2019 US Open

[Real McCoy]

1 hour ago, I6MTW said:

Federer won't quit until his records are safe from Nadal and Djokovic. Though, after the Wim loss, he might be mentally done, in that case he might retire soon. Federer at 38 though, is still the only player capable of going toe to toe with Nadal and Djokovic(two of the best players still today.). Even in his declined game , he still stands a better chance of beating them than the Next Gen and Lost Gen players.

His records is not safe from the other two. I think them both will overtake him. I think he is physically done. He is making a lot of unforced errors more often than before. He was making the same in Wim and RG. His reflexes are waning. Losing first sets to a qualifier and a guy ranked 100 should give an idea

[I6MTW]

1 hour ago, Real McCoy said:

His records is not safe from the other two. I think them both will overtake him. I think he is physically done. He is making a lot of unforced errors more often than before. He was making the same in Wim and RG. His reflexes are waning. Losing first sets to a qualifier and a guy ranked 100 should give an idea

I see him retiring end of 2020 or 2021 max. He might play the 2020 olympics. As for his age, it did seek he was done last year after Indian wells, he was atrocious the rest of the season, people thought he was ageing, plus the IW loss drained him mentally. He did come back strong this season. Winning a masters, making two finals, SFs at RG and F at W. I would wait until next season to start judging his level and capabilities.

[SusanMaffei]

where is this located?

[Real McCoy]

Stanimal is back! Stan was excellent today and he beat Novak who looked clueless. @Cricketics He seems to have the wood over Novak in grand slams unlike any other player. The WL ratio seems to underplay Stan's prowess but it is there for even the casual observer to see. As one commentator put it, his one-handed backhand matches up well with Novak's two hander because of the sheer power he is able to generate. Not even Fed's one hander matches up this well he said. I wanted Stan to win it outright but was denied that opportunity by Novak who retired after 2 sets and a break down Hope Stan wins the trophy this time like he did in 2016

[Cricketics]

1 hour ago, Real McCoy said:

Stanimal is back! Stan was excellent today and he beat Novak who looked clueless. @Cricketics He seems to have the wood over Novak in grand slams unlike any other player. The WL ratio seems to underplay Stan's prowess but it is there for even the casual observer to see. As one commentator put it, his one-handed backhand matches up well with Novak's two hander because of the sheer power he is able to generate. Not even Fed's one hander matches up this well he said. I wanted Stan to win it outright but was denied that opportunity by Novak who retired after 2 sets and a break down Hope Stan wins the trophy this time like he did in 2016

Yes, my man Stan the man doing great. Lets not take away anything from Stan whose opponent retired. His backhand was on fire. I have been a big RF fan but also secretly adored the way Stan has gone about in his career. If Nadal loses on the other side, then I would also hope Stan keeps marching on.

 

All the power to Stan, one of the coolest and classiest player on tour.

 

[I6MTW]

So Novak is out. That retirement was poor in taste. Even with the shoulder injury. Now Federer and Nadal are the firm favourites. Federer faces his poorer version in the QF, his possible compatriot or Medvedev who is running on fumes in the SF, and Nadal in the final. Seems like a good chance for Fed to end his US Open drought.

 

This USO is full of drama and surprises, Kyrgios's incidents, Djokovic's injury and retirement, Medvedev's WWE like heel turn in front of the audience, not to mention the amount of upsets in the seeds during the early rounds, no of 5 setters etc 

 

One thing is for sure, once the big 3 are retired, the ATP will rely on "villains" and teenage like brats, like Kyrgios, Medvedev, Zverev, and Tsitsipas to keep the soon to be dying sport interesting. 

Already rule changes like no lets, best of 3 sets, 4 game sets, on court coaching are in testing phases, once they are implemented, the sport will officially be dead and lose its popularity among the traditional and true tennis fans. 

[Real McCoy]

52 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Yes, my man Stan the man doing great. Lets not take away anything from Stan whose opponent retired. His backhand was on fire. I have been a big RF fan but also secretly adored the way Stan has gone about in his career. If Nadal loses on the other side, then I would also hope Stan keeps marching on.

 

All the power to Stan, one of the coolest and classiest player on tour.

 

I'm a Fed fan too but also like the game of Nadal and Stan

[Gollum]

Fed owes Stan big time. Still have Nadal as marginal favorite on this slow as molasses AA court, mainly because he is more upset proof than the others, Fed of late you never know. Conditions should speed up a little with more court time and bounce will be lower for evening matches....Fed can still end his USO drought here, fingers crossed. Nadal's new style is better against rest of the field but to beat Nole/Fed outside clay he needs his old style (+tactics, these 2 intertwined) back, and a better ROS. More than Fed winning I want Nadal to exit, can you imagine him with 4 majors here since 2010 despite missing 2 USOs, Fed has zero post that choke againt Potro, ZERO . 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Gollum

[I6MTW]

6 hours ago, Gollum said:

Fed owes Stan big time. Still have Nadal as marginal favorite on this slow as molasses AA court, mainly because he is more upset proof than the others, Fed of late you never know. Conditions should speed up a little with more court time and bounce will be lower for evening matches....Fed can still end his USO drought here, fingers crossed. Nadal's new style is better against rest of the field but to beat Nole/Fed outside clay he needs his old style (+tactics, these 2 intertwined) back, and a better ROS. More than Fed winning I want Nadal to exit, can you imagine him with 4 majors here since 2010 despite missing 2 USOs, Fed has zero post that choke againt Potro, ZERO . 

After seeing Nadal's match against Cilic. He has to be the favourite to beat anyone here. Cilic player very well, almost to his old level but still Nadal went into another gear and destroyed him in 3 out of 4 sets. 

 

QF and SF are mere formalities as no one has the game or mentality to threaten Nadal. Only person remaining who can beat Nadal is Federer, or maybe peak 2017 Dimitrov like in AO. Wawrinka and Medvedev have no chances against a healthy peak Nadal. 

[Real McCoy]

Stan and Roger lose to Medvedev and Dimitrov respectively. Nadal is the favorite if he is not already after Djoker's exit. He has the jobber Schwartzmann next who he practices with. Should be an easy game for him. His next challenge will be Monfils/Berretini which will be a bit tough. Med and Dimi will be a mouthwatering contest and would also present Nadal with a considerable challenge.

[I6MTW]

5 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Stan and Roger lose to Medvedev and Dimitrov respectively. Nadal is the favorite if he is not already after Djoker's exit. He has the jobber Schwartzmann next who he practices with. Should be an easy game for him. His next challenge will be Monfils/Berretini which will be a bit tough. Med and Dimi will be a mouthwatering contest and would also present Nadal with a considerable challenge.

Only one remaining in the draw that will pose even a slight challenge is Dimitrov if he is in form and peaking. But, Dimitrov is nowhere close to his 2017 form where he took Nadal to 5 in AO. His draw has been lucky. The others would either bend over or pose bo threat to Nadal whatsoever.

[Real McCoy]

5 hours ago, I6MTW said:

Only one remaining in the draw that will pose even a slight challenge is Dimitrov if he is in form and peaking. But, Dimitrov is nowhere close to his 2017 form where he took Nadal to 5 in AO. His draw has been lucky. The others would either bend over or pose bo threat to Nadal whatsoever.

Medvedev is in the form of his life. He beat Djokovic at Cincinnati and beat Wawrinka yesterday who was on the high of beating Djokovic in the previous game. Medvedev was on pain killers and still beat a resurgent Wawrinka. Don't count him out. His only concern is him running on fumes. I don't think Dimitrov will pose that much of a threat to Nadal as Nadal will prepare well for him.

 

Berretini if he makes it to the SF has the talent and composure to challenge Nadal. What he doesn't have is experience. I can see him as the face of tennis 2020+. He has a great serve, powerful forehand, mental courage. Don't go by his outing against Federer at Wimbledon this year. Federer took him seriously as he knows which guy has talent to threaten him. Nadal will also consider him as a serious threat if he were to face him.

 

Real threats to Nadal GS19 in 2019 are Medvedev who is in sparkling form and Berrettini due to the unknown factor. But they both have to deal with Dimitrov and Monfils respectively. Monfils will lose to Nadal if he makes it. So this is Nadal's open to lose with Medvedev and Berrettini as the dark horses.

[I6MTW]

1 hour ago, Real McCoy said:

Medvedev is in the form of his life. He beat Djokovic at Cincinnati and beat Wawrinka yesterday who was on the high of beating Djokovic in the previous game. Medvedev was on pain killers and still beat a resurgent Wawrinka. Don't count him out. His only concern is him running on fumes. I don't think Dimitrov will pose that much of a threat to Nadal as Nadal will prepare well for him.

 

Berretini if he makes it to the SF has the talent and composure to challenge Nadal. What he doesn't have is experience. I can see him as the face of tennis 2020+. He has a great serve, powerful forehand, mental courage. Don't go by his outing against Federer at Wimbledon this year. Federer took him seriously as he knows which guy has talent to threaten him. Nadal will also consider him as a serious threat if he were to face him.

 

Real threats to Nadal GS19 in 2019 are Medvedev who is in sparkling form and Berrettini due to the unknown factor. But they both have to deal with Dimitrov and Monfils respectively. Monfils will lose to Nadal if he makes it. So this is Nadal's open to lose with Medvedev and Berrettini as the dark horses.

Medvedev's issue is fitness, plus the ability to handle and play Nadal as evident from the Montreal loss earlier last month. I don't know if Medvedev can beat Nadal so soon. It would be something similar to Nadal-Tsitsipas of AO. Berrettini has the 'dark horse's' factor in him , he certainly has the weapons and the game to pose a threat. But his main weakness is his backhand(though it has considerably improved especially the slice) but in order to challenge Nadal on these high bouncing courts you need a very strong backhand. Plus his mentality is suspect when facing the aura of the Big 3 as shown in Wimbledon. Monfils doesn't have the mentality to handle the big 3 in crucial stages as evident from the USO 16 SF against Djokovic. He will clown around , even choke when he gets going.

 

Dimitrov, if he peaks and reproduces his 17 form ,  certainly has a chance against Nadal as he always plays well against him for a while , taking a set or two. Their H2H may be in favour of Nadal but he always drops sets or makes sets closer when facing Dimitrov. But, he needs to peak in order to pose a challenge. His current level will get destroyed by Nadal. 

 

Schwartzman has the toughest mentality of them all, he has one of the best ground game , shot making, all court play as well. But, the thing is his Serve is horrible. Because of his height, he has to work hard and grind for every point , his fitness and momentum will run out at some point as he doesn't get any free points on his Serve. But, he can trouble Nadal physically, make him run around etc.

Edited September 4, 2019 by I6MTW

[Real McCoy]

9 minutes ago, I6MTW said:

Schwartzman has the toughest mentality of them all, he has one of the best ground game , shot making, all court play as well. But, the thing is his Serve is horrible. Because of his height, he has to work hard and grind for every point , his fitness and momentum will run out at some point as he doesn't get any free points on his Serve. But, he can trouble Nadal physically, make him run around etc.

Schwartzmann trains in Rafael Nadal Academy with Rafa. Rafa knows his game and will turn out to be an easy game for Rafa. The other thing about Berrettini is that he grew up playing in clay and his coach asked him to play hard courts as well to develop his allround game. Could help if he is playing Nadal

[I6MTW]

58 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

Schwartzmann trains in Rafael Nadal Academy with Rafa. Rafa knows his game and will turn out to be an easy game for Rafa. The other thing about Berrettini is that he grew up playing in clay and his coach asked him to play hard courts as well to develop his allround game. Could help if he is playing Nadal

Let's see. Nadal might win the title without even facing a single top 10 player if Dimitrov makes it to the final. That's one of the easieSt draws you can get. The other being the 2017 USO final. 

[Gollum]

This is why tennis needs Nole, hate this sport where a clay-courter like Nadal is poised to win 4 USOs in this decade, this is so unfair. You guys watching from where Nadal is returning serve this tourney? Is this a joke? Shame on USO organizers for laying this sham of a playing surface.

 

Fed finished his legacy serving at 40-15 in SW19 final, that choke ensured he will finish at #3 in the GOAT race when all is done. That choke haunts me, took me many years to get over his screw up in back to back USO SFs, this scar may never go. Why did I even bother to watch this open , should have stuck to my no-tennis policy...

Edited September 5, 2019 by Gollum

[Real McCoy]

12 hours ago, Gollum said:

This is why tennis needs Nole, hate this sport where a clay-courter like Nadal is poised to win 4 USOs in this decade, this is so unfair. You guys watching from where Nadal is returning serve this tourney? Is this a joke? Shame on USO organizers for laying this sham of a playing surface.

 

Fed finished his legacy serving at 40-15 in SW19 final, that choke ensured he will finish at #3 in the GOAT race when all is done. That choke haunts me, took me many years to get over his screw up in back to back USO SFs, this scar may never go. Why did I even bother to watch this open , should have stuck to my no-tennis policy...

You seem to be a noletard behind that fedtard outer layer. j/k

 

Even wimby court was slow. I can't believe this is the same court where Sampras and Federer used to serve and volley and finish points quick. Serve and volley tennis is dying and will carry the entire sport with it to the grave. In the 90s with the same set of opponents, Nadal will be a clay court specialist with 12 GS but will suck in others. That position of return will never work in the 90s

 

I heard US Open courts used to be faster until the late 2000s

Edited September 5, 2019 by Real McCoy

[Gollum]

37 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

Even wimby court was slow. I can't believe this is the same court where Sampras and Federer used to serve and volley and finish points quick. Serve and volley tennis is dying and will carry the entire sport with it to the grave. In the 90s with the same set of opponents, Nadal will be a clay court specialist with 12 GS but will suck in others. That position of return will never work in the 90s
 

2002 SW19 F was between Hewitt and Nalbandian, both hardly came to the net. That was the year grass started its transformation to green clay. Now it is low bouncing (saving grace), slippery surface...wait for a few years and they will manage to to * up the surface completely. 

Quote

I heard US Open courts used to be faster until the late 2000s

Yeah USO was reasonably quick in late 2000s. 

AO Rebound Ace was even quicker, used till 2007 before they switched to ultra slow Plexicushion. Since 2016 AO courts have once again sped up, but Rebound Ace courts were much quicker. Also a tragedy that carpet (used in indoors events) is out of the picture, that was lightning quick but players were more injury prone. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Gollum

[I6MTW]

3 hours ago, Gollum said:

2002 SW19 F was between Hewitt and Nalbandian, both hardly came to the net. That was the year grass started its transformation to green clay. Now it is low bouncing (saving grace), slippery surface...wait for a few years and they will manage to to * up the surface completely. 

Yeah USO was reasonably quick in late 2000s. 

AO Rebound Ace was even quicker, used till 2007 before they switched to ultra slow Plexicushion. Since 2016 AO courts have once again sped up, but Rebound Ace courts were much quicker. Also a tragedy that carpet (used in indoors events) is out of the picture, that was lightning quick but players were more injury prone. 

We need more faster surfaces. Clay to its original form. Grass back to fast grass, not green clay. Return of carpet, even introduce wooden courts. We need surface variety and speed variety. We should have fast grass at Wimbledon, if needed medium grass in smaller tournaments , we need a Grass masters. It's a travesty tennis's oldest surface doesn't have one. Hard courts should be fast medium and slow, not just slow and medium(which is considered fast by today's standards), we need carpet back(in order to minimize injuries, carpet speed could be varied. 

With all these plus the fact that a lot of tournaments have roofs and can be played indoors(such as hard, clay and grass) we would have the most variety the tour has ever seen.  Bringing back BO5 in masters finals would also be great. (They stopped it because of the Rome 06 match)

 

But, sadly this will be unlikely to happen. 

[Gollum]

Any idea why more injuries on carpet? Because of problem in foot gripping? Or is change in direction more taxing on knees/ankles? I don't think you can slide much on HC either, clay is best for the joints. 

 

Conditions won't be slowed down, sponsors want longer rallies, longer game time and they shall have it. 90s was boring with all those unreturned serves and 3 shot rallies but now we have 40 shot rallies on 1st week of Wimbledon...dunno which is worse? Grass season is short because those courts are expensive to maintain...a masters in Queen's will be good for the sport.