2016 ATP General News

[Front242]

My own personal opinion regarding Fed's choice of Ljubicic as coach is that maybe Fed realizes his once deadly forehand has really gone downhill. Ivan had a pretty damn good forehand and his down the line shots were formidable. Just watch the winning shot against Nadal at Indian Wells 2010. He was annihilating him at Madrid 2005 also and really should've won that one. Hopefully he's looking for a guy who had a nice forehand to try and help get that killer shot back. There's not much Roger can do regarding the speed lost due to age as it's obvious he's slower especially running to his forehand side these days, but a good coach who could help him harness back some of the crucial timing he's lost on that shot could work wonders. Cut down on the forehand shanks and Roger would be a real menace to play against even at 35. As things stand now though, his once deadly forehand is pretty pedestrian most of the time and I'm hoping he knows this and wants to do something about it.

Ivan had a pretty deadly serve too but I doubt Roger's changing anything regarding his serve at this stage. The way I see it, Edberg was best known for his great backhand and supreme volleying skills and Roger has noticeably improved his backhand a lot the last few years (even before Edberg joined mind you) and Roger mostly hired Edberg to help with the volleying. He has now greatly improved the backhand and volleying skills and the next and most important shot he needs to improve is the forehand. Cutting down on the shanks and even improving it by a couple of percent would be huge. The margins at the top are so small that less shanks and a couple of % higher consistency in rallies and a better rate of winners off the forehand wing is the difference between losing a tiebreak narrowly to Novak and not losing a set that you could've won except for a forehand that was hit long. Yeah, we remember that one from the USO this year! :nono Hopefully Ivan can help Roger get some of that forehand magic back.

 

[Fiero425]

I think we're exaggerating what can be done for Roger at this stage in his career! They're replaying '09 AO where he's pulling every trick out of his bag just to stay in the match; went 5 and he was playing well! It just wasn't good enough to beat Nadal even though a semi with Verdasco had about "ended him!" Maybe that's why Roger was crying; thought it was a "slam dunk" win after Nadal's troubles getting to the final! ;-(

 

[Front242]

Improving the forehand is definitely not out of the question imo for Roger. He's still hungry to improve. In this case, it's vital to improve what was once a deadly shot and eventhough it'll never be like it was in his prime, even a 3-5% improvement and less shanks would be the difference between winning and losing the most important matches. Break point conversion too is a major weak point in his game for years and the return is mostly not good enough against the best, though he surprises with some crackers at times.

 

[Fiero425]

Improving the forehand is definitely not out of the question imo for Roger. He's still hungry to improve. In this case, it's vital to improve what was once a deadly shot and eventhough it'll never be like it was in his prime, even a 3-5% improvement and less shanks would be the difference between wining and losing the most important matches. Break point conversion too is a major weak point in his game for years and the return is mostly not good enough against the best, though he surprises with some crackers at times.

I think his FH is still quite good! People need to realize who Federer is playing against! Roger's hitting good enough shots, but Nole's the best defender since Nadal in his prime! Donald Dell used a term quite apt when describing Martina Navratilova; "stole a point!" Nole steals points all the time with great returns of serve! I played and "counted" on free points from aces! As a junior, I had little to worry about, but in the adult ranks, they're smarter and got the ball back when others were trying to do too much with the return! That's what this is about; the ability to hang in there and hope the opponent makes a mistake! Roger can't do that; just hang back ripping over his groundstrokes for 20-30 strokes each point! If you look at the matches of Roger and Nole objectively; wasn't that Roger wasn't playing well, Nole just blunted his attack and made him work extra hard! There's really nothing outside of changing the court surface to "panes of glass" to take time away from Rafa and Nole and we know that isn't going to happen anytime soon! :nono :cover

 

[Front242]

Roger was making mince meat out of Novak 2 straight years in a row at the USO only to lose dismally and this was miles outside his prime but his forehand was much better back then. Right now, as good as he still is, that shot is not like it was before and Roger playing at full throttle on offense beats Novak's best defense but without that forehand it's not happening often.

 

[Front242]

Best news so far this year! Following 'break,' Bernardes again umpiring Nadal matches. Time to put the hammer down.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/01/following-break-bernardes-again-umpiring-nadal-matches/57162/#.Vo13j1J2NfI

 

[Front242]

Hope he's present at RG umpiring Novak and Rafa should they meet :snicker

 

[the AntiPusher]

Is today a Nadal fans world wide holiday, I am working from home remotely due to a bad cold. ESPN classic is Showing AO 09 semi finals Rafa vs Verdasco, Rafa vs Federer and 2005 Safin vs Federer while drinking hot toddy lace with Jack Daniels..life is very good:celeb::chillout::chillout:

 

[Carol]

Bah, I'm sure Bernaders will be very careful for "no meter la pata de nuevo" ( don't screw up again) like he usually does

 

[Front242]

Who screws up usually, Nadal? Agreed. We need more umpires enforcing the rules and good to see Carlos back in action and ready to open up a can of whoopass. No one should be allowed stall the game and opponent as much as Nadal does and Bernades is practically the only guy out there stopping that kind of bs and showing why Nadal has earned the nick Spanish bull.

 

[Carol]

Who screws up usually, Nadal? Agreed. We need more umpires enforcing the rules and good to see Carlos back in action and ready to open up a can of whoopass. No one should be allowed stall the game and opponent as much as Nadal does and Bernades is practically the only guy out there stopping that kind of bs and showing why Nadal has earned the nick Spanish bull.

Now that Nadal is playing well then we have to read every single day and every single post of you those kind of comments against him? it sounds very poor and doesn't help to grow up and to bring more posters to I think this very good blog. Two friends of mine and very good tennis followers were thinking to post here but after to read some comments again and again they changed the mind, they don't like to go through certain ridiculous, useless and unnecessary arguments :nono

 

[Carol]

Feli and Marc have won their first title in doubles in Doha, good training for the Olympics 2016

 

[Front242]

Who screws up usually, Nadal? Agreed. We need more umpires enforcing the rules and good to see Carlos back in action and ready to open up a can of whoopass. No one should be allowed stall the game and opponent as much as Nadal does and Bernades is practically the only guy out there stopping that kind of bs and showing why Nadal has earned the nick Spanish bull.

Now that Nadal is playing well then we have to read every single day and every single post of you those kind of comments against him? it sounds very poor and doesn't help to grow up and to bring more posters to I think this very good blog. Two friends of mine and very good tennis followers were thinking to post here but after to read some comments again and again they changed the mind, they don't like to go through certain ridiculous, useless and unnecessary arguments :nono

Wrong I'm afraid. It doesn't sound poor at all. It only sounds true. The truth hurts.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Any news on JMDP?

 

[Carol]

Fast4tennis (Australia vs the World) 2016, Hewitt-kyrgios vs Nadal-Monfils

http://youtu.be/V88Cgy1BHz8

 

[herios]

I was checking the calendar, and I am seeing that Zagreb event in February has been replaced by one in Sofia....Is this change in Grigor's honour, so he can win again a title?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I was checking the calendar, and I am seeing that Zagreb event in February has been replaced by one in Sofia....Is this change in Grigor's honour, so he can win again a title?

Zagreb tourney was getting bankrupt and so they gave it up.

 

[Busted]

Best news so far this year! Following 'break,' Bernardes again umpiring Nadal matches. Time to put the hammer down.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/01/following-break-bernardes-again-umpiring-nadal-matches/57162/#.Vo13j1J2NfI

Somebody get Nadal a new binky. He's probably going to be needing it since Bernardes ain't afraid of him and won't back down.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Best news so far this year! Following 'break,' Bernardes again umpiring Nadal matches. Time to put the hammer down.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2016/01/following-break-bernardes-again-umpiring-nadal-matches/57162/#.Vo13j1J2NfI

Somebody get Nadal a new binky. He's probably going to be needing it since Bernardes ain't afraid of him and won't back down.

On the positive side, Rafa may play few matches this year and so the probability of running into Bernardes may be less. :devil

 

[Carol]

Muzz's father in law was hospitalized yesterday (I don't know exactly the reason), hope he is ok and Muzz can play without any concerns