Tennis 2017

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Got to say, irrespective of form, I'd bank on Fed to handle Kyrgios rather than any of Djokovic, Nadal or Murray. He relishes going against huge servers.

Nadal will beat Fed now and promptly lose to Nick in 2 sets, or so goes the script.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Got to say, irrespective of form, I'd bank on Fed to handle Kyrgios rather than any of Djokovic, Nadal or Murray. He relishes going against huge servers.

Nadal will beat Fed now and promptly lose to Nick in 2 sets, or so goes the script.
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Murray has beaten him five times in a row. Kyrgios has beaten all of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic at least once.
 
Red Pavan said:
Murray has beaten him five times in a row. Kyrgios has beaten all of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic at least once.
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Tbf Roger met him only once on clay and it went to three tie breaks, in his off year as well, 4 of 5 of Murray's matches against him are at Slam, with 3 of them when he was in strop mode.

Also, Fed up a break :drool:.

Edit: 4-1 :eek:.
 
Federer's backhand has drastically improved in 2017.
 
Nadal didn't have answer to Federer having a good backhand. But I'm sure he'd rethink his tactics. Especially for the clay season. Nadal couldn't keep the points long.

Tournaments a bit dull now with no Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.

Hopefully Wawrinka can make things interesting.
 
Great second serves by Federer. Nadal couldn't read them at all. Was returning from the first row in the second set :lol::lol:

Federer dominated the rallies, took the ball early and again flat backhands DTL.

Ultimately he's playing the way he always should've against Nadal.
 
Wow that was brutal demolition of Nadal by Federer, last shot summed up the entire match. Winners after winners, sublime performance from the GOAT.
 
Bojan11 said:
Hopefully Wawrinka can make things interesting.
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I wouldn't hold my breath there. Wawrinka is notorious of tanking masters and 2-3rd round exitology. He'd probably lose to LL Nishioka as well, down a break at 3-5.
 
Glad I'm not the only one who stayed up for this match! Unbelievable by Roger, absolutely no answers from Nadal.

Those backhands:drool:
 
Think we underestimated the mental aspect of it. This was the free-est I've seen him play against Nadal for years. The Slam win liberated him from his demons.

Even if this had gone on, Nadal couldn't win. He was second best all day long.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Think we underestimated the mental aspect of it. This was the free-est I've seen him play against Nadal for years. The Slam win liberated him from his demons.

Even if this had gone on, Nadal couldn't win. He was second best all day long.
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I was just about to post something along these lines. It really looked like getting No. 18 took a weight off his shoulders.
 
By the way, Kyrgios looking pretty focused this tournament:eek: Be very interesting to see what he does against Fed
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Think we underestimated the mental aspect of it. This was the free-est I've seen him play against Nadal for years. The Slam win liberated him from his demons.

Even if this had gone on, Nadal couldn't win. He was second best all day long.
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I don't think it's the mental aspect tbh. Federer always played to Nadal's strengths. This is the first time since the beginning of their rivalry he plays to counter Nadal. He takes the ball early, puts a lot of topspin in his 2nd kick serves which allows him to open up the court or get to the net. His backhand of course - hitting it flat and much more DTL than cross-court.

In the past he just tried to outplay him in his game - putting block or slice returns and giving him the advantage exchanging CC backhands to Nadal's forehand. Today you can easily see how Nadal switched (like at the AO) his serve from AD court from Fed's backhand to body serves.

Tactically Nadal has no answer to this new gameplan.
 
Enigma_87 said:
I don't think it's the mental aspect tbh. Federer always played to Nadal's strengths. This is the first time since the beginning of their rivalry he plays to counter Nadal. He takes the ball early, puts a lot of topspin in his 2nd kick serves which allows him to open up the court or get to the net. His backhand of course - hitting it flat and much more DTL than cross-court.

In the past he just tried to outplay him in his game - putting block or slice returns and giving him the advantage exchanging CC backhands to Nadal's forehand. Today you can easily see how Nadal switched (like at the AO) his serve from AD court from Fed's backhand to body serves.

Tactically Nadal has no answer to this new gameplan.
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What you said about the tactical aspect of it is true, yet with virtually the same game plan, Fed dropped two sets at the AO. I've also lost count of how many times he went out, looking dominant in the first set only to fell back into Nadal's rhythm and promptly lost the match.

He also said it himself before the match that he'd keep 'play free'. Even us fans are mentally scared from how many times he've lost, hard to imagine it didn't affect him in their past encounters.

Also, even with the current resurgence, Nadal is still physically a notch or two below his peak. When he was in his peak, he covered the court like no one else I've ever seen and it's mentally and physically draining to play against an opponent you know will get to your shot 8 or 9 times out of 10.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
What you said about the tactical aspect of it is true, yet with virtually the same game plan, Fed dropped two sets at the AO. I've also lost count of how many times he went out, looking dominant in the first set only to fell back into Nadal's rhythm and promptly lost the match.

He also said it himself before the match that he'd keep 'play free'. Even us fans are mentally scared from how many times he've lost, hard to imagine it didn't affect him in their past encounters.

Also, even with the current resurgence, Nadal is still physically a notch or two below his peak. When he was in his peak, he covered the court like no one else I've ever seen and it's mentally and physically draining to play against an opponent you know will get to your shot 8 or 9 times out of 10.
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Federer also lost a step or two compared to his peak. He's further away from his than say Nadal, who was winning multiple slams 3-4 years ago. Federer made a lot of changes to his gameplan and the result is clear to see. He's 35(soon to be 36) and his footwork is also miles behind what it used to be 10 years ago.

There's always mental game in it, of course.

Nadal is at a position he has to make changes to his game to keep him at the top at least for couple of years more. So far he has only added body serve.

Djokovic also doesn't seem right at the moment. His problem is mental and today he just wasn't there against Kyrgios. Will be interesting clay season and Wimbey afterwards.
 
Nadals season will be determined by how he does in the clay season. If he can't win on his strongest surface then there's very little he can win on others. I do think the clay season is there for him to dominate especially with how Djokovic is playing.

Federer has in the past destroyed Nadal on hard courts at times. And everyone's thought oh he's finally found the key. Then suddenly Nadal faces him on clay and Federer loses all confidence. I'd like to see them play on clay.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Federer also lost a step or two compared to his peak. He's further away from his than say Nadal, who was winning multiple slams 3-4 years ago. Federer made a lot of changes to his gameplan and the result is clear to see. He's 35(soon to be 36) and his footwork is also miles behind what it used to be 10 years ago.

There's always mental game in it, of course.

Nadal is at a position he has to make changes to his game to keep him at the top at least for couple of years more. So far he has only added body serve.

Djokovic also doesn't seem right at the moment. His problem is mental and today he just wasn't there against Kyrgios. Will be interesting clay season and Wimbey afterwards.
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You forgetting Djokovic has had to play Del Potro in long matches during the night sessions and having to play Kyrgios during the day, which is ridiculous once.

The exact same happened against two weeks ago. Not discrediting Kyrgios as he did play well. But Djokovic had very little energy especially in that heat. The schedule did him no favours.

I don't think it's fair that your future opponent plays in the day whilst you play the night session. Both should do the night session and the other side should do the day session. But that's too simple.
 
Bojan11 said:
Nadals season will be determined by how he does in the clay season. If he can't win on his strongest surface then there's very little he can win on others. I do think the clay season is there for him to dominate especially with how Djokovic is playing.

Federer has in the past destroyed Nadal on hard courts at times. And everyone's thought oh he's finally found the key. Then suddenly Nadal faces him on clay and Federer loses all confidence. I'd like to see them play on clay.
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Only indoors. IW conditions favor much more Nadal - one of the slowest outdoor HC's with a very high bounce. Think Federer should skip the clay season altogether and play only RG.

Bojan11 said:
You forgetting Djokovic has had to play Del Potro in long matches during the night sessions and having to play Kyrgios during the day, which is ridiculous once.

The exact same happened against two weeks ago. Not discrediting Kyrgios as he did play well. But Djokovic had very little energy especially in that heat. The schedule did him no favours.

I don't think it's fair that your future opponent plays in the day whilst you play the night session. Both should do the night session and the other side should do the day session. But that's too simple.
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aye, that was true, but Djokovic didn't look good in any of the matches in the last two weeks compared to an year before. The focus is not there.

IW and Miami are his best masters and he should've ended his match against Delpo much sooner if he was his usual self.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Think his usual schedule is the Madrid Master then RG, which doesn't seem that demanding.
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Nah, it's MC/Rome as he skipped Madrid twice in the last 3 years, but played them both. If he is to play just one it should be Rome as the conditions are very similar to RG. I don't think he'll win a clay masters so better preserve some energy for favorable draw at RG.
 
Bojan11 said:
You forgetting Djokovic has had to play Del Potro in long matches during the night sessions and having to play Kyrgios during the day, which is ridiculous once.

The exact same happened against two weeks ago. Not discrediting Kyrgios as he did play well. But Djokovic had very little energy especially in that heat. The schedule did him no favours.

I don't think it's fair that your future opponent plays in the day whilst you play the night session. Both should do the night session and the other side should do the day session. But that's too simple.
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The organiser's hands were tied as Novak is also playing in the doubles...
 
Finally caught up with the Fed Nadal match .. brilliant stuff from Federer. Looked at ease and it was some flawless hitting.. in this state of mind I'd back him to put up a fight on a clay court.
 
Mihajlovic said:
Serbian media reporting Djokovic is 'finished'. Refering to the latest pictures of him looking like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in months. Finished also in the sense that he's confused on whether he actually wants to play tennis and win trophies or if he's just playing along and killing time. This attitude is reflected in the amount of time he spends in training and preparation, which apparently is a joke for his standards. That's something that Becker was also mildly complaining about, the lack of ambition and training units etc. Of course, a lot of of this is understandable, winning the French Open, becoming a father and focusing on family more. But it does seem that the key to winning more GS is only down to him and whether he actually really still wants it. Most of fans commenting also said how they have become less bothered about his game as he himself doesn't seem to be too bothered about it either. So as a fan it just leaves you a bit indifferent about it all. Strange times. I literally expect nothing from Indian Wells and I doubt many people would be very shocked if he'd crash out early.
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Seemed pretty clear from his general demeanour last summer that Tennis was more of an inconvenience than a priority for him at this time. That's not an unreasonable perspective to have at this stage of his career, really. At some point you'll inevitably question whether spending every minute of your life thinking about how to be the very best at a game is actually the right way to live your life, particularly when a kid comes along and you're forced to take on a new perspective.
 
Brwned said:
Seemed pretty clear from his general demeanour last summer that Tennis was more of an inconvenience than a priority for him at this time. That's not an unreasonable perspective to have at this stage of his career, really. At some point you'll inevitably question whether spending every minute of your life thinking about how to be the very best at a game is actually the right way to live your life, particularly when a kid comes along and you're forced to take on a new perspective.
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That's one way and a logical way of looking at things.

But at the same time surely he must understand that athletes only have a relatively short professional life until their body gives way. At his age he still has maybe another 5 competitive years in him. Surprised to see him going down this route as he's always been mentally strong on the court.
 
2mufc0 said:
That's one way and a logical way of looking at things.

But at the same time surely he must understand that athletes only have a relatively short professional life until their body gives way. At his age he still has maybe another 5 competitive years in him. Surprised to see him going down this route as he's always been mentally strong on the court.
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He was known as Dchoker circa 08-10 :p

I don't think there's much wrong with him tbh. It's a shame if he doesn't want to compete anymore but at the same time he's filthy rich, has already won all there is to be won and have a young child. Not everyone aspires to be the greatest ever, and that's fine. Even without any other Slam, he's already an all time great.
 


Federer gets a walkover from Kyrgios due to illness.
 
Oh feck, was so looking forward to this match.

Nick was performing so well this week, not seen him this focused, and it's shame. Anyway, lots more tournaments left for him to play.
 
Lol Djokovic must be thinking this is a such bad luck, gets beaten by Kyrgios and now the guy wont even show up against Federer.
 
Shame, would've been a cracking match.
So Federer makes it through the "toughest quarter" of all time.
 
Nishikori seems to struggle with an injury, but it's a very entertaining battle right now. Sock's playing inspired tennis at times.
 
Shame about Kyrgios, would have been a fun match. Was hoping this would be Kyrgios' big breakthrough tournament but still a good week for him with another win against Djokovic.
 
What a dud! Was too tired after work yesterday so planned on watching the replay but this is what happened.

So it's basically Roger vs Stan at this stage? The latter has been struggling as far as I can see.
 
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