double post~

Congratulations to Rafa, with Rafa and Roger both losing in the Semifinals of Madrid last week Rafa secured his rank at #1 for the end of the year! If he can win the carpet surface masters tournament next week (which seems like a good chance for him) then he will extend his lead very nicely.

Congrats to that Spanish cutie. :)
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