The real Tennis thread.

[Red Rick]

surely some of this falls at the feet of their coaches, no? Can't be taught a plan b or c, or other dimensions to their games?

There's so many different coaches all over the world they can't all be making the same mistake.

I my opinion there are 2 main reasons.

1. Tennis is getting a worse and worse alternative for young athletic talent. Sports like football and other team sports are getting increasingly viable at lower and lower levels as the money is going up there. Meanwhile, even though tennis is getting more and more money, it still can only really sustain ~150 players on the ATP or WTA

2. As the senior game has changed, the junior game has changed with it. Poly strings enabled much more topspin and killed serve&volley, but I'm also convinced rackets with bigger sweetspots where you can just muscle a ball as long as you hit enough spin absolutely killed the developments of juniors. Almost all young players have major technical issues the older dudes didn't really have.

 

[movingtarget]

There's so many different coaches all over the world they can't all be making the same mistake.

I my opinion there are 2 main reasons.

1. Tennis is getting a worse and worse alternative for young athletic talent. Sports like football and other team sports are getting increasingly viable at lower and lower levels as the money is going up there. Meanwhile, even though tennis is getting more and more money, it still can only really sustain ~150 players on the ATP or WTA

2. As the senior game has changed, the junior game has changed with it. Poly strings enabled much more topspin and killed serve&volley, but I'm also convinced rackets with bigger sweetspots where you can just muscle a ball as long as you hit enough spin absolutely killed the developments of juniors. Almost all young players have major technical issues the older dudes didn't really have.

No doubt the racquet size has had a big effect. For the non regular tennis watcher especially with the Russian players with similar sounding names and physical similarities, most play a similar game. Easy to get them confused. It's probably had more of an impact on the women's game than the men's. The tennis world was flooded with Russian and European players who played very similar games. and it seemed to have a production line effect to it. So much so that it's easy to still remember the Henins, Goolagongs, Novotnas and Courts of women's tennis. All had more diversity in their playing style than usual. Needless to say that was also a long time ago.

in the men's game I can't think of anything more boring than two players having a serving contest, tiebreakers and one service break for the match. Often now it just seems to be a physical battle, who can last the long matches without breaking down and who wins the serving battle in the shorter matches. Other sports have had similar issues such as cricket with heavier bats and golf with longer putters but not to the extent tennis has had with permanent changes to playing styles.

 

[tobydawq]

Hehe, no praise of the young players when they do manage to beat Federer, Djokovic etc. But plenty of name-calling when they fail to.

I think Sadvedev is a little less sad right now than last Sunday.

 

[Nirvana]

With Djokovic gone Nadal retains again his lead in the race despite Djokovic still has an incredible advantage in the regular ranking.

 

[Red Rick]

Hehe, no praise of the young players when they do manage to beat Federer, Djokovic etc. But plenty of name-calling when they fail to.

I think Sadvedev is a little less sad right now than last Sunday.

And so Daniil came, saw my postings, and said to me

If he wins today he'll be Daniil Gladvedev.

I like the guy. He's got some character, and his game just looks super funny

 

[tobydawq]

When he saw your post he became Daniil Madvedev.

 

[Red Rick]

Medvedev beats Goffin quite easily to win his first M1000 and barely even cracks a smile. What a mad lad.

 

[Red Rick]

Murray lost 1st round in Winston Salem, but his tennis looked a lot better than in his loss against Gasquet in Cincinnati.

May play the Mallorca challenger during the USO. Already wants to emphasize on volume rather than taking it really easy on the hip.

 

[Red Rick]

Murray beat an unranked junior in his first round in Mallorca 60 61, tanking a single game.

Just saw 16 y.o. Svajda play in the 1st round at the USO. Looked incredibly impressive but then this is probably his best match and a player's average level is a better indicator of what to expect.

 

[The Hitch]

Federer beats Nagal in four. I feel like I've seen almost exactly that headline before...

 

[The Hitch]

Murray beat an unranked junior in his first round in Mallorca 60 61, tanking a single game.

Just saw 16 y.o. Svajda play in the 1st round at the USO. Looked incredibly impressive but then this is probably his best match and a player's average level is a better indicator of what to expect.

Just googled this svajda kid. Harking back to a discussion we had over the years - 175cm. He better pray for a late growth spurt. Or messi like hgh treatment.

 

[Noddy97]

Federer didn't play well and I can't see how he can beat novak after the huge disappointment he suffered in wimbledon

 

[Red Rick]

Just googled this svajda kid. Harking back to a discussion we had over the years - 175cm. He better pray for a late growth spurt. Or messi like hgh treatment.

Absolutely. He needs 10cm extra.

Tennis has too young many players who are physically good but technically average. Then there's Rublev. One Rublev is enough for me.

 

[Gigs_98]

So...Thiem did what Thiem does best...being totally random...sigh

Anyway incredibly after the First round Zverev is the only top ten player left in nadal's half of the bracket meaning we can start to speculate against whome he will play in the final. [Insert old embarassed emoji]

 

[Red Rick]

So...Thiem did what Thiem does best...being totally random...sigh

Anyway incredibly after the First round Zverev is the only top ten player left in nadal's half of the bracket meaning we can start to speculate against whome he will play in the final. [Insert old embarassed emoji]

Thiem apparently was sick the entire week. Pulled out of Cincinnati. Didn't practice. He was never gonna go far.

Zverev did the Zverev special. Turn a 2-0 set lead with not a problem in sight into a tight 5 set win. I'm still waiting for Zverev to proclaim he's mentally one of the toughest players on Tour cause he's got a great 5th set record.

Tsitsipas losing early was also in the cards. Rublev was very good in Cinci and he's just better at crushing balls from the baseline. Tsitsipas had a looot of bad sportsmanship during the match, daring the umpire to give him a warning, and instead getting a point penalty, and faking a looot of cramps.

Looks like a Kyrgios-Rublev 3rd round is in the cards. Normally Kyrgios should win that, but Kyrgios and 'should win' aren't talking to each other. Other than that I can literally only think of Shapovalov maybe making the bottom side of the draw interesting.

Meanwhile, Murray easily beat the 3rd seed Norbert Gombos at the Rafa Nadal open challenger in Mallorca. Still doesn't hit with any pace, but he can beat those challengers dudes with his eyes closed.

 

[Red Rick]

Damn I love Medvedev trolling the New York crowd in his post match interview

 

[Noddy97]

Damn I love Medvedev trolling the New York crowd in his post match interview

It was epic! But I have to say: next gen is full of cocky players.

 

[movingtarget]

No in between with Kyrgios............either feast or famine. Says he needs a break, a possible, pending suspension should help him.

 

[Red Rick]

Kyrgios wins 26% of points on the weak 2nd serve of Rublev.

He is so overrated lol.

Great stuff by Rublev though. I was disappointed to see him slip away due to injury, he's my fave young player out there.

 

[Noddy97]

I'm looking forward to see stan vs djoko. This match is going to be played at night so the court will be slower which is good to wawrinka.

 

[Red Rick]

Makes me really happy to see Monfils win too. He has his antics, but I've never seen him be a douche.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm looking forward to see stan vs djoko. This match is going to be played at night so the court will be slower which is good to wawrinka.

It's the inverse Australian Open. I miss all the night matches cause I'm in Europe


I would be surprised if Wawrinka gets close vs Djokovic. He hasn't been the same since his surgery.

 

[Noddy97]

It's the inverse Australian Open. I miss all the night matches cause I'm in Europe


I would be surprised if Wawrinka gets close vs Djokovic. He hasn't been the same since his surgery.

You're right but Stan has nothing to lose and he is very dangerous when he has no pressure. He starts to do winners from everywhere

 

[Red Rick]

You're right but Stan has nothing to lose and he is very dangerous when he has no pressure. He starts to do winners from everywhere

Wawrinka is very matchup dependent. Part of the reason he troubled Djokovic in Slams was that he could hit throw him from both wings, but the other part was that he could defend somewhat effectively with the slice backhand when he needed to. I don't think he gets away with that anymore.

Meanwhile, one of Rublev, Andujar, Monfils and Berrettini will make the semis. Really hope it's gonna be Rublev or Monfils, and I would love if Monfils could make another run.

 

[tobydawq]

Makes me really happy to see Monfils win too. He has his antics, but I've never seen him be a douche.

Did you see his match point from earlier in the tournament?