The 2014 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Rjd2

Another stellar performance from Gasquet against a top player, could have gone either way but Federer just edged him out. :pac:

I backed Tsonga to beat Murray earlier instead of backing City:(:(:(:(

WaterLily.

Dolgopolov beat Wawrinka in 3! He is having quite the year, final in Rio, then beats Nadal then the week after beats Wawrinka!

Djokovic v Murray QF could be interesting now that Murray seems to be returning to his normal self. Id still fancy Djokovic though, maybe in 3 sets.

yerwanthere123

'Flu' suffering Sabine withdrew from singles.... and still playing doubles.

WaterLily.

She is a complete joke at this stage.

I hope she loses in round 1 of Wimbledon, maybe that would give her a kick up the backside! But realistically it probably would have no effect on her whatsoever.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

She stayed in bed for 3 days after withdrawing from singles. Not sure it was actual Flu she had if it only took 3 days to recover. A cold probably.

yerwanthere123

Cold or flu, that's the kind of thing you play through.

Del Potro's surgeon said given the degree of damage discovered in his wrist, it's "amazing he was able to play at all".

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Well no, if she actually had flu, as in influenza, she wouldn't be able to play through it and she wouldn't have been better in a few days. I don't mean to be pedantic but it annoys me when people say flu when they really mean a bad cold or a chest infection.

yerwanthere123

Oh. Ok.

Still though, I imagine whatever Sabine had she threw in the towel at the first sniffle!

Floppybits

WaterLily. wrote: »

Dolgopolov beat Wawrinka in 3! He is having quite the year, final in Rio, then beats Nadal then the week after beats Wawrinka!

Djokovic v Murray QF could be interesting now that Murray seems to be returning to his normal self. Id still fancy Djokovic though, maybe in 3 sets.

Im looking forward to this match tonight. Murray was on fire last night even though he was helped by Tsonga's performance.

From looking at Indian Wells and Miami it seems that Dolgopolov and Ranoic are the ones to look at this season. Dolgopolov is on some roll despite saying on Sky sports the other night that he is mentally fried from playing too many tournaments.:D

Rjd2

Dolgo always had the talent, just so erratic over the years.

Great match between Murray and Novak atm.

the_monkey

Very good game allright, but Murray couldn't get over that bad decision by the umpire to not penalise Djokovic for swinging his racket over the net.

It was 0-15, easily recoverable - not that I'm complaining - I'm glad Djokovic won - but I wish Murray had more fight in him..

And Lendll was watching ???

yerwanthere123

Great to see Cibulkova reach top ten Also great to see her being so consistent since reaching the AO final, I was convinced she'd go on a massive slump.

Li-Serena final in Miami. Incredibly, Serena will be Li's first top ten opponent this season.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I don't like Cibulkova but as you say it's good to see her run in Australia wasn't just a one off bit of luck. Quite a few people do well in Australia and then spend the rest of the year dropping back down the ranks.

yerwanthere123

Jesus, bad luck for Nishikori. Withdraws from his semi final with a groin injury. Novak advances to final.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Jesus, bad luck for Nishikori. Withdraws from his semi final with a groin injury. Novak advances to final.

Twitter is going mad with people attacking Djokovic because he's gotten 2 walkovers this tournament and had an "easy" draw to begin with. It's not like he has any say over who he plays or what condition they're in.

yerwanthere123

Idiots on Twitter, now there's a surprise :P
What these people fail to realise is that getting walkovers isn't always actually helpful.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Yep, it's mainly Nadal fans anyway with their knickers in a twist.

yerwanthere123

I see your idiots on Twitter and raise you idiots on Facebook:

Rules should change, whoever he played in last round should step in, aka Roger Federer.

Knocks out a great player because he got lucky and now withdraws because he isn't fit enough to play so much tennis. That is a crime.

RIDICULOUS! If only he injured himself earlier, then the fans won't be deprived of a Federer-Djokovic match

What an asshole. Wanna give fed his spot back

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Unbelievable.

The thought of a Nadal/Djokovic final is horrible anyway, I hope Berdych wins tonight.

KINGVictor

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Unbelievable.

The thought of a Nadal/Djokovic final is horrible anyway, I hope Berdych wins tonight.

Well it just got worse because Berdych is out injured as well.

So we have a Nadal/Novak final on Sunday.

I go for for Nadal in 3

John.Icy

Had moved on but with todays proceedings has me even more downbeat of Federers collapse against Kei when basically home and hosed in the second (or so it seemed). Would have gotten to see some tennis today.

Has this ever happened before where there's been no semi finals in a tournament?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Didn't it happen last year at Indian Wells in the women's semi finals?

EDIT: Nope, it was QF at Indian Wells last year, two on the same day and the WTA was crucified for it. We'll see if the men get the same treatment.

Rjd2

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Unbelievable.

The thought of a Nadal/Djokovic final is horrible anyway, I hope Berdych wins tonight.

Not excited about 20 shot rallies for every point. :eek:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Rjd2 wrote: »

Not excited about 20 shot rallies for every point. :eek:

Two people standing at the baseline whacking a ball back and forth is not my idea of entertaining, no.

Rob2D

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Two people standing at the baseline whacking a ball back and forth is not my idea of entertaining, no.

Yeah I'll give it a miss as well.

I'd be a fan of that previous player stepping in though. I mean, any match is better than no match, right?

walshb

Novak's on fire!

Floppybits

Djokovic is picking apart Nadal's game. He was unreal in that first set.

Floppybits

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Idiots on Twitter, now there's a surprise :P
What these people fail to realise is that getting walkovers isn't always actually helpful.

Would the fans get their money back?

I have tickets for the Rome masters for quarter final and semi finals and I would pretty annoyed if this happened and that's putting it mildly. Players should be fined or dropped in the rankings.

RosyLily

Well that was quick! Nole blasted him away!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Floppybits wrote: »

Would the fans get their money back?

I have tickets for the Rome masters for quarter final and semi finals and I would pretty annoyed if this happened and that's putting it mildly. Players should be fined or dropped in the rankings.

It depends on the individual tournament, I think. Sometimes with rain they'll only refund if no play happens at all. So even the players getting on for 5 minutes would mean no refund.

Slashermcguirk

Djokovic looks in ominous form again. Funny how people were saying he was fading pre Indian Wells and struggling with his games, had not won a tournament in 2014 (he had played a whopping 2 touraments !!). He lost to an inspired Wawrinka in a match that could have gone either way and then to an inspired Federer in Dubai. SInce then he has beaten Federer, Murray and Nadal.

I just dont understand people reacting to much to a few losses among the top players. Do people forget that Djokovic won the Paris and shanghai masters at the end of 2013 and went unbeaten in winning the World tour finals beating Federer and Nadal in the process. It is like people think he had a bad 2013 and yet he won the Australian open, nearly beat Nadal in 5 sets in French open semis, reached final of wimbledon and reached final of US open.

Words fail me when people say that Djokovic is a fading force. He is always there at the business end of every tournament. This win against Rafa will make the clay season a whole lot more interesting and a bit less predictable.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

It's the same thing with Federer. Last year he was clearly having an issue with his back, with his coaching team, with his racquet etc. etc. but people had him written off completely. Oh it's so sad to watch, he should just retire now. This year he's come out and is playing better than I've seen him for quite some time. Okay, I still don't know if he has it in him to beat Nadal or Djokovic in a slam over 5 sets but he's still a better player than pretty much everyone else.

Sports journalists are so reactionary, I never realised it until I started following tennis week in week out. They never look at the bigger picture, or take into account anything other than what's literally just happened.

RosyLily

Agree with both above statements. I think Djokovic 2011 was a once off thing but people thought he might continue the form. When he didn't, he was written off.

Same story as Federer. When he wasn't winning at least 1 GS a year (and combined with him being a bit older than Nadal, Murray et al.), he was "done."

walshb

As good as Novak is playing he still is being really challenged, particularly by Federer. It's amazing to think that Roger is still at or close to he best. He's challenging so hard for 1000 tournaments. His style IMO matches up best vs. Novak.

yerwanthere123

Has anyone here ever been to the Davis Cup in Dublin? Anyone know how are the matches scheduled over the weekend and if they run late? Just wondering cause I'm half thinking of going this weekend.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Has anyone here even been to the Davis Cup in Dublin? Anyone know how are the matches scheduled over the weekend and if they run late? Just wondering cause I'm half thinking of going this weekend.

Friday - First singles match at 2 p.m. followed by 2nd singles. Saturday - Doubles at 1 p.m. and Sunday start at 2 p.m.

Don't know about them running over. Against Finland last year I think one of the matches was 5 hours long. Also the Finish players didn't show up for the reverse singles because they'd already won, I think, something weird happened anyway.

yerwanthere123

Thanks for that. It's James that I want to see playing, and looking back on past years he's played the opening match almost every time he has played, so I'm guessing it'll be the same this Friday.

RosyLily

Andy Murray tweeted earlier that he'll announce his new coach tomorrow. Not sure whether he's big into April Fools Day but let's see if it's for real.

Wonder who it'll be...

Panzer7

walshb wrote: »

As good as Novak is playing he still is being really challenged, particularly by Federer. It's amazing to think that Roger is still at or close to he best. He's challenging so hard for 1000 tournaments. His style IMO matches up best vs. Novak.

Federer is far from his best, I'd say he's at about 80% of his peak when he was around 24.

walshb

Panzer7 wrote: »

Federer is far from his best, I'd say he's at about 80% of his peak when he was around 24.

That may be when he was achieving his best results. That doesn't mean that he was at his best. Could the Federer of today or the past 2-3 years beat the Federer of 2004? Absolutely. It's a lot to do with opponents levels as well. Federer is a rare athlete that still has the speed and grace and fitness levels today and recently that he had in his early to mid 20s. He has gained experience, shots and differnet methods to adapt and to combat the greats like Novak and Nadal. Federer 2009/2010 vs. Federer 2004? Toss up! Even his Wimbledon win in 2012 was an example of him at or close to his best! The opposition that year was better than in 2003/2004.

It's not like a boxer or track athlete who loses a step or two with age. This does happen to tennis players, of course, but I don't see it with Roger. He is aging very well in the sport. And he is facing better players today than 8-9 years ago.

Take John McEnroe. His best year ever was 1984. He was unbeatable. But I would pick the McEnroe from the later '80s-'90s to beat the 1984 version.

Slashermcguirk

walshb wrote: »

As good as Novak is playing he still is being really challenged, particularly by Federer. It's amazing to think that Roger is still at or close to he best. He's challenging so hard for 1000 tournaments. His style IMO matches up best vs. Novak.

In fairness I think federer has only beaten djokovic once in his last 7 or 8 matches. Djokovic defo has the upper hand over the past couple of years eve. I do agree though that he matches up well against Novak. Then again Novak beats nadal a lot and federer hardly ever beats nadal.

I actually think djokovic is incredible, he has a combined 34 wins against federer and nadal......some accomplishment against two of the greatest ever players

walshb

Slashermcguirk wrote: »

In fairness I think federer has only beaten djokovic once in his last 7 or 8 matches. Djokovic defo has the upper hand over the past couple of years eve. I do agree though that he matches up well against Novak. Then again Novak beats nadal a lot and federer hardly ever beats nadal.

I actually think djokovic is incredible, he has a combined 34 wins against federer and nadal......some accomplishment against two of the greatest ever players

Including Roger's win at Wimbledon 2012 Novak holds a 4-3 advantage. Very tight. Nadal is Roger's problem style.

Slashermcguirk

walshb wrote: »

Including Roger's win at Wimbledon 2012 Novak holds a 4-3 advantage. Very tight. Nadal is Roger's problem style.

From 2011, it is 10-4 in novaks favour. I don't doubt federer has proven a tricky customer for Novak but over the past few years, Novak has far less of a mental block with federer

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Petko just beat Lisicki 6-1 6-0 in Charleston.

RosyLily

James McGee won the first match in Ireland's tie with Egypt. 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.

Sam Barry is playing atm and he already has a 4-1 in the first set.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

James McGee won the first match in Ireland's tie with Egypt. 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.

Sam Barry is playing atm and he already has a 4-1 in the first set.

Some kind of row between the Egyptian guy and the umpire happening, according to Tennis Ireland's twitter.

Rjd2

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Petko just beat Lisicki 6-1 6-0 in Charleston.

Not a complete fail for Lisicki, she managed to conserve some energy for Wimbledon.:P

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Genie Bouchard is backing up her Australian Open run with some good wins in Charleston. Took out Venus over 3 sets and took out Jankovic today. She's not the complete package yet but it's amazing to see the changes she's made in her short time on the tour from how she was as a junior. She could do well. Definitely one of the strongest mentally of that age group.

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

James McGee won the first match in Ireland's tie with Egypt. 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.

Sam Barry is playing atm and he already has a 4-1 in the first set.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Some kind of row between the Egyptian guy and the umpire happening, according to Tennis Ireland's twitter.

I was there! Had to leave in the 3rd set of the Sam Barry match though to get my train home. It was an absolute joy to see professional tennis in the flesh for the first time. Excellent atmosphere too, the crowd were 100% involved in the matches.

It's a shame Sam Barry lost, he was doing so well, up a set and 3-0 double break. He didn't do a lot wrong though, Safwat just dialed up the intensity big time. Particularly impressive moment from Barry was falling to 0-40 when serving to stay in the third set, only to win five points in a row and hold for 5-5.

Seriously, if ye have no plans for either tomorrow or Sunday ye should consider going for the day, well worth it for a €20 ticket.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Seriously, if ye have no plans for either tomorrow or Sunday ye should consider going for the day, well worth it for a €20 ticket.

I always feel bad about not going when they play in Castleknock. I live quite close, it'd be so easy to go. It always ends up being a bad weekend for me though