RedAssedApe
Banned
kids in this thread. im the same age as fed. 
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Tennis - General Discussion
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kids in this thread. im the same age as fed.
Did you have a dinosaur as a pet when you were little?
Kotetsu534
Member
And so Federer's incredible record of consecutive Slam appearances comes to an end. It sounds mostly precautionary, but it's still sad. Here's some points about this year's FO:
Significance of this Slam for the men:
- Novak Djokovic, should he win, will becomes the first man since Rod Laver to win 4 consecutive Slams and therefore hold all of them simultaneously. He would also complete the Career Grand Slam. He would also tie Roy Emerson on 12 Slams, surpassing Borg and Laver.
- Rafael Nadal would win his first Slam since the 2014 RG, and become the first man to win 10 times at the same Slam ("La Decima").
- Stan Wawrinka, were he to win, would become the 4th most prolific active Slam champion (no prizes for naming the three ahead of him), passing Andy Murray. He would also become the 8th man in the Open Era to defend the French Open title (after Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Jan Kodes, Ivan Lendl, Sergi Bruguera, Jim Courier, Gustavo Kuerten).
- Andy Murray, should he win, would win his 3rd Slam and join the list of players to have won Slams on 3 surfaces (in the Open Era, only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver, Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi have done so).
Significance of this Slam for the women:
- Serena Williams will tie Steffi Graf's all time GS record at 22 if she wins. She will also all but guarantee the all-time consecutive weeks at #1 record, also held by Graf (she needs to stay #1 till after the US Open to claim it).
- Victoria Azarenka, should she win, would win her third Slam and first away from the Australian Open.
- Radwanska or Kerber can theoretically become #1 if either wins and Serena loses early (more realistically, given neither is much good on outdoor clay, they can close the gap ahead of the grass season).
Significance of this Slam for the men:
- Novak Djokovic, should he win, will becomes the first man since Rod Laver to win 4 consecutive Slams and therefore hold all of them simultaneously. He would also complete the Career Grand Slam. He would also tie Roy Emerson on 12 Slams, surpassing Borg and Laver.
- Rafael Nadal would win his first Slam since the 2014 RG, and become the first man to win 10 times at the same Slam ("La Decima").
- Stan Wawrinka, were he to win, would become the 4th most prolific active Slam champion (no prizes for naming the three ahead of him), passing Andy Murray. He would also become the 8th man in the Open Era to defend the French Open title (after Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Jan Kodes, Ivan Lendl, Sergi Bruguera, Jim Courier, Gustavo Kuerten).
- Andy Murray, should he win, would win his 3rd Slam and join the list of players to have won Slams on 3 surfaces (in the Open Era, only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver, Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi have done so).
Significance of this Slam for the women:
- Serena Williams will tie Steffi Graf's all time GS record at 22 if she wins. She will also all but guarantee the all-time consecutive weeks at #1 record, also held by Graf (she needs to stay #1 till after the US Open to claim it).
- Victoria Azarenka, should she win, would win her third Slam and first away from the Australian Open.
- Radwanska or Kerber can theoretically become #1 if either wins and Serena loses early (more realistically, given neither is much good on outdoor clay, they can close the gap ahead of the grass season).
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Joker is going to be pushing real hard for this, I'll be surprised if he doesn't pull it off. What's Nadal's body/form like at the moment?
Fed has had an amazing lack of injuries throughout his career, those perfect biomechanics are god-tier athletic abilities. I fear his age is now catching up and we'll see more of that from him.
kids in this thread. im the same age as fed.
Whippersnapper, I turn 40 this year. I'm about to start playing tennis again so I can "compete" with my son as he grows up more. It's not going to be pretty at first. I just can't stop hitting the ball with him and getting involved with his coaching sessions.
Nice stats that I snipped, but I gotta admit I chuckled at this one. Not because it's not significant, but because compared to all of the other ones it's an extremely weak bullet point.
Not knocking you, but it felt like you were struggling to find a third bullet point under WTA and came up with that one hehe
I like Kerber though, so Go Kerber!
Kotetsu534
Member
The WTA is like Serena does stuff... and there are other players. I've watched a fair amount of WTA tennis this year and apart from Serena I have no idea who is likely to go deep at RG. Azarenka lost to Begu in Rome, carrying a back injury which forced her out of Madrid, and isn't at her best on clay to begin with. Radwanska and Kerber are pretty useless on (outdoor) clay. Kvitova can hardly string two wins together and has split from her long time coach. Muguruza has shown some good tennis recently but still got seen off by Keys in straights, and you sense a meltdown is never too far away. Halep won Madrid but has had so many poor losses where she didn't fight it's hard to believe in her. She's also failed to improve her net game at all (which has cost her several matches against top 10 opposition IMO). Bacsinszky has overplayed but has the mental strength to tough out matches (she was very close to beating Serena in last year's SF). Suarez Navarro has a beautiful game but too often lacks belief and intensity, especially in big matches.
I think Keys and Kasatkina will do well in the years to come but I suspect Keys' Rome run was something off a one-off regarding her ability on red clay. Apart from her tight three setter against Strycova, she only played big hitters who fought her on her own turf and didn't attempt to take advantage of the surface (Babos, Kvitova, Muguruza, Serena). Probably too soon for Kasatkina, but she's seeded so it'll be interesting to see if she can hold up to R3 or so. Then there's players like Bouchard, Stosur, Ivanovic, Stephens, Kuznetsova etc. who are well capable of going on a deep run if things break for them (I see Stosur pulled out today in Strasbourg). I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the chaos. Makes a nice palette cleanser from the ATP where literally every significant tournament is won by the same tiny group of players (and mostly by him).
I think Keys and Kasatkina will do well in the years to come but I suspect Keys' Rome run was something off a one-off regarding her ability on red clay. Apart from her tight three setter against Strycova, she only played big hitters who fought her on her own turf and didn't attempt to take advantage of the surface (Babos, Kvitova, Muguruza, Serena). Probably too soon for Kasatkina, but she's seeded so it'll be interesting to see if she can hold up to R3 or so. Then there's players like Bouchard, Stosur, Ivanovic, Stephens, Kuznetsova etc. who are well capable of going on a deep run if things break for them (I see Stosur pulled out today in Strasbourg). I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the chaos. Makes a nice palette cleanser from the ATP where literally every significant tournament is won by the same tiny group of players (and mostly by him).
RedAssedApe
Banned
i hope you fare better than me. i switched to a one handed backhand because my left shoulder is shot and my knees are so bad that anyone who is paying any bit of attention should be able to lob over me anytime they want because they'll notice i won't bother to try jumping for overheads. lol
Kotetsu534
Member
Nadal's had something of a resurgence during the European clay swing. Won Monte Carlo, beating Murray who was inspired in the first set, and Monfils, who gave everything he had and then some in the final. Won Barcelona, beating Nishikori, who's been as good as anyone from the baseline this year, then lost to Murray in Madrid and Djokovic in Rome. The match against Djokovic was lightyears away from his destruction in Doha - he was a break up in the first set and had a plethora of set points in the second set before losing them both. Still struggling to hold his nerve in the big moments, but looking stronger and quicker than he has since 2014, and going for his forehand down-the-line more often. Djokovic was in an awful mood in Rome for unknown reasons but still battled through two elite opponents before falling to a rested Murray in the final.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Cardio is my weakness, I only have two speeds; stop and balls out. I'm lucky with reflexes, knees and eyesight so it's just getting back some form. My son is almost 7 so I have some time. I dearly remember playing night mid week tennis and Saturday comp with my dad/family, I want my son to have the same tennis life. Also one handed backhand for life
Great write up, thanks mate. Murray is looking pretty good but Joker tends to have his number generally. Nadal hopefully goes far.
perfectchaos007
Member
Pencil in Djokovic for the semi's. He'll have to face Nadal in the semis and Murray in the finals to win the open which will be very tough
Some other important stuff for Roland Garros is the standings after the tournament are the final ones that will be used for Rio...if I read right,on the WTA anyway,only the top 50 players can participate...a few of them are on the edge,like Sabine Lisicki and 3 others just over 50...for Canada,Bouchard is ok I believe since she is 46 but has no points to defend.
So weird to Watch RG without Maria and Roger.
Yeah...didnt they say they would make a official decision for Sharapova before RG...? or did I miss it...is she suspended for the year or will she be able to play Wimbledon now...?
I think it was postponed? Not sure either. She will probably come back at this years USO at the earliest I think. Probably AO17 more realistically.
perfectchaos007
Member
I think she should be banned from the tour permanently. She was taking drugs that boosted her oxygen in her blood, which was the same thing Lance Armstrong was doing. Yet, we didn't give Lance any sympathy for being one step ahead of testing.
Except the drug in question wasn't banned until the beginning of this year, and she has a reason/excuse regarding why she took it before that and why she missed that it had been added to the banned list.
I'm not saying I know or consider her reasons/excuses to be real, truthful or even valid, but those are the facts of the case as we know them today. Until someone proves they're false, lies, etc., calling her a disgusting cheater is simply a personal opinion.
A few additional things to consider here: no one has even proven that the drug Sharapova (and many others) took provides actual, physical benefits to athletes. Also, if doing something to boost oxygen in your blood is the ultimate no-no, why aren't people calling Djokovic a dirty cheater for the "pod" he's reportedly used for years?
perfectchaos007
Member
It wasn't banned until this year because she was ahead of the doping system just like Lance Armstrong was but no one gave Lance a pass. And her excuse to taking it was due to diabetes risk? give me a break.
I'm pretty sure Armstrong was actually taking substances and doing other practices (blood infusion) that were banned at the time, wasn't he? I never actually followed to that case other than knowing that he finally admitted his guilt at the Oprah show and was stripped of all his titles though.
Sharapova knew perfectly well that she was taking a shady substance for all these years and the explanation she gave was hastily concocted by her PR team in order to control the message. It does not hold up to scrutiny though and she should get a regular 2-4 year long ban that athletes receive when illegal substances are found in their bodies. Anything less would be making mockery of the system.
perfectchaos007
Member
Yeah Armstrong was infusing himself with oxygenated blood instead of taking substances to increase the oxygen like Sharapova. I guess you could say what Lance did was worse since he was using transfusions. But bottom line was both Sharapova and Armstrong artificially increased oxygen in their bloodstream for enhanced performance.
You have zero proof of that. So stop with the tales from your ass assumptions and wait for her to be judged.
perfectchaos007
Member
No one waited for Armstrong to be judged. People called him guilty before his admission. Let's keep it fair
This is your opinion. Nothing else. Unless you're privy to the evidence in this case?
You can call her guilty if you want. That's your right. You can't say you know she did something wrong. You may *think* she did something wrong. You may *assume* she did something wrong, but at the moment it's just a guess on your part.
I fully acknowledge she *may* have purposely taken this drug to enhance her performance. And she *may* be so stupid that, even though she was purposely using a PED, she decided to keep using it even though she knew it had been banned and even though she knew she was going to be tested for it throughout this year.
I also personally feel that's a lot of "mays." If she was taking a drug purposely to enhance her performance, why didn't she or someone in her camp keep an eye on the banned drug list to make sure she stopped taking it before it was officially banned? Are you suggesting she's an idiot? Or are you suggesting she's so full of herself, or so sure of her "power" within the sport, that she thought no one would dare take her down for it?
Say what you want about Maria, but I don't think many people will suggest she's dumb. I'm sure many believe she's full of herself, but personally I don't think she's the type to think to herself, "oh, they'll never do anything to me." Especially in a post-Armstrong world...
This is merely a conclusion I reached after reading publicly revealed information about the case, yes. However, keep in mind that it's every athletes responsibility to make sure that they know what's banned and what substances enter their body. Sharapova's explanation does not make a case for her defense and was only meant to make the general public sympathetic to her case. So my conclusion whether she was telling the truth or lying through her teeth is irrelevant.
Keep in mind that Sharapova was not the only athlete caught with meldonium in their blood samples. Possible explanations:
-Russians are illiterate (and apparently Sharapova's non-Russian team)
-meldonium is addictive
-the atheletes were led to believe that their masking agents would make meldonium effectively undetectable, thus they were safe taking it despite the imposed ban
Diprosalic
Banned
got to see Stan win a title today and pat him on the back.
my magic touch will make him win RG.
my magic touch will make him win RG.
I got this on Eurosport Player tell me what you look like and I will find you.
Diprosalic
Banned
like white, blonde-ish, average height.
perfectchaos007
Member
lol that narrows it down.
btw the Open starts in less than 5 hours. Do we have a thread?
Diprosalic
Banned
wasn't it always?
It isn't so bad since they killed off Silverlight and integrated Chromecast. Their player is super bloated with visual effects nobody asked for but you can switch to a lite version on PC.
Diprosalic
Banned
ah, i got it way back when. i hated it, quality was barely 240p.
maybe i'll test it again.
maybe i'll test it again.
Diprosalic
Banned
i'm gonna make a OT if nobody else did by like 5 o clock Merkel time.
perfectchaos007
Member
Play is probably done for the day. It's past 8pm now and they have no lights
Diprosalic
Banned
since nobody made one i just slapped the most basic info in and opened it:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1222555
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1222555
He pulled out of Queen's Club but said he expects to play Wimbledon last I heard.
perfectchaos007
Member
Dustin Brown won a grass title today (challenger). I'm sure oti xero is happy
Eh, it's a Challenger title. I just want to see Brown beat top players with ridiculous shots.
Well, the spanish press made it seem like he would miss Wimbledon, cause he wants to be fit for the Olympics. But that's the spanish press, so take it with some salt.
perfectchaos007
Member
Bouchard lost 6-2, 6-0 to #177 Elise Mersens today.
Nice start on grass for Genie...defeated by a qualifier ranked 177, 6 2, 6 0...didnt see the match thank god but many are saying it was the worst match they saw her play in 4 years...
Yep...smh
Yep...smh