2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

31-03-2022 11:38pm

With Medved and Zverev gone surely Alcaraz has a good chance of taking a 1000 title

Facing an in-form Serb next, who is playing good tennis - no, the other guy!

01-04-2022 1:09am

Kecmanovic takes a close tie-breaker to lead

He's no mug

Alcaraz was 5-4 up with a mini-break, missed a backhand winner effort and Kecmanovic took the next 2 points.

Alcaraz 3-0 up in the second though

01-04-2022 8:18am

Really good quality match.

Went to the absolute wire in the final-set breaker

Reverse situation of the first set

kecmanovic had the mini break with only a couple of points from victory but Alcaraz turned it around brilliantly under pressure

He hit 52 winners in a 3 set match which is mental

A fair few UE's too but positive ratio of winners to errors in his so attacking style.

The confident all-court game on display again

Credit to kecmanovic

He was hitting forehands actually harder than Alcaraz

Not surprising that he got his revenge on Fritz this week

If he keeps playing like that he can be top 20 this year

01-04-2022 4:42pm

Human highlight reel indeed

https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1509689114215526408

poppy37 · 01-04-2022 5:41pm

Sky Sports have won the rights to the US Open from 2023. I like Amazon’s coverage, you can watch whatever match you choose and no ad’s!! The rights for the ATP and WTA tours are up for grabs from beginning of 2024.

01-04-2022 6:53pm

Sky Sports - hard to be enthusiastic about that tbh

02-04-2022 2:12pm

Alcaraz played a smart game against the big-serving Hurk and did it in 2 breakers.

Not a patch on the Kecmanovic match in terms of excitement but did the job.

A very different game where Alcaraz really had to concentrate on holding his serve because Hurkacz was always going to be pounding down a load of first-serve rockets.

Serious maturity from an 18 year old in how he played it as had to really alter his game-style from the match the day before.

I find Ruud a very boring player to watch whenever I turn on a match of his.

That Argie guy was a relative walkover for him in the semi.

Hopefully the final will be a decent match - both will be very motivated.

I'd be up for an Osaka win today - after her recent cry-baby antics here she is in the final.

Maybe she will realise that playing better keeps the hecklers off her back and that might stick.

The WTA could do with some sort of a notion of a rivalry to generate some interest after what has been a very long period of lacklustre fare on that tour so a win over Swiatek for Osaka would be better imo

yerwanthere123 · 02-04-2022 3:25pm

I for one will be rooting for Swiatek, think it'd be a good way of stamping her authority on the #1 ranking. Wouldn't be the best look if she ascends to #1 at a tournament where she lost the final to someone who's basically played part-time for the last year. Now I know Osaka is no ordinary part-timer, but still.

I also think an Osaka win doesn't really add much to her narrative, if that makes sense. We know she's probably the best hard court player in the world when she's motivated, is she willing to actually enhance her game and make an effort on clay/grass? Time will tell I guess.

Didn't see all of the men's SF last night but I enjoyed what I did see. I feel they were pretty evenly matched for a lot of the encounter, but Hurkacz played the big points/second tiebreaker horribly.

Girly Gal · 02-04-2022 5:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118870516#Comment_118870516

I agree that a Swiatek win would be better for the same reasons. As you say it wouldn't look great if Osaka beat the incoming No.1 player.

redlad12 · 02-04-2022 5:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854668#Comment_118854668

His serve is muck , he hasnt shown enough to worry the top guys now. I agree he will be world number 1 but theyll be gone at that stage. In no way will he he no1 within 2 years.

Floppybits · 02-04-2022 6:15pm

Nice start to this final. Competitive first game.

Floppybits · 02-04-2022 6:19pm

Onto the 6th Deuce now and it's only the first game.

yerwanthere123 · 02-04-2022 7:23pm

Osaka getting taken apart in this set 😶

02-04-2022 7:25pm

Lol

He won more points on serve than Hurkacz last night who is one of the biggest servers on tour and neither of them dropped a service game

Alcaraz finished with a higher serve rating for the match than Hurkacz

His serve has come on a huge amount in the last 4 months

His second serve is particularly good

He's never going to have the biggest first serve as he's not a beanpole

Nadal has done ok with a famously not so great serve over his career

Doesn't he have the most number of slams or something!?

yerwanthere123 · 02-04-2022 7:30pm

Competitive first set, demolition job in the second. Swiatek the fourth female player to win the Sunshine Double, joins a list of Graf, Clijsters and Azarenka. Only a handful of ATP players have done it too.

02-04-2022 7:33pm

So much for a good match there

A bit cringe seeing a bagel in a masters 1000 final

redlad12 · 02-04-2022 7:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871379#Comment_118871379

I just think its very shaky.also hurkacz is an awful returner . I just dont agree with your 2 year timeline, i see it being double that.

Floppybits · 02-04-2022 8:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871401#Comment_118871401

And the youngest to do it as well. It was shaping up to be a good game in the first set. Osaka is now paying for those breaks she took from the game.

02-04-2022 8:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871449#Comment_118871449

Alcaraz can get broken but he also breaks but he showed last night how much his serve has come on in such a short time

The way that he already plays the big points is hugely impressive

I think that he has a decent chance of getting to number 1 before he's 21 in May 2024

He's progressing so fast and barring injury it's not that much of a stretch imo

The trajectory has been inexorable so far

poppy37 · 02-04-2022 9:11pm

Iga deservedly World No. 1 now, super performance from her despite her first serve going awol for a lot of it. Nice to see the respect between the two of them.

redlad12 · 02-04-2022 10:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871844#Comment_118871844

Yeah maybe you are right , either way he must be a huge source of relief for the ATP. Outside the big 3 its shocking out there. Medvedev ain't gonna be drawing big crowds. Zverev and Tstitipas massive chokers and not good enough. Christ looking at the rankings , Ruud 8 and Norrie 12 is a massive indictment of the state its going to be in.

Itssoeasy · 02-04-2022 10:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871401#Comment_118871401

Not bad company to be in.

02-04-2022 11:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118872340#Comment_118872340

except it was a little harder to do that when Graf and Clijsters did it.

Djokovic leads the way on 4

02-04-2022 11:46pm

Medvedev out for a bit

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/60966957

yerwanthere123 · 03-04-2022 12:28am

Swiatek does the Sunshine Double, emphatically beats the best hard court player in the world with a bagel in the final, yet she's still criticised and it somehow had to still come back to Djokovic 😂

03-04-2022 12:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118872592#Comment_118872592

well he does have 4 Sunshine Doubles which is the ACTUAL subject in question - nobody else does so it's kind of the record and he did it in the era of the best 3 players of all-time

Swiatek has 1 on a long-time weak tour - the bagel shows that.

A bagel in a final of a top-tier tournament (just below GS level) where injury is not the cause shows that there are serious issues

Just another bullet point to go with the case of the "plucky teenagers" who have barely been able to hit a ball out of their way since the US Open Final over 6 months ago!

Or the 4 French open semi finalists that were about as renowned as those same unknown teen-agers!

Can anyone honestly say that Graf and Clijsters didn't have at least some consistent non-flake players to triumph over when they did it - eh no.

dominatinMC · 03-04-2022 12:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118871844#Comment_118871844

I can see him getting to No.1 well before then, possibly next year.

03-04-2022 1:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118873709#Comment_118873709

I think the end of next year is possible also but erring on the side of a little caution

I said that it's possible that he could break the record for youngest ATP No.1 which would roughly be the end of 2023 so the ATP Finals 2023

Girly Gal · 03-04-2022 2:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118872324#Comment_118872324

Men's tennis is at it's lowest ebb in a long time, Djokovic not able to participate over Covid restrictions, but, will probably dominate when he returns Nadal past his prime, but, still too good for the next gen "stars" after a long layoff. Medvedev doesn't compare to previous No. 1 players, couldn't even hold onto it with Djokovic not even playing. Zverev and Tsitsipas crumble at the first sign of trouble. A lot of hard grafters and journeyman in the top 10/20 now, not many to get excited about. Alcaraz is a breath of fresh air, but, need a few more to emerge to make it interesting.

03-04-2022 3:45pm

Agassi was winning a slam at 33 nearly 20 years ago. Its no surprise whatsoever that 2 of the best ever players can win them at 34 and 35 with the massive advances in training, sports science, sports surgery and nutrition since then.

It's a fallacy that there is some divine right for younger players to win slams.

On the ATP It usually takes the next generational talent like Alcaraz to come along and impose themselves.

That has been the cycle for 50 years on the ATP.

2022 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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