villaguy Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 For a set and half I've never seen tennis played the way Djokovic played, and that rally was immense. People who think otherwise don't really have an understanding of the game, apart from some of Rogers games in his prime the only other player to have gotten to that level is Marat Safin vs Federer in the aussie final where he seemed to hit the lines so regularly. It's a shame he had temperament issues as he should have achieved so much more in the game with his abilities, watch him on youtube hitting (practising) and just look at his technique-phenomenal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes well many people want to see serve and volley tennis again but these guys are just too good. Unless you play the perfect approach shot you will be killed. When you on youtube and watch Rod Laver. It just looks like watching a couple of middle-age guys playing down the park. No disrespect to Rod Laver who was a great player in his time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes well many people want to see serve and volley tennis again but these guys are just too good. Unless you play the perfect approach shot you will be killed. When you on youtube and watch Rod Laver. It just looks like watching a couple of middle-age guys playing down the park. No disrespect to Rod Laver who was a great player in his time. I've argued as much in this previously , the game has moved on to new levels I doubt Sampras or McEnroe would even make a grand slam final if they were around now Though of course one could argue that they would play a different game now and that there talent would help them succeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes well many people want to see serve and volley tennis again but these guys are just too good. Unless you play the perfect approach shot you will be killed. When you on youtube and watch Rod Laver. It just looks like watching a couple of middle-age guys playing down the park. No disrespect to Rod Laver who was a great player in his time. Yeah if they could they would, the modern game is too fast, Lleyton Hewitt is the first modern tennis player, he stayed at the back at Wimbledon and hit winners past the incoming players. Theres not enough time between serve and second shot to get on top of the net, probably less than a second. At the top of the sport, even good county level tennis is very tough, people who can call anyone a hacker at this level shows a poor understanding of modern day tennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes Hewitt is just a bit lightweight though isn't he? I think Sampras would have stepped his game up to be competitive in todays era, but McEnroe probably wouldn't wouldn't be physically strong enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) Yes he is but his play was the first of the new generation of big baseline hitters, I believe he's the youngest ever No.1. He's had a few injury issues in his career that have set him back but has been playing well again recently. To me a top player isn't one who wins everything, just making a slam event is a big achievement. And yeah I feel Sampras is maybe close to Federer as the greatest ever to play the sport Edited September 10, 2013 by villaguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes he is but his play was the first of the new generation of big baseline hitters, I believe he's the youngest ever No.1. He's had a few injury issues in his career that have set him back but has been playing well again recently. To me a top player isn't one who wins everything, just making a slam event is a big achievement. And yeah I feel Sampras is maybe close to Federer as the greatest ever to play the sport Yes he certainly played well in the US Open. Beating a player like Del Potro was a major achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Yes he is but his play was the first of the new generation of big baseline hitters, I believe he's the youngest ever No.1. He's had a few injury issues in his career that have set him back but has been playing well again recently. To me a top player isn't one who wins everything, just making a slam event is a big achievement. And yeah I feel Sampras is maybe close to Federer as the greatest ever to play the sport Yes he certainly played well in the US Open. Beating a player like Del Potro was a major achievement. Yeah, Del Potro only won it in the last few years, so shows that even though he's in the twilight of his career he's got the ability to beat the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 and Del Potro very nearly got to the Wimbledon final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Djokovic played a flawless game today, brushed Nadal to the side in every department. I reckon these two will clean up next seasons slams between them. Been playing a bit myself today after having 3 months off travelling Eastern Europe, love the sport! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Love it too, need to start playing again after a 2 year gap. I think Djokovic will always beat Nadal on the faster hard courts. He only won a few points off the Djokovic serve and everytime a point went into a rally Djokovic nearly won them all. Shanghai open this week. Djokovic the holder so only has points to loose. I don't think you can write Murray off. He was a convincing winner at Wimbledon and will be back to challenge for the Aussie open. The draw is the key factor. Murray will be at best no.4 by the time that comes around and so hes bound to have to beat both Nadal and Djokovic to win it. Both of those two will like to avoid him in the semis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 (edited) Another ATP tournament win for Djokovic beating Del Potro in the Shanghai. He has come back brilliantly since he lost to Nadal in the US Open final. Playing now as well as he did in 2011. Del Potro blew nadal away yesterday. I would say Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro will be the ones contesting the slams next year, Edited October 13, 2013 by PaulC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 Just about to watch the youtube recording now, heard there were some tantrums. Anyway I think tantrums are a sign of fight and desire, rather that than placid emotions. Del Potro is on a level with the best, I reckon Federer will hang up his gloves next year, so I think the elite will be Djokovic and Nadal at the pinnacle, Murray (depending on how well/quickly he returns from his op) nibbling at their heals or maybe at the same level, then followed be a couple that on their day could still win against the top 3 of Berdych & Del Potro. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on Gasquet too. Ferrer is up there entirely on his consistency against people away from these top players but he won't really be likely to have a shot at the slams in my opinion. Can't wait for the end of year Masters Finals now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 I don't think there was too much in the way of tantrums today. Yes Ferrer cant compete with the big boys and he's 32 now. Berdych on his day but I don't think he can get any better and he's 28. Del potro has had his injury problems since he won the US Open 2009 but he's still only 25 and when he's at his best I think there's only Djokovic can beat him unless they play on slower courts than today. Gasquet is talented but again late 20s. There's no early 20s players who look like they can challenge next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 (edited) Grigor Dimitrov has the assets to be the successor to top mens throne but I think it'll be another few years before he's regularly challenging. Be nice to see Tommy Haas have a good year, I love his style, and I forgot to mention Warwinka being a possible challenger for any of the faster court slams and titles in the previous thread. Edited October 13, 2013 by villaguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 Grigor Dimitrov has the assets to be the successor to top mens throne but I think it'll be another few years before he's regularly challenging. Be nice to see Tommy Haas have a good year, I love his style, and I forgot to mention Warwinka being a possible challenger for any of the faster court slams and titles in the previous thread. Yes Dimitrov has the potential. Warwinka has had a great year whether he will ever win a slam I'm not so sure. He took Djokovic to 5 sets the Australian and US Open though! Tsonga on his day is good but not a winner. Monfils should be up there but for lack of personal fitness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToRUXo4Gaz4 Here's Tsonga-Monfils as juniors in France. There's the full match somewhere but I couldn't find it. Youngsters struggle to control their emotions at all! Bet neither of them would expect that they would be at the top of the mens game as adults. Did you know Tsonga is N'Zogbia's cousin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 13, 2013 Share Posted October 13, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToRUXo4Gaz4 Here's Tsonga-Monfils as juniors in France. There's the full match somewhere but I couldn't find it. Youngsters struggle to control their emotions at all! Bet neither of them would expect that they would be at the top of the mens game as adults. Did you know Tsonga is N'Zogbia's cousin? Thanks I think I read it on here come to think of it but I had forgotten. France produce a lot of talented players but not winners. Mind you the level of tennis the top 3 or 4 have produced these last few years is amazing. That first set today was as good as I've seen from Djokovic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Murray down to 4 in the new rankings. Theres a chance he will drop to 5 with Del Potro having some events left and Murray will loose a lot of points through not being able to compete in the tours final at the 02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaguy Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Going down the rankings will make it more awkward to get to the final stages of the slams, but apart from that it doesn't mean that's his true standing. All the players play so many tournaments in the year to get their points up that it can't be great on their bodies. The players at the top are the most gifted physically, you need a win in the genetic lottery. I'm disappointed with Murrays year, he's won Wimbledon which is obviously great but aside from that it has been a poor season, I thought he might have gone on from last years US win to dominate. Heather Watson has had a major slide down the world rankings too, lost nearly 100 places since the start of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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