Tennis 2020

Brophs said:
On the Djokovic DF, one of the lads from the Uni tennis team messaged me last night reminding me of the time I got defaulted for hitting the umpire in the face, which until he mentioned it I had absolutely no recollection of. I missed a volley, lost my head and drilled the ball into the net. Except I wasn't that accurate and it hit the top of the net post and went into the umpire's face. He remembers me angrily making the argument that I shouldn't have been disqualified as the net poles were outside the tramlines even though it was a singles match and I wouldn't have hit the pole normally. What an awful tit. Even more ridiculously I was something like 6-2, 5-2 up, which makes me even more of a helmet.
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Good story. Frustration happens at high levels, and yes - while he may not have smashed a racquet, Nadal has shown frustration, Federer definitely has. Serena well has also lost slams because of it.... some control it better than others. Doesn't make them "cnuts" or other abuse he's getting over it. It was beyond unintentional.

It's like sending someone off because they kicked/threw the ball in a huff ... but either the ref/ballboy just lucked in the way of it and decide they want their moment of fame. Which also happens, but it's basically a yellow offence.
 
Jazz said:
Anyone watching Williams and Sakkari? This match is so damn good. The most I've been engaged in a match since the Open started and it comes from the ladies..
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It was a very good match. The depth of the field of the WTA is pretty impressive and this is a draw that is missing the likes of Barty, Halep, Andreescu, Bertens and Svitolina.
 
Beachryan said:
He's so talented but also such a petulant child. Can't believe he'll one day have the most slam titles.

I went off him really early with his serve toss shenanigans. That was obviously so unsporting even if at the time it was permitted.

Yesterday he absolutely slammed a ball earlier into the ad boards. Tiny mishit and that could have done actual damage.

I cant believe anyone is defending him or accusing the line judge. What a world we live in.
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What was this?
 
Zen said:
Good story. Frustration happens at high levels, and yes - while he may not have smashed a racquet, Nadal has shown frustration, Federer definitely has. Serena well has also lost slams because of it.... some control it better than others. Doesn't make them "cnuts" or other abuse he's getting over it. It was beyond unintentional.

It's like sending someone off because they kicked/threw the ball in a huff ... but either the ref/ballboy just lucked in the way of it and decide they want their moment of fame. Which also happens, but it's basically a yellow offence.
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Indeed. I like quite a bit of Djokovic and there are some bits that leave me cold, but what happened last night was no more than a little bit petulance and bad luck. Using it to hammer him just seems quite transparent. I mean, it's not like there's stuff in the recent past to criticise him for if that's your bag.
 
Berbaclass said:
She was being dramatic. It probably hurt obviously but that much? She milked it as hard as she possibly could.
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Any strike you're not braced for is going to hurt far more than one your brain is switched on to. The ones you don't see coming are famed for putting people down or out.

Your analogies don't work because you're playing, head-on and at least semi-prepped for whatever comes your way... unless you were blindsided, which it doesn't sound like you were.

Worse still, the throat is a soft, fragile target even when you're braced. If you're not, most people are going to have an aftershock and panic after the strike/blow, so it might be part pain and part panic you're seeing there.
 
Name Changed said:
What was this?
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He has a really fast service motion, and used to bounce the ball for an incredibly inconsistent amount of time. The two in combination were a bit of a mindf*ck for the returner. Sometimes he'd bounce it a dozen times, other times barely twice. I think they changed the rules eventually.
 
Fortitude said:
Any strike you're not braced for is going to hurt far more than one your brain is switched on to. The ones you don't see coming are famed for putting people down or out.
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Not sure this is overly true. Unbelievably I've been wacked in the head by a Golf Ball from the shank of all drives.... it barely fazed me. Throw a golf ball at my head willingly and I get some pain from it.

You're coming from a massive boxing PoV - where the pain and punishment is calculated to do exactly that. Accidently hitting someone with an object isn't a calculated thing to put someone out.
 
Berbaclass said:
I’m just giving my personal experience as I was asked if I’ve played tennis before. I have and I wasn’t very good so I got hit on multiple occasions, particularly if I played doubles.

I took a forehand in the throat close to the net once and it hurt but we all had a good laugh that I couldn’t get out the way and kept playing. I was fine. This isn’t some macho thing either it just genuinely wasn’t that bad. I’m only a small guy and definitely not “tough”.

I personally think she overreacted but if people think otherwise I’m not going to waste any more time arguing because it’s pointless.
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I can understand that, but it's an isolated case. Different people react differently being hit in the face/throat. Generally the rules are clear and misconducts like that have no place in the sport. Bear in mind that the line judge might have been an elderly person so stuff like that might enter into serious injury territory.

You simply can't expect the every person to walk it off.
 
Beachryan said:
He has a really fast service motion, and used to bounce the ball for an incredibly inconsistent amount of time. The two in combination were a bit of a mindf*ck for the returner. Sometimes he'd bounce it a dozen times, other times barely twice. I think they changed the rules eventually.
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There was one match between him and Nadal (was it MC or Rome?) when they played like 4-5 hours and literally bounced the ball like 10-20 times before each serve. Real pain to watch.
 
Zen said:
Not sure this is overly true. Unbelievably I've been wacked in the head by a Golf Ball from the shank of all drives.... it barely fazed me. Throw a golf ball at my head willingly and I get some pain from it.

You're coming from a massive boxing PoV - where the pain and punishment is calculated to do exactly that. Accidently hitting someone with an object isn't a calculated thing to put someone out.
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But you're talking about the skull, I'm assuming? With its hard shell and a person having little say in how thick it is, which is quite different to soft areas of the body or connective points that can put your lights out or really startle you.

Having your throat messed with is alarming even if you're braced for it - proper jolts and can shut down a person. Should think that's many times more likely for a person who's probably very unfamiliar with any kind of impact trauma.
 
People still going on about it?

Let’s talk about Thiem and how he impressively dismantled Felix today.
 
Coric takes the first set 6-1 vs Zverev. He leads their head to head 3-1 too.
 
unwatchable from Zverev so far. bad serve, almost no movement at all.
 
Zverev is a bottler. I think Coric will beat him 9/10 times for the rest of their careers.
 
Zverev is up there with self-destructing morons in the game. Absolutely no tactic or strategy in the play, constant whining and always bottling.
 
horrible match overall. it's either UE from either player or Zverev's double fault. Zverev's body language doesn't help too.
 
Honestly, the best thing about this match is that I'll never have to watch it again and they will, presumably, burn the tapes and erase the memories Men In Black style of everyone who endured it.
 
Ash Barty out the French open. Shame, she can’t defend her title.
 
Brophs said:
Honestly, the best thing about this match is that I'll never have to watch it again and they will, presumably, burn the tapes and erase the memories Men In Black style of everyone who endured it.
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How the feck did Zverev win? :lol: I went to sleep when Coric was a break up in 2nd. Only way I can think of is Coric decided to out-Zverev Sascha by being more stupid.
 
Can't believe he won in the end. I'd wish to take everything I said about Zverev back, but my lord, that match was torture to watch.
 
Didn’t watch the Zverev match. Is he still struggling with his second serve? Was painful and felt sorry for him against Murray.
 
Bojan11 said:
Didn’t watch the Zverev match. Is he still struggling with his second serve? Was painful and felt sorry for him against Murray.
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I didn't watch it either but 12 double faults and 41% points won on second serve does not sound good at all.
 
Btw.: Umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore still has no idea how the challenge/hawk-eye rules work. Ever since their implementation she keeps fecking up calls and gives players points that don't deserve them. I swear yesterday's been at least the 7th time I've watched her award a point wrongly after a challenge. Baffling.
 
Rublev blew that set. Got very tight while leading in the tie break and handed it to Medvedev. Rublev is fuming hopefully he doesn't implode.
 
Predictions for the men's and women's SFs today?

I think Osaka will go through (and win the tournament) but unsure about Serena vs Azarenka.

I think in the men's SFs Zverev should beat PCB but the Thiem - Medvedev could (or I hope to) be a cracker but I fancy Thiem, particuarly if Medvedev isn't at 100% fitness.

Interestingly Zverev has a good record against Medvedev (5-1) and a poor one against Thiem (2-7).
 
saivet said:
Predictions for the men's and women's SFs today?

I think Osaka will go through (and win the tournament) but unsure about Serena vs Azarenka.

I think in the men's SFs Zverev should beat PCB but the Thiem - Medvedev could (or I hope to) be a cracker but I fancy Thiem, particuarly if Medvedev isn't at 100% fitness.

Interestingly Zverev has a good record against Medvedev (5-1) and a poor one against Thiem (2-7).
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I think Brady will finally come unstuck v Osaka and Williams will beat Azarenka, though I'd love to see Azarenka get back to a final here. I think Williams is starting to look ominous, not so much in terms of her performance level, but in the way she seems to warming to the task.

In the men's, likewise, I'd be worried for Medvedev with how physically shot he looked last night. Thiem is motoring, so unless Medvedev recovers well I suspect he'll just hit him off court. I'd fancy Zverev in the other, albeit PCB is exactly the sort of player who could cause him a problem, by not allowing him many free or easy points. Plus, you can almost always rely on Zverev to balls things up once he gets close to the line.
 
Medvedev vs Thiem is going to be tasty as both are in good form. Just hope Medvedev is fully fit.
 
Bojan11 said:
Medvedev vs Thiem is going to be tasty as both are in good form. Just hope Medvedev is fully fit.
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I'm hoping that is the first match on tomorrow, so I can stay up for it. I'll probably still watch it anyway, but more than happy to sleep through Zverev vs PCB.
Raoul said:
This has to be the most uninspiring list of grand slam semi names in decades.
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I don't think so. If Djokovic was there instead of PCB it would be a great line up. Thiem, Medvedev and Zverev are all very good and exciting players in their own right.

I feel there have been numerous uninspiring semi final draws, when only one of Federer, Djokovic or Nadal were left in the draw.

In the past few years, Dimitrov, Berretini, Anderson, PCB, Monfils, Pouille, Edmund, Chung, Cecchinato, RBA, Isner, Querrey, Berdych have made semi final appearances.
 
saivet said:
I'm hoping that is the first match on tomorrow, so I can stay up for it. I'll probably still watch it anyway, but more than happy to sleep through Zverev vs PCB.

I don't think so. If Djokovic was there instead of PCB it would be a great line up. Thiem, Medvedev and Zverev are all very good and exciting players in their own right.

I feel there have been numerous uninspiring semi final draws, when only one of Federer, Djokovic or Nadal were left in the draw.

In the past few years, Dimitrov, Berretini, Anderson, PCB, Monfils, Pouille, Edmund, Chung, Cecchinato, RBA, Isner, Querrey, Berdych have made semi final appearances.
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I'm not discounting that some of these 4 are in good form and will play entertaining tennis. But from a casual perspective, its hard to get motivated when one of the big three aren't involved. At a minimum, it would've been great to see one of them in the semis and get ousted by an upstart. Those are the best slams imo.
 
Raoul said:
I'm not discounting that some of these 4 are in good form and will play entertaining tennis. But from a casual perspective, its hard to get motivated when one of the big three aren't involved. At a minimum, it would've been great to see one of them in the semis and get ousted by an upstart. Those are the best slams imo.
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Oh yeah, from a casual perspective it doesn't appeal at all. I feel from the younger players guys like Tsitsipas and Kyrgios would draw more interest. Regardless of who wins it now they won't get anywhere near as same attention than if they beat one of the big three.
 
Raoul said:
I'm not discounting that some of these 4 are in good form and will play entertaining tennis. But from a casual perspective, its hard to get motivated when one of the big three aren't involved. At a minimum, it would've been great to see one of them in the semis and get ousted by an upstart. Those are the best slams imo.
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It's not just the names. The USO is probably the worst surface for guys like Thiem, PCB and Zverev. Maybe only Medvedev's game is best suited for the USO.

They are one of the highest ranked players,so the quality is there, but watching them at FM is just meh..
 
Enigma_87 said:
It's not just the names. The USO is probably the worst surface for guys like Thiem, PCB and Zverev. Maybe only Medvedev's game is best suited for the USO.

They are one of the highest ranked players,so the quality is there, but watching them at FM is just meh..
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I think grass would all undoubtedly be all of those three players weakest surface.

PCB aside who made the SF's in 2017 (fortunate draw), it's not really that big of a surprise that any of them have made it this far in the tournament. All of three of them are pretty good on outdoor hard courts.

Do you not particularly like any of their styles of play?
 
saivet said:
I think grass would all undoubtedly be all of those three players weakest surface.

PCB aside who made the SF's in 2017 (fortunate draw), it's not really that big of a surprise that any of them have made it this far in the tournament. All of three of them are pretty good on outdoor hard courts.

Do you not particularly like any of their styles of play?
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Yeah, I discounted grass as it is very short season and basically just one tournament in SW19.

Think slow outdoor hards and clay would be the best surfaces for all PCB, Zverev and Thiem. Zverev has fared better in the indoor season and spring HC season,compared to quicker outdoor surfaces. He usually bombs straight away at Cincy and despite winning Canada, seemed one off from him. He doesn't fare well in the windy conditions in the desert either, whilst being very good at the damp Miami.

Thiem naturally has the talent but attacking the net is not his forte, along with tactically off at faster HC's, usually taken to 5 from much inferior competitors at the USO, never showing some game at the Summer swing and generally faster surfaces seems to bother him where he doesn't have the time to compete his swing.

I don't particularly like either of them true, with Zverev being probably the most boring one. To me from the new generation Tsitsipas and Félix Auger-Aliassime are the ones that I like to watch and whilst Kyrgios is fun to watch he looks like Safin without the end product.
 
Enigma_87 said:
Yeah, I discounted grass as it is very short season and basically just one tournament in SW19.

Think slow outdoor hards and clay would be the best surfaces for all PCB, Zverev and Thiem. Zverev has fared better in the indoor season and spring HC season,compared to quicker outdoor surfaces. He usually bombs straight away at Cincy and despite winning Canada, seemed one off from him. He doesn't fare well in the windy conditions in the desert either, whilst being very good at the damp Miami.

Thiem naturally has the talent but attacking the net is not his forte, along with tactically off at faster HC's, usually taken to 5 from much inferior competitors at the USO, never showing some game at the Summer swing and generally faster surfaces seems to bother him where he doesn't have the time to compete his swing.

I don't particularly like either of them true, with Zverev being probably the most boring one. To me from the new generation Tsitsipas and Félix Auger-Aliassime are the ones that I like to watch and whilst Kyrgios is fun to watch he looks like Safin without the end product.
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That makes sense, I quite like Medvedev, though that's maybe more from a personality point of view but Tsitsipas is my favourite from the younger group of players to watch.
 
Both ladies SFs sounded great. Really looking forward to the final tomorrow.
 
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