Tennis Volume 6

[polishgenius]

Woohoo! Delpo!

[Calibandar]

Damn. Didn't see a second of the match yet but shame that the Fedexpress has come to a halt, especially with a Nadal semi looming. Clearly not in the best of shapes, though Del Potro is proving his toughness.

Now stand by and watch as Del Potro goes down easily against Nadal in the semi final, just like Rublev just did after beating Dimitrov and Goffin. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

11 hours ago, ebevan91 said:

Yep. First time in 36 years. Don't really care who wins but I'd like for it to be someone other than Venus. 

Boooo. Go Venus! 

4 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Damn. Didn't see a second of the match yet but shame that the Fedexpress has come to a halt, especially with a Nadal semi looming. Clearly not in the best of shapes, though Del Potro is proving his toughness.

Long story short, Fed choked. 

[polishgenius]

8 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Now stand by and watch as Del Potro goes down easily against Nadal in the semi final, just like Rublev just did after beating Dimitrov and Goffin. 

I'm not saying Delpo will definitely win, but come now, he isn't Rublev.

[3CityApache]

On 7.09.2017 at 10:38 AM, Calibandar said:

Now stand by and watch as Del Potro goes down easily against Nadal in the semi final, just like Rublev just did after beating Dimitrov and Goffin. 

Yeah, looks like Nadal is on a highway to the title. Delpo might not be Rublev, but I don't see him seriously threatening Rafa tonight. Hope I'm wrong, I'd much prefer Delpo to win the trophy.

[Calibandar]

2 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Yeah, looks like Nadal is on a highway to the title. Delpo might not be Rublev, but I don't see him seriously threatening Rafa tonight. Hope I'm wrong, I'd much preferred Delpo to win the trophy.

It just feels like Nadal is cruising and I don't see Delpo holding out, he'll be outlasted and that may not even be necessary, a straight setter would not surprise me. With Murray and Djoker absent, only a good Federer could have stopped Nadal here. We'll see, I'd prefer a Delpo win as well.

20 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

Long story short, Fed choked. 

I watched the post match press conference with Fed and he was able to pinpoint exactly why this happened. Nothing to do with choking of course.

He's always very well spoken and accurate in his interviews, but here he was also very self critical and strong in analysis of why. He felt he didn't play well from the start, felt very unsure of the way he hit the balls, which leads to stress etc. Could have played worse, and could have played a lot better as well, he felt. It has to do with the way to this US open, the lack of preparation, and when he started the tournament he felt right away he felt very different than during the Aussie Open and Wimbledon. He also mentioned being very tired and happy to get some rest until he plays the Laver Cup later this month, then followed by Shanghai which he wants to win.

[ants]

The Halep vs Davis match is fantastic tennis. 

[Jeor]

Thanks ants, I was looking for this thread to post a few days ago and just gave up out of laziness...

Yes Halep vs Davis was amazing. Real quality tennis as well as going the distance. I'm a big Halep fan but felt sorry for Davis, she did such a terrific job as well. I fear Halep won't get much further in the tournament now, the ongoing ankle injury and that 3hr 45m match will really take their toll if she makes it deep into the tournament.

Despite the lack of "names" and all the upsets, there have been some quality matches out there. I'm not on the Kyrgios bandwagon but I'm glad for tennis as a whole that his Friday night primetime match vs Tsonga turned out to be a good one and a good advertisement for the sport.

Men's draw - still find it hard to pick anyone other than Rafa or Roger at least based on first week performances. Dimitrov and Zverev, the next best challengers, don't look like they're playing dominant tennis like those two old hands are. Djokovic a sleeper but I'm unconvinced about his comeback so far.

Women's draw - this is wide open. The winner of the Kerber/Sharapova match tonight is going to be the only one (I think) left in the draw who has actually won a Slam before, and we haven't even started the second week! That leaves a host of No.1s who have never won a Slam (Wozniacki, Pliskova and Halep) and a couple of sleepers (Svitolina and Keys). Big chance for someone to break their duck.

[polishgenius]

I haven't been watching the tournament but it's good to see that Kyrgios has apparently managed to get himself somewhat together. Long way to go to prove himself but he's a superb talent and it can only be good for the game if he does.

[Jeor]

Zverev gets taken out, Djokovic and Berdych advance, so that makes the men's draw have even more of an old time feel with the contenders now solidifying into a familiar lineup.

Kerber absolutely destroyed Sharapova. Played aggressively, had her running ragged from the start and never stopped. If she can play like that consistently she's going to take this title.

[BigFatCoward]

Nadal out in the 5th with an injury, shame it was shaping up to a decent game.  Edmunds into the semi and will defo prefer to be playing Cilic than Nadal, this tournament seems to be handing itself to Federer though. 

[Jeor]

I always thought Cilic could be a bit dangerous for Nadal. A flat-hitting power-player like Cilic can beat Nadal on a hardcourt, he's only won the one Australian Open title. Anyway, he was clearly suffering from the injury from about the third set onwards and a shame it had to end that way.

Cilic would have to be the second favourite to Federer now. Looks like we'll have two relative unknowns in the semis - Edmunds and probably Chung, who looks like a rising superstar who out-Djokoviced Djokovic.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Is Joker showing signs of being washed?

[Mladen]

20 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Is Joker showing signs of being washed?

Well, something IS going on and I am truly reluctant to believe HIM and his team anything. Is it injury? Is it him having it enough and wanting to retire? I understand that he wants to keep whatever he is hiding secret, but this? He is doing himself a disservice and honestly, he has proved to be quite the bad liar. Something is rotten in the state of Novak, that is for sure.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

21 minutes ago, Risto said:

Well, something IS going on and I am truly reluctant to believe HIM and his team anything. Is it injury? Is it him having it enough and wanting to retire? I understand that he wants to keep whatever he is hiding secret, but this? He is doing himself a disservice and honestly, he has proved to be quite the bad liar. Something is rotten in the state of Novak, that is for sure.

I’m no tennis expert, but it’s always been my understanding that women peak in their teens to early twenties and fade in their mid-twenties and men peak in their early to mid-twenties and fade in their late twenties. Maybe father time has just caught up with him, because peak Novak was as good as I’ve ever seen, but he looks off now. I just think Feds, Nadal, Serena and Venus have distorted our expectations of longevity for tennis players (and it’s happening in other sports too, with Brady in football and LeBron in basketball).

[Mladen]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

I’m no tennis expert, but it’s always been my understanding that women peak in their teens to early twenties and fade in their mid-twenties and men peak in their early to mid-twenties and fade in their late twenties. Maybe father time has just caught up with him, because peak Novak was as good as I’ve ever seen, but he looks off now. I just think Feds, Nadal, Serena and Venus have distorted our expectations of longevity for tennis players (and it’s happening in other sports too, with Brady in football and LeBron in basketball).

Well, Sampras retired at the age of 32, Agassi, IIRC, 36 (and even last several years he wasn't at his prime). Roddick is younger a whole year from Federer and he retired in 2012. So, yes, Federer is most certainly redefining the longevity of the tennis players' careers, but he is doing that in a truly intelligent way. He's been smart about the tournaments he attends, what his body can and can't withstand and maximize his chances of success. That is what Novak is missing. He is simply aimlessly wandering not really sure what is wrong - elbow, heat or motivation. Something is.

[Jeor]

Federer's has been fortunate not to have any major injuries throughout his career (until his big layoff of a few years ago). But he very intelligently doesn't play many tournaments per year and his style of play is much less grinding than the others, generally shortening the points and looking to get forward most of the time.

Nadal's style of play was always going to wear him down towards the end of his career, same with Djokovic to a lesser extent. They're on the wrong side of 30 now, so it's not unexpected. Don't forget that they've also been tremendously successful in Grand Slams, always going deep into the events. I suspect they've got a lot more mileage on their bodies than players from any other era.

[Mladen]

50 minutes ago, Jeor said:

Nadal's style of play was always going to wear him down towards the end of his career, same with Djokovic to a lesser extent. They're on the wrong side of 30 now, so it's not unexpected. Don't forget that they've also been tremendously successful in Grand Slams, always going deep into the events. I suspect they've got a lot more mileage on their bodies than players from any other era.

Exactly. Here is some crazy statistics, just to show the difference between this and previous generations:

The Grand Slam wins:

1. Roger Federer: 325

2. Novak Djokovic 240

3. Rafael Nada; 226

**********************************

Jimmy Connors 233

Andre Agassi 224

Ivan Lendl 222

Pete Sampras 203

 

If we count that all three active players have at least couple of years in front of them, the three of them will get the first three places, with Federer being clear number 1. Given the effort both Nadal and Djokovic put in their wins and titles, I sincerely doubt that they will be able to catch up with Federer. I get that medicine does wonders these days but I don't think that either Nadal or Djokovic will reach Federer's age (or repeat his success)

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Jeor said:

Federer's has been fortunate not to have any major injuries throughout his career (until his big layoff of a few years ago). But he very intelligently doesn't play many tournaments per year and his style of play is much less grinding than the others, generally shortening the points and looking to get forward most of the time.

Nadal's style of play was always going to wear him down towards the end of his career, same with Djokovic to a lesser extent. They're on the wrong side of 30 now, so it's not unexpected. Don't forget that they've also been tremendously successful in Grand Slams, always going deep into the events. I suspect they've got a lot more mileage on their bodies than players from any other era.

Exactly. Federer's game is so graceful. It looks like he's lightly gliding around the court and his signature shot isn't very taxing on him. When you compare that to Nadal's style of play, which is every point that's not an ace is an all out battle, it's not surprising that he's breaking down much sooner. 

Their rivalry is one of the most fascinating in the history of sports. My understanding is that most people believe that Federer is the best ever, and yet, his rival was better than him one on one. If Federer was not enjoying his longevity, or if Nadal had experienced more, would Nadal be the GOAT? 

[BigFatCoward]

12 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Their rivalry is one of the most fascinating in the history of sports. My understanding is that most people believe that Federer is the best ever, and yet, his rival was better than him one on one. If Federer was not enjoying his longevity, or if Nadal had experienced more, would Nadal be the GOAT? 

My feeling is that Federer at his best was the best ever, but his form was on its way down as Nadals was on the rise.  Though obviously Federer has enjoyed an indian summer and beaten Nadal regularly over last few years.