For me, this match is the one that will tell the story of whether he's arrived as a big time player or not. Many great players have faltered playing a notably weaker player after beating a significant, top-ranked player.
Hopefully Dennis has been able to manage his emotions and continue to prepare as he has been after such a big night. With the team he has in place, I'm pretty sure they would have been on top of it, but easier said than done.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
Yeah, same. They were basically describing that awkward mating ritual teens do at high school dances where they want to get together but don't quite know how to take that first real step.
I wonder if a guy like Rafa gets embarrassed by this and is going to come out looking for blood next time, or if it's just another day at the office and he moves on.
What a fantastic match that was. I really like Shapolalov's game as he looks like less of a one trick pony compared to Raonic. Time will tell if he can take his game to the next level like Milos but one thing he has going for him is that he has a proper one handed backhand. I've always been a proponent of the one handed backhand and feel players that can master it have better overall games. It's harder to pick up and master but I wish more academies would push it on players that have the strength to hit through the ball with one hand.
I haven't watched that much Shapovalov, but based on that, there's a lot of raw potential there. He's clearly not refined, even on his better shots. He's athletic, but he's 18, so he'd better be. Obviously, if he could consistently hit volleys at this level, that would make a big difference - I think he had a couple more breaks available to him if he'd managed to make good returns on those shorter balls.
It's the old story about the two players, one with perfect form and one with bad form, running to first in the same amount of time. He's unpolished, but even in an unpolished state, he can hang with elite players. If he becomes polished, he has a chance to do some special things in a couple of years.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I wonder if a guy like Rafa gets embarrassed by this and is going to come out looking for blood next time, or if it's just another day at the office and he moves on.
He was pissed. In his press conference last night he basically said this was the worst loss of the year. He lost to a chump when the draw is wide open for him to regain #1. It really hurts.
__________________
Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
What hurts for Rafa is that if Fed wins Montreal he's only 10 points behind Rafa in the rankings. So at that point it might be pretty difficult to overtake Roger unless Rafa plays 3-4 more events than Roger does. The loss really hurt his chances of getting year end number one.
__________________
"Think I'm gonna be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine? Sheeee......."
What a fantastic match that was. I really like Shapolalov's game as he looks like less of a one trick pony compared to Raonic. Time will tell if he can take his game to the next level like Milos but one thing he has going for him is that he has a proper one handed backhand. I've always been a proponent of the one handed backhand and feel players that can master it have better overall games. It's harder to pick up and master but I wish more academies would push it on players that have the strength to hit through the ball with one hand.
Academies are paid to produce high level players. This in itself is why most players are taught to use the two handed backhand as it's much easier to polish but lacks the finesse and reward that a well tuned one-hander can achieve.
A classic example is a guy like Pospisil. With his style of game and body type, he should certainly be using a one-handed backhand in my eyes. He was likely pushed through the ranks on his talent alone and no one wanted to slow him down and get him using a stroke that might be the difference between his 75 ranking and a 25 ranking today.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
I wonder if a guy like Rafa gets embarrassed by this and is going to come out looking for blood next time, or if it's just another day at the office and he moves on.
Rafa is out for blood each and every time he steps on the court like nobody else on tour. This is just another loss that he will accept and move on from.
__________________
I hate to tell you this, but I’ve just launched an air biscuit
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Is it just me or is the Sportsnet audio lagging behind the video? I see racquet making contact with the ball followed by like a half-second delay. Kind of annoying.
