AO 2021

[Real McCoy]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1360827336602513412

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by Real McCoy

[I6MTW]

On 2/12/2021 at 10:01 PM, Real McCoy said:

We'll see what happens I'm picking AO19 repeat even after today's abdomen "tear" to Nole

Lol I take it back. Should've known better after following years of tennis. This is exactly a Nadal-Djokovic final in the making. Only this time both players are claiming to be "injured". 

 

Seriously, this has to be the easiest draw for Djokovic, getting a challenger player outside the top 100 in the SF and his pigeons in Raonic and Zverev. Still his form is enough to breeze through depsite dropping sets left and right. Says alot about the quality of this era. 

 

As for the remaining SF, I predict Rafa over Tsitsipas in 4, and Medvedev over Rublev in 3.

 

SF:

Djokovic defeats Karatsev in easy 3 and gets an extra day of rest for the final while Medvedev and Rafa battle it out for a potential 4-5 hr 5 setter. 

 

Djokovic defeats Rafa in 3. Rafa wouldn't have had much of chance in the first place but with the way the draw is panning out, I expect a similar scoreline to AO 19. 

 

 

[Gollum]

Haven't watched a single minute of this competition, will try to clear my schedule for the final. Rooting for Med and Osaka. 

[Cricketics]

What a lovely day it is when Tsitsipas win and that too against Nadal :) 

 

Brilliant performance. 

[I6MTW]

Medvedev vs Djokovic for the final. The most uncertain final in recent years. About 50-50. I would love to see Medvedev win and become the first non big 4 player to be no 2 in 16 years.

[Gollum]

Osaka may enter the GOAT race by the time she is done. Already 4 slams in this super competitive WTA era where even early round opponents are so tough. 

[I6MTW]

1 hour ago, Gollum said:

Osaka may enter the GOAT race by the time she is done. Already 4 slams in this super competitive WTA era where even early round opponents are so tough. 

Problem is she sucks on clay or grass. Hasn't achieved any notable results there. Her sole dominance is hard courts.

 

I do expect her to improve those results as time goes on, but I don't know if she'll achieve anything GOAT-worthy on clay or grass.

 

I'd say the same for Medvedev as well, though he seems to have the game for grass. Clay, he'll never adapt to it, he hits too flat and the movement is simply not there.

[Gollum]

6 minutes ago, I6MTW said:

Problem is she sucks on clay or grass. Hasn't achieved any notable results there. Her sole dominance is hard courts.

 

I do expect her to improve those results as time goes on, but I don't know if she'll achieve anything GOAT-worthy on clay or grass.

Time, just give her some time, she will figure it out. 

6 minutes ago, I6MTW said:

I'd say the same for Medvedev as well, though he seems to have the game for grass. Clay, he'll never adapt to it, he hits too flat and the movement is simply not there.

Unlike Osaka don't see him winning double digit majors. Will do exceptionally well to win 7-8 GS, Connors like career but obviously without that longevity. He will continue to suck on clay because of the trajectory of his shots. 

[Cricketics]

I am expecting Medvedev to take this game to 5 sets. Expecting an epic guys. Somehow Federer vs Del Po 2009 is on my mind right now.

 

Can Medvedev stop Djoker here.

 

 

 

 

[Gollum]

9/9

#18

The GOAT King Nole 

 

[kumar713]

Nole's return was GOAT level today

Djoker

 

[Gollum]

Fed going to end up as third wheel in his own era, who would have thought? At least Sampras got to cherish his records for 7-8 years, Fed will see Nole/Nadal zoom past him whilst still playing. He had control over everything, pity he has always been such a mental midget against his main rivals. 

[Gollum]

Not ideal for me, but I can live with Nole as GOAT, not Rafa. I frankly don't see anyone stopping Nole on grass, just need a peaking Thiem (draw doesn't matter in Paris for Nadal and we have seen that enough number of times, all boils down to one special performance) at RG to stop the clay God. 

[kumar713]

If Nole maintains this serving level in Wimbledon, he has a great chance 

 

Goran

Edited February 21, 2021 by kumar713

[I6MTW]

16 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Not ideal for me, but I can live with Nole as GOAT, not Rafa. I frankly don't see anyone stopping Nole on grass, just need a peaking Thiem (draw doesn't matter in Paris for Nadal and we have seen that enough number of times, all boils down to one special performance) at RG to stop the clay God. 

Nadal's resume is too one dimensional too be called GOAT.

 

More clay skewed, lesser weaks at no 1, never defended a title off clay entire career until once in 19. Plus he's never won anything of note on indoor HC, WTF for eg. 

 

But frankly, I feel there is no GOAT, it's all subjective and one can only be the greatest of their own era, you cant compare between eras and claim GOAThood, like Laver in the 60s vs Fed/Nole of 00/10s. There are a lot of differences and  variations involved, including context, standard and style of play, how the sport was as a whole during that said era, etc.

 

I feel there is no concept of GOAT, just ATGs. And I feel this is not only for tennis but for many other sports as well.

Edited February 21, 2021 by I6MTW

[Gollum]

14 minutes ago, I6MTW said:

Nadal's resume is too one dimensional too be called GOAT.

You and I know this, but talking about general masses. 

14 minutes ago, I6MTW said:

But frankly, I feel there is no GOAT, it's all subjective and one can only be the greatest of their own era, you cant compare between eras and claim GOAThood, like Laver in the 60s vs Fed/Nole of 00/10s. There are a lot of differences and  variations involved, including context, standard and style of play, how the sport was as a whole during that said era, etc.

 

I feel there is no concept of GOAT, just ATGs. And I feel this is not only for tennis but for many other sports as well.

True for many sports (even the most popular one football) but I sincerely believe this is the greatest era of men's tennis, so the best of this era has legit claims at GOAT title. No one is perfect but more gaping holes in records of Laver and co. 

[I6MTW]

6 minutes ago, Gollum said:

You and I know this, but talking about general masses. 

True for many sports (even the most popular one football) but I sincerely believe this is the greatest era of men's tennis, so the best of this era has legit claims at GOAT title. No one is perfect but more gaping holes in records of Laver and co. 

True this is the golden era, but also the era of slower courts and homogenisation of surfaces, and ruled by modern equipment and facilities. The big 3 have benefitted from that, unlike previous era greats. This also subjectively an era of weaker competition whether it's talent wise or mentality wise, since the 00s till now, there hasn't been any strong competitor game or mentality wise to the big 3, even when in a leading position they break down and hand a choke.

These are major factora to consider. Each of the big 3 have holes in their resume, Nole Olympics, Federer olympics, Nadal WTF, weeks at No 1, clay skewedness etc. 

 

While this may be the most dominating era of tennis, it's not without it's drawbacks.

[Gollum]

2019 Wimbledon final was probably the toughest sports result to accept for me personally, and I am not exaggerating, follow many sports/games and have swallowed many bitter pills over the years. I thought time would heal that awful memory, but every time Nole inches closer to Fed I have PTSD about 40-15, I never thought back to back 2010/11 USO disappointments against the same opponent could be topped but what happened that day was too crushing. Sorry guys if I keep talking about that result, but I just can't flush it out of my memory. I don't hate Nole, actually even admire him, but 0-3 in Wimbledon finals against him is unacceptable. 

[I6MTW]

12 minutes ago, Gollum said:

You and I know this, but talking about general masses. 

 

General masses don't know anything about tennis. They just go by numbers, and even numbers when looked closely tell about Nadal's clay skewed career. 

 

Also Nadal fans insist on him being the GOAT, when he's been second best in each era(00s Fed era he was second, 10s Nole era he was also second), he never had a period where he dominated, apart from clay throughout his career.

[I6MTW]

3 minutes ago, Gollum said:

2019 Wimbledon final was probably the toughest sports result to accept for me personally, and I am not exaggerating, follow many sports/games and have swallowed many bitter pills over the years. I thought time would heal that awful memory, but every time Nole inches closer to Fed I have PTSD about 40-15, I never thought back to back 2010/11 USO disappointments against the same opponent could be topped but what happened that day was too crushing. Sorry guys if I keep talking about that result, but I just can't flush it out of my memory. I don't hate Nole, actually even admire him, but 0-3 in Wimbledon finals against him is unacceptable. 

Yea same here, I saw the entire match live, I still cringe when thinking about it. I was literally hoping for Federer to close out with a decent serve and claim his 21st, and was feeling it's amazing how he managed to beat 2 of his rivals at such an age, but sadly that choke was unforgivable, though not unexpected. I remember on MTF, how everyone laughed at Federer, and even his own fans went on to insult him.