[duong]

Originally Posted by duarte_a

Hadn't thought of that yet. Totally agree. If this were to happen and Roger got murray in his half he could reach some clay tournaments finals more easily.

if he stays in top-2 he still has the same chance of getting Murray in semi,

the difference is rather that he might get Djokovic in semi instead of Nadal, and on clay it's still presumably better for Fed (for Indian Wells it's still rather likely that Fed is seeded 2 and can avoid Djokovic in the semi)

... but it's also very possible that Ferrer is seeded 4 instead of Nadal for clay season and that would not be a great context for Fed

Originally Posted by Litotes

Well, Murray has 1880 points to defend prior to the clay season and Fed 2765 points. He's 2265 points ahead currently. If Murray passes him it will be because he plays well, not because Fed skips two tournaments.

yes after Miami so far Fed has 7515 points, Murray 6120,

but after Madrid it's tighter : 6515 to 5850,

and after Roland-Garros they're tied.

But slow hardcourts are theoretically better for Murray than for Federer.

[TBkeeper]

Originally Posted by heya

Roddick was a mindless servebot. A slow, fat, sycophantic pushertard. He pushed himself to fatal anonymity.

If Fed hadn't pushed vs. Roddick, he would've shanked his backhand & lost 4 times to the mug.
Is Fed complaining about Roddick?

Fed lost to pusher losers, including Gaudio, Volandri, Mantilla, Davydenko,Nalbandian, Hewitt. Too bad.
If they weren't so gutless, Federer wouldn't be bragging about his "dominant tennis in an exhaustingly long schedule".

Da fail is strong in this one !

[saviopr]

Originally Posted by duong

I agree that the schedule change is not a concern : in last years (not only last year) Miami and Monte-Carlo hardly provided any points (and Doha is a small tournament which was not even countable last year), and he can replace a Basel final by a Paris semifinal which is not harder to do imo.

But his ranking can of course decrease because he had a great beginning of the year last year and it's unlikely that he will do the same again.

But yes rather likely losing his ranking to Murray than to Nadal in the short term, and it's not that a bad opportunity for Federer to be seeded 3, esp. on clay, if Nadal manages to keep his number 4-ranking in the first part of the year (which is far from done).

Originally Posted by duarte_a

Hadn't thought of that yet. Totally agree. If this were to happen and Roger got murray in his half he could reach some clay tournaments finals more easily.

Originally Posted by Litotes

Well, Murray has 1880 points to defend prior to the clay season and Fed 2765 points. He's 2265 points ahead currently. If Murray passes him it will be because he plays well, not because Fed skips two tournaments.

I agree that a #3 seed with Nadal #4 is not without it's advantages, though a Fed - Murray projected SF in RG could happen regardless of who's #2 and #3. As for drawing Djokovic instead of Nadal, the advantage might not be relevant anymore - either will be very difficult to beat on clay.

Indeed, these are interesting projections for next year.

[2003]

This dream match up will probably never take place in a final now, however which year in which Nadal was close to or even in the final would he have had the best chance, and likewise Federer?

I think 2004-2008 was off limits for Rafa, BUT in 2008 he was on a 2 straight GS finals winning streak against Roger and may have won the match in the locker room though he was tired vs Murray. But Fatigue didn't stop him in 2009 AO then again.

Give us your takes on this.

[rocketassist]

He might have had half a chance in 2009-10, and definitely would have won in 2011. But he'd have got sparked any year before 2009.

[2003]

Id have given him more chance in 2010 than 2011

[2003]

Would 06-09 Federer have beaten 2011 Nadal in the 2011 FO final? I think he would have at least taken him to 5.

[zdravkelja]

2011 was a mental loss. If he had won the first set... I don't know...

[Abel]

Is there a thread for ranking your top 5 favourite Fedal matches and least 5 favourite? Or should I/we just do it in here?

[Manequin75]

excerpt from Rafa's presser from yesterday. He has set this straight many times - there really should be no doubt. I am glad I feel the same way as Rafa

Q. You have always spoken in such glowing terms of your friendship and the fact that Roger, you say, is the greatest player in tennis history. But in some ways does it surprise you when you look at the head‑to‑head record between the two of you that there is such a wide gap?

RAFAEL NADAL: That just a fact at the end. Is a positive fact for me, but that doesn't change that he has much more tournament victories than me. He has more Grand Slams than me. In Masters 1000s we are close. I don't know.

THE MODERATOR: Same.

RAFAEL NADAL: Same? So more than close. (Laughing.)
So that means his career the day of today is better than my one, and that's the real thing. And if I think that I am better than him because I beat him I think 19 against 10, something like this, I will be very stupid and very arrogant.
I think this is not the case. (Smiling).

[janko05]

Rafa's always humble and down to Earth NID

[Young 8]

Nadal is so much better than his fans

[Vinceremo]

Originally Posted by Young 8

Nadal is so much better than his fans

you're not setting the bar too high

[Federer in 2]

Nadal sending GSMnadal back to high school. Rafa is a class act.

[MTwEeZi]

These Nadull fans should take a page from the honorable and non-gloating Fedtards.