Tennis

[dKs89]

Fed with the first set. I think this first game is important. Nadal might be a little choked, but if he holds comfortably, he'll be fine. Otherwise, if he holds on a hard fought game, or gets broken, watch out for Fed.

[hockeyville88]

Fed takes 1st set 7-6 (7-5)

Unreal shots by both.

I love how Rafa has the funky tape jobs on his fingers and knee and Fed has just his wrist band lol

It pains me to do this but I have to be up early tomorrow so gonna have to call it a night. Can't wait to wake up and find out who won

[oh captain my captain]

Ugh, first set to Fed and he breaks rafa at love. Come on Rafa!!!!!

[dKs89]

Wow, break at love, then get re-broken at love.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Roger Federer

[oh captain my captain]

Rafa right back at love. This has the makings of another classic.

[oh captain my captain]

Incredible shot by rafa. Like I said a few pages back, no one does the running forehand better

[dKs89]

And Federer with the break. 4-3 in the 3rd set. Now we'll see if he does anything with it,

[dKs89]

And of course, he does nothing with it. Again.

[oh captain my captain]

AnOther tiebreak.

[oh captain my captain]

Fed saves 4 set points, can't save the 5th. 2 sets to 1 Rafa.

[oh captain my captain]

RAFA!!! Glad I stayed up to watch that.

[g_bassi13]

Good win for Nadal. Was hard watching some of the errors Federer was making out there. Especially on that last break attempt when he fought for advantage.

[dKs89]

Pathetic effort by Federer. I'm disgusted. How many times would he have break points only to hit the return long, or into the net. And if that doesn't happen, his 2nd hit in the rally would go long, wide or into the net. Not to mention the two different break points that he had when Rafa was serving for the match. This should be 2 sets all, but not converting on the break point at 4-3, cost him it. Rafa didn't win this match, Roger lost it with over 60 unforced errors.

I read a tweet about them playing after the first set was over and it said something along the lines of this: When Nadal plays Federer, Federer kills Federer. That fact was proven tonight.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Roger Federer

[hockeyville88]

How the hell did Fed lose!? He looked so much in control at the start of the match

I guess that's the beauty of ebbs and flows in sport.

I get the feeling Fed doesn't like playing against certain opponents because of they styles they play. Through comments he's made in the past he has made it clear that he doesn't like flashy players or players who play a high risk game. I think he things tennis should only be played a certain way, and if his opponent doesn't follow that way, it really gets to Fed.

Must have been an unreal match

[dKs89]

How the hell did Fed lose!? He looked so much in control at the start of the match

I guess that's the beauty of ebbs and flows in sport.

I get the feeling Fed doesn't like playing against certain opponents because of they styles they play. Through comments he's made in the past he has made it clear that he doesn't like flashy players or players who play a high risk game. I think he things tennis should only be played a certain way, and if his opponent doesn't follow that way, it really gets to Fed.

Must have been an unreal match

It was, some of the shots both of them made were amazing. Again, the only reason Fed lost, was because of unforced errors. He had over 60 unforced errors. You can't win like that against a top 10 player let alone the 2nd best player of all time.

[oh captain my captain]

Pathetic effort by Federer. I'm disgusted. How many times would he have break points only to hit the return long, or into the net. And if that doesn't happen, his 2nd hit in the rally would go long, wide or into the net. Not to mention the two different break points that he had when Rafa was serving for the match. This should be 2 sets all, but not converting on the break point at 4-3, cost him it. Rafa didn't win this match, Roger lost it with over 60 unforced errors.

I read a tweet about them playing after the first set was over and it said something along the lines of this: When Nadal plays Federer, Federer kills Federer. That fact was proven tonight.

You're giving Rafa no credit. Ever think the reason Fed makes so many errors against Nadal but no one else? Rafa forces him to be perfect. Rafa forces him to go big early cause Fed can't hang in the long rallies. There were quite a few shots by Roger that would have been winners against any other player, but Rafa gets them back and play forcing Fed to hit extra shots.

Roger hasn't beaten Rafa in a Grand-Slam since Rafa was a teenager. The 2nd time they met at wimbledon.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

It was, some of the shots both of them made were amazing. Again, the only reason Fed lost, was because of unforced errors. He had over 60 unforced errors. You can't win like that against a top 10 player let alone the 2nd best player of all time.

On top of that, most of the unforced errors were easy forehand shots straight into the net. That's his only real weapon against Rafa (because he can't charge the net too much against him), and it sucked.

[dKs89]

You're giving Rafa no credit. Ever think the reason Fed makes so many errors against Nadal but no one else? Rafa forces him to be perfect. Rafa forces him to go big early cause Fed can't hang in the long rallies. There were quite a few shots by Roger that would have been winners against any other player, but Rafa gets them back and play forcing Fed to hit extra shots.

Roger hasn't beaten Rafa in a Grand-Slam since Rafa was a teenager. The 2nd time they met at wimbledon.

I'm not giving Rafa any credit because if Fed converted on his opportunities, he wins in straight sets. I remember in the second set, Fed went up a break 2-1, and got re-broken. Again, how many times did he fail to convert break points? A lot, and why? They are called unforced errors for a reason as they are unforced. If Fed cuts the over 60 he had in half, he will win. And cutting them in half was possible. How many times did you see Federer hit an easy forehand into the net? At the same time, he was hitting those in the first set.

Like I've said before, Fed kills himself against Rafa. I give credit to Rafa for re-breaking like 2 or 3 times, and converting opportunities. Otherwise, It was Federer's match to lose, and that's what he did.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Roger Federer

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

I'm not giving Rafa any credit because if Fed converted on his opportunities, he wins in straight sets. I remember in the second set, Fed went up a break 2-1, and got re-broken. Again, how many times did he fail to convert break points? A lot, and why? They are called unforced errors for a reason as they are unforced. If Fed cuts the over 60 he had in half, he will win. Like I've said before, Fed kills himself against Rafa. I give credit to Rafa for re-breaking like 2 or 3 times, and converting opportunities. Otherwise, It was Federer's match to lose, and that's what he did.

You fail to understand the type of player Nadal is. He is a chaser who plays well behind the baseline. It's not that he dictates play, but his shots force the attacking player out of position, and then he whips out a banana curve down the line.

Without Nadal's chasing skills and killer passing shots, Federer would probably employ a more aggressive game and camp out in front of the net. Instead, Federer had to try and control the game from the baseline, which is a losing fight against Nadal.

[oh captain my captain]

You fail to understand the type of player Nadal is. He is a chaser who plays well behind the baseline. It's not that he dictates play, but his shots force the attacking player out of position, and then he whips out a banana curve down the line.

Without Nadal's chasing skills and killer passing shots, Federer would probably employ a more aggressive game and camp out in front of the net. Instead, Federer had to try and control the game from the baseline, which is a losing fight against Nadal.

This is the point I'm trying to make. Its Rafa's style that forced Fed to make so many errors. Like I said, against any other player, there is no way fed makes that many errors, no matter how badly he is playing.

Fed seemed to lose his cool more often than is normal. He got rattled in that 2nd set and couldn't quite get it back. Feds style just doesn't match up well with Rafa, and that's why Nadal has had his number the last few years. Doesn't seem to matter which surface they play on. It used to, but not any more.