Tennis 2017

bosoxsue

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You were right about that before 11 a.m. prediction. Incredible!

If Venus had won, these Championships would have been quite retro.
 

Sam Ray Not

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One of the more insane stats I've seen (assuming it wasn't a TV typo): in the second set, Federer won 100% of his *second serve* points?

I mean, that's insane for any situation. For a 35 year old in the Wimbledon finals? And ... winning the whole thing without dropping a set? Just, wow. Bravo, Roger.
 
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Rowdy

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I think it was McEnroe who said he was never down a break during the entire tournament!
 

Sam Ray Not

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4/4 on 2nd serve in 2nd set for Roger.
Okay, that's a little less insane than I thought, since the sample's so small. Still pretty ridiculous.

Beyond the on-court dominance, what he's done this season pretty much blows up all known norms of sports aging, right?

Age 22-28 peak (2003-10): 16 grandslams in 7 years
Age 29-30 late peak (2011-12): 1 grandslam in 2 years
Age 31-34 post-peak (2013-16): 0 grandslams in 4 years

Looks for 100% certain like the end of a beautiful career, right?

Age 35 post-post-peak: 2 grandslams in one year, and counting...
 

jsinger121

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Wonder if he will head to flushing as the odds on favorite with both Novak and Murray ailing. His only true challenge may be Rafa.
 

jsinger121

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I feel like he's going to play the non-French slams as long as he can if he's healthy and can compete. He seems to love it out there as much as ever
Agree with this. Playing 3 at his age is the right move especially with the Aussie in January, Wimbledon in July and US Open in late August early September. Makes sense to skip the entire clay season and prep for grass and hard courts.
 

BigMike

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I feel like he's going to play the non-French slams as long as he can if he's healthy and can compete. He seems to love it out there as much as ever
He certainly might. Had he made that decision 5 years ago, he might have a couple more major titles now. On the other hand he might push Nadal, Murray, and Djoker to follow him into more reduced schedules

As important as being physically fresh, he seems to be mentally fresh and clear, in his post dominance era it was his head as much as his body that was getting him in trouble. He would run into those lulls in a match where he would completely fall apart. And he hasn't had those this year
 

bosoxsue

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Wonder if he will head to flushing as the odds on favorite with both Novak and Murray ailing. His only true challenge may be Rafa.
I know the other Swiss had a terrible Wimbledon, but he's the defending champ and could present an obstacle as well if he's rested and ready. I think Big Four should expand to Five to include him.
 

InstaFace

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I know the other Swiss had a terrible Wimbledon, but he's the defending champ and could present an obstacle as well if he's rested and ready. I think Big Four should expand to Five to include him.
Interesting thought, let's examine that notion...

Andy Murray has played in 46 grand slam tournaments, starting at the age of 18 (he's now 30). He has made 9 QFs, 10 SFs, 8 Finals, and been champion 3 times. All of his 8 losses in the championship match have been to Federer (3) and Djokovic (5). He has not failed to make the R16 of a major since USO 2010, and before that, RG 2008.

Stan Wawrinka has played in 50 grand slam tournaments, starting at the age of 20 (he's now 32). He has made 6 QFs, 5 SFs, 1 Finals loss, and 3 major titles. His last 2 Wimbledons he has been eliminated in the 2nd round and 1st round.

Berdych: 54 majors, starting at 18 (now 31). 9 QFs, 3 SFs, 1 Final (2010 Wimbledon to Nadal).
Raonic: 26 majors, starting at 20 (now 26). 4 QFs, 2 SFs, 1 Final (2016 Wimbledon to Murray).
Del Potro: 31 majors, starting at 18 (now 28). 6 QFs, 2 SFs, 0 final losses, 1 championship (2009 USO over Federer).
Cilic: 38 majors, starting at 19 (now 28). 6 QFs, 2 SFs, 1 Final (yesterday), 1 championship (2014 USO over Nishikori).
Tsonga: 38 majors, starting at 20 (now 32). 9 QFs, 5 SFs, 1 Final (2008 AO to Djokovic).
Ferrer: 58 majors, starting at 21 (now 35). 11 QFs, 5 SFs, 1 Final (2013 RG to Nadal).

Here's another point of comparison that merges all of that, plus lesser tournaments: career prize money ($MM). For active players, the leaderboard is:

1. Djokovic: $109.8
2. Federer: $107.3
3. Nadal: $86.1
4. Murray: $60.8
5. Wawrinka: $30.6
6. Ferrer: $30.2
7. Berdych: $28.0
8. Cilic: $18.1
9. Nishikori: $17.3
10. Del Potro: $16.6

Flip a match or two and Wawrinka looks far more like the latter group than he does like Murray (to say nothing of Nadal, Djokovic or Federer). I think even on the actual results, he's far closer to the latter half of the "Top 10 of the Federer Era" than he is to Murray.
 

Sportsbstn

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If there a way to have Federer and Sampras play a match in their primes at Wimbledon, it would be insane. Both are and were just monsters on the surface.
 

Infield Infidel

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It's Shapo's world up in Canada. 143rd ranked 18 yr old Canadian Denis Shapovalov is in the semis of Rogers Cup with wins over Del Potro and Nadal.

He's playing Zverev in the semifinals today. Federer is in the other semi playing right now
 
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BigMike

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Federer wins his semifinal match. He's not really sharp right now, but he has made the finals. Kind of just cruise control at this point. I think simply by making the finals means he moves up to #2 in the world right behind Murray, and will almost certainly pass Murray next week when Murray doesn't defend in Cinci. So whoever makes it further between Roger and Nadal next week seems like they will be #1 heading into the open

Roger must be feeling good at the moment as he was talking about maybe playing the clay court season next year, which I really hope he continues to avoid. There was even some discussion of the 2020 Olympics this week, but Roger says that is too far away right now.
 

BigMike

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Well that sucked.

Roger comes up lame in the finals in Montreal and gets blown off the court by Zverev. Gonna be a wide open US Open it looks like now
 

InstaFace

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I saw the 2nd set, he was definitely not right out there. He's got a week off before the Open, though, so that's good. You just never see him with physical problems, ever.
 

jsinger121

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The draw came out today. Lots of top players missing in Djokovic, Wawrinka, Nishikori, Raonic. The top 3 seeds are Nadal, Murray, Federer. At number 4 is 20 year German up an comer Alexander Zverev.

On the woman's side Simona Halep has a tough start in the 1st round with Maria Sharapova getting a wild card from the USTA.
 

jsinger121

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Federer has an interesting first round matchup in young American Frances Tiafoe who reached the 2nd round of both the Aussie and Wimbledon as a 19 year old this year
 

BigMike

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Roger lost the draw in a big way, ending up with Theim in his quarter, before the potential Nadal Semi, and then Finals. And even all the way to the Tiafoe match, it's a tough bracket. The back injury really pushed him down, as he was certainly going to be in the top 2 if he had been able to show up in Cincy. Given the injury I am not getting my hopes up for this one,

Honestly Zverev feels like the favorite going into this one
 

semsox

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I thought it was a really tough draw for Roger and Rafa. The top half is stacked, while both Murray and Zverev's quarters look pretty straightforward. Hopefully Roger's back is close to 100%.
 

InstaFace

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What a SOB, wait until after the draw and drop out???
yeah, i'm sure he was thinking about how he could play the timing best to screw his chief rivals and give a cakewalk to Querrey and Isner (who are the top seeds remaining in his 8th).

I mean c'mon, you don't think the odds are vastly favoring the possibility that he just really wanted to give it a go, and woke up today and said "ain't gonna happen"?
 

BigMike

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He's been hurt for 3 months, and practiced for a couple days and then after the draw decided he couldn't win so dropped out

"I certainly wouldn't have been hurting myself more by trying to play. It was more a question of whether it would settle down in time," Murray said. "Obviously I kind of ran out of time."

"Was actually practicing OK the last few days," he added, "but it's too sore for me to win the tournament. And ultimately, that's what I was here to try and do."

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/andy-murray-us-open-hip-injury-49440460

I just don't buy that he was healthy enough to commit to the tournament on Thursday morning, and then suddenly Saturday morning he suddenly isn't
 

Schnerres

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At some point next year, you have to expect one of Zverev/Thiem to move into the Top3 and win a Grand Slam.
And it almost cannot get easier for Zverev, considering this draw.
My guesses (which won´t come to realization):
1R: King (BAR) / 168
2R: Vesely (CZE) / 55
3R: Anderson (RSA) / 32
4R: Sock (USA) / 16 or Tomic (AUS) / 146
QF: Isner (USA) / 15
SF: Tsonga (FRA) / 12 or Cilic (CRO) / 7
Final: Nadal (ESP) / 1 or Federer (SUI) / 3 or Thiem (AUT) / 8

It´s entirely possible that he won´t play a single Top10 player until the final. I can´t even find Dimitrov or Nishikori in the draw, so they are probably out with an injury, too. Not much competition on the lower side of the bracket.
 

jsinger121

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Easily one of the weakest US Open's in years with the amount of talent on the men's side missing
 

BigMike

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At some point next year, you have to expect one of Zverev/Thiem to move into the Top3 and win a Grand Slam.
And it almost cannot get easier for Zverev, considering this draw.
My guesses (which won´t come to realization):
1R: King (BAR) / 168
2R: Vesely (CZE) / 55
3R: Anderson (RSA) / 32
4R: Sock (USA) / 16 or Tomic (AUS) / 146
QF: Isner (USA) / 15
SF: Tsonga (FRA) / 12 or Cilic (CRO) / 7
Final: Nadal (ESP) / 1 or Federer (SUI) / 3 or Thiem (AUT) / 8

It´s entirely possible that he won´t play a single Top10 player until the final. I can´t even find Dimitrov or Nishikori in the draw, so they are probably out with an injury, too. Not much competition on the lower side of the bracket.
Dimitrov is in Nadal's bracket as the #7 seed. Nishikori is out with a wrist injury

Hard to imagine an easier path to a final at the start of a major tourney than Zverev has here. Cilic seems the only real threat. All of which probably means he loses to Vesely in the 2nd round
 
He's been hurt for 3 months, and practiced for a couple days and then after the draw decided he couldn't win so dropped out

"I certainly wouldn't have been hurting myself more by trying to play. It was more a question of whether it would settle down in time," Murray said. "Obviously I kind of ran out of time."

"Was actually practicing OK the last few days," he added, "but it's too sore for me to win the tournament. And ultimately, that's what I was here to try and do."

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/andy-murray-us-open-hip-injury-49440460

I just don't buy that he was healthy enough to commit to the tournament on Thursday morning, and then suddenly Saturday morning he suddenly isn't
You're being awfully, awfully unkind to Murray here. He wanted to give himself as much time as possible to see if he would feel well enough to play today (or tomorrow). I think he would have been well within his rights to withdraw from the tournament 30 minutes before the start time of his match; as it is, he did the right thing by pulling out before the tournament started (allowing someone else to take his place), and he did right by himself. When there are only so many majors a player gets in his career, and you're facing a field as weak as this one has become, I don't think the integrity of the bracket seeding should be your main concern.
 

InstaFace

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The men's side is still going to feature some great tennis, even if Nadal/Federer would be in a semi rather than the final.

On the women's side, tonight at 7pm the feature match is about as good as you ever get from R1. Halep got the short straw and drew a vengeful Maria Sharapova, who was given a main-draw wildcard by the USTA (not even a mere qualifying wildcard!), her first GS participation since returning from her doping suspension.
 

jon abbey

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Halep/Sharapova totally living up to its potential so far, Sharapova went up 6-4, 4-1 and then Halep won five straight games, starting set 3 in a bit.
 

jon abbey

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Sharapova with an early break in the third and holds on to win 6-3, but Halep pushed her the whole way, she had a shot to put it back on serve 5-4 but it just hit the top of the net. There might not be another match that high quality in the rest of the women's tournament, wow.
 

jon abbey

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Zverev getting all he can handle so far, up 7-6, 5-5 but has been a few points away from losing both sets. If King can steal a set, good chance this will break the record for latest ever night session, currently 2:26 AM.
 

reggiecleveland

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Sharapova with an early break in the third and holds on to win 6-3, but Halep pushed her the whole way, she had a shot to put it back on serve 5-4 but it just hit the top of the net. There might not be another match that high quality in the rest of the women's tournament, wow.
That was incredible. A bit funny how badly the announcers wanted Sharapova to win. She is worth lots of viewers.
 

InstaFace

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Zverev getting all he can handle so far, up 7-6, 5-5 but has been a few points away from losing both sets. If King can steal a set, good chance this will break the record for latest ever night session, currently 2:26 AM.
Straight sets, no tiebreakers, 2:04am. You were right.
 

jon abbey

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#6 Kerber out easily, 6-3, 6-1 to Osaka of Japan, half-Haitian, half-Japanese, living in Florida.
 

Infield Infidel

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Osaka's story is interesting, when I first saw her last year, the announcers talked about how she grew up on Long Island and could choose to play for the US or Japan, and the Japanese federation offered her the moon to play for Japan, since they don't have many promising young players right now and they could focus on her, whereas the US federation has a number of young players and she could get lost in the mix. She's doing well on the endorsement side over there
 
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BigMike

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Good to see Sean Connery there. I thought I had heard that he wasn't really out and about anymore.

Fed gets broken early and never gets it back in the first set
 

swiftaw

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Anyone going to the open? My wife and I have tickets for Sunday night's session.
 

BigMike

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Anyone going to the open? My wife and I have tickets for Sunday night's session.
I had thought about dashing over tonight. but between the 1K ticket prices, and the fact that I think it would take me 90 minutes each way to get back and forth from work here in Newark, so I decided against it.

Roger is starting to play better, especially in the 3rd set. This one was a complete mismatch at the moment, and Tiafoe looks like some 19 year old kid who is out of his league.

Might have been a good thing for Roger to come out flat, he's going to have to raise the game a few notches if he wants to win this tournament
 

InstaFace

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$1K ticket prices for R1? I think upper-deck Ashe tickets are like $80-90, which comes with grounds passes. I think week 1 grounds passes or lower-value Ashe are some of the best deals in sports, if you can play hooky for a day. Just the night session, maybe less so, but in the early rounds there's still plenty of other non-feature-court action you can catch up close.
 

BigMike

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Now suddenly Roger has one of those evil Roger games, and is in trouble in the 4th set
 

BigMike

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$1K ticket prices for R1? I think upper-deck Ashe tickets are like $80-90, which comes with grounds passes. I think week 1 grounds passes or lower-value Ashe are some of the best deals in sports, if you can play hooky for a day. Just the night session, maybe less so, but in the early rounds there's still plenty of other non-feature-court action you can catch up close.
1k was the better seats, but really it was still in the 500 range for anything where you might see the ball. Even the crappy seats were well over 100 when I was looking yesterday
 

BigMike

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Never post in middle of match, good god Roger has fallen apart. He just pulled an easy shot 20 feet wide of the court, and honestly has played this set like a qualifier