The Tennis Thread

[scrubchub]

John Inverdale just mentioned something that is bugging me - apparently, Wawrinka is one of 6 current pros to have won more 2 or more grand slams. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic. Murray, Stan - I can't work out the other one is. Anyone care to help me out?

Edit: Just clicked, Lleyton Hewitt.

[Babw]

BlackLabel said:

I wonder how many players with one handed back-hands have won here over the past 20 or 30 years - other than Federer and Wawrinka I can't think of many.

There's been quite a few single handed backhand winners, it's really just Nadal who's the cryptonite for a lot of SHBH players. Gaudio, Kuerten, Muster, Costa, Federer and now Wawrinka; who has the best of all.

Todays really a victory for tennis, would have been a shame to see such a metronomic player who just grinds down opponents win a career slam. Hopefully more players come out and try to hit through Djokovic. Kind of like what happened to Nadal after about 2010/11.

Edited by Babw on Sunday 7th June 19:32

[JNW1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

And I say "they" are right! Of course the tennis today is faster and at a generally higher level than it was in the 70's or 80's but given modern training techniques and racket/string technology who's to say a Laver or a Borg or a McEnroe or a Lendl wouldn't have been competitive with the players of today? You can judge within eras but not across them IMO.

[eps]

So.....

Do we think the new top 3 are Novak, Andy and Stan, in that order?

[SydneyBridge]

eps said:

So.....

Do we think the new top 3 are Novak, Andy and Stan, in that order?

Murray is likely to be second seed for Wimbledon whatever the main seeds are- least that means he wont meet Novak till the final..

[Leithen]

Pah.

Laver would destroy them all.

On a serious note, more tournaments are played, but tie-breaks only came in in the 70's.

The balls have changed in a big way too.

[JNW1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Fair comment, don't think anyone would dispute that the game has moved on significantly since the 70's and 80's; whether that means modern players are more talented is another issue entirely but re-reading your post I accept that wasn't the point you were making so apologies! Having said that, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that you can't compare the type of tennis from different eras; whenever I've heard the era issue mentioned it's been more in a context of you can't say who was the best ever because the game has changed so much (and personally I subscribe to that view).

Edited by JNW1 on Tuesday 9th June 07:43

[JNW1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Certainly a standard beyond what they achieved in their era but not necessarily a standard they couldn't have reached had they (Borg, McEnroe, etc) been playing today; after all, even in his 50's McEnroe is still a better volleyer than Djokovic!

[Dominic H]

A little off topic, but might be useful as I took a lot of good advice choosing a racquet from the guys here a few years back. Sportsdirect.com have a load of 2015 Wilson Blade 98, RF 97, Pro Staff 97 and Babolat Aero Pro, Pure Strike and Pure Drive at 50% discount. Seem to have most sizes in stock too.

I've just added a 2015 Blade 98 to the Blade 98 I bought on the recommendation received on here.

Hope this helps!

D

[Robbo66]

That's unbelievable pricing...

[E24man]

Bloody well done James Ward, a fabulous year so far; Davis Cup hero, great run at Wimbledon, seems to have real control on court and heading up the rankings like he should.

A equal (but more polite) shout to Heather Watson too for steady upwards progress culminating in pushing the World number 1 having to really extend herself.

[BlackLabel]

Murray vs Tsonga in the Davis Cup @ Queens. Good quality tennis so far.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/tennis/33226941

Edited by BlackLabel on Friday 17th July 16:03

[BlackLabel]

Well GB are into their first Davis Cup semi-final in 34 years. The first 2 sets of the deciding rubber (Murray vs Simon) were a cracker - not because the players were on top form but the opposite really, they both look knackered. And to make matters worse for them the court was more like a clay court than a grass court. We saw lots of grueling rallies.

Like this one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/33585633

Edited by BlackLabel on Monday 20th July 12:46

[SrMoreno]

Kyrgios is a charmer, isn't he?:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/13/kokki...

[Skylinecrazy]

He's a nob, but he's also certainly a future number 1. Looks like Raonic and Dmitriov are fading completely.

[Leithen]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

All his antics would suggest that he hasn't got the mental chops to get to No.1. The odd tournament win perhaps. Top ten maybe.

Against that, he's young and might mature. He also might implode.

[BlackLabel]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That's an interesting point. The cricket world in general are usually quite proud of such incidents re-telling them numerous times. For example:

Rod Marsh : “So how’s your wife & my kids?”

Ian Botham : “The wife is fine but the kids are retarded”

McGrath: “Why are you so fat?”

Brandes “Because every time I fk your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”

The tennis world however are up in arms over what Kyrios said. I do think he's a knob but some of this outrage seems a bit faux to me. There are more important things to worry about (like players taking too long between points or faking injuries to create a break in play or grunting to name just a few).

[BlackLabel]

After losing 8 in a row vs Novak, Murray is now 3 nil up against him in the 3rd set of the Montreal final.

Edited by BlackLabel on Sunday 16th August 22:33

[ViperPict]

BlackLabel said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That's an interesting point. The cricket world in general are usually quite proud of such incidents re-telling them numerous times. For example:

Rod Marsh : “So how’s your wife & my kids?”

Ian Botham : “The wife is fine but the kids are retarded”

McGrath: “Why are you so fat?”

Brandes “Because every time I fk your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”

The tennis world however are up in arms over what Kyrios said. I do think he's a knob but some of this outrage seems a bit faux to me. There are more important things to worry about (like players taking too long between points or faking injuries to create a break in play or grunting to name just a few).

Bit of a difference though - Kyrgios said it so that it was picked up by the TV and was obviously suggesting that the alleged event actually happened (rather than an obvious joke).

[ViperPict]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I don't think you can rule out Kyrgios deliberately wanting it caught on the mic though. And I was specifically referring to the quotes provided above. I'm not aware of general cricket folklore though - most boring sport ever invented.