Internazionali BNL d'Italia- Rome ATP1000 - 14th May to 21st May

[britbox]

No..when you see someone that does something at an advanced age that never been done before.. it brings up red flags.. ask Kieran about it

Rosewall did it.

 

[Moxie]

Rosewall did it.

Well, against a bunch of smoking, drinking club guys who came from one small gene pool.

 

[Moxie]

Shaky start from Novak. TTC says that if Zverev wins he'll be the first MS 1000 winner born in the 90s, (@El Dude would like that,) and that he'll get into the top 10?

 

[kskate2]

Alex grabs the early break 3-1

 

[Moxie]

Nerves of steel on the kid at 15-30 to break out that drop shot. Nice feel, too. Good hold there.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Where's the delete button.. i want to reneg on my prediction Djoker may destroy Sasha,

 

[Moxie]

Novak is pissed off at something, too. Really yammering. Not all psychological issues got fixed by a win yesterday.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Alex grabs the early break 3-1

When did Novak began a match slicing his backhand..this isnt the same guy that faced Thiem last night

 

[DarthFed]

I know I and others have had this argument with Darth for years.. Rafa and Novak became better on the grass but never as dominant as ROger but good enough to level the playing field against the big servers with fantastic ability to return of serve and extend the point.

Remember Darth.. 2003-2007 was dominated by Roger. If you recall Rafa made three straight Wimbledon finals as a young 20 year old player.. Toni and Rafa studied ROger every move. They tweaked Rafa's game such as adding slice, serving up the T and exploited Roger's slice backhand. This is where my friend you do Rafa a tremendous disservice saying that Roger had no business loosing to Nadal. The same can be said about AO 2017, Rafa had no business loosing that final but Roger and team had a better strategic game plan that was executed to perfection by Roger. Novak studied how Rafa was able to break thru, dissected his game and was able to catch Roger on the wrong side of 30..

A Murray had it easier.. never had to deal with Rafa who game had slid due to injuries and lost confidence plus totally out classed by players who exploited his unagressive style of play.. an aging Federer but a Novak at the top of his game. It will continue this year if the big 4 plus Stan remain healthy.

There is no decent argument about it though. The change in grass benefited guys who prefer a slower and higher-bouncing surface. If the tour was still playing on the grass seen before 2001 I doubt Nole and Rafa combine for 5 Wimbledons, they'd struggle to combine for 1. Meanwhile Roger would likely be sitting on 9 or 10.

Now I'm not saying that the current grass isn't a great surface for Roger, of course it is as it is still very fast and fairly low-bouncing. It's just that it's not nearly as fast and low-bouncing as before, especially by the business end of the tournament. So adjustments and all by Rafa it was a bad loss by Fed, and I think you'd say the same if Fed had ever broken through at RG against Rafa. Fed didn't protect his home court well that year, showed up lame and only started playing decent when he was about to lose in straights, simple as that. If they played ten times at Wimbledon, even back then, we should be looking at 9-1 or 10-0.

 

[kskate2]

AP, since his confidence slid into the crapper. the kid will serve for it.

 

[DarthFed]

Let's see if the youngling can serve out the first. This is where the Novak of old steps up and breaks right away and steals the first set...

 

[Moxie]

But no, the kid holds his nerve. 2 aces, and takes the set.

 

[the AntiPusher]

There is no decent argument about it though. The change in grass benefited guys who prefer a slower and higher-bouncing surface. If the tour was still playing on the grass seen before 2001 I doubt Nole and Rafa combine for 5 Wimbledons, they'd struggle to combine for 1. Meanwhile Roger would likely be sitting on 9 or 10.

Now I'm not saying that the current grass isn't a great surface for Roger, of course it is as it is still very fast and fairly low-bouncing. It's just that it's not nearly as fast and low-bouncing as before, especially by the business end of the tournament. So adjustments and all by Rafa it was a bad loss by Fed, and I think you'd say the same if Fed had ever broken through at RG against Rafa. Fed didn't protect his home court well that year, showed up lame and only started playing decent when he was about to lose in straights, simple as that. If they played ten times at Wimbledon, even back then, we should be looking at 9-1 or 10-0.

I will say it..its favors Roger..

 

[DarthFed]

Nice hold, he's already done a lot more this match than I would've expected.

 

[kskate2]

Not this time Darth

 

[DarthFed]

I will say it..its favors Roger..

The current surface favors him over Rafa and Djokovic, but it'd have been a complete mismatch if we are talking old grass. I know you won't admit it...all good my man.

 

[Moxie]

I like this kid for his ambition and belief, as much as anything else. He wants it at least as much as anyone on tour.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Novak is pissed off at something, too. Really yammering. Not all psychological issues got fixed by a win yesterday.

Maybe his wife caught Novak ordering Bollywood movies in their hotel suite last night

 

[Moxie]

The current surface favors him over Rafa and Djokovic, but it'd have been a complete mismatch if we are talking old grass. I know you won't admit it...all good my man.

Maybe it's time for an Early Wimbledon Talks thread.

 

[the AntiPusher]

He is bossing Novak..