The 2017 In Between Grand Slam Thread

yerwanthere123

Could have another slamless #1 this week if either Halep or Svitolina win Beijing. Halep I could just about live with. If Svitolina got to the top having never made it past the QF's of a slam, idk....

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Could have another slamless #1 this week if either Halep or Svitolina win Beijing. Halep I could just about live with. If Svitolina got to the top having never made it past the QF's of a slam, idk....

I don't get the obsession with the #1 having to win or do well at slams. The rankings system is a cumulative thing. I think it's a more remarkable thing to be able to get consistently good results over the space of 12 months than to peak for a week or two and couple of times a year.

Johnmb

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't get the obsession with the #1 having to win or do well at slams. The rankings system is a cumulative thing. I think it's a more remarkable thing to be able to get consistently good results over the space of 12 months than to peak for a week or two and couple of times a year.

I'd have to agree with this. The ranking points allocations are weighted considerably in favour of the Slams, so to manage to be number 1 in the world without holding a Slam within the previous 52 weeks shows a remarkable week-in week-out consistency and has earned the top spot the hard way.

Floppybits

Kygrios getting a hammering.

Floppybits

Nadal has won 9 games in a row. Kygrios now serving to save some face. ��

Floppybits

Kygrios is a joke. He lost this match in the first 20 minutes because of a bad call.

Christy42

Floppybits wrote: »

Kygrios is a joke. He lost this match in the first 20 minutes because of a bad call.

This post can be repeated. This time he does not even finish the match. Would like to see the calls though.

Edit: I had a story earlier and can't find it so maybe I should wait for confirmation. Anyone have a link to it?

Edit 2: Here we go http://m.bbc.com/sport/tennis/41564893

Never know how he has any support at this stage.

walshb

Nick is a grade A pr1ck...

And to ensure the standards and integrity of this great sport, the authorities need to throw the book at him.

Floppybits

I had to laugh at this line in the bbc article on Kyrgios "The incident comes just two days after the temperamental Kyrgios lost to Rafael Nadal in the final of the China Open after becoming frustrated by a line call in the first set."

You swear the line call happened late in the set and cost him the set, wereas the line call happened in the first few points of the match, were there was plenty of time to put it behind you and get on match but Kyrgios decided to throw his toys out of the pram for the whole set. He is a disgrace.

Christy42

Floppybits wrote: »

I had to laugh at this line in the bbc article on Kyrgios "The incident comes just two days after the temperamental Kyrgios lost to Rafael Nadal in the final of the China Open after becoming frustrated by a line call in the first set."

You swear the line call happened late in the set and cost him the set, wereas the line call happened in the first few points of the match, were there was plenty of time to put it behind you and get on match but Kyrgios decided to throw his toys out of the pram for the whole set. He is a disgrace.

Well my initial confusion was because googling kept coming up with his suspension he earned here last year.

jr86

It's insane what a difference a year makes. 12 months ago Nadal seemed a complete spent force, now he's playing with some amount of swagger and confidence. I do hope (and expect) Federer to beat him on this surface though

I don't think I can remember such a boring and mundane Masters (in the circumstances - excluding the likes of Montreal right before the Olympics last year). Shanghai really could be a great event (fastest "big event" on tour) but sadly so many players down tools after the US Open.

The end of season in general is a bit forgettable, at least last year you'd Murray chasing #1 and guys like Cilic bursting to get into the Tour Finals

jr86

RosyLily wrote: »

Dan Evans received a 1 year ban for testing positive for cocaine yesterday. It's been backdated so he can play again from 24th April 2018.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/oct/03/dan-evans-banned-for-year-positive-cocaine-test

I wonder how long more Evans will even bother to be honest. He'll tumble down the rankings now and I'd say for PR purposes he'll be getting no WC's to the grass events. Certainly doesn't strike me as someone who'll actually knuckle down too much

That said I honestly think a year ban for recreational drug use is completely ridiculous but that's my own view.

mickmackey1

jr86 wrote: »

It's insane what a difference a year makes. 12 months ago Nadal seemed a complete spent force, now he's playing with some amount of swagger and confidence. I do hope (and expect) Federer to beat him on this surface though

So long as Delpo doesn't spoil the party - again :mad:

Nadal's resurrection stretches the bounds of credibility; the bloke seems to be playing better on hard courts than ever before

jr86

mickmackey1 wrote: »

So long as Delpo doesn't spoil the party - again :mad:

Nadal's resurrection stretches the bounds of credibility; the bloke seems to be playing better on hard courts than ever before

And traditionally Shanghai has never suited his game!

sxt

jr86 wrote: »

It's insane what a difference a year makes. 12 months ago Nadal seemed a complete spent force, now he's playing with some amount of swagger and confidence. I do hope (and expect) Federer to beat him on this surface though

What is more remarkable is that a player like Federer in visible decline since 2012,and not having won a major since 2012, can come back and win two grand slams in 2017 at age 36

mickmackey1

sxt wrote: »

What is more remarkable is that a player like Federer in visible decline since 2012,and not having won a major since 2012, can come back and win two grand slams in 2017 at age 36

No there's a big difference: Federer was still getting to Slam semis and finals and only losing to Djokovic, whereas Nadal was being thrashed by the likes of Lucas Pouille.

jr86

mickmackey1 wrote: »

No there's a big difference: Federer was still getting to Slam semis and finals and only losing to Djokovic, whereas Nadal was being thrashed by the likes of Lucas Pouille.

And Nadal seemed to be physically a spent force whereas I never got the same impression with RF

Since his last slam win before this year (FO 2014) Nadal lost to Kyrgios - Berdych - Brown - Fognini - Verdasco - Pouille in that order, in non FO slams. Insane

mickmackey1

Now loses 5 points in a row in 2nd set tiebreak v Dimitrov, but of course roars back to win the 3rd. Shur no bother.

dominatinMC

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Now loses 5 points in a row in 2nd set tiebreak v Dimitrov, but of course roars back to win the 3rd. Shur no bother.

As so often happens in tennis. I fail to see what is unusual about this? If you don't like Nadal, fair enough, but at least try to be logical with your criticism.

Floppybits

Del Potro gets no luck. Hopefully there is nothing wrong with the left wrist after his fall today.

jr86

It really is remarkable with Nadal

From the latter half of 2014 to January 2017 he wasn’t even a top 10 player on hard courts. Barely even top 15 – he made one HC/GC slam quarter after a complete journeyman choked in Australia 2015 against him.

To put that into perspective his slam run was 4r/A/QF/2r/3r/1r/A/4R. Aside from Berdych in Australia - not one loss coming to a top 10 player. It wasn’t as if best of 5 was an issue, he didn’t even make a HC tournament final in that time!

His movement had declined dramatically, his serve was a non-entity, his forehand lost all its zip and he had a dysfunctional backhand
This is a stockily-built player, who broke through incredibly young and has a history of injury problems

Now he’s suddenly playing like an indisputable number one, with every facet of his game looking as good as ever and some perhaps even better.

If all is what it seems, it really is unbelievable - this return to form. I’m trying to think of a sporting renaissance like it – over a consistent basis. It’d be like saying Wayne Rooney will get golden boot and player of the year next year in the Premier league. I can’t think of anything that compares myself

For what it’s worth I’ve always respected Nadal and there’s not a hope in hell of anything being publicly revealed if something was amiss, so I’m just going to afford the credit where it’s due and say fair play to him anyway

Pero_Bueno

sxt wrote: »

What is more remarkable is that a player like Federer in visible decline since 2012,and not having won a major since 2012, can come back and win two grand slams in 2017 at age 36

jr86 wrote: »

And Nadal seemed to be physically a spent force whereas I never got the same impression with RF

Since his last slam win before this year (FO 2014) Nadal lost to Kyrgios - Berdych - Brown - Fognini - Verdasco - Pouille in that order, in non FO slams. Insane

Not really that remarkable.
The next generation is brutal, there is no new talent.
We are at the cusp of having no players in their 20s that are grand slam champions - thats a shocking statistic.

Fair play to Federer and Nadal sharing the slams between them , but it is more of a case of no real competition coming through - and of course it helped that Murray and Djokovic decided to quit mentally this year.

Look at the USO this year, it was like an ATP 500 for Nadal, he didn't even play a top 20 player - of course not his fault he can only beat the guy at the other side of the net, but the ATP has a crisis on it's hands with no signs of any decent talent coming through.

And Dmitrov, Nishikori, Raonic, Thiem generation have been a disaster ... now look at Kryios ? quitting after losing a tie break.

Tennis will be in a shambles when Nadal and Federer leave.

Pero_Bueno

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, Federer Nadal are doing wonders for the sport, but you have to worry a little about the next gen.
I was so disappointed in Kryios this week - he seems to be a slightly better version of Tomic.

mickmackey1

dominatinMC wrote: »

As so often happens in tennis. I fail to see what is unusual about this? If you don't like Nadal, fair enough, but at least try to be logical with your criticism.

Well I have to accept it at face value the same as everybody else. The level to which he had dropped is well outlined above, but if he is legit then I take my hat off to him as very possibly the Greatest of all time.

Christy42

Pero_Bueno wrote: »

Not really that remarkable.
The next generation is brutal, there is no new talent.
We are at the cusp of having no players in their 20s that are grand slam champions - thats a shocking statistic.

Fair play to Federer and Nadal sharing the slams between them , but it is more of a case of no real competition coming through - and of course it helped that Murray and Djokovic decided to quit mentally this year.

Look at the USO this year, it was like an ATP 500 for Nadal, he didn't even play a top 20 player - of course not his fault he can only beat the guy at the other side of the net, but the ATP has a crisis on it's hands with no signs of any decent talent coming through.

And Dmitrov, Nishikori, Raonic, Thiem generation have been a disaster ... now look at Kryios ? quitting after losing a tie break.

Tennis will be in a shambles when Nadal and Federer leave.

I am always curious how much is due to the ability of Nadal and Federer and how much is due to the weakness of the upcoming generation. Probably a combination.

Murray, Djokovic and Wawrinka all likely have multiple years left. None of which is an unworthy recipient of another slam.

Thiem can make it things interesting for a few months on clay and for the rest hopefully a few of the so called next gen can make their mark. Kyrgios is a lost hope as far as I am concerned. A champion is not a champion without the right heart and mind which will stop him advancing.

I reckon the big push for the next gen stars is because of the the lack of talent in the generation currently in their mid to late twenties though. I would Nishikori to get a slam though.

mickmackey1

Yes!!!!!! It's Fedal 38

walshb

Roger a set up

walshb

ATP 1000 number 27 for Fed!

jr86

Dare I say is Federer now in nadal's head? 4-0 for the year and bar the AO none of them even close. What a turn around in this match up

Always good to see an aggressive, shot maker winning Shanghai though. Can't ever see rafa winning here now

Hard to believe we're now down to one more masters and then the tour finals. Where does the time go

mickmackey1

What more can be said? Surely the greatest season by a 36 year old in the history of top level sport.