2016 ATP General News

[Kieran]

^^ It's ironic a Federer fan moaning about players benefiting from other players absence/injuries... :cover

Care to name a single tournament you think Nadal was going to win that he didn't play? 'cos I can't think of any.

I'm gonna let that one drift along with the tide, brother, because I know that you're hurting, I know how much the rest of Ireland is suffering - outside of Dublin!

#coybib :celeb: :clap :celeb:

 

[isabelle]

Thiem pulled out of Shanghai

 

[Fiero425]

Thiem pulled out of Shanghai

I'm sure I heard someone tell him he was overplaying! He was not only playing more tournaments, he was winning so next year will have a big, fat question mark over it IMO! :nono :angel:

 

[Kieran]

I think Thiem might be one of those lads who'd benefit now from a Big Time coach, to work with the backwoods bloke who's steered him so far...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Thiem pulled out of Shanghai

He lost in the first round this week and so Rafa has already overtaken him in the race also. Thiem is now #8 in the race and may lose his spot at the WTF as he is missing the 1000 Shanghai.

 

[Carol]

Federer will be attending the official Opening of Rafa's Academy in a couple of weeks. Roger will be the special guest among many others.
I think that Rafa is more focused on his Academy which seems to be his priority than on his own game

 

[herios]

Thiem pulled out of Shanghai

He lost in the first round this week and so Rafa has already overtaken him in the race also. Thiem is now #8 in the race and may lose his spot at the WTF as he is missing the 1000 Shanghai.

Thiem had a great first 6 months, since June he is quite underwhelming.

 

[isabelle]

Stan'll play Brisbane 2017

 

[Carol]

Good luck Rafa with that great Academy but after the Opening please come back to the game :celeb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WuBn2kQ3BA#action=share

 

[the AntiPusher]

Good luck Rafa with that great Academy but after the Opening please come back to the game :celeb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WuBn2kQ3BA#action=share

Come back with a new tennis game is my thoughts.

 

[Carol]

Good luck Rafa with that great Academy but after the Opening please come back to the game :celeb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WuBn2kQ3BA#action=share

Come back with a new tennis game is my thoughts.

I would ask for a better serve and above everything a renewed mentality

 

[Front242]

His problems aren't mental...

 

[10isfan]

I wonder why he is opening his academy now. What is the harm in waiting until he retires so he does not get distracted from the tour? This is an odd decision unless he is planning to retire very soon. I think he should play doubles all year and singles during the clay season. He is an exceptional doubles player.

 

[Kieran]

He's opening the Academy because he believes in it. It's not a retirement toy, it's an urgent and honest endeavour to give something back.

As for his problems, a large part of them is mental...

 

[the AntiPusher]

He's opening the Academy because he believes in it. It's not a retirement toy, it's an urgent and honest endeavour to give something back.

As for his problems, a large part of them is mental...

Rafa has large gaps in his current game which diminishes his mental confidence. Fix his serve, ROS and a FH hit with that can stay consistently somewhere between the service line and the baseline
("no-mans land" or "dead-mans land" on the court? ... It's the area on court between the baseline and the service line). and his mental confidence will begin to ascend back to the top.

The theory against Rafa these days is that his ball is consistently dropping short when it does blast it and come in to the net. I saw it first hand in 2015 vs FeLi in Cincy. Rafa lost in a tiebreaker which cost me front row seats to see a north American FEDAL(well in the qtrs) , darn it.

 

[10isfan]

Nadal's problem is age. He is one percent weaker and slower. That translates to losses which did not happen in his physical prime.

 

[Carol]

Well, at the end Rafa has decided to play the rest of this year, his first tournament will be in Basilea singles and doubles too con Nenad Zimonlic (I have not any idea who is that player)

 

[Front242]

^ Nenad Zimonjić is a very good doubles player or was as he's pushing on now at age 40. He's won 3 doubles slams.

 

[Carol]

^ Nenad Zimonjić is a very good doubles player or was as he's pushing on now at age 40. He's won 3 doubles slams.

Thanks for that information

 

[delPoFearhand]

Kyrgios assigned additional punishment by the ATP, $25,000 fine on top of the $16,500 already assessed and a 8 week/reducible to 3-week suspension if he enters a plan of care under the direction of a sports psychologist.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atp-sanctions-kyrgios-2016

Kyrgios' response via his website:
http://nickkyrgios.org/statement-on-atp-decision/

My take: I think this puts the punishment right around where it should be, with a reasonable "carrot" to try to help him back onto the competitive path. As always, I don't think anyone, including Nick himself, can predict what we'll see from him in the next (pick a time period).

From a money side, he made $35,845 from playing at Shanghai, but now will be fined a total of $41,500. In addition, consider that he will now not be able to make any money at Basel or Paris, where he would get a guaranteed 12,035€ and 25,650€ respectively ($13,242 and $28,222), so overall this incident has left him down a minimum $47,119- which is a lot less to him than to us, but nobody likes to lose $50k in 47 minutes. Especially when you consider he could have theoretically made a lot more money at Basel & Paris if he is in the right headspace to make a deep run, so the $ loss "could" be much higher.

With regards to the suspension, I think it is the right amount of time. Even the full 8 weeks would let him return with for the AO, which I think is fair- I don't think he should be forced to miss a major for this. The next time he does something like this, though, would be a different story. But taking a long break will be good for him, and hopefully he will elect the option to consult a sports psychologist so he can be back for the full tournament swing in his home country.

I like that the ATP is trying to get him to get someone to help, but I hope they are doing more for him privately- I think what he needs most can only be addressed out of the spotlight. However, I understand that the ATP needed to show publicly that they are trying to help due to the comments from multiple people in the sport (Andy being the most prominent). That I think was a great practical effect of Andy's comments- he forced the ATP to take public steps to help.

About his statement- I hope he means it, and that isn't just something typed up by his agent/PR reps. I'm willing to continue to assume he does mean it for now. But my patience is certainly being tested.