*Official* Tennis Thread

[Jono]

In the end, the change of an era should ideally be one young guy taking out one of the big names, hopefully in a stunner. I want variety, but having two (to the general public) unknowns was far from ideal, particularly with a drug issue with one of them. Kei was clearly on his last legs too, and didn't give of his best. In the end if Nishikori or Cilic keep on winning they will become names. When the big 4 beat each other there was a battle of people who everyone knew. I'm not sure everyone loved it. Murray was an huge story.

The women's final was equally bad competition-wise but people knew who both were and their were clear narratives behind both players.

Delpo beat Fed in the US final and the general public didn't warm to him that much tbh. Agree he didn't kick on so that was possibly a reason.

I dunno, I get what you're saying, but people should have showed up to the final. These guys beat the two top seeds and the two best players in the tournament, and in extremely convincing fashion. I honestly bet most people didn't know about Cilic's ban until he won the US, so that can't be used as a reason heading in as to why there was such a poor showing from the crowd.

Ideally yeah you'd have had Cilic beating Nole in the final (or Nishi beating Fed). That is a better story.

 

[grecian]

Delpo beat Fed in the US final and the general public didn't warm to him that much tbh. Agree he didn't kick on so that was possibly a reason.

I dunno, I get what you're saying, but people should have showed up to the final. These guys beat the two top seeds and the two best players in the tournament, and in extremely convincing fashion. I honestly bet most people didn't know about Cilic's ban until he won the US, so that can't be used as a reason heading in as to why there was such a poor showing from the crowd.

Ideally yeah you'd have had Cilic beating Nole in the final (or Nishi beating Fed). That is a better story.

Well as you say Delpo didn't kick-on. I dunno about the US crowd/ratings, worst Slam of the lot for me, even if I detest the French crowd they at least turn up to be obnoxious.

The drug thing is more my looking for narrative, it may be the only thing they knew about Cilic, and it's not really good.

 

[Jono]

Yeah true.

If Goran and Chang took the court and played instead of Cilic and Nishi more people would have showed up imo

 

[Anil]

cilic is talented enough to win multiple majors, especially on hard courts but so was delpo and even the uber-talented safin won only two…so i don't see this as a changing of the guard unless cilic can show that he can contend consistently in the bigger tournaments (nishikori had a very good year but i don't really see him becoming a great player)…federer is in the twilight of his career but djokovic and muray still have a lot of good years left in them, maybe even nadal if he can come back successfully from yet another injury…

jono, grecian, do you really believe that the domination by the big 4 has made tennis boring for the majority of fans? i for one would prefer a transcendent, dominant star or a group of exceptional players dominating a sport rather than parity which more often than not just represents mediocrity…every sport need dominant stars to push the boundaries and inspire other players to improve…and that is what makes it fun for fans like me...

 

[grecian]

cilic is talented enough to win multiple majors, especially on hard courts but so was delpo and even the uber-talented safin won only two…so i don't see this as a changing of the guard unless cilic can show that he can contend consistently in the bigger tournaments (nishikori had a very good year but i don't really see him becoming a great player)…federer is in the twilight of his career but djokovic and muray still have a lot of good years left in them, maybe even nadal if he can come back successfully from yet another injury…

jono, grecian, do you really believe that the domination by the big 4 has made tennis boring for the majority of fans? i for one would prefer a transcendent, dominant star or a group of exceptional players dominating a sport rather than parity which more often than not just represents mediocrity…every sport need dominant stars to push the boundaries and inspire other players to improve…and that is what makes it fun for fans like me...

I think Jono and I are on opposite sides here. I personally feel it's been a bit dull, because apart from Fed I'm not an huge fan of the 4, and he's been a bit part player for much of the last few years. However for the majority of fans it's probably an huge plus, hence the poor show for the USOpen. I personally don't feel the chasing pack,the likes of Berdych, Ferrer or Tsonga are that mentally strong, yet of course we'll never know, maybe they'd have been great in another era.

I have found watching the first ten days of a men's slam almost utterly pointless at times, and the French is pretty much dead to me (have to say don't much like clay anyway), with the predictably. I'm hoping the big four can stay around and just have classic matches with the younger generation, winning some, losing some.

There needs to be a balance in all things. Three of the Womens slam this year had brilliant exciting first weeks, but pretty dull latter stages where three of the winners did it without beating a top 10 player. Even though Serena would have probably won the last one anyway, the way she was playing.

So it's a tricky balance for us that like to watch the whole two weeks and not just the final stages.

 

[Jono]

jono, grecian, do you really believe that the domination by the big 4 has made tennis boring for the majority of fans? i for one would prefer a transcendent, dominant star or a group of exceptional players dominating a sport rather than parity which more often than not just represents mediocrity…every sport need dominant stars to push the boundaries and inspire other players to improve…and that is what makes it fun for fans like me...

No I love it. Guaranteed brilliant matches from 2007-2013 every slam. Been blessed to see such a terrific era.

 

[Jono]

I'd take it over the even but mediocre talent we saw from 2002 to 2004.

 

[grecian]

I'd take it over the even but mediocre talent we saw from 2002 to 2004.

Good point, let's just judge the entire history of tennis on two tears of mediocrity. I'm not sure all of those years had great matches, particularly the French where I'm struggling to think of one.

Nah as I say we're pretty opposite on this. I see both sides TBH, just it's not got me by the balls.

 

[morgieb]

Good point, let's just judge the entire history of tennis on two tears of mediocrity. I'm not sure all of those years had great matches, particularly the French where I'm struggling to think of one.

Nah as I say we're pretty opposite on this. I see both sides TBH, just it's not got me by the balls.

Coria/Gaudio had drama....whether it was because the match was actually of high-quality or whether it was just a mugfest I'm not sure about

 

[grecian]

Coria/Gaudio had drama....whether it was because the match was actually of high-quality or whether it was just a mugfest I'm not sure about

Poorly written by me, should have paragraphed, I was meaning that I wasn't sure every 2007-13 slam had drama. Hey it's late, I need sleep.

 

[Jono]

Good point, let's just judge the entire history of tennis on two tears of mediocrity. I'm not sure all of those years had great matches, particularly the French where I'm struggling to think of one.

Chill man, I didn't nearly watch as much tennis pre-2000 as I do now (i.e. almost all the ATP 500 tournaments and above to a certain level) . So obviously I am taking into account the pre-2000 era and discussing the mediocre start to the decade against now and saying which I prefer.

Feel free to tell me how the 70s or 80s was better than the big 4 dominance since 2007. I can't agree or disagree, I'm only judging on what I've "properly" seen (as opposed to watching 90s tennis as a kiddie).

 

[OverratedSanity]

The big 4 have been great for tennis and I don't get the "bored of the same guys" argument too much. It's nice to see new faces win, but those 4 have dominated the game by being ridiculously brilliant, not because the others are poor. That's what has made the last 7-8 years so great, because those 4 all play at such a high level and are so close to each other in terms of quality that we're pretty much guaranteed an epic match when any combination of those 4 meet. I didn't really "get bored" of the same players winning at all... who cares who's winning stuff when they need to get through great matches to get there. The level of quality is just absurd, and I can say confidently that this era has produced more ATG matches than any era of comparable length. Nadal vs Federer Wimbledon 2008 and Djokovic vs Nadal Aussie open 2012 are simply the two best matches I've ever seen.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I think both have their merits. Big 2/3/4 battles are much easier to market, so the sport will always seem bigger when the state of the tour is such, but I don't think that says anything about the actual merits of the game in either period.

 

[NUFAN]

Is winning 2 slams enough to be included with the Spanish Bull, the Smiling Serb and the Swiss Miss?

I ****ing hate when Channel 7 calls the players name like above, grinds my gears..

 

[Jono]

The big 4 have been great for tennis and I don't get the "bored of the same guys" argument too much. It's nice to see new faces win, but those 4 have dominated the game by being ridiculously brilliant, not because the others are poor. That's what has made the last 7-8 years so great, because those 4 all play at such a high level and are so close to each other in terms of quality that we're pretty much guaranteed an epic match when any combination of those 4 meet. I didn't really "get bored" of the same players winning at all... who cares who's winning stuff when they need to get through great matches to get there. The level of quality is just absurd, and I can say confidently that this era has produced more ATG matches than any era of comparable length. Nadal vs Federer Wimbledon 2008 and Djokovic vs Nadal Aussie open 2012 are simply the two best matches I've ever seen.

Was at the 2012 final. My first ever Aus Open final, and I haven't missed one since

 

[Jono]

Dear Novak, Love Roger: Two Tennis Greats Trade Emails During the U.S. Open Men?s Final «

"i am pro asparagus"
"kei is toast, btw. cant believe he blew those bps. like, he literally looks like he ate toast for breakfast this morning."

 

[Magrat Garlick]

<1 attachment: pierogi3.jpg>

Life, right there.

 

[grecian]

Chill man, I didn't nearly watch as much tennis pre-2000 as I do now (i.e. almost all the ATP 500 tournaments and above to a certain level) . So obviously I am taking into account the pre-2000 era and discussing the mediocre start to the decade against now and saying which I prefer.

Feel free to tell me how the 70s or 80s was better than the big 4 dominance since 2007. I can't agree or disagree, I'm only judging on what I've "properly" seen (as opposed to watching 90s tennis as a kiddie).

I don't really remember the 70s that well thanks very much.

 

[Jono]

Old man joke ftw

 

[Anil]

Good point, let's just judge the entire history of tennis on two tears of mediocrity. I'm not sure all of those years had great matches, particularly the French where I'm struggling to think of one.

Nah as I say we're pretty opposite on this. I see both sides TBH, just it's not got me by the balls.

maybe not the french purely because nadal has dominated it so overwhelmingly…but nadal vs djokovic last year was a classic as was federer vs djokovic a couple of years back, as for the other slams, here are a few classic five setters in the federer era that immediately come to mind:

australian - safin vs federer, nadal vs federer
wimbledon - nadal vs federer (twice), federer vs roddick, federer vs sampras
us open - del potro vs federer, some classic agassi matches in his twilight years

i am sure jono can dig up a lot more great matches in the 2000s…not that earlier eras didn't have classics, i started watching tennis in the late 70s and i have seen enough of them…it's just that federer and nadal have lifted to game to unprecedented heights…and djokovic and murray have recently started catching up with those two…i have not seen such all-court brilliance at the top in the men's game, ever…we have seen it on the women's side during the martina/chris and later graf/seles and serena eras but 4 players of this quality in or around their primes all at the same time, that has not been seen before in the open era...