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The real Tennis thread.

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Aug 31, 2012
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I love watching Stanimal play. What a feeling it must be to the hit the ball so cleanly and with so much power that you can just blow the other player off the court
 
Aug 31, 2012
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Re:

You mean lacking pace, or lacking top spin?

Saw a stat for average forehand mph somwhere today. It was like Thiem 84, Wawrinka and Nadal 79, Murray 74 iirc
 
Both/racked head speed. Murray gets just about 0 wrist lag on his forehand, so he's arming the ball completely. Compare it to hitting something with a plank instead of a whip. He can't hit big and reliable with his forehand. It used to be a bit better, but it's why he has to play so passively and he can't even fight for initiative with Wawrinka.

With Wawrinka they're always talking about his backhand. I wish they'd talk more about his forehand. Improving his forehand is what created the Stanimal. Any great forehand is always gonna be better than a great backhand.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Both/racked head speed. Murray gets just about 0 wrist lag on his forehand, so he's arming the ball completely. Compare it to hitting something with a plank instead of a whip. He can't hit big and reliable with his forehand. It used to be a bit better, but it's why he has to play so passively and he can't even fight for initiative with Wawrinka.

With Wawrinka they're always talking about his backhand. I wish they'd talk more about his forehand. Improving his forehand is what created the Stanimal. Any great forehand is always gonna be better than a great backhand.

Everything about Wawrinka has improved since the end of 2012. That epic match against Djokovic in Australia in 2013 gave Stan the much needed confidence, and while he didn't win a slam that year, he's never looked back. Sometimes tough losses like that one vs Novak can define a career, sometimes you are crushed and never make it so far, sometimes you end up like Wawrinka, 3 and perhaps 4 slams in your late 20's/early 30's. Stan was always a talent capable of big things, he was a consistent 10-15/20 ranked player but he lacked a big breakthrough. Not always does one break through after a loss. If he wins his second RG and 4th overall slam on Sunday, hats off. Not many probably saw this back in January 2013, myself included.
 
Whoever wins on Sunday if I got it correctly becomes world number 2.

Nadal can move up to 15.

Will he be able to go a few more years at this 3rd wind level. Can he raise his game and steal a US Open/ Australian Open somewhere over the next 2 years on top of maybe a couple more RG's?
 
I am looking at Wawrinka's career stats on wikipedia and I am impressed with the fact that his win/loss percentage in slams is just over 10% higher than his overall win/loss percentage. This all thanks to his career blossoming starting in 2013, at Australia, where he was a couple months shy of his 28th birthday. It's even more impressive than Agassi, because Agassi prior to his comeback in 1999 was already a mega-star of the sport. He'd been a contender at slams since 1988 and while he went away after winning Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, he was a guy that everyone saw as a danger man in slams, as he had already won a few, been world #1, and actually was seen as a major underachiever. He missed opportunities in the early 90's and had 'tanked' matches even earlier in his career. Made the semis in two slams as an 18 year old in 1988, another semi in 1989, two finals in 1990, one final in 1991 and finally won his first 22 in Wimbledon in 1992. Not to bore everyone to death with stats, but just pointing out that Agassi's 'second' career 1999-2003 (period where he won slams) was impressive, but this is what most expected him to do a decade earlier. Wawrinka was nowhere near the semis of slams in his teens, he made it into the top 10 when he was 23 and the top 5 years later.

Angelique Kerber is a good comparison with Wawrinka. She made it into the top 10 around the same age Wawrinka did, and won her first two slams in her late 20's (last year). It'll be interesting to see what she'll do in the coming slams. Will she sneak away another title like Wawrinka? Wawrinka still has to play Nadal on Sunday, and you never know, if Stanimal is indeed in Stanimal mode, then he could win his 4th slam. 4 finals, 4 titles. I am not sure If Kerber will match that. I am also not sure if any of the current players that in their mid 20's, soon to be in late 20's, and lurking 5-15 rank, can do what Wawrinka's been doing the last 3 or 4 years. I am talking about guys like Nishikori, Raonic, Dimitrov...Cilic I can't really put in that category because he already has a slam, and in my humble opinion, he is capable of getting more. Del Potro is the exact same age as Cilic, and he got a slam early in his career, but unfortunately injuries have prevented him from truly blossoming. I am not sure what he'll be able to bring later in his career.
 
I do have to note that usually the men player with other balls than the women. Women usually use lighter tennis balls, so it's easier to hit with pace, and they tend to hit way, way flatter.

I was very disappointed with Fed skipping RG, and if Nadal would go the same route he'd retire in 2 years and come back to play RG for the next 10 years.
 
Not surprised to see Ostapenko win the women's final. I saw a few of her matches and I thought she was exactly the wrong opponent for the streaky Halep. Former number two ranked junior in the world. The first unseeded woman to win the French Open since 1933. Basically it's hit the cover off the ball on every shot. Be interesting to see how she goes on different surfaces but a bright future looks almost certain at the age of 20.First Latvian to make the French Open final let alone win it. Probably the first Latvian to make any grand slam final. The signs looked good with the fourth round win over Stosur who was in good form and likes to play on clay.