This match is well beyond "standard". It's close to Murray-Vesely, and I say that as a Murray fan.
Obvious sarcasm.
This match is well beyond "standard". It's close to Murray-Vesely, and I say that as a Murray fan.
Obvious sarcasm.
I know, I'm just dropping the tardwars for a moment to concede that occasionally Murray matches do have a tendency to do this. I think it's because Murray, when he's playing well, relies on courtcraft, which is beautiful. When he's off it's not usually because his movement goes but because his ability to play clever does, so you get returnatron5000. I do think it's exaggerated and he only plays like it on bad days, but still.
Well at least Federer is cruising.
Title is his to take, clearly.
MIMIC's posts on MTF are extra salty, I think he's still sore about Montreal.
Hope so. I'm sure if Djokovic makes the final he'll somehow turn it up though :/ though with the way he's playing, he really shouldn't make the final.
Well, I've had my fill of comedy and can't be bothered to stay up and watch this Kanderson NIDfest, so night all.
I just don't see Djokovic beating Fed here, and yeah he still has a long way to go.
Gasquet has a real chance to make the semis now too.
Night Crab
What the actual fuck Dimitrov.
That may be the worst I've ever seen Murray play and win. At times he was repeatedly teeing Dimitrov up on his forehand. Dimitrov will have nightmares about that loss for some time. Any mental strength at all and that was his.
Great chance for Gasquet to beat Murray and end his streak of wins over French players tomorrow.
Federer is definitely in better form than Nadal right now.
Matches like these make you realize why Federer is the world number 3 at 34. When he is on, he is still a force to be reckoned with.
Nadal is done, 2016 doesn't matter as it will make no difference. He is just a standard top 20 player now, sad times.
Also he needs to hire a new coach. He won't though because of his relationship with his uncle but it will most likely be the only way to improve some aspects of his game.
Isn't federer defending the points he won here last year so he can't overtake Murray? I was under the impression him getting number 2 seed for U.S. open was practically a done deal
MIMIC's posts on MTF are extra salty, I think he's still sore about Montreal.
Since you're following my posts so closely over there, you ought to know that I had hoped that Djokovic skip/pull out of both Canada AND Cincy. I don't care about these dumb Masters.
Personally I think going forward Nadal is going to occupy the same space as Ferrer and Berdych have for the past few years - many QF and SF appearances at big tournaments but never a real threat and maybe several small titles per season.Sure, but "top five year end" is by no means a bad achievement for someone who was being written off. I think the critical junction comes if he can get back the 4th seed, stop having to play Djokovic/Murray/Federer/Wawrinka or possibly Nishikori in the QFs, and therefore get more match wins and more confidence. Then we'll see a better resurgence. Not necessarily slam level, but I think he has more Masters in him for sure.
Personally I think going forward Nadal is going to occupy the same space as Ferrer and Berdych have for the past few years - many QF and SF appearances at big tournaments but never a real threat and maybe several small titles per season.
One might say that clay still can be the x factor that will differentiate Nadal from those guys, but I think he's done even there - he was already subpar in 2014, that RG victory run was a freak occurence at that point.
Murray 2014 and Nadal 2015 are in different places in their careers. If I remember correctly, Murray had some vertebrae disfigured in his spine and had to have a part of one of his vertebrae sawed off. That's an invasive surgery and recovering had to take a long time, in fact it was pretty incredible that he was already playing AO quarters just months after the surgery. From that point on he has been gradually improving aspects of his game (fitness, intensity throughout the match, 2nd serve etc.) and it all started clicking this season on clay IMO (the prophecy of Clayray that was almost fulfilled :'( ).Honestly, I think he's been playing better now than he was in most of early 2014, he just keeps getting tight on the big points. I genuinely think it's mental at this point rather than physical. In rallies he drops back unnecessarily without being pushed back because he doesn't have the confidence to hit his CC forehand, which is his main weapon, and people take advantage of that, because if you have the opportunity to hit a winning shot because the ball dropped short and you move back to take it, you can't return it with much pace because you have to put a lot of topspin on just to get it over the net because it's dropped even further by that point.
His rallying is fine at this point, I don't think he's even lost that much speed - he was incredible at reaching some of the Lopez dropshots. He just needs to actually step in and hit his forehand when he forces a ball to drop short, it's his main weapon and it's going mostly unused. That's not at all like Ferrer, who uses every single weapon he has (he just doesn't have very many), or like Berdych, who just doesn't have the movement necessary to unleash his forehand properly against someone like Djokovic who can redirect pace so well. It's a confidence thing in Nadal's case.
Murray finished #4 in 2013, #6 in 2014, and will almost certainly finish #2 in 2015 judging by his current level of play. Meanwhile, Nadal finished #3 in 2014, is almost definitely going to finish at least #6 and more likely #5 in 2016, so why are we all so certain he's not recovering for 2017? He's tracking better than Murray did.
I quite like watching his matches actually. They're a sweet combination of desperate scrambling 3 meters behind the baseline, ridiculous improvised shots thanks to his great hands and he's actually proactive a lot more often than Djokovic or Nadal.Murray is unwatchable goddamn.
Way too obvious that Djokovic would wreck Stan after struggling against Paire and Goffin
He's not wrecking him, Stan is simply sending everything out.
Djoker is gonna complete his Masters collection, isnt he?
I see that now, but either way, the result was obvious which was my only point. He looked about as lethargic as he was against Benneteau last year. Maybe the morning match just isn't his thing
Yuck, 33 ufe to 17 winners.
It's the courts. Stan's backswing is absolutely huge, and he doesn't have the time to do it in full when the courts are so fast, so he cuts and short and sprays errors everywhere as a result, as it isn't how he normally plays. Not really sure why anyone expected him to do well in Cincy.