US open 2012: ATP Matches of the Day: Day 4

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:This is why I am so convinced the greatest era was actually 2002-2007 when all those great shot makers had faster conds and tennis was really untertaining (Blake, Federer, Nalby, Coria, Ljubo, Davydenko.....) all getting qualified for the Year end masters.

mmmmmaybe....but I like a lot of players from this era. You seem to be judging the players rather than the playing conditions. We can see the "oldies" play now, but I'm just as SO convinced, most of today's players would be fantastic 10 years ago )and , no , just don't mention HIS nams).

If Nole was hitting the ball as cleanly as Blake, you'd say he is the best player ever.

Clean-hitting is beautiful/thrilling both to watch and play, and it is the alpha of tennis, but it's not the whole story. there's something to be said about the movement and guile.

wow3 wrote:Blake is not winning this one. Moonballer will win this one like the Almaggot's result.

What's wrong with frenchies today? First songa and now simone

What don't you like about Almagro. He is a great shot maker actually.

Fifteen 5-setters played in the 1st round, 9 players came back 2 sets down to win matches!

Tenez wrote:

wow3 wrote:Blake is not winning this one. Moonballer will win this one like the Almaggot's result.

What's wrong with frenchies today? First songa and now simone

What don't you like about Almagro. He is a great shot maker actually.

Because he is also one dimensional. Have u ever seen Almagro htting a volley? Only decent player from Spain who I like to watch is feli Lopez.

noleisthebest wrote:there's something to be said about the movement and guile.

Yeah...a lot can be said about mouvement unfortunately. Guile is what Blake has in abundance.

Glad to see Mercer and the other commentator being all praise.

Blake has been really fantastic this evening, playing with so much heart. Just can't make my mind up whether Granollers is making him look this good or not.
How would he fare against Federer, for example?

noleisthebest wrote:Blake has been really fantastic this evening, playing with so much heart. Just can't make my mind up whether Granollers is making him look this good or not.
How would he fare against Federer, for example?

As I said, on the day Blake was on teh very few player who coudl blast him off court. I remember a final in Cincy or Toronto (maybe elsewhere) where Fed had no answer and had to wait for hurricane Blake to weaken. The thing is Blake had to play kamikase tennis and coudl not do it ...bar at this Olympic 2008. Though 2008 wasn't Fed's vintage year.

Granollers looks like a B grade player at the moment, totally lost without a plan. I wish he's stop this ridiculous groaning

Nole beat Blake at the Olympics in Beijing tow in the bronze. I also saw Blake lose to Gonzales. he was winning until Gonzales would not own up that his racquet touched the ball as it went out.
Blake could not believe the dishonesty and never recovered & consequently lost the match.

noleisthebest wrote:Granollers looks like a B grade player at the moment, totally lost without a plan. I wish he's stop this ridiculous groaning

He was always a B grade player .

Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

Blake could do with buying himself some time and slicing that backhand.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

My heart is bleeding

noleisthebest wrote:Nole beat Blake at the Olympics in Beijing tow in the bronze. I also saw Blake lose to Gonzales. he was winning until Gonzales would not own up that his racquet touched the ball as it went out.
Blake could not believe the dishonesty and never recovered & consequently lost the match.

Yes I remember.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Nole beat Blake at the Olympics in Beijing tow in the bronze. I also saw Blake lose to Gonzales. he was winning until Gonzales would not own up that his racquet touched the ball as it went out.
Blake could not believe the dishonesty and never recovered & consequently lost the match.

Yes I remember.

I don't remember anything from the match, not a single point except the madness AFTER the match .

I do remember feeling sorry for Blake though, not being an the medal ceremony, and that rat Gonzo grinning with the silver next to Nole with bronze

Blake playing so well tonight support the idea that players improve their timing as they get older. He is hitting the ball so cleanly. Like Federer he is simply a better shot maker than a few years ago. Whether they can sustain it day in day out is another matter.

Granollers receiving one classing beating!

Tenez wrote:. Whether they can sustain it day in day out is another matter.

He doesn't need to at this stage of his career. To play this kind of tennis in his home town, in front of his crowd, he'll treasure this match/win more than some titles.

I really enjoyed this! Huge for Blake and the special magic he performed tonight

Federer Phau looking pretty bland after THAT match. Time for

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

laverfan wrote:Blake, Almagro, Raonic, Verdasco, Lopez, Chardy.

Perfect picking. 6/6. (No moonballing).

PS: sphairistike and I are the only Blake (114) pickers.

Veejay wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

He has years left in him in terms of age. But he looks tired of playing now. He just doesn't have the energy to train and compete. It depends on individual, Safin too retired a bit young I would say. Blake, Karlovic, Haas and many others still like to compete.

His losses were not his fault. He didn't play bad in any of those, in fact very good in W 09. But he just came across a far better player in Fed.

Results Day4:

1. [11] N Almagro (ESP) d P Petzschner (GER) 63 57 57 64 64

rotla: 11
tenez: 11
nitb: 11
laverfan: 11
wow: -11
sphairistike: 11

---------------------
[15] M Raonic (CAN) d P Mathieu (FRA) 75 64 76(4)

rotla: -15
tenez: 15
nitb: 15
laverfan: 15
wow: 15
sphairistike: -15

---------------------

J Blake (USA) d [24] M Granollers (ESP) 61 64 62

rotla: -33
tenez: -33
nitb: 33
laverfan: 33
wow: -33
sphairistike: 33

---------------------

[25] F Verdasco (ESP) d A Ramos (ESP) 76(4) 57 76(5) 64

rotla: 25
tenez: 25
nitb: 25
laverfan: 25
wow: 25
sphairistike: 25

---------------------

[30] F Lopez (ESP) d P Andujar (ESP) 64 61 67(5) 36 75

rotla: 30
tenez: -30
nitb: 30
laverfan: 30
wow: 30
sphairistike: 30

---------------------

[32] J Chardy (FRA) d M Ebden (AUS) 64 62 62

rotla: -32
tenez: 32
nitb: 32
laverfan: 32
wow: 32
sphairistike: 32

---------------------

nitb and laverfan got all 6 correct.

Standings as on 31-Aug-2012:

Points:
rotla: 29 -24 = 5
tenez: 111 + 20 = 131
nitb: 105 + 146 = 251
laverfan: -24 +146 = 122
wow: 47 + 58 = 105
sphairistike: 83 + 116 = 199

--------------------

No. of correct predictions

rotla: 11/18 + 3/6 = 14/24
tenez: 13/18 + 4/6 = 17/24
nitb: 13/18 + 6/6 = 19/24
laverfan: 11/18 +6/6 = 17/24
wow: 12/18 + 4/6 = 16/24
sphairistike: 12/18 + 5/6 = 17/24

--------------------

nitb has taken a huge leap . And I have taken a huge plunge .

Veejay wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

From the time he married Decker, I knew the end was near. He couldn't concentrate anymore.

Why the announcement in the middle of the tournament? Why not wait until the end of the tournament?

[quote="raiders_of_the_lost_ark"]

Veejay wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

rotla: "He has years left in him in terms of age. But he looks tired of playing now. He just doesn't have the energy to train and compete. It depends on individual, Safin too retired a bit young I would say. Blake, Karlovic, Haas and many others still like to compete.

His losses were not his fault. He didn't play bad in any of those, in fact very good in W 09. But he just came across a far better player in Fed."

Yes, I think many would argue Roddick was overall the better player in that 09 match.

Roger ruined the career of a couple of champs. Losing is part of the business. Andy took the defeat better than one would expect.

Veejay wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

Yes agree. I was not fan of his game but still on fast surfaces a force and a character. We forget now how good he (his serve essentially) was cause they slowed conds and his main weapon became obsolete. Imagine if courts had been slowed down to clay-kind conditions, Pete would have had 0 slams, not even a final. This is what happened to players with big serves (Fish, Ancic, Dent, Roddick, etc...). They became instinct like dinosaurs. We talk about the death of SV...but it is in fact the death of big servers at large.

So we have two 6/6 and me with 5/6... You really made easy picks rotla... If only raonic had lost to P-H M, they would have been way tougher picks to make... Oh well!

sphairistike wrote:So we have two 6/6 and me with 5/6... You really made easy picks rotla... If only raonic had lost to P-H M, they would have been way tougher picks to make... Oh well!

Hope you enjoyed your Arthur Ashe Day.

Tenez wrote:Blake playing so well tonight support the idea that players improve their timing as they get older. He is hitting the ball so cleanly. Like Federer he is simply a better shot maker than a few years ago. Whether they can sustain it day in day out is another matter.

How's your timing going these days, then?

Going well actually....but I am more in the late 40s than beginning 30s so it;s not quite comparable.

However I think my timing is better now within a range of regular tennis rallies. When I play with younger players hitting faster/harder, then I don't time it as well. I think I could cope better with pace when I was younger, certainly in the 30s. It might be because I am not used to playing that fast anymore.

I think it is interesting to see players whose game are based on fine timing are doing well in their 30s:

Pete, Agassi, Blake, Stepanek, Federer, Haas, Ljubicic, .....

In my view confidence in their strokes makes a big difference for those players' success and knowing that they have confidence in their timing gives them a second life late in their career.

Probably a discussion to expand on new thread.

Tenez wrote:Going well actually....but I am more in the late 40s than beginning 30s so it;s not quite comparable.

However I think my timing is better now within a range of regular tennis rallies. When I play with younger players hitting faster/harder, then I don't time it as well. I think I could cope better with pace when I was younger, certainly in the 30s. It might be because I am not used to playing that fast anymore.

I think it is interesting to see players whose game are based on fine timing are doing well in their 30s:

Pete, Agassi, Blake, Stepanek, Federer, Haas, Ljubicic, .....

In my view confidence in their strokes makes a big difference for those players' success and knowing that they have confidence in their timing gives them a second life late in their career.

Probably a discussion to expand on new thread.

It is an interesting observation, but makes a lot of sense. As you get older, you lose the speed of movement, half a step a step and no timing in the world can help you there.
In their 30s men are still in their physical prime and movement may or may not be affected only slightly.

I play like I'm 100

noleisthebest wrote:


I play like I'm 100

I certainly feel like it at times. One is is sure is that at my age I feel more rushed than I was by the pacy balls, not so much going to the ball but just my reactions are slower. Which is funny cause my timing is as good, if not better.

I guess it's like an aging pianist. He can play the pieces he knows as well as ever but the toughest, fastest ones get tougher.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:


I play like I'm 100

I certainly feel like it at times. One is is sure is that at my age I feel more rushed than I was by the pacy balls, not so much going to the ball but just my reactions are slower. Which is funny cause my timing is as good, if not better.

I guess it's like an aging pianist. He can play the pieces he knows as well as ever but the toughest, fastest ones get tougher.

That's a good illustration. Not to mention the depth of joy the pianist feels when he plays that well-known piece.
That's the beauty of tennis, you can enjoy it at any age and almost any ability.
The other day when we had that BBQ we drew out questions out of a box and answered it in turns (just conversation teasers when you have "new" people)
My question was : If you could acquire any skill with no effort what would it be?
guess what I answered

noleisthebest wrote:My question was : If you could acquire any skill with no effort what would it be?
guess what I answered

Being flexible like Djoko or having that eye/hand coord of Federer?

I guess you did not got into specifics....playing tennis?

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:My question was : If you could acquire any skill with no effort what would it be?
guess what I answered

Being flexible like Djoko or having that eye/hand coord of Federer?

I guess you did not got into specifics....playing tennis?

How did you guess ! And as I don't do anything by halves, my answer was: to play with no limitations & win Wimbledon .

The best bit was - nobody laughed!

noleisthebest wrote:
The best bit was - nobody laughed!

No. cause they knew you were serious!...plus they were miles away from thinking tennis! I know people!

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:
The best bit was - nobody laughed!

No. cause they knew you were serious!...plus they were miles away from thinking tennis! I know people!

you're right! You should've heard THEIR answers

Anway to illustrate YOUR illustration:

20-year old's tennis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2LktDZR4g

40+ year old's tennis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koWzRI4BaYo

Good find.


I believe even composers like to create slower rhythmic pieces as they get older...don't we also speak in a more composed and articulate way compared to our teen years?

Tenez wrote:Good find.


I believe even composers like to create slower rhythmic pieces as they get older...don't we also speak in a more composed and articulate way compared to our teen years?

one of my favourite verses:

"Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks".

P.S.
I've always been fairly articulate, just had so little to say , yes, you could really compare it to tennis, almost a careless showing off these youngsters.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Veejay wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Roddick to retire after USopen 2012.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2012-08-30/201208301346368599882.html?promo=home

There was a lot of speculation about it a Wimbledon the way he was acting,its really sad to hear him bow out when he still has a few years left.Roddick is a great player and I enjoyed seeing him compete,he always gave his best and has been a good ambassador for the sport as he always set a good example,always giving credit where credit is due,no excuses for loses and no other monkey business
I would have been nice if he retired with another major but I think he last realistic shot was 09 Wimbledon

He has years left in him in terms of age. But he looks tired of playing now. He just doesn't have the energy to train and compete. It depends on individual, Safin too retired a bit young I would say. Blake, Karlovic, Haas and many others still like to compete.

His losses were not his fault. He didn't play bad in any of those, in fact very good in W 09. But he just came across a far better player in Fed.

Roddick should have announced this before Wimbledon.He has played a very big part in the tournaments history and deserved a proper "good bye"

Veejay wrote:Roddick should have announced this before Wimbledon.He has played a very big part in the tournaments history and deserved a proper "good bye"

Yes I see the point but maybe it was Wimbledon's results that pushed him towards that decision...plus I woyuld hate to have to say goodbye at every tournament I take part till the very end. I'd like to do it like he does actually....quickly.

Tenez wrote:

Veejay wrote:Roddick should have announced this before Wimbledon.He has played a very big part in the tournaments history and deserved a proper "good bye"

Yes I see the point but maybe it was Wimbledon's results that pushed him towards that decision...plus I woyuld hate to have to say goodbye at every tournament I take part till the very end. I'd like to do it like he does actually....quickly.

He might as well have milked it for all its worth the way that boy band westlife did
Took them a whole year to say good bye on every chat show
I remember when Agassi had his good bye at Wimbledon a few years ago,it was quite emotional (not for me but for the crowds)

Veejay wrote:I remember when Agassi had his good bye at Wimbledon a few years ago,it was quite emotional (not for me but for the crowds)

That's the thing! I am not one have emotion "en mass" about I don't really know!

As I mentioned on another thread, I won't even be sad when Federer retires.

Tenez wrote:

Veejay wrote:I remember when Agassi had his good bye at Wimbledon a few years ago,it was quite emotional (not for me but for the crowds)

That's the thing! I am not one have emotion "en mass" about I don't really know!

As I mentioned on another thread, I won't even be sad when Federer retires.

I think Federer is the only player I will really feel emotional about,he's the only reason why I follow the game so religiously

Tenez wrote:

Veejay wrote:I remember when Agassi had his good bye at Wimbledon a few years ago,it was quite emotional (not for me but for the crowds)

That's the thing! I am not one have emotion "en mass" about I don't really know!

As I mentioned on another thread, I won't even be sad when Federer retires.

I'll try and be as brave as you when Nole retires

I am not trying to be brave, I just enjoy moving on...