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2018 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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And we're off.....

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jr86

Barring an injury he's going to win Roland Garros absolutely pulling up.

Not his fault of course but he's "feeling his way back in" this tournament and doesn't even come remotely close to dropping a set. This is a guy who hardly serve-bots his way to easy service holds either

Roll on Wimbledon :pac:

dominatinMC

Just when Djokovic appeared to have turned a corner in Monte Carlo, he goes and loses to Klizan today. Truly shocking stuff

yerwanthere123

Pliskova wins Stuttgart, beating Vandeweghe and her surprising run to the final. Stuttgart plays fast so I'm not sure if that means anything for RG. Really excited to see who'll make their mark this clay season.

The Nadal procession continues. If you like watching winning the same players win the same tournaments every year then i guess you'll be excited by that. I'd like to say we can look forward to the grass season, but I've a feeling that'll be similar to last year too.

jr86

Hard to believe that only 2 years ago (heading into the French Open) Nadal, Murray and Djokovic all picked up a clay masters each and Wawrinka was coming in as defending champion

Two years on and it's looking increasingly likely that Nadal won't even drop a set all clay season and he still has 3 big events to go

Federer hasn't been as good as last year so far, but yeah I'd still expect him to sweep the grass season. Probably a case of roll on August at this stage!

yerwanthere123

Azarenka able to play straight through until Wimbledon at least, great to see.

Elise Mertens won the title in Rabat last week, didn't actually realise it's her third title of the year. With her Australian Open SF run she's currently #6 in the race.

Looking forward to seeing how Ostapenko fares at RG. Her clay form is a mixed bag so far, lost a good QF match to eventual champion Pliskova in Stuttgart but flopped to Begu in Madrid this week. Might be a bit much to expect her to defend her title but I hope she makes a decent crack at it anyway. Would really like Halep to finally get that first slam also.

Seren, meanwhile, isn't playing Rome, so logic implies she wont play RG either. Perhaps grass was the real comeback target all along?

On the ATP side, Murray likely won't be playing any grass events, apparently targeting a Summer hard court comeback. If this is what it takes to recover properly and get back in contention then it seems like the wise thing to do, especially since Djokovic recently admitted he came back too soon. Or perhaps he was saying that to save face, who knows.

jr86

Didn't think I would ever EVER see the day a non-Murray Brit would beat Djokovic in a competitive match

He seems to be going absolutely nowhere. You'd have to wonder whether he should have come back this season at all?

As for Murray, would be no real surprise to see him skip grass, He may well be better off skipping the USO too as I can't see him being able for major tennis this year

Play a few 250s and 500s to finish the year and then hopefully get a proper pre-season, may be his best bet

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

Didn't think I would ever EVER see the day a non-Murray Brit would beat Djokovic in a competitive match

He seems to be going absolutely nowhere. You'd have to wonder whether he should have come back this season at all?

As for Murray, would be no real surprise to see him skip grass, He may well be better off skipping the USO too as I can't see him being able for major tennis this year

Play a few 250s and 500s to finish the year and then hopefully get a proper pre-season, may be his best bet

Djokovic is mentally out of it (and looks even more thin if possible?) His only chance really to play himself back into some form is to hit a few 500/250s and try to play more that 1 or 2 competitive matches in a week. the players he would meet in a 500 aren't much worse that the players beating him now.....something off about the whole thing and I think it is purely mental at this stage.

pity about Murray also, he might get back at the end of the year but it really looks now like 2015/16 was the end of the big 4.

jr86

Novak is currently 75th in the Race :eek: :eek:

Fair enough he hasn't played a load of random tournaments like some above him but he's certainly not operating at top 50 standard that's for sure

Mots of it is mental I agree. He doesn't seem to love the game anymore and he's always struck me as someone who may be prone to depression of some sort

callaway92

Is there a way to find the split between Total singles prize fund and total Doubles prize fund for the below tourney?

I can just see $816 000 total

http://www.wtatennis.com/tournament/2018-stuttgart-germany-1051

Chivito550

Woohoo, off to NYC end of August, and the first week of the US Open will be on then. Haven't booked tickets yet but they seem easy enough to get. Looking at getting an evening session ticket for Ashe, and hopefully an all day reserved Louis Armstrong ticket, which will allow us to wander the grounds and still have a seat to come back to, and also guarantee tennis in case of rain.

Australian Open: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Roland Garros: 2016
US Open: 2018

3/4 of the way to the spectator grand slam after this trip. Funny that the closest one is the one that remains.

jr86

Chivito550 wrote: »

Woohoo, off to NYC end of August, and the first week of the US Open will be on then. Haven't booked tickets yet but they seem easy enough to get. Looking at getting an evening session ticket for Ashe, and hopefully an all day reserved Louis Armstrong ticket, which will allow us to wander the grounds and still have a seat to come back to, and also guarantee tennis in case of rain.

Australian Open: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Roland Garros: 2016
US Open: 2018

3/4 of the way to the spectator grand slam after this trip. Funny that the closest one is the one that remains.

Cool

You were living in Oz I assume? Am humming and hawing about doing melbourne in Jan.

Chivito550

jr86 wrote: »

Cool

You were living in Oz I assume? Am humming and hawing about doing melbourne in Jan.

Yeh I lived in Melbourne for 3 years and 3 months, but was there for 4 Januarys. I went 2 days for each of the first 3 years, but only once the last year as I only arrived back from Dublin mid way through the championships.

Australian Open has become my favourite of the 4 slams now. It' an incredible event, and wipes the floor with Roland Garros IMO (still a great event don't get me wrong). You only live once. Do it.

jr86

I'll definitely get there some year for sure! Would love New York aswell

Nadal in danger of losing his first set on clay since Rome last year. If there's anywhere on the dirt he's half vulnerable it's at Madrid

Royale with Cheese

Nadal actually lost :-o

mickmackey1

callaway92 wrote: »

Is there a way to find the split between Total singles prize fund and total Doubles prize fund for the below tourney?

I can just see $816 000 total

http://www.wtatennis.com/tournament/2018-stuttgart-germany-1051

Click on 'draws' then download the respective draw pdfs on the right hand side. A quick calculation gives 460,000 (euro) for the singles and 120,000 for the doubles. The total probably includes hospitality etc.

Meanwhile Federer returns to World No 1 at 36 years 276 days.

jr86

Well what a run Alex Zverev is on at the moment, 11 straight wins and 22 straight sets, the media fawn over the big 4 for doing similar

Surely only a matter of time before he starts contending in, and then winning, slams

Would be great for the game imo as he's marketable and could be a huge draw in the post big 4 era

NoviGlitzko

Alex Zverev's tennis style is boring though IMO. Ironically I think brother Mischa has a beautiful game.

If Kyrgios, Shapovalov, & Chung can be consistent tennis will be in a very healthy state post golden age.

jr86

Nadal and Djokovic have boring games in theory but they are obviously huge draws Marketing wise. I don't think the casual grand slam fans go for quality of tennis, they'll turn up to watch big names and big draws

He's photogenic, has a bit of character to him and is now pulling up a seat at the top table. He's a dream for men's tennis if he can generate consistency and start going deep in majors.

Otherwise ticket sales and ratings are in line for a huge decrease when Federer and nadal pack it in

mickmackey1

Djokovic beats Nishikori in 3 with his best performance since I don't know when. Hope he recovers to give Nadal a good scrap tomorrow.

jr86

Very strange match today, Nadal thumps Zverev in set 1, the reverse happens in set 2, and it looks for the world like Zverev is going to push on and win but then a rain delay allows Nadal regroup and Zverev's momentum is halted and Nadal coasts to victory after the break...

As we head into RG, I definitely do think Nadal looks much more beatable this year than last on the dirt. After cruising at Monte Carlo he's lost to Thiem, lost sets to Zverev and Fognini and was really pushed by Djokovic at stages on Saturday

I'd expect him to win RG but it may not be the procession some expect

Thiem and Zverev may have a huge say

And this was definitely Djokovic's best showing in a year. Encouraging signs for him and if he can keep it up over the next few months, he may become a contender at the US Open. Would you ever write off such a champion?

lostcat

Didn't see the final, but I can't remember when someone handed Nadal a 6-1 on clay before?
Still, the rain came to his aid as it occasionally does on the red stuff. Zverev looks like he will win several slams when he steadies up his game a bit.

Djokovic looked good (read: he seemed to take an interest in proceedings and their outcome) for a set and a bit in the semi, but its impossible to see him being fit to last a full slam in a weeks time, and he will be ranked 20 or thereabouts.

jr86

I know Murray breadsticked Nadal in Rome 2014 and Djokovic did at the French 2015

Was scrambling during the second set to see was nadal ever bagelled on clay when Zverev took a 5-0 lead. I'd doubted it had ever happened but it seemd it did vs Fed in Hamburg 2007 and in Monte Carlo 05 v Coria I think it was

yerwanthere123

Nice to see Zverev came so close to pulling off the Madrid-Rome double. Difficult to get excited about him though when he's continuously flopped at the slams, although surely he's due to turn it around any day soon? He'll be the #2 seed in Paris, so there's no time like the present, but we'll see. I'd like to think Thiem has a shot as well, but he's seemingly learnt nothing about how to schedule properly. I mean, what the fúck is he doing playing in Lyon this week? :rolleyes: Speculating is mostly pointless though, I'm sure it'll be the usual Nadal procession in Paris. I know he didn't win Madrid, but best of 5 is an entirely different manner.

Seriously impressive for Svitolina to defend her Rome title, now just remains to be seen if she can beat a player of relevance at grand slam level. French Open should be a toss up between Halep, Svitolina, Kvitova, Ostapenko and Muguruza, with Sharapova and Bertens good wildcard shouts too.

Rjd2

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Nice to see Zverev came so close to pulling off the Madrid-Rome double. Difficult to get excited about him though when he's continuously flopped at the slams, although surely he's due to turn it around any day soon? He'll be the #2 seed in Paris, so there's no time like the present, but we'll see. I'd like to think Thiem has a shot as well, but he's seemingly learnt nothing about how to schedule properly. I mean, what the fúck is he doing playing in Lyon this week? :rolleyes: Speculating is mostly pointless though, I'm sure it'll be the usual Nadal procession in Paris. I know he didn't win Madrid, but best of 5 is an entirely different manner.

Seriously impressive for Svitolina to defend her Rome title, now just remains to be seen if she can beat a player of relevance at grand slam level. French Open should be a toss up between Halep, Svitolina, Kvitova, Ostapenko and Muguruza, with Sharapova and Bertens good wildcard shouts too.

I be surpised if Petra did much at the french her worst slam and her slam record overall been dire over last few years.
I'd agree the other girls have a chance of winning this, but I'l also single out Mertens, Garcia and Kontavelt as dark horses also.

Pliskova I don't rate her clay game but she did get to the semi last year so can play here for sure.

Rob2D

Federer splits with Nike for Uniqlo. 30mil a year not including shoes.

That's a lot of money to wear a few shirts!

Chivito550

Ticketmaster USA is the biggest crock of sh1te. Trying to buy US Open tickets and when I select "Ireland" as my country for my billing address, a drop down menu for "state" appears. There are no options available on this drop down, so there is nothing I can select, yet it won't let me purchase tickets without selecting a non-existant state. To make matters worse, if you pick any other country out of the 180+ nations you can select, this "state" thing doesn't appear. If I was British, French or Guatemalan, I'd have my tickets by now! What a load of crap! :mad:

RosyLily

Chivito550 wrote: »

Ticketmaster USA is the biggest crock of sh1te. Trying to buy US Open tickets and when I select "Ireland" as my country for my billing address, a drop down menu for "state" appears. There are no options available on this drop down, so there is nothing I can select, yet it won't let me purchase tickets without selecting a non-existant state. To make matters worse, if you pick any other country out of the 180+ nations you can select, this "state" thing doesn't appear. If I was British, French or Guatemalan, I'd have my tickets by now! What a load of crap! :mad:

I was in the same boat!! Ridiculously frustrating!!! 2 hours before I got my ticket. Had a great spot picked, went to pay then "There are problems with your submission." Didn't tell me what the problem was though! Steam was coming outta my ears at this stage. Looking at Ticketmaster US's customer service Twitter and it seems lots of people had issues. Buying tickets for the US has been much more stressful than Wimbledon.

I ended up selecting Great Britain and putting down a friend's postcode. I really wanted tickets.:o

Lots of tickets are for resale....and at least $30+ above value.

Chivito550

RosyLily wrote: »

I was in the same boat!! Ridiculously frustrating!!! 2 hours before I got my ticket. Had a great spot picked, went to pay then "There are problems with your submission." Didn't tell me what the problem was though! Steam was coming outta my ears at this stage. Looking at Ticketmaster US's customer service Twitter and it seems lots of people had issues. Buying tickets for the US has been much more stressful than Wimbledon.

I ended up selecting Great Britain and putting down a friend's postcode. I really wanted tickets.:o

Lots of tickets are for resale....and at least $30+ above value.

If I pick Great Britain as my billing address will that not cause problems with the bank as my credit card won’t match up with that address?

RosyLily

Chivito550 wrote: »

If I pick Great Britain as my billing address will that not cause problems with the bank as my credit card won’t match up with that address?

Hadn't even thought of that. Crap!! I'll chance my arm. Don't know why they made it difficult.

Chivito550

RosyLily wrote: »

Hadn't even thought of that. Crap!! I'll chance my arm. Don't know why they made it difficult.

You know what, I’ve just gone and done the same!

Ashe on Tuesday night, round 1, and Ashe day ticket for Thursday round 2, though we may just use this one as a ground pass with Ashe being a safety net in case of rain or if Federer is on.

What did you get?