At this moment, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have met each other more times than any Open-era male rivalry (no one can compare to the Evert-Navratilova rivalry which had around 80 matches). Rafa leads the rivalry 22-15 meaning they've played 37 times. Indeed, they met 6 times in 2011 and 7 times in 2009. Over
This time, the Monday final was deliberate. Since 2008, every US Open final has been pushed to Monday due to rain. This year, the weather held up enough that it could have been held on Sunday. However, the players had complained that the game had become so physical that the players needed a day of
What? Not a provocative enough title? Most people were surprised when Nadal came back on tour in South America. Of course, Nadal is king of clay, but they thought, even with a weakened field, that he would struggle some. After all, Juan Martin del Potro took off a comparable amount of time (roughly February of
Before the semifinals started, some were asked who had the better chance for the upset: Richard Gasquet or Stan Wawrinka. Almost unanimously, it was Stan Wawrinka. Of the two, Wawrinka actually had tour wins over Djokovic, admittedly, only two, and admittedly, only early in their career. Gasquet, by contrast, was 0-10 against Nadal dating back
Andy Murray would have you believe, in his press conferences, that he was playing pretty well, but even the reporters knew he wasn't. Such is the self-delusion pro players must have to keep themselves from falling into a pit of despair. Roger Federer was famed for this attitude. Sure he won 7-6, 7-6, but he
My discussion about Nadal will be mercilessly short, much like Nadal's match was over Tommy Robredo. Fans love trends--almost too much so. When Robredo beat Roger Federer (or more properly, when Federer beat himself), some fans felt Nadal was ripe for the picking, ready for defeat. After all, if Federer could go down, why can't
Before we get to the Murray match, let's talk Djokovic. Right now, based on current play, Djokovic and Nadal are the class of the field. Sure, Nadal dropped a set against Kohlschreiber, but at least Kohlschreiber was attempting to dictate play. Even with the German staying close in the first set, Rafa still had a
Of the top men's seeds, it's not surprising that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have looked the best. They continue to play crisp tennis and seemed destined to meet one another. Roger Federer seemed to look good, too, but it's never safe to gauge Federer's level because he plays bad opponents as well as anyone.
One stat that came up frequently prior to this match was the 10-0 record Federer had over Tommy Robredo. However, eight of those victories came in 2007 earlier. Since then, the two have only met twice, once in 2009 and once in 2011. Most of that has to do with issues that have afflicted many
The weather got muggy on Sunday, and with it, Murray still looked sluggish against his second Mayer in a row. In the second round, he faced Leonardo Mayer, an Argentine with a big serve and big forehand. Florian Mayer is a German, who plays two hands on the volley, and likes to crowd the baseline,
