CINCINNATI MASTERS 2013, 12-18 August. Main thread, information and Entry List.

[traveller7]

Another bp opportunity for Isner gone :(

[harriet]

first deuce game this set, rafa survives, isner serving at 3-4

[harriet]

good hold isner, 5-5

[harriet]

isner now at 5-6, so either tb or match rafa
tb it is, come in sallydaisy!

[Alis]

Oh dear - 2-0 in the tie break. C'mon John!

[Alis]

5-1 - it's over for John I'm afraid.

[traveller7]

SO nadal won as expected now no 2 in the world again

[Linda]

Amazing Rafa! :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :yahoo:

[Sallydaisy]

And Andy is down to #3 as of the rankings tomorrow, and thus will be seeded 3 at the USO.
:sad:

[traveller7]

And Andy is down to #3 as of the rankings tomorrow, and thus will be seeded 3 at the USO.
:sad:

:sad:

[cazza99]

Announcer to Isner - "The crowd have backed you all week long John" :)

[Sallydaisy]

Well done Rafa. As someone on twitter just posted, hope he has a separate cupboard for some of the less attractive trophies ...

Sad for Isner who ran him close but at least has now ensured that an American player is back inside the top 20.

Last word from the Federer tweetalike ...

Not Roger Federer ‏@PseudoFed (https://twitter.com/PseudoFed) 11m (https://twitter.com/PseudoFed/status/369165896326995968)
Dear Commentators, rather than referring to the "Top 4", can you now say,
"The top 3 and the number 7"?

[Linda]

Yes, Isner had a great week too :)

Men's doubles final up next - but TennisTV aren't showing it :grrr:

[Elenive]

I take it Rafa's win now means Andy will be #3?

[JAMES4578]

I take it Rafa's win now means Andy will be #3?

Yes Rafa now 2 and Andy 3, Fed no 7!

[Linda]

Yes, that is true. But the way Rafa has been playing this year, he was bound to get the #2 back sooner or later. If he keeps this up, he will get back to #1!

[Genbrit]

Yes, that is true. But the way Rafa has been playing this year, he was bound to get the #2 back sooner or later. If he keeps this up, he will get back to #1!

He has a long way to get to #1 but he doesn't have any points to defend so everything is a bonus at the moment. I would imagine though that he will be selective in the tournaments he enters, especially hard courts, because of his knees or surely they will give way again. Any insight Linda????

[Linda]

Well, I don't know, Genbrit. To be honest I thought he would either withdraw from Cinci or lose early, because he's got another two weeks to play on hc at USO yet and surely wouldn't want to scupper his chances, so what do I know? I don't think it's that long a way to get to #1 - he's been #1 in the race for ages. Over the past week or so, all the tennis commentators on the internet have been speculating as to whether he'll get to #1 by the end of the year or if he'll have to wait for AO. Rafa himself always says he's not worried about chasing after #1, he just tries his best in every match and lets the rankings look after themselves.

[RoastLamb]

Wow! Great win by Rafa. :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: Back to back Canada and Cincy is so hard and rare to do. Great to see him win this for the first time and have 26 Masters titles now. Awesome!!!

Ugliest trophy EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What were they thinking?

John played very, very well. Was very impressed with him indeed. Much better than Milos last week (I hope Milos took lots of notes because he's very similar to Isner in many ways).

[JAMES4578]

Only previous winners of the Canada/Cincy double were Agassi, Rafter and Roddick and all went on to reach the Us Open Final with only Agassi not taking the title. 7 players have achieved the Indian Wells/Miami double,with Federer doing it twice in 2005/2006.

[pabbers]

Well done to Rafa. However, I hope he doesn't match Rafter and Roddick's achievement above :shamed:.

I think, as an Andy fan, it's hard not to be envious of Rafa's achievement and wish the same for Andy.... but everybody's different. I've been digging deep into my memory (to little avail) but I've got a feeling that after Andy came back from the wrist injury he performed well much more quickly than I'd anticipated.

With Rafa, he suffers from (and I'm sure Linda will correct me if I'm wrong) recurring bouts of tendinitis which affect his knees. This is not the same as something like osteoarthritis. Presumably, with rest, the inflammation dies down and can then be controlled once again in the short/long term. I'm sure, as with Andy's back, that the decision for Rafa to miss some tournies at the merest hint of the problem returning, was extremely well advised and sensible. I for one wouldn't want Andy to play through back pain at the risk of the rest of the year. After missing the second half of the clay season, Andy showed no signs of back problems at Queens or Wimbly - well managed, I'm sure by his team - just as with Rafa's knees more recently.

So why has Rafa been able to come back to such great effect? Well, IMHO and supposition, the reasons are several fold:

1. He's got nothing to lose - no points to defend, no pressure;
2. He's had what I think some players need more and more and that's a mental break. So he's come out fresh and ready for the fray, hungry to re-establish himself;
3. He's managing his calendar. Something I hope that the top players increasingly will do because they need to for the sake of their own careers and health. If the ATP won't manage the calendar sensibly for them (and let's face it that's all about money, which the top players don't need for themselves) then they need to take the bull by the horns and do it themselves. Even if they have to cite something like e.g.exhaustion.

As for Andy, he is in a unique and lonely position which must be very difficult for him. He's got the GS and Wimbly monkeys off his back so maybe he's going through a period of relief where his need to win (even if only in his subconscious) is not as prominent at the moment. I also think that after the last year he must be mentally exhausted - who else has had to bear the intense and incessant weight of expectation that he has both from himself and his fans?

We need to give Rafa the credit he deserves and give Andy a break. He may never be #1 just as he once said himself, he may never win a GS, but I still love watching him play tennis and would choose to watch his style over Rafa/Roger/Nole's any day.

[themass15]

Well said Pabbers, but obviously it is disappointed as an Andy fan. However, if I would like to see anyone do it, it would be Rafa and it is great to see him playing again. So looking forward to the ATP World Tour Finals now.

[RoastLamb]

I'm an Andy fan and I'm not the least bit disappointed. He won Wimbledon!!! That's all I care about. I think for Rafa, Pabbers' #2 reason is the key. He had a break and it's totally rejuventated him. A bit like when Andy didn't play the French he realized just what he was missing.

However, I am disappointed with Andy's performances at both Montreal and Cincy. Not to reach either quarterfinal is a shocker to me. Maybe he's saving it all up for USO I don't know but I do find it odd.

[supergran]

Great post pabbers but must admit last night felt so down when Rafa won which is very unusual as have always been a fan. I feel so sorry for Andy but I'm sure he is coping better than his fans.

[Golden Lady]

I was very surprised at Andy's loss to Berdych last week. Being away with limited wifi it was difficult to keep tabs. I wasn't worried by Montreal, just thought it was down to being a bit rusty but he seemed to be getting back in his stride at Cincy and to lose so convincingly was very disappointing. We do know that this can and does happen to Andy at times and as many have already said, that may prevent him from ever become the world no 1. But Andy has won the greatest prize in tennis this year and I'll bet he's still reeling a bit from that, I know I am!

I do believe he'll be focused and ready for the US Open and hungry to defend his title.

[Linda]

Thank you Pabbers for your excellent post, you have described Rafa's situation very well. :)

[Fina]

Thank you Pabbers for your excellent post, you have described Rafa's situation very well. :)

Should "Rafa's situation" not be described on the already existing "Rafael Nadal" thread within this website; rather than in the "Andy Rules" section?

I'm currently finding it hard to find even the lukewarm support that exists for Andy on here.

[Sallydaisy]

Should "Rafa's situation" not be described on the already existing "Rafael Nadal" thread within this website; rather than in the "Andy Rules" section?
This is the 'main thread' for the Cincinnati Masters so it's the place to post about ALL the players who were in the draw and that includes discussion of the Semi's and Finals (and winner) whoever they may be. As such it's fair to discuss Rafa's win on this thread and so far it's all been in context and with sadness from many of us that Andy wasn't able to go further at this event.

We always have specific threads for Andy's matches where we cheer him on to win!


I'm currently finding it hard to find even the lukewarm support that exists for Andy on here.
Lukewarm support???
Something of an exaggeration ... the whole forum is dedicated to him and the members are die-hard fans who have long cherished a dream of him winning Grand Slams and any other tournament he enters. The reality of when he loses sometimes prompts disappointment in people's posts but for the majority it's always onwards and upwards where Andy Murray is concerned.

But we don't exclude discussion of other players because Andy's one of a group of talented guys and sometimes how they play has an impact on how he does and broader knowledge and discussion provides context when he does lose.

[banskogirl]

We always expect the best from Andy :) that's why we are shocked and disappointed when he loses! Much as he does I suppose ;)

[Genbrit]

Great post Pabbers. Thanks