25 thoughts on “Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer – Last 2 Games & Match Point – ATP World Tour Finals London 2011”

  1. @HoosierMF I agree that non GSs are a great warmup for GS, but that does not necessarily mean that top seeds can’t play their best at them, as that’s what it will take to be no.1. Novak didn’t become no.1 this year simply playing only his best at GS. He consistently played well at tournaments, which is why he beat other top seeds like Nadal several times in order to be no.1. But it doesn’t matter what I say, since you will remain adamant about your view and I as well.

  2. @ivansofun They’re FORCED to play their best at slams because they know everyone else wants to win it so badly. The other tournaments are used as practice runs for the real thing (GS). Why do you think the O2 was on a hard court? Because the next slam is on a hard court. They’re basically warm-ups for the slams. Same setup for Wimbledon, French and US. So for the top players, getting to the semis of a pre-slam tournament and losing is perfect training for a Grand Slam.

  3. @HoosierMF You should go search for some tennis videos. If you actually watch some tennis highlights of non grand slams, you will see plenty of high quality matches between top seeds.

  4. @HoosierMF Okay…but your statement still doesn’t dispel my point that ATP World Tour Finals is arguable the biggest tournament next to Grand Slams. So if the top players don’t care about it, then there’s really only the 4 slams for them to play their best. The season is too long for the top seeds to be saving themselves for slams only. Theres like several months between them. Do you truly believe that the top seeds only play their best at slams?

  5. @ivansofun They’re often injured because they’ve just played a GS. How many times do you hear of a player injuring themselves at a minor tournament? Not often and the reason is because they’re saving themselves for the slams. I could easily argue that the players put more effort into the O2 tournament because there are no more slams left to play. Compare it to the tournaments that Murray so easily won this year and it’s a different story.

  6. @HoosierMF I know they prioritize tournaments by playing the more important ones but when they play, they try to play their best, unless they’re injured. The ATP World Tour Finals is arguably the biggest tournament next to Grand Slams, so if players don’t prioritize for this what other tournaments should they prioritize for? It’s funny how you accuse me of not following tennis. Maybe you should watch the O2 2011 before accusing the players of not putting effort into that tournament.

  7. @ivansofun Look back at all the tournaments played this year. If you can’t accept that players prioritize tournaments then you don’t follow tennis much.

  9. @HoosierMF Some of the players were under performing in this tournament not because they don’t care, it’s because the season is long and they’re tired or were still recovering from their injuries. I’m sure the top players try to play their best every time they are on the court. They are not short minded to only perform their best at the biggest tournaments, because every game is part of their training. They don’t get to be grand slam winners simply just putting minimal effort.

  10. @ivansofun Murray obviously says that because he still can’t win a Grand Slam so he has to settle for the lower goal of getting points at minor competitions. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic don’t give a shit about these competitions which is why Murray always seems to perform “better”.

  12. @HoosierMF I agree that players will be most remembered for their grand slam victories. However, b/c none of the atp players are retiring soon, rankings are still important to them. It’s not just a number to players. Some see it as a milestone, like aiming to be in the top 4, or top 10. I’m sure Nadal would really want to be no.1 again. Even Murray said his goal for 2011 was to end the season as no.3, which shows how serious players take the ranking system.

  13. @ivansofun Grand Slams > Rankings. When a player retires, how are they remembered? It’s definitely not for their ranking or how many times they qualified for the ATP WTF.

  15. @HoosierMF Lol. Okay…if you really think that players don’t care about this tournament even though its worth 1500 atp points (only 500 less than grand slams). One of the reason that makes the ATP World Tour Finals a coveted and challenging tournament is that in order to qualify for it, you have to maintain your rankings as one of the top 8. So basically, only the top 8 players who have consistently performed their best throughout the season would qualify.

  16. @ivansofun That’s irrelevant. Players always put in 100% for Grand Slams but they don’t for the other tournaments because they are not the priority.

  17. @HoosierMF You misunderstood me. I agree that Grand Slams are probably the ultimate goal for most players too. But what I’m saying is that to win the ATP World Tour Finals, it may be a harder test than winning a Grand Slam b/c you are only playing against the top 8 players, where as in a grand slam, you’re probably not going to play against the top 8 more than 3 times.

  18. @ivansofun I disagree. Grand Slams are the ultimate goals for every professional player. Players often miss the other tournaments or do not put in as much effort as they do for GS.

  19. @HoosierMF While Grand Slams have that prestige image, I honestly think that the real test is at the ATP World Tour Finals, because in order to get to the final, you have to play against top 8 players for every single game. For grand slams, you may only need to play against the top 8 players a couple of times.

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