Year Round The Tennis Thread

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Yeah, I recall that, Bob, but I had thought that Serena had played Indian Wells last season and they'd finally gotten past that, but I guess not.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Gulbis was a player I was looking at a few years ago, when he advanced to latter stages of tournaments and put up good performances against top seeds. He had a lot of potential, then he dipped....I don't recall why or if it was injury related.

Oh the William sisters boycott; wow that was so long ago that I'd forgotten about it. I found an outdated article here if you anyone wants to read.

I think Gulbis has a win over Djoker, Federer,Berdych,Tipsaravic and was the only one to take a set off Nadal on clay in the 2010 season. It wasn't injury, he lost focus unlike most players this isn't his financial ticket his family is extremely wealthy. He also got into some trouble with a prostitution scandal. Seems his party days are behind him though top 15 talent imo

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

I think Gulbis has a win over Djoker, Federer,Berdych,Tipsaravic and was the only one to take a set off Nadal on clay in the 2010 season. It wasn't injury, he lost focus unlike most players this isn't his financial ticket his family is extremely wealthy. He also got into some trouble with a prostitution scandal. Seems his party days are behind him though top 15 talent imo

Yeah, his family's wealth made him complacent at times.

He has the talent, so I would like to see him really improving.

---------- Post added March 14, 2013 at 11:47 AM ---------- Previous post was March 13, 2013 at 01:16 AM ----------

Rafa barely overcame Gulbis and Roger barely beat the Stan Man.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

So they're meeting in the next round; the results and how they may have struggled to overcome their respective opponents will mean nothing now. I want to say that Federer has the edge over Rafa form-wise but I won't put anything past Rafa. It'll be nice to see these 2 clash again after so long.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

That was not the blockbuster match we expected...was reminiscent of their Miami 2011 match. I wonder if Feds back was bothering him since they mentioned he wasn't moving well halfway through the Wawrinka match. If Nadal beats Berdych and then Murray/Djokovic....

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

No, it most definitely was not. Fed's back has appeared to have been bothering him for a while. That was a great result for Nadal so early into the comeback, regardless of anything. The Ferrer win didn't mean that much to me, although it was still a good improvement, because Ferrer just fails against Nadal, but this win was very important going forward for Nadal.

We'll see what happens in the rest of Indian Wells.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Oh now that was a surprise; not the win but Federer not even getting a set in. I'd like to read his post-match interview to see if he mentioned his back as being a problem at all. So we've got Nadal vs Berdych as one of the already decided semis. With then Djokovic vs Tsonga and Murray vs Del Potro making up the last quarters. Mouthwatering matches these are.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

He mentioned his back, but downplayed it and said it's no excuse:

Federer has been dealing with a back issue during the tournament, but did not use it as a reason for his defeat, having come through a three-setter a day earlier against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka.

“[It was the] same as against Stan. I mean, I could play,” said Federer. “I'm happy to be out there and able to compete. But it's obviously a small issue.”

What's interesting is what Nadal said:

"I played a fantastic first set, in my opinion. The second set was strange," said Nadal. "The second set, I think Roger didn't fight as usual. He probably had some problems and he didn't feel enough comfortable to keep fighting."

Now Djokovic killing a deflated Tsonga....what a tournament this is turning into . Hopefully the semis are good.

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:31 PM ----------

Lol...Man these quarter final matches have been crappy and one sided. Murray will stay at 3 in the rankings, Federer at 2. After Miami Nadal will pretty much be defending everything, Djokovic looks like he wants to repeat 2011.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

It happens though.

There is a reason, Atobe, that I picked Djokovic to win three Slams this year.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Definitely a weird round of quarters, though I had a hunch that Del Potro would beat Murray, but I was almost certain Djokovic would win. I gave Tsonga no chance at all but 54 minutes? come on now...

I want to see Del Potro win this Masters, it would be interesting and open things up a bit; give the other top 10 and rest motivation and belief that it's not a monopoly at the top. Interestingly he is the only one outside of Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic to have won 1 of the last 30-odd Grand Slams.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Bob, realistically, Murray is sort of in the same category as Del Po as they've both only won one Major.

When you're watching women's tennis, they'll show the draw and show who's won a Major and you can see plenty of players, but right now, there are only six men who you can show that about. Roddick retired last year, Safin retired a few years ago, I forget when Juan Carlos Ferrero retired, and Hewitt is still kicking, although only just. I would've thought that Hewitt would've retired already.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

So essentially it's just the top 3+ Murray and then you have the others.

Ferrero officially retired in October(?) 2012 after the Valencia Open; he announced it'd be his last tournament before putting down his racket. Hewitt seems determined not to leave, content in getting to knockout rounds of tournaments then biting the dust; if that. He just doesn't stand out anymore and so you don't really consider him for Slams or other opens. Though you can always count on him for a surprise/shock result.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

If not for the wrist and knee injuries, Del Po actually looked like the better top level talent than Murray. Remember when he beat Federer off the court in a come from behind win in the 09 US Open Final?

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Hewitt...like a lot of the 30+ crowd has a kid. And it means a lot to these guys for their kids to be able to see their dad play,Federer almost bust out in tears when he looked up at Mirka and his daughters after winning wimbledon last year (also one of the reasons Haas and Blake are still around). Hewitt mentioned in an interview how much it means to practice with his kid, that and...it's Hewitt. He knocked out Isner so i thank him for that~

Keep in mind that I like Del Potro over Murray but i feel like Murray>Del po despite that US open victory. He's back to that level since last year imo, Del po barely has masters semis and finals, Murray has a nice little masters collection in addition to his USO victory. Many feel Federer should have won that USO match..he toyed around with Del Po too much early on and suddenly its 5-2 in the 5th. Not saying Del potro didn't earn his victory in any sense but Murray has the better results overall. Murray's form heading into this was in question because he hadn't played since the AO...bad idea imo, while Del po built up confidence and is playing into form.

As for Indian wells...Nadal just took out Berdych 6-4,7-5. Some people speculated there was actually nothing really /wrong/ with his knees but he needed a break from the sport. After losing that first tournament he's been on a tear. Whether or not he beats Djokovic thoghuh...(sorry, don't picture Del Po beating Djoker)

---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 PM ----------

I eat my hat, good stuff del potro....I /think/ he can beat Nadal but we'll see.

So we have Del Potro VS Nadal for tomorrows Final~I'm excited because i expected it to be a Djokovic kills whoever final. RIP win streak

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

When Djokovic was up 3-0 in the third set, I thought it was over, but then he completely went away. He didn't hit anywhere near the corners and when Del Po was showing injury, instead of pushing him back and forth like the Djokovic we've come to know, he sort of let Del Po off the hook.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Arrgghh I left the match when it was 5-4 to Djoko in the first set cos of work! I can't believe Del Potro won and Nadal beating Berdych; good stuff. Now the question for me is, can Nadal complete the amazing comeback or will Del Potro be just one step too far. With him coming into the tournament after winning the previous ones(only challenge he had there was Ferrer iirc), I was happy for him to just reach the knockout and wasn't sure how he'd fair against the big hitters but he seems comfortable.

I'm really happy to see Del Potro injury free and playing well, I've missed 09 version when he was on a prowl and like Frosty said, that US Open Final

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Nadal was match ready back at the end of 2012 iirc, he was to play in the abudhabi exo..but got a stomach virus. All he needed was match fitness, and as a player of his level usually does they don't take long to bounce back. Starting during the golden swing was a smart move lol.

Either Del Potro wins his first masters...or Nadal breaks the tie with Federer yet again lol.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Indeed, Atobe. It seems that I was wrong about Nadal's level of fitness.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Holy crap...when del po was bludgeoning the Ball i forgot he was playing Rafa who wouldn't take this lying down lol...So now he has the record again at 22 masters won....then he'll sweep more during the clay court swing unless Djoker has anything to say about it. Good stuff from Juan though...the big guy ran out of gas

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Congrats to Rafa for going clear on 22 Masters titles. Really bad luck for Del Potro who like you said atobe, just seemed to have ran out of gas near the end; especially being 2-0 up on that final set too.

Miami Masters is up next from 19/03 - 31/03 and....and Djokovic is defending this one, having beaten Murray in last year's final.