:lol::lol::lol:
I know what you mean... someone should look at the stats already and see if Haas is surpassing someone's record of the most number of matches withdrawn...
imo, Nadal will still rule the clay season... maybe he will miss one or two titles but there's no doubt that Rafa would still prevail especially at RG!!!
BTW, does anyone doubt that Djoko would've withdrawn from a slam if he mono? That Roger guts it out to the end, no matter what the result speaks volumes about his professionalism.
I think Nadal will take the front runner position as we can assume from him.
Not sure about Djoker, it be amazing if he could translate his current form to the Clay, but I wonder, if he sometimes has a fitness issue, than the clay on a hot sunny day, could be tough on him. I would not mind seeing him do well.
The Clay-Sluggers, whom we hardly see prominently during the hardcourt (or brief Grass season) will show up in big numbers as usual.
FEDEX, will remain a question for me ... I think he will still do okay, but I doubt he will go all the way into the final alongside Nadal like in the previous years, but who knows.
Should be an interesting Clay season !!
I want to see the return of Nadal. It's sad to see him like this
I think Rafa will be the man to beat on clay again, but we have to take in account that this year's clay season is a week shorter due to the Olympics, so if he is to defend Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, he will have to win three weeks in a row. I think he's capable of doing the feat, but it will be very tough for sure. (Actually, the field in Barcelona may not be as strong as usual...It's an excellent event and is very important for Spanish players, but I suspect many players pulling out especially if they go deep in the draw in MC and Valencia/Estoril in the previous week, to save energy for Rome. This may help make the job easier for Rafa if he does play there.) If Rafa wins the hat trick, then he will surely pull out from Hamburg.
Fed is likely to win Estoril, or he had better win there because the field is not very strong.
Djokovic will win his share of matches, but I'm not sure if he will win any of the clay masters events. He does look stronger, but I won't be surprised if he gets exhausted in some of the matches during the gruelling clay season. Maybe he and Fed can compete for the Hamburg title.
Players to watch: Almagro, Nalbandian, Monaco, Ferrero, Ferrer, Moya, Starace.
Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Nalbandian, Murray, Almagro, Monaco... but, what about Ferrer? What's going to happen this year? He's defending quarters in MC and Hamburg and semis in Barcelona, but I'm sure that if he plays as he did back in 2005 (winning Valencia, quarters in MC and semis in Rome being really close to beat Nadal) he'll be able to reach further rounds. Curious to see that in only one week, Fish is like a GOAT, and nobody remembers Ferrer, just because one reached the final and the other one lost in the third round. Memory please!
Yeah, I hope he finally does. People were talking about it already last year.
If he doesnt make at least one or two QF in those MS he really is one Mugro. I would rather see him in SF of Rome than winning his Valencia title for the 3rd time in a row. It's maybe a curse
Federer will take Estoril, and Hamburg make MC 1/2 and Rome final Nadal will take MonteCarlo and Barcelona. Make Rome 1/2 and Hamburg final. Djokovic will win Rome, reach MC final, and lose early in Hamburg against Kohlschreiber or any german mug (like he lost to French mugs in Bercy and Marseille). Ferrer will be a regular semi finalist / quarter finalist but will lose early (R3) in RG against Lopez, Verdasco or Andreev. Roddick will reach Poertschach 1/2 and jcempire will claim Roddick will win RG. Unfortunately the draw will be too tough for him and he will lose against Werner Eschauer in R1. The Austrian player will tell Roddick is on the good way and now almost as good as Bob Bryan on clay.
Roland Garros:
4 First seed in RG 1/2:
Federer (1) will beat Nadal (3) in 5 exhausting sets.
Davydenko (4) will prove more regular than Djokovic (2) and win in 4 solid sets
Davydenko wins his first (and only) GS, 7/5 7/6 7/6. Federer served for the set everytime but choked.
Keep dreaming Kolya truly playes great on clay, but it seems he's got not enough cojones to win a big tournament
How do you rate Gasquet's, Berdych's ad Fena's chances, folks? These three are always an enigma, they can lose to journeymen or advance to a SF or higher
Barcelona is indeed a high standard tournament. I love how you pretty much only see clay courters in action, as none of the "HC only" players are compelled to attend. Besides, the trophy is truly a sight to behold. It's a good thing Nadal wins every year--he's probably the only one strong enough to lift the damn thing.
I think Fed's going to have a much harder time defending his points in the clay season than Nadal will. With that said, I don't think it's going to be as easy for Nadal as some of his other fans do. When it's all said and done I expect Rafa to have come away from the clay season with the most points won, but I don't think it will be as dominating as years passed- I would love to be wrong and see him go unbeaten again, the good ol' dayz...
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