Tennis 2017

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Sounds like a tank job, would be interesting to see what his appearance fee is. Think we'll see a lot of similar results at Eastbourne with the weather.

In other news, Paolo Maldini lost 6-1 6-1 in his first doubles match.
 
Thiem is not great on grass and he's just playing way too many tournaments without taking sufficient breaks.
 
saivet said:
Draw is Friday (around midday)

He did lose an exhibition today 6-3 6-2 against Berdych. Make of that what you will.
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I'll be absolutely stunned if he makes it to the second week to be completely honest. Just about any big server can beat him on grass and we've been seeing that for ages now.
 
wr8_utd said:
I'll be absolutely stunned if he makes it to the second week to be completely honest. Just about any big server can beat him on grass and we've been seeing that for ages now.
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Same really. He's been serving better this year, but not played a pro grass match in 2 years now, where he lost to Dustin Brown of all players.
 
Watching the coverage of Eastbourne here and Ostapenko is great. Some stunning shots.
 
The Wimbledon draw's looking pretty brutal for Federer - Dolgopolov in R1, Dimitrov/Isner in R4, Raonic/Zverev in the quarters. Rafa's first week looks straightforward but Karlovic or Muller in R4 might be tough. Potential Djokovic vs Delpo in R3 and Murray vs Kyrgios in R4.
 
The draw is out. The projected draws for the top 4.

Federer:
R1 - Dolgopolov
R2 - Q/LL
R3 - M. Zverev
R4 - Dimitrov
QF - Raonic/A. Zverev
SF - Djokovic
F - Murray/Nadal

Murray
R1 Q/LL
R2 Brown
R3 Fognini
R4 Pouille/Kyrgios
QF Wawrinka
SF Nadal
F Djokovic/Fed

Nadal
R1 Millman
R2 Young or Istomin
R3 Khachanov
R4 Muller
QF Cilic
SF Murray
F Djokovic or Federer

I can't find Novak's full projected draw, but I know he has Delpo R3 and Thiem QF.
 
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Novak's is:
R1 Klizan
R2 Pavlasek/Escobedo
R3 Del Potro
R4 Lopez/Monfils
QF Thiem/Berdych
SF Fed/Raonic
F Murray/Nadal
 
I see Delpo aside I think that draw is decent for Novak. Think Murray will be the happiest with his draw.
 


:nervous:

Konta's pulled out of Eastbourne as well. Hopefully they're both alright, not sure I can cope with the Beeb trying to hype up Edmund and Watson.
 
Hope Konta doesn't pull out.

Can't remember when, either during not long after the Aus Open but I put a bet on her and Federer to win their respective Wimbledon titles.
 
Red Pavan said:
Lopez is in some form currently on the grass.
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True, but think his age might catch up with him. He's played a lot recently and if he has any tough 5 set matches before he could get gassed. I think Muller who Rafa has got is a more difficult match.
 
saivet said:
True, but think his age might catch up with him. He's played a lot recently and if he has any tough 5 set matches before he could get gassed. I think Muller who Rafa has got is a more difficult match.
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Muller is a one trick pony and Rafa will have an answer to him.
 
Giggsy92 said:


:nervous:

Konta's pulled out of Eastbourne as well. Hopefully they're both alright, not sure I can cope with the Beeb trying to hype up Edmund and Watson.
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Watson probably has a better chance of going further ahead in the tournament than Konta. Konta is very frail mentally at crunch moments, even more so than Watson.
 
Murray has been crocked all year. If he isn't right then I'd rather he takes time off after Wimbledon and comes back refreshed in due course. If that's next season then so be it.

He put off back surgery for a very long time and I'd argue it's cost him more titles and Slams. Hell, it took him a good half a year to get back to any kind of form after the surgery.

If he doesn't make at least the semi's on grass then there is a real problem.
 
wr8_utd said:
I'll be absolutely stunned if he makes it to the second week to be completely honest. Just about any big server can beat him on grass and we've been seeing that for ages now.
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Why is that the case btw? I'm very much a casual Tennis watcher, but always been a Nadal fan. I recall him making 5 finals at Wimbledon and winning 2. So what's changed for him there? His dodgy knees taking its toll? His serve?
 
Red Devil 26 said:
Why is that the case btw? I'm very much a casual Tennis watcher, but always been a Nadal fan. I recall him making 5 finals at Wimbledon and winning 2. So what's changed for him there? His dodgy knees taking its toll? His serve?
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Since 2011, where he lost to Djokovic in the final his record at Wimbledon has been the following:
2012 R2 vs Rosol
2013 R1 vs Darcis (Rafa was good this year too)
2014 R4 vs Kyrgios
2015 R2 vs Dustin Brown
2016 Absent

I do think it's largely the knee issue though, difficult to say. He's looked fit this year and has served better, but recent history doesn't give me much hope.

As he missed last year, it's his first time playing on grass in two years. I guess the only hope I get is that he lost R1 in the Aus Open last year (to Verdasco though) and made the final the following.
 
Nadal with the easiest draw on paper, then Murray.

Nadal has decent chance at Sf's provided he beats Istomin and Khachanov in R2/R3.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Novak should breeze through his draw. Fed may struggle against Raonic.
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Raonic is absolutely useless now.

Red Devil 26 said:
Why is that the case btw? I'm very much a casual Tennis watcher, but always been a Nadal fan. I recall him making 5 finals at Wimbledon and winning 2. So what's changed for him there? His dodgy knees taking its toll? His serve?
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He's often said the grass is much harder on his knees and it's a surface where any random bang average player can ace him out of the tournament and it's happened every time he's played since back when he was competing for Wimbledon. He's also played a lot of tennis already this season and I think this will be one tournament where he won't be too bothered where he finishes. I'll take a second week apperance as a great result.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Nadal with the easiest draw on paper, then Murray.

Nadal has decent chance at Sf's provided he beats Istomin and Khachanov in R2/R3.
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He's not going to do that though, is he? Exactly the type of players he loses to at Wimbledon. He needed some non big hitters early on to get some momentum going.
 
wr8_utd said:
Raonic is absolutely useless now.
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I said 'may'. He had a less than stellar clay season but a player with his serve will always pose a threat at Wimbledon. Fed's hardest match this year was against Kyrgios, a player with similar (or even better) serve.
 
wr8_utd said:
He's not going to do that though, is he? Exactly the type of players he loses to at Wimbledon. He needed some non big hitters early on to get some momentum going.
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Millman is great 1st round opponent to get it going. Istomin will be tough if he's in the zone, whilst Khachanov is still too young and Nadal will have psychological advantage over him. His 4th and QF opponents should be easy provided he gets there.

Federer's draw is probably the toughest - Dolgopolov is easily the hardest opponent out of the lot, Misha and Grigor will also be tough and Raonic at QF is the toughest out of the lot.

Of course things change if some of the favorites bomb early so we will see.
 
wr8_utd said:
Raonic is absolutely useless now.
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Raonic so far through the season posted similar if not better results to Murray and Djokovic on fast services(bar clay). He has been consistent in slams and Masters (as previous years) and his strength is usually from Wimbey onward - the US masters swing then the indoor season.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Millman is great 1st round opponent to get it going. Istomin will be tough if he's in the zone, whilst Khachanov is still too young and Nadal will have psychological advantage over him. His 4th and QF opponents should be easy provided he gets there.

Federer's draw is probably the toughest - Dolgopolov is easily the hardest opponent out of the lot, Misha and Grigor will also be tough and Raonic at QF is the toughest out of the lot.

Of course things change if some of the favorites bomb early so we will see.
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I disagree, Muller and Khachanov are dangerous for Nadal.

Mischa is also an easy match for Federer, pretty sure he destroys him everytime and I'd say Cilic is the toughest QF player, more so than Raonic this year.
 
Mischa's net game is very predictable. Roger thrives in that kind of tennis.

Grigor on form is also a dangerous opponent though.
 
saivet said:
I disagree, Muller and Khachanov are dangerous for Nadal.

Mischa is also an easy match for Federer, pretty sure he destroys him everytime and I'd say Cilic is the toughest QF player, more so than Raonic this year.
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Muller has never made it to the forth round at Wimbey. I pretty much doubt at 34 he'll break his duck there.

Raonic has already done more than Cilic at Wimbey and think he's more dangerous having already beaten Federer there. Misha I agree however he looked good against Federer in Halle this year.
 
Giggsy92 said:
Novak's is:
R1 Klizan
R2 Pavlasek/Escobedo
R3 Del Potro
R4 Lopez/Monfils
QF Thiem/Berdych
SF Fed/Raonic
F Murray/Nadal
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Ordinarily this would seem pretty straight forward. But an out of form Djokovic could lose to half of the names in the latter half of the draw.
 
Djokovic has hired Ancic for Wimbledon. Smart move as his serve needs improving and he needs to shorten points at his age.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Raonic has already done more than Cilic at Wimbey and think he's more dangerous having already beaten Federer there. Misha I agree however he looked good against Federer in Halle this year.
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Last year weirdly enough Cilic took Federer to 5 sets and really should have won. Queens was a good indicator last year where Raonic played well. This year he went out first round and Cilic made the final and on another day he would have won.
 
Ancic... what a blast from the past. Good choice, I guess. He could've been a tremendous player if it weren't for his illness.
 
Piratesoup said:
Ancic... what a blast from the past. Good choice, I guess. He could've been a tremendous player if it weren't for his illness.
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Would he? He was very promising in the early 2000s but already leveled out by 04 or so until the first bout of his illness. I remember seeing his name in ths short tennis column when I was a kid but by the time Fed started his domination never saw it again. It was always Hewitt, Roddick, Safin etc...
 
Bojan11 said:
Djokovic has hired Ancic for Wimbledon. Smart move as his serve needs improving and he needs to shorten points at his age.
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I think he needs to improve his mental game. Tennis is 90% mental. If your heads not in it and you can't maintain mental acuity, your shots will suddenly not go where you want them to. Federer and Djokovic have had incredible ability to focus which is what has made them great. Djokovic needs to reclaim his head if he wants to get back to the top.
 
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Raoul said:
I think he needs to improve his mental game. Tennis is 90% mental. If your heads not in it and you can't maintain mental acuity, your shots will suddenly not go where you want them to. Federer and Djokovic have had incredibly ability to focus which is what has made them great. Djokovic needs to reclaim his head if he wants to get back to the top.
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Just think he's lost all motivation after winning RG. Doesn't look like he wants to dominate and be the GOAT
 
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