The Tennis Thread

The Tennis Thread

Author
Discussion

chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 18th October 2012
quotequote all
for all things tennisy, I'll start:

big congrats to Heather Watson for becoming the first woman in well a long time to win a WTA tournament, I can see both her and Laura in the top 10 within 2 years!! Is this another long term bet?!

rob999

607 posts

180 months

Thursday 18th October 2012
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Watson isn't good enough to be top 10. Robson....possibly. Solid top 20 for sure.

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Thursday 18th October 2012
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chippy17 said:
big congrats to Heather Watson for becoming the first woman in well a long time to win a WTA tournament,
Have all the rest been draws then? *sniggers*

sorry.


I think they are both doing very well. Best female players for a couple of generations and they are still improving.

chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
Vocal Minority said:
Have all the rest been draws then? *sniggers*

sorry.


I think they are both doing very well. Best female players for a couple of generations and they are still improving.
I wish i could get the joke but am too thick!


chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
how about a little sum up:

Murray loses to Djokovic in Shanghai, I believe he had 5 match points, 2 racquets smashed I guess it was a bit tense

Del Petro finally beat Federer, well deserved win imo, really want him to win another gs, by all accounts a top bloke

Federer pulls out of paris, a wise move but he will lose his no.1 spot as of Monday

Djokovic loses in 1st round of Paris to Querry, even though he won the first 8 games and thus bagelled Querry in first set



Edited by chippy17 on Thursday 1st November 10:10

CarCluster

183 posts

137 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
chippy17 said:
how about a little sum up:

Murray loses to Djokovic in Shanghai, I believe he had 5 match points, 2 racquets smashed I guess it was a bit tense

Del Petro finally beat Federer, well deserved win imo, really want him to win another gs, by all accounts a top bloke

Federer pulls out of paris, a wise move but he will lose his no.1 spot as of Monday

Djokovic loses in 1st round of Paris to Querry, even though he won the first 8 games and thus bagelled Querry in first set



Edited by chippy17 on Thursday 1st November 10:10
Murray gets past a Frenchman in his first match - they usually really perform well at the Paris masters, so that's good going from a 5-5 tight first set. Better hairdo as well. Is there a "Murray thinning on top?" thread?

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
chippy17 said:
how about a little sum up:

Murray loses to Djokovic in Shanghai, I believe he had 5 match points, 2 racquets smashed I guess it was a bit tense

Del Petro finally beat Federer, well deserved win imo, really want him to win another gs, by all accounts a top bloke

Federer pulls out of paris, a wise move but he will lose his no.1 spot as of Monday

Djokovic loses in 1st round of Paris to Querry, even though he won the first 8 games and thus bagelled Querry in first set



Edited by chippy17 on Thursday 1st November 10:10
Nice sum-up, my prediction is that Murray will win at least one Grand Slam in 2013 and will make it to world number one by the end of the year (2013 not 2012!). Although Djokovic will still be a force I suspect he'll never again match his achievements of 2011 and, whilst Federer and Nadal remain great players - and will be a threat in individual tournaments - I'm not sure either will challenge for the top spot again. Del Potro has done well to come back from wrist surgery and I can see him continuing to climb the rankings in 2013; however, next year is Murray's big chance and I think he's good enough - and playing well enough - to take it!

chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
JNW1 said:
chippy17 said:
how about a little sum up:

Murray loses to Djokovic in Shanghai, I believe he had 5 match points, 2 racquets smashed I guess it was a bit tense

Del Petro finally beat Federer, well deserved win imo, really want him to win another gs, by all accounts a top bloke

Federer pulls out of paris, a wise move but he will lose his no.1 spot as of Monday

Djokovic loses in 1st round of Paris to Querry, even though he won the first 8 games and thus bagelled Querry in first set



Edited by chippy17 on Thursday 1st November 10:10
Nice sum-up, my prediction is that Murray will win at least one Grand Slam in 2013 and will make it to world number one by the end of the year (2013 not 2012!). Although Djokovic will still be a force I suspect he'll never again match his achievements of 2011 and, whilst Federer and Nadal remain great players - and will be a threat in individual tournaments - I'm not sure either will challenge for the top spot again. Del Potro has done well to come back from wrist surgery and I can see him continuing to climb the rankings in 2013; however, next year is Murray's big chance and I think he's good enough - and playing well enough - to take it!
I think you are right, I can possibly see him winning 2 (Aus and Wimby) and yes world no.1, 2013 is the year of the Murray

Nadal (assuming fit/off his ped suspension)) and Djokovic will always be a threat as they are all the same age, Fed I think wanted the no.1 spot one more time and pushed himself hard to get it and has I think look knackered and off his game ever since, he will now put all his efforts into slams as he is too old to keep up the schedule required to make it to no.1

Delpotro is also a couple of year younger than Nadal/djoker/Murray so i agree will be a real threat in the next few years

who will take the WTF title, 3 way competition imo Murray/Fed/Delpo?




chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
Murray just been knocked out by 6ft 7 Pole! had a match point

that's twice now he has had match points and then lost, i do that when I play!

psgcarey

611 posts

161 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
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This is the third tournament that Murray has played since the US Open. In all three he has had match points in the matches he lost.

Federer to win the WTF. He's resting this week, Nadal is injured, Djokovic's dad has just been taken ill and is hospital, Murray has forgotten how to close out a match, Ferrer not best suited to indoor hard courts, Berdych a possible dark house, Tsonga out of form, Del Potro probably knackered after playing alot recently....ah but he has just tanked in Paris against Llodra, Tipsarevic, Tipsarevic just no, and whichever of Almagro / Monaco end up as the alternates in case of another withdrawl have no realistic chance.

chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
psgcarey said:
This is the third tournament that Murray has played since the US Open. In all three he has had match points in the matches he lost.

Federer to win the WTF. He's resting this week, Nadal is injured, Djokovic's dad has just been taken ill and is hospital, Murray has forgotten how to close out a match, Ferrer not best suited to indoor hard courts, Berdych a possible dark house, Tsonga out of form, Del Potro probably knackered after playing alot recently....ah but he has just tanked in Paris against Llodra, Tipsarevic, Tipsarevic just no, and whichever of Almagro / Monaco end up as the alternates in case of another withdrawl have no realistic chance.
yes you are quite right re 3 matches he had a mp against Raonic?

hope this is not the start of a trend!?

I hope you are right I would like to see Fed take it, yes I think djokovic is very distracted, forgot about Berdych yes he could pull a surprise

is it not a bit silly to have the tourny the week before wtf as anyone who has def qualified to wtf before the tourny are not going to be massively motivated? seems 3 top players have effectively tanked...

chippy17

Original Poster:

3,740 posts

242 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
chippy17 said:
psgcarey said:
This is the third tournament that Murray has played since the US Open. In all three he has had match points in the matches he lost.

Federer to win the WTF. He's resting this week, Nadal is injured, Djokovic's dad has just been taken ill and is hospital, Murray has forgotten how to close out a match, Ferrer not best suited to indoor hard courts, Berdych a possible dark house, Tsonga out of form, Del Potro probably knackered after playing alot recently....ah but he has just tanked in Paris against Llodra, Tipsarevic, Tipsarevic just no, and whichever of Almagro / Monaco end up as the alternates in case of another withdrawl have no realistic chance.
yes you are quite right re 3 matches he had a mp against Raonic?

hope this is not the start of a trend!?

I hope you are right I would like to see Fed take it, yes I think djokovic is very distracted cannot blame him for that his father is very ill aparently, forgot about Berdych yes he could pull a surprise

is it not a bit silly to have the tourny the week before wtf as anyone who has def qualified to wtf before the tourny are not going to be massively motivated? seems 3 top players have effectively tanked...

psgcarey

611 posts

161 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
There usually is a week between Paris and WTF but this year's Olympics meant re-scheduling.

In other, sadder, tennis news Sergei Bubka Jnr (son of the pole-vaulter) has fallen out of a third floor window in Paris and is in hospital with multiple fractures.

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
chippy17 said:
is it not a bit silly to have the tourny the week before wtf as anyone who has def qualified to wtf before the tourny are not going to be massively motivated? seems 3 top players have effectively tanked...
Yes, it does seem daft to have the Paris Masters the week before the World Tour Finals but I guess part of the problem is that the latter have been brought forward from the end of November to shorten the season? Listening to the commentary on Sky tonight the suggestion is that the Paris Masters could be moved to February so it would sit between the Aussie Open and the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.....

psgcarey

611 posts

161 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
February is when the Golden Swing through South America, and the US hard court season happens, culminating in those two masters events. Suddenly putting a European event in is going to rack up some serious air miles and screw up some body clocks.

Too many tournaments is the real problem, but not all players earn millions each year and need the smaller tournaments to survive.

Players also have to take some responsibility for organising their schedules better, especially when looking at the AT500 commitment tournaments to play.

Most of the top players take 3-4 weeks off after the Australian Open and Wimbledon AND the US open. They do not play all season without a break.

Move the ATP500 tournaments from last week in to September, and then you have Shanghai Masters, a week of ATP250s the top players can rest for (Unless you're Del Potro when you do play and schedule three weeks straight of tennis), then Paris Masters, week off, WTF.

Job done.

Unless you are Roddick, who used to complain about having to hang around in London for a week before the WTF, as he wanted to go home to the US of A. (Yes I know he has retired).


CarCluster

183 posts

137 months

Wednesday 7th November 2012
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Just watch Murray in another nearly-but-not-quite mood. It seems the difference between him and Djokovic is that Nole plays the big points like he has forgotten the score, and Murray plays hoping his opponent is aware of the score and will choke.
Good to see Andy has such a close scoreline when he has far more that he can improve:
1. Get to the net more, especially when opening up the court (he has the most natural talent and feel on the volley compared to his rivals).
2. Improve his body language still more. He is turning frustration into aggression a little more than the shoulder slumping but it's still there.

I hope he is challenging for No.1 middle of next year...

He must also be the worst at getting the Hawkeye challenges right!

Edited by CarCluster on Friday 9th November 19:51

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Sunday 11th November 2012
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Well, semi-final day at the O2 today and to be honest I can't see anything other than a Djokovic/Murray final. Del Potro has done really well to make the semis after losing his opening round robin match but I think Djokovic will be just too strong for him this afternoon; nice to see DP back towards the top after his lay-off following wrist surgery though!

Federer and Murray is possibly more difficult to call but I don't think Federer is playing as well as he was a year ago and, perhaps more significantly, I think Murray's got in his head a bit. I know the Olympics wasn't a Grand Slam (or even a Masters 1000) but the way Murray took him apart in the final must have had an effect on Federer mentally and when the two played in Shanghai a few weeks ago there looked to be only one winner. It will be interesting to see how it goes this evening but if I was a betting man my money would be on Murray!

Perhaps a bit of a gaffe from the organisers with the scheduling yesterday but Ferrer and Tipsarevic gave the crowd a decent game last night despite it being a dead rubber; tough on Ferrer for him not to go through but that's the way of the round robin format!

psgcarey

611 posts

161 months

Sunday 11th November 2012
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Oops.

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Monday 12th November 2012
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Knew there was a reason why I'm not a betting man....! paperbag

psgcarey

611 posts

161 months

Monday 12th November 2012
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Federer will be very dangerous in the big tournaments next year. Now he is 31 he is exempt from the commitments of tournaments you have to play for being in the top thirty at year-end, so he can manage his playing schedule to suit himself and be at peak fitness for the grand slams etc...