Tennis the 9th: Medical times out and teenage superstars

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Dude is a fucking cyborg. He was actually still favored to win per the betting sites going into the third.

[BigFatCoward]

Big step for Norrie, though I expect him to lose in 90 mins in the semi final. 

[Calibandar]

On 7/5/2022 at 4:07 PM, Spockydog said:

Djokovic getting schooled. Love it. 

I said a few days ago to a colleague that I was looking forward to him meeting Sinner.

Its a shame Sinner couldnt keep up that shape of set 1 and 2.

Similarly I knew Fritz would give Nadal a really hard time based on their form and play style, but he too couldnt outlast his man. 

Nadal (36) and Djokovic ( 35), really unbelievable how they keep resisting the challengers, again and again and again. And Fed was even older a few years ago when he was doing the same thing. And yet almost all other players are well past their best beyond age 32.

[Jeor]

3 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Nadal (36) and Djokovic ( 35), really unbelievable how they keep resisting the challengers, again and again and again. And Fed was even older a few years ago when he was doing the same thing. And yet almost all other players are well past their best beyond age 32.

Nadal and Djokovic have resisted the challengers so far, but they're knocking on the door harder and harder and I don't know how much longer they'll hold out. They've both had more five-setters in the last 12 months or so than they normally would and it's not as easy as it used to be, though they keep getting the results.

Given his type of character, I find it easy to believe that Kyrgios may well be guilty of the charges of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, though my head tells me that we do need to presume him innocent until proven. I hope Nadal can recover in 48 hours in order to face him in full health. A Kyrgios-Nadal semifinal would be an amazing show.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

41 minutes ago, Jeor said:

Nadal and Djokovic have resisted the challengers so far, but they're knocking on the door harder and harder and I don't know how much longer they'll hold out. They've both had more five-setters in the last 12 months or so than they normally would and it's not as easy as it used to be, though they keep getting the results.

Nadal really seems like he's making his last push and probably will be done within two seasons after this one ends. I said at the beginning of the year that I still hope he had 1-3 more GS wins in him, so I'm over the moon so far. 

Joker OTOH can probably win more than that over the next three seasons. He takes great care of himself and has for the most part avoided injuries. His serve is still solid and he's still also probably the best at returning serve. He'll like catch and pass Nadal by the end of 2023.

It's kind of disappointing none of the young men's players have been able to break through and really establish themselves. We're just lucky as hell to watch a sport where the three best players ever competed at the same time because after they're gone the sport is probably going to take a dip quality wise for a while.

[Calibandar]

Saw a little video of Fed working out yesterday, so eager to see him back on Tour again.

The thing about Nadal is that he has seemed to be " about done"  for at least 2 years now, probably more, and every time he manages to overcome his injuries and play at the very highest level and outwear his opponents. Even now, when he has been having issues all year, he's won 2 Grand Slams and might win a 3rd. And yet we do keep hearing he is very unsure of how much longer he can even play, beyond this season.

Djokovic feels different yeah, he looks as if he has a few more top level years in him. But, he is not allowed to go to the US open...

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Calibandar said:

The thing about Nadal is that he has seemed to be " about done"  for at least 2 years now, probably more, and every time he manages to overcome his injuries and play at the very highest level and outwear his opponents. Even now, when he has been having issues all year, he's won 2 Grand Slams and might win a 3rd. And yet we do keep hearing he is very unsure of how much longer he can even play, beyond this season.

Last week I was listening to a podcast discussing how basketball players can reinvent themselves as they age, i.e. incorporate the "old man" game and how it was unique to the sport. One person mentioned Nadal as a comparison and it was pretty spot on. I watched highlights of some of his old matches and he plays an entirely different game now.

Quote

Djokovic feels different yeah, he looks as if he has a few more top level years in him. But, he is not allowed to go to the US open...

Idk if that will hold up. People are done with the pandemic here and the Open is two months before the midterm elections. 

[Which Tyler]

48 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Last week I was listening to a podcast discussing how basketball players can reinvent themselves as they age, i.e. incorporate the "old man" game and how it was unique to the sport. One person mentioned Nadal as a comparison and it was pretty spot on. I watched highlights of some of his old matches and he plays an entirely different game now.

Anyone saying that, has never heard of... other sports.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

Anyone saying that, has never heard of... other sports.

Eh, I don't know about that. It's pretty true for American football and baseball. Certainly true for anything related to track and field. Soccer I'm less sure about, but it does seem like guys drop off and then that's it. 

[BigFatCoward]

30 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Eh, I don't know about that. It's pretty true for American football and baseball. Certainly true for anything related to track and field. Soccer I'm less sure about, but it does seem like guys drop off and then that's it. 

Ruud Gullit (as a Chelsea fan you should know this). Completely reinvented himself as he got older, moving further and further back the pitch.  

[Which Tyler]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Eh, I don't know about that. It's pretty true for American football and baseball. Certainly true for anything related to track and field. Soccer I'm less sure about, but it does seem like guys drop off and then that's it. 

So, it is unique to Basketball... but only if you ignore american football, baseball, association football, tennis, rugby, cricket, field hockey and golf

[Jeor]

I wouldn't be surprised if Nadal calls it quits at the end of this season. Especially if he pulls off Wimbledon or the US Open. I don't think the Grand Slam record means that much to him that he'll try and extend it, and his comments about his injuries and his health seem to be getting more serious. He just turned 36 and, unlike Federer, he doesn't have children yet and you never know if other life priorities become more important.

 

[polishgenius]

3 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

So, it is unique to Basketball... but only if you ignore american football, baseball, association football, tennis, rugby, cricket, field hockey and golf

 

And boxing, where it's shockingly common. 

 

 

Nadal ducking Kyrgios I see. 

[Calibandar]

Thats a real bummer that there is now no match between them. I'd rather he'd thrown in the towel against Fritz so we'd have had Fritz vs Kyrgios.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Ruud Gullit (as a Chelsea fan you should know this). Completely reinvented himself as he got older, moving further and further back the pitch.  

Come on, I've been watching the sport for three years and following Chelsea for two, am I really suppose to know who this guy is?

11 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

So, it is unique to Basketball... but only if you ignore american football, baseball, association football, tennis, rugby, cricket, field hockey and golf

I literally listed the NFL and baseball as examples where you rarely see it. In football a tackle can switch to guard or a corner can play safety, but they're not doing that for any reason other than to prolong their careers by a little bit and their decline will be sharp. Baseball, again with a few exceptions, is also a sport where you don't see it. The equivalent of developing an old man's game in those sports is taking steroids. Golf seems like an odd example to bring up as well. You just decline and you make slight changes to make the decline happen less quickly, but it's not the same thing. And with tennis most players decline and decline rapidly and are out fairly early. That's why Nadal seems so unique. I was convinced he was basically finished in the mid 2010s, but he got healthy, changed his game a ton and was able to maintain elite level play for several more years. 

Can't speak to sports that are never on here. Are there large pro field hockey leagues in other parts of the world?

[Which Tyler]

My apologies, I took your "it's true for..." to mean "it's also true for..." rather than "it's true that it doesn't happen in..."

[Poobah]

1 hour ago, Calibandar said:

Thats a real bummer that there is now no match between them. I'd rather he'd thrown in the towel against Fritz so we'd have had Fritz vs Kyrgios.

Agreed. Has Fritz already gone home or why can't they just schedule him to play Kyrgios in Nadal's stead? I mean it's sad for Nadal, and I wonder what heights he could've reached if he'd maintained his health throughout his career, but while I respect him battling through all that pain to win the quarter final at the same time it seems pretty lame for everyone involved that he beat Fritz just to give Kyrgios a by.

[polishgenius]

5 hours ago, Poobah said:

Has Fritz already gone home or why can't they just schedule him to play Kyrgios in Nadal's stead?

 

Because it would be absolutely ridiculous to put someone in a semi-final who lost the quarter. Yeah, it's a bit pffft that Kyrgios gets a bye in a stage this late, but it'd be no more valid to have Fritz in there than Sinner or Goffin. 

[3CityApache]

Yeah, Fritz has every right to feel pissed, but there is no way he could play this semifinal. And he is probably more pissed at himself, that he wasn't able to defeat Nadal, who was apparently injured really seriously to be forced to withdraw, which he virtually never does during the tournament.

I feel sorry for Rafa, even though he would probably lose to Djoko in another epic final even if he was fully fit.

As for Kyrgios, I'm not that sure the semifinal bye is a real advantage for him. But I don't see him as a real contender agaist the Serbian anyway, he's much too inconsistent.

[Spockydog]

Why is John Inverdale still allowed to commentate on women's sport? The man has just spent five minutes moaning about a female tennis player choosing to wear a cap, and depriving him of the opportunity to see her face, and, more importantly, her smile. 

What a horrible, sexist old cunt.