Tennis Volume 8: Is a FedEx delivery coming?

[ljkeane]

8 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

He has lost 10 grand slam finals to Nadal and Djokovic. Harder to find semi final defeats to them. So hes at 30 straight away. 

I think some of the finals he lost to Djokovic he might have lost to someone else but if there's no Nadal at his peak era of dominance from about 2005-2009 he definitely wins 4 more French Opens and another Wimbledon. I'd expect he probably wins more of the finals than he loses in the years since.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, ljkeane said:

I think some of the finals he lost to Djokovic he might have lost to someone else but if there's no Nadal at his peak era of dominance from about 2005-2009 he definitely wins 4 more French Opens and another Wimbledon. I'd expect he probably wins more of the finals than he loses in the years since.

Flip side could be that he retires a lot earlier though if he doesn’t have those two constantly on his heels.

[Jeor]

Oh, Nick Kyrgios. The draw was totally open for him to make a run to the semifinals with no major seeds left and he was looking good in his first couple of matches, but of course he implodes again and says during the match that he "just wants to go home". In the process losing to a guy that he could have beaten but obviously lost the will to keep playing after losing two close tie-break sets.

The guy really needs a coach or someone who can help him with his mental game. Everyone keeps saying he's a great showman and brings interest to tennis, but as an ESPN commentator said, he really can't be compared to Connors or McEnroe. Both of those guys were absolute competitors, they had their blow-ups and moments on court, but when it came down to it those guys were always fighters.

Whereas with Kyrgios, the spirit of a quitter is always lurking just below the surface.

[Jeor]

And now Djokovic is out! Looks like Wawrinka had him beaten anyway, but he retires injured. Federer must be feeling pretty good about the tournament now after his early round stumbles.

Looking forward to Cilic and Nadal tomorrow. The US Open has never been Nadal's favourite and Cilic has had some good history here, so I expect it may be a close match.

[Calibandar]

Federer struggled in the first two rounds but has since put up some amazing shows against Dan Evans and David Goffin, who was absolutely crushed yesterday in 6-2 6-2 6-0. Next up is Dimitrov who has never managed to put a dent in Fed.

Then he plays the winner of Stan vs Medvedev which is hard to call. Medvedev is the favorite but Stan might finally be making a bit of a resurgence.

Of course, he would have been beaten by a healthy Djokovic, and him withdrawing does suck a bit.

As for Nadal, he has looked very good so far, in superb shape, and I expect him to handle Cilic easily.

Kyrgios.... well we should acknowledge that Rublev is a very good player. He was always going to make it a very tough match for Kyrgios, who himself was playing well but found himself opposed to a guy who could match him, and then of course he breaks down again.

[Jeor]

51 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

Kyrgios.... well we should acknowledge that Rublev is a very good player. He was always going to make it a very tough match for Kyrgios, who himself was playing well but found himself opposed to a guy who could match him, and then of course he breaks down again.

Oh yes...I should say that Rublev did definitely earn the win and he played well. He was going to win against Kyrgios regardless of whether he chucked it in or not.

But I reckon as good as Kyrgios is when he's on, every player on the tour will know that as long as you can stay with him and stop things from being easy then you've got a good chance of seeing him crack. The guy clearly has major mental problems with his game and will never win a Slam until he gets over himself.

Glad to see Stan back among it. I think it's worth pointing out that, although Djokovic leads the head-to-head against him very healthily, Stan has now defeated him four consecutive times in Grand Slams - he took Novak out in the 2014 Australian Open QF and in two Grand Slam finals, the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open. All three matches he went on to win the tournament, so was obviously in good form, in addition to basically winning against Djokovic here. I know Novak wasn't 100% in this case, but that record from Stan is pretty impressive.

[Calibandar]

Definitely agree on Kyrgios, if the game is close he has huge problems winning it.

He's error prone too of course, because he plays high risk tennis.

Still, he can be a real joy to watch. At this point I am not sure he will ever become a top 10 player, or even top 5, like he seems like he could be based on skillset.

Rublev, is, along with Shapovalov and Medvedev, part of the rise of very good youngsters. Shapovalov to me the most exciting to watch but he lost to Monfils in 5 sets. He still struggles to be consistent, in other tournaments too. He's only 20 and should still improve as he is a sensational talent. Personally from all the young guys I have seen ( including Auger Aliassime who Shapovalov beat easily in round 1  of the US open) he is the only one who seems to have Federer/Nadal  approaching level of sheer talent.

Anyways, I am already hoping for a Federer Nadal mega final

[Jeor]

16 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Still, he can be a real joy to watch. At this point I am not sure he will ever become a top 10 player, or even top 5, like he seems like he could be based on skillset.

Kyrgios is a frontrunner, so whenever he brings his A-game against a player outside the top 50 he always looks mighty impressive. Obviously his serve is a genuine weapon and he has real shotmaking ability on the forehand side. The problem is that he rarely even makes it deep enough into tournaments that he's playing other top 10 players, and when he does, he looks distinctly ordinary (apart from that time he beat Rafa). I don't know whether it's because his game just isn't as genuinely overpowering as it looks when he's against better players or whether his level just drops because his heart isn't in it for the fight.

Alex Zverev really needs to get it together in Grand Slams. For a guy who has been in the Top 5 for over two years now, he really ought to have more than just a pair of QF appearances at the French. He's never been past the fourth round at any other Slam. Mind you, he's only 22 so he has plenty of time to make it up in his career.

EDIT: Meanwhile, the women's draw is pretty open, with Serena the only Grand Slam champion in the mix. You'd have to think she has the Slam on a platter here.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Medvedev trolling the crowd is absolutely hilarious.

[Jeor]

Dimitrov and Medvedev get through to make the first semi, that's definitely not what everyone expected.

Federer has comfortably had Dimitrov's number throughout the years, he will be bitterly disappointed not to make it through here.

Nadal would have to be the favourite now, he's been getting through his matches with efficiency and plays more aggressively on hardcourt.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Serena handed out a brutal a** whopping last night. Just two left to go.

[Jeor]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Serena handed out a brutal a** whopping last night. Just two left to go.

Yes. It's nigh-on impossible to think she won't get the title this time - Svitolina has a good ranking but not really the Grand Slam pedigree, and the rest of the field doesn't even have any B-listers.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 hours ago, Jeor said:

Yes. It's nigh-on impossible to think she won't get the title this time - Svitolina has a good ranking but not really the Grand Slam pedigree, and the rest of the field doesn't even have any B-listers.

Eh, we've seen her fall in scenarios like this post pregnancy before. She's not in peak shape and her power comes and goes. Combine that with her tendency to quit when she knows she doesn't have it and I can see ways for her to lose. I've just got my fingers crossed for my two favorites of all time to be able to bring both titles home this weekend.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

One more to go, and it won't be easy. Serena's movement comes and goes, and the young Canadian is flying all around the court. I had no idea who Andreescu even was, so I Googled her to find out more about her and....damn, she's fine.

[Philokles]

Medvedev into the final in straight sets. He deserves it for his performance this summer (and for pissing off the worst crowd in tennis). I’d much rather see him in the final than another big-3 match-up, especially in this kind of form where it could be a real contest.

[Calibandar]

On 9/4/2019 at 7:57 AM, Jeor said:

Dimitrov and Medvedev get through to make the first semi, that's definitely not what everyone expected.

Federer has comfortably had Dimitrov's number throughout the years, he will be bitterly disappointed not to make it through here.

Nadal would have to be the favourite now, he's been getting through his matches with efficiency and plays more aggressively on hardcourt.

I really wasn't expecting that. Turns out that he was injured so that played into the end result. Still a big shame.

He would have had a big fat test in Medvedev thoughm I would like to have seen that. Because that guy reminds me very much of Djokovic ( but less charismatic).

21 hours ago, Philokles said:

Medvedev into the final in straight sets. He deserves it for his performance this summer (and for pissing off the worst crowd in tennis). I’d much rather see him in the final than another big-3 match-up, especially in this kind of form where it could be a real contest.

The crowd in Cincinnatti ( before US open) was pretty bad too, very disinterested. Not sure why you say the US open crowd is bad, at least they care.

[Which Tyler]

This doesn't seem to be going to plan

[BigFatCoward]

She is less than she was. That's a fucking fact. 

[Mladen]

So, no sexist, racist umpires this time?

[Jeor]

3 hours ago, Risto said:

So, no sexist, racist umpires this time?

Evidently not!

What a result, I Andreescu did really well to hold her nerve in that second set against the massive partisan crowd and Serena's fightback from 5-1 down. Missed match points like that can really do you in if you're a rookie.

Serena's shocking record in Grand Slam finals in the past four years continues. She has now lost 6 of the last 8 finals she's played, to a real variety of players too - Kerber, Muguruza, Osaka, Halep, Andreescu. It's kind of weird considering that she usually romps her way into the finals with seemingly little trouble and then is suddenly a big mess mentally in the final. Serve going everywhere and lots of unforced errors. The historical chase to equal Margaret Court's 24 might have played up with her for one or two finals but now this is becoming a real mental block. And other players will feel good about their chances against her in finals.