Nevermind what I said about Nadal yesterday. Murray goes down today and there is no credible challenge left on Nadal's half of the draw. He will make it to the final with relative ease.
On the other hand, it is looking more and more like a Fed/Soderling QF matchup that should be epic. Winner of that QF will meet Nadal on Sunday afternoon in the final.
I agree with this. The Soderling/Fed match should be great. I wish I was still there to see it. Yes that was a transition.
I went to the Open for two days. I had to go. Fed is no spring chicken and you never know when Nadal's knees are going to snap in half. I figured it was as good a time to go as any. Some observations:
-Fed and Nadal are on a different level than everybody else. There are other guys, like Djokovic, who can the same type of shots that Fed and Nadal can hit. But it's different. Fed/Nadal play with a purpose. That's the best way I can articulate it.
-As you all can probably gather from my posts I am a fan of Nadal, but I did leave with a healthy respect for Fed. I get sick of hearing about the "grace" and "artistry" of Federer's game, but when I saw him live it kinda made sense. He is impressive to watch because he rarely appears to be exerting himself. What appears to be a lazy forehand will result in pure smoke coming at a ridiculous angle. Even his serve looks a little bit like he's just warming up.
Also, Fed doesn't appear to be overwhelmingly fast, but then just try to get him out of position. See how it works out for you. Heck, even try to get him off balance.
-Both Fed and Nadal favor their forehand, but I don't see why Nadal does this. His backhand is just as good as his forehand. Fed, on the other hand, is right to favor his forehand. His forehand is obscene. His backhand is very good, but isn't the same kind of weapon.
-James Blake can't hit a backhand to save himself. It's bad.
-Isner is going to have a hard time ever becoming truly elite with his height. He is too tall. It adversely affects the way he moves. That said, he has a lot of moxie with his serve. When the crowd gets into it, he doesn't hesitate to go for broke on his second serve. And he generally gets it in.
-Back on the Fed/Nadal thing, the best word to describe Fed's game is "fluid". The best word to describe Nadal's game is "systematic". Nadal is the most OCD tennis player i've ever seen. Everything is according to a process. He never steps on lines. He has the water bottle thing going on, which I don't even fully understand. And of course he bounces the ball incessantly before he serves. The reason his systematic approach isn't figured out and exploited is simply because he does everything so well. He really has no flaws in his game. The biggest critique I have with his game is that he doesn't come into the net nearly enough. There are 3 or 4 times during a point where you can see that he could easily come into the net and put the point away, but he just doesn't. I'm not sure if this is because he is just so accustomed to playing from the base line, or if he is actively trying to wear out his opponent a la Andre Agassi.
-Andy Murray is such a huge vagina.
That's all I got for now.
