RedAssedApe
Banned
Ppl also said Federer would get to 20 and that nadal would pass Federer. Things can happen.
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The 2016 Australian Open |OT| 18th January - 31st January
- Thread starter LuuKyK
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Spiritreaver
Member
Ahh, yeah that sounds about right, lol.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
So, who is Nole going to lose RG to this year?
Rafa will return from the ashes.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
i wouldn't mind rafa doing a federer 2012 wimby run at the french this year.
Kotetsu534
Member
My post-tournament gradings for the men. Final was more watchable than I thought it would be, but Murray made way too many errors when it counted (65 UEs in 3 sets put him on course to beat Djokovic's 100 against Simon if it went 5).
S:
Novak Djokovic: He didn't play his best for much of this tournament, playing a dire match against Simon and letting his level drop in the second set of the final against Murray, but nobody looked anywhere near coping with him when he did. Accuracy on his return of serve, precision with his serve, unmatched fitness, relentless power on his forehand cross-court, absolute defense, dodgy overheads, we all know his game. The invisible weapon that wins him so many matches is in his mental strength - he deals with errors and losses of momentum better than any other player I can remember except Nadal in his prime. Notionally he's on a 14 match win streak, but if we ignore his loss to Federer in the WTF round robin (and why not? He won the tournament.) we can say he's won 38 matches since losing to Federer in the Cincinnati final, taking seven titles at the USO, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, WTF, Doha and the AO, one of the most dominating runs in tennis history. Now for Roland Garros.
Milos Raonic: Even after winning Brisbane, I think there was a lot of scepticism about Raonic - attacking the net and serving consistent bombs across best 2/3 is simply not the same as doing it against elite players best 3/5. After taking out Stan Wawrinka, his biggest GS win, and pushing Murray to five sets only for his body to let him down once again, there's genuine hope he can challenge the dominant players, especially on the faster surfaces. The improvements in his game have been manifold and rapid, but most noticeably his return games won stat has jumped up from "worst on the tour" tier to "average", over 20% so far this year. His volleys are confident and his precision body serves give him a weapon that the other big servers don't. The challenge will be to recover from injury, stay healthy and perform consistently through the rest of the year.
A:
Andy Murray: He doesn't get much adulation in the tennis world, and he can be a supremely frustrating player to watch, peppering his game with needless unforced errors, but he's a good Djokovic V1.0, which puts him right near the top of the tennis world. Most pre-tournament predictions I saw didn't have him reaching the final, but in the end he did, coming through a close battle against Raonic and seeing off Ferrer and Tomic with dominating baseline play, hitting with piercing power on his forehand. He doesn't have the consistency to really trouble Djokovic as he did back when he won his Slams and Olympic Gold, but he has improved his second serve and retains a supreme record against the field. Takes a month off to help look after his first child before heading to Indian Wells and Miami.
Roger Federer: Same story as at the last two majors for the man who continues to scoff at age. He schools players through till he faces Djokovic, then gets blasted off the court, unwilling to back off the baseline and struggling with the pressure of the big points. Can always enjoy watching him wipe the floor with the likes of David Goffin and Tomas Berdych (after a tight first set) in the middle rounds, knowing he still has a chance to get his 18th major, if only he'd get out of the way.
Gilles Simon: Managed to frustrate Djokovic with his central soft shots, drawing countless errors and enraging him like few have. At 31 years old there's little expectation that Simon is going to add much to his game, but this was an impressive tournament from the careful Frenchman.
David Ferrer: After changing his racquet and losing to Sock in Auckland, many thought Ferrer would be vulnerable here. Instead he played some of his best tennis, nullifying Isner's serve with his superb returning before taking a long, gruelling set from Andy Murray. Continues to defy age with his physical style, winning the ground war against much younger players.
Gael Monfils: If you asked most people to pick a seeded player to get knocked out early by unremarkable opposition, they'd probably pick out Monfils, known for his lack of concentration and professionalism. But here, for the most part, he knuckled down and got the job done, making his first GS QF since the 2014 USO, taking advantage of the quarter where Nadal was upset in R1. Managed to take a set off Raonic too, although the old habits were in evidence as he immediately threw in a poor service game to start the third set and lose the momentum he'd gained.
Robeto Bautista Agut: I didn't watch his matches, but he beat Cilic in straights and went down 2-3 to Berdych in the fourth round, so he was doing something right. Inside the top 20 in the rankings after this result.
Noah Rubin: Showed immense fight to pull off a massive upset against Benoit Paire in three tie-breaks, but wasn't able to provide much of a challenge against Hughes-Herbert in R2. Since lost in the Maui Challenger to Wu Di after winning the first set.
B:
Kei Nishikori: Did manage a superb win over Tsonga, exposing his backhand and opening the court up repeatedly to rout him in straights, but the defining memory of his AO will be his collapse after being broken from 40-0 up at 2-3 against Djokovic. Mentally still vulnerable when things go wrong, and still his body finds new ways to let him down (he had a wrist injury against Garcia-Lopez, but recovered and escaped).
Tomas Berdych: Typical Berdych tournament. Dealt with the lower ranked players, displaying tough, controlled tennis to outlast Kyrgios in the marquee 3R, but dropped two sets to Bautista Agut before getting routinely beaten by Federer in the QF, giving up an early break in the first set with a sloppy service game and never recovering.
Stan Wawrinka: If I'm praising Raonic so much then I have to extend the hand of sympathy to those he knocks out. Wawrinka easily won his first two matches before getting caught out by Raonic's body serves. Rallied well from two sets down and could easily have escaped the match in the fifth. Probably a one off early exit from him, caught by a player who'd revamped his game.
Taylor Fritz: Looked for much of his match against Jack Sock that he was going to pull off the win, but came up short. Showed he's got what it takes to make it as a pro, opening the court with his forehand.
Bernard Tomic: Showing signs that he's improving his endurance, he fought Murray till the end, making the third set a battle instead of a cruise. Dropped sets in R1 and R2 against Istomin and Bolelli, but held his seed. Has potential to improve significantly, but the years are ticking by.
C:
Grigor Dimitrov: Could be more generous with Grigor, whose low seeding led to him facing Federer in the third round. He did take a set, but immediately folded at the start of the third and never looked like he was going to win.
David Goffin: Got utterly destroyed by Federer, but did manage a good win over Dominic Thiem in the third round, where he held his nerve better in the big points. As enjoyable as his game is to watch, I don't see him learning how to deal with players who take the ball early and take time from him. Look out for him on clay.
Nick Kyrgios: Still the most promising player under the age of 25, still not showing much evidence of learning to control his emotions on court. Spent most of his match against Berdych complaining to the umpire about music before throwing the match away in the 4th set with a terrible service game.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Won the matches he was meant to win, but was easily beaten by Nishikori in R4, his movement exposed by a player who repeatedly takes the ball early. Heading for 31 years of age, you wonder if his best days are behind him.
Marin Cilic: Knocked out in straights in the third round by a journeyman battler. Hasn't done a whole lot since his USO SF last year. As the youngest active Grand Slam champion, you'd expect more.
Dominic Thiem: Lost his nerve against David Goffin, where to me it seemed like he was bailing out of the baseline exchanges too early. Big year for him - can he establish himself inside the top 20 and threaten those above him, or will he slide into reverse.
D:
Rafael Nadal: Didn't look too great in Doha, but managed to reach the final. Looked to be in total control against Verdasco for much of the match before his opponent began blasting winners everywhere. In sharp contrast to his old self, his forehand seemed to fall shorter and shorter as the pressure rose, and he threw in a crucial double fault in the first set tie-breaker to hand the set to his opponent. The bottom line is he lost a match he surely could have won had he held his nerve. Hopefully he has his confidence back in time for the clay swing.
Borna Coric: Thrashed in R1 by Ramos-Vinolas in probably the worst performance of his career. Usually so mentally solid, he completely lost his temper during the defeat too. Hopefully he'll learn from it.
Jack Sock: Taken to five sets by Fritz, behaved unprofessionally all through the match, threw the third set to conserve energy, and then put out in straights by Rosol. Hope he gets his act together (I was very unimpressed by his attitude against Federer in Basel too, where he acted like it was an exhibition).
Benoit Paire: Knocked out in straights in the tournament's biggest upset and was then utterly classless in defeat.
S:
Novak Djokovic: He didn't play his best for much of this tournament, playing a dire match against Simon and letting his level drop in the second set of the final against Murray, but nobody looked anywhere near coping with him when he did. Accuracy on his return of serve, precision with his serve, unmatched fitness, relentless power on his forehand cross-court, absolute defense, dodgy overheads, we all know his game. The invisible weapon that wins him so many matches is in his mental strength - he deals with errors and losses of momentum better than any other player I can remember except Nadal in his prime. Notionally he's on a 14 match win streak, but if we ignore his loss to Federer in the WTF round robin (and why not? He won the tournament.) we can say he's won 38 matches since losing to Federer in the Cincinnati final, taking seven titles at the USO, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, WTF, Doha and the AO, one of the most dominating runs in tennis history. Now for Roland Garros.
Milos Raonic: Even after winning Brisbane, I think there was a lot of scepticism about Raonic - attacking the net and serving consistent bombs across best 2/3 is simply not the same as doing it against elite players best 3/5. After taking out Stan Wawrinka, his biggest GS win, and pushing Murray to five sets only for his body to let him down once again, there's genuine hope he can challenge the dominant players, especially on the faster surfaces. The improvements in his game have been manifold and rapid, but most noticeably his return games won stat has jumped up from "worst on the tour" tier to "average", over 20% so far this year. His volleys are confident and his precision body serves give him a weapon that the other big servers don't. The challenge will be to recover from injury, stay healthy and perform consistently through the rest of the year.
A:
Andy Murray: He doesn't get much adulation in the tennis world, and he can be a supremely frustrating player to watch, peppering his game with needless unforced errors, but he's a good Djokovic V1.0, which puts him right near the top of the tennis world. Most pre-tournament predictions I saw didn't have him reaching the final, but in the end he did, coming through a close battle against Raonic and seeing off Ferrer and Tomic with dominating baseline play, hitting with piercing power on his forehand. He doesn't have the consistency to really trouble Djokovic as he did back when he won his Slams and Olympic Gold, but he has improved his second serve and retains a supreme record against the field. Takes a month off to help look after his first child before heading to Indian Wells and Miami.
Roger Federer: Same story as at the last two majors for the man who continues to scoff at age. He schools players through till he faces Djokovic, then gets blasted off the court, unwilling to back off the baseline and struggling with the pressure of the big points. Can always enjoy watching him wipe the floor with the likes of David Goffin and Tomas Berdych (after a tight first set) in the middle rounds, knowing he still has a chance to get his 18th major, if only he'd get out of the way.
Gilles Simon: Managed to frustrate Djokovic with his central soft shots, drawing countless errors and enraging him like few have. At 31 years old there's little expectation that Simon is going to add much to his game, but this was an impressive tournament from the careful Frenchman.
David Ferrer: After changing his racquet and losing to Sock in Auckland, many thought Ferrer would be vulnerable here. Instead he played some of his best tennis, nullifying Isner's serve with his superb returning before taking a long, gruelling set from Andy Murray. Continues to defy age with his physical style, winning the ground war against much younger players.
Gael Monfils: If you asked most people to pick a seeded player to get knocked out early by unremarkable opposition, they'd probably pick out Monfils, known for his lack of concentration and professionalism. But here, for the most part, he knuckled down and got the job done, making his first GS QF since the 2014 USO, taking advantage of the quarter where Nadal was upset in R1. Managed to take a set off Raonic too, although the old habits were in evidence as he immediately threw in a poor service game to start the third set and lose the momentum he'd gained.
Robeto Bautista Agut: I didn't watch his matches, but he beat Cilic in straights and went down 2-3 to Berdych in the fourth round, so he was doing something right. Inside the top 20 in the rankings after this result.
Noah Rubin: Showed immense fight to pull off a massive upset against Benoit Paire in three tie-breaks, but wasn't able to provide much of a challenge against Hughes-Herbert in R2. Since lost in the Maui Challenger to Wu Di after winning the first set.
B:
Kei Nishikori: Did manage a superb win over Tsonga, exposing his backhand and opening the court up repeatedly to rout him in straights, but the defining memory of his AO will be his collapse after being broken from 40-0 up at 2-3 against Djokovic. Mentally still vulnerable when things go wrong, and still his body finds new ways to let him down (he had a wrist injury against Garcia-Lopez, but recovered and escaped).
Tomas Berdych: Typical Berdych tournament. Dealt with the lower ranked players, displaying tough, controlled tennis to outlast Kyrgios in the marquee 3R, but dropped two sets to Bautista Agut before getting routinely beaten by Federer in the QF, giving up an early break in the first set with a sloppy service game and never recovering.
Stan Wawrinka: If I'm praising Raonic so much then I have to extend the hand of sympathy to those he knocks out. Wawrinka easily won his first two matches before getting caught out by Raonic's body serves. Rallied well from two sets down and could easily have escaped the match in the fifth. Probably a one off early exit from him, caught by a player who'd revamped his game.
Taylor Fritz: Looked for much of his match against Jack Sock that he was going to pull off the win, but came up short. Showed he's got what it takes to make it as a pro, opening the court with his forehand.
Bernard Tomic: Showing signs that he's improving his endurance, he fought Murray till the end, making the third set a battle instead of a cruise. Dropped sets in R1 and R2 against Istomin and Bolelli, but held his seed. Has potential to improve significantly, but the years are ticking by.
C:
Grigor Dimitrov: Could be more generous with Grigor, whose low seeding led to him facing Federer in the third round. He did take a set, but immediately folded at the start of the third and never looked like he was going to win.
David Goffin: Got utterly destroyed by Federer, but did manage a good win over Dominic Thiem in the third round, where he held his nerve better in the big points. As enjoyable as his game is to watch, I don't see him learning how to deal with players who take the ball early and take time from him. Look out for him on clay.
Nick Kyrgios: Still the most promising player under the age of 25, still not showing much evidence of learning to control his emotions on court. Spent most of his match against Berdych complaining to the umpire about music before throwing the match away in the 4th set with a terrible service game.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Won the matches he was meant to win, but was easily beaten by Nishikori in R4, his movement exposed by a player who repeatedly takes the ball early. Heading for 31 years of age, you wonder if his best days are behind him.
Marin Cilic: Knocked out in straights in the third round by a journeyman battler. Hasn't done a whole lot since his USO SF last year. As the youngest active Grand Slam champion, you'd expect more.
Dominic Thiem: Lost his nerve against David Goffin, where to me it seemed like he was bailing out of the baseline exchanges too early. Big year for him - can he establish himself inside the top 20 and threaten those above him, or will he slide into reverse.
D:
Rafael Nadal: Didn't look too great in Doha, but managed to reach the final. Looked to be in total control against Verdasco for much of the match before his opponent began blasting winners everywhere. In sharp contrast to his old self, his forehand seemed to fall shorter and shorter as the pressure rose, and he threw in a crucial double fault in the first set tie-breaker to hand the set to his opponent. The bottom line is he lost a match he surely could have won had he held his nerve. Hopefully he has his confidence back in time for the clay swing.
Borna Coric: Thrashed in R1 by Ramos-Vinolas in probably the worst performance of his career. Usually so mentally solid, he completely lost his temper during the defeat too. Hopefully he'll learn from it.
Jack Sock: Taken to five sets by Fritz, behaved unprofessionally all through the match, threw the third set to conserve energy, and then put out in straights by Rosol. Hope he gets his act together (I was very unimpressed by his attitude against Federer in Basel too, where he acted like it was an exhibition).
Benoit Paire: Knocked out in straights in the tournament's biggest upset and was then utterly classless in defeat.
Definitely agree with these two....especially Raonic.
Also RBA. Definitely liking what I've been seeing from him as of late. I'm slowly becoming a fan (but he needs to fix that dire backhand)
I didn't see the Sock match, but him losing in the 1st round after showing so much promise is really sad.
Kotetsu534
Member
Jim Courier, 1992.
Would have to be early 90s I think.
Or as above says.. Courier.
Im gonna save this post and we will talk again when the season's over, either one of us could be wrong, we'll see
No matter how dominant you are, all it takes is one slip up. You have to be dialed in for 28 straight matches, while your opponent only needs to be good on one day against you. Just look at Serena: she was beating everyone that mattered, then lost to the most random opponent in the semis at the U.S Open.
If he wins RG and Wimbledon, THEN I'd give him a chance to win the Grand Slam (even though he'd only have 1 left to go)
Australians really love the Eurovision Song Contest, don't they? :lol
https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/693839654018113536
https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/693839654018113536
lol, totally forgot this song existed
demons in our minds = manipulation scandal???????!!
GOLDEN KERBER SLAM HERE WE GO
perfectchaos007
Member
She's the only player with a chance, I'll give Kerber that
The Last Wizard
Member
I'd love to golden slam or even a calendar slam in my lifetime:O
John Dunbar
correct about everything
you'll have to practice real hard.
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
I'm disgusted at the state of this sport right now.
lol
Wta is pretty entertaining right now, haven't bothered watching much men's tennis in quite some time.
Novak's dominance is so deserved for what he had to train for to get at the stage he is in now. If he had won the French people now would simply all be talking about how he is the undisputed GOAT now, crazy how he was 1 small win away from taking it all. People forget but this little difference really would've made ALL the difference, no one would even dare talk smack now
Raonic's story this tournament was also pretty interesting, dude fell off my radar after his first big year but he's having actual fun playing tennis now which is what I love to see, the emotions come and go but he's playing the game with love which few do at the top level, people need to watch some Prince of Tennis and learn what this sport is about for chrissakes
Raonic's story this tournament was also pretty interesting, dude fell off my radar after his first big year but he's having actual fun playing tennis now which is what I love to see, the emotions come and go but he's playing the game with love which few do at the top level, people need to watch some Prince of Tennis and learn what this sport is about for chrissakes
Roger coming here in two weeks, I'll make sure to print this post out and show his ass during training maybe teach him a backhand trick or two
Novak may be a contender for GOAT but lets not be quick to forget Roger who could turn the best into a whining child and is still able to compete at the highest of high levels at 34.
When Novak is 34 and still destroying every player except the number 1 guy. That is when I will consider him GOAT.
When Novak is 34 and still destroying every player except the number 1 guy. That is when I will consider him GOAT.
I can agree on that. I think Federer already beat out most expectations from people by extending his peaking years so far ahead, guy easily still has a few years left if he doesn't mind a top 10 position.
Novak being the answer to all types of tennis players is what gets to me. There is no flaw, not physically, not mentally, not even spiritually. I see him going 35 as well, maybe not on the same level as Federer's play now but seven years to collect another 20+ GS titles and 50+ masters? Jeez, a miracle has to happen for Novak to stop playing on the level he's at now, it's all a numbers game for him now trying to catch em all
No one beating Djokovic? Cool. I get it. He's impossible right now and a sight to see. I don't love him but I appreciate what he's doing.
The thing that's bothering me in the game is that no one's beating Murray or Fed. Will we ever have a true "new generation" of players or what the heck? Because neither Murray nor Fed (most days) are playing at some great, imposible level.
I much would have rather seen Raonic failed miserably against Djokovic in the final and hope that he will improve upon that than seeing Murray (and Fed) fail miserably for the thousand time. It breaks my heart that that Nishikori - Cilic final in 2014 was more a fluke than an improvement from other players outside of the big 3
The thing that's bothering me in the game is that no one's beating Murray or Fed. Will we ever have a true "new generation" of players or what the heck? Because neither Murray nor Fed (most days) are playing at some great, imposible level.
I much would have rather seen Raonic failed miserably against Djokovic in the final and hope that he will improve upon that than seeing Murray (and Fed) fail miserably for the thousand time. It breaks my heart that that Nishikori - Cilic final in 2014 was more a fluke than an improvement from other players outside of the big 3
Ya I agree with you.
I've witness too many players who seemed like they were ready to take the world by storm in their early 20s but fizzle out into a top 20 player.
The only young person on the mens side I can really point out and say "this kids got it" is Kyrgios but that dude has the potential of having a Monfils type career.
Just seems like a lot of tennis players are okay with Murray, Djokovic, Federer fighting for every title and instead choose to coast at their current level.
edit:
Which is fine of course. Not everyone needs to win to feel fulfilled. Having a career in tennis is already something to be proud of. It would just be nice if we had more players who wanted to be the absolute best.
I'm not as familiar with the Juniors scene. Is there anyone on the horizon who looks like they could be a future number 1?
I really, really appreciate Djokovic, but he's not someone who captures my tennis imagination, so to speak. It reminds me of the late 80's and early 90's in the NBA. I appreciated Michael Jordan, but I didn't root for him. (I'm old, clearly.)
I really, really appreciate Djokovic, but he's not someone who captures my tennis imagination, so to speak. It reminds me of the late 80's and early 90's in the NBA. I appreciated Michael Jordan, but I didn't root for him. (I'm old, clearly.)
I agree with the analysis on Raonic who seems to really have found a purpose in his game, and as a result is a lot more fun to watch. However, I think a lot of the pros play with love. You have to have at least a big interest for something like pro tennis when you have to practice several hours every day and travel thousands of miles every month to keep your ranking. I'm not familiar with every player but in a lot of interviews I read, the top guys seem to love what they're doing, most of them at least. Even players like Agassi who have a conflictual relashionship with the sport seem to love it on some level.
Murray and Federer are playing at a very high level each. The fact that they don't manage to beat Djokovic doesn't make them more beatable by the rest of the field.
They're both exceptional in their own playstyles, and manage to keep a high intensity during a whole year. Nobody on tour has Murray's fitness and eye/timing, or Federer's shot making and speed of play. Plus they have extremely competent staffs that help them stay super fit and, now, they have an enormous experience due to their years on tour. It will take a lot for young players to attain this level and keep it on the long run. The case of Nadal shows that it's a relatively fragile status quo, but as long as they manage to maintain what make them this performant, they'll be at the top, even against other strong players.
We were talking about it a few posts ago : for me it's absolutely unthinkable to see a 20 years old player, even very talented, challenge these guys today. Wawrinka had to work during a whole career to reach - during some tournaments, not all - their level.
And then you have Novak who is even higher which is terrifying in some way.
Tennis players and champagne bottles:
my new favourite tumblr
Since this thread is about to get closed let's say good bye to the Happy Slam with some Federer fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xeXCyrantE
I do not understand this
Do some of y'all not understand how tennis works? I get Federer being on of the most stylish player out of there but calling Djoko bland? C'monnn, perfect tennis is horribly entertaining? Hitting lines like it's intended for hours is not entertaining? Two handers look awful compared to a one handed backhand but this guy has the best in the biz
His flexibility on court is anything but boring
Djokovic can be entertaining but it's usually more dependant on his opposition being good and forcing him to produce his defensive shotmaking. Have you ever watched first week Djokovic matches in slams? 98% of the time it's boring as bat shit. At least when Federer beats up lower ranked players there some entertainment value.
The boring part of Djokovic's game is that he chews up and spits out every opponent.
Even when he loses it doesn't seem like the other guy was better, just that Djokovic was off.
It seems you don't understand how opinions work.
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