*Official* Tennis Thread

[Niall]

Assume Aza does not play ?


Who knows with Thiem, he is poor on grass so that's a serious issue and I dunno when Novak and Rafa retire and when they do guys like FAA, Sinner etc could be competitive along with Med, Coric ,,Zverev etc.

5 seems a realistic target, anything more would be very surprising.

 

[JOJOXI]

Assume Aza does not play ?


Who knows with Thiem, he is poor on grass so that's a serious issue and I dunno when Novak and Rafa retire and when they do guys like FAA, Sinner etc could be competitive along with Med, Coric ,,Zverev etc.

5 seems a realistic target, anything more would be very surprising.

No withdrawal yet from her but would imagine it'd be tough physically with travel - especially if she went to Italy today rather then late Saturday night (US time). Heard that Thiem and Zverev have already withdrawn from Italian Open this week in commentary during the match so Azarenka is leaving it late if she does pull out - wouldn't want to risk injury in Italy but also perhaps a case for keeping up momentum and maybe that'll be the reason she plays, if she does indeed play.

True re Thiem on grass - would imagine Nadal might retire in a couple of years, perhaps after 2023 French Open think the next Olympics after Tokyo might be a step too far and presume he'd have got past Federer with most grand slams by then so little in terms of records to chase perhaps by then - you suspect he'd want to make it as tough as possible for Novak to surpass him if he is able to surpass Federer but would expect a noticeable decline by him sooner then later (not immediately but would be surprised if he wasn't more vulnerable to upsets by the middle of 2022. Still expect it to be a couple of years before those guys you mentioned win a slam apart from Medvedev and Zverev - who I was thinking the other day I'm a bit harsh on generally as he is still only 23.

Think that gives Thiem a 2 year window where he can be closest challenger to Novak before the young guys are reaching mid 20s and getting towards their peak both technically and having the experience of consistent deep runs into tournaments. But thinking again I'm less sure of that 7 target I made - although all it takes is a Nadal injury and he could perhaps get 1 French Open whilst Nadal is still close to his best and a couple once he's retired and Thiem is still at/close to his best and then target the hard court competitions a bit as well

 

[vcs]

Looks like I missed a classic from the scoreline, but it was a low quality match?

Anyway, glad for Thiem.

 

[honestbharani]

Congrats Osaka and Thiem. Well deserved winners. Personally was rooting for the other one in both finals but they were the better players and therefore, deserving champions.

 

[Niall]

Looks like I missed a classic from the scoreline, but it was a low quality match?

Anyway, glad for Thiem.

It wasn't Troicki v Evans tbf, but at times the standard wasn't great,,,however obviously with two elite players their was plenty of top tennis and the tension was huge which somewhat compensates for the errors, chokes etc.

Final set tie break a great example, some awesome play, some horrific errors but obviously gripping.

 

[srbhkshk]

Lovely result, not only because Thiem deserves one slam, but also because now that he has one he will probably me more comfortable facing the big guns when the chance comes.

 

[harsh.ag]

Final set tie break was a bad idea

 

[harsh.ag]

The French Open just started

 

[honestbharani]

What?

Do they always start on a Sunday?

 

[Niall]

What?

Do they always start on a Sunday?

Yeah its a tradition.

 

[Anil]

djokovic on his way to becoming the 1st male player in the open era to win each slam at least twice (as long as he doesn't hurt any ball boys or officials or fans)...

 

[Niall]

djokovic on his way to becoming the 1st male player in the open era to win each slam at least twice (as long as he doesn't hurt any ball boys or officials or fans)...

Have you heard of Nadal or Thiem?


Crap jokes aside, it does look like its between those 3 and am somewhat worried that Thiem is not 100%.

Murray hammered today by Stan he is done. Ideally he retires at Wimbledon next year on centre court and gets a great reception from the crowd, but looking at how Boris is handling covid who knows what watered down Wimbledon we get.

 

[Anil]

Have you heard of Nadal or Thiem?

nadal is too rusty this year and thiem is still riding his u.s open high...neither of them are going to beat djokovic...

 

[JOJOXI]

Nadal would have had a few matches under his belt before facing Djokovic if it gets to that although do fear for Thiem having thought he had a decent shot at this grand slam a few days ago. Having said that he's still clear favourite outside Djokovic and Nadal

 

[Niall]

Thiem will have to deal with Ruud and King Diego before he has to worry about the big two. He should dispatch both, however those 2 have been in good form last few works and Diego can be a draining opponent to play.

Ladies side is very open, bookies love Halep but despite how elite she is on clay she has only won this once, plays Anismova later who beat her last year, different ball game this year as Amanda in horrible form but nonetheless interesting.

Gabby looks best of the rest .

 

[JOJOXI]

Thiem will have to deal with Ruud and King Diego before he has to worry about the big two. He should dispatch both, however those 2 have been in good form last few works and Diego can be a draining opponent to play.

Ladies side is very open, bookies love Halep but despite how elite she is on clay she has only won this once, plays Anismova later who beat her last year, different ball game this year as Amanda in horrible form but nonetheless interesting.

Gabby looks best of the rest .

Would expect Thiem to dispatch Ruud but Schwartzman could be a real testing tie - wouldn't bet against a bit of an upset there if both players make it that far - wonder the odds on a Schwartzman grand slam win - certainly don't think its likely but not sure there is a player better placed to make the most of any unexpected hiccups from the heavy 3 favourites

 

[Niall]

Yeah Ruud obviously not good against Tommy Paul but its to early to be playing an opponent of his quality for Thiem when you look at the byes the other top guys get at this stage.

Diego is great, but with that serve its just really difficult to see him ever winning a slam which is a huge shame.

 

[vcs]

What a performance that was from Swiatek. Absolutely blew Halep away.

 

[Niall]

Ladies side is wild, Halep, Mugu and Bertens all gone this weekend.

Swiatek slight fav with the bookies, but think Svitolina is the best player left and if she doesn't win from here, she won't ever win a slam.

Don't mind who wins really. Shame though Kenin v Ferro won't have a packed crowd would be wild if so.

On the men side pretty dull tbh, Thiem spent way to long on court today and got a brute of a match with Diego coming up, and sadly that's as easy at it will get for him.

Interested to see Sinner v Nadal who should win, but Sinner seriously talented and also curious to see how Novak does against Khach aka the only worthwhile player he has met so far.

 

[Anil]

Interested to see Sinner v Nadal who should win, but Sinner seriously talented and also curious to see how Novak does against Khach aka the only worthwhile player he has met so far.

my prediction is boring, dominant straight sets wins for both nadal and djokovic...