CLAY SEASON - General Discussion

[Moxie]

I think people can tell by their own eyes that there's zero chance in hell she's only 70kg and probably not since she was 15 years old. Most of the Google weight results are wrong for every player btw. She's definitely well over 80kg but not 90kg.

That wasn't really the point.

 

[Mastoor]

LOL I guess everyone expects this clay season to be as boring as any other when Nole wasn't in form when you talk about Serena's weight and Tiriak's sexism in clay season thread instead of anything remotely related to the topic.

Lets give Nadal all the titles and fast forward to grass.

 

[Moxie]

LOL I guess everyone expects this clay season to be as boring as any other when Nole wasn't in form when you talk about Serena's weight and Tiriak's sexism in clay season thread instead of anything remotely related to the topic.

Lets give Nadal all the titles and fast forward to grass.

I could be OK with that.

 

[Mastoor]

I could be OK with that.

Seems everyone would be OK with that because I don't see anyone proposing any opposition.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Seems everyone would be OK with that because I don't see anyone proposing any opposition.

I think it would be nice if Rafa wins all the clay titles except one. viz., RG.

 

[Moxie]

Seems everyone would be OK with that because I don't see anyone proposing any opposition.

I was going to respond with "just wait for it," but apparently it only took 3 minutes.

 

[Moxie]

Given how Rafa looked in Valencia over the weekend, and the competition available, it really should be about how he manages his clay season.

 

[Andy22]

The way Nadal played in the Davis cup, I can not see losing in Monte Carlo, not even thiem can beat him.

 

[mrzz]

It doesn't matter how many times reality have proved you guys wrong, you keep thinking tennis is completely predictable. I will quote back my own post after the clay season ends...

And, no, I am not saying that Nadal is not the favorite on all clay tournaments.

 

[Andy22]

It doesn't matter how many times reality have proved you guys wrong, you keep thinking tennis is completely predictable. I will quote back my own post after the clay season ends...

And, no, I am not saying that Nadal is not the favorite on all clay tournaments.

It is then comes to the king of clay, Nadal and the clay court season, it is the most predictable thing in sport.

 

[Mastoor]

We brought the conversation back to the topic. Are there any other players you think may make some impact during clay season? I didn't really watch much tennis in recent months. I saw Federer in great form, but he won't play. I know Del Potro and Isner won last two Masters and I am happy for them, but they are both hard court players.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

We brought the conversation back to the topic. Are there any other players you think may make some impact during clay season? I didn't really watch much tennis in recent months. I saw Federer in great form, but he won't play. I know Del Potro and Isner won last two Masters and I am happy for them, but they are both hard court players.

Well, the general consensus seems to be that Thiem will make some noise. Fog on a good day might cause an upset. At any rate, I think if Rafa does not win a particular tourney, it will be mostly due to Rafa slipping than somebody stepping up. In particular, I think if Rafa slips in a clay tourney this season, most probably the winner of that tourney will be someone other than who took out Rafa.

 

[Moxie]

We brought the conversation back to the topic. Are there any other players you think may make some impact during clay season? I didn't really watch much tennis in recent months. I saw Federer in great form, but he won't play. I know Del Potro and Isner won last two Masters and I am happy for them, but they are both hard court players.

I think these have been mentioned earlier, but keep an eye on Diego Schwartzman, Nicolas Jarry (young Chilean who has had a pretty good year so far, and mostly on clay in South America.) Also, David Ferrer won a tight deciding match at DC last weekend. This could be the confidence boost that he needs for the clay season, however much he'd been fading a bit recently. As to Isner and Del Potro, both have had successes on clay. Isner has beaten Roger on the dirt, and is the only guy until Nole to take Rafa to 5 at RG. The clay gives him a little time, which, maybe counter-intuitively, seems to suit him. DelPo is not planning to play a heavy schedule on clay, btw.

 

[herios]

There is no doubt some names will come into discussion . In the absence of Wawrinka, Federer, Murray and with a subpar Novak, there is a lot of room at least to make a SF in a master or slam.
We have seen all kind of surprises this year in the first 3 big events. More to come I think.
Even if Nadal will win them, I have hard time seeing only Thiem in those finals along with him.
Not to speak that Thiem was injured at IW and we don't know in what shape he will be in a few weeks.

 

[Moxie]

It doesn't matter how many times reality have proved you guys wrong, you keep thinking tennis is completely predictable. I will quote back my own post after the clay season ends...

And, no, I am not saying that Nadal is not the favorite on all clay tournaments.

I say the same thing, too. It is a lack of imagination that leads us to think that what happened last year will happen this year. Djokovic is the poster child for that not being the case. However, as you say, it doesn't mean that Rafa is not the formidable best on clay. Same as Roger on grass. And let's not forget how few surprises we've gotten over the last decade +. I think we're entering the shake-up years, but as long as Rafa and Roger are playing well, frankly, reality hasn't proved us too wrong.

 

[Moxie]

There is no doubt some names will come into discussion . In the absence of Wawrinka, Federer, Murray and with a subpar Novak, there is a lot of room at least to make a SF in a master or slam.
We have seen all kind of surprises this year in the first 3 big events. More to come I think.
Even if Nadal will win them, I have hard time seeing only Thiem in those finals along with him.
Not to speak that Thiem was injured at IW and we don't know in what shape he will be in a few weeks.

There are a lot of solid clay contenders that are out, or not reliable, as you mention. I don't think Thiem is ready to carry the season alone, beyond Nadal. He's good on clay, but not quite as sturdy as we'd hoped. I think there will be noise made by some of the solid clay-courters, as mentioned above. Interestingly, no one is mentioning Sasha Zverev, even though he won Rome last year. He seems to be in an unpredictable period. I wonder if Lendl really is going to take him on.

 

[mrzz]

I say the same thing, too. It is a lack of imagination that leads us to think that what happened last year will happen this year. Djokovic is the poster child for that not being the case. However, as you say, it doesn't mean that Rafa is not the formidable best on clay. Same as Roger on grass. And let's not forget how few surprises we've gotten over the last decade +. I think we're entering the shake-up years, but as long as Rafa and Roger are playing well, frankly, reality hasn't proved us too wrong.

Yes it did: Talking about current decade:

In 2017 no one saw neither Federer nor Nadal coming. They both did.
In 2016 no one saw Murray turning the tables over Djokovic, stepping up to #1 by winning a major and YEC
In 2015 no one saw Wawrinka winning the French
In 2014 no one saw Wawrinka and Cilic winning majors
In 2013 no one saw Nadal storming back as he did (not even his rational fans, sorry to put it that bluntly)
In 2012 maybe nothing strange happened, I do not remember
In 2011 no one saw Djokovic coming.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Yes it did: Talking about current decade:

In 2017 no one saw neither Federer nor Nadal coming. They both did.
In 2016 no one saw Murray turning the tables over Djokovic, stepping up to #1 by winning a major and YEC
In 2015 no one saw Wawrinka winning the French
In 2014 no one saw Wawrinka and Cilic winning majors
In 2013 no one saw Nadal storming back as he did (not even his rational fans, sorry to put it that bluntly)
In 2011 no one saw Djokovic coming.

Absolutely not. Millions of people watched these matches. Otherwise, Tennis establishments won't be making money.

 

[Moxie]

Yes it did: Talking about current decade:

In 2017 no one saw neither Federer nor Nadal coming. They both did.
In 2016 no one saw Murray turning the tables over Djokovic, stepping up to #1 by winning a major and YEC
In 2015 no one saw Wawrinka winning the French
In 2014 no one saw Wawrinka and Cilic winning majors
In 2013 no one saw Nadal storming back as he did (not even his rational fans, sorry to put it that bluntly)
In 2012 maybe nothing strange happened, I do not remember
In 2011 no one saw Djokovic coming.

I love ya @mrzz, but we're not talking about anyone really coming out of left field here, except Cilic. And he's proven himself since by making 2 other finals at Majors. Where is the real upset of the status quo?

 

[herios]

Absolutely not. Millions of people watched these matches. Otherwise, Tennis establishments won't be making money.

What are you talking about?