'Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are better players than they were in 2008'
Speaking to ESPN, the pundit Brad Gilbert commented on how Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have evolved since they last faced each other in the 2008 Wimbledon final. In the All England Club earlier this year the Swiss and the Spaniard will write the 40th chapter of their rivalry. "I think they’re both playing better tennis. I think the fact that Rafa, who hadn’t beaten Fed in quite some time, got a win against him last time will really help him. I actually think there’s an interesting dynamic that will change this match just a little bit. If Djokovic steamrolls first and all of a sudden, now the winner of this is to play Djoker, he’s already awaiting in the final. I do think that’s a little bit of an element if they’re playing first. To potentially play Djokovic, it’s such a tougher task for one of these guys to beat two of them. The guy on the other side of the draw, if he’s playing at the level that he can play at - good luck!”
Jason Goodall added: “Roger’s playing a lot better tennis because he played the clay-court season. I think the last couple of years he’s come into the majors under-tennised, particularly on the grass. He hasn’t played well because of that. I think the fact he was able to hit a lot of balls… He didn’t really have any high hopes of winning the French Open but the fact he made the semi-finals, huge confidence boost for him. When he started to play on the grass, he really hit the ground running.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2q1tunS
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