Down Goes Nadal?!?! Rafael Nadal is an absurd 277-12 on clay since 2005. 2 of those 12 losses have come over the past two weeks. Unlike, Rafa’s 2011 Madrid and Rome losses to Novak Djokovic neither of these losses came against men with Grand Slam titles or in the championship match. Make no mistake…
Tag: Rafael Nadal
March Madness: Nadal vs. Djokovic Preview and Prediction
Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) After Nole ended 2013 with a huge winning streak, dreams of Djokovic winning his 5th Australian Open title setting up a battle with Rafael Nadal in Paris seemed tantalizingly close. Instead, Stan Wawrinka beat both Nole and Rafa in Melbourne and 2014 has been a year without a…
Masters Miami 2014: Nadal vs. Berdych Prediction
Semifinals Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Tomas Berdych (7) I think Berdych could win this match, but my guess is that a Rafa-Nole collision is on the horizon. Berdych’s chance is to play first strike tennis and take control of points off of his serve and his return. If Rafa serves well enough, I think he will get his…
Masters Miami: March 27, 2014 ATP Predictions
Predicted Winners in BOLD Nishikori’s win was not a total shock, but it does send Roger into the clay court season only picking up 216 points in Miami rather than the 360 or more he would have added had he reached the semifinal round. That could be important for Wimbledon and French Open seeding. Rafael…
Masters Miami Predictions: March 24, 2014
Predicted Winners in BOLD Milos Raonic (12) vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – This is no sure thing, I think Raonic wins. He likes the surface in Miami and that means a lot. Alexandr Dolgopolov (22) vs. Dusan Lajovic – Dolgopolov has been strong as of late. Tomas Berdych (7) vs. Joao Sousa – Cash the Big Czech for at…
Indian Wells Predictions March 10, 2014
Predicted Winners in BOLD [27] Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) v [7] Roger Federer (SUI) – I would not be shocked if the blogging Russian found a way to win a single set, but I think Federer advances. [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) v [28] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) – A rematch of sorts, but I think Rafa wins unless Dolgopolov has a superhuman moment playing for his native Ukraine in…
Tennis Power Ranking 2014: Pre-Indian Wells
Second Tennis Power Ranking 2014 Not a lot has happened since Melbourne and that is about to change with two Masters 1000 events being played in succession Rafael Nadal – Rafa has won 2 events in 2014 and was runner-up at the first slam. He is a lock for the top spot right now. Stanislas…
Does Andujar’s Close Call Mean Something?
Pablo Andujar pushed Rafael Nadal to the limit in last week’s semifinal match in Rio. Andujar is not the young clay-court player I keep expecting to break onto the scene and make matches wars of attrition. He is actually older than Rafael Nadal. Still, It is a big deal for a baseline player to have…
The 5 Least Important Federer-Nadal Matches
A lot was made about the recent Australian Open match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Notable tennis observers even called it a career defining match. Sometimes reality works out in ways that tennis analysts would not predict. Federer lost to Nadal again, but Rafa getting to 17 majors seems like a more uphill affair…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 