Wow. Very surprising result. Went for a walk so I missed this one. Stefanos ShitsHisPants.
The tournament will be won by the winner of the SF : Nadal-Thiem, aka the „real F“.
Depending if they get there....dont count your chickens before they hatch lol!
Funny, they even talked to Popyrin about Soderling prior to the match. He was going big, but didn't work. Surprising about Tsitsipas. Just really got out-played by solid Ruud.I see that my young Aussie Alexi could not 'channel his inner Robin Soderling ' over Rafa
Well done to my other youngster Aussie The Demon who played well against the Austrian who was not at his best.
Alexi has spent time at Rafa's academy in the off season,he is a shy young man off court,he needed to control his aggression for sure.
That's why I chuckle a bit when some complain how trying to slow down the grass or HC has "ruined" the game, with todays rackets/strings Karlovic/Isner would be perennial SF's , Finalists at Wimbledon.Nyah! I can't watch his matches for very long either! It takes me back to the 70's when it was all about the serve! Many matches went to TB's because of an inability to break! I actually watched a match between Alexander and Tanner here in Chicago back in '75 that was quite typical in results; 7-6, 6-7, 7-6! Isner's groundies are better so he can stay in rallies a little bit better, but his game continues to center around the serve!
I have nothing scientific to back this on but I just have a feeling that because he's lanky and nimble Medvedev will have relatively few injuries and only then late in his career. Hopefully this will be the case anyway. It's all guesswork at the end of the day and no one knows. Many said Nadal would be finished years ago, for example and, well, he's not.
He spotted them today. I suppose Tsitsipas could be running a bit out of gas, too, and may as well get ready for Rome and Roland Garros. I sort of felt like I was supposed to root against the Greek today, but I like him and I was sorry to see him out. Funny, I was thinking of Ruud as the "younger," but he is only a few months younger than Stefanos.Sorry first posted this on the Nadal thread:
Considering he beat them both this week, I found Casper Ruud's comments back in Oct 2019 interesting: re:Stefano Tsitsipas and Felix AA
“I find it easier to spot weaknesses in Stefanos Tsitsipas” says Norwegian Next Gen star Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud says that he's always been able to spot the weaknesses in the Stefanos Tsitsipas game that maybe other players can't see
Just goes to prove once again that if there's just a slight shift in performance there's not much separating the top 50 on any given day...
Agreed. He doesn't seem to have a body type to be given to injury, even if he's willing to grind. You really never know. One would have thought that Nishikori's light frame and playing style could save him from too much injury, but there's a reason we call him "Glassikori."
And that pretty much is why he loves playing in Madrid. I always loved the Roddick quote about his serve: that it's like it's coming down from a tree. Add the altitude....He was very self-effacing to say he wasn't the better player today, but he's right. Rublev just served poorly in the 3rd set TB, and Isner didn't. He took some chances when they presented themselves, and there it is.
Isner has been playing on Aranta Sanchez court which is partly covered,so yes it does help his serve....lets see how he goes with the weather on the main court Santana.
I don't worry so much about Zverev v Nadal anymore, but both need to serve well, for different reasons. Thiem will handle Isner unless he has a day like Rublev...play well enough, but get out-served in the TB. I have no feel for Bublik, but I hope Ruud wins, because I do like him. I think Berrettini will out-hit Garin.
The more I watch Ruud play the more I like him,another player that has gone to Rafa'a academy.Thiem will need to serve better than he did against Alex,Alex had his chances against Theim,happy to see Matteo in a q/final,he is building his form nicely.
