SMB Tennis thread (note there is a specific Wimbledon 22 thread)

Osaka's very much the real deal but it hurts my brain that she's already got double the amount of Slams that Victoria Azarenka has.

What are we all thinking for the men's then? It seems to have gone massively under the radar that Novak Djokovic has played like an absolute bag of shite in nearly every big match he's played in since he demolished Rafa here in 2019.

Poor against Rafa and nearly chucked it away against Tsitsipas in Paris 2020, quite poor against Thiem after he lost the plot in Melbourne 2020, poor against Federer apart from the final set and poor against Bautista Agut at Wimbledon 2019 and poor against Thiem in Paris 2019.

Meddy Bear in 4 sets for me unless the proper Novak Djokovic turns up. If he's trying to slap winners constantly then he'll get beaten easily.
Medvedev was hugely impressive for the most part against Tsitsipas aswell, barring a wobbler in set 3 where Tsitsipas started applying the pressure, and a few unforced errors came out. I fancy him against Djokovic tbh, like you say, Novak is very good at actually winning, but he's certainly not been as convincing recently, and you can definitely take sets off him.

I wonder how much the lack of crowd impacts Djokovic? Normally the crowd is on his back and supports his opponent, which gets Novak distracted and annoyed sometimes. However, it can also spur him on. I'll never forget Wimbledon 2019, when a 37 year old Federer had back-to-back Championship points, and the crowd went absolutely wild - as though England had to just won a penalty in the World Cup final. And Djokovic somehow fought back and won, and smirked at the crowd.

I suspect Federer will take regret from that day to his grave, it should have been his 9th Wimbledon and it would currently have put Novak on 16 and RF on 21 GS titles, which is potentially significant.
 


Greatest of all time :cool: should never have doubted him. A proper performance that.

Where is this Nadal and Federer fanboy meltdown going to place I wonder?

Above or below 'He only beat Rafa because the roof was closed!!!!!' at Wimbledon? Above or below Fed claiming it wasn't proper tennis when he hit the forehand return winner down match point at the US Open?

Medvedev was hugely impressive for the most part against Tsitsipas aswell, barring a wobbler in set 3 where Tsitsipas started applying the pressure, and a few unforced errors came out. I fancy him against Djokovic tbh, like you say, Novak is very good at actually winning, but he's certainly not been as convincing recently, and you can definitely take sets off him.

I wonder how much the lack of crowd impacts Djokovic? Normally the crowd is on his back and supports his opponent, which gets Novak distracted and annoyed sometimes. However, it can also spur him on. I'll never forget Wimbledon 2019, when a 37 year old Federer had back-to-back Championship points, and the crowd went absolutely wild - as though England had to just won a penalty in the World Cup final. And Djokovic somehow fought back and won, and smirked at the crowd.

I suspect Federer will take regret from that day to his grave, it should have been his 9th Wimbledon and it would currently have put Novak on 16 and RF on 21 GS titles, which is potentially significant.

That's one of the most pro Djokovic crowds I've heard for that final there. Only other one like that I can remember was against Murray at the French. Don't hear that every day!
 
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Yeah, i was well wrong! Djokovic battered him for the most part. Medvedev missing shots he'd normally put away in his sleep.
Very dissapointing result today, Medvedev just imploded 2nd set onwards and wasnt even playing as well as his previous rounds combined with Djokovic playing his best match of the tournament made the final a non event.
 
I thought that would be a 4 or 5 set marathon, with mammoth rallies galore, and every point not secured with a big serve having to be ground out like extracting teeth. Hmm.
 

Women's tennis looking in pretty great shape for the next ten/fifteen years with Osaka, Barty and Andreescu coming through at the top of the game. All ridiculously talented, all fun to watch, all ahve big and different types of personality. Andreescu's gonna annoy a lot of people over the next decade or so and it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch.

Men's tennis is erm... well it's a real shame that Nick Kyrgios doesn't actually like playing tennis.
 
It was Simon Reed with Frew McMillan. Took a bit finding but came across this website icdb.tv - Internet Commentators Database - Stefanos Tsitsipas v Rafael Nadal which lists commentators on the various channels.

Frew is now 78 years old and still going strong. Those of a certain age will remember him mainly for the fact that he had a double handed forehand as well as backhand. His main success was in the doubles with Bob Hewitt
It was Simon Reed with Frew McMillan. Took a bit finding but came across this website icdb.tv - Internet Commentators Database - Stefanos Tsitsipas v Rafael Nadal which lists commentators on the various channels.

Frew is now 78 years old and still going strong. Those of a certain age will remember him mainly for the fact that he had a double handed forehand as well as backhand. His main success was in the doubles with Bob Hewitt
As you say mainly known as doubles player. Probably my favourite commentator. Sharp and insightful. Must be well regarded as he would have been replaced if he was no longer up to it.
 
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Evo and Liam Broady both becoming clay court grinders is the weirdest thing to come out of the pandemic! Saw most of Evo's match against Lajovic and he was treating it like a grass court. Probably the best I've seen him ever play on clay. Beaten Djokovic, should have beaten Fed, first ATP title and Masters quarter final. A good year so far outside of the loss to Norrie in Australia.

Got told last year that Broady was taking things a lot more seriously than he ever had before, seems to be doing great since tennis resumed. Career best ranking coming up after this week, qualified for a Slam for the first time (other than a Wimbledon WC), came through qualies at both ATP tournaments he's entered, reached a challenger final last year and two this year with another semi tomorrow. Probably won more clay court matches in eight months than he has the rest of his career combined as well. Really good to see.

Both will probably lose tomorrow like :lol:
 
Even if Djok wasn't too bothered his hitting and athleticism are still prodigious. Evans' backhand slice shot is hard to handle on clay. Good to see him realise some of his potential
 
Cam Norrie a set away from his first ATP title, a set up against Albert Ramos Vinolas in Estoril.

Been impressed with him more since lockdown than anything he's done in his career before last year, looks like he's putting in a lot of graft. Hopefully he gets over the line.
 

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