Started yesterday, Federer advanced handily in straight sets as did Ferrer. Nadal in action today, don’t think Djokovic starts until tomorrow. This is the pinnacle of the tennis season, hopefully Rafa makes it eight. Djokovic is the only one who will worry him and while he has been in patchy form lately - going out to Berdych and Dimitrov in Paris, he always seem to find more focus in the grand slams and he has the mental edge over Nadal.
Flip flopper
[quote=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 774793, member: 1052”]
There’s a reason why tennis connoisseurs like Special Olympiakos and I favour grass - it’s the best and it separates the good from the greatest. [/quote]
:rolleyes: lads hitting a ball on a dirt track is the pinnacle of nothing pal.
That’s a clamping
Stop editing my posts, pal.
You said it. Mind you that’s mild in the embarrassment stakes compared to you not knowing who Jimmy Connors was.
Was he Blackie’s brother?
I did. I just wasn’t aware that the US Open was held on clay for a short stint nearly 40 years ago.
Hard courts are the equivalent to introducing new balls in football that are are much lighter and travel much quicker, they just make it easier to score. On clay you’ve got to work for your points, you’ve go to think about how you’ll score your points and you’ve got to be able to mix it up. That’s why it is the greatest surface on tennis. You wouldn’t see big serving dinosaurs conquer Roland Garros like they have done Wimbeldon, US and Austrailain Opens.
Instead Roland Garros in the last quarter century has thrown up conquerers like Michael Chang, Anders Gomes, Sergi Brugera, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero & Gauston Gaudia. We’re well familiar with your arguments at this stage. This list of 10 who’ve won all won at Roland Garros (but none of the 10 came within an asses roar of winning a Grand Slam anywhere else actually bar a win for Kafelnikov in Australia in 1999) are all examples of complete tennis players. This cast of 10 are all more complete players than John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edgerg, Boris Becker & Peter Sampras, none of whom had the complete game that’s required to win at Roland Garros. And your killer point, Roger Federer with his record haul of 17 Grand Slams (which also number a win at Roland Garros) is not a great player.
Thanks for proving my point, players who wouldn’t have been able to win on hard/grass courts because they’re not bludgeoners. You don’t see 6 feet 7 inches dinosaurs winning Roland Garos because it takes an awful lot more than a big serve.
More like players that haven’t the skill set or subtlety to win on proper tennis surfaces but can prevail in the lottery that is playing on muck. You’d be waiting a long time for any of that lot to execute a volley or any shot that involved a bit of intuition or quick reflexes. The lottery system that is clay where the ball sits up forever and you can run all day is perfectly suited for gym monkey robot types.
Lottery? :rolleyes:
That’s ironic, why is it the set-piece tennis players struggle so much on clay? Is it because their one-dimensional style and inability to adapt their game is exposed?
[quote=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 777864, member: 1052”]Lottery? :rolleyes:
That’s ironic, why is it the set-piece tennis players struggle so much on clay? Is it because their one-dimensional style and inability to adapt their game is exposed?[/quote]
Continuing with football analogy’s which you insisted on dragging into it. Playing tennis on clay is equivalent to the likes of Luton Town playing on astroturf back in the 80’s. They were hard to beat on it but Luton couldn’t adopt their game to playing soccer on the surface that its meant to be played on, grass. Has it ever occurred to you that these clay court specialists that you eulogise have a one-dimensional style and an inability to adapt their game to play on proper surfaces like grass and hardcourts?
And what exactly is a ‘set-piece tennis player’?
You still haven’t answered the straight yes or no question I posed over a week ago. Are Michael Chang, Aners Gomes, Sergei Brugera, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero & Gaston Gaudia all to be ranked higher in the pantheon of tennis greats than Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker & Pete Sampras?
Speaking of players struggling to adapt their game, Nadal has just lost the first set of his title defence 4-6 to Daniel Brands. Seemingly, the windy conditions this morning at Roland Garros are not to the liking of the 7 times champion. :rolleyes:
[quote=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 777869, member: 377”]Continuing with football analogy’s which you insisted on dragging into it. Playing tennis on clay is equivalent to the likes of Luton Town playing on astroturf back in the 80’s. They were hard to beat on it but Luton couldn’t adopt their game to playing soccer on the surface that its meant to be played on, grass. Has it ever occurred to you that these clay court specialists that you eulogise have a one-dimensional style and an inability to adapt their game to play on proper surfaces like grass and hardcourts?
And what exactly is a ‘set-piece tennis player’?
You still haven’t answered the straight yes or no question I posed over a week ago. Are Michael Chang, Aners Gomes, Sergei Brugera, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero & Gaston Gaudia all to be ranked higher in the pantheon of tennis greats than Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker & Pete Sampras?[/quote]
Krajicek, Rafter, Ivanesivic, Stich, Safin, Del Potro, Johansson, Kodra.
Now shut up.
[quote=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 777875, member: 1052”]Krajicek, Rafter, Ivanesivic, Stich, Safin, Del Potro, Johansson, Kodra.
Now shut up.[/quote]
Shut up because you can’t handle the heat of argument?
By my reckoning, in the Open era, Wimbledon has thrown up just three champions who never won a Slam anywhere else - Krajicek, Ivanesivic & Stich. US Open in the Open era has thrown up five who’ve never won elsewhere - Orantes, Rafter, Roddick, Del Potro & Murray. Two of these are still active and could well add to their haul and reduce this number further.
French Open in Open era has thrown up 12. Andres Gimeno, Adriano Panetta, Yannick Noah, Michael Chang, Anders Gomes, Sergei Brugera, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gauston Guadia
If you’re a journeyman player and want to jam your way to a Slam, the French Open is the place to do it. Only quality wins at the All England Club and Flushing Meadows.
[quote=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 777881, member: 377”]Shut up because you can’t handle the heat of argument?
By my reckoning, in the Open era, Wimbledon has thrown up just three champions who never won a Slam anywhere else - Krajicek, Ivanesivic & Stich. US Open in the Open era has thrown up five who’ve never won elsewhere - Orantes, Rafter, Roddick, Del Potro & Murray. Two of these are still active and could well add to their haul and reduce this number further.
French Open in Open era has thrown up 12. Andres Gimeno, Adriano Panetta, Yannick Noah, Michael Chang, Anders Gomes, Sergei Brugera, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gauston Guadia
If you’re a journeyman player and want to jam your way to a Slam, the French Open is the place to do it. Only quality wins at the All England Club and Flushing Meadows.[/quote]
We only have one slam on clay so that proportion is expected. Hard and Grass are very similar and we have three of them a year so it’s expected that they have a big overlap of champions. This is basic logic and you are failing to grasp it.
Watching the Nadal match here on lunch break. Brands holds for 3-3 in the 2nd. In the twenty minutes I’ve seen, Nadal has been very sluggish, well below bar and hasn’t remotely looked like breaking Brands serve. I’ve no doubt he’ll shake himself to win in 4, but it would be very interesting if Brands could somehow manage to win the 2nd set.
Not a peep out of Bomber on the Nadal match because he’s losing. If the tide turns, he’ll be back on like a shot though.