Tennis Thread 2013

Sixpence

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The guy is just frightening and he will take some stopping here. He will breeze to the final and then it's up to Andy or Novak to finally end this incredible hard court record this year.
 

Mihajlovic

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NM

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Went to the night session games today.. The girl that played Woziniaki can hit the ball HARD! She lost every crucial point though, and never threatened at all. Nadal vs Dutra Silva was actually a great game to watch. Seeing Nadal's forehand in person is amazing- it is absolutely brilliant. Silva also played well, but Nadal dominated whenever he wanted and Silva tired in the 3rd set. I think he had a five setter before.

After that, they let us into the second stadium (Louis Armstrong?) to see Monfils vs Isner. Isner was up two sets at the time. That was great fun. The atmosphere was brilliant - lots of chating, and Monfils played to the crowd brilliantly. He almost had home advantage at times. Isner's serve is fricking HUGE. He lost the 3rd but won the 4th on a tie break. He seemed to have a knock though - he wasn't moving well at all. To be honest, watching that set and a half was more fun than the games on Ashe. Those were processions, while this was a contest with a great crowd. It was called "Davis Cup like" later on.

Also, for any Indians in this thread, I got to see Paes play doubles for a bit before the games on Ashe. There were some brilliant volleys from him and Stepanek.

The non show courts are a bit shocking. They are essentially like the courts you will see at your local club. I wasn't prepared for that at all. All in all, a great evening..
 

vanthaman

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What's with the shirt changes in Murray match, everytime I turn it over they've changed them
 

One Night Only

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Over now. Robredo won 7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Evans was serving for the fourth but nerves got to him.
Kind of expected really, still young isn't he? Although, being that young and andy Murray taking most the attention off him I would have thought he might have been less nervous. Bet our media have hounded him since his first round win ffs.
 

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Kind of expected really, still young isn't he? Although, being that young and andy Murray taking most the attention off him I would have thought he might have been less nervous. Bet our media have hounded him since his first round win ffs.
He's 23, young but not that young in tennis terms I guess. I think the hounding has come from his sudden rise to the bigger leagues. I won't claim to be an expert because this tournament was the first I heard of him but it seems after a few years of being a bit of a renegade he's actually buckled down and put some work in. With these results he's probably wishing he did earlier. Fair play to him though.
 

One Night Only

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He's 23, young but not that young in tennis terms I guess. I think the hounding has come from his sudden rise to the bigger leagues. I won't claim to be an expert because this tournament was the first I heard of him but it seems after a few years of being a bit of a renegade he's actually buckled down and put some work in. With these results he's probably wishing he did earlier. Fair play to him though.

I have heard of him before and seen him a few times, never thought he would make it big, he'll probably be one of those average players at best.
 

Brophs

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Robredo about to serve to win the match in straight sets v Federer.
 

Sixpence

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It's time to hang up the racquet for the GOAT. If he's in the top 8 at year end, play in the O2 and call it a day. He shouldn't be losing to these calibre of players.
 

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When he lost to Stakhovsky at Wimbledon, at least that player had to raise his level. Robredo was just ordinary and didn't even have to do much :wenger:
 

Sixpence

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Granollers, and he's Spanish.

I thought before that Novak will win this Slam, he'll beat Nadal in the final and finally end his unbeaten run. Murray will either go out to Berdych in the QF or Novak in SF.
 

wr8_utd

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Murray plays Wawrinka in the Quarters. It'll be a tough game but Murray will win imo. I really hope he can beat Djoko in the semi because he's in amazing form right now (Djoko) even though his path to the QF's has been a bit of a joke. Rafa is yet to be broken since Berdych broke him in Cincinnati one month ago.
 

shaggy

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Rafa's got a cakewalk to the final this year. Reckon he'll win it.
 

Sixpence

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Whichever of the top 3 wins this Slam would be considered #1 for the year in my eyes, even if the end of year rankings wouldn't show it. You could make a case for all 3 in the event of:

If Novak wins then he's got 2 Slams, reached the Wimbledon final and Nadal squeaked through an epic SF at Roland Garros to beat him. Will have beaten Murray and Nadal to win his year Slam finals.

If Rafa wins, then he has 2 Slams out of 3 contested, not to mention winning 5 Masters series to date from 6 contested and all this on return from injury.

If Andy wins, then he has 2 Slams out of 3 contested, reached the Aussie final. Will have beaten Djokovic and Nadal to win his year Slam finals.
 

TheBest

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I think you need to play one tough match before the final in order to be properly prepared for it. So I think that will work in the favour of andy/djokovic, though Nadal's last night match was good as well, so that should help. I can only see him breezing through next 2 matches. Hopefully gasquet will give him a tough match(currently 2 sets to 1 up).

Anyway serena has been totally dominant as usual. 6-0 6-0 win in the quarters
 

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Ferrer out. Rafa has been handed a cakewalk to the final. Hope Djokovic makes it there to make it a good match..
 

Sixpence

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Ferrer out means it is a little bit more interesting as I'm sure we are tired of seeing him slapped around by Rafa. They haven't played each other on hard court for years but Nadal's presence and aura will just overwhelm Gasquet, but the Frenchman has done so well this tournament and you know he will at least fire a few lovely winners past Rafa whereas Ferrer would just stand on the baseline grunting and getting slapped around.
 

shaggy

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Bad news for Fed as it means Gasquet will gain on him in the calender rankings. Wawrinka's also had a good tournament and will gain on him after this event. Would be mental if he didn't make it.
 

shaggy

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Ferrer out means it is a little bit more interesting as I'm sure we are tired of seeing him slapped around by Rafa. They haven't played each other on hard court for years but Nadal's presence and aura will just overwhelm Gasquet, but the Frenchman has done so well this tournament and you know he will at least fire a few lovely winners past Rafa whereas Ferrer would just stand on the baseline grunting and getting slapped around.
Agreed though Gasquet's taken some absolute poundings by the top guys in the later rounds of slams before. Hopefully with a bit of luck Gasquet may nick the first or second set and make it reasonably entertaining.
 

Sixpence

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Agreed though Gasquet's taken some absolute poundings by the top guys in the later rounds of slams before. Hopefully with a bit of luck Gasquet may nick the first or second set and make it reasonably entertaining.
Sadly he won't and he'll be doing very well to get 10 games out of him. He'll be straight setted by a Nadal in this form, he's 0-10 against him.

Djokovic has probably a marginally more difficult tie against Younzhy but again, you wouldn't expect him to drop more than 10 games in a 3 setter.

Murray has by some distance the hardest QF, Wawrinka is capable of pure brilliance as he showed in the AO against Djokovic. He's had a great season but to be honest it's been mainly on the clay which has really become his best surface. Would expect Murray to drop a set but progress in 4.
 

shaggy

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Yeah Murray's got a potentially tricky encounter. Wawrinka is one the few players who can beat the top guys when he plays his best. Played that epic match at I think the Australian Open where he matched an in-form Djokovic over five sets which was brilliant.