I don't buy that at all. If anything, it may take away from his concentration a little. I think the real reason for his physical meltdown is how little tennis he's played recently. He's not in peak shape.
Despite strong showings from a variety of men's players...Murray, Roddick at Wimbledon...Monfils in the first set last night, I don't think anyone is in the league of Nadal or Federer. And as good as Nadal has been against Fed, it's still even more amazing that Federer has been on top of the game for so long. The guy is super dedicated to being the best. He cried after losing at the Australian Open! As far as the U.S. Open is concerned, I can't see anything else but a Nadal vs. Federer championship match.
the first set of monfiels/nadal was illuminating. gael was playing out of his mind and barely took that set. nadal plays hard, all the time. i could tell that nadal would win early on. my question about del potro is not about his talent but whether he has the stamina and the guts to hang with nadal in a 5 setter.
I agree with thegary. Though I haven't seen much of Del Potro, Nadal has great physical and MENTAL stamina. I hope both win their respective matches so that we can see this match.
Del Potro has bigger weapons than Monfils and is a steadier player. True his fitness isn't the greatest but his matches have been relatively easy and the heat hasn't been a huge factor at the Open this year. Players that are tall like Monfils, Del Potro, Soderling play well against Nadal because his topspin lands in their strike zone. It'll be a matter of how long Del Potro can push Nadal back. Del Potro's shots are flatter and more powerful than Monfils and he has a better net game. There were way too many times Monfils would hit a big shot and never follow it to the net and had to hit another big shot. Del Potro is a bit more comfortable moving in behind his shots. Nadal though has proven time and time again that he can ovecome the odds and I suspect that this late in the tournament that he's going to be the favorite but if it's a night match I'm going to go with Del Potro over Nadal in 4. If it goes 5 then Nadal wins it.
Real dissappointing that not one American Men's player could even make it to the quarters. I hate seeing that. I'll be rooting for Nadal to win now, and Oudin in the women's draw.
US Men's tennis is pretty weak right now. Realistically, only Roddick had a chance at the quarters. OTOH, Oudin has been quite the story for women's tennis. I really hope she can make an impact on USA women's since all we have is the Williams'.
Ugh. Heres hoping that she only gets better and wins some Slams. A very good showing for a 17 year old.
Nadal's response to the dude that ran onto the court last night: "For me, it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice. He said, 'I love you,' and he kissed me." I wonder if this trespasser goes by mazyar on the internet.
Did I say it was a weakness? I was simply listing observations from the match. What's the big deal, man? It's enjoyable to watch a young player basking in the moment, and soaking up all of the energy from the crowd. I never said flamboyancy was a required attribute in tennis. Quit acting like a damn grammar teacher, picking apart my post line by line. Congrats, you're a knowledgeable tennis fan, but you don't have to act like a smart-ass to prove it.
The context of where you talked about "flamboyancy" and "expressing his emotions" certainly made it sound like you were listing that as a skill or positive attribute. I think a lot of people would interpret it that way based on your post. I just didn't agree with that or the degree to which you were hyping up Monfils. I said nothing rude to you in my post. I just disagreed with some of your statements.
True that on the "Ugh." Timid, erratic, obviously nervous. Total collapse. Complete disappointment. I can no longer "believe" in Oudin. I'm not even going to bother finish upping her "Countdown to eighteenth birthday" website now. What a loser. "Oui"-din? More like "Thanks but no thanks"-din.
I'll note the sarcasm. You never know with people that burst onto the scene. Sometimes they never live up to how they play early on. Remember that Kournikova made the 4th round here as a 15 year old and was beaten by Steffi Graf(The best female ever IMO).
