Grand Slam Tennis ( updated )

[JudyJudyJudy]

1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

Norrie going from playing that massive lunk, Isner, to playing Alcaraz really is going from the ridiculous to the sublime. That could be worth watching tomorrow. 

Yes Alcaraz is an exciting player to watch and he's going places.  Should be a great match. 

[I P Knightley]

6 hours ago, JamesM48 said:

Yes Alcaraz is an exciting player to watch and he's going places.  Should be a great match. 

Djoko v Murray at noon; Norrie v Alcaraz at 8pm. I think they are local times. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

9 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Djoko v Murray at noon; Norrie v Alcaraz at 8pm. I think they are local times. 

Yep ! I’ll be able to catch some of Andy / Novak match . Be is good test for both players today , I think . 

[Homme]

Murray has withdrawn. Shame.

 

Can see a few upsets today. Evans and Lajovic looking most likely. 

 

How Alexandrova is underdog v Jabeur I have no idea. 

 

Teichmann underdog also and she has a great chance v Pegula.

[JudyJudyJudy]

41 minutes ago, Homme said:

Murray has withdrawn. Shame.

 

Can see a few upsets today. Evans and Lajovic looking most likely. 

 

How Alexandrova is underdog v Jabeur I have no idea. 

 

Teichmann underdog also and she has a great chance v Pegula.

Oh no I was looking forward to seeing Some of Murray v Nole ! Evans v Rublev looks good and Nadal v Goffin could be interesting .
 

 The womens draw has had loads of upsets of seeds , Jabeur looking good 

[Nookie Bear]

1 hour ago, JamesM48 said:

Oh no I was looking forward to seeing Some of Murray v Nole ! Evans v Rublev looks good and Nadal v Goffin could be interesting .
 

 The womens draw has had loads of upsets of seeds , Jabeur looking good 

 

Evans v Rublev is simmering nicely.

 

Weird thing to say but hoping Murray is "just" ill rather than injured.

[JudyJudyJudy]

3 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

 

Evans v Rublev is simmering nicely.

 

Weird thing to say but hoping Murray is "just" ill rather than injured.

He has the shits apparently , food poisoning 

[I P Knightley]

Alcaraz just beat Nadal in a three set beezer of a match. Djokovic up next. Only thing potentially standing in the way of it being another cracker is that Alcaraz went over on his ankle quiet badly - I'd expect it to swell up a bit.

 

Annabel is gushing, as is Daniela Hantuchova; you'll be able to watch it on Prime catch up.

 

I'm still not a fan of Catherine Whitaker as a presenter but fair play to her for wearing pink with spots. Noel Edmonds is probably raking in royalties.

[PortyJambo]

4 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Alcaraz just beat Nadal in a three set beezer of a match. Djokovic up next. Only thing potentially standing in the way of it being another cracker is that Alcaraz went over on his ankle quiet badly - I'd expect it to swell up a bit.

 

Annabel is gushing, as is Daniela Hantuchova; you'll be able to watch it on Prime catch up.

 

I'm still not a fan of Catherine Whitaker as a presenter but fair play to her for wearing pink with spots. Noel Edmonds is probably raking in royalties.

[PortyJambo]

I managed to get 7/1 odds for Alcaraz winning the French, could have got bigger odds earlier but when Nadal was out injured (seeing as I don't think he'll be back to 100% for it) I thought it was as good a time as any to put money on it. He was 3/1 the last time I looked at the odds, so glad I took the punt when I did, and still fairly hopeful.

Edited May 6, 2022 by PortyJambo

[I P Knightley]

On 06/05/2022 at 22:15, PortyJambo said:

I managed to get 7/1 odds for Alcaraz winning the French, could have got bigger odds earlier but when Nadal was out injured (seeing as I don't think he'll be back to 100% for it) I thought it was as good a time as any to put money on it. He was 3/1 the last time I looked at the odds, so glad I took the punt when I did, and still fairly hopeful.

He's got all the tools and is playing phenomenal tennis. Zverev never stood a chance today. Whether Carlito goes all the way in the French will be exciting to follow. I reckon it's only Nadal or Djoko who can stop him and that's if Djokovic manages to get a bit more match ready. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

10 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

He's got all the tools and is playing phenomenal tennis. Zverev never stood a chance today. Whether Carlito goes all the way in the French will be exciting to follow. I reckon it's only Nadal or Djoko who can stop him and that's if Djokovic manages to get a bit more match ready. 

Superb run by him but needs to be remembered that it was only 3 sets.  However he has all the tools to be a GS champ. Impressive and exciting times . 

[I P Knightley]

Men's doubles in Rome from yesterday:

 

Schwartzman just playing out the tie-break in what's been an excellent final set in the singles. He's a tenacious wee bugger.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Radacanu v Andrescu is on now . Should be a tight game. Two former us open champions 

[PortyJambo]

Radacanu retires hurts with a back injury when a set and a break down. She wasn't playing well, and didn't seem to be moving to her usual standard.

[I P Knightley]

16 minutes ago, PortyJambo said:

Radacanu retires hurts with a back injury when a set and a break down. She wasn't playing well, and didn't seem to be moving to her usual standard.

I tuned out after the second game, thinking I'd do a spot of work and tuned back in thinking I'd see the last handful of games.

 

She seemed fine (but a bit tetchy) in the first game; failing to hit the lines as well as she did in New York but serving pretty well - 3 aces, I think, and a couple of unreturnables.

 

I think I'll go to this tournament next year. I love Rome and the venue looks pretty relaxed (in that it looks like I could wander easily onto the Prime Video set and meet Daniela Hantuchova...)

 

Djokovic played extremely well this afternoon; some fantastic sliding to reach shots that no other player would reach.

Edited May 10, 2022 by I P Knightley

[JudyJudyJudy]

6 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

I tuned out after the second game, thinking I'd do a spot of work and tuned back in thinking I'd see the last handful of games.

 

She seemed fine (but a bit tetchy) in the first game; failing to hit the lines as well as she did in New York but serving pretty well - 3 aces, I think, and a couple of unreturnables.

 

I think I'll go to this tournament next year. I love Rome and the venue looks pretty relaxed (in that it looks like I could wander easily onto the Prime Video set and meet Daniela Hantuchova...)

 

Djokovic played extremely well this afternoon; some fantastic sliding to reach shots that no other player would reach.

Ive been to Roma many a time. Its probably my favourite city. 

 

As for todays tennis shes out again due to an alleged injury.  

[JudyJudyJudy]

Davidovich Fokina v Auger Alliassime has been an outstanding match . Real power play . Exceptional 

[JudyJudyJudy]

 

King of clay?  Aye right 

Shapo played brilliantly at times., the Nadal suckers in the media almost in tears,

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

The king is back 

 

 

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

15 hours ago, jonesy said:

Happy days. After his disgraceful treatment from the Prison Colony's 'government', it's no wonder it has taken a while for him to hit his stride. 

 

Hope he takes RG and Wimbledon, partly to overtake Nadal and partly to shove it up the farters of all those who were mocking his arbitrary and illegal detention down under.

 

Novax, no problem  

Yep.  Nice to see the good guy finally winning. Literally . Strong contender to win RG and Wimbledon as you say.  Cant wait to watch them, Happy days . 

[I P Knightley]

It was a good final. First set, Djoko was almost faultless and Tsitsipas was struggling to get his act together. Started to look like a steamrollering but, between sets, Tsitsipas must have mentally smashed a few teacups in the dressing room and came out a new player while Djoko's form dropped a little. All helped by the crowd who wanted value for their money and got firmly behind Tsitsipas which, surprisingly, seemed to rile Djoko a little bit.

 

Prime showed up the stats for all-time career wins, reflecting on the fact that Djoko reached 1,000 in the SF. I'd forgotten how far behind Federer he and Nadal are; Federer's on 1,250 or so, even though he's level on the number of slams and quite a bit behind on the number of Masters titles. Djoko has a 70% win percentage in the big tournaments while Federer's is "only" 60%. There must have been a long period when Federer was playing something like 45 weeks a year!

[PortyJambo]

29 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

It was a good final. First set, Djoko was almost faultless and Tsitsipas was struggling to get his act together. Started to look like a steamrollering but, between sets, Tsitsipas must have mentally smashed a few teacups in the dressing room and came out a new player while Djoko's form dropped a little. All helped by the crowd who wanted value for their money and got firmly behind Tsitsipas which, surprisingly, seemed to rile Djoko a little bit.

 

Prime showed up the stats for all-time career wins, reflecting on the fact that Djoko reached 1,000 in the SF. I'd forgotten how far behind Federer he and Nadal are; Federer's on 1,250 or so, even though he's level on the number of slams and quite a bit behind on the number of Masters titles. Djoko has a 70% win percentage in the big tournaments while Federer's is "only" 60%. There must have been a long period when Federer was playing something like 45 weeks a year!

I was a little surprised to see both Connors and Lendl on that list of players with over 1,000 wins (think Connors was top), when both are a long way behind Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in the number of Slams won. They must have played some amount of tournaments.

[I P Knightley]

1 hour ago, PortyJambo said:

I was a little surprised to see both Connors and Lendl on that list of players with over 1,000 wins (think Connors was top), when both are a long way behind Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in the number of Slams won. They must have played some amount of tournaments.

Connors was a cheque-chaser. He scheduled his tournaments based on (a) how easily he could get to them and (b ) how much was in the prize pot. One of the reasons that McEnroe hated him was that he wouldn't play Davis Cup if there was a paying tournament he could get to.

Obviously, his stats are helped by the fact that he was one of the best players around at the time and kept himself in good shape when others, like Borg and Gerulaitas were enjoying a life of groupies and coke. Also helped by the fact that he played on, I think, until he was 42. I doubt his record can be broken.

 

I think (but am not sure) that Lendl's ethos was similar.

 

In other news, Laura Robson has announced her retirement from tennis. I'm sure if you searched the annals of JKB, you would find that I announced Laura Robson's retirement from tennis about 7 years ago! I was surprised to learn in the press release that she's had 3 hip operations on top of all the stuff that went on with her wrist. Shame. She was quite a talent.

[ri Alban]

The GOAT .

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

47 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

The GOAT .

 

You off your tag now? 

[ri Alban]

2 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

You off your tag now? 

Funny you should say that James. I came home fae work there and my Mrs told me the Guys working on the 5g installation outside my Hoose had cut the pavement and dug up the tarmac right next to her new motor. Covered, so I went outside and I was close to get jailed. But I calmed myself Doon after I spoke to the foreman. Sorry but the Romanians doing the work don't give a feck the whole streets cars are all covered. Not one leaflet or a Chao on the door to ask us to move it. Rant over, but I'm raging. 

 

 

Anyway, Nadal is the greatest

[JudyJudyJudy]

43 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Funny you should say that James. I came home fae work there and my Mrs told me the Guys working on the 5g installation outside my Hoose had cut the pavement and dug up the tarmac right next to her new motor. Covered, so I went outside and I was close to get jailed. But I calmed myself Doon after I spoke to the foreman. Sorry but the Romanians doing the work don't give a feck the whole streets cars are all covered. Not one leaflet or a Chao on the door to ask us to move it. Rant over, but I'm raging. 

 

 

Anyway, Nadal is the greatest

 

[I P Knightley]

3 hours ago, ri Alban said:

Funny you should say that James. I came home fae work there and my Mrs told me the Guys working on the 5g installation outside my Hoose had cut the pavement and dug up the tarmac right next to her new motor. Covered, so I went outside and I was close to get jailed. But I calmed myself Doon after I spoke to the foreman. Sorry but the Romanians doing the work don't give a feck the whole streets cars are all covered. Not one leaflet or a Chao on the door to ask us to move it. Rant over, but I'm raging. 

 

 

Anyway, Nadal is the greatest

Naw, he's no.

[ri Alban]

On 15/05/2022 at 19:57, jonesy said:

Happy days. After his disgraceful treatment from the Prison Colony's 'government', it's no wonder it has taken a while for him to hit his stride. 

 

Hope he takes RG and Wimbledon, partly to overtake Nadal and partly to shove it up the farters of all those who were mocking his arbitrary and illegal detention down under.

 

Novax, no problem  

Jonesy is officially broken.  

 

 

The only disgrace is Novax ' I'm pals with mass murderers' Djokovic

[ri Alban]

7 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Naw, he's no.

 

 

 

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

4 hours ago, ri Alban said:

 

 

 

 

 

Ranking Reaction: Novak Djokovic kicks off milestone 370th career week at No. 1 (tennis.com)

[I P Knightley]

5 hours ago, ri Alban said:

 

 

 

 

 

love it!

 

Trying to decide who is GOAT comes down to a matter of taste as there are stats you can draw on to support each of them.

* Federer - highest number of tour match wins but he wore that jacket at Wimbledon

* Rafa - highest number of GS wins (by a baw hair) but he picks his arse and smells it

* Djoko - highest winning percentage in GS and 1000s matches; highest number of 1000s & longest at #1 but he's been an arse about his vaccine status.

 

The great thing is that there isn't one of them that stands out and I've been able to watch the whole rivalry unfold.

[I P Knightley]

1 hour ago, JamesM48 said:

Ranking Reaction: Novak Djokovic kicks off milestone 370th career week at No. 1 (tennis.com)

He's closing in on Steffi Graf's record (377). With Medvedev banned from Queen's and Wimbledon and the ATP confirming that they will be ranking tournaments, it's like to depend on the French as to whether Djoko makes it this summer. With Djoko defending maximum points at the two slams, he'll have to come up tops to stay at #1 unless Medvedev has a stinker. Just back from hernia surgery so he may struggle.

[JudyJudyJudy]

4 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

He's closing in on Steffi Graf's record (377). With Medvedev banned from Queen's and Wimbledon and the ATP confirming that they will be ranking tournaments, it's like to depend on the French as to whether Djoko makes it this summer. With Djoko defending maximum points at the two slams, he'll have to come up tops to stay at #1 unless Medvedev has a stinker. Just back from hernia surgery so he may struggle.

Yes i noted this.  Be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so. Mens tennis is exceptional just now i feel. Whereas the womens game has gone to pot I feel.  There seems to be no real consistency with many of the top players apart from Swiatek. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

16 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

love it!

 

Trying to decide who is GOAT comes down to a matter of taste as there are stats you can draw on to support each of them.

* Federer - highest number of tour match wins but he wore that jacket at Wimbledon

* Rafa - highest number of GS wins (by a baw hair) but he picks his arse and smells it

* Djoko - highest winning percentage in GS and 1000s matches; highest number of 1000s & longest at #1 but he's been an arse about his vaccine status.

 

The great thing is that there isn't one of them that stands out and I've been able to watch the whole rivalry unfold.

I have no doubt Novak will pass Nadals 21 GS titles. Probably this year if he is able to play the US open. I think that Nadal is a busted flush now. Hes been beaten twice lately. Ok two exceptional players but its a pattern now. 

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

9 minutes ago, jonesy said:

 

Nice to have you back, ri. Sad to see there's still a lot of hate in your soul. Try love  

" do not let hate get into your heart ,   it will find a home there "   

[JudyJudyJudy]

34 minutes ago, jonesy said:

My wife tells me I don't have a heart, so I'm safe there.  

" everyone has a heart , apart from some people " 

 

 

[ri Alban]

2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

love it!

 

Trying to decide who is GOAT comes down to a matter of taste as there are stats you can draw on to support each of them.

* Federer - highest number of tour match wins but he wore that jacket at Wimbledon

* Rafa - highest number of GS wins (by a baw hair) but he picks his arse and smells it

* Djoko - highest winning percentage in GS and 1000s matches; highest number of 1000s & longest at #1 but he's been an arse about his vaccine status.

 

The great thing is that there isn't one of them that stands out and I've been able to watch the whole rivalry unfold.

👍

 

Pete and Bjorn were rather good anaw.

[ri Alban]

1 hour ago, jonesy said:

 

Nice to have you back, ri. Sad to see there's still a lot of hate in your soul. Try love  

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

22 hours ago, ri Alban said:

 

Legendary film really . 

[JudyJudyJudy]

14 minutes ago, jonesy said:

I don't get the need to compare these guys against each other.

 

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all had careers that 99.9% of tour pros can only dream of, pushing each other to new standards of excellence.

 

They undoubtedly have differing strengths, but when push comes to shove, all appear to be fantastic players and gentlemen.

There can only be one Jonesy 

 

 

 

[I P Knightley]

15 minutes ago, jonesy said:

I don't get the need to compare these guys against each other.

 

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all had careers that 99.9% of tour pros can only dream of, pushing each other to new standards of excellence.

 

They undoubtedly have differing strengths, but when push comes to shove, all appear to be fantastic players and gentlemen.

Fully agreed. And then I see lots of tweets from full on fan boys (like that one for Djoko). It's stalker behaviour. Those guys will inevitably decline and retire and then you'd have to switch your allegiance to another player. How can you do that? It's so different to supporting a football club through thick or thin or even a musician - as the music lives on - but these guys with Federer tattoos (or Lewis Hamilton in F1)... are they really going to be showing them off in 30 years time when those guys are tucked up under their tartan rugs waiting for the checkout guys in Switzerland are waiting to do their thing?

[JudyJudyJudy]

20 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

Fully agreed. And then I see lots of tweets from full on fan boys (like that one for Djoko). It's stalker behaviour. Those guys will inevitably decline and retire and then you'd have to switch your allegiance to another player. How can you do that? It's so different to supporting a football club through thick or thin or even a musician - as the music lives on - but these guys with Federer tattoos (or Lewis Hamilton in F1)... are they really going to be showing them off in 30 years time when those guys are tucked up under their tartan rugs waiting for the checkout guys in Switzerland are waiting to do their thing?

Nothing wrong with supporting a certain tennis player surely ? I tend to support a player who’s playing style I admire and secondly their personality / values / integrity etc . Hence switching alliegence from Nadal to Djokovic 😂  I also am excited about Alcaraz as I enjoy his style of game and also Shapavolv too .

[JudyJudyJudy]

Unsure regarding the womens game as I feel it’s taken a real down ward spiral . What has happened to Halep ? Serena needs to come back and win that Elusive 24th . The state of the womens game she probably could . There seems to be hardly any personalities in it too . I actually started off watchin tennis by watchin the womens game . Still

enjoy it but it needs a lift 

[JudyJudyJudy]

9 minutes ago, jonesy said:

Shapovalov is definitely one to keep an eye on...🥺

Yes he’s improving every tournament  I like how he is channeling McEnroe too 😂

[I P Knightley]

56 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

Nothing wrong with supporting a certain tennis player surely ? I tend to support a player who’s playing style I admire and secondly their personality / values / integrity etc . Hence switching alliegence from Nadal to Djokovic 😂  I also am excited about Alcaraz as I enjoy his style of game and also Shapavolv too .

What I mean is that you and I can flip and flop between 'favourite' players but neither of us feel so strongly about it that we'd get into a fight about it or get a tattoo of one of them on our arse cheek (speaking for myself now). Different to supporting a football club or a national team when the personnel change from season to season and match to match.

 

In short - some tennis fans are feckin' nut-jobs.

 

46 minutes ago, jonesy said:

Shapovalov is definitely one to keep an eye on...🥺

Left eye or right eye?

[ri Alban]

On 17/05/2022 at 12:40, jonesy said:

Well, I guess tin makes a welcome change from all the straw man arguments on the political threads  

I've plenty arguments that show unionist are full of shite when it comes to the Scottish economy. But I'll keep it for the Indy thread when it gets underway. 

 

Who's favourite to lift the french? Rafa may be carrying an injury. I like the look of that new lad, Alcaraz? he'll be taking over rather soon. 

[redjambo]

Just to add my oar in, I don't particularly like any of the 3 goats. I used to slightly prefer Novak but his stupidity over Covid put me right off. The quicker we can get some new blood in the better.