The future is Now!

[TsarMatt]

I want to cry.

This man is like God incarnated.

 

[nehmeth]

I want to cry.

This man is like God incarnated.

uzzled :s :nono

No, he's not.

A shot in the arm for tennis, most definitely.

 

[calitennis127]

This match somewhat reminded me of Tsonga's performance in the 2008 Australian Open semifinal, though Tsonga was more dominant overall.

That's not an apt analogy. The AO 2008 SF match, Tsonga completely and utterly dominated Nadal. There was nothing Nadal could do and he was just plain outplayed in almost every sphere of the game. It was a signature vintage performance by the Frenchman.

This Wimbledon match is different. It could have gone either way. Nadal had his chances in the Tiebreaks and the match was very close overall. He just lacked the little bit extra in his ROS and aggression in key moments. There is no way one could claim that this youngster dominated Nadal as Tsonga did in AO 2008.

Also as Tented said, I wouldn't go overboard with the Sampras comparisons. A long way to go for the kid. As we've seen in the past 3 years, it doesn't take a superhuman performance to beat Rafa on grass in the earlier rounds. Darcis, Rosol have done it before, and they didn't become the next iteration of the big 4. So I wouldn't hold my breath..

I don't disagree with anything you said. That's why I used the word "somewhat" and said that Tsonga was more dominant overall.

That said, I think there were some similarities in terms of the serve, forehand, and overall athleticism demonstrated by Tsonga and Kyrgos in the two matches.

 

[Front242]

I want to cry.

This man is like God incarnated.

He's damn good but...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

See prediction no. 8 in post no.52 by me in the "crystal ball 2014" thread.

 

[britbox]

Welcome back GSM, where did you go on your trip?

 

[Kieran]

See prediction no. 8 in post no.52 by me in the "crystal ball 2014" thread.

You spelt his name wrong, but we'll give it to ya. :snigger

Wild guess on your part there by suggesting Stepanek would break up. When does he ever not? Good to see you back!

 

[britbox]

^ I didn't think you posted during slams Kieran?

 

[Kieran]

^ I didn't think you posted during slams Kieran?

I always post once Rafa is out. I'll post less though, because I have less interest now...

 

[britbox]

Ah OK. I must not have noticed the last three years at Sw19. Who are you rooting for now?

 

[Kieran]

Yeah, I always ran a thread congratulating the geezer who dumped Ralph, then I lose a little interest in the rest of it.

Obviously, with Rafa out, Federer actually has a shot. I don't think I'm being either spiteful or original in saying he had virtually none with Rafa there.

This usually has an effect on him the next day, as Haas, Benneteau and Stakhovski have shown. Roger gets into almost panic attack mode, because his nemesis is gone, and misplaces his mojo. But today I think playing Stan is motivation enough, on top of everything. It's a local derby. I expect Federer to win the match, but it'll be tight. Stanley Wow! is not a shrinking violet anymore.

I'm actually rooting for Kyrgios to win Wimbledon, because he impressed me so much, but I hold out little hope. After him, Grigor. And here, I hold little hope as well.

Outside of these two, I'm fairly uninterested. I'd like Murray, maybe, but I can't see it happening. The way things panned out, watching so much fupple and tennis the last week, I'll keep the telly off today and get a bit of writing done. I'll hopefully see highlights later.

What's the Greek-Oz term for "vamos"? Oh yeah, "kum awnnnn!" :laydownlaughing

 

[shawnbm]

Sampras came to my mind too and was a harsh reminder of how dominant in today's game he still would have been. Pete served at those speeds and had a better FH all the way around. Put in his abilities at net and you saw yesterday why I would think Sampras would beat Rafa at SW19 fairly often if they could play at each other's relative peaks. Bringing the big power game on grass makes you that much more effective on grass--not on clay, perhaps, but on grass it is a game changer. The kid reminded of Sampras for all the reasons Kieran mentioned. Playing any where near that level gets him to the final--but for maybe Federer in the semis (if it is him). Maybe it is because he is older and faced that kind of game more than Nadal or Murray or Stan, but Roger might be one who could stop him, as he has always been the best at muting the big servers over the years. I am jumping ahead, but I had heard of this kid and he showed real steel against Nadal on a big stage in the second week of a major. He is only 19 and his confidence is high. Nadal played a good match and hit a lot of winners (along with 11 aces!!!), but fell short, unfortunately. This young man is the breakout and I think he will get past Dimitrov if they meet. Going to be fun to watch!

 

[TennisFanatic7]

I really hope he backs it up but we all must remember not to get on the kid's back if he has a bit of a let down after this. His level is impressive but this quarter final is an over-achievement at this stage.

I do hope he doesn't halt his momentum with the spotlight on him like Dimitrov and Raonic did.

 

[Kieran]

That's one battle, handling the spotlight. He will be swamped with opportunities now, but he has to make sure his development comes first. Huge potential - but that's nothing but a curse if he squanders it, either through others taking his time from him, or from him losing the head...

 

[calitennis127]

Now before it grows legs and runs ahead of me: it was me who mentioned Sampras and I confined it to certain aspects of his match today. I didn't mean that Kyrgios is comparable to Pete, or that he's the next Pete, or any bandwagon stuff. The caveats are in place.

But for his performance today under pressure, his ability to hurl serves when he needed them, his slouch and his composure, he was reminiscent of one of the incomparable ones.

But....etc...

I agree that Kyrgios's mentality sets him apart from most of the players in his generation. He is much tougher and brings some American football/basketball swagger to the plate.

He wouldn't have won the match against Nadal without it.

He is also a great athlete and seems to have pretty good stamina.

 

[calitennis127]

Forget JJ. :laydownlaughing

Let's not mention him any more....

Why not exactly?

He is very talented and quite capable.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Newport Grass court tournament where he was
awarded a wild card. He is citing some injury. Assuming the injury is just a story, it
is a bad move.

Rafa has decline the wild card given by Hamburg. Finally, he has made a good
scheduling decision.

 

[Front242]

Now before it grows legs and runs ahead of me: it was me who mentioned Sampras and I confined it to certain aspects of his match today. I didn't mean that Kyrgios is comparable to Pete, or that he's the next Pete, or any bandwagon stuff. The caveats are in place.

But for his performance today under pressure, his ability to hurl serves when he needed them, his slouch and his composure, he was reminiscent of one of the incomparable ones.

But....etc...

I agree that Kyrgios's mentality sets him apart from most of the players in his generation. He is much tougher and brings some American football/basketball swagger to the plate.

He wouldn't have won the match against Nadal without it.

He is also a great athlete and seems to have pretty good stamina.

Have a read of some of the bitter Nadal fans comments here. Some utter nonsense posts slagging Kyrgios completely unfairly for nothing. Unreal.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/teen-who-beat-nadal-at-wimbledon-out-next-week/52003/#.U7mr4bE9C2X

 

[Front242]

Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Newport Grass court tournament where he was
awarded a wild card. He is citing some injury. Assuming the injury is just a story, it
is a bad move.

Rafa has decline the wild card given by Hamburg. Finally, he has made a good
scheduling decision.

I think they both made good scheduling decisions and you should read the unjust slagging Kyrgios is getting over on tennis.com. Completely ridiculous.

 

[Riotbeard]

Now before it grows legs and runs ahead of me: it was me who mentioned Sampras and I confined it to certain aspects of his match today. I didn't mean that Kyrgios is comparable to Pete, or that he's the next Pete, or any bandwagon stuff. The caveats are in place.

But for his performance today under pressure, his ability to hurl serves when he needed them, his slouch and his composure, he was reminiscent of one of the incomparable ones.

But....etc...

I agree that Kyrgios's mentality sets him apart from most of the players in his generation. He is much tougher and brings some American football/basketball swagger to the plate.

He wouldn't have won the match against Nadal without it.

He is also a great athlete and seems to have pretty good stamina.

Have a read of some of the bitter Nadal fans coments here. Some utter nonsense posts slagging Kyrgios completely unfairly for nothing. Unreal.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/teen-who-beat-nadal-at-wimbledon-out-next-week/52003/#.U7mr4bE9C2X

Great delusional rafa fan noise here:

"This guy is another Rosol..thats it ...Had rafa played a better 3rd set, He would have gone home then only and Rafa would have beaten Raonic and Fed with his auto pilot mode ..Unfortunately Rafa played a bad 3rd set when he was 5-4 and had two chances to close on 6-4 and again in tie breaker , he lost a simple rally with Kyrgios ...Otherwise Rafa would have made to finals and probably beaten Novak ...It was just a lottery for Kyrgios that rafa played a bad tennis on that day..."

Jumping the gun a bit. They forgot to put that after rafa would have beaten novak (had he not played crap tennis in the round of 16), he would have ascended to heaven gold trophy in hand, never to be seen again, until entering the 2060 wimbledon under an assumed name as a wild card winning again as the resurreectd rafa.