The 2017 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Chivito550

Jan_de_Bakker wrote: »

Federer will take a break till the French Open - wise move.

Are the top players not obligated to play in all the masters 1000 events (excluding Monte Carlo) unless they have an injury?

yerwanthere123

Chivito550 wrote: »

Are the top players not obligated to play in all the masters 1000 events (excluding Monte Carlo) unless they have an injury?

I think so, however when you get to Federer's level you can do what you want. They're hardly going to fine him now are they?

Speaking of Federer, isn't it funny how he wins the biggest three events of the year so far and everyone marvels at how great he is, yet when Serena does the same it's because of how weak the WTA is? :pac:

RosyLily

Chivito550 wrote: »

Are the top players not obligated to play in all the masters 1000 events (excluding Monte Carlo) unless they have an injury?

I remember reading years ago that players can miss Masters events if they have reached certain milestones, like the number of years on the tour or matches won. I think!! Don't quote me on it though.:o

Tedley Gem

I said on this forum in 2013 when Fed switched to the bigger racquet that he would be a serious threat again at slams.

Most of the typical posters on this forum ridiculed the suggestion, he was past it they said. I told them that the bigger racquet would increase his power so he could compete better in base line rallies.

Looks like I was right, he narrowly lost Wimbledon in 2014, then was playing even better in 2015 getting to the final of Wimbledon and the US Open, most of 2016 was a write off due to injury but it looks like he is still making improvements with the new racquet, his back hand is a real weapon now.

How many slams would he have now if he switched in 2008 to the bigger racquet, he was actually handicapping himself for all those years against his rivals.

Jan_de_Bakker

Tedley Gem wrote: »

I said on this forum in 2013 when Fed switched to the bigger racquet that he would be a serious threat again at slams.

Most of the typical posters on this forum ridiculed the suggestion, he was past it they said. I told them that the bigger racquet would increase his power so he could compete better in base line rallies.

Looks like I was right, he narrowly lost Wimbledon in 2014, then was playing even better in 2015 getting to the final of Wimbledon and the US Open, most of 2016 was a write off due to injury but it looks like he is still making improvements with the new racquet, his back hand is a real weapon now.

How many slams would he have now if he switched in 2008 to the bigger racquet, he was actually handicapping himself for all those years against his rivals.

Im glad to see Fed win again, but a lot of this comeback is really that there is no one coming up in the youth to challenge - I don't know why.

Compare average ages of slam winners (even semi finalists) these last couple of years with 10/15 years ago.

now its late 20s early 30s compared to early to mid 20s a decade ago.

No male player born in the 1990s has won a slam yet, the youngest slam champion playing now I think is Del Potro - he will be 29 this year.

its amazing really, if any of the young lads had broken through he wouldn't be winning this AO + masters in 2017....

I know ... if if if ... my auntie had bollix she'd be my uncle ..


Still great to see Fed winning - especially beating Nadal ...

walshb

I too was wondering about his 8 weeks break which will see him miss some 1000 events. The ATP tour can't be happy with this.

walshb

iroced wrote: »

Looks like Federer found the key to defeat Nadal. Impressive return from both of them but Federer just amazes me. His backhand is just phenomenal. How did he manage to improve it up to that level at his age?! It's baffling!

The improvement is very slight. That's how good he is, and was. The bigger racquet I think gives him more confidence to strike cleaner and harder. That leads to an overall better display.

His court coverage and defense are as good as ever, and his serving is top notch.

Johnmb

RosyLily wrote: »

I remember reading years ago that players can miss Masters events if they have reached certain milestones, like the number of years on the tour or matches won. I think!! Don't quote me on it though.:o

Anyone can skip Monte Carlo, despite being a 1000 event, it is in the same class as 500 events regarding being mandatory. If you've played a certain number of matches, you can skip other 1000 events, Federer qualifies through that. Also, the punishment for skipping ones you aren't allowed to skip will be irrelevant to Federer. You can be banned from playing the next 1000 event, but if he wasn't planning on playing it then he won't care, and if he wanted to play it, they'd fight the ATP to allow him as he is too big a draw. As for the fines, that comes out of his end of year bonus, it's not actual cash he has to pay over, and he doesn't really need that bonus at this stage...

yerwanthere123

Ireland begin their Davis Cup campaign this morning, up first against Andorra. Also in a group with Kosovo and Montenegro, so I'd expect promotion to the playoffs, where we could face one of either Moldova, Luxembourg or Bulgaria. The good news for us is that Moldova are without Radu Albot, Luxembourg without Gilles Muller and, most importantly, Bulgaria are without Dimitrov, so we should be in with a good chance of promotion.

yerwanthere123

Ireland topped their group and beat Bulgaria in the playoffs. Promoted to group 2 for 2018 :cool:

yerwanthere123

In other news, Azarenka has announced that she will, unsurprisingly, make her return this Summer at Stanford. Vika's coming for that US Open trophy :cool:

Manchester has been announced as a possible candidate for the WTA finals after the contract with Singapore expires. I doubt if it'd go there, but it'd be class if it did. I'd definitely give a hop over.

Pistachios & cream

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Manchester has been announced as a possible candidate for the WTA finals after the contract with Singapore expires. I doubt if it'd go there, but it'd be class if it did. I'd definitely give a hop over.

If it came to any major European city I'd definitely go. Most are pretty accessible and cheap to get to in November.

RosyLily

It'd be great if the WTA finals went to a European city next. It might depend on whether the ATP moves their finals out of London. Both are contracted to their current locations until 2018.

yerwanthere123

From a selfish point of view I'd love the ATP finals to stay in London. I say every year I'll go and then I don't!

Johnmb

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

From a selfish point of view I'd love the ATP finals to stay in London. I say every year I'll go and then I don't!

Whether it stays specifically in London or not I don't really mind, but I do think it needs to stay in western Europe, or maybe eastern US. The middle and far east have been busts from a spectator point of view. I know the sponsors pay big money, but the ATP (and WTA) need to focus more on the long term popularity than the short term financials. It's not like they don't get very good prize money for playing in the more mature markets.

yerwanthere123

Holy crap, Serena announces on Snapchat that she's 20 weeks pregnant! :pac:

RosyLily

Yep. Holy crap were my thoughts exactly.:eek: The WTA tweeted her snapchat pic and I just skipped past it.....had to scroll back and check the caption when someone tweeted their congrats. Great news!!

Wide open now for the rest of the women. Who's gonna win what?! Serena was my Wimbledon pick.:o

yerwanthere123

Although Serena has since deleted the picture, so I hope it's not some elaborate joke, or perhaps she meant to send it to someone else by mistake?!

yerwanthere123

Serena's agent has confirmed it, so it's for real. So many questions and variables at play, when will serena come back, or will she at all? I'd hazard a guess she'll aim for a grass return next summer, so she'd be closing in on 37 then, will she really be able to overtake Margaret Court's 'record' at that age?

And then there's the rest of the tour, it's wide open now for so many players. I think Azarenka will win the US Open and then dominate the remainder of the season. Muguruza should still be a big favorite in Paris. Despite the fact she plays like trash for most of the season she still brings her best at the French open. And at Wimbledon maybe Venus is a good bet? With nobody really in form it could be anyone's guess.

josip

Murray out of Monte Carlo, he got to the semi final last year.
Jocko has at least gotten to the same stage as last year.
With the lead Murray has it doesn't look likely he will relinquish No. 1 before the summer.

Floppybits

Goffin playing out of his skin against Djokovic.  5-1 to Goffin in the first set.

Jan_de_Bakker

Goffin wins.

Djokovic doesn't give a damn anymore, and Murray out of sorts himself - strange times indeed.

Nadal will probably win every clay tournament he enters this year - and I'm not being my usual self here - unless Fed can conjure up a win in the French.

lostcat

I must say, and I pretty much like the guy, but Murray is the most unimpressive no 1 since I don't know who (Rios..Muster...??)

As for Djokovic, hard to know what he is actually thinking about, but its not about tennis. He used to be at this craic a good while ago, giving up soft sets and making work for himself where none existed, however he simply isn't abled to continually dig himself out of holes anymore. his serve, net play and overhead attempts are comical (all areas where he previously made considerable improvements under Becker)

If this messing keeps up, Federer has a serious shot at getting his 2nd French in a months time.

Hunchback

yerwanthere123 wrote:

Serena's agent has confirmed it, so it's for real. So many questions and variables at play, when will serena come back, or will she at all? I'd hazard a guess she'll aim for a grass return next summer, so she'd be closing in on 37 then, will she really be able to overtake Margaret Court's 'record' at that age?

yerwanthere123 wrote:

And then there's the rest of the tour, it's wide open now for so many players. I think Azarenka will win the US Open and then dominate the remainder of the season. Muguruza should still be a big favorite in Paris. Despite the fact she plays like trash for most of the season she still brings her best at the French open. And at Wimbledon maybe Venus is a good bet? With nobody really in form it could be anyone's guess.

A Venus win - omg that speaks to my soul. How amazing that would be

Hunchback

Apologies for the phrasing of the above post - I get a bit enthusiastic after a bottle of wine on a Friday evening - but it would be incredible

jr86

lostcat wrote: »

I must say, and I pretty much like the guy, but Murray is the most unimpressive no 1 since I don't know who (Rios..Muster...??)

As for Djokovic, hard to know what he is actually thinking about, but its not about tennis. He used to be at this craic a good while ago, giving up soft sets and making work for himself where none existed, however he simply isn't abled to continually dig himself out of holes anymore. his serve, net play and overhead attempts are comical (all areas where he previously made considerable improvements under Becker)

If this messing keeps up, Federer has a serious shot at getting his 2nd French in a months time.

Give him a chance, he quite clearly wasn't fit to play monte Carlo was back serving about 4 days only beforehand. Never liked Indian wells and the Aussie was a bit of a freak

A first title in dubai

the begrudgery around murray is baffling

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

So..... Fed Cup tie in Romania..

yerwanthere123

Sharapova will make her return against Vinci in Stuttgart. Not a bad draw. Got absolutely no idea what to expect from her, it'd be kinda hilarious if she swept the clay season :pac:

We'll also find out if she gets to play RG on May 15th. Whatever they decide I think Wimbledon will follow suit.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Sharapova will make her return against Vinci in Stuttgart. Not a bad draw. Got absolutely no idea what to expect from her, it'd be kinda hilarious if she swept the clay season :pac:

We'll also find out if she gets to play RG on May 15th. Whatever they decide I think Wimbledon will follow suit.

I've lost a lot of respect for Sharapova in how she and her team have handled things after the initial announcement/suspension but at the same time I'd kind of love to see her destroy all the players who have been whinging about her getting WCs etc. over the last few weeks.

RosyLily

Just heard about Nastase at Fed Cup. What. The. Fluck!!!:mad:

Makes a comment about Serena's baby, asks Anne Keothavong for her room number and then calls her and Jo Konta "fcuking bitches." All in two days. The ITF has said his credentials have been taken away and he's banned from site. Investigation to follow. I hope he's banned for life. Behaviour like that is not becoming of a Fed Cup captain.