OT: Pro Tennis Thread

[wco81]

Mostly watch the majors now. Not even sure where to watch non-major tourneys these days.

I guess this is the furthest he's gotten in a major, even the semifinal vs. Djoko was new territory for him.

[10spro]

Mostly watch the majors now. Not even sure where to watch non-major tourneys these days.

I guess this is the furthest he's gotten in a major, even the semifinal vs. Djoko was new territory for him.

Actually he had a great Wimbledon last year where he also reached the semis, and helped his country win the Davis cup later on.

[rhymes450]

Sinner's been around for a few years now. Was two sets to love up against Djokovic in the quarters of Wimbledon 2022:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVZ8rZDgZE

The consensus seems to be that he's made improvements to his serve, his volley and his sliced backhand, in addition to maturing as a player. He's a very even-tempered guy on the court, which I fell is generally a good thing.

[10spro]

What a tournament for the Italian lad. He was just ready to play forever to win his first GS as Medvedev started to weaken in the late stages of the fourth set. The Russian played a lot of tennis many going the distance in this tournament and despite changing a bit to a serve and volley tactic in the fifth, Sinner’s passing shots were dead accurate. His serve was huge, his physical strength much improved cutting off a lot of unforced errors which was his main weakness in the past GS he entered.

And he wasn’t rattled despite being done 2 sets down, which shows me his mental game improved a lot too and the way he finished off with the forehand down the line to win it all, was an indication of his confidence in this match.

The new gen is definitely here, Novak may have some fight in him yet, when Alcaraz was asked recently who would be his main rival in the future, guess who did he mentioned?

[rhymes450]

Sinner's really made progress in the last six months or so, turning a 0-6 H2H with Medvedev into a 4-6, doing something similar with Djokovic and he's won the last two meetings with Alcaraz to lead 4-3 in their H2H. He's been capable of beating anyone for a while, but he's suddenly become the guy to beat.

[wco81]

Haven’t been watching the French Open. Nadal got beat early and Joker has a knee injury which forced him to withdraw and may keep him out of Wimbledon as well.

Center court matches are suppose to be in 4K or HDR or both on Peacock but it may depend on the streaming device.

Saw that Alcaraz beat Sinner in 5 sets but Sinner will be ranked #1 on Monday. Alcaraz is #3 so they’re 22 and 21.


Unless Djoko’s knee injury is bad, he’ll probably try to make a big push for the US Open if he does miss Wimbledon. But he just turned 37 and he’s already got 24 Grand Slam titles, the record.

He may retire if Nadal, who just turned 38 last week, retired first. Nadal has 22 Grand Slams so he is a threat to overtake him, though he’s only #275 while Djoko was #1 until the French.

[10spro]

It was a great Paris Open from the beginning to the end. Djoko will hold the most GS titles, a feat that will be difficult to match let alone pass. But at the same time the least charismatic and “Who cares” recipient award from the Tennis world. A pity because he’s a great player, but will never garner the attention that Rafa and Federer did.

Alcaraz when healthy will hold the #1 spot for a long time, I would even see him trying to match Rafa’s record on clay. He’s that good and only 21. Great win for the Spaniard today.

[wco81]

Alcaraz survives a 3-round match vs. Frances Tiafoe in 5 sets, having to win the 4th and 5th sets, the 4th on tiebreaker.

How was Tiafoe ranked so low that he had to play the 3rd seed so early?

Carlos celebrates individual points a little too much. Maybe he needs it to keep him motivated or its just youth.

[wco81]

Djokovic ungracious as usual after winning his match in Wimbledon.

Yeah fans often root against him, wonder why.

Contrast that to a new crowd favorite, Jasmine Pollini, who’s always smiling, playing the best tennis of her career relatively at a late stage. She’s not likely to be a champion but she loves the sport and the fans.

[Sudz]

Joker is annoying. You know he's been pumping his knee full of whatever to be able to play.

[sportdan30]

Vekic vs. Paolini...what an emotional match. Great win for Paolini.

[wco81]

Alcaraz beats Djoko in straight sets at Wimbledon, second straight.

Djoko was hobbled by recent knee injury but he's also 37. He may be at where Federer was the last couple of years in his career, able to contend for the majors but can't quite break through and injuries become more frequent.

Alcaraz may threaten Djoko's all time record of 24 majors. He's 21 and this is his 4th major? It's not inconceivable that he could win the Grand Slam. There are a lot of good young players but he's won on all surfaces now and only has the Australian to conquer.

He won his 4th major in fewer matches than Djoko, Nadal or Federer.

Code: Select all

 Player	 Slam Matches At 4th Major	 Grand Slam Winning %
 Roger Federer 	 79	 77.2% (61-18)
 Rafael Nadal	 81	 84% (68-13)
 Novak Djokovic	 134	 82.1% (110-24)
 Carlos Alcaraz	 69	 85.5% (59-10)

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/alcaraz ... r%20finals.

In the Women's final, Paolini did well to reach the Final but just can't hit with some of the other women, including her opponent who was rated way too low.

She's still one of the best stories in tennis this year, as a scrappy, upbeat fan favorite.