2019 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Joe_ Public · 23-02-2019 5:00pm

No disrespect to Petra, am all for bencic today. Think there might have been a bit of too much too soon for her along with the injuries. I mean, feels like she’s been around forever and she’s not even 22 yet. She’s 6 months older than Osaka!

Good contest anyway, looks like a 3 setter.

yerwanthere123 · 25-02-2019 2:10am

Laslo Djere won the Rio Open today, beating Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final and rises from 90 to 37 in the rankings. He's 23 and lost both parents to cancer, his mother seven years ago and his father just two months ago.

Floppybits · 27-02-2019 7:56pm

Nadal vs Kyrgios tonight/tomorrow morning. I wonder will Kyrgios actually try or will he stink the place out like he did the last tournament he played.

Then again he is against Nadal so he may feel he has to put in a performance.

yerwanthere123 · 28-02-2019 1:24am

Floppybits wrote: »

Nadal vs Kyrgios tonight/tomorrow morning. I wonder will Kyrgios actually try or will he stink the place out like he did the last tournament he played.

Then again he is against Nadal so he may feel he has to put in a performance.

He said in his press conference that the prospect of playing Nadal was basically the reason he made an effort in his match today. Bodes well

Floppybits · 28-02-2019 11:12am

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

He said in his press conference that the prospect of playing Nadal was basically the reason he made an effort in his match today. Bodes well

I see he pulled out every trick in the book even served under hand. Nadal wasnt impressed going on his comments after the match.

yerwanthere123 · 28-02-2019 12:02pm

Floppybits wrote: »

I see he pulled out every trick in the book even served under hand. Nadal wasnt impressed going on his comments after the match.

An underhand serve is a legit shot though, I wish we saw it more. And when Nadal stands about ten feet back from the baseline to receive, then...

Anyway, I don't think Nadal can complain about people using gamesmanship

Floppybits · 28-02-2019 2:31pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

An underhand serve is a legit shot though, I wish we saw it more. And when Nadal stands about ten feet back from the baseline to receive, then...

Anyway, I don't think Nadal can complain about people using gamesmanship

Yep and Kyrgios pointed that out in his press conference. Interesting handshake at the end of the match as well.

jr86 · 28-02-2019 3:18pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

An underhand serve is a legit shot though, I wish we saw it more. And when Nadal stands about ten feet back from the baseline to receive, then...

Anyway, I don't think Nadal can complain about people using gamesmanship

"He doesn’t know anything about me. That’s the way I play. The way he plays is very slow in between points. The rule in the book says he has to pay to the speed of the server, but Rafa has his speed every time, so I’m not going to comment on him."

Whatever one thinks about Nick, he's box office that's for sure!

Actually met a few Aussie guys recently, who said only for NK and Tomic tennis would not be in the public eye whatsoever over there (albeit its not always for the right reasons

). They couldn't even name another current Australian Player and they'd be huge sports fans in general

Floppybits · 28-02-2019 4:13pm

Only fair to post Nadals post match comments on Kyrgios,

"He is a player who has enormous talent, He could win Grand Slams and fight the top positions of the ranking, but there is a reason why he is where he is. He lacks respect for the public, the rival and towards himself."

I was gutted when I looked and seen this match was on at 3/4 in the morning.

Floppybits · 28-02-2019 4:18pm

Next up for Kyrgios is his old mate Stan. Be interesting to see his attitude to this match.

Big win for Cameron Norrie over Schwartzmann last night as well. Both Norrie and Evans are doing well, Evans was unlucky on Sunday to lose the Del Ray final, he beat Isner on the way to that final.

SophieLockhart · 02-03-2019 6:18pm

20 Slams and 100 titles, insane..... may as well shut down tennis now cos we'll never see anything like this.

dominatinMC · 02-03-2019 7:31pm

SophieLockhart wrote:

20 Slams and 100 titles, insane..... may as well shut down tennis now cos we'll never see anything like this.

Some achievement all the same...next stop is Jimmy Conors record of 109. Can he surpass it...

josip · 02-03-2019 7:58pm

dominatinMC wrote: »

Some achievement all the same...next stop is Jimmy Conors record of 109. Can he surpass it...

Perhaps, but only by winning the Swiss Indoors for the next 10 years I think.

jr86 · 03-03-2019 8:23am

Kyrgios wins the title going through all of Nadal, Wawrinka, Isner and Zverev. Impressive!

Floppybits · 04-03-2019 1:37pm

jr86 wrote: »

Kyrgios wins the title going through all of Nadal, Wawrinka, Isner and Zverev. Impressive!

Imagine what he could achieve if he would just sort his head out. That's the most disappointing thing about Kyrgios. He should at least have a slam won by now and more than a handful of appearances.

I liked Zverev comments on Kyrgios winnning "If you beat four players like that in an [ATP] 500 tournament, you deserve to win it. He's the real champion of this week."

jr86 · 04-03-2019 3:42pm

Dunno has Nick been good enough to win a slam to date (2014 since the last player outside Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray or Stan won one) but should perhaps have a semi or two to his name for sure

Still plenty time though. If he stays fit I could see him doing well at Wimbledon this year

Rob2D · 05-03-2019 2:31pm

The problem is he just doesn't really like the game, so he's not that invested in it. Which is fine and all, he doesn't owe us anything no matter how much people harp on about it.

I just can't understand why he doesn't give it up and go play basketball like he wants. I'm sure there's a team out there somewhere that would give him a start.

yerwanthere123 · 05-03-2019 2:39pm

Rob2D wrote: »

The problem is he just doesn't really like the game, so he's not that invested in it. Which is fine and all, he doesn't owe us anything no matter how much people harp on about it.

I just can't understand why he doesn't give it up and go play basketball like he wants. I'm sure there's a team out there somewhere that would give him a start.

If he was good enough for basketball he'd be doing it though wouldn't be? I'm guessing there's a lot more money in being a decent tennis player than a middling basketball player.

I'm kinda fatigued with Kyrgios now anyway tbh, I'm tired of defending him. I've exhausted almost all the goodwill I've had for him.

Rob2D · 05-03-2019 9:20pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

If he was good enough for basketball he'd be doing it though wouldn't be? I'm guessing there's a lot more money in being a decent tennis player than a middling basketball player.

I'm sure he'd be decent enough at whatever sport he chooses. Being a middling basketball player and HAPPY is I'm sure better than being a decent but miserable tennis player. Just ask Agassi.

And money isn't everything. He probably already has enough to last a lifetime anyway. Just pay off the team and the parents and say "thanks, but I've been to the top of this tennis thing and I just don't think it's for me". Simple.

SophieLockhart · 06-03-2019 2:22am

Kyrgios v Djokovic in Rd 3 (we hope) of Indian Wells. Yummy.

Floppybits · 06-03-2019 2:59pm

SophieLockhart wrote: »

Kyrgios v Djokovic in Rd 3 (we hope) of Indian Wells. Yummy.

That will be a tasty enough match if it happens. Hopefully after having such a good win in Acapulco Kyrgios might now get the finger out and get his head sorted and start to challenge.

dominatinMC · 06-03-2019 4:37pm

Kyrgios is an absolute enigma. Would love for him to attain a level of consistency, and start challenging in (and winning) major tournaments. From what I've seen he is way more talented that the rest of the "Next Gen" crop, and is probably the most talented (in terms of raw tennis ability) since Fed. Obviously he doesn't have the athleticism/physique/stamina/durability of Nadal and Djokovic (whether that is down to lack of conditioning due to a lack of training or just sheer bad luck, I don't know) but his attacking game is a sight to behold. When on song, he is more than capable of beating anyone on tour (with the exception of Nadal on clay probably)

SophieLockhart · 07-03-2019 9:30pm

This forehand from last week is the hardest hit groundstroke I've ever seen I think :

Joe_ Public · 07-03-2019 9:42pm

SophieLockhart wrote: »

This forehand from last week is the hardest hit groundstroke I've ever seen I think :

I’m sure of it. Didn’t even see it bounce on the replay.

Floppybits · 12-03-2019 5:09pm

Looks like there is a virus doing the rounds are Indian Wells. Serena, Zevrev and Sevastova have all blamed illness on them pulling out or losing their matches.

SophieLockhart · 13-03-2019 1:27pm

Djokovic also looked lethargic in his defeat, although he won his doubles an hour later.

On another note, Nadal is playing amazingly well when you consider how many tournaments he missed last year. And especially given its 4 or 5 years since he looked in serious decline.

I still expect Federer to beat him if they meet in the semis.

lostcat · 13-03-2019 11:07pm

Djokovic bounced by Kohlschreiber is odd, but he hasn't played enough (i.e. at all) in the past several weeks to stay match fit. Not sure he will be too bothered, I imagine its all about the FO for him atm. Not sure he has ever gotten further in a tournament in doubles than singles before.....

Kohlschreiber is a funny one, he's one guy no one wants to meet in the early rounds anywhere, but never troubles the later rounds anywhere (i'm not sure I have ever seen him in a semi anywhere...) must be a mental thing as he is a talented, smart player who isn't just a grinder.
Prediction: Federer to beat Nadal in the semi....

SophieLockhart · 16-03-2019 10:39pm

So Nadal withdraws yet again but expects to be 100% for Monte Carlo. It seems to defy all laws of medicine that his knees are less damaged by the clay, when everyone else considers it the most demanding surface.

Chivito550 · 17-03-2019 12:57am

SophieLockhart wrote: »

So Nadal withdraws yet again but expects to be 100% for Monte Carlo. It seems to defy all laws of medicine that his knees are less damaged by the clay, when everyone else considers it the most demanding surface.

Just remember stuff like this the next time people bang on about H2H. Nadal was not going to beat Federer today had he toed the line. How many other times did Nadal fail to reach the later stages of hard court events and didn’t gave Federer as a result?

dominatinMC · 17-03-2019 2:01am

Chivito550 wrote: »

Just remember stuff like this the next time people bang on about H2H. Nadal was not going to beat Federer today had he toed the line. How many other times did Nadal fail to reach the later stages of hard court events and didn’t gave Federer as a result?

Without getting into this same old debate again, you do realise that Federer has skipped the entire clay season for the last two years. I wonder will people remember that when they "bang on about the H2H". Nadal has obviously had a wretched run on hard since 2018 onwards but at least he is giving it a go, and not skipping it.

2019 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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