2018 Tennis Thread

[Nadal Fan]

Well Congrats Roger on 30 Major finals what an achievement! At this rate he will be world #1 in a couple of months as Rafa has ALOT of clay points to defend this year. This is truly Roger Federers world, we are all just living in it.

[GirlySports]

They need to quicken the fast courts, slow down the clay courts and replace a clay 1000 with a grass 1000

I also don't mind having no advantage after deuce. Leads to more service breaks.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Well Congrats Roger on 30 Major finals what an achievement! At this rate he will be world #1 in a couple of months as Rafa has ALOT of clay points to defend this year. This is truly Roger Federers world, we are all just living in it.

at the same time though, Roger is defending 2000 points on spring hard courts, that could easily drop if he runs into trouble at IW or Miami. if we see a change in standings, I don't think it will happen until after Wimbledon, where he only has a Montreal final and USO QF between July and October. skipping clay means his ceiling is 5000 points lower than everyone else's.

if he reaches #1 again great, if not I don't think he's that concerned as slam accumulation is still the priority. I'm a bit conflicted as to whether someone who skips an entire section of the tennis season truly deserves the top ranking. that's like if the Lightning decided to forfeit all games in February to get some rest for the playoffs, but still wanted to win the Presidents trophy.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

They need to quicken the fast courts, slow down the clay courts and replace a clay 1000 with a grass 1000

I also don't mind having no advantage after deuce. Leads to more service breaks.

make fast hard faster and slow clay slower? wouldn't that just ensure that the entire season is ruled exclusively by Fedal for another 5 years?

I did read that the AO sped up their courts in response to the 5-6 hour torture sessions that Nole/Rafa/Andy engaged in from 2010 onwards. I remember staying up trying to watch Nole and Andy rally the ball back and forth for a minimum 20 shots every single time, not ending until one of them pushed the ball slightly wide or long. it got to the point where I just didn't even wake up for it anymore because it was impossible to keep your eyes open.

I'm surprised that Fed didn't inspire a generation of one handed attackers. almost everyone who's come up in the past decade is modeled after the two handed brick wall strategy.

[Nadal Fan]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

They need to quicken the fast courts, slow down the clay courts and replace a clay 1000 with a grass 1000

I also don't mind having no advantage after deuce. Leads to more service breaks.

I know I'm in the vast minority but I don't get the appeal of grass tennis at all. It's so boring. Lots of serve and vollying, not a lot of point construction like you see in clay and if you have a good server the points are all like 3-5 shot rallies. French >>>>Wimbledon any day. The way you have to grind out matches, watching points being constructed where players run from one side of the court to another like watching a puppeteer controlling puppets on a string its much more gripping tennis. Even if Nadal didn't suck at Wimbledon I would still feel the same way.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

I know I'm in the vast minority but I don't get the appeal of grass tennis at all. It's so boring. Lots of serve and vollying, not a lot of point construction like you see in clay and if you have a good server the points are all like 3-5 shot rallies. French >>>>Wimbledon any day. The way you have to grind out matches, watching points being constructed where players run from one side of the court to another like watching a puppeteer controlling puppets on a string its much more gripping tennis. Even if Nadal didn't suck at Wimbledon I would still feel the same way.

yes but we're talking about keeping players fit, not necessarily entertainment.
I wish all NHL games were played like the World Juniors but the players would die.

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

make fast hard faster and slow clay slower? wouldn't that just ensure that the entire season is ruled exclusively by Fedal for another 5 years?

I did read that the AO sped up their courts in response to the 5-6 hour torture sessions that Nole/Rafa/Andy engaged in from 2010 onwards. I remember staying up trying to watch Nole and Andy rally the ball back and forth for a minimum 20 shots every single time, not ending until one of them pushed the ball slightly wide or long. it got to the point where I just didn't even wake up for it anymore because it was impossible to keep your eyes open.

I'm surprised that Fed didn't inspire a generation of one handed attackers. almost everyone who's come up in the past decade is modeled after the two handed brick wall strategy.

Because to make a living at lower levels of tennis, it's more feasible to be a wall and grind out points. Especially if you're not a freak of nature like Federer.
And there are also more clay court tournaments.

[Nadal Fan]

That's true playing more grass would help decrease injuries I never thought of it like that. ATP needs to do something cause all the best players are dropping like flies.....well except Federer but I'm convinced he's not human but an alien sent from another planet.

[GirlySports]

Its tough because tennis is such a world wide sport. Everyone wants to see the stars.
Maybe reduce one European Masters? Monte Carlo is already 'optional'. Do we really need a Paris Indoors Masters? Reduce an American Masters. Do we really need Miami Masters?

My calendar would be (4 GS and 7 1000s)

Australian Open
Indian Wells
Madrid
Rome
French Open
Monte Carlo/Halle
Wimbledon
Canada
Cincinatti
US Open
Shanghai

Move Madrid/Rome/French Open up a couple of weeks. Make Monte Carlo a grass court tournament and if they balk then screw them and move the 1000 tournament to Halle

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

I know I'm in the vast minority but I don't get the appeal of grass tennis at all. It's so boring. Lots of serve and vollying, not a lot of point construction like you see in clay and if you have a good server the points are all like 3-5 shot rallies. French >>>>Wimbledon any day. The way you have to grind out matches, watching points being constructed where players run from one side of the court to another like watching a puppeteer controlling puppets on a string its much more gripping tennis. Even if Nadal didn't suck at Wimbledon I would still feel the same way.

Sure, but long rallies does not necessarily mean exciting tennis either. Some of the best tennis you'll see are the 5-7 shot exchanges as opposed to two clay courters cautiously going back and forth for 15 shots until someone finally muffs one.

Tennis is at its absolute best when you've got shot makers hitting with pace, playing unafraid to make a mistake. Grass is easy on the body, fast and should be a surface of choice at more events on the circuit. The more it is used, the more variety in game play you'll see as players that are not "traditional" grass players become increasingly more comfortable. I've never understood why there are so many clay events when that surface only caters to a very specific type of player, who typically cannot hack it on a grass or hardcourt season unless they are part of the elite few.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

at the same time though, Roger is defending 2000 points on spring hard courts, that could easily drop if he runs into trouble at IW or Miami. if we see a change in standings, I don't think it will happen until after Wimbledon

Really? If he wins the AO final, he'll be at 9605, with Nadal at 9760 and no one else particularly close. I assume the next tournament he plays would be Indian Wells. If Roger wins that and Rafa doesn't play (and therefore drops his 180 points from the fourth round loss to Roger last year), Roger will be #1, no?

Of course, he could lose, but I wouldn't exactly bet against him.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Really? If he wins the AO final, he'll be at 9605, with Nadal at 9760 and no one else particularly close. I assume the next tournament he plays would be Indian Wells. If Roger wins that and Rafa doesn't play (and therefore drops his 180 points from the fourth round loss to Roger last year), Roger will be #1, no?

Of course, he could lose, but I wouldn't exactly bet against him.

I'm assuming that Rafa will be back in March as his hip flexor injury is not serious. now that they're locked into #1 and 2, they won't be meeting before the final at IW, so someone other than Fed would have to take him out early, which is not a great bet.

Rafa made the Miami final so there's more points to lose there, but who knows if Fed will strain himself to defend the back to backs. the only real chance before Wimbledon is if Rafa goes out early once or twice on clay, which doesn't seem likely given the current state of competition.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I'm assuming that Rafa will be back in March as his hip flexor injury is not serious. now that they're locked into #1 and 2, they won't be meeting before the final at IW, so someone other than Fed would have to take him out early, which is not a great bet.

Rafa made the Miami final so there's more points to lose there, but who knows if Fed will strain himself to defend the back to backs. the only real chance before Wimbledon is if Rafa goes out early once or twice on clay, which doesn't seem likely given the current state of competition.

I don't see any reason Roger wouldn't play IW and Miami again this year. He will have a month off to rest and train so it is a non-issue to me. If anything he will probably add a few clay events to his schedule in April/May even if he intends to skip the french open again which would cover any potential semi or quarterfinal losses in IW/Miami (which seems likely to be finalist at worst the way he's going).

This will all but guarantee him a number 1 ranking as Rafa will be defending way too many points to widen the gap. My best guess is that we see Roger as the #1 again by late April after the Monte Carlo masters.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Roger doesn't have many points to defend in Dubai (remember Donskoy?). If he plays and makes the final there he gets to number one. I also think he skips Miami this year. Speaking of slow courts, they have the slowest, with the insanely muggy conditions. I think he passes this year.

[FireGilbert]

The Women's final has been excellent.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

The Women's final has been excellent.

One of the best in recent memory. Congratulations to Caroline Wozniacki for her first Grand Slam!

[Inglewood Jack]

two absolute warriors, always liked both and wish they could have been declared co-champions. great for Woz to finally take the so-called asterisk off her ranking...now I want Halep to grab that FO trophy and do the same.

[Nadal Fan]

Congrats to the Woz hope to see many more!

[Senator Clay Davis]

We basically ended up getting the inverse of last year's Aussie Open. The women's tournament was one of the best in recent history, quality matches and lots of drama. The men's tournament has been a dud, few quality matches and a procession-like feel to the tournament. I hope we get a great final tonight because it's been a bad tournament otherwise.

[Nadal Fan]

The men's final today will go one of two ways. Either Cilic channels his inner Delpo and serves great , goes for winners and is aggressive or Federer rolls and wins 2,3,2. I learned last year never go against le Fed I'm taking Fed in 3.

[Inglewood Jack]

Anything but another friggin retirement would be great...