2021 In Between Grand Slam Thread

[Deleted User] · 07-11-2021 5:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118131498#Comment_118131498

Well fook me silly,

That has aged like a half-finished bottle of Buckfast left out in the sun for a week and a half with the top off.

Chapeau!

yerwanthere123 · 07-11-2021 5:43pm

My thoughts on Djokovic aside, I'd have preferred Medvedev to win anyway to keep the h2h tight and the rivalry interesting. Of course they could well have a rematch in Turin that Medvedev could win, but I don't want Djokovic to go too far ahead in the h2h before a likely rematch of next year's Australian Open final in January.

MisterAnarchy · 07-11-2021 6:09pm

Turned it on for a few minutes but turned it straight off.

The camera is way too low in Paris, the court looks square and tiny, it ruins the spectacle.

[Deleted User] · 07-11-2021 6:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118132222#Comment_118132222

What?

Sacrilege.

Highest quality tennis match of the year.

yerwanthere123 · 07-11-2021 6:45pm

I know we're whipping ourselves into our usual frenzy when Djokovic wins, but highest quality match of the year? Come on 😂

[Deleted User] · 07-11-2021 7:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118132430#Comment_118132430

it was.

highest quality tennis played in a match this year.

note the word quality.

the quality of the shot-making both baseline and net, serving, high amount of winners vs unforced errors, the overall variety of tennis, the tenacity of both attack and defence.

the tactics and shot selection on display, the change in tactics to turn the match.

it's not really even close.

two opponents at their best (except at the very end when Medved dropped a bit for for the second break and Djokovic let one back but doesn't impact the match judgement)

what are you actually going to suggest over it?

some push-fest where it was a close match or something?

it's quality being the key-word as said.

[Deleted User] · 07-11-2021 8:21pm

Djokovic officially the most successful tennis player ever.

20 Grand-Slams (including double career grand slam)

37 Masters (including every masters title won at least twice)

7 YE No.1 and +345 weeks No.1

(And of course the winning Head-To-Head records)

TomSweeney · 07-11-2021 8:30pm

I love being wrong !! :)

[Deleted User] · 07-11-2021 8:42pm

What Medved was saying about the crowd.

He's a great character to have in the game who importantly is also a great player also.

I mean he demolished Zverev who is playing the best tennis of his life yesterday and he was very high quality again today. He was Djokovic-ing Djokovic and thought that it was going to be his but...

They were a gross crowd when French players were playing

Glad that the doubles French pair were beaten today in the final - the crowd didn't deserve a win.

Have great support for your hometown player makes for an atmosphere but constant cheering netted serves for the non-hometown player and double-faults is just not on.

Slashermcguirk · 07-11-2021 11:44pm

Great match today, Djokovic is such a phenomenal player. Medvedev is so solid and has been playing lights out but the way Novak adjusted his strategy and attacked the net was amazing. he is such an intelligent player.

Medvedev will be the next world number one but I really hope Djokovic ends up moving ahead on total slams. In my opinion he is the greatest player in the open era, his stats are outrageous and the way he has developed his game to be so effective on every surface.

I still find it hard to imagine tennis without the big 3 but there is no doubt there are some really good players knocking on the door. Medvedev is the real deal and with tsitsipas, Zverev and others there too it’s interesting times. I wonder will thiem come back strong, I always considered him the next big threat until his injuries.

[Deleted User] · 08-11-2021 12:48am

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1457375046024925185

...

[Deleted User] · 08-11-2021 1:59pm

Interesting article

Djokovic's detractors would be often knocking him for not volleying enough, mocking him as a baseline slugger

He focuses on winning - Medvedev is the player that could beat Djokovic at Djokovic's traditional game so Djokovic had to dramatically adapt - sign of a great who can do that and the actual quality of the volleying was very high-level.

Medvedev hits low and flat particularly on the forehand making volleying on a lot of shots very difficult as you have to volley from down low making it very difficult to get it over the net AND then low again to not leave an easy return shot for the opponent (like in the photo on the article) - the volleying in the Djokovic service game to level at 1 set all was top quality and he took on a couple of low very difficult ones facing break point which if failed could well have meant the match for Medvedev

Well a great rivalry set up for the next year or maybe two at least anyways - brings a lot to the game

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/brain-game-djokovic-medvedev-paris-2021

lostcat · 08-11-2021 2:13pm

Fitting for Djokovic to close the deal and win the title after completing his year end milestone the day before. I think the Medvedev / Djokovic rivalry will be in good shape during 2022, whatever about the H2H numbers Djokovic has to play at a very high level to beat Medvedev.

I can't get over the mechanics of Medvedevs technique, he looks like bambi on ice trying to squat a fly most of the time. He's putting the ball where he wants so its undoubtably effective, but the more tired he gets, surely it has to be more prone to breaking down than, say a Djokovic/Federer who has flawless form?

[Deleted User] · 08-11-2021 2:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118136084#Comment_118136084

He's the Octopus!

Check the volley at 1:15

I like him for the fact that he's so authentic and not afraid to be himself and he's an intelligent guy - he's good friends with Djokovic actually and that's what Djokovic has given as the reason for liking him also. There are a few fakes out there in tennis just focusing on always trying to say the right thing but as a result end up saying nothing of any interest.

There's a lot of mutual respect there as well a rivalry that's great for tennis on the court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrooMt1cLAk

[Deleted User] · 08-11-2021 8:44pm

I'm not always in agreement with Annabelle croft but at least she can recognise the highest quality matches of tennis when they are in front of her.

https://imgur.com/zUghTxu

lostcat · 08-11-2021 11:12pm

well, glasso, you are generally in fact diametrically opposed to anything she says...but hey.

On a broader theme, Thiem back in training in earnest is good news for the tour. Talk of Federer playing Australia is also interesting but i'd be amazed, surely he will do everything to ensure he is fit for a couple of rounds in Wimbledon so will give Aus a miss, then again if a few of the top 10 won't be there he might actually fancy his chances?

Nadal saying he hopes to play Abu Dabi in December, he will probably take the trip down under also.

[Deleted User] · 08-11-2021 11:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138798#Comment_118138798

I did acknowledge that I'm not always in agreement - mainly when her and Whitaker get their beads of pearls out and start clutching them furiously lol, projecting some made-up emotions for excuses usually for a few consecutive first or second round exits as if they were inside some players head who they've most likely never spoken a word to in their life but hey highest quality tennis is highest quality tennis and that's on the screen in front of her and she sees it

josip · 08-11-2021 11:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138147#Comment_118138147

Did Djokovic get a hybrid Serbian-Russian top just for the final or is that a mainstream Lacoste colour scheme?

[Deleted User] · 09-11-2021 12:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118138954#Comment_118138954

no idea.

has the Lacoste logo but Djokovic probably gets the colours he wants if he wants them.

lostcat · 09-11-2021 12:08am

I assumed it was a play on the french flag to be honest

josip · 09-11-2021 12:18am

Sorry, should have checked first, mainstream Lacoste top.

https://www.lacoste.com/ie/lacoste/men/clothing/polo-shirts/short-sleeves/men%E2%80%99s-lacoste-sport-x-novak-djokovic-breathable-stretch-regular-fit-polo-shirt/DH6959-00.html?color=WQF

yerwanthere123 · 09-11-2021 12:50am

2019 Indian Wells points have finally dropped off the WTA rankings, which means Venus Williams has dropped to... 314.

I know she insists that she continues to play for love of the game, but surely this changes when she's nowhere near the cutoff points for pretty much every WTA tournament going? Granted she's not going to be short of wildcards going forward, but at 41 and ranked outside of the top 300 you'd really have to question when she's going to call it a day.

Slashermcguirk · 09-11-2021 10:39am

I was just looking at the WTA top 10 rankings, a truly woeful era for women's tennis. You look at the names in that top 10 and you look back at the names over the past 30 years like Graf, Navoratilova, Seles, Hingis, Williams x 2, Henin, Capriati, Clijsters etc.

The current top 10 is Barty, Sabalenka, Krejcikova, pliskova, muguruza, sakkari, jabeur, kontaveit, swiatek, badosa

You couldnt pay me to watch that top 10 or womens tennis these days. I used to love watching womens tennis in the 90s and 2000s

yerwanthere123 · 09-11-2021 12:21pm

Yeah, it's not exactly a golden era that's for sure. I've felt very disillusioned with the WTA the past couple of years, just difficult to get excited about a lot of the current crop.

It's going to lose whatever star power it currently has left when Serena retires. Pill popping aside, Sharapova was also a big loss for the WTA. Even if she was never really a factor post-ban she was still a huge name.

Of course Osaka could probably be a dominant #1 if she wanted it enough but seems quite happy to just turn up for the tournaments she's good at and to hell with the rest.

Barty, despite owning her #1 ranking this year, excites me about as much as a wet weekend in Leitrim. She's got a nice well rounded game with a couple of grand slams to her name... but just can't warm to her.

[Deleted User] · 09-11-2021 1:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118139911#Comment_118139911

I'd said recently that since Henin retired in 2008 there has been no proper rivalry in the WTA

Standards slip when you don't have a rivalry at the top with at least 2 high-quality players for the others to aspire to in terms of a standard where winning a slam means taking it from a champion and where one top player can't just rack up wins with no proper opposition

It drags up the whole tour and shows the new tour entrants the level that they have to go to.

Sharapova had a terrible head-2-head type record with Serena - it was a massacre not a rivalry (20-2 for Williams)

Now it's a shambles of inconsistency and not really caring about maintaining a level where winning a slam on the WTA is something that can be done where the player mightn't even have to face one top-ten seed (even taking into account how little that word may mean on that tour) to win a slam like Raducanu did

the dust has settled on that nice little story of the two teenagers

Look at how hard Murray had to work to finally win a slam on the ATP after final losses - he had to raise his level to win against champions

there is no champion mentality on the WTA tour - they have to hope that at least one actual champion emerges to drag it out of mediocrity but seems like all they get are Grand Slam winners, not champions

but that's more in hope than anything else

Djokovic on the ATP tour knows that having Medvedev there keeps him motivated and having to raise his game again - what he did there on Sunday only adds to his legend

Having Medvedev around will keep the hunger alive in Djokovic longer until he eventually fades and also drives up the standard of the others like the future top players such as Alcaraz

[Deleted User] · 09-11-2021 8:42pm

Raducanu beaten in the first round by a 4th year Chinese tour pro who has never beaten anyone inside the Top 50 before and who has never been past the first round in any slam....

Bizarrely Raducanu has also come under fire from, of all people, Eddie Jones the English rugby coach in the last few days.

yerwanthere123 · 09-11-2021 9:11pm

Would've liked Raducanu to get a bit of momentum going before the season ends but so be it. She's still so inexperienced at general WTA level and with her world being flipped on its head inside the last two months I'm not shocked she's losing in the first round of Linz. These results are pretty consistent with what she's been doing for most of the year... bar the big one in New York.

I trust she'll really knuckle down in the off season and work hard on starting 2022 well. I just hope above all else she's got a good team around her and is well insulated from the oddballs in the media, twitter and, well, on here, who'll gleefully tear her down after every loss.

whiterebel · 09-11-2021 9:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143239#Comment_118143239

I found it so strange that she got rid of the coach who got her to the US Open immediately after. Weird decision.

yerwanthere123 · 09-11-2021 9:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143325#Comment_118143325

Lost in the whole 'Raducanu dumps her coach' commentary was the fact that that whole arrangement was only supposed to be a stop gap which wasn't supposed to extend beyond the Summer. I believe her coach didn't want to continue with the arrangement because he has a very young child (or two, can't fully remember) and didn't want to commit to the travelling.

[Deleted User] · 09-11-2021 10:26pm

Nothing against Raducanu and she seems a nice girl as I've said before.

Would be happy to see her do well but her game is a bit limited I think from what I've seen and bizarrely (or maybe not at all cos ... WTA) even though she has won a slam we don't really know if she's potentially that good as didn't have to beat much to do it.

More than a few others in the last few years who had "harder" paths to winning WTA slams have disappeared off the map. You honestly just can't read much into winning a slam there really for the last number of years even though it's supposed to be the pinnacle in terms of events because there is such poor consistency of level of play from players. That's the absolute stark reality of it.

Right now she's more in the Sofia Kenin et al side of the ledger than anywhere else. And I could have said Ostapenko.

Losing to these multiple nobodies who have been on the tour for a few years or more without any results is not really a sign of quality. That's self evident.

2021 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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