French Open

[RichC]

Fed have a hard time against Nadal and it's mainly due to his stamina, speed and consistent way of hitting the ball.

Federer is however still by some distance the best technical player in the world, and by far the best I have seen. He can simply do everything with the ball, but his best days are behind him now.

Still I have never been a huge fan of the baseline runner type of player.

that in itself is fantastic technique, it's good to have different types of player on tour and Fed and Nadal are the best of their particular styles.

I think Fed's serve is the best I've ever seen not the quickest but the placement is amazing - Nadal for me is the best passer on the tour simply fantastic with some of the angles he creates.

[RichC]

far too many errors from Fed now, really needs to get himself together otherwise this could be a straight sets defeat again

[Arn]

Federer don't believe himself that he will win against Nadal. That make all the difference.

Compare that with when he play any other player. He then know and believe he is the best player out there and will win the match.

Big mental advantage for Nadal even before the match even started.

[Darkon]

yeah, it's not looking to good for Federer right now, Nadal can be nearly impossible to play against if he gets the upperhand mentaly.

And Nadal is making very few errors from the baseline even for his standards.

[RichC]

Federer don't believe himself that he will win against Nadal. That make all the difference.

Compare that with when he play any other player. He then know and believe he is the best player out there and will win the match.

Big mental advantage for Nadal even before the match even started.

Not sure thats entirely true, one thing Fed has is self belief - foolishly most gave him no chance against Djokovic in the semi's (mad or what!). Nadal has his number that's very true but of all the players on tour to walk out not sure if they can win, Fed would be the last on my list.

His main problem today is that he's making far too many errors mostly coming from his backhand which is pretty erratic these days and where most of the errors are coming from

[Chazza]

foolishly most gave him no chance against Djokovic in the semi's (mad or what!)

Including that gambler 'Mr Dead Cert' who had made 120k betting on dead certs (funnily enough)

Put the lot on Djokovic

[RichC]

Including that gambler 'Mr Dead Cert' who had made 120k betting on dead certs (funnily enough)

Put the lot on Djokovic

idiot!!!

streaks like that are coming to an end at some point and Fed isn't exactly an easy match up!!

[RichC]

back on serve now - well played Fed as he looked out of this for a while.

[Fredo]

Rain's gonna help Fed!

[Fredo]

It's going to reduce the bounce of the ball which helps Nadal a lot. All those head high bounces doesn't help Federer's attacking game.

[RichC]

what a time for a rain delay!!

Heavier balls will certainly help Nadal.

[Fredo]

Not Nadal, Federer.

[RichC]

you think heavier balls will help Fed?

[Fredo]

Yes, it's all about the bounce of the ball on clay, it's a much slower surface. Balls head high prevents him from playing his attacking game. It's already showing.

[RichC]

heavier balls will help Nadal with his heavy topspin and make it harder for Fed to hit winners.