ATP World Tour Finals 2017, London, UK

[Busted]

Cilic lost to Zverev in 3 after having a break in the 3rd. He just lost to Sock in a 3rd set tie-breaker. Let's see if he pulls out with a knee injury now...

 

[Busted]

Is it just me, or is Cilic hard to cheer for? I'm also glad to see him (almost certainly) falling out of his group, because he's one of the only real threats to Roger.

I get frustrated watching him because he can hit huge and serve big...but can't construct a point for shite. I really don't expect him to be Top 10 next year. He just seems to be lacking fire right now. I don't think he's been the same since his big Wimbledon meltdown.

 

[Moxie]

Is it just me, or is Cilic hard to cheer for? I'm also glad to see him (almost certainly) falling out of his group, because he's one of the only real threats to Roger.

No, I do, too. Even if he was, theoretically, one of the bigger threats to Roger here. And that pre-dates his drug issue. Besides the fact that he's nearly personality-free, I find him mostly to be a bit of a folder...USO title notwithstanding.

 

[Moxie]

So much for my prediction of Cilic finishing second in the group. With two losses in the book and the unplayed match being against Fed, Cilic has almost no chance now. I should junk my current crystal ball, buy a new one on black Friday.

Given his record against his group, I thought you were just perversely contradicting Tignor, whom you cited.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Did Nadal get any points for playing yesterday? If not and Roger wins YEC and gets the full 1500 then it is about a 150 point gap and then Roger could choose to play Doha to go after #1 instead of playing the Hopman Cup

No, Rafa does not get any points for playing in YEC. In YEC, you get points only for winning a match and not for participating. You get money for participating, even if you lose all matches.

I like your idea. If Roger goes undefeated at WTF, he need only 150 points more to overtake Rafa in rankings. It is best to try for that before AO as if he cannot defend AO, the points needed for him to overtake will only be increasing. However, I am not sure whether Roger himself or anyone from his team does this sort of calculations. I have a feeling he will stick to Hopman cup as he promised them. But, I would join you in urging him to consider Doha if he goes undefeated at WTF. He does not even need to win Doha, he just needs to reach the finals to get the 150 points needed.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Given his record against his group, I thought you were just perversely contradicting Tignor, whom you cited.

No, Cilic has generally a good pedigree on indoor courts. I based my prediction on it.

 

[Fiero425]

So much for my prediction of Cilic finishing second in the group. With two losses in the book and the unplayed match being against Fed, Cilic has almost no chance now. I should junk my current crystal ball, buy a new one on black Friday.

That's why it's sorta strange to see Cilic in the top 10 to even qualify for the YEC, but he's comparable to past "also-rans" like Berdych & Ferrer except he lucked into a major win 3 years ago at the USO! I like Cilic enough! He's not a jerk, but he's hard to root for for the same reason; an inability to sustain his shot-making and finish off players!

 

[shawnbm]

I always findi these back and forths mto be amusing . In my teens my favorite was Jimmy Connors— basically because Jimmy was able to beat the great Swedish player of that time in the big matches . I loved his tenacity. Now, I prefer to watch Borg play his matches from the past as I have reconciled myself to his greatness notwithstanding that he often was a challenge to my favorite player. It’s the same with Rafael Nadal. The man is incredible. I prefer to watch Roger Federer hit a tennis ball and glide around the court and hit amazing shots. Yet, the tenacity of Rafa Nadal is undeniable and I Admire him greatly. Everybody needs to relax. No matter how you cut it, Rafael is a tremendous player and very exciting To watch. I love to watch him play a tennis match precisely because I used to love watching Jimmy Connors. He gives you 150% every day. He hits amazing shots. He is a baseliner, that is true, but baseline tennis with that shot making, particularly with passing shots, is exciting. Folks need to give it a rest. The day Rafael Nadal is no longer here, will be a sad day. And likewise it will be a very sad when Roger Federer is not playing. Enjoy it everybody

 

[Busted]

About the rotating surfaces idea: I would support clay: Indoor BLUE clay. Oh, and a big FUCK YOU for the ones who don't like the Surface. Yeah, I AM feeling classy todas.


P.S. ATP Must think globally and change the Surface of the YEC does hamper the leading events.

Did you see what Roger said at his press conference when he was asked about Nadal saying he'd never won the WTF because it's not on clay and the questioner wanted to know if Roger thought it should occasionally be played on clay? I LMAO because Roger said - there's not a whole lot of indoors events, there's no grass Masters, there's aonly 1 indoors Masters (I might add that there are 3 on clay) and it's not the right season for clay - unless you did indoor clay. BUT...he sees Rafa's point. I kinda took as, "We're not back to this shite again, are we Rafa?"

It's at the 7:48 mark -



I also saw another interview where Roger said that he heard they've sped the court up from last few years because the matches were too one-sided and not close enough. Well...they're certainly close this year. So far there have been 5 singles matches and 4 have gone 3 sets. Roger's match against Sock being the exception. Is that really due to the faster surface or the more mediocre players compared to previous years? I vote for the latter.

 

[Busted]

No, I do, too. Even if he was, theoretically, one of the bigger threats to Roger here. And that pre-dates his drug issue. Besides the fact that he's nearly personality-free, I find him mostly to be a bit of a folder...USO title notwithstanding.

Question - do you think he'd have won more Slams if he hadn't parted company with Goran Ivanesivc? I ask because Goran clearly got him to play at a higher level - and that's been missing since they quit working together. Even at Wimbledon I never really felt like he was close to winning even though he was in the final.

 

[Busted]

No, Rafa does not get any points for playing in YEC. In YEC, you get points only for winning a match and not for participating. You get money for participating, even if you lose all matches.

I like your idea. If Roger goes undefeated at WTF, he need only 150 points more to overtake Rafa in rankings. It is best to try for that before AO as if he cannot defend AO, the points needed for him to overtake will only be increasing. However, I am not sure whether Roger himself or anyone from his team does this sort of calculations. I have a feeling he will stick to Hopman cup as he promised them. But, I would join you in urging him to consider Doha if he goes undefeated at WTF. He does not even need to win Doha, he just needs to reach the finals to get the 150 points needed.

See the interview I just posted - He was asked if he regrets that Nadal has #1 locked up. That's at about the 6:05 mark. He basically that at his age if #1 comes to him, great, if not - he's not going to chase it. So if he runs the tables at the WTF and gets 1500 points - he's unlikely to play a regular event before the AO just so he can earn 150 points and be #1 for 1 week. Nadal is supposed to play Brisbane and if he wins that he'd be right back to #1. I think Roger's fans want to see him back at #1 more than he wants to chase it. And I doubt the difference between being the #1 and #2 seed at the AO is worth the hassle.

 

[Busted]

Here we go again. Didn’t Guga win the WTF? If he could do it, I suggest Rafa puts on his man pants, take a break from picking his beautiful azz and get on with it. I’ve never heard another multi-slam winner (or his fans) whinge so much about surfaces! And I don’t know any other great who’s benefitted so much from a specific surface. It’s unbecoming

Reminds me of when Lendl used to say he was allergic to grass and would skip Wimbledon or lose early...and then spend the week golfing instead. He eventually sucked it up and got to a few finals but never won it...but he stopped whining about the damned grass.

 

[Fiero425]

Reminds me of when Lendl used to say he was allergic to grass and would skip Wimbledon or lose early...and then spend the week golfing instead. He eventually sucked it up and got to a few finals but never won it...but he stopped whining about the damned grass.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! Maybe you're thinking of Agassi because no one tried harder than Lendl to win Wimbledon and he was rarely if ever upset usually making his appointed rounds; 2 SF & 2 Finals! Few can sport as good a record as Ivan even though at a terribly disadvantage being a baseliner! He was just unlucky enough to not only have to deal with the slick and choppy grass, he endured the play of the surface's greatest champions in Becker, Edberg, Connors, Cash, & McEnroe!

 

[Busted]

Speaking of whinging about surfaces. Somehow, it's OK to complain about Nadal doing so well on clay, (1/3 of the calendar,) but not to suggest that the YEC be played on rotating surfaces. Never any mention of players benefitting from 2/3 (or slightly more, as to Majors + YEC) of the year being played on HCs.

Look at it this way - back in the day 3 of the 4 majors were played on grass. You don't hear Roger whining because they changed 2 of 3 to hard courts, do you? But, then again, he can play on all 4 surfaces. Even if he did lose 4 French finals to Nadal - he's been in 5 finals and won 1. So no offense to Nadal, but - suck it up, buttercup. There's clay tournaments from the first week of Feb through the last week of July. So that's 6 months 1/2 of the year, not 1/3. Nadal can play on clay nearly every week for 5 out of 6 months (excluding IW and Miami weeks) and amass a 50-0 record. There are 6 weeks of grass court tournaments and 2 of those weeks are dedicated to 1 event. The 6th week is the Hall of Fame 250 event that top guys all skip. So the fact that the rest of the reason is hard courts? I'm breaking out my little tiny violins for Rafa (and his fans).

 

[Busted]

It's not a "stupid" idea. It doesn't suit you. I'm saying that the commentators also thought it would be good. If you stop thinking of the YEC as an extension of the indoor HC season, and see it as a moveable and stand-alone, there's no reason not to make it rotating. Look, Darth, by the time it ever got effected, it wouldn't matter to Roger or Rafa, anyway, so, if you can release your own self-interest, why not a rotating YEC, in different venues and on different surfaces?

Let's look at this realistically - and that means M-O-N-E-Y. The WTF is in London for one simple reason - as was disclosed when the contract was renewed in 2015 - IT'S MAKING THE ATP A SHITE LOAD OF MONEY TO KEEP IT IN LONDON.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/12/tennis-atp-world-finals-o2-london-contract

The ATP World Tour Finals, which start in London on Sunday, will remain in the capital until 2018, it was confirmed on Thursday.

At the official reception at City Hall to greet the leading eight players in the world, the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode, welcomed the move as a logical extension of the success of the tournament at the O2 Arena in Greenwich over the past six years.

The alternatives were taking the event to Asia, where it has been held before – in Shanghai – or Europe, but the economic imperatives for keeping it in London were overwhelming.

With two sellout sessions every day for a week in a setting that holds 20,000 spectators, the discussion on where it should be held were brief – and that despite the pending cessation of Barclays’ long-running contract.

“We are delighted to have reached an agreement which will see the tournament celebrate its 10th successive year in London in 2018,” said Kermode.

“The tournament has been a spectacular success since moving to the O2 in 2009, generating record crowds, incredible atmospheres and a soaring worldwide TV audience which broke the 100 million mark for the first time last year.”

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Page error at espn watch. Help!

 

[Moxie]

See the interview I just posted - He was asked if he regrets that Nadal has #1 locked up. That's at about the 6:05 mark. He basically that at his age if #1 comes to him, great, if not - he's not going to chase it. So if he runs the tables at the WTF and gets 1500 points - he's unlikely to play a regular event before the AO just so he can earn 150 points and be #1 for 1 week. Nadal is supposed to play Brisbane and if he wins that he'd be right back to #1. I think Roger's fans want to see him back at #1 more than he wants to chase it. And I doubt the difference between being the #1 and #2 seed at the AO is worth the hassle.

You make a good point. Also, it makes very little sense, as they'd be 1 & 2 going into the AO in either case, so no real motivation for overplaying. Darth and maybe GSM were angry at Roger for overplaying at Montreal for the sake of #1. I don't really get the reversal, with so much less to gain.

 

[Moxie]

Page error at espn watch. Help!

Ace from Sasha and shank return from Roger to bring on the breaker.

 

[Federberg]

That was a cracker. Roger got a couple of flukey net cords that helped. This young kid is a problem!

 

[Federberg]

You make a good point. Also, it makes very little sense, as they'd be 1 & 2 going into the AO in either case, so no real motivation for overplaying. Darth and maybe GSM were angry at Roger for overplaying at Montreal for the sake of #1. I don't really get the reversal, with so much less to gain.

I was angry he played Montreal because I felt Cincy would be a better warm up for him. I don't care a hoot about yearend no 1. The man is the all time leader in weeks which is a greater reflection of dominance in my view