The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

woopah92

I hear in the near future Halle might become a joint tournment

Mint Sauce

More rain at Queens.

RosyLily

For anyone interested, Dhá Chúirt, a docu-drama about 1879 Wimbledon finalist Vere St Leger Goold, will be on TG4 at 9.30pm. Interesting life. After Wimby, he got involved in drink and drugs and in 1908 him and his wife were convicted of murder in Monte Carlo. Vere was sent to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

yerwanthere123

^^ Didn't see that but sounds interesting. I remember reading about him last year. It's interesting to know actually that there are actually 5 Irish winners of Wimbledon. Great Britain is a bit naughty and claims the wins for themselves though :pac:

Mardy Fish has pulled out of Wimbledon. I think he should just retire, don't think he's got anything left to give.

Regarding Rafa's seeding for Wimbledon, how likely is it that they'll bump him up to #4? I know as things stand Rafa is #5 and Ferrer did a lot better than him at Wimbledon last year, but surely they'll want to avoid a situation like what happened at RG, having the real final in the semi-final?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Regarding Rafa's seeding for Wimbledon, how likely is it that they'll bump him up to #4? I know as things stand Rafa is #5 and Ferrer did a lot better than him at Wimbledon last year, but surely they'll want to avoid a situation like what happened at RG, having the real final in the semi-final?

Rafa was the #3 seed at RG, he passed Ferrer at the last minute in the seedings to get #4 and then Murray pulled out, so he was then #3. The fact that he played Djokovic in the SF was the luck of the draw.

yerwanthere123

Ahh yes, I forgot about that. Think they'll just follow the rankings at Wimbledon though?

Jimmy 5F

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Ahh yes, I forgot about that. Think they'll just follow the rankings at Wimbledon though?

The seedlings at Wimbledon are based on ranking and last year's performance at Wimbledon so he'll probably be seeded 5th.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The only way you could avoid Nadal/Djokovic in the SF is for Nadal to be bumped to #2, which given Federer and Murray were in the final last year is not going to happen.

Nadal's not even that good on grass, granted he gets better in the 2nd week but I always mark that down to the fact that the baseline on a grass court is basically clay by they time they're at QF/SF stages.

Point being I'm not sure Nadal vs Any of the top 3 would be considered the "real final" at Wimbledon, unless it was the actual final.

RosyLily

Gael Monfils has also pulled out of Wimbledon due to a "small personal problem". He's playing in Halle though.

callaway92

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The only way you could avoid Nadal/Djokovic in the SF is for Nadal to be bumped to #2, which given Federer and Murray were in the final last year is not going to happen.

Nadal's not even that good on grass, granted he gets better in the 2nd week but I always mark that down to the fact that the baseline on a grass court is basically clay by they time they're at QF/SF stages.

Point being I'm not sure Nadal vs Any of the top 3 would be considered the "real final" at Wimbledon, unless it was the actual final.

If Nadal is 'not even that good on grass' then what the hell does that make everyone ranked below him. Who is better than him on grass currently? (other than the obvious)

Such a bs line

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

callaway92 wrote: »

If Nadal is 'not even that good on grass' then what the hell does that make everyone ranked below him. Who is better than him on grass currently? (other than the obvious)

Such a bs line

The rankings are based on 12 months of tournaments, only one of which is grass where Nadal is concerned this year. The rest of the rankings are based on clay and hard.

And if you read the rest of the post you'd see I was talking about in terms of him playing one of the top 3 in a SF at Wimbledon being considered "the real final" as it was in RG.

I think Djokovic, Murray and Federer are all better than Nadal on grass, and as such my point stands.

callaway92

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The rankings are based on 12 months of tournaments, only one of which is grass where Nadal is concerned this year. The rest of the rankings are based on clay and hard.

And if you read the rest of the post you'd see I was talking about in terms of him playing one of the top 3 in a SF at Wimbledon being considered "the real final" as it was in RG.

I think Djokovic, Murray and Federer are all better than Nadal on grass, and as such my point stands.

For someone who mods a tennis forum I would've thought you'd show more knowledge of the sport.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

callaway92 wrote: »

For someone who mods a tennis forum I would've thought you'd show more knowledge of the sport.

I have no idea what your issue is here?

We were discussing the potential seeding bump for Nadal to avoid a situation like arose at RG. My point, and I think it's valid, was that Nadal is not as good on grass as he is on clay so it doesn't matter who he would potentially face in the SF's at Wimbledon as he is not nailed on as the inevitable winner here.

Floppybits

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I have no idea what your issue is here?

We were discussing the potential seeding bump for Nadal to avoid a situation like arose at RG. My point, and I think it's valid, was that Nadal is not as good on grass as he is on clay so it doesn't matter who he would potentially face in the SF's at Wimbledon as he is not nailed on as the inevitable winner here.

Well the fact that Murray, Federer and Djokovic are all going to play Wimbledon (so far) it doesnt really matter what side of the draw Nadal is seeded because you would expect those 4 to at least the semi finals and then you would get a 2 cracking semi finals and a cracking final.

Nadal is not as dominant on the grass as on the clay so I dont think it matters what side you put him as I feel he is beatable on the grass. Unfortunately on clay Djokovic is the only one that stands a chance against him.

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The rankings are based on 12 months of tournaments, only one of which is grass where Nadal is concerned this year. The rest of the rankings are based on clay and hard.

And if you read the rest of the post you'd see I was talking about in terms of him playing one of the top 3 in a SF at Wimbledon being considered "the real final" as it was in RG.

I think Djokovic, Murray and Federer are all better than Nadal on grass, and as such my point stands.

I'm really confused by this, tbh. Nadal has reached five finals, two of which he won. Nole has won it once, and Murray has only reached one final

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Floppybits wrote: »

Nadal is not as dominant on the grass as on the clay so I dont think it matters what side you put him as I feel he is beatable on the grass. Unfortunately on clay Djokovic is the only one that stands a chance against him.

This was exactly my point. The seeding issue isn't really an issue at Wimbledon the way it was at RG as Nadal is not unbeatable on grass as he is on clay.

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I'm really confused by this, tbh. Nadal has reached five finals, two of which he won. Nole has won it once, and Murray has only reached one final

Yes but that's looking over the entire history of their careers. And as far as Djokovic is concerned I think you can only really look at the last 2 years if you're considering him at his best.

I may have phrased it badly but the point I was trying to make is that I believe, this year, Djokovic, Murray or Federer have as much chance at beating Nadal as he does of beating them. It's not a foregone conclusion as it is on clay.

I still think Nadal struggle on grass though, but he struggles compared to how he plays on other surfaces, which is still better than most of the other players, but he is not unbeatable by any means. Even if you look at how wobbly he was in the early rounds at RG, you could see a real belief in his opponents that they could beat him. Obviously they were misguided, but if he gets someone like that early at Wimbledon it could be very interesting.

All that said he'll probably be back to #1 or #2 after Wimbledon so we won't need to worry about the seedings anymore

woopah92

TBH, I think Nadal should be seeded #4 ahead of Ferrer. It would balance out the draw a bit better. Although what's the bets Nadal will end up in Ferrer's quarter anyway :pac:

yerwanthere123

Ah you mean you think they're better on grass right now, I understand now

I didn't even notice, but James McGee was playing in the Queens qualies this week, he lost in the 2nd round. Don't know if he's playing Eastbourne next week.

yerwanthere123

woopah92 wrote: »

TBH, I think Nadal should be seeded #4 ahead of Ferrer. It would balance out the draw a bit better. Although what's the bets Nadal will end up in Ferrer's quarter anyway :pac:

Was thinking this will happen alright :pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Ah you mean you think they're better on grass right now, I understand now

I didn't even notice, but James McGee was playing in the Queens qualies this week, he lost in the 2nd round. Don't know if he's playing Eastbourne next week.

McGee is playing Wimbledon qualifiers so I don't know if he'll bother with Eastbourne.

pconn062

Queens was one of my favourite tournaments but it's been practically ruined this year by the weather. Such a shame but it's barely watchable for the last few days with all the stoppages.

yerwanthere123

16 yera-old Donna Vekic is in the Birmingham final, incredible achievement for a teenager in today's power game. She'll face either Alison Riske or Daniela Hantuchova... certainly a winnable match! I suppose Martina Hingis is the last 16 y/o to win a title?

BV4

Wimbledon better not be as disrupted as this!

RosyLily

BV4 wrote: »

Wimbledon better not be as disrupted as this!

Would be bad but at least they have the option of playing middle Sunday if the weather is dire. Hope not though!

Good match between Cilic and Murray!! I hope BBC or Eurosport will be showing the Rally for Cancer afterwards. Would love to see Lendl play.

Jimmy 5F

I think if Nadal were to play the other top 3 guys on Wimbledon day 1 grass he would lose to all three. However I feel he's better than Murray on Wimbledon week two grass and maybe Federer too.

bradlente

BV4 wrote: »

Wimbledon better not be as disrupted as this!

At least with the roof on Centre Court there's alway's a game on.

yerwanthere123

James McGee begins his Wimbledon quest with Paul Capdeville, who is seeded #32 in the qualies. Aged 30, a former top 100 player who has played at all four grand slams. He's only made Wimbledon once though, and failed to make it past the first round... good news for James!
He's also drawn in the same section as Dudi Sela.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

He's also drawn in the same section as Dudi Sela.

Dudi Sela is good on grass Made Dimitrov work hard earlier this week for the win. There's always a chance of him getting a lucky loser spot even if he doesn't make it out of qualifiers. Hopefully it won't come to that though.

yerwanthere123

McGee loses 6-3 6-4

yerwanthere123

Venus has pulled out of Wimbledon