The Tennis Thread

[Fabbles]

Thoughts from first two days of the World Tour Finals:

1. Happy to see that Roger came through against Tsonga. Fed-Tsonga matches have never been straightforward for Federer as in Wimbledon this year. Federer is definitely the favorite at this point.
2. Nadal looked very tired after overcoming Fish. Honestly I expect an easy Federer victory but you never know considering Nadal is a ridiculously bad matchup for him. I would say something along the lines of a 7-5, 6-4 victory for Federer with a slight chance of a third set.
3. Djokovic is definitely still hurting. Berdych really deserved the match but blew it in the tiebreak. I could see Djokovic going 3-0 in this group but then getting rolled by whoever he faces from the other group in the semis.
4. Murray is now hurting pretty badly and there is some concern whether he will keep playing. I suspect he will - but if it was anything like against Ferrer he will struggle to win a single match.

Predictions:
Federer 3-0, Tsonga 2-1, Nadal 1-2, Fish 0-3
Djokovic 2-1, Berdych 2-1, Ferrer 2-1, Murray 0-3

Federer vs Djokovic - 2-0 Federer
Tsonga vs Ferrer - 2-1 Tsonga

Final:
Federer vs Tsonga - 2-1 Federer

I might end up being completely wrong about the Nadal and Murray predictions but I don't see too much hope for them advancing, more so Murray. Nadal I give a better chance.

 

[Bartman101]

Yeah, Murray quit. El Janko Tipsarevic in as replacement.

 

[CakesOfSpan]

Yeah, Murray quit. El Janko Tipsarevic in as replacement.

Being the big Tipsy fan that I am, I think he has a slim shot of making the semis... Tipsarevic has a 4-1 series lead over Berdych (although Berdych won their last match in strait sets..) Assuming he can get the win there, I don't have any doubt that he'll put a good fight against Novak. He'll be well rested seeing as he'll only have played one match, and the two have never played a strait sets match against each other.

 

[Fabbles]

Predictions:
Federer 3-0, Tsonga 2-1, Nadal 1-2, Fish 0-3
Djokovic 2-1, Berdych 2-1, Ferrer 2-1, Murray 0-3

Federer vs Djokovic - 2-0 Federer
Tsonga vs Ferrer - 2-1 Tsonga

Final:
Federer vs Tsonga - 2-1 Federer

So the only thing I wrong was that Tipsarevic would come in for Murray and beat Djokovic pretty much. Not surprised at the results at all.

While people may be quick to give Federer an edge for next season, he did the same thing last year and did not have a great year. We'll see how the big 4 rebound, but I think until the tournaments in January Federer should be the favorite for the Australian.

 

[makiri]

http://www.livetennisguide.com/2011/12/01/maria-kirilenko-dating-with-nhl-star-alex-ovechkin/

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[tennisace]

Clearly the better cross-sport power couple is Wozniacki + Rory McIlroy.

That is all.

 

[Aether Nexus]

Australian Open women's final. Watching it right now.

Sharapova vs. Azarenka -- battle of the banshees!

'Xcuse me, gotta mute my TV before the match begins.

~ Aether Nexus

 

[Shinryu]

Sigh...Federer just can't seem to win against Nadal on any court these days, at least in the past he would've held an edge on any non-clay surface.

Rooting for Sharapova as well, go banshee queen! Seriously though, she is hot...

 

[Aether Nexus]

Sigh...Federer just can't seem to win against Nadal on any court these days, at least in the past he would've held an edge on any non-clay surface.

Rooting for Sharapova as well, go banshee queen! Seriously though, she is hot...

Yeah, I was rooting for her too... until she played the worst game that I've ever seen. 6/3, 6/0 -- really?! That was a fail match. She made so many errors that she basically gave the match away. It wasn't even a fight for the 2nd set. I was hoping she'd make this awesome comeback, win the 2nd set, and then there would be this kick-ass 3rd set to wrap it all up.

I feel sorry for anyone who payed for an expensive-ass ticket to watch this train wreck of a match. Fortunately for those who cant stand to hear them screech and didn't attend in the first place. Now they wont regret it (unless they were rooting for Azarenka).

As for Federer, he lost only because he gave it his all in the 1st set and just couldn't keep up with Nadal's amazing stamina. Not to mention he was rubbing his serve shoulder. He would have to tear up his body to beat Nadal. At his age, he'd rather play it safe, lose one major and hopefully win a few more in the near future (if possible).

As for the mens final, I sure as hell hope there is some excitement. I was really hoping for a Murray vs. Nadal final, but oh well. Murray played exceptionally well and I was quite dissapointed at him for losing 1/6 in the 4th set. He could have won. He should have. At least he played a hell of a lot better than last years final. I'm hoping he wins Wimbeldon, getting his first major (and making his Country proud) under his belt and showing that with Lendl's coaching he's a new, better Murray.

~ Aether Nexus

 

[Shinryu]

Yeah damn...she got flattened...the way I predict crap on these forums, I find if I root for my favorites, they lose. Need to start rooting against them...agreeing it'd be nice for Murray to win one of the Opens this year too.

 

[Style_Dota]

Azarenka is a beast, why would anyone root for Sharapova? Sorry, but she is not the same player she was years ago. Azarenka for the new womans number 1!

Also, watching the mens final right now. Pretty solid match, 3rd set might be a bit of a blowout, but this match can easily go to 5.

Hope Nadal wins! ^_^

 

[hellpowna]

Nadal is the best. Federer and djokovic aren't strong like Nadal ;)
and then, Schiavone <3

 

[ShinyAzelf]

and Djokovic wins! 5 hours 53 minutes...wow

 

[DetroitLolcat]

Wow, that match was really, really epic.

 

[gsninja]

Amazing match. Nadal really gave Djokovic a hard time, but he couldn't help being floored in the final set after going up 4-2. I honestly didn't think that even the final could upstage the Djokovic v. Murray match, but it certainly did. Good shit.

At least Nadal can take comfort in the fact that Roland Garros is practically a free pass to the trophy haha

 

[tennisace]

Nadal is the best. Federer and djokovic aren't strong like Nadal ;)
and then, Schiavone <3

Strength 100% isn't everything in tennis, and tbh a lot of times it hurts more than it helps if you don't get enough spin on it to keep it in the court.

But I digress: Djokovic once again shows he is unequivocally the best player in men's tennis in the world, not just by outplaying Nadal, but by winning in the longest final in the Open era.

On another note: poor Andy Murray, the best British (well, Scottish but the brits love him) player in a generation has to beat Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic to even reach the final of a major, let alone win one.

edit: gsninja, nothing is a sure thing in men's tennis. clay is slick as hell, one misplanted foot and the match is over.

 

[MasterSwordsmanGallade]

Being a Australian, I must say that was a fine game of Tennis.

Djokovic is, no doubt, the best player in world tennis atm. A very well deserved win. When the 4'th set started, I thought it would be the survival of the fittest (Nadal, imo) but Djokovic pulled through, somehow.

Oh, and well done Azarenka. I actually had to put that game on mute, I do whenever Sharapova is playing.

 

[junior]

I hate Vika. Maria is life.

and yea, the AO men's final was the longest slam final in open era history I think.

 

[junior]

http://au.eonline.com/videos/chelsea-lately-maria-sharapova/179355

omg she's amazing. All you tennis fans should watch. :)

 

[Crystal_]

Anyone else rooting for Federer to become #1 again this year? He has like 2500 points more than Djokovic and Nadal since last year's USO. He just has to do things a bit better than last year. And he is on the way!
But anyway last year he still played really well (I honestly think that in terms of level 2011 was his best year since 2007 Shangai finals or something), but choked in some important matches. Also it's annoying how bad he plays some of his break point opportunities...

And he seems to be the only player that can beat Djokovic when he is at his best.

 

[Fabbles]

So Federer loses to Roddick at Miami after winning 40 of his past 42 matches. This really puts a damper on Federer's #1 aspirations, especially if Djokovic (who looks to be himself this week) goes on to win the title. He really needed to win Miami in order to put a lot of pressure on Djokovic (and especially Nadal). Now, Federer will have to make up a lot of ground on the European Clay... and I just do not see that happening. While he played great at Roland Garros, he has not played well at Monte Carlo or Rome for quite a few years (never having won either). His best shot is in Madrid, where he has beaten Nadal. As of now, I would say Federer needs solid clay results (Semis at least), at the very least semis of RG, and probably win Wimbledon or the US Open to have any shot at being #1 again. Obviously, he needs to become #1 before the Asian Swing at the end of the year, or he probably will never reach #1 again.

Good win for Roddick obviously - as he is currently out of the top 30 and needed a confidence boosting victory, especially against the man who has dominated his tennis career.

Look for a Djokovic / Del Potro vs Nadal / Murray finals.

 

[Crystal_]

Federer still has around 2000 points more than Djokovic since Shangai'11. He needs to win one of Wimb/OG/USO and stay consistent at Masters 1000 (lets say getting an average 500 points from each, although, apparently, Federer isn't playing at Monte Carlo while Djokovic and Nadal are) and hope Djokovic doesn't win everything else.

Yeh, and Roddick beats Federer... just to lose to Monaco in the fourth round... I honestly think Roddick is going to retire at this year's USO.

 

[potatoman12]

yeah I think fed can take number 1 by july or so if someone stops nadal in M-C masters and he wins rome or madrid
then again he isn't playing this time in m-c and he played last year ;-;
also on a completely unrelated note what has even happened to jurgen melzer? he won memphis and now he's like 1-6 since then

 

[Crystal_]

For Fed it'll be good if Nadal wins MC since that will mean Djokovic doesn't win it.

Memphis is more like a 250 due to the ranking of the players that generally participate there (in fact for whatever reason Fish decided to play Marseille rather than memphis, just to lose to someone ranked around 300). And in the case of Melzer, well, the tipical bad tourn(s) that come after he won something he wasn't expecting to win and also the fact that he had to play on clay for the Davis cup, something i'm pretty sure he hadn't done since RG 2011. But I don't think Melzer will have another season as consistent as 2010. He will probably win more slams in doubles though.

 

[potatoman12]

He will probably win more slams in doubles though.

Melzer teams up with Petzschner right?
also memphis had isner, roddick, stepanek, raonic that's not a bad 500 field considering stepanek actually won a 500 last year in DC