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Tennis Volume 6


Calibandar

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I wanted to post here but then Leap said word for word what I was going to say.

I'm really enjoying watching Kyrgios of late. He's an attractive player and now that he's combining that with a string of wins ( including top players).. yeah, good stuff. In the last round he beat Zverev in two sets in the Battle of the Super Talents.

I have recorded his match against Djokovic ( once again, early exit) and Federer vs Nadal as well. Surprised to see Fed's done such a number on Nadal, on a somewhat slower court as well.

Kind of interesting as well that Kyrgios has now beaten the Djoker twice in the space of two weeks, on hardcourt, in their first two confrontations.

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ANOTHER amazing performance from Federer... This man is becoming unstoppable. It seems that this year Big 4 has come down to one name.

With Djokovic and Murray out of Miami, Roger can go for another Masters... :D Sky is the limit these days for Maestro.

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1 hour ago, Leap said:

He's also now at 3045 in the race to London, whereas Nadal is still somewhat below 2000 in second place. He also moves up to 6th place on the regular rankings. A strong showing at Miami could push him into the top 5, and a victory might even put him in the top 3.

Who would have thought that we would see the Singles Race going in this direction? I think that AO title and those two wins against Nadal did wonders for Federer's mental state and his "I have nothing to lose anymore" attitude is obviously working. If he continues like this, there will be some tectonic shift at the top of the ATP rankings. And I can't wait for that.

On the other hand, Murray and Djokovic need to wake up. Together they didn't reach 1000 points this year. Andy always had his issues, but Novak's state is even more troublesome as it seems no one knows what the issue is. Except of the traditionalist Serbs who hate veganism :D  

 

1 hour ago, Leap said:

Exciting times. I hope this Federerennaisance lasts a little longer, because I imagine it won't be long now until Thiem, Kyrgios and Zverev become full time residents of the top ten.

I have to say I am really rooting for young Zverev. He seems like a truly nice fellow, and I would like to see him making it big. We had such high hopes for Raonic, Nishikori and Dimitrov, and the previous generation fought them successfully. With Kyrgios winning Novak and even Federer, one can only hope that the mantle will pass to the hands of another great players.

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I think Nishikori has plateaued, and Raonic as well. They are about as good as they're going to get, give or take a few percentages. They've worked on most of the things that they were not naturally good at it, but are now facing their own limits. Raonic' ground game is going to remain problematic at the very highest level in tennis. He will keep his own serve but he has trouble breaking serve and once he has a rare game where the serve isn't as good, he's broken. Nishikori of course has other limitations.

Now, Federer. I still have to watch his games against Steve Johnson and Sock. Disappointed the game against Kyrgios didn't go through as that was the one that would have been game of the tournament. As it is I think that honour has to go to Wawrinka vs Thiem, a real slug fest. So all in all Federer, while he did beat Nadal, has a fairly easy path to the final. But in that final, a win against Stan just felt inevitable to me, and thus it went. Stan just isn't allowed any mistakes by Fed. The first set Federer was playing perfectly but then Stan was really good as well. But then, Fed just pounces on the first opportunity.

Second set a lot of mistakes, Stan even takes the lead, but he was broken back quickly and I never felt he would beat Federer.

It's just great that Federer has come back so refreshed and playing so well. There are streches in these games this Indian Wells where he has played as well as he ever has. Just incredible the sheer class on display by Fed.

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12 hours ago, Risto said:

On the other hand, Murray and Djokovic need to wake up. Together they didn't reach 1000 points this year. Andy always had his issues, but Novak's state is even more troublesome as it seems no one knows what the issue is. Except of the traditionalist Serbs who hate veganism :D

Don't forget Djokovic's wife. She's to blame for EVERYTHING!!!* ;) 

*If you listen to an average Djokovic fan from Serbia, that is.

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4 hours ago, Leap said:

Couldn't agree more, Federer's got to be riding one of the mental highs of his career right now. I really hope it doesn't stop anytime soon. Rankings aside, him winning Wimbledon again would be amazing. 

Both Murray and Djokovic seem a little lost right now, as well as coping with injuries. They're both well ahead of the pack, but both stand to lose a lot by the end of Roland Garros. Between now and then, Novak is defending 4600+ points, with at least 1000 definitely about to be dropped in Miami. Murray is defending at least 3250 too. Rafa is defending 1500+ but looks like he may even be able to improve on that, whilst Federer isn't even defending 1000 points. Tectonic shift incoming indeed! 

The thing with Federer is that he was always losing from Nadal. It makes you doubt in your own abilities. Yes, he would lose from Novak and Andy, but the loses from Rafa had to hurt the most. And it seems his statements points to that. Now, that he turned the entire game with Rafa, I believe he mentally is unstoppable. Rafa was his "big, bad wolf" and now he has overcome that.

I honestly think that Murray will be 1st to probably September, October, perhaps finishing the year as 1. And honestly, I hate it. He is showing nothing. Yes, it is just a start of the season, but we are already 3 months in and he didn't make his mark. Novak is also lost in woods. God only knows what's going on there... But, I have to say that this gives us far more interesting season than we could have ever hoped for.

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Agreed. I think Dimitrov, Raonic and Nishikori still have shots at a slam, particularly with the season developing as it is, but this season may be their last opportunity before they become ''the lost generation'', or so to say. To be honest, Kyrgios is by all accounts a pretty decent guy in person, and is not at all the cunt you may reasonable expect from his onstage antics. Plus, he really seems to be getting his head in the game.

I really hope. Of the "new generation", Dimitrov, Raonic and Zverev are my favorites. I felt bad for Dimitrov when he lost AO semis but that just showed how much they have to work...

2 hours ago, baxus said:

Don't forget Djokovic's wife. She's to blame for EVERYTHING!!!* ;) 

*If you listen to an average Djokovic fan from Serbia, that is.

What is the ranking of blame

1. Pepe Imaz

2. Wife

3. Veganism

4. Amethyst around neck

5. Secret plot between ATP, Illuminati, Voldemort and Sauron so Roger would be the first

I think that covers it all :D 

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Murray will really have to show this year that he can hold that no. 1 spot , because last year he became no.1 in a year when Djokovic broke down, Federer was out, Nadal was out..

Still, he has raised his game and I think for the entirety of the year, he will be fully in the mix with Federer and Djokovic.

It's just been a poor start for him this year. Same for Djoker but then in the case of Djokovic this has been going on for a year now.

He still has the excellent flexibility and brings everything back, but he struggles to make a difference in the rallies, lacks power shots. For me, Stan still rounds out the top 5. Maybe Nadal isn't really top 5 material anymore and someone else will step in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

And, once again, Maestro shows he still has it.

It is amazing watching him play. It is amazing watching him playing so invigoratingly against players 5,10 years younger. To win those we thought he has no chance of winning. He simply shows the real effort, desire and strength to do it. Well done, truly well done.

As for ATP rankings:

1. Andy 2. Novak 3. Stan 4. Roger 5. Rafa

And things are getting more and more interesting... Novak is defending some 3000/4000 points until Wimbledon, Stan is around 1300 until Wimbledon, Andy is defending incredible amount of points in the second part of the season. And Roger, from his 2016 calendar is only defending Wimbledon semis. and the rest is basically pocket change. We have already seen the major shift and oust of Raonic and Nishikori from Top 5. We'll see how the things will progress but with this game of both Federer and Nadal, this is going to be one hell of the season.

And I can't be happier about it. 

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Man, what did Federer do to his backhand? It was amazingly lethal tonight, quite a few times Rafa could only stand and watch the ball pass him ruthlessly. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of Federer's backand winners were similar to forhand's. Rafa did his best, but Fedex is apparently experiencing his third (or is it fourth?) youth. Amazing. If he could maintain this form until Wimbledon, it would be a blast.

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42 minutes ago, 3CityApache said:

Man, what did Federer do to his backhand? It was amazingly lethal tonight, quite a few times Rafa could only stand and watch the ball pass him ruthlessly. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of Federer's backand winners were similar to forhand's. Rafa did his best, but Fedex is apparently experiencing his third (or is it fourth?) youth. Amazing. If he could maintain this form until Wimbledon, it would be a blast.

Well, it seems Federer won't be playing any Masters on clay. He will only play Rolan Garros on clay.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/2/2017 at 10:28 PM, Risto said:

Well, it seems Federer won't be playing any Masters on clay. He will only play Rolan Garros on clay.

 

Makes sense to me. His level of play dropped during Miami, was not the same as Indian Wells, it was survival mode match after match. Still a great win, don't get me wrong, but I can see why he does not want to play several long clay court tournaments.

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Surprised by how easy Nadal won that given that all his previous confrontations with Zverev have been slugfests.

Zverev may have had a bad day. He's played well so far this season.

Djokovic has had two close games so far, but he's stumbled through, unlike The Eel.

Fed is watching all of this from his lounge chair in Barbados.

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5 minutes ago, Leap said:

Djokovic out! Honestly I'm quite disappointed, would have loved to see a Nadal/Novak battle for the first time in a while.

I think that as a fan, one has to be more worried than disappointed. Simply, Novak has lost his touch. And more than that, he seems rather disoriented and uninterested in what he is doing. Something is going on, and apparently he is failing to find a solution.

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1 hour ago, Leap said:

I'm not really a fan of Djokovic per se. That is, I really quite like him - his off-court behaviour is way more laid back and fun than his on-court demeanor. But I'm not really a fan. The main reason I was rooting for him yesterday was so Rafa would get the chance to properly beat him. But I do like him enough that I hope he wins a few more Masters, and a Slam or so.

It was badly formulated. sorry for that. The thing is that his behavior on court certainly raises many questions. I am not his fan either, as I do believe Roger Federer is sent by aliens to show us how amazing human beings can be.

 

6 hours ago, Calibandar said:

And to think that even 12 months ago, we were wondering if his complete domination would ever end.

And in those 12 months he went from 16000 to less than 8000. It certainly is a fall as we have never seen before.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Kings are back... We have seen Fedex on hard courts and now Nadal on clay. Simply, no point denying, they are doing wonders and currently are 2 best players on the Tour.

Now, things get interesting. Djokovic defends 3000 points from Rome and Rolland Garros, and he is under 7000 points now. Nadal reached some 5300 points and will be 4th on Tour. I sincerely doubt Djokovic has the stamina to defend those 3000 points and Nadal is going to go through these two like a hot knife through butter. Depending on how far Federer goes in RG, we can see Djokovic falling to any of the following: 3rd, 4th, 5th. Murray is still not in danger, but it has been like that solely due to the fact that he didn't defend too many points, but with the end of RG, it will be on Murray to really step up if he wants to defend N.1 place. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Naturally, as the Tour progresses, the things are changing and for the two top players, I am not sure things look good. Sincerely, it almost looks like women's tennis. I can't remember when the top 2 looked so insecure. 

Now comes the math. Djokovic will be 3rd (or in case Wawrinka gets into finals, 4th). I would really like Thiem to make a miracle and get into the finals. He simply can do that and we need new blood. I think I have read somewhere that Federer will be playing also Halle (which is on grass) and of course, Wimbledon. He has taken another long break from clay season, and we all know what happened after the last break he has taken. Wimbledon can be open for anyone at this point, given that it's not Rafa's favorite surface, Novak and Andy are having a lot of issues and of course, youngsters want to prove themselves. Add Federer who craves for another Wimbledon and you get interesting.

I am not sure Rafa will keep up for the rest of the season. Yes, he can be a factor, but the greatest danger for Andy is Federer. And when the points start to melt, it will be interesting to see where things will end. 

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I find it hilarious how Serbian public is all "He's coming back, he'll be thrashing everyone like he used to starting now" after every good match Djokovic plays only to switch allegiances to "he needs to start eating meat, stop listening to your wife and/or guru or he'll ruin everything" after he loses.

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Halep-Ostapenko turning out to be a pretty good match.

Amazing contrast of styles...Ostapenko has 100 times the amount of winners but also 100 times the amount of unforced errors.

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