Year Round The Tennis Thread

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

I expected Fed to lose...but my god nadal. He was fresh as a daisy going in, while djoker had to play Murray and Ferrer who looked poised to try and break his legs...and with all of that he still could have won it in 3 or 4...djoker has beaten rafa SEVEN times and in THREE straight slam finals. Rafa owns fed but he never had 7 straight wins...or lost 3 straight slam finals in a row. Nole could win the calendar slam tbh.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

I really thought Nadal had this match as Djokovic was going into with some fatigue after his 5hour match against Murray; but what a champion to come out again in the final and play like that. In the fourth set he looked like he was running on fumes but suddenly he looked like the old Djoker.
I really feel for Nadal, as you said Atobe he never did anything like this to Federer and it's now has a deeper psychological effect on him I believe. It's gotten to a stage for him where he knows he'll get to the final of a major tournament but knows that if he comes up against Djokovic he'll lose.

I very much see Djokovic winning the next Grand Slam which is Roland Garros; a shocking thing to say considering Nadal's continuous domination on the surface but at this moment Novak seems like he could do it all.

 

[rudorofu]

Re: The Tennis Thread

To be honest, I've never actually watched any matches during the French Open :\ Not too sure why, but it might be because Nadal has dominated majority of the time so there wouldn't be anything surprising. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the 2012 season will go, following the top 3 along with some of the brave newcomers. I think the era of Nadal and Federer is slowly coming to an end leaving for more possibilities of new, younger players coming into the top 10. Even though I do enjoy watching Federer, it would be nice to see a change within the rankings and newer players dominating the Grand Slam draws causing upsets along the way. Djokovic is still relatively young so he'll be around for a while.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Djokovic, Nadal and Murray are all more or less the same age. The difference is Nadal plays such a physically aggressive game and has been doing so for so many years that it's taking a toll on his body much faster than the other players. He burns out faster and has a higher risk of injury; hence the blisters, knee injuries and such.

You should try and watch the French Open when you can, Clay Court matches are such physically gruelling matches and it's when you really see the Spaniards and South Americans, as well as french players shine.

 

[Black Lagoon]

Re: The Tennis Thread

LOL. So true XD The game of Nadal just doesn't suit Federer :\ Djokovic and Federer matches are probably my favourites because they're entertaining with tons of professionalism added. Murray, I've never really been a big fan of, but I think we've all realized he still has some work to be done in order to overcome the top 3 and win a Grand Slam somewhere down the road. There just has to be somebody who doesn't have problems at all to overcome all 4. I'm just rooting for some other lower ranked people to start the new generation of top players :P

Me too, I really like the Current Djokovic vs Federer's matches, as you said, professionalism ... they play like angels, and still can't believe how federer lost against Djokovic in the USO O_O, that was an epic match. XD

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Yeah, Nadal may be the same age but he's got the legs of a 30 year old. Federer gets flack for his mental toughness but he bounces back from losses quite quick. After his USO loss he was 24-0, he beat Hewitt and Tomic in davis cup. Then won basel,paris, world tour finals, and had a great shot at doha. And he was completely untroubled in the Aussie open until nadal. if the stars align roger will win a major with ease tbh haha. The same thing happened at the US, he beat everyone handily and should have beaten Djoker in straights. Old man fed has still got it.

Man murray...really impressed me, his new coach lendl is doing wonders for him. His on court demeanor is much better he took it to djoker and probably has a better chance of beating him than nadal at this point. I agree with goldb, claycourt matches are really cool lol, my favorite slam was actually the french. Federer beat djoker because if he didnt djoker would have a calendar slam right now. his most convincing wins against nadal were actually on the dirt last year.

Also agree that im loving the newcomers but i felt like this aussie open was like "ONE THOUSAND YEARS TO EARLY!!!!" Federer crushed tomics dreams, Murray sent nishikori packing, and Hewitt edged Raonic...the old guys still got it in them haha.

This will be an interesting year, the scary thing...djoker isnt even playing as well as he was last year....

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

This will be an interesting year, the scary thing...djoker isnt even playing as well as he was last year....

That's the scariest thing; I believe Murray should've beaten him in the semis and beyond that Nadal should've won in 4 but somehow he's coming through these matches. It's not good news for his rivals and those wanting to best him.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

I actually feel he should have won the nadal match in 3 or 4. he was this close to winning the the first set. The second was tight, dominated the third. And had a 0-40 lead in the 4th and a 5-3 in the breaker. Nadal blowing the 5th was a surprise but thats how in his head djoker is.

 

[Imperium]

Re: The Tennis Thread

I think everyone is still focused on the football but...Nadal...Wow. What happened there...

 

[Lawl Po Bia]

Re: The Tennis Thread

cya rafa. great epic fail. first time i see him loose so early in grand slam

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

He actually always has some tight first rounds early in wimbledon...but this time he didn't get through it.

 

[Josef]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Murray has an open route to the final. Now knowing him he may not use it. I do not think it is sealed for Djokovic, I think Federer might shine once more, grass is his thing! Come on!

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Murray....Murray. No the british media will put even MORE pressure on him. There was an article on the ATP site about Nadal being in Murrays way at wimbledon in 08,2010,and 2011. When Nadal got knocked out the french it put more pressure on federer because it's like "holy crap everyone expects me to win". Murray probably feels that too.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

So Andy Murray finally reaches a Wimbledon final and faces Federer who is in great form in this tournament. It's gonna be a really open match I believe and both players have a real chance at winning it.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

17 Baby~
Gutted for Murray but he has what it takes.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

What a brilliant match. Murray totally had Federer pegged in that first set and was unlucky to not win the second set which was close too. As soon as they came back from the rain delay, there was only one player in it. Faultless 3rd and 4th set by Fed.

Murray I hope will take a lot from this, reaching his first Wimbledon final. He knows he can do it now and I hope he wins it because he deserves it. His speech at the end was pulling my heartstrings boy, so many feels.

All in all it was a lovely game where the important and most points were decided on fantastic shot-making by both players.

17 Grands Slams, back to world no.1; Olympics in 20 days. Could be a career defining summer for Federer.

 

[Josef]

Re: The Tennis Thread

So who is up to win the US open guys? It seems nothing is safe to say now, with Nadal not being there, as a huge lost to this sport , to Murray having a weird form after the Olympics, I am going for another Novak vs Federer here. Though Federer really is showing even greater class than ever, he is making history with everything he does form now on.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Gutted to not see Nadal play again for a while, his injuries are becoming more frequent and lasting longer iirc. Hopefully it's not career threatening. As for the US Open, I'm going for a Federer vs "your guess here" final; he's been on better form than pretty much most of the top ranks and is playing some amazing tennis like you said. Djokovic disappointed at the Olympics, so he may be wanting to prove something and come back with a bang, so we'll see.

What's up with Murray's form? I've not followed any of the tournaments in the last few weeks...

 

[Josef]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Well the AO has started? Why so little interest in tennis? So yeah, I feel the whole tennis community is suffering a major blow by Nadal not being that active, a great player has been lost, things would have been so much more interesting in every tournament that he did not play in.

They do say Djokovic is in his top form, I dunno, Federer does pretty nicely on the hard court so I expect him to grab this one right under Djokovic's nose. It's going to be tight, this year overall, considering that last year no one had consistent form. I do like and expect something like that this time around as well.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Quickly regarding Nadal; I've read here that he's scheduled for his now long overdue comeback in next month's Brazil Open.

I can't believe I've been at home all this time and forgotten about the tennis; for shame. Looking at the men's results, first upset would be Mikhail Youzhny losing to an unseeded player but to be honest I think he's been gradually losing his form for the last few years...(not that it was ever at the top level).
It's definitely going to be a good year, and the winner of this slam will set the pace for the remainder of the season. With Murray winning the last slam and Olympics, its given him much needed confidence to know that he CAN do this, so hopefully he's still got that mindset going into this. I expect it to be very close between Federer and Djoko.