French Open 2024

[putrevus]

9 minutes ago, Vicks57 said:

From 2024, he has been losing to low ranked players.

 

Zverev is a kick-ass clay courter. Djokovic might lose to him as well.

He reached the summit last year, there was bound to be some let down.Losing Australian open sure has dented him.

 

Novak is also a great clay court player.He is the only player who beat prime Nadal here twice.So don't underestimate Novak on clay courts.

[Muloghonto]

10 hours ago, Gollum said:

Raftar did well with S&V against Sampras, he also gave young Fed a very tough time. Henman too overrated by the Brits. 

Nadal is one of the greatest volleyers of all time, you can check his ruthlessly efficient S/V in 2010 Wimbledon, that year he was also serving like a man possessed. Federer rates his volleying very highly, you can check his interviews. Murray decent S&V, not a big fat zero. 

 

Nole has the greatest serve+return combo in the history of the sport, that compensates for his lack of volleys even on 90s grass. 

 

Also Nole, Nadal, Murray are 5-6 years younger than Fed, otherwise they would have trained differently in their youth and put more emphasis on S&V had they been born in early 80s.

 

Nadal does not S&V ever. he is like Agassi - knows his moments to come in to the net to finish off a point ( unlike djokovic, who'll only come in if you try to drop shot him as he has no choice). S&V is where you serve and then rush the net- that Rafa never did.  Nole being a slightly better Agassi with Serve+return isnt gonna help much against strong servers like Sampras or Federer on the old grass. You could see how well Sampras annihilated Agassi on grass when both were on their best- it wasnt matches that could swing either way, it was literally matches where 'only way agassi wins is if sampras has a heart attack' kinda disparity. 

 

The last point is true - Fed's training began in the 80s and Nole-Rafa-Murray etc. in the mid 90s, where S&V were not taught. 

 

[Real McCoy]

3 hours ago, I6MTW said:

One way traffic so far. Sinner on his way to take the match. Alcaraz has failed to deliver once again. He's overrated. Hasn't done anything of note since winning Wimbledon last year. I think Alcaraz, has already peaked, having been an early boomer. 

 

Sinner will have a better career for sure. 

 

It seems you spoke too soon It was a good match though. These two will compete for titles for a long time to come. Tennis has finally found its successors to the big 3.

 

I like Zverev he has all the weapons moves well for his height. But he's a mental midget among other fakers of his gen. He needs to win atleast one grand slam to ease some of his nerves. He is in a catch 22 situation where he needs nerves to win the first one.

[I6MTW]

36 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

 

It seems you spoke too soon It was a good match though. These two will compete for titles for a long time to come. Tennis has finally found its successors to the big 3.

 

I like Zverev he has all the weapons moves well for his height. But he's a mental midget among other fakers of his gen. He needs to win atleast one grand slam to ease some of his nerves. He is in a catch 22 situation where he needs nerves to win the first one.

The match was of poor quality though. If this is how tennis will be in the next 10 years, then it's a sad state of affairs. 

[Real McCoy]

9 hours ago, I6MTW said:

The match was of poor quality though. If this is how tennis will be in the next 10 years, then it's a sad state of affairs. 

 

I guess you watched the first set and a few games in the second when Alcaraz picked up his game. We are pampered with the level of tennis the big 3 were playing. These two are coming from niggles/poor form. The quality of tennis was good for the current times. Even Zverev has improved a lot. Less double faults from him this time

[Muloghonto]

9 hours ago, I6MTW said:

The match was of poor quality though. If this is how tennis will be in the next 10 years, then it's a sad state of affairs. 

 

well what did you expect ? you had 3 once-in-a-lifetime type players show up within 5-6 years of each other and overlap over a 12-13 year career.  This is like having the fearsome foursome west indies quartet of the early 80s and then being disappointed that now we have to deal with '2 greats and 2 nobodies' as the norm. 

Federer was the most complete, technically perfect aggressive mentality player with the best footwork the game has ever seen from a dude ( overall its still Steffi). 
Nadal was the most freakish physical monster with unbreakable willpower the game has ever seen. 
Novak was by far the most flexible body in tennis while being literally the unbreakable wall of a player for putting everything back and requiring 3x the number of winners to actually hit a winner clean past him. 

How on earth do you expect that level to be ever replicated, especially in just a few years after this once-in-a-lifetime trio were at their heydeys ? 

[Gollum]

Iga greatest female clay court player since Justine Henin?

 

Iga-Osaka was the real final. 

 

[Real McCoy]

My prediction is Alcaraz to win in 4. I like both and this is probably Zverev's golden opportunity maybe his last one to win a slam. The way Alcaraz is playing, he looks determined to win it all.

[Gollum]

Zverev is much more dangerous in BO3. 

 

Against Alcaraz who is 9-1 in 5th sets, uphill climb. 

 

But at the age of 27-28, about time Zverev opens his account. That USO choke against Thiem was peak comedy. 

[putrevus]

Granted I have not seen much of Carlos, his forehand is dynamite and he can move fast.He has very good drop shot.

 

I don't think he is big server?

 

He is standing so deep to return the service, why are more players not serve and volleying against him.

[putrevus]

Zverev is playing too passive, he needs to attack more.

[Real McCoy]

11 minutes ago, putrevus said:

Zverev is playing too passive, he needs to attack more.

 

He said after beating Alcaraz in RG 22 that its good that he beat him because in the future he may not.

[putrevus]

5 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

 

He said after beating Alcaraz in RG 22 that its good that he beat him because in the future he may not.

I don't think Carlos is Nadal, which players have to fear on clay. Zverev problem is self belief, he has all the tools to be a champion.

 

 

[Real McCoy]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

I don't think Carlos is Nadal, which players have to fear on clay. Zverev problem is self belief, he has all the tools to be a champion.

 

 

 

I was referring to his attitude towards facing a player like Alcaraz not his capability on clay. At some level, he let out that day that Alcaraz is already a better player. Yes his problem is self belief. He has all the weapons but he also has mental weakness. He is also known in fan circles as doublefaultrev You are only as good as your second serve. So far he is doing well today. Up 2 sets to 1.

[Real McCoy]

Alcaraz wins the French Open in 5. Alcaraz was unstoppable in the last two sets. He put the ball back in like Djokovic or Nadal and Zverev couldn't beat him. Zverev looked distraught at the end. Feel sorry for him. He did nothing wrong. For Zverev, this maybe his last real chance at winning a slam. But you never know. Wawrinka won his first one when he was 29.

[Muloghonto]

4 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Alcaraz wins the French Open in 5. Alcaraz was unstoppable in the last two sets. He put the ball back in like Djokovic or Nadal and Zverev couldn't beat him. Zverev looked distraught at the end. Feel sorry for him. He did nothing wrong. For Zverev, this maybe his last real chance at winning a slam. But you never know. Wawrinka won his first one when he was 29.

Zverev is capable of beating Alcaraz, like he did in the aussie open, but for that to happen, Zverev needs to play a lot more aggressively than he did the last 2 sets. Zverev simply isnt fast enough on his feet to hang in with Alcaraz by playing passive, safe,mid-court high bounce shots. he has a stronger serve, a stronger backhand(when he is being aggressive), thats also more reliable and he needs to serve aggressively, aim for the baseline and keep Alcarz off balance. Otherwise, Alcaraz's excellent forehand and his  'one of the best ever' drop shots will tear you apart. Thats basically what Sinner does vs Alcaraz and Sinner's caused Alcaraz a lot of problems so far - serves strong, beats the hell outta the ball from both wings and sends deep aggressive shots to not give Carlos the time to set up his monster forehand or dropshots. 

The way Alcaraz plays, i doubt even a prime Novak could hang with him by playing passively. 

[Gollum]

Slams on 3 different surfaces by age 21, Alcaraz is going to break some records for sure, fitness permitting. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

This may be a separate thread, but what the heck:

 

Happy Birthday to Steffi Graf! She turns 55 today.

 

I was a teenager when she was at her peak (like when she accomplished the golden grand slam in 1988), so enough said. Here's one of my favorite Graf moments:

 

 

[Gollum]

No thread for this year's RG. But what a match we are having.

 

Sinner won 1st two sets, had 3 championship points in 4th set (on Alcaraz's serve), now the Spaniard with all the momentum in 5th set. 

 

Not the greatest quality considering the ability of these two, but what drama !!!!!

[Gollum]

Both these guys are going to win double digit number of slams and face each other in 10 slam finals at least. So far ahead of the rest of the tour and still just 22-23 years old. 

Edited June 8, 2025 by Gollum