The Tennis Thread 2014

[GirlySports]

Mcenroes a hack. Worst commentator in any sport.

Also never seen anyone wear worse suits. Ugly.

[J epworth]

Man if you just listened to espn you would think Raonic hasn't won a single point all match. I get it, you love Federer

[Senator Clay Davis]

ESPN needs Federer Sunday. Raonic-Djokovic will be a ratings dud. ESPN always roots for its own best interest in this case a Federer win.

[GirlySports]

Jealousy. Cause American men suck now.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well ESPN gets what they want, Federer will not be blowing a 2 set lead. Milos should simply go all out now, bomb it on second serves too.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Well ESPN gets what they want, Federer will not be blowing a 2 set lead. Milos should simply go all out now, bomb it on second serves too.

So it seems. Looking at the stats, the major difference in the match appears to be that Federer is doing more with Raonic's second serve than Milos is Roger's.

The numbers seem to tell the same story we've been seeing the last couple tournaments. Raonic is close to these guys, but not close enough yet.

[wingmaker]

It would be great if Raonic could at least make this competitive. Going out in straight sets would definitely be a downer.

[Senator Clay Davis]

What today is proving is Milos is still mostly a serve based player, when it's not at a high level he simply cannot compete with the top players. The first serve is below 60% and he has barely made a ripple on the Federer serve. If he's gonna pull the miracle it's going to be some 7-6 sets to do it.

[J epworth]

He's reverting to how he played a year ago, stuck behind the base line every rally. His success this season so far has been his increased aggressiveness, where he's attacking the return after his serve. Won't win a set playing defensive.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Man, do I PVR Federer and Raonic and watch France - Germany or vice versa? It's truly a tough call.

In these situations I usually watch live the one that will end first. The problem with the other way around - especially if the one you're watching is on an all-around sports station like TSN - is they'll show you highlights from other sports during breaks. I've had spoilers like that ruin games for me in the past several times.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[wingmaker]

Historically, do players who rely heavily on their service game often round out the rest of the game to become top players?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by wingmaker

Historically, do players who rely heavily on their service game often round out the rest of the game to become top players?

Not particularly, most of them rely on the serve because it's such a weapon. But Andy Roddick got to #1 and stayed a top 10 player for years based only on his serve. Milos has developped better than him, but he happens to be playing in the most difficult era ever. Milos window is probably not for at least another year and likely closer to 2.

[EldrickOnIce]

Really disappointed with Raonic today.
Not even close.
Maybe he learns from this.
I dunno

[troutman]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Really disappointed with Raonic today.
Not even close.
Maybe he learns from this.
I dunno

I'm not. He is 23. He got broke once each set by perhaps the greatest tennis player ever. He will improve, and the top 4 will eventually decline. He maybe does not have the upside of Genie, but he can be a top 10 player for years.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Not sure how anyone can be too disappointed with Milos. If you follow tennis you know there is a wide gap between the big 3 (and I'm kicking Murray out now) and the rest of the field. Milos needed a supreme serving day to have a chance today and it didn't happen. Milos is a guy for a few years from now when the Big 3 have faded away (a little anyways). But we're talking about 3 of the 10 greatest players to ever play the sport. It's not easy to win majors right now. Look at Djokovic today, a mediocre day by his standards and he still won relatively comfortably.

[Inglewood Jack]

it's literally like having Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy all playing in their primes during the same season, and getting frustrated that your favorite player only managed to bag 90 points in comparison.

don't worry, the dead puck/ball era is just around the corner, and Milos will have a window during which to really threaten for these big trophies.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Not particularly, most of them rely on the serve because it's such a weapon. But Andy Roddick got to #1 and stayed a top 10 player for years based only on his serve. Milos has developped better than him, but he happens to be playing in the most difficult era ever. Milos window is probably not for at least another year and likely closer to 2.

Roddick yes, even Sampras won half his grand slams at Wimbledon.
Ivanesevic got to #2, Milos' coach Ljubecic got to #3.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah great effort from Raonic this tournament, great achievement to get to the Wimbledon semi.

However he was largely unimpressive in his match today. Just seemed to be nervous, lost confidence, and couldn't get his stroke going.

His returns and any type of rally game just looked so off today.

Part of that is Federer being able to target a weakness but Raonic does need to improve outside his serve.

[dash_pinched]

markhmasters: Despite today's loss Milos Raonic will see his ranking rise to No. 6 … new career high

Congrats on a great run to the semi-finals Milos, hold your head high. Also congrats to Roger, I'll be rooting for you on Sunday to get major number 18.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Incredibly, this is the first major final of the last 19 to not feature Nadal or Murray.