Well, L.Rubin, it's a matter of taste like most things. :) I don't miss profanities and huge tantrums, I find them not entertaining but embarrassing to witness.

Murray will have his work cut out against formidable Nadal. Nadal doesn't give away freebies and Murray will play his best to win games or even a set. Home advantage element for Murray? Nadal and Federer bring enough vocal supporters to offset home advantage. I really believe that Nadal will be tougher than Federer on Tuesday.

Patch Nole:
http://tinyurl.com/32klq3o
http://tinyurl.com/3xko6dy

And, this from Tim Henman while commentating Nadal-Berdych:
On BBC Two, Tim Henman on his experience of hitting with a 17-year-old Nadal: "At first I thought, 'This is just ridiculous, you can't try and hit the ball that hard without making mistakes all over the shop'. Forty-five minutes later, he had beaten me 6-1 and I thought 'Maybe you can'."

Look at this crap Muzz pulled at his interview on British press.

Q. I'm intrigued with you saying you don't think you have much chance to beat Rafa. You beat him the last time on hard courts. Why don't you think you'll have a good chance this time?
ANDY MURRAY: Well, I mean, he's obviously the best player in the world. I've watched his matches here. He's been playing unbelievably well. You know, I don't seem to beat those guys in the big matches. So, you know, I'm going to have to play my best tennis against him to win. I need to do it in a big match, in the semis. I have to see whether I can do that or not.

Q. So you're not confident?
ANDY MURRAY: No, not really. But I'll try and win against him.

is this a new tatic? It could be saying like "bugger off you british press and leave me in peace". Or is he genuinely scared after being destroyed by Fed the other day? I wish the latter, so I can watch Fedal final for once!

Saturday Order of Play from London:

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan vs Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic at 7:15 AM
Rafael Nadal(70-9; 10-4) vs Andy Murray(46-17; 7-4) at 9 AM
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski vs Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi at 1:15 PM
Novak Djokovic(59-17; 4-7) vs Roger Federer(63-13; 14-6) at 3 PM

Sunday Order of Play from London:
Doubles Final at 10:30 AM
Singles Final at 12:30 PM

xfan,

yeah..as Metro said, home is not much of an advantage for Muzz. Though its a three setter..Muzz isn't exactly in sparkling form. And Rafa always finds a way to win. This isn't 2009.

I just hope the media dosen't go and call the final before the second SF is played like USO. Its only going to fire up Nole tremendously if a Fedal final is called..and then we all know what happens when that happens.

I just hope its TMF for tomorrow for all the three sets that they play. I can't wait for the second SF tomorrow. Might watch/might not watch the first one tomorrow.

Ladyjulia,
You don't think Fed can beat Rafa on this surface, over three sets?
I think his chances would be good if they actually met.

Well, whatever happens tomorrow, I say again, I've really enjoyed WTF and don't really understand why some people have found it a little boring.

Metro - you're welcome...Cleese also shows up as the voice on some GPS systems...when you arrive at your destination the voice sez, "I will NOT be getting your luggage for you!"

Old Man - try and keep up. Muzz, thetwit, then tweeted that he was just going all sarcastic on the Brit press's backside... who can say what REALLY goes on in the MuzzHead. Carnap! where are you when we need you.

CL, yes Muzz indeed said on his tweety bird, "If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, why don't smart people get it? Or are they smart?". He's now toying with British press, that jerk! Press people have feelings, you know?....I think... eh, right?

"Look at this crap Muzz pulled at his interview on British press."

It's called sarcasm. If you read carefully, he says "I need to do it in a big match, in the semis", which is exactly what he already did (he beat Nadal at USO 2009 and AO 2010).

This from Neil Harman (The Times):
"Murray insists that he was having a bit of fun on Thursday when he suggested that he “doesn’t seem to beat these guys in the big matches” and wonders how the media could have taken his comments at face value. It is because he said them without a trace of sardonic cadence in his voice, so he was taken at his word."

Lynne,
"I've really enjoyed WTF and don't really understand why some people have found it a little boring."

Ditto here. 17,000 fans in the arena for most matches surely can't be all wrong? plus tv coverage, more sponsors. Most fans I spoke to were happy to experience WTF, maybe some complaints about quick straight sets and too little tennis.

lol oh great now Murray is a Rafa minion, too? Djoker waves the white flad easy enough, too...

BAH!

men's tennis needs some NEW stars, pronto, none of these jokers have a chance to upset the apple cart with that attitude...

Well I'm out for now.
I'll watch both semis tomorrow, hoping for some compelling tennis.
Can't really think of too many great matches in 2010 and this is all we have left.

ladyjulia -

Fed losing to Rafa on clay is a norm.

Fed's GOAT status gets compromised more and more as he loses to Rafa on grass and hard courts. His H2H against Rafa on these 2 surfaces is still respectable.

Metro : I hope you don't mind if I ask, are you English or American. Feel free not to answer if you don't want to, I won't be offended.

Old man, it wasn't Carlos in either case in Wimbledon. Plus Rafa seems to like Carlos anyway, and also complimented him now afterwards, too, just thought he made a mistake, which he probably did as far as I understand. As for previous mistakes, since you were wondering... there was that line call at last year's WTF in the Söderling match, first set, when Rafa's shot was erronously called out, and I guess low on confidence and all that, Rafa just accepted Carlos's affirmation that the shot was indeed out instead of challenging - had he challenged he'd have won that game. Anyway, I can't imagine Rafa would hold that against Carlos, and don't see a connection to the Berdych match incident at all. (Unlike with Ullrich the other day.)

Lynne,

That is OK. I'm a English and a Federer fan. Though I have a penchant for American TV series and worked previously for a US company with US expats in the office. Cultural gem: In order to foster teambuilding, the US management introduced a company softball team. The catch was that most Brits didn't understand the rules to play the game. Whereas Americans don't understand our obsession with soccer.

Match call for the semifinals will be in the Deuce Club unless we get a fresh thread from London...

Metro : I'm English and thought you were too. I live in the US and find that Americans generally don't understand our soccer at all any more than we do theirs. It's definitely a cultural thing !

Smiley post-match presser for Rafa:
http://s2.postimage.org/487npmwtx/28469957.jpg
http://s2.postimage.org/487r0plth/28469962.jpg

Dawid Law (BBC Radio) tweeted:
"Rafa asked about Murray's assertion yesterday that Murray has not much chance. Rafa laughed and said Murray was trying to remove pressure."

"Rafa typically polite about umpire Carlos Barnardes. 'he's a great umpire but he made a mistake.'"

xfan,

I think Fed has good chances against Rafa if he brings TMF along..but he shanks his way (which is going to happen with Rafa hitting to his BH all day long) and the match might not look so good for him. Overall, if he plays like Cincinnati 2009...i think he stands a very good chance.

But its only logical that the younger player will win..Rafa is ofcourse the #1 coming in with 3 GS of this year. Fed is coming in with 1 GS this year..but a year full of blown matchpoints, shanks and struggles. Its up to the Fed how he wants to approach it. He can use it a rare opportunity to make the H2H less skewed..but tactics wise, he's pretty much at a dead end on what to do against Rafa.

He'll take all the risks and chances...and Rafa will play safe. In the end, as it has been 13 times (or is it 14?)...i would put my money on Rafa in a Fedal final. The Fed will tease..he might have matchpoints..but he won't win.

Seen it way too many times. This isn't the fast Shanghai court and it isn't 2006 or 2007.

Still...the Djoker has good chances tomorrow, the final is still a long way.

Metro

You mentioned that it's easier to get tickets to the WTF than Wimbledon and I must agree as my birtday is the end of June and hubby's is the beginning of July so we are looking into a Wimbledon trip this summer. The only option with gaurenteed tickets is Grand Slam Tennis Tours and I have been on the phone with them lots this past week. A tour with tickets for two days of tennis is going to cost abour $5,0000 apiece. That's including hotels but the tickect which are debentures are the big cost. We are also trying to then leave London and book a Mediteranean cruise for a few weeks.

VamosRafa,

I don't think the Fed can do anything about the H2H. Its going to get worse for sure.

xfan,

When Fed was asked about at USO...he said we are not going to see anything new in the matches between him and Rafa.I think that pretty much sums it up.

Lynne: Fascinating, I assume you are American based on your location. Have you lived in the US for long? I am Arsenal fan, do you still follow your footie? The Premierleague is so international nowadays. When I lived abroad, I could find a pub broadcasting PL matches, choose fan clubs, street vendors sell kits.

Metro : Yes, I've been in SW Florida for over nine years. I came from a football-mad family and it's where I spent most Saturday afternoons as I
was growing up. I'm a (wait for it!) Sheffield Wednesday supporter. They have fallen on hard times, alas, but it's a family tradition and old habits die hard. I still love the game though.

I still think Nadal will win this tournament. His confidence is really up there after his phenomenal season, and he wants to cap it off by winning the WTF which he has never won. That would be a huge exclamation point, and I really don't see anybody with the mental strength to combat him.

Roger is in fine form and playing closer to his form from 3 years ago. But, mentally, I just don't think his confidence is all the way there. He has a tendency to get tight when his opponent is firing on all cylinders. And when Roger gets tight, the shanks follow, and his footwork and anticipation are adversely affected. His game flows when he is in auto-pilot and playing from instinct. He can only do that when he is composed and confident. We'll see which Federer shows up in the semi-final ... the one who beat Djokovic in Shanghai or the one who played so miserably against Monfils in Paris Bercy.

Diane,

I have done my fair share of Wimbledon. Ballot tickets are lottery, can't get LTA tickets as I don't belong to club, won't pay premium for hospitality agencies, so I just queue for ground pass (excluding show courts). I get materials from promoters: A day at W Centre Court plus lunch, GBP 900 plus VAT. W has the 2nd highest corporate hospitality rate among British sports events (Twickeham Rugby is 1) and few tickets on the open market. I spoke to other tennis fans and they are in the same boat.

$5,0000 apiece for flight, hotel and 2 days of tennis is a rip off, if I may be honest. Med cruise sounds fun and would be lovely birthday treat, which part? Balerics, Italian Amalfi Coast, East Adriatic/Crotia. I did Aegean (Greece,Turkey)if one likes archeology (Ephesus, Knossos)and good food.

WTF is a breeze: internet, box office, other fans have spare tickets to sell and some friends are clients of sponsors. Some people bought tickets in June. The only match I failed to get affordable tickets was Fed/Sod.

Those poor tennis journos are now totally confuzzled about taking or not at face value what players tell them.

Piers Newbery tweeted:
" 'I would prefer to play against someone a little bit easier,' says Rafa when asked if he is happy to face Murray. He's being sarcastic too."

At espn...there is article about the WTF and the full crowds...

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/59067.html

Lynne,

Nine years, wow. You are almost naturalised. Never been to Florida, but it sounds lovely and tennis mecca with plenty courts. I heard that some Brits bought vacation property in FL and various travel and property tv programmes feature FL.

Sheffield Wednesday (Blades?) supporter, I don't meet many of you in the Southeast. Soem friend read law at Sheffield Uni and encountered some local Sheffield Wednesday fans. I really respect those who support unfashionable teams because it is in their blood. Sheffield Wednesday, are they in the 2nd division now? Doesn't Sean Bean support your Club?

I know a North London couple, he is a hotspurs and she is a gunner. The best man said in speech that it is a Match made in Hell. They try to work out club affiliation for their children, it wasn't covered in the pre-nup.

Bwaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaa...I love the eyepatch.

Thanks for the pics. I like Nole a little more every day.

he he...lots of mind games for tomorrow's match...so its not only British press who resort to making comclusons?

From espn:

"Who knows what Murray's mindset is?

He said following his win over David Ferrer on Thursday evening he had little chance of beating Rafa. It was a silly stance, given his recent positive hard-court record against the world No. 1. Perhaps Murray was trying to fool the media, since he was lambasted after a horribly disappointing performance against Federer in the round-robin stage.

Nadal wasn't buying Murray's prematch analysis, and he looked annoyed when told of the Scot's words.

When he got down to talking about the nuts and bolts of the encounter, Nadal shifted a bit of the pressure back to Murray.

"Everybody can say the conditions are a little bit easier for Andy than for me here," Nadal said. "The court is a little bit easier for him than for me." "

Also...same writer from tennis.com..

"Trying to rectify matters and explain his responses, or so we think, Murray tweeted Friday afternoon, “If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, why don’t smart people get it? Or are they smart?”

As fully expected, Nadal didn’t buy into Murray’s pessimism.

Why would Murray say what he did, Rafa?

“That’s easy,” Nadal said. “(Reduce) the pressure. The pressure comes back to him now.” "

Metro :

No, Wednesday are the Owls, Blades are United. There are not so many tennis courts here as there used to be, which is sad.

I lived in Wimbledon before we came to live here, just about 10 or 15 mins walk from the All England Club and I was very lucky to be able to go
quite a few times in my life.

Good luck with the WTF tickets, it's been a pleasure talking to you, Metro.

"Rafa laughed and said Murray was trying to remove pressure."

Pot/Kettle

Hi AB,
Are you there? You are the one with the delicious sounding fudge-chocolate-melt recipe, right? Might try it this weekend, when we celebrate the first of Advent with some kiddies around.
Thank you for mentioning my posts. Unfortunately my English writing skills are a little rusty and for some reason this typepad thing swallows most of my posts (can anyone explain to me, why?), so it takes me too long to get them posted and the discussion has moved on most of the time. So it's nice to know that some read it anyway.
Missed most of the exitement today because of work. Seems to be the week of "Rafa and the rules". Have to say, that, after reading all the comments, I was very disappointed when I finally watched the videos of "Ruling Gate". I was promised a raging bull. That was supposed to be a tantrum? Rafa's roid rage? First, it was way too short; no foaming, no raquet braking, no threatening of tiny lines people. You can do better than this, Rafa! The intonation was nice and mean, though Spanish speaking posters pointed out, that four letter words and personal insults were missing. Well, it's a beginning but The Tantrum Goat he is not. There is still a lot to learn from former GOATS like Connors, McEnroe, Ivanisevic, Safin and this underground star Koellerer.
Well, good night everybody. I'm looking forward to the semis tomorrow, the best four made it and I'm very happy for The One Eyed Djoker.

"Whereas Americans don't understand our obsession with soccer."

To say nothing of cricket! THAT we don't/can't even understand the rules for.

CL..pot/kettle is apt.

only Rafa can throw a hissyfit and retain the illusion of angelic perfection lol ... if he would stop calling the lines for the linespeople, this wouldnt have happened ... nice to see him jab murray, he's the real favorite, no? the court favors him lol

this guy is a riot! doesnt every court pretty much favor the No. 1 in the world????? even red clay is the playground of his opponents from his perspective...

Nordic Light - "The One Eyed Djoker" is excellent! OED for short.

Rafa is never wrong, never the favorite, never really loses a match without a reason, the conditions never favor him, wow, life is rough for poor Rafa, isnt it?

this is reporting from the AP on CNN...

Berdych, who was making his debut at the season-ending tournament, lost all three of his matches in London.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/tennis/11/26/nadal.riled.ap/index.html#ixzz16Ri1ECRL

Am i wrong or did Berdy beat Roddick? some reporting, huh?

"Rafa laughed and said Murray was trying to remove pressure."

Whaat? Seriously, ladyjulia? Do you have a link?

Arun,

I copy pasted the relevant bits from the ESPN article...in my post above.

will give u the links too..give me 2 min..

I don't recall the word "laughed" being used..but Rafa did say Murray was trying to remove pressure and the pressure is back on Murray.

Arun,

Here's the ESPN article:

http://tinyurl.com/24t6nu5

and tennis.com one..

http://tinyurl.com/2fan8ub

Thanks, ladyjulia. That's very strange! Hmmph.

Arun,

What is strange? That Muzz played with the british press or Nadal saying that the pressure is on Muzz?

In a way, both. Probably Murray is trying to play a lil bit of mindgames himself or or he was just being honest. But I find Nadal saying that Murray is just trying to deflect the pressure (or something like that) to be kind of hypocritical.

Arun,

Yeah...that's why pot/kettle was apt.

Both matches should be fun tomorrow though. Any predictions?

I don't know, ladyjulia.
I find it stupid for the 2nd SF to be scheduled 6 hours after the 1st.
So a clear advantage to the winner of the 1st SF. I think it's probably going to be Nadal. To me he looked perfect in the match this morning. He is gonna go all the way.

Murray was obviously being sarcastic in his comment. What is worrisome is not his possible lack of confidence against Rafa, but instead how annoyed / wrapped up he is in the attack of the British press.

Now, I'm sure he gets annoyed at being eviscerated after every loss (his sarcasm seems to flow from what was said after Fed beat him), but the fact that he's dragging the baggage with him to future press conferences says a lot.

Just the idea that what's being written about him sticks in his mind for days probably means his focus is screwed up. Not a good sign for this tournament, or for Wimbledons in the future.

It's kind of old school, but maybe he should not read the papers during a tournament if such things bother him so much. In modern terms he'll have to shut off his twitter too for a bit. Just stick with xbox for a bit maybe... even if that puts the thumbs at risk...

Arun,

True...no need for 6 hrs. That too on a Saturday when crowds will come anyway.

Still, I am hoping Fed-Djokovic will be short. And hopefully in favor of Fed.

G'nite Arun..see u tomorrow for SFs.

Later, ladyjulia.

Don't forget that the match call thread will be in the Deuce Club unless a new thread for London is posted...

well Rafa having the first semi will save this board a lot of crocodile tears from the mama lions freaking out about their poor boy's fitness levels for the final, how unfair it is, and if he's getting enough sleep and if he drank his warm cocoa before beddie bye lol ...

let the old man deal with less rest, as it should be .. this is a year of just golden platters why not one more? that said, i suppose its time for the Shankmeister to show up after the run of great form, huh?

Fed's beaten a long list of Top 10 foes in the last month, hope he can keep it up ... Im wondering if Djokie loses the first set, how much fight he will have, given the Davis Cup starting in less than a week's time...

and duh, Murray is being sarcastic, his Tweet even explained it, I say bravo for him to stick it to the press, he must get darn fed up with their hysterical nonsense about his worth and form

Why is everybody saying Rafa is going to win?,Federer is 3-0 so far too
Don't jinx Nadou,let's let it play out Sunday,trying to jinx Nadal talking about he's probably going to win,huh!

So some of us saying that Nadal has a good chance to win from here is going to jinx him 5000 miles away? :)

Arun, are you trying to be logical in response to such posts? lol ... cmon u know better!

She was probably joking or half-joking though, Tim.
I didn't take it too seriously. Sorry if I came across otherwise.

how could nadal possibly win? the court's not the best for him, right? he lost all his maches last year, right? he's only No. 1 by 4000 points, right?

LOL! and some washed up old Swiss who he beats like a drum is the only real competition left, how could be possibly win??

and dont forget about the knees, the must be getting shaky about now, those magical injections must be wearing off by now ...

I hope Fred surprises but in a way, id rather have Nads have just enormous pressure going into Australia, and see how he wiggles off the hook there, going for the Nads Slam, etc.

Let old man Fred sneak it from behind and steal another Slam or two, cant wait!

ive read a million of those arun, if this one is joking there's another coming fast on its heels ..

Arun,I'm actually joking but still seriously do not want my Nadou to be jinxed,I know, confusiong huh?plus about coming across otherwise I'm one never to take it for more than it is:virtual funny comments,I come here to laugh and make some laugh and I usually leave happy!!!
Peace!

Match call will be in Deuce Club unless new thread comes up for London...

Question: Why is Rafael Nadal winning so much?

Answer: Because ALL surfaces are slooooooooow like CLAY!!

Rafa is the BEST!