The Official Tennis Thread

[BarryBreensBandage]

With regards to doping, the most telling interview for me was Federer after Sharapova was banned for drug use.

He basically said that everyone in the game knew the dopers, and it was time for the big name dopers to be outed.
(Not the words of a guilty man imo).

The interview was before a match against Nadal; Federer said it was an honour to share the court with a true professional.

For me that day, Federer pointed the finger directly at Djokovic, whose form fell away drastically for a couple of years after Federer said this.
I often wonder did he lie low and come off the juice until things quietened down again.

The only other big name at the time was Murray, one person that can never be accused of doping! He always looked knackered at the end of the first set!

[Milltown Row2]

We don't have 2 clay courts for grand slams, so your point is irrelevant...That's like saying if there was another grass Slam Federer would be winning more

Fed, reduced his calendar and allowed him to focus more on the Slams rather than all the tours .

You say is more likely he did dope, have you evidence of this or is it just something you made up? 

Being fitter as you get older isn't a strange one, I was doing triathlon's in my early 40 and marathons in my late 40's, whereas in my 20's I wouldn't be as fit as I was in my later life, people just manage their fitness better.

Nadal has won nearly double his Slams on one court , his spread of slam's is poor, 1 Aussie 2 Grass and seems to like the USA  having won more there that the other Slams bar French Open..

He's very good and I'd say on a par with Federer, plus his head to head with him is far better also

We have two hard court slams, one grass and one clay. It's relevant that 75% of the tennis season is tilted towards big servers and 25% of it towards all rounders. There really should be a second clay slam in place of one of the hard courts and had we a more even split in the season then Nadal would likely be way ahead.

Nadal's spread of slams are also not poor. Only Djokovic, Federer and Sampras have won more slams on hard and grass courts than Nadal in the modern era.

His renaissance in 2017 was very strange though, 6 years without a slam and then suddenly he starts outlasting younger players in 5 setters at 35 years of age, after knee surgery. As Simon said, given the baseless innuendo put around about Nadal for years, it's strange that no scrutiny was placed on Federer here - instead he was lauded for it.

Federer didn't win a US Open since 08. He did 5IAR US Open titles in a weakish era (04-08), he did similar at Wimbledon (03-07). He was able to pick up a French Open and Wimbledon in 2009 when Rafa who was reigning champ had to succumb to knee injuries. Since then in over a decade he has added just 5 slams, 3 Australian Opens and 2 Wimbledons. Nadal has won the same amount of hard and grass slams in that time.

Feds the best, your weakish ear thing means nothing..

Did Rafa ever have knee surgery? Did he preform better? and lets say Rafa wins more titles as he gets older will people think he's on the juice?

Strange one

[Angelo]

We don't have 2 clay courts for grand slams, so your point is irrelevant...That's like saying if there was another grass Slam Federer would be winning more

Fed, reduced his calendar and allowed him to focus more on the Slams rather than all the tours .

You say is more likely he did dope, have you evidence of this or is it just something you made up? 

Being fitter as you get older isn't a strange one, I was doing triathlon's in my early 40 and marathons in my late 40's, whereas in my 20's I wouldn't be as fit as I was in my later life, people just manage their fitness better.

Nadal has won nearly double his Slams on one court , his spread of slam's is poor, 1 Aussie 2 Grass and seems to like the USA  having won more there that the other Slams bar French Open..

He's very good and I'd say on a par with Federer, plus his head to head with him is far better also

We have two hard court slams, one grass and one clay. It's relevant that 75% of the tennis season is tilted towards big servers and 25% of it towards all rounders. There really should be a second clay slam in place of one of the hard courts and had we a more even split in the season then Nadal would likely be way ahead.

Nadal's spread of slams are also not poor. Only Djokovic, Federer and Sampras have won more slams on hard and grass courts than Nadal in the modern era.

His renaissance in 2017 was very strange though, 6 years without a slam and then suddenly he starts outlasting younger players in 5 setters at 35 years of age, after knee surgery. As Simon said, given the baseless innuendo put around about Nadal for years, it's strange that no scrutiny was placed on Federer here - instead he was lauded for it.

Federer didn't win a US Open since 08. He did 5IAR US Open titles in a weakish era (04-08), he did similar at Wimbledon (03-07). He was able to pick up a French Open and Wimbledon in 2009 when Rafa who was reigning champ had to succumb to knee injuries. Since then in over a decade he has added just 5 slams, 3 Australian Opens and 2 Wimbledons. Nadal has won the same amount of hard and grass slams in that time.

Feds the best, your weakish ear thing means nothing..

Did Rafa ever have knee surgery? Did he preform better? and lets say Rafa wins more titles as he gets older will people think he's on the juice?

Strange one

Nope, Rafa has suffered from tendonitis in his knees, rest and a course of anti-inflammatories are his usual treatment for this. It flares up primarily on hard courts which is why Nadal has always been very selective about the tournaments he chooses.

Rafa has changed his game, he can't do the time on court he did when he was 24/25. He doesn't win the long rallies anymore like he used to, he plays his points shorter, more aggressively. His serve has improved dramatically under Moya. The 2015/16 era for Nadal was him playing a game that his body was no longer capable of. Many people had wrote him off at that time but he readapted his game and certain elements of his game are better than they ever were before.

I don't think he has the game anymore to do it with Djokovic on a hard court, the prime Nadal could have gone toe to toe with Djokovic on hard courts but  he doesn't have the physical levels to match him anymore in that regard.

Nadal's time on court in slams in the past 4 seasons will tell you all you need to know about the difference in his game.

I'm not saying Federer is a doper but when you think of the narrative and innuendo out there, it makes much more logical sense to be more suspicious of Federer than Nadal and I think that's the point Simon was making in his book. People have used slurs and innuendo all through Nadal's career because he was bettering Federer and there was no way some elements could accept that Nadal was better.

[Angelo]

With regards to doping, the most telling interview for me was Federer after Sharapova was banned for drug use.

He basically said that everyone in the game knew the dopers, and it was time for the big name dopers to be outed.
(Not the words of a guilty man imo).

The interview was before a match against Nadal; Federer said it was an honour to share the court with a true professional.

For me that day, Federer pointed the finger directly at Djokovic, whose form fell away drastically for a couple of years after Federer said this.
I often wonder did he lie low and come off the juice until things quietened down again.

The only other big name at the time was Murray, one person that can never be accused of doping! He always looked knackered at the end of the first set!

There is a lot of mutual respect between Federer and Nadal.

There is a lot of animosity between Federer and Djokovic, Nadal and Djokovic are not close but it doesn't seem to boil over into anything other than a professional rivalry. The dislike between Federer and Djokovic is a lot more transparent, I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it but both players don't hide it very well.

I'm not sure about Djokovic being a doper, he did have a massive upturn in his form when he uncovered he was celiac which again raised a lot of questions and innuendo. I think the real difference between Djokovic and his upturn was not physical but much more mental. The guy was always a machine but he did brought a kind of terminator mentality on court. The US Open win where he saved a number of match points against Federer, the Wimbledon final last year when Federer outplayed, had match points and he still hung on in there.

I would like to think all 3 are clean but I think you can sense which camp the innuendo and slurs come from and it's not the Djokovic and Nadal camps. I don't think it's driven from Federer or anyone in his team but more from his admirers and cheerleaders in the media and ex pros.

This was something Simon also mentioned in his book.

[Milltown Row2]

Nadal on his way out! New breed coming in

[GiveItToTheShooters]

Nadal on his way out! New breed coming in

He's a busted flush

[Angelo]

Australian Open kicks off Monday.

I'd strongly tip Medvedev for this one, had a look at the draw and he has the best break of it.

Djokovic will likely have Zverev in the quarter and Thiem in the semi if it plays to ranking - that's going to be a tough ask for him to then beat Medvedev/Nadal/Tsitipas in the final.

Medvedev will likely have Nadal or Tsitsipas in the semi and I think his end of season form was superb. Will be great to see a major sports tournament with fans again.

[Orior]

Australian Open kicks off Monday.

I'd strongly tip Medvedev for this one, had a look at the draw and he has the best break of it.

Djokovic will likely have Zverev in the quarter and Thiem in the semi if it plays to ranking - that's going to be a tough ask for him to then beat Medvedev/Nadal/Tsitipas in the final.

Medvedev will likely have Nadal or Tsitsipas in the semi and I think his end of season form was superb. Will be great to see a major sports tournament with fans again.

I hope not, because I just cannot pronouce his name (racist!). So much easier to say Rafa, Fed or Jock.

[Angelo]

17 year old Spaniard Carlos Alvarez becomes the youngest mens player to win a slam match in 7 years on his slam debut.

The new Nadal?

[Angelo]

Djokovic is struggling and has a nightmare path from here on in. Overcame Fritz in 5 sets today and took him 4 to get past Tiafoe yesterday. Doesn't look anywhere near his best form.

He has Raonic in the R4, likely Zverev in the QF, probably Thiem after that and then one of Medvedev/Nadal/Tsitsipas after that.

Thiem also had a 5 setter today and came from 2 sets down to defeat Kyrgios. He has a tough game against Dimtirov next but should have the easiest quarter final of the lot.

[Angelo]

It's been a long, long time since a slam has been so up for grabs with all the big names still involved in the last 16.



I picked Medvedev at the start and I still back him but he had a big scare today coming through in 5 setters. Djokovic, Thiem, Tsitsipas and Medvedev have all had to survive 5 setters already.

[Milltown Row2]

Novak through, closer he gets to semi final the better he becomes.

[Angelo]

Novak through, closer he gets to semi final the better he becomes.

Plays a chap outside the top 100 in the semi and will have an extra days rest with his semi on Thursday and the other on Friday.

On the other side of the draw you have 4 of the top 7 now in a Battle Royale to make the final. Djokovic's name is as good on the trophy, had he Thiem in a semi now then it would take a lot out of him but he will cruise through the semi in around 1 hr 30m.

I'll back Medvedev to make the final but I think Djokovic will now beat him due to the recovery/preparation time he has until then.

6 of the last 8 Australian Opens have been won by the player who played their semi final on the Thursday.

Zverev has all the tools to win a slam but is a noted bottler and won't do it over the course of a 5 set slam until he sorts that out. He had the breaks of serve in the 1st, 3rd and 4th sets today but blew it when Djokovic upped it. He was 3/12 on break points, Djokovic 6/9.

Games tomorrow are interesting, Medvedev should come through Rublev but Rublev has been very impressive over the past 18 months.

The other game is more of a 50/50. Don't think Nadal has been playing too well but has yet to drop a set, has had an easy route up until now, his back issue seems to have cleared up though going by his comments. Tsitsipas is well rested after receiving a walkover yesterday but notably flaky. Either way I don't think Nadal can overcome a best of 5 against 3 of the best 5 players in the world on a hard court with a day's level recover in 5 days at age of 34. I think Medvedev is the only player capable of beating Djokovic left with the way things have panned out.

Djokovic hasn't even been playing well this tournament, the draw which looked very difficult on paper last year could not have worked out better now.

Crowds back tomorrow?

[Milltown Row2]

Thought crowds be back for semis (Thursday)

Your pick is still in and I was going to back him from your report but think Nadal might just have enough experience to steer through.

Novak has had some injury issues also, watched Nadal v Norrie. Probably his toughest game and he won in three sets..

Novak going for 9 titles.

[Angelo]

Thought crowds be back for semis (Thursday)

Your pick is still in and I was going to back him from your report but think Nadal might just have enough experience to steer through.

Novak has had some injury issues also, watched Nadal v Norrie. Probably his toughest game and he won in three sets..

Novak going for 9 titles.

Djokovic has a habit of overplaying his injuries. Saw the game with Raonic on Sunday and he was like an elastic band retrieving shots behind the baseline and him claiming he had torn his abdominal muscle - Berrettini on the other hand couldn't take the court yesterday with an abdominal strain. His form has been pretty patchy though but I just feel he will be so much fresher than his opponent in here now, whoever makes the final from here might have 10 sets under their belt.

It's been a strange tournament though, you'd feel they are probably all a good bit below their best with very little tennis played in advance and the likes of Nadal and Thiem not having their coaches travel with them. A real shame Thiem wasn't still in it, probably the most exciting player in the game now.