Roma: Rafa vs. Roger -- The Post Mortem
Thankfully this post mortem is a positive one. Things didn't look too good for our Rafa at times today.
I'm sorry I didn't do a fully detailed blog, but it was so stressful I was finding it hard to type much. The match had so many momentum shifts -- things were looking good for Rafa after the third. Then the fourth was a disaster, where Rafa seemed a bit flat, and Fed started playing the way he did in the first set.
Then when Rafa went down a break in the fifth, I thought this was going to be tough. Surprisingly, Rafa has said that even down a break he was fairly confident he could come back. The only time he had a bit of doubt was when he was down the two match points. I'm rewatching the fifth set now, so I can look again at what happened on those points, where Roger missed two forehands.
The good news for Federer is that if plays well, attacks and comes to the net, he will greatly increase his chances against Rafa on any surface. He challenged Rafa a lot more today, forcing Rafa to become more aggressive and not wait for Fed to make errors.
But the most impressive thing is that Rafa stayed positive and kept up the belief he could win. Most players would be discouraged, but not Rafa. At 4-1, he held easily, and then he was a man on a mission to break. As one commentator said, he broke by sheer force of will and nothing else. The focus was almost scary.
As for Rafa's plan to go to Hamburg tomorrow, I hope he rethinks it. He's won three back-to-back tournaments, played an exhausting final, and tiring himself out before Roland Garros may not be the best plan.
He didn't play Hamburg last year, after that exhausting final against Coria, and that likely was a good move. Although he had more of a blister problem on his fingers at that time.
I'm sorry I didn't do a fully detailed blog, but it was so stressful I was finding it hard to type much. The match had so many momentum shifts -- things were looking good for Rafa after the third. Then the fourth was a disaster, where Rafa seemed a bit flat, and Fed started playing the way he did in the first set.
Then when Rafa went down a break in the fifth, I thought this was going to be tough. Surprisingly, Rafa has said that even down a break he was fairly confident he could come back. The only time he had a bit of doubt was when he was down the two match points. I'm rewatching the fifth set now, so I can look again at what happened on those points, where Roger missed two forehands.
The good news for Federer is that if plays well, attacks and comes to the net, he will greatly increase his chances against Rafa on any surface. He challenged Rafa a lot more today, forcing Rafa to become more aggressive and not wait for Fed to make errors.
But the most impressive thing is that Rafa stayed positive and kept up the belief he could win. Most players would be discouraged, but not Rafa. At 4-1, he held easily, and then he was a man on a mission to break. As one commentator said, he broke by sheer force of will and nothing else. The focus was almost scary.
As for Rafa's plan to go to Hamburg tomorrow, I hope he rethinks it. He's won three back-to-back tournaments, played an exhausting final, and tiring himself out before Roland Garros may not be the best plan.
He didn't play Hamburg last year, after that exhausting final against Coria, and that likely was a good move. Although he had more of a blister problem on his fingers at that time.
posted by Susan at 9:43 PM
10 Comments:
susan! thank you for articulating my "specualtions", given that i didn't get to see the match at all. you have all the luxury to watch such a fantastic match... =)
i agree that maybe rafa should be resting after such a grueling final to better prepare for roland garros.
even if i only followed the match via your cool blog update and the sometimes-up-sometimes-down live score updates on the internet, i could sense that roger was really pushing rafa to the limits. that worries me somewhat because i know how roger can play on and on and just keep getting better and better. i find that to be the most dangerous aspect of his game, that eerie machine-like way of absorbing his errors and improving from them like some... dem smart computer!!!
but my last words have to be for the young rafa with the focus and intensity to come back from seemingly insurmountable odds... such is the stuff for great memorable moments that you can hand down to your children! =)
thank you again for keeping us informed when the official sites couldn't...
That was a phenominal final! I definitely thought Rafa was out as he was down 4-1 in the final set. Just shows you what you can do when you believe in yourself! Rafa is an awesome player. Go Rafa in Hamburg! Thanks for the updates.
Rafa will not be playing in Hamburg. Reported on the offial website.Rest well our baby bull you deserve it!!!!
In the Calendar of events for Rafael listed at VamosRafael.COM, it lists the next tournament after Hamburg as "World Team Championship", Germany. However David Ferrer, Nando Verdasco, and Feli Lopez are listed as the team for Spain. Is Nadal playing that or is his next match to be Round-1 of the French Open?
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Rome!
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Rome!
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Roland Garros!
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Rome!
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Roland Garros!
Simply the Best! Rafa Wins Rome!
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