Tennis 2018

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Federer, out of the blue, decided to play in RotterdaR next week. A semi final would guarantee him the #1 ranking.

I am not a fan of big name players getting Wildcard, but hey, one more Federer tournament to watch
 
Piratesoup said:
Federer, out of the blue, decided to play in RotterdaR next week. A semi final would guarantee him the #1 ranking.

I am not a fan of big name players getting Wildcard, but hey, one more Federer tournament to watch
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Does it mean he'll skip Dubai? Don't think he'll miss the Sunshine Double.

Really odd move. He's guaranteed #1 if he wins Dubai, and likely to lose it again regardless after Miami.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Does it mean he'll skip Dubai? Don't think he'll miss the Sunshine Double.

Really odd move. He's guaranteed #1 if he wins Dubai, and likely to lose it again regardless after Miami.
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No idea, but I guess he might still play Dubai if he feels fit. Last year shouldn't be taken as the blueprint for all seasons to come, Federer's not come back from a lengthy injury this time and should be in better physical shape.
Since he might skip clay again and it's no given that Federer will repeat the Sunshine Double this might be his only Chance to catch Nadal in the rankings, even if it's only for a few weeks.
 
Rotterdam does kind of make sense, gives him an extra week to prepare for Indian Wells and he's got the next Match for Africa like a day after the Dubai final which wouldn't have been ideal. Might feel he owes the organisers as well after signing up for 2016 before he got injured. Tough field but it's probably his only real shot with Rafa having points to pick up in Acapulco, IW, Miami and Rome. Just hope it's not another Montreal.
 
Giggsy92 said:
Just hope it's not another Montreal.
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He should be fine. He only played one 5-setter and looked as fit as a 36 year old can look. The back is always an issue, so any tournament is potentially a Montreal 2.0.
 
Piratesoup said:
He should be fine. He only played one 5-setter and looked as fit as a 36 year old can look. The back is always an issue, so any tournament is potentially a Montreal 2.0.
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Going into Montreal undercooked was the problem. Apparently he told Krajicek the day after the AO final he was playing Rotterdam though so hopefully a lack of preparation won't be an issue this time.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Does it mean he'll skip Dubai? Don't think he'll miss the Sunshine Double.

Really odd move. He's guaranteed #1 if he wins Dubai, and likely to lose it again regardless after Miami.
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He'll get more rest till the Sunshine Double. Smart move in terms of scheduling as he barely was tested at the AO.

Having said that the Dubai field is really wank, compared to a strong Rotterdam field...
 
Enigma_87 said:
He'll get more rest till the Sunshine Double. Smart move in terms of scheduling as he barely was tested at the AO.

Having said that the Dubai field is really wank, compared to a strong Rotterdam field...
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That’s what I meant though. Weak field, conditions he’s used to, as long as he doesn’t repeat the Donskoy debacle then he’ll be no1 regardless.

With the seeding this time around, Nadal will almost certainly pick up points in IW and come out at least no worse off after the double. Risking his season with unfamiliar schedule just to return to no.1 for a couple of weeks is odd.
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
That’s what I meant though. Weak field, conditions he’s used to, as long as he doesn’t repeat the Donskoy debacle then he’ll be no1 regardless.

With the seeding this time around, Nadal will almost certainly pick up points in IW and come out at least no worse off after the double. Risking his season with unfamiliar schedule just to return to no.1 for a couple of weeks is odd.
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If he wins Rotterdam tho he'll be 4 weeks #1 regardless of what Nadal does at Acapulco. I don't believe he'll be defending both IW and Miami, if he wins one I'd be pretty happy...

A week more rest after Rotterdam would be pretty useful.
 
Watch out for Felix Auger-Aliassime. Rotterdam marks his ATP-500-debut and that kid, much like his good friend Shapovalov, looks a Special talent.
 
Bunch of people there, kinda doubt he said anything racist as Young implied.

"cnuts", "fecktards", "scousers", those are all fine in this inclusive gentlemen's sport.
 
Innocent until proven guilty, but Harrison has always been a cnut so I wouldn't put racism beyond him.
 
Raoul said:
Fed won today. Looks like he's one or two more wins away from reclaiming #1
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I know it was Bemelmans and all, but was masterclass performance.



Early contender of shot of the year.

wusuhuf.gif
 
Krajicek being a colossal dickhead here. Saying Federer is "probably gonna shatter" his shared record of two wins in Rotterdam on sunday. He's the goddamn tournament director. Disgraceful.
 
Oldest World No. 1:cool: Get in Roger:drool:

It probably won't last long, but what an achievement.
 
Raoul said:
Rafa should rocket back to #1 at RG. What happens after is anyone's guess.
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All depends on who can stay fit and whether Federer defends more points at Miami and Indian Wells or Nadal during the clay season. Nadal still has a SF in Acapulco to defend and Federer might just play Dubai as well and better his 2nd round exit last year.

Nadal's got the bigger task I feel. In addition to being a finalist in Miami last year he has to stay in top shape for the long clay slog while Federer can just go all out during the hard court swing, then rest until grass comes around.

Wild times.
 
Piratesoup said:
All depends on who can stay fit and whether Federer defends more points at Miami and Indian Wells or Nadal during the clay season. Nadal still has a SF in Acapulco to defend and Federer might just play Dubai as well and better his 2nd round exit last year.

Nadal's got the bigger task I feel. In addition to being a finalist in Miami last year he has to stay in top shape for the long clay slog while Federer can just go all out during the hard court swing, then rest until grass comes around.

Wild times.
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Agreed. Nadal has a bigger task ahead of him, provided Fed wins in Rotterdam. All he needs to do then to maintain the #1 is either go all out - Dubai/IW/Miami - even if he doesn't do the Sunshine Double, with the points he'd gain from Rotterdam and Dubai he'll bridge the gap from 2 back to back masters.

Nadal IMO would improve his IW result due to being #2 and having perhaps a better draw compared to last year, but can't see him reaching the Miami final if he does well at IW and Acapulco - would be too much for him.

Then during the clay season Nadal has 2 MS titles and a slam to defend, as well as Rome QF. He can only lose points there as it's unlikely to repeat those results being one year older and perhaps Djokovic finding some form..

It's still pretty open and interesting to see how it will pan out.
 
Nadal will reclaim it fairly quickly and probably hold on to it until New York at least, but it's still incredible that Federer's managed it on the back of relatively few tournaments. Another record of his to add to the list of ones that are hard to see being broken anytime soon.
 
matador said:
Any stream to watch the Rotterdam final? Anyone?
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We can't post such things here, but Reddit is your man.

In the first 3 games, Dimitrov played about as well as anyone can and it still wasn't enough against Federer playing well. Threw the kitchen sink and the swiss hurled it right back at him. Once Federer had weathered that storm it was all over in the first.

One more set, you magnificent bastard!
 
Piratesoup said:
We can't post such things here, but Reddit is your man.

In the first 3 games, Dimitrov played about as well as anyone can and it still wasn't enough against Federer playing well. Threw the kitchen sink and the swiss hurled it right back at him. Once Federer had weathered that storm it was all over in the first.

One more set, you magnificent bastard!
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Got it, thanks!
 
It has to be said more often: Thank god for these fast hard courts. So many intriguing rallies with nothing but highly aggressive shots, slices and net play. High octane stuff.

Dimitrov seems either injured or mentally broken. I guess it's a bit of both. One rally he still looks like a proper Fed copy just to then look like he pulled a muscle for three points. Poor guy.
 
Roger:drool::drool::drool:

Absolutely destroyed Grigor. Great performance as I thought Grigor has been playing well this tournament.
 
Dimitrov not giving (or not given?) a speech. Strange.
 
Krajicek is quickly becoming my least favorite tournament director. Spotlight hog and showing massive favoritism. And he will. not. shut. up.
 
So what's the next decent tournament on the schedule that will have good players competing ?
 
Raoul said:
So what's the next decent tournament on the schedule that will have good players competing ?
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Acapulco. Nadal, Del Potro, Thiem (who absolute crushed Monfils yesterday to reach today's Buenoes Aires final), Zverev and Cilic are scheduled to play there.
 
Raoul said:
Interesting. If Fed isn't involved can Rafa then reclaim #1 here ?
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No. Even if he does better than his SF last year he can't catch him. If Federer had only reached the Rotterdam QF Nadal would've needed to win Acapulco already to not fall behind him. Federer is guaranteed to be Nr.1 until the end of Indian Wells. And Federer might yet decide to rack up more points in Dubai.
 
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