The Coaching Arms Race is On Andy Murray has been working with Ivan Lendl for 2 years. This partnership has yielded 1 Wimbledon title, 1 US Open title, 1 Gold Medal, 1 Wimbledon runner-up finish, and 1 Australian Open runner-up finish. Becker is Back Murray’s successes with Lendl plus Nadal’s improbable dominance after knee injuries…
Category: Rafael Nadal
Rafa or Nole, Who had a Better Year? (POLL)
Rafa won 2 slams, 5 Masters 1000 events, won 3 other events, and was runner-up at 4 events. Rafa beat Nole 3 times including matches at Roland Garros and the US Open. The computer has Rafa ranked #1. Nole won 1 slam, was runner-up at 2 others, and a semifinalist at a fourth. Nole won…
World Tour Finals 2013: Semifinal Predictions
Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer Roger Federer has had an interesting year. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open, was runner-up in Rome, runner-up in Basel, made a number of final 8 or better showings at Masters 1000 events and won Halle. He now finished second in his…
Power Ranking 2013: Paris to London
Power Ranking 2013 #14 1. Rafael Nadal – I said Rafa had locked up the #1 slot on my Power Ranking for 2013 after the US Open. If Nole wins out, I will have to revise that pronouncement. Rafa has not done anything wrong since the US Open ended, but this time of year has…
Bercy 2013 Semifinal Predictions: Djokovic v. Federer & Nadal v. Ferrer
The Masters 1000 event in Paris is always good, but having all 8 World Tour Finals participants in the quarterfinal round was something. Here are my picks: 2 Novak Djokovic vs. 5 Roger Federer Federer has played well to get to this point. Beating Kevin Anderson, Phillipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Martin del Potro in succession…
Tennis Power Ranking 2013: Shanghai
Power Ranking 2013 #13 1. Rafael Nadal – I said Rafa had locked up the #1 slot on my Power Ranking for 2013 after the US Open. If Nole wins out, I will have to revise that pronouncement. Rafa has not done anything wrong since the US Open ended, but this time of year has…
Del Potro vs. Rafa and Nole vs. Tsonga Predictions
Predicted Winners in BOLD Juan Martin del Potro vs. Rafael Nadal JMDP won last week in Tokyo and has a longer winning streak than Rafa at the moment. JMDP has had some historical success versus Rafa. His height makes some of Nadal’s high bounding spin a liability for the Spaniard. If JMDP serves bombs and…
6 October 2013: Quick Hits
Novak Djokovic is still #2 in my Power Rankings (I doubt he cares) and will be #2 in the computer on Monday. Still, Novak has said the right things since the US Open and beat a less than sharp Nadal in straight sets. Still, if Nole is willing to match Rafa’s toughness, I think he…
2013 China Open Final Predictions
Predicted Winners in BOLD [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) H2H I think Nole has a good chance of winning, but until Rafa’s winning streak is snappedhe has to be favored. The new world #1 vs. the man he dethroned. This is the match everyone wants to see. My prediction is 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 for Nadal. [1] Serena…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 