Rome Final: Nadal v. Federer

[Cro Morgan]

I'm going with Nadal.

[djarvik]

Nadals win is paramount to Gulbis's success, so I am going with Rafa in straights. This way Gulbis would have almost won the eventual champion, again

[Moralspain]

Like "Steyolol" said

Its about an understanding of tennis.

, so..well after checking stats, 14 matches on clay between these 2 supermen with 12 wins for Rafa and only 2 for Federer, my "understanding of tennis"
says that not to vote for Rafa would be a nonsense.
We all know the tactic Nadal will be using tomorrow and like most of the times it will probably work, btw it's difficult to understand that after all these years Federer hasn't learned how to hit that high BH.

In 3 btw

[Rob ITST]

btw it's difficult to understand that after all these years Federer hasn't learned how to hit that high BH.

I think it's his grip. His grip is suited better for low balls, and no matter how much he practices it, high backhands will always give him trouble - especially high, deep, and with heavy spin.

At this point though, I think it's as much mental as anything else. Look at their last RG meeting - Fed dominated throughout much of the match, but when he looked like he might actually have a chance to win, he got tight. That, and Nadal's defense is just so tough - when his usual tactic wasn't working, he doubled his effort. There were so many points that Federer was winning, only to have to hit an overhead from behind the baseline off of one of Rafa's defensive lobs. On a different court, or even just against an opponent who he has more confidence against, he could have moved forward to take those overheads out of the air at mid court - but he was too tentative to be that aggressive with his court positioning.

[Moralspain]

and going backwards to hit the ball lower?, or use his slice like he does on fast courts?, don't know but it's time to try something new no?, I don't see the point o keep playing the same way when you see it never works, I do know his coaches are better than us, but the best tennis player of all times losing most of these duels against his main rival has no sense. Remember that he not only loses on clay, he has lost important finals on hard and grass against Rafa

[SteyololBANNED]

I think its twice in history Fed has only defeated Rafa on clay.

I know his record sucks agaisnt nadal on clay. He is deffo the underdog in this match up.

Either way I hope it will be a good game and 1 I will deffo not be missing.

[Rob ITST]

and going backwards to hit the ball lower?, or use his slice like he does on fast courts?, don't know but it's time to try something new no?, I don't see the point o keep playing the same way when you see it never works, I do know his coaches are better than us, but the best tennis player of all times losing most of these duels against his main rival has no sense. Remember that he not only loses on clay, he has lost important finals on hard and grass against Rafa

I don't see moving back as being a winning strategy - he's not ever going to beat Rafa from behind the baseline.

As far as the slice, I've been screaming that at the screen since their first RG meeting. Surely it has to be physically easier (it certainly is for everyone I know who uses a 1 hander), and it makes a lot more sense to keep the ball low against Rafa, rather than trying to come over it.

I think his strategy in 2011 was spot on - play very aggressive, take a lot of bh's down the line, and attack Rafa's bh with his fh. The problem is that any winning strategy against Nadal on clay is just super difficult to execute.

And I'm not going to check the records, but I do believe that their head-to-head on all other surfaces is pretty much even. And it's obvious (to me) that they played on clay so many more times because Nadal was not nearly as consistent on other surfaces as Fed was on clay - they were both making all of the clay court finals, but Rafa was not making all of the other finals.

But yeah, even though I consider him to be the GOAT, having a losing record against his main rival is the biggest argument against it.

[Ali-Iqb93]

Lol there is no option above that states that federer is going to win

I really want to see federer playing from baseline against rafa like Novak does.. But thing is federer is not young enough to keep running from left to right soo he needs to serve big and go for his shots.. Federer plays much better against rafa when he uses drop shots against him efficiently.. That's the only way to catch rafa by surprise and only way to break his defence.. I hope federer uses drop shots more so that rafa stays close to the baseline

[Ali-Iqb93]

And what is this "rafa in one set" option?

We all know federer never quits during the match

[Cro Morgan]

And what is this "rafa in one set" option?

We all know federer never quits during the match

He's 31. I figured he might get tired.

[SteyololBANNED]

Lol there is no option above that states that federer is going to win

I really want to see federer playing from baseline against rafa like Novak does.. But thing is federer is not young enough to keep running from left to right soo he needs to serve big and go for his shots.. Federer plays much better against rafa when he uses drop shots against him efficiently.. That's the only way to catch rafa by surprise and only way to break his defence.. I hope federer uses drop shots more so that rafa stays close to the baseline

Agree with the drops. Also he needs to come to the net to end points early.

[SteyololBANNED]

And what is this "rafa in one set" option?

We all know federer never quits during the match

He's 31. I figured he might get tired.

This guy has some age fetish. And we all know a fetish can be best when its left in your head. Not in reality.
Just like this guys age fetish. All in his head.

[straightcash05]

btw it's difficult to understand that after all these years Federer hasn't learned how to hit that high BH.

"There were so many points that Federer was winning, only to have to hit an overhead from behind the baseline off of one of Rafa's defensive lobs. On a different court, or even just against an opponent who he has more confidence against, he could have moved forward to take those overheads out of the air at mid court." Erased to far lol.

I tell players on TS4 that defensive lobs from the baseline are used in matches a few times usually at least and alot by guys like Murray and Nadal. They all think it's cheesy. I don't see it that way unless it's spammed and as long as it's used when stretched. They all view it this way because most players don't come forward when they pull you wide often, thus they can't take it out of the air, this is their fault, doesn't make it cheesy. Dennie for example, comes forwad alot when he pulls you wide and if you lob, he's going to put it away.

Hope Fed pulls it out, would be big for his confidence heading into RG.

[ELTXETXU]

And what is this "rafa in one set" option?

We all know federer never quits during the match

He's 31. I figured he might get tired.

I voted Nadal in straight sets, but it was because i didn't read carefully all the options. I would want to change my vote:

Nadal in 1 set

[Uchiha Muss]

Who the hell voted nadal in one set? Seriously it's impossible to win in a set. This is real life. Splash some cold water to your faces whoever you are.