2010 Tennis Thread (Grand Slams, ATP World Tour, Davis Cup)

[lechepicha]

Old-school win puts Federer in new Berdych battle

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtBdRkD5jzRoUz6QXZoiMubjWKhQ

:thumbsup:

I hope roger can avenge his two straight defeats against thomas...


Nalbandian ousts Soderling from Rogers Cup

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rling-from-Rogers-Cup/articleshow/6302493.cms

vamos David!!!


Andy Murray recovers from second-set meltdown

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/te...meltdown-reach-Toronto.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

he will lose against The King David, IMHO.


oh, i almost forgot: Kolya lost. Again

with a low-ranked player. Again

let's see his latest results: R16 (Toronto), QF (Umag), R16 (Hamburg), R16 (Stuttgart), R64 (Wimbledon), R16 (Halle), R32 (Indian Wells), R16 (Dubai)... SUCKS!

his last good result was the SF at Rotterdam... In February!

 

[Lungzyn]

and still, 3 or 4 majors left in him, IMO... :thumbsup:

4 would make 20, which Fed says is 'do-able'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...hts-on-20-Grand-Slams/articleshow/6301443.cms

Things arent going his way lately, but if anyone was going to do it... :dunno:

 

[Lungzyn]

Lookit, the next Nadal!...From Sweden?
Same clothes, same racquet brand, same grunts, same fist pump, same almost everything.
Even the same knee tape
I'm not sure whether to be impressed by his skill, or be kind of weirded out by how much of a Nadal clone he tries to be.

Highlights of the real Nadal vs Stan

 

[lechepicha]

4 would make 20, which Fed says is 'do-able'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...hts-on-20-Grand-Slams/articleshow/6301443.cms

Things arent going his way lately, but if anyone was going to do it... :dunno:

exactly. It would be him.

for now, today is the revenge against Berdych... tough match, no doubt.
My SFs: Nalbandian-Rafa , Roger-Nole (maybe Chardy)

 

[lechepicha]

Nadal and Murray set up semi showdown

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/tennis/08/13/tennis.toronto.nadal.murray/

i guess Andy is going to win this one. Why? 'cause Rafa has suffered in his two matches. And andy, according to himself: "It was probably one of the best matches I've played this year"

too bad for Nalbandian... but it was a good run and he will be a force in Cincy and NY.

 

[Lungzyn]

for now, today is the revenge against Berdych... tough match, no doubt.

Tough alright! But maybe didnt need to be so tough, as Fed was up 4-0 in the third. Rog wasnt killer with his break point conversion either, 17%.

Not sure about how Murray/Nadal will turn out. Depends if Andy can carry on like last match, or revert to the match before that where he went walkabout in the second set. He has had the edge over Rafa on HC lately, but you cant count out the number one player in the world :bowdown:
When Nadal won Wimbledon in 08 he beat Murray later in Toronto. Maybe history will repeat itself?
I just know I wont be watching it live

Meanwhile Ana Ivanovic just reached the Cincy semis, giving a :thefinger to the tournament director who said she wasnt good enough for a wild card spot in Toronto?

 

[Lungzyn]

Cincinatti draw!
http://www.imagebam.com/image/7e07f092985963

Nadal and Federer on the same side of the draw :eek:
If they wont meet in slams, they can meet in these tournaments :hammer:
They should both make it to the semis, Nadals draw is a little more difficult though I think.

Cilic vs Baghdatis in the first round. Another another early exit for Marin? Maybe he can talk with Donald Young and feel better about himself.
Nalbandian has a tough draw. Ljubicic first round, then the probable road would be Isner, Djokovic, Soderling, then Murray to make the final :uohs:
Murrays quarter seems a bit weak. Maybe Gulbis can GOAT for one match and upset him, or Mardy Fish 2.0 if he if he is still on his hot streak.
Otherwise, having Verdasco, Youhzny and Melzer as the other top seeds is a relative cakewalk.
Hopefully Roddick can get a few wins, he meets Soderling early though.

 

[Lungzyn]

Nadal lost, ach.
http://www.imagebam.com/image/2342e293094637

I heard Rafa was serving badly, which I guess shows in his 1st serve points won.
Nadal got out-Nadal'ed by Murray on defense and Murray got out-Murray'ed by Nadal on being passive on break points apparently.
Nadal could have got a break in the first if he had challenged a second serve that was out also.
It looked fairly close, but always on Murrays side. If Andy lost he would have dropped to 5, with Soderling 4 :uohs:
Is he going to change his all or nothing first serve? He has a high ace count with a sub 50% in rate quite a few times. Might not work against Fed, if he beats Novak :hammer:

 

[Lungzyn]

Roger is back to number 2!
Pretty crazy match, Novak was a zombie clown in the first set - http://www.imagebam.com/image/e1998893124186
and then in the second set it was Feds turn to wear the clown shoes - http://www.imagebam.com/image/84d65693124191
By the third set they were both switching between playing bad and awesome, although Fed squandered a good lead at the end again.
He was up 4-1 or 4-2?
It was really tense and exciting in the last few games, Novak hit some huge forehands(one at 158 km/h) but Rog pulled it out.
If he keeps playing like that he will probably lose in the final though, step it up :hammer:

Also Roddick has/had mono, explains his drop in form?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7lDz9vhWlGOGTsQBl5WxNnhHXmQD9HJGR3G1

 

[lechepicha]

well, Andy beat Roger in the Toronto final and capture his 15th career title, first in 10 months.

He's now a US Open favorite, right after Rafa, and slightly before Roger, IMO.
For Roger, it was his 4th final of the year, but he has lost the last three. He has NEVER lost 4 straight finals...

All in all, it was good (VERY good, if you ask me) for Roger: beat two top-10's (Berdych and Nole) in a tough way, diggin pretty deep. And this would get him confident for NY. But of course, he HAS to make a good week in Cincy to back that up (losing to Rafa in SFs would be OK)

speaking of Cincy: Roger has a clear path to the SF: Istomin/Blake in the 2nd (easy), Monfils/Kohlsreiber in 3rd (easy), Ferrer/Querrey/Kolya in QF (not THAT easy, but still easy).
On the other hand, Rafa has a tough path: Dent in 2nd (you don't wanna face those 220 km/h serves of the local hero), Wawrinka in 3rd (you can bet on a tight 3-setter, at least. Again), Berdych in QF (ouch. He has blood in the eye from Roger last week.)

 

[Lungzyn]

Dent is not worthy :hammer: He has a huge serve but not much else that could hurt Nadal I think. Dent lost in straight sets the last (and only) time they played, and that was on HC, with Nadal breaking him 4 times.
Stan and Berdych are tough, but beatable.
and I would say if Dent was tough, then Kohlschreiber would be tough by comparison too. It was him that took Nadal to 3 sets, while Stan didnt (although they had that long tie-break).
Fed is 5-0 against Phil though.
Monfils is the easier opponent of the two, unless he actually decides to be aggressive (not likely).

I would like to see Feds backhand improve. Its was generally weak and/or short in Toronto, and has been like that for a while recently I think. Not much court penetration, especially compared to his prime :bowdown:
He is lucky his forehand and serve are still really good, I would guess thats how he is winning a lot of his points lately.
For Nadal, he still needs to flatten out his forehand more, since what he has now doesnt work that well on HC, its vulnerable to sitting up. Also it would help if he hit his backhand like he did in AO 09 again. Murray seems to be a bad matchup for him on HC, like Nadal is bad for Fed. His weaknesses get exploited more, even though its still fairly close.

 

[lechepicha]

Stan and Berdych are tough, but beatable.

i wouldn't be so sure about Thomas... in Wimbledon he was pretty scared (your first grand slam final is something HUGE, you know), but here, with no pressure, and hard court, and in revenge-mode, it would be very, very, very dangerous for El Matador.

good match anyway.

Its was generally weak and/or short in Toronto, and has been like that for a while recently I think. Not much court penetration, especially compared to his prime :bowdown:

yeah, in toronto was too weak most of the times. And short almost every time. Not aggresive, in conclusion. Defensive stroke, at least. :nono:

and for that video... JESUS! that is fuckin' A-MA-ZING!

Murray seems to be a bad matchup for him on HC, like Nadal is bad for Fed. His weaknesses get exploited more, even though its still fairly close.

yeah, Murray owns Rafa in hard, IMO, and no, i don't think Rafa owns Roger in hards. It would be an awesome match either way. Cross fingers for saturday!



and speaking of Roger, look at this trick:

VIDEO: ROGER FEDERER PERFORMS TRICK SHOTS ON SET

http://www.gototennisblog.com/2010/08/16/video-roger-federer-performs-trick-shots-on-set/

my guess? it's a... fake

but he can do that anyway. :thumbsup:

 

[lechepicha]

Berdych, Baghdatis To Vie For QF Spot; Hewitt Sets Soderling Clash

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/08/33/Cincinnati-Tuesday-Berdych-Advances.aspx

Marcos should be no problem for Berdych, IMO.

And Hewitt will fight against Soderling, but i don't think it will be enough.

Good for Gasquet, who beats Youzhny and now should beat Berrer, and then fight against Fish/Verdasco.

Melzer-Gulbis looks interesting. Ernest should prevail, IMO. And then, a shiny 3rd round match against Murray.

Nalbandian continues in his extremely high level, beating Ljubicic, including a 6-0 in the 2nd set. Now he faces another big server: Isner. David should win, and then, another spectacular 3rd round match against Nole.

 

[titsrock]

I don't think Nadal should be favored to win the U.S. Open. He has not done enough even though he's #1. Feds and Murray are the real favs at the moment, imo.

Nadal will need to get a VERRRY FAVORABLE draw to get to the Semis....he's usually getting the gauntlet draws instead

 

[lechepicha]

I don't think Nadal should be favored to win the U.S. Open. He has not done enough even though he's #1. Feds and Murray are the real favs at the moment, imo.

:eek:

wow.

Waddayaknow... that means a lot coming from you, a true raFAN/FANadal.

however, i DON'T agree with ya in this one, mate.

he HAS done enough, i think. Losing to a high-level murray is no shame, but of course, struggling with Kohlschreiber and Wawrinka are (kind of).
BUT, winning 3 straight masters 1000, and two grand slams, are definitely enough for me.

On the other side, Roger has not done enough for me. A final in Toronto is the right path, but not enough yet. Maybe another final/a title in Cincy would make it. Of course, he has the talent, and the heart. But right now (since Oz, actually) hasn't been enough.

The TRUE favorite for me, is Murray. He's playing suberb, he's motivated as hell (US Open is his favorite slam, even above wimbledon) and he's very fit (to my surprise, i must admit)

by the way, we miss you, Delpo!

Nadal will need to get a VERRRY FAVORABLE draw to get to the Semis....he's usually getting the gauntlet draws instead

that's true. If he (or any of the other big four) gets Isner or Querrey or Gulbis or Gonzalez or Fish or Nalbandian or even Karlovic in 2nd/3rd/4th round, his chances to make the SF or even the QF would be... minimized.

:2 cents:

 

[Lungzyn]

Murray is the biggest troll in tennis, it must be hard for his supporters.
If you were to believe the hype, he would have won about 3 or 4 slams by now. In reality, he has reached two finals, and never won a set.
I would think he eventually has to follow through though, and he has a pretty good opportunity this year. Fed is obviously on the decline: No titles since Oz, lost 5 of his last 6 finals, QF in the last two slams etc. He seems to have moments where he loses concentration too.
I agree that Nadal shouldnt be number one. He won 3 straight MS titles, (but on clay) and two GS (clay and grass, but not hard). The difference between these and US HC is significant for me.

Murray has to keep it up though, he has gone into slams in good form before. I dont think we should forget the guy hadnt won anything for many months, and only reached one final of a tournament in between AO and before Toronto. One week he sucks, next he is favourite? At the moment he is, but lets not be too hasty :dunno:
He has an easy draw in Cincinatti, he probably wont have to play great to do well there.
If he can keep up his more aggressive style of play, he might win. USO is more of an open field than RG or Wimbledon though.

 

[lechepicha]

He has an easy draw in Cincinatti, he probably wont have to play great to do well there.

Chardy (who just had the best week of his life last week) in 2nd is no joke
Gulbis/Melzer are VERY tough, specially the latvian one.
Gasquet/Verdasco/Fish are tough too.
And Soderling/Roddick/Nole in SF are definitely a NOT-EASY draw. Not at all.

 

[busenbust]

please not the Williams sisters!!

 

[Lungzyn]

Chardy (who just had the best week of his life last week) in 2nd is no joke

No joke, but no serious problem I think. Chardy beat Verdasco and Davydenko in Toronto, who as you say, suck right now. Anyway, they are playing now, so we are going to find out. :clap:

Gulbis/Melzer are VERY tough, specially the latvian one.

They can be dangerous, but they are 'not quite there'. Neither have beaten Andy before. Comined 8-0.

Gasquet/Verdasco/Fish are tough too.

Yup Gasquet and Fish could be tough, Verdasco is unlikely. Besides his form he sucks against top 10 players. (he just got eliminated now in fact)

And Soderling/Roddick/Nole in SF are definitely a NOT-EASY draw. Not at all.

Easier than Rafa or Fed on the other side :dunno:
Of course there are some tough opponents, its a MS1000, but if I was going to pick a favourable draw, that one doesnt look too bad to me.

 

[lechepicha]

Easier than Rafa or Fed on the other side :dunno:

disagree on Federer's. 2nd round: retirement, 3rd round: Kohlschreiber, QF: ferrer/kolya (no problem!).


he's (andy) just win over Gulbis. But he looked veeeeeeeeeeery tired. A title the week before is no game.
Of course unless your last name begins with "N" and ends with "L".
It was a 2.5 hour battle, with an intense sun.
Expect a short match against Fish, who is favorite for once.