The Tennis Thread

[Paddingtonwolf]

Nishikori showed signs of the pressure there. Some hope, but Murray needs to find his A game to put this away.

 

[slink]

Much better in that game, Murray leads 5-4.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Nishikori holds easily though. Bloody hell, I need to go to bed. Hurry up Mr Murray.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Bugger.

 

[slink]

Awful from Murray, serve all over the place and Nishikori breaks and will serve for the match. Nishikori has played some great tennis but Murray not been at his best.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Murray's head has completely gone.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Murray out.

 

[slink]

Nishikori wins, some match but Murray's head went and that cost him the match. As well as he played there can't see Nishikori beating Del Potro or Wawrinka never mind Novak.

 

[Alan]

Tournament tennis is so fucking boring these days. The gap between the two best players (or, in this case, one best) and everyone else is so massive, it's hard to imagine anyone beating Djokovic short of old age.

Honestly, when's the last time someone who wasn't supposed to win a major actually went and did it? Phillipoussous? Gaudio?

Looked through some stats just now and other than Gaudio and Ivanisevic, no major upsets stand out.

At least on his day Murray can beat Novak (we've seen him do it), but short of playing his absolute best it won't happen. As for everyone else, even at their max they couldn't/can't beat Djokovic. Just seems like too much of a forgone conclusion.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Wawrinka is *extremely* flaky but can beat anyone, well he has two Grand Slams. I wouldn't say he was expected to get near winning either. Del Potro definitely wasn't expected to win Flushing Meadows when he did.

There are some extremely good players on the edge of winning tournaments but the mental hold Djokovic and Murray have over them is immense, that's really why they rarely get beaten - great win by Nishikori the other night but I think the hold ups and distractions caused Murray to beat himself really, he didn't have an 8-1 winning record against Kei by accident. But those two can't and won't last forever, they're both 30 in eight months' time and even Fed has only won ONE Slam since he passed that age.

 

[Alan]

Sure, I know the guard will change soon (just as you rightly point out, Federer and Nadal are basically non-factors now).

I just want there to be a generation of players who you legitimately feel could challenge each other on a regular basis. More than just two going at it every other finals. Like, three or four (the more the better but realistically it can only be a small elite) at the same-ish level.

I know some people find Serena levels of domination compelling, but in individual sports like tennis I just can't get consistently excited about rooting for an upset rather than watching a competitive match. That said, I nearly pissed myself cheering last night when Serena lost.

 

[Nando]

Cilic won the US two years ago. Personally I find tournament tennis absolutely compelling. It's been an absolute joy to watch Fed, Rafa, Novak and Andy battle at phenomenal levels.

 

[Trips]

Wawrinka is *extremely* flaky but can beat anyone, well he has two Grand Slams. I wouldn't say he was expected to get near winning either. Del Potro definitely wasn't expected to win Flushing Meadows when he did.

There are some extremely good players on the edge of winning tournaments but the mental hold Djokovic and Murray have over them is immense, that's really why they rarely get beaten - great win by Nishikori the other night but I think the hold ups and distractions caused Murray to beat himself really, he didn't have an 8-1 winning record against Kei by accident. But those two can't and won't last forever, they're both 30 in eight months' time and even Fed has only won ONE Slam since he passed that age.

The thing with Fed only winning one Slam since turning 30 is that he had Rafa, Novak and Murray consistently challenging. Murray and Novak don't seem to have to worry about that as there isn't really anyone breaking through.

Of the 8 final spots this year Murray and Novak have taken 6, with only Wawrinka and Raonic filling the rest. Apart from Raonic there is no one I see consistently challenging Murray and Djok for the next couple of years

 

[Kenny]

Davis Cup Semi Final getting interesting.

GB lost both games on Friday and looked down and out. The Murray's won the doubles and then Murray won his game this morning to level it up.

Final game for Dan Evans....was expected to play Del Potro but after putting him the doubles on top of an epic game with Murray they decided to play Mayer. Massive boost and Evans has won the 1st set.

 

[Kenny]

Slightly gone wrong..1-1 and 2 breaks down in the 3rd.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

2-1 to Argentina and looking like this service game could be the key to the whole thing.

Frankly a win would be getting out of jail.

 

[Kenny]

GB lose.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Not a bad defence to get to the semi final. I am sure the Murrays will push us to that level again next year as well.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You've got Evans and Edmund pushing for the top 50 now, if they can continue to progress then it's a very good squad of players. Argentina are a serious team with JMDP back firing so no disgrace at all.

 

[Lord Knows]

Its hard not to like Juan Martin Del Potro especially after all he's gone through in recent years.