The Tennis Thread

[CharlieGee]

Blackpuddin said:

Sarcasm detector on, but surely you'll agree it's odd that he can't seem to improve it to something at least approaching the level of his peers. There's no physical impediment, so it must be technical, and therefore fixable. Why throw away points with a fixable flaw?

I do see what you mean... He is, of course, fully aware of the shortcoming with his second serve and must have worked it incredibly hard to even be where it is today. Look at it this way there is no way that I would ever be able to train a second serve to be competitive at that level, Murray is sublime but he just doesn't have it with that second serve. The absolute top level of that talent isn't there. I'm a huge fan and have watched as many of his matches as I could over the last decade so have seen what he can do with his other shots. Players naturally have strengths and weaknesses, whether because of biomechanics or hard to quantify 'talent'. Murray's game is so complete that his second serve does seem an anomaly but, for whatever reason, I don't see it as fixable for him now.

Anyway, I'm going for Murray in 4 on Sunday. Was very impressed with his game and attitude on Thursday and he seems to be motivated by the partnership with Mauresmo. I can't believe he's going to go a full career without a win in Melbourne either.

[JNW1]

Justices said:

Novak is entirely capable of raising his game and his fitness level is beyond reproach so today's 5 sets shouldn't be a big advantage for Andy when Sunday comes around. The good thing with these two (for the spectators) is that the bigger the event, the more pressure there is, generally the more they thrive on it and deliver big moments.

Should be a good one!

Edited by Justices on Friday 30th January 12:29

Agree with all of the above but nevertheless I think (and hope!) Murray will win. He's looked really solid throughout the tournament and if he's not back to his very best he's not far off it (which is a terrific turnaround given the way he performed in the ATP Finals only a couple of months ago). In contrast, Djokovic has been a bit up and down since the start of the year and, while I agree he's always capable of raising his game, his form doesn't seem to be at quite the same level as Murray's at the moment. Therefore, if Murray reaches the same sort of standard he showed in his semi-final I think he'll be holding the winner's trophy come the end of the match tomorrow!

[Justices]

Thank god Serena can still beat anyone even when she is sick and vomiting during a match. Can't stand Sharapova and her on-court antics. Serena got a warning for saying "come on", yet Sharapova screams like the world is coming to an end on every shot throughout the match and it's ok (strangely not done in practice, because she is a bloody cheat). Fully deserves this massive losing streak, long may it continue.

I am sticking with my original call, Murray in a tight 4 sets.

[Robbo66]

Justices said:

Thank god Serena can still beat anyone even when she is sick and vomiting during a match. Can't stand Sharapova and her on-court antics. Serena got a warning for saying "come on", yet Sharapova screams like the world is coming to an end on every shot throughout the match and it's ok (strangely not done in practice, because she is a bloody cheat). Fully deserves this massive losing streak, long may it continue.

I am sticking with my original call, Murray in a tight 4 sets.

Agree with you. Cant stand Sharapova, seriously nasty piece of work IMO. Spoilt, insolent bad sport.

Still say Djoko tomorrow, as he is mentally stronger. Will be tight.

[CharlieGee]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Can we just all agree that they are both detestable?

[Blackpuddin]

Don't have a link but I'm pretty sure Sharapova has admitted in an interview that her shrieking is gamesmanship, so not entirely sure why she hasn't been cautioned and/or banned for this behaviour.

[BlackLabel]

The ladies game really misses Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. I'm not a great fan of Williams or Sharapova and even the next group of players coming through (Halep, Bouchard etc) are pretty boring to watch. The likes of Wozniacki and Ivanovic are even worse imo. Some of these players are more popular for their good looks than they are for their tennis - that says it all really.

[Justices]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Struggle on this one? Hardly It is cheating because she does it deliberately to put the other person off. In practice she doesn't have anyone to put off and pissing off her male practice partner would could kick her arse about the court should he so wish isn't the best idea. Everyone knows it but a blind eye (deaf ear?) is turned by the WTA as she is the golden girl. These are facts. On the men's side we have Uncle Toni blatantly coaching Rafa (and admitting to coaching him as he thinks the no-coaching rule is stupid) and Rafa/Novak taking well over the allowed amount of time between points etc. In regards to the towelling, some players use it as a way to control the tempo of the game and some use it to make sure their face, arms and hands are dry to reduce the brutal blistering which many suffer from. The over-toweling may be annoying but it is not even in the same league as the hideous screaming.

Serena has had some unpleasant outbursts which she is always embarrassed about, can't make any excuses for those but that kind of thing is just bubbling under the surface when you are at your limit and it doesn't take much to push the seemingly mildest of athletes over the edge. There are numerous video clips of Federer blowing up that don't grab the headlines. There are countless instances each week where a player seemingly overreacts and won't get on with a point and to the casual observer it seems ridiculous. In my experience it's a culmination of match pressure, gruelling life on tour, having a stty day and then a line judge/umpire making a poor call which just pushes you over the edge. No excuse for it, but outbursts are understandable when you know what the players go through just to be at this level of competition.

Serena off-court is lovely, but from the locker room walking to the court and until the match is over she is in fight-mode, she has to be to succeed as she has done. I can promise that even if you know her you'd walk by her in the corridors and not attempt conversation while she is heading toward her match court. The look in her eye let's you know that she is not there for fun and games. That intensity spills over with the incredible amount of pressure she puts on herself to win because she isn't staying on tour at the age of 34 just to take part and win money, she is putting her body through grinder to cement herself as the greatest player of all time. Naturally her ego is huge like any other top athlete and she has to go out there and believe she can beat anyone, which she does on both counts. All of this boils over sometimes and the results are quite explosive as we've seen on occasion

Other players trying to snatch Sharapova's title as the biggest cheater in women's tennis are Michelle Larcho de Britas and Victoria Azerenka. Yes, because a slice backhand requires a god-awful scream for it to go over the net.. Another reason why I can't stand women's tennis.. apart from Bouchard because she is easily the coolest and most down to earth girls on tour. Miraculously she doesn't cheat with screaming either.

Martina Navratilova is right on the money here in regards to the screaming. Her style and grace about the court are also sorely missed while we are on the subject of players that are a pleasure to watch.

[soad]

Well done, Serena.
Keep those pesky Russkis at bay.

[amare32]

Both 'Pova and Serena is just as bad as each other and their on court antics is among the worse.

Hopefully Murray and Novak will both bring their A games and I reckon if Andy can serve in the region of 65% 1st serve then he stands a great chance. They're locked at 2-2 in grand slam finals so hopefully Andy can get one over Novak

[jbudgie]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Really like the look of Madison Keys, think she will make a transition to slam winner in the not too distant future.

[Baron Greenback]

Just done like Serena tennis relying on her power too much! Don't like how both the sisters were managed not meeting each other! Knew the final would of been a let down, bring on a corker of a men's final,

[jbudgie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn271kr_ks0&fe...

[Justices]

amare32 said:

Both 'Pova and Serena is just as bad as each other and their on court antics is among the worse.

Agreed.

Now for $3,100,000 and $1,550,000 respectively for the winner and runner-up, they'd better give us something special tonight. That's a lot of cash!

[MiniMan64]

I hope those lost break points don't bring on the negative side of Murray...

Cracking game so far!

[hornetrider]

Last two games show the difference between the two players.

[Robbo66]

hornetrider said:

Last two games show the difference between the two players.

Agreed. Djoko went nine points on the bounce from being 3 break points down. Murray far more aggressive than usual, but errors creeping in. Djoko's second serve could be the diff.

[Babw]

I haven't seen Djokovic pull the injury stunt for a while but now he's got that look on his face when he's after the break of serve.

Djokovic really flips the playing percentages on it's head because his rallying shots don't seem to penetrate like Murray but when Murray goes to end the rally Djokovic plays the - all I can come up with is - the "defensive attack" which flips the rally on it's head which leaves Murray in an attacking position having to play a defensive shot!

Looks like another tie break, squeaky bum time.

[simoid]

Couldn't he challenge the net cord nah?


Incredible tennis. These guys seem to think nothing of a series of 20 shot rallies. Puts their training into perspective.

[Nom de ploom]

this is riveting stuff - when you see the overhead shot and see the pace on the ball on those ground strokes it looks impossible they absolutely leather each shot.