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

I was hoping for a bit more from Tsitsipas, but Nadal again was superb. Should be 2 very good finals to look forward to over the weekend, assuming Novak comes through tomorrow morning as expected.

Saturday - Kvitova vs Osaka with the #1 on the line
Sunday - Nadal vs Djokovic (or Pouille)

Nadal is currently 4/5 favourite, Novak evens.
 


It's quite hard to believe that Nadal may well be only one slam behind Federer by the time Wimbledon comes around.

Be an amazing feat considering how good Federer has been all these years. Should he win this and you’d have to have him down as the favourite for the french, it wouldn’t be completely out of reach for him to top Federer come the end of his career as he’s only 32. Lots of ifs and buts but if there’s one man to beat Federer it’s Nadal. The two greatest players of all time imo, we’ve been lucky to see them really.

Interestingly I’m sure I read earlier that nadal should he win this would be the first men’s player of the open era to win each of the grand slams twice.
 
I would like to see Nadal catch Federer ,like them both but Nadal has had so many injuries that have already cost him a few more slams.

On the other hand Djokovic could still realistically overtake them both, which I am sure absolutely nobody apart from Djokovic would like to see happen

If Djokovic is at his absolute peak of a few years ago he will still beat Nadal on Sunday I think, however anything less than peak Djokovic and Nadal will win.
 
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Both finals should be excellent, but yes, Nadal and Djokovic both on a completely different level here - only dropping 10 games between them in their respective semi finals, unreal.

I want Nadal to win, but it's so hard to call. A real 50/50 match.

Novak 4/5, Rafa evens.
 
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I would like to see Nadal catch Federer ,like them both but Nadal has had so many injuries that have already cost him a few more slams.

On the other hand Djokovic could still realistically overtake them both, which I am sure absolutely nobody apart from Djokovic would like to see happen

If Djokovic is at his absolute peak of a few years ago he will still beat Nadal on Sunday I think, however anything less than peak Djokovic and Nadal will win.
I think Nole should have embraced the pantomime villain role to the Fed/Rafa rivalry a few years back. It would have won him more fans. He wants to be loved but he has a nasty edge, and it comes across fake when he tries to be nicey-nicey.
 
I think Nole should have embraced the pantomime villain role to the Fed/Rafa rivalry a few years back. It would have won him more fans. He wants to be loved but he has a nasty edge, and it comes across fake when he tries to be nicey-nicey.

Exactly , plus I don’t believe for one second the reason he became so dominant and good almost overnight was because he stopped eating gluten.
 
Can't wait for Djokovic Nadal, but will be tuning into both finals.

Mad to think that Murray match was only 11 days ago, it seems like months.

Be an amazing feat considering how good Federer has been all these years. Should he win this and you’d have to have him down as the favourite for the french, it wouldn’t be completely out of reach for him to top Federer come the end of his career as he’s only 32. Lots of ifs and buts but if there’s one man to beat Federer it’s Nadal. The two greatest players of all time imo, we’ve been lucky to see them really.

Interestingly I’m sure I read earlier that nadal should he win this would be the first men’s player of the open era to win each of the grand slams twice.

I think that's right about the double career Grand Slam. Both are absolute legends but even as a bit of a neutral, I've always thought of Federer as the ultimate better player. It shouldn't really, but I guess it's the total amount of French Open's that sways mine and a few others opinion.
 
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Kvitova is 10/13 and Osaka 11/10
Djokovic is 10/13 and Nadal is 11/10

It's great how there is not an obvious favourite in either final. I suppose there's not been a clear favourite in the past 6 women's finals and on the 7th there was actually a big upset with Ostapenko beating Halep, but in the past 7 men's we've had:

Djokovic vs Del Potro
Djokovic vs a badly faded Anderson
Nadal vs (pretty much anyone at RG)
Federer vs Cilic
Nadal vs an Anderson buzzing that he won his 'final' in the semi final
Federer vs Cilic
Nadal vs (pretty much anyone at RG)

Djokovic-Delpo should probably have been closer than it was and Thiem on paper was as good an opponent as we could have had at the time in that French final given the circumstances, but every one of those matches, the opponent would have been around 7/2 or 4/1, whereas here, it is a real coin toss going into it.

6 of those were routine straight sets wins. Cilic did actually take Federer into a deciding set in Melbourne last year, but it didn't really feel like a 5 set classic.
 
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All this nonsense about the changing of the guard yet Nadal and Djokovic look lightyears ahead of everyone , wouldn’t be surprised if they win all the slams between them this year. They certainly have this one and the French covered.
 
All this nonsense about the changing of the guard yet Nadal and Djokovic look lightyears ahead of everyone , wouldn’t be surprised if they win all the slams between them this year. They certainly have this one and the French covered.

Yeah, still a very long way off. It is good how 20 year Tsisi and 21 year old Tiafoe got to the semi's and quarters respectively (I know they were bpth blown away by Rafa) and while old timers Cilic, Anderson and Potro (if he was playing) might have caused a few more problems had they reached the QFs, it is at least progress that younger players are going deeper. Coric and Medvedev (both 22) got to the L16, which is par for their seeding, so not spectacular and Khachanov going out in the L32 was a blow for the 'new breed' as he does have the weapons to cause problems. Another poor showing from Zverev which is becoming the norm.

Tsitsipas beating Federer will do his short and long term profile and reputation no harm at all and he'll always have that win and SF on his record, it's just a shame that the scoreline was so one sided as a bit of credibility was lost, but if there are more results like that going forward then slowly but surely, it might happen, hopefully before the Big 3 are effectively done.
 
Just had a conversation with somebody who knows about tennis and now believe I have misunderstood a few things. Nadal French wins too top heavy and outside this tournament his wins are not much to write home about. What his domination on the one surface that nobody else takes seriously has actually done is deny better players the chance to add to their title totals. Have always ignored the rumours about his reason for success but now looks like was too hasty.
 
Nadal's a freak. As are the other two. They're the best three of all time. Ignore Laver, Borg, Mac and whoever else. We're getting a repeat of the greatest tennis match of all time on Sunday morning with both in potential freak fitness levels, let's enjoy it whilst it lasts. We've not got much longer left.

Hope Kvitova gets the job done tomorrow. Huuuuuuuuuge Osaka fan but how can you not want P3tra to win?!
 
Oh my, 3 successive Championship points at 5-3 and now 5-7 and into a decider.

Well done Osaka. Back to back slams. She was excellent in that final set and can now have her proper slam winning moment.

7-6 5-7 6-4
 
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