Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XVI

[kihei]

Mixed in with some fine play, it looked like two tired players out there, with Carlos definitely looking the more fatigued. First time that I have seen him where he couldn't just will himself out of it. Should be a huge confidence builder for Sinner in the long term, while in the short term he is going to have to face another huge challenge tomorrow.

 

[Incubajerks]

Match of the year.

 

[kihei]

Match of the year.

Easy there, grasshopper. Not even close. Last night would not even be top ten material for me. Here are matches in 2023 that easily top last night in terms of "match of the year" calibre. In order:

Murray over Kokkinakis, Australian Open, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5
Wu over Isner, Dallas, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 (14-12)
Murray over Berrettini, Australlian Open, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6 (10-6)
Felix over Paul, Indian Wells, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
Rybakina over Sabalenka, Indian Wells, 7-6, 6-4
Paul ove Fritz, Acapulco, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 (7-2)
Sabalenka over Rybakina, Australian Open, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Jarry over Etcheverry, Chile, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
Murray over Lehecka, Qatar, 6-love, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
Mannarino over Shelton, Miami, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1

In the match last night, Carlos was clearly struggling in the third set. His service game was off all night, sometimes way, way off. Sinner was definitely the better player but the two of them combined for 48 winners and 86 errors. That may add up to some exciting moments but not "match of the year" quality.

 

[Filppula]

Go on.



Your own version of the commentator's curse, perhaps.

I’ll take it! Sinner was so good!! Huge, consistent hitting of both wings. His ROS might be the most underrated shot in tennis right now, it gave Carlos fits.

And yes that point at 4-2 was insane!!

Easy there, grasshopper. Not even close. Last night would not even be top ten material for me. Here are matches in 2023 that easily top last night in terms of "match of the year" calibre. In order:

Murray over Kokkinakis, Australian Open, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5
Wu over Isner, Dallas, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 (14-12)
Murray over Berrettini, Australlian Open, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6 (10-6)
Felix over Paul, Indian Wells, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
Rybakina over Sabalenka, Indian Wells, 7-6, 6-4
Paul ove Fritz, Acapulco, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 (7-2)
Sabalenka over Rybakina, Australian Open, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Jarry over Etcheverry, Chile, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
Murray over Lehecka, Qatar, 6-love, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
Mannarino over Shelton, Miami, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1

In the match last night, Carlos was clearly struggling in the third set. His service game was off all night, sometimes way, way off. Sinner was definitely the better player but the two of them combined for 48 winners and 86 errors. That may add up to some exciting moments but not "match of the year" quality.

I think you forgot the best one, Djokovic def Korda in Adelaide. The quality was ridiculous!

 

[kihei]

I think you forgot the best one, Djokovic def Korda in Adelaide. The quality was ridiculous!

Missed it. I'll check out a replay.

 

[kihei]

In Miami, Medvedev wins another hard court championship and cements his place as one of the great front runners in history (25 and 0 this year after winning the first set) with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Sinner. Jannick got the first break of the match but couldn't consolidate and, regardless of an unexpected break early in the second set, it was pretty much all down hill from there. Sinner looked clearly more and more fatigued as the match progressed and Daniil was his usual relentless self, dominating long points with ease.

 

[Ben Grimm]

McEnroe provides the theatrics, but Agassi, Roddick win $1 million at Pickleball Slam

John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Steffi Graf shined during ESPN's Pickleball Slam on Sunday.

www.usatoday.com

This was the most important tourney of the year to @kihei

 

[otown]

McEnroe provides the theatrics, but Agassi, Roddick win $1 million at Pickleball Slam

John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Steffi Graf shined during ESPN's Pickleball Slam on Sunday.

www.usatoday.com

This was the most important tourney of the year to @kihei

Have to admit it was entertaining to see the legends return and bring some personality that tennis fans loved from days gone by.
Can't say I would enjoy watching pickleball otherwise. Definitely a one-off!

 

[MsMeow]

Felix, Rafa and Carlos all pulled out of Monte Carlo.

 

[kihei]

Missed it. I'll check out a replay.

The quality was insane, especially Djokovic. Great demonstration of how many ways his backhand can kill an opponent--if the precision, consistency, variety, and depth don't get you, the angles on short balls will. But I didn't find the match had as many thrills and chills as, say, my top four matches. I'd slot it in at the five spot.

McEnroe provides the theatrics, but Agassi, Roddick win $1 million at Pickleball Slam

John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Steffi Graf shined during ESPN's Pickleball Slam on Sunday.

www.usatoday.com

This was the most important tourney of the year to @kihei

I don't relish pickleball.

 

[kihei]

Felix, Rafa and Carlos all pulled out of Monte Carlo.

Worries for both Rafa, who is obviously well behind schedule in his recovery, and Carlos, as "post-traumatic arthritis in the left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine" does not sound like typical garden-variety ailments.

 

[otown]

Felix, Rafa and Carlos all pulled out of Monte Carlo.

Add Felix to the list. This is a great tournament so they must really be hurting to miss this one!

 

[kihei]

Monte Carlo has been a crazy tournament for awhile. Very slow courts, windy conditions, impossible transition from super-fast Miami. Djokovic hasn't got passed the quarterfinals since 2015. Medvedev would like to skip the tournament. Tsitsipas has a shoulder problem that he is trying to play through. Nadal and Felix are not playing. I'm expecting the unexpected (like Fritz in a 1000 clay court final).

Sinner over Djokovic
Zverev over Norrie

Ruud over Rublev
Fritz over Tsitsipas

Sinner over Zverev
Fritz over Ruud

Sinner over Fritz

 

[kihei]

What a show Musetti put on against Kecmanovic in Monte Carlo, winning 7-6, 6-love, and being completelly in the zone for the entire tiebreaker and second set, losing only a total of six points in all during that period which includes two double faults.

No question when Musetti is on, he is among the most charismatic and most fun players to watch: Top Ten lateral movement and backhand, Top Five hands. But today he surpassed himself.

 

[Filppula]

What a show Musetti put on against Kecmanovic in Monte Carlo, winning 7-6, 6-love, and being completelly in the zone for the entire tiebreaker and second set, losing only a total of six points in all during that period which includes two double faults.

No question when Musetti is on, he is among the most charismatic and most fun players to watch: Top Ten lateral movement and backhand, Top Five hands. But today he surpassed himself.

I agree, I expected big things from him after he went up 2-0 on Djokovic at the French a few years ago. But he hasn’t come on. He’s been dismal so far this year prior to this tournament. He won 6-0, 6-0 yesterday so he’s on quite the streak! It’ll be a huge test for Djokovic as he was real rusty in R2, his first set was pretty bad. Tightened things up in the second set but still his W/UE ratio was ugly. I give Musetti every chance to win.

Medvedev looked surprisingly good yesterday against a disappointing Sonego.

Good wins for Zverev and Lehecka too.

 

[Ben Grimm]

WTA ends Peng Shuai boycott without resolution, will resume playing in China

The WTA boycotted China in late 2021 after Peng accused a high-ranking Chinese government official of sexual assault.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[kihei]

A red hot Musetti meets a rusty Djokovic and wins in three sets. A frequent nervous closer, Lorenzo came oh, so close to choking the match away but ultimately Nole wasn't sharp enough to take advantage. Regardless, great win for Musetti, the biggest of his young career.

 

[kihei]

In another candidate for match-of-the-year, Medvedev enhances his clay court reputation, defeating Zverev 7-6 (9-7) in the third. It was a match with many setvice breaks but few conversions. In both the second and third sets, Zverev servered for the match but ended up losing both sets with Daniil saving a couple of match pomts along the way.

It was amazing to observe how similar these guys play the game on clay.

 

[kihei]

We could actually have a Sinner/Fritz final as predicted.

 

[Filppula]

We could actually have a Sinner/Fritz final as predicted.

Looking like an insanely good call by your good self!

 

[kihei]

Rune, by far the more dynamic player, made Medvedev look like an old man. His speed, athleticism and energy messed up Medbedrv's patterns and were just way too much for a subdued Medvedev on this day.

I'm not at all surprised by Fritz's straight set win over Tsitsipas. But I am surprised how dominant Taylor was. His plus ones were putting Stephanos on the defensive all day, snd he wss absolutely dominating from the backcourt off both wings.He won the baseline exchanges by a two to one margin.
Very impressive showing.

 

[kihei]

Rublev's on-site sports psychologist is really earning her money. A hyper-aggressive Andrei served for the first set against Fritz but was broken and subsequently lost the set 7-5. Rather than exploding in anger, Rublev kept the pressure on and Taylor was a spent force after his exertions in the first set and went quietly 1 and 3 the rest of the way. Great tournament for the American, though. Meanwhile, it looks like Andrei is thinking of moving up a level.

 

[kihei]

Rune over Sinner 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. The first two sets were defined by rainy, windy conditions and a tsunami of errors from both players (combined 17/59 w/ue ratio for the two sets). The final set could have gone either way, but Rune's ability to pressure Sinner's service games, even when that pressure did not always lead directly to breaks, wore the Italian down.

I don't know, man. If I am just going by the eye test, Rune just looks the better player to me.

 

[kihei]

Love to see Andrei win tomorrow, but would put my money on Rune to take the championship. Holger has more weapons, a better backhand and can exploit Rublev's weak second serve.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Love to see Andrei win tomorrow, but would put my money on Rune to take the championship. Holger has more weapons, a better backhand and can exploit Rublev's weak second serve.

Can’t see Rune winning today, he looked cooked after the Sinner game.