LJUBICIC SALUTES NADAL & FEDERER


Ivan Ljubicic believes Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are still the players to beat.

World No. 15 Ivan Ljubicic believes that while a changing of the guard in tennis will come eventually, for now Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal remain the undisputed top players in the game.

In explaining their dominance, Ljubicic highlighted their absolute consistency when they step on court. “When they play, they play absolutely their best, and it’s really difficult to beat them. It makes a difference at the end of the day that they never give up on a single point. They are always in great shape when they have to be in the big tournaments. They are able to compete everyday and really give their absolute best when they are on the court, which I don’t think was always the case with past champions.

“I always felt with [Pete] Sampras and [Andre] Agassi they had two or three tournaments where they were not good at all and they would lose first round. That’s not happening with these two guys. That’s why they’ve been up there for such a long time, because it’s really difficult to win one single game against them.”

Australian Open champion and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic is one player threatening to break the Federer-Nadal stronghold, and confidently dispatched Federer in straight sets in the semi-finals in Melbourne. The 31-year-old Ljubicic insists, though, that the Serbian must maintain his focus if he is to dislodge the Top 2 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings.

“That’s what happened in Australia, Djokovic just played better than Federer. If he can do that five times a year then he’s going to be No. 1 in the world. But otherwise he’s still going to be behind and trying to get them. Now it’s a question of how motivated he is, whether he can keep going like that, because for Federer and Nadal it’s natural to be focussed and stay there.

“A changing of the guard will come eventually,” the Croatian continued. “Roger is 30 years old this year; he’s not going to be there forever. I still think that Roger can win Slams and I still think that if he managed to win a Slam this year, or a couple of Masters 1000, he would still be in the Top 2 or 3. He’s not going to disappear all of a sudden. But definitely Djokovic, [Andy] Murray and these guys will start to be more difficult for Nadal and Federer.

“It’s just nature. I don’t think it’s Roger’s fault or something that Djokovic and Murray are doing better than other guys. It’s just natural that that change will come eventually.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … Nadal.aspx

04.04.2011

STAN NA DZIEŃ : 10.04.2011 rok
(wiek 24 lata, 10 miesięcy, 1 tydzień)

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal
Turnieje/Finały 38/13 - 43/15
(TMS/Finały) 10/4 - 18/8
(TMC/Finały) 2/1 - 0/1
(GS/Finały) 7(1) - 9/2
Ranking 1 - 1
Ilość tyg jako #1: 123 - 90
Ilość wygranych sezonów (Year End #1): 2 - 2

Wyniki Rogera pochodzą z dnia 15.06.2006 r.

Dun, a nie zgubiłeś przypadkiem ostatniego tytułu Rafaela w Monte Carlo? 

Czemu wyniki Rogera są z 08.07.2006 roku? Przecież mamy kwiecień dopiero.

03.06.2011

STAN NA DZIEŃ : 03.06.2011 rok
(wiek 25 lat)

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal
Turnieje/Finały 40/13 - 45/17
(TMS/Finały) 11/4 - 19/10
(TMC/Finały) 2/1 - 0/1
(GS/Finały) 8/1 - 9/2
Ranking 1 - 1
Ilość tyg jako #1: 131 - 98
Ilość wygranych sezonów (Year End #1): 2 - 2

Wyniki Rogera pochodzą z dnia 08.08.2006 r.

jaccol55 napisał:

DUN I LOVE napisał:

03.06.2011

Jak to jest, że wyniki są podane ponad 2 tyg. przed tą datą?

Wydaje mi się, że Nadal do tego czasu nic nowego nie ugra. Z fotela lidera do dnia swoich urodzin też nie spadnie, więc po wczorajszym finale śmiało można aż tak wybiec w przyszłość.

FEDERER, NADAL ANTICIPATE "SPECIAL" FINAL


Rafael Nadal is chasing a sixth Roland Garros crown.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet for the eighth time in a Grand Slam final when they contest the Roland Garros championship match on Sunday in Paris. Nadal has won five of those matches and leads their overall FedEx ATP Head2Head 16-8.

“I am happy to play against [Federer], because it is always an honour to play against the best player in history. Playing against him always represents something very special,” declared Nadal in his pre-final press conference on Sunday. “I know I have to play at my highest level to have chances to win, because he is playing fantastic. After the victory of yesterday he must feel very confident.”

“It always seems to me that Rafa needs to be in a French Open final to make it special, and I got the match I guess I was hoping for,” said Federer after his extraordinary semi-final win over Novak Djokovic on Friday evening. “After beating Novak, it's in a way a gift that I get the chance, and I'm looking forward to it.”

It will be the pair’s first meeting in a major final since the 2009 Australian Open, when Nadal prevailed in five sets. They will clash in the Roland Garros title match for the fourth time after Nadal defeated Federer in three successive finals from 2006-2008. In 2008 Federer was handed his worst ever defeat, in terms of games won, as Nadal triumphed 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the most one-sided Roland Garros final since 1977.

“I'm happy I never got sort of a letdown just because he has beaten me here and just that I never stopped believing,” said Federer. “That's why I got the Roland Garros [title] in 2009, which remains one of my most special wins, really, in my career. And I have another opportunity to beat Rafa here and get the French Open title. I've got to play some extraordinarily special tennis.  I'm aware of that.”



The 29-year-old Federer is chasing his 17th Grand Slam championship and his first since the 2010 Australian Open (d. Murray). Having already broken the Open Era record in the men’s game, the Basel native has now set his sights closing the gap on the five female players who have won more major singles titles than him.

At the age of 25, Nadal is bidding to equal Bjorn Borg’s record and become just the second man in history to win six titles on the Parisian clay. The Spaniard has a staggering 44-1 record at Roland Garros, winning titles from 2005-2008 and again in 2010; his lone loss came at the hands of Robin Soderling in the 2009 fourth round.

“All I know is that I need to play my tennis; to play very well, to strike perfect shots each time, so that I can have all possible opportunities to win and make him realise that it's not going to be easy to play against me.”

Despite Federer’s victory over Djokovic in the semi-finals, Nadal’s position atop the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings remains on the line in Sunday’s final. Nadal will retain the No. 1 spot if he wins, but will be usurped by Djokovic should Federer triumph.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … eview.aspx

robpal napisał:

DUN I LOVE napisał:

Wydaje mi się, że Nadal do tego czasu nic nowego nie ugra. Z fotela lidera do dnia swoich urodzin też nie spadnie, więc po wczorajszym finale śmiało można aż tak wybiec w przyszłość.

Jak widać ugrał

Tylko, że dzisiaj jest 5, a nie 3 czerwca.

Szczęście/nieszczęście tej jednej, konkretnej statystyki polegało na tym, że Rafa miał urodziny 2 dni przed finałem (DUN podaje dane dla konkretnej daty - urodziny są do tego w zasadzie najodpowiedniejsze), co nieco wprowadziło nieco zamieszania.

robpal napisał:

Ja tam bym zaliczył ten tytuł na poczet 24. roku życia, ale to bez znaczenia. 25 lat to wiek, w którym Fed był dopiero w 1/3 swojej dominacji i ten numerek nic nie zmienia. Rafa go nie dogoni, ale miło wyglądają dwie cyferki na liczniku

Czemu twierdzisz, że nie dogoni? Wiele wskazuje na to, że jest to jednak prawdopodobne.