2018 Tennis Thread

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

I"m pretty sure Roger still pays Soderling money every year!

But screw the clay. I hope he reaches 25 grand slam titles so no one ever passes him.

You hope Denis never passes him?

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by troutman

You hope Denis never passes him?

haha, if Denis has that kind of potential in him then sure, only cause he's an aggressive one handed backhander. I'll also accept Felix as a GOAT too. need to cheer for something once Roger hangs them up.

but I think nobody else reaches 19 slams anyways. Rafa might have 1 or 2 more FOs in him, but the kids are catching up fast.

[Nadal Fan]

It's so true about Roger being one of the best clay courters of all time. If it wasn't for Rafa you could argue he would have at least 5 titles at each Grand Slam

Flip side is before Rafa's knees got worse he was one of the greatest GRASS court players of all time. Making 5 finals but losing to the GOAT twice and Djoker once. Any other player makes that final against him and he has 4 Wimbledon titles.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by troutman

You hope Denis never passes him?

Yup! Federer is my favourite athlete of all time in any sport. The man is all class.

In fact the only fault i can find with him, was that Swiss mullet he grew when he was 16/17. What a terrible look.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I find it amusing that this was the one that set people off. Tennis players do have political views that have been public for a long time.

I dunno if any of your examples are on the same level as tweeting about how Pizzagate was real, but who knows, maybe a bunch of them are that crazy. if so, I expect them to keep that to themselves mostly so I can focus on enjoying the on-court entertainment.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I dunno if any of your examples are on the same level as tweeting about how Pizzagate was real, but who knows, maybe a bunch of them are that crazy. if so, I expect them to keep that to themselves mostly so I can focus on enjoying the on-court entertainment.

I should send Coco's twitter to ESPN. Lots of good stuff there.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I should send Coco's twitter to ESPN. Lots of good stuff there.

everyone in this thread already wants to smack her upside the head, no wacky political tweets needed.

[dash_pinched]

Denis Shapovalov@denis_shapo
Getting ready for Davis cup with @jannyfriz and Nika�� #BackToWork

[Senator Clay Davis]

Now that I've zipped through the Berdych match, from 2-5 down in the first set Roger finally switched it into high gear for the first time all tournament, and just blitzed Birdman after that. Birdman actually played pretty well, just had no answers. From that 2-5 point Roger dropped 55 winners in basically two and a half sets. Cilic, if he brings the elite serving, can certainly beat Roger, but unless there's a drastic drop in Roger's serving, it's pretty tough to see him losing this thing now. He really is the best server of all-time, and it might not even be close.

[GirlySports]

as the tournament gets later i miss the international feed, have to listen to these ESPN bozos

[dash_pinched]

Kerber and Halep currently at 7-all in the 3rd set.

[wwkayaker]

It’s a great match.

[dash_pinched]

Halep prevails 9-7 in set 3. She'll play the Woz in the final.

[dash_pinched]

Gaby and her mixed doubles partner are into the semi-finals. Go Gaby Go!

[Mango]

Marin Cilic is in his first Aussie Open final after beating Kyle Edmund in straight sets. I didn't stay up to watch, but I'll check out the highlights.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Now that I've zipped through the Berdych match, from 2-5 down in the first set Roger finally switched it into high gear for the first time all tournament, and just blitzed Birdman after that. Birdman actually played pretty well, just had no answers. From that 2-5 point Roger dropped 55 winners in basically two and a half sets. Cilic, if he brings the elite serving, can certainly beat Roger, but unless there's a drastic drop in Roger's serving, it's pretty tough to see him losing this thing now. He really is the best server of all-time, and it might not even be close.

Assuming Roger dispatches Chung without too much trouble, I don't see any circumstance where he is not hoisting his 20th major trophy on the weekend.

We've seen big servers beat Roger in majors recently, but that is typically by employing a heavy serve and volley game that takes away all his time and space. I don't see Cilic having this type of play in him for an entire match and I don't see him out-slugging Fed from the baseline for 5 sets - especially considering how things went in Wimbledon last year.

[killer_carlson]

Kerber is going to really regret how she prepared for this match. She started by being broken twice and losing the first 4 games in the first set.

I really hope Woz wins in the finals though

[FireGilbert]

Another match cut short by injury

It is unfortunate the major story of the tournament is injuries and something needs to be done to ensure the top players are healthy and fans get their monies worth. Moving the Australian Open to March would help providing a longer off season break and reducing the temperatures. Something else I support is scraping the 5 set matches and going to 3. Yes I like epic 5 hour+ matches but I also like seeing the top players being healthy.

[Senator Clay Davis]

To be fair, even if Chung wasn't hurt he was going to get straight setted. He was both nervy and out of his depth. Roger wasn't playing around tonight, and Chung was only beating him if he was off. We've talked about the need to modify the schedule, and more importantly they should be cutting back on the number of mandatory tournaments guys play, especially since there are three sets of back-to-back 1000 level tournaments with Indian Wells-Miami, Madrid-Rome, and Canada-Cincinnati. So that set up definitely needs to change, there has to be a week between those tournaments. I don't like going to three sets in majors, but could see a switch where up to the quarters matches are three sets, and then five after that. But what makes major tennis so great is it really has to be earned, there is no such thing as a cheap upset or win, everything is earned.

But really it's just how physical the game has become in the last 15 years, combined with the developments in racquet technology and the unfortunate slowing of hard courts. Players should be taking more after Roger and wanting to play quick points and not engage in long, physical rallies. The reason Andy, Novak and Rafa's careers are likely to be over by 34 while Roger might get to 38 and still be playing is they have simply played far too many punishing rallies, and those take the toll on the body. Just consider how often you see guys sliding on hard courts now. That just isn't normal, and it's something you rarely see from Roger. Unfortunately it seems many of the new generation have taken after those three and not Roger, though obviously playing like Roger is easier said than done.

[Mango]

Gaby has advanced to the mixed doubles final. Can she get Grand Slam number two?

Interestingly enough, she'll face Bopanna in the final -- her partner from her title-winning French Open last year.