Tennis Thread - 2012

[Famous Mortimer]

Come on Tsonga! This is a cracker of a match.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Tsonga's nerves have got the better of him- Djokovic has two set points.

[doppelkorn]

Grrrr!

Come on Jo-Wilfried!

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Hmm...6-2 or 6-4 to Djokovic in the 5th is my bet.

[rjd2]

Incredible set of tennis.

I'd imagine Nadal has a massive grin on his face, Del Potro a man who he struggles with dismissed and Federer a man he can't stop beating in Slams especially France is through.

[selectivememory]

Djokovic plays astonishingly under the most intense pressure, you'd have to back him now to see this final set out. He did this to Federer in the US Open last year, I think he's going to win the trophy after watcing this.

Also, it was mentioned further up in this thread, but Jim Courier's commentary has indeed been excellent, the BBC would do well to enlist him for Wimbledon.

[chocky909]

Jim Courier? I thought it was Rich Fulcher!

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yep, Tsonga's fucked it. He goes in waves- his top level is unplayable, but he can't keep that level up against a top player in a 5 set match.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Mmm, a typically turdy capitulation by Tsonga.

It's a shame he didn't get a properly good chance on one of the match points- the one half chance he got, he netted, so can't really complain.

[rudi]

I thik that's a little harsh; he played fantastically for long periods and got beaten by the best.

[Famous Mortimer]

I thik that's a little harsh; he played fantastically for long periods and got beaten by the best.

Agreed - his play in sets 2, 3 and 4 was just fantastic. He's another player, like Murray, that would have wiped the floor with the rest of the world...if he hadn't had Nadal, Federer and Djokovic playing in the same era.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

After the match points of course.

[Mr_Simnock]

I predict that Murray will win over Ferrer in four sets. I know he has lost his previous three matches against Ferrer on clay but since the last time in 2010 he has improved a lot on Clay and Ferrer's record on that surface against the top 10 is very poor.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, I think Murray will edge it today, but maybe over five sets. His psychological edge only falters against the top three, his consistent appearances in Grand Slam semi-finals over the last couple of years is testament to this. He hasn't got a prayer against Nadal on clay though, my money is on another classic final showdown between Nadal and Djokovic, with Djokovic to complete his Grand Slam haul.

[doppelkorn]

After the match points of course.

What's that in response to?

Anyway I love Tsonga. He's great fun to watch at times, if a little frustrating, plus he comes across great in interviews.

[Famous Mortimer]

What's that in response to?

I would guess that S?S! was trying to say that Djokovic wasn't playing very well (by his own extremely high standards) until he was facing a match point against him.

[doppelkorn]

Ah right. I'm not niggling away or anything I just wasn't sure what was meant

[Famous Mortimer]

Ah right. I'm not niggling away or anything I just wasn't sure what was meant

Of course, I disagree with that anyway (he won the first set, and sets 2 and 3 were decided by a single break each). Superb match, anyway.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, I thought Tsonga played superbly yesterday, Djokovic had to be at his best to fight his way back into a leading position.

Anyway, Murray breaks in the opening game of the second set after losing the first. Going to be a long, tough match, but I think he might just shade it still. Doesn't look like he'll get many easy points though.

Edit: Oh and fuck it, Ferrer immediately breaks back...

[Famous Mortimer]

Rain is about the best thing that could happen for Murray now.

[selectivememory]

Excellent tie-break for Murray - he needed that, there was no way he was going to come back from two sets down in this match. Meanwhile Nadal is through in straight sets rather inevitably.

[buntyman]

Disappointing from Murray, has shown some good fight in this match but just been missing too many shots that he's very capable of making

[rjd2]

Yep to wasteful sadly. I like Ferrer but I can't see him really worrying Rafa over 5, first set will be close but assuming Nadal wins that he should breeze through.

[biggytitbo]

So, the old chestnut has come up that Federer hasn't won his slams against the best, and in particular Djokovic and Nadal. May as well let the stats do the talking-

I prefer the comparison with Sampras, who seemed to have consistently better opposition from other real legends of the game with multiple slams between them like Edberg, Courier, Becker, Agassi etc.


I think I once added up all the slams Sampras' opponents had with Feds and he came out wanting.


And it was when Federer started getting some competition of that stature that he started losing.

[Famous Mortimer]

Yep, pretty disappointing from the get-go, really. I thought the anger at the conditions and all that was him trying to fire himself up, but he just seemed to not be playing at his best.

I know there's a hair's breadth of difference between the two of them in the rankings, so differences are very slight at the absolute top level, but Murray just didn't seem to play the way he can.

[biggytitbo]

There were flashes of brilliance in there, but he was just to inconsistent against a player that never goes away like Ferrer. There's no shame losing to him thoug, he's one of the best clay court players in recent history. Shame he ended murrays semifinal run though, that was starting to get  really impressive.

[rjd2]

Who wins tomorrow Biggy?

[rudi]

I've been stood in the rain all day; did anything interesting happen in the birds' semis?

[rjd2]

I've been stood in the rain all day; did anything interesting happen in the birds' semis?

Errani played well but Stosur in the 3rd set after cruising the 2nd set imploded. Serve was erratic and just way to many unforced errors. Errani isn't a ball basher so it was pleasing to see her win. It was one of those games if you liked betting it was a wet dream, impossible to lose money in such a match. I don't mind watching games like that with so many momentum swings as long as it's not a really low standard.

Other match was dull, as both aren't exactly known for their variety. Kvitova was poor the whole way through and sadly her lack of movement really was evident today. She needs to lose a few pounds.

Sharapova was clinical, served much better than usual and actually wasn't broken which was a surprise with Kvitova's big hitting.

Sharapova will probably win the final easily enough, to much power for Errani. I can't warm to Maria so its not something to look forward to.

[rudi]

Hmm, yeah, that's fair enough. Charrrrs. x