2018 In Between Grand Slam Thread

mickmackey1 wrote: »

I thought Miami was the slow one, Fed seemed to have a lot more difficulty winning there last year.

Both very slow, at IW ball travels through the air a bit quicker though given the weather conditions, but there's a higher bounce - more similar to a clay court than anything

Fed's career has been sooo long that he's now lost 19 times from match point up!!

dominatinMC

Just an observation - I watched the match back last night and thought Fed looked quite tired by the end. Some on Twitter are putting the DF's down to choking, I don't believe that for a second, Fed has no issue Vs. DelPo, but I think the DF's could be attributed to fatigue. Which would only be natural for someone going on 37! In any case, it will be interesting to see if there are any signs of fatigue in Miami. If so, I very much doubt Fed will play the clay this year, and jeopardize a near sure-thing at SW19.

Djokovic is playing so poorly its untrue. Very strange considering he was at a reasonable level in Australia, but seems to have regressed badly since then.

RosyLily

It's really weird seeing Djokovic look so average. We're so used to him at his best or close to it. I wonder if his injury is more serious than he's letting on. Or he's trying everything to help and nothing's worked. I think it's a bit like Nadal in that their style of play is tougher on the body. They've spent years bashing the ball, running kilometres on the court....maybe it's catching up.

Wozniacki wasn't happy with her and her family's treatment at last night's match. If what she said is true then the WTA and Miami open need to answer some questions.

And so Nadal is back to No 1 having not finished any of his last 6 tournaments.

dominatinMC

mickmackey1 wrote:

And so Nadal is back to No 1 having not finished any of his last 6 tournaments.

ðŸ˜‚ The obsession is real. Isn't the more prescient point here that Fed has just got dumped out of Miami by Kokkinakas, who is ranked 174 places below him?! To be fair, that ranking is not a fair reflection on Kokkinakas, as he has a solid game and has suffered a lot through injuries recently. And I did post after the IW final that I thought Fed looked tired, he certainly didn't look 100% tonight.

Johnmb

mickmackey1 wrote: »

And so Nadal is back to No 1 having not finished any of his last 6 tournaments.

It's a 52 week ranking, so his last 6 tournaments aren't the be all and end all of that. Federer had a lot of points to defend up to this point, so it was always going to be difficult for him. He has literally nothing to defend during the clay court season, whereas Nadal has the bulk of his points to defend then. It's very possible that Federer could be back as number 1 in time for Wimbledon, without playing another tournament between now and Halle.

Yeah I do think Fed has regressed a bit from this time last year, and there are signs he's feeling his age. He had a very easy draw at Oz (not his fault before someone jumps in) so it was hard to really gauge his level, but he was taken all the way by Cilic and even before losing to Delpo at Indian Wells he was really pushed by Coric, and now he's lost to Kokkinakis.

I'm surprised he played Miami really, as the conditions don't really suit his game - but I guess if he's taking clay off again it was no harm.

As for Djokovic, I don't think he'll be overly upset, I would imagine he's realistically mainly targetting the latter half of the season to be competitive. All this game time should benefit him overall, you'd think. Still think there's more slams in him

Thank the fúcking lord for Kokkinakis breathing a bit of life into the men's game, long may it continue. First masters since Hamburg 2006 that none of the big four made it to the third round. Miami should be anyone's for the taking really, will be fun to see who makes it to the final from both halves.

Loaded field on the women's side, even without Serena. Azarenka into the fourth round, hopefully she can keep rolling. Good to see Ostapenko winning matches or relevance again, she's played horrible this year so far.

dominatinMC

jr86 wrote: »

Yeah I do think Fed has regressed a bit from this time last year, and there are signs he's feeling his age. He had a very easy draw at Oz (not his fault before someone jumps in) so it was hard to really gauge his level, but he was taken all the way by Cilic and even before losing to Delpo at Indian Wells he was really pushed by Coric, and now he's lost to Kokkinakis.

I'm surprised he played Miami really, as the conditions don't really suit his game - but I guess if he's taking clay off again it was no harm.

As for Djokovic, I don't think he'll be overly upset, I would imagine he's realistically mainly targetting the latter half of the season to be competitive. All this game time should benefit him overall, you'd think. Still think there's more slams in him

I would still be slightly wary of Djokovic. I watched his match Vs. Paire, and was taken aback by his performance, or lack thereof. Whilst I expected his tennis to be rusty, it was his physique which really struck me. He looks very thin, almost gaunt, and appeared to be gassed after 6 games. Now I know he is only back from surgery, but I was still surprised at this lack of fitness. Perhaps, more worryingly, was his apparent lack of interest at times in the match. Where was the fight, the resolve, the tenacity which we have all come to expect from Djokovic over the past 6/7 years.

It looks as if Djokovic is going through the same slump which Nadal, and to some extent Federer, went through pre-2017. I think Nadal's slump was more pronounced, particularly during his annus horribilis of 2015, where there are distinct parallels with Djokovic now, in that he was loosing to lesser guys on the tour. I hope Djokovic can turn his situation around, as the tour badly needs him competing at the top...especially given that the "next-gen" have flattered to deceive so far.

He's certainly an absolute shadow of his former self at this moment in time, but individual sport can be funny, a good run of games in the clay season and who knows - I wouldn't write him off at all at Wimbledon/US Open.

federer 2013, Murray 2014 and Nadal 2015 looked completely finished themselves

Stephens - Ostapenko final in Miami, what a fun match that could be. Nice narrative too, two of the current surprise slam champions competing for their first PM title. Hoping Ostapenko can do it, but Sloane is always very dangerous playing in her home country, the only time she wills herself to give 100%

Del Potro into the SF'S, two wins away from completng the sunshine double, what a welcome surprise that would be!

So Zverev has a golden opportunity at a 3rd Masters, surely it's only a matter of time before this transfers over to Slams

He has plenty of ingredients to be the next big tennis superstar

Isner really is tricky to tame in these conditions though. That was a monstrous win vs Delpo.

Cant believe Isner has won an atp 1000 event. Disappointing finish from Zevrev.

Also Djokovic has split from Agassi. Be interesting who Djokovic now brings in.

When you see that attacking play by Isner and that unplayable serve in action, you'd have to wonder how he hasn't achieved a bit more in the game

jr86 wrote: »

When you see that attacking play by Isner and that unplayable serve in action, you'd have to wonder how he hasn't achieved a bit more in the game

It's only this year that he has started the attacking game. The biggest problem for Isner seems to be his fitness. He was gasping during the third set in Miami, how Zverev didn't take advantage I don't know. I can't see him winning any of the slams until he can sort out the fitness.

lostcat

when Del Potro and Isner win back to back 1000's, you know things are a bit up in the air.

With Murray not due back until queens and Nadal kinda-coming-back-maybe-next-week, the clay season is really up for grabs for someone to grab the tour by the scruff of the neck. I don't think anyone will however, and we will have a few of the smaller tournaments won by a player on a week long streak, culminating in Nadal winning the FO.

Regarding Djokovic, not surprised about the Agassi break up, he should have been nowhere near the past two tournaments and whomever advised him to play them gave poor advice. His problems are all mental at this stage and, guru or no guru, he is showing pretty clear signs of some kind of depression imo.

Floppybits wrote: »

It's only this year that he has started the attacking game.

It hadn't been working very well... lost six 1st rounds and won only 2 matches all year before Miami. The way he played in the Final I'm sure any of the big 4 would have taken him out, but have to credit him for more than 50 consecutive service holds I suppose.

Zverev's forehand looked WTA level at times and only 1 backhand winner all match... hard to figure out if he's world-class or more hype than substance.

To think this time 2 years ago Djokovic was absolutely on top of the world. Won the last 3 slams, hoovering up Masters left right and centre, he looked unbeatable and in a great place to even challenge Federer's slam record

Fully agree that most of this seems mental, he's always appeared a very emotional person and to be honest it's sad to see him sunk to this new low

I think he'll pick up more slams yet, but it goes to show how uncertain sport is and even life in general

The Clay season could be a free for all until the French where I expect Nadal to indeed take the title, although I'd doubt it'll be as facile as last year. Not sure at all who the nearest challenger will be though. Goffin and Thiem perhaps but both are hardly reliable either

The Djokovic situation continues to baffle me, even after almost two years. He's claiming a lot of it's down to an elbow injury, he recently said in a press conference that this was the first time in "years" that he's been pain free, but I'm not sure I believe him. As already mentioned, I too believe most of this is mental. I sometimes wonder how different things would be today if he hadn't won RG.

I see that Djokovic has now parted ways with Stepanek as well.

lostcat

Floppybits wrote: »

I see that Djokovic has now parted ways with Stepanek as well.

Bit of a trainwreck atm

Nadal due back next week for Davis Cup

lostcat wrote: »

Nadal due back next week for Davis Cup

Tomorrow.

What on earth is Nadal playing Davis Cup for. I assume he'll follow it with a full clay season too.

If there's one place federer undisputedly trumps him it's scheduling

So Nadal who's only back a couple of weeks, beats the 2nd best clay player in the world 6-0 6-2

Should be a fascinating clay season folks! :pac:

Nadal injured all season then rocks up on clay and steamrolls the field