Shanghai Master 1000

[the AntiPusher]

Rafa looses again:clap.. eventually he will see that he has to make changes or its OVER.

Kieran you were absolutely correct, this guy needs to shut down his singles game this year

I think we saw the difference between Rafa and Nick today - even in decline, the great Nadal is trying his heart out to get better and compete, whereas Nick is a lost soul, truly wasting away his talent, and not realising, careers are short, and before he knows it, he'll be left far behind.

I don't mind if Rafa plays on this year, and competes at the WTF. We're seeing a classic example of a veteran who's wheels are gone wonky, and no matter how he tries, he can't go back in time and be the man he was. Long may be continue to play! I still think that he deserves some luck in his career, and he'll get some before it's out.

Though as Clint Eastwood famously told Gene Hackman in Unforgiven..."deserve's got nothing to do with it..."

There's another quote from Unforgiven.."You shot an unarmed man".."Well he should have armed himself,"


That being said, Rafa hasn't armed himself with the right weapons to still be able to compete for titles..

You mentioned luck, yes it plays a part of it however one needs to position him or herself in an place of strength to be "lucky"..IMO

 

[Kieran]

Rafa looses again:clap.. eventually he will see that he has to make changes or its OVER.

Kieran you were absolutely correct, this guy needs to shut down his singles game this year

I think we saw the difference between Rafa and Nick today - even in decline, the great Nadal is trying his heart out to get better and compete, whereas Nick is a lost soul, truly wasting away his talent, and not realising, careers are short, and before he knows it, he'll be left far behind.

I don't mind if Rafa plays on this year, and competes at the WTF. We're seeing a classic example of a veteran who's wheels are gone wonky, and no matter how he tries, he can't go back in time and be the man he was. Long may be continue to play! I still think that he deserves some luck in his career, and he'll get some before it's out.

Though as Clint Eastwood famously told Gene Hackman in Unforgiven..."deserve's got nothing to do with it..."

There's another quote from Unforgiven.."You shot an unarmed man".."Well he should have armed himself,"


That being said, Rafa hasn't armed himself with the right weapons to still be able to compete for titles..

You mentioned luck, yes it plays a part of it however one needs to position him or herself in an place of strength to be "lucky"..IMO

He's prolly as strong as he can be, brother. His main problem is age, and the last few seasons have taken their toll in a cycle of injury and recovery. Physically, he's diminished, and can he learn new tricks? Maybe, but also maybe not...

 

[the AntiPusher]

I think we saw the difference between Rafa and Nick today - even in decline, the great Nadal is trying his heart out to get better and compete, whereas Nick is a lost soul, truly wasting away his talent, and not realising, careers are short, and before he knows it, he'll be left far behind.

I don't mind if Rafa plays on this year, and competes at the WTF. We're seeing a classic example of a veteran who's wheels are gone wonky, and no matter how he tries, he can't go back in time and be the man he was. Long may be continue to play! I still think that he deserves some luck in his career, and he'll get some before it's out.

Though as Clint Eastwood famously told Gene Hackman in Unforgiven..."deserve's got nothing to do with it..."

There's another quote from Unforgiven.."You shot an unarmed man".."Well he should have armed himself,"


That being said, Rafa hasn't armed himself with the right weapons to still be able to compete for titles..

You mentioned luck, yes it plays a part of it however one needs to position him or herself in an place of strength to be "lucky"..IMO

He's prolly as strong as he can be, brother. His main problem is age, and the last few seasons have taken their toll in a cycle of injury and recovery. Physically, he's diminished, and can he learn new tricks? Maybe, but also maybe not...

He says he needs to create more pain either his forehand, its the same rhetoric he stated afterwards his match with Lucus P. That's tells me that he needs to play more aggressively by pulling the "string" faster or earlier in the rallies. A very decent player I gave the nickname of hard hittin Fred once told me, every time I strike the ball, my intent is to hit it with a purpose. Think about it, yes when you conceptualize it is a simple tactic but there's a lot of substance in that approach

 

[Front242]

Hit it with a purpose? Sounds like a plan for tappin' dat azz after the club lol

 

[the AntiPusher]

Hit it with a purpose? Sounds like a plan for tappin' dat azz after the club lol

Good reply..seriously.. it's the way that JMDP plays and Novak does this a lot

 

[Front242]

Hit it with a purpose? Sounds like a plan for tappin' dat azz after the club lol

Good reply..seriously.. it's the way that JMDP plays and Novak does this a lot

So does a fella called Roger but his career is over or so Carol said anyway. First I heard of it, mind you!

 

[herios]

In fact, this was worst, because I Canada he was not booed much.

You Canadians are so civilized .

p.s. I'll trade you Trump and Hillary for Trudeau...please!

True. The most used expression in Canada: "I am sorry". :cover

 

[the AntiPusher]

Hit it with a purpose? Sounds like a plan for tappin' dat azz after the club lol

Good reply..seriously.. it's the way that JMDP plays and Novak does this a lot

So does a fella called Roger but his career is over or so Carol said anyway. First I heard of it, mind you!

Yes, that's why when he is healthy Roger is still a top 5 player at age 35.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Murray vs. Lucas might be interesting.

 

[Fiero425]

Nole's come out sharp against Pospisil; returns are deadly! Up 3-0 with 2 breaks already!

 

[delPoFearhand]

Kyrgios fined for yesterday's debacle. $10,000 for showing a ''lack of best efforts'' in a match, $5,000 for verbal abuse of a spectator and $1,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct for a $16,500 total.

Kind of a joke since he is making $35,845 in prize money for reaching the R32. He should have to pay back that whole amount- or better yet, give it to whoever could have had his spot in the tournament.

 

[delPoFearhand]

Gilles Simon takes out Stanislas. This is a pretty good break for Jack Sock- first masters SF for him maybe?

He would probably face Murray there though, who will clean his clock.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Kyrgios fined for yesterday's debacle. $10,000 for showing a ''lack of best efforts'' in a match, $5,000 for verbal abuse of a spectator and $1,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct for a $16,500 total.

Kind of a joke since he is making $35,845 in prize money for reaching the R32. He should have to pay back that whole amount- or better yet, give it to whoever could have had his spot in the tournament.

What a poultry fine for a serial offenders:nono

 

[the AntiPusher]

Murray vs. Lucas might be interesting.

I meant to reply to this yesterday. Lucas had a nice summer but his win over Nadal is very similar to Dustin Brown, Steve Darcus and the other players of the lower ranks. Rafa makes these guys appear better than they are by just rolling the ball into play. I knew Murray just like Monfils did at the USO, clean Lucas's clock. No disrespect aim at Lucas but he is who he is meaning the players who are lower ranked typically live up to their ranking until they face a player with the game of Rafa's which doesn't apply that much pressure on his opponents nowadays. IMO

 

[El Dude]

I put Lucas in a similar category to Thiem: he is a very good player, might rank in the top 10 for portions of the next half decade or so, will win some ATP 250s and 500s, maybe even a Masters, and maybe a Slam if the stars align. But he's almost certainly not a future great. I think people might be expecting a bit too much because we haven't had many (any) good young players for some years now. No player who will be 27 or younger at year's end has won anything higher than an ATP 500. That's craziness!

So Thiem comes along and looks pretty darn good...but we need to remember he's already 23. He is more Tsonga than Djokovic. Lucas is 22, still young but not really young...and he's yet to reach the top 10.

I like both Thiem and Pouille, but let's be moderate in our expectations.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I put Lucas in a similar category to Thiem: he is a very good player, might rank in the top 10 for portions of the next half decade or so, will win some ATP 250s and 500s, maybe even a Masters, and maybe a Slam if the stars align. But he's almost certainly not a future great. I think people might be expecting a bit too much because we haven't had many (any) good young players for some years now. No player who will be 27 or younger at year's end has won anything higher than an ATP 500. That's craziness!

So Thiem comes along and looks pretty darn good...but we need to remember he's already 23. He is more Tsonga than Djokovic. Lucas is 22, still young but not really young...and he's yet to reach the top 10.

I like both Thiem and Pouille, but let's be moderate in our expectations.

I got a feeling Thiem will be a legitimate top ten player.. I think Lucas may not have as good of career as Sock who is getting better.

 

[El Dude]

I definitely think Thiem will be a regular in the top ten. I just am a bit leery of some of the expectations, which seem to see him as the next great player, or at least the next dominant clay courter. I see him more in the second tier group like Tsonga and Berdych, but unlike those two he won't have prime Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic to contend with for much of his prime, so could actually win a Slam or two.

Pouille seems a slight step down, but I still see him getting into the top 10 at some point. Maybe more of a Simon/Robredo type.

 

[kskate2]

Novak is all out of sorts this year. Goes out in straights to RBA pusher. :cover

 

[El Dude]

Would love to see Simon upset Andy. Bautista Agut or Simon as a Masters champ!

Of course the title is almost certainly Andy's at this point. What gets interesting is that if Andy wins this he's only 915 points behind Novak in the live rankings.

 

[isabelle]

Andy "ll probably win Shanghai