The Tennis Thread
Discussion
Leithen said:
It must be the Australian Open - 42 Degrees, players and ballboys collapsing left, right and centre.... Efficient by Murray though.
Hope the Nadal match isn't a 5-setter.
as it turns out 'Tomic The Tank Engine' came on court and helped Nadal conserve some energy!!! Huge talent a real shame he is such a dick!! Hope the Nadal match isn't a 5-setter.
Tomic should take a leaf out of Hewitt's book, 4+ hours left it all on the court as they say, win or lose and even if you don't like him you have to have huge respect for his work ethic etc etc he has also had more injuries that Tomic has tanked matches and he is still going, feel very sorry for Hewitt but Seppi is no mug and fought just as hard...
JNW1 said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The Murray/Federer quarter final will be interesting! Although Murray is seeded higher I actually think there's more pressure on Federer - he hasn't dropped a set all tournament (and therefore appears to be playing well) and with Murray being relatively short of match practice it arguably doesn't get to look any better in terms of him beating one of the top three in a Grand Slam. Therefore, it could be a blow to his confidence if he fails to make the semi-finals whereas Murray probably has little to lose - if he wins then great but if he loses he can rationalise it by saying he wasn't quite match tight and came up against a top player who was in good form!Having said that you're right, Nadal did blow apart the theory that a lack of match practice means you can't be successful; however, he did accumulate his initial comeback wins in lesser tournaments whereas Murray has played very little prior to going into a Grand Slam!
as for Fed well I was surprised he beat Tsonga at all I thought he would lose in 5 but to shut him down like that was impressive, you could argue Tsonga was not at his best but you could also argue that Fed shut him down right form the start, imo I do not think Fed has more pressure, after last season I think he has nothing to lose at all, last 2 slams were 4th round and 2nd round...came into the net a lot as well, wonder who advised him to do that!!?
so there we have it; Lendl vs Edberg
ascayman said:
Fed really is the greatest 
should have won that match in 3, sloppy by Fed, needed all his energy to lose to Nadal! as always bp conversion rate for Fed was appalling, going to have to take another step up to beat the Spaniard
Murray not quite there yet and yes I hope he did not hurt himself, worrying
chippy17 said:
STAN IS THE MAN, woohoo! a very well deserved win and it has been coming for about a year now, Stan is about to have his best year ever
but yes Nadal looking very likely to win the whole thing...
well Stan is in the final and I am not surprised, so will it be an all Swiss affair or will Stan have to face an opponent he has never even taken a set off?!but yes Nadal looking very likely to win the whole thing...
eps said:
chippy17 said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
certainly seems very comfortable with it, but to me the main improvement over last year is his movement/footwork which so far at the Aus Open has been sublimehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AXaabCsrPI
I think Stan played a fantastic first set + 2 games, obvious game plan, and I think he would have won regardless (yes he might have had a downturn in later stages but he was on it) he has been threatening this for a year or 2
regardless the right man won, perhaps if he had lost the first set one would think differently but he didn't
his dtl backhand is one of his signature shots so to say 'once the rest are aware of it then it will be different' is not correct they have known about it for years just nothing you can do when he pulls the trigger, to say he is half volleying is not quite true either he is just taking it very early
his primary tactic against Nadal was to go for the Nadal forehand and it worked, to go toe to toe with one of the greatest forehands of all time with your 1hbh shows serious confidence, and he was winning those battles, this is what shocked Nadal
plus there were a few secondary tactics, like punishing his second serve, by the end of the first set Nadal was winning 17% of his second serves, that is unheard of
cmoose I share your views on Castle I just don't get why he is still commentating!!? I was at Queens for the charity thing with him live on the court and it was cringeworthy
regardless the right man won, perhaps if he had lost the first set one would think differently but he didn't
his dtl backhand is one of his signature shots so to say 'once the rest are aware of it then it will be different' is not correct they have known about it for years just nothing you can do when he pulls the trigger, to say he is half volleying is not quite true either he is just taking it very early
his primary tactic against Nadal was to go for the Nadal forehand and it worked, to go toe to toe with one of the greatest forehands of all time with your 1hbh shows serious confidence, and he was winning those battles, this is what shocked Nadal
plus there were a few secondary tactics, like punishing his second serve, by the end of the first set Nadal was winning 17% of his second serves, that is unheard of
cmoose I share your views on Castle I just don't get why he is still commentating!!? I was at Queens for the charity thing with him live on the court and it was cringeworthy
JNW1 said:
JNW1 said:
North West Tom said:
I know Rafa didn't need to play at 100% today, but I think Stan could cause an upset on Sunday.
Anything's possible but I doubt it. apart from anything else if it is a Nadal v Djokovic match I can't be bothered to watch as Nadal spends half the time picking his butt and Djoker spends the rest bouncing the bloody ball over and over again...JUST GET ON WITH IT!!!!!!
Babw said:
Chippy, I agree to an extent with you said but Stan plays a high risk game. The other players have known but haven't been overly worried especially 5 setters as previously either fatigue and associated breaking down of shots/intensity happened. He tries to keep the points as short as possible, he doesn't really have a plan B, if his plan A works then it's a problem for everyone but if it doesn't you might see him going out early in tournaments.
I was there in NY for his game against Novak where it was all too evident in the last set where if he couldn't get the winner then it was almost no room for error. Only he knows whether he has that capacity to play with that little room for error and stay consistent for 5 sets over numerous rounds for a whole season!
Even Stan commented after the game that when Nadal won the third set it was because he tried to rally and not go for winners/waiting for Nadal to miss which he felt he can't do. If he wants to be consistent and have regular success he's going to have to contain opponents as he can't blow every opponent off the court with winners.
certainly for most of his career he has been prone to implode and yes unable to maintain a rally but from the beginning of 2013 he has been a changed man (Magnus Norman for coach of the year, both Wawrinka and Dimitrov now at highest ever ranking thanks to him, Fed hired the wrong Swede!!) yes he is an attacking player and it is high risk to an extent but he has got a lot better at knowing when to pull the trigger. I like his brand of tennis but I think he is now pretty comfortable over 5 sets and in his 3 epic matches in the last year (Aus R4 2013, US Open semi 2013 and qtr final Aus 2014) he has been more than capable of staying in the 20+ shot rallies and winning them, now I hope he can build on it and maintain this level because he is a joy to watch, the first set and a bit against Nadal was the best tennis I have see for some time, both from a tactical point of view and a striking the ball point of view.I was there in NY for his game against Novak where it was all too evident in the last set where if he couldn't get the winner then it was almost no room for error. Only he knows whether he has that capacity to play with that little room for error and stay consistent for 5 sets over numerous rounds for a whole season!
Even Stan commented after the game that when Nadal won the third set it was because he tried to rally and not go for winners/waiting for Nadal to miss which he felt he can't do. If he wants to be consistent and have regular success he's going to have to contain opponents as he can't blow every opponent off the court with winners.
I think he also has great variety and is a great volleyer as well, I disagree that he only has plan A, he kept changing it up beautifully when the time was right, it really was a stunning set of tennis from all aspects, I have re-watched it 3 times now!!!
good tactical analysis:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/01/5/...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think you replied to the wrong post but I am with you tennis is not rocket science! but he was not just hitting it as hard as he could there was clearly a plan and the main plan was to go after the Nadal forehand and it worked a treat, his bh was good enough to push Nadal wide and he waited for the right moment to go dtl, it was far from mindless ball bashing
he was also doing the same on the fh side to Nadal's bh
I agree I think he is capable of a slam or two, seems to be comfortable with the new racquet and tactically played a smart game against Djoker and Berdych and seems fit
Indian Wells starting soon, draw is out, Nadal, Murray and Fed in the same half which will be interesting, Murray still does not look 100% sadly
first time we will see Stan in action after Aus Open as well...
and the mighty James Ward won his first qualie match, go James!
eta the lovely Heather has just qualified for the main draw, I predict she will be back in the top 50 by the end of the year and she will deserve it too, big fan
Indian Wells starting soon, draw is out, Nadal, Murray and Fed in the same half which will be interesting, Murray still does not look 100% sadly
first time we will see Stan in action after Aus Open as well...
and the mighty James Ward won his first qualie match, go James!
eta the lovely Heather has just qualified for the main draw, I predict she will be back in the top 50 by the end of the year and she will deserve it too, big fan
Edited by chippy17 on Wednesday 5th March 13:24
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