May as well start the ball rolling.
just switched over to see him bounce the ball NINE times before serve. Maybe I was unlucky.
But I do agree, he seem to play at a proper tempo that more should.
He had it vey early in to the first set. Struggling badly on backhand particularly, he had a couple of sessions of painkillers and massage.
Impressive comeback from Garin.
Thought he was gone.
Fritz is going through easily so far so Kyrgios is the last Australian in the men's draw
What is Kyrgios at?
Threw away a service game there
Advantage surely for Hakahima to serve first in the fifth
Krygios imploding
Really impressive, shame for De Minaur he has been so impressive really impressed me in the win against Jack Draper
Well Kyrgios is going through here.
The Helen Lovejoy pearl clutching around Kyrgios is a bit OTT. There's a reason they stuck him on centre today and it's because he's a draw/crowd favourite. Love him or hate him most people have an opinion on him.
I find him a much better watch than most players and his speed of play should be commended.
A lot of people have an opinion on Trump also.
Kyrgios for all the talk of him, at 27, a quarter-final at a slam is the furthest he has ever got in his tenth year on tour.
Seven and a half years ago was his last one, now he has made it to a quarter final again.
He's far better known for the antics, spitting and cursing at people, creating umpire arguments out of nothing, arguing with people in the crowd, insulting other players and meltdowns than actually winning tennis matches and tournaments.
He should get to a semi-final here this year.
The Covid withdrawals of three of the best grass-court players on that half of the draw coupled with the Top Russians being out has definitely helped him.
He would have been facing last years finalist and double grass-court tournament winner in the last few weeks Berrettini (Covid) next, instead of unseeded Chilean Garin.
you know he kinda reminds me of Quentin Hann in the snooker another Australian bellend who used to misbehave from time to time and never won a tournament just a journeyman in it for the money only
Nadal having a fairly easy time of it against Van De Zandschulp
But as I typed that, VDZ has broken him for 1-0 in the 3rd..... can he hold on to the break for a full set though?? I can't see it (but hope he does!)
Didn't even manage to hold onto it for 1 game 🙄
And after that brief lead, Nadal now looks like someone saying "blow it up ref, we're done here, time for home".
Steamrolling him now.
But has lost his serve to 15......
Now, can VDZ hold on to the break this time???
I've never seen anyone as zen playing a match on centre court as this guy!
Might be a facile question for serious tennis followers. But as someone who takes an interest in Wimbledon and to a lesser extent the French Open but has fond memories of days spent watching McEnroe, Becker, Graf, Navratilova, Edberg and co...is serve and volley just completely dead and buried?
Did you see John Isner playing this tournament - he has a big serve and was coming in behind it often enough. As for others, you do see it as a tactic to break up / change up the game a bit. Otherwise players seem too wary of the return of serve now and that they'll be passed. My take on it anyway.
Not quite sure he believed anymore in himself in that third set though. So kinda resigned to his fate and then picked it up a bit as a result. Thought he hit towards centre of court a bit much, so Nadal wasn't really needing to move much, whereas Nadal was making him run. For a man with a supposedly gammy foot, that'd surely be one way to knock the bunny out of him. Mind you, he'd be sweating so much then that serves could take even longer!
in terms of people winning slams yes it's gone.
serve and volley as a tactic is used by a lot of players but sparingly.
Not counting the servebot beanpoles, Maxine Cressy would be the highest frequency and truest current exponent.
***Did anyone spot the 'Paddy' during the kyrgios vs nakashima game today??*
he was wearing an Offaly GAA shirt 😙
When they were showing the grand slam stats before Nadals match this evening I was genuinely surprised at how far Djokovic Nadal and Federer are ahead of the rest in terms of titles. Next best is Sampras back on 14 to Nadals 22 and Feder/Djokovic on 20. Has the standard of the men’s game slipped that Much in the last 15 or so years, or are those 3 just that exceptional that they are so far ahead of the rest ? Was the overall field stronger in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s so the titles were spread out between more players ?
I’d be a casual watcher at best, just Wimbledon really, and even that I haven’t seen a whole lot of in the last few years, mainly just the final.
The biggest difference is the longevity that players can go now a days. The advancement is sports science is huge compared to the 70s, 80 and 90s. Born borg was 25 when he won his last slam, sampras was 30. Novak and Nadal could be nearly 40 when they win their last.
It's very difficult to compare players from the generations. I do think in the last five years the standard outside the top three has been poor and this has really helped the big two maintain their dominance.
Hi everyone, I had to delete a few posts last night, try and keep it on topic. Also, keep the racially dodgy insults to a minimum please, thanks.
Not really . You could argue Nadal on easier side of draw now
I think you're quite correct in that 'sports science' is the difference in longevity. Let's just hope that this all turns out to be legitimate 'sports science' in years to come. Presumably though the same 'sports science' and more so is available to the following pack, so it doesn't quite explain it either. In the big tournaments, I think too the crowd can have a palpable effect. They often root for the old firm favourites and the challenger has to overcome that as well. Worth a few points and often at crucial moments.
I dont know ,Kygrios as much as i dislike him is 12 times more dangerous than Norrie. Sinner is better than Fritz though to be fair.
Kyrgios is definitely a tougher proposition than any of the opponents left in Djokovics side of the draw. Although Nadal probably does have the easier quarter, I think Sinner could put up a fight later today
The contenders outside Djokovic and Nadal are fairly spare, even at the beginning of the tournament, Berrettini was without doubt the biggest threat to them at Wimbledon, unfortunately Covid took him out. We're now left with just Sinner and Kyrgios as the only ones on each side of the draw that might upset things, neither have reached a slam semi final before and Kyrgios although extremely talented, is likely to run out of gas in the latter stages if he doesn't have a meltdown before that happens. It's hard to see any thing other than a Djokovic & Nadal final and while that will in itself be something to look forward too, I'd rather if it wasn't so inevitable and there was at least a decent chance of it not happening
You'd have to hope (well, I do anyway) that one of the youngsters who's on a roll might surprise themselves, and the world, and stage an upset.
I think fritz has a much higher chance of beating nadal that sinner does novak.
I think the fritz nadal match will be a gruelling 4 or 5 setter
If fritz wins id favour him against Nick too
Kyrgios has been charged with common assault (it was a former partner seemingly) (incident in Dec 21 in Australia)...
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