Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XVI

[kihei]

Awesome first set of grass court tennis from Sinner and Hurkacz that goes to Jannick 10-8 in the breaker. Arguably Hurkacz has the best first serve in tennis, but Sinner nearly matched him serve for serve (Jannick had 47% unreturned first serves to Hubi's 53%). If there is a cloud on the horizon for Sinner, it's no longer the serve--he now has great arm action on the backswing and much improved weight transfer. The potential flaw in his game might be the forehand which consistently this week has led to more unforced errors than winners. Still even with the unforced errors on that side, his depth and pace off the ground on both sides have been very impressive so far.

2nd set: Another breaker, and Sinner wins this one 7-2. He amped up the aggression, taking the net more this set. Close set but it felt like Sinner's to win and he did.

Nice shot of the two players chatting amiably together on a bench while tournament officials yapped away for a while. A pair of really nice guys.

 

[kihei]

Paul over Musetti at Queen's 6-1 7-6 (10-8). A slow start and poor serving doomed Musetti in the first set but he had his chances in the second set tie breaker, but couldn't quite deliver. His game always seems a little fragile under pressure to me--like he is the guy that is going to crack first. Big confidence boost for Paul with Wimbledon on the horizon.

 

[kihei]

Perhaps because it was a quarterfinal, this match doesn't come up when people discuss the greatest match of all time, but it should. 4 hr, 45 minutes of the most physical, even brutal five set tennis you can imagine with incredible points, highlight reel defense and wild set scores:

 

[Tuggy]

Fernandez in good form ahead of Wimbledon. She just beat Keys to make the Eastbourne final.

 

[kihei]

Fritz wins Eastbourne with a workmanlike straight set win over Purcell in his first final. Deceptive win in a way. Taylor, with his first serve and his strong ground game, looks like he should be terrific on grass and a prime Wimbledon contender, but his lack of a strong volley game puts him at an insurmountable disadvantage against the best grass court players.

 

[Fantomas]

The women's tour is so bleeding awful. Another big tournament won by some rando no one has ever heard of. Really miss the good old days of great players like Evert/Martina/Seles/Graf.

 

[Brunkmeister]

Rafa defeated Leo Borg in straight sets in Båstad. Quite a story.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

The women's tour is so bleeding awful. Another big tournament won by some rando no one has ever heard of. Really miss the good old days of great players like Evert/Martina/Seles/Graf.

I mean she's won a grand slam before and, I've said it multiple times before, that's kinda of the allure of the WTA.

 

[Fantomas]

I mean she's won a grand slam before

I must have been asleep

 

[kihei]

Nadal looked very good today in Bastad beating Norrie, not a guy you want to play if there are questions about your fitnes, 6-4 6-4. If Rafa's court coverage has slipped a little it wasn't evident today, or, at least, it will take a more elite player than Norrie to exploit it. Nadal dominated the rallies with tactical finesse and the only noticeable potential problem evident in his game is that his serve lacks the bite it once had, though it's coming along. Watching him play, I couldn't help think "So, why is this guy thinking of retiring?" I mean, I know the reasons but he sure looks like he could be competitive for a while longer.

 

[kihei]

In a match that lasted one minute short of four hours, Nadal survives clay court hell against the human backboard and #4 seed Mariano Navone 6-7, 7-5, 7-5. This mercilessly gruelling match certainly answered a lot of questions about Rafa's general fitness and stamina. I'm suddenly thinking I wouldn't bet against this guy in the Olympics.

 

[kihei]

Today a tough three set win for Rafa over a Challenger-type guy Croatian Duje Ajdovic, he of the blistering backhand. Rafa is getting his match play in, but it will be interesting to see how all this translates further up the food chain when he faces more skilled players.

 

[kihei]

In Bastad, the semi between Nadal and Ajdovic was sold out, jammed pack beyond capacity. The other semi between Borges and Tirante....fewer than a hundred people in attendance (the numbers grew but not greatly--Bastad doesn't get the fields that it once did).

 

[Ben Grimm]

https://sports.yahoo.com/rafael-nadal-reaches-first-singles-final-since-2022-as-prep-continues-for-paris-olympics-142626620.html

 

[kihei]

Rafa finally runs out of steam and loses the Bastad final to Borges 3 and 2. Very positive week for Nadal, but he was not much of a problem for Borges today, who returned very well, hit a long string of winning drop shots, and found angles and pace that Rafa couldn't handle.

In Munich, Fils knocks of Zverev in a third set tie breaker, that rather surprisingly given the last two sets of the match, he dominated 7-1. While Fils contributed some beautiful shotmaking to go along with some real grit, Zverev certainly didn't help himself by only converting only one of 22 break points.

 

[SlafySZN]

Calling Krejcikova ‘’some rando’’ is certainly a choice.

This woman is gonna be in the tennis hall of fame.

 

[kihei]

Calling Krejcikova ‘’some rando’’ is certainly a choice.

This woman is gonna be in the tennis hall of fame.

She's an absolute lock, but her two singles GSs are more like the icing on the cake. Here is a brief look at her resume:

Singles

2 Grand Slam titles (French Open and Wimbledon)
(But only eight career wins overall and a highest ranking of #2, not #1)

Now add the doubles accolades:

7 Grand Slam Doubles titles, only one US Open win away from a double career Slam
3 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles
1 Olympic Gold Medal
1 WTA Tour Finals win
1 Federation Cup win
Career high ranking of #1

In short, she has won at least one of everything that is important to win in women's doubles.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Mardy Fish said he'll have more "celebrity" golf American Century titles than Alcaraz has Wimbledon titles when Alcaraz retires. @kihei , do you agree?

 

[kihei]

Mardy Fish said he'll have more "celebrity" golf American Century titles than Alcaraz has Wimbledon titles when Alcaraz retires. @kihei , do you agree?

Why would anybody care?

Sinner is out of the Olympics. Tonsillitis.

 

[kihei]

Ay yi yi again. Nole and Rafa are scheduled to meet in round two in the Olympics.

 

[VMBM]

Ay yi yi again. Nole and Rafa are scheduled to meet in round two in the Olympics.

Well, at least Rafa has a some kind of chance (for a medal) in the doubles with Carlitos. I have written Nadal off many times before — only for him to prove me wrong — but him beating Djokovic right now would be a true 'Miracle on Court'.

 

[kihei]

Olympic predictions:

Djokovic over Tsitsipas
Zverev over Navone

Ruud over Medvedev
Carlos over Paul

Djokovic over Zverev
Carlos ove Ruud

Ruud over Zverev (bronze medal)
Carlos over Djokovic (gold and silver medals)

If Navone loses to Borges in the first round, I'd pick Borges to get to the quarters. Both those guys are playing very well.

Playing Nole early has a lot of advantages for Rafa in this instance. He will be fresh and well=rested, not worn down as he might be later in the draw and Nole has placed a lot of pressure on himself to win Gold. Plus, the match will be played at Roland Garros, obviously a huge plus for Rafa. An upset wouldn't surprise me a great deal.

 

[kihei]

Carlos, Nole and Fritz all win opening round Olympic matches easily, Nole to the tune of love and 1 against Ebden, a wholly predictable result.

 

[kihei]

I'm watching the Nadal/Alcaraz doubles match (I know, I know) on CBC Gem. Looks like a great outlet in Canada for watching individual sports for free, no less.

Nadal/Alcaraz knock off the #6 seeds to advance, 6 and 4. Nadal looked awful up to the first set breaker, but played well the rest of the way. Carlos made some great shots and made some questionable decisions, too. But if they mesh, they are going to be a formidable doubles team, definitely could contend for a bronze.

 

[kihei]

Fucsovics and Nadal at a set apiece. Hold onto your hats, this set is no gimme.

Just to make it nerve wracking, Rafa came back from love-40 on serve in the fourth game and broke in the next, and held on from there, 6-4.

So the Olympics gets one dandy of a second round match.