The Tennis Thread 2013

[GirlySports]

Milos finally gets the break of service in the 3rd. Here begins the epic comeback

[GirlySports]

[moon]

I know tennis has a ######ed ranking system that makes 0 sense but does this affect Raonic at all?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by moon

I know tennis has a ######ed ranking system that makes 0 sense but does this affect Raonic at all?

Why doesn't it make sense? I think it makes the most sense since it's a 52 week rotating calendar.

It doesn't affect Raonic at all. He made the 3rd round last year and he makes the 3rd round this year. He defends his 90 points. If he had won today, he'd would have improved to 180 points.

[fundmark19]

Frustrating watching him fall in the third round again!

[moon]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Why doesn't it make sense? I think it makes the most sense since it's a 52 week rotating calendar.

It doesn't affect Raonic at all. He made the 3rd round last year and he makes the 3rd round this year. He defends his 90 points. If he had won today, he'd would have improved to 180 points.

It doesn't make sense to me because it seems to reward guys for going to little tournaments and doing well rather than playing with the big boys.

Raonic seems like a guy that is constantly going out in the early rounds of the Slams but wins a tournament in Podunk, NJ against the 24th and 30th ranked guys in the world and gets to keep his high ranking.

Just seems if you are the 14th player in the world you should be making it to the 4th round (ie top 16) of the Slams more often than not.

But perhaps that is more to do with the poor state of Men's tennis where outside the top ~8 it seems like a mixed bag and it is others being equally as inconsitent in slams than the ranking system.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Frustrating watching him fall in the third round again!

Definitely. He couldn't recover after the call late in the first set. His mental game is really hampering his advancement of going deep into Majors.

[NBC]

You cannot apply any logic or reason to why top tennis players lose early in in the French Open. It's clay court tennis and it is a completely different animal. Which is why Sergei Bruguera has more French Open titles than Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Edberg, Sampras and Federer combined.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by moon

It doesn't make sense to me because it seems to reward guys for going to little tournaments and doing well rather than playing with the big boys.

Raonic seems like a guy that is constantly going out in the early rounds of the Slams but wins a tournament in Podunk, NJ against the 24th and 30th ranked guys in the world and gets to keep his high ranking.

Just seems if you are the 14th player in the world you should be making it to the 4th round (ie top 16) of the Slams more often than not.

But perhaps that is more to do with the poor state of Men's tennis where outside the top ~8 it seems like a mixed bag and it is others being equally as inconsitent in slams than the ranking system.

You can only count 6 little tournaments.

4 grand slams + 8 masters + 6 little tournaments

*Monte Carlo Masters can be dropped or counted as a little tournament.
*Total Davis Cup points can replace one little tournament.

I do see your point. The winner of Podunk gets 250 points while making the 4th round of a major gets only 180? Should that be the case? Should the 4th round of a major get more?

Raonic's had a poor year. The only reason he's still in the top 16 is due to his 4 Davis Cup singles wins this year giving him 225 points.

Here's Raonic's breakdown

Grand Slams (4)
2012 Wimbledon 2nd Round 45
2012 US Open 4th Round 180
2013 Australian Open 4th Round 180
2013 French Open 3rd round 90

Masters (8)
2012 Canada Quarterfinals 180
2012 Cincinatti Quarterfinal 180
2012 Shanghai 2nd Round 45
2012 Paris 3rd Round 90
2013 Indian Wells 4th Round 90
2013 Miami 3rd Round 90
2013 Madrid 2nd Round 45
2013 Rome 1st Round 10

Little Tournaments (6)
2012 Bangkok 250 Quarterfinal 45
2012 Tokyo 500 Final 300
2013 San Jose 250 Champion 250
2013 Monte Carlo 1000 2nd Round 45
2013 Barcelona 500 Semifinal 180
2013 David Cup Bonus 225

Total Points = 2225
World Ranking = 16

Well the good news is his next big event is Wimbledon, only 45 points to defend.
I think he plays Halle, the grass court tuneup. If he does well there, he can knock one of the 45s off the little tournament list.

[calumniate]

Wish I could have seen the match.. apparently Anderson is six foot eight? Anyway, clay court is for chumps.. dos not play to the strengths of Raonic.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by NBC

You cannot apply any logic or reason to why top tennis players lose early in in the French Open. It's clay court tennis and it is a completely different animal.

Good point.

Raonic is living in Monaco now. I'm curious what he trains on there.

[browna]

Nestor loses today as well in an upset in doubles in the second round.

Considering the Serbs chose a clay court for the Davis Cup semifinal matches, these two results don't bode well for that in the Fall.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by browna

Nestor loses today as well in an upset in doubles in the second round.

Considering the Serbs chose a clay court for the Davis Cup semifinal matches, these two results don't bode well for that in the Fall.

Nestor losing is no surprise. Milos has beaten him twice this year in doubles since he has switched partners

[NBC]

Originally Posted by Mango

Good point.

Raonic is living in Monaco now. I'm curious what he trains on there.

He completed a 6-week training session in Spain on the dirt prior to the French Open. My sense is that he trains on hard courts whilst in Monaco. Big serve, big forehand, he's custom built for hard court success.

Clay court tennis is difficult mentally for big hitting players like Milos many of which are not used to grinding out points like the Spanish dirt rats. You lose can focus easily when you are hitting you best shots and the guy across is getting them back because the court is neutralizing the pace you are putting into the shots. It can be demoralizing, which is why you have to be brought up on the dirt - you learn to play differently.

[GirlySports]

Isner is up to his old tricks again. He just saved TWELVE match points in the 4th set against Haas and won it.

After 3 hours 40 minutes, we're off to a 5th set!

[spiteface]

Originally Posted by NBC

like the Spanish dirt rats..

nice touch

[NBC]

It's not my term. Being a Nadal fan, I'm surprised you've not heard it used.

[GirlySports]

Robredo def. Almagro 6-7(5) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4

We don't call him Almugro for nothing.

That's the 3rd straight match that Robredo has come back from 2 sets down. Ferrer better not get up 2 sets on him in the quarters

Simon wins the 2nd set against Federer

[GirlySports]

Simon just took the 3rd set 6-2!

Federer's 35 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals streak in jeopardy.

[GirlySports]

Federer now cruising in the 5th. Believe it or not, the crowd pushed him over the line.