Roger Federer retires

Yeah yeah I know. It was the US. I was merely pointing out how pathetic some of these next gen players can be from tournament to tournament.

Inconsistent. Why Novak, Rafa, and Roger have dominated for so long.

BAGEL!!!

Vamos Rafa!

6-0 6-2.

Finish it quickly, please. Do NOT let him do the unthinkable...

Nadal lead 3-2 with the break in the 3rd set, but screwed it away. He was also up with that score in the US Open final before being dragged into a 5th set...

Edit - And it's over, thank god.

Rafa destroys Novak 6-0 6-2 7-5!!!

13 French Open titles. 20 overall, tying him with Roger. Novak stays at 17.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 11th 2020 »

Knew he'd win, but geez... Didn't think it would be a slaying...

Rafa FTW! Rafa GOAT!

Finally Novak got exposed in a GS final. Someone was able to play at a better level for more than 60% of the match (Federer and Thiem should've beat him, but weren't consistent enough). I thought when Novak held for 5-4 saving BP he'd steal the set, but thank goodness.

Combine Novak's flukiness with Rafa's GOATness today, and we had a good ol' drubbing.

I can't see Novak getting to 22 GS titles tbh. Rafa WILL win at least another French, getting him to 21. Novak needs 5 more to get to 22.

It would certainly be difficult, especially if Thiem or the Giant can have any sort of consistency. I think Federer has at least one more in him, but that remains to be seen.

Federer either needs a lot of luck at the Australian Open, or needs to win Wimbledon. Those are his last chances ever to win a GS. I can't see him playing and/or being a threat in 2022. In his last 4 Wimbledons, he has:
Lost in 5 sets in the semis after being up 2 sets to 1
Won the tournament convincingly
Lost 13-11 in the 5th set of the quarter finals after having match point in the 3rd
Lost 13-12 in the 5th set of the final after leading 8-7 40-15 and having BP at 11-11

Thiem has finally found the consistency. The problem is that his best slam is the French, where he has a 5% chance of winning. Medvedev has an ugly game which is hopeless on clay and grass, so he only has 2 chances a year. Zverev has a great record against the big 3 (all 3 of them), but he often falls apart in early rounds. Tsitsipas is the same.

AO - Novak
French - Rafa
Wimbledon - Novak
US - Novak, if he avoids injury

I think Rafa might have a shot at the Australian next year, especially if Novak is in his own head after this beating.

The AO just hasn't been Rafa's slam. Only 1 title there despite making a lot of finals. He'll have to hope Novak and Roger lose in the earlier rounds, cause I can't see him beating either on a hard court. Thiem would also be a struggle to play again.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Oct 11th 2020 »

That could actually happen. Federer might not be fully recovered yet, and Novak could be thinking too much about his recent departures from Grand Slams. I'm hoping Rafa can win at least two of the four next year just so Novak doesn't gain any ground.

Almost half way through the first grand slam of the year.

Roger is not playing because he didn't like the sound of the 2 week quarantine & is not 100% fit. Rafa is looking solid as ever. Novak was cruising, until tonight where he got injured and battled to an unlikely 5 set win. I have no doubt he will still win the tournament though. Thiem also just recovered from 2 sets down to beat Kyrgios.

Serena is playing the best I've seen her play for years, but the field is tough. Her side of the draw is stacked, including Naomi Osaka, who is unfortunately looking unstoppable right now.

Djokovic & Osaka should both win the title. But I just do not like either player.

I'm hoping Rafa can win it all. He's on a collusion course for Medevevevevevevelelleleleleldeveve though.

Anyone but Serena or Osaka for the women's side for me. But that seems very unlikely.

Not surprised to see Roger still out.

Are they going to do the regular schedule this year? So French next already?

Since the French Open and US Open were held at the same time new daily cases were spiking, they are almost certain to be held this year when things will be better. Wimbledon will be a question mark. The UK is doing horribly with the virus and has, in my opinion, done even worse than the US, because they have introduced both a long (and ineffective) lockdown, and have also had cases spiking.

On form, Medvedev is the best player in the world right now. At the Year End Championships Nadal choked when serving for the match in the 2nd set of the semi final, and Medvedev was his opponent. Medvedev also thrashed Novak 6-3 6-3 in the group stages, and beat Thiem in the final from a set down.

Having said that, he clowned around today and lost sets 3 and 4 in his match, before randomly bagelling his opponent in the 5th (lol). I'm not sure how he'll do mentally in this GS.

The women's draw is basically split into the top, soft side, and the bottom, stacked side. Basically all the top players except #1 Barty are on the bottom side. So, both Serena and Osaka can't feature in the final. At least 1 will lose.

Relevant players from each side:
Mens side 1 - Djokovic, Thiem, Zverev, Raonic, Dimitrov
Mens side 2 - Nadal, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Rublev

Womens side 1 - Halep, Osaka, Sabalenka, Williams, Muguruza, Swiatek
Womens side 2 - Barty, Svitolina

« Last edited by Matt77 on Feb 13th 2021 »

The Joker has a torn muscle. Wonder if that will force him out.

Rafa keeps winning in straight sets. Hopefully he can keep it up.

Warrior, don't believe anything related to a Novak injury until he actually walks up to the net to retire. He has a history of either faking injury, or exaggerating a minor injury. And in this case, in the 3rd round match where he got injured, he struggled in sets 3 and 4, but then won the 5th set 6-2 in a dominant performance. Then in the 4th round, he easily accounted for his opponent, and was playing at 80-90%. Meanwhile 2 other mens players actually withdrew/retired from their matches with actual abdominal injuries. Novak is still the favourite for the title.

Thiem got thrashed by Dimitrov in straight sets. Physically and mentally he had nothing for that match. A qualifier also came from 2 sets to love down to make the QF.

Sadly Osaka saved 2 match points, then Muguruza choked when serving for the match, and Osaka won the 3rd set 7-5. Serena squeezed past Sabalenka in a 50/50 match.

QFs:

Dimitrov [18] vs Karatsev [Q]
Djokovic [1] vs Zverev [6]

Nadal [2] vs Tsitsipas [5]
Medvedev [4] vs Rublev [7]

Osaka [3] vs Hsieh
Halep [2] vs Williams [11]

Barty [1] vs Muchova [25]
Brady [22] vs Pegula

« Last edited by Matt77 on Feb 15th 2021 »

I'm hoping for Nadal to pull through, but the Giant looks to be playing well. Would love to see that qualifier on the men's side reach the finals. Would be hilarious.

I'm hoping Pegula somehow wins it all for the women's side. Don't care for the Bills, but I like the connection to how she's the owner's daughter. Anyone outside of Osaka and Williams will do though.

Osaka cruised through, as expected, 6-2 6-2. Serena played a good match to beat world #2 Halep 6-3 6-3. Muchova took a medical timeout trailing 1-6 1-2*, and then came back to win 1-6 6-3 6-2 against world #1 Barty.

Brady once again beat Buffalo xD

Womens semis are:
Osaka v Williams
Brady v Muchova

Dimitrov picked up a bad back injury, and his pain killers wore off at the start of the 3rd set. Pre-injury it was already 1 set all. But Karatsev continues the fairytale run with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 win.

Novak meanwhile is a disgrace. He's been making comments about how he'd be in doubt for his matches and how he is carrying an injury. He then started the match playing ultra-aggressive; not his usual game style, and one that suggested he was injured & needed to shorten points. Then he randomly decided to play like normal, and dominated. He was playing at 100% full fitness. He also randomly sat down at the back of the court when Zverev was stepping up to serve. All mind games.

Put it this way. In the 3rd round Novak picked up a minor injury, the pain killers saved him in the 5th set, then in 2 days' time in the 4th round he was back to 80-90%. Then 2 more days later, he was back to 100%. If it was an actual abdominal injury, he would've retired as 2 other male players were forced to.

Mens semis are:
Djokovic v Karatsev
Nadal/Tsitsipas v Medvedev