2018 Tennis Thread

[dash_pinched]

woot! Gaby and mixed doubles partner Mate Pavić just won the mixed doubles title (2-6 6-4 11-9)

[Mango]

What a great speech! Congrats Gaby

[Inglewood Jack]

Mighty Thor is in the house, but so far he's not the one swinging Mjolnir tonight...

[killer_carlson]

Fed looking good. Up a break in the 4th.

[killer_carlson]

And Roger is falling apart. Gets broken at love. Now 2 break points on his next service game

[killer_carlson]

Roger only hitting 36% of his first serves in the 4th set.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Quite the turn of events. Not sure how this is going five, but you'd certainly favor Cilic now after Roger went from complete control to still having to play another set.

[killer_carlson]

Roger needs the break to reset both mentally and physically. He lost the last 4 games of that set. And did not look good.

Cilic would be the better bet right now.

Come on Roger!

[Senator Clay Davis]

It basically all came down to that first game, 15-40 save from Roger. Had Cilic broken there he probably would have coasted. But Roger turned it up when he needed to then, as he had done most of the tournament.

[killer_carlson]

Cilic looked so good to finish the 4th, but didn't look the same in the 5th. Agreed with SCD that Cilic didn't rally after the first game.

Congrats to Roger. #20!

[GirlySports]

Federer really is something. It sure looked like Cilic had him on the ropes in that first game of the fifth set, but then you blink and it’s a 6-1 set the other way. During Federer’s peak years (2004-07), he did that to good players all the time. They’d miss an opportunity for a break and then just get streamrolled.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So a few more thoughts now that I've gotten a little sleep...

- All praise to the Ljubicic. I don't know what he's said, or what he's tweaked, but whatever he did he's given Roger the confidence and belief of prime Federer again.
- This time last year I was talking about not caring about Roger winning anymore, just wanting to enjoy watching him play. Now I'm trying to resist the urge to get too greedy about how many more he can win. But with the state of the men's game in a bit of flux, he should probably be the favorite for two more majors this year, until we see Novak's return or someone else step it up.
- Roger's domination on serve is mostly about his domination with the second serve. Lots of guys dominate their first serve and win 80+% of the points. But Roger consistently is close to winning 60% of his second serve points. I'm also amazed that his second serve speed is often higher than even bigger servers. Cilic today for instance was around 93MPH avg second. Roger was right at 100MPH. Such an advantage to not take as much off
- I do think Roger will play Roland Garros this year. I see him playing Madrid as a tuneup, while skipping Miami. If number one is what he wants, then playing Dubai is the easiest way there. Expecting to defend all those points in Murica is asking a lot.
- I'm also starting to wonder if maybe Roger doesn't try and stay fit enough to give it a go at the 2020 Olympics. Singles gold is the only thing missing from his resume.

[CedarMeter]

Just finished watching. Wow, amazing!

[Nadal Fan]

Congratulations to Roger the guy continues to amaze. It's only a matter of time before he is world #1 again. Men's game is in shambles right now I wouldn't be shocked if Fedal win all 4 majors again this year. Cilic showed today the rest of the field just can't compete especially mentally that first set he didn't even show up. Hope to see Roger play the entire clay court swing this year.

[Nadal Fan]

Forgot to ask why was the roof closed today? Players had to play in horrible conditions all tournament and I don't think rain was a factor, just don't know why today they decided to close it.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Forgot to ask why was the roof closed today? Players had to play in horrible conditions all tournament and I don't think rain was a factor, just don't know why today they decided to close it.

The retractable roofs of the main showcourts at Melbourne Park are usually kept open unless the tournament’s extreme heat policy is invoked when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and a key humidity threshold has been surpassed.

Tournament organisers cited the ‘wet bulb globe temperature’, its humidity measure, as being above the threshold of 32.5 as their reason for the roof closure.

The temperature outside, however, was 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F) when Cilic and Federer walked out on court.

The roof closure triggered a barrage of criticism from current and former players, with former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash saying it played right into 36-year-old Federer’s hands.

“It’s an outdoor tournament -- it’s like Wimbledon. Why is the roof closed?” the Australian said during commentary for BBC radio.

https://ca.reuters.com/article/canad...BN1FH08H-OCASP

[dash_pinched]

Anything is Pospisil...

https://twitter.com/user/status/957656308077027329

[Nadal Fan]

Thanks Dash pinched! I did some research and Cilic said it effected him in the first set as he thought it was going to be open roof. And it's reasonable to assume that given how the tournament played out. I feel bad for ripping him now thought he battled hard and at least put up a fight. Make no mistake Fed wins regardless .

[Nadal Fan]

I just read a crazy stat on Twitter: The open era of tennis started in 1968, since that time Roger Federer has won 10% of all Grand Slam tournaments.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I'm actually not sure Cilic is capable of playing any better tennis than he did in that match. Very few players can maintain their highest level of play for five sets, or even four, especially given the pressure of a final. He was bad in the first set, but from then on, that was what he's got, I think. Just wasn't quite enough.