Dan Evans for the championship!
Tennis 2017
- Thread starter The Man Himself
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I had to google just to make sure I had the right Istomin. Crazy result.
Huge chance for Raonic now to make the final.
Huge shock Djokovic losing, Murray will never have a better chance to win it after 5 defeats in the final.
Feels like ages since I've last seen Baghdatis play live on TV.
My boy Novak has seemingly always been a magnanimous loser. He sounds very content with life after this defeat - 12 major titles would do that to you. Good for him.
Nadal vs. Baghdatis is intensely boring...
Just seen that Novak is out! What a shock...
Mind you, he can be vulnerable in the early rounds, especially to big servers - you just have to hold your nerve against him, and make sure he doesn't get into his rhythm. Still, it is a shock as I can't remember the last time Istomin played well.
Mind you, he can be vulnerable in the early rounds, especially to big servers - you just have to hold your nerve against him, and make sure he doesn't get into his rhythm. Still, it is a shock as I can't remember the last time Istomin played well.
Murray better win it from here.. what a shocker :0
Massive massive upset, however you want to swing. It's HIS stomping ground and he's still not 30.....I'd probably still have Feds loss at Wimbledon as a bigger shock or still maybe Soderling over Nadal, as they are all out of the left field losses on their "turf", I'm not sure Murrays had one yet that I recall, but he turns 30 this year too.....wonder if he prove all these that are claiming it's your 29th year that starts the rapid decline, all would suggest Murray is about to have his best year yet despite that......he's got the motivation, seemingly fitness edge now, and the other '3' on declines, but plenty of hungry up and comers.
Murray Aussie and French, Stanimal Wimbledon, Roanic US Open......so we can write off how much a Career Grand Slam matters now 5 players would have it out of nowhere due to tweaking the surfaces to make it easier and to officially usher in the new era. Disclaimer: Not being overly serious with those predictions.
Murray Aussie and French, Stanimal Wimbledon, Roanic US Open......so we can write off how much a Career Grand Slam matters now 5 players would have it out of nowhere due to tweaking the surfaces to make it easier and to officially usher in the new era. Disclaimer: Not being overly serious with those predictions.
I know you weren't serious, but Stan will never win Wimbledon. It would take a miracle. His record there is poor.
His record at Roland Garros and the Australian Open was largely mediocre before he won them. I don't really see it either, but he like to shock people.
Grass probably is the surface of the 3 which suits him the least but, as you say, he's a player that it's difficult to predict to ever win a title because he's so inconsistent for much of the year but I think on any surface that if he finds his best form that he's pretty much unstoppable. I suppose the way he plays means he can't produce that all the time but he's won 3 different slams in 3 years so he's shown he's not just a player who specialises on one surface. I'd love to see one of the Swiss boys win Wimbledon, it's not impossible if Djokovic doesn't perk up (albeit Murray would be favourite for every slam in that case).
Come on Dan, superb tennis in that tiebreak.
I love Dan Evans. I read an article yesterday that his kit sponsor expired and he's playing in £12 t shirts. Amazing.
Bet his kick sponsor is kicking itself for not renewing, he's getting a fair bit of coverage.
I doubt Nike have given it a lot of thought, in all honesty. They'll be fine.
Hope he holds out here. Just because of the fans at AO. Possibly even more annoying than the French this year.
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Brilliant from Evans. Taken out Cilic and Tomic. Can't help but like him.
Well done Dan, good win
Evans is GB's second player now. Just overtook Edmund in the rankings.
They'll be a regional chap someone getting bollocked by his manager I'm sure.
Superb win for him. Hes deserved to get this far too. Unfortunately I can't see him finding a way past Tsonga.
Federer looks brilliant. Trashes Berdych.
Wow, pleasantly surprised. Whatever little I've watched of the great man since his return from injury didn't give me any confidence that he'd beat Berdych let alone thrash him!
He's just getting warmed up 
Really impressive from Federer. I thought Berdych would take a set at least, but Federer didn't even give him a sniff.
Also that was great from Dan Evans, used the rain call so well in the final set where it was looking like he might be struggling with cramp and Tomic was just sneaking back in to it.
Also that was great from Dan Evans, used the rain call so well in the final set where it was looking like he might be struggling with cramp and Tomic was just sneaking back in to it.
Berdych is rubbish these days, to be fair. One of Federer's easiest opponents, out of the big names, as well. Stylistically speaking.
Still can't believe that Djokovic result, probably edges out Rosol vs Nadal for greatest upset I can remember. Makes the bottom half of the draw very interesting. Federer was sublime today but you'd think beating Nishikori will probably be beyond him at this stage. Good to get a top 10 win under his belt so soon though.
I think the whole Djokovic situation is pretty fascinating. I know someone whose former housemate is a tennis writer and he apparently says that the feeling around the circuit is that Djokovic's drop off has been there for all to see, in that the work rate and committment clearly fell away in the past year or two. There's absolutely no shame in that, obviously, as when you're one of, it not the most dominant champion of recent times, it must be extraordinarily hard to maintain that, particularly as he seems very family-focussed, which doesn't often lend itself to being at the top of an individual sport. When you see him now he looks perpetually tired and, just as importantly, burned out mentally, IMO. Whatever that extra 3-4% was, whether it was mental or physical, he just seems to have lost it at the moment.
I think he will come through this and win more majors, but equally, I don't think it's impossible that he might now become just another top 4 or 5 player, rattling around the latter stages of majors but just coming up short most of the time. Last year I thought he had a really good chance of breaking the record. That looks pretty far away right now. He'll be 30 by the time of the French Open. Is it likely that we'll see a 30+ player win 6 majors? For example, Federer is, if you judge on the numbers alone, the best player of all time and a player who has aged pretty well, at least in terms of consistently competing and his last win was in 2012 when he was about to turn 31. Logically, you'd think that Djokovic is unlikely to maintain his previous level of dominance, so 3 slams a year would be a huge ask. That'd mean he'd need to win an average of 2 a year - half of the available slams - for the next 3 years. Or if he was nicking the odd one a year, occasionally two, you're looking at him still needing to be winning slams in 4-5 years. That's a steep slope to climb.
The thing in his favour is that there really aren't that many top players around at the moment. Murray is obviously flying, but after that you have Raonic, Wawrinka and Nishikori, all of whom can win tournaments, but also have pretty obvious weaknesses. Then you're down to Monfils, Cilic, Thiem, Nadal and Berdych, who, while dangerous on their day, are an even more flawed group for varying reasons. After that, Goffin, Tsonga, Kyrgios, Batistuta Agut, Dimitrov and Pouille don't exactly strike you at this moment in time as potential slam winners in the near future. Maybe in a couple of years we'll see that bunch start to feature, but right now I wouldn't like to put money on anyone outside of Murray, Djokovic or Wawrinka. Raonic will likely win one sooner or later, but when I watch him I'm never convinced he could beat someone like Murray or Djokovic, for example, with any sort of consistency, if he was playing really well. If he was fit and in reasonable form, I'd still give a 35 year old Federer every chance of taking him out, for example.
I reckon the whole Djokovic issues speaks to how impressive Nadal and Federer were to have been able to stay on the top of that wave for so long. Longevity usually isn't factored into a player's greatness in tennis - unlike football where it seems to have a massive bearing on the impression people have of players - but it is one of those things that's really underappreciated, IMO, as that sort of consistency, both in terms of desire and performance, is beyond the vast, vast majority of sportspeople.
Also, the record will be broken at some stage, I'm sure, but right now it's really difficult to see a player coming through who might be the next double digit slam winner. It might be that we'll all be arsing around on the Caf in in 40-50 years time, wondering whether we'll ever see a player break the record, or maybe even come close.
I think he will come through this and win more majors, but equally, I don't think it's impossible that he might now become just another top 4 or 5 player, rattling around the latter stages of majors but just coming up short most of the time. Last year I thought he had a really good chance of breaking the record. That looks pretty far away right now. He'll be 30 by the time of the French Open. Is it likely that we'll see a 30+ player win 6 majors? For example, Federer is, if you judge on the numbers alone, the best player of all time and a player who has aged pretty well, at least in terms of consistently competing and his last win was in 2012 when he was about to turn 31. Logically, you'd think that Djokovic is unlikely to maintain his previous level of dominance, so 3 slams a year would be a huge ask. That'd mean he'd need to win an average of 2 a year - half of the available slams - for the next 3 years. Or if he was nicking the odd one a year, occasionally two, you're looking at him still needing to be winning slams in 4-5 years. That's a steep slope to climb.
The thing in his favour is that there really aren't that many top players around at the moment. Murray is obviously flying, but after that you have Raonic, Wawrinka and Nishikori, all of whom can win tournaments, but also have pretty obvious weaknesses. Then you're down to Monfils, Cilic, Thiem, Nadal and Berdych, who, while dangerous on their day, are an even more flawed group for varying reasons. After that, Goffin, Tsonga, Kyrgios, Batistuta Agut, Dimitrov and Pouille don't exactly strike you at this moment in time as potential slam winners in the near future. Maybe in a couple of years we'll see that bunch start to feature, but right now I wouldn't like to put money on anyone outside of Murray, Djokovic or Wawrinka. Raonic will likely win one sooner or later, but when I watch him I'm never convinced he could beat someone like Murray or Djokovic, for example, with any sort of consistency, if he was playing really well. If he was fit and in reasonable form, I'd still give a 35 year old Federer every chance of taking him out, for example.
I reckon the whole Djokovic issues speaks to how impressive Nadal and Federer were to have been able to stay on the top of that wave for so long. Longevity usually isn't factored into a player's greatness in tennis - unlike football where it seems to have a massive bearing on the impression people have of players - but it is one of those things that's really underappreciated, IMO, as that sort of consistency, both in terms of desire and performance, is beyond the vast, vast majority of sportspeople.
Also, the record will be broken at some stage, I'm sure, but right now it's really difficult to see a player coming through who might be the next double digit slam winner. It might be that we'll all be arsing around on the Caf in in 40-50 years time, wondering whether we'll ever see a player break the record, or maybe even come close.
You should post more about tennis. Spot on.
What I will say though is that the defeat wasn't just a case of him lacking motivation.. to be fair Istomen was on fire, every part of his game was on point and it does take a long rangy guy with powerful serve and power shots of all flanks to beat Djoko.. and Istomen has that sort of game where when it is all firing he can be a threat.
I do think we will see similar defeats for Djoko for the next few years, it is only normal he is unable to sustain that level that he had.
What he does have going for him is that he seems very fit, has never had any serious injuries and like you mentioned the depth of the mens game isn't that great in terms of very elite level players so I think if he did take the foot off the gas.. even at 33, with renewed powers of motivation, he could maybe have 1 or two more great years in him.
Murray needs to really clean up next few years, the game has opened up for him to dominate.
Does like to surprise people but agree.. for some reason his game on grass doesn't quite work.
I'm not sure why this loss would make Nadal look impressive, he more or less dropped off quicker....though while it looks on paper he may have had a longer run, his niggles allowed him time to recover and continually find motivation. Djokovic, like Federer, shows up every single time.
From 2011-2016 Djokos record was 427-50. (GS 143-13) Tournies 94. (ave 5.07 games per tournament)
Nadals 2008-2013 405-63 (GS 115-11) Tournies 100 (ave 4.68) - missed 3 slams
Federer 2004-2009 442-51 (GS 149-10) Tournies 114 (ave 4.71)
Djokovic did far more work, not only because he, for most, had to beat the better opposition to get his record, he just went further in everything he played. Also the sport comes with more and more insane pressure since the big 4 exploded....I mean seriously, it's no surprise he's arguably just burned out for a bit, just needs to take a step back. Unlike Nadal, he doesn't seem to be physically shot due to injuries.
I don't think it's helped any new fathers in the sport watch Federer have two sets of twins and seemingly still casually make endless deep runs in the Slams. He's no way near as dependent on his physical side as the others though, that uniqueness is what makes him the Daddy though.
From 2011-2016 Djokos record was 427-50. (GS 143-13) Tournies 94. (ave 5.07 games per tournament)
Nadals 2008-2013 405-63 (GS 115-11) Tournies 100 (ave 4.68) - missed 3 slams
Federer 2004-2009 442-51 (GS 149-10) Tournies 114 (ave 4.71)
Djokovic did far more work, not only because he, for most, had to beat the better opposition to get his record, he just went further in everything he played. Also the sport comes with more and more insane pressure since the big 4 exploded....I mean seriously, it's no surprise he's arguably just burned out for a bit, just needs to take a step back. Unlike Nadal, he doesn't seem to be physically shot due to injuries.
I don't think it's helped any new fathers in the sport watch Federer have two sets of twins and seemingly still casually make endless deep runs in the Slams. He's no way near as dependent on his physical side as the others though, that uniqueness is what makes him the Daddy though.
Agreed. The mental fortitude needed to succeed at that level for that long is a hugely underappreciated quality.
I said it back during Wimbledon but I think it's more than a simple drop in motivation, personally. I think he sees Tennis as an inconvenience and a burden at this point.
Even on his better days, Berdych rarely managed to do in the big games in the big tournaments. He's the tennis verion of Fergie's 'Lads, it's Tottenham'.
Zverev vs Nadal tomorrow morning. Around breakfast time here in India. Hopefully it will be a cracker.
Just seen the highlights of Federer's match. Old Man Federer was sublime. I've missed seeing his beautiful tennis whether he wins or loses.
Expected it to be way tougher even though Berdych is not much of a competitor. He has some weapons but not the required mental toughness. Nevertheless, nice to see Fed put it together coming back from a long lay off.
Nishikori should beat Fed, but who knows?
Expected it to be way tougher even though Berdych is not much of a competitor. He has some weapons but not the required mental toughness. Nevertheless, nice to see Fed put it together coming back from a long lay off.
Nishikori should beat Fed, but who knows?
Think it will be.... must check to see what time that's on for us over here.
The scheduled time is 3AM GMT. Day starts at midnight GMT and two ladies matches before this one, one of those is Serena's which should finish quick
.You're right about Serena! She don't hang around!The scheduled time is 3AM GMT. Day starts at midnight GMT and two ladies matches before this one, one of those is Serena's which should finish quick
There really aren't many better sights in sport than Federer playing at a high level.
There is no better sight in my opinion.
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