RF Tennis News 2017

I am not sure that he is trying to downplay his chances here and put pressure on Roger.  It seems to me more simple than that.  

First and foremost, he wants to win the tournament!!!  The best way for that to happen is to play the easiest players.  Roger is not that!  Hence he would rather play somebody else.

That seems to me to be the difference between the two. Or at least the difference that they are showing the public.

Roger seems to relish the challenge and all that it entails.  He enjoys the sport.  He will win tournaments as a by-product of his love for the game.  He will keep playing because of his love for the game.  Indeed, it may very well be the prospect of such matches that fires him, and keeps him from being bored, from leaving the sport.  As he has said, he has already achieved more than he has ever thought he would.  So he must look for different things to motivate himself - going for titles, in particular the slams, of-course, but he already has 19 - he relishes the challenge of Rafa, if for no other reason than seeing how much further he can push his new approach to playing him.  And the electricity of what would be a night match on AA excites him.  But he was also quick to point out that there are 60 odd players trying to prevent that semi from happening, and for the moment his focus is round 1.

For Rafa, it is all about winning the match/tournament.  Whatever maximizes his chances for that, is what he wants.  The win/trophy excites him, not the process of getting there, not the excitement of matches.  Not the  entertainment of fans nor making a tournament special.  Not wanting to play Roger goes with what else he was asked in the presser - yes to coaching - he claims that tennis is the only sport where the coach is not involved during matches - and no to shot clocks - a 50 shot rally with Nole cannot be followed with only a 25s break - he is assuming of-course that most people want to see that!!  and that training to make that sustainable within the rules doesn't need to be part of it.  and not recognizing that the umpire is the one controlling the start of the clock - after a 50 stroke rally they don't need to start it right away and will wait until the crowd noise dies down.

It seems to me that the essence/joy of the game for Roger is process and for Rafa is victory.  The answers they gave in this presser, and others, underlies this fundamental difference.

You said it Rufus.

I just wrote a response to this but my phone seems to struggle with the editor on this site and the whole thing just disappeared

As we know, Roger and Rafa are very different, almost the opposite on many fronts - Roger has often mentioned it - and that's what makes this rivalry interesting to many.

As a certain one would say: The world would be boring if everyone was the same, no?  

3out of 5 Experts on ESPN have picked Rafa as winner The other 2 pick Alex!!

Coach Kopetzky (expert with more than a crystal ball  ) says, that Rafi will lose at the beginning of the second week  and Sascha has not the stamina for 2 weeks of a grandslam.

striker wrote:3out of 5 Experts on ESPN have picked Rafa as winner The other 2 pick Alex!!

This is funny. LOL. They haven't picked Roger to win anything in 10 years. They will be proven wrong.

Kop8zky wrote:

striker wrote:3out of 5 Experts on ESPN have picked Rafa as winner The other 2 pick Alex!!

Coach Kopetzky (expert with more than a crystal ball  ) says, that Rafi will lose at the beginning of the second week  and Sascha has not the stamina for 2 weeks of a grandslam.

I say Nadal doesn't even make the second week.

There is a chance for Berdy here, even Harrison? But will they hold firm?  Nadal will have to play as poorly as he did at Cincy. And Montreal.  As he said tho, he doesnt (hasnt in ages) do well at Cincy.  Cant read too much into that for the USO. 
Im just hoping that his confidence is wobbly enough that he wont make the SFs.

avasbar wrote:You said it Rufus.

I just wrote a response to this but my phone seems to struggle with the editor on this site and the whole thing just disappeared

Same here: tried 3 times, as I had comments to make about why younger players have a problem breaking through. I GUESS IT WASN'T LIKED?

striker wrote:3out of 5 Experts on ESPN have picked Rafa as winner The other 2 pick Alex!!

First off. Mary Jo Fernandez NEVER picks Roger - she doesn't want to be accused of favoritism. Probably the same for Evert to a certain extent. Roger has the toughest draw, so I'm not surprised that the others didn't pick him. Plus there is the unknown about his back. And Zverev is an easy pick from the bottom half since he's the highest seed on that half. It's a golden opportunity for him.

HOTM - the editor is not a person  , just a feature of this site.  We dont have moderators either. Just super-obliging administrators Cromar and Lil-jay.  I think the editor struggles when there's a few of us online or maybe just when my signal is cr*p.

HeartoftheMatter wrote:

avasbar wrote:You said it Rufus.

I just wrote a response to this but my phone seems to struggle with the editor on this site and the whole thing just disappeared

Same here: tried 3 times, as I had comments to make about why younger players have a problem breaking through. I GUESS IT WASN'T LIKED?

Are you using emojis in your message? This site doesn't like them, it will cut off the message. Only smilies from the list here can be used. Otherwise, I don't know why you are having a problem? Does anyone else have the same problem?

Rufus, totally agree with what you wrote about the difference between Roger and ________ (sorry, I feel sick writing his name). I would go further with this. As that person is ONLY driven by the win, ALL MEANS are good to attain his goals. By ALL I mean ALL, and in all those years we witnessed what he is capable of.

Roger plays because tennis is his passion. The difference is absurd. That makes from Roger a man of joy and integrity, and the other one a disgrace, the exact mirror of everything we are living in the world now: the ME MYSELF first, the selfishness, the prejudices, the arrogance. My opinion.

Coach K, I not only love your prediction as I also love your image (I always thought on yourself with the wisdom lamp). True!

Cromar wrote:

HeartoftheMatter wrote:

avasbar wrote:You said it Rufus.

I just wrote a response to this but my phone seems to struggle with the editor on this site and the whole thing just disappeared

Same here: tried 3 times, as I had comments to make about why younger players have a problem breaking through. I GUESS IT WASN'T LIKED?

Are you using emojis in your message?  This site doesn't like them, it will cut off the message. Only smilies from the list here can be used. Otherwise, I don't know why you are having a problem?  Does anyone else have the same problem?      

I don't have these issues, but using my smartphone to post means - as you mention - that I a limited with emojis etc. I can live with it perfectly.

Well- remember SI was going to put Roger on the cover with an article by Jon Wertheim? Did not happen. The article is there but not the cover. So, what happened?

Steerpike60 wrote:

striker wrote:3out of 5 Experts on ESPN have picked Rafa as winner The other 2 pick Alex!!

First off. Mary Jo Fernandez NEVER picks Roger - she doesn't want to be accused of favoritism.  Probably the same for Evert to a certain extent.  Roger has the toughest draw, so I'm not surprised that the others didn't pick him.  Plus there is the unknown about his back.  And Zverev is an easy pick from the bottom half since he's the highest seed on that half.  It's a golden opportunity for him.  

Although I'm not a conspiracy theorist, it makes me wonder when I see a draw like this. Clearly Zverev is the Next Gen player of the moment and how convenient for him to be in the bottom half which, on paper, seems so much easer than the top half. I'm sure the tournament is banking on a Fedal SF followed by a final featuring Zverev, or if he fails, there's always the three top Americans, Isner, Sock and Querrey. How lucky for them that they will avoid the top two seeds until the final. 8)