World Tour Final: 2016

I liked the blue clay. Feds won on it and Nadal and Djok crumbled and moaned.

luvsports! wrote:I liked the blue clay. Feds won on it and Nadal and Djok crumbled and moaned.

it was a pretty surface 
didnt djokovic and nadal threaten to boycott the event if madrid didnt change it back to the red clay?

I agree. Blue clay was about proper footwork. One could not pound the court.

I fancy Nishi for this or Stan if he is fit.

Well, here they all are!


The picture paints a thousand words!

Maybe not the best tennis this WTF, but lot of sub stories simmering in the background!

See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

And Pouille won the most improved player award!

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

legendkillar wrote:

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

federer wins sportsmanship award again?
thank god it was it murray!!

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

federer wins sportsmanship award again?
thank god it was it murray!!

I actually objected to many of those shortlisted.

I'd always be intrigued to see who would be shortlisted if say the umpires were those who voted.

While there are many other deserving players, it's understandable that those who play the biggest matches with most at stake that get nominated.

But Murray and Nadal were really a joke.

legendkillar wrote:

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

federer wins sportsmanship award again?
thank god it was it murray!!

I actually objected to many of those shortlisted.

I'd always be intrigued to see who would be shortlisted if say the umpires were those who voted.

as much as im a federer fan and believe that he has consistently been a good sport throughout his career,i just cannot see how he could be the recipient of the award this year when he has barely even played?!?
having said that,of course i would much rather have it go to hm then anyone else

the highlighted part is a very interesting question,i reckon they should also have a say in who should be awarded this title 
so apart from roger who do you think would be worthy of the edberg sportsmanship award?

Someone put a sticky on Main Forum page about Fed's award.

This is historic!!!

Sportmansip is a non issue for me but i m certainly not surprised he goes to him again. Murray probably voted for him to thank him for an easier route to number 1. Murray has not got a good record v Fed recently and Fed withdrawal certainly played in Murray's favour.

Yes, I think Andy owes a nice dinner to Fed and Nadal.

Also some gift to Jelena, for fuking up DJoko nicely.

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

federer wins sportsmanship award again?
thank god it was it murray!!

I actually objected to many of those shortlisted.

I'd always be intrigued to see who would be shortlisted if say the umpires were those who voted.

as much as im a federer fan and believe that he has consistently been a good sport throughout his career,i just cannot see how he could be the recipient of the award this year when he has barely even played?!?
having said that,of course i would much rather have it go to hm then anyone else

the highlighted part is a very interesting question,i reckon they should also have a say in who should be awarded this title 
so apart from roger who do you think would be worthy of the edberg sportsmanship award?

Well Ferrer is a player who I have not seen or witnessed having a fit or displaying any form of negativity verbally or physically. Never seen him abuse an official or anything. Probably guilty of being too quiet.

i agree with that,the golden retriever ( joking) certainly has one of the nicest temperaments among he guys on tour
i guess the sportsmanship award has a lot to do with popularity and unfortunately for him,he isnt as popular a guy as others are 
i also think that class plays a big part in how others perceive you
roger is a very classy guy with a really classy game thats why he seems like the obvious choice every time
looks like he will continue to win the award long after he retired from tour 

Yes, but look at all French players: Tsonga, Simon, Gasquet, Pouille...they are all even better than Federer yet they never get nominated (ok Pouille is a bit young).

They bring a great gentlemanly attitude to game...and have flair!

ATP obviously nominate and dance to the tune of sponsors, so that's why Federer as usually the only sane and valid option for players gets chosen every time.

Though I seriously don't know how they managed to push Nadal through that year.

i dont think that it has anything to do wth sponsors as your peers vote for you
no one handles themselves better on and off the court then federer 
he wasnt voted most admired person after nelson mandela for no reason
im sorry but those french players cant even be put in the same conversation

Veejay wrote:i dont think that it has anything to do wth sponsors as your peers vote for you

Yes, but who nominates the selection players are left to wote for?

Veejay wrote:
no one handles themselves better on and off the court then federer 
he wasnt voted most admired person after nelson mandela for no reason
im sorry but those french players cant even be put in the same conversation

Of course they can.

They don't abuse opponents, players' box, umpires, any rules, don't grunt, always genuinely gracious both in wins and losses.

if they could be then one of them would have won that award by now 

how many years has roger won it now? i think it was only the year nadal won it that federer hasnt won since he first won it
that in itself speaks volumes and that he is in a totally different class then the rest of the players in this regard

Veejay wrote:i agree with that,the golden retriever ( joking) certainly has one of the nicest temperaments among he guys on tour
i guess the sportsmanship award has a lot to do with popularity and unfortunately for him,he isnt as popular a guy as others are 
i also think that class plays a big part in how others perceive you
roger is a very classy guy with a really classy game thats why he seems like the obvious choice every time
looks like he will continue to win the award long after he retired from tour 

Agree with that 100%

Someone like Roger is Champagne and Caviar whereas Ferrer is San Miguel and a Basket of Fries!

Here is a clip from last night's gala launch...despite no Fedal, it's still nice to see the 8 players happy, Thiem in particular.

Moi, well, I didn't expect to see Pouille in the video, he looked so dashing!

Gael despite his flamboyant persona on court, came acros quite shy.

It's good that at least we have the battle for number one "live", and that my prediction for 2016 that we won't see Ferrer and Berd in O2 came true!

That's gotta be a step forward!

Plus, Thiem made it...(don't know how but he did!)

All in all I am ready!

Just saw that Federer won his last 5 encounters versus Murray. The last win from Murray goes back to AO 2013 when Fed had the worst patch of his back problems.

So interestingling, if Murray is now world number it is fair to believe that he plays better now than then.....which says a lot about Federer able to keep up with the best players for so long!

Well...it's ultimately what a player can do with the ball, provided the legs get him to it.

And Federer seems to be like a timeless constant solving all the problems that come to him.

On grass with a skidding biting short slice, on hard court - BTDL,  on clay - SABR.

What will he do with that treasure he's looked after so well, one day when the loses the key to the chest its in.

noleisthebest wrote:

BlueClay wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

I don't find them much worse.

Last few matches they played were quite interesting as they needed a lot of skill to get the ball past each other.

It's when they kill of a shotmaker that's bad.

But I know what you mean.
If they all retired today I would not miss them.

Problem is, strings and spin have infested tennis beyond repair almost. Fitness is just the  final nail in the coffin.

I thought you were a raving Djokovic fan? Now that he's having some trouble you've jumped ship?

Blueclay,

your comments are like your poster name: a thing of the past and...failure!

Change the record and join us in a different tune.

My comments aren't a failure. You seemed to be a huge Djokovic fan before, salivating over him left and right and suddenly he starts to lose big matches and you are off the bandwagon and on top of it you think you know what goes on in his personal life? It's odd to me. You were even trying to elevate Djokovic over Federer in some respects not too long ago and became sensitive and resentful when people criticized Djokovic and not Federer.

As for Pouille, his tennis has style but he's played Murray what, three times now and Murray has demolished him badly every time (and I am not a Murray fan, I'm neutral about Murray.)  The fact that Pouille beat Nadal on hc recently doesn't mean much since Nadal is a shadow of his former self. What I'm saying is yes Pouille has talent but he has a lot of work to do to be elite.

Nadal is not a shadow of his former self. The game has simply moved on. If you are only a one trick poney, you will be found out.

Djoko exposed Nadal at its peak 5 years ago. Many players nowadays can do what Djoko could 5 years ago.

In the past Nadal's main challenge was his spin...and today it still is. Problems is that players know how to handle it better nowadays.

It's as simple as that!

And the fact is that as I mentioned a 1000 time...even when nadal was winning a lot he was very often winning very close matches by the skin of his teeth. It's no surprise that as the tour moves on, those close matches he used to win are now ending on the wrong side for him.

Remember that FO 13 final? yes Nadal won.....but again should have lost it. There is so much luck one can have!

BlueClay wrote:
My comments aren't a failure. You seemed to be a huge Djokovic fan before, salivating over him left and right and suddenly he starts to lose big matches and you are off the bandwagon and on top of it you think you know what goes on in his personal life? It's odd to me. You were even trying to elevate Djokovic over Federer in some respects not too long ago and became sensitive and resentful when people criticized Djokovic and not Federer.

Yes, I admit I was a bit of a fan for quite some time.

But Nole has changed and I am not his fan any more. It has nothing to do with his results.
He hasn't been his old self for two years roughly, and I could see it but couldn't put my finger on it.
Most of 2015 I was supporting Federer over him.

I'll still support him as my countryman, but the crazy days are over.

BlueClay wrote:
As for Pouille, his tennis has style but he's played Murray what, three times now and Murray has demolished him badly every time (and I am not a Murray fan, I'm neutral about Murray.)  The fact that Pouille beat Nadal on hc recently doesn't mean much since Nadal is a shadow of his former self. What I'm saying is yes Pouille has talent but he has a lot of work to do to be elite.

Pouille is closer to beating Murray than the scores are showing.

Hopefully, we'll see it soon.

legendkillar wrote:

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Veejay wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:See Federer won the Sportsmanship award...again! An abomination of an award and needs renaming!

Glad Delpo won the comeback award.

Isn't it the players voting for sportmanship?

Indeed it is. It's a running joke now really.

federer wins sportsmanship award again?
thank god it was it murray!!

I actually objected to many of those shortlisted.

I'd always be intrigued to see who would be shortlisted if say the umpires were those who voted.

as much as im a federer fan and believe that he has consistently been a good sport throughout his career,i just cannot see how he could be the recipient of the award this year when he has barely even played?!?
having said that,of course i would much rather have it go to hm then anyone else

the highlighted part is a very interesting question,i reckon they should also have a say in who should be awarded this title 
so apart from roger who do you think would be worthy of the edberg sportsmanship award?

Well Ferrer is a player who I have not seen or witnessed having a fit or displaying any form of negativity verbally or physically. Never seen him abuse an official or anything. Probably guilty of being too quiet.

Ferrer generally comes across well and doesn't cheat. He can rant/swear at umpires though and there is that clip of him aiming a ball towards a crying baby in the crowd which was annoying him. Someone like Tsonga would always seem a good choice to me!

noleisthebest wrote:Well, here they all are!


The picture paints a thousand words!

Maybe not the best tennis this WTF, but lot of sub stories simmering in the background!

Good video behind this:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/37961529

Always think it's quite cool how normal even the top tennis guys behave. Just wouldn't be the same with footballers!

federer thanking everyone who voted for him after winning both fans favourite and sportsmanship awards....

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/federer-wins-fans-favourite-sportsmanship-atp-awards-2016

I am picking Andy to win it.  He is the only player that has been consistent lately.  I can see two reasons why I could be wrong:

(a)  His group is by far the harder one
(b)  He could have an emotional letdown now that he reached the World No 1.

But even so, with Djokovic being quite poor as of late, and none of the other players playing all that well either, Andy is still the big favorite for me.

Next year will be interesting.

summerblues wrote:I am picking Andy to win it.  He is the only player that has been consistent lately.  I can see two reasons why I could be wrong:

(a)  His group is by far the harder one
(b)  He could have an emotional letdown now that he reached the World No 1.

But even so, with Djokovic being quite poor as of late, and none of the other players playing all that well either, Andy is still the big favorite for me.

Next year will be interesting.

Would not be the first time!

I have no clue who will win. I still fancy Djoko though I don;t want him to win 5 in a row and 6 in total. He doesn't deserve it ...well his game doesn't.

Looking at the order of play, although there is no Fedal, I think it's great that there is no  Ferrer and Berdych (Ferber? ) either.

For years, they were killing WTFs with their "dead weight".

At least we may have less predictable matches now and from that point a "live" and an interesting tournament.

djokovic definitely looks like he has lost a lot of weight 
he looks bony and anorexic through that shirt that he is wearing 

Court def playing faster than last year(s).

Raonic and Cikic are going to love it.

Nole lightning fast as ever.

Very contrasting sets.

the difference between thiem in the first set and the second set is massive

luvsports! wrote:Very contrasting sets.

i know i just said that,it doesnt look physical to me 
he seems to have lost complete concentration

I love when Thiem goes all out attack. Djoko is everywhere though.

game ovs

luvsports! wrote:I love when Thiem goes all out attack. Djoko is everywhere though.

the problem with continually going for winners against such a defensive player is that the defensive player keeps making you play another ball,making you go for a little bit more very time till they draw the error out of you
he needs to be more patient and go for the winner at the right time
thiem saying that he ran out of gas after the first set so he will need to work on his fitness but i gotta say,theres a lot of potential there 
the crowd clearly seem to like him a lot

Tenez wrote:Would not be the first time!

LOL, indeed.

Thiem actually did better than I expected, given his bad form coming here, but overall I am quite disappointed with his last few months.  I hope he will not end up like Dimitrov, who made it to top 10, looked briefly like he might start giving top players hard time, but fell back to the pack after that.

So likeable...
https://twitter.com/Mike_Dickson_DM/status/797846285881638912

luvsports! wrote:So likeable...
https://twitter.com/Mike_Dickson_DM/status/797846285881638912

i guess its answers that like that which leaves him questioning why the crowd generally support his opponent 
you could hear it today again against thiem

I only saw the 5 points the BBC put in its summary. And the main problem for Thiem seems to be his FH. His BH is ok (very good for a SHBH but average when compared to a DHBH). His FH is not hurting enough. He needs to do something about it. Not gutsy enough.

I am actually quite impressed by Raonic. A good player in fact!

Imagine if he had not been injured so much.

Monfils.....another player who has been declining since he was 27!