2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119015869#Comment_119015869

Why so hard on Raducanu? She is in her first full season on the tour and you are expecting her to win everything. You have to take that into consideration and also the fact that her body is adjusting to rigors of playing professional tennis so she is going to get injuries that will hamper her till her body adjusts. You see this all the time with young players breaking into professional sports, I remember Steven Gerrard when he broke into the Liverpool suffering a lot of niggling injuries for the first couple of season. It takes time for players starting out to adjust. Its not like Raducanu's opponent in the US Open Final is setting the world alight either. This just takes time, same for the men especially in the marathon 5 set matches.

In sad news I see Andy Murray has pulled out of his match against Djokovic today due to illness.

https://twitter.com/MutuaMadridOpen/status/1522135209029812224

Sounds like Murray may have literally shat himself at the prospect of facing Djokovic 😂

"Food poisoning"

Another consideration would be turning up and looking the right hypocrite for his extensive and uncalled for rantage directed at Tsits on the toilet break.

Even though he was reported as feeling better this morning by the tournament director, possibly high on court "accident" risk also.

Cue Murray ranting at himself - "look at that right mess you've made there Andy ffs"!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119018406#Comment_119018406

Expected to win everything? She hasn't won more than 2 matches at a tournament in over 8 months

She has lost to several nobodies ranked 70 to 100 plus and also the world number 610.

who loses to the world number 610?

Have to say that the myriad of excuses about blisters whether it's on the hands or feet or whatever else are getting to be a bit long in the tooth at this point

Heading for a fourth coach in 9 months is also passing the buck imo

I've said that the issue id have is how a player like that can get through to win a slam in the first place is just another showing of the inconsistency there

If the tour throws up slam winners and they can only get the results of a low tier player for coming up on the next 3/4's of a year following then the excuses only go so far

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119019247#Comment_119019247

But you are only looking at her and judging her because she won the US Open which in for me has messed up her progress. I equate her rise in tennis to that of a kids coming out of primary school and going straight into leaving cert. By Raducanu should be playing the lower events building up her ranking and then play qualifiers for all these tournaments, instead she has been trust in at the deep end without getting the chance to set up the team around her and we see that with the coaching situation she is in. That is what players need to do before they get to level Raducanu is up so that when they do get to that level then the transition is easier. Remember this time last year she was sitting GCSE's and hadn't played a tour level event yet, flash forward 12 months and she has been a Wimbledon 1/4 finalist and US Open Winner all still while trying to find her feet. For me I think she is doing pretty well and yet it is frustrating to see niggling injuries and things like blisters affect her but as I said she is still learning only thing is she is doing it in the glare of the media and with high expectations. Anyone remember her opponent from the US Open final and how she is doing?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119019436#Comment_119019436

Fernandez hasn't shot the lights out BUT won the WTA title in march at the same event where Raducanu lost to the world ranked 610!

So her tournament match win streak is 250% higher than Raducanu's since last September

19 isn't particularly young on the WTA btw and pretty much all tennis players manage to complete 2nd level examinations so that doesn't make Raducanu stand out.

Maybe Raducanu will have a career in the end but again the it's the fact that this player could actually get through to win the slam that is most damming.

The results since then only highlight that further.

dublin49

A good example what is happening to Raducano happened to Justin Rose at the start of his career,he almost won the british open as a teenager ,think he finished in the top ten and turned pro and missed about 20 cuts in a row .

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119019624#Comment_119019624

I wouldn't say that that is a very good comparator.

Very different sports indeed, particularly in how you win an event and if you know anything about golf you know that links golf is very unpredictable due to nature of the course layouts (heavy rough and odd bounces etc) and the very variable weather conditions that you can get in the open also

That tournament is well known for throwing up the most unexpected winners and situations.

Far more than any other big golf tournament.

There was also another amateur golfer, more recently, an Irish guy leading the Open going into the final day after 3 rounds.

Paul Dunne.

He's world 1721 at 29

yerwanthere123

"lost to the world ranked 610"

Couldn't remember this at all, probably because it never actually happened. She retired in the third set against Daria Saville. Saville is a former top 20 player who's twice made the second week of a slam and is currently playing on a protected ranking. Trying to dismiss her as the "world ranked 610" and using the result of an incomplete match as further 'evidence' against Raducanu is bottom of the barrel stuff.

Also, Fernandez won Monterrey, not Guadalajara.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119019935#Comment_119019935

Saville was ranked number 610

That's the fact of it - I'm not making it up

It was a long match and Raducanu couldn't last it out

Raducanu was back playing at a subsequent tournament 2 weeks later so it's hardly outrageous to say that it was simply that Raducanu couldn't last the course as it obviously wasn't an injury that required a layoff

Saville herself had leg cramps as reported but didn't quit it.

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2499167/saville-wins-longest-match-of-the-year-after-raducanu-retires-in-guadalajara

Girly Gal

Players who win their fist slam or unexpectedly win a slam generally have a dip in form afterwards. They also become a target and other players raise their game when facing them, hoping to get a big name scape, it's the nature of sport. It often takes players a while to adjust to their new status within the game, some can't handle it and never hit the heights again. It remains to be seen if Raducanu was a flash in the pan or if she can become a consistent challenger at the big tournaments

dublin49

Raducanu's path to US final success is worth a look ,she played 7 matches and as an unseeded player managed to avoid a seed in 5 of her 7 matches,of the 2 seeds she did play one was num 11 & the other was number 17.Now I know the women's game is more volatile with regard to seeds progressing but the stars certainly aligned for Raducanu in that tournament.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020276#Comment_119020276

Certainly but in more functioning tour with even a marginal level of consistency

1. one of those 2 Top 20 players is beating a qualifier
2. one of the 3 Top 10 players (including the supposed world number 2) that Fernandez beat should definitely win

Goffin blew that - had a forehand chance on a short return and netted it

Nadal in full on cockroach mode tho

Amenhotep

And again Nadal comes back and wins ... shock horror!!

Its getting to be a joke at this stage, he will win every slam this year and clay court event.

I think they need to introduce a rule that 35+ year old players can only play on the senior tour.

Because this guy will be dominating when he's 60.

It's an utter f*cking joke!

firminjo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020520#Comment_119020520

Best player of all time

firminjo

Those dropshots on match points, jaysis!

dublin49

I wondered where Goffin had gone,havent seen him in yonks,pity as he could have done with that win more than Rafa.

firminjo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020672#Comment_119020672

Yea he defo needed that one

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020672#Comment_119020672

Nadal - Alcaraz will be more interesting than Goffin - Nadal though in the next round

firminjo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020723#Comment_119020723

What about Norrie?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020733#Comment_119020733

He only has a slim chance of winning.

It's a pretty safe assumption that Alcaraz is going to beat him.

Alcaraz is better on clay than Norrie, has a 2-0 h2h vs Norrie and it's the biggest tennis event held in Spain so he's not going to be unmotivated to do well here.

Break up in the first set already

yerwanthere123

Brilliant mens QF lineup in Madrid. Nadal-Alcaraz probably the match of the day, which the organisers have decided to put on at the perfect time of... 3pm? Even Djokovic-Hurkacz is first on at 1pm. Odd scheduling.

Amenhotep

Allready switched it off, Game set match Nadal...

Alcaraz destroying Nadal so far as he takes the first set 6-2

Forehands down the line doing the most damage

Power too much for Nadal to handle

It's a mission for Nadal to hold a service game

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024236#Comment_119024236

I'm not seeing that Hector?

5 - 2 to Alcaraz in the 1st set.

whiterebel

Madrid is Nadal's least successful/popular clay tournament isn't it? Altitude making the ball fly faster. Alcaraz certainly hitting through it really well. Nadal struggling with the serve.

Horrible-looking fall there for Alcaraz in the third game of the second set - could have broken an ankle but got away with it in terms of a serious injury

Nadal coming back into the match

Remains to be seen how this affects Alcaraz

Amenhotep

And this is why I switched off, he will always always find a way to win.

OK , I'm putting it out here .

Here is my prediction.

Alcaraz will of course be a future no. 1 and will win multiple slams.

But he'll NEVER beat Nadal.

He will eventually in some ATP 250 up in Tromso when Nadal is 40 ... but over the next few years in big matches at masters 1000 or slam level, Nadal will win them all.

BOOKMARK IT babies!!!

whiterebel

Fairly crass out of Nadal to ask to play on while they are treating the person in the crowd. The person could be dying for all he knows.

Amenhotep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024547#Comment_119024547

Would expect nothing less from him.