Tennis 2017

[InfiniteBoredom]

There is no better sight in my opinion.

Poetry in motion. Even when he's tired only those who've followed him in the game can tell, to the casual observer's eyes he barely breaks a sweat.

Gutted I've missed seeing him live this year again due to work

 

[The Man Himself]

Good match this, Zverev-Nadal. Zverev has taken first set after breaking Nadal in very first game.

 

[saivet]

1 set a piece now. Nadal upped his game that set, but Zverev's level also dropped quite a few. Third set will be crucial.

 

[The Man Himself]

Nadal bringing out crazy angle inside out forehands

 

[Raees]

His forehands been strong. He's edging Zverev just now but it's still too close to call at the moment.

 

[Scarecrow]

Needs to bulk up, that lad. Ironically, his name comes from the Russian word for beast.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Istomin continues the fairy tale

 

[saivet]

That was a great match between Rafa and Zverev. Shame Zverev got cramp in the final set though.

Zverev will be the real deal. In that first set, he was unplayable at times. I put a £20 each way bet on him to win the tournament (the odds tempted me) and the way he was playing I was thinking shit, he may just go very deep. Seems a worker and got a massive serve, so think his slam will come in time.

 

[saivet]

On the women's side, how about Konta? Seems to be breezing through what has been a tough draw. On course for a QF match with Serena.

 

[Kag]

You'd hope that Zverev can draw the positives from that defeat and really push on. Tennis could do with somebody fresh that can really mix it up with the top guys at the highest level.

 

[Raees]

Zverev was unlucky. Shouldn't be taken as a sure thing he will reach the top.. other talents have fallen away after big moves up the rankings and technically I see some big issues to work on but he has talent that's for sure.

 

[Cheesy]

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.

To be fair Federer and Nadal sort of dropped off around a similar age: Nadal's last GS came in 2014 when he was about 28 or so, and the vast majority of Federer's titles came when he was around the 22-27 age bracket.

I think we'll still see Djokovic win one or two more but it does definitely seem as if he's entering a decline of sorts, and as a result he'll really struggle to win the five or six he'd need in order to topple Federer's record.

The main two factors might be whether Murray keeps on top form (and wins a few more) or if a new top player emerges. Someone like Zverev's been getting talked about a lot, and if there's someone like him who can start a Federer-esque dominant run then Djokovic may struggle to win many more majors unless he's at the very top of his game.

 

[Scarecrow]

Backhand porn at the Dimitrov - Gasquet game. Only the Swiss can match them.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

It's half past midnight there, is there some cutoff where they say, ok, lets continue tomorrow?

 

[Scarecrow]

It's half past midnight there, is there some cutoff where they say, ok, lets continue tomorrow?

No, I don't think so. I think they're not supposed to start a game after 23 but they just ignore that. I remember games going until 2-3 in the morning at AO, they don't stop them.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Cheers. Ruining a bit my Winter Sports coverage thou.

 

[Giggsy92]

On the women's side, how about Konta? Seems to be breezing through what has been a tough draw. On course for a QF match with Serena.

Don't think she'll get past Serena but it's been a great start to the year for her, with the standard of the top 10 she's got a good chance of cracking the top 5 this year if she can find a bit more consistency. Although that's probably true for quite a few players to be fair.

 

[bleezy]

How has Nadal been playing? The timezones have meant I haven't seen any of him yet. Is he looking good enough to beat Monfils, or even give Raonic a good match the round after?

 

[ZDwyr]

How has Nadal been playing? The timezones have meant I haven't seen any of him yet. Is he looking good enough to beat Monfils, or even give Raonic a good match the round after?

I'd say he'll beat Monfils just because Monfils is a clown. The Raonic match will be interesting though. He's definitely playing better than I have seen in a long time. With Djokovic out I reckon it gave him some real confidence that he could win the whole thing too. His forehand is looking strong and his serve has been quite solid.

 

[The Man Himself]

Zverev was unlucky. Shouldn't be taken as a sure thing he will reach the top.. other talents have fallen away after big moves up the rankings and technically I see some big issues to work on but he has talent that's for sure.

Zverev's game is more complete than recent bright talents. Sure at 19 he will have to improve if he has to become absolute top but he is more likely of fulfilling potential than Dimitrov, Janowicz and that clown Kyrgios. Zverev also looks more composed with better temperament apart from seemingly having more shots in his armor than recent young talents. Let's see how it goes though.

 

[Nighteyes]

The Nadal-Zverev match reminded me of the Nadal-Hewitt game all those years ago. Hewitt won that day but you could tell Nadal was a special talent. That was the first time I'd seen Nadal play and I get a similar feeling from Zverev.

 

[Nighteyes]

This Zverev ain't too bad either. Murray is not even playing badly

 

[Nighteyes]

And Murray gone!

 

[Nighteyes]

feck. Amazing performance from Zverev. Those volleys in the final game after some terrific returns from Murray.

 

[One Night Only]

 

[Bojan11]

Come on Rafa or Fed. Do not let Raonic win it.

 

[caisenma]

There is no better sight in my opinion.

That makes two of us.

Really hoping he plays as well today as he did against Berdych!

 

[Cooksen]

The queen should ask for a refund for the knighthood

 

[Raees]

I don't buy the narrative that was just Zverev playing the game of his life .. Murrays backhand was woeful and was missing so many passing shots.

If Murray had kept his head he could have got his way back into that and taken it in the fifth. Well done Zverev though wonderful interview at the end such a humble guy.

I want Fed or Nadal to go on and win this.

 

[Nighteyes]

One last Federer Nadal final maybe?

 

[Bojan11]

That makes two of us.

Really hoping he plays as well today as he did against Berdych!

Problem is Nishikori has more to his game than Berdych and will run all day too. Berdych is probably the easiest game you'd get out of all the top 10 players. Fed needs to take the first set. Longer the game goes on and it suits Nishikori especially with Fed coming back.

 

[Nighteyes]

I don't buy the narrative that was just Zverev playing the game of his life .. Murrays backhand was woeful and was missing so many passing shots.

If Murray had kept his head he could have got his way back into that and taken it in the fifth. Well done Zverev though wonderful interview at the end such a humble guy.

I want Fed or Nadal to go on and win this.

That's what happens when you're so bloody aggressive as Zverev was throughout the game. The pressure on Murray's passing shots was immense because Zverev was volleying excellently and very relentless with serve and volley.

 

[Raees]

That's what happens when you're so bloody aggressive as Zverev was throughout the game. The pressure on Murray's passing shots was immense because Zverev was volleying excellently and very relentless with serve and volley.

First few sets yes but Fourth set, Murray just kept dumping his shots into the net and left it too late to get back into that match. He knew he's the fitter player and needed to weather the storm.

Bottom line is likes of Fed, Nadal and Djokovic even normal world no 1s they don't lose matches like that in the prime of their career.. golden opportunity to win this slam and Murray flaked.

You will face matches where guys have game of their lives but you need to ensure your own level stays consistent and for me Murray is just as culpable as Djokovic v Istomen. His resilience was found wanting - couldn't even get to 5 sets.

 

[Piratesoup]

Zverev, you magnificent bastard! Well done!

 

[Scarecrow]

Shaping up nicely for my man Dimitrov to bring it home. Thought he'll lose to Murray in the final but now that that's out of the way...

 

[Jazz]

Woke up to watch Roger as thought Murray would breeze through... Shocking exit!

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Now Nishikori broke Fed first game.

Ah well.

 

[ivaldo]

Tsonga has just too much for Evans.

 

[Piratesoup]

Sadly, I don't think Federer can replicate the Berdych form against someone like Nishikori. Can't see him win this.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Doing the Berdych.