Australian Open 2019 - Thread IV

What?

Context for that pic, please.

so how many games for Pouille?

French men suck in slam SF historically

the last time a French man reached a slam final?

R1, I don't remember the exact context, but I think he was at a pool and was changing or putting on his swim wear while trying to cover himself.

I think Tsonga was the last Frenchman to make a final - '07 in Melbourne.

Does anyone know where one can watch the Quad Wheelchair singles match going on now? It doesn’t appear to be on the Aussie Open site. Australian Davidson (5), a wildcard, is playing American Wagner (2). Davidson won the first set 7-6.

In the other match Aussie Alcott (1) was awarded the win after a walkover by Brit Lapthorne (3).

Thoughts about Alcott versus either Davidson or Wagner?

Stosur finally wins her home slam.

R5 not sure about watching, i'm not the biggest fan of Alcott so I am sad his opponent didn't even get to play him and he was just handed another slam. Davidson did the most with his WC but it looks like Wagner will be too strong after all.

So happy for Prehistosur and especially Zhang Shuai, one of the nicer girls on the tour. They beat so many top teams, including the #1 and #2 seeds. Very fun pair to watch, with Stosur's kick serve and Shuai being super proactive at the net. PLUS they beat Babos and evil Mladenovic, and it's always good to see the latter lose. Mary Pierce was in their box, probably because of the French connection.

The commentators said that Lisa Raymond texted Sam before the match saying "you finish this for me", referring to their choking in 2006 final against Yan/Zheng despite having several match points.

wow Djokovic and Pouille have never played before

4-0 after 15 minutes and Pouille will be having nightmares about this first set for years

The photographer who took that pic of Nadal's ass deserves the Pulitzer.

Or at least Nobel

Thas embarssing for Lucas . The gap between big 2 and rest of them is increasing and not decreaing

Pouille stops the run of 7 games in a row! Honestly Novak is tough but he definitely put in a better show against Raonic... mentally a bit flat coming out. Hopefully he can put up more of a fight in this 2nd set.

Amelie Momo looks determined .

omg! men's tennis is so compelling! You just never know who's going to win!

Pooey’s getting schooled. I feel sorry for him—he’s looking like Amélie playing in the first round of Roland Garros. He can barely move for the nerves.

Pouille is showing he's def a French man.

Wheelchair tennis is just laziness

Hahaha!! R17, you just made me laugh so loud the person at the next desk is wondering what’s wrong with me. Dan Evans is just the sort of cunt who’d say something like that.

4 games in a grand slam semifinal? I mean that would be an embarrassing total if it were only a 2 set match.

Djokovic is looking in good form (and 3 GS finals in a row is impressive) but I still think Rafa's game is sturdier at the moment.

And you DL gays tell us that WTA is bad

[quote]omg! men's tennis is so compelling! You just never know who's going to win!

True. The men's final is about 50/50.

Nadal is on a yacht in that pic. Also mens tennis is good between the top top guys but if they play other guys it's boring cause they are too good.

So sill of Rafa thinking he could hide them cakes!!

I agree with you, r21, that the men's final is 50/50. Anyone know the odds from the London bookmakers?

[quote]Also mens tennis is good between the top top guys but if they play other guys it's boring cause they are too good.

I think that's too simplistic an analysis. We've seen the newer guys able to break through at non-Slams, with Zverev winning Masters events and ATP Finals, and Khachanov winning a Masters. Plus others like Tsitsipas and Theim have beaten the top guys at Masters events.

If we look at Slams only, we've seen some new blood beating the Big 3 (Chung def. Djokovic, Tsitsipas def. Federer), we've seen some veterans recently beat Big 3 (Anderson and Del Porto over Federer, Cilic and Del Porto over Nadal), and even some great matches where the Big 3 get pushed but still win (Khachanov vs. Nadal, Del Porto vs. Nadal).

So really the only thing that hasn't happened is a new player actually *winning* a Grand Slam event. I'll throw Zverev out of the conversation for now, because he clearly has some psychological issue re: the Slams, but we've seen other newcomers (Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Medvedev) make strides over the last 9 months that have been more significant than what we've seen from that middle generation of Nishikori, Raonic, Theim, Dimitrov. So I think it's coming shortly.

It's the fact that the old guard (and this is where the 'OLD' part is very relevant) have an extra day off at the slams that they don't have in the normal tour events. They're also a LOT more battle-hardened when it comes to playing best of 5 rather than just best of 3, most of the Next Gen have only played a few slam events in their careers and aren't as accustomed to the format.

Forget match-to-match, the slams are about who has the mentality to sustain a high level for two weeks. The likes of Zverev, Coric, Khachanov and Tsitsipas can definitely roll over the big 3 when it's a sprint, but not so easy when it's a marathon.

[quote]And you DL gays tell us that WTA is bad

I think that talk has died down a bit. It was probably at its height in 2015 when you were getting a Pennetta-Vinci Slam Final. But in the last 12 months, with the breakthroughs of Osaka, Sabalenka, the comebacks of multi-slam winners Kerber and Kvitova, and the staying power of Halep and Stephens, and (of course) Serena, I think the product has improved. There are still some individuals who seem determined to disappoint (Muguruza and Keys would be the obvious two at the moment), but the randomness of the tour - as recent as 2018 Wimbledon, when all Top Ten players failed to reach the QF - looks like it may be ending.

I do think the WTA could reduce the brain-dead tennis if they got rid of the on court coaching, which seems to eliminate a player's ability to think, and at its worst is a bad visual for the tour with old men coming to the court to save the young girls. I truly think the tour is going the wrong way with the coaching rules.

It does still irritate me that a lot of the tennis media refused to admit there was ever a problem on the WTA, but are so vocal about another Nadal vs Djokovic Slam Final.

R577 (from the previous thread) I'm not Roger's biggest fan (even his game is absolutely beautiful) but he recognized a lot of times he was a spoiled brat when he started on the circuit. That's the reason he feels simpathy for players like Kyrgios or Zverev. He advised Zverev to be gracious on court because otherwise the crowd will cheer for you opponent (which doesn't help a lot).

I think Roger is not the inmaculate version of himself he shows on the press conferences and interviews but i don't think he is the arrogant fake that his haters say. He is polite because it benefits him, and yes, sometimes he shows some arrogance but he is the image of humility in comparision with other athletes that didn't won half he won.

There are third rate soccer players way more arrogant then Federer

I have to say i'm not surprised about the semis results.

It's a l ittle pathetic that two 30 something players weren't even tested, but semis was not the best moment to be tested. Rafa and Nole are in a very good form, and Tsitsipas and Poulille are newbies at that stage, so it was pretty clear that it was going to be a blood bath

Please please Rafa win, just for me... ,

Cracks sometimes do show in Roger's "I'm a great guy" armor. But I have never heard him, or even Serena, say anything like "better get used to me winning," like cunt Collins.

Seems like there won't be a big shift in mens tennis for at least another 5 years., maybe when Djokovic/Nadal are nearing 40 and Fed is past that.

R32: No, it'll be way sooner. In tennis things change overnight. One day you are the dominant player, the next you get your ass kicked.

If Rafa stays healthy, i think him and Nole will dominate the first part of the season, but i expect at least one of the young ones to step up by the second part of the season. It's not just a question of the young ones getting better it's simply that Rafa and Nole can't stay at this level the whole season.

Of course Zverev seems more worried on doing cringeworthy videos with his girlfriend than in becoming a real threat, but i think there's hope for Tsitsipas whose progression is quite obvious and he plays well in all surfaces.

The big three are legends for a reason, but it's true that the following generations failed to rise their game, and if that doesn't happen i can see Rafa and Nole (in my opinion Roger's options are way lower right now) will dominate for a while

R33 well Roger is a few years older than them so itll be harder for him to continue to remain at as high a high level as them. I'll be shocked if Fed is still playing 3 years from now.

I would kick Roger's ass!

[quote]If Rafa stays healthy, i think him and Nole will dominate the first part of the season, but i expect at least one of the young ones to step up by the second part of the season. It's not just a question of the young ones getting better it's simply that Rafa and Nole can't stay at this level the whole season.

I agree with the above, and I think it's possible that we could have a different man winning each of the Majors this year--e.g., Nole (Aussie), Rafa (French), Tsitsipas (Wimbledon), and Khachanov (U.S. Open). Or, who knows, it could be just the Nole/Rafa show, with maybe Federer sneaking in one last Wimbledon, but I'm betting that there will be the beginning of a changing of the guard this year.

I dknt think there will be a true changing of the guard till 2 years from now. The big 3 are still too determined. And if they are healthy then game over for next gen.

I suspect Rafa will have injury issues during the next two to theee years.

Team Thiem!

I'd love Thiem to win the french but he will probably have to wait a couple years till Nadal falls off a bit.

Ditto: Thiem team!

Look for Rafa to finally break through again at the AO after a decade drought. After the FO there may be talk of him going for the GS 😂

Unless Djokovic gets injured, there's no way Nadal is getting the CYGS. Nadal wouldn't be able to keep up the consistent intensity he'd need to overcome the kind of form Djokovic is in. I agree they're both playing at a scary level and it's exciting to see but Nadal has always been more up and down outside of clay.

Rafa!

It's gone from the the Big 4 to the Big 3 to the Big 2. Federer is no longer a factor in that he hasn't made any of the last four GS finals and he'll be down to #6 or lower in the latest rankings. 38 this year, he's unlikely to become a GS titlist again, with the slightly possible exception of Wimbledon.

Is it possible that Nadal and Djokovic are playing at their peak levels right now? I’ve definitely never seen Nadal better although 2015 Djokovic was scary.

[quote] Cakes Out

Boobs out

All you guys hoping for the decline of big 2/big 3 better be careful. If big 3 declines/gets injured in less than 2 years then you are not going to see Titsy, Sasha. Domi , Karen, Porna,, Tiafoe, Chung Nick Krygois as Grandslam winner.Not even Kei, Tsonga or Monfils

If the all big three decline in less than two years [or get injured] then it is more likely that you will see a Kevin Anderson, a Pablo Carreno Busta, a Alberto Ramos Vilos, A John Isner or my favorite rabbit Jack Sock as Grandslam winner At best ultimate vulture Grigor Dimitrov may win a couple of Grandslams .

If Rafa /Nole misses this year french open then also clay court prince Domi will not win it. PCB.has better chance of winning it And if Rafa/Nole/Federer miss Wimbledon then Sasaha , Karen Titsy,tiafoe is not going to win it Not even Cilic/Milos . Most probably it Isner or Anderson. . At best Grigor may win Wimbledon in that circumstance because he used to a good vulture 12 months ago.

Problem is not only a huge gap in playing level between big 3 and youngsters. Problem is the mental inability of youngsters to take advantage of any good situation. Remember US 2017. when bottom half draw fell open due to misery withdrawal? And we saw Anderson PCB semifinal. Note that at that time Sasha has already won two masters 1000 event, Nick Krgois and Grigor dmitorv were in that drawtoo Grigor had just won Ohio master 2 weeks before. Nick Krgois was a finalist. They both lost in the first round.

Domi could not defeat a completel injured Delpo after demlishing him in 2nd and thrid set and having match point in fourth

Kei Nishikori will still play 5 set win five first round and will retire against John Isner in semri final .

In that circumastace I will look like super champion and consistent to you guys

Does anyone support my theory that Xicsa is Rafa's sister's lover and beard for him. We know he's gay based on the LAST personal interview he ever did, where he said that he talks to his mother every day, but goes weeks without talking to Xicsa. He also said he doesn't see her at tournaments at all because it's too distracting. Every year, there's 1 or 2 pap shots on a boat or at the beach, that's it. Looking at google image shots from year after year, the girls are always together with matching, but different hair and makeup. One has a big ring, the other has a big necklace. Plus look at Rafa videos and sister when they were gaylings. Oh also, she kept her job at a fucking insurance company until 2016, because she "liked to do her own thing" gimme a break.

Just a normal, adorable, heterosexual.

No one wants to see Djokovic, Nadal and Federer get injured. We just want to see the younger guys beat them at slams. I'm not criticizing any of the young guns except for Zverev as the rest have improved. Tsitsipas and Tiafoe played quite well to reach the SF and QF. I think those 2 will now certainly be in the mix at the Masters tournaments so we can least look forward to the big 3's domination being isolated to the slams. Right now there's a only a big 2 of course.

I think the other young guys will be more motivated after having seen Tsitsipas and Tiafoe have great AO runs so 2019 could be better than last year.

R37: I doubt it.

Federer in my opinion is a favourite to win anymore. He is good enough to get one more GS if he feels inspired for two weeks, but right now he is clearly the weakest link and he can lose against a determined youngster or even an inspired journeyman like Millman.

Rafa at his best is simply too much for a young player, he is like playing a wall and requires a level of consistency that generally only players with experience can develop (that is valid for Nole too), but i doubt he'll stay healthy the whole year. His game and body type made him vulnerably to injuries his whole career, and this is even more obvious lately. He will be favourite on Roland Garros no matter what (even that year he lost against Nole, he was able to give him a scare even he was light years of the form Djokovic had).

Djokovic is the one to beat if he stays fit

People like Khachanov, Medvedev or above everyone Zverev have the age and the experience to challenge the big 3. But the truth is only Zverev is a top player for a while and he showed again and again that he is not remotely at his competitive best at GS. In fact he gave worrying symptoms in Australia (tanking his match against a player who was defeated against Poulille the following round) not reaching the round he was suppose to reach by ranking (and that could not be called an upset because it's what he does at every GS).

From the younger ones, right now only Tsitsipas is showing progression and consistency, and he should be more dangerous (if everything keeps going on like till now) on the final part of the season once he gets used to the pressure of being a top player.

Then there's people like Tiafoe or Shapovalov. Tiafoe performance is promising but till he shows some regularity it's difficult to know, and Shapovalov game is still half baked, he plays llike a very talented junior (and you don't win against NOle or Rafa that way). Curiously Shapovalov doesn't underperform like Zverev and he generally gets as far as he could.

So unless Zverev and company really step up, the real danger for Nole and Rafa will be people like Delpo, Wawrinka or Thiem playing at their best (and most of them have years of defeats on their back against both which is a burden when you play a big match)

[quote]If the all big three decline in less than two years [or get injured] then it is more likely that you will see a Kevin Anderson, a Pablo Carreno Busta, a Alberto Ramos Vilos, A John Isner or my favorite rabbit Jack Sock as Grandslam winner

Anderson is on the short list of players I could see possibly winning a Slam even if The Big 3 are healthy. Not a huge chance, but a chance.

If you're looking for a three-nad Spaniard, I'd go Bautista Agut over the two you mentioned.

What you haven't taken into the equation here is the level of improvement we've been seeing from the promising players. Yes, Shapavalov has stagnated, and Zverev's progress has slowed. But there are a bunch who have improved considerably over the last 6-8 months, and who seem to have what it takes to keep improving (Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Medvedev). Tiafoe is tricky for me - an extremely promising athlete, but I'm not sure the strokes and strategy will be able to keep up. Like a Monfils or Gasquet.

[quote]three-nad Spaniard

Oops... three-named Spaniard. I have no insider knowledge on their nads.

I'm preying for Rafa, but it's so gonna be Nole.

Okaka I think, by an edge.

Osaka

I actually give Kvitova a slight edge tonight. But on paper that match is too close to call.

I give Kvitova the slight edge too. She's looking dangerously fit at the moment - fitter than I've ever seen her.

I'd usually say Osaka could hit anyone off the court but against a Kvitova who's moving so well combined with those lethal groundstrokes I have to go with Kvitova. Plus she seems like the loveliest woman in the world and I'm so happy to see her back after that attack.

R52, Wawrinka doesn't pose a threat any longer. He hasn't made it past the 3rd round since the 2017 FO, he's no longer ranked in the top 50, and he'll be 34 in a couple of months.

Kvitova has won like her last 8 finals in a row or something to that effect. She has one of the best conversion rates on the tour once reaching the final round (I think someone posted it in the last thread). She has barely even dropped any games so far this tournament, while Naomi had tough 3-set struggles against Pliskova, Sevastova, and Su Wei (who really would have beaten her if not for a conveniently timed choke).

Overall I just think Petra's form looks more promising and for the first time in her career her movement is just about as good as her brutal groundstrokes. But I do think Osaka will put up a good fight especially if she's serving well. However if the roof is closed (like it was against Collins) it's all over for Osaka.

During Wawrinka's loss at this tournament, his forehand was back to being a liability. At his peak he was able to cut down on the errors and even hit winners off of it. His grip is unusual so he can frame a lot of forehands when he mistimes his stroke

[quote] I have no insider knowledge on their nads.

Pity.

I also give the slight edge to Kvitova. It's interesting that Osaka and Kvitova have never played each other before. On the TV coverage the other night, MJ Fernandez was talking about how difficult it is to return Kvitova's groundstrokes because they bounce low and come through the court so quickly. Not sure if Osaka will be able to handle those groundstrokes, so I think Petra will have the advantage.

Osaka! But I also like Petra, so s’all good.

R63, did MJ say it, too? I def heard Bethanie Mattek-Sands say it while in the booth Chris McKendry and Jason Goodall.

I know a lot of DLers don't like Mattek-Sands, but I find her refreshing and funny, and she can give great insight on the women's game because she has played against a lot of them.

Rooting for Petra -- she does seem lovely, and coming back from that attack has been tremendous. I wonder if her being a lefty with power will bother Osaka?

To R534, R542, and R544 from the previous thread re: Mary Pierce. Don't know if you're on this thread, but that WAS a really nice interview with MP. She's become born-again and is teaching tennis on Mauritius, and seems very at peace with herself, after all the shenanigans with her loony father. ESPN had a good story about her on their website during last year's French Open.

Who do you suppose Federer is rooting for? He seems to be better friends with Nadal (although he and Djokovic are on better terms than before), but a Nadal win puts him at 18, just two majors behind Federer's record, with the French Open just a few months away. While Djokovic is further back in total Slams, he would have more Aussie Open titles than Fed (7 to 6), and he's got a realistic shot at passing Federer's record for weeks at No. 1.

Decisions, decisions.

I think the only reason Federer is still actively playing is to try to extend his GS title advantage. Nadal is nipping at his heels. There is no way Federer wants Nadal to win here, or the next French Open, or anywhere.

If Nadal wins here and the French, you have to think he will catch federer. In an ideal world, all 3 end up with 20 so the GOAT debate lasts for decades.

^^which makes me think / before Graf came along did people just say M Court was GOAT even though it was really Evert and Martina that challenged each other and ended up both with 18? Don’t they deserve to be in the GoAT debate (not just Serena and Graf) because they were equals competing against each other at the same time, ala the big 3??! Hmmmm

In Newport challenger, Bouchard and Canada's future Andreescu are facing off the QF!

I think that Federer is delusional enough (or was, anyway) to think that he can pull off a GS at 39 like Laver did.

Correction, a GS at over 30 like Laver did in '69.

Federer's best chance will be Wimbledon as the points will be shorter. As players get older they naturally lose some consistency.

Tennis Channel is showing the Boys’ Championship.

Graf’s number will always have an asterisk. She won a number of her titles when Monica was out recovering from the stabbing...

That asterisk may as well be a snowflake icon for Graf's huge display of iciness after Seles was stabbed in Germany. Graf barely acknowledged how Seles was completely screwed over by the German legal system, and how Seles' assailant barely got reprimanded. Cold bitch.

The Tennis Channel in the US is now showing for the Quad Wheelchair singles final live, Alcott versus Wagner.

The Tennis Channel in the US is now showing for Quad Wheelchair singles final live, Alcott versus Wagner.

He said he did it for Graf...

Alcott or Wagner, R79?

R49 it has also occurred to me that Xisca and Rafa’s sister could be bumping pussies.

See - it's even spread to the players' relatives and girlfriends! It's insidious!

Alcott is the cockiest person I've ever seen in a wheelchair.

This wheelchair match is way better than either of the men's semifinals.

I don’t know why so many posts are saying how unlikely it is for Federer to win another major. He can’t keep the same level of consistency and intensity at his age, that’s for sure. But it’s not like he lost the match to Tsitispas in a terrible way.

He didn't, but there will always be some Raonic, Isner, or Anderson who'll be serving an insane first serve percentage on a day at Wimbledon when Federer is slightly below his usual level. And that level is already below the one from 2005-2008 to start with. I actually think his chances are better on hard courts where he can stretch points against opponents like those I mentioned.

[quote] Wheelchair tennis is just laziness

Why do the lazy men's wheelchair player only play best of three? They should play best of five like the other men.

Federer hasn't made it beyond the quarters in his last five Slams. That's his worst streak since 2003, and someone pushing 38 isn't going to keep rebounding through five setters. Maybe he'll squeak out one more Wimbledon in 2019 and become the oldest man ever to have won a singles Slam title, but I doubt it.

[quote] This wheelchair match is way better than either of the men's semifinals.

I was surprised at how good the match was. That tie break was exciting. I also liked how the players seemed genuinely nice,, gracious and grateful for what they have (Kyrgios and A. Zverev take note).

To answer R69's question, no, Court was not widely considered as the GOAT prior to Graf. For one thing, the number of GS titles was not the most prominent measuring stick as it is now. In the '80s, tennis experts and fans remembered that North American and European players didn't go to Australia more than once or twice in their career, if at all, until the 80s. The French Open also went through a period of irrelevance in the last half of the '70s. Evert probably would have won 3 more had she played. I think she played World Team Tennis instead. But what I remember during the Martina and Chris years was how they compared to Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Wills Moody, Maureen Connolly, and Court with the entirety of their careers. I don't think all-time Grand Slam titles were really talked about much until Graf started approaching Court's total.

In the 80s and 90s I remember the calendar-year grand slam being the overwhelming measure of GOATness until 1988 when Steffi won it. Her U.S. Open win that year seemed anti-climactic, however, and the number of majors started to be seen more of a measure after that.

The Australian Open is like the temporary Aussie version of Europe or something.

or something.

Is Nava a deplorable?

I don't think Court was ever considered the GOAT really. One of the best players of her era? Certainly, but despite all her achievements (and there are many) I don't think anybody saw her as THE all time tennis queen. Even Evonne Goolagong had a similar-sized public profile, and Virginia Wade (with far less achievements than both ladies) too was just as well-remembered.

It was the legends like Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Wills Moody, Maureen Connolly who were seen as the greats, but nobody really compared Chrissie and Martina with them especially after the Open Era separated them further. And it took a while for Navratilova to even retire anyway (she won a singles match at Wimbledon aged 47 and was still racking up doubles and mixed doubles titles after that).

In retrospect, maybe it's Billie Jean King who was seen as the kind of 'reigning queen of tennis' before the majors became such an important thing in the Graf/Seles era. She dominated for a while at #1, won all 4 slams (I think about 12 in total), and had much more public visibility than the others (which shouldn't help but it does). Not to mention her achievements off the court for equality, and the fact that she actually created the WTA.

low ranked[106] Candian Bianca Andreescu crushed, killed and destroyed fellow countrywoman Eugenie Bouchard[79] 6-2,6-0 in WTA 125K Newport

i really don't understand espn's love affair with and loyalty to Chris Fowler. He's not a former player. He's just a general sportscaster who thinks he knows as much as former top players and legends. I hate when he interrupts them or thinks he can correct them. I wish espn would fire him. He's' surely got enough money to retire or at least take him off tennis and just leave him to do college sports

who is the lady sitting just above Mary Pierce and adjacent to Pat Cash?

maybe his wife?

a lot of errors so far from both

This is Anderson v Isner all over again lol. Did anyone else catch Chrissie's "chop suey" comment when talking about Naomi's slice? What an idiot...

"Chop suey" the sequel to this classic moment from the US Open.

Osaka takes the first set tiebreak!

Osaka is better able to impose her game during rallies. She moves better and Kvitova is not good on defense. She's gotten better running down softer shots but against a fellow power player she's in trouble if she's not dictating.

Osaka seems to be returning better now after struggling on Kvitova's lefty hook until the tiebreak

This match so far has not been very interesting...

Kvitova is just so unfocused today too. The opposite of Nadal's on-court determination. Some extremely poor tactical choices (such as hitting directly into Naomi's strike zone instead of the open court). Naomi has just been way steadier in the rallies, which is what makes the difference in a battle of servebots.

Still better than last year's Halep/Wozniacki shitfest.

Kvitova went up a quick 2-0 in the second but has gone flat since. She's been leaking errors and seems like she got tired. Finally held for 3-4

Match points now

Cancelled. 40-40 from 0-40

Wow, Petra saved three match points. Now Osaka has to hold serve to win. Big test here.

Kvistova survives for now

Osaka serving for match now though

3 consecutive MPs come and gone, just like that!

slow second serve

winning return

0-15

unforced mistake

0-30

good point now

15-30

no first serve

double fault

15-40

Osaka melts down complete

5-5

Osaka definitely feeling the pressure.

Naomi Osaka collapse is almost compelte

Wow, just wow.

DF on set point?

wow from 5-3 to 5-7

Has Osaka won any challenge yet?

I'm watching the scores, but recording later on The Tennis Channel, because I just can't deal with the ESPN commentators anymore. Turned it off. You have Fowler, Evert, Fernandez, Mattek Sands on one side, and Carillo, Davenport, and Navratilova on the other... it's really no contest.

Hsieh choked from almost the exact same score in her match with Osaka, now she's paying it forward.

I have no idea how this match will end, but I foresee a few more twists and turns.

Osaka wins a challenge!

Court is not considered a goat because almost half of her GS titles are Australian Open when no other greats (apart of Goolagong) played that tournament

Osaka could dominate the circuit, she has big weapons but there's a big difference between her and the other big hitters. She doesn't feel the need to bash the ball everytime, which means less UE. And she seems to deal pretty well with the fact that she is a top player now

Wow, some clutch serving by Petra to dig herself out of 0-40 for the second time.

Will Chris Evert please STFU?

What she is saying?

Hear comes the whisper-coo acceptance speech

Props to Naomi. She showed a lot of composure when she had to serve for the match a second time, after totally blowing the first time she tried to serve for the match a set earlier.

Naomi Osaka is new N o.1Petra will No.2

Caroline will be no 9

Naomi Osaka was ranked #72 at the Australian Open last year. She is now the world number one with two slams.

When was the last time a woman other than a Williams was able to win back-to-back Majors?

R132, I know it is cringworthy . however it is stll better than those I have baby speech.

Naomi looks like she's the one who lost.

WTA Top 10 on Monday

1. Osaka

2. Kvitova

3. Halep

4. Stephens

5. Pliskova

6. Kerber

7. Svitolina

8. Bertens

9. Wozniacki

10. Sabalenka

I like this new WTA ranking however Aryna Sabalenka needs to better in Grandslams . Her Grandslams performance is not comparable to her ranking

Who is the hot daddy in Kvitova's box?

I love Li Na's black dress with white tennis shoes. As always, she marches to her own drummer. And she looks great with her hair up.

R136 The last two win back to back grand slams was Clijsters in 2010/11 at the US Open and Australian Open.

The last one to back up her *first* GS immediately another GS was Capriati in 2001 (Australian and then French). But that was literally the next slam after Venus did the same thing, having won her first GS at Wimbledon, and then the next 6 tournaments in a row including the US Open, and even the singles Olympic gold medal (winning many of those tournaments in doubles as well). Nobody has matched Venus' 35-match win streak since, not even Serena.

I think Naomi was traumatized from her US Open experience. She barely looks happy.

I think we need to accept that she just doesn't have a very interesting personality lol.

Thanks, r142, I had forgotten about Clijsters.

She talks like she was deprived of oxygen at birth.

So glad Naomi can finally enjoy a proper grand slam winning moment, without sore losers creating spectacles and throwing tantrums.

Serena's watching the sun set on her

R147 You mean like Osaka did after blowing three match points and losing the 2nd set?

Didn't Osaka have to leave the court to compose herself?

There was an amusing bit on Eurosport just now. Osaka was being led somewhere behind the scenes, still carrying the trophy and being followed by a camera crew. She bumped into Annabel Croft and Pat Cash doing a live broadcast and appeared to think they were there to interview her but she actually interrupted them mid-conversation. There was a bit of confusion while she stopped for them to interview her, Croft and Cash couldn't decide whether they should stop their live broadcast with this surprise arrival and the AO officials were like "wtf is going on?".

Osaka’s three titles:

IW 2018 USO 2018 AO 2019

Osaka!

And glad for Petra, too. Two very likable champions.

R192, that what called Quality over quantity. Hey Helo, Wozniacki, Svitolina? Are you watching this? Where are you, girls. Learn something from this.

R152: Muguruza has only 6 titles and two are GS. The big difference is that Osaka rise to stardom is very recent and after some irregularity after IW she is finding her way to big titles. I expect her to win a good bunch more this year

The truly impressive thing about Osaka is how mentally tough she is on such big occasions, compared to the rest of the young up-and-comers on the WTA tour, even those who've been around much longer. She handled her first two slam finals (!), both of which were very tough, in such a mature fashion.

And don’t forget she’s only 21.

I'm so happy useless Halep is not no.1 anymore.

Amazing that the sourballs accuse Osaka of having no personality--how unfortunate that we have a humble, intelligent, reticent champion with a very dry sense of humor rather than a prize bitch who thinks it's her birthright to intimidate, bully and wheedle her way through Slams while subjecting our traumatized eyes to the ugliest outfits ever.

I was half expecting Serena to run into the trophy presentation screaming about having a daughter.

Jesus, R159, what a fucking loser you are. Your mental fixation on Serena, even in this moment, is pathetic. This moment isn’t about Naomi for you. Not really. It’s always about Serena. If she is so horrid, why don’t you ignore her? The answer is that you can’t. She dominates your thinking even when she’s not even in the picture. Weak.

I’m thrilled Naomi won. She has a bright future in front of her. It’s exciting to see a new young player of color come up through the ranks. I’m also aware that more than a bit of Naomi’s success is absolutely tied to Serena. She inspired her. Naomi’s team is comprised of people who worked with Serena. And you can see aspects of Naomi’s game are absolute replicas of Serena’s.

Naomi’s hard work has paid off. We can also rest assured that someone somewhere is gathering reasons to hate her with a passion. It looks like Naomi will be strong enough to ignore those people and continue to succeed. I wish her luck and I’ll continue to cheer her on.

The legacy of the Williams sisters lives on.

You're hilarious, R161. And you know nothing about me, but thanks for the laugh, My only point was that Serena is the antithesis of what we need from a champion, and that Osaka has the grace and humility befitting a champion, much like Venus does. Other than that, I don't give Serena a thought except as a contrast for those people who call Osaka retarded or uninteresting. And I'm so glad that I'll never have to suffer through another GS final that subjects us to Serena.

Have a nice day.

Is Serena retiring r162?

Yes, she's devoting her retirement to motherhood.

No they just think she wont get to another final. Which is bullshit. She will get to at least one more Wimbledon final.

Women no.

Chris Evert is by far the worst commentator ever. Her monotone delivery is maddening, and she is a biased bitch in her comments. She needs a pie to the face, stat....

It's interesting to see someone say Naomi has no personality when it's her personality that's making people to support her.

R168 People like her, so what? McDonalds sells more burgers than anyone else, but does that mean they're the pinnacle of taste and cuisine?

I work with people Naomi's age and she has the same contrived, cloying speech patterns of anyone her age. "I'm so awkward!! I can't do public speaking!... i'll probably just celebrate by playing video games, i'm like kind of a geek!!".

Her Serena-cloned game is nice, but I wish she showed more variety than just consistent Sascha Bajin power hitting from the baseline. I don't think she even came to the net once in this final? But there's time to develop that. And she's still a much better #1 and slam winner than Simona Help, Carowhine Wozniacki, and Mangelique Kerber. Not to mention other recent #1s Pliskova and Muguruza who rely on their good seeding to take advantage of 1 or 2 tournaments per year, but are mostly tragic (yet still arrogant).

You can pencil Bouchard into the next 3 GS finals, even though she just crashed 6-2 6-0 against another unknown Canadian in some ITF challenger.

Naomi learned a lot about herself this tournament

.

That Andreescu may seem like some random fellow Candian scrub, but she is going to be very dangerous if she ever loses weight (and I think she will as she's only 18). She plays like Kim Clijsters, but with some Radwanska-esque trickery as well. I've been following her and she's already implementing gamesmanship and delay tactics into her game. I was shocked at the AO when they let her leave the court to change her skirt mid-set just because she complained it was sweaty, not to mention her well-timed MTOs and arguments with the umpire, and continued racquet-swapping to buy more time.

But so far she's gone 15-2 this year, and beaten players like Wozniacki, Venus, and Hsieh. I will be interested to see where she's ranked at the end of the year.

Some think the way Osaka talks is fake or played up. Seems genuine to me. She has been talking like that since she first appeared on the pro tennis scene three or four years ago.

I think this year Collins will rise. I think this year will be hers

R174 Danielle shouldnt you be on a plane back to America!

I do think and hope Osaka will win more titles this year. So far she's a hardcourt specialist though. I realize she's quite young so she's got time to develop on grass and clay.

I hope Kvitova can win 1 more slam before her career is over. Thank goodness her attacker won't get the last word.

yes the obsession about Serena by her haters is very real-she's been gone for 2 rounds from the tournament and they're STILL talking about her!

R169 has issues

Andreescu was a very promising junior till her injury. And she is back an playing really well. Bouchard was a top player for 5 long minutes. I like her game, i hate her attitude. With that kind of game you need to use your brains to reach your full potential, and it's not her case

Osaka is just super awkward; the way the poster above contrasted her victory speech with Kasatkina's runner-up speech at Indian Wells nailed her awkward weirdness.

But it's a genuine awkwardness. I dont think shes making an effort to act like that.

at IW Osaka really wasn't prepared. I think she'll improve her speeches as she wins more titles. She's young so I wouldn't fault her for that.

Rafa!

I like Osaka a lot but her whole 'thing' won't be cute for long.

If she were 15 or something then I'd maybe understand but she's 21 and English is her first language. She talks like she's on heroin.

[quote] I like Osaka a lot but her whole 'thing' won't be cute for long.

No. No it won't.

R184. That’s an undeserved compliment actually. Monica Seles she ain’t. Not even close. Seles would crush Osaka

I love the Chrissie Evert troll so much.

Not anymore R185. Monica is now quite thin, actually.

the obsessive "Seles would crush everyone" troll sounds silly. Why keep bringing her up?

Because that's difficult to prove. Graf lost in GS against Seles, but the h2h even with Seles as number one was in Graf's favour. And Graf lowering her level had a lot to do with her father's trial.

The truth is that german psycho didn't let us enjoy one of the most interesting periods in tennis, with two amazing champions battle for the titles (and with a good bunch of interesting players in secondary roles)

Men's final live at 3:30 AM on ESPN.

Fortunately 12:30 AM PST...

such contrasting players:

Djokovic has a full head of hair while Nadal is rapidly balding

Djokovic does his "boobs out" celebration upon winning while Nadal's ass sticks out without him even trying

righty vs. lefty

This is the worst GS to try to watch (East coast). My sleep is so screwed up.

I just record the matches and watch the next day. I realize it sucks to not watch it live but I cant fuck up my sleep.

Has Djokovic ever lost to Nadal in AO before?

No, their only AO meeting was the final in 2012, which Djokovic took in five.

I like looking at the slam stat pages each time. I wish they'd start doing a fastest and fastest average forehand and backhand tally but

for serves:

Venus is still #1 despite her age. Her fastest serve was 199 km/h or 123.7 mph Rounding out the top 5 are Hercog with 193 (120), Babos, Keys and Osaka all with 192 (119.3).

for men, Copil is surprisingly #1 with 231 kmh (143.5 mph). The rest of the top 5 are Frtiz with 228 (141.7), Isner, Opelka both 227 (141) and Andujar at 226 (140.4). I didn't know Fritz and Andujar had such big serves

Most double faults:

women: Sharapova in just 4 matches hit 26

men: A. Zverev in just 4 matches hit 33

R196 thanks.

Djokovic has handed Nadal seven consécutive defeats - twice during their H2H. That’s incredible.

I've been on bulge watch and have for the most part been disappointed.

Do any players freeball it? Those compression shorts are the work of the devil.

Tommy Haas used to only wear shorts. Most wear compression shorts. Some of the Europeans were briefs.

R197 I'm surprised too. Fritz has a good motion but that's a lot of firepower for such a small guy. I only saw one Opelka match but he was firing them down so that makes sense. Hilarious about Sharapova/Zverev leading the DF count.

And the fact that there's a considerable gap between Venus and the rest of the list (incl. Osaka) is wildly impressive given her age and the fact that she was slightly injured and wearing a compression sleeve.

I'm surprised that the fact that if Nadal wins he'll have two Grand Slams has not been a bigger talking point. Federer never managed that and Djokovic hasn't - yet.

R202. He’ll have two career grandslams you mean. And what’s perfect about the big 3 is they all hold records the other two dont, that will only add to the GOAT debate for years to come. It’s perfect.

Crikey, it's about to start! 🎾

“Nole” team

3-0 Nole. Nadal managed to win 1 point so far, not what I expected.

Why is Nadal hitting so softly? Some of his decision making has been terrible too (not putting the ball away at the net). If he doesn't win this game or the next service one we may have another Juju Henin incident on our hands.

Who is Anna Wintour rooting for?

So far Djokovic is playing Nadal perfectly. Obviously it's not easy to do but I wish everyone else on tour would watch. Nadal returns serve from VERY far back. Therefore it's pointless to give him body serves. Go for the corners and down the T so Nadal is forced to start on the defensive. I realize Tsitsipas and Tiafoe are young and not super consistent yet but they have big enough serves so they shouldn't have gotten broken so many times if they had placed them better.

Watch how Djokovic returns too. He's the best returner ever. Nadal knows he cannot just roll in serves (as he does when he's not feeling confident) or else Djokovic will punish them.

Nadal is starting a lot of points on the defense whether he's serving or returning so it's no wonder he's getting his ass kicked. This will be over quickly if things don't change

Nadal has problems at the moment. He needs to win D’s serves. But nothing’s sexier then Nadal’s voice when he hits the ball. And his sexy ass looks delicious in those white shorts.

R210 "nothing sexier than Nadal's voice when he hits the ball"

huh? you find his super loud caveman grunt to be sexy? He sounds dumb

Nadal so nervous he's making errors even when he's got the shot he wanted all lined up. Poor start from him.

Nadal still has the hottest bod on tour. I feel sorry for him with that chaos that's happening on the top of his head today ... the wisps of long hairs whipping in the wind he kept for the combover, not a good choice. I don't know what happened to the plugs but he's not going to enjoy seeing the tape. At least now that he's sweating it won't start flying around.

Time for a shaved head, Rafa.

Nadal's long locks are such a part of his look I can't imagine what the tennis world's reaction would be to him shaving himself bald. I think a lot of people would have meltdowns and he'd be trending on twitter for sure

R211 Yes I do. R213 He has. Big arms.

So they’ve turned the shot clock off? Nadal’s now back to taking forever before first and second serves.

R216 Nadal is serving when the clock drops to 2 or even 1 seconds left.

Damn Nadal is making so manu UEs. I want a 5 set carnage.

I'm obviously injured, no?

r214 he just needs to pair that butt flash on the boat photo opp with a frontal flash modeling shot. Do the ESPN nude series and release a full frontal on the side. No one will care about his hair.

Not a huge Novak fan but when he plays like this and you can see his brain working it's pretty impressive.

Are we looking at another Djokovic slam? If he plays like this he can definitely take RG too.

It's all wrapped up now.

It's just the second set. I never count Rafa out - of the French, or even this. He may be injured, but if he finds another gear it will throw Novak off. But this does not look good.

Novak is in that groove where his brain is clicking and Rafa is off (blisters on the hands, who knows what), so right now Novak is having his way with Rafa, probably getting into his head. If Rafa shakes this off, he can put up an epic fight and find Novak's mental weakness (losing what he should've won), but we'll see.

Surely Nadal will say something was wrong with him after this match is over-whether it's blisters on his hands, feet or maybe a knee injury.

Djokovic was breakable at 3-2 but Nadal made too many errors and that only gave Djokovic more confidence to romp his way through the rest of the second set.

Hopefully Thiem or a new player will be ready to challenge for RG. I'm bored of Djokovic-Nadal matches at this point.

Djokovic's play has been impressive but Nadal is definitely off. Some of that is due to Djokovic's perfect strategy and execution but some of it is Nadal just too nervous or frustrated. I'm not used to seeing him hit so many forehand unforced errors in rallies

wow Djokovic just hit a terrible dropshot that Nadal got to in plenty of time but lost the point. He just tapped it at Djokovic who lobbed him

Thiem will not do it. He's already gone missing. Thiem is just the latest in the cycle of Berdych, Raonic, Isner, Dimitrov, etc. who are good craftsmen but don't have that extra instinctive, feel for the game genius that it takes to get you to the next level. This is why Andy Murray doesn't get the credit he deserves, as he crafted his way to those slam wins without the instinct.

Rafa can’t put his game together.

I posted in an earlier Australian Open thread that the problem with the women's tour recently was that there has recently been a lack of hunger at the top, the recent generations weren't willing to throw everything at the wall, weren't crushed by their defeats. Contrast the attitudes of Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Serena vs. recent No. 1s Muguruza, Wozniacki, Ivanovic, Jankovic. A couple of days ago, Mary Carillo was on The Tennis Podcast making a similar point among the men - she called it "fangs" - where there are players with fangs and players without, who kind of just shrug their shoulders and move on when they lose a match.

Carillo suggested Tsitsipas has fangs, but Zverev (at the moment) does not. Tsitsipas was crushed after the Nadal defeat, he was expecting to perform better, was pissed off he lost, and he'll learn from the defeat. Zverev was detatched after the Raonic loss, while he gave credit to his opponent he didn't seem willing or able to assess his own play, talked about how he'll have other opportunities. You can picture him literally shrugging his shoulders.

I slept. THought it will be another six hours grind fest just like 2012 Aussie final. So when I opened the TV it was 6-3, 6-2, 3-1 for Nole. So sad that I missed such a fine flawless performance from Nole .

Now he is not playing that well. Obviously, it is impossible to keep that level for three straight sets

I dislike Nole but what a superb performance from. him Did you guys saw those ROS at Rafa shoelaces in the last game.Perfect ROS

ouch. Painful performance from Nadal today and he looked even worse next to Djokovic who was in really good form

still the other guys on tour need to start serving better against Nadal. He should not be cruising to hardcourt slam finals like this ever again

This score is insane. I never thought it would be a straight set victory for either of them.

Nole has won the last three Grand Slams.

ROS, R232?

ROS?

return of serve

The women's final lasted longer and featured more games played.

Thank god . No boobs out

You could've just typed "return", r236 Acronyms for everything is so ridiculous. Not as bad as people who use pre-recorded sound-effects on instagram stories (or film screaming and concerts), but it's right up there.

Rafa's hair... can he not do something about it?

Sorry, meant to direct that at r232

Most Grand Slam titles - Men’s Singles

1. Federer, 20

2. Nadal, 17

3. Djokovic, 15

4. Sampras, 14

5. Emerson, 12

Dear DL gays

Feel happy to be alive to watch this.

Let's hear about the times where McEnroe played at this level in Grand Slams. God, sometimes his ego just sucks all of the energy out of the scene.

Most #AusOpen titles

Djokovic, 7

Federer, 6

Emerson, 6

Good to see little closeted twink Todd Woodbridge is still cute. He probably still needs a good fucking.

He is married with two kids

omg stop talking lady

What is with all you assholes who don't like Novak? He is gracious - far more than the Woman Federer. And I love Rafa too - but Novak was dialed in and went for the jugular.

Ivan Lendl has still got it.

R243=Dijana Djokovic

Rafa needs to thank the gods for his comically easy draw, which allowed him to breeze into the Final. He ran into real competition in Novak and flopped hard.

R249=Dijana Djokovic

True word R250

Thus closeted, dummy R247.

Rafa is still adorable and the best when it comes to connecting with the fans. Novak and Roger both can't lose the cockiness.

Novak Djokovic, ranked 22, 7 months ago. Today, won his third slam in a row and now has 10955 points at #1.

angry Novak's press conference. I think that is called fang which a poster was talking about

Are Novak and Federer the only dads on the tour who are winning Grand Slams?

a Little off topic but Petra was suppose to play a WTA tounment next week. I think she should withdraw from it . Otherwise she would get injured

Just six months ago Novak Djokovic was ranked below Jack Sock.

Novak Djokovic since Roland Garros:

Queen's F

Wimbledon W

Toronto R3

Cincinnati W

US Open W

Shanghai W

Paris F

ATP Finals F

Doha SFs

AusOpen W

[quote]a little off topic but Petra was suppose to play a WTA tounment next week

here's Petra with her team

R258 Yeah. Wawrinka and Murray are the only other two recent ones.

r258, if you mean currently, the only guys who have won Slams PERIOD since 2017 are Rafa, Roger, and Novak - forget "dads" So yes, r263 just beat me to it, Wawrinka and Murray are the others.

And people say men's tennis is better than womens. That final sucked!!! Hope Djokovic has a let down soon cause watching one guy dominate is boring as fuck.

R259 Petra said she would be going to St Petersburg with a friend, and not too much expectation. I think she implied that her team wouldn't be joining her (they're probably having a deserved break).

I agree that she shouldn't overplay, she already has so many points to defend and I for one would be exhausted. But I guess having won this event last year she wants to come back as the defending champ. I've gotta say, with her play she's not in a bad position at all to go back to back and win it again (like she did in Birmingham, and has done in Madrid before). St Petersburg attracts a lot of high ranked players (it's a Premier) but none of them get such a HUGE boost from the indoor conditions like she does. We saw how she started peaking when the roof closed against Danielle Collins.

She wasn't even playing that well at all there last year (losing sets to players like Begu) but with so many of the higher ranked girls being pushers or pusher-adjacent, coupled with the super fast indoor court and conditions, she was able to storm through the draw and easily destroyed Mladenovic in the final.

r252: I know Nadal had easy draws (this is not the first one for sure) but he is not on the fianl due to the easy draw, he is in the final because he is a million times better than most of the tour. He crushed Tsitsipas and he defeated Federer, it's not his fault if the other top players are not remotely at his level and fail to reach the rounds they are supposed to reach. Or do you really think Shapovalov or Medvedev could defeat Rafa on a GS right now?

Djokovic deserved way more credit than he receives. He was destined to be a secondary player with an ocasional win on a GS from time to time, and he decided to step up and be a nightmare for two of the best players of all time. When he is on, he is a hitting machine.

I still think the big three are way more vulnerable than in the past, but i don't think any new player is there. Most of them lack ambition, and Tsitsipas needs time (but at least he has the right attitude, crushed by defeat and acknoledge how good his rival was)

No matter how many Slams he wins, this kind of behavior is what I'll always think of when it comes to the unfaithful, manipulative, ultimately uncharming megalomaniac Djokovic.

Nole! Nole! Nole!

GOAT!

Couldn't dance with any sort of rhythm if his life depended on it.

Novak first man to win 3 Slams in a row 3 times in the Open Era.

Novak Djokovic press conference (Final) | Australian Open 2019

At 31 he looks like a wizened old man.

Definitely looks older than 31. Probably from playing out in the sun for years? He's also super skinny which can make many look older.

It's just weird to see Nadal flop out like this, and lose to (mostly) himself more than anything.

Yes Novak was impenetrable tonight and likely would have won anyway, but that score? Look at how tough their matches last year were, especially the Wimbledon one. Nadal wasn't in NEARLY good as form for that tournament as he was here with his new serve and aggressive control, yet was able to stretch it out to a real battle.

He looked so unfocused and made uncharacteristically *awful* tactical decisions. I wonder if it's just a bad night, or the fact that mentally slams ARE harder to win as you get older, with greater pressure. The obvious examples are Serena and Roger losing out in the last few slams, but look at the flop performance Delpo put in at the US Open final (not just physically tired but also a mentally horrible, nervy performance). Venus was far and away the best player of Wimbledon and even the US Open in 2017, but after missing her chances in both matches (having had SP in the Wimbledon final) the pressure seemed to get to her and she faded away. Similar thing happened against Wozniacki at the YEC that year for her.

His banter with the Italian reporter at 05:00 was hilarious!

I'm always amazed at how non-English speaking players are such polyglots.

Novak speaks Serbian, English, French, German, and Italian... like it's nothing.... I'm impressed by his command of the English language. I'm guessing he really works hard at it. He has the talent for it to begin with. But, his accent while speaking English is much better than Nadal. I know a lot of Europeans who speak at least 3 languages. But, their accents give them away. When Novak is speaking in English, I always forget it is not his first language. Impressive!

Federer is a prick. I love Rafa and Nole. I miss Murray being in the mix.

The OP photo jinx worked this time. Creepy.

[quote] far more than the Woman Federer.

Why “Woman”?

[quote] I miss Murray being in the mix.

So do I.

[quote] Are Novak and Federer the only dads on the tour who are winning Grand Slams?

Forget “dads”. It’s the woman who have infinitely more burdens as mom. Remember the moms for once.

The male players dont have to alter their bodies and stop playing so it's easier for them to become fathers.

Djokovic obviously has good language skills, R277, but he hardly sounds like someone whose first language is English.

Djokovic's English is more fluent than Osaka's.

Novak tries so hard to be liked.

[quote] Djokovic's English is more fluent than Osaka's.

Quite.

¿Why I no beet white boy?

Fowler: “But don’t you think they’re connected?”

McEnroe (dismissively): “Of course they’re connected.”

Djokovic is just so unlikable. Hopefully someone steps up and beats him in majors. I want that smug smirk wiped off his face.

Hi Roger at R290!

Boobs out!

Djokovic will unfortunately probably dominate for another 5 years or so because he's only 31.

Djokovic was so much cuter in 2008 when he wasnt sooo skinny!!!

I agree with R252 that Nadal had a very easy draw here and that helped his march to the final. In the semis, Tsitsipas unfortunately played at a level less than he'd been playing. I don't know that if Tsitsipas had played better he would have beaten Nadal, but it would be nice to see Nadal challenged. In 2017 and 2018, Nadal won Slams where he wasn't really ever challenged. At the 2017 French, Thiem rolled over weakly in the semis like Tsitsipas here, and Wawrinka played like shit in the final. At the 2017 US Open, Nadal didn't play anyone ranked above #24. At the 2018 French, Nadal did have a stronger draw from the quarters on, but Delpo rolled over in the semis, and Thiem once again rolled over in the final. Still, at 2018 Wimbledon, Nadal was playing really well. If Djokovic hadn't caught fire, I think Nadal would have won. But finally Nadal got a tough draw at the US Open, yet still his opponents couldn't close the deal, but they weakened Nadal enough where he had to retire in the semis.

Here, Nadal started a bit nervously, and Djokovic was on fire from the very beginning. I think Djokovic presents a mental challenge for Nadal in a way Nadal does/did for Federer. Nadal's strengths don't really hurt Djokovic they way they do other players. Djokovic's strengths, on the other hand, do hurt Nadal. As someone upthread mentioned, Djokovic also tactically serves the right way against Nadal. Nadal just simply does not have a big enough serve to hurt Djokovic, the best returner in the game. Nadal himself has admitted that when playing Djokovic, he feels pressured to go for more and get outside his comfort zone. I think that wears on Nadal mentally and creates more errors that we normally see.

In any event, Djokovic cemented that he is the player to bet on the tour. I would love to see some of the younger players step up more, but I expect Nadal will cruise in the clay season unless Djokovic and Federer challenge him, or Thiem or some other younger player decides he wants to step up his game to challenge. I'm interested to see what Federer does the rest of the year. He's been playing decently then faltering. Much like when he went through his decline from 2010 on, he can't seem to convert break points. If he gets it back together like in 2017, he could challenge, especially at Wimbledon.

Nobody's going to mistake Osaka's Valley Girl dialect as anything but indigenous. Djokovic's accent is very obvious to native English speakers. He's fluent but that accent always reminds me that English is not his first language.

I imagine Djoker is a sure thing for his third sunshine double. It Ll be interesting to see if he can keep his form up on clay. If he can he might win 6 gs in a row including the cygs. Guess we wait and see. Wonder how Osaka will do and if she can do the sunshine double as well. I don’t think she’s as good on clay or grass though but I guess we will see. Looks like Djoker will easily pass Federer’s 20 gs. Not so sure Rafa will though after seein his form today.

R285: But there's a reason for that. When Rafa is not at top form he starts the matches very concentrated. He knows most players feel intimidated, he is not only good, he is like a wall, which makes rivals to took risks. The result is he generally starts the matches winning (it happened here in almost all matches) which puts a lot of pressure on the rival, so more UE.

Nadal won a good bunch of RG not playing near his 100%. But Stefanos said it better, he made you play bad.

Of course Nole is not intimidated by Rafa, he won a lot of matches against him and this is not RG (i remember that match Nole won at RG and it was pretty obvious from the beginning that Rafa was not in form, he was very far from his level, but after start winning easily Nole started to choke, and fortunately for him he won that first set or the match could had been even more difficult) and he knows Rafa could not be at his best when he was injured not so long ago. Nole doesn't make that much UE unless he is not at his best so being a wall is not that big advantage against him.

Anyway, Rafa played way below his level. It's not about being dominated it's about unusual errors and tactic mistakes. Anyway if he stays healthy he will be the man to beat at RG llike every year

I'm not so sure of Djokovic's longevity. He looks so anorexic that one strong wind would finish him.

OP: Whose ass it that? I vote for him.

Extraordinary from Nole today. Going for three in a row at RG in a few months.

It's the 50th anniversary of Laver's second Grand Slam--it would be fitting if Nole could do it this year. I have a feeling he might. That would put him at 18 majors!

I also think about Murray gone, Federer fading... but Rafa and Nole will continue, especially Nole. It really does seem as though Roger's 20 slam record is within reach.

R301 that would be very bad for men's tennis if Djokovic won all the slams this year. The ATP is in desperate need of a new slam winner

Whose hairy hole, OP?

R303, that Rafa Nadal.

R303 It's Nadal, you fucking cretin.

R302, I disagree—I don’t think a year of brilliant, record-setting tennis would damage the sport a bit.

R301 four in a row. He's won the last 3. Competition is fun to watch. I dont care how incredible the achievement is, one guy dominating is boring as fuck.

R306: Five years ago with Rafa and Roger at their best maybe, but not now. The atp needs new faces as much as the wta needs new stars with some charisma.

R306 given Djokovic's age and the fact he's been a slam champ for over a decade now yes it does look bad. It's not bad if he or Nadal win more slams but if they are the only ones winning, it makes the rest of the tour look like shit.

Until a #NextGen guy wins a slam things wont' get interesting.

The middle generation has proven they just don't have "it"

This tournament the womens tennis was so much more exciting than the mens, especially in the later rounds.

Djokovic won't win RG.

Not sure who will. I don't think it will be Nadal, either. Maybe a new name.

Can Thiem breakthrough? French would be his best chance.

Great post, R 295.

R311: If Nadal is not in good form by Roland Garros, Nole will be the big favourite. He is the only player who was able to dominate Nadal on clay season (but in Roland Garros Nadal is always the one to beat).

Zverev, Tsitsipas and above all, Thiem are good on clay, but they need to improve a lot to have a chance.

That's my prediction, R314. I don't expect consistency from the older players. No one can beat age.

Thanks, R313. I certainly don't disagree with some of the points R298 made, such as Nadal making you play "bad", which is really just getting you out of your game. I also agree Nadal comes out quickly playing well, which immediately puts pressure on his opponent. But that's my point about the younger guys stepping up. You have to start well against Nadal. That's true for the veterans playing him as well. Nadal is a confidence player. Younger guys like Tsitsipas, who have good serves, should be holding and putting pressure on Nadal's serve right away. Nadal's many early round losses at Wimbledon have come from people who rush out of the gate playing well and/or taking good care of their own serves. I don't agree, though, that Nadal played "way below" his level. I think a lot of that had to do with Djokovic's play. Like Nadal making others "play bad", Djokovic did that to Nadal today.

Definitely the women's tournament was more interesting. I love Osaka and hope she continues her Slam winning ways. It was great to hear that after Osaka won the US Open, her reaction was that she wanted more Slams. That is so different than the current crop of one-slam wonders or players who show up every so often to win one (Muguruza, Kvitova). I really couldn't lose in the final as I like both Osaka and Kvitova. I'll be interested to see what Kvitova does the rest of the year. She often has one good result at a Slam then fades, or like last year wins non-Slams but underperforms at Slams. We'll see. I hope she starts stepping up, but I doubt it. She's had years to get her shit together mentally. Hasn't happened yet.

R315: True, but it's a bold prediction right now, given that they totally dominated recent years and Nole and Rafa destroyed their rivals to reach the final in Australia.

Sooner or later they'll decline and a young player will rise, but that's not in the horizon right now (of course in tennis things can change really fast)

R316: When i said Nadal played below his level it's because he play incredibly bad some easy shots who he usually doesn't fail. Today Nole was the superior player, and i think he should have won unless Nadal played extraordinary well.

I hope Muguruza realizes that she can continue to play that way, that she needs to be regular and motivated every week. Hopefully Osaka will continues to play really well, and the rest realize that playing at their best from time to time doesn't work anymore

Djokovic looks so dominant now but a year ago he was at such a low point. He could and provably will take another dive again in a year or so. Maybe not getting as low in ranking or play since that was mostly due to injury, but it's possible. It's hard to stay dominant for so long. Unless you are Federer circa mid 2000s.

Agreed, R309--if Djokovic weren't so angry, disingenuous, and cringe-worthy, it'd be fun to see him try to break the Slam record. Instead he's come to annoy me so much over the years that I can't stand watching him any more, and I doubt that I'm the only one who's been turned off by his tirades and theatrics.

Nadal's a big question mark after his performance today. He's won plenty of GS finals in three sets, but he's never come close to losing this badly in a GS final, including all six of his previous GS finals with Djokovic.

Nadal's coming back from surgery so all this talk like it's the end of his career cos he was beaten in a GS FINAL is fucking mental.

Yes the final was disappointing but he was up against someone who's also argued to be one of the GOATs.

I cannot stand Nadal usually but it's not like he is at his peak and just got beaten by someone outside the Top 100.

Who's said Nadal's career is over, R321?

Murray was never really in the mix, no matter how hard the British press tried to make it so. Three Grand Slams only. Roger, Nole and Rafa have been in double digits for ages.

Okay, Serena. We don't forget the mothers. Go work on your fitness -- you looked fat and slow here. R282

Through their rivalry, Rafa and Nole will push each other past Federer. Nole has the advantage on hard courts and grass. Rafa is really only the true favorite at the French. Hopefully they can both stay healthy because their rivalry is one of the few compelling things about mens tennis.

Nadal owes his career to the circuit-wide slowdown of every playing surface, even at Wimbledon.

The Greek boy Stefanos is on the rise. OP, any pics of his hairy hole?

I wonder if he dyes his arse hair like he does his head

I hope Novak wins 20+ GS. I like how he is often seen as the villain.

Djokovic hit 133 unforced errors in his first four matches at AO, 50 unforced errors in Medvedev match alone.

He made 23 unforced errors in QF, SF and F combined.

Talk about raising one's level.

I'm seeing some speculation now on Twitter that Nadal was injured. I'm not sure what to think. Certainly he did not look himself, but I don't think the Nadal who played in the SF, QF, 4R, etc. was injured. So was it something he picked up or re-aggravated in practice? What exactly was injured? Why was there no clear evidence of an injury?

There's no question that Nadal was flat and not at his best. But with no evidence of injury, I'm more inclined to say he just had some trouble getting going, there were probably some nerves involved at the start (it's a Slam final, after all), and he was playing someone that has owned him recently on hard courts, so he was probably putting additional pressure on himself.

I do get annoyed that commentators raise the injury excuse any time Federer, Nadal, and Serena aren't at their best. They've all been on tour for 15-20 years, and being able to produce your best physically gets tougher as you age. Sometimes they are correct, and there is some type of injury, but the assumption that they can't have a sub-par day without an injury excuse strikes me as arrogant.

I watched it. Nadal wasn’t injured. Novak was on fire...commentators always try and explain away why their favorites lose, the most recent, glaring example being MJF and CE attempting to blame Serena injuring her ankle in her Pliskova loss...

Re Seren'a loss to Pliskova. Annabel Croft and Pat Cash pointed out on Eurosport that Serena seemed 'off' all day. They mentioned her practice session earlier that day where she didn't even speak to her coach. Also that her husband wasn't present at the match and he's ALWAYS there.

I, too, think that Nadal wasn't injured but was having an off day. Chris Evert said that, toward the latter part of her career, she had more off days, when she wasn't seeing the ball as clearly and moving as well. When she was younger, she could will herself to raise her level and play through those days, but it got harder to do so as she got older.

Some service struggles in the Gavrilova/Meldonia game too. 30mins for just 3 games played.

The crowd aren't being shy about who they favour in the Sharapova/Gavrilova match. Whenever Gavrilova wins a point there's deathly silence and when it's Maria there's practically a ten minute standing ovation.

[quote]Also that her husband wasn't present at the match and he's ALWAYS there.

I noted that as well ..... hmmmm

Perhaps he was taking care of the baby.

[quote]Perhaps he was taking care of the baby.

because, you know, having mega-millions between them, one of them has to be the stay at home parent!

She had a baby??...

R336 What baby?!

Nadal is a relatively smart player. If he was really injured, like in that match against Del Potro, he would've retired without risking yet another, more serious injury. The more likely explanation is that he really didn't expect that level from Djokovic. What we call "flat" is just feeling clueless about what strategy to employ next. He simply didn't have much time to get anything going in those rallies, since he couldn't catch Djokovic off balance.

I agree, R340. When Djokovic is playing that well, Nadal really has nothing he can do against him. Nadal starts to panic a bit, presses, and goes for too much. Nadal feels like he can't make any mistakes, which leads to uncharacteristic unforced errors from him. Nadal looked clueless by the middle of the second set. By the third, he looked almost resigned.

In past matches, I've seen Djokovic own Nadal in patches of a match, but then Djokovic would have patches where his level dropped. I've not seen him dominate Nadal like this since the 2015 French Open. Djokovic's level just never dropped throughout the entire match, which no doubt also contributed to Nadal looking lost. The reality is if Djokovic is on, Nadal would have to play better than he is capable of to beat him. Not an impossible task, but one he's unlikely to achieve.

Djokovic’s game seems to vex Nadal, as Nadal’s game vexes Federer. I think this was mentioned upthread....

R341: Sorry, but that's simply not true. When Djokovic rose (till then he had a bad h2h against Nadal), Rafa lost a lot of matches on a row, a good bunch of them on clay, but most of those matches were very competitive. And the following year, he was able to give Novak more trouble, yes Nole defeated him in Australia, but Nadal was able to reverse and of course on Roland Garros he was able to defeat Novak (even when Novak had some victories in clay season).

Nadal never was clueless against Nole, no matter how well Djokovic played. Their matches (with some exceptions of course) are very competitive

R343, Nadal was NEVER clueless against Nole, no matter how well Djokovic played? Did you not see the 2015 French Open and this year's Australian Open matches? We can just agree to disagree. When Nole is playing his best and sustains that level, Nadal has no answers.

Are you really talking about 2015 when Nadal was number 6 in the world and faced multiple injuries. Nadal was not clueless he was not in good form (or any form). Djokovic was a thousand times better and even with that he was on the verge to lose first set after being two breaks up.

Nole played at his best a lot of times and if Nadal is in good form there's always a good fight

Again, R345, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I just recently re-watched the 2015 French Open quarters between Djokovic and Nadal. I didn't see Nadal playing particularly badly. Sure he made unforced errors, but more often than not it was because of Djokovic's level of play forcing Nadal to do more. Djokovic served effectively against Nadal in that matchg, too. See R342. That's more the issue for Nadal when he plays Djokovic. And as I've written in another post, Nadal himself admitted when he plays Nole, he goes for more than he'd like to and takes more chances than he's comfortable with. They've had some great matches, but when Djokovic sustains his level from the beginning, he can sweep Nadal unlike any other player.

[quote]What we call "flat" is just feeling clueless about what strategy to employ next.

That's not how "flat" is typically used in the sport. Feeling flat usually indicates having an off day in terms of energy, where the player is by all accounts healthy, but just has no spark; where he's trying to get things going, but might feel a step slow, sluggish.

Rafa wasn't even going for winners, he was just pushing the ball back to Djokovic and hoping he'd commit an error. That... did not work. You cannot do that in a Grand Slam final and expect to win.

R346: Nadal defeated a way better Djokovic on 2013. He is better on clay than anyone and that's a fact. The 2015 version of Nadal at Roland Garros was very very far of the average (and Nole was able to complicate himself in the first set).

Let's not pretend that Nole is able to defeat Nadal easily just because he is in top form, because that's not what h2h said. Their matches are generally very close on every surface. Nadal was on a slump for some time like Nole was the last two years.

The truth is that if younger players would rose their level when they started to fail, the big three could be retired by now. All of them were able to recover after bad periods, something that it's not that easy when there are younger player in the places (something that didn't happened here, because when one of them lowered their level the other two dominated the circuit)

The Third Triumvirate

We like to rag on the new generation, how they seem to be unable to step up to the occasion, etc, which is all true *to a degree.* They have a misfortune of having to forge their path in the era of the three best players in the history of the sport and, not only that, the three players who were fortunate enough to extend their careers by not suffering really bad, chronic injuries. Nadal and Djokovic are so well conditioned physically, that they were able to recover from potentially career threatening injuries and get back to the same high level. With Djokovic, those two years in the wilderness are only partially to be blamed on injuries - there were a lot of rumors of his wife cheating on him, some other family issues, etc. Still, statistically, what are the chances that you'll have to spend at least a half of your career having to beat 2-3 of all time bests to win a major?

R351: The main problem Djokovic had was that he got Roland Garros. He was focused on his objective for so long that once he got it he lost his focus.

And the younger generations are the one to blame. It's not like the big three (with Wawrinka and Murray) dominated, it's that noone of the younger were able to step up. One thing would be they winning most GS, but they won all GS (Murray and Stan are from the same generation). It's obvious that they weren't up for the challenge

[quote]We like to rag on the new generation, how they seem to be unable to step up to the occasion, etc, which is all true *to a degree.* They have a misfortune of having to forge their path in the era of the three best players in the history of the sport...

You could easily say that about Djokovic, that he had the misfortune of having to forge his path in the era of two of the greatest players in the history of the sport. And yet Djokovic didn't just roll over and let Federer and Nadal win all the GS titles.

I think it isn't so much that the younger players weren't up for the challenge, more that the Big 3 (or 4 or even 5) are just in a completely different league. No-one else can beat them consistently apart from other members of the Big 3. They almost exist on a different plane.

R353 and he had bad h2h against them, specially on GS

R354, we are not talking about beat them consistently, we are talking about beat them from time to time. Yes, they are amazing, but 99% of players were unable to beat them even on a bad day, and that has a lot more to do with the other players than with them.

One thing is getting most of the titles and other very different is winning all. I understand it's not easy to defeat three great players that have very different games, but till now, noone really challenge them. And most players start the matches completely defeated (and you can defeat a legend when you don't believe you can do it).

It's pretty obvious Nadal wasn't at that amazing form watching what he did on the final, but noone of the previous players challenged him. He only needed to start the match at 100% to have some advantage.

One thing is winning and other very different winning so easily

The rumours were about Djokovic cheating, not Jelena.

Whoremonger!

R349, Djokovic was way better in 2013 at the French? Than he was in 2015? You really need to go back and re-watch these matches. Your memory doesn't serve you well. Djokovic blew that 2013 final.

^2013 semi-final, not final

R359: Djokovic dominated the clay season in 2013, not in 2015, he was clearly in better form. Yes, he tanked on his match, so what. Everytime he faced an in form Nadal on Roland Garros he lost. He needed a totally out of shape Nadal to win

R361, I'm talking about individual matches, not overall form during a season. Face it--in-form Djokovic beats Rafa more handily than other players, even on clay. Case closed.

R362: Yeah sure, that's the reason why Rafa has 11 Roland Garros and Nole one on a year Rafa was not even a contender. Sorry, but don't make me laugh

^I'm sure when Nole inflicted his beat down on Rafa at this year's Australian, you weren't laughing but crying.

R364: No, in fact i like Nole more than Rafa, but saying that Nole is better than Rafa on clay is simply absurd

Nole.

R365, you and I are talking about different things. I'm talking about individual matches when Nole is on his game. When Nole is on, he is better than Nadal on all surfaces. I've seen the proof. Since 2011, Rafa has needed Nole to be off to beat him, even on clay. Nole has had dips in play on other surfaces besides clay when playing Nadal and lost. I'm not saying Nole's overall results are better than Rafa on clay. Nadal is the best clay court player ever based on his results and resume. Nole doesn't have the clay court resume Nadal has. No one does. But when Nole is on his game, even Nadal as the best clay court player in the world can't beat Nole on clay. Go back and watch the matches you're talking about. You'll see what I mean.

Djokovic was at very good form on Roland Garros several times, and he never was able to defeat Rafa when he was playing well. Sorry, but what you say is pure speculation because Novak was unable to prove that to be true. Djokovic was at his best in 2013 and he lost in the semis, and that's the only time he had real chances of win against Rafa in Roland Garros.

Didn't Djokovic beat Nadal like a drum at RG in 2015? One set being something like 6-1?

And here we go again. Nadal was six seed at that Roland Garros, didn't that tell you something?

I think i was very clear when i said that Djokovic never defeated an in form Nadal at Roland Garros, and in 2015 the real surprise was that Nadal was able to get that far on the tournament. In fact that match could have been a real beatdown if Djokovic didn't got scared when he was winning 40 in the first set

Don't try using logic, R369. This person is convinced Nadal beat an in-form Djokovic at RG, which is simply not true. Nole had a mental block at RG for years, even falling in the final in 2015 after administering his beat-down of Rafa in the quarters. The 2014 French final was another example where Djokovic won the first set against Nadal, got tight in the second and then faded in the third and fourth. It was painful to watch. R369 keeps mentioning the form someone was in during that clay season swing instead of analyzing the individual matches. I've watched that 2015 French Open beat down recently and no way was Nadal playing poorly. It was like this year's Australian. Djokovic was in a zone and Nadal had no answers, so Nadal pressed and made errors where he normally wouldn't. That was more down to Djokovic's play than any problem with Nadal's play.

I don't care that Nadal was the 6th seed that year, and that fact alone tells us nothing about how he played during the tournament or each match. Nadal didn't play badly at the 2015 French and pretty much cruised to the quarters with the loss of only one set to hard-serving Jack Sock. Shit, Federer was the 17th seed at the 2017 Australian and he won it. Nadal was incidentally the 9th seed that year and lost to Federer in the final, but Nadal played well at that Australian, seeding be damned.

R371: He was 6 because he had injuries and was out of form, it's not the difficult to understand.

Djokovic was at his best in 2013 and he lost.

Your logic is very simple, if Djokovic lost he was not at his best, so he can't lose with Nadal when he is at his best. The truth is Djokovic failed again and again at Roland Garros, even after dominating clay season. He needed an injured Nadal to win the tournament (after failing big time against Wawrinka the previous year)

R372, and why was Nadal seeded #9 at the 2017 Australian? He was also coming back from injuries, as was Federer ranked #17 that year. Just because you've been injured doesn't mean your form is not good. Also, you keep missing the point about judging individual matches. Djokovic choked away that 2013 FO semi-final to Nadal. I've recently re-watched it. I notice you don't ever address how recently you've watched those matches.

You're right that the point is when Djokovic is at his best, he can't lose to Nadal at Nadal's best. Nadal knows this as well. Djokovic had a mental block at the French, which has been the subject of countless articles how Nole couldn't perform at his best when the French title was on the line, hence the loss to Wawrinka and his failures over the years. Barring injuries, we'll just have to wait and see how this year goes.

Nole

We’ll see.

R373: So you are basically saying that Djokovic will win if he plays his best, but he never played at his best at Roland Garros against Rafa. You remind of thouse who think peak Pierce is the best female player of all time, because she destoys her rivals when she is on, but she is on very very few times.

You keep sayting that Djokovic at his best is unable to lose with Nadal, when the truth is Djokovic at his best had trouble with Nadal in other surfaces. In clay Nadal is better than Djokovic, and numbers are very clear. Djokovic is a top player for more than a decade and he never was really a rival (nobody was) at Roland Garros. If he lows his level when he plays Nadal maybe is Nadal's merit

Nadal is far from being my favourite player but he is the king of clary for a reason

I like a good claret.

No, R376, go back and read my posts. Djokovic did finally play his best against Nadal in the French 2015 quarters and swept Nadal in straight sets. Your premise is that Nadal wasn't at his best in that match, but I've watched the match recently and can see no huge drop in Nadal's level. It was more Djokovic outplaying him, as the commentators kept ooohing and awwing at the shots coming off Djokovic's racket that day. Even Nadal's face is resigned by the 3rd set as he looked at his box with a look that said he had no answers for Djokovic that day.

And LOL, I would never say peak Pierce is the best female player of all time. Such a ridiculous comparison to what I've said, but makes sense given your lack of logic used and how you keep trying to shift what I've said, which is that in individual matches, if Djokovic is on, he beats Nadal on all surfaces, including clay.

You state that if Djokovic's level lowers when he's playing Nadal, that could be due to Nadal's play. For sure Nadal can make other players play worse based on his strengths, but those strengths just don't hurt Djokovic the way they do other players. Since 2011, Djokovic is 21-9 against Nadal. It takes dips in Djokovic's play to get Nadal close to him, like at the 2012 Australian. Djokovic is still one of those players who can go on a mental walkabout from time to time. What I'm saying is when he's dialed in and focused, like at this year's Australian, Nadal even at his best can't touch him. That doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, even Nadal knows he's fucked.

I’ve always thought Nadal was gay...

Wished, you mean.

You don’t know what I mean. I wish you weren’t an idiot, but, oh well......