Wimbledon is the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. I think it's cool that in order to win it you cannot win by tiebreak in the final set of a match. What we are seeing in the marathon match is not even rare, it is unprecedented, and most likely will not even come close to being approached again in our lifetime. To change the rule over a once-in-a-lifetime match would be stupid. I had no plan on watching these early rounds, but got very involved watching the marathon match. The amount of mental and physical stamina it is taking these gents is phenomenal. Here's the main thing, though -- this match is great for the sport. Casual fans are seeing what great athletes these guys and gals are in pro tennis, and you can be sure there will be way more TV viewers of Wimbledon than normal. If it had not been for the US World Cup victory today, this match would have been off the charts huge on all the sports shows.JackB1 wrote:This proves they need to abolish this system and play a normal tiebreaker like they do in every other tournament. To continue to play normal games until one person wins by 2 can just get too ridiculous, as witnessed today.
OT: Pro Tennis Thread
Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady
-
ScoopBrady
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 7781
- Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2003 3:00 am
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
I totally agree, doug. This is absolutely insane and highly entertaining. To be deprived of it would suck.dougb wrote:Nope - this match is something special that will go into the sports lore. If they used the 5th set tie break it would be just another early round match between unknowns.JackB1 wrote:This proves they need to abolish this system and play a normal tiebreaker like they do in every other tournament. To continue to play normal games until one person wins by 2 can just get too ridiculous, as witnessed today.
Best wishes,
Doug
I am a patient boy.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.
It is entertaining for US but what about these 2 poor guys that will need 2 weeks to recover from this? Their tournament is toast after this. There is no way they will be able to overcome the fatigue, mental and physical draining this match will take from their bodies. Yes it IS entertaining for us, but is it fair for the participants?ScoopBrady wrote:I totally agree, doug. This is absolutely insane and highly entertaining. To be deprived of it would suck.dougb wrote:Nope - this match is something special that will go into the sports lore. If they used the 5th set tie break it would be just another early round match between unknowns.JackB1 wrote:This proves they need to abolish this system and play a normal tiebreaker like they do in every other tournament. To continue to play normal games until one person wins by 2 can just get too ridiculous, as witnessed today.
Best wishes,
Doug
Sure it's fair. Neither one of these guys are in the top 20. If you cannot take care of such an opponent in over 100 total games in the final set then I doubt you were going far into the tournament anyhow, lol. This may be an example of the ultimate parity in a sporting event, ever. The odds are so great that someone would eventually lose focus and not hold serve, or just physically not be able to match his opponent. I'm still blown away by this match.JackB1 wrote:It is entertaining for US but what about these 2 poor guys that will need 2 weeks to recover from this? Their tournament is toast after this. There is no way they will be able to overcome the fatigue, mental and physical draining this match will take from their bodies. Yes it IS entertaining for us, but is it fair for the participants?ScoopBrady wrote:I totally agree, doug. This is absolutely insane and highly entertaining. To be deprived of it would suck.dougb wrote: Nope - this match is something special that will go into the sports lore. If they used the 5th set tie break it would be just another early round match between unknowns.
Best wishes,
Doug
Then dispatch your opponentJackB1 wrote:It is entertaining for US but what about these 2 poor guys that will need 2 weeks to recover from this? Their tournament is toast after this. There is no way they will be able to overcome the fatigue, mental and physical draining this match will take from their bodies. Yes it IS entertaining for us, but is it fair for the participants?ScoopBrady wrote:I totally agree, doug. This is absolutely insane and highly entertaining. To be deprived of it would suck.dougb wrote: Nope - this match is something special that will go into the sports lore. If they used the 5th set tie break it would be just another early round match between unknowns.
Best wishes,
Doug
the weird thing is it's not over yet.toonarmy wrote:Sure it's fair. Neither one of these guys are in the top 20. If you cannot take care of such an opponent in over 100 total games in the final set then I doubt you were going far into the tournament anyhow, lol. This may be an example of the ultimate parity in a sporting event, ever. The odds are so great that someone would eventually lose focus and not hold serve, or just physically not be able to match his opponent. I'm still blown away by this match.JackB1 wrote:It is entertaining for US but what about these 2 poor guys that will need 2 weeks to recover from this? Their tournament is toast after this. There is no way they will be able to overcome the fatigue, mental and physical draining this match will take from their bodies. Yes it IS entertaining for us, but is it fair for the participants?ScoopBrady wrote:I totally agree, doug. This is absolutely insane and highly entertaining. To be deprived of it would suck.
-
sportdan30
- DSP-Funk All-Star
- Posts: 9017
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:00 am
- Location: St. Louis
Fair dues to both players. Historic effort. It's tough to hold serve game after game when you know that one slip is gonna be curtains and these guys did it for hours. Eventually, somebody had to blink. Looking at the draw before a ball had been hit, the possible third round match between Nadal and Isner looked very juicy. The impression is that the courts must be playing pretty fast and that would give Isner a better chance against Nadal. In fairness, Isner is second favourite against Rafa even in the best of circumstances and it's quite likely, as some suggest, that against De Bakker, he'll pay the price for making such heavy weather of his first-round match. Either way, along with Mahut, he's made history over the last few days.
The Hewitt/Monfils and Roddick/Kohlschreiber 3rd round clashes look tasty. One that jumps out at me is Simon V Murray, two players I really like and with a fair bit in common. Both are natural counterpunchers, though Murray has a bit more flair and variety. Simon has just come back from injury, he's better on hard courts and this match would probably be a bridge too far for him even if he was on top form, but he's a tough customer and knows how to administer tight matches. I'll be trying to catch this one.
The Hewitt/Monfils and Roddick/Kohlschreiber 3rd round clashes look tasty. One that jumps out at me is Simon V Murray, two players I really like and with a fair bit in common. Both are natural counterpunchers, though Murray has a bit more flair and variety. Simon has just come back from injury, he's better on hard courts and this match would probably be a bridge too far for him even if he was on top form, but he's a tough customer and knows how to administer tight matches. I'll be trying to catch this one.
Are you kidding? It's set in stone, I don't think anyone could ever beat that marathon.JackB1 wrote:just unreal.sportdan30 wrote:It's over! 70-68
Really feel for Mahut. He and Isner will forever be linked in history.
This record will probably stand for a long, long time.
11 hours.....5 mins. Unbelievable.
. The Nadal v Isner meeting would be in the round of 16
10s, completely agree that Djoko is a hell of a player and as you say a great mover on the court. He's not had a great year so far, culminating in a break with Todd Martin who had joined his coaching team. Apparently there were even some adjustments made to his serve but now they've gone back to basics. One of the best kick serves in the business. His form has obviously picked up since the match I saw against Rochus but I'd still say he's got an awful lot of work to do to get through to a meeting with Fed. Hewitt's in very good form and even if Djoko gets past him, next up would probably be Roddick. Two huge battles in prospect there.10spro wrote:Easy win for Djokovic who looks set to face Federer next week in his bracket as I don't foresee the Swiss having too many problems dispatching A. Clement today. At 6'3" Djokovic moves around the court very well, has a very solid game and love his serving motion. A charismatic character.
Caught the last 2 sets. Nadal showed that when it comes to getting his hands dirty and the job done, he's got a great attitude. You can tell that he's a bit uncomfortable with the fast conditions in which he can't get his teeth into the rallies. I'm pretty sure he'll be hoping that the courts slow down in the coming week. Just in case they don't, he'll probably be happy enough not to be facing Isner.10spro wrote:Very refreshing to see a semi serve and volleyer in Phillip Petzschner as he's battling R. Nadal. And I am saying semi, because he's mixing it up very smartly against the Spaniard. Good match so far, even at a set each.
The German dude served out of his mind for the entire match. He did tired in the end and Nadal had some arm issues.rhymes450 wrote:Caught the last 2 sets. Nadal showed that when it comes to getting his hands dirty and the job done, he's got a great attitude. You can tell that he's a bit uncomfortable with the fast conditions in which he can't get his teeth into the rallies. I'm pretty sure he'll be hoping that the courts slow down in the coming week. Just in case they don't, he'll probably be happy enough not to be facing Isner.10spro wrote:Very refreshing to see a semi serve and volleyer in Phillip Petzschner as he's battling R. Nadal. And I am saying semi, because he's mixing it up very smartly against the Spaniard. Good match so far, even at a set each.
Nadal got pissed with the coaching warning and then it was lights out.10spro wrote:Very refreshing to see a semi serve and volleyer in Phillip Petzschner as he's battling R. Nadal. And I am saying semi, because he's mixing it up very smartly against the Spaniard. Good match so far, even at a set each.
The match went to 5 sets and there was only one break in the final set. Not sure by the lights out quote and for the record, the umpire was absolutely right in telling the Spaniard to keep his corner quiet. Rafa does tend to send mix signals when he's in trouble as he was today.JackB1 wrote:Nadal got pissed with the coaching warning and then it was lights out.10spro wrote:Very refreshing to see a semi serve and volleyer in Phillip Petzschner as he's battling R. Nadal. And I am saying semi, because he's mixing it up very smartly against the Spaniard. Good match so far, even at a set each.
Rafa played a lot better after he got mad about that warning and seemed to take charge after that point. Rafa does seem to have a different playing "personality" when he is losing. That is one part of his game that still needs work.10spro wrote:The match went to 5 sets and there was only one break in the final set. Not sure by the lights out quote and for the record, the umpire was absolutely right in telling the Spaniard to keep his corner quiet. Rafa does tend to send mix signals when he's in trouble as he was today.JackB1 wrote:Nadal got pissed with the coaching warning and then it was lights out.10spro wrote:Very refreshing to see a semi serve and volleyer in Phillip Petzschner as he's battling R. Nadal. And I am saying semi, because he's mixing it up very smartly against the Spaniard. Good match so far, even at a set each.
Ok. So what model of crystal ball are you using? I'm thinking of trading mine in. Seriously, I thought the Djoko v Hewitt match was a pretty tough call but I definitely didn't see the Roddick exit coming. Fed v Djoko for sure?? Berdych has been in good form recently but the main man seems to be running into form perfectly. Two very attractive matches in the other half of the draw.rhymes450 wrote:10s, completely agree that Djoko is a hell of a player and as you say a great mover on the court. He's not had a great year so far, culminating in a break with Todd Martin who had joined his coaching team. Apparently there were even some adjustments made to his serve but now they've gone back to basics. One of the best kick serves in the business. His form has obviously picked up since the match I saw against Rochus but I'd still say he's got an awful lot of work to do to get through to a meeting with Fed. Hewitt's in very good form and even if Djoko gets past him, next up would probably be Roddick. Two huge battles in prospect there.10spro wrote:Easy win for Djokovic who looks set to face Federer next week in his bracket as I don't foresee the Swiss having too many problems dispatching A. Clement today. At 6'3" Djokovic moves around the court very well, has a very solid game and love his serving motion. A charismatic character.
Rhymes, Roddick's serve is his main weapon as you well know, but if you watched the match today, it just didn't have the same sting as last years final with Fed where he mixed the location of his serves extremely well. I thought his serves today were pretty down the line, Lu started to read'em like a book and the rest is history. But more importantly the American was ineffective at breaking Lu's serve and frankly the Chinese guy started to mix his game up, staying in the baseline, coming to the net, to the point that Roddick just didn't know what to expect next.
And Djoko's game has more variety than Roddicks. Even if he had won today, I liked Djokovic chances better at facing the great Federer. The only aspect of the game that Djoko needs to improve is his stamina when the match goes to five sets.
And Djoko's game has more variety than Roddicks. Even if he had won today, I liked Djokovic chances better at facing the great Federer. The only aspect of the game that Djoko needs to improve is his stamina when the match goes to five sets.