Wimbledon 2013

Cheesy said:
How are they particularly bland though? Djokovic produced an absolute classic today and is exciting to watch. I'll admit that Murray isn't the most exciting to watch but people exaggerate how boring he is by acting as if he's still the player he was back in 2009/2010 when he was a lot more defensive than he is now. Tennis is in a great era at the moment and people still feel the need to constantly complain. Their match at the US Open last year was excellent and there's nothing to suggest that if Murray wins their final on Sunday won't be a very good match.
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I'm not talking about the quality of the Tennis. Djokovic is obviously the best in the world and deservedly so. I'm talking about both his and Murray's personalities. They seem utterly generic and struggle to stir the imagination. Federer has occupied that role for the past decade and the likes of Rafa and Del Potro have been excellent foils. The sport needs more outgoing personalities in the Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Ivanesevic, Aggasi mold.
 
Raoul said:
There isn't a lack of quality - just a lack of personality. Having two of the blandest players on tour meet in the final isn't particularly inspiring. Tennis needs some new personalities to step up.
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Don't know about you but I prefer ability on a tennis court over this personality thing people are obsessed with.
 
Sixpence said:
Don't know about you but I prefer ability on a tennis court over this personality thing people are obsessed with.
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I prefer a bit more than what Djokovic does. He reminds me a bit of Lendl, who was probably the most mundane champion of all time.
 
Raoul said:
I'm not talking about the quality of the Tennis. Djokovic is obviously the best in the world and deservedly so. I'm talking about both his and Murray's personalities. They seem utterly generic and struggle to stir the imagination. Federer has occupied that role for the past decade and the likes of Rafa and Del Potro have been excellent foils. The sport needs more outgoing personalities in the Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Ivanesevic, Aggasi mold.
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That's your opinion I suppose but I don't think Djokovic is bland at all. He regularly has banter with his opponents if you want to call it that, as you could see today with him and Del Potro, and when he mocked Sharapova before him match with Dimitrov a while back. Murray at least manages to show emotion when he gets frustrated on court and certainly showed how much he cared after the final last year.

I really don't see how personality has that big an impact on a tennis match itself though. It's like when people talk about footballers like Balotelli and say it needs more "characters" like him. No, what football needs is more people like Messi who just get on with their football on the pitch and show how good they are. It's the same here. I'd rather watch two excellent tennis players who happen to be decent, grounded guys as well as opposed to ones who feel the need to act like characters for the sake of it. If you can get players who have bundles of personalities and are good guys as well then that's great, but I really don't see what impact it has on the court. seems people are just complaining for the sake of it.
 
Talking about character, I hope this guy becomes the next big thing. He has got this personality thing as well. I'll support both him and potro, atleast one will fulfill the potential.
 
Cheesy said:
That's your opinion I suppose but I don't think Djokovic is bland at all. He regularly has banter with his opponents if you want to call it that, as you could see today with him and Del Potro, and when he mocked Sharapova before him match with Dimitrov a while back. Murray at least manages to show emotion when he gets frustrated on court and certainly showed how much he cared after the final last year.

I really don't see how personality has that big an impact on a tennis match itself though. It's like when people talk about footballers like Balotelli and say it needs more "characters" like him. No, what football needs is more people like Messi who just get on with their football on the pitch and show how good they are. It's the same here. I'd rather watch two excellent tennis players who happen to be decent, grounded guys as well as opposed to ones who feel the need to act like characters for the sake of it. If you can get players who have bundles of personalities and are good guys as well then that's great, but I really don't see what impact it has on the court. seems people are just complaining for the sake of it.
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Personality has had plenty to do with Tennis over the generations - Nastasce, Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Ivanesevic, and Aggasi were all excellent personality foils for the their uber-generic competitors like Borg, Lendl, Edberg, and Sampras. All were excellent Tennis players, but it was the perceived divergence in the personalities of both sets of players that provided matches with added drama and meaningful contrast. Tennis sorely lacks that sort of thing today.
 
Raoul said:
Probably the worst Wimbledon in recent memory. The two most generic players to meet in the finals and a completely underwhelming Women's final to boot.
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If both players bring it on Saturday, I think it'll be a much more interesting women's final than the finals we've had so far this year and definitely a more interesting final than Serena-Azarenka or Serena-Sharapova, both of which we already know who the winner is gonna be.
 
Raoul said:
Personality has had plenty to do with Tennis over the generations - Nastasce, Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Ivanesevic, and Aggasi were all excellent personality foils for the their uber-generic competitors like Borg, Lendl, Edberg, and Sampras. All were excellent Tennis players, but it was the perceived divergence in the personalities of both sets of players that provided matches with added drama and meaningful contrast. Tennis sorely lacks that sort of thing today.
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It doesn't really though. As I said, tennis has plenty of characters. The matches themselves are more than good enough anyway, so why does it really matter? Djokovic vs Del Potro today was incredible for example. If neither guy had much personality, which isn't necessarily the case, it would have still been a superb match. Tennis is in a great era with some of the greatest players we're likely to see, but people continue complaining about all of the little, largely irrelevant parts of it. Wimbledon this year has been fantastic because the tennis has been great. Players with great personality is a bonus, but there job is to go out and win first and foremost.
 
Cheesy said:
It doesn't really though. As I said, tennis has plenty of characters. The matches themselves are more than good enough anyway, so why does it really matter? Djokovic vs Del Potro today was incredible for example. If neither guy had much personality, which isn't necessarily the case, it would have still been a superb match. Tennis is in a great era with some of the greatest players we're likely to see, but people continue complaining about all of the little, largely irrelevant parts of it. Wimbledon this year has been fantastic because the tennis has been great. Players with great personality is a bonus, but there job is to go out and win first and foremost.
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Disagree that Tennis has plenty of characters (at least compared to the 80s). Also, Tennis doesn't appear to be in a great era right now - in fact its in a bit of transitional lull. The great players of the past decade are on the decline with no one stepping up on both the men's and women's side. Djokovic is a fine champion, but one doesn't get the impression he is on the cusp of dominating like Federer did, nor does he have the classic foil like the Fed/Rafa competition. On the womens' side, it seems like a crap shoot - with no dominant players at the moment. We have the Williams sisters who seem to routinely take time off from Tennis and Serena returns to dominate. Hopefully we get some fresh blood on both sides soon.
 
Raoul said:
Disagree that Tennis has plenty of characters (at least compared to the 80s). Also, Tennis doesn't appear to be in a great era right now - in fact its in a bit of transitional lull. The great players of the past decade are on the decline with no one stepping up on both the men's and women's side. Djokovic is a fine champion, but one doesn't get the impression he is on the cusp of dominating like Federer did, nor does he have the classic foil like the Fed/Rafa competition. On the womens' side, it seems like a crap shoot - with no dominant players at the moment. We have the Williams sisters who seem to routinely take time off from Tennis and Serena returns to dominate. Hopefully we get some fresh blood on both sides soon.
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I'm certainly hoping for that. Do you think this polish guy has some personality you are looking for?
 
Raoul said:
Disagree that Tennis has plenty of characters (at least compared to the 80s). Also, Tennis doesn't appear to be in a great era right now - in fact its in a bit of transitional lull. The great players of the past decade are on the decline with no one stepping up on both the men's and women's side. Djokovic is a fine champion, but one doesn't get the impression he is on the cusp of dominating like Federer did, nor does he have the classic foil like the Fed/Rafa competition. On the womens' side, it seems like a crap shoot - with no dominant players at the moment. We have the Williams sisters who seem to routinely take time off from Tennis and Serena returns to dominate. Hopefully we get some fresh blood on both sides soon.
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I'd have to disagree there. Djokovic is a fantastic player as we saw again today; the reason he's not dominating is because of the other players around him. Federer's past his best but can still produce the odd top performance or two, Nadal has made a bit of a comeback before going out here, and Murray is a top player. The fact that Murray only has one grand slam goes to show how good an era he's been playing it; he have been racking them up before the dominant Federer era. Del Potro is a top player who has suffered from injuries, and you've got players like Tsogna and Ferrer who would've undoubtedly won some GS's in any other era.
 
:lol: Men's tennis in a transitional lull? Have you been watching the sport over the last few years?
 
I was under the impression that we are just exiting the greatest mens era ever. Admittedly I am a casual fan. I agree with Raoul though, the male players these days are boring personalities. I am not entirely sure why Nadal would be excluded from being described as boring either.
 
Jimy_Hills_Chin said:
I was under the impression that we are just exiting the greatest mens era ever. Admittedly I am a casual fan. I agree with Raoul though, the male players these days are boring personalities. I am not entirely sure why Nadal would be excluded from being described as boring either.
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The peak of the Fed/Nadal matches (about 3-5 years ago) was definitely a high in tennis. Its been a bit meh since Djokovic had his unbeaten run to the beginning of the playing year a couple of seasons ago. Still, the French semi and today's first match were definitely top drawer.
 
Jimy_Hills_Chin said:
I was under the impression that we are just exiting the greatest mens era ever. Admittedly I am a casual fan. I agree with Raoul though, the male players these days are boring personalities. I am not entirely sure why Nadal would be excluded from being described as boring either.
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We are. The Federer/Nadal era had excellent matches between the two of them but not much else. Djokovic's 2011 spell was arguably a better time for tennis because as well as them two you had Murray and Federer still contending.
 
I actually think there is nothing wrong with Murrays personality. He's just let down by that dour Scottish voice of his.
 
This is honestly a very boring match so far.
 
The commentator is an idiot. Said something about it being a quick set for Murray, next thing you know Janowicz wins 6 points in a row and is 2 points off 3-3.
 
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