Support NeoGAF

[John Dunbar]

I don't understand this line of reasoning. Are you expecting an all-time great to forget how to play tennis once they reach their 30s or something? Agassi was No. 2 at 33. Just like Connors, Rosewall, etc. It's not a coincidence that the best of the best managed to stay at the top of the rankings once they reached their mid-30s.

they don't forget how to play but that doesn't mean their bodies magically stop aging. i simply maintain that the field has opened up for djokovic like the red sea for moses. nadal has been a non-entity outside clay for a good year now, murray only recovered some of his form late last year, and all the "young guns" are shooting blanks. federer is still certainly capable of producing the kind of tennis that wins tournaments in patches, but i have very little doubt that in his current form he will start slipping down in the rankings. simply too liable to upsets at the moment.

as sad as it is, berdych is pretty much the only top player outside djokovic to reach anything that might be called peak form.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Fabio is in Rafa's head.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Fabio is in Rafa's head.

He beat Nadal in straights? Damn. The French Open is going to be interesting.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Only the second player ever to take 4 consecutive sets from Nadal on clay. Now has the same amount of career wins on clay against Nadal as Federer's entire career.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Only the second player ever to take 4 consecutive sets from Nadal on clay. Now has the same amount of career wins on clay against Nadal as Federer's entire career.

Nadal better hope he doesn't play Fognini in an early round at the French

 

[Niraj]

He beat Nadal in straights? Damn. The French Open is going to be interesting.

We say that every year.

 

[perfectchaos007]

We say that every year.

Oh I know. He'll look unbeatable once the French rolls around. He's giving the field another false sense of security right now.

 

[John Dunbar]

fognini to win the french, there can really be no other result.

 

[Niraj]

They'll stack Nadal's section with his Spanish flunkies to ensure that he'll at least make the quarters. Assuming he's seeded fifth for the French, Federer will be his quarterfinal opponent and lose in four sets by hitting around 50-60 unforced errors even though Nadal is doing nothing special.

 

[Diamond]

fognini to win the french, there can really be no other result.

I'd sign for a Fognini-Klizan final.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

fognini to win the french, there can really be no other result.

After Soderling's choke, even if Fognini did beat Nadal I wouldn't count on it. He'd probably lose to Murray in the final, marking the start of the apocalypse and the ushering in the end of times.

 

[Niraj]

Has Murray even made a clay final in his career?

 

[FortuneFaded]

fognini to win the french, there can really be no other result.

Not reliable enough to win all 7 rounds.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Has Murray even made a clay final in his career?

No, but in fairness he's never played a clay 250 or 500 since 2008. He's reached the RG SF twice and the SF of numerous clay Masters and pushed Djokovic pretty good in the 2011 Rome SF (amazing match), so I don't think he's as terrible on the surface as some claim; he's just not as good as his other surfaces. Still probably a top eight clay courter right now, after, in no particular order, Djokovic, Nadal, Ferrer, Federer, Berdych, Nishikori, Wawrinka.

 

[MIMIC]

Nadal lost AGAIN? To Fognini? lol Yikes

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Federer will beat Fognini and lose to Nadal in the quarters, and we will all wonder what could've been.

 

[Ricker]

Bouchard is not the only one having problems on the womens side...Sharapova,and Kvitova just got eliminated in the second round in Stuggart, Ivanovic in the first,Lisicki got double bageled yesterday,not saying Genie is playing well but she grabs more attention because of her ''gates'' stuff lol...although I noticed she hasn't tweeted in 3 weeks.

 

[szaromir]

they don't forget how to play but that doesn't mean their bodies magically stop aging. i simply maintain that the field has opened up for djokovic like the red sea for moses. nadal has been a non-entity outside clay for a good year now, murray only recovered some of his form late last year, and all the "young guns" are shooting blanks. federer is still certainly capable of producing the kind of tennis that wins tournaments in patches, but i have very little doubt that in his current form he will start slipping down in the rankings. simply too liable to upsets at the moment.

as sad as it is, berdych is pretty much the only top player outside djokovic to reach anything that might be called peak form.

If Djokovic gets to #17 he'll be the greatest in my book, no weak era excuses or anything since staying the best across many many years is a huge challenge even if your main rivals decline prematurely. That said, I think the odds of winning almost everything will suddenly stop working in Djokovic's favor at some point, just like they did for Federer (around 2010-2011) and Nadal (much more rapidly in the last 12 months). Just think about the last US Summer when he lost to Tsonga, Robredo and Nishikori. If his level just drops ever so slightly, we'll see periods like that more often even if his great rivals won't be there to stop him anymore.
Of course, he's not even halfway there to #17 and 28 already, and if players of the calibre of Cilic or Wawrinka continue to steal his spotlight, I don't really see it happening in any case.

 

[ghstwrld]

 

[LuuKyK]

lol Maria flopping in her home in the first round. Kerber played out of her mind though. Deserved win.

Honestly its a wonder how Maria is such a consistent and good player considering how bad she moves on court. She is naturally not a good mover (height and body formation) but she works so hard on that that it pays off. I mean its not the first time she stumbles on clay and I remember her falling so many times on Wimbledon too.

 

[Niraj]

That's a good win for Woz.

Surprised at Andujar beating Ferrer.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Hey if Hyeon Chung wins the Savannah finals tomorrow, I think he'll crack the top 100.

 

[miserable]

i was looking at an article on a spanish site which said that this year is Nadal's worst 1st quarter in the last 10 years...would he benefit from changing his coach at this point? i know he's not going to because family, but what do you guys think?

 

[Ricker]

Two championships in a row for Kerber...not bad at all.

 

[LuuKyK]

Two championships in a row for Kerber...not bad at all.

She is back to playing great tennis. Good to see, I love her play style.

 

[Confrontation]

She is back to playing great tennis. Good to see, I love her play style.

Shame she's a horrible person on the court though.

 

[LuuKyK]

Shame she's a horrible person on the court though.

In what way?

 

[Confrontation]

In what way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4b4otl-c0

Be sure to watch until she walks up to the net. Absolutely disgusting and no sportsmanship.

 

[LuuKyK]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4b4otl-c0

Be sure to watch until she walks up to the net. Absolutely disgusting and no sportsmanship.

She just said "Lets play"? Not sure whats the big deal there.

 

[Nemo]

My champ Kei retains his title

 

[Confrontation]

She just said "Lets play"? Not sure whats the big deal there.

Are you serious? Is your objectivity taking a hit because you're a Kerber fan or a fan of her playing style?

She knows well enough that it's supposed to be a 'Let' after the the Ump overruled the 'out' call, yet she acts as if nothing happened. She's the one who stopped the play as well. Not to mention she walked to the Deuce side of the court and then at the net instead of acknowledging Hantuchova's point that they should replay the point, she just acts like she doesn't know what she's talking about. Absolutely pathetic by a horrible human being who's basically a bitch.

 

[LuuKyK]

Are you serious? Is your objectivity taking a hit because you're a Kerber fan or a fan of her playing style?

She knows well enough that it's supposed to be a 'Let' after the the Ump overruled the 'out' call, yet she acts as if nothing happened. She's the one who stopped the play as well. Not to mention she walked to the Deuce side of the court and then at the net instead of acknowledging Hantuchova's point that they should replay the point, she just acts like she doesn't know what she's talking about. Absolutely pathetic by a horrible human being who's basically a bitch.

That escalated quickly. lol

If enjoying watching her play = being a fan, then yes I am. I don't particularly follow her every match, but I try to watch as many as I can. Anyway, I don't see why that would make me ignore something like bad court behavior.

Still, in that case I honestly don't see the problem. There is a reason why there is a chair umpire in these matches. She was the one that needed to make a decision. Kerber just wanted to keep playing and was following what the ump said. Hantuchova had her reasons to complain, and thats it. It wasn't even a decisive point (40-40) AFAIK.

Even then, I fail to see how that makes Kerber "a horrible human being", much less a "bitch". Going a bit too far there.

 

[szaromir]

Nishikori has defended his Barcelona title. Hopefully he'll bring the confidence to Madrid. Last year's final was a real heartbreaker :'(

 

[Niraj]

Nishikori has defended his Barcelona title. Hopefully he'll bring the confidence to Madrid. Last year's final was a real heartbreaker :'(

That was such a disappointment. He was wrecking.

 

[John Dunbar]

nishikori's body is probably going to get broken just in time for roland garros.

 

[Faith]

I'm back

Djokovic is back to winning titles like crazy. Paris, WTF, AO, IW, Miami and now Monte Carlo. What's next? Winning Madrid, Rome and RG also?

 

[darkwing]

I'm back

Djokovic is back to winning titles like crazy. Paris, WTF, AO, IW, Miami and now Monte Carlo. What's next? Winning Madrid, Rome and RG also?

nah Nadal always goes into beast mode during RG

 

[Diamond]

Winning Madrid

He just announced he wouldn't play the Madrid M1000. At least that shows he isn't 100% cyborg yet. Will be interesting to see what Nadal does there.

 

[Faith]

He just announced he wouldn't play the Madrid M1000. At least that shows he isn't 100% cyborg yet. Will be interesting to see what Nadal does there.

Any source for that? ^^

Edit: found it. Thanks anyway.

 

[perfectchaos007]

While the Madrid Open is a mandatory ATP event, Djokovic has earned an exemption under the rules given his length of service and is allowed to skip one mandatory event without any penalties. The ATP rules allow a player to skip one mandatory event if he has (1) played more than 600 matches in his career, (2) been on tour for 12 years, or (3) reaches the age of 31. If a player reaches all three milestones, as Federer has, he may skip any and all Masters without penalty.

I learned something new today

 

[Diamond]

Djokovic's choice seems wise to me. He knows he plays better than the rest of the field and gathers energy before the French. I think it also shows he's at an age where he'll progressively have to manage his efforts better, a thing that Nadal hasn't always done well.
Only risk with this tactic is Nadal regaining confidence by winning Madrid.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Djokovic's choice seems wise to me. He knows he plays better than the rest of the field and gathers energy before the French. I think it also shows he's at an age where he'll progressively have to manage his efforts better, a thing that Nadal hasn't always done well.
Only risk with this tactic is Nadal regaining confidence by winning Madrid.

Apparently the surface at Madrid doesn't even closely resemble that of Paris so it's not the best warmup tournament. Didn't Madrid have blue clay at one point? Lol only Serena liked it

 

[Diamond]

Apparently the surface at Madrid doesn't even closely resemble that of Paris so it's not the best warmup tournament. Didn't Madrid have blue clay at one point? Lol only Serena liked it

That's true as well. Monte-Carlo has always been considered to have the most approaching conditions of play compared to the French (if I remember well the clay is basically the same as in Paris, with slightly different climate conditions). He who wins there often has a good chance in Paris.
Blue clay was rad IMO.

 

[Deadman]

Federer won on the blue clay, so I think all tournaments should use it.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Federer won on the blue clay, so I think all tournaments should use it.

Yeah fed liked it too. The rest of the ATP and WTA banded against it. Madrid should give everyone a big middle finger by using neon hot pink clay

 

[Niraj]

I thought the blue clay was sweet. Really unique and made the ball really easy to see.

 

[John Dunbar]

imo you can't be considered a great player until you've won a tournament on blue clay.

 

[Ricker]

Poor Eugenie... ....nice gifs lol.

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/04/20/7-autres-poignees-de-main-refusees-par-eugenie-bouchard

 

[John Dunbar]

nieminen extended his record to 0-15 against federr. him and ferrer have quite a rivalry going on.

based on this match and monte carlo, i don't think federer will do much this clay season. he should be glad if he just manages to win istanbul, the tournament of the world's desire.

 

[perfectchaos007]

nieminen extended his record to 0-15 against federr. him and ferrer have quite a rivalry going on.

based on this match and monte carlo, i don't think federer will do much this clay season. he should be glad if he just manages to win istanbul, the tournament of the world's desire.

Just imagine how stressed out he would be right now if he didn't have that 1 French Open title. Instead he can relax knowing he already has a RG trophy in his case.