Well, Nadal is extending his long winning run on clay as we speak, but he'll have to lose a match on clay someday. Who will be next to beat him on clay though?

I went for Nalbandian as he is likely to get to meet him first and that his return of serve shoudl do some damage.

Can I vote again? :huh:

Berdych clearly: Why? because Rafa is a player and a guy very very sensible about players that have a positive H2H against him...He is a lot more fragile against this players so...Yes Berdy can do the job and he is able to do that in Monte Carlo IMO.. :rolleyes:

the swiss or the serb ;) ;)

At Monte Carlo; nobody
An early round meeting against Andeev (who should have beaten Nadal in Dubai) could have caused major problems for Rafa, but the big Russian is on the other side of the draw.

A few players are able to beat NAdal in a best of 3 as long as it won't end up in a marathon. (there are rumours Doc Fuentes is treating some cyclists again, who's next? :angry: )
I believe the only player to beat Nadal in a best of 5 on clay is Canas. He possesses the mental and physical toughness, won't get intimidated (essential against Nadal) and has such a positive mindset.

Berdy ohhh Berdy :(2 :(2 ...I have to change my vote...He lost 6-1 the first set against Robredo :angry:

Finally back to my first statement: Berdy can do it...Thanks Berdy :P

Re the opening post - on current form, not Fed

federer will have his revenge on nadal at monte carlo :ok:

As KK would say, I'd love it

Id love to think so. :)
But his recent form has dipped , where Nadal is back to his best ...but I have a strong feeling he will beat Nadal on clay at least once over the next few weeks .

I'll say that Federer will beat him in the final at Rome, ending Nadal's claycourt winning streak at 76. However I don't see Nadal being stopped at the event that matters, the French Open.

:) YESSSSS my initial forcast contines to hold...Berdy is doing exactly what I expect from him...Move close to a match with Rafa...I really want to see him playing Rafa: it is likely he will not have a lot of chances..Still: Go Berdy :rolleyes:

4-0 in the third against Soder...Good good :ok: :ok:

5-0 now in the third :yikes: :yikes:

Berdy for president. roflmao .You have the Tennis and you have the numbers of Rafa...YESSSSSSS :P :P to the semi B)

Its no big deal when rafa losses tomorrow we all know the reason why you hope he loses because he would have whooped Federer's ugly backside. Just a Nadal has berdych, Roger has pretty boy nadal.

I'm sorry to see Robin lose :(

But on the other hand, I'm glad that Berdych is through - because I want to see Rafa having to win against him (and Roger) if he wants to take this title and keep his streak running.

Likewise, I'd like to see Rafa win here, because I think Roger should have to face him in the final if he is to win here. Of course neither of them are there yet! I like Kohly, and hope he gives Rafa a run for his money!

You're not really doing your man any credit, TV. Wouldn't you rather see him prevail against Nadal on clay for the first time as a good opening salvo for RG--instead you blatantly, fervently hope one of the Spaniard's nemeses will do the job for him? :rolleyes:

At any rate, Berdych's form hasn't been convincing this week. Soderling gifted the match to him with a tremendous collapse, losing twelve straight games from having him on the ropes 7-5, 3-0. I haven't seen anything quite like it since the Jankovic v Henin SF at last year's USO, if I'm permitted to draw a WTA parallel. A semi placing would have landed the Swede at the doorstep of the Top 20, too.

Still a Nadal v Berdych semi should have plenty of spice to it, given the history (three straight wins for the Czech, with Nadal hoping to repeat his only win which did come on clay) and the verbal sparring of their last encounter in Madrid. It's also good to see Berdych, after an unimpressive start to the year, turning in a strong result with his third Masters semi (one of which was en route to the Paris title). I'm looking forward to a good match between the two.

No man..You do not have to misjudge my previous posts: I give credit to Roger to win against Rafa even on clay..And the final between the two is definitely the nice outcome I can expect: Rafa and Roger are by far the best players out there..Still Berdy is a very good player and, IMO, is one of the rare guys out there that he can generate a sort of tension in Rafa's head: So it will be a great test for him...In any caseI see a small probability that Berdy will be able to win against Rafa.

:rolleyes:

He is not giving him credit because he is a choker just like Roger.

Berdych is one of the few players who isn't scared of Nadal - it'll be tough for him on the clay, but he won't be overawed.

Is there anyone in the top 20 who is actually scared of Nadal?

I think most of them are scared of Nadal on clay (look at how Nieminen for example crumbled despite a winning position against him last year). Federer is still probably scared of Nadal on clay (lets see what happens when they play on the surface this claycourt season).

Fair enough. I don't know that Nadal has anything to 'prove' on clay, though, given the record 64 consecutive wins, which include two Slams, four Masters titles and four wins over the reigning No 1 and one of the all-time best. I look forward to his clash with Berdych for the sake of good tennis drama, not because it will be a 'test' for Nadal. The Czech is certainly in with a shout, since he seems to save some of his best for humbling the Spaniard and has already scored two unlikely come-from-behind wins this week, which will do wonders for his confidence going into it.

Of course, Kohlschreiber may yet turn in the stunning upset and render this thread irrelevant. B)

I dont think so. Especially after his recent slump anyone who faces him thinks they have a chance, they dont choke the way they do against federer. Youzny, blake, berdych etc. They whoop Rafa when they get the chance and the then crumble to thier god roger.

That's the thing. He has to prove every single match that he is "unbeatable" on this surface.

He never said he was unbeatable you people say it. The only person who likes to blow their own horn is Federer.

Chairman, I specifically said players scared of Nadal ON CLAY. He may well have had mixed results on the hardcourts, but he's never had a slump on clay. And I've watched players squander opportunities and crumble when playing Nadal and then lose, even if Nadal himself isn't playing that great. A fierce competitor like Nadal instils fear in his opponents - its a similar effect to what Federer has 99% of the time - players lose a match before they've even started, as it seems such a mental hurdle to beat the opponent. It is of great credit to Nadal that he instils such fear in his opponents when playing them on clay.

Like I said though, Berdych is an exception to this, so Nadal won't have that extra added mental edge, although its still a very tough match for Berdych.

Eh. He'll have to lose eventually, obviously, and I'm sure if he had the choice he would prefer to have it happen in one of the events leading into RG rather than the Slam itself. But I do hope when it comes it will be to someone in the Top 15, rather than crashing out to a qualifier or a middling player like Andreev (again).

That said the potential to go undefeated through the clay season a second time is actually there (!) for Nadal so I admit there is considerable pressure involved in living up to it. But it's a question of repeating a feat a second time, rather than proving he can accomplish it at all, which he has already done so superlatively. That's the problem with setting a bar so high for oneself. Look at the feeding frenzy that emerged over Federer after IW and Miami, when (as he said himself) it's better to lose to the same player twice rather than have two inexplicable, unconnected defeats in a row.

A month after this poll was created, its interesting to see those early results - 50% going for Fed to be the next player to beat Nadal on clay. And no-one voted for Davydenko, who gave Nadal his toughest match on clay for a long time.

Hi MrI

BTW: it will be really funny if the guy who will end the series of Rafa on clay will be just...The guy who started the run.., i.e. Andreev will meet Rafa in the second round and the man has his chances in particular if Rafa will arrive in Hamburg with a little bit less of gas than usual..We will se but the idea is certainly a funny one roflmao ..

BTW: Andreev game match very well with Rafa one, i.e strong BH, a lot of pace and "flat" in his FH and a huge history of playing Spanierd on the dirty behind him..It will be fun for sure :P

Well ... I voted for Roger back then, and all of us who did so were proved right in the end! :yahoo:

Looks like the majority consensus of the CC crowd turned out to be the correct one in the end.. ;)

(yip, I voted for the fedster too :D )

Well, 47% of you were right, and voted for Federer. Was interesting to track this poll as the claycourt season progressed. Certainly, after Monte Carlo and Rome, a Federer win against Nadal on clay looked less likely.

However, the clay at Hamburg suited Federer's game more, his game had recovered, and Nadal was a little jaded (mentally as well as physically), so things were more in Federer's favour on clay for a change.

I may now set up a poll on 'next player to beat Federer on grass'!

If he makes it to the RG final, I would say that almost any player he faced at Halle might beat him. After all the energy he put into RG last year, he just barely squeaked by a couple matches in Halle. A similar scenario this year, wouldn't surprise me at all, and he may have that grass streak broken (but then go on to win Wimbledon, of course ;) ).

RG or no RG, i reckon federer will go unbeaten on grass in 07. are nadal, roddick, hewitt, or gasquet really up to the task of taking him out on the grass?? doubtful...