That cracked me up. I appreciate Osaka's well intentioned, but her post match stuff is typically quite cringe and that was the pick of the lot.
Tennis 2021
- Thread starter Sean_RedDevil
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it's a shame WImbledon was canceled and he got disqualified at US Open, as chasing that GOAT title would have been made much easier. still, it's looking very likely that both he and Nadal will finish with more slams than Fed. what a race it has been for the last 10 years.
Can’t wait for Novak to become the official goat next week hehe
Too much paperwork.
Djokovic on course to break most of Fed's record, but yeah Federer looks so elegant and effortless blah. GOAT soon.
Federer makes his return after 14 months out against Dan Evans tomorrow.
Yet another elegant and effortless win.
Good win considering Evans has been playing well (AO aside) these past few months.
Yet another elegant and effortless loss. Delighted.
Yeah, poor Bautista.
Federer plays the most aesthetically pleasing tennis of anyone I've ever seen. I hope he wins at least another slam some day.
It's going to get more difficult though, as he continues to age.
Agreed. I watched Lendl play LIVE at the Miami when I was a kid and was mesmerized by how graceful and fluid his movement and ground strokes were (including the one handed backhand). Federer has imo taken it to a brand new level. An absolute joy to watch, even in his twilight.
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Lucky you. Ivan Lendl was sensational, wasn't he? Seemed to be the Jerry West of tennis though. Lots of GrandSlam final losses. Just found the final hurdle too much, more often than not.
Yeah, he seemed to buckle at Wimbledon a lot. Still finished with a respectable 8 slams which at the time was in the upper echelon of slam wins.
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No big three at Miami. Thiem is taking time off to prepare for clay after his recent shocking losses.
The Miami draw is looking like an ATP 500 event. You can't even knock any of them for not going either.
It seems like the WTA are attracting a better draw, so I may watch some of that if I can.
If IW was on, it would be logical for some of them to go. But doesn’t make sense going to another continent for two weeks just to play Miami. As from April - July the tour will primary be in Europe.
I will probably watch Miami, if Murray can get a run going. Zverev and Tsitipas are facing each other in the Mexican final.
It's a pretty strong field still.
1. Russia Daniil Medvedev
2. Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas
3. Germany Alexander Zverev
4. Russia Andrey Rublev
5. Argentina Diego Schwartzman
6. Canada Denis Shapovalov
7. Spain Roberto Bautista Agut
8. Belgium David Goffin
9. Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov
10. Canada Félix Auger-Aliassime
11. Italy Fabio Fognini
12. Canada Milos Raonic
13. Chile Cristian Garín
14. Russia Karen Khachanov
15. Australia Alex de Minaur
16. Serbia Dušan Lajović
17. Russia Aslan Karatsev
18. United States John Isner
19. United Kingdom Daniel Evans
20. France Ugo Humbert
21. Italy Jannik Sinner
22. United States Taylor Fritz
23. France Benoît Paire
24. Italy Lorenzo Sonego
25. France Adrian Mannarino
26. Poland Hubert Hurkacz
27. Georgia (country) Nikoloz Basilashvili
28. Japan Kei Nishikori
29. Hungary Márton Fucsovics
30. United States Reilly Opelka
31. Germany Jan-Lennard Struff
32. Kazakhstan Alexander Bublik
Hurkacz winning Miami is a good story. His first Masters win. Sinner will win plenty of them over the next decade or so, you'd imagine.
Roland Garros has been postponed by a week, so there will be just be 2 weeks between the events like it used to be some years ago.
I wonder what Federer's thinking is now. Him completely skipping clay could be counter intuitive for him as I think he needs matches under his belt to regain match fitness prior to Wimbledon but at the same time he won't want to overdo it and end up missing or rushing into Halle prior to Wimbledon.
I wonder what Federer's thinking is now. Him completely skipping clay could be counter intuitive for him as I think he needs matches under his belt to regain match fitness prior to Wimbledon but at the same time he won't want to overdo it and end up missing or rushing into Halle prior to Wimbledon.
At his age, he can't play both back to back, and he has no chance at RG in any event. In fact, going deep into RG would be to his detriment because his priority should be to get to Wimbledon in prestine condition.
If he's serving well there, anything is possible. I may be wrong but I think that's his best shot. Arrive there fresh having worked on your serve, and hope you're in good serving rythm in the important moments.
Isn't the Olympics pretty soon after Wimbledon as well... (about 2 weeks)
French... skip Wimbledon and then Tokyo?
Wimbledon... Tokyo?... could even see him retiring is he won one of them?
Have a feeling novak is gonna win all three then top it off with the US open to finish the year
Atp most weeks at no1
Most grand slam titles
Olympic gold medal
Most prize money
Calander grand slam
Pretty much undisputed no1 at that point I think
Fantastic win for Dan Evans over Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters!
6-4 7-5
Be amazing if he can go on and win the tournament from here.
6-4 7-5
Be amazing if he can go on and win the tournament from here.
So much uproar from people over Novak and Rafa losing.
Am I the only one who had the feeling this was expected?
Both Nadal and Djokovic haven't played since February.
Evans and Rublev have matches under them.
Then think about how little Nadal and Djokovic have played between the last French and this.
The clay run means there's plenty time for them to find form.
Probably what Fed is banking on as well.
Am I the only one who had the feeling this was expected?
Both Nadal and Djokovic haven't played since February.
Evans and Rublev have matches under them.
Then think about how little Nadal and Djokovic have played between the last French and this.
The clay run means there's plenty time for them to find form.
Probably what Fed is banking on as well.
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Nice, stop Nadal while you're at it.
Calendar Grand Slam will not happen in 21st century.
Winning four in a row in 2015-16 will be his most impressive achievement.
Rublev vs Sinner tomorrow 
Nadal's level of tennis continues to be extremely poor. His pre RG form has not mattered all that much in recent years but he's particularly woeful this last week. Getting hammered vs Rublev was bad, yesterday he dropped a set to an unknown and now he's gone and dropped a set to Kei.
I think neither of them will perform very well in Masters tournaments that well anymore and probably don't have the bodies to play matches on consecutive days. Novak's loss was bad but he's been below par on clay for some years now (by his standards). For Nadal though, it's been some very very worrying displays in the last week.
Indeed. It's seriously worrying.
I do still think it's a matter of match fitness though and he'll come good.
The problem is if he keeps losing early, that won't happen.
Have you seen the matches?
I'm not sure it's that big of a concern at the moment. If a similar trend continues into Barcelona (assuming he wins today) and into Madrid/Rome then I'd be worried but it's too early to be getting worried imo. One things I found interesting, prior to the clay court swing, was that Nadal isn't the reigning champion at any of the Masters events Monte Carlo (Fognini 2019), Barcelona (Thiem 2019), Madrid (Djokovic 2019) and Rome (Djokovic 2020).
I think Rome is when we gauge the level. If he reaches the later stages at a cruise, he's geared up more or less for RG.
Right now, his serve is atrocious(might have been adjusted because of the back?) and his groundstrokes are erratic.
Ive not really seen him this bad since 2015,though, so I have lingering doubts.
He wasn't great in 2019 until Rome as well. From the sound of things Thiem is struggling for fitness and has also suffered mentally since winning his first major and Djokovic's performance in MC was erratic too, so the other two contenders are not exactly in a great position either right now.
I saw the Rublev match and most of today's match. His serve has been completely off, very few free points. He's also hitting some terrible unforced errors. He's probably rusty and his performances in Rome matter more but I don't think Nadal is good enough to play matches daily anymore so his Masters titles are really going to reduce.
Right now the biggest challenger on clay looks like it'll be Tsitsipas tbh. I do have faith in Theim regaining his form once he's fit though.
Struggling to understand why Nadal's serve is so bad.
He's had time off from the back issue. Has he modified it because of the back issue or what?
There's no rhythm to it at all.
Even in 2015, he still had percentage on his serve.
The biggest weakness in his game has just got weaker.
Unless this is an early phase and he's trying to go bigger on it, it's turning out to be a real issue.
He's had time off from the back issue. Has he modified it because of the back issue or what?
There's no rhythm to it at all.
Even in 2015, he still had percentage on his serve.
The biggest weakness in his game has just got weaker.
Unless this is an early phase and he's trying to go bigger on it, it's turning out to be a real issue.
Karatsev has just beaten Djokovic.
Nadal certainly looked much better on groundstrokes today. Kind of erratic, but much better.
The depth he was getting in the second set makes him border on unbeatable.
Still the serve is an issue.
Also, I'm not sure why he's struggling to close matches and sets these days. It's become a regular thing since US Open 19.
Also don't understand why he has to be 2 meters behind the baseline for PCB's first and second serve. It's not John Isner ffs. I really wish he'd stop doing this.
He's such a good player when attacking and taking the ball on, but he doesn't seem to like doing it. His most successful years have also come when he's been right up against the baseline to return.
Still, good progress for RG. Stefanos is the real test.
The depth he was getting in the second set makes him border on unbeatable.
Still the serve is an issue.
Also, I'm not sure why he's struggling to close matches and sets these days. It's become a regular thing since US Open 19.
Also don't understand why he has to be 2 meters behind the baseline for PCB's first and second serve. It's not John Isner ffs. I really wish he'd stop doing this.
He's such a good player when attacking and taking the ball on, but he doesn't seem to like doing it. His most successful years have also come when he's been right up against the baseline to return.
Still, good progress for RG. Stefanos is the real test.
Nadal vs Tsisipas today will be fun. I think Nadal takes it in three
Nadal a set and a mini break up in the second tie break. Hope he closes it out and doesn't repeat the Australian Open.