[PileDrive]

Poor Diego, Rafa wanted no part of another slugfest with him. Falls to 0-9 in H2H and 2-22 in sets. One of the most misleading H2Hs on tour relative to the actual nature of the majority of their match-ups.

Nadal confirms his ascendant level since that second set vs Tsitspias . Which makes that abdominal strain so unfortunate in its timing because Nadal's form in Bercy and since the Stef match would have given him a legit chance at winning one of the Paris/London Indoors events missing from his resume.

Hopefully he finishes this DC campaign unscathed (likely his last) and then someone on his team put him in bubble wrap before the start of AO..

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1197983841840820224

 

[NADALalot]

Rafa's power is reaching new heights, more power than 2010/2013 US Opens.
But of course he's always had incredible power, just that he mostly only used it in practice sesssions.
He's trained his mind to be a different style of player.

 

[Jenna Ji-Yong]

Amazing result- would still like to see him finally rest tho.. Grand Slam record awaits in 2020. ?

 

[pururin]

Hope he wins AO 2020 to compensate for Paris/London.

 

[PileDrive]

Diego is a Top 3 returner on the tour and he couldn't get a sniff at Nadal's serve.

Rafa's new found servebot-ness has helped him greatly against the non-Djokerer field making him less upset-prone these days off clay.

But It will be interesting to see if he can bring that weapon to bear against his two biggest rivals. This is why I would have preferred him to test it again vs Federer/Djokovic at Bercy or London before a potentially crucial match-up in AO.

 

[mixedherbs]

Diego is a Top 3 returner on the tour and he couldn't get a sniff at Nadal's serve.

Rafa's new found servebot-ness has helped him greatly against the non-Djokerer field making him less upset-prone these days off clay.

But It will be interesting to see if he can bring that weapon to bear against his two biggest rivals. This is why I would have preferred him to test it again vs Federer/Djokovic at Bercy or London before a potentially crucial match-up in AO.

Let's see if he can improve it further off season.

 

[NADALalot]

Diego is a Top 3 returner on the tour and he couldn't get a sniff at Nadal's serve.

Rafa's new found servebot-ness has helped him greatly against the non-Djokerer field making him less upset-prone these days off clay.

But It will be interesting to see if he can bring that weapon to bear against his two biggest rivals. This is why I would have preferred him to test it again vs Federer/Djokovic at Bercy or London before a potentially crucial match-up in AO.

Roig said at Wimbledon SF that Rafa had agreed to return from on the baseline, but for some unknown reason he chose to stand far back behind the baseline and let Federer control the points.
Maybe it was nerves.
After all, Rafa has never felt confident vs. Federer at Wimbledon.
Even in the 2008 Wimbledon Final, Rafa was not confident, as we saw in the 3rd and 4th Sets.....and very nearly lost the 5th Set.
I'm sure Rafa will be aggressive should they meet at the AO, as he's won 3 of their 4 meetings there (and almost 4 of 4), so no reason to doubt himself.

 

[M. Mecir]

Roig said at Wimbledon SF that Rafa had agreed to return from on the baseline, but for some unknown reason he chose to stand far back behind the baseline and let Federer control the points.
Maybe it was nerves.
After all, Rafa has never felt confident vs. Federer at Wimbledon.
Even in the 2008 Wimbledon Final, Rafa was not confident, as we saw in the 3rd and 4th Sets.....and very nearly lost the 5th Set.
I'm sure Rafa will be aggressive should they meet at the AO, as he's won 3 of their 4 meetings there (and almost 4 of 4), so no reason to doubt himself.

Sounds great. We Fed fans sincerely hope so too, as the new aggressive flat hitting Nadal 2.0 is sugar sweet candy for Fed. Nadal trying to outpace Federer on fast courts is like a toy-boy for Fed.

It will be really great if Fed meets the new aggressive Nadal 2.0 at AO, IW, Miami, Wimbledon, Cincy, Shanghai, Bercy and ATP finals next year. Incredibly, Head-2-Head may then be 24-24 by close of play 2020. What an incredible take-over of his old nemesis by the GOAT.

 

[Phillo]

It's too bad fans r stuck having to watch this overachieving munchkin aimlessly bashbot while Delpo remains on the shelf.

 

[Ace2ndServe]

In 2009 Nadal was the best defensive player in the world. In 2019, TEN years later, yes TEN, Nadal is now the greatest offensive player in the world. Nobody else has ever made that type of transformation in tennis before.

Just one more thing to add to the list of things Nadal has done that nobody has.

Schwartzman is right up there with Nadal and Novak as having one of the best return games on tour. And for him to have no break points just kind of drive home the point how Nadal offensive game keep reaching higher and higher levels on seemingly a weekly basis.

 

[Ace2ndServe]

Hope he wins AO 2020 to compensate for Paris/London.

Yeah Paris/London would of been nice. But they are secondary to slams and weeks at number 1. Those are the biggies and Rafa is in great position to dominate both next year assuming he stay healthy.

 

[Amoney1986]

Sounds great. We Fed fans sincerely hope so too, as the new aggressive flat hitting Nadal 2.0 is sugar sweet candy for Fed. Nadal trying to outpace Federer on fast courts is like a toy-boy for Fed.

It will be really great if Fed meets the new aggressive Nadal 2.0 at AO, IW, Miami, Wimbledon, Cincy, Shanghai, Bercy and ATP finals next year. Incredibly, Head-2-Head may then be 24-24 by close of play 2020. What an incredible take-over of his old nemesis by the GOAT.

Careful what you wish for. Nadal is the superior player on hardcourt at the moment and it’s clear the declining Federer would be destroyed if they met.

 

[MalvinLuisandy]

Careful what you wish for. Nadal is the superior player on hardcourt at the moment and it’s clear the declining Federer would be destroyed if they met.

Federer in 39!!! Yes, may be. But he is really out-of-competition now. There now big perspective for 39 years old. Nadal CAN beat FEDERER NOW even on GRASS and even on WIMBLENDON!!!