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Post by speedysteve on Mar 22, 2016 22:15:45 GMT
Nad did quite well at indian Wells.
Made the semis and had a 3 set loss against the Djok.
In the final Djok rather schooled Raonic.
The new generation is not up to the task yet.
Straight sets put down.
Bagle in the second set.
Now he equals Nadal on 27 ATP 1000 champ wins!
Serena lost to silly noise Azerenka.
Surprising that. Straight sets too!
On to Miami 1000 now...
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Post by MartinT on Mar 24, 2016 13:56:27 GMT
We live in an era where The Fed, Djok and Nads have dominated way beyond any reasonable expectation. We are never likely to see such a cornering of all the available championships in men's tennis ever again.
Poor Murray, had he lived in a different era he might have had a few more championships by now.
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 24, 2016 16:40:09 GMT
Nice to see Delpotro again.
He like Söderling could have broken things up at the top had they stayed fit and healthy.
He could take Murray and the current Nadal no probs.
He's basically given up on the double handed backhand as his left wrist hurts, had several ops...
He contemplated retirement but loves the game too much for that.
I watch him just for his forehand. Slaps it away unlike anyone else.
Even if he can only make to 20 with slice backhand, I watch him everytime.
He also had the most manly grunt of any guy on the tour.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 24, 2016 22:38:21 GMT
He like Söderling could have broken things up at the top Now there's a player I liked watching a lot. What's happened to Soderling? |
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 25, 2016 13:07:51 GMT
He got glandular (mono) fever a year or so after beating Nadal at the French open semi finals.
Battled it for a few months but it was so bad he could not play and after years of hoping he announced his retirement from the game.
He's got some equipment lines and own tennis ball design / manufacture going on.
He's feeling a bit better and can function fairly normally.
It knocked Heather Watson back seriously too. She's playing and doing ok. Getting better each year.
Fed had it mildly a few years ago to.
Our youngest daughter had it for the majority of senior school. Can knock you right out.
She's pretty much back now and at uni doing business, specialising in corporate law! She loves it! Someone has to I guess:)
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 26, 2016 16:21:51 GMT
Delpo did not play that well. He played a few double handers and his left wrist was clearly painful. He lost in straight sets to countryman Zebrello or some similar name, who was daughter drafted in as fed had a stomach virus and pulled out. Still, watching French qualifier Herbert give Nishikori a run for his money just now  Have Djok to watch later. |
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 28, 2016 17:04:08 GMT
Nadal bombed out against a lowly ranked Bosnian. He won the first set easily and then the heat and humidity seemed to get to him. Lost the second set and we were in for a show down but Nadal just ran out of puff. Had the doc out twice and quit 0-3 down.
Miami courts are slow and should suit him...
The tennis chat fora are a buzz with speculation that the ATP are cracking down on PEDs. Nadal's injury pattern and performance peaks afterwards of the past give rise to some speculation that he dopes back in Spain and by being injured avoids the tests.
If the ATP is testing more rigorously and adds more and more to the banned substance list (as caught MS Sharapova out recently), it could explain the stamina drop... Yes also got a very demanding playing style and it wears him it the older he get.
Hey ho,
Could be a Murray, Djokovic showdown...
On the women's side Konta continues to be the best Brit woman. Through to the fourth round of another big tournament...
Go Jo go!
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Post by MartinT on Mar 28, 2016 20:37:23 GMT
Great news on Konta!
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 29, 2016 12:53:10 GMT
Yes, she's made it to the next round too. Very convincing win. A few top seeds have been knocked out so the draw has opened up a bit. She's quarterfinal and even semifinal material more and more. Her improvement is largely down to mind coaching. Done a lot of workon that! |
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 29, 2016 17:35:37 GMT
In an up and down performance by both players, Murray got beat in 3 by Dimitrov... Second early exit in 2 1000 tourneys!
Still Fed's sick, Nad, Wav and Tsonga are all out. No risk of his no.2 ranking...
Looks like Djok will be schooling whoever meets him enroute to another win...
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Post by speedysteve on Mar 31, 2016 17:24:14 GMT
Konta fell to the phewwwing Azarenka:( ridiculous noise to make each time you hit the ball! Should have banned all such silliness when Seles started it way back!
Djok beat the upcoming Thiem in straight sets but it was far from easy! 3 of Djoks service games were real marathons of over ten mins each! In the end he broke Thiem to get the job done, and managed somehow to hold his serve each time. It was an interesting match.
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 2, 2016 9:18:06 GMT
Kyrios beat Raonic in straights.
Djok is up a set against Goffin. The latter made him work extremely hard in the blazing Miami 2pm heat.
Kyrios will play Nishikori in the other semi final.
I reckon it will be Djok vs Kyrios in the final but we watch to see what happens and find out.
I felt like a change and have strung one of my racquets up with Pacific touch natural gut. From New Zealand I think and very popular in the states.
Very high on the comfort scale apparently. Babolat VS team is hard wearing but could be softer.
I wanted the pacific classic one as that plays even softer and old school but touch will be interesting to try first.
A full bed of gut will give me more power but even gentler on the arm, just hope I can put enough spin on to keep the ball in or just aim better:)
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Post by MartinT on Apr 2, 2016 13:50:54 GMT
You remind me of another lifetime ago when I was a table tennis nut, with all the technologies in the laminates and the handle. I had a Stiga bat at the time, wonder what happened to it?
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 2, 2016 16:54:50 GMT
A man's gotta have a hobby:)
I have/had a Stiga bat too.
The strings has a profound affect on play. Most club players don't know or care, it's a black art and a lot to it. Tensions, gauges, different materials, hybrids etc.
It's odd that the racquet always gets a mention and racquet logo is sprayed on the strings...
We do follow what the pros do and its interesting / adds to the enjoyment / understanding, like the tech stuff in F1.
I wish they'd talk more about damper rates and springs etc:)
Like the hifi world where it is stylus / cart that is all important as it makes contract with the record, the strings are the only thing to touch the ball, touch, feel, spin, trampoline effect, snap back etc all the strings work.
Most people just have nylon =cleverly called synthetic gut:)
Polyester is what most of the pros use. Cheap as chips but only lasts a few hours.
No good for occasional players, it goes off in your bag!
Hybrids are interesting.
Gut lasts and holds its tension till it trays and breaks, gets more playable once broken in too.
I'm looking forward to the Pacific gut experience. CF
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 8, 2016 11:27:43 GMT
Djok won Miami. Another ATP Masters, Nishikori had no answer. Equals Nadal on that score now.
If he wins the French open a few times he has a good shout at being the GOAT.
There's a few minor tournaments this week. Katowice indoor and a US one on gray Clay. Nice with some variation.
I liked the Pacific touch gut, played twice with it.
So much so I ordered the classic for even more arm friendliness. That had to arrive from the states. Will be stringing up this afternoon for a weekend hit.
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 10, 2016 20:39:52 GMT
Rather Cute Camila Giorgi  and adorable Dominic Cibukova  Are in the Final in Catowice - Betcha I'm watching this one  Meanwhile - Shriekapova is in ban exile, on the beach!  |
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 11, 2016 17:00:41 GMT
Tennis eh? What's not to like!
Dominic won quite easily, very consistent change from the pocket rocket.
Meanwhile in Houston Texas Jack Sock US and Juan Monaco battled for a clay court 250 tournament prize.
This week Monte Carlo starts. Big names will be there.
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 16, 2016 7:34:18 GMT
Djok got knocked out of his first clay tournament of the year. Monte Carlo.
Veserley played well and Djok's backhand timing was off a bit, change of surface and first competitive match.
Murray struggled in his first two matches, again with timing and was a bit lacklustre. However he trounced Raonic 6-2, 6-0. That's gotta hurt.
The big 4 are still the big 4 in general.
Warwrinka is a thread on clay.
Nadal and Fed were still in the last time I looked:)
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 17, 2016 7:00:45 GMT
Fed not able to raise his game after so many month away from competition - out! Tsonga did play pretty well too:)
Nadal beat Warwrinka in other quarter final.
So it lined up Nadal / Murray in one semi and Monfils (yes the Guru master) / Tsonga in the other
Nadal has his clay mojo back and in a gruelling 3 setter ground Murray down, the latter looked like he might do it in 2 sets but no.
both got annoyed with the umpire. Nadal taking over 30secs on average between last ball out of play and serve!
Monfils was full of tricks and rather schooled Tsonga in straight sets.
so the what can be brilliant, colourful play by Monfils vs the spanish bull Nadal.
The ladies will be in Stuttgart next week.
Me, I'm playing this morning. Trusty Prince EXO3 Tour racquet and new found arm best friend Pacific Classic nat gut strings...
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Post by speedysteve on Apr 22, 2016 12:53:19 GMT
Nadal is unstoppable on clay at the moment. Gone are his jitters and jack of confidence.
He won an exciting Monte Carlo final against Monfils. Got three sets but Nadal worn down the Frenchman , 6-0 in the final set!
Need to see how he manages an in form Djok. I think he can handle Fed on clay. He always has.
How long his rich winning streak will last, who knows....
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