nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

French Open 2021

Floppybits

A few days away from the second Slam of the year. I guess for the men's Nadal has to be favourite. Is there anyone that beat him here? As for the ladies for me its wide open with 3 or 4 players that can win. I see Osaka has said she is not doing any press at the French Open for her mental health. I don't see her winning it.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Babolat900

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Pete was 31 when he retired but he did have that shoulder injury.

Agassi who seemed to be a real veteran when he retired was only 35.

We have Federer 40, Nadal 35 and Djokovic at 34 still going .

Its a bit mad that players before were finished by 30, some women players were gone by 25!

It's only recently that players are able stay competitive into their thirties. Perhaps it's due to the latest training methods and nutrition programs. That's another reason why you aren't comparing like with like with different eras.

Perhaps if Sampras was born 10 to 20 years later he still would have been competitive into his mid thirties and got 20 slams himself.

walshb

I like this stat for Fed fans

74–73 sets he leads Nole

Retire now and you are the GOAT, Roger!

But Nadal is 70-50 over Roger

And Nole is 78-72 over Nadal

Fook this.....three way tie!

Babolat900

walshb wrote: »

I like this stat for Fed fans

74–73 sets he leads Nole

Retire now and you are the GOAT, Roger!

What's the stats for total points won?

murphyebass

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Formula 1 is a joke and has been for the last decade.

Put an old woman into Hamiltons car and she'd win the race.

Tell that to Hamilton’s teammates. Even when Rosberg won the title a few years back it was only due to a lot of dnf’s from Hamilton.

Yes the car is good but Hamilton is in a different league to most other drivers.

walshb

Babolat900 wrote: »

What's the stats for total points won?

I was going to scrap that one, and head straight to winners numbers!!!!

whiterebel

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Pete was 31 when he retired but he did have that shoulder injury.

Agassi who seemed to be a real veteran when he retired was only 35.

We have Federer 40, Nadal 35 and Djokovic at 34 still going .

Its a bit mad that players before were finished by 30, some women players were gone by 25!

Everyone mentions Borg retiring at 26, but its very rarely mentioned that Mac won (and played) his last GS at 25. Courier at 23, never played a GS final after that. The link that was put up yesterday for the 2004 FO final between Gaudio and Coria is fascinating. It seemed to completely break Coria's career.

[Deleted User]

Djokovic, Federer, Nadal

It's the G.O.A.T vs the G.O.A.S

Greatest of All Time vs Greatest of All Switzerland and Greatest of All Spain

Furze99

murphyebass wrote: »

He has the better of both Nadal and Federer and on most days he’ll beat any of the new crop because they’re just not good enough.

How though? There's a lot of skill in the younger players who are in the prime of their lives physically in their early 20s. How does a man in his mid 30s go toe to toe in long rallies, cover the court and recover for the next rally, game, set? He seemed to be getting stronger as the match went on yesterday. If anything he looked a bit bollixed in the first two sets.

walshb

Furze99 wrote: »

How though? There's a lot of skill in the younger players who are in the prime of their lives physically in their early 20s. How does a man in his mid 30s go toe to toe in long rallies, cover the court and recover for the next rally, game, set? He seemed to be getting stronger as the match went on yesterday. If anything he looked a bit bollixed in the first two sets.

He is in his 30s, not 50s

How does Roger do it at almost 40?

He won Australia aged 36 or so....almost did SW19 aged nearly 38.....had two MPs

Will Nole win 2023 Australia?

They are brilliant athletes with brilliant tennis talent!

[Deleted User]

Furze99 wrote: »

How though? There's a lot of skill in the younger players who are in the prime of their lives physically in their early 20s. How does a man in his mid 30s go toe to toe in long rallies, cover the court and recover for the next rally, game, set? He seemed to be getting stronger as the match went on yesterday. If anything he looked a bit bollixed in the first two sets.

Djokovic is lithe and wiry and is a good bit lighter than say Nadal and Federer for a similar height - he's only 77kg for quite a tall guy vs 85 kg for Nadal and Federer. He's actually taller than both of them also by 3cm.

As the hours go on that makes a big big difference.

He develops a lot of his snap on shots from timing and technique rather than say Nadal's physicality which is less draining

He gets stronger comparatively over 5 sets because his opponents have expended more physical and mental energy by the time it gets to 3, 4 or 5 sets as they wane

He plays as if a match will go to 5 sets and manages himself accordingly

He should have won the first set but had a brain fart focus at 6-5 (getting on to the umpire about time in the interval didn't help).

I think that was a mental hangover from the huge high of beating Nadal less than 2 days ago. In the second set he couldn't believe that he had done that and was still angry with himself and that contributed that set being quickly gone too.

but it's a 5 set match and the whole match turned in the 4th game of the third set.

Tsitsipas saved 4 bp's in brilliant fashion (pretty much all winners it seemed to me) but Djokovic was able to force a fifth one and take the break.

He started serving much better also.

josip

Furze99 wrote: »

How though? There's a lot of skill in the younger players who are in the prime of their lives physically in their early 20s. How does a man in his mid 30s go toe to toe in long rallies, cover the court and recover for the next rally, game, set? He seemed to be getting stronger as the match went on yesterday. If anything he looked a bit bollixed in the first two sets.

I'll never see mid 30s or even mid 40s again, but every year I've had soccer matches where I feel more tired after 10 minutes than at the end.
Sometimes you just get into a zone where you're dictating the pace to game and not vice versa.
When that happens, there is no tiredness, just a feeling that I could run and chase forever.
And I get that without any juice

I can't speak for Djokovic, but I would imagine that once he broke in the 3rd set, the positive mental-physical feedback loop was just pumping out adrenaline, endorphins, the works, from there on.

whiterebel

Furze99 wrote: »

How though? There's a lot of skill in the younger players who are in the prime of their lives physically in their early 20s. How does a man in his mid 30s go toe to toe in long rallies, cover the court and recover for the next rally, game, set? He seemed to be getting stronger as the match went on yesterday. If anything he looked a bit bollixed in the first two sets.

Most, if not all the newer players are all about putting tremendous power into the ball. They stand way back to take it, giving the wily old foxes on the far side time to see it and drop shot or whatever is necessary. They take enormous swings at the ball, which then gives them very little room for error. On faster courts it makes the problem even worse. Whatever was going on this year I thought there was a massive amount of mis-hits off the frames.

Rublev takes the ball pretty early, which is why I think he shocked Nadal this year. Musetti seems to have a bit of variation to his game. Sinner gets some good angles, but the rest of his game is pretty predictable. I don't know why Thiem doesn't try and stick to the baseline, the long ball game doesn't seem to be working any more.

Chivito550

https://www.rte.ie/sport/tennis/2021/0614/1228026-tsitsipas-heard-of-grannys-death-just-before-final/

I can't believe somebody would deliver him this news 5 minutes before he stepped on court. What benefit could there have been from that. This was something that surely could have waited until after the match.

[Deleted User]

Chivito550 wrote: »

https://www.rte.ie/sport/tennis/2021/0614/1228026-tsitsipas-heard-of-grannys-death-just-before-final/

I can't believe somebody would deliver him this news 5 minutes before he stepped on court. What benefit could there have been from that. This was something that surely could have waited until after the match.

his post doesn't actually definitively say that he knew before the match

it says that she passed away 5 minutes before the match

it doesn't say that he knew that

it's ambiguous

"Five minutes before entering the court my very beloved grandmother lost her battle for life," Tsitsipas wrote on Instagram. "A wise woman whose faith in life, and willingness to give and provide can't be compared to any other human being that I have ever met.

whiterebel

The way it is worded makes it difficult to know when he found out. If they did tell him they may have wanted to give him the opportunity to pull out, after all it was his father's mother.

[Deleted User]

whiterebel wrote: »

The way it is worded makes it difficult to know when he found out. If they did tell him they may have wanted to give him the opportunity to pull out, after all it was his father's mother.

to me it seems pretty sure that he didn't know

his demeanour was pretty normal for playing during the match

if she died "5 minutes before entering the court" would they have rang him instantly?

wouldn't a death be verified first?

I think these points mean that he didn't know.

does "entering the court" mean entering the court to play the first game, to warmup or coming out of the dressing room?

if it's the first one then he was already prepping / warming up in the arena 5 minutes before.

Furze99

glasso wrote: »

Djokovic is lithe and wiry and is a good bit lighter than say Nadal and Federer for a similar height - he's only 77kg for quite a tall guy vs 85 kg for Nadal and Federer. He's actually taller than both of them also by 3cm.

Yes, he's obviously very athletic but the years tell in every other sport that requires power and stamina. Single mens tennis at GS level is gladiatorial in nature. How many athletes in other sports manage to dominate to their mid 30s..

[Deleted User]

Furze99 wrote: »

Yes, he's obviously very athletic but the years tell in every other sport that requires power and stamina. Single mens tennis at GS level is gladiatorial in nature. How many athletes in other sports manage to dominate to their mid 30s..

he's still in his early 30's

sports science in terms of injury prevention, recovery and nutrition have definitely seen big advances in the last 10/12 years and Djokovic has always been an innovator here and takes it very very seriously.

tennis is a stop-start game - not to be underestimated how big a difference that makes vs a constant game in terms of age and stamina

not the same but still a relevant point imo - Tom Brady is a quarterback in a stop-start but physical game and he's still winning superbowls at 43

as you said he is very athletic (the light weight is massive as said over 4 hours plus in terms of stamina - massive, he's 2 stone lighter than Tsitsipas for example - put a young runner 2 stone heavier against an older runner....) is and very efficient in shot-striking - if you take a look at his forehand for example, he generates a lot of whip from just turning his body whereas some other players are more driving their whole body forward (also turning but driving forward more) using more energy

he's Djokovic - he has the highest level of resilience and mental strength ever seen in tennis to be able to harness his body to his mind's will.
Nadal is able to focus in crazy OCD fashion on every point but that's eventually draining. Djokovic focuses on the big picture of the match outcome.

if aliens landed and there was to be a tennis game against some alien freak over 5 sets played for the future of the human race Djokovic is the guy you'd want on our side

walshb

Furze99 wrote: »

Yes, he's obviously very athletic but the years tell in every other sport that requires power and stamina. Single mens tennis at GS level is gladiatorial in nature. How many athletes in other sports manage to dominate to their mid 30s..

What are you getting at?

He's a 34 year old elite athlete who happens to be brilliant at tennis...

He is not, and was never unbeatable. Tspitais really should have pressed home his 2 sets advantage

Nole is not the same player today as he was when younger. He is regressing

The issue is that there is no influx of really great younger players at the moment, hence a Nadal/Nole (both past their best) can still win slams.

[Deleted User]

walshb wrote: »

What are you getting at?

He's a 34 year old elite athlete who happens to be brilliant at tennis...

He is not, and was never unbeatable. Tspitais really should have pressed home his 2 sets advantage

Nole is not the same player today as he was when younger. He is regressing

The issue is that there is no influx of really great younger players at the moment, hence a Nadal/Nole (both past their best) can still win slams.

are you yourself trying to start up a doping discussion - please don't?!

if the other poster was intimating that just leave him to it.

the die-hard fed heads are hurting today as the inevitable approaches.

as Tsitsipas said yesterday afterwards "2 sets is nothing"

he's knows that now!

Djokovic is human. He doesn't have to be the best all match - he just has to win 3 of the 5 sets.

There is a big difference there.

People going on about "oh he was not good in set 2. the next gen should beat him" are missing the point.

walshb

glasso wrote: »

are you yourself trying to start up a doping discussion - please don't?!

No, I am fed up to the tits with these stupid and illogical doping allegations thrown around because a man/men in their 30s can be the best at something in tennis....

It appears that the poster is hinting at something not right with a 34 year old being able to win tennis matches....

[Deleted User]

walshb wrote: »

No, I am fed up to the tits with these stupid and illogical doping allegations thrown around because a man/men in their 30s can be the best at something in tennis....

It appears that the poster is hinting at something not right with a 34 year old being able to win tennis matches....

probably is.

just leave it tho.

butthurtery is prevalent at the moment.

Girly Gal

The evidence is beginning to stack up in favour of Djokovic being the greatest of all time, weeks at number one, H2H v Nadal and Federer and only a matter of time before he overtakes the other 2 in GS won.

Of the 3 Federer is the most naturally gifted, but, he is considerably much weaker mentally than the other 2, it's really only his exception skill level that kept him at the top so long. I don't think he's mentally much stronger than the average top 10 guy. In the early part of his career he allowed Nadal get inside his head and was often beaten against him walking onto court, in the last decade he allowed Djokovic get inside his head and wasn't able to close out big matches against him in US a couple times and Wimbledon 19. Had Federer been mentally stronger he would have won a few more slams, probably closer to 25. He was also very slow to change racket, despite it being available to him, so, he can have no arguments about tennis rackets, he chose to play with a racket knowing he was probably at a disadvantage with it, so can't complain about that.

Djokovic and Nadal are on a totally different level from a mental point of view, nothing really phases them in matches, of the two Djokovic is the better all round player. There really isn't much between them in terms of mental strength, but, because Djokovic is the better all round player he edges it. Both have gotten the most out of their careers, I can't really think of any slams they should have won but didn't (USO last year Djokovic probably would have won had he not been disqualified, but, that wasn't really lost in play)

Very hard to know how many Djokovic will end up with, his two main rivals are not able to compete with him anymore and the younger players simply aren't good enough to beat him, even when he's not playing at his best. At the moment he doesn't have an obvious challenger, Nadal still probably his toughest opponent, but, not as strong outside RG

Hector Savage

Babolat900 wrote: »

Spare a thought for Pete Sampras who thought nobody would beat his slam record when he retired.

Honestly don't think he gives a f*ck, he's enjoying himself on the golf course too much!

walshb

And yet Roger has shown real mental fortitude in some matches vs. Nadal

The most obvious one was, for me, his greatest ever match win, the 2017 Australian final...

The 2019 SW19 semi he also showed mental fortitude.....

The biggest killers for Roger were the SW19 2019 final, and the two U.S. semis in 2010 and 2011, all vs Nole...

Excluding Roland Garros, I think Fed and Nadal are tied at 4-4 in GS matches....

Nadal has a 6-0 at RG

He is 8-2 I think vs Nole at RG

They have all let matches slip vs each other, and all won matches that we thought that they couldn't

It's just that Roger's seem a little more advertised and noticeable. The three I mentioned vs Nole are the only actual ones that look like chokes...

[Deleted User]

walshb wrote: »

And yet Roger has shown real mental fortitude in some matches vs. Nadal

The most obvious one was, for me, his greatest ever match win, the 2017 Australian final...

The 2019 SW19 semi he also showed mental fortitude.....

The biggest killers for Roger were the SW19 2019 final, and the two U.S. semis in 2010 and 2011, all vs Nole...

Excluding Roland Garros, I think Fed and Nadal are tied at 4-4 in GS matches....

Nadal has a 6-0 at RG

All the match points he had - he's owned a Djokovic voodoo doll since 2010 I believe

"Chips please, no vinegar, just extra salt"

https://youtu.be/Istcd6U_J9s?t=145

Girly Gal

Babolat900 wrote: »

Spare a thought for Pete Sampras who thought nobody would beat his slam record when he retired.

At the time I thought that record would stand for a long time, yet, Federer had broken it around a decade later, hard to believe 3 players are now on or around 20 with 2 likely to finish with more. Not sure Sampras was that interested in the record, kinda came as a byproduct of his domination at Wimbledon and USO. Chasing the slam records wasn't something players did until recently, a lot of top players didn't travel to the AO until the late eighties/ early nineties. Federer was really the first player I recall actively chase the record, Nadal because of his ridiculous record at the FO is up there almost by accident, not sure he was really bothered by it until he realised he could overtake Federer. Djokovic got dragged into it trying to get to the other two's level and now looks set to outlast and overtake them.

Hector Savage

glasso wrote: »

All the match points he had - he's owned a Djokovic voodoo doll since 2010 I believe

"Chips please, no vinegar, just extra salt"

https://youtu.be/Istcd6U_J9s?t=145

Moaning about luck ? christ I am surprised with Federer.

[Deleted User]

Hector Savage wrote: »

Moaning about luck ? christ I am surprised with Federer.

funnily enough Djokovic got quite a few of "lucky shot in and off you go" hits in the end against Fed.

and this was a forehand winner we're talking about - no net cords.

maybe there was a bit more to it than luck Rodge!

It's important to see that the arrogance came through when the mask slipped.

Great player of course, but some would have you believe that he's also some sort of saintly deity.

josip

Hector Savage wrote: »

Moaning about luck ? christ I am surprised with Federer.

That was the year he had glandular fever, so that interview doesn't count.