I know Ruud hasn't won a great deal but last year he was in two Grand Slam finals (out of the three he played), made a Masters 1000 final and lost in the final of the ATP finals. He doesn't have any titles to boast about but objectively last year was pretty good for him even if a bit under the radar because he didn't have a highlight win or big title to his name.The CVs of most of the top twenty are shite. The world #2 hasn’t even won a 500.
It was sublime. It isn’t right now, hence Murray is still beating a recent Wimbledon final with one leg.
The world #2 hasn’t even won a 500.
22 slams, 36 1000s and 23 500s don't count?
It is being hailed as just that. Right here.
Rafa isn't the world number 2. Ruud is.
22 slams, 36 1000s and 23 500s don't count?
Rafa has been #2 since October.
He’s 35, physically destroyed and has no right to be playing professional tennis in his current state. He’s just gone out and beaten a player who has, up until recently, been a top ten player for around two years.
If anything, it emphasises just how poor the game is at the moment.
Okay so everybody is supposed to.Except for the dude above me.
Do you think Murray playing like today would struggle to beat seeded players at grand slams in past eras? I understand that the top five is undoubtedly weaker than previously, but do you think the number 15 player in the word now is worse than back then?
Murray is one of the greatest of all time (despite being 4th best in his own era!) so it’s no surprise that even the metal hip version is still able to mix it with the top current players. The top of the game is a little weaker now than it has been for a while but Berrettini would be a top 10-15 player in any era.
The big question is how Murray can recover for a tough 2nd round. His form looks good enough to make the second week.
This is spot on on both counts, imho, and it really humbles Berrettini’s happy-go-lucky attitude with conditioning and drive. On the other hand, Murray (and Wawrinka) were just unlucky to live in the supranatural-three era.
I still watch plenty of tennis of course, but in terms of the competition on the men’s side, I felt that it probably passed its peak depth-wise and was generally on the downward trajectory in recent times, especially with tennis becoming less and less of an attractive career option to aspiring male athletes compared to team sports. If Nadal was born in 1996 instead of 1986 for example, growing up when La Liga, the European Cup turned Champions League and his beloved Real Madrid (and Barcelona) were all far more glamorous, would he still have chosen tennis over football? I personally doubt it. Likewise if Murray was born in 1997 instead of 1987, growing up during the peak era for the Old Firm in terms of spending, and when the glamour and popularity of the Premier League south of border was sky-rocketing, I doubt he would have chosen tennis over football (he had a trial at Hibs right).
Last year I remember watching a video summary of the 1992 US Open (a thrilling tournament), and thinking that was at least as much depth in the ATP top 100 back then as there was 30 years later in 2022, if not more. Borg and Connors had plenty of brutal early round matches in the early round matches of grand slams in the 70s. I believe that tennis was more popular than the NBA in the US in the late 70s-early 80s.
Nadal playing terrible. On the verge of going 2 sets down. Don't see him winning this match, let alone getting close to defending his title with the way he's playing today. Wasn't all that good vs Draper too.
Yeah, he pulled up towards the end of the 2nd set. The way he was playing, he was going to lose anyway. Hope just a scare and nothing serious.I'm watching the Molcan / Auger-Aliassime match but they just said that Nadal was in obvious severe pain earlier in the match and has just had treatment off court for it. He hasn't played well for a few months though, regardless of any injury.
Yeah, he pulled up towards the end of the 2nd set. The way he was playing, he was going to lose anyway. Hope just a scare and nothing serious.
He needs to get on tour and play regularly as since Wimbledon its been very stop start.
I think he'll be trying for the Olympics next year at RG at least.I'm fairly certain Nadal will retire from tennis this year. The man is done.
He's been pretty much constantly injured since Indian Wells last year. It continued through the clay and then Ofcourse Wimbledon and US season as well and now he looked injured yet again today. He's said in the past that he'll wind up when his body can't handle it anymore and I think that time is coming. He's not competitive on tour anymore and he's lost 7 of his last 9 matches. I think the Olympics next year may be a step too far for him. I'd not be remotely surprised if he loses early and retires at the end of RG.I think he'll be trying for the Olympics next year at RG at least.
From everything Rafa has said I don't think he'll pack things up if it's just his form and niggling injuries that are the issues.
Unless he has serious problems with his foot or another major injury injury I think he's sticking around, even with patchy results.
Emma's serve is just so tragic. Lost the first set now broken in the second. Another early slam exit beckons.
Her serve does look different though, its not bad. I think that having any parent around you as a tennis player and interfering is almost always a bad thing, with exceptions.Her serve is fine, especially her first serve. Predictably, she's injured again. She's needs to stop fecking about with a new coaching setup every 4 months, and based on that assertion probably tell her dad to eff off as well.
Her serve does look different though, its not bad. I think that having any parent around you as a tennis player and interfering is almost always a bad thing, with exceptions.
I was just looking at a video of her 2 years ago and seems she changed her forehand a lot too actually, her preparation doesnt come up as far or around as far and its a much smaller swing.Sorry, I meant her serve is normally fine. She started feeling her stomach in her second service game of the first set.
Yeah, there are exceptions, the Williams sisters (I've had a volte face on my opinion of them both since watching King Richard, was never a fan before) and Murray spring to mind.
I was just looking at a video of her 2 years ago and seems she changed her forehand a lot too actually, her preparation doesnt come up as far or around as far and its a much smaller swing.
Nice win for Gauff. Some excellent defence in the tiebreak. Raducanu needs to find a way to stay fit for more than 5 minutes as her game is clearly capable of taking her to multiple slam titles, if she can get the match play experience.
Rafa's looked finished for a while tbh
She will win nothing in the coming future without finding a way to stay fit and become a consistent pro. I also doubt she has the game, she is neither Hingis nor Henin… more similar to Radwanska and clearly at a disadvantage against ball hitters.
She has definitely got the game. You don’t win the US Open without dropping a set if you aren’t an extremely special talent. She hits the ball extremely cleanly off both wings and is far more aggressive than Radwanska. She’s one of the few women on tour who can have the crowd gasping with excitement at her shot-making.
If she can cut out the silly errors, which she should be able to do with more match experience, she is capable of getting right to the top. Whether her body is capable of enabling her to get that consistent play remains doubtful currently though. Even today she seemed to be struggling with some stomach injury.
I mean, there are numbers of girls recently winning a Slam and then levelling out in the 20-50 tier of the ranking.
She will win nothing in the coming future without finding a way to stay fit and become a consistent pro. I also doubt she has the game, she is neither Hingis nor Henin… more similar to Radwanska and clearly at a disadvantage against ball hitters.
