2019 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Bubblegummers · 10-01-2019 3:26pm

jr86 wrote: »

Murray will give it the season anyway I'd say, I don't see him retiring just yet

he's only 31, I'd imagine he'll give himself every chance to get back into some sort of form and consistency. It's such a young age to pack it in these days, he may feel he can get away with a reduced schedule for a few years yet unless his hip is completely goosed

His hip is completely goosed mate. He’s playing with an injection at the moment.

jr86 · 10-01-2019 3:46pm

Well he mustn't agree himself, otherwise why would he even be down practicing in Melbourne and have entered and played in a warm up tournament?

Playing with injections, pain killers etc wouldn't be at all unusual for sports people

Retirement is an extremely fatal decision, 31 is very young to pack in the game altogether. He may semi-retire of sorts and only handpick some events but he clearly feels he's got something left in him to still have gone through a pre-season and present himself for the events he entered in January. I still think Murray will be an active player for a time yet, he can still rely on wildcards for as long as he wants. He'll be long enough retired

Bubblegummers · 10-01-2019 3:59pm

jr86 wrote: »

Well he mustn't agree himself, otherwise why would he even be down practicing in Melbourne and have entered and played in a warm up tournament?

Playing with injections, pain killers etc wouldn't be at all unusual for sports people

Retirement is an extremely fatal decision, 31 is very young to pack in the game altogether. He may semi-retire of sorts and only handpick some events but he clearly feels he's got something left in him to still have gone through a pre-season and present himself for the events he entered in January. I still think Murray will be an active player for a time yet, he can still rely on wildcards for as long as he wants. He'll be long enough retired

Are you a tennis fan? Murray is openly telling interviewers (Tennis TV 4th January 2019) he needs a dramatic improvement. He got an implant last year on his connector, this has been replaced already. It’s grave for Andy look at him play last week 4 MTos in 1 match.

jr86 · 10-01-2019 4:11pm

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Are you a tennis fan?

Not in the slightest, I must have came across this place by accident..!

Anyhow its just my own 2c lets leave it there, in reality its all conjecture on everyone's part

Floppybits · 10-01-2019 4:40pm

jr86 wrote: »

Not in the slightest, I must have came across this place by accident..!

Anyhow its just my own 2c lets leave it there, in reality its all conjecture on everyone's part

I think he is going to see how it goes in Australia and depending on that result will determine his decision. If he goes well then yep I would agree with you he will give it the year and probably skip the Clay court part of the season but if it goes bad in Australia such as having to pull out or losing badly in the first round I can see him retiring.

At the moment with what has gone on I can't see him carrying on much longer if the hip is still a problem especially after surgery and nearly a year out recovering.

Bubblegummers · 10-01-2019 5:18pm

Floppybits wrote: »

I think he is going to see how it goes in Australia and depending on that result will determine his decision. If he goes well then yep I would agree with you he will give it the year and probably skip the Clay court part of the season but if it goes bad in Australia such as having to pull out or losing badly in the first round I can see him retiring.

At the moment with what has gone on I can't see him carrying on much longer if the hip is still a problem especially after surgery and nearly a year out recovering.

Clay will kill him, if anything he will completely skip Clay swing - Favourable Aussie Open or not. That surface will absolutely rip him to shreads with a poor hip.

Rob2D · 10-01-2019 7:58pm

I reckon he'll hang in there and make a big effort at Wimbledon, with the outcome of that being the decider.

But the outlook is pretty bleak. He's a pusher and you can't grind out points from the back of court with a bad hip. Just no way.

Bubblegummers · 10-01-2019 8:12pm

Rob2D wrote: »

I reckon he'll hang in there and make a big effort at Wimbledon, with the outcome of that being the decider.

But the outlook is pretty bleak. He's a pusher and you can't grind out points from the back of court with a bad hip. Just no way.

Yeah for sure pushing takes a lot of work and a lot of long rallies pulling UE from opponent he won’t be able for that now. He won’t play at Wimbledon if he is anyway below 95%

Bubblegummers · 10-01-2019 8:21pm

Surprised to hear some of the names that were arrested in the match fixing in Spain today

yerwanthere123 · 11-01-2019 1:41am

So yeah, Andy's career is ending soon. Maybe as soon as the Australian Open.

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083519540133150721

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083520126719221760

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083521391620542464

yerwanthere123 · 11-01-2019 2:01am

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1083528212678930432

jr86 · 11-01-2019 2:20am

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Are you a tennis fan? Murray is openly telling interviewers (Tennis TV 4th January 2019) he needs a dramatic improvement. He got an implant last year on his connector, this has been replaced already. It’s grave for Andy look at him play last week 4 MTos in 1 match.

Well called! And floppybits

Floppybits · 11-01-2019 8:45am

Sad to read about Murray. I think he knew this last year when he broke down after winning a match in the US when he came back. Think it was Washington.

Unfortunately his style of play wouldn't be the best for a person with a bad hip.

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 9:46am

I’m not a Murray fan but felt sad reading this- watching players like feli Lopez and Karlovic play to touching 40 and then seeing Andy having to walk away quite young.

Murray service was always suspect and could see against Medvedev how bad the hip affected his service even more.
Sad day for tennis, although I knew it was fast approaching.

rob316 · 11-01-2019 9:47am

Sad ending, incredible career. To win grand slams and become no.1 ranked in an era of Rodger, Nadal and Novak is hugely impressive.

Rob2D · 11-01-2019 10:07am

2 gold singles medals as well. Nobody else has that, man or woman.

11-01-2019 11:08am

if this is it for Murray he can hold his head high - great returner and smart player.
matured over the years from displaying petulance to a guy that mostly was someone you could get behind (not being from UK).
maybe a pity that he didn't get the right coach from a mental perspective earlier - could have won some of those GS finals (5 Australian open finals alone without a win)

yerwanthere123 · 11-01-2019 12:10pm

The news about Andy is terribly sad. I hear so much about how the players are in pain that I almost take it for granted, but reading Andy put it like that... wow. Tbh I'd rather he didn't put himself through it and just retired now.

I'd never have thought he'd be the first to go of the big four. When he won his first two slams I thought that with Nadal's injuries and Federer's age that he'd be around longer than them and he'd be able to sneak a couple of slams when they retire. How quickly things can change. Like others, I often wonder if chasing the #1 at the end of 2016 tipped the scales on his body, but I guess we'll never fully know.

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 12:14pm

glasso wrote: »

if this is it for Murray he can hold his head high - great returner and smart player.
matured over the years from displaying petulance to a guy that mostly was someone you could get behind (not being from UK).
maybe a pity that he didn't get the right coach from a mental perspective earlier - could have won some of those GS finals (5 Australian open finals alone without a win)

He was tidy under Ivan Lendl.

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 12:17pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

The news about Andy is terribly sad. I hear so much about how the players are in pain that I almost take it for granted, but reading Andy put it like that... wow. Tbh I'd rather he didn't put himself through it and just retired now.

I'd never have thought he'd be the first to go of the big four. When he won his first two slams I thought that with Nadal's injuries and Federer's age that he'd be around longer than them and he'd be able to sneak a couple of slams when they retire. How quickly things can change. Like others, I often wonder if chasing the #1 at the end of 2016 tipped the scales on his body, but I guess we'll never fully know.

I listened to an interview with him a week ago and he said in 2015 he fell it was first time he felt the striking pain in his hip. And he said he never could get past that pain as it always crept into his games to the point of BO5 games were torture.

Francie Barrett · 11-01-2019 12:19pm

Bubblegummers wrote: »

I’m not a Murray fan but felt sad reading this- watching players like feli Lopez and Karlovic play to touching 40 and then seeing Andy having to walk away quite young.

The thing about Murray is that he is widely regarded as one of the fittest and hardest working players on tour with a huge work ethic. If he had toned down the intensity of his regime, he would probably have had a longer career, but I doubt he would have had the success that he had. He can definitely go out with his head held high, which is an awful lot more than can be said of some other players who have wasted their careers.

11-01-2019 1:03pm

Bubblegummers wrote: »

He was tidy under Ivan Lendl.

yes. if he had that push on the mental side that Lendl brought in a bit earlier he surely would have converted more in the finals. (lost 4 before his first Wimbledon - the year Lendl came in).
still a stellar career considering the depth around in his time.
remember that he also lost some time before this injury in earlier years on other injury time-outs which impacted a couple of seasons.

dominatinMC · 11-01-2019 1:05pm

Just watched the press conference now, Christ it was tough (and sad) to watch. Found myself getting a bit emotional - this announcement is signalling the beginning of the end of the Big4 era, and tennis without them will be a lesser place for sure. As others have said, Andy can bow out with his head held high, a phenomenal career in any era of tennis, even more so when you consider the competition in this era. I will always count him as a worthy and deserving member of the Big4. It's just a shame it has to end like this for him.

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 3:27pm

dominatinMC wrote: »

Just watched the press conference now, Christ it was tough (and sad) to watch. Found myself getting a bit emotional - this announcement is signalling the beginning of the end of the Big4 era, and tennis without them will be a lesser place for sure. As others have said, Andy can bow out with his head held high, a phenomenal career in any era of tennis, even more so when you consider the competition in this era. I will always count him as a worthy and deserving member of the Big4. It's just a shame it has to end like this for him.

I pray he gets to Wimbledon but I think he’s in for a straight sets defeat on Monday to Bautista agut

Hector Savage · 11-01-2019 4:47pm

And Nadal just gets stronger and stronger - sickening.

11-01-2019 5:51pm

The only upside for Murray is that he can go back to being Scottish again.

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 6:03pm

Hector Savage wrote: »

And Nadal just gets stronger and stronger - sickening.

There’s a reason for that

Hector Savage · 11-01-2019 6:09pm

Bubblegummers wrote: »

There’s a reason for that

Yep, and it's got three letters : E ______ O

Can anyone guess the middle letter ? hmmmmmmmmmm

Bubblegummers · 11-01-2019 6:16pm

Hector Savage wrote: »

Yep, and it's got three letters : E ______ O

Can anyone guess the middle letter ? hmmmmmmmmmm

For sure I’ve never seen a comeback from a near career ending injury like his.

yerwanthere123 · 12-01-2019 2:36pm

Nice debut title win for De Minaur, still only 19.

2019 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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