Adaptable Rafael Nadal puts Roger Federer's US Open grip under threat

Without a doubt Federer will have to be on top of his hard-court game come the US Open, he can't afford performances like Miami. But i'm not to conviced that Nadal is that person who will go neck to neck with Federer on the hardcourts. Nadal needs to go to a hardcourt slam final or at least a semi.

Although Raf is a great player and very crafty on certain surfaces, I dont think the US Open will be his to hold. Roger is still the classiest player on the circuit and the most adaptable to the hard courts. I think he will be hoisting yet another grand slam come September.

If Raf couldn't challenge Rog last year then he certainly can't this year. And Roger's loss to Murray last year cannot be held against him - playing back to back (I think it was 12 matches in 13 days or vice versa) is near impossible... RF 4 USO '07!

There is no evidence that Federer is more error prone on slow surfaces than faster ones. His best record at any Master series tournament is at Hamburg (4 wins and his only clay win against Nadal) - yet this is accepted as the slowest of all clay courts. The hard courts at Indian Wells and Miami are faster than the clay courts of Hamburg, Monte Carlo and Roland Garros and arguably faster than the rebound ace used at the Aussie Open, yet Federer performed much better on all these slower surfaces this year than he did on the American hardcourts. So to say he is more error prone on slower surfaces sounds like nonsense. His style of play is somewhat more error prone than Nadal's but that's as true at Wimbledon as it is at Roland Garros. The difference is that Federer's serve is superior on fast courts and he can hit more winners, which compensates for his error rate.

You show your true colors----you just want Nadal to win, evidence be damned---by mentioning 'bad luck' as your first excuse for Nadal never having made it to even the semis of the Aussie or the US Open. I guess it was 'bad luck' that Federer served his way out of 4 break points in set 5 of Wimbledon, and 'bad luck' that he throughly out-classed Rafa the rest of the way, or 'bad luck' that Federer beat Rafa on clay this year but has never lost to him on grass (and from this you surmise that Rafa is closer to winning Wimbledon than Fed is to winning the French).

Youngsters Murray,Djokovic and Gasquet could prove more of a challenge to Federer on a hard court. Nadal losing to Youzhny at the US Open last year proved Rafa is still to adapt his winning game to hard sufaces, like he has done on grass.

First of all, the rebound ace courts used in the Australian Open are slower than those at the US Open. And Federer is way too strong on faster courts (Wimb and US). Finally, although Nadal has improved his overall game, he's still suspect on the hard courts (his top spin doesn't work as much), especially against power players like Berdych, Youzhny and even Blake. Its still advantage Federer.

I'm pretty sure that the U.S. Open is the fastest of the grand slam surfaces. In fact, according to the players, it's even faster then the grass at Wimbledon now. I think Fed had a mental slump earlier this year. I think he was obsessed with beating Nadal at the French. It makes sense when you consider that just a couple of months before, he won the Ausie so dominantly. I think Nadal has improved, but he was helped by a lot of luck, and a nervous, slightly rusty Federer at Wimby.

i think it disrespectly to the other players to only site rafa as federer's only rival at the USO. first of all there is youzhny, berdych, djockovic, blake, roddick, ljubicic, baghdatis, davedynko, gasquet and yes canas for both federer and nadal to get through before the final. and any of the names above have the game to knock them out. take the canada draw and apply that same draw to the USO. would you say that #1 and 2 have an easy way to the final? and if they do end up in the final i still would take federer hands down. it's called CONSISTENCY. nadal can't match federer's consistency anywhere but on clay.

this article is comepete bogus, this is grasping at straws looking for reason to see a vulerability in roger. yes, nadal and others are oging to make it more difficult, but two losses this year and the other two (aussie open-safin, and the murry loss) dont tell you anything about his game on hard courts. roger has the leading winstreak on hard courts,and has the third most hard court titles in history. not to mention that this reporter doesnt know tennis well enought to know that rebound ace (used at auusie open) is far FAR slower then that used at the us open, if yuou pay attention, all leading analists feel that the us open is now the fastest slam, since the all england club has slowed the grass. the grass at wimbledon also helps nadals movement, as it is a softer surface and gives, allowing nadal to slide (much like the clay he loves). federer always has to be in top form, and id agree he is going to have to have left his march form back in march, but this article is full of straw grasping and biased writ

You people are all just federer fans and are just saying that cause you like him. We all know that he is getting old and not as good as he was, while Nadal continues to get better and adapt and train even harder. Nadal will win the US Open this year and should be Number 1 at the end of the year. He has worked hard this year and deserves to be where he is.

I think that Nadal has proven to all those haters out there that he is cappable of beeting federer anywhere. With rafa taking roger to 5 sets, which no player has been able to do at wimbledon just shows us that Rafa is good at all the surfaces, NOT ONLY IN CLAY. Fed, Its a wake up call for you, you're no longer the best player in the game. You've got competion sweetheart.

I think Nadal has the game and the mental edge to trouble Federer. Without a doubt if and when they meet on hard courts Nadal has a chance to beat Roger. The only problem Nadal would have to face is "getting to the finals." Although, Nadal does have the game to trouble Federer it is quite evident that some players have the game to trouble Nadal, especially on hardcourts i.e. Blake and Berdych.

I think Nadal has the game and the mental edge to trouble Federer. Without a doubt if and when they meet on hard courts Nadal has a chance to beat Roger. The only problem Nadal would have to face is "getting to the finals." Although, Nadal does have the game to trouble Federer it is quite evident that some players have the game to trouble Nadal, especially on hardcourts i.e. Blake and Berdych.

Granted, we all know that Roger Federer has had a much weaker season than last year. He failed to defend Indian Wells and Miami, two of his staple tournaments and the sites of some of his greatest hardcourt matches. He lost in Rome to a nobody when he ought to have been a finalist. And perhaps most amazingly, Nadal took him to five sets at his favorite tournament and on his favorite surface. There's no doubt that Roger is not dominating the tour like he was last year, and it shows in that he's behind Rafa behind the number of tourneys won this year. But let's not forget that Federer's 2006 season was indisputably the most dominant season in the history of men's tennis! He set himself up to lose a few tournaments this year because, to be honest, he's been so brilliant a tennis player that he almost cannot gain any more points! For the rest of the year, Roger has to DEFEND points. Yet for all the advantages that Rafa has over Roger in age, speed, and patience on court, discounting Roger from defending

1) The US Open surface is NOT slower than Melbourne's. Anybody can tell you that. 2) Fed prone to errors on slower surfaces?! Hello?!? Just look at Fed's three-in-a-row victories at Flushing Meadows, two consecutive finals at Roland Garros and back-to-back victories at Melbourne. Bottom line - whenever it's a Slam, Fed raises his level. Period. He's achieved NINE Grand Slam finals in a row. My God. Why would anyone bet against him making it TEN finals in a row? Please. We are in the midst of greatness not likely to be witnessed again in 50 years. So enough talk about 'prone to errors', especially when it concerns Roger Federer and Slams.

. . . is the key. He is serving at increasingly higher speeds, and that's what he needs to improve his game on grass and hard courts. I think that the effectiveness of his serve (assuming that the rest of his game holds up) will determine how far he gets in the US Open.

uh -- 'losses to murray in cincy last year and safin in 2005 show fed is vulnerable' -- guess you had to reach real far back to locate those loses.. 'if nadal can take fed to 5 sets on grass, then his task of capturing his rival other grand slam titles is achievable' -- uh, hard courts are much faster than wimbledon was this year -- no need to rebut this article -- nadal has STRUGGLED MIGHTLY in the montreal's tournament -- he is in fact lucky to be in the semis which barring a major catastrophe, we will not have a repeat of wimbledon 07 (djokovic retiring and nadal advancing)--- nadal was taken to the limit by a .. diminished safin; an outside the top 20 mathieu (who he had beaten 5 times but looked very helpless and hapless in his match against mathieu); and a young unheard of canadian player who prior to tourny's commencement was ranked outside the top ten --- we needs to have his game 'mature' exponentially better by saturday's semis! By the way, Nadal will not even make it to the USO -- he is pushe