2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Alcaraz's biggest advantage is movement which is of more benefit on faster surfaces than clay because the opponent's ball is coming off the hard surface quicker so being faster allows you more chance to get to it and is therefore more of an advantage than on clay.

After that it's his big forehand again which is more of an advantage on faster surfaces because a strong forehand coming off the surface faster than clay allowing for more winners or forcing errors on the opponent.

Particularly the way that Alcaraz frequently uses the flat-ball inside out forehand. Flat balls are much less effective on clay - why Medvedev is not effective there for example as the ball that he hits is very flat (which is not effective on clay but much more effective on hardcourt)

He's not used to grass yet as it takes years to do so as movement on slippy grass grass is an acquired skill and also the skiddy ball bounce.

So hardcourt.

They are my reasons for saying that he's better on hard court

Nobody else has offered any reason except for a loss to x which is not involving much thought process or reasoning involving some actual thoughtful logic!

As for not losing to people itself - he lost in the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 which is the quintessential slow sea-level clay court surface to Sebastien Korda who is the lowest ranked player that he has lost to this year by a good number of ranking places.

Alcaraz is only 6ft / 183 tall so he's never going to be the biggest server which is holding him back until he manages to develop his serve into more of a weapon to win cheap points. Which is important as you need to work less in your service games and are more likely to be able to get out trouble in service game.

Still he's very exciting to watch and very good for tennis.

Itssoeasy

The second woman’s semi final between Caroline Garcia and Aryana Sabalenka has been suspended again with more rain after coming on court around 6pm Irish time and being off for two and half hours the first time. This has a knock on to the mens two semi finals which were meant to be both started at this point and aren’t. Petra Kvitova won the lotto on draw schedule as she is already in the final.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119498729#Comment_119498729

Everyone knows movement is the main benefit on clay for example - every great clay court player ever. Win losses stats are important and youd no doubt be using them if it suited your narrative which it doesnt. Winning tennis matches is testament to how good you are at tennis , funny that. Even if you were to say I think hard will be his best maybe youd have somebody listening to you but atm you just sound dumb. An early Us open loss looks imminent for the new tennis god.

Dunning Kruger effect hits the boards tennis forum!

How could anyone with even basic knowledge of tennis or indeed a tennis ball argue that clay which slows down the ball far more when a ball bounces off it is where super-fast movement is more important than on a hardcourt where the ball comes off the surface far more quickly giving the player less time to get to a ball.

Furthermore the ball bounces high off the clay giving the opponent an easier job to get it versus the lower bounce off the hardcourt.

Very basic stuff!

Here's a bit of a 101-level run-down

Slow courts

Slow courts make the ball bounce higher and slower. 

Therefore, players have more time to prepare their strokes. On clay courts, points are usually slower, and matches are longer. In addition, players often find themselves sliding along the courts. In general, clay courts are hard on the body, leaving players more tired after matches than they would be on grass or hard surface courts. Clay courts favour base-line players who prefer to wait for the ball at the back of the court rather than approach the net.

Fast courts

Fast courts make the ball bounce faster and lower, especially grass courts. 

Players must move fast and play with short strokes because the speed of the ball leaves little time for preparation. This means, on fast courts, players should be aggressive, cutting off angles, and approaching the net as much as possible. A strong service game is also important for fast court players. A fast and effective serve can help players to begin the point aggressively and maintain control. 

https://www.ertheo.com/blog/en/type-tennis-courts/

Meanwhile great win for Tsitsipas

A serve-volley masterclass from the Greek in sets 1 and 3.

Set 2 was a weird mid-match drop-off with some inopportune double faults and not great play from either player.

His first ever outdoor hardcourt win over Medvedev and redresses the head-to-head a bit.

yerwanthere123

Quite the run from Coric to announce himself back on the big stage. Entered the week on a protected ranking of #152 and will now jump at least 100 places to get back into the top 50. Could even get a US Open seed if he can take the title.

yerwanthere123

Garcia beats Kvitova to win Cincinnati a qualifier. A great week for both, but doubt it means anything for their US Open chances tbh, I expect both to lose in the opening week.

Meanwhile, I wonder what this is about?

https://twitter.com/vika7/status/1561369803859935232?t=GGvRSf3w-btFM3hu-1bDlw&s=19

A lot of speculation it could be a retirement announcement, which would make sense given her age and the fact her best is long behind her.

Coric has come back from a break down to smash Tsitsipas in the first-set tie-break

He's able to get great angles on his backhand and is serving well

Guy was out for a full year after surgery having had long-term shoulder issues up to that but really having a dream comeback now (was as high as ATP 12 before)

Azarenka has just turned 33 but really thought she looked very bad against Raducanu.

cudsy1

He's around the same age as med zver tsits. Can he insert himself into that tier?

https://sports.yahoo.com/rublev-thrashes-coric-reach-next-gen-final-195946570--ten.html

next gen 2017, rublev 2, Medvedev 3 , coric 4

cudsy1

After following the atp tour for a full year, it seems me that there's the two aul lads, medvedev, zverev, maybe alcaraz, then a group of 10, from tsist down to berretini who just take each other out almost randomly week by week. Kyrgios obviously a wild card. Borna interesting now. Rune another one I'm monitoring, mostly cos of age and French open run.

Makes for a steady top 16 it seems. The likes of Monfil Murray Isner then flying the veteran flag

Sometimes Tsitsipas looks amazing then the next minute he's getting walloped.

Coric beat 4 Top 10 players this week to get the title - you can't argue that he had an easy draw.

He was very solid on serve the whole week and in general play too.

Previous made a Masters 1000 final 4 years ago.

cudsy1

ATP 1000 winners PCB last week Borna this week.. what the post big 3 world looks like I suppose

yerwanthere123

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1561484549888122882?t=LwFJ-4agU24ou8I19Ypp0g&s=19

What a way to win the title, every one of them a quality player.

Coric is in some shape physically - ripped.

From coming close to quitting tennis a year ago to this is some turnaround and unexpected even by himself

If his resurgence holds without injury recurrence could be a serious player

He mentioned recently how he got a bit complacent before his injury when he was a Top 20 player but recognises that now.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119500912#Comment_119500912

Points are way longer on clay , movement is more important , every great court player has had unbeliavble movement. Look you have been proven wrong by Alcarazs results, he will hopefully get more comfortable on hards in a few years. You stand alone with your wacky theory. Try find one person on here that agrees with you on here you wont be able. Ill leave it there now, the pompousness levels from you are too much for me to handle. Enjoy alcarazs early us open loss.

Thanks for the morning laugh about the "clay court movement logic" about longer points due to the slower surface!

"It's more important to be faster on a slower surface than on a faster surface"

This is ground-breaking stuff.

Endurance is about stamina.

That's a very different thing ..

Humour is most effective in the morning I find.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119504059#Comment_119504059

The ball moves slower , the points are longer , movement is more important. Players with poor movement are ALWAYS **** on clay. You are wrong. And absolutely everybody knows you are wrong on Alcaraz.

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503514#Comment_119503514

Incredible effort! Cool to see him back in the top 30

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119503488#Comment_119503488

Yeah thats a good point, theres not a player out there that looks like they could dominate or even win 7/8 plus grand slams. Alcaraz looked like it after madrid but looks mentally weak and has lost to a lot of young ish players since. They all look mentally weak , zverev , tsitipas ,FAA with his finals losses record. Tennis wont be a big sport again for a while.

I never said that Alcaraz was going to win any title so not sure what I'm wrong on!

Alcaraz is a few months past 19 and he's No.4 in the world having risen from absolutely nowhere in the last year.

The guy is the highest ranked 19 year old male player since Nadal - he's literally the best-performing young male player in over 15 years!

What a complete disaster he is lol.

What i did actually say is that in my opinion Alcaraz's greatest strengths lend to be being more advantageous strengths on hard courts.

As for movement i specifically alluded to Alcaraz's fast movement attribute - he's possibly the fastest mover ever seen on a hardcourt where fast movement is a greater advantage than on clay courts because the player needs to get to the faster moving and lower bouncing ball on hardcourt in a quicker timeframe.

Hence he has a greater relative advantage on faster courts.

The mental gymnastics diarrhea efforts about slow clay courts and longer points in that regard is a constant gift of amusement!

Also as I had said his powerful forehand, one of the fastest on tour, especially his flat inside out forehand is more damaging on faster courts than slower courts because when it's moving faster it's more likely to result in a winner or an error for the opponent- another relative greater advantage on hardcourt.

This is very simple logic (for those not focused on peddling some complete rubbish in the forlorn hope that they appear "right" or something something but the peddling is actually a narrative that wouldn't pass muster with a small child).

As most would have predicted but now confirmed Zverev is not gong to make the US Open this year

Unlucky year for him, especially considering some of the form and improvements that he was showing.

Thiem was given a wild card last week for the event.

cudsy1

He looked absolutely fantastic in the nadal french first set and a half before his injury. Really aggressive, hitting lines.

His wife beater court gear is pretty rank tho

rogerywalters

Has anyone on here been to the US open? Im heading over this year and theres tickets available for every session. Im planning to go to a night session and theres rd 16 and quarters tickets but nearly wanted to chance it at the time so i can actually pick who we get to see as a night session is only 2 matchs i believe. They are only about 75 dollars now tho so maybe i should just go for it. Quarters will be a good standard no matter who is on.

gmisk

I see the "700 drinks" woman is suing Kyrgios...lol

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/nick-kyrgios-sued-wimbledon-drinks-tennis-b2150686.html

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119510511#Comment_119510511

Hard to see where she's going with that. Nobody knew who she was until she publicly identified herself, even during the incident she wasn't shown on camera at any stage. Seems like a bit attention seeking to me 😬

gmisk

Be interesting to see how Jack draper gets on against Thiem, he was decent against Fognini (who in fairness looked leggy in third set)

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119510569#Comment_119510569

Yeah it does , shes said any money won will go to charity , so its a bit of craic haha.

yerwanthere123

Angelique Kerber is pregnant! Wonder if we'll see her back. She'll be 35 in January, potentially could be 36 by the time she's in shape to return. Says she intends to play on until the Paris Olympics, so maybe she will.

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119510569#Comment_119510569

I'm delighted she's taking action her against that lowlife.

Kyrgios' behavior in that final was a absolute disgrace, and nobody pulled him up on it. Not the officials and not the commentators.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119515465#Comment_119515465

I largely agree about Kyrgios, but if the woman was causing a scene then she deserved to be ejected. Either way she was let back in once she copped on a bit.

I'd say its a welcome distraction for Kyrgios, as he'll be in court on much more serious charges in October

https://twitter.com/FirstpostSports/status/1561936468498874368?t=U4Gt6gkE2185BAyifMPS4Q&s=19