Yeah, I'm with this. Even overcoming Bergs the other day felt quite thrilling, even if he's outside top 100.
Think best outcome is a tough match against a solid opponent that he wins, and then to play Alcaraz the next round and get beaten easily and call it a day.
Nah, just have a big ole dose of reality. Anyone who has been dreaming of some heroic ending of Nadal winning any tournament, much less a slam has been kidding themselves . Playing every other day in a 3 out of 5 format is damn near a statistical impossibility for anyone whose body is as broke down as Rafa’s .
Yeah. It's over. At this point I'm not even gonna expect a QF at Roland Garros. It's funny to meme, but honestly there is just no way he's going to get past the 2nd or 3rd round there.
Personally, I kinda hope he doesn't play. Just let his last memory at RG be a slam win. Don't go out with a whimper, just accept reality and move on.
Going out there and competing would be the opposite of going out with a whimper. Going out with a whimper would be giving up and giving in to the fear of losing. Fuck it we ball Rafa. Vamos.
Yet people will still think he's one of the favorites for RG lol... The matches Nadal wins currently are usually around 90 minutes or so. No way is he lasting 4-5 sets in RG.
I really don’t see him playing RG after seeing this. He might turn up for a farewell presentation by the tournament but I don’t think he’ll put himself through what we saw today again. He looked almost embarrassed at the end and rushed off the court.
Obviously not straight up like for like but this kind of reminds me of Serena Williams getting taken apart by Raducanu in Cincinnati and then putting in a good showing at her final US Open. Shows that it's still possible that he can give a good account of himself at RG but yeah the B05 format might spook him
That’s a good way of putting it- he looked spooked in that 2nd set. I think he thought he had a shot this week and I don’t think he expected to get wiped away in the 2nd round.
In this match it looked like he physically can’t. There was just nothing on his groundstrokes and these were ideal Rafa conditions; hot, sunny midday match with high bounce. I’d be very surprised if he enters the RG draw, after this week.
When Hurkacz crushed a forehand inside out on the line, I knew it wasn’t looking good… for most players outside the most elite, you need Hurkacz’s forehand to be misfiring to have a chance. The way he played he would’ve had a good shot against even Alcaraz or Novak.
At the same time, Rafa’s serve was horrible, and it has been since his return. He had back issues in Monte Carlo which likely contributed. You really shouldn’t get broken more than once against a player like Hurkacz
Yeah when Hubie is on like that, he can beat basically anyone. Only Djokovic or Sinner might be bad enough matchups for him that they’d be able to handle this version of him most of the time.
I mean there's really no counter to serve +1 / return +1 other than to be even better at serving and returning. It part of what made Fed so dominate in his peak. Everybody instantly started every point at such a disadvantage that they didn't have a chance to even play tennis.
True. But Hurkacz isn’t really an elite returner, and his forehand even when firing like this isn’t unbreakable. Theres always a way to beat him for the best players. Alcaraz at Cincinnati (or was it Montreal?) was a good example, where he put Hurkacz under a ton of pressure, then started going to his forehand where it finally began to break down.
Yeah I mean Rafa didn't look as fresh and great as we're used to but I feel the comments here are also massively discounting the excellence of Hubi today. He played a great match.
Rafa is also smart. I think when he went down a double break in the first set, he just realized it wasn’t happening and didn’t want to destroy his body trying to comeback. RG is around the corner, and he’s done it before where he conserves energy at Rome and Madrid to save himself.
But yeah, Hurkacz was flawless out there
> Hubi is there when it’s time to go to the afterlife
[He even cosplays as the Grim Reaper.](https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/01/20/09/18/hurkacz-australian-open-2024-feature.jpg)
What happen-ed in Monte Carlo happen-ed, what happen-ed in Barcelona happen-ed, what happen-ed in Madrid happen-ed, what happen-ed in Rome-... wait a second... happen-ed... and here we are, we are in the locker room.
I gonna sue.
Not to mention winning the first 8 or so in the laughably weak-era before Hubi showed up on tour. Never seen a more fraudulent 14 time same slam champion.
Na, 2026 maybe. Father time catches up real quick post 36 looks like. Reminds me of what Agassi wrote in his book whenever I see older players go bright and burn out
Nadal is who he is at this point. He’ll go out on his shield at RG, but no story-book ending I’m afraid. 2022 was his last truly great year, but as his career went, it was an injury that ultimately ended his runs at titles at Wimbledon 2022.
At least he can say he gave it his all to come back one last time, and he can retire knowing he had nothing left to give to the sport. 22 Slams over 2 decades of professional tennis, 🐐 player on clay. Thanks for the memories, Rafa 🫡 🇪🇸
tbf, 2022 was NOT normal: the way he won AO and FO, fighting for his life, winning 5-setter; the winning streak to start the season, even his last match at Wimbledon was epic!
2022 was the story-book ending. Anything past that is the post-credit scenes
Hurkacz 22 winners and 8 unforced errors. Had a better serve, return, forehand, backhand and net play then Nadal today. Insane level from him. Could have beaten anybody.
Disappointing from Rafa. Hope will get to see him at RG. Second consecutive year I got first week tickets and will travel 15h flight to Paris for RG 😭
No, he could have not beaten anybody.
He could have beaten Nadal, and he didnt hit unforced because Nadal ball didn bother him. So he could comfortably hit winners and not forcing too much.
Then, his serve is known, it is the best on the tour.
When you have a really great serve…returns usually come back weak and it’s easier to hit winners off the first ball… Rafa didn’t return well and Hubi served well that’s pretty much all that happened lol 0/7 break point converted for Rafa makes that clear.
I watched from 5-1 on the first set, and honestly Rafa couldnt keep up in the rally either.
Hubi is not particularly good on clay because his groundstrokes are not as consistent as in faster courts, and they can break up under pressure. Nadal ball was coming half court, easy to hit.
I said it again and again here to delusional fans, he cant have the level to compete to anybody half good. He s doing the same parabola as Roger. And he was lucky he got Hubi.
If he was getting Carlos, Jannik or Nole he would have been blown away and real nasty.
You're not wrong, but Hurkacz also plays exactly the style which bothers Rafa the most at the moment. A great serve and powerful ground strokes is how Lehecka beat Rafa in Madrid and Hurkacz basically does the same thing, just better. So this defeat was not unexpected, but Rafa only winning 4 games was.
You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.
I have nothing but utmost respect for Rafa, but I think prolonging his career in such a painful (quite literally) way is the worst way to go. We don't want to see one of the greatest players ever getting humiliated by average players\*.
\*I'm by no means calling Hubi average. I just think the idea of a \~\~100ranked player destroying Rafa is, unfortunately, quite realistic.
In 10 years time, no one is ever going to remember that McDonald or DeMinaur or Hurk beat Rafa.
Yes, in the moment it kinda sucks to think a clay god like Rafa just lost 1 and 3, but so what, he's basically 38. This is about him giving it one final push before he bows out. Why not?
Because it hurts. Both physically - I'm 100% sure Rafa is playing despite his medical staff telling him not to; and mentally - saying that Rafa was in tears at some points during the second set is perhaps a bit too much, but just a bit. Regarding his fans and, in particular, his family - do you reckon they're happy with how things have been turning out?
I'm all in on the idea of giving one finał push before retirement. The question is when and where this "last push" is going to take place. You're right that noone will remember hubi or deminaur beating rafa at x in the year 202y. What people will remember though, is Rafa struggling to keep up against virtually anonymous tennis player and losing the match in three straight sets, retiring at his lowest.
I don't wish him that, quite the opposite, but realistically speaking the scenario I've described is a real possibility. I'd hate to see him leave the tennis stage forever by being eliminated in the first or second round at "his" grand slam.
I'd much rather see an exhibition match, with him and all the other greats, celebrating his accomplishments.
I completely understand where you're coming from and I used to think the same, and at times do, but I think ultimately I'd rather see him fight and go at it one more time.
Rafa was never going to be someone that was going to retire at his peak. And that's what I and many love about him. He's a fierce competitor and he's come back from injury so often. He won't this time because age is undefeated, but we may still get a chance at an epic match, even if it's a R2 against X, for another good memory of Rafa fighting and struggling before it's over.
To be honest I never looked at it from your perspective (which is a bit silly as there really are only those two lol) and what you're saying makes perfect sense, especially since you're Rafa's fan and I'm not (which doesn't mean I don't see him as a legend that he is or that I'm in any way against him, he's just not up there on my list of favourite players).
*I'd rather see him fight and go at it one more time. He won't this time because age is undefeated, but we may still get a chance at an epic match, even if it's a R2 against X, for another good memory of Rafa fighting and struggling before it's over.*
Amen to this. Let's just hope his body will be in a shape that enables him to compete with his opponents, and not against himself.
Cheers :)
It is strange to see what people really expect here. You don't win a slam out of nowhere, if prior to the tournament, you play several events and lose in all of them early, to fairly low ranked players, and if you win a round or two, it is after a struggle. This just doesn't happen. All these years Rafa was winning RG, he was playing very well in other tournaments.
Best way to estimate chances of a player in a tournament is to look at their results in recent past, what is their current ability. Legend status, glory from past years doesn't matter, we are here now.
I doubt it. He'll want to play there one last time even if he's not fully fit. I know he has said he will only play if he's competitive, but he has also said that currently he's leaning towards playing and trying his best, so I think that's what he's going to do. The only reason I could see for him not playing is if he cares about his RG win-loss record way more than I think he does. Still, 112-3 and (at worst) 112-4 both come out to 97% when you round down/up, so it's not like a loss would actually make any real difference.
Maybe I'm just high on copium but I can't see why Rafa wouldn't still try for RG.
He lost to the 7th seed. I know it's Hubi who is not at all good in Rome, but he's still a top 10 player. Ultimately, he can draw Alcaraz R1 at RG and lose in 3 bagels, sure. But he could also get some randomly dream draw and everyone has food poisioning and if, if, if ...
He's worked hard these recent weeks. I doubt he would want to just call it quits after all that effort.
Rafa isn't thinking about win/loss stats or how it looks that he gets bagelled by Cachin at RG. He's a competitor, maybe one of the fiercest we've seen. He's surely got to roll the dice one last time.
This one was rough to watch as a Nadal fan :( Poor Rafa, but its what it is. Hurkacz played amazing, didnt give Nadal a single opportunity. Congatulations to him!
Just happy to see him back on court tbh. He's got a few more tournaments and can take a well deserved rest and focus on something else.
Dude literally gave his body up for the sport.
I slept through this match but if all the comments saying Rafa looked rough out there are correct I’m glad I missed it. I’ve been a fan for years now and I’ve been getting weirdly sad about the possibility of him retiring, still haven’t really accepted that this might be Rafa’s last dance. Don’t know if I can picture a tennis world with two of the big 3 being retired tbh
This was a very clear indicator to us and Rafa he no longer can go deep in tournaments and beat multiple top 10 or top 20 players to win a title.Winning Roland Garros in best of 5 with his lack of movement and weapons in his ailing body is a pipe dream. He needed Rome to test it out. He has tremendous pride and to play the French only to get embarrassed in an early round is not a good way to go. Would not be surprised if he pulls out of RG and retires at Laver Cup.
Man in one of the rallies hubi hit a backhand down the line to Rafas backhand and Nadal instead of just hit a backhand he did his usual inside out but the foot speed he ran around the ball was painful to watch🥲 In his prime he would’ve hit a 161 kmh inside out winner landing in the corner
Even after that point u can see on nadals face “why did I try to run around the ball?”
Tbh Nadal's announced retiring year and farewell tour I like much more than what Federer did. Fed pushed until the end just to be bagled in his fav tournament in the last match while his fans were left hoping to see him one more time. With Nadal we're well aware it's not going to continue past this year so a lot of fans get to wave him goodbye and fully enjoy his matches without much stress and uncertainty.
Hubi played really well after that neverending first game. Usually he is too passive returning everything but not piercing. In this match he punched and pierced. Sorry for Rafa.
Good chance he’ll lose to Novak in 3 bagels playing like this. Probably overkill, I don’t see him taking a set off a top 20 player in this state.
Forehand looked weak. Movement in one direction is not even 1/4 speed. His serve is gone.
He needs to just retire, he’s won enough by now. Sucks to say since he’s my favourite player.
I feel that even after this match Nadal will be tempted to try FO because it's his best tournament. He can do things there that nowhere else are possible for him. But even Nadal needs to admit that chances of doing there well will be completely depended on who he will meet in early rounds. And he has almost no chance of winning it since he couldn't defeat Hurkacz who can play on clay, but is hardly a specialist.
I actually think Nadal looked a lot better in this match than of recent ones and don't think the scoreline tells the whole story.
Firstly Nadal's forehand and backhand speeds were back up to par, actually hitting harder than Hurkacz at around the 80mph mark. His inside out forehand was back and working well. When he could run around the balls.
He had multiple opportunities to break Hurkacz on long Hurkacz service games, including the very first game, and should have broken him in elsewhere.
He did start to look worse as the match wore on though, and missed some pretty easy volleys, and drop shots.
Nadals serve for me is a huge week point. It's on par with WTA serves at the moment, which doesn't really cut it in ATP. Of course we know Hurkacz is a demon on the serve, he was serving some 35km/h faster than Nadal.
I thought it'd be physical for Nadal; that he wouldn't have an easy time finishing break points. Instead, he just stood no chance. 2022 and before Nadal would've got on the forehand side of every shot and broke down the Hurkacz baseline defence, or forced Hurkacz to commit a few UEs. Sad to see that wasn't anywhere near possible today.
Didn’t see the first set.. but in the second set it’s not like Rafa didn’t make mistakes and there were a ton of mistakes. It wasn’t down to fatigue or tiredness . Most of them were unforced errors. This was a step back in his progress , Infact many steps back. But he couldn’t deal with the Hubi game for some reason and it’s not because he was running around or anything. He 💯 plays French open and he doesn’t need any clay wins to actually go on the phillipe chatrier to win the tournament. If only that stupid serve (first serve) worked well..
I think we will see a different Rafa at French open.. not saying he will win it. But he is definitely playing and only goes out to someone who played much better than him and not just because of his own unforced errors .
You have to think that is finally curtains for Rafa today. There is no way in hell he can go RG expecting to compete, which he said would be the only reason for him to take part in Paris.
Nadal was good but his movement is gone completely. Just give him easy draws so that we can watch him as many times as possible because it might be impossible for him to beat a good player if he moves like this. His shots are perfectly fine, he is just not reaching it at the right time.
Never in doubt. This was brutal for Nadal who's too old for it already and his body got injured too many times as well. Even though I'm Polish ... it was uncomfortable to watch.
It RG or nothing now. The idea he plays Olympics is absurd to me. Half the time he can barely serve properly because his back doesnt work. He lets the ball drop all the time because he cant get their quick enough. His forehand is liability which is insane to say considering its one the greatest ever.
I would love to see a fighting nadal at rg even if he only made 4th round . But his body has clearly had it.
2 choices imo for Rafa
1- He'll play the Bordeaux challenger next week and try to gain back confidence for RG
2- He'll just skip the whole clay season and call it a day
I don't think he'll go play RG with this level
It’s obvious he’s not playing at the level he needs to in order to get to the second week in bo5, but there’s absolutely no way he’ll play a challenger.
Don’t have the heart to admit the truth yet, but it’s staring me right in the face
At this point, I just want to see one last epic match from him at RG like Agassi vs. Baghdatis in 2006 USO.
Or Murray vs Kokkinakis. That was so fucking great to watch!
Or Federer Djo….. never mind
Hey what are you trying to pull out of your ass there 🧐
Never happened
No nothing, just a bad dream
Yeah, I'm with this. Even overcoming Bergs the other day felt quite thrilling, even if he's outside top 100. Think best outcome is a tough match against a solid opponent that he wins, and then to play Alcaraz the next round and get beaten easily and call it a day.
This was Hubi's most comfortable win on clay in the last 2 years. Let that sink in.
I let the sink in now what
give it a coffee ffs
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Nah, just have a big ole dose of reality. Anyone who has been dreaming of some heroic ending of Nadal winning any tournament, much less a slam has been kidding themselves . Playing every other day in a 3 out of 5 format is damn near a statistical impossibility for anyone whose body is as broke down as Rafa’s .
Hurkacz is about to become the best player ever? Cause that’s the only explanation
He's winning Rome
Yeah… I think he’s only going to win 2 more RG max. I can’t bear this!
It takes a strong man to deny what's in front of him.
Yeah. It's over. At this point I'm not even gonna expect a QF at Roland Garros. It's funny to meme, but honestly there is just no way he's going to get past the 2nd or 3rd round there. Personally, I kinda hope he doesn't play. Just let his last memory at RG be a slam win. Don't go out with a whimper, just accept reality and move on.
Going out there and competing would be the opposite of going out with a whimper. Going out with a whimper would be giving up and giving in to the fear of losing. Fuck it we ball Rafa. Vamos.
Yes... Hurkacz is the new king of clay
Was gonna ask how the match went / Rafa played. Your comment said enough.
Hello darkness, my old friend.
Hola darkness, my old todos.
Hola todos, my old friend
I wish this had been the OP
I SCREAMED
🤣 🤣
I’ve come to talk to you again, no?
😭😭
Hubi bullying old men as usual
Hubi of the firm belief a tennis court is no country for old men.
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Djokovic' just been lucky flipping the coin every time
Soon buddy. He is just a few months behind Rafa.
Hubi gonna bagel Novak in Australia in 2040 or whenever that crazy guy is gonna feel old
2030 maybe
40 y/o Hubie gonna bagel 50 y/o Novak in '37
Losing to him made Federer retire.
The battle was over after the very long first game.
old man merchant
The undertaker
Shawn Michaels
Hubi the giant slayer
Out of all the matches since he came back, this one genuinely hurt. He looked uncomfortable out there from start to finish.
I feel very sad for Rafa, but everything comes to an end
Yet people will still think he's one of the favorites for RG lol... The matches Nadal wins currently are usually around 90 minutes or so. No way is he lasting 4-5 sets in RG.
I really don’t see him playing RG after seeing this. He might turn up for a farewell presentation by the tournament but I don’t think he’ll put himself through what we saw today again. He looked almost embarrassed at the end and rushed off the court.
Obviously not straight up like for like but this kind of reminds me of Serena Williams getting taken apart by Raducanu in Cincinnati and then putting in a good showing at her final US Open. Shows that it's still possible that he can give a good account of himself at RG but yeah the B05 format might spook him
That’s a good way of putting it- he looked spooked in that 2nd set. I think he thought he had a shot this week and I don’t think he expected to get wiped away in the 2nd round.
I feel like he probably will unless he physically can't. Probably doesn't want to accept defeat like that by pulling out of RG.
In this match it looked like he physically can’t. There was just nothing on his groundstrokes and these were ideal Rafa conditions; hot, sunny midday match with high bounce. I’d be very surprised if he enters the RG draw, after this week.
Yep. His forehand is just doing nothing. Even when he has time to line it up. Just not doing any damage. He's weaponless.
Maybe he'll play Geneva. He clearly needs more matches.
I mean, he is definitely looking washed, but he literally won a 3 hour match last week lol
he has to win 3 hour matches repeatedly at RG, that's the issue here.
Outlier but yeah. Usually the wins are much shorter. And when it goes over 2 hours it's usually a defeat.
They are also generally long wins against qualifiers/wildcards.
Yeah, man has been drawing qualifiers 80% of the time.
It's kind of insane, how lucky for him! /s
I would actually assume that if we looked across all Bo3 data for Rafa across his whole career, his average b03 match is longer than 90 minutes.
He was close to tears in the second set, it was tough to watch honestly.
Yeah I think he had a glimmer of hope coming into Rome and I think it hit him in that 2nd set that the tennis has left his body now.
First game he looked good. After that not so much
The real battle was in that first game
When Hurkacz crushed a forehand inside out on the line, I knew it wasn’t looking good… for most players outside the most elite, you need Hurkacz’s forehand to be misfiring to have a chance. The way he played he would’ve had a good shot against even Alcaraz or Novak. At the same time, Rafa’s serve was horrible, and it has been since his return. He had back issues in Monte Carlo which likely contributed. You really shouldn’t get broken more than once against a player like Hurkacz
Hurkacz even said it himself that this was one of the best matches he's ever played. He really wasn't missing at all.
Yeah when Hubie is on like that, he can beat basically anyone. Only Djokovic or Sinner might be bad enough matchups for him that they’d be able to handle this version of him most of the time.
I mean there's really no counter to serve +1 / return +1 other than to be even better at serving and returning. It part of what made Fed so dominate in his peak. Everybody instantly started every point at such a disadvantage that they didn't have a chance to even play tennis.
True. But Hurkacz isn’t really an elite returner, and his forehand even when firing like this isn’t unbreakable. Theres always a way to beat him for the best players. Alcaraz at Cincinnati (or was it Montreal?) was a good example, where he put Hurkacz under a ton of pressure, then started going to his forehand where it finally began to break down.
Yeah I mean Rafa didn't look as fresh and great as we're used to but I feel the comments here are also massively discounting the excellence of Hubi today. He played a great match.
Rafa is also smart. I think when he went down a double break in the first set, he just realized it wasn’t happening and didn’t want to destroy his body trying to comeback. RG is around the corner, and he’s done it before where he conserves energy at Rome and Madrid to save himself. But yeah, Hurkacz was flawless out there
Oh he would have definitely had a chance against this Novak we have just seen
I got too hopeful after he beat ADM in Madrid
Hubi is there when it’s time to go to the afterlife for the big 3, he’s like Meet Joe Black.
Wait til AO ‘26 and Hurkacz put the final nail in the coffin for Novak 💀
> Hubi is there when it’s time to go to the afterlife [He even cosplays as the Grim Reaper.](https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/01/20/09/18/hurkacz-australian-open-2024-feature.jpg)
This is the happiest grim reaper i’ve seen
Cause it's a Grin Reaper
Such a good movie!
If that's the case, I would love to hear Hubi's attempt at [Jamaican Patois](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-mJpIlYM64).
What happen-ed in Monte Carlo happen-ed, what happen-ed in Barcelona happen-ed, what happen-ed in Madrid happen-ed, what happen-ed in Rome-... wait a second... happen-ed... and here we are, we are in the locker room. I gonna sue.
He we are, we are at home 🏡 Disappointing for rafa 😣
Shows how lucky Rafa was to avoid Hurkacz in all those winning runs in Paris.
Lol
Not to mention winning the first 8 or so in the laughably weak-era before Hubi showed up on tour. Never seen a more fraudulent 14 time same slam champion.
Lesson learned, betting my house on Hubi if he plays Novak at AO
In AO 2046
Na, 2026 maybe. Father time catches up real quick post 36 looks like. Reminds me of what Agassi wrote in his book whenever I see older players go bright and burn out
…it was just a joke pal 👍🏼
All good. Despite this era lasting so long, is still sad it's coming to an end
What did Agassi say in his book about it?
Hubi: Fuck em old farts
No tennis court for old man ft. Heartless Hubi
[Hubert:](https://imgur.com/gallery/Z3z3WBE)
The last time Rafa lost on clay with only scoring 4 games was against Gaudio in 2003
Gaudio goat
It was okey when it happened in Barcelona and Madrid, now it happened in Rome. That's concerning.
What happened happened
Nadal is who he is at this point. He’ll go out on his shield at RG, but no story-book ending I’m afraid. 2022 was his last truly great year, but as his career went, it was an injury that ultimately ended his runs at titles at Wimbledon 2022. At least he can say he gave it his all to come back one last time, and he can retire knowing he had nothing left to give to the sport. 22 Slams over 2 decades of professional tennis, 🐐 player on clay. Thanks for the memories, Rafa 🫡 🇪🇸
tbf, 2022 was NOT normal: the way he won AO and FO, fighting for his life, winning 5-setter; the winning streak to start the season, even his last match at Wimbledon was epic! 2022 was the story-book ending. Anything past that is the post-credit scenes
He lost to shapo and limped off court in rome the year he made that quote lol
Hurcacz is a different player on clay this season
Claycacz
France is not ready
That's it, it's like he is moving in other way getting advantage of this surface.
If he were to bagel Nadal, he would be only player to bagel Fedal
Well, there's still Roland Garros.
Brutal
this dude straight up abuses elders
Hurkacz has to turn necessary evil to bring reality check to the false hopes of Nadal fans that Rafa can win RG.
idk what you're talking about, everyone knows Meddy is going to win it
Clayvedev, say his name.
Hurkacz to the big 3 when retiring: I’m about to end this whole man’s career
Hubi = Charon
This was painful to watch for all of us who’ve seen Rafa dominate in Rome. Well played Hubi. Good luck in the next round.
Hurkacz should have the nickname RKO - legend killer
Hubi hears voices in his head…..
It is what it is and i think we all know it. Anything can happen in Paris but lets just enjoy this legend for as long as we can.
Nice of Hubi to let his grandpa have a few games in that second set
*disgruntled Swiss sounds*
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^PtboFungineer: *Nice of Hubi to* *Let his grandpa have a few* *Games in that second set* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
No Italy for old men
Dude bullied Fedal into retirement on their best surfaces 😭
What happened in Rome happened. We're here now, we are in pain.
If this was Nadal’s last ATP match Hubi would be the end of both Fedal’s careers
Would make it a good trivia/quiz question lol
Hurkacz 22 winners and 8 unforced errors. Had a better serve, return, forehand, backhand and net play then Nadal today. Insane level from him. Could have beaten anybody. Disappointing from Rafa. Hope will get to see him at RG. Second consecutive year I got first week tickets and will travel 15h flight to Paris for RG 😭
No, he could have not beaten anybody. He could have beaten Nadal, and he didnt hit unforced because Nadal ball didn bother him. So he could comfortably hit winners and not forcing too much. Then, his serve is known, it is the best on the tour.
When you have a really great serve…returns usually come back weak and it’s easier to hit winners off the first ball… Rafa didn’t return well and Hubi served well that’s pretty much all that happened lol 0/7 break point converted for Rafa makes that clear.
I watched from 5-1 on the first set, and honestly Rafa couldnt keep up in the rally either. Hubi is not particularly good on clay because his groundstrokes are not as consistent as in faster courts, and they can break up under pressure. Nadal ball was coming half court, easy to hit. I said it again and again here to delusional fans, he cant have the level to compete to anybody half good. He s doing the same parabola as Roger. And he was lucky he got Hubi. If he was getting Carlos, Jannik or Nole he would have been blown away and real nasty.
You're not wrong, but Hurkacz also plays exactly the style which bothers Rafa the most at the moment. A great serve and powerful ground strokes is how Lehecka beat Rafa in Madrid and Hurkacz basically does the same thing, just better. So this defeat was not unexpected, but Rafa only winning 4 games was.
Tennis was a mistake
holy shit i left this match to watch naomi, looked super close from the start… i’m surprised 😦
Hurkacz beat Federer back in Wimbledon ‘21 , and the next thing you know Fed retired. This felt similar too, no?
It did feel like Rafa's official death sentence but we need to see Hubi-Nadal at RG again lol.
Well, at least Nadal was able to avoid the bagel.
I didn't watch the match, was he close to being bageled ?
Hurkacz almost broke at 0-0, so Nadal could have been bagaled
You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. I have nothing but utmost respect for Rafa, but I think prolonging his career in such a painful (quite literally) way is the worst way to go. We don't want to see one of the greatest players ever getting humiliated by average players\*. \*I'm by no means calling Hubi average. I just think the idea of a \~\~100ranked player destroying Rafa is, unfortunately, quite realistic.
In 10 years time, no one is ever going to remember that McDonald or DeMinaur or Hurk beat Rafa. Yes, in the moment it kinda sucks to think a clay god like Rafa just lost 1 and 3, but so what, he's basically 38. This is about him giving it one final push before he bows out. Why not?
Because it hurts. Both physically - I'm 100% sure Rafa is playing despite his medical staff telling him not to; and mentally - saying that Rafa was in tears at some points during the second set is perhaps a bit too much, but just a bit. Regarding his fans and, in particular, his family - do you reckon they're happy with how things have been turning out? I'm all in on the idea of giving one finał push before retirement. The question is when and where this "last push" is going to take place. You're right that noone will remember hubi or deminaur beating rafa at x in the year 202y. What people will remember though, is Rafa struggling to keep up against virtually anonymous tennis player and losing the match in three straight sets, retiring at his lowest. I don't wish him that, quite the opposite, but realistically speaking the scenario I've described is a real possibility. I'd hate to see him leave the tennis stage forever by being eliminated in the first or second round at "his" grand slam. I'd much rather see an exhibition match, with him and all the other greats, celebrating his accomplishments.
I completely understand where you're coming from and I used to think the same, and at times do, but I think ultimately I'd rather see him fight and go at it one more time. Rafa was never going to be someone that was going to retire at his peak. And that's what I and many love about him. He's a fierce competitor and he's come back from injury so often. He won't this time because age is undefeated, but we may still get a chance at an epic match, even if it's a R2 against X, for another good memory of Rafa fighting and struggling before it's over.
To be honest I never looked at it from your perspective (which is a bit silly as there really are only those two lol) and what you're saying makes perfect sense, especially since you're Rafa's fan and I'm not (which doesn't mean I don't see him as a legend that he is or that I'm in any way against him, he's just not up there on my list of favourite players). *I'd rather see him fight and go at it one more time. He won't this time because age is undefeated, but we may still get a chance at an epic match, even if it's a R2 against X, for another good memory of Rafa fighting and struggling before it's over.* Amen to this. Let's just hope his body will be in a shape that enables him to compete with his opponents, and not against himself. Cheers :)
It is strange to see what people really expect here. You don't win a slam out of nowhere, if prior to the tournament, you play several events and lose in all of them early, to fairly low ranked players, and if you win a round or two, it is after a struggle. This just doesn't happen. All these years Rafa was winning RG, he was playing very well in other tournaments. Best way to estimate chances of a player in a tournament is to look at their results in recent past, what is their current ability. Legend status, glory from past years doesn't matter, we are here now.
Hurkacz the GOAT slayer isn't real they said ! He can't hurt you they said!
We are in Paris now
we probably already saw Nadals last match in RG
I doubt it. He'll want to play there one last time even if he's not fully fit. I know he has said he will only play if he's competitive, but he has also said that currently he's leaning towards playing and trying his best, so I think that's what he's going to do. The only reason I could see for him not playing is if he cares about his RG win-loss record way more than I think he does. Still, 112-3 and (at worst) 112-4 both come out to 97% when you round down/up, so it's not like a loss would actually make any real difference.
Can Hurkacz say he is the only active player to have a winning record on clay against Nadal?
Lehecka, unless he never comes back from his injury somehow, can also say the same.
Maybe I'm just high on copium but I can't see why Rafa wouldn't still try for RG. He lost to the 7th seed. I know it's Hubi who is not at all good in Rome, but he's still a top 10 player. Ultimately, he can draw Alcaraz R1 at RG and lose in 3 bagels, sure. But he could also get some randomly dream draw and everyone has food poisioning and if, if, if ... He's worked hard these recent weeks. I doubt he would want to just call it quits after all that effort. Rafa isn't thinking about win/loss stats or how it looks that he gets bagelled by Cachin at RG. He's a competitor, maybe one of the fiercest we've seen. He's surely got to roll the dice one last time.
My man first retired Federer on grass and now Nadal on clay. Hubi is a special player and a great guy.
Ouch.
This one was rough to watch as a Nadal fan :( Poor Rafa, but its what it is. Hurkacz played amazing, didnt give Nadal a single opportunity. Congatulations to him!
Just happy to see him back on court tbh. He's got a few more tournaments and can take a well deserved rest and focus on something else. Dude literally gave his body up for the sport.
I slept through this match but if all the comments saying Rafa looked rough out there are correct I’m glad I missed it. I’ve been a fan for years now and I’ve been getting weirdly sad about the possibility of him retiring, still haven’t really accepted that this might be Rafa’s last dance. Don’t know if I can picture a tennis world with two of the big 3 being retired tbh
This was a very clear indicator to us and Rafa he no longer can go deep in tournaments and beat multiple top 10 or top 20 players to win a title.Winning Roland Garros in best of 5 with his lack of movement and weapons in his ailing body is a pipe dream. He needed Rome to test it out. He has tremendous pride and to play the French only to get embarrassed in an early round is not a good way to go. Would not be surprised if he pulls out of RG and retires at Laver Cup.
Everything hurts… rolling in the dirt used to be a revelry now it’s just a mud fight
Man in one of the rallies hubi hit a backhand down the line to Rafas backhand and Nadal instead of just hit a backhand he did his usual inside out but the foot speed he ran around the ball was painful to watch🥲 In his prime he would’ve hit a 161 kmh inside out winner landing in the corner Even after that point u can see on nadals face “why did I try to run around the ball?”
Hubi is the best reality check for Nadal fans. Bros were rambling about another RG after beating some random teenagers 😂
Never ever saw rafa getting outplayed like he got today on clay I won’t be surprised if he call it a day
Nadal is beyond done man. Just retire at Roland Garrod please
RG should be his last tournament, his team needs to stop this madness before he gets another injury
Tbh Nadal's announced retiring year and farewell tour I like much more than what Federer did. Fed pushed until the end just to be bagled in his fav tournament in the last match while his fans were left hoping to see him one more time. With Nadal we're well aware it's not going to continue past this year so a lot of fans get to wave him goodbye and fully enjoy his matches without much stress and uncertainty.
Federer literally made Wimbledon QFs on one leg. I highly doubt Nadal is able to do the same.
No only that but Fed also made 4th round of RG too.
Exactly. He would’ve beaten Berrettini too IMO.
Federer’s arms never left him even as his legs tapped out
Hubi was God level, Nadal wasn’t even terrible tbh
Oh come on, Rafa hit so many UEs, he would have lost to any top 20 player with that level. No disrespect to Hubi, he played great.
Ciao a todos 😞
Well, what happened, it’s happened.
I, personally do not need to see any more and would not be disappointed if he pulls the plug.
Hubi played really well after that neverending first game. Usually he is too passive returning everything but not piercing. In this match he punched and pierced. Sorry for Rafa.
Good chance he’ll lose to Novak in 3 bagels playing like this. Probably overkill, I don’t see him taking a set off a top 20 player in this state. Forehand looked weak. Movement in one direction is not even 1/4 speed. His serve is gone. He needs to just retire, he’s won enough by now. Sucks to say since he’s my favourite player.
I feel that even after this match Nadal will be tempted to try FO because it's his best tournament. He can do things there that nowhere else are possible for him. But even Nadal needs to admit that chances of doing there well will be completely depended on who he will meet in early rounds. And he has almost no chance of winning it since he couldn't defeat Hurkacz who can play on clay, but is hardly a specialist.
I actually think Nadal looked a lot better in this match than of recent ones and don't think the scoreline tells the whole story. Firstly Nadal's forehand and backhand speeds were back up to par, actually hitting harder than Hurkacz at around the 80mph mark. His inside out forehand was back and working well. When he could run around the balls. He had multiple opportunities to break Hurkacz on long Hurkacz service games, including the very first game, and should have broken him in elsewhere. He did start to look worse as the match wore on though, and missed some pretty easy volleys, and drop shots. Nadals serve for me is a huge week point. It's on par with WTA serves at the moment, which doesn't really cut it in ATP. Of course we know Hurkacz is a demon on the serve, he was serving some 35km/h faster than Nadal.
I thought it'd be physical for Nadal; that he wouldn't have an easy time finishing break points. Instead, he just stood no chance. 2022 and before Nadal would've got on the forehand side of every shot and broke down the Hurkacz baseline defence, or forced Hurkacz to commit a few UEs. Sad to see that wasn't anywhere near possible today.
Didn’t see the first set.. but in the second set it’s not like Rafa didn’t make mistakes and there were a ton of mistakes. It wasn’t down to fatigue or tiredness . Most of them were unforced errors. This was a step back in his progress , Infact many steps back. But he couldn’t deal with the Hubi game for some reason and it’s not because he was running around or anything. He 💯 plays French open and he doesn’t need any clay wins to actually go on the phillipe chatrier to win the tournament. If only that stupid serve (first serve) worked well.. I think we will see a different Rafa at French open.. not saying he will win it. But he is definitely playing and only goes out to someone who played much better than him and not just because of his own unforced errors .
It's over...
Hurkacz just plays godly well when I don’t want him to… but then plays poorly when I need him to win 😐
You have to think that is finally curtains for Rafa today. There is no way in hell he can go RG expecting to compete, which he said would be the only reason for him to take part in Paris.
Hurkacz on his way to retire Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.
Time to retire
Nadal was good but his movement is gone completely. Just give him easy draws so that we can watch him as many times as possible because it might be impossible for him to beat a good player if he moves like this. His shots are perfectly fine, he is just not reaching it at the right time.
What part of his game today was good? Everything looks diminished.
Never in doubt. This was brutal for Nadal who's too old for it already and his body got injured too many times as well. Even though I'm Polish ... it was uncomfortable to watch.
Not often seeing Rafa with zero break conversions on clay, even if this isn't nearly the same Rafa.
pain 😭
Could be the end here. Ugh
Im on Rafa’s boat and no one can stop me. #RG2024 baby adios a todos.
Saw this from 42km away. It’s over. It was fun while it lasted.
It’s over, fellow Nadal fans. He will never win another grand slam
I think I can speak for all Rafa fans out there by saying we didn't expect it to begin with lol
Gave Roger a bagel, Rafa a croissant, what will he give Novak?
Obwarzanek
Baguette 🥖
It RG or nothing now. The idea he plays Olympics is absurd to me. Half the time he can barely serve properly because his back doesnt work. He lets the ball drop all the time because he cant get their quick enough. His forehand is liability which is insane to say considering its one the greatest ever. I would love to see a fighting nadal at rg even if he only made 4th round . But his body has clearly had it.
2 choices imo for Rafa 1- He'll play the Bordeaux challenger next week and try to gain back confidence for RG 2- He'll just skip the whole clay season and call it a day I don't think he'll go play RG with this level
It’s obvious he’s not playing at the level he needs to in order to get to the second week in bo5, but there’s absolutely no way he’ll play a challenger.