The Tennis Thread
Discussion
Justices said:
psgcarey said:
Across all sports I always think that the "greats" should retire gracefully whilst still at the top.
Something like boxing or where there's a serious risk to your mortality, I agree (assuming you have family to support/kids etc). But nobody should retire from doing anything until they themselves are good and ready. Listening to media, armchair athletes, other athletes and anyone else for that matter is the worst thing you can do. You don't lose what you've achieved, your name doesn't disappear from the mountain of trophies you've won, the guys that play do so because they have a passion and a belief that they can compete and win at the highest levels. Perhaps the results don't come every week as they did because it takes an incredible amount of energy, but so long as you can still pull them out that's all that matters. It's a new challenge for an athlete. Roger is proving this point right now while duffing up Del Potro in Paris.Tommy Haas would've have stopped LONG ago if he'd listened to 99% of the people around him too. Instead he believed in his abilities and now at 35 is #12 in the world and looks wonderful on court, very composed and puts these youngsters to shame out there. US player Brian Baker had to go against the very national association that should have been supporting him on his comeback route from incredible injuries. Sadly he suffers injuries like you wouldn't believe, but never gives up.
The quitting mentality when things aren't going so well all of the time are what separates the men from the boys IMO.
Edited by Justices on Friday 1st November 16:11
oh hang I did that earlierI almost admire Hewitt more for staying the course and playing, to me it does not effect his record, yes Brian Baker what a story...
when Haas does retire he would make a great motivational speaker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gQ2NhteF44
I believe he went on to win that match as well
psgcarey said:
it is most bizarrehe said it was to do with his shoes and once he put on a new pair he was fine...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think I can out armchair you; I am going to make it complicated!Federer's weakness has always been his backhand but this is in comparison to arguably the greatest forehand of all time and his supreme touch so it is actually a pretty good shot but it was developed during an era of much faster courts with lower bounces (2hbh is the go to these days imo because of the slow speed of the courts and relatively higher bounces and players using way more top spin etc), opponents have always gone for his backhand which actually improved it quite a lot
if you look at his backhand 2003-2007 (prime Fed) it was attacked but he was able to play better shots because of the court speed and bounce but also because he was quicker around the court and could set up his backhand better (1hbh is technically more difficult to get right), for example you hardly ever see Fed go dtl with his backhand these days but in prime Fed era it was a shot he used a lot and it became a proper weapon but on these courts just smack a shoulder height ball into his backhand and job done
good example of on fire backhand from 2003, a lot of dtl backhands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7L_MCt9yTU
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I am not saying we should go back to the days of; serve, one shot, rally over; but I think it has gone too far the other way, I read the other day that in terms of court speed Wimbledon was slower than the US?!
and yes you are spot on the convergence is not good either, makes the achievements of Borg look even more incredible as there was a massive speed difference between French and Wimbledon and took quite a bit of adjustment, does that make Borg a more talented/naturally gifted player than say Djokovic?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think pants is a bit far and as we agree it is his weakness but I think he could more than hold his ownin an interview once he even thanked the rest of the locker room for targeting his backhand as it has made it a better shot which it was for a while, but now I think with age it is rearing its head again, as I said earlier where has hit dtl backhand gone and even when he does try it it invariably misses?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I am lucky that I play at Cromer tennis club in the good weather and they have 12 grass courts that have been there for about 100 years and they are fantastic, fast but not skiddy, true bounce most of the time and are a joy, on a hot summers afternoon there is nothing better. Queens grass is superb, dare I say it their centre court is better than Wimby centre court and faster!In winter I play either at Virgin in Norwich or Easton College (LTA centre for the East) and the virgin courts are nice but very slow and yes after a set the balls are completely shagged, sandpaper. Easton is faster and doesn't chew the balls at all...
psgcarey said:
Agreed, but when chippy17 said "and yes you are spot on the convergence is not good either, makes the achievements of Borg look even more incredible as there was a massive speed difference between French and Wimbledon and took quite a bit of adjustment, does that make Borg a more talented/naturally gifted player than say Djokovic?"
You replied with "Personally, I would say no. The standard now is out of this world. I don't think Borg's generation was even close".
Unfair comparison was my point, and "talented/naturally gifted player" is not the same as fitter and can hit the ball harder, anyway. And yes I still agree the quality today is great.
Sorry, I have no idea how to do that multi-quote malarky.
sorry boys did not mean to start a cross generation argument!You replied with "Personally, I would say no. The standard now is out of this world. I don't think Borg's generation was even close".
Unfair comparison was my point, and "talented/naturally gifted player" is not the same as fitter and can hit the ball harder, anyway. And yes I still agree the quality today is great.
Sorry, I have no idea how to do that multi-quote malarky.
yes I was talking about talent not power/fitness etc and to compare with a sprinter is not the right comparison, I think Borg is more talented and had to adapt to a greater extent
Edited by chippy17 on Friday 8th November 17:25
anonymous said:
[redacted]
yes racquets have not changed a great deal since graphite first came out and most players will play with the racquet they had as juniors or young pros, ie Federer is using a HyperProStaff Tour 90 from early 2000s...the big change more recently is the strings (ie not 30 years ago but 5-10 years ago) all being equal (racquets, fitness regimes etc) you really think Borg would get thrashed? I certainly don't, he played a D1 US College player recently, ie top US teenager, and the guy got one game, Borg barely broke a sweat
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Castle is the worst commentator possibly of all time across all sports, I wish he would just f
k off, he literally ruins tennis coverage on BBC.talking of commentators, who are your favourites?
even though he gets a bit over excited sometimes my fave is Robbie Koenig, some classic lines (say in South African accent):
"That was a thunderbolt!"
"Well he's working the angle here, like a South African diamond cutter!"
"That's why they pay him the big bucks!"
'Call 911. "enter player name" has just got out of jail'
"He just vaapawrised that ball down the line!"
'all over that like white on rice'
About LLorda's amazing volleying :
"...reactions of a mongoose on amphetamines"
"...like a guard dog on duty. No one is getting past me!".
"It's a half volley open stance with a single handed backhand from the base line...last time we saw one of those, god was a boy"
"His Royal Roginess"
after Federer hits a backhand winner down the line:
“That backhand is an oil painting and Novak is acknowledging the work of art”
I could go on! He also knows his tennis...
Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 12th November 13:34
Dominic H said:
chippy17 said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Castle is the worst commentator possibly of all time across all sports, I wish he would just fk off, he literally ruins tennis coverage on BBC.talking of commentators, who are your favourites?
even though he gets a bit over excited sometimes my fave is Robbie Koenig, some classic lines (say in South African accent):
"That was a thunderbolt!"
"Well he's working the angle here, like a South African diamond cutter!"
"That's why they pay him the big bucks!"
'Call 911. "enter player name" has just got out of jail'
"He just vaapawrised that ball down the line!"
'all over that like white on rice'
About LLorda's amazing volleying :
"...reactions of a mongoose on amphetamines"
"...like a guard dog on duty. No one is getting past me!".
"It's a half volley open stance with a single handed backhand from the base line...last time we saw one of those, god was a boy"
"His Royal Roginess"
after Federer hits a backhand winner down the line:
“That backhand is an oil painting and Novak is acknowledging the work of art”
I could go on! He also knows his tennis...
Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 12th November 13:34
yes thread revival underway
Becker for Djokovic
and
Edberg for Federer
good moves or not?
Fed playing with new racquet, looks like a 98 16x19? thought he is looking a bit leaner and shaper but we shall see...
Murray looking a bit rusty but was Mayer was playing well...hope he can get match tough before Aus starts
roll on the Aus Open
Becker for Djokovic
and
Edberg for Federer
good moves or not?
Fed playing with new racquet, looks like a 98 16x19? thought he is looking a bit leaner and shaper but we shall see...
Murray looking a bit rusty but was Mayer was playing well...hope he can get match tough before Aus starts
roll on the Aus Open
anonymous said:
[redacted]
yes Becker/Djoker not too sure about that, perhaps Becker doing it to lose weight!Fed/Edberg makes more sense to me
from what I have heard it is a bigger frame but not the same one as the ones he tried towards the end of last year...using it at Brisbane Open and was hitting pretty well with it...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
yes it does look a bit Head, could be a derivative of the Blade 98:http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Wilson_Blade_98_16...
I suspect it is a mould made just for him though...
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