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

[lechepicha]

Federer fit and firing as Soderling leaps to four

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/56819.html

"I think I have good chances maybe in London for winning," Federer said.

That "maybe" is what concerns me... should be a "for shure", right?


oh, and Murray is now 5th. So, he can get in the same group as Roger/Rafa AND Nole. Ouch.
Can you imagine that group? for instance: Rafa, Nole, Murray and Roddick :eek: Jesus!

of course, the other one is a walk-in-the-park for the other: Roger, Soderling, Berdych, Ferrer

so, the thing is: one of those (Roger or Rafa) has an easy path to the SF, the other, a hell-ish path.
So long for a Roger-Rafa matchup...

 

[lechepicha]

the ATP World Tour Finals draw is out!

Group A: Rafa, Nole, Berdych, Roddick

You can bet for a Berdych elimination. Roddick is a question mark, but i wouldn't bet too much on him. Rafa and Nole, the favorites, by far.

Group B: Roger, Robin, Muzza, Ferrer

You can bet for... nobody's elimination! VERY tough group.
Roger will be 2-1 (the "1" could be either Robin or Muzza), so that means that between Robin and Muzza, one of those will be 3-0 and the other 2-1 (that if Ferrer doesn't upset them).
So, it's tight as fuck.

Very, very interesting group.

 

[lechepicha]

Roger Federer: London ends beyond Wimbledon (spanish)

http://www.marca.com/2010/11/16/ten...b681944565f1034783822600a91ddde7&t=1289936346

nice article.

there's a lot of records that Roger can break if he wins in the O2. I hope he does

 

[Lungzyn]

I think Ferrer could beat Soderling, he is 2-1 against him on HC this year with wins in Beijing and Valencia. Although his loss did come at the bigger stage at Shanghai.
Murray could be anywhere from 1-2 to 3-0, unsure since he isnt great recently but that can change at any time.
Dont think Roger will lose to Robin.

Roddick could be the upset guy in group A - he has beaten Djokovic the last 4 times, all on HC and has a relatively decent record against Nadal. Plus everyone should beat Berdych.

 

[Lungzyn]

Cupcake Wars - covering all biases
http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2010/11/cupcake-wars.html

You could swing the stats to argue almost anything at this point, just let them play :hammer:

 

[lechepicha]

Cupcake Wars - covering all biases
http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2010/11/cupcake-wars.html:

<LoL>

The biggest danger to Federer is that he might die of boredom before the end of the round-robin stage

Roger might as well change his name to Leonidas, because he's got the toughest draw since those 300 Spartans had to fight a gazillion Persians at Thermopylae

i must admit i'm definitely feeling like a "Federer fan" myself!!!

amazing reading, Lungzyn, thanks! :hatsoff:



in the meantime, Roger is making chocolate...

ROGER FEDERER LIGHTS UP THE LINDT CHOCOLATE FACTORY

http://gototennis.com/2010/11/16/roger-federer-lights-up-the-lindt-chocolate-factory/



and Delpo must be feeling very, very sad:

Juan Martin Del Potro and his 224-spot fall from grace

http://blogs.bettor.com/Juan-Martin-Del-Potro-and-his-224-spot-fall-from-grace-a41738

 

[lechepicha]

Federer's adjustments paying off

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=5812222

"When you have his skills, his drive and his discipline, there is not much that cannot be achieved," Annacone wrote ESPN.com in an e-mail

I have to Agree: Paul has been an awesome help for Roger. Actually, he's 29-4 since Wimbledon (with 3 titles in 5 finals).

So, London looks good for him... C'MON ROG!!! :thumbsup:

 

[lechepicha]

Predicting World Tour Finals outcome

http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/bl.../5820307/predicting-world-tour-finals-outcome

Semifinals: Federer def. Roddick, Soderling def. Nadal.
Final: Federer def. Soderling.


what do you guys think ?

my prediction:
SF: Roger vs Nole , Rafa vs Murray
F: Roger vs Rafa

 

[Lungzyn]

I dont think Soderling will beat Nadal but he might make the semis at least.
Soderling beat him at last years WTF, but Nadal was in his slump then, he lost every match without winning a set. Pretty sure that wont happen this time around. They havent played any other HC matches against each other though.
Fedal final would be the best since they havent played in so long. I've read that the court isnt super fast(slower than Paris) so that will help Nadal.

 

[lechepicha]

I've read that the court isnt super fast(slower than Paris) so that will help Nadal.

now that you mention it... Paris didn't seem THAT fast to me, you know ?

at least not as fast as Roger/Nole and other said it was.

actually, it felt a little bit slower than usual (indoors, that is).

faster? there's no REALLY faster courts anymore.

not like wimbledon used to be, at least.
:2 cents:

 

[Lungzyn]

Since there is no quantifiable 'court speed' rating or anything (that I know of), it is hard to say for certain how fast it was. What we can do is look at indicators of fast court speed. These would include...
- Ace numbers
- Tie break set numbers
- Break point numbers
- Winner numbers
- Forced/Unforced error ratios

To get the best result you would have to compare these numbers across all the other HC tournaments, which I cant be bothered trying to do.
Instead I will use this study on Grand Slam courts over the years - http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cross/GrandSlamStatistics.htm

Their evidence points towards the court speed ranking being..
1. Wimbledon
2. US Open (Fast HC)
3. Australian Open (Slower HC)
4. French Open

This sounds right, amirite?
From the table :Wimbledon has the most points won by Aces and Forced Errors(except the FO - to be expected) compared to the other GS's, while only being a little lower in terms of winners compared to AO and USO.
From the graphs: Wimbledon has the highest service speed and the highest number of aces. Even without Mahut-Isner this years Wimby has loads more aces.
Because of the high serve speed leading to aces/forced errors/less break points, Wimbledon also has the highest amount of tie break sets.

There is this video showing how Wimbledon has slowed down/got higher bouncing recently, I guess you would have to get the players opinions on how much effect it has. Obviously that kind of action would help Nadal though.

Anyway, on to Paris. Again it would take too long to calculate some of this stuff, so I just did tie breaks.
- Tie breaks : 26 in 47 matches = 0.55 (Compared to 2010 USO = 0.55, AO = 0.41. I used approximate values looking at the graph)
Just from that you might be able to suggest the speed was comparable to the USO, the faster HC slam. There are other factors involved though, so you cant say for sure.
Possibly Llodras success could partly be because of a fast court, since he likes S&V. Also there being 5 tie break sets out of 6 in the semis and one in the final could be supporting evidence or just a chance event.
Skimming over the ace counts, they look like a decent amount, but I cant say for sure. Roger usually got more than 10 at least.
So, I would say: Paris is pretty fast. It might be better if it could be compared with the other indoor tournaments.
Not to mention getting someone patient enough to compile all the stats :anonymous

 

[lechepicha]

Their evidence points towards the court speed ranking being..
1. Wimbledon
2. US Open (Fast HC)
3. Australian Open (Slower HC)
4. French Open

This sounds right, amirite?

excellent post, mate :hatsoff:

yes, Wimby is first and the US Open is (a close) 2nd.

There is this video showing how Wimbledon has slowed down/got higher bouncing recently, I guess you would have to get the players opinions on how much effect it has. Obviously that kind of action would help Nadal though.

that's exactly what i meant. :clap:

uncle toni, you lucky bastard!

 

[lechepicha]

WTF INTRIUGE: FEDERER, NADAL, MURRAY VISIT WITH PRIME MINISTER

http://gototennis.com/2010/11/18/wtf-intriuge-federer-nadal-murray-visit-with-prime-minister

:wtf:

politics and tennis don't mix... right ?

 

[lechepicha]

Who's lurking in London?

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=5812491

Nadal won seven titles, including the past three Grand Slam events. Federer won four titles, including the Australian Open. The rest of the top five? The trio of No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 5 Robin Soderling combined for zero majors and only five titles combined. That's quite a gap.


Jesus! is really impressive how dominant "Fedal" is.

But you gotta love it! it's like when we (lucky bastards) saw Michael Jordan in the 90's, when we saw Gretzky in the 80's, when we saw Schumacher in the 00's, when we saw Tiger in 00's...

Personally, i'm just grateful to be a tennis fan in this age. I mean, who knows when we're going to watch so many grand slam finals between two players. Maybe never.
Who knows when we're going to watch another Wimbledon 08'-like opera.

And the best part? Roger has no plans to dissapear quickly, or easily.
And Rafa is only 24
And Nole and Delpo are very young as well.

:thumbsup:

 

[Lungzyn]

The combination of good Fedal plus a lean year for the other top 5 can help to explain it.
For example, just last year Djokovic alone won five titles. Not to mention Murray who won six. Soderling has never been much of a prolific title winner.
On the other hand, Fed won 4 titles and Nadal won three.
That does include three Grand Slams, but only by numbers now Fedal doesnt seem so great, huh :dunno:
But then maybe the Grand Slams are the only ones that really matter in the end, and Fedal completely dominates that.
Also its obvious they are two of the greatest players ever, not taking away from that. Just the numbers this year can be misleading.

 

[Lungzyn]

Its awards season
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Fans/Fan-Favorite/ATP-World-Tour-Awards-Announced.aspx

Nadal gets the official number 1 award + Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
Roger wins the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite award. (Fedal got 89% of the vote I think)

Tobias Kamke Newcomer of the Year
Robin Haase Comeback of the year
Andrey Golubev Most Improved

Bryan Bros win both the Doubles Awards
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi win the Humanitarian(s) of the year

:clap:

 

[lechepicha]

Its awards season
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Fans/Fan-Favorite/ATP-World-Tour-Awards-Announced.aspx

Nadal gets the official number 1 award + Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
Roger wins the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite award.

:clap:

Roger winning the fan-favorite? no surprise there: it's his EIGHT consecutive one. Jesus! is this guy a magician who has us all enchanted or what? :o

good for Rafa, who deserves completely the No. 1 award

the sportsmanship? well, he's no cocky bastard, or liar (nole and his injuries), or bitter, BUT, he always has that angry-don't-fuck-with-me face in the matches, and the fact that Uncle Toni coach him constantly in the tournaments, doesn't help.

Roger, maybe? well, he's a little bit cocky sometimes...

Murray? pfffff...

I'd said... A-Rod!!!! :horse:

oh, and this:

If Federer is Monet, all light and delicacy, Nadal is Jackson Pollock, all force and power, all toil and trouble

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...11/05/nadal.wertheim/index.html#ixzz15rEp5vRg

 

[Lungzyn]

The Sportsmanship award might be a pro version of the fan favourite award, I dunno.
If it was serious, Roddick probably wouldnt have a good chance after this anyway.
Fed swore at one of the US Open umps the year before when he won, and Nadal got coaching fines at WB this year and he won.
Could be just politics, like Miss FreeOnes :anonymous
In general, they both act well though. No big deal.

Hope Soderling and Federer win today.

 

[lechepicha]

Could be just politics, like Miss FreeOnes :anonymous

:ban:

:rofl:

In general, they both act well though. No big deal.

yeah, that's true. There's no those angry motherfuckers anymore. For example, everybody shakes hands at the end of the matches: once upon a time, some dudes didn't do it...

Hope Soderling and Federer win today.

Roger did

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/11/46/London-Sunday-Federer-Dismisses-Ferrer.aspx

and LaSod didn't (i wanted him to win as well)

http://www.cityam.com/sport/murray-sees-soderling

according to Todd Martin (wannabe slamless...), Roddick will beat Rafa today, and Nole will make it trough Berdych.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/11/46/Todd-Tips-Monday.aspx

Agree on both :thumbsup:

 

[Lungzyn]

Didnt see the Djoko/Berdych match but it sounds like it went according to the script.
Rafa/Roddick was probably the best match out of the first four, considering it was the only one that was close.
Nadals slow start may have been from his month of inactivity, once he got going he had a slight advantage. Roddick might have won if he played better at certain times, like the 2nd set tiebreak.

Fed/Murray will be the most interesting match for the next day, Rog has started with his Murray mind games again maybe?
http://www.live-tennis.com/category...tough-match-against-Andy-Murray-201011230001/

“I think we've peaked at similar times this year, me and Murray. We both played well at the Australian, in Toronto, in Shanghai, here it seems like we're playing well again. So it's somewhat similar I guess. The difference is I have the slam and the 250, 500 and 1000 titles, he has also other tournament victories, I've just been a little bit a little bit more consistent I guess otherwise I wouldn't be in front in the rankings but he's had another great season and it's going to be a tough match.”

Reminding everyone how he has a slam while while Muz doesnt. This isnt a slam though and Andy has been racking up the wins against Fed since AO.
Also the O2 court has been Murrified with its speed and bounce according to some.
I'd like to think it could go either way, but go Fed :hatsoff:

Soderling might not have an easy time against Ferrer considering how the court is acting. Its hard to hit through the court it seems.