The Tennis Thread

[chippy17]

Justices said:

Nadal getting his backside handed to him by Gulbis at the moment! Bloody hell! 6-1 thumping in the first set.

a great match now 4-4 in the third, love Gulbis hope he wins this one

[chippy17]

JNW1 said:

Justices said:

There's the mental difference between the top 4 on display. Great work by both guys, Ernest will be kicking himself there.

Rafa seems right there mentally but he does appear to be making a few more unforced errors than he used to; for me his game's still not quite 100% although it's obviously still more than good enough to beat the vast majority of opponents! Also seems like Gulbis irritated Nadal with his constant requests to the umpire to go and check marks; think Rafa felt it was almost accusing him of being dishonest and he clearly wasn't happy about it in the press conference afterwards.

Watched Federer play last night and he looked much more like it; Simon is far from an easy opponent but he didn't really get a look in. Given the way the draw's opened-up Fed ought really to make the final now but we'll see; in any event I hope he takes Janowicz to the cleaners as I was very unimpressed with some of his antics against Gasquet yesterday. If Nadal was unhappy with Gulbis I suspect he'd have been seething with Janowicz!

you should watch the interviews after the Gulbis/Nadal match...amazing how Nadal gets through these games as he is not playing that well wish I had even a small percentage of his mental strength!

yes saw the highlight of the Fed game and looking much better, I thought Simon might give him some problems a la Nishikori happily I was very wrong and yes you would expect him to get to the final now

if he does will Fed pick up some points? I think this is one of 2 masters events Fed has yet to win?

eta apart from the sirt ripping what was Janowicz up to?

Edited by chippy17 on Friday 17th May 13:25

[chippy17]

JNW1 said:

chippy17 said:

eta apart from the sirt ripping what was Janowicz up to?

Edited by chippy17 on Friday 17th May 13:25

Gasquet a set up and has a break point at 1-1 in the second. Wins the point with a volley and heads to his seat for the changeover but Janowicz asks the umpire to come and check a mark which, in tennis terms, is miles away from where the ball landed (which was actually smack on the line). The umpire comes to check the mark and amazingly agrees with Janowicz; to Gasquet's disbelief he has to replay the point and ends-up losing the game, the set on a tie-break and ultimately the match. Ok, the umpire was also at fault on the dodgy line call but Janowicz knew full well the ball was good and basically tried to con the umpire (successfully as it turned out). He was then making exaggerated loud grunts and celebrating Gasquet errors for the rest of the match so all in all pretty unsavoury IMO.

By way of contrast, Djokovic has just asked the umpire to over-turn a call in Berdych's favour in their quarter final - how sportsmanship should work!

oh dear yes very unsporting indeed

i have always like that about Djoker, he applauds good shots he has always been very honorable about line calls

[chippy17]

amazed berdych beat Djokovic

so Nadal a dead cert for another MS title?!!

[chippy17]

Federer tried a different tactical approach in the Rome final, didn't work obviously:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/21...

Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 21st May 18:14

[chippy17]

well Monfils is looking pretty good at the moment just took out Gulbis

so will it the same bunch at the end, could Djoker and Rafa knacker themselves out so Fed can sneak another win?! if Djoker beats Rafa I think he has a real chance...Fed will be tested in the next round so we shall see how well he is playing then

[chippy17]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

all over, Tsonga played well, Federer so so

I think I would like to see a Djokovic/Tsonga final, much as I like Ferrer I do not think he can beat Nadal or Djokovic, Tsonga as more chance imo

well really I would like to see Haas in the final! better yet Haas and Wawrinka in the semis!!

[chippy17]

thought you might enjoy some silliness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJJ7CpltSyA

[chippy17]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

have to agree, I was there 3 or 4 rows back on club house side and he is frankly a spoiled brat, so much so my daughter (aged 10) said something to me about it and said she was now rooting for Cilic! Cilic is a class act in comparison.

[chippy17]

surprised and not surprised, the last set he was barely able to run

superhuman effort from him to win the French so to falter on his arguably worst surface is certainly no disaster

[chippy17]

fake7 said:

good win for Hewitt yesterday - playing well on grass and beating the no.11 seed

yes Hewitt playing some good grass court tennis at the moment, feel for Stan The Man as I am a fan of his...

[chippy17]

re Laura Robson, perhaps I am stating what everyone knows but, even though only 19, she has been around for a while now. iirc she won jnr wimb at 14, turned pro is 2008!!

I think this is the 4th top tenner she has beaten in the last year or so as well as Clijsters at the US Open, think she beat Li Na and Venus Williams

she is starting to get consistency along with her power, just her movement needs to get better, when that happens top 10 beckons...

[chippy17]

OscarIndia said:

Alfahorn said:

OscarIndia said:

Jesus Robson was good! If she plays like that in all her matches she is in with a chance.
Only 19 too one for the future.

I don't watch ladies tennis as its quite boring, however she's a spectacular player. She's got so much talent, she's strong, has a powerful serve and a lethal forehand. Her return of serve is frightening, I think she would trouble a good few of the male players.

I don't think she's ready to win a grand slam, I still think she's too eratict for that but she is an entertainer.

These were my thoughts, but as I had nothing to do decided to watch her.

She dismantled the no 10 seed comprehensively, to the point that the opppo effectively gave up mentally.
At 19 she is showing huge potential, now that she is working with Murrays ex coach I hope that she will be trained mentally as well as physically to become much better.

The only thing that worries me was at the end, she actually seemed surprised at the win. She needs to be more confident in her own ability.

I think she was not sure if the ball was in as it was on the line, do not think she was surprised to win

[chippy17]

stephen300o said:

Awesome? No, it's killed the thing already.

much as I am a Fedal fan it is great to see some new names going deep!

[chippy17]

back to the real tennis thread for fans of the sport and not for Wimbledon fans only!

Federer playing 2 atp250 clay events next in the coming weeks, trying to get his form back?

[chippy17]

confirmed that Fed is using a 98inch blacked out as pictured Wilson for his match against Brands this afternoon, wow always thought he would be as stubborn as Sampras was when it came to small headed Wilsons

imo this is a good move for him in his dotage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG3aP1nwB0Q

[chippy17]

JNW1 said:

E24man said:

Sorry to resurrect Wimbledon but the questions refers to any Djokovic matches prior to Wimbledon too.

Prior to Andy Murray beating him in straight sets in the final, when was;

1. The last time Djokovic was beaten in straight sets?

2. The last time Djokovic was beaten in straight sets in a grand slam (or any 5 set) game?

Seem to remember Federer beat Djokovic in straight sets in Cincinnati last year? Got a feeling Berdych may have beaten him in straight sets at Wimbledon the year he (Berdych) made the final (so 2010) but can't remember Djokovic losing in straight sets since then in a Grand Slam (until Wimbledon this year of course!).

I seem to remember that Fed handed out a bagel to Djokovic in that final

[chippy17]

well Murray just got duffed up by Gulbis, no massive surprise and no need to panic!

[chippy17]

Fed played appallingly against Robredo, not taking anything away from Robredo he played good solid Robredo tennis; but Fed was shocking. He had something like 16 break point opportunities and converted 1 I think, also 43 UEs and some of those were shanks off the forehand side!!! Fed made Robredo look good tbh although Robredo is no mug and took full advantage

what is going on with Fed? this time last year he was no.1 in the world, as has been said it must be a mental thing as it has been such a quick decline this year, going from 6 titles, inc 3 masters and a gs + Olympic silver to 1 250 title in 2013...very strange

[chippy17]

Robbo66 said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Think we'll need to agree to disagree. If he was breasting balls long, then poor footwork/movement is a massive factor as explained previously. Timing and movement are inextricably linked. Still believe as your reactions slow with age, he is playing with too small a head. He is framing massively.

it is his speed around the court ie his movement, his footwork when he gets to the ball is fine IF he gets there in time which due to mile/age is not what it was thus he is out of position to hit his shot, (shanking forehands says it all to me, never really seen him do this), add the fact that his Hyper Prostaff Tour 90 has a relatively small head and requires precision and voila ball spray...

also, is it just me, I thought he looked tired throughout the US and he was sweating a lot...