2018 Tennis Thread - Page 47 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

CedarMeter · 03-24-2018, 10:47 AM

That was some beautiful tennis from Denis today. What a treat to watch.

dash_pinched · 03-24-2018, 12:35 PM

Great rally...

https://twitter.com/user/status/977576037201494016

Resolute 14 · 03-24-2018, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

Kinda felt like he was playing himself in that second set. The only time the other guy was touching him was when his service game was off.

He really has all the tools to be a big star, I hope he avoids the Genie path and doesn't get too invested in all the off court stuff - imagine he's at a stage where lots of sponsors and event organizers are coming at him non stop.

It's a bit unfair of me to say this regarding Genie, since I don't think she's unusual for young, pretty women, but Shapovalov seems (from a distance) to be a lot less inward focused. Especially after that incident at the Davis Cup. Seems to have an easier time seeing beyond the end of his nose.

That said, and somewhat interestingly, he's already supplanted Raonic as the coverboy for the Rogers Cup.

CorsiHockeyLeague · 03-24-2018, 01:04 PM

The thing with Shapovalov is that this is a very different year than last year in terms of expectations. Last year, he could do no wrong. There was no real pressure. Anything he accomplished was a plus. Now, this year, he has to back up what he did accomplish. He has to win some matches in Montreal, for one thing. For me, it would feel like a bit of a disappointment if he didn't finish the year top 40, and top 30 seems achievable. But that's pressure. We'll see how he deals with it.

In terms of his development, he seems to be really working hard on his play at net (good area to focus on) and it's showed. He's coming in a lot now and I suspect if you looked at his success rate last year versus now, it would be a significant uptick. That side of his game is going to be crucial to any success he has, along with being more consistent on his serve. The other thing I think he needs to work on is footwork, he's sometimes a step behind or off-balance when on the defensive, in spite of having pretty decent speed that should get him in position to get balls back in play with some pace. Instead, you see him reaching a lot.

Lots of room to go, but plenty of reason to think he can make it there. Will be fun to see how it goes.

Resolute 14 · 03-24-2018, 01:20 PM

Top 40 will be interesting. He's basically got nothing but free points until the tour heads to London for a month. Needs to pull out as many wins as he can now, as 60% of his current rankings points are dropping off between mid-June and mid-August.

Inglewood Jack · 03-24-2018, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

Kinda felt like he was playing himself in that second set. The only time the other guy was touching him was when his service game was off.

He really has all the tools to be a big star, I hope he avoids the Genie path and doesn't get too invested in all the off court stuff - imagine he's at a stage where lots of sponsors and event organizers are coming at him non stop.

Kournikova syndrome, plain and simple. Shapo will never pose for a swimsuit spread, regularly post racy pictures on Instagram for a legion of gawkers, or be asked to do a twirl by the post match interviewer in front of his "Shapo Army". It's uniquely a female athlete issue, and it's too bad Genie allowed it to wreck what should have at least been a modestly successful career.

dash_pinched · 03-24-2018, 03:48 PM

Just finished watching the doubles team of Chung/Shapovalov win their match over Dzumhur/Krajinovic (Dzumhur eliminated twice by Shapo today). I don't know how much of this doubles team we'll see in the future as both guys have a bright future in singles, but they looked like a fine team today.

Mango · 03-24-2018, 04:41 PM

Federer has been dispatched by Kokkinakis. Nice chance for the Canadians to go on a bit of a run.

https://twitter.com/user/status/977676445635006466

Nadal Fan · 03-25-2018, 07:38 AM

So with Fed skipping the French Open should we all save ourselves 2 weeks and just hand the trophy over to Rafa?

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 08:25 AM

https://twitter.com/user/status/977913500868710400

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 12:24 PM

Cilic takes the opening set 7-5 - Vasek is right there with him, Cilic is doing nothing special, Pops is just not winning the big points/missing shots.

CorsiHockeyLeague · 03-25-2018, 12:28 PM

So just spitballing here... how would it be if the ATP instituted a headhunting rule where any time you beat a player ranked at least 5 places higher than you, you get 10% of their rankings points? Doesn't even matter how many rankings points they have. If you knock out a guy with 8000 points and you're ranked 30th, you get 800 of them. Maybe you just had a good day on the court that leads to you shooting up the standings temporarily, but that just renders you vulnerable to having the same happen to you at the hands of someone suddenly ranked behind you.

What am I missing that makes this a bad idea? For one thing it might prevent some guys from entering tourneys and retiring, but also it just seems like fun...

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 12:50 PM

Ugh, that's why they have challenges Vasek, that ball was out. Thankfully, no damage was done as he did hold serve.

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 01:14 PM

Wow, what a rally and fantastic winner by Vasek.

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 01:15 PM

From love-40 down to winning five straight points and a second set tie-breaker is next.

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 01:24 PM

Darn it, Cilic wins 7-5 7-6(4). I'm sure Vasek is disappointed, but one takeaway from this match should be that his game is in pretty good shape and he should continue to rise up the rankings.

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 03:06 PM

Delpo makes short work of Kei Nishikori today...Set scores were 6-2 6-2

GirlySports · 03-25-2018, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So just spitballing here... how would it be if the ATP instituted a headhunting rule where any time you beat a player ranked at least 5 places higher than you, you get 10% of their rankings points? Doesn't even matter how many rankings points they have. If you knock out a guy with 8000 points and you're ranked 30th, you get 800 of them. Maybe you just had a good day on the court that leads to you shooting up the standings temporarily, but that just renders you vulnerable to having the same happen to you at the hands of someone suddenly ranked behind you.

What am I missing that makes this a bad idea? For one thing it might prevent some guys from entering tourneys and retiring, but also it just seems like fun...

The old system in the 90s had bonus points for beating players of the following rankings and double that in grand slams. However I think the complaint was that mid-level players would sometimes tank to help their buddies.

CorsiHockeyLeague · 03-25-2018, 03:45 PM

Well my version certainly solves that problem, because you're literally stealing points from your opponent.

dash_pinched · 03-25-2018, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So just spitballing here... how would it be if the ATP instituted a headhunting rule where any time you beat a player ranked at least 5 places higher than you, you get 10% of their rankings points? Doesn't even matter how many rankings points they have. If you knock out a guy with 8000 points and you're ranked 30th, you get 800 of them. Maybe you just had a good day on the court that leads to you shooting up the standings temporarily, but that just renders you vulnerable to having the same happen to you at the hands of someone suddenly ranked behind you.

What am I missing that makes this a bad idea? For one thing it might prevent some guys from entering tourneys and retiring, but also it just seems like fun...

It's interesting, I'll give you that, but I don't think the top players would go for it as seeding for the majors as well as the year end tour final event could be dramatically impacted by a couple of off days.