Tennis 2021

jon abbey

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Tsitsipas! That is two comebacks from two sets down this tournament, I hope he has energy for Medvedev because I would love to see Novak/Tsitsipas in the final.
 

jon abbey

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They said only the third time Nadal has ever lost a two set lead.
 

jezza1918

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Either Med or Tsitsipas would be a fun matchup vs djoker. I do think Medvedev/djokovic might last five plus hours so I’ll root for that (I’ve also got money on Med being the first “next gen” guy to win a slam so there’s selfish interests at play as well).
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Build the perfect player, using these categories...

Intelligence (tennis intelligence, not academic intelligence or IQ)
Serve
Return of serve
Forehand
Backhand
Net play
Quickness
Fitness
Competitiveness
Power

I'm not the most knowledgeable tennis person here, but here's how I'd do it:

Intelligence: Federer - seems to always come up with the right play
Serve: Sampras - always seemed to get the ace when needed; explosive
Return of serve: Agassi - scored so many points attacking opponent's serve
Forehand: Nadal - generating that kind of spin is amazing
Backhand: Djokovic - absolutely incredible
Net play: McEnroe - absolute genius at the net
Quickness: Chang - never seen a quicker player who can cover so much ground
Fitness: I don't know this one
Competitiveness: Federer - who I think it the greatest player of all time (by a hair)
Power: Muster - I know I'm going old school here but the guy just hit sledgehammers all day long
 

jezza1918

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Build the perfect player, using these categories...

Intelligence (tennis intelligence, not academic intelligence or IQ)
Serve
Return of serve
Forehand
Backhand
Net play
Quickness
Fitness
Competitiveness
Power

I'm not the most knowledgeable tennis person here, but here's how I'd do it:

Intelligence: Federer - seems to always come up with the right play
Serve: Sampras - always seemed to get the ace when needed; explosive
Return of serve: Agassi - scored so many points attacking opponent's serve
Forehand: Nadal - generating that kind of spin is amazing
Backhand: Djokovic - absolutely incredible
Net play: McEnroe - absolute genius at the net
Quickness: Chang - never seen a quicker player who can cover so much ground
Fitness: I don't know this one
Competitiveness: Federer - who I think it the greatest player of all time (by a hair)
Power: Muster - I know I'm going old school here but the guy just hit sledgehammers all day long
Hard to quibble with any of those...but to add to the convo Id personally slot in Ferrer for quickness, Murray for competitiveness, and Del Potro for power. Fitness is definitely a tough one, since there are a few different definitions - but I'd go with Nadal.
 

jezza1918

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To add some female players, I would add Hingis for tennis IQ and Serena for competitiveness.
I came up with a mental list for female players, but I didnt start regularly watching WTA until I started working in tennis around 2006...so I felt dumb posting a list that didnt include Graf or Martina!
 

Matty005

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I came up with a mental list for female players, but I didnt start regularly watching WTA until I started working in tennis around 2006...so I felt dumb posting a list that didnt include Graf or Martina!
I think Martina has to be up there with fitness too. She was ahead of her game in that department. Courier was a beast fitness wise too.
 

jon abbey

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Seesaw match between Brady and Muchova, Brady up a break at 4-2 in the 3rd currently.
 

Verryfunny2

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Jul 22, 2005
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Build the perfect player, using these categories...

Intelligence (tennis intelligence, not academic intelligence or IQ)
Serve
Return of serve
Forehand
Backhand
Net play
Quickness
Fitness
Competitiveness
Power

I'm not the most knowledgeable tennis person here, but here's how I'd do it:

Intelligence: Federer - seems to always come up with the right play
Serve: Sampras - always seemed to get the ace when needed; explosive
Return of serve: Agassi - scored so many points attacking opponent's serve
Forehand: Nadal - generating that kind of spin is amazing
Backhand: Djokovic - absolutely incredible
Net play: McEnroe - absolute genius at the net
Quickness: Chang - never seen a quicker player who can cover so much ground
Fitness: I don't know this one
Competitiveness: Federer - who I think it the greatest player of all time
Power: Muster - I know I'm going old school here but the guy just hit sledgehammers all day long
For fitnes two names spring to mind: Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier.
 

jon abbey

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Much like Thiem in the match after his great five set comeback against Krygios, Tsitsipas had no real fight left in him after battling back down two sets against Nadal. That isn't to take anything away from Medvedev, who was fantastic and who should give Djokovic all he can handle in the final.
 

cromulence

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I'd normally be rooting for Tsitsipas, but all I wanted from this match was for it to be in straights so whoever wins isn't worn out for Djokovic. Mission accomplished. I am onboard, temporarily the #1 Medvedev fan in the world. Let's do this, you surly bastard.
 

jon abbey

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Medvedev has won three of their last four meetings, 4-3 career to Novak.
 

jezza1918

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If Med weren't going for his first Grand Slam, I'd pick him. It's amazing just how hard it is to close out a match like this...especially against a guy like Djokovic. Thiem, the most recent breakthrough, lost his first 3 attempts (including a 5 set less to Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open when he had a 2 set to 1 advantage); and was only able to finally win after a complete choke from Zverev.
 
Osaka's win was perhaps a little closer than the score and match length might indicate - Brady didn't play well at the start of the second set, but otherwise she really hung in well and matched Osaka for power. She just didn't quite play the big points well enough; the sitter she missed at 4-5, 30-40 will probably haunt her for a while.
 

jon abbey

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Osaka didn't play especially well for her, I thought, especially in the first set she got a bit lucky at the end. That is a tribute to how great she is, Muguruza is the only one who took a set from her here.

4 Grand Slams already at 23 ties her with Clijsters, 1 behind Hingis and Sharapova and just 3 behind Venus (!!).
 

jon abbey

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Anyone else awake for this? Big historical match, very even on paper, I'm psyched.
 

jon abbey

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They were on serve at 5-6 in the first set and Novak played an incredible game to break and steal the set. That started a streak where Novak broke him 5 of 6 times and that was basically it.
 

jon abbey

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Sampras 14, Federer 0, Nadal 0, Djokovic 0 (after 2002)
Sampras 14, Federer 9, Nadal 2, Djokovic 0 (after 2006)
Federer 16, Sampras 14, Nadal 9, Djokovic 1 (after 2010)
Federer 17, Sampras 14, Nadal 14, Djokovic 7 (after 2014)
Federer 19, Nadal 16, Sampras 14, Djokovic 12 (after 2017)
Federer 20, Nadal 20, Djokovic 18, Sampras 14 (now)
 

jon abbey

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You didn't miss too much after a tight first set, Thiem/Krygios and Tsitsipas/Nadal were the highlights of the men's side from what I saw.
 

shawnrbu

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Nadal and Djokovic potentially to meet in the French semis. Meanwhile Medvedev is the 2 seed and has +4000 odds to win the French since he has such poor results on clay.
 

jezza1918

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Nadal and Djokovic potentially to meet in the French semis. Meanwhile Medvedev is the 2 seed and has +4000 odds to win the French since he has such poor results on clay.
Fed also in the top half with Nadal and Djokovic, in Djoker's quarter but I'd be surprised if he makes it that far. On the Women's side...Serena is in Osaka's half, but Serena's quarter is kind of loaded with prior slam champs like Kerber, Kvitova, & Azarenka.
 
On the Women's side...Serena is in Osaka's half, but Serena's quarter is kind of loaded with prior slam champs like Kerber, Kvitova, & Azarenka.
None of those players you've just named have any real chance of winning the tournament - certainly on current form. Osaka is a mess on clay, Serena is rusty, Kerber is ancient history, etc. A much more pertinent point is that Barty and Swiatek are both in the top half of the draw; like Nadal-Djokovic, methinks that would have been the most likely final, if they had been kept on opposite sides of the draw.
 

jezza1918

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None of those players you've just named have any real chance of winning the tournament - certainly on current form. Osaka is a mess on clay, Serena is rusty, Kerber is ancient history, etc. A much more pertinent point is that Barty and Swiatek are both in the top half of the draw; like Nadal-Djokovic, methinks that would have been the most likely final, if they had been kept on opposite sides of the draw.
Oh no disagreement here. But if Serena is facing any of the players I mentioned I do feel like it’s kind of much watch tv for the tennis masses.
I am also rooting for Osaka to make it to at least the second week, if only to see the continued reaction to her not doing press conferences.
 

jezza1918

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Well Kerber certainly won’t be facing Serena as she went down quickly to 139th ranked Anhelina Kalinina 2&4.
Osaka moves on, and I’m assuming she stuck to her word and didn’t do a presser meaning she should be fined 20k. Im all for covid safety, but I do find it strange with so few fans after watching the bruins play in front of a packed house last night
 

jon abbey

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Assuming we’re not taking Medvedev on clay seriously, the road to the final is wide open for Tsitsipas now.
 

jezza1918

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jon abbey

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