2023 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Murray going well in Canada,he is playing well and ekking out wins .Big surprise with Rune,Rublev ,Zverev and Tsitsipas all getting knocked out yesterday.As I was saying above there is a real levelling up( or down) of standard now and most matches potentially can have an upset.

Except for Alcaraz. Alcaraz could get a few major wins in before someone comes along to really challenge him. Reminds of the early years of Federer were he is was dominant and then Rafa came along and for awhile it was just the 2 of them and then Djokovic came along and we got some great matches.

That was a cracking final last night between Djokovic and Alcaraz. 5 games into the match and Alcaraz had hit 12 winners and Djokovic hadn't hit one. I thought it was going to be over in 2 sets with the way Djokovic was playing especially towards the end of the First set and mid way through the second but then again we have seen this many times before from Djokovic. Alcaraz was like rocky he just wouldn't stay down. Unreal stuff.

Any chance someone would know what the tablets were that they gave Djokovic midway through the second set? Asking for a friend.😀 It reminded of a match in the US Open a few years ago where Del Potro was suffering similar to Djokovic and was 2 sets down and the medics came out checked on him gave him some tablets and Del Potro won the match in a 5 setter.

Sucks we're losing US Open Coverage on Prime. So easy to access and get free thru 1 month trial, ugh.

Now we're stuck with Sky. Or on Sports membership on NowTv for 15 euros for 1 month on a voucher. Cheapest and probably only option I can find. Not even sure if they show replay on demand for those late night early morning matches.

9 now (Australia) with a VPN show free coverage

Watched the end of the GB Davis cup tie with France....no idea how they managed to win that final key rubber (saved 4 match points). Dan Evans was terrific (in his own match he was down a set and a break) but dead on his feet in doubles, but dragged them through to the finals along with Skupski, if they really want a chance at winning they have to drop Norrie on current form...brutal.

And Alcaraz out early again in straight sets in Paris. Is he injured? He's had a long time to rest since Shanghai.

Meanwhile at the more interesting side of the race for Turin, Hurkacz has a 200 point gap to try and make up to take 8th place from Rune. It's between him and Rune, I can't see Ruud getting the extra 500 points he needs to take the spot.

Nadal usually gives up for the rest of the season after Flushing Meadows and he's done alright for himself, I wouldn't read too much into it just yet.

Nice to see Jack Draper hitting some form, won a challenger and now into a semi final in Sofia and up to world number 65, he had been outside top 100 until recently. No reason why he shouldn't be pushing top 20 soon enough if he can stay fit!

True, but 1 injury could change everything. Doesn't matter how flexible or fit he is, any significant injury at his age would be very hard to come back from. It was injuries that did for both Federer and Nadal in the end, more than diminishing competitiveness.

Alcarez form since Wimbledon has been really poor. Novak must be really kicking himself over that one. Unless Carlos turns it around, it's hard to see past a clean sweep for novak next year. I do hope Sinner wins, might give him some confidence that he seems to sorely lack.

One way traffic. Again, the big points and the big moments and Sinner just wasn't good enough. Story of his career so far.

Ones masters 1000 title and one semi-final appearance at a grand slam. It's a poor return for someone of his talent at this stage of his career.

The field is the worst I've ever seen. Dunno if it's ability, but the young players have no steel mentally. They'll be ahead in a game, and completely collapse. Djokovic doesn't even have to play better when losing or force the game, they'll just completely collapse on their own accord. Never seen anything like it!