*Official* Tennis Thread

[Sanz]

Equally, a by-product of an era in tennis must be one that actually has attributes that are directly related to what the benefits of this era allow. Hence a Roddick was less likely to be successful in the past, however can consistently be a top 5 player nowadays.

Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and going back a little while, Safin (and even Davydenko though he isn't anything special) are exceptions to what the modern era is about, because they not only have the common characteristics of your average tennis players nowadays, but have more (finesse in Federer and Djokovic's case, incredible fitness and patience in Nadal's case) and hence are better players.

We're not really arguing about anything other than the definition of what a 'product of an era' player is.

I am sorry but I dont understand your definition of new era. To me it seems that either you have picked the best players and said that they are not a product of this era or just picked guys with a very powerful forehand and put them in a category of players from this era. To me Someone like Safin(minus his fitness) is a pretty good example of the new era and not Roddick, Gonzalez etc.

I am sorry, but Roddick is not a by-product of this era. He has a very limited game and the fact that he is consistently in top 5 tells the sorry state of Men's Tennis in last 5-6 years.

That said I dont believe Nadal is a product of this era either. He has the skills of a classic Clay Court Player with lot of stamina, strength, speed and mobility. He reminds me of Ivan Lendl, he is faster, more athletic but has an inferior game. I dont see him having much success outside of Clay unless he changes his game.

 

[Jono]

I am sorry, but Roddick is not a by-product of this era. He has a very limited game and the fact that he is consistently in top 5 tells the sorry state of Men's Tennis in last 5-6 years.

Haha, that's the point though isn't it?

 

[Jono]

Jono, How are Dhoni, Symonds, YP are the by product of the modern era when we have seen guys like Sanath Jaisuriya have been doing that for years.

Scorings runs through power batting? Relying more on brute force and less on picture perfect timing? No, Sanath has never done this, despite his strong forearms which obviously help. His patented flick off the pads or cut shot, which made him the batsman he was, is hardly an example of anything similar to Symonds, Dhoni or YP.

 

[Sanz]

Haha, that's the point though isn't it?

No, Not having enough talent cant be considered as the 'product of this era'.

Power Tennis is not an invention of the current generation, there have been players who played power Tennis to almost prefection and it was very enjoyable. One big proponent of Power Tennis was Borris Becker, the other big power tennis proponent was Goran Ivanisevic, Both of whom I enjoyed watching very much.

Watching Roddick play is a experience.

 

[Sanz]

Scorings runs through power batting? Relying more on brute force and less on picture perfect timing? No, Sanath has never done this, despite his strong forearms which obviously help. His patented flick off the pads or cut shot, which made him the batsman he was, is hardly an example of anything similar to Symonds, Dhoni or YP.

Dont wish to discuss cricket in OT but saying that Dhoni/Symonds score runs through power batting is not correct.

May be I dont get what you mean. By 'Power batting' do you mean hitting the ball harder than anyone did before ? In that case I disagree.

And neither is 'brute force' new to this generation. Shahid Afridi, came almost a decade before them.

 

[Jono]

Watching Roddick play is a experience.

He's got Nadal here in the Queens semi-final.

Will be a very interesting match to see what form Nadal goes into Wimbledon with.

 

[Johnners]

Don't get how anyone could hate watching Roddick tbh, so gun (not talking just tennis, but the roller-coaster of emotions and the facial expressions taht go with them).

Gutted that he couldn't overcome Nadal at Queens. Not to worry though, Novak will give him a lesson in the final.

 

[Jono]

Yeah I like Roddick. Cool to watch, and good bloke.

Novak just absolutely smashed and embarrassed Nalbandian in the semi 6-1 6-0.

Wow.

 

[Jono]

Rafa vs. Novak begins.

 

[Jono]

Don't get how anyone could hate watching Roddick tbh, so gun (not talking just tennis, but the roller-coaster of emotions and the facial expressions taht go with them).

Gutted that he couldn't overcome Nadal at Queens. Not to worry though, Novak will give him a lesson in the final.

Hey Clapo... eat some bicep

Nadal wins 7-6 7-5

Next stop, Wimbledon.

 

[Simon]

Nadal so gun at the moment, thought he was gonna struggle this year given his injuries and form slump until April. Seems a new player, will win Wimbledon no doubt for mine.

 

[Johnners]

Meh, a mere warmup to the big show . Novak will beat him at Wimbledon, mark my words

 

[Simon]

Meh, a mere warmup to the big show . Novak will beat him at Wimbledon, mark my words

Novak is still too soft mentally at the moment to beat rafa or roger on the big stage. He was unbelievably "on" at the Australian Open, but I cant see it happening again anytime soon.

 

[Anil]

nadal showing his continued improvement on grass...

 

[Simon]

nadal showing his continued improvement on grass...

Given he has made the last two Wimbledon finals it's hard to argue against the fact he's the second best grass court player in the world.

 

[Anil]

Given he has made the last two Wimbledon finals it's hard to argue against the fact he's the second best grass court player in the world.

i am not arguing against it...he is the 2nd best grass court player....just meant his first title on grass was a big step in the direction of being more of an all-courter...

 

[Simon]

i am not arguing against it...he is the 2nd best grass court player....just meant his first title on grass was a big step in the direction of being more of an all-courter...

yep fair enough. Surface argument aside it's hard to disagree with the fact he's probably the best player in the world right now. Ranking will show that by November i think.

 

[Anil]

yep fair enough. Surface argument aside it's hard to disagree with the fact he's probably the best player in the world right now. Ranking will show that by November i think.

i think nadal would have won last year's wimbledon if not for the gruelling 2nd week schedule that he had to undergo because of the rain delays...and with both nadal and djokovic playing exceptional tennis, i don't think federer has any illusions of being able to win this year's wimbledon just by showing up....his hold on the title is under serious threat and while i wouldn't put it past him to win again, this will be his toughest wimbledon yet since he began his streak...

 

[Jono]

Yeah definitely his toughest since his 2003 win.

The odds show that too. Can't remember the last time he was > $2 to win Wimbledon.

 

[Simon]

Yeah definitely his toughest since his 2003 win.

The odds show that too. Can't remember the last time he was > $2 to win Wimbledon.

Yeh the past three years hes been around the $1.45 mark to win it, this year he's even a bit short at $2 for me, with only six players under $51 its easy to understand though. Even then we know one of them (Ancic @ $41 wont win it).