nadal vs santoro doha 2009

[Keytaster]

There's only one important thing: Santoro played. That's all. He'll always be "the magician" whether Nadal or someone else did something on the court...

[captainspirou]

Nadal hits with such heavy topspin that it basically didn't matter what Santoro gave him.

[vivalavirgendelpalom]

Rafa only needed 5 minutes for win this match

[TWFEDERER]

I respect Fabrice more than Rafa. Santoro:true man and tennisguy.

[greezall]

@Motherfunctional sry here continuation: but unfortunately he wants to beat the others also with these backhand shots but against players like djokovic his backhand slice would work better and had always worked well so i think the others only have better chances to beat king roger because his gameplay is the one he has to usse against nadal but he should use the gameplay which was enough when nadal wasn't that dangerous ... just another point of view for actual tennis ;D hope you appreciate it

[ASPERGER0584]

Nadal outgunned a weak Santoro without magic "tricks".

[Swordsman808]

The primary purpose of Santoro's "unique' game was, to put it quite bluntly, fuck with the opponent's head. Unfortunately for him in this match (1), he's practically a dinosaur in tennis terms while his opponent is a young buck and (2), Nadal has the greatest mental focus and composure on the tour and possibly in the history of the sport (i.e. it's virtually impossible to fuck with his head in any way).

[superstition222]

The other issue is that Nadal is simply so much stronger and faster than the aged short two-handed Santoro that a tactics game simply isn't going to work against him. It's not that Santoro is "bad". It's just that Nadal happens to be a lot stronger and younger -- with a technique developed with more current equipment and methods. We'll see how well Nadal holds up against top players when he's 36.

[superstition222]

First of all, Santoro was old. Being old can make a big difference, usually not in a good way. Secondly, as someone else said, this is a bad matchup for Santoro. Nadal's technique allows him to eat slice for breakfast. I saw him play on grass and scoop up a low slice that bounced maybe an inch and 1/2 off the ground for a winner -- as a forehand passing shot.

Santoro's game is best played on grass, too, not hard court. That's why he won tournaments like Newport 2007.

[rlagywns]

Props to santoro for winning 2 points in the whole highlight reel! (i do mean this as a joke, this "unique" style of playing has impressed me all too many timesand the success he has had just proves how solid of a player he was)

[ZawShin]

this guy must get tired alot lol

[naihomai]

I'm not going to lie...I like seeing Santoro lose. I think his style of play is too cutesy and I like how Nadal just totally destroyed Santoro's backspin.

[IvanAndreevich]

One of the worst I've ever seen Santoro play. Just pushing.

[mikulasvselicha]

I love Santoro!

[bugabutu]

oh man thats some luck to snag a game off of nadal lol

[jojutlamoon]

what a beatdown! how many points did santoro win in this match?

[flyingjibberish]

@jojutlamoon 15 points, compared to Nadals 51 :)

[Spid3rPig]

nadal doesnt have any respect for santoro, federer could kick santoros ass too but he lets santoro play his game

[theone225]

Thesse are my two favorite players. To see them showing appreciation for each others skills at 3:25 is great to see

[aceminator42]

santoro reminds me of playing against my uncle, it's absolutely maddening. Pity i can't play like Nadal did just then.

[stevehwan]

santoro is just too old and nadal is just too young and strong.

[auman311]

I wonder why didnt Santoro get injured because he chased more balls than Nadal

[Swordsman808]

@auman311 Nadal's averages far more matches a year than Santoro ever did. Rafa usually makes it to at lest the semis of every tournament he plays. Santoro usually loses quite early.

[bassxsp]

at 1:14 - ending the serve like this might hurt his arm, right?

[BrotherTree1]

actually not bad from santoro, its closer than what the score predicts. the difference is that those slice shots by santoro dont even hurt nadal at all...its actually helping him hit more and more winners lol. yet santoros magic skills did cause rafa some slight trouble.

[gabe228]

nadal can get every shot that comes from santoro, and his extreme topsin is perfect against santoro's height and constant slow back spin slices

[Motherfunctional]

lol nadal is possibly the worst opponent for santoro. nadal simply isn't pressured at all with slices and gets them back with ease.

[fungamesss]

lol ya a guy who never misses a shot against a guy who tries to piss off people by trying to cause unforced errors.

[puregrrmm]

Well, you can't say anything as he made it with hes game, he's fucking epic.

[hattrickster33]

@Motherfunctional Most players who have good slicing abilities themselves don't have problems playing against someone like Santoro.

[greezall]

@Motherfunctional yeah thats right and i think thats what roger federer had to get by with: rogers awesome backhand slices are perfect to beat all players on the atp tour also djoko murray.... and it worked well as we can see in the last years but against nadal a left handed guy with a good forehand the attacking slices from right handed roger can played back easily by nadal but roger started to change his backhand form slices to aggressive shots and thats how he can beat nadal ;D but unfor

[tortu123]

kes kil prend cher santoro. lol

[IWishIHadCompetition]

the majshien i know i spellt that wrong lol cannot get around the court like he use to but a very good player give most people a fit with the spin :)

[pian000]

speak english

[Tennisisgreat123]

go rafa! santoro is no match for you

[bengtmartin]

You just have to be glad for a player like Santoro! There is absolutely no other on the tour who plays like him, at least not since the early 80´s. And yes, he is better than he may appear at first sight. I think he makes the game more enjoyable to watch. Too much power gets boring.

[DaneDark]

So if someone said to you would you like to make about 10 mil career prize money, win 6 atp singles titles, 24 atp doubles titles, have wins over guys like Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Thomas Muster, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. and also keep competing with the best players in the world when your 36.

your reply would be no, i don't want two backhands?

[gutilis]

santoro is a good player. He beat djokovic at paris bercy in 07!

[handshand]

Really he is a pro-level pusher typ player. I dont consider that a good player but some people do. Im glad Nadal destroyed him.

[da8sianprid3]

yeah i agree he like has no power whatsoever, he has like certain points that are worth watching then everything else is him being beat, he could have been an exceptional player with him using two hands cept he chose the wrong way to use that gift. honestly why would one want two backhands?

[seidl01]

haha come on guys leave santoro alone !!!!!! =)

it would be a shame if he hangs up his racket

[anonymousLeroy]

da8sianprid3: Listen to DaneDark. You, in a state of idiocy and ignorance, say that Fabrice Santoro COULD HAVE BEEN AN EXCEPTIONAL PLAYER. First, have you ever heard of a man named Pete Sampras? 14 grand slams under his belt, 7 wimbledon titles, 43 million dollars worth of tennis prize money...he's one of, if not THE greatest player ever. This man called Santoro the magician. Do you know what that is called? RESPECT. When you have one of the greatest players in history saying that about you...

[martinezaguado]

what a beating!