Roger Federer retires

I think Rafa will still finish with more than Federer, but I would like to see Roger get one more Wimbledon. Only question is how many will Novak try to obtain. 30?

Why have Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and williams been so dominant the last twenty years that no other player in Tennis history can claim to have maintained the same level of success. The player who is next and not close to those four is Martina Navatalovia during the 70s and 80s. Is it just a fluke that four players of that calibre have come to the forefront at the same time or is there a reason?

Warrior - Novak won't get anywhere near that number. He's 34 and is already declining. He shouldn't have even won these recent slams:
2021 French Open - Mussetti choked a 2 sets to love lead, Rafa choked a 1 set to love lead, and Tsitsipas choked a 2 sets to love lead
2021 Australian Open - Fritz choked vs an injured Novak, and Zverev choked multiple set leads
2020 Australian Open - Thiem choked a 2 sets to 1 and break point lead
2019 Wimbledon - Roger choked an 8-7 40-15 lead

Dennis - During Roger, Rafa and Novak's peaks, the large majority of their rivals were either chokers, or just weren't good enough. The only players who overcame those struggles were Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. The only other player capable of challenging them is Nick Kyrgios.
As for Serena, her main 'rival' was Sharapova, who choked a chance to lead the H2H 2-0 and then never recovered mentally and couldn't ever beat her again. Azarenka challenged Serena, but always just fell short in slams (apart from the 2020 US Open Semi).

tl;dr - Most players weren't mentally capable of challenging them.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Aug 29th 2021 »

What do you think will be the final grand slam totals for the big three?

That's interesting, so Tennis is very similar to Boxing which is usually dominated by the mentally stronger fighter and not the most skilled or stronger one.
So Federer would have the same effect on a Tennis player as Mike Tyson had on Boxers.

I think Ali faced a little tougher foes over Federer. Before Nadal broke on the scene, who was really rivaling Federer?

Good point, it was Federer who retired Sampras. The only other players I can think of who were good around that time are Andre Agassi and Boris Becker. Both were a little past their best

Exactly. Obviously it has been tough with Nadal and Novak as he as aged, but the first half of his career saw a large gap between Federer and the second best.

Osaka loses to some teenager. Hilarious. She's definitely a head case. Up one set but imploded when the second went to a tiebreaker.

Yep, Osaka had faced zero break points all match, served for the match at 7-5 6-5, got broken immediately, and then fell apart mentally. Mentally she came back, but was already down 0-2 in the 3rd and couldn't break back. Fernandez is 18 and played very well though.

Osaka has a problem with left-handed players. The last 3 players she has lost to, have been left handed. Also this is the first time in years that Osaka has lost a GS match after winning the 1st set, let alone serving for it. In her press conference she said she doesn't enjoy tennis, and isn't sure when she'll play a match next.

Honestly, she should take a year-long break. She needs a circuit breaker. World #1 Barty took an 18-month break when she was younger and battling real mental health issues, and when she came back she went from a no-name to becoming world #1.

In other news, Stefanos Tsitsipas has recently been taking 10+ minute bathroom breaks and texting his dad/coach during them. Andy Murray almost beat him, but Tsitsipas took a bathroom break after losing the 3rd set and stopped Murray's momentum.

Thankfully 18-year old Spaniad Carlos Alcaraz beat him in a 5th set tiebreak. He is very, very good.

Sanzano

On July 12th, Sanzano said:

Matt give me the name of the next woman's and men's superstar. Someone for me to keep an eye on as they rise through the ranks.

On July 12th, I said:

Future - Carlos Alcaraz (18yr old Spaniad, current world #72, 1 GS 4R)
Carlos Alcaraz is a very good player given his age. He first played in a senior GS when he was 17, which is unheard of these days. He's already reached a 4th round of the French Open.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 4th 2021 »

I heard about what that guy was doing. Pathetic. I get it is in the rules, but everyone thinks you are using it to cheaply to your advantage. Some think he is even cheating by using his phone when in the restroom.

Some upsets, but this tournament has been a pretty consistent one. Apart from Barty choking a 5-2 double break lead in the final set (served for the match twice). Thank god she won Wimbledon, otherwise that would've been a devastating loss.

Zverev and Djokovic lost the first sets in their previous round, but comfortably recovered.

Someone has to take out Novak soon. When he goes deep in a tournament, he usually always wins it.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 6th 2021 »

He is winning. No doubt.

Novak survived a scare after losing the first set 1-6 against unseeded American Jenson Brooksby. From the sounds of it it was a very physical and long match despite it being 4 straight forward sets.

British 18-year old qualifier destroyed Barty-slayer Shelby Rodgers. She has not lost a set in 7 matches here, and in both of her last 2 matches she has won 11 games in a row. 3 months ago she was ranked 350 in the world.
6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1

Quarterfinals:

Mens:

Medvedev (2) vs van de Zandschulp (Q)

Auger-Aliassime (12) vs Alcaraz

-------------------------------------------

Djokovic (1) vs Berrettini (6)

Zverev (4) vs Harris


Womens:

Sabalenka (2) vs Krejcikova (8)

Svitolina (5) vs Fernandez

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Pliskova (4) vs Sakkari (17)

Bencic (11) vs Raducanu (Q)

Novak winning despite the first set woes.

Surely there must be sone kind of rule stating no mobiles during games. It just seems ludicrous that the player can call a time out to have a dump when he is in trouble during a game but before going to the restroom he can go through his bag to find his mobile and is allowed to take it with him. Can you imagine what John McEnroe would have said if an opponent tried to pull that stunt with him, he would have gone berserk. Or even Jimmy Conners, another super serious competitor who didn't suffer fools trying to play mind games with him.

Good call Matt on that young Spaniard, he may even become Nadals successor. I remember when Nadal came on the scene, there was a lot talk about him, hopefully this kid can represent Spain for the next couple of decades. At least he has a decent name I will be able to remember.

« Last edited by Sanzano on Sep 9th 2021 »

Yeah, cell phones are a no-no. But people think he his by the number of bathroom breaks the due has had.

Novak wins again. He looks unstoppable despite always losing one set.

Mens semis are set:

Djokovic vs Zverev

Medvedev vs Auger-Aliassime

On paper Zverev should be the slight favourite. Right now, Zverev is also the better tennis player. But Novak is by far the superior player mentally. If Zverev keeps his composure he will win, potentially in straight sets. But any drop in his level will be punished.

British qualifier Emma Raducanu has now won 9 consecutive matches and 18 consecutive sets, playing zero tiebreaks and only having one of her 18 sets go to 7-5 (one of her qualifying matches). She destroyed top 15 player Maria Sakkari in the semi. She is the first male or female in the open era to make a GS final as a qualifier. Stunning. And she's 18 years old.

19-year old Canadian Osaka-slayer Leylah Fernandez has also reached the final, stunning world #2 Sabalenka in 3 sets. These have been her last 4 matches:
R3 vs Osaka (4-time GS winner) - Trailed 5-7 5-6 and broke Osaka when she was serving for the match
R4 vs Kerber (3-time GS winner) - Trailed 4-6 6-6 and had to play a tiebreak to stay in the tournament
QF vs Svitolina (top 5 player) - Was 2 points from defeat when scores were 5-5 in the 3rd set tiebreak
SF vs Sabalenka (world #2) - Trailed 1-4 in the 1st set (which she narrowly won) and ended up losing the 2nd set

Novak versus Medvedev. Mark it down. Novak wins in four or five.

Medvedev easily accounted for Auger Aliassime 6-4 7-5 6-2. He has lost 1 set the entire tournament (to a qualifier in R4).

Novak beat Zverev 4-6 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-2 in a battle. Sadly Zverev's choking came back. These were the key moments where he fell down again:
- After winning the 1st set he lead 30-15 on Novak's serve in the first game. He then inexplicably hit the net and blew the chance to break. And then he got broken immediately and all momentum went to Novak
- In the 3rd set he had 3 break point chances in 2 service games. He missed them all, and then at 4-5 got broken to lose the set
- In the 5th set (and most important set of his career) he played very poor to go down 0-5. By the time he woke up, it was too late

Novak - 6/9 break points converted
Zverev - 3/12 break points converted

Novak is an awful matchup for Medvedev. He crushed Medvedev in Australia, and it will be a similar result. Medvedev has had an extremely cakewalk draw.