Rio 2016

RosyLily

Since it only comes every 4 years it might as well have its own thread!:)

The draws were made earlier. #1 seed Djokovic begins his quest for gold against Delpo. Tough opening match. I'm gutted for JM though...was really hoping he'd get far! Nadal is in the same half as Djokovic and he'll play Delbonis in the first round.

Murray's in the bottom half alongside Cilic, Nishikori, Ferrer and Monfils. The Scot's first round opponent is Viktor Troicki. Dimitrov-Cilic in the opening round could be one to watch.

Serena Williams plays Daria Gavrilova in her first match. Kerber is the #2 seed and will face Mariana Duque-Marino To me, the bottom half seems a bit tougher - a mix of good players and those capable of the upset.

Draws are here: http://www.rio.itftennis.com/olympics/draws

lostcat

Wow, bigger draw than I had thought. afaik even though its best of three up to the final, they dont play tiebreakers in 3rd sets, which might throw up some interesting climaxes.

Hard to see anything other than a djokovic murray final, with djokopvic winning (i'm not sure lendl is there?)

This tournament was number 2 on djokovics priority list for this year after the FO, dont think he will be stopped.

yerwanthere123

Aga out already. Given the fact she'll likely never win a slam I had hoped she'd do well here. It probably won't be her last Olympics, but I highly doubt she'll still be as competitive in four years time.

Shame to see Venus lose too, Flipkens relentless slicing frustrated the hell out of her. Speaking of slice, Vinci manged to lose to AK Schmiedlova, who had only won four matches all year.

fryup

how come a long established sport like squash isn't in the Olympics and silly sports like beach volleyball and BMX are??

yerwanthere123

Venus & Serena out in the first round of doubles to Safarova/Strycova. An Olympics to forget for Venus, surely she won't still be around for Tokyo?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

fryup wrote: »

how come a long established sport like squash isn't in the Olympics and silly sports like beach volleyball and BMX are??

I don't know why they seem to hate squash so much but beach volleyball is a pretty popular sport in a lot of countries.

Anyway.... Delpo just took the first set from Djokovic :eek:

MisterAnarchy

fryup wrote: »

how come a long established sport like squash isn't in the Olympics and silly sports like beach volleyball and BMX are??

It is baffling that squash isn't an Olympic sport, it keeps getting refused,yet they add nonsense.

Del Potro a set up on Djokovic, he looks in the mood for an upset

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

It is baffling that squash isn't an Olympic sport, it keeps getting refused,yet they add nonsense.

Del Potro a set up on Djokovic, he looks in the mood for an upset

Some of the stuff they add is weird but at the same time a lot of them are growing sports and maybe deserve a shot. I do take issue with the shooting events though, I mean it's just basic hand eye coordination and requires the use of one finger for a second. Plus there's multiple variations of them! It's ridiculous.

MisterAnarchy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Some of the stuff they add is weird but at the same time a lot of them are growing sports and maybe deserve a shot. I do take issue with the shooting events though, I mean it's just basic hand eye coordination and requires the use of one finger for a second. Plus there's multiple variations of them! It's ridiculous.

I think squash lost out to golf and 7 a side rugby.
7 a side rugby, bit of a mickey mouse sport to be honest, what's next 5 a side soccer.
Baseball is going to be brought back for the next Olympics in Tokyo, another silly sport, it's only played by a handful of countries.
Might as well put hurling in there.

Those shooting events are nonsense, I like the archery though.

MisterAnarchy

BBC have gone off the air in the middle of the tennis, absolutely ridiculous.
Watching on the iPlayer now, this is cracking stuff

MisterAnarchy

This is epic stuff, del Potro is playing tremendous stuff, hitting winners from everywhere

yerwanthere123

Delpooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

MisterAnarchy

That was one of the best matches I've seen in a long time.
Forty something winners from del Potro in 2 sets.
His forehand shots were like missiles.
The crowd were great.

Both players in tears at the end, it means a lot to these guys, great to see that.

Rjd2

Yeah that was a great match, these 2 have had crackers over the last few years.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Both players in tears at the end, it means a lot to these guys, great to see that.

Yeah, it's interesting to see how much it means to some of them, especially compared to the ones who didn't bother going.

highgiant1985

amazing result and apparently he had been trapped in an Elevator prior to the match!

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/juan-martin-del-potro-trapped-in-olympic-village-elevator-novak-djokovic-rio

MisterAnarchy

Its great to see Del Potro playing his best game again, tennis badly needs it.
Tennis has missed this guy playing his unique brand of aggressive tennis....a lot.

Novak was very gracious considering how much this clearly hurt him.
“Delpo was the better player and he deserved to win. That's sport.
"In the decisive moments, he just came up with some extraordinary tennis and I have to congratulate him.
"It's very sad and disappointing to go out of the tournament this early but I am glad that a good friend of mine, who has struggled with injuries, has won.”

cowboyBuilder

Good to see DP at his best again, allthough of course felt bad for Djokovic as the golden slam was his last major achievement needed.

He should win Cincy now - only masters needed

lostcat

I think Djokovic will take not winning an Olympic gold to the grave, he wanted it that badly.

Hopefully Delboy can crack on for the rest of the season now and have a solid injury free run.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Djokovic could be back for the Tokyo Olympics. Given how the men's tour has progressed since 2012 Olympics, not very much, it's quite possible he could still get the Gold.

Is he still in doubles?

CassieManson

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

Is he still in doubles?

Yes he is playing now

yerwanthere123

Aaand now he's out of that too. What a great Olympics for him :pac: Easy to forget he won a bronze back in 2008 though.

Serena beat Cornet earlier, but didn't have it easy in the 1h 17m first set, had to save two set points.

Floppybits

Williams knocked out of the singles

RosyLily

A fantastic win for Svitolina! We'll have new medallists in the Women's singles. I'm expecting a Kerber win but who knows. Petra seems to be discovering some form so wouldn't be surprised if she takes gold.

QFs: Svitolina-Kvitova, Puig-Siegemund, Keys-Kasatkina, Konta-Kerber.

Murray definitely favourite for the gold on the men's side. They're at the R3 stage. I really want Delpo to win though. I think lots of fans would love that!

Mint Sauce

Well Murray didn't make things easy for himself there. One thing I have noticed though, where's Ivan Lendl? Is it because Murray is representing Team GB, and therefore using their coaches?

smurfs5

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Well Murray didn't make things easy for himself there. One thing I have noticed though, where's Ivan Lendl? Is it because Murray is representing Team GB, and therefore using their coaches?

No, I think the agreement was that Lendl would be there for the Slams and some Masters events but most of the time, it'll just be Jamie Delgado and the rest of the team.

Very shaky match and final set for Murray. Down 3-1 with Fognini playing some great stuff but somewhat predictably, he bottled it and Murray eased to victory, winning 5 games on the bounce. Plays Steve Johnson in the QFs. Looking like Murray-Nishikori and Nadal-Delpo in the SFs which could be brilliant.

Can't remember the last time I was so pleased watching a match and seeing a victory than Del Potro's win over Djokovic. Full throttle forehand, which will go down as one of the great tennis shots, back and close to pre-injury level. It was a joy to watch him playing so well and so soon after his comeback. He was the better player and deserved to win, as Djokovic graciously acknowledged. One of the matches of the year and will be remembered alongside their Wimbledon 2013 semi-final as one of the best matches of recent times IMO.

Not a Novak fan but he was very gracious in defeat and you had to feel for him walking off the court in tears, knowing that he had the chance to join only Agassi and Nadal as the two players to win all 4 Slams and Olympic gold or the "Golden Slam". As pointed out, he'll be 33 in Tokyo and probably still in the Top 5 so he'll have another chance barring injury.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Well Murray didn't make things easy for himself there. One thing I have noticed though, where's Ivan Lendl? Is it because Murray is representing Team GB, and therefore using their coaches?

Becker was there with Djokovic so it's definitely not an issue of their coaches not being allowed.

lostcat

smurfs5 wrote: »

Not a Novak fan but he was very gracious in defeat and you had to feel for him walking off the court in tears, knowing that he had the chance to join only Agassi and Nadal as the two players to win all 4 Slams and Olympic gold or the "Golden Slam". As pointed out, he'll be 33 in Tokyo and probably still in the Top 5 so he'll have another chance barring injury.

I highly doubt Djokovic will still be playing at 33 somehow...the injuries are starting to niggle (or worse) and I am not sure he will be able to mentally recommit sufficiently after winning the french.

He looks off on a number of fronts since that win.

Want del potro to win this now...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Great win for Puig over Kvitova. She's guaranteed a medal now and will become Puerto Rico's first ever female medal winner.

MisterAnarchy

They could do with extending the tennis Olympic schedule a day or 2 ,there's no need to try and cram it into 8 days .
6 matches in 8 days is a bit ridiculous ,considering some people are playing doubles too .

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

They could do with extending the tennis Olympic schedule a day or 2 ,there's no need to try and cram it into 8 days .
6 matches in 8 days is a bit ridiculous ,considering some people are playing doubles too .

They can't, Cincinnati starts this weekend. They'd have to move the entire rest of the season around to accommodate a longer Olympics tournament. And they can't start the tennis before the Opening Ceremony like they do with the football because there's Montreal/Toronto the week before.

cowboyBuilder

Nadal has the gold medal.

Done deal, he has also won Cincinatti and the US Open and most likely the World Tour finals .

My God every time it looks like he is gone ... he comes back ..... again .... and again ............... and again ......

I expect he will be still around winning slams in 15 years time .

yerwanthere123

Sad for Keys, but Kerber just way too hard to hit through. She still played a really good match, and you've got to think she'll have her moment at a slam some time. Haven't seen Puig's level, but I'd be shocked if she managed to defy Kerber the gold. Keys still has a great shot of a podium finish against Petra. If Kerber does take the gold, well, what can you say? An already unbelievable year getting even better.

RosyLily

Delpo is in the SFs!!! He's played so well. How fantastic would it be if he won? I don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

Puig has played so well, she'll give Kerber a good match I think. Gold for the German though. Angie has had a brilliant year so far.

Some tweets saying they'd prefer no bronze medal play-off and just give two medals instead. Thoughts?

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Delpo is in the SFs!!! He's played so well. How fantastic would it be if he won? I don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

Puig has played so well, she'll give Kerber a good match I think. Gold for the German though. Angie has had a brilliant year so far.

Some tweets saying they'd prefer no bronze medal play-off and just give two medals instead. Thoughts?

Completely disagree with that notion, surely the whole point of medals being awarded is that they only go to three people, not four. Kinda takes the shine off your bronze too if you have to share it. Seeing a lot of people saying how 'cruel' it is.. but that's just sport right?

CassieManson

yerwanthere123 wrote:

Completely disagree with that notion, surely the whole point of medals being awarded is that they only go to three people, not four. Kinda takes the shine off your bronze too if you have to share it. Seeing a lot of people saying how 'cruel' it is.. but that's just sport right?

I think it should be consistent with other sports. In boxing two bronze medals are given no playoff. In tennis the player that wins the bronze must win the same number of matches as the silver medallist.

cowboyBuilder

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Completely disagree with that notion, surely the whole point of medals being awarded is that they only go to three people, not four. Kinda takes the shine off your bronze too if you have to share it. Seeing a lot of people saying how 'cruel' it is.. but that's just sport right?

No I think he means just give Gold + Silver .. not give 4 medals ..

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

CassieManson wrote: »

I think it should be consistent with other sports. In boxing two bronze medals are given no playoff. In tennis the player that wins the bronze must win the same number of matches as the silver medallist.

There's a logic in boxing though, it's something to do with not making a beaten fighter fight again. I suppose there's the possibility that a losing SF could have taken a bit of a beating and to make them fight again a few days later could be dangerous? I'm pretty sure that's the reasoning there.

Pretty much all the other sports that aren't straight up racing make people/teams play off for bronze. It is what it is.

MisterAnarchy

RosyLily wrote: »

Delpo is in the SFs!!! He's played so well. How fantastic would it be if he won? I don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

He is playing Nadal in the semis.

It would be nice for del Potro to win, he plays an exciting brand of tennis.

cowboyBuilder

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

RosyLily wrote: »

Delpo is in the SFs!!! He's played so well. How fantastic would it be if he won? I don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

He is playing Nadal in the semis.

It would be nice for del Potro to win, he plays an exciting brand of tennis.

Not a chance ... Nadal has it won , fair play to him for coming back so strong after all that time out -- incredible , I wonder did he have any "assistance" ?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Not a chance ... Nadal has it won , fair play to him for coming back so strong after all that time out -- incredible , I wonder did he have any "assistance" ?

HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS?

YOU CAN TAKE A WEEK OFF AND CONSIDER THIS YOUR FINAL WARNING.

Mint Sauce

Have had the Murray v Nishakori match on this afternoon, and not have not been full attention to be honest, but what's going on between the players and Ramos the Umpire. Some kind of debate between him and Murray at the break, with Murray asking him or stating to him 'your trying to be the star!'

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Have had the Murray v Nishakori match on this afternoon, and not have not been full attention to be honest, but what's going on between the players and Ramos the Umpire. Some kind of debate between him and Murray at the break, with Murray asking him or stating to him 'your trying to be the star!'

Murray got a warning for unsportsman like conduct. Carlos thought he called him stupid, Murray said he said "stupid umpiring" not "stupid umpire". I think it's the second warning Murray got today so he's obviously got his cranky pants on.

Mint Sauce

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Murray got a warning for unsportsman like conduct. Carlos thought he called him stupid, Murray said he said "stupid umpiring" not "stupid umpire". I think it's the second warning Murray got today so he's obviously got his cranky pants on.

Ah, I did see something ealier in the game where Murray asked time between points. Ramos told him it was 20 seconds and he was already 5 over.

MisterAnarchy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I think it's the second warning Murray got today so he's obviously got his cranky pants on.

He is horrible to watch, Murray.
Bad attitude and boring style of tennis.
I pray that del Potro thrashes him tomorrow.

MisterAnarchy

Nadal a set up

RosyLily

Safarova/Strycova beat fellow Czechs Hlavackova/Hradecka 7-5, 6-1 to win the bronze medal.

paulie21

This is some match between Rafa and Delpo

Rjd2

paulie21 wrote: »

This is some match between Rafa and Delpo

****ing fantastic.


Really hope Juan gets it done tomorrow, what a run!

mickmackey1

Didn't know they had changed the format in the 3rd set, remember Fed-Delpo something like 19-17.

yerwanthere123

What an incredible comeback this has been for Del Potro. Even if he fully recovered from his wrist injury, I genuinely didn't think he could play this kind of tennis again. Some sight to see the forehand still alive and well. I think Andy will probably be a bridge too far for him in the final, but I wouldn't complain if it wasn't. Pleased to be able to have high hopes for Delpo at the US Open. A bit of a shame they got rid of the ranking points too!

Tough for Kerber and Puig to have to follow that match, Haven't see Puig play all week so can't really judge her level, but I'm expecting a relatively easy win for Kerber.