lmfao i didn't even see that match but again, not even a little surprising. the petzschner debacle was actually painful to watch and kind of embarrassing, as a fan

The saddest part is that these same hardcore Nadal fans points out how Federer pulled that little stunt against Davydenko at AO 2010 when Roger took a rather long bathroom break. Yes it was probably over the top, even so, they try to make it seem like Federer is worse than Nadal in that regard which is bullshit. I have almost never seen Federer use the trainer and he has never retired during a match (has one withdrawal) unlike Nadal who has retired from at least four matches I can think of off the top of my head. Again, nothing to take away from Nadal's real success as I am certainly a fan of his, but that is pretty pathetic how Nadal fans claim Rafa is the greatest fighter out there as if no one else tries as hard as him, yet others like Federer have been there are every match. It is really extremely disrespectful IMO. Just because other players don't fist pump or celebrate points the way he does doesn't mean they aren't out there trying..

I wish more people were fans of tennis and the ATP rather than one player.

I mean it is probably cliche to say by now, but outside of playing the points, the way Federer conducts himself on court should be the model for any player. Doesn't take a ridiculous amount of time between points, doesn't wait an hour to challenge, doesn't look at his camp trying to get some kind of response, doesn't seem to abuse any major rules, etc. Of course we don't want the ATP to be full of robots, but some aspects from other players has to stop especially the 30 seconds between points by Nadal/Djokovic and the constant looking up at their box to see if they should challenge. I mean a 6-2 set won by Nadal often takes as long as a 7-6 set won by Federer... In that match Nadal and Djokovic had in Madrid in 2009, how much of that was really tennis?

I'm probably being harsh about it, but I think the rules get abused a bit too much in general. Yes, some of it is understandable. Federer's playing style is nowhere near as exhausting as Nadal's, but I think the umpires can be a little more strict at times.

This post was edited by Godest on Apr 3 2011 03:45pm

don't even get me started about davydenko, he's another one who has such a tremendous amount of talent yet never ceases to piss off his fans by checking out during big matches.. he was going to find a way to lose that match to roger regardless, simply because it was roger, and at a slam.

i agree with what you're saying about how federer really does serve as a good model for how players should conduct themselves on court. he is kinda hostile toward the challenge system though, rofl

nadal takes a ridiculous amount of time between his points, and djokovic used to be nearly as bad as him too.. i think thats part of why both are in federers head to a certain degree, he can't dictate the pace of the match against either

Yes, Davydenko is certainly someone with an enormous game. He can practically serve his weight (in MPH of course)! Lol. Seriously though, for such a small guy (in today's standards) he hits huge. I think he did as well as he could of at the slams, however. While he does have a very good serve for his height, he doesn't get quite enough free points on serve like a Federer and Nadal. Instead, he has to really work through many of the points which is very tough over a best of 5 match, especially for 7 straight matches. I think he should have taken Roland Garros 2005 though. Damn Puerta, that doping bastard. Rafa-killa-Davydenko would have had a real good shot against Nadal in the final.

damn, I had basically forgotten how close he was that year.. year after year kolya is the one person I route for to have an easy draw, simply because it seemingly never happens

Strangely he has never met Nadal at the slams. He has met Federer on 5 occasions but never against Rafael.

I voted Djokovic because hes been doing welll over the past few years.