pjcogs, thanks. Of course Federer won't die out, he­ takes good care of himself and I wish Nadal would do­ the same. It's good for once not to have people­ badmouthing each other here, but just expressing­ opinions. Let's hope our man gets to the final and­ then may the best man win.

At the start of the tournament the draw for both nadal­ and djokovic looked tricky.Both had players who had­ troubled them in the past in their halves of thr­ draw.Like verdasco,blake and potro for nadal,haas and­ roddick for nole.Now with all these players gone it­ should be a nadal-djokovic final unless any further­ upsets takes place.
I would have liked federer to have­ played in shanghai and pull out of paris­ masters.Federer has had great sucess in shanghai and­ this hard court surface suits him more than the slow­ carpet surface in paris.He does not have a great record­ in paris masters as well.He could have pulled out of­ paris and tokyo,instead of shanghai and tokyo.Anyway­ federer is the best judge to himself.

Austria's postal services will issue a stamp­ honouring Roger as the world's best tennis player.­ The 65-centime stamp shows our champ winning the French­ Open this year,accompanied by the text "Best­ Tennis Player of the World". It will be designed­ by renowned Austrian stamp artist Renate Gruber. The­ 400,000 stamps will go on sale next February. The Swiss­ Post had issued a special stamp featuring a photo of­ Roger's victory in Wimbledon in 2007.

So good to hear Nadal praising his play. He did play­ better than Blake today, and he acknowledged that­ strongly. Good for him! .. Also, am I seeing things or­ is he moving more easily and "craftily"­ around the court? Even though he said earlier that he­ does not plan to change his "game." I see,­ hear, and feel his renewed confidence and that a­ long-awaited voicing of his pride in himself. JIMMY:­ Read your post in response to to Silvia (what a welcome­ poster she is) with interest. I believe Nadal will come­ back--certainly more mature--but an even better player.­ Cross fingers... Doesn't mean that Federer wll die­ out necessarily.

Good place for all big and tall singles, please check:­ ---Tallconnect Co M ---- ,More fun waiting for you...

Third round or quarters.. let's see if i am­ correct, again. Fantastic play, though.

now i don't know if this is just carelessness or­ complete disregard maybe disrespect for the reading­ public . how come after we have asked politely for ­ updating of the atp ranking, euro sport has brazenly­ refused to comply yes they finally updated the men,­ what about the women?
some thing they probably forgot­ to recognize, is that people come here to be informed­ ,and i think that is an impossibility right now in this­ site

Silvia, I don't think you are naive. It's­ simple. You are one of the most sane people posting­ here, you defend your positions with reasonable­ arguments, you don't go into hysterics every time­ Nadal wins or loses, and you do not attack people­ viciously when they don't agree with you, calling­ them god knows what. I wish there were more people like­ you around here. Then there could be some serious­ discussions.
As for Nadal, I think he is slowly­ finding his game again, but he is still having­ difficulties and he definitely is not on the level he­ was before Madrid, although he was moving pretty well­ around the court today. Let's hope that everything­ will fall into shape after he has had a proper rest and­ in time for the Aussie.

Silva,
I couldnt agree with you more. People seem to­ WRONGLY believe that Rafa's game is ALL about­ putting the ball back into play. He is one of the best­ all rounders in the game of tennis. Yes,, he's the­ game's best defender. But he's also a great­ attacker of the ball and his serving has improved­ tremendously over the years. He is even trying new­ things..for example coming to the net (I wish he would­ do that some more). He's only 23 and Federer­ himself said that Nadal forced him to go back to the­ drawing board. Thats what Nadal has (in my opinion)­ been attempting to have some longevity in this sport;­ and hopefully finally win his US Open.

Many people­ always said it would take years for Sampras' record­ to be broken...Federer broke it in half the time...Rafa­ may do the same to Federer's. Long live their­ rivalry as these two MEN have so much to offer sports­ on a whole

So, today i was talking to a friend, and i was very­ surprised by what she said, she tells me that Federer­ is not as dominant as in the past and that Nadal is the­ one to hold responsible for it! Well, no surprise­ there, i wouldn't put it like that but i do­ understand that Nadal challenged Federer hegemony more­ then any other. What surprised me was that she said it­ as if it was a bad thing! like if Nadal wasn't here­ it would be for the better! Don't get me wrong, i­ love Nadal just as much as i respect Federer but above­ that i love quality tennis! and now that i came to­ pieces with the fact that the reason i love Nadal so­ much is the same so many hate him and as i noticed you­ guys here love to "debate" the Federer/Nadal­ rivelry i tought of asking: Why? Because he dare to­ break the almost perfect Federer game? 'Cause he­ was brave enough to bring something new to the game? or­ is it 'cause he refused to be just another one?­ Maybe i´m taking sides here but i think theres many­ reasons not to like somebody, but this one doesn't­ seem fare! Am i the only one thinking like this? or am­ i naive to be thinking like this?...

Hey, Rafa, job well done against Blake !
One match at a­ time...glad you are proving to tennis world, your run­ is not finished and yet to be seen.
Vamos !

woohoo go Nadal!!!!

Goooo Nole

Goooo Nole

i hope RAFA WINS THE TOURNAMENT!

VAMOS RAFA!YOU'RE MY FAVOURITE!

Results like this are what Rafa is all about, excitment­ and edge of the seat tennis! Vamos!! Can't wait­ until hes back to his best form, then watch out!

Donney I would love to bite your helmet gently