Tennis 2021

jon abbey

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Novak had a pretty easy road through Wimbledon, but he is going to earn this title if he gets it, Berrettini next, then probably Zverev and then a likely well rested Medvedev.
 

jon abbey

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Andreescu and Sakkari with a late night slugfest, they have split tiebreaks and are going to a third, already 2:29 in. Another set that long will challenge the 2:26 AM latest finish ever, it’s 1:15 now.
 

jsinger121

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Novak had a pretty easy road through Wimbledon, but he is going to earn this title if he gets it, Berrettini next, then probably Zverev and then a likely well rested Medvedev.
This will also be the third grand slam meeting with Berrettini this year. They met in the QF at Roland Garros and obviously the final at Wimbledon.
 

BigMike

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We've got a match now, and sadly , now have to wait for Leylah
 

BigMike

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Medvedev survives. But kind of looked like old Medvedev today. He is a great counterpuncher, but still not sure he has that knockout punch he needs against a fellow top 5 kind of player
 

jon abbey

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Wow! Osaka and Kerber and Svitolina in a row, it does not get easier next against the winner of Sabalenka/Krejcicova but it is the semis, so it shouldn't be easy.

Three matches away from Fernandez/Raducanu 18 year old final.
 

BigMike

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Yeah that is just plain shocking. Kid knows his body best, and he wasn't playing his best tonight, but part of the problem of being 18, is you don't know how rare your opportunity is. He might be the next star in the game, or he may never reach this point again.
 

mauf

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Yeah that is just plain shocking. Kid knows his body best, and he wasn't playing his best tonight, but part of the problem of being 18, is you don't know how rare your opportunity is. He might be the next star in the game, or he may never reach this point again.
Assuming his condition was deteriorating, he wasn’t going to win the match. He was wise not to risk serious injury.

Really bad job by McEnroe. In the post-match analysis, Gilbert used analytics to show that Alcaraz’s serve velocity was down, and FAA smelled the blood in the water and was creeping up and taking the ball early on his returns. This is the sort of thing a commentator is supposed to notice, provided he’s not too busy smoking his own exhaust to notice.
 

jon abbey

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Really bad job by McEnroe. In the post-match analysis, Gilbert used analytics to show that Alcaraz’s serve velocity was down, and FAA smelled the blood in the water and was creeping up and taking the ball early on his returns. This is the sort of thing a commentator is supposed to notice, provided he’s not too busy smoking his own exhaust to notice.
It's unbelievable how bad he is, I have said it here a lot over the years but it seems like he is still getting worse. In one match, there was a 15-15 point that went one way, and he said if it had gone the other way, it would have been a break point. Um.
 

jezza1918

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Wow! Osaka and Kerber and Svitolina in a row, it does not get easier next against the winner of Sabalenka/Krejcicova but it is the semis, so it shouldn't be easy.

Three matches away from Fernandez/Raducanu 18 year old final.
Two matches away...Raducanu looked very much like an 18 year old opening few games. And then, she did not. Not sure her second serve or first backhand had any business going in on match point, but what a win.
 

swiftaw

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Two matches away...Raducanu looked very much like an 18 year old opening few games. And then, she did not. Not sure her second serve or first backhand had any business going in on match point, but what a win.
She lost the opening 3 games of her last match too, and then rattled off I think 11 in a row. She seems to have an excellent ability to problem solve after the first few games and figure out her opponents game.

Edit: That win takes her up to 51 in the world, and also now the highest ranked Brit.
 

jezza1918

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She lost the opening 3 games of her last match too, and then rattled off I think 11 in a row. She seems to have an excellent ability to problem solve after the first few games and figure out her opponents game.

Edit: That win takes her up to 51 in the world, and also now the highest ranked Brit.
Small quibble in that I think the bulk of her slow start is more due to nerves than solving her opponents game, but either way she's overcoming something and it's remarkable to watch.
 

BigMike

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Just an amazing run from Emma, and tremendously well played match today. Bencic played well and gave her nothing today, and Raducanu flat out beat her.

My biggest concern with her game is the very high service toss, which she had some issues with today. I'm kind of amazed if that holds up on a legitimately windy day
 

BigMike

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thought Zverev was very impressive beating Harris, who played well.
 

jon abbey

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Gauff and McNally into the semis of the women's doubles, taking out the #1 seeds in straight sets, including a very impressive 7-1 tiebreak to close it.
 

jon abbey

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Still on serve at 2-2 but Novak looks better so far, like he has been holding back previously for what he knows will be a killer final three matches.
 

jon abbey

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These two are playing fantastic tennis so far, Berrettini just broke to go up 6-5, first break of the set.
 

BigMike

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Wow, they simply can't stay at that level for 5 sets.

Just absolutely unreal
 

jon abbey

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Great set by Berrettini, he took some big punches by Novak there and pulled out every service game.
 

jon abbey

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Novak takes the second set 6-2, just 42 minutes to the first set’s 77.
 

jon abbey

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Assuming the 4th goes like this too, Patrick McEnroe called this at the start of the second set, that sometimes Nadal would lose a first set but it would take so much out of the other player that the match was essentially over in Nadal's favor. I don't think we've seen Novak do that nearly as much in his career but he really pushed hard in that first set despite losing it at the end and seems to have taken a lot out of Berrettini pretty quickly.
 

jon abbey

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Djokovic is starting to full slug impossible angles to end long rallies, prime Novak.
 

jon abbey

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Thank you, cheer for the man. Fantastic recovery to dig out that game and hold, back to 5-2.
 

jon abbey

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Oh to hit that just once in my life.

(for reference, the second to last point of the third set, a perfect full swing service return right by Berrettini at the baseline)
 
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BigMike

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Sabalenka is in full on beast mode to start in this match against Leylah. It's only up a break at 4-2, but Sabelenka's 3 service games have been absolutely outstanding
 

BigMike

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Wow that was impressive. She was blown off the court for the first 3 games of the set, and turns around to win in the tiebreaker