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Rafael Nadal

Video: Australian Open final – Djokovic beats Nadal

by the Abbot on January 30, 2012

in Tennis

In the longest Grand Slam final match in history, world #1 Novak Djokovic beat world #2 Rafael Nadal in a 5th set that finished around 130a in Australia, almost six hours after the match had begun.

Nadal brought everything he had, and got closer to beating Djoko than he had in all of 2011. You’ll see some amazing shots and rallies from both in this video from australianopen.com.

The rest of the tennis world might be asking itself today: if Nadal can play that well and NOT beat Djokovic, what hope does anyone else have right now?

Tagged as: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

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Federer destroys Nadal – with moustache intact

by the Abbot on November 23, 2011

in Satire,Tennis

One of tennis’s top rivalries took another turn Tuesday in London’s ATP World Tour Finals as world #4 Roger Federer took just an hour to cream his great rival, world #2 Rafael Nadal.

With the win, Federer moves on to the tournament semifinals. And despite his loss, Nadal has a chance to stay in the tournament with a win Thursday.

Both are big faves here at Best Player, and prior to this season’s amazing run from new world #1 Novak Djokovic, both vied for many years for the coveted spot at the top of the men’s game. Federer may not be the best in the world at the moment, but his demolition of Rafa shows he’s still got plenty in him…and at just 30, he may even have a chance to reclaim his #1 ranking next year.

Roger: anything for the win

Rumours from Nadal’s camp have it that Rafa was deeply disturbed by seeing his long-time adversary sporting such a gruesome moustache. “That thing on his face was so hideous I couldn’t concentrate on my returns,” sources claim to have heard him mutter.

Tagged as: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

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Djokovic beats Nadal – wins US Open

by the Abbot on September 13, 2011

in Tennis

OK, this result was never that much in doubt… Even Rafael Nadal hinted in interviews the last couple of days that he might have trouble with the Djokovic machine – and it turns out Rafa’s fears were well grounded. Djokovic continued his amazing season (now 64-2) by rolling over Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 to win his first U.S. Open. (Nobody believes it’ll be his last, either.)

Neither the scores nor the video above tell the full story of this match. For one thing, it took about 4 grueling hours to play – longer than Djoko’s 5-set win over Roger Federer on Saturday. For another, the level of tennis, especially in the 3rd set, was as high as anything we’ve seen in years – maybe ever. Long, punishing rallies of 20+ strokes, driven by crushing baseline shots, fantastic saves, subtle net play, and killing winners on both sides. Only Djoko could have beaten Nadal today; only Nadal could have pushed Djoko that far in the 3rd set.

What’s just as amazing is that Djokovic closed out the match with a 6-1 set, all the while suffering from back spasms that had needed a medical attention break after the 3rd-set tiebreak. Nadal must have wondered what was going on, with his opponent supposedly hurting, and yet playing such brilliant points. In the end it was Nadal himself who looked to be running out of gas, legs seizing up in the final few points.

A fitting end to a great two weeks of tennis…congrats to the world #1, who is uncontestedly, categorically the Best Player in the World.

Tagged as: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

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US Open: Rafael v Roddick and more…

by the Abbot on September 9, 2011

in Tennis

U.S. Open action really heats up today & onward with a good number of top seeds through into the quarter-finals.

Rafael Nadal should kick the surprising Andy Roddick’s butt all over the court…if for no other reason than Roddick took a grueling 37 games to get past Rafa’s Spanish buddy David Ferrer, whereas Rafa himself didn’t need nearly as long to dispatch Gilles Muller from Luxembourg.

Roger Federer eliminated the pesky Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn himself a date with Novak Djokovic on Saturday. Roger’s going to be a sentimental favourite, but Djoko, at 64-2 this year, will prevail, we think.

In the women’s draw, the semis are set with Caroline Wozniacki v Serena Williams playing the winner of Sam Stosur v Angelique Kerber. Stosur’s looking great this week after finishing off world #2 Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Best Player predicts this:

  • a Nadal-Djokovic final with Djoko taking it in 4 sets
  • Stosur v Serena final – Stosur in a 3rd-set tiebreak

 

Tagged as: Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams

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U.S. Open – who’s through?

by the Abbot on September 1, 2011

in Tennis

Andy Roddick (below) and the rest of the big boys are through round 1 of the U.S. Open. So far, the tournament is unfolding as we might expect, with top seeds (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray, Fish, Ferrer, Tsonga, Monfils, Berdych, et al) winning their first matches.

Things haven’t gone as predictably in the women’s draw. Top seeds Venus Williams, Li Na, and Marion Bartoli are all now packing picnic baskets and sunblock to watch the rest of the tourney. Well, Williams may not be courtside – apparently she’s suffering from an illness that forced her to withdraw from the competition.

Watch this space for more on this week’s exploits of the world’s best tennis players.

Tagged as: Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Venus Williams

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ATP Rankings: Rafael Nadal retains world #1 spot with French Open win

by Superscout on June 6, 2011

in Men's Tennis

Nadal is still number one

Nadal is still number one

With his big French Open win over Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal managed to stay on top of the ATP rankings, ahead of Novak Djokovic. Prior to his semi-final match versus Federer, Djokovic had been riding a 43 match winning streak and looked destined for the world #1 spot by the end of the tournament. Trouble is that the old Roger Federer showed up and put Djokovic in his place. But Federer could not do the same to Nadal on Sunday. Had Federer won, Djokovic would indeed be number one this morning. Some think that it’s only a matter of time before the Serb gets to number one and that once there he will stay on top for a while. We’ll see about that. For now it’s Nadal – who many think has chance to be thought of as the best player ever.

Here are the ATP rankings as of Monday June 6, 2011:

1. (1) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 12,070 points

2. (2) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 12,025

3. (3) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 9,230

4. (4) Andy Murray, Britain, 6,625

5. (5) Robin Soderling, Sweden, 4,595

6. (7) David Ferrer, Spain, 4,150

7. (6) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 3,490

8. (9) Gael Monfils, France, 2,780

9. (10) Mardy Fish, United States, 2,440

10. (11) Andy Roddick, United States, 2,200 – Sapa-dpa

Tagged as: Rafael Nadal

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