Tennis - 2016 US Open

[ArbitraryWater]

Kicking off tomorrow :rockon:

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic finally secured the career Slam with a win at the French, but since then has lost alot, and has reported to have had some troubles re-charging his batteries, typical after such a long string of success.

He's still the favorite, but his form needs to improve.

Andy Murray

Murray is on a career year, and looking to make his 4th and all 4 slam finals of the year. After losing twice to Djokovic, he won Wimbledon, Olympics, and looked to go into the US Open on a 23-match winning streak, but he lost the Cincy final to a red hot Cilic.

Best form at the moment, lets see how he controls his emotions, puts his abilities to use, and if he may or may not be slightly overplayed.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal is back. Sorta.

After his spectacular clay season, he looked ready to win the French, or at least provide Djokovic with by far his biggest challenge, but he had to retire after the second round (and the two biggest wins of the tourney) to a wrist injury.

After sitting out 2 months, he surprisingly came back in top form, won Olympics doubles, and came within inches of the Olympic final, as he lost to Del Potro in the semifinal third set tiebreaker. He lost the Bronze match due to Nishikori's shameful theatrics and 10 minute bathroom break.

He has his wrist issue. He's hitting well enough that his will and ability could carry him over.


--

Others to look out for:

Raonic, Wawrinka, Del Potro, Cilic

[gigantes]

according to sports illustrated, djokes hurt his left wrist sometime before the olympics. for a guy who uses a two-handed backhand, that's a problem.

i guess that this explains a few things, but also means that the US open is even more up for grabs than usual. djokes is also seeded in to a tough draw, apparently.

will murray continue to capitalise on this golden opportunity? will the colt build on his impressive olympics run? can dogs play basketball on the moon? keep updating this thread to hear all the answers, plus much more.

[bdreason]

copy/paste from TDT;

U.S. Open starts Monday. Djoker and Serena are probably the favorites, but I think Murray and Kerber are in better form. I'll be pulling for Raonic and Halep. My darkhorses would be Cilic and Pliskova, who are both in peak form.

[bdreason]

Raonic with a tough draw. Might have to go through Paire in the 2nd round and Monfils in the 3rd round.

[Smoke117]

shut up, autistic waters.

[ArbitraryWater]

Raonic with a tough draw. Might have to go through Paire in the 2nd round and Monfils in the 3rd round.

Monfils would be the 4th... the winner of that probably meets Rafa in the QF

[bdreason]

Djoker drops the 2nd set. Might have an injured right arm. Lobbing serves in at 80-90mph.

[gigantes]

hard to imagine djokes winning this thing with two significant injuries.

which means that if murray follows through and takes this thing, suddenly we have a more interesting race for most points on the year, especially if the djoker is out for a while.

[ArbitraryWater]

Djoker has no significant injuries... Stop it :oldlol:

[Jasi]

If Murray takes this and Nole doesn't reach the final, he'll be 1st in the ATP Race and in a good position to get to the 1st place in the ATP ranking at the end of the year, considering that Djokovic has got a ton of points to defend in the second part of the season.

[gigantes]

Djoker has no significant injuries... Stop it :oldlol:
hey, don't kill the messenger, now.

[ArbitraryWater]

Whether he wins this or not, Verdasco is such a talented player.. he only really shows it in 2-3 tournaments a year and to anger some big guys in the early rounds of slams anymore, since he is aging.

[bdreason]

Djoker with a walkover against Vesley who could have been a tough opponent.


Harrison having the match of his career. Not looking good for Raonic.

[gigantes]

If Murray takes this and Nole doesn't reach the final, he'll be 1st in the ATP Race and in a good position to get to the 1st place in the ATP ranking at the end of the year, considering that Djokovic has got a ton of points to defend in the second part of the season.
really?

that seems hard to believe considering that djokes had such a whomping year last year and that even if murray takes the US open, he still seems to be trailing the djoker pretty hard for points in 2016 alone.

anyway, phew... djokes just got a massively-needed bye. but whether that's enough to heal up sufficiently is another question...

[bdreason]

really?

that seems hard to believe considering that djokes had such a whomping year last year and that even if murray takes the US open, he still seems to be trailing the djoker pretty hard for points in 2016 alone.




With Tennis rankings you have to defend your points from the previous year. So when Djoker went out early at Wimbledon, he took a huge point hit. He also went out early at Dubai and Monte Carlo, although I'm not sure what his results the previous season were at those events. I believe Murray has made the final of every tournament this year as well, only losing to Djoker.

[gigantes]

With Tennis rankings you have to defend your points from the previous year. So when Djoker went out early at Wimbledon, he took a huge point hit. He also went out early at Dubai and Monte Carlo, although I'm not sure what his results the previous season were at those events. I believe Murray has made the final of every tournament this year as well, only losing to Djoker.
i know that of course, but didn't realise murray was having such a deceptively strong year. i looked at tourney wins a few days ago, disregarded the olympics, and assumed all was well. foolish me.

anyway, thanks. if murray does become #1 then i think that's also pretty cool based on how hard he's worked historically and also because it helps solidify the greatness of the big four.

[ArbitraryWater]

Djoker with a walkover against Vesley who could have been a tough opponent.


Harrison having the match of his career. Not looking good for Raonic.

No idea what was wrong with Raonic physically... he couldnt move. Crowd apparently was shit, too.

[ArbitraryWater]

Projected Quarterfinals:

Top Half: Djokovic v.s. Cilic, Nadal v.s. Monfils
Bottom Half: Wawrinka/Kyrgios v.s. Del Potro, Murray v.s. Nishikori

Mmmmm delicious

[ArbitraryWater]

Darth Rafa is back

The Fearhand

[imdaman99]

What a way to finish a 6-0 set :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

What a way to finish a 6-0 set :oldlol:

Guy has played like one tournament since his French retirement, one HC tournament of practice, I have no idea how he looked so good at the Olympics.. looks solid right now, too..

[Jasi]

Projected Quarterfinals:

Top Half: Djokovic v.s. Cilic, Nadal v.s. Monfils
Bottom Half: Wawrinka/Kyrgios v.s. Del Potro, Murray v.s. Nishikori

Mmmmm delicious

I say Cilic-Nadal, Del Potro-Murray, Cilic-Murray again, Murray

[bdreason]

DelPo vs. Johnson on Ash. Could be a good one.

[poido123]

How can you not like DelPo.


Such a gentle giant and genuine.


:applause:

[ArbitraryWater]

Cilic is sucking hard.. bout to exit..

then Djoker/Youzhny, might be good :applause:

[bdreason]

DelPo looked great. He's really playing inspired tennis.




Keys with an amazing comeback, down 1-5 in the 3rd set.

[ArbitraryWater]

DelPo looked great. He's really playing inspired tennis.




Keys with an amazing comeback, down 1-5 in the 3rd set.

wow.. apparently mad meltdown from Osaka.. crying hard..

always fascinating to see athletes tighten up under pressure... something about watching a choke unfold.

[Jasi]

Cilic is sucking hard.. bout to exit..

then Djoker/Youzhny, might be good :applause:

Cilic looked lost against fatty Sock :facepalm dude is inconsistent as the Frenchmen in the tour

[ArbitraryWater]

Youzhny deadass bout to retire, Djoker with another virtual walkover.. tf

[dankok8]

Nadal hasn't even been past the 3rd round in the last five slams so let's pump the brakes. I want to see Nadal succeed but right now he's not even a contender for the title at any slam, even French.

Djokovic looks weak, maybe injuries, lack of motivation, off court issues. I don't know but he hasn't been the same for the last few months.

Murray in my eyes is the heavy favorite to take this tournament right now.

[ArbitraryWater]

Nadal hasn't even been past the 3rd round in the last five slams so let's pump the brakes. I want to see Nadal succeed but right now he's not even a contender for the title at any slam, even French.

Djokovic looks weak, maybe injuries, lack of motivation, off court issues. I don't know but he hasn't been the same for the last few months.

Murray in my eyes is the heavy favorite to take this tournament right now.

You dont know soccer or tennis though bro :lol

Anyway, and Youzhny retired.. lol.

Djoker in 4R after beating a twitch streamer in 4 sets :oldlol:

[dankok8]

You dont know soccer or tennis though bro :lol

Anyway, and Youzhny retired.. lol.

Djoker in 4R after beating a twitch streamer in 4 sets :oldlol:

I know plenty of tennis. We have had a discussion about Nadal before and you consider him GOAT while I don't even think he's close. We both use our own criteria to judge players. :cheers:

Djoker is getting a bit lucky at this tournament but it's the latter rounds that matter anyways. Losing early before semis shouldn't even happen to truly great players. At least not often enough to be significant...

[ArbitraryWater]

I know plenty of tennis. We have had a discussion about Nadal before and you consider him GOAT while I don't even think he's close. We both use our own criteria to judge players. :cheers:

Djoker is getting a bit lucky at this tournament but it's the latter rounds that matter anyways. Losing early before semis shouldn't even happen to truly great players. At least not often enough to be significant...

Its not really the threat of losing, but the time of play spent on court... Murray's biggest problem against Djoker in finals has been running out of steam.. nothing left in the tank. Djoker avoids some 4 setters right now, Rafa will play him with much less in the tank, sadly.

[dankok8]

Its not really the threat of losing, but the time of play spent on court... Murray's biggest problem against Djoker in finals has been running out of steam.. nothing left in the tank. Djoker avoids some 4 setters right now, Rafa will play him with much less in the tank, sadly.

Luck of the draw spins both ways. As a #1 seed, you do tend to get an easier draw but he worked for it. The top spot wasn't gifted to him. And there are examples where Novak had it pretty tough.

For example last year at the French, Djoker played Rafa in the QF, a tough 5-setter against Murray in the SF, and then was not surprisingly out of gas against an in-form Wawrinka and he lost.

[ArbitraryWater]

Luck of the draw spins both ways. As a #1 seed, you do tend to get an easier draw but he worked for it. The top spot wasn't gifted to him. And there are examples where Novak had it pretty tough.

For example last year at the French, Djoker played Rafa in the QF, a tough 5-setter against Murray in the SF, and then was not surprisingly out of gas against an in-form Wawrinka and he lost.

#1 seeds dont really get easier draws, thats not how it is in tennis...

anyway, we're talking about two straight walkovers here, lol. Playing Murray in the semi's is tough (Rafa was a shell at that point), but understandable since Murray was low in the ranking due to his prior year injuries.. not sure why thats even worth bringing up. He got punked in the final, didnt run out of anything. Spent less time on the court up to that point than Stan. Its okay to admit hes getting pretty lucky now.

Maybe this will come back to bite him in the ass. Lack of match practice. Who knows.

[dankok8]

#1 seeds dont really get easier draws, thats not how it is in tennis...

anyway, we're talking about two straight walkovers here, lol. Playing Murray in the semi's is tough (Rafa was a shell at that point), but understandable since Murray was low in the ranking due to his prior year injuries.. not sure why thats even worth bringing up. He got punked in the final, didnt run out of anything. Spent less time on the court up to that point than Stan. Its okay to admit hes getting pretty lucky now.

Maybe this will come back to bite him in the ass. Lack of match practice. Who knows.

The #1 seed on average plays against lower ranked opponents than the #2 or #3 seed in reaching the finals. For the last X tournaments Murray and Fed were in the same half and had to play each other in the semis.

I totally agree that too much rest can be a negative. It's hard to stay in rhythm and also not having a challenge early on doesn't prepare him mentally for the tougher matches coming up. It's hard to say which way the pendulum swings so to speak. Let's just wait and see.

[gigantes]

Djokovic looks weak, maybe injuries, lack of motivation, off court issues. I don't know but he hasn't been the same for the last few months.
didn't you see the news that he hurt his left wrist right before the olympics? and then he developed some kind of right shoulder issue in R1. sucks...

granted i'm biased, but no way in hades would i expect lack of motivation from him. almost the opposite really, since reporters and his team tend to say he's constantly trying to work on things to help his tennis, even when he's not actually doing 'tennis stuff.'

[ArbitraryWater]

didn't you see the news that he hurt his left wrist right before the olympics? and then he developed some kind of right shoulder issue in R1. sucks...

granted i'm biased, but no way in hades would i expect lack of motivation from him. almost the opposite really, since reporters and his team tend to say he's constantly trying to work on things to help his tennis, even when he's not actually doing 'tennis stuff.'

bruh he has nothing.. there is no mystery shoulder issue, either. medic massaged that shit n that was it

[gigantes]

bruh he has nothing.. there is no mystery shoulder issue, either. medic massaged that shit n that was it
wow, i didn't know you doubled as the physician who examined him later!

you sure do get around, bro. :D

[bdreason]

Nadal on Ash right now. First point was awesome. Could be a good one.

[ArbitraryWater]

Fck, its so good to see the GOAT back at it again

[ArbitraryWater]

this is better than sex right here..

[imdaman99]

Rafa with his are you not entertained moment in the second to last point :oldlol:

[bdreason]

Nadal laid the smack down. Good to see him back playing at a high level.

[poido123]

21-1 for Nadal who looks motivated/injury free and had an easy run til now?

Doesn't face stiff competition til Joker in the Semis.


On the other side of the draw, I'm taking Murray 4-1 odds. Murray is in excellent form and looks mentally tougher than ever.

[poido123]

bruh he has nothing.. there is no mystery shoulder issue, either. medic massaged that shit n that was it


Gigantes is right, Nadal had a wrist injury leading up to this tournament.


Hopefully it's gone away. He looks back to form otherwise.

[bdreason]

I didn't realize Youhzny retired in the 1st set. So Djoker is into the 2nd week having only had to play 4 sets of tennis. Can't get much luckier than that.

[plowking]

lol at AW calling Nadal the GOAT. There is room for opinions and what not, but saying something so blatantly wrong is just typical of AW. :oldlol:

About as correct as saying Julius Erving is the best basketball player ever.

[alenleomessi]

delpo got this

[gigantes]

Fck, its so good to see the GOAT back at it again
this seems like an odd time to watch laver / sampras / fed videos, but then again, for a very odd person, i guess that's about right for you. :cheers:

[Nikola_]

dis nig.a AW brings bad luck everytime. just shut up already, nadal cant play at high level two weeks no more

[ArbitraryWater]

lol at AW calling Nadal the GOAT. There is room for opinions and what not, but saying something so blatantly wrong is just typical of AW. :oldlol:

About as correct as saying Julius Erving is the best basketball player ever.

There is something veeeery weird with thinking the guy with the second most slams ever, playing the strongest era ever, being the most injury riddled great ever, could not just not be the GOAT, but it's the actual equivalent of calling Dr. J the GOAT...

When you have your preferences your logic is straight scary :oldlol:

Anyway you have nothing to worry about, no? You've repeatedly said how much better Djokovic is on HC than Nadal, so he probably won't lose to the 10th best Rafa ever..

[ArbitraryWater]

21-1 for Nadal who looks motivated/injury free and had an easy run til now?

Doesn't face stiff competition til Joker in the Semis.


On the other side of the draw, I'm taking Murray 4-1 odds. Murray is in excellent form and looks mentally tougher than ever.

Do I understand this correctly, 2100 for Rafa if you put 100 on him?

Btw, Rog/Rafa been very friendly towards each other in the media lately.. always saying good things. They're really appreciating each other right now.


Murray has worked out at Rafa's place for quite a few weeks.. they also took the same plane at the Olympics.. cute.

[poido123]

Do I understand this correctly, 2100 for Rafa if you put 100 on him?

Btw, Rog/Rafa been very friendly towards each other in the media lately.. always saying good things. They're really appreciating each other right now.


Murray has worked out at Rafa's place for quite a few weeks.. they also took the same plane at the Olympics.. cute.


My bad.


Was looking at the Australian Open odds.


Murray is 300 for every 100 and nadal is 1300 for every 100.


But still, I loaded up 100 on Nadal and 85 on Murray as the cover bet with a total outlay of 185. If Nadal can't take Joker down, I'm confident Murray can and at least win my money back and a bit more.

[ArbitraryWater]

My bad.


Was looking at the Australian Open odds.


Murray is 300 for every 100 and nadal is 1300 for every 100.


But still, I loaded up 100 on Nadal and 85 on Murray as the cover bet with a total outlay of 185. If Nadal can't take Joker down, I'm confident Murray can and at least win my money back and a bit more.

Good one.. I put 100 on Rafa for 1000 (although I added an easy Real Madrid event, which puts the total at 1200), I have most of my events covered for Rafa/Delpo and even Murray, if Murray beats Delpo in the semis I do very good as well... if I go do Murray/Djoker winning ones right now Id be secured on all sides :lol (ofc the stake rises, if Djoker would end up winning against Delpo in the final, only then Id have made less... this is ofcourse anticipating that the semis will be djoker/rafa/murray/delpo).

[poido123]

Good one.. I put 100 on Rafa for 1000 (although I added an easy Real Madrid event, which puts the total at 1200), I have most of my events covered for Rafa/Delpo and even Murray, if Murray beats Delpo in the semis I do very good as well... if I go do Murray/Djoker winning ones right now Id be secured on all sides :lol (ofc the stake rises, if Djoker would end up winning against Delpo in the final, only then Id have made less... this is ofcourse anticipating that the semis will be djoker/rafa/murray/delpo).



It's a good bet you did. Win or lose, you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning at 10-1 odds.


I Had a hard look at the draw and came to these conclusions:


1. Nadal plays Pouille(Should win straight sets) then Monfils(straight sets maybe 4) which shouldn't be heavily taxing matches. He should and I believe he will have Monfils on skates the whole match, he won't be doing much of the running, which should have him perfectly primed and hungry for an epic showdown with Joker.

2. Murray is on the other side of the draw. Only threat is really Del Potro, but I think Del Potro comes out of the Ferrer match(if he does) a bit drained then runs into the talented Thiem and then Warwinka who is no slouch. Murray should be able to come out of that side of the draw easily.


I cannot see anyone outside of Nadal, Joker or Murray winning it. I do think Murray is the favourite, he's in hot form and mentally stronger than ever.

But my heart is with Rafa. Has always been a favourite of mine and you always think your a chance of winning money when you back him. You will rarely see his odds at 13-1 in this health and playing this well. He is the best competitor the game has seen.

[ArbitraryWater]

It's a good bet you did. Win or lose, you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning at 10-1 odds.


I Had a hard look at the draw and came to these conclusions:


1. Nadal plays Pouille(Should win straight sets) then Monfils(straight sets maybe 4) which shouldn't be heavily taxing matches. He should and I believe he will have Monfils on skates the whole match, he won't be doing much of the running, which should have him perfectly primed and hungry for an epic showdown with Joker.

2. Murray is on the other side of the draw. Only threat is really Del Potro, but I think Del Potro comes out of the Ferrer match(if he does) a bit drained then runs into the talented Thiem and then Warwinka who is no slouch. Murray should be able to come out of that side of the draw easily.


I cannot see anyone outside of Nadal, Joker or Murray winning it. I do think Murray is the favourite, he's in hot form and mentally stronger than ever.

But my heart is with Rafa. Has always been a favourite of mine and you always think your a chance of winning money when you back him. You will rarely see his odds at 13-1 in this health and playing this well. He is the best competitor the game has seen.

Del Potro will probably lose like a set or two over the next two rounds, but Murray tends to lose one here or there as well... I mean, he just did, he's up 2-1 now, might lose another. Wawrinka is down a set, not even a guarantee he makes it.

I said it at the start of the year, Monfils has never been more focused. Its paying off for him. I think that will be a tough match, Rafa in 4 or 5. 3 would surprise me.

Nadal is firmly back at top 4 level now. Thats good. Before, he was in and out of slams in the 2-3 R, playing at top 15 level in the tour.

With Delpo healthy, the top 4 are pretty clear. But Nadal will need to stay longer healthy now to for me take him over Djokovic/Murray in a match. I'd give him a 25% chance against the Djoker. He's gone from like top 15 level play to top 4, he can't keep it up consistently enough yet for me, for him to challenge a Djoker who's locked in.

But who knows. You said it well. You never feel in fear of your $ when you got a healthy, motivated Rafa... he works magic.

[ArbitraryWater]

Its a ****ing shame Evans didnt pull out that Wawrinka match

[poido123]

Its a ****ing shame Evans didnt pull out that Wawrinka match


I was bummed, but for different reasons.


I missed the opportunity stuck at work to jump on Warwinka when he was down the first set, he would of been paying probably 2.5-1 to win match in live betting.


Oh well, there will be more opportunities in other matches.

[dankok8]

It's funny that ArbitraryWater mentioned on the previous page that Murray is always gassed by the time he plays Djokovic. How about this year's Wimbledon when Murray didn't have to play him or Federer? Ended up beating Berdych and Raonic in the final two rounds to take the tournament.

I'm just saying... Luck of the draw generally evens out in the long run.

[ArbitraryWater]

It's funny that ArbitraryWater mentioned on the previous page that Murray is always gassed by the time he plays Djokovic. How about this year's Wimbledon when Murray didn't have to play him or Federer? Ended up beating Berdych and Raonic in the final two rounds to take the tournament.

I'm just saying... Luck of the draw generally evens out in the long run.

thats a completely different scenario, and what does it have to do with what I said? Like, it doesnt have anything to do with Murray running out of gas, OR Djokovic catching an unlucky hand.. dafuq are you :biggums:

[poido123]

Fck you Pouille.


Leave Rafa alone :oldlol:


Couldn't you just move aside and let Rafa go through easily?

[bdreason]

Awesome match. Gonna be decided in a tie break.

[bigkingsfan]

:banana:

[bdreason]

Amazing match. Pouille is sick never seen him play before. Still a good showing from Nadal considering all he's dealt with this year.

[poido123]

Nadal choking that mid court ball into the net is very unlike him in a pressure situation.


I'm lost for words. He really let one go there.

[imdaman99]

Nadal's serve let's him down so often nowadays. He was up a break at 4-3 and got it to deuce only to blow the next 2 :facepalm

[ArbitraryWater]

Nadal of '14 and before would have never given up that break, would have broken at 4-4 (was it?), and would have hit the winner at 6-6..

By all accounts, he played a good match, did much more than expected at the Olympics after the injury, but he will never be the same. At best top 5 level, threatened to exit majors ar the 3R stage. Seemingly lost his mental strength. Lost his last 3 slam matches in 5 setters, against Pouille/Verdasco/Foignini.

[poido123]

Nadal of '14 and before would have never given up that break, would have broken at 4-4 (was it?), and would have hit the winner at 6-6..

By all accounts, he played a good match, did much more than expected at the Olympics after the injury, but he will never be the same. At best top 5 level, threatened to exit majors ar the 3R stage. Seemingly lost his mental strength. Lost his last 3 slam matches in 5 setters, against Pouille/Verdasco/Foignini.


Yep.


Even the great ones eventually show signs of strain and stress, even after years of facing pressure situations and overcoming them.


I do smell fear in Rafa during matches now more than ever. Whereas before, you knew he could get out of any situation and fight harder if he was down. He was way too conservative at key points in this match.


When he was up a break in the 5th set, too many rallies he was simply just hitting the ball in and playing reactive, instead of really going after the corners more.


I will miss Rafa when he retires. The guy has to be one of the best fighters the game has seen and if not for his body slowing down, there really wasn't anyone on his level outside of prime Joker and Federer.

[gigantes]

judas priest... it's always such feast or famine among sports fans.

[Jasi]

Thiem - Del Potro, who you guys got?

[alenleomessi]

nadal should just give up and retire

[plowking]

nadal should just give up and retire

He is the GOAT though bro. AW said so.

Having injuries means he has excuses, and those excuses means had he not had those injuries, he'd be GOAT.

Healthy Nadal loses to a 24 seed. :oldlol:
Injured Novak, no problem, easy win. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

Yep.


Even the great ones eventually show signs of strain and stress, even after years of facing pressure situations and overcoming them.


I do smell fear in Rafa during matches now more than ever. Whereas before, you knew he could get out of any situation and fight harder if he was down. He was way too conservative at key points in this match.


When he was up a break in the 5th set, too many rallies he was simply just hitting the ball in and playing reactive, instead of really going after the corners more.


I will miss Rafa when he retires. The guy has to be one of the best fighters the game has seen and if not for his body slowing down, there really wasn't anyone on his level outside of prime Joker and Federer.


you do a good job of summing this stuff up, contrary to your bball stuff :p

Rafa has doubt nowadays. A lot of it. A coaching change might still do him good. But he's most likely done winning majors, given the extreme amount of injuries he's had, which is understandable. No harm done.

If not for his body slowing down? You're underselling him there... He'd have the runaway most slams ever, at a level played only to be challenged by peak Djokovic (2011, 2012 first months)

Lol at plow tryna rub shit in :lol

[alenleomessi]

He is the GOAT though bro. AW said so.

Having injuries means he has excuses, and those excuses means had he not had those injuries, he'd be GOAT.

Healthy Nadal loses to a 24 seed. :oldlol:
Injured Novak, no problem, easy win. :oldlol:
grandpa federer is still making finals/semis and this dude keeps losing to borderline scrubs..

have some dignity and retire..

http://tenis.as.com/tenis/imagenes/2014/10/03/portada/1412352988_768231_1412353123_noticia_grande.jpg


and shave your head.. looks sadder than your future

[dude77]

nadal is just done .. sad sight to watch .. 2 yrs now without winning a slam .. he would've dispatched this scrub in the past in 3 .. that choke at the end where he had the winner to set up a match point smh .. also not everyone can pull of the shaved look .. he could probably still save what he has if he acts

[plowking]

I'm still laughing at Nadal being GOAT... :oldlol:

Legit had a chuckle. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

nadal is just done .. sad sight to watch .. 2 yrs now without winning a slam .. he would've dispatched this scrub in the past in 3 .. that choke at the end where he had the winner to set up a match point smh .. also not everyone can pull of the shaved look .. he could probably still save what he has if he acts

Yea, the shaved look definitely wouldn't work on Rafa..


I'm still laughing at Nadal being GOAT... :oldlol:

Legit had a chuckle. :oldlol:

I'm sure you did, I'm sure you did... (You probably did actually considering how insecure you are about him. In '13 you were here saying Nadal is only just slightly better on clay but everywhere else Djokovic scrubs him, then Rafa scrubbed his ass on HC at the USO :lol )

[Jasi]

Please stop with the old, played out debate about Nadal GOAT or not...

Let's talk about now and the future: Pouille was actually impressive.
He also looks solid mentally, for a Frenchman. And he's only 22. A potential rival for the new stars Thiem, Zverev & co.?

[ArbitraryWater]

Please stop with the old, played out debate about Nadal GOAT or not...

Let's talk about now and the future: Pouille was actually impressive.
He also looks solid mentally, for a Frenchman. And he's only 22. A potential rival for the new stars Thiem, Zverev & co.?

No worries partner (guessing by 'played out' you mean the anti Nadal argument?) Anyway yea, like they call Roger 'King' in Italy, they call Rafa 'GOAT' here, just a nickname thing..

Yeah of course, Pouille was impressive.. very. First time at such a stage and no let ups mentally.

[Jasi]

Thiem retires

[gigantes]

Let's talk about now and the future: Pouille was actually impressive.
He also looks solid mentally, for a Frenchman. And he's only 22. A potential rival for the new stars Thiem, Zverev & co.?
always fun to see a new hotshot land in the scene.

is there something about being french that makes for mental instability? it doesn't make much sense to me logically, but maybe there's something there...



Anyway yea, like they call Roger 'King' in Italy, they call Rafa 'GOAT' here, just a nickname thing..
yeah, about that: i'm pretty sure the nickname of "GOAT" was taken long before rafa came along.

also, why wouldn't he look good with a shaved head? grow a goatee or something and do the agassi look. that's right, i said it!


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/93/bd/4d/93bd4da04f5e18b2c54f1e1275c07f40.jpg
GOAT wearing a goatee

[ArbitraryWater]

always fun to see a new hotshot land in the scene.

is there something about being french that makes for mental instability? it doesn't make much sense to me logically, but maybe there's something there...



yeah, about that: i'm pretty sure the nickname of "GOAT" was taken long before rafa came along.

also, why wouldn't he look good with a shaved head? grow a goatee or something and do the agassi look. that's right, i said it!


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/93/bd/4d/93bd4da04f5e18b2c54f1e1275c07f40.jpg
GOAT wearing a goatee

there actually is with Brazilian soccer players... you wouldnt believe the amount of talents that have come around and flamed out. Its likely the huge difference from what they dealt with growing up and the following fame.

[bdreason]

Murray whoopin' Baby Fed's ass. If he ends up in the final against Djoker, I hope he can finally beat Novak.

[ArbitraryWater]

Murray whoopin' Baby Fed's ass. If he ends up in the final against Djoker, I hope he can finally beat Novak.

Dimi is sucking hard, but Andy is definitely peaking this year... his serve has been amazing. If he does make the final, and plays Novak, I wanna see that same serve, and no tiring out. He had plenty opportunities to beat Novak at the Australian Open, but still had those mental midget moments.

Also, please stop calling him 'Baby Fed'.

[bdreason]

This is definitely peak Murray. I've never seen him play better.



I just call him Baby Fed in jest.

[poido123]

No worries partner (guessing by 'played out' you mean the anti Nadal argument?) Anyway yea, like they call Roger 'King' in Italy, they call Rafa 'GOAT' here, just a nickname thing..

Yeah of course, Pouille was impressive.. very. First time at such a stage and no let ups mentally.


The true sign of a future champion is what they can do when the odds are against them.


He showed that after 2 straight matches of 5 sets going into a 3rd five set match and down a break that he could fight through the fatigue and beat a guy who doesn't lose in those situations.


Yeah, he's got it. Pouille is a future gun, no doubt about that.

[poido123]

This is definitely peak Murray. I've never seen him play better.



I just call him Baby Fed in jest.



Not taking anything away from Murray and how well he's hitting the ball tonight, but Dimitrov deserves all the criticism he gets after this match.


He's been on the tour for a while now, he's had his initiation and hype. But he has shown zero. Nothing.


No fight, no heart, won't chase down balls, trying to hit the cover off nearly every shot.


Pouille has half the talent, but will be twice the player. Dimitrov is a big tease.

[ArbitraryWater]

Angelique is the most clutch person this country has had in a long time :D <3

[dankok8]

Federer is definitely GOAT. That much is clear. People love to talk about dominance. Federer was 7-0 in his first seven GS finals and 12-2 at the end of 2007 only losing twice to Rafa at the French Open. From 2004 to 2007 the man won all four Wimbledons including two finals against Rafa and two against Roddick; all four US Opens against Hewitt, Agassi, Roddick, and Djoker; and three Aussie Opens. Let that sink in for a second. That is DOMINANCE!!! And that ladies and gentleman was prime Federer.

Then in 2008 he had that bout of mono where he lost a lot of weight and looked exhausted. Lost a legendary five set match to Rafa at Wimbledon at less than a 100%. Funny how that never gets mentioned. Or that in 2013 a 32 year old Federer spent most of the year with serious back injuries and Rafa went 4-0 against him to pad his record against an old Federer. The 23-11 edge Rafa has is misleading. It's 13-2 on clay and 10-9 on grass/hard. If Nadal was capable of making more US Open Finals before 2010 he'd rack up a few losses to Fed. And many of their match-ups was Rafa facing an old out of prime Fed.

Head to head records only go so far too. Federer in recent years is better against both Djokovic and Murray and has gone to more Finals. Federer's longevity is way better than Nadal's.

Federer - 17 slams, 27 finals, 40 semifinals, 48 quarterfinals
Nadal - 14 slams, 20 finals, 23 semifinals, 29 quarterfinals

The consistency of Nadal doesn't even approach that of Federer.




As for Nadal-Djoker matches...

Djokovic has gone 19-7 against Nadal since the start of 2011. That includes 7-5 on clay (yes he is beating him on clay!) and 12-2 everywhere else. It was for a long time not just the recent injuries that Djoker has dominated Nadal. If Rafa was making more hard court/grass finals, it would be even more one-sided. Rafa won at the US Open Finals in 2013 but what happened at the 2011 Wimbledon, 2011 US Open, 2012 Aussie Open? Refresh my memory.

[ArbitraryWater]

Why the fck do you always dwell on this stuff? You started the same shit in the soccer thread with Ronaldo/Messi :oldlol:

For starters, I dont like my GOAT losing 70% of his matches to his main rival, but, another time mate.. or another thread, go hit up the tennis thread if you want to

[gigantes]

Federer in recent years is better against both Djokovic and Murray and has gone to more Finals.
that doesn't sound correct. at all.

do you have the stats to back it up?

also, rod laver still dominates fed when it comes to career accomplishments. i can pull up a summary for you if you want.

[ArbitraryWater]

that doesn't sound correct. at all.

do you have the stats to back it up?

also, rod laver still dominates fed when it comes to career accomplishments. i can pull up a summary for you if you want.

He probably means 'than Rafa'... ?

There is a lot of stuff to point out from his post obviously, but I won't do it here, and can't do it anywhere until Thursday (away).

Laver, if we look past it being a different game and all, should definitely be the GOAT.

[dankok8]

Why the fck do you always dwell on this stuff? You started the same shit in the soccer thread with Ronaldo/Messi :oldlol:

For starters, I dont like my GOAT losing 70% of his matches to his main rival, but, another time mate.. or another thread, go hit up the tennis thread if you want to

The other thread was a general soccer discussion thread so I don't see a problem with posting about Messi/Ronaldo. If you really insist we can discuss this in the other tennis thread but this one doesn't get that much activity so I don't see what the hard is.

What is your case for Rafa over Fed?

I don't mind my GOAT losing 70% of his matches (67.6% to be exact) to his main rival if he's out of his prime for more than half of them and his losses generally come on clay. Through the end of 2007 Fed was 6-8 against Rafa including 5-2 outside of clay and 2-0 at Wimbledon. If Rafa was good enough to make some Aussie and US Open finals early in his career then Fed would almost certainly have a few more big wins against him. Federer's head to heads are poor because he made lots of finals outside of his prime that he lost to Nadal/Djoker. Would he be a better player if he lost earlier in those tournaments or just retired in 2010?

[gigantes]

He probably means 'than Rafa'... ?
okay, thanks. i guess you're right. serves me right for cherry-picking.

i think fed and rafa have basically lived up to tennis' expectations. one guy is the prodigy of technique and smoothness who lasted an amazingly long time. the other guy is a legendary beast of power and conditioning who was not built to last as long.

they both belong in the modern trio of GOATs along with sampras, i think. maybe my man djoker can join them in a couple years, or maybe murray slams the door on him and he doesn't quite make it.

til thursday. :P

[dankok8]

that doesn't sound correct. at all.

do you have the stats to back it up?

also, rod laver still dominates fed when it comes to career accomplishments. i can pull up a summary for you if you want.

Since 2011 which is a large sample size, Fed is 9-17 against Djoker and 8-3 against Murray. Nadal is 7-19 against Djoker and 7-3 against Murray. Not a big gap but still a 30+ year old Federer has been better against both Djoker and Murray than Nadal has been.

Federer also had far fewer embarrassing losses in early rounds.

Laver won many of his titles before the Open Era. He was then absolutely spectacular in 1969 but Djokovic also won four straight this year and Federer won four of five slams before. Laver definitely has a GOAT case but I still take Federer because Open Era tennis >>...

And don't forget Bjorn Borg who absolutely annihilated people for like six years at the French and Wimbledon. Never played the Aussie Open which was then played on grass so he probably missed out on quite a few slams and still ended with 11.

My tennis GOAT list is:

1) Federer
2) Laver/Borg
3) Laver/Borg
4) Sampras
5) Nadal
6) Djokovic

Djokovic still has a case to go up higher and potentially pass Fed but he needs 16-17 slams to be in the conversation and 18+ to pass him because he's not more dominant than Fed.

[ArbitraryWater]

I'll respond Thursday in the other thread, you're wrong or at least misled on a couple of thing (mainly why their H2H would be flawed, Fed having less embarrassing early losses and why Laver should be discredited). But yes, Laver/Borg/Rafa are my 3.

Well put gigantes.

Monfils should wrap this up in 3, make for a cracking SF!

[gigantes]

@dankok8,
thanks for the stats. so that's basically what AW corrected me upon. sucks to be murray, because he probably crushes it in a different era.


re: Laver won many of his titles before the Open Era,
i see no reason why that should be held against him in the grand scheme of things. it's not like he had a choice in any of that, and it's not like he wasn't playing the best of the best across his whole career.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8951234&postcount=123

[bdreason]

Monfils is playing the best tennis of his career.

[ArbitraryWater]

Monfils is playing the best tennis of his career.

And I said it at the start of the season!

[bdreason]

Lopez/Lopez vs. Bryan/Bryan in the doubles QF. :oldlol:

[dankok8]

@dankok8,
thanks for the stats. so that's basically what AW corrected me upon. sucks to be murray, because he probably crushes it in a different era.


re: Laver won many of his titles before the Open Era,
i see no reason why that should be held against him in the grand scheme of things. it's not like he had a choice in any of that, and it's not like he wasn't playing the best of the best across his whole career.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8951234&postcount=123

Great post on Laver. He is definitely in the conversation. :rockon:

Do you think Nadal has a GOAT case over Federer? That's the question and I think no way.

[bdreason]

Love Caroline. Glad to see her having success again.


Tsonga playing well early, but I just don't see how he takes Djoker in a 5 set match. Too much that has to go right for too long.

[Smoke117]

Tsonga is too unstable mentally to beat Djokovic in this 5 setter...all Djoker has to do is wait for his eventual meltdown.

[ArbitraryWater]

Tsonga is too unstable mentally to beat Djokovic in this 5 setter...all Djoker has to do is wait for his eventual meltdown.

This... Tsonga is a chronical choker. Bad first set, too.

[Smoke117]

Shit...I didn't know Tsonga was 31 now...

[dude77]

yep .. older man's game now .. djokovic 29 monfils 30 .. stan 31 .. federer grandpa .. there are some good young ones but yep the old guys are in control right now

[dude77]

#5 in the world getting schooled .. just shows how good djokovic is

[dude77]

tsong about to retire .. bad knee .. sucks for him but he really doesn't have chance even if healthy

[ArbitraryWater]

#5 in the world getting schooled .. just shows how good djokovic is

Eh, no doubt, but also, Berdych and Tsonga literally forgot how to play tennis upon meeting Djokovic.. it's frustrating to watch.

[dude77]

Eh, no doubt, but also, Berdych and Tsonga literally forgot how to play tennis upon meeting Djokovic.. it's frustrating to watch.

he is in their heads .. the mental part of the game is crucial .. it'll separate you from being good to being great .. people think it's all physical .. I would say it's more mental than physical

[dude77]

so now djokovic has had 3 walkovers lol .. that's some good luck .. he's played 2 full matches and one of them was an easy straight setter against edmunds .. so really one full match(and even that one again was only competitive in one set) and he's in the semifinal lol crazy

[ArbitraryWater]

^yeah, but Berdych/Djokovic just fckn suck mentally.

Anyway, Heaven's kinda opening up for Djokovic...

#288 in the World, two Walkovers, Kyle Edmund, and then an injured/retired Tsonga retiring after 2 sets.

If Monfils doesn't make for a good one, he will have sleepwalked into the final.

[poido123]

^yeah, but Berdych/Djokovic just fckn suck mentally.

Anyway, Heaven's kinda opening up for Djokovic...

#288 in the World, two Walkovers, Kyle Edmund, and then an injured/retired Tsonga retiring after 2 sets.

If Monfils doesn't make for a good one, he will have sleepwalked into the final.


In tennis, you do need a challenge at some point before you reach the final.


It's not all about rest, you do need match readiness leading into playing the best players.



Murray got this

[gigantes]

Great post on Laver. He is definitely in the conversation. :rockon:

Do you think Nadal has a GOAT case over Federer? That's the question and I think no way.
&^*%# computer crashed as i was trying to make a good answer.

let's hang on til thursday and then have a proper debate in the tennis thread when AW gets back.

cheers!

[Jasi]

so now djokovic has had 3 walkovers lol .. that's some good luck .. he's played 2 full matches and one of them was an easy straight setter against edmunds .. so really one full match(and even that one again was only competitive in one set) and he's in the semifinal lol crazy

I agree with poido that this could be a setback for Nole.
if you arrive at the final stages of a tournament without having turned on your "challenge" mode, it may be a problem.

Than again it's Djokovic, he hardly has any emotion while playing.

[alenleomessi]

djokovic with the real madrid path to the final..

will still get crushed by delpo

[poido123]

I agree with poido that this could be a setback for Nole.
if you arrive at the final stages of a tournament without having turned on your "challenge" mode, it may be a problem.

Than again it's Djokovic, he hardly has any emotion while playing.


And the fact that he's been there done that.


If he gets a strong challenge from Monfils, that could really help him a lot.


Murray will need to limit the time on court against either Del Potro or Warwinka to save his energy for Joker. You don't want to be playing a long 4 or 5 set match leading into the final.

[dankok8]

&^*%# computer crashed as i was trying to make a good answer.

let's hang on til thursday and then have a proper debate in the tennis thread when AW gets back.

cheers!

Sounds good.

I think Murray is in sick form right now and it will be damn tough to beat him. Let's see Nishikori if he can at least put a dent in him.

[ArbitraryWater]

Not sure guys like Djokovic need a challenge before a final...

anyway, fun stats:

Djokovic has played 84 games so far, the fewest en route to a semifinal.

If you were to win all five matches 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, you'd still need 90 games :oldlol:

He's only played 2 full matches, and is a few minutes over having played half as many minutes than Wawrinka who is one round further than him... also 3 hrs less than Murray who still has a match to go.

Not sure why this luck hits Djoker, like, he's the last person who needs it :oldlol:

Couldnt have been Rafa ay :( No but seriously, I just hope LaMonf puts up a good fight.

Also, go Delpo..

[bdreason]

My darkhorse Pliskova through to the Women's semifinal. She'll probably have to go through Serena though, unless Halep can pull an upset.

Caroline and Kerber in the other Semi. I actually watched them play a couple years ago at Indian Wells, before Kerber made her run to the top. Kerber was whooping on Caroline and then Woz started hitting moonballs to take pace off Kerber's return, and made the comeback. One of the craziest matches I've ever seen because of the strategy involved.

[ArbitraryWater]

Andy/Kei match really delivering right now... 4-4 in the third, Kei just re-broke after down 0-40

[ArbitraryWater]

Murray always lets himself get distracted from relatively minor things even though he has the upper hand, and then uselessly gets himself into trouble.. its so dumb.

[poido123]

Murray always lets himself get distracted from relatively minor things even though he has the upper hand, and then uselessly gets himself into trouble.. its so dumb.


Yeah true.


He needs to keep focused and win the fourth set.


A five set match could cost him later on in the finals

[ArbitraryWater]

Yeah true.


He needs to keep focused and win the fourth set.


A five set match could cost him later on in the finals

I think it will already.. Djokovic is cruising and will be fresh as hell. Dont see anyone with a chance because of that. Those walkovers completely changed the life of things, before, he looked to be cracking a bit the last few months... these wont just help him physically, they've also given him mental comfort.

[ArbitraryWater]

Andy getting breadsticked.. blaming moths n shit. Funny match.

[poido123]

Andy getting breadsticked.. blaming moths n shit. Funny match.


That was the part of his game that Lendl seemed to have helped him stamp out.



Looks like its rearing its ugly head again. Probably had a nasty fight with the Mrs. in the morning.

[ArbitraryWater]

Lendl didnt prepare Andy for gongs, though... dude hasnt won a game since. Amateur mental game.

[bdreason]

Nishikori looking like he's gonna take this match. When Kei is hitting his spots with that flying forehand he's fun to watch.

[ArbitraryWater]

... well guys?? ;)

So much 'Murray gonna win the US' talk, shit just got easier for Djoker :lol

Unbelievable display from Kei... bad choke from Andy.. now lets go JMDP.

[ArbitraryWater]

reddit delivering the lolz, such as this:

http://i.imgur.com/2XQ63iB.jpg

[poido123]

... well guys?? ;)

So much 'Murray gonna win the US' talk, shit just got easier for Djoker :lol

Unbelievable display from Kei... bad choke from Andy.. now lets go JMDP.



It's a weird result I must say.


I rarely see a guy hit top form like Murray has over a sustained period hitting his prime and losing in an important match like that to a guy he should take care of pretty easily.

[ArbitraryWater]

It's a weird result I must say.


I rarely see a guy hit top form like Murray has over a sustained period hitting his prime and losing in an important match like that to a guy he should take care of pretty easily.

Youre right its odd, its a Murray... thats why its a Big 3 I guess.

Kei wont consistently play like this, but hes shown what hes capable of, huge match for him, will help his mental game immensely, avoid mental kinks.

[gigantes]

wow, what a crushing loss for muzza. one day he's playing like the top dog, about to seize the #1 ranking from the current dog, and headed for his finest year ever. and the next day? it all goes up in fumes.

of course he could still accomplish those things later in the year, but i gotta think there would have been a certain satisfaction in grabbing three out of the five biggest titles of the year.

stupid moth.

but maybe it just shows to go-- andy is arguably equal to novak in every way except in having nerves of steel. maybe hunkering down in war-torn serbia while bombs drop around you gives you a kind of confident perspective on what's really scary in life and what isn't.

[ArbitraryWater]

wow, what a crushing loss for muzza. one day he's playing like the top dog, about to seize the #1 ranking from the current dog, and headed for his finest year ever. and the next day? it all goes up in fumes.

of course he could still accomplish those things later in the year, but i gotta think there would have been a certain satisfaction in grabbing three out of the five biggest titles of the year.

stupid moth.

but maybe it just shows to go-- andy is arguably equal to novak in every way except in having nerves of steel. maybe hunkering down in war-torn serbia while bombs drop around you gives you a kind of confident perspective on what's really scary in life and what isn't.

Its not just not having nerves of steel, he swings the other side of the spectrum.. but otherwise they have a few similarities (the 'new' Novak at least).. that moth comment is sarcastic, I hope?

Id love to believe stuff like that made Djokovic calm in the clutch... firing away return winners on Fed match points at the USO.

[poido123]

wow, what a crushing loss for muzza. one day he's playing like the top dog, about to seize the #1 ranking from the current dog, and headed for his finest year ever. and the next day? it all goes up in fumes.

of course he could still accomplish those things later in the year, but i gotta think there would have been a certain satisfaction in grabbing three out of the five biggest titles of the year.

stupid moth.

but maybe it just shows to go-- andy is arguably equal to novak in every way except in having nerves of steel. maybe hunkering down in war-torn serbia while bombs drop around you gives you a kind of confident perspective on what's really scary in life and what isn't.


I loved your last point about the connection between hardship in Serbia, recognising true adversity.

So very true. I grew up playing with these two Serbian brothers who were playing juniors while I was a senior playing tournaments around the coast of Australia and they were mentally tough. Ruthless would be a better word to describe it, they used to rub it in every point they won and scream annoyingly as the kid down the other end would look to his parents and cringe. Their dad was constantly shadowing them and when they made silly shots or they weren't focused during practice, he would backhand them over the back of the head and chastise them.

Tomic's father is the same(Serbian ancestry). He would get hard on Bernie all the time, he even punched out a coach at one point who he disagreed with. Tomic once refused Lleyton Hewitt as a hitting partner, stating that he was not good enough for him.

Serbians can be very arrogant and hot headed.

[ArbitraryWater]

Kind of how Djoker was viewed for a bunch of yrs... the annoying kid with the shady antics and his parents always in the back.

[poido123]

Kind of how Djoker was viewed for a bunch of yrs... the annoying kid with the shady antics and his parents always in the back.


It took me a while to take a liking to Joker.


He lightened up a lot at some point, he used to be a petulant brat who would make annoying screams and bounce the ball way too much.


He can thank an excellent PR team for the massive improvement. The impersonations certainly helped too.

[ArbitraryWater]

It took me a while to take a liking to Joker.


He lightened up a lot at some point, he used to be a petulant brat who would make annoying screams and bounce the ball way too much.


He can thank an excellent PR team for the massive improvement. The impersonations certainly helped too.

Hah, for many, those impersonations were the saving grace during those years... Fed openly called him a quitter of sorts at one point. Didnt like the constant retirements. Seems to be a good bloke though.

[poido123]

Hah, for many, those impersonations were the saving grace during those years... Fed openly called him a quitter of sorts at one point. Didnt like the constant retirements. Seems to be a good bloke though.


He is. Probably still filtering out the harsh upbringing he might of had growing up. Not sure on his father, but they tend to be pretty authoritarian and encourage mucho arrogance.


In my opinion, Joker is part of the best match I have ever watched and I have seen most of Agassi v Sampras v Courier matches in the 90s.

[ArbitraryWater]

He is. Probably still filtering out the harsh upbringing he might of had growing up. Not sure on his father, but they tend to be pretty authoritarian and encourage mucho arrogance.


In my opinion, Joker is part of the best match I have ever watched and I have seen most of Agassi v Sampras v Courier matches in the 90s.

I know what youre talking about.. ;)









:(

[poido123]

I know what youre talking about.. ;)









:(



:pimp:

[gigantes]

Its not just not having nerves of steel, he swings the other side of the spectrum.. but otherwise they have a few similarities (the 'new' Novak at least).. that moth comment is sarcastic, I hope?

Id love to believe stuff like that made Djokovic calm in the clutch... firing away return winners on Fed match points at the USO.
hey, is it thursday already??

anyway, you were close. the moth comment was meant to be facetious. i don't know if that's common humor in germany, but i have a liking for tongue-in-cheek / pretend-serious humor. i actually don't care for sarcasm very much because it's like ridiculing the other person. much better to poke fun at the overall situation, or sometimes just myself.

but yeah, djokes does show a fiery temper sometimes, but usually he seems to do it as a 'healthy release' thing, or even something to fire himself up over. mcenroe and connors used to be pretty masterful at that stuff, but of course were huge assholes about it. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

facetious, yes...

ill be home in like 17 hrs :D

[gigantes]

I loved your last point about the connection between hardship in Serbia, recognising true adversity.

So very true. I grew up playing with these two Serbian brothers who were playing juniors while I was a senior playing tournaments around the coast of Australia and they were mentally tough. Ruthless would be a better word to describe it, they used to rub it in every point they won and scream annoyingly as the kid down the other end would look to his parents and cringe. Their dad was constantly shadowing them and when they made silly shots or they weren't focused during practice, he would backhand them over the back of the head and chastise them.

Tomic's father is the same(Serbian ancestry). He would get hard on Bernie all the time, he even punched out a coach at one point who he disagreed with. Tomic once refused Lleyton Hewitt as a hitting partner, stating that he was not good enough for him.

Serbians can be very arrogant and hot headed.
thank you, sir.

actually that kind of behavior pisses me off a lot and makes me feel like setting the offender up for some primo humiliation.

fact is, i didn't get to know djokes very much until his impressions. sounds like i started at the right time. at this point i think he's one of the friendliest, most good-humored and kindest guys in the sport. reminds me a bit of agassi's transformation from being a narcissistic hotshot to super nice / humble guy, and also the most charitable athlete in the history of sports.

that's right-- a tennis player has given more to charity than any other athlete in modern history. :banana:

[bdreason]

I think Djoker is just marginally better than Murray at almost everything. Maybe Murray has slightly softer hands at the net and lately his serve has been on point. They are the two best defenders on tour, only Djoker turns defense into offense much better; probably the greatest of all-time. It's one of those situations where Djoker just needs to have an off night while Murray plays great. The problem is, like many have already mentioned, Djoker tends to play the big game/set/matches better than Murray as well.

[bdreason]

Wawrinka vs. DelPo.

Backhand vs. Forehand.


Could be good.

[plowking]

Del Potro is a physical beast. Shame he was injured throughout his career otherwise Murray probably doesn't enter the conversation with Fed, Novak and Nadal, and is instead replaced by him.

[jamal99]

In my opinion, Joker is part of the best match I have ever watched and I have seen most of Agassi v Sampras v Courier matches in the 90s.
Are you talking about match vs Federer at US Open 2011 if that's the right year? That one sure was epic. I don't like tennis very much so I didn't watch many matches, happy that I watched that one tho...

[poido123]

Tie break.


Good match so far.

[poido123]

Are you talking about match vs Federer at US Open 2011 if that's the right year? That one sure was epic. I don't like tennis very much so I didn't watch many matches, happy that I watched that one tho...



Nadal v Joker Australian Open final 2012



5 Hours and 53 minutes.

[jamal99]

Nadal v Joker Australian Open final 2012



5 Hours and 53 minutes.
Ohh, I remember that, but unfortunately I didn't watch it.

[bdreason]

Wawrinka just abused DelPo's backhand. The top players are going to attack DelPo on that side consistently. When he runs around to hit the forehand, he leaves the court wide open. Wawrinka figured him out early.

[Jasi]

Wow totally didnt expect Nishi to beat Murray when the latter has the chance to make it to the top of the Atp race.
Curious to see if Nishi can put up a fight with Stan too who seems to have clicked during this tournament.

[dankok8]

I loved your last point about the connection between hardship in Serbia, recognising true adversity.

So very true. I grew up playing with these two Serbian brothers who were playing juniors while I was a senior playing tournaments around the coast of Australia and they were mentally tough. Ruthless would be a better word to describe it, they used to rub it in every point they won and scream annoyingly as the kid down the other end would look to his parents and cringe. Their dad was constantly shadowing them and when they made silly shots or they weren't focused during practice, he would backhand them over the back of the head and chastise them.

Tomic's father is the same(Serbian ancestry). He would get hard on Bernie all the time, he even punched out a coach at one point who he disagreed with. Tomic once refused Lleyton Hewitt as a hitting partner, stating that he was not good enough for him.

Serbians can be very arrogant and hot headed.

Tomic is actually of Croatian background but your point stands.

Both Wawrinka and Nishikori have a great chance to win this tournament. Monfils could surprise too as he's in good form. I hope Djoker can pull it off as the favorite but it won't be easy at all.

[bdreason]

Serena just got smoked in the 1st set. Not sure I've ever seen her lose a 1st set that fast. If Pliskova wins this tourney I'm gonna have to start betting on Tennis.

[Trollsmasher]

btfo
t
f
o

take that shemale away, burgers:lol

[bigkingsfan]

White girl has a nice figure and deserves to win. :banana:

[dankok8]

Pliskova is a really talented player. Excellent serve, strong forehand, and excellent returner. She is really bad in crunch time though. She completely froze the other night against Venus and today in the tiebreak she choked and then luckily Serena choked back to give it away. If Pliskova builds more confidence and gets more steady she can be #1 in the world though. I really believe that.

[bdreason]

Caroline trying moonballs again against Kerber to try and take some power out of her return. That's not gonna work anymore.

[ArbitraryWater]

Angie is just the best... Love her so much.

[dude77]

Pliskova is a really talented player. Excellent serve, strong forehand, and excellent returner. She is really bad in crunch time though. She completely froze the other night against Venus and today in the tiebreak she choked and then luckily Serena choked back to give it away. If Pliskova builds more confidence and gets more steady she can be #1 in the world though. I really believe that.

she sure can .. she has a chance at greatness to be honest .. she has youth on her side(24) but old enough to have the physical maturity already .. I also like

that serve is wicked .. one of the only serves I've seen that matches or surpasses serena's .. it's consistently powerful and consistently getting aces .. I also like that she seems to be able to maintain a poker face and doesn't get too high or low which is a good sign of where she is mentally .. the only question is does she have the fire and dedication that it takes .. .. that's what separates the decent players from players like serena

[dude77]

I like kerber but I think pliskova is going to lay another smackdown on her

[ArbitraryWater]

Monfils is ridiculous right now... doesnt even want to play :wtf:

[dude77]

now I realize why the other semifinal was scheduled for 4:30 lol they knew this one would be quick

[ArbitraryWater]

This is a joke

Crowd booing Monfils

[ArbitraryWater]

Uh if Monfils wins this will go down as like one of the greatest days of my life

i agree :oldlol:

BTW Djokovic playing up injuries as soon as he loses a couple of games is still alive and really annoying

[bdreason]

Some of these rules need to be addressed. I'm fine with calling for a trainer if you get injured, but these guys are calling for trainers to get rests and back massages. The time between points needs to be regulated more strictly as well. I don't want to go as far as having a shot lock, but the chair umpire should have a timer and when players exceed the time they need to warned and penalized more frequently.

[K Xerxes]

Possibly the worst grand slam in recent memory, fitting for the worst grand slam there is. Djokovic has practically sleep walked to the final, and looks injured or just awfully out of shape. Monfils is an embarrassment to the sport.

It doesn't look good for Djokovic, unless Wawrinka or Nishikori run themselves to the ground in their semi. Djokovic doesn't look fully fit, but stranger things have happened with him.

[gigantes]

Uh if Monfils wins this will go down as like one of the greatest days of my life

i agree :oldlol:

BTW Djokovic playing up injuries as soon as he loses a couple of games is still alive and really annoying
comments like these are so childish and silly.

the only person i'm okay seeing losing is serena, because she's been such a megab-tch across the years. but the big four are all quite gentlemanly, and most players outside of krygios and tomic act professionally outside of the occasional meltdown (understandable in sports).

taking schadenfreude in a good person losing? it just makes you look like a loser IMO.

also, djokes clearly had some significant physical problems this open, so the idea that he rapidly healed with a little rest, and is now 'faking it' or something makes you look like a different species of freak.

nadal and djokes are chronically slow players, so none of this should be news, either.

[ArbitraryWater]

comments like these are so childish and silly.

the only person i'm okay seeing losing is serena, because she's been such a megab-tch across the years. but the big four are all quite gentlemanly, and most players outside of krygios and tomic act professionally outside of the occasional meltdown (understandable in sports).

taking schadenfreude in a good person losing? it just makes you look like a loser IMO.

also, djokes clearly had some significant physical problems this open, so the idea that he rapidly healed with a little rest, and is now 'faking it' or something makes you look like a different species of freak.

nadal and djokes are chronically slow players, so none of this should be news, either.

Dude reddit rubbed off on me.. Djoker is just such a disliked player, I mean, look


https://i.gyazo.com/9cc5355cadff9897a3595908936e6f97.png

He won 6-3, 6-2, then he lost a couple of games and gets a massage... ehh.

[poido123]

Some of these rules need to be addressed. I'm fine with calling for a trainer if you get injured, but these guys are calling for trainers to get rests and back massages. The time between points needs to be regulated more strictly as well. I don't want to go as far as having a shot lock, but the chair umpire should have a timer and when players exceed the time they need to warned and penalized more frequently.


I don't think a player should get any medical treatment.


Part of the challenge of a long tournament is to survive physically and try and minimise the time you are on the court.


If your body doesn't hold up, too bad. You should not be recieving any advantages and we all know that players, especially the women like to use it to their advantage.

[bdreason]

Problem is there's a lot of money on the line. Fans pay big bucks for tickets. Sponsors pay big bucks for advertising. Imagine if a basketball player twisted his ankle and they just called the game. Problem is the players just abuse the medical time-out rule.

I think the real issue with the men's game is the length of 5-setters in the modern, physical, baseline-oriented game. Guys should not be playing professional level Tennis for 5 straight hours. These type of matches destroy your body. I'd like to see the Men's tour make the 5th set a tie-breaker format. They've been looking for ways to shorten matches, so I think it's something we could realistically see in the future.

[bdreason]

Wawrinka up 2-sets-to-1 over Kei. I think Wawrinka has a legit chance at beating Djoker in the final. He's already beaten him in 2 Major finals I believe.


I wonder what the fewest sets played to win a Major is? I'm sure Rafa has probably done it in 21 sets at the French. I think Djoker is currently at 13 sets played?

[ArbitraryWater]

Wawrinka up 2-sets-to-1 over Kei. I think Wawrinka has a legit chance at beating Djoker in the final. He's already beaten him in 2 Major finals I believe.


I wonder what the fewest sets played to win a Major is? I'm sure Rafa has probably done it in 21 sets at the French. I think Djoker is currently at 13 sets played?

Rafa did that twice yea.. and two sets short of 4 times :lol

Wawrinka has beaten Djokovic in one Slam final, the other was a QF.

Anyway, he's unbeaten in Slam finals (2-0 of course), and actually on a 10-match winning streak in FINALS... of course, its been quite some time since his last final, but it just generally shows, when he's on, he usually wins... although I have to say, Im surprised he's made it this far. He isnt playing as well as he did in his two slam winning runs, but hell, Djokovic isnt either, so yes he has a shot.

[gigantes]

Problem is there's a lot of money on the line. Fans pay big bucks for tickets. Sponsors pay big bucks for advertising. Imagine if a basketball player twisted his ankle and they just called the game. Problem is the players just abuse the medical time-out rule.

I think the real issue with the men's game is the length of 5-setters in the modern, physical, baseline-oriented game. Guys should not be playing professional level Tennis for 5 straight hours. These type of matches destroy your body. I'd like to see the Men's tour make the 5th set a tie-breaker format. They've been looking for ways to shorten matches, so I think it's something we could realistically see in the future.
vert insightful post that cuts to the heart of things IMO.


Wawrinka up 2-sets-to-1 over Kei. I think Wawrinka has a legit chance at beating Djoker in the final. He's already beaten him in 2 Major finals I believe.

as a djokovite, i am more terrified of stan than ever before. i mean, his ability to crush angles with blazingly hot shots is some serious super-hero shit.





I wonder what the fewest sets played to win a Major is? I'm sure Rafa has probably done it in 21 sets at the French. I think Djoker is currently at 13 sets played, maybe?

[gigantes]

Dude reddit rubbed off on me.. Djoker is just such a disliked player, I mean, look


https://i.gyazo.com/9cc5355cadff9897a3595908936e6f97.png

He won 6-3, 6-2, then he lost a couple of games and gets a massage... ehh.
haha, i can understand that. grinders get the least love.

TBH i'm very proud of all the things djokes accomplished, but what made me really fall in love way before all of that were his impressions, being such a survivor, his quirkiness, his honesty, etc.

[poido123]

Problem is there's a lot of money on the line. Fans pay big bucks for tickets. Sponsors pay big bucks for advertising. Imagine if a basketball player twisted his ankle and they just called the game. Problem is the players just abuse the medical time-out rule.

I think the real issue with the men's game is the length of 5-setters in the modern, physical, baseline-oriented game. Guys should not be playing professional level Tennis for 5 straight hours. These type of matches destroy your body. I'd like to see the Men's tour make the 5th set a tie-breaker format. They've been looking for ways to shorten matches, so I think it's something we could realistically see in the future.


If they could do it in the 80's/90's they can do it now. Players have just gotten softer.


However, baseline rallies have gotten more strenuous with the improved racquets that generate more power.


I'm not a huge fan of the 3 set grand slam, but I can understand a change. Maybe they could play the first 4 rounds best of 3 and the quarter finals onwards best of 5.

[dude77]

bring it home stan !

[bdreason]

Great 1st set. Some nice shots and great rallies. Kerber has become an unbelievable athlete.

[bdreason]

If they could do it in the 80's/90's they can do it now. Players have just gotten softer.


However, baseline rallies have gotten more strenuous with the improved racquets that generate more power.


I'm not a huge fan of the 3 set grand slam, but I can understand a change. Maybe they could play the first 4 rounds best of 3 and the quarter finals onwards best of 5.



They can do it now, but why? Does it really take 5 sets to determine who the best player is? At some point, it's no longer a test of Tennis skill, but a test of who can play 4-5 hours without burning out or getting hurt. I don't want Tennis to become an Iron Man competition, and with how defensive the game has become, I fear that's what it's turned into.

Pretty much every major sport, at least in America, is trying to shorten games because people's attention spans are so short these days. I have no doubt that the ATP/WTA will eventually find a way to shorten Major matches. I know they've already experienced with a different, quicker format in exhibition matches. Tennis Australia has a new format called Fast4, where there are various rule changes to shorten the match. I personally think their format is a bit extreme, but some of the ideas are good.

[ArbitraryWater]

Kerber crowns her year with 2 Grand Slams, a Wimbledon Final, Olympic Silver, and the pretty much guaranteed YE #1.

Angie :D

[gigantes]

Kerber crowns her year with 2 Grand Slams, a Wimbledon Final, Olympic Silver, and the pretty much guaranteed YE #1.
pretty cool!

so when's the last time a woman other than serena had that amount of success in one year? seems like it's been quite awhile...

[Trollsmasher]

what a fvcking choke

how many of these running shots after the a high return on the middle can you screw up and still keep doing the same thing

[ArbitraryWater]

pretty cool!

so when's the last time a woman other than serena had that amount of success in one year? seems like it's been quite awhile...

probably not done in the last decade

Well, exactly 10 years ago actually with Henin in '07 I think, winning the FO/USO combo.

Then Clijsters won the '10 USO/'11 AO consecutively, but yea not one calendar year where she had that success.

[poido123]

They can do it now, but why? Does it really take 5 sets to determine who the best player is? At some point, it's no longer a test of Tennis skill, but a test of who can play 4-5 hours without burning out or getting hurt. I don't want Tennis to become an Iron Man competition, and with how defensive the game has become, I fear that's what it's turned into.

Pretty much every major sport, at least in America, is trying to shorten games because people's attention spans are so short these days. I have no doubt that the ATP/WTA will eventually find a way to shorten Major matches. I know they've already experienced with a different, quicker format in exhibition matches. Tennis Australia has a new format called Fast4, where there are various rule changes to shorten the match. I personally think their format is a bit extreme, but some of the ideas are good.



Well I think some good players stumble out of the gates slowly in some matches.


a slow start and your two sets down and out.


you don't want your top players/seeds out early. But I can see that it would help players keep away from injury during big tournaments.


Nobody wants to come see a player who is playing injured and retires early from time on court exhaustion/wear and tare.

[plowking]

i agree :oldlol:

BTW Djokovic playing up injuries as soon as he loses a couple of games is still alive and really annoying

Hilarious how much you actually despise someone you haven't met. For all the complaining you do about people calling you young on here, it really shows your lack of grip on reality and just general lack of self awareness. You're just a really immature kid. :oldlol:

Djokovic>>>>Nadal. :oldlol:

[poido123]

Hilarious how much you actually despise someone you haven't met. For all the complaining you do about people calling you young on here, it really shows your lack of grip on reality and just general lack of self awareness. You're just a really immature kid. :oldlol:

Djokovic>>>>Nadal. :oldlol:


Peak for peak?

No. Nadal beats Joker at both their best.


Reminds me how we can't agree who was better between Jordan and Lebron.


:roll:

[kurple]

Is there anyone that think LBJ is better than MJ?

[plowking]

Peak for peak?

No. Nadal beats Joker at both their best.


Reminds me how we can't agree who was better between Jordan and Lebron.


:roll:

Difference is raw stats and advanced stats tell us Jordan and Bron are neck and neck. All the stats, head to heads and tournament victories go Djokovic's way aside from GS titles. Even that he will more than likely pass him on.

[ArbitraryWater]

Hilarious how much you actually despise someone you haven't met. For all the complaining you do about people calling you young on here, it really shows your lack of grip on reality and just general lack of self awareness. You're just a really immature kid. :oldlol:

Djokovic>>>>Nadal. :oldlol:

lol, dude, you let a youngin like me get your panties in such a twist? :lol


Peak for peak?

No. Nadal beats Joker at both their best.


Reminds me how we can't agree who was better between Jordan and Lebron.


:roll:

I mean, there's a reason Nadal leads Djokovic 9-4 H2H at Grand Slams... and one of those losses came with Nadal as a shell of his former self (2015). Its because when they were both healthy enough to meet deep into a Grand Slam, Nadal was the superior in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014.... Its not that close.

[dankok8]

lol, dude, you let a youngin like me get your panties in such a twist? :lol



I mean, there's a reason Nadal leads Djokovic 9-4 H2H at Grand Slams... and one of those losses came with Nadal as a shell of his former self (2015). Its because when they were both healthy enough to meet deep into a Grand Slam, Nadal was the superior in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014.... Its not that close.

9-4 but only 3-3 outside of clay and since 2011 Djokovic won three out of four. Again your H2H doesn't tell the whole story.

Nadal is one year older than Djoker and yet their H2H is 26-23 in favor of Djokovic and likely to get worse for Nadal if they meet again.

[plowking]

9-4 but only 3-3 outside of clay and since 2011 Djokovic won three out of four. Again your H2H doesn't tell the whole story.

Nadal is one year older than Djoker and yet their H2H is 26-23 in favor of Djokovic and likely to get worse for Nadal if they meet again.

Injuries doe bro!

But when Djoker is injured he is playing them up and faking as AW would say. It is only a valid excuse when his favorite player is going through it. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

9-4 but only 3-3 outside of clay and since 2011 Djokovic won three out of four. Again your H2H doesn't tell the whole story.

Nadal is one year older than Djoker and yet their H2H is 26-23 in favor of Djokovic and likely to get worse for Nadal if they meet again.

How is 3-3 off clay with Rafa leading 6-1 on clay a good argument for Djokovic? :biggums:

Lol

Thx for putting that into 'context'

[dankok8]

How is 3-3 off clay with Rafa leading 6-1 on clay a good argument for Djokovic? :biggums:

Lol

Thx for putting that into 'context'

Novak and Rafa played a disproportionately large number of matches on clay. Over half their meetings 7/13 were at the FO even though there is four slams a year. If Rafa made more hard court and grass finals the H2H record would be much more even.

You are penalizing Roger and Djoker for making a lot of FO finals and losing to Rafa. And according to you that makes more sense than penalizing Rafa for not making even making hard court finals in the first place. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

FINALS HYPE

Stan was asked the most dck question ever :wtf:

https://twitter.com/CarlBialik/status/773941746728366084

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr1nEKLW8AE-JRo.jpg

That guy trying to fck with his head?? Wtf kind of journalism is that

[dude77]

that was uncalled for lol .. and right before a final :facepalm

[ArbitraryWater]

that was uncalled for lol .. and right before a final :facepalm

right? And Stan has suffered from depression before, and this dude wants to mindfck him hours before the final :biggums:

what a ****

[Smoke117]

LOL what a dick...I love it.

[bdreason]

What's ironic is AW tries to criticize Fed and Djoker the same way his boy LeBron gets criticized. He tries to punish them for making Finals against Rafa on clay, when Rafa couldn't even make the Finals at the other 3 Majors.

Rafa should be in his prime right now... guy is still ranked lower than 36 year old Federer. :oldlol:

[ArbitraryWater]

What's ironic is AW tries to criticize Fed and Djoker the same way his boy LeBron gets criticized. He tries to punish them for making Finals against Rafa on clay, when Rafa couldn't even make the Finals at the other 3 Majors.

Rafa should be in his prime right now... guy is still ranked lower than 36 year old Federer. :oldlol:

Im not punishing anyone, the great thing about the individual sport is, that when both meet in a final, we just see who's better... (obviously need the totality of the H2H), leave it to bdreason to compare an individual sport to a team sport lol

30 year olds should be in their prime? :biggums:

23-27 are the prime years dude

[Smoke117]

Stan really sloppy here early on.

[bdreason]

Just the other day you argued that players primes were shifting later in the modern era. You used it as an argument against Fed's amazing longevity. The amount of flip-flopping is unbelievable. Djoker and Murray are less than a year younger than your boy and they are in peak form.


23-27 are prime years? I guess that means Federer didn't lose to Nadal or Djoker in a (non-clay) Major until he was out of his prime. GOAT gonna GOAT. :bowdown:

[ArbitraryWater]

^
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CqWCiLdW8AAcZwB.jpg

Stan starting off slow again

[bdreason]

Stanimal ties it up at a set a piece. Awesome match so far.

[Smoke117]

One set a piece...now we got a match.

[ArbitraryWater]

Stan is a beast in crunch time, let's see if his legs hold up though.

[imdaman99]

Can't pretend like I've been watching this match but Stan breaks him to win the 3rd set and take a 2 sets to 1 lead? :eek:

If there is 1 guy who can mentally withstand Djoker, it's him. Once this Colts game is over, I'm gonna switch to it.

[bdreason]

These medical timeouts. :facepalm


You shouldn't be able to take a 15 minute break to get a blister on your toe taped.

[Milbuck]

Stan is so clutch. Would've been really pissed if Djok got that break after that bullshit

How do you even get an MTO for a freaking toe blister on your opponent's serve? Idk how they don't enforce that, or maybe i'm forgetting the rules

[Milbuck]

STANIMALLL

[imdaman99]

Stan :applause: Is he gonna beat Djoker at Wimbledon next year to complete the Djoko and career slam? :eek:

[ArbitraryWater]

STANIMAL overcame the antics :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Bossed Djokovic in the clutch.. and made me some $ :applause:

[ArbitraryWater]

Stan is so clutch. Would've been really pissed if Djok got that break after that bullshit

How do you even get an MTO for a freaking toe blister on your opponent's serve? Idk how they don't enforce that, or maybe i'm forgetting the rules

Dude maybe had a cramp and overall got 11 minutes of rest for a mini blister on his toe nail.. that was disgusting, and Stan made it out of the next service game, never expected it.. :bowdown:

[ArbitraryWater]

Stan is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals and 11/11 in his last 11 finals, also fended off 14/17 BP's tonight

[bdreason]

I like Djoker, but he needs to stop with the excuses. Calling for a medical timeout for a blistered toe is not acceptable. I guarantee you ever player on tour has blistered feet. And after the match talking about how he wasn't even sure if he was going to play this tournament... just stop. The truth is, Wawrinka is one of the only guys on tour who can hit Djoker off the court, and that's exactly what he did. There's no shame in that, but don't start with the injury excuses after the match is lost.

[gigantes]

this is what i was worried about and talked about, a day ago.

wawrinka is a f-cking beast. i don't think i've ever seen someone in tennis able to hit such crushing instant winners across the court, except for delpo, who's more of a one-sided player.

speaking as a huge djokes fan, this really hurts, and yet... it would also have been kind of embarrassing to be nursing all his injuries and getting such an easy road to the finals, then winning. because that's NOT why i love the djoker.

as a pure tennis fan, i love the fact that stan won. dude is an awesome player IMO, and isn't it now the BIG FIVE!?

[dankok8]

To be perfectly fair, Novak could have won this match if he could capitalize on his break chances. It was seemingly every Wawrinka game that Djoker had a break point or a few. He was anti-clutch in this match more than Wawrinka was clutch. As for his physical state, he looked far from 100% but that's not an excuse. You lost injured. You still lost...

[Jasi]

Well it seems that I was right when I said that Nole could have used some actual challenge before the final.
Happy for Stan, he deserves it.

So it's two consecutive Grand Slams that Djokovic loses. First signs of an inevitable decline, or just a rest along the shiny path of his prime?

[gigantes]

So it's two consecutive Grand Slam finals that Djokovic loses. First signs of an inevitable decline, or just a rest along the shiny path of his prime?
oh, for god's sake...

do you remember the gaggle of geese a mere half a year ago on ISH who claimed that nole was going to average 3/4 majors for the next 4-5 years? AND was on glorious track to be the greatest sports person ever?

even as a fellow djokovite, nothing that i could say would dissuade them. therefore, my response to you bunch of nole supporters: PISS OFF, YOU PITIFUL BUNCH OF WANKERS.

like, even as a person who considers novak my dude, you people find so many oddball reasons to embarrass yourselves. i don't remember the fed / rafa people going all apey like that.

[Jasi]

oh, for god's sake...

do you remember the gaggle of geese a mere half a year ago on ISH who claimed that nole was going to average 3/4 majors for the next 4-5 years? AND was on glorious track to be the greatest sports person ever?

even as a fellow djokovite, nothing that i could say would dissuade them. therefore, my response to you bunch of nole supporters: PISS OFF, YOU PITIFUL BUNCH OF WANKERS.

like, even as a person who considers novak my dude, you people find so many oddball reasons to embarrass yourselves. i don't remember the fed / rafa people going all apey like that.

Who are you even talking to? :lol
I am a Federerian...

As far as I remember there is no die-hard Djokovic fan except from Maga_1 who has not been writing forever now.

[gigantes]

Who are you even talking to? :lol
I am a Federerian...

As far as I remember there is no die-hard Djokovic fan except from Maga_1 who has not been writing forever now.
really?

in that case, my apologies. but i could have sworn there was a huge collection of hopeless dumbasses around the time of the french open who were claiming that nole was going to be the greatest ever. (google being thine friend)

as a djokovic fan, i sincerely hope that becomes true, but as a tennis fan, on behalf of fed, rafa and laver-- how about you bunch of tired slackers go F-CK YOURSELVES?

[Jasi]

really?

in that case, my apologies. but i could have sworn there was a huge collection of hopeless dumbasses around the time of the french open who were claiming that nole was going to be the greatest ever. (google being thine friend)

as a djokovic fan, i sincerely hope that becomes true, but as a tennis fan, on behalf of fed, rafa and laver-- how about you bunch of tired slackers go F-CK YOURSELVES?

It might be, I am not good at remembering usernames unless they write regularly. We could do some type of poll in the main tennis thread so everyone can declare their support :D

[ArbitraryWater]

To be perfectly fair, Novak could have won this match if he could capitalize on his break chances. It was seemingly every Wawrinka game that Djoker had a break point or a few. He was anti-clutch in this match more than Wawrinka was clutch. As for his physical state, he looked far from 100% but that's not an excuse. You lost injured. You still lost...

Djokovic looked fine physically until the end, Wawrinka post match said he was cramping and in a lot of pain, but he hid it...

Also, Djokovic was like the epitome of anti clutch today :wtf: not just 3/17 on BP's, but he didn't hold a single game in which Wawrinka had a BP in.

[gigantes]

Djokovic looked fine physically until the end...
thank GOD we've been blessed to have novak djokovic' personal doctor reporting to us ISHiots every step of the way.

first novak is completely fine, then he's faking something for unknown reasons, then he stopped pretending, then he's back to pretending in order to get a quick massage, and finally he's 100% healthy just in time to be beaten soundly by stan.

arbitrary, my man, whoever named you did very well. :cheers:

[ArbitraryWater]

thank GOD we've been blessed to have novak djokovic' personal doctor reporting to us ISHiots every step of the way.

first novak is completely fine, then he's faking something for unknown reasons, then he stopped pretending, then he's back to pretending in order to get a quick massage, and finally he's 100% healthy just in time to be beaten soundly by stan.

arbitrary, my man, whoever named you did very well. :cheers:

So now you want to say Novak was off physically for the whole match? :oldlol: We saw what the doc was working on :facepalm

Wawrinka cramped up like Djokovic did, but he knew how to hide it... Djokovic getting two MDT's for his toe nail was disgraceful, period. The timing of it was once again ridiculous.

Why are you still so off put by the idea that Novak loves to chip in a couple of MDT's the moment he loses a few games / momentum?

[gigantes]

oh god, it's especially rich hearing all that from a rafa fan.

i notice that many others here have pointed out the irony of that, and yet it always seems to slide off your attention-span like water off a duck's back.

and somehow YOU'RE our best hope of trying to equate rafa with fed...?

mate, have you ever leaned back and listened to the level of nonsense spewing out your mouth?

[ArbitraryWater]

You're gonna accuse Rafa of acting, one of the biggest fighters this game has ever seen? :biggums:

This mofo played an entire tournament with this:

http://i.imgur.com/1QB736s.jpg

and made the final (only taking one MTO for the blister), and then fought through that final with a blister and back spasms...

hes on a whole nother level of pain tolerance and sportsmanship to Novak.

But dont take it from me.. take it from Roger, we know Rafa/Roger have the upmost respect for each other.

Yet Roger has called Novak's antics out before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S93YvQiCpE


he's not the guy who's never given up in his career, so thats kind of disappointing to see, when you got two top guys playing each other, and you give up, I mean he gave up against me in Monaco last year, because of a sore throat, those are the kind of things you wonder about

"I think Andy pushed him there, he probably would have run away anyway with the match so, Andy completely deserved the match"

In 2006 he called Djokovic a 'joke'.
http://www.tennisplanet.me/blog/2013/07/federer-called-djokovic-a-joke-who-is-freaking-surprised.html


To end this, as a long time tennis fan its sad to see Djokovic still keeping up the antics...

the timing of last night's timeouts were once again absolutely ridiculous, and completely abused the rules.

[gigantes]

@arbitrary water,
i have a simple and clear message for you if you're accusing djokes of gaming the system more than rafa or any other player:

that is, you can go f-ck yourself.

[ArbitraryWater]

@arbitrary water,
i have a simple and clear message for you if you're accusing djokes of gaming the system more than rafa or any other player:

that is, you can go f-ck yourself.

.. your bias for Djoker is clouding your judgement here.

I know youre the type that loves a good riddle...

here is one for you, why did Djoker take off both shoes at the time out?

'injuries' such as toe nails happen in every sport, they never even get reported...

Djoker took off both shoes because he didnt know which foot looked worse. Only one was eventually operated on. Once both were off and he had a look at them, he pointed towards the left one since it looked worse. Use your brain here for a second, please.

I know you like to read reddit, the complaints there or on youtube are the same... I know you dont want to face these facts though since they dont go in line with your ideal image of Djoker, understandable since you're a fan.

[Mr Feeny]

You're gonna accuse Rafa of acting, one of the biggest fighters this game has ever seen? :biggums:

This mofo played an entire tournament with this:

http://i.imgur.com/1QB736s.jpg

and made the final (only taking one MTO for the blister), and then fought through that final with a blister and back spasms...

hes on a whole nother level of pain tolerance and sportsmanship to Novak.

But dont take it from me.. take it from Roger, we know Rafa/Roger have the upmost respect for each other.

Yet Roger has called Novak's antics out before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S93YvQiCpE



"I think Andy pushed him there, he probably would have run away anyway with the match so, Andy completely deserved the match"

In 2006 he called Djokovic a 'joke'.
http://www.tennisplanet.me/blog/2013/07/federer-called-djokovic-a-joke-who-is-freaking-surprised.html


To end this, as a long time tennis fan its sad to see Djokovic still keeping up the antics...

the timing of last night's timeouts were once again absolutely ridiculous, and completely abused the rules.

Rafa is just as pathetic as Novak when it comes to MTO's and cheating. Let's not beat around the bush here. I know you're a Rafa fan but everyone else is doing nothing but laugh at a nadal fan complaining about another player faking injuries or abusing MTO's

[Mr Feeny]

.. your bias for Djoker is clouding your judgement here.

I know youre the type that loves a good riddle...

here is one for you, why did Djoker take off both shoes at the time out?

'injuries' such as toe nails happen in every sport, they never even get reported...

Djoker took off both shoes because he didnt know which foot looked worse. Only one was eventually operated on. Once both were off and he had a look at them, he pointed towards the left one since it looked worse. Use your brain here for a second, please.

I know you like to read reddit, the complaints there or on youtube are the same... I know you dont want to face these facts though since they dont go in line with your ideal image of Djoker, understandable since you're a fan.

You haven't answered his statement. Djokovic definitely did engage in gaming last night. The whole world saw it and he got criticism all over social media for it. But he doesn't do it more than nadal. Nobody does. Which is his point.

[ArbitraryWater]

You haven't answered his statement. Djokovic definitely did engage in gaming last night. The whole world saw it and he got criticism all over social media for it. But he doesn't do it more than nadal. Nobody does. Which is his point.

Gigantes actually thinks Djoker is clean...

meanwhile NYTimes comments:


A great match that brought out the best in Wawrinka. Here's hoping that he will complete the calendar grand slam.

They say adversity reveals character. Down a set and a break, the two medical timeouts smack more of gamesmanship than true grit and character that we would expect of a number one ranked player. It was bush league, not championship material. It brought back memories of a young, immature Djokovic resorting to his bag of tricks to win any way possible. He lost more than a grand slam final today. He lost the respect of many old timers.

This also highlights why we need stronger chair umpires, those who will call the players out when they consistently take too much time between points and unfairly game the timeouts to their advantage. The officiating today was inconsistent at best. 34 Likes


Another old timer thoroughly agrees Joker's injury time outs are best understood as intended to interrupt Stanimal's momentum. A form of cheating. I vote to take a giant step into the past when the rule was "play shall be continuous". If you couldn't continue, you defaulted 14 Likes

Anyway, it still doesnt stand true, I know you hate Rafa, but Rafa doesnt resort to these tricks. People actually suggested that Rafa tanked the '14 AO final against Wawrinka, because they didnt want to believe he was physically impeded... you remember him hitting serves at a 70-80 speed.. I know you have your mind set on this but dude needed shots and pain killers to play at 60%...

compare it to a little blood on toe nails, which literally every player has, and was not an "acute" medical condition.

edit: I just saw you said Nadal still resorts to tricks more than anyone.... lol. Youre not worth discussing this with. And even if you actually believe that, you and gigantes would rather shift the discussion from djoker, who has a history of this, and unlike Rafa, has actually been called out on it from FELLOW PLAYERS..

Roddick and Fed went in on Djoker for it, lol.