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The real Tennis thread.

Page 84 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
So on the men's side the French Open final turned out to be a dud (didn't see all of the 3rd set, but I'm sure Ruud gave it all he had), but I did at least enjoy the women's final.

It's probably too soon, but any thoughts on Wimbledon next month? It's obviously a different surface, should I be expecting something more or different from the men?
 
So on the men's side the French Open final turned out to be a dud (didn't see all of the 3rd set, but I'm sure Ruud gave it all he had), but I did at least enjoy the women's final.

It's probably too soon, but any thoughts on Wimbledon next month? It's obviously a different surface, should I be expecting something more or different from the men?
Djokovic hasn't lost at Wimbledon since 2017, soooo.... What players can threaten him changes a little bit, but he's gonna be the overwhelming favorite there. Especially now that the record is broken and the pressure should be off.

Unironically think Murray should be a top 5 threat at Wimbledon this year.
 
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Djokovic hasn't lost at Wimbledon since 2017, soooo.... What players can threaten him changes a little bit, but he's gonna be the overwhelming favorite there. Especially now that the record is broken and the pressure should be off.

Unironically think Murray should be a top 5 threat at Wimbledon this year.
So unless the young'uns step up I should be looking forward to a geriatric Wimbledon on the men's side (no ageism involved, I'm old enough to be Djoko's and Murray's mother!)...

Well. there's always strawberries and cream to look forward to while watching Wimbledon. So at least there's that. :)
 
So unless the young'uns step up I should be looking forward to a geriatric Wimbledon on the men's side (no ageism involved, I'm old enough to be Djoko's and Murray's mother!)...

Well. there's always strawberries and cream to look forward to while watching Wimbledon. So at least there's that. :)
Problem is the young'uns universally suck on grass. And the best of the young'uns, Alcaraz, hasn't had a good Wimbledon yet.

Honestly in 2021 and 2022 Djokovic won it without even looking good
 
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Long gone are the days when you could win Wimbledon at the age of 17 like Boris Becker did way back when...

Why do you suppose the young'uns aren't so good on grass right now?
Various reasons.

But I'm not gonna blame young players for not learning to volleying cause volleying is overrated, and I'm just gonna blame shot tolerance. Most young players don't deal that well with harder flatter incoming balls which is what happens when a ball skids off grass. This also correlates a bit with returning ability. Djokovic is no longer the fastest guy on Tour, but his shot tolerance is still unparalleled.

There's this idea that grass is for big servers but it's for players that are great serve+returners, with baselining being slightly less important. Hardcourt requires all 3, and clay has less emphasis on serve+return but I also think it's getting more important on clay. And most young players these days grow up standing far back on return. No u25 player has both a good serve and good return.
 
Wimbledon has been Novak’s second best GS after Australia, so he’s the big favorite there. I don’t see anyone challenging him, especially mentally. Alcaraz hasn’t been great on grass. Maybe Sinner, Medvedev, Khachanov….The new generation just isn’t good enough. I mean, Djoković lost to the likes of Kohlschreiber and Melzer at Roland Garros. Now he’s easily beating Ruud, a top 10 player that’s 11 years younger.
 
Wimbledon has been Novak’s second best GS after Australia, so he’s the big favorite there. I don’t see anyone challenging him, especially mentally. Alcaraz hasn’t been great on grass. Maybe Sinner, Medvedev, Khachanov….The new generation just isn’t good enough. I mean, Djoković lost to the likes of Kohlschreiber and Melzer at Roland Garros. Now he’s easily beating Ruud, a top 10 player that’s 11 years younger.
Doesn't really make sense to compare to the Djoko of 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 at RG.

That said there's a very specific clay thing where Djokovic I beleive is undefeated at RG against righties with a 2handed backhand excepting a retirement in his first RG against Coria.
 
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Doesn't really make sense to compare to the Djoko of 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 at RG.

That said there's a very specific clay thing where Djokovic I beleive is undefeated at RG against righties with a 2handed backhand excepting a retirement in his first RG against Coria.

Why not? He wasn’t injured in those losses, and he was a big favorite in those matches. He was 22/23, now he’s 36 and beating 25 year old that’s likely at the peak of his powers.
 

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