The real Tennis thread.

[The Hitch]

I don't like Murray but I do think he has good shot making. His biggest fault was always a weak second serve and maybe playing bad on important points.

Federer was indeed probably the best shot maker, but I do admire Nadal's ability since he uses dominates from the forehand using the most insane grip, one that no one else would be able to pull off.

 

[Red Rick]

I wonder when Nadal will start to position himself in Australia when he is returning

 

[The Hitch]

And so it has come down to this.

1 set that will decide who is the GOAT

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Danish media just won the prize for stupidest headline.

Willams beats sister

Oh... really?

Lol. It's not like I had high expectations of what a mainstream newspaper write about a sport, but this is truly a decent effort at half-arsing your job.

Sure, they did continue the headline with mentioning how she set a record for GS wins, which I guess only Serena could do. But would it have been so hard to simply write Serena beats Venus?

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

Danish media just won the prize for stupidest headline.

Willams beats sister

Oh... really?

Lol. It's not like I had high expectations of what a mainstream newspaper write about a sport, but this is truly a decent effort at half-arsing your job.

Sure, they did continue the headline with mentioning how she set a record for GS wins, which I guess only Serena could do. But would it have been so hard to simply write Serena beats Venus?

I kind of get it though.

At the end of 2008 Serena and Venus both had 7 grand slams each.
Since then there have been 29 grand slams. Serena has won 16 of them. All other women in the game combined have won 13. Venus has won 0.

At this stage Serena is very much the "Williams", and Venus really is just her sister.

 

[Red Rick]

And so it has come down to this.

1 set that will decide who is the GOAT

Fed was gonna be the GOAT regardless. Anyway. Congrats to Federer. He has adapted his game over the last months, and it was in a way that he matches up better to Nadal. Also, Nadal tried to play the tennis he played vs Federer years ago but he isn't fast enough anymore. I think he made the mistake of going crosscourt for too long in spots where it didn't do anything and where he was just waiting for Federer to tee off on the backhand.

 

[movingtarget]

Well done Federer. I actually thought he would wrap it up in four sets after winning the third so easily but kudos to Nadal for his fight back. Nice to see Federer finally get another Open final victory against his old adversary Nadal.

 

[Brullnux]

Well done to roger. Great match

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Finally nr 18!
And a great match

 

[Gigs_98]

Aaaargh, so close

Nevertheless congrats to Federer. Incredibly exciting match.

 

[Red Rick]

Davis Cup is on this weekend. No top 15 players playing but for Novak Djokovic. And he ain't looking good. Went a set and a break down before turning it around against Medvedev who later retired.

 

[portugal11]

I'm the only one to think that federer's backhand is in another level than previous years? His backhand is more consistent and solid from the baseline

 

[Red Rick]

I think everyone has noticed that

 

[Red Rick]

Meanwhile, bright young talent Denis Shapovalov is going places

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Cvfx9Jl0E

Dare I say, snipered?

 

[sniper]

Re:

I'm the only one to think that federer's backhand is in another level than previous years? His backhand is more consistent and solid from the baseline

I think Federer could have won more slams with a double handed backhand.

 

[King Boonen]

This Shapovalov thing is being a bit blown out of proportion isn't it?

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

This Shapovalov thing is being a bit blown out of proportion isn't it?

Nah it isn't. He's gotten away with it ridiculously easy.

 

[Red Rick]

*** is hitting the fan this week in Dubai.

Yesterday, Federer lost to World# 116 Evgeny Donskoy after wasting 3MP in the 2nd set tiebreak and being 5-1 up in the 3rd set tiebreak to lost 36 76 76.

Today, Murray lost the first set 6-7 to Kohlschreiber, and then won the 2nd set breaker 20-18 (saving 7 matchpoints, wasting 7 setpoints in the process). On of the matchpoints he hit the most insane dropshot I've ever seen. Some batshit crazy tennis this tournament

 

[Red Rick]

Watching Thiem-Nadal now. Damn that is some clay court tennis

 

[BullsFan22]

Thiem is a good player and he's got the potential to win grand slams but he's gotta up his game. Nadal is effectively the GOAT on clay so it's not easy for anyone to beat him, but Thiem has the speed and hits hard, but can he sustain this for 5 sets at Roland Garros?

I'd love to see Wawrinka snag another GS, but in all honesty, it's time for the youngsters, the guys 25 and younger to make their mark and win or at least get to the finals of the slams, it's been overdue for some time now. With all the respect to the top guys, it would be great for the game if a younger guy won it, or anyone else for that matter that isn't named Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or indeed Murray and Wawrinka. The last one that's not part of the top 5 (and interestingly, it's these five guys that make up the top 5 rankings: Murray at 1, Djokovic 2, Wawrinka 3, Federer 4, and Nadal 5) that won a slam was Del Potro at the 2009 US Open. Before that it was Safin at the 2005 Australian Open, so the beginning of the season in 2005. That's a long time for only a handful of men to win slams. The guys that are consistently in the top echelon, Berdych, Tsonga, Ferrer, are losing steam, and Ferrer more quickly than the rest, but let's be honest, he's 35 and physically he can't run down every ball like he used to. Cilic is way too inconsistent, Raonic and Nishikori have injury issues, especially Nishikori, Gasquet has wasted a lot of his talent and he is already in his 30's, Dimitrov is overrated, Kyrgios...not really sure what to make of him, Zverev has the upside....Really it's time for new champions, both on the men's but the women's as well. Federer, Nadal, Williams, Djokovic are all good for the sport, but it's also good of the sport if someone else comes along and starts winning.

 

[Red Rick]

Thiem is a very solid player, but his shots take ages to set up, which makes it hard to play agressive effectively. He can do it, but when he gets outplayed, he has no plan B but to lose his brains and start swinging for the fences.

Swinging for the fences is a tactic that some players can use effectively. Thiem can't. I don't know if he'll win Slams.

Djokovic and Murray have shown some minor improvements recently. Still I can't see anyone beating Nadal on Roland Garros. He's playing great when he needs to. Wawrinka probably has a shot, but all the minor younger contenders seem to have vanished from the face of the earth recently, except for Thiem finalling Barcelona.

It's probably Nadal vs Federer for #1, unless either Murray or Djokovic go on a tear from grass season onwards.

 

[Red Rick]

Watching Thiem-Nadal unfold over the last weeks has been great. Some truly animalistic tennis there. Meanwhile Murray and Djoker keep struggling, and we're seeing some new players getting deep into the M1000's. Exciting times.

 

[SeriousSam]

Isn't Djokovic recovering? I guess we'll see how he does against delpo and the new and improved Thiem

Just watched a 10 min summary of the Nadal v Thiem match, didn't seem like Nadal was playing really well but Thiem sure can hit the ball extremely hard with both the bh and the fh, and his court coverage is extremely good (better than Nadal's) as well. One thing that he could still improve is making his swings a bit more compact, seems like he's getting off balance pretty frequently when he hits the ball. Though I guess it's also why he can hit the ball so hard!

 

[SeriousSam]

Swinging for the fences is a tactic that some players can use effectively. Thiem can't. I don't know if he'll win Slams.

Looks like he can, but you're right that it's an extremely important skill to have to overcome the ultra defenders (Murray, Djokovic, Nadal). It's why Ferrer never won a slam.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Isn't Djokovic recovering? I guess we'll see how he does against delpo and the new and improved Thiem

Just watched a 10 min summary of the Nadal v Thiem match, didn't seem like Nadal was playing really well but Thiem sure can hit the ball extremely hard with both the bh and the fh, and his court coverage is extremely good (better than Nadal's) as well. One thing that he could still improve is making his swings a bit more compact, seems like he's getting off balance pretty frequently when he hits the ball. Though I guess it's also why he can hit the ball so hard!

Djokovic seems to be doing a bit better, but I don't think that him firing his entire team and continuing with his love guru is a great sign. He road an easy draw to the semi in Madrid and got beaten convincingly by Nadal.

As for Thiem, he could take shorter swings, but it would affect the power of his shots, particularly on the backhand side. It's just very hard to modify swings depending on how much time you have. Thiem can defend his backhand well enough, and how well he hits his one hander in open stance off the back foot is unprecedented. I think his forehand technique could be a little shorter without losing power if he'd whip it more. Jack Sock is the most extreme example of that, but he's not exactly a beacon of reliability.

That said, Thiem matches up well to Nadal on clay. He doesn't match up well against players who can take his time away and not give him a chance to grind and set up his huge shots. Querrey did that and Thiem almost lost.

Swinging for the fences is a tactic that some players can use effectively. Thiem can't. I don't know if he'll win Slams.

Looks like he can, but you're right that it's an extremely important skill to have to overcome the ultra defenders (Murray, Djokovic, Nadal). It's why Ferrer never won a slam.

Pretty much. The way I see it is that when you're playing somebody who's just better than you, playing your normal game is gonna lose you the match anyway, so you're going with a different game plan. Playing super aggro is the way for players to take the match on their own rackets. Only very few players do it in basically every match.