2023 Tennis Thread

[Nadal Fan]

This match has aged me about a decade

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

This match has aged me about a decade

but...did you think that would be possible again with Rafa absent?

I personally can't wait to have my entire sports fandom invested in one player again, so that I can get my heart broken in the most cruel ways imaginable.

[Nadal Fan]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

but...did you think that would be possible again with Rafa absent?

I personally can't wait to have my entire sports fandom invested in one player again, so that I can get my heart broken in the most cruel ways imaginable.

Honestly no, maybe if FAA made a final or something but watching Alcaraz has brought back my tennis fandom.

[cam_calderon]

Gigantic game here. I don't think Carlos recovers if he can't hold.

[cam_calderon]

Never mind.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Still room on the Charlie to 30 train, but you gotta get on soon because this train doesn't appear to be slowing down.

[CedarMeter]

Wow he did it.

[Nadal Fan]

He's done it! Djokovic will still win more slams but the moment and the future now belongs to Alcaraz!

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

He's done it! Djokovic will still win more slams but the moment and the future now belongs to Alcaraz!

Yep, you've summed it up perfectly. Djokovic could still push 30 slams but feels like a real changing of the guard today.

[Inglewood Jack]

[Senator Clay Davis]

Still totally nuts to me that he's barely 20 and his game is already at this level. Gonna be a lot of fun to see where he's at in five years. He's gonna be such a fan favorite too because he plays the game how we all want to see. At a time when so many of the young guys can only play one of two ways, he already seems to have the entire bag of how to play against anyone.

[dash_pinched]

It's my wife's birthday today so I took her out to brunch along with my two daughters and missed the 4th and 5th sets. Great to see Charlie get his first of what will likely be many titles at SW19.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Victoria Mboko is looking to defend her title in Saskatoon on Sunday. The 16 year old takes on 30 year old Emina Betkas of the States who has a live ranking of #130

Victoria goes back-to-back in Saskatoon defeating Betkas 6-4 6-4. Somebody to keep an eye on over the next few years.

[Strange Brew]

Djokovic returned every first serve that last game and hit some nice shots. Made him earn it.

[Nadal Fan]

I'm not sure if I'm on the 30 slam train yet for Alcaraz but I will say, I think he will blow by the record of US Open titles of 5 and could double it.

[Nadal Fan]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1680639557866274817

[dash_pinched]

Charlie has already booked his spot in the ATP Finals (Novak is close plus with already winning two slams he's in with that caveat).

On the women's side, Iga and Aryna have punched their respective tickets for the WTA Finals.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Charlie has already booked his spot in the ATP Finals (Novak is close plus with already winning two slams he's in with that caveat).

On the women's side, Iga and Aryna have punched their respective tickets for the WTA Finals.

I just looked it up, the WTA Finals are going back to China? That was like a one year boycott.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

I'm not sure if I'm on the 30 slam train yet for Alcaraz but I will say, I think he will blow by the record of US Open titles of 5 and could double it.

With how quickly he has made the transition to grass this season, I think all bets are off now. Hitting 10, 15, 20+ majors is obviously no joke and a lot of things have to go right starting with health, quality of competition etc.

Carlos could very well challenge the current big 3 considering he may spend a healthy part of his career battling players like Zverev, FAA, Sinner, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Rublev and Rune for big titles. No offense to them, but they are not even in the same area code, and nowhere near the opposition quality that Roger, Rafa, Novak provided each other (not forgetting they also had to contend with Murray, Stan and Ferrer).

Hopefully at least one of the above will elevate themselves on the back of playing against Carlos repeatedly, but as of now I don't see anyone that will be able to challenge him for a number of years when Novak is fully finished.

[Erick Estrada]

I think the sky's the limit for Alcaraz but I do wonder about his arm problems at a young age as well as other various injury issues. He's not exactly using an arm-friendly frame as well. His limiting factor could turn out to be his body as outside of Rune I'm not sure if there's any younger players out there that are close to his skills. Zverev, FAA, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Medvedev, Fritz, etc have all hit their ceilings and outside of a grand slam here and there where one of them may break through I don't see any of them forming a big head to head rivalry with Alcaraz as he's already much more rounded than any of them at 20 years old. Musetti has a little room to get better but he's going to have a low ceiling because of his backhand. Fils looks like he could be a top 10 player one day but at least for the next few years it looks like it's going to be Djokovic and Alcaraz battling out a lot of grand slam finals.