2016 Tennis Thread

[dash_pinched]

Happy to see Chardy win (as I think he legitimately won the match earlier).

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by CofR

Nadal breaks Verdasco, leads 2-1 in the 2nd. This Gulbis-Chardy match is nuts.

Exchange of the day from Brad Gilbert and Pam Shriver:

Gilbert: Gulbis is bending over, Pam do you see any signs of cramping?
Shriver: Well, I'm cramping.

lol

[CofR]

Ya that made me laugh

[GirlySports]

These two geezers are still going.

Must sleep

[dash_pinched]

Nadal - Verdasco going to a 5th and deciding set.

[dash_pinched]

Incredible tennis from Verdasco, Nadal got an early break, Verdasco got the break back and now we're back on serve with Verdasco leading 3-2 in set 5.

[dash_pinched]

Verdasco breaks Nadal, now leading 4-2 in set 5.

[dash_pinched]

Verdasco was down 2-0 in set 5 and rolled off six straight games to take the match. Unbelievable.

[Mango]

Verdasco can be so random sometimes. Never know what you're going to see. Halep now out too, to the hands of Shuai Zhang. A women's second seed hasn't been out this early since 1979.

[GirlySports]

the nadal score is really surprising.

for halep not as much, the seed beside womens players other than Serena is just a suggestion

[Senator Clay Davis]

Rafa badly needs a new coach in his camp, but we already know that. It's really easy to beat him in majors now, just play fearless and go for your shots. He just can't hit the levels he used to and it just is never easy on serve for him. Three straight first week exits from majors now. If he makes it four in Paris I imagine the retirement questions will really come then.

Azarenka also dropped a double bagel, Old Man Hewitt dominated and Troicki rallied from 2 sets down. Pretty wild day.

[CofR]

I wish I had stayed up to watch the end

[Buff]

I didn't watch the Nadal/Verdasco match. Did Nadal take him lightly or did Verdasco just play that good? Verdasco isn't your typical 1st round loss type player. He is good. But Nadal is too good to lose in the first round of a major.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Buff

I didn't watch the Nadal/Verdasco match. Did Nadal take him lightly or did Verdasco just play that good? Verdasco isn't your typical 1st round loss type player. He is good. But Nadal is too good to lose in the first round of a major.

A combination of both, I'd say. Nadal started to look tentative, while Verdasco was very aggressive and didn't back down from any of his shots. Verdasco took risks and they paid off.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Mango

A combination of both, I'd say. Nadal started to look tentative, while Verdasco was very aggressive and didn't back down from any of his shots. Verdasco took risks and they paid off.

And adding to this, Nadal didn't take any and played very safe. They both had 1 more error than winner, the difference is Verdasco had 90 winners and Nadal had 37.

[dash_pinched]

Nadal didn't have enough variety in his approach to Verdasco, you'd think after seeing so many forehands go whizzing past him that he would stop hitting balls to that side, but it's like he was waiting for Verdasco to make errors. Credit to Verdasco though, as Mango said above, he was aggressive and dictated the majority of the points and was rewarded in the end.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Buff

I didn't watch the Nadal/Verdasco match. Did Nadal take him lightly or did Verdasco just play that good? Verdasco isn't your typical 1st round loss type player. He is good. But Nadal is too good to lose in the first round of a major.

it's just aging. Rafa's string of recent early major exits have mostly been attributed to the other guy miraculously playing the match of their lives. well isn't that convenient that it keeps happening over and over at the exact worst time? what it really is - Rafa from 5 years ago never gave these guys a chance to play their "best match ever". he'd snuff the life out of them before they could even get rolling. now just like Fed, the 5-10% loss of speed, power and reflexes leaves enough of a crack in the door for anyone on a good day to break through.

that's why I hate watching tennis players age, it's so cruel. you see the same swing, the same ball bounce and toss, the same grunt, the same steely determined look when they step up to the baseline...but the magic you knew is gone. a guy like Iggy in a team sport can gracefully fade back while his teammates take on more of the load. a tennis player is forced to wither alone in the spotlight before the eyes of the whole world.

[dash_pinched]

Another thing is that Nadal was putting in 2nd serves at 140 km/hour right in the middle of the service box. I don't care if you're ranked 45th in the world or 450th, that's going to be trouble.

[polak]

I hope I can wither with age like 34 year old Roger Federer.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Roger transitioned his game though to be more aggressive and offensive as he aged. Rafa does not have the serve to do it as easily, and sticking with Uncle Toni is not helping him evolve either. I'm definitely surprised Roger is still playing at this high a level, but he had to tools (and will) to transition himself. I'm not sure Rafa has the will, and I really doubt he has the tools to become a guy looking to consistently play 6 shot or fewer rallies.