The Tennis Thread

[chippy17]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

you are quite right, they may be close to average speed of groundies but it is a much 'heavier' ball being hit by the blokes, a lot more work on the ball, I occasionally hit with ex wta players (in the 500-800 ranking range) and I have no problem at all but atp players no way and I am just an decent middle aged hack! Plus I think the men hold back on pace a little bit to achieve spin, angle etc whereas the women smack it as hard as they can everytime! Yes one forehand from Nadal and it would be pretty much over! What does annoy me about wta players at the moment is their total inability to volley...

[chippy17]

joshleb said:

In other news, had my first Local Tennis League match of the year last night.

Great game, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-5.

I came back from 2-5 down in the final set with my opponent having a match point.

One of the best games I've played in a while, good baseline rallies and also a bit of volleyball at the net.

Just need to sort out the rest of my matches now!

good win, clutch!

[chippy17]

So what tournaments do we think Federer will play in the run up to US? Cincy for sure imo but will he go to Canada? my gut is no as at not been a happy hunting ground and could tire him out...

Will Murray be ok for US swing?

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I agree Zverev has all the tools to be a slam winner, just has to get better at the 5 setters

Federer has tweeaked his back, I don't think he was ever going to beat Zverev as he looked lacklustre the whole tournament but you could see it in the second set, he was just rolling his serves in and not really pushing to get to balls, kinda glad it happened here and not at Cinicnatti or a few days before US

there are some great hi res vis on you tube at the moment of Fed 05/06/07 sorry but he was better back then, peak Fed!!

[chippy17]

realise that the top players have been dropping like flies but a good win for Grigor yesterday, had the pleasure to meet him before Wimby at the NTC, a nice guy and fully deserved with all the work he puts in...

[chippy17]

JNW1 said:

Robbo66 said:

Kyrigos....what an odious display of petulance and bad sportsmanship....another ‘tank’ could well be on the cards

Yes and apparently he's followed-up that petulant display in the Beijing final by walking off court after losing the first set tie-break in his second round match in Shanghai! No injury forcing his retirement, just unhappy some calls hadn't gone his way - seems he'd been muttering about quitting if he ended-up losing the set and he did!

He is without doubt a real talent but he just lets himself down time and time again. People will have paid good money to watch an afternoon's tennis in a Masters 1000 event and surely they're entitled to expect better than that?

then sent a tweet out saying he had a tummy ache!!! he was booed off the court and rightly so, as you say super talented but what an arse!

[chippy17]

Robbo66 said:

I'm not so sure re 'super talented'. His foot movement is dire at times, so he tries the impossible ..at the wrong time too. Rafa just rolled them back in.

His signature open stance, flat footed flatter than flat haymaker forehand, comes off 30% of the time at best. He hits some with his right foot in front of his left, he's way too open.

Mentally, he's a busted flush. Think he knows he's not good enough as well, so plays the 'cant be arsed' card to cover.

I was taking in terms of timing and natural ability, touch and feel. The rest requires hard work, technically yes he is lacking. I actually enjoy watching him play when is is not being an arse!

I think he could be good enough just does no work, he looks unfit too.

'Rolling back' is a relative term when it comes to the Rafa we are seeing at the moment, he just looks unbeatable!

[chippy17]

JNW1 said:

So another title for Federer today at his home event in Basel and that moves him to 2nd on his own in the all time list (at 95 he's now 1 ahead of Lendl and 14 behind the all-time record of 109 held by Connors). ) Personally I never thought anyone would get within striking distance of that record held by Connors but I'm now thinking Fed might actually beat it as if he plays for another two or three seasons - and stays reasonably free from injury - I can certainly see him winning another 15 titles.

What he's achieved already is remarkable but to get to 110 titles in such a competitive era really would be quite outstanding!

it is astonishing that he is playing so well, he has skipped Paris but probably a good move, save me from looking them all up what were the quality of Connors titles?!

[chippy17]

well Cilic just too strong for Kyle, not sure how injured he was but movement seemed restricted

must admit I thought Berdman would give Fed a harder time as he had been playing so well

I can't see Chung beating Fed, so assuming Fed in final I think it is all up to which Cilic turns up, US Open 2014 Cilic or Wimby 2017 Cilic!

[chippy17]

JagLover said:

BlackLabel said:

Another superb performance by the GOAT. A bit dissapointing that Chung quit a slam semi final over a blister. One minute he’s walking and moving fine, the next he just gives up.

When you think of some of the other top players battling on with major injuries, that would be made worse by playing, quitting a grand slam semi final due to blisters is rather strange.

Almost a sort of cowardice because he wanted an excuse for how badly he was getting beaten.

agree, it wasn't the second round of a 250 so to quit like that was gutless imo, Fed was playing quite well but his serve was only at 30% approx and Chung was still getting mauled, perhaps Chung saw that...

[chippy17]

Is there anyone who can stop Nadal on clay??

Truly astonishing how he has been mauling opponents recently, I see a repeat of last year across the whole clay court swing...I realise he has always dominated this surface but at least he had some competition in days gone by, seems noone is really that close at the moment

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Stan the Bat said:

He played better than I expected after the layoff.

Glad he got a hard match, an easy one wouldn't have told him a lot.

yes much better, he took Kyrgios by surprise!

I did think he looked a bit stiff/walking oddly but his movement seemed fine when playing so...didn't think he had quite enough grunt on his groundstrokes but that will come with matches under his belt

[chippy17]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I agree, Fed was far from his best and was contending with a bout of Glandular Fever so the actual tennis not of the highest standard, but as you say it was the drama, but for me the 09 final had equal drama

[chippy17]

kentlad said:

I've started playing tennis again (had lessons when i was a teen & played to an ok standard). I've just dug my old tennis racquet out after about 8 years sat in the garage. I've changed the grip so it's actually usable. Would i need to get the strings replaced? It was a pretty basic starter racquet back when i bought it.

https://www.tennisnuts.com/babolat-contact-team-te... - this is the racquet.

Or would i be better off buying an upgrade than spending any more money on the current racquet? I'm planning on playing a few times a month with the view to playing in my gyms league eventually.

in answer to your string question, yes I would get a restring definitely, 8 years is a long time! I would however just ask your local stringer to put in some standard, not expensive, synthetic gut to start with

if you are going to play long term i would look to change the racket at some point, you can demo rackets these days from various shops to get a feel for what you like

[chippy17]

Blackpuddin said:

Chances of the strings being anything like what they were before 8 years sat in a garage are slim. Restring is less than £20. Think I'd be looking at buying a decent (and more recent) secondhand racket myself though.

beat me to it!

good point on secondhand, you can find a lot of rackets here and if you sell them on if you don't like them I doubt you will lose any money:

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?forums/e...

I have actually bought and sold a few and made a little bit of cash

[chippy17]

Blackpuddin said:

What is the most accurate way of determining your grip size? I've messed about with so many rackets over the years with extra wraps and what have you that I've lost track of what I 'should' actually be using! Plus I'm hoping that having the right size grip might play a part in stopping the wrist problems that have kept me off the court for the last few months.

the traditional way is to grip the racket and see if you can slide your little finger in between your thumb area and the fingers, if that makes any sense

the right grip size is important and could be contributing to your wrist issues but your wrist issues could be any number of things, for example you could have a very head heavy racket which is putting extra strain on your wrist, could be how tightly you are gripping the racket (pro players grip the racket very loosely) the overgrip could be old and not giving you the grip you need so you are subconsciously gripping it tightly, etc etc

[chippy17]

kentlad said:

Thanks guys. Will take a look at that second hand site. Won't bother with re-stringing then! Sounds like that'd be more than the racquet is worth!

tennis geek hat on;

you are now entering a minefield of weight, balance, flex, string pattern with regards to rackets (not to mention literally thousands of different strings to choose from) if you are a geek like me you will know all this but if you want any help let me know

[chippy17]

Blackpuddin said:

chippy17 said:

Blackpuddin said:

What is the most accurate way of determining your grip size? I've messed about with so many rackets over the years with extra wraps and what have you that I've lost track of what I 'should' actually be using! Plus I'm hoping that having the right size grip might play a part in stopping the wrist problems that have kept me off the court for the last few months.

the traditional way is to grip the racket and see if you can slide your little finger in between your thumb area and the fingers, if that makes any sense

the right grip size is important and could be contributing to your wrist issues but your wrist issues could be any number of things, for example you could have a very head heavy racket which is putting extra strain on your wrist, could be how tightly you are gripping the racket (pro players grip the racket very loosely) the overgrip could be old and not giving you the grip you need so you are subconsciously gripping it tightly, etc etc

Thanks Chippy. So if you can slide your little finger in, is that correct or wrong? Is there meant to be space between the two, or no space? Sorry to be a bit OCD but I've always felt the finger space thing is very hit and miss. Overgrips have always been regularly changed so it's not that.

matron! meant to be relatively tight! yes that was what I was always taught, although the below attachment says index finger:

https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/LC/Gripsize.html

[chippy17]

kentlad said:

chippy17 said:

tennis geek hat on;

you are now entering a minefield of weight, balance, flex, string pattern with regards to rackets (not to mention literally thousands of different strings to choose from) if you are a geek like me you will know all this but if you want any help let me know

Thanks mate, i'll keep that in mind. I just want to get back to the standard i was when i was a youngster! My Serve is still half decent & my forehand 'ok' but everything else was pretty poor. Think i need to get back into the swing of things before worrying about weight, flex, string patterns etc .

what standard were you as a youngster?

of course but choosing a racket to improve and grow with means you want to get it right, you don't have to worry about those things but you want a half decent racket

[chippy17]

North West Tom said:

BlackLabel said:

The old guard are struggling somewhat at the atp finals.

Rafa struggled, but Thiem has been absolutely on fire against Roger and Novak. Got my tickets for tomorrow night!

cracking match last night, deserved win for Thiem and his attacking tennis, Djokovic seemed a bit too passive, much faster surface this year, Fed looked a bit slow on this surface