Nadal upset by Davydenko at Qatar Open final

ABC: good post. very well stated. very reasonable and perceptive.

Great post VIJAY. well said on all sides! Good question about the scheduling of open day play...we'll see how this pans out. GoFed might know. About Delpo, the only thing that makes me hesitant, is that i get the feeling from him that he, like many other (but not all!) Argentines & south americans, won't be around for the long-haul. He's a giant kid on a huge physical frame and I just don't see him holding up and keeping injury free. How many times have we seen someone get up into the high rankings or even #1, and then in a few years disappear? Kuerton, Nalbandian, Gaudio, Coria, just to name a few... But that's just my gut feeling. Please don't get me wrong, and start calling me a hater people; I don't have anything at all against south americans, i actually really love their games and passion and gusto. I just wish they could hang out a bit longer for all of us to enjoy their play. I loved Vilas, Sequera, even Andres Gomez! Great players.

I agree with First Name Pester - Delpo looks to be the guy with the best future among the younger players. He seems to have all the weapons (as he showed in the US Open final and semis :-) and has the right attitude as well. As for J: It is obvious you are a passionate and die-hard Nadal fan! Nothing wrong with that. But it might do you good to be a bit realistic. The way your hero is playing since losing to Roger ON CLAY AT HOME IN MADRID IN FRONT OF 25000 SPANIARDS in straight sets, he would be happy to win one more major, leave alone 10! There is a reason why he struggles at the US Open. He would be happy to get past the quarters in Melbourne!! I think you enjoy belittling Federer's lofty achievements by misstating facts. I'll let you keep it that way as your comments do not deserve the dignity of a response! Question to GoFed: Nadal plays on the opening day as defending AO champion; does Fed also play on the first day as World # 1 or ... Would be interesting how the draw shakes things up - in my opinion, this is going to be one of the most wide open majors in recent history with at least half a dozen players with a shot at it! Roger will have to serve well!

nikolai you are the man for 2010. i expect to see you win a slam or two starting with the australian open. i am a roger fan but tennis and family don't mix so i expect him reach the semi finals in most tournaments. rafa would be a strong contender though, but nikolai would be the guy to beat.

First NamePester- When Fed was winning all the time who were his great rivals-the quality of the competition on the ATp tour has greatly improved from the 2-3years when Fed dominated. No offense but Roddick, JC ferrero, Carlos Moya, G. Coria, even Davy (better player now) older and at the end of career Agassi & Sampras not the same quality as Nadal, Novak, JMDP, Nalbandian, Murray,etc.

With a win at the US open he would have achieved what took Roger more than 8yrs to accomplish. Rafa is making changes to his game to win consistantly on all surfaces. I see 2more AO, 4-5 more RG, 2Wim, & 2 US open titles left for Rafa in the next 4-5 years.

A healthy Rafa over the next years could win 10 more Grand slam championships.

If one reads about this - Players who have beaten Roger and Nadal in the pre-Aussie Open have won the Aus Open. Case in point - Djokovic - who beat seeds #1, #2, #3 to win the Montreal/Toronto Open won Aus Open. So is this the year Davy to win?
As good a player he is - history tells me something is seriously wrong with him. There are many matches that he is involved when he is winning - ends up losing. So this may be the year for him to win the Aussie Open....

Tinkerbell, yes, Gael was an oversight although now I am worried about his shoulder. Hope he recovers quickly.

When Roger was Rafa's age he was winning all the time. When is Rafa going to win like roger used to??? Do not even compare the two because their age is very different. Rafa should be winning all the time now because of his age. I dont know when he will come back and win all the time. Novack Jockovich was promising but he is also finished, Adny Murray too. Not even one of them will be like Roger Federer. I thought Rafa was the one but it looks like he will never recover. Of course he will win some grand slams but not like Roger. Devydenko, Andy Roddick Soldering and Del Patro are also coming up hungry and ready to win any grand slams so do not rule them out they are forces to be reckon with and should watch out for them too

They loose because they are human beings. You cant keep winning all the time. sometimes people get nervous and somttimes have error of judgement. Tennis is a mental game, if you want to win you should think winning all time. Remember Roger Federer has two beautiful babies, sometimes the focus is to his family and it can be difficult to mix the two. Of course we want him to win all the time but sometimes its not possible when you are a family man, you cant keep ignoring your children because you want to prepare to win. We understand if he looses now its good to give chance to other younger players who are also hungry to get rich. I still want Roger to keep playing the game because without him I dont like to watch it. He is my hero just the same with Golf I never watch it anymore since Tiger Woods is out. If Roger retires I dont think that I will still be obsessed with Tennis like I am now. I will let some of it pass Good Luck Roger, I will be watching you all the way. I hope you will go further, I cant wait for Australian Open to Start. I will cry with you when you loose and I will cry with you when you win. All the way Roger Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

$$$. Post # 151 Des ( three post before this one. Yahoo need to put the number in front of each post. )
You are absolutely correct, I do think Fed need a coach so he can get his game back, his serve is not a weapon anymore, too many errors on ground stroke ( ball hit the net mostly). Not just backhand but his forehand is not consistence as before. Good luck to him.

Have any of the posters on this site ever played a game of tennis?

i think nadal has nothing to be frustrated of. he played well, but was not lucky to convert the match points. losing to davydenko is not a shame given that he is and excellent hard court player. i thing nadal has a chance of winning the australian open. his first serve which was lost by the end of last year is back, and he has confidence given that he beat soderlin in 2 sets at the abu dhabi exhibition open. however federer has to work harder.

Though I am still a Federer's supporter, if he cannot fix his first serve inconsistency and high unforced error problem, he won't have chance to win other major at today more intense competition with all the younger top players. In the past, his reliable laser first serve and unbelievable radar forehand are his top weapons to scare everybody off and allow him to keep the pressure on his opponents. Now many othe top players (no only Nadal) looked more stable and consistent than him to hold serve and could hang on with him for long rally point. Because many times Federer is the one who could lost patient first and hit the ball wide or into the net - due to bad timing or when he is not focus, or when other powerful players could push him hard to go left to right just to defense. If Federer cannot fix his first serve, he won't win too many easy points and will get frustrated and tired when he is always under pressure just to hold serve. On the other hand, his high unforced error cost him to give too many free points to this opponents ..... He looks more human now after the past 2 yrs (or other players on average are better now, more powerful and hungry).

I have a feeling that his long run of reaching GS semi will come to an end soon this yr unless he can get back to his A game. I believe we have already seen the best Federer (during his peak age from Yr 03-07) and his less stable / dominant performance in the past 2 yrs already told us that he is cleary at a level down and will just go down further along with his age. But I still hope that he could stay healthy and remain competitive at the top until the age 32-33, and that he could at least tie or break Sampras record of 7 Wimbleton and 6 yrs as year end #1.

Way to go Nikolay. Excellent. We support you.

Forget all this hatin'....

Nadal vs. Federer ....all GS finals this year and have all of them go to 5 sets and all 5+ hours....

that would be cool

hey!!!! abc. why are you so bitter? you're a Nadal hater, why? is it, cause you wish you could be him? i don't think so....he's just 23 years old, his got alot of head of him,his gonna win alot more grand slams, you watch.

. . . after having read the most recent half-a-dozen blogs or so, I am greatly encouraged by the civil tone pervading this conversation . . . AND the astute commentary!!

. . . a pleasure to read so many insightful remarks!!!

. . . only one comment, and that's to the illustrious GoFed . . . was your omission of Gael an oversight? Hope so . . .

Ro-ger! Ro-ger!! Ro-ger!!!

Nadal beat everybody comfortable including the semifinal match.. none of those players were ranked in Top 10 or TOP 20...then he meets Nikolay (top 10 player) and see what happens.. its same as what happened for 7 months of last year with the exception of Nadal beating Tsonga...I do think that Roger and Nadal do not have the same game and players are more confident now that they can beat these two..its sad but you can not have somebody at the top forever.. the age catches up or other good player come or player find your weakness..its bound to happen for any player...Roger: seems to me has concentrated on GS and may be Masters.. Rafa: People are getting used to top spin towards their backhand especially the two handed players..I hope Roger can win few more slams but even though I am his big fan, I am not sure if that will happen..

I just saw the updated standing and JMPD has moved ahead of Murray into 4th spot by 5 points. Murray will be the 5th seed at AO. So it is Roger, Rafa, Novak, JMPD, Murray, Nikolai, Roddick and Robin.

Vijay, whatever the matchups in the QF, they are going to be incredible. One of the top 4 gets JMPD, one gets the in form Davydenko, one gets Soderling, and the last one gets Roddick. I am more interested in which 3 of the top 8 gets to play Verdasco, Tsonga or Cilic in the 4th round. Stefanek, Berdych and Gonzo might also be in the 4th round but I expect the top 8 to beat them. I would also be wary of Bellucci, Zeballos, Gulbis and Nalbandian (if he is back) in the early rounds. I am looking forward to the draw on Friday.

Well said GoFed! Very valid comments indeed!! No discredit to Davydenko, but I can't see him beating Federer in a best of 5 match in Melbourne - he himself has sort of admitted he cant' !! And his GS record shows it. He, like Murray, is a very good player for best of 3, the majors are a whole different animal! And Roger has proved time and again that he knows how to tame this beast (the majors). Very eager to see the draw for the AO. Would like to see Roger get Davydenko in the quarters, Nadal to get Soderling in the quarters, Roddick to get Djokovic in the quarters and Murray to get Delpo in the quarters ... looks like a star studded line up ... Going to be a very nice and exciting couple of weeks down under ... hope everyone is fit and brings their 'A' game !! Cheers!

johnp I agree that Rafa allowed Davy to puch him too far behind the baseline and thats why he lost the match. Rafa when down would play more aggressive but then once he broke Davy or had match points he played passive and allowed Davy to dictate play.

Last year Rafa lost 10-15 lbs of weight to lessen knee problems but I wonder if this is a reason for the loss of power on his 4hand particularly when he tries to hit it up the line.

I'm pleased with what I see from Rafa, at the end of last season Davy and Soderling where just pushing him around on court. He's made adjustments and is playing better all around. He just needs to get that Winning mojo back win closing out tournaments.

Saw a good portion of the match. Nadal was clearly the more fit of the two players. Nadal's major set back is that is plays too far behind the baseline. Davy was hitting a lot of drop shots and angles that kept Nadal on the defensive in most of the rallies. Nadal is attempting to do too much sliding as well on these hard surfaces which will not bod well for his knees or ankles. Davy is going to have issues with matches that are 5 setters unless he builds up his stamina.

CraigS,

Roger and Rafa have spoilt us the last few years. Top players have always lost regular tournaments playing their A game. It is a very difficult sport to keep winning every week. Roger and Rafa have been incredible over the last 5 years. The reason is, Roger is the most complete player to have ever played the game. He can adjust to most players and with his array of shots find a way to win. Rafa puts the most spin on the ball which makes it tough to return. It has taken Novak, Murray, JMPD and Davydenko a few years to figure out how to counter both these players. Improvement from those players and a slight slip on Roger and Rafa's part has made tennis wide open.

In the GS, players get a day off between matches. During the day off the players are able to rest, get a massage, strategize, practice on the off day in similar conditions that they might encounter the next day (so if they have a day match, they will practice during the day or if night match then practice at night). This gives the top players an advantage as they have fully recovered from their previous match and are mentally and physically ready to compete. This is why it seems like they play their A game during GS.
In a regular tournament, they are also giving their best, however they might not get the time to rest, strategize and practice for their next opponent. They usually play 5 days in a row against 5 top 32 players. Being the main show they tend to play night matches and then have to come back the next day and play in the afternoon. This is because a tournament will alternate the top players at night. Just skill and talent carried them all these years but other players with solid 2-handed backhand are making a surge to the top.

when you are playing the 1st and 2nd best active player, the adrenaline goes up as high as the game level of the opponents, this is one of the reason of this new level of davydenko, I do think that in Grand Slam is not the same because player play with not tomorrow on their head.
Davydenko is in the spotlight, from now on I think that the news should be “Davydenko defeat nadal ” instead of “nadal upset by davydenko”, after all hi is one of the top ten active player.
Congratulations Davydenko