No worries about replying if you are still on the road. You are so much on the road sometimes I think of you as door to door sales person. LOLz. I am teasing you!
But did you know? There was a time I really thought Swish was a door to door vitamin sales person. lol. Nothing wrong with that but I just found it really funny. He'd just post vitamin stuff all the time so it had made me wonder about things. lol.
Good match, this Ferru vs Richie but I am pulling for Richie without a doubt.
None of us are bad, herc be it you or I or tented or Owen etc. It's just that the matter was handled in a very wrong way and not in timely fashion either, unfortunately. All they needed to do is just relax the rules a lot as we are all grown ups after all minus Alex. lol. They could have still kept the rules they have now and let the Castle flow. it was such a minor adjustment and yet, it never got done the proper way. And you couldn't just wait and be patient so I have a beef with you too, mind you. Next time, I want you to speak to the Mod you are most friendly with (in this case it was BB) if that ever happens again. So that's something you really badly need to adjust. You are going to promise that to all of us.
herc or Slasher, is it possible to have the left column (where it has the Members, Stats, Users etc.) across the board at the top of page? That way we don't have to scroll right and also, it would look nice and neat. Isn't that the way other forums are?
Anyway, I am not sure if I should be demanding so much on my 2nd post here. :p
herc, I got your PM last night but since I thought I was going to be here today, so I'd reply here. As to the first one, I was thinking about things and also wanted to see where things were going as it all seemed quite unsettled. I believe you could have handled the matter better but at the same time, I could also see why you'd be so angry. There's no point making you and Javi the mod and not give you any real power. that really and truly defeats the purpose. Also, that meant they didn't trust you enough. And the deal they offered later after all hooplas had the freedom of much less moderation but it came at the expense of the Castle taking a backseat and that didn't make any sense. They could have left it at the front page and called it Frontier Castle Chat or something. That way they could have maintained their own brand and the Castle would have had its own identity.
The idea of a Castle is a very open and it needs all its freedom to fully exercise its all possibilities but unfortunately, it just wasn't there from the get go. I wish Owen could see that and had a better conversation with both tented and Moxie. That way I am sure we would have all had something that would have made everyone happy. But alas, that probably wasn't meant to be.
I was personally very disturbed when Slasher's post re: a poster's death at MTF got deleted. I was quoting his post at that time to show my condolences, but I couldn't do it only to realize a minute later that the original post was deleted right away. That felt inhuman. How can you not allow the news of a poster who had just died? There are some things in life where the news should be spread right away so that we cal all show our respect and this news was one of them. I found it as extreme moderation almost cult like. However I don't feel at all either Owen or tented are mean spirited people or anything; quite the contrary in fact, but it just came out in dead wrong manner. Yes, we have rules that we need to obey but we are also human beings so we should know better as to how to use our discretion.
In any case, I don't have any bitter feelings towards anyone or anything. I just later thought it was never meant to be and sounded too good to be true from the start. We all still have a lot to learn.
do you remember this picture emma?
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/murrayopen-300_zps8eeac029.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/murrayopen-300_zps8eeac029.jpg.html)
Beating Federer on a hard court Major was probably a big deal for him so I don't blame him for a flat performance here tonight. Besides, I don't think he believes he can beat Nadal so that's not there either.
I was slightly disappointed with last night schedules. Wawrinka/Berdy and Andy/Istomin almost started at the same time and I wasn't able to watch Wawrinka/Berdy match as much as my main focus was Andy. I did have the Wawa match on my laptop, but the focus wasn't there. It was a spectacular match by the look of it while Andy's was more on the entertaining side. Not the organizers fault. It's just that Hewitt's match took forever. I was sad to see Lleyton lose.
vamosssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss general freakygoat.
congrats mate. you are now a global mod.
a global mod not only here but also at our next pricey, commercial capable forum. that is 9 months away.
advertising will pay for our next forum general freaky.
and we will make sure we get paid too.
general freaky let me know if you want me to start work on the most amazing super sig ever for you.
I will need to know the name of all your players.
;D
Hi all, good looking new forum :)
Thanks for the invite General Hercules.
Why, you may ask, did I think Stan would beat Andy in 3 sets?
1. Stan has always given Andy some trouble; he matches up pretty well with him.
2. Stan beat Andy in their last US Open match in 2010.
3. Stan demolished Andy at Monte Carlo this year. 1 & 2, though some may think this is irrelevant because it was on clay, it still showed me something.
4. I think Stan has been the better overall player on hard courts this year, despite Andy's win in Miami and early in Brisbane. Stan pushed Novak to the edge, losing a 5 set thriller at the Australian Open, and it was really anyone's match at the end.
5. It seemed to me that Wawrinka's level has gone up since last fall, while Murray's has gone down relatively speaking.
6. I have not seen the fire in Murray since he won Wimbledon, where he said that winning it would be the best thing he would ever achieve. I personally don't think that is a good attitude to have if you want to go on and achieve more. Maybe he'll get the fire back, maybe he won't.
7. Murray had 2 relatively poor matches in the lead up hard court events in Toronto and Cincinnati.
While he also didn't do so well last year in those events, and still won the US Open, last year he had a pretty good excuse. He had a tough Olympics, which he won. I think he needed the break that he got. This year, I think he needed to perform better in at least one of those masters, and he did not.
Wawrinka played a very intelligent match today against Murray. He really mixed it up. He played a fair amount of off-pace stuff, giving Murray some of his own medicine, then hit it hard from both wings. He tactically used the court well. He came to the net whenever he had a chance, even on some he shouldn't, but that looked part of the plan. All this mix caused Murray to not have a lot of rhythm.
Wawrinka served fairly well, but nothing spectacular. On return, he pretty much had Murray at his mercy whenever Murray sent in one of his pretty weak second serves. It was only a question of whether Wawrinka would keep the ball in play as he hammered the wounded duck.
Eventually, Murray started missing more and more of his first serves. Murray did not play that well off the ground, as it looked like Wawrinka's tactical mix threw him off. Only Andy's first serve kept him from having a worse 1st set score. Once Wawrinka started reading Murray's 1st serve better and Murray's first serve went off a bit, Murray didn't have much else on which to rely on, and Wawrinka pulled away to win in a not very close 3 sets.
The good news for Stan Wawrinka is that this effort should not have taken a great deal out of him, and he should be ready for his next match against Youzhny or Djokovic.
Congratulations to Spartan Stan Wawrinka and his fans. Commiserations to Andy Murray and his fans. Andy won Wimbledon; even the great Lendl could not win it.
Respectfully,
masterclass
General Hercules, I think you were spot on about Andy Murray.
He has to especially improve his second serve. Rolling them in at an avg of 84 mph is WTA stuff. When he gets tight some of them just float in at 75, begging to be smacked. It is a real liability. There shouldn't be so much difference between his first serve, where he averages 118-120 and frequently hits close to 130, and his second serve. The poor second serve can be blasted back by almost anyone and either loses him the point right away or puts Murray on the defensive immediately. It also begins to put a lot of pressure on his first serve. Murray's first serve deteriorated noticeably after the first set. If he can improve the second serve, then his first serve's consistency will probably improve. He needs to up his second serve speed at least 10 mph on avg.
Murray usually has one of the better returns in the game, on first serve anyway. Almost everybody's average ace count drops when they face Murray.
Still, after his return, he seems sometimes to be a bit lost, and definitely on the defensive, which differs from Djokovic. Murray has to improve his second serve returns. He is susceptible to the kick serve.
Murray had 0, that's right zero break points against Wawrinka. It's difficult to win if you can't break. It's even more difficult if you never get a break point. Yes, Wawrinka protected his serve well, but Murray can and should do better.
If he wants to remain in the top echelon, he needs to quickly put that Wimbledon win on the shelf, set himself new challenges and move on. I look for a good indoor season for him if he does that.
The 1st item on my list for him - win the World Tour Finals in London this year. It's a worthy goal. Nearly all the top players in the Open Era have some year end championship trophies on their shelf. Here is the list of winners:
6 - Roger Federer
5 - Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras
4 - Ilie Nastase
3 - John McEnroe, Boris Becker
2 - Bjorn Borg, Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic
1 - Stan Smith, Guillermo Vilas, Manuel Orantes, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi, Michael Stich, Alex Corretja, Gustavo Kuerten, David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko
Respectfully,
masterclass
I will start work on your sensational super sig tonight general freaky.
you will have it tomorrow night.
have you thought about a cool avi yet?
also how about a board of your own that might read something like:
FREAKYGOAT Q & A Center
this will be to tap into the market of your fans general freaky. I think its just a fun thing to do. but its your call obviously.
our whole theme at this place is fun. fun, fun, and more fun.
we need to get hold of orange wombat also and let him have his own board. he can pursue anything he wants there. it will be his deal.
stay tuned general. your own board is coming right up.
I think it will be better if you fire up the "Freakygoat Q & A" thread.
I will just go ahead and form the board for you instantly.
ad once you fire up your thread, I will start working on formulating a couple of very cool images for you that can go on the opening page.
you can check them out anyway and see how you feel about them and stuff.
I bet any money that andy murray and his family were cheering for nadal somewhere.
I bet any money that andy murray and his family were cheering for nadal somewhere.
With the way things are going the Australian open going to be fun.Can Murray come back after this USO?/will Nole defend it?/or will Nadal hold 3 slams.Lot's to think about for the Australian open when it comes around.
now I will cheer for andy for the rest of the year.
nadal needs to ease off now before he ends up damaging his knee.
nadal has davis cup on clay next weekend which is ok. clay surface is forgiving so I don't think he can hurt himself on clay.
With the way things are going the Australian open going to be fun.Can Murray come back after this USO?/will Nole defend it?/or will Nadal hold 3 slams.Lot's to think about for the Australian open when it comes around.
those are going to be exciting times again once the Australian open starts.
I think andy will be back. he has something to prove.
in fact I am picking andy to snatch WTF at the O2 arena. this loss at the open is going to force him to work harder than ever.
also this win by nadal will inspire him just as nadal was inspired by andy`s own win at Wimbledon.
With the way things are going the Australian open going to be fun.Can Murray come back after this USO?/will Nole defend it?/or will Nadal hold 3 slams.Lot's to think about for the Australian open when it comes around.
those are going to be exciting times again once the Australian open starts.
I think andy will be back. he has something to prove.
in fact I am picking andy to snatch WTF at the O2 arena. this loss at the open is going to force him to work harder than ever.
also this win by nadal will inspire him just as nadal was inspired by andy`s own win at Wimbledon.
Andy never seems to do well @ WTF,i don't think i'd pick him on past years.Don't get me wrong i'd love to see him win,but i wonder on that one.Nadal was great tonight & top tennis players have to be inspired by his performance.Hurc it's very late so i will say goodnight,catch you later.
On a separate note, I am probably not loving the new look. I find it hard to find the discussion threads. May be just 1 picture next to each thread is more than enough. Just my humble opinion.
Otherwise good job, herc. You are very dedicated. I like that about you.
Long time no see, CD :) Are you going to watch Rafa's match against The Fog tonight? It starts in pretty convenient West Coast time - 9:30 pm so I will try to find a decent stream.
I just typed a very large post and it somehow disappeared, hmm...
Anyways, I was saying that I will stop by and say hi to Emma. Also, about a supersig - my current favorite players are Rafa and Grigor.
In the past I liked Agassi and Chang. Also, my favorite Spurs of all time - Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and Manu Ginobili.
Thanks! You can also include Antonio Gates from the Chargers ;)
Rafa had the trainer out because of the knee. Hopefully it is not too serious, he appeared to have banged it on the ground.
40:15 again on serve and back to deuce. Fognini is playing great!
poor Julian benneteau. he is 0-9 in the finals now.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/30/sport/tennis/benneteau-tennis-loser-finals-sousa/
Well, the Fog imploded after saving 5 break points at 4:2 in the second set. He even had a game point for 6:2 5:2 but missed it. After that the UEs started raining and Rafa upped his game slightly. Still, Rafa needs to consider reducing his schedule until the end of the year.
Guys, it is absolutely logical that a site administrator can look into the database and see anything stored there, including PMs. This is true for any internet forum there is. There is one private thing that an admin cannot do, and that is see the passwords.
But also note that nobody is abusing this system (except maybe on MTF) because nobody cares about other people's privacy. Only an admin can see the PMs, and in Alex' case, Scott read the PM AFTER it was reported by Nekro for being abusive as it really was. Nothing out of the ordinary.
herc, have you taken the pictures completely out? I don't see those anymore.
You know, I just cannot sign up for one more forum. I'd rather commit suicide. I am just one forum person, one forum that fulfills all my needs. I liked Tennis Frontier and like Owen very much, but I felt a certain restriction there and that compromises my freedom heavily. Nothing gets in the way of my total freedom - not even a long time relationship. I can dump it right away if it compromises my freedom in any way.
Well, having said all that, I just browsed Tennis Warehouse just now and noticed a long lost friend there who has recently signed up. That was a big surprise! We are out of touch since 2008 I think - mostly my fault, really. He's an incredible poster btw and an avid fan of tennis. I know him since our CNN days - since 1999.
emma who is that poster that you know at tennis warehouse?
maybe I know him too.
Sorry that I brought the tennis frontier thing up, herc. None of it is actually baron's fault or anyone else's. They just have some specific rules and they are really big on those. It's their place and they can be in any way they like.
Here though, we will give everyone a lot of freedom - freedom of speech. Let people speak their mind etc. I will allow even Alex. See banning doesn't help. What helps is that you learn from your mistakes and that you become aware of the fact that you are conscious being. I'd rather see Alex wake up than to get banned repeatedly. It has to, however, come from within and it will come, eventually after a long suffering. He needs to lose things he loves the most. Only through suffering we learn to appreciate things. Not too many people know or realize that. They like to put the blame onto something else than to take responsibility for it.
CD, thanks again for the great sig! How can I put it in my profile?
CD, check your PM.
Well, since I joined a couple of new people joined including Prodigy ;)
CD, check your PM.
Well, since I joined a couple of new people joined including Prodigy ;)
general prodigyeng is an old friend.
we have known each other for a long time.
I am about to make both of you global moderators.
that way you have cool titles and some clout.
you should see general prodigy`s amazing super sig. its pretty damn cool.
holy smokes mr tee.
your new super sig rocks.
order of play for china open:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=747
agreed. it is going to be a tall order this time around for any number of reasons.
as you have mentioned, he is not doing a good job of taking care of his serve at all and this time he goes up against the best returner in the game.
other reasons:
**courts are too damn fast for the actual mechanics of the heavy topspin, looping strokes. he needs more time than the others to execute his strokes
**he has to be a little bit mentally and physically spent from having won so many matches and so many tournaments. especially given his demanding style of play
I would be surprised if nadal wins this one.
I am not sure if I can stay awake to catch this one. I will watch it on delayed basis if I get a chance.
that will be 3 am my time. only way I can watch it is if I take a nice nap this evening.
and to be honest with you, I am not even sure if I want to watch it.
I will catch it on delayed basis only if nadal manages to win it.
otherwise we have to let nole have this one and just hope nadal escapes this match injury free.
nadal does not need this damn match.
I am doing something wrong.
I just tired to make you an administrator but it would not let me.
now it will not even let me make you a global moderator again.
we will figure it out sooner or later.
it worked this time.
congrats mr tee. you are now an administrator of your own forum.
no way this match has the excitement of the nadal vs nole battle.
I cant see myself staying awake for that long. I will just have to watch it tomorrow if nadal wins it.
in the mean time I am still catching the milos vs del potro match.
milos is good but he is too damn careless.
tennis channel will show the china open final at least two times tomorrow.
there is a minor tropical depression in the gulf. it is raining like hell here.
i hope i don't lose power.
i am on the gulf coast.
mr tee don't forget to keep this site handy for some quick info.
I use it all the time for news, live scores, and other info:
http://www.tennisexplorer.com/discussion/?theme_id=2
your avi is pretty damn cool.
Agassi is a huge nadal fan. they both play a similar game.
Agassi had a better return of serve on quicker courts because his strokes were more compact. Agassi was quicker than a cat on the court.
herc, yes of course Alex is playing mind games as he always does. He needs support from the old posters because he needs to see how many people care about him so that he can come back and stay the way he was before. He's quite clever and manipulative that though quite obvious at the same time. Some will support him of course because they have their own agendas. But anyway, no need to worry about that stuff anymore since very unlikely for me go back to a place that is dead to me for a long time now. We should always be there where we are most comfortable and that isn't the place for me. It's all about Federer and Nadal there anyway. Alex just likes to kiss asses he sees fit - he needs that place since most of his activities are online anyway. He'll back to T4U despite the drama. His racists antics are only tolerated there.
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que pasa lady emma.
you are 100% spot on as usual. of course he is playing out little dram there.
and as usual swish is kissing his ass. why? because alex hates nadal and murray with all his heart. and swish will hug and kiss damn near anybody that hates nadal and andy so much.
as you might have seen from his post, he said he was going to MTF to stay in touch with him.
I have not been to MTF in ages but I bet any money alex has to behave at MTF since they wont tolerate his garbage there even for a second.
at any rate, we have our own place at last. in about 3 years we will have this place making us money. we just have to endure the slow phase/infancy phase.
here we enjoy complete freedom and we do whatever we bloody well please.
que pasa lady emma.
you are 100% spot on as usual. of course he is playing out little dram there.
and as usual swish is kissing his ass. why? because alex hates nadal and murray with all his heart. and swish will hug and kiss damn near anybody that hates nadal and andy so much.
as you might have seen from his post, he said he was going to MTF to stay in touch with him.
I have not been to MTF in ages but I bet any money alex has to behave at MTF since they wont tolerate his garbage there even for a second.
at any rate, we have our own place at last. in about 3 years we will have this place making us money. we just have to endure the slow phase/infancy phase.
here we enjoy complete freedom and we do whatever we bloody well please.
que pasa lady emma.
you are 100% spot on as usual. of course he is playing out little dram there.
and as usual swish is kissing his ass. why? because alex hates nadal and murray with all his heart. and swish will hug and kiss damn near anybody that hates nadal and andy so much.
as you might have seen from his post, he said he was going to MTF to stay in touch with him.
I have not been to MTF in ages but I bet any money alex has to behave at MTF since they wont tolerate his garbage there even for a second.
at any rate, we have our own place at last. in about 3 years we will have this place making us money. we just have to endure the slow phase/infancy phase.
here we enjoy complete freedom and we do whatever we bloody well please.
I don't know if Swishy hates Murray. Does he? Haven't read any hatred stuff from him really but who knows. He probably doesn't like Nadal and given that he's a Federer fan, it's expected.
The truth is, I don't care if Alex gets banned or not at T4U. I am not there so I don't care. I do know he'd been bothering me for a while now and would start arguing with me even when it had nothing to do with me. If not that, he'd find a post where he'd see a scope to humiliate me. Look, it's not we are all saints or claiming as such as we have lost it once or twice here, but anyone with an ounce of brain and has the guts to rise above the typical fan-dome act should have noticed that it was going on for a while and needed to be stopped. If they don't see it or rather 'pretend' not to see it and sides with Alex regardless, is a person who is simply sick. Because their agenda couldn't be bigger than what is right. So shame on guys Gawdblessya and whatnot. One thing I do know is that, it's very hard for them to get along with Nadal fans and they are often called as 'fangirls' as if all the Fed fans are aristocrats. I am not a fan of Nadal but that double standard just ad nauseam. I mean is there a bigger fan girl than Dallas? I like her but truth should be told. There's no Murray fan right now on that forum? Coincidence? I don't think so. I mean Luggy himself said he feels sorry for Murray fans. Whatever that means. There's no end to this hatred. Take a closer look and see who they typically hang out with on a daily basis. The only reason some Fed fans dig Nole is because he has beaten Nadal a number of times since 2011 and it helps their agenda to support Nole and his fans. This keeps Nadal from achieving more than Federer, something Fedfans are so proud of. Nothing wrong with that as it's part of the game as well but what goes around, comes around and pretty soon too. Be modest as they say. Those unnecessary digs at Sampras after Federer broke his record weren't funny or welcoming. And now look at Alex, all that arrogance, he now had to see 3 losses in a row at GSs this year alone - RG, Wimbledon and USO - to Nadal and Murray. Isn't he showing his true colours but those fans don't care - what they care is what's at stake.
swishy is a damn hypocrite. I was told a while back that he was working behind the scenes to destroy the castle there. he never bothered to support it and often hung out with babbs, alex, and monster at their discussion page.
believe it or not but he thinks alex was not handled with care and properly.
that is just unbelievable.
he still continues to side with alex which is crazy.
swishy specifically called nadal a monkey and a clown at their discussion page. that is how much he hates nadal.
I was very kind to him and look how he paid me back.
that is what a blind hate for nadal does to some people.
Morning.
Love the new look. I trust Lady Emma's loves it as well. ;D
shanghai masters is going to be fun to watch.
I think nole is the form player at the moment. and so is del potro.
so watch out for these two.
swishy is a damn hypocrite. I was told a while back that he was working behind the scenes to destroy the castle there. he never bothered to support it and often hung out with babbs, alex, and monster at their discussion page.
believe it or not but he thinks alex was not handled with care and properly.
that is just unbelievable.
he still continues to side with alex which is crazy.
swishy specifically called nadal a monkey and a clown at their discussion page. that is how much he hates nadal.
I was very kind to him and look how he paid me back.
that is what a blind hate for nadal does to some people.
What's ironic is that, the same sets of people who are so sympathetic to his 'So Long' thread and are busy pretending to be unaware any of Alex's antics during his banning period where he came back as 'SexyLatina' and opened a thread under the name "Rafa, the sexiest man alive' on the main discussion thread and was probably subsequently banned again by the Mod. It was so obvious that it was him. Not only that, Owen had told me while I was on Tennis Frontier that a poster had joined TF under the name "EmmaMonroe" who had the IP address of Calgary, Canada. Coincidence? Not really. A person with any remorse wouldn't be in that mood after getting banned. Quite pathetic when posters like Gawdblessya goes and says how he has always found Alex's posts as 'thoughtful'. As if Alex was banned because of his 'thoughtful' posts. Did he conveniently forget to notice how mean and rude Alex was lately to both Nadal and Murray and how many times he had insulted them in the main section alone? He probably is still under the illusion he's being 'objective' and probably refers himself as one. Never mind what others think of his biased posts.
shanghai masters is going to be fun to watch.
I think nole is the form player at the moment. and so is del potro.
so watch out for these two.
Is Nadal playing there as well? I am having some friends over on Saturday but that's at night so might be able to catch a couple of matches over the long weekend.
I thought the results of both China and Japan were very good. Del Potro put Raonic in place and Nole got the revenge though a tiny one but it will help his confidence. He's been lacking quite a bit of late. These are all slightly faster courts plus indoors so should favour Nole more naturally. WTF will be very interesting as well but perhaps the best player criteria has already been decided. It seems Nadal is the best player without a doubt.
nadal says he is still in playing with pain but that it is manageable. and he continues to cry about how too many tournaments are being played on the hard courts:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/Miracle-recovery-Im-still-in-pain-says-Nadal/articleshow/23708962.cms
coming back under a different account/username and making it blatantly obvious that it was him would not be tolerated at mtf or at any other forum even for a second. he would have gotten a perma ban instantly.
right now he is just playing those few fools there again. even mertov is saying good things about him.
any day now he will come up with another sickness/disease saga. he is really something emma.
maybe scott is finally waking up and realizing the damage alex has done to his forum.
it is hard to believe that tennis4you has over 4000 members and yet hardly anybody is interested in posting there.
Federer is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/10/41/Shanghai-Monday-Federer-Preview.aspx
coming back under a different account/username and making it blatantly obvious that it was him would not be tolerated at mtf or at any other forum even for a second. he would have gotten a perma ban instantly.
right now he is just playing those few fools there again. even mertov is saying good things about him.
any day now he will come up with another sickness/disease saga. he is really something emma.
maybe scott is finally waking up and realizing the damage alex has done to his forum.
it is hard to believe that tennis4you has over 4000 members and yet hardly anybody is interested in posting there.
The reason why you see posters like Mertov pouring in their sympathy is because he doesn't insult those guys on a daily basis or, say, ever. And you know how people typically are. They don't care unless it involves them. It's easy to be kind to someone who's not insulting you every day. All the posters you see on that thread are the ones Alex has always gotten along and made an extra effort to be nice to them; more importantly, they are all more or less Federer fans so the thread is for those. The only person who voiced differently is Mimi and she saw what happened on those days. He probably has asked to remove Slasher as a mod in a PM or something. I am fairly sure on that. That thread in a round about way is a plea for that. Take notice of his initial post. It's not just saying good bye.
As to 4000 members at tennis4u, since when quantity took over quality? Never, innit.
Federer is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/10/41/Shanghai-Monday-Federer-Preview.aspx
I suppose good to see him back. It feels weird not seeing around. Even I, who's not a fan of Federer, miss his presence at times. Hope to see Andy next year well and ready. I'd like to take a few days off during AO to support him and to watch tennis. My project will end after the 2nd week of Jan so that will allow me to take those days off. I'll probably be very tired by then anyway.
excellent post. you are spot on.
I know for a fact that nekro also was harassing scott to remove slasher from the mod duties.
nekro was a trouble maker too and I called his bluff. naturally he ran like a coward.
nekro had issues with every single person except for betty.
at any rate that forum is as dead as it can be.
I don't know why mimi stays there but that is her business. I have asked her enough times to check this place here out. she will have somebody to say hello to at least.
no worries. if they don't care then we don't care.
I do believe that alex is playing mind games with those people. he will be back there before long.
I have become a huge fan of andy murray. I think of all the players out there, he is the one who is most down to earth.
so I miss him the most.
and of course we need roger back too. the sport really needs him.
Australian open is now 96 days away. I am hoping andy is 100% by then.
roger has already said that his form is coming back. he will be a lot stronger in 2014 too.
general masterclass, lady emma, baron britbox, general slasher, general sid, and general Javier the fearless are among the best posters in the world.
they just happen to lead busy lives.
excellent post. you are spot on.
I know for a fact that nekro also was harassing scott to remove slasher from the mod duties.
nekro was a trouble maker too and I called his bluff. naturally he ran like a coward.
nekro had issues with every single person except for betty.
at any rate that forum is as dead as it can be.
I don't know why mimi stays there but that is her business. I have asked her enough times to check this place here out. she will have somebody to say hello to at least.
no worries. if they don't care then we don't care.
I do believe that alex is playing mind games with those people. he will be back there before long.
So what happened to Nekro? Or even Betty? I think they make a cute couple. Are they a couple?
As to Mimi, she's very comfortable at tennis4you and not all like changes, herc; not when it happens one too many times. Also, she knows some people there and she goes back and forth with them all the time. And those people won't come here so she'll lose the friendship if she ditches that place. Just let her be. If she likes this place she'll start posting here too. She's a good person and has her heart in the right place. That's all that matters in the end, really.
I think some of the forums have overwhelming amount of posters because they don't get moderated. One time I was on TF browsing and I thought I saw 203 members but a few days later, it went down to 199 again. So they must control that aspect of things to keep it more neat I suppose. With 3 kids and all, I don't think Scott has the time to do all that. And Mark (the owner of Murray's World) is quite liberal and pretty much allows everything. He only bans trolls once he's very sure of them. Anyway, I still think quality is better than quantity.
Alex is not going to change in this lifetime, unfortunately. It will take him a very long suffering to finally come to his senses. Problem is, he's a closed person so it's hard to get through and make some sense. He strike me as a psychopath - someone who has no remorse. I've seen quite a few of them online. MW has one.
Here's list to recognize a psychopath. See if you can recognize Alex in this.
Glibness and superficial charm.
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow affect/emotional range
Callous/lack of empathy
Parasitic lifestyle
Poor behavioral controls
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Lack of realistic long-term goals
Irresponsibility
Early behavior problems (this goes well with MW one)
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Lol.
general masterclass, lady emma, baron britbox, general slasher, general sid, and general Javier the fearless are among the best posters in the world.
they just happen to lead busy lives.
You know, I've found him quite the opposite? Lololol. Okay, ok, I tease baba. He's all that - fearless and ...stuff lol. :P
I did not get to watch the match but 36 unforced errors are too many. so basically roger has to fix the inconsistency issue.
he has got to learn to become more patient. he has all the shots. he just has to be able to dig in and stay in the rally.
"stay in the rally" should be his war cry going forward. you have engage them in a rally and then you pull the trigger at exactly the right moment.
you CRAFT points and you can win.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/federer-ousted-monfils-shanghai-masters-153909591--ten.html
roger is going to have to figure out something. there has been a dramatic drop in his form from 2012.
as for nadal, I think its clear he is worn out. belocq is over 30 years old and has a single handed backhand. he is not really a factor on quick hard courts.
nadal took the first set easily which means that he probably did not exert a lot of effort.
he said he started to get tired in the 2nd set.
so that is what is alarming: he wins the first set easily and then he starts to tire in the 2nd.
I am afraid he has hit the wall. it is going to be very difficult for him to take this title. he basically needs to play it safe now.
injuries invariably happen for him when he is spent physically and mentally. there is absolutely no need to kill himself for the sake of this title.
2014 holds a far great promise and far greater glory if only he can show up healthy, fit, and fresh.
roger has the game to gun down nole in the best of 3 sets formats on quicker courts but he is just not getting it done these days.
I am not sure if wawa can beat even a tired nadal. the problem is nole.
nole just has too many weapons and his movement is off the charts. and then on top of that, he has the necessary consistency to trouble nadal.
nadal has a few matches under his belt now on this fast surface so he is a little more acclimated. so nadal wont struggle like he did against fognini at the china open.
I just don't think he has the mental and physical fuel to battle nole here. nadal has won way too much this year. and he is just one man.
something had to give sooner or later.
nadal`s domination of the clay circuit takes a lot out of him.
I am watching it too.
rafa`s inside out forehand looks good. he is getting in the groove with it again.
the negatives: he still shows little or no confidence at the net. he hit a swinging volley again which came back for a slice backhand winner from berlocq.
he missed a drop volley attempt also. so this is one area he has to make some improvements.
I don't know why he is so damn terrified of the net.
he hit a drop volley which could have been easily put away at the net. this is a fast court.
this one did not come back but why not end the bloody point when you are at the net.
movement: looks stale and tired.
back on the positive side: his return off the backhand wing is improving or looking better.
did you happen to see nadal`s queen`s final against nole a few years back? I think it was in 2008.
he went to the net confidently in that match. he was simply brilliant at the net in that match.
at any rate, I think you are right. he was far more fearless at the net a few years ago. he can volley. something just stops him at times.
probably because he has a risk averse game and risk averse mindset. on quicker courts he has to try to be more aggressive and more fearless.
and you have to show them that you are a force at the net too.
nadal is a lot smarter player these days but he was far more fearless a few years ago.
that is why he won 12 titles in 2005 as a youngster.
I just talked with my parents as well. I am trying to get them to come down to the gulf coast this weekend.
I know a girl here who can get me rooms at any casino on the coast. so I can get rooms for free.
mom and dad like to stay at the casino hotel when they come down.
nadal is a lot smarter player these days but he was far more fearless a few years ago.
that is why he won 12 titles in 2005 as a youngster.
I just talked with my parents as well. I am trying to get them to come down to the gulf coast this weekend.
I know a girl here who can get me rooms at any casino on the coast. so I can get rooms for free.
mom and dad like to stay at the casino hotel when they come down.
Sounds nice, do they like to gamble?
that is an amazing post.
who knows what happened to nekro. I am thinking he will be back one of these days.
betty is married and lives in Milan, Italy. nekro lives somewhere in hungary. that is all I know.
I was rooting for federer. I guess it was just not meant to be.
now nole gets monfils and nadal gets wawrinka.
should del potro fail to take the title, it will go to show just how tough it is today to even win masters title.
it was a good loss for nadal as far as I am concerned. he has played way too much tennis. he could compound the knee issue if he is not careful.
what he is doing is raking in just enough points to make sure the number one rank is locked up.
he is also getting plenty of matches under his belt so he can hit the ground running in 2014.
I was rooting for federer. I guess it was just not meant to be.
now nole gets monfils and nadal gets wawrinka.
Why were you rooting for Federer? Anyway, as I've already mentioned in one of my posts here, Federer now has a whole new army to deal with. He's not getting younger and these players are playing better as their reaching that age. Federer can only sneak in if he gets a very nice draw and that will be hard to get in Masters or Majors. And he's more keen on that.
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I don't really have much confidence in monfils. he has been too inconsistent for too long.
roger on the other hand is pretty good on fast hard courts. I wanted a to see a tough nole vs roger battle.
I agree with you. It is only going to get harder and harder from here on out. he is going to have to work really hard if he wants to stay a factor in the game.
should del potro fail to take the title, it will go to show just how tough it is today to even win masters title.
it was a good loss for nadal as far as I am concerned. he has played way too much tennis. he could compound the knee issue if he is not careful.
what he is doing is raking in just enough points to make sure the number one rank is locked up.
he is also getting plenty of matches under his belt so he can hit the ground running in 2014.
Yep, Rafa losing another final to Nole would not be good for his confidence at the moment. I wonder how much effort he will put in Basel. If he goes all out and wins it or reaches the final then he can skip Paris.
my little brother just called and demanded my presence at his plantation home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
he wants to celebrate my birthday early.
anyway my birthday is actually on the 17th of October but he wants to celebrate tomorrow evening.
he is going to fix steaks and salmon. it doesn't get much better than that.
its a long drive from the gulf coast but it is always worth the drive to be with family and friends.
I was rooting for federer. I guess it was just not meant to be.
now nole gets monfils and nadal gets wawrinka.
Why were you rooting for Federer? Anyway, as I've already mentioned in one of my posts here, Federer now has a whole new army to deal with. He's not getting younger and these players are playing better as their reaching that age. Federer can only sneak in if he gets a very nice draw and that will be hard to get in Masters or Majors. And he's more keen on that.
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I don't really have much confidence in monfils. he has been too inconsistent for too long.
roger on the other hand is pretty good on fast hard courts. I wanted a to see a tough nole vs roger battle.
I agree with you. It is only going to get harder and harder from here on out. he is going to have to work really hard if he wants to stay a factor in the game.
emma I did it again. I was not paying attention and I hit the modify button when trying to respond to your post.
this is what happens when I am trying to do too many things at the same time.
being 6 foot 6 helps. del potro has enormous easy power off the ground with that size.
he has also improved his serve so he is very difficult to deal with. poor guy is still without a single masters series shield.
that is just how tough it is today.
as for nadal, he is clearly spent. he has used up quite a bit of mental and physical capital in taking all that he has taken. winning 10 titles with such a demanding style of play would kill just about anybody else. he may have hit the wall.
this is why I cant see nadal taking anymore titles this year.
So welcome to 'thetruth'. Interesting name. Has he/she posted at all?
being 6 foot 6 helps. del potro has enormous easy power off the ground with that size.
he has also improved his serve so he is very difficult to deal with. poor guy is still without a single masters series shield.
that is just how tough it is today.
as for nadal, he is clearly spent. he has used up quite a bit of mental and physical capital in taking all that he has taken. winning 10 titles with such a demanding style of play would kill just about anybody else. he may have hit the wall.
this is why I cant see nadal taking anymore titles this year.
Nadal might be spent but Nole should be spent too but instead he has just gone on and defended two back to back titles. I think this season, the Asian swing in particular, suits both Nole and Murray better. It used to be Federer as well. Shanghai is not indoors but it has all the elements of an indoor tournament.
Nole had a long season too. Won the AO, made the final of Wimbledon and USO, lost to Nadal at the RG semi. Those are some tough losses but bounced back right after the USO. It was however a good strategy on his part that he didn't go for too much for the clay tournaments this year. So he should be slightly fresher than Nadal at this point of the year, but I am still convinced this part of the season suits him better than Nadal.
So welcome to 'thetruth'. Interesting name. Has he/she posted at all?
"thetruth" is a she.
she is a wonderful addition to the Camelot society lady emma.
she really knows her stuff and she is very fair to all the players. i believe she likes nadal and andy.
I think we should consider redefining ourselves by the way. there are already too many tennis forums.
i have been doing some thinking. let me know what your take is on this also. maybe we should be a "society" as opposed to a "forum".
we can just look at ourselves as a small but elite Camelot society.
there must be 10 million forums of one kind or another on the net.
this new idea will also keep us from acting and looking like a forum. we can keep things simple this way.
rasheed is a great coach and a great motivator general tee.
lets hope he can get dimitrov going again.
did you see that we are tinkering around with the idea of just calling this place an elite Camelot tennis society? there are millions and millions of forums on the net already.
this is something different. and it may work for us since all we will ever be is a small place.
and small works for me by the way. we will have 200 or so members in about 3 years and that is all we ever need to be.
what is your take on this new idea?
I was just looking at the ATP calendar. What do you think about the following "schedule" for Rafa:
Jan. 13 - 26 Australian Open (GS)
Feb. 3 - 9 Vina Del Mar (ATP 250)
Feb 17 - 23 Rio (ATP 500)
Feb. 24 - Mar. 2 Acapulco (ATP 500)
Mar. 3 - 15 Indian Wells (Masters)
4-week break
Apr. 14 - 20 Monte Carlo (Masters)
That is a total of 4,750 points. Rafa has 2,500 points to defend from 2013.
I was just looking at the ATP calendar. What do you think about the following "schedule" for Rafa:
Jan. 13 - 26 Australian Open (GS)
Feb. 3 - 9 Vina Del Mar (ATP 250)
Feb 17 - 23 Rio (ATP 500)
Feb. 24 - Mar. 2 Acapulco (ATP 500)
Mar. 3 - 15 Indian Wells (Masters)
4-week break
Apr. 14 - 20 Monte Carlo (Masters)
That is a total of 4,750 points. Rafa has 2,500 points to defend from 2013.
that looks optimal to me in terms to getting his motor going for RG. and once he has RG, everything else just becomes a bonus from my own vantage point.
also that makes him happy and keeps him happy come what may.
he is already committed to rio so we know its happening.
what we don't know is if he carlos moya will able to persuade him to play davis cup early next year.
he doesn't really need to defend indian wells next year. he will pick up points in rio and i think he takes back monte carlo next year. he will not be coming back from a 7 month layoff like he had to this year. the less hard court activity the better going into paris. it will safeguard the knee.
it is looking good so far general tee. he might be able to hang on to the #1 rank in 2014 too.
there are points to be had at Oz and at Wimbledon.
it is looking good so far general tee. he might be able to hang on to the #1 rank in 2014 too.
there are points to be had at Oz and at Wimbledon.
Absolutely! He must finish this year at #1 though. Otherwise it will be a huge disappointment.
being 6 foot 6 helps. del potro has enormous easy power off the ground with that size.
he has also improved his serve so he is very difficult to deal with. poor guy is still without a single masters series shield.
that is just how tough it is today.
as for nadal, he is clearly spent. he has used up quite a bit of mental and physical capital in taking all that he has taken. winning 10 titles with such a demanding style of play would kill just about anybody else. he may have hit the wall.
this is why I cant see nadal taking anymore titles this year.
i bet any money that there are at least 100,000 tennis forums out there.
and about 10 million forums of one kind or another.
elite Camelot tennis society sounds cooler to me.
that means we will try for quality people and we will try to stay a certain size.
and most forums are just too complex. people just want to post, chat a little bit about sports, look at pictures/images, and interact with some normal and familiar folks on somewhat regular basis.
normal people don't time for all the extra bullshit.
My 100th post. Boy, I've been posting a lot ;)
i bet any money that there are at least 100,000 tennis forums out there.
and about 10 million forums of one kind or another.
elite Camelot tennis society sounds cooler to me.
that means we will try for quality people and we will try to stay a certain size.
and most forums are just too complex. people just want to post, chat a little bit about sports, look at pictures/images, and interact with some normal and familiar folks on somewhat regular basis.
normal people don't time for all the extra bullshit.
I agree with most things here. No need to be overly complicated with thousand threads when things can be kept only to fewer threads. Also, we need to offer something different. For example, everyone gets to speak their mind here and everyone gets to be here because they want to relax and enjoy their time and not get into mindless arguments.
exactly lady emma. people are totally free here.
they can have their own boards and be the mods of their own boards. they can have their own chat threads.
they can have anything they want because they are the owners of Camelot.
Camelot: for the people and by the people.
The 'New' button (when you have new posts on that thread) should be highlighted, herc otherwise it's barely noticeable.
exactly lady emma. people are totally free here.
they can have their own boards and be the mods of their own boards. they can have their own chat threads.
they can have anything they want because they are the owners of Camelot.
Camelot: for the people and by the people.
I'd really like to put a lot of thoughts into a it and see what we can do differently. Not only this should have the idea of relaxing but also, there should be ideas of making people comfortable and perhaps solving their problems if possible. So people are indeed to talk about anything they want. It should not have any type of competitive nature. I hate that. Moderation will only apply when we can be non-judgmental and patient. Most importantly, fair and considerate.
we may just have a roger vs clay warrior final if del potro stumbles.
that being said, del potro is the favorite for this one. lets see how it plays out.
I bet those courts will be ultra fast in basel.
he has his own indoor hard court in Mallorca. he must be doing his practice sessions there.
we should be able to look at the draw tomorrow afternoon.
what is nole doing this weekend? is he playing somewhere to pick up points?
it looks like nadal is skipping basel.
The 'New' button (when you have new posts on that thread) should be highlighted, herc otherwise it's barely noticeable.
I hear ya lady emma.
I just don't know all the various features.
we need general masterclass, general slasher, and general freaky to help us out.
they are technology experts.
but its a great idea.
Gulbis has taken the 1st set as I expected him to do so. :) Very nice play from him towards the end of the set. Short and simple. Didn't let Ferrer going after the balls.
Gulbis has taken the 1st set as I expected him to do so. :) Very nice play from him towards the end of the set. Short and simple. Didn't let Ferrer going after the balls.
thanks lady Emma. my birthday was on 17th of October.
ferru wins again. he is really something.
he will now take on dimitrov in the final.
dimitrov is having a great tournament.
Couldn't break. One too many errors from Gulbis to give away 4 straight points to Ferrer.
Did smash his racquet as well after make those two first errors. His temper is still slightly out of control. Something to focus on next. 5-4 Ferrer. Gulbis must win the 2nd and shouldn't prolong the match. I'd like him to win the title. He's a shotmaker and a great plaeyr to watch.
Couldn't break. One too many errors from Gulbis to give away 4 straight points to Ferrer.
Did smash his racquet as well after make those two first errors. His temper is still slightly out of control. Something to focus on next. 5-4 Ferrer. Gulbis must win the 2nd and shouldn't prolong the match. I'd like him to win the title. He's a shotmaker and a great plaeyr to watch.
gulbis went to the same tennis academy as nole as you know. they both went to the nikki pilic tennis academy.
gulbis has all the talent in the world. he just cant put it all together.
he even has the gift of height. he is around 6 foot 3. they say he can hit a near 150 MPH serve.
I am so very happy for Dimitrov. It was nice to see him win his first ATP title and he beat world No. 3 to win it so very well deserved. I liked how he turned things around after the 1st set and was very much into it. I was going to say yesterday that this was his golden opportunity. Yea, he had never beaten Ferrer before today, but he at least had experience playing him 3 times before and this was just the perfect opportunity for him to take that next step and take the title. And he did. So congratulations are in order!
I also liked how he made adjustment to his game as he was moving along. Ferrer was running him around corner to corner trying to force error and perhaps outgas him, but Dimitrov hung in there tough and defended very well when he needed to. He also served very well towards the end which was much needed against a player like Ferrer. Ferrer ended up smashing his racquet after the match point was won by Dimi. Ferrer had 33 errors as opposed to Dimitrov's 34. Ferrer is not your player who makes so many errors over a 3 set where not a single set was utterly tight. But it is to Dimitrov credit that he started being more patient in the 3rd set and it was quite beneficial. It was then Ferrer who started making more errors. Great tactical strategy from Dimitrov.
Very good match; definitely a great match for Dimitrov to win his first ATP title.
Great come-from-behind victory for Grigor! I am so proud of him.
Hopefully he will not be too tired for Basel!
Great come-from-behind victory for Grigor! I am so proud of him.
Hopefully he will not be too tired for Basel!
our man got it done today general Tee. you had given him a mere 30% chance today.
dimitrov must have stopped by Camelot and read your post. that pissed him off and he decided to make a believer out of you.
at any rate and all kidding aside, I am very happy for dimitrov.
he is a Camelot knight of the highest order as of today.
our man got it done today general Tee. you had given him a mere 30% chance today.
dimitrov must have stopped by Camelot and read your post. that pissed him off and he decided to make a believer out of you.
at any rate and all kidding aside, I am very happy for dimitrov.
he is a Camelot knight of the highest order as of today.
now this place is starting to look a little bit better organized.
we will keep working on trying to give it a more professional and a more organized look.
I had a feeling that dr ivo was going to knock out berdych today.
big guns are in action tomorrow: dimitrov, del potro, and roger will be in action.
here is the order of play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=328
now this place is starting to look a little bit better organized.
we will keep working on trying to give it a more professional and a more organized look.
It is looking a lot better. You are doing a great job, herc. I wish I could contribute to the looks as well but unfortunately not finding enough time for it. I will start contributing on other threads which are empty at the moment.
Btw, I wasn't able to login today from work computer. Our company has blocked this site. I can browse but can't login or post. It gives a few reasons as to why. I did a test and tried to log onto other sites like the tennis4u or Tennis Frontier and I was successful. This now has to do with this site only. I am not sure what happened in between because I was able to post here just the other day. Maybe you can look into it herc, when you get a chance.
now this place is starting to look a little bit better organized.
we will keep working on trying to give it a more professional and a more organized look.
It is looking a lot better. You are doing a great job, herc. I wish I could contribute to the looks as well but unfortunately not finding enough time for it. I will start contributing on other threads which are empty at the moment.
Btw, I wasn't able to login today from work computer. Our company has blocked this site. I can browse but can't login or post. It gives a few reasons as to why. I did a test and tried to log onto other sites like the tennis4u or Tennis Frontier and I was successful. This now has to do with this site only. I am not sure what happened in between because I was able to post here just the other day. Maybe you can look into it herc, when you get a chance.
interesting emma. I don't know what is going on.
we are official now. I contacted go daddy.com and got it done.
also when I google "Camelot elite tennis society", our place comes up.
it also comes up if you google "Camelot general chat".
more work needed obviously. we will take it one step at a time.
I have been enjoying my 2 days off and now I will be busy again for about 4 days.
sooner or later we will figure it out. now some traffic will start heading our way.
look for the traffic starting next week.
and I spoke with nikki and general viruzzz. they will stop by when they can.
general Tee where the hell is you at?
your player rocked the world in Stockholm. he took his maiden title there by defeating the mighty Spanish warrior.
absolutely massive win for dimitrov.
now I would like to see him do well in basel. he could also rack up some points in paris.
Grigor beat Stepanek. I could only check the score on my phone, looked like Grigor breezed through.
Dolgo next and then Fed.
grigor destroyed dolgopolov 6-3, 6-2.
he blasted 12 aces.
now the big showdown is on.
can he defeat roger?
absolutely massive match for roger as he tries to gain some traction.
roger pretty much has to win this as he starts to lay down some foundation for 2014.
how are you liking the slightly more organized look of this place?
Me not come to work...
Chinese: Me not come to work, me sick.
Boss: When I’m sick I have sex with my wife, try it.
Later chinese called back: It worked. Me better. You got nice house!
Good morning you all lovely people. And by that I mean all 3 of us. :P
herc, the forum is looking better and better. And I am not sure what you did but now I have access from work. Thank you so much!
And thanks for all the hard work you've been putting in. I love the banner but may be it span across the board? And perhaps it can look slightly bigger to make it more prominent?
And I love the picture titles next to each section of the board. The Welcome section should go on top and then the General section followed by Emma's Cafe and stuff. It makes sense that way. A couple of tennis sections like ATP and WTA threads should be before Emma's Cafe simply because, tennis is a huge aspect of this forum.
Also, the pictures should be all in one and the same size. I feel Emma's Cafe picture is still a bit bigger than it should be. I wish I could help you out with this on the backend side. But honestly, it's looking very stylish and sleek already!
del potro:
3 finals in 3 weeks.
Dimitrov couldn't overcome the mental pressure yesterday. The home crowd, Baby Fed hype and Federer himself was just too much for him. At least Pospisil has experience playing Federer before in Montreal just a couple of months ago and that's very important; also, Pospisil comes without the pressure or any kind of nonsense hype.
But on the flip side, Dimitrov will now be powerful against Federer on the big stage now that this big hype and long due crap are behind him and will snatch the win, where it will matter more - for Dimitrov anyway. Though, at this stage of Federer's career it will be hardly a big deal. As I see it, this will be no bigger a deal than, say, Sampras vs Federer - the only match at Wimbledon these two ever played, where Sampras was only a shadow of his true self, but from Dimitrov's perspective, I suppose it will be a great boost of confidence - false or not.
Dimitrov couldn't overcome the mental pressure yesterday. The home crowd, Baby Fed hype and Federer himself was just too much for him. At least Pospisil has experience playing Federer before in Montreal just a couple of months ago and that's very important; also, Pospisil comes without the pressure or any kind of nonsense hype.
But on the flip side, Dimitrov will now be powerful against Federer on the big stage now that this big hype and long due crap are behind him and will snatch the win, where it will matter more - for Dimitrov anyway. Though, at this stage of Federer's career it will be hardly a big deal. As I see it, this will be no bigger a deal than, say, Sampras vs Federer - the only match at Wimbledon these two ever played, where Sampras was only a shadow of his true self, but from Dimitrov's perspective, I suppose it will be a great boost of confidence - false or not.
Herc darling, the forums is looking better and better. I love the front page. Thanks for all the hard work, dearest you've been putting in. Your dedication, loyalty and hard work will take you there where you want to be. Just stay modest as you are. That will be essential for you growth.
Anyway, I have a few more suggestions but those can wait until next weekend or whenever you have some time. You know, I really like the description of each thread on the main page, but since the 3 columns (description, number of posts and last post posted by posters) are of same width, so these descriptions are a bit hard to follow. I think you can shorten the width of the middle column where it indicates number of posts as well as the last post column half of their size and increase the description column.
Also, perhaps best to move all the tennis related threads together with other tennis related threads for consistency purpose and Emma's Cafe and Camelot lounge can move down a bit further.
Love the Off Topic section. Perhaps both the Dreams and Music threads can go there so that Emma's cafe can stand alone in that section. It makes more sense too.
I have more suggestions but perhaps you can start with these. lol
Hello all, sorry I couldn't be here yesterday. I had a very busy day but I did get to watch Federer vs Del Potro match and then a bit later, the 2nd set of Youzhny/Ferrer match. Needless to say I am very happy for both. The first result was never in doubt. In fact, I thought DP was going to snatch it in straight but then again, he got a bit too comfortable after the hard fought 1st set and Federer struck just in time. To Federer's credit, he was able to hold on to his break and kept the pressure on. I have to say, I felt very sorry for Federer. He's a legend after all and we all got so much used to seeing him winning. And now he's more like on a losing streak; still though, he made the final here so not too shabby for a very 32 year old.
I was over the moon with Youzhny's win. Felt really bad that I couldn't watch the whole match. I did like Ferrer's speech even though I did not understand a thing lol and it was really long, but I felt he was being very gracious and was probably thanking everyone. So 3 of the four finalists yesterday were either 31 or 32 years old. Not too bad for these guys since tennis is so physical these days.
Dologopolov has fallen on hard times. he was making so much progress a while back.
http://www.tennisexplorer.com/live/#inscore_ifheight_xdc_10134
he loses to Mahut in straights.
I just heard from an old friend from MTF.
he will be joining us soon.
I just heard from an old friend from MTF.
he will be joining us soon.
11 new members this month alone including myself :)
I have other great news also:
I have learned that Mr. Florian Meier---a world renowned tennis coach--will contribute to Camelot Elite Tennis Society.
accordingly, I have created a separate board just for Mr. Florian Meier.
what up general freaky. man I thought you left us.
you will be vital to the growth of Camelot. get in on the ground floor and lets make something out of nothing.
we will rise from the ashes and that is the challenge of it.
I do have a twitter account but I don't use it much.
what is going on with twitter?
is there anyway you can link us to twitter?
I have other great news also:
I have learned that Mr. Florian Meier---a world renowned tennis coach--will contribute to Camelot Elite Tennis Society.
accordingly, I have created a separate board just for Mr. Florian Meier.
That is awesome!
que pasa general freaky.
we do need to find a way to use social media to promote Camelot Elite Tennis Society.
general you better hang on and fasten your seatbelt. we are not going to be stopped.
more people will be coming our way as the word gets out on the internet a little bit.
also you are an administrator general. feel free to tinker around and learn what you can about the forum.
captain ow is a global mod here. he must be busy with school. I am looking forward to seeing him here as well when the time permits him.
I hear ya general freaky. we should be able to start 2014 with some promise. I think we will have a little more activity once the Australian open starts. more folks will know about us by then for one thing.
I have been trying to put a cool cover image on the very top that runs across the whole page but I cant get it to work.
take a look at this forum cover picture for example:
http://www.forosuniversopokemon.tk/index.php?action=forum;PHPSESSID=185d06209997d97822a57e77f3f508a4
not anything quite that busy looking but something Camelot related and cool. maybe I will try again tomorrow.
who is this player?
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/who-1_zpsbae439fb.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/who-1_zpsbae439fb.jpg.html)
what is wrong with this image?
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/noleart-300_zps96aaf956.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/noleart-300_zps96aaf956.jpg.html)
I have this crazy hunch that nadal is going to capture 3 slams in 2014 if he snatches the Australian open.
the other 2 will be RG and the U.S. Open.
so the key for him is the Australian open. he has to try to grab that one and set the dinner table just right for the rest of 2014.
now if he fails there, it is not the end of the world for him. he will be just that much more determined for RG and the U.S. Open. in other words, he will just have sharpen his focus that much more.
that is exactly what he did at the u.s. open. he was all business and 100% focus at flushing meadows partly because he did so poorly at Wimbledon.
and who is this player?
hint: he owns a RG crown.
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/coolpix-5_zps5d667057.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/coolpix-5_zps5d667057.jpg.html)
and one other one:
who is the owner of these shoes?
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/boots-301_zps4a694c63.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/boots-301_zps4a694c63.jpg.html)
and who is the owner of these shoes? this might be a tough one:
hint: he is a French open champion:
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/boots-300_zpse546b41a.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/boots-300_zpse546b41a.jpg.html)
Hello all, looks like some really great matches tomorrow. Too bad I'll be missing it all.
Nole faces Isnesr while Nadal faces Janowicz. Both big servers however JJ is out of form at the moment and I am not sue where Isner is these days.
Raonic vs Berdych, Gasquet vs Nishi, Dimitrov vs Delpo all going to be competitive. Paris is not seeing it's usual tanking fest I can tell you that.
Hello all, looks like some really great matches tomorrow. Too bad I'll be missing it all.
Nole faces Isnesr while Nadal faces Janowicz. Both big servers however JJ is out of form at the moment and I am not sue where Isner is these days.
Raonic vs Berdych, Gasquet vs Nishi, Dimitrov vs Delpo all going to be competitive. Paris is not seeing it's usual tanking fest I can tell you that.
Grigor played like crap today and if it wasn't for Fognini's constant clowning and injury in the second set Grigor would have lost. I don't think he has any chance against in-form Delpo.
I am watching Rafa's match right now on my DVR, he is not playing well at all. His serving is good, but his footwork is awful and he misses so many easy shots.
Hello all, looks like some really great matches tomorrow. Too bad I'll be missing it all.
Nole faces Isnesr while Nadal faces Janowicz. Both big servers however JJ is out of form at the moment and I am not sue where Isner is these days.
Raonic vs Berdych, Gasquet vs Nishi, Dimitrov vs Delpo all going to be competitive. Paris is not seeing it's usual tanking fest I can tell you that.
That Florian Meier thing is impressive, herc. Maybe I can ask Sampras to stop by and post us a note. Is all within my power, baby!
Actually it's not too far fetched. I know someone who knows Sampras quite well. In fact, I can ask Andy to stop by. You never know!
I am just trying out different looks for now.
i wanted to see if the Wimbledon look works a little bit because of the connection between Camelot and England.
and of course we can keep changing the cover images as we move along.
I am just trying out different looks for now.
i wanted to see if the Wimbledon look works a little bit because of the connection between Camelot and England.
and of course we can keep changing the cover images as we move along.
Morning herc, I am able to log in today from work computer. Some days I just simply can't however I can browse.
Anyway, the banner looks great however, the Wimbledon colour (green) is not going with the theme colour of the forum (blue and purple). Wimbledon also has purple, isn't it? Maybe that would be more prominent and will bring out the forum. Just an idea I am giving you.
I absolutely love your idea of changing it from time to time. I don't get people who don't want any changes and stuck in one thing forever. Murray forum, for example, has a banner that looks at least 30 years old (lolol) and I've asked Mark to change it a few times, but he's quite anal about it. lol. Oh well. Thank God we are not married or else we'd be on constant war on changing things in the house. I can see how that would have gone. I like change; I like new things.
Ferrer with the 2nd set! Ferrer has so much firepower off that backhand wing, General.
I logged in this morning but wasn't able to log out or post. Hopefully the system logged me out later.
Anyway, I am not sure how can you say these qtr final matches were blockbusters when Wawrinka hasn't seen a win against Nole since 2006 and Gasquet has yet to win a match against Nadal and I believe this was their 12th meeting.
That Federer vs Del Potro match was just too soon. We've already seen play compete against each other just last week, so I wasn't very keen on this match to start with. I don't like identical matches so back to back.
Would have liked Berdych to remove Ferrer from the facilities but oh well. Rest assured, I won't be watching Nadal vs Ferrer tomorrow. This is one of the match-ups I truly hate. Ferrer has seen only 1 win against Nadal since 2008. Speaks volume but that's not all. Thankfully Federer vs Nole is up first so I'll be able to skip the 2nd match altogether and do something else.
herc, can you please confirm if you got my PM? Something went wrong I think when I was sending it. Thanks!
morning emma.
I am catching the match too.
I do have to meet some friends at starbucks shortly so I will catch the conclusion later tonight.
it is close in the first set. nole is playing better.
morning emma.
I am catching the match too.
I do have to meet some friends at starbucks shortly so I will catch the conclusion later tonight.
it is close in the first set. nole is playing better.
No worries. I'll be heading out shortly as well right after this match.
Nole has now lost both breakpoints. He's definitely started out nervy. Still playing nervous. Losing points he should really be winning.
speaking of Sampras, becker is on record for saying that Sampras was the toughest player he ever faced.
anyway I have to run now.
see you all a little bit later.
take care emma.
well I guess it's a good loss if there is such a thing.
now nadal will just have to close the deal on #1 at WTF if he wants it bad enough.
he will learn from this and try to improve.
long time no see general Sid.
I am using the I phone right now. I will be able post more properly when I get home.
The best thing about Ferrer is that, he always bring his best and stays supremely consistent. So obviously he's not going to hand it to Nole on a silver plate. The other side of it is that, no matter what Ferrer has to offer, Nole has so much more to offer. And after coming this close beating Isner, Wawrinka and Federer today, he sure is not going to give up now against a player like Ferrer. Ferrer neither has the belief nor the game. Besides, he'll be too convinced thinking today that he's really beaten Nadal, so he might just be a bit overwhelmed by that come tomorrow. He needs to beat Nadal on a consistent basis to prove a point. If he can beat Nadal again this Tuesday at WTF, perhaps then he may have a case. Otherwise I wouldn't read too much into this loss or Ferrer's performance.
I was not able to see the match general freaky.
was ferru just too good today?
speaking of Sampras, becker is on record for saying that Sampras was the toughest player he ever faced.
anyway I have to run now.
see you all a little bit later.
take care emma.
That's very true what Becker says about Sampras. Only those know what it's like to play again ta player like Sampras. There are a couple of things that stand out as far as Sampras is concerned. His lethal serve (both 1st and 2nd) and his mental strength. I saw so many matches of his live on TV, because back then I was a student so I had time to follow him around closely, and so I witnessed time and again how he remained extremely calm at crucial moments and under great pressure and came up with great shots. By that I don't only mean aces but also, his volleys or his abilities at the net. His serves are designed in a way, if they were to come back he would know exactly where to put it next; as in, he'd follow up with it. Raonic, for example, can't do it 50% of the time because he first, doesn't expect it to come back and so second, when they do, he can't come up with as good a volley as Sampras. Sampras is a natural volleyer while both Federer and Raonic aren't.
If Sampras were to meet with Federer, then he would break Federer mentally down as did Nadal but even more so, because of his serves and his ability at the net. Federer would find it very difficult to break Sampras' serve let alone do anything else. Federer is also not good at returning serve so that makes it even worse. A great returner like Agassi had no answer to Sampras' serves for example. Why would anyone think Federer would have better success at returning?
Sampras' mental strength truly stands out amongst all and he also had the luxury to either stay back of the court (while he's not serving and the game is playing on his opponent's serve, say, Agassi, Courier, Chang etc.) or be at the net because of his all court game. There's no one on this planet who'd be able to beat him 3 times in a row in GS finals on different surfaces. You know very well that it takes one hell of a game and mental attitude to stay at the top of ranking 6 years in a row and win 14 Majors. The fact that he had never won RG doesn't cut the argument much and does not at all negate his greatness. In fact, he felt too early in his career that he couldn't possibly continue to win both RG and Wimbledon back to back, given that they are both so close to each other, so he went with Wimbledon. He simply modeled his game that way, since back then, most of the courts were playing faster, so he needed to compromise and calculate his schedules that way. Not to mention, he had to play on variety of surfaces and had to play against players who'd both be S&V and baseliners. Today's fans don't have the first hand idea about Sampras and whatever is in front them, they tend to think that's the best thing since the sliced bread. If they are witnessing it then it has to be that greatest thing on the planet. After all, it is all about them first.
Anyway, have fun!
I'll stick around until the end of this match. Federer has now become very error prone and playing with less confidence. Nole, on the other hand, has cut down the errors and playing with more confidence as expected.
4-2 Nole, 3rd set. He should get the insurance break here.
ferru is a human backboard.
can you imagine if he had been about 6 foot 2?
all he lacks is height.
that is an awesome post.
becker said that on a good day "you could not touch pete on any surface except for clay".
I think you are right. pete had massive mental strength and he was a superb athlete. he was also strong as hell.
a greek who fought like a Spartan.
The best thing about Ferrer is that, he always bring his best and stays supremely consistent. So obviously he's not going to hand it to Nole on a silver plate. The other side of it is that, no matter what Ferrer has to offer, Nole has so much more to offer. And after coming this close beating Isner, Wawrinka and Federer today, he sure is not going to give up now against a player like Ferrer. Ferrer neither has the belief nor the game. Besides, he'll be too convinced thinking today that he's really beaten Nadal, so he might just be a bit overwhelmed by that come tomorrow. He needs to beat Nadal on a consistent basis to prove a point. If he can beat Nadal again this Tuesday at WTF, perhaps then he may have a case. Otherwise I wouldn't read too much into this loss or Ferrer's performance.
I believe that Ferrer can win at least a set tomorrow. Nole was pretty bad for a set and a half against Fed today. Who knows which Nole will show up tomorrow.
that is an awesome post.
becker said that on a good day "you could not touch pete on any surface except for clay".
I think you are right. pete had massive mental strength and he was a superb athlete. he was also strong as hell.
a greek who fought like a Spartan.
His mum's side is from the Spartan side actually so they do have a connection. Still, sometimes I wonder what made Sampras so mentally tough. His parents would never watch him play because they would get so nervous to the point they would either to go to the mall and hang out there or just go away on vacation. lol That's why you'd never see them in any of Sampras' matches during his whole career. But perhaps Sampras' himself wasn't too keen on it as he probably didn't want his parents to go through any tough time. Or he probably didn't want any weak link during a match as he might have thought of it as a mental weakness instead of a support.
Anyway, you could tell from his body language how strongly he felt about his game during clutch times.
Time for Nole to strike back again to get the break back.
Ferrer was serving for BOTH the first and second sets t 5:4 and got broken both times. That is unacceptable for a Top 5 player!
Both matches went to the final set. I always enjoy Berdych vs Wawrinka - their USO encounter was one of the best of this year.
Group B looks really tough for everyone. 3 real contenders are in the same group.
In the meantime, Andy's ranking is taking a beating.He's now ranked 4 and if Del Potro goes further then he'll slip to rank 5 I think come new year. Oh well better be healthy than feel sorry.
waw is playing incredible tennis right now.
his power off the ground is off the charts.
and how about his serve? the man can blast serves at 135-138 mph range.
average speed of his strokes was 80 mph today.
federer should have been able to serve out the damn set.
he is making this difficult for himself.
waw is playing incredible tennis right now.
his power off the ground is off the charts.
and how about his serve? the man can blast serves at 135-138 mph range.
average speed of his strokes was 80 mph today.
Didn't Nole put him aside in 2 easy sets just last week? Anyway, he's a good player but he's inconsistent and also, not as lethal as Berdych on the big stage. Yes, yes I know he's taken out Murray only recently from the USO but that had much more to do with Andy than Wawrinka.
wawrinka is good and getting better but he is no match for nole.
speaking of wawrinka, he and nadal will go at it tomorrow. I think that match might go the distance.
nadal looked quite shaky to me today.
evening emma.
roger`s only chance against nole is to strike quickly and try to take the match in 2.
by the time 3rd set starts, it is usually too late. nole has his teeth into the match by then and he has his rhythm.
nole is just too tough. all you can do at this point is to congratulate him and move on to the next match.
maybe better luck for roger in his next match.
nole is just a runaway freight train on the hard courts right now.
evening emma.
roger`s only chance against nole is to strike quickly and try to take the match in 2.
by the time 3rd set starts, it is usually too late. nole has his teeth into the match by then and he has his rhythm.
nole is just too tough. all you can do at this point is to congratulate him and move on to the next match.
maybe better luck for roger in his next match.
nole is just a runaway freight train on the hard courts right now.
But that's a bit of an impossible deal for Federer these days since he can't play consistent tennis for two sets especially if they are long and tight. He can play one full set well. Maybe he needs some sort of strategy on that. Not necessarily a top player is going to play bad for two sets - be it Nadal or Nole or Murray or even DP. So I think it requires different game strategies.
Rafa is playing like crap again, he was so lucky to win that tiebreak. I still don't get why he plays so many shots to Wawa's backhand, I understand it is Rafa's most comfortable shot (crosscourt forehand to opponents backhand) but he needs to avoid doing that or he will keep getting burned.
6-2, 6-3 to roger.
gasquet has a lot of work to do. he continues to fold in key moments.
I think he is also intimidated a little bit by roger so that does not help his cause.
folks I think those images were cluttering up the main page.
I thought we should try a cleaner look anyway. I can make the logos smaller tomorrow.
this makes it a lot easier to read the main page in a hurry.
folks I think those images were cluttering up the main page.
I thought we should try a cleaner look anyway. I can make the logos smaller tomorrow.
this makes it a lot easier to read the main page in a hurry.
But it's because of the pictures the main page looked unique and different. The banner, on the other hand, looked kind of out of sort especially when you browse through your phone. But of course, your call. I am cool either way.
well we will keep experimenting emma. we need cooler pictures with better resolution.
in the mean time I thought we can also look to establish our brand.
and that can only be done with a cool logo. this was just a first attempt at a logo.
I know a lady that does these logos. I am going to ask her give us 1 or 2 more versions if possible.
I did touch up the banner with a hint of light blue but we will keep working on that too.
well we will keep experimenting emma. we need cooler pictures with better resolution.
in the mean time I thought we can also look to establish our brand.
and that can only be done with a cool logo. this was just a first attempt at a logo.
I know a lady that does these logos. I am going to ask her give us 1 or 2 more versions if possible.
I did touch up the banner with a hint of light blue but we will keep working on that too.
The banner looks very cool. I love the touch of blue, one of my favourite colours. My favourite colours are purple and blue.
Morning herc, You can take off the picture of Emma's cafe to keep things consistent. I only had it since the main page had pictures. Now I don't see the need for it.
I like the logo but perhaps a bit too masculine but I don't mind it. The sword and shield could represent so many things. It could mean defending yourself while trying to kill the other person. It could also mean war and later respect or honour.
Pen is mightier than the sword in the end of course.
(http://lillieleonardi.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/blogging-is-mightier-and-more-viral-than-pen.jpg)
rafa can do it general tee.
he needs to start strong and snatch the first set.
by the way check out our official logo. this logo will help us establish our brand on the internet.
this logo was developed by Sara who joined Camelot elite tennis society the other day.
this is one awesome logo.
all the credit in the world goes to sara for creating this for us.
rafa can do it general tee.
he needs to start strong and snatch the first set.
by the way check out our official logo. this logo will help us establish our brand on the internet.
this logo was developed by Sara who joined Camelot elite tennis society the other day.
this is one awesome logo.
all the credit in the world goes to sara for creating this for us.
The logo looks awesome, General! And the number of members keeps increasing :)
Rafa played pretty solid today, but Fed gifted him the second set. Nole is not going to do that tomorrow. Rafa needs to be aggressive and he needs to serve well and return even better!
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/coffee_zpsc5126fa1.gif) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/coffee_zpsc5126fa1.gif.html)
Now is the time for push for a break.
this loss should do him good anyway.
he knows he will have to work harder if he wants the Australian open title.
it will force him to try to improve.
some losses are good losses.
nadal cant seem to do anything off the ground.
did you see that last 2 forehands. 2 sitters and he nets them.
unbelievable. I guess we sort of knew this would happen. we saw how terrible he was against Federer yesterday.
this was really to be expected.
Yes, and he is not moving well at all. That's ok, I never expected him to do that much this year anyways. Hopefully he trains hard and dethrones Nole at the Australian Open.
Yes, and he is not moving well at all. That's ok, I never expected him to do that much this year anyways. Hopefully he trains hard and dethrones Nole at the Australian Open.
agreed.
most important thing is that he gets out of London with no injuries.
to me that is absolutely huge.
he does not have a confidence problem against nole. nole has a confidence problem with nadal at slams after this year.
nadal is just spent. there can be no other conclusion.
wow - I like the new banner! It's something new every day!
There were lots of posts on this thread so I just skimmed it. If you have anything important there please don't forget to remind me.
Congrats to Nole! But I wasn't able to follow anyone of it. Just the last two games of the 2nd set on my phone. He was definitely the best player of this tournament. He beat the likes of Nadal, Federer, Del Potro, Wawrinka, Gasquet to defend this title. He was also coming off winning Paris just the week before. Given his status in all the Slams this year where he had made the semi or the final or won in each, it's really hard to rule him as the best player of this year. There is no reason to think that there could be only one but it's okay. Well, anyway, it doesn't matter. I am very happy for him as a fan. He had some heart wrenching losses this year so this is some comfort for him and he's worked very hard for it.
Congrats to Nadal as well! It wasn't easy for him here either but Nole is the better indoor player all in all and his game suits it a great deal as well. Missed Andy in all this. Hopefully next year will be all about my Andy!
Yes, and he is not moving well at all. That's ok, I never expected him to do that much this year anyways. Hopefully he trains hard and dethrones Nole at the Australian Open.
agreed.
most important thing is that he gets out of London with no injuries.
to me that is absolutely huge.
he does not have a confidence problem against nole. nole has a confidence problem with nadal at slams after this year.
nadal is just spent. there can be no other conclusion.
But Nadal also lost to Nole at Shanghai; not to mention, he won all his matches here except for the one against Nole, so it's not a very valid argument that he'd be only totally spent here against his main rival when he won all his other matches. That's not giving much credit to Nole, herc.
Anyway, 2014 is definitely looking interesting. If Andy is still feeling it and into tennis then it should be a 3 way rivalry. Just because Nadal has beaten Andy a few times in Slams, doesn't mean he'll continue to do it going forward and Andy has beaten Nadal twice and of late, he's beaten Nole. So Nadal just doesn't need to beat Nole, he'll need to beat Murray as well. They may just draw each other at the 2014 AO.
Novak Djokovic confirmed that he’s playing some exhibitions with Rafael Nadal in South America after Davis Cup. “We’ll be seeing each other quite often. I see him more than my mom actually.”
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/federer-playerbar-popout_zpsff01cff7.png) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/federer-playerbar-popout_zpsff01cff7.png.html)
Novak Djokovic confirmed that he’s playing some exhibitions with Rafael Nadal in South America after Davis Cup. “We’ll be seeing each other quite often. I see him more than my mom actually.”
morning sports fans.
its cold as hell here today on the gulf coast.
Evening herc, it's very cold here too but slightly warming up this weekend. Looking forward to it.
Coffee was designed for winter weather I can tell you that. The thought of coffee makes me wake up in the morning. Those who drink coffee and I believe Javier is one of them, don't know what they are missing.
You know what is very lame? Tea. lol No, actually not very lame. I do like to drink it with cookies like little kids and sometimes, I like green or lemon tea. But that's about it. I hate flavoured tea. I am not very womanly in that sense.
I had a oatmeal cookie today and it was heavenly!
who is ready for the weekend?
morning sports fans.
its cold as hell here today on the gulf coast.
Evening herc, it's very cold here too but slightly warming up this weekend. Looking forward to it.
Coffee was designed for winter weather I can tell you that. The thought of coffee makes me wake up in the morning. Those who drink coffee and I believe Javier is one of them, don't know what they are missing.
You know what is very lame? Tea. lol No, actually not very lame. I do like to drink it with cookies like little kids and sometimes, I like green or lemon tea. But that's about it. I hate flavoured tea. I am not very womanly in that sense.
I had a oatmeal cookie today and it was heavenly!
who is ready for the weekend?
Yes, and this match may prove pivotal.
This is the final, isn't it?
watch this guy for a moment. he should have picked up a tennis racquet when he was 2 or 3 year old:
que pasa general tented. damn good to see you as usual.
I want to see how berdy fares against nole tomorrow.
from a fan's standpoint it would be nice to see a tough, hard fought 5 set battle.
I am just not sure if berdy is fit enough for such a monumental battle.
guess we will find out tomorrow.
http://www.elboyaldia.cl/noticia/deporte/nadal-vs-djokovic-en-vivo-gratis-online-copa-movistar-2013-chile
I only know a little spanish. But it looks like Rafa-Novak will play each other 20 november.
Found out Rafas eco schedule for november:
12th – 16th Nov. Necker Cup Pro-Am, British Virgin Islands
17th Nov. Jockey Club, Lima, Peru, vs David Ferrer
20th Nov. Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile, vs Novak Djokovic
21st Nov. Orfeo Superdomo, Cordoba, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
23rd Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
24th Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs Novak Djokovic
Rafa Novak playing twice! Hope they have some fun!
Found out Rafas eco schedule for november:
12th – 16th Nov. Necker Cup Pro-Am, British Virgin Islands
17th Nov. Jockey Club, Lima, Peru, vs David Ferrer
20th Nov. Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile, vs Novak Djokovic
21st Nov. Orfeo Superdomo, Cordoba, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
23rd Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
24th Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs Novak Djokovic
Rafa Novak playing twice! Hope they have some fun!
Found out Rafas eco schedule for november:
12th – 16th Nov. Necker Cup Pro-Am, British Virgin Islands
17th Nov. Jockey Club, Lima, Peru, vs David Ferrer
20th Nov. Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile, vs Novak Djokovic
21st Nov. Orfeo Superdomo, Cordoba, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
23rd Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs David Nalbandian
24th Nov. La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina, vs Novak Djokovic
Rafa Novak playing twice! Hope they have some fun!
South America has become the place to be this time of year, I guess. Last year it was Federer, this year it's Rafa and Novak. I bet Murray goes next year. He and Rafa playing exhibitions would be awesome.
Hi all,
Generally speaking, I'm thinking the tour misses Murray, much as it missed Nadal, before his incredible return. Hopefully he plays at the Australian Open. I guess some of his preps will tell him for sure if he is ready to go.
Nadal has scheduled so many exhos and such. I guess his knees must be in great shape after his triumphant 2013 season. I only hope that we are not in for a repeat of 2008-2009. It sort of smells like it to me. But who knows?
The main story lines for me this year are:
1. Can Rafa pick up where he left off and how long will he be able to continue before something gives? He is only one man.
Will he continue to play in hard court tournaments everywhere, or stick mostly to the clay? I hope after the Australian Open he either goes to South/Central America or takes a rest. I don't want to see him in Rotterdam and Dubai.
2. How will Murray be after the surgery and the time off? How much time will it take him to get back to his best form after 3.5 months out of action?
3. Will Spartan Stan continue to improve, or have we seen his best?
4. Which younger players will step up and start to consistently make it to the bigger tournament semis and finals? Dimitrov, Janowicz, Raonic, or someone else? Pablo Carreńo improved from #654 to #65 last year. Maybe we will see another jump up for him toward the top 30 where he can be seeded for majors?
5. How well will Federer do this year after his working vacation of last year? Will his back hold up to the heavier schedule he has mentioned for this year? At which majors will be a significant factor (semis or better)? Any?
6. Will Djokovic continue his consistent play of the last couple of years? Will he be able to win a major outside of Australia this year?
7. Juan Martin Del Potro is #5 in the world, David Ferrer is #3. Will they switch places this year?
I'll give you my opinions after I hear what others have to say... :)
Respectfully,
masterclass
Hi all,
Generally speaking, I'm thinking the tour misses Murray, much as it missed Nadal, before his incredible return. Hopefully he plays at the Australian Open. I guess some of his preps will tell him for sure if he is ready to go.
Nadal has scheduled so many exhos and such. I guess his knees must be in great shape after his triumphant 2013 season. I only hope that we are not in for a repeat of 2008-2009. It sort of smells like it to me. But who knows?
The main story lines for me this year are:
1. Can Rafa pick up where he left off and how long will he be able to continue before something gives? He is only one man.
Will he continue to play in hard court tournaments everywhere, or stick mostly to the clay? I hope after the Australian Open he either goes to South/Central America or takes a rest. I don't want to see him in Rotterdam and Dubai.
2. How will Murray be after the surgery and the time off? How much time will it take him to get back to his best form after 3.5 months out of action?
3. Will Spartan Stan continue to improve, or have we seen his best?
4. Which younger players will step up and start to consistently make it to the bigger tournament semis and finals? Dimitrov, Janowicz, Raonic, or someone else? Pablo Carreńo improved from #654 to #65 last year. Maybe we will see another jump up for him toward the top 30 where he can be seeded for majors?
5. How well will Federer do this year after his working vacation of last year? Will his back hold up to the heavier schedule he has mentioned for this year? At which majors will be a significant factor (semis or better)? Any?
6. Will Djokovic continue his consistent play of the last couple of years? Will he be able to win a major outside of Australia this year?
7. Juan Martin Del Potro is #5 in the world, David Ferrer is #3. Will they switch places this year?
I'll give you my opinions after I hear what others have to say... :)
Respectfully,
masterclass
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/sparatus-1/cool%20pix/David-Nalbandian-farewell-2013_3040878_zps0ccb70fe.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/sparatus-1/cool%20pix/David-Nalbandian-farewell-2013_3040878_zps0ccb70fe.jpg.html)
as for nadal and all his exos on the hard courts, I can only think of a couple of things:
1. greed
2. he has his eyes set on the Australian Open title so he wants to keep playing and keep hitting the ball.
i heard he beat rafa a couple of days ago but he lost this time.
i am about to post a few pics of rafa at the rafa center. you may or may not have seen them already.
i heard he beat rafa a couple of days ago but he lost this time.
i am about to post a few pics of rafa at the rafa center. you may or may not have seen them already.
Clarky was always lamenting the fact that Rafa overplayed based on greed.
No, Clarky isn't around. You know she likes to spend her time crushing people's spirits at the other place.
I saw the new Rafa pictures. Thanks.
best ATP matches of 2013:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/11/48/Best-ATP-Matches-5-To-3.aspx
Looking forward to the tennis season to start!
I have been going out way too much lately. During tournaments I am like glued to tv or computer. When season stopps I want to be more social.
But now I just want tennis to start again!
Just read something Rafas coach Toni said.. they aim for AO, want to make history.
Butterflies in my tummy! 3 strong contenders.. Rafa, Novak and Andy.
Looking forward to the tennis season to start!
I have been going out way too much lately. During tournaments I am like glued to tv or computer. When season stopps I want to be more social.
But now I just want tennis to start again!
Just read something Rafas coach Toni said.. they aim for AO, want to make history.
Butterflies in my tummy! 3 strong contenders.. Rafa, Novak and Andy.
I will have to check that out.
I bet they are all dreaming of #14 in Australia over there in Mallorca.
nadal's family must be excited at the prospects.
you don't get too many chances to make this kind of history in sports.
sporting immortality does not come easy and often.
Looking forward to the tennis season to start!
I have been going out way too much lately. During tournaments I am like glued to tv or computer. When season stopps I want to be more social.
But now I just want tennis to start again!
Just read something Rafas coach Toni said.. they aim for AO, want to make history.
Butterflies in my tummy! 3 strong contenders.. Rafa, Novak and Andy.
I will have to check that out.
I bet they are all dreaming of #14 in Australia over there in Mallorca.
nadal's family must be excited at the prospects.
you don't get too many chances to make this kind of history in sports.
sporting immortality does not come easy and often.
Plus, it is going to be Pistol Pete giving the trophy ;) I think that is a good sign for Rafa!
the truth check your pm when you get a chance.
let me know if you want me to create a special board for you. it only takes me 10 seconds to do it and I am up right now.
also that "forehand of doom" character is really funny. I sent him an email yesterday but he never responded.
looks like he likes a huge audience anyway.
crissty, the order, cmm, and michaelnadal are pretty cool too.
well we have all the time in the world anyway. sooner or later the good word about Camelot is sure to get around.
the truth check your pm when you get a chance.
let me know if you want me to create a special board for you. it only takes me 10 seconds to do it and I am up right now.
also that "forehand of doom" character is really funny. I sent him an email yesterday but he never responded.
looks like he likes a huge audience anyway.
crissty, the order, cmm, and michaelnadal are pretty cool too.
well we have all the time in the world anyway. sooner or later the good word about Camelot is sure to get around.
I saw it and responded.
Yes. The Forehand of Doom is awesome. He cracks me up.
i like all of the posters you mentioned. I hope they come over here.
Kinda.
Which year was it, do you remember?
It's vaguely coming back.
Seems like it was 2005 or 2006.
I had the opposite reaction.
I thought it was going to be good for Nole.
Nole is the one who said Pete was his idol growing up. Nadal practically said the game was boring when Sampras played. Nole also went to talk to Pete about being and staying on top. I think Nole is going to feel more motivated if Pete gives out the trophy.
Either way, it will be interesting.
hopefully Andy will be able to take full advantage of the clay season in 2014.
it will help him at Wimbledon.
I am picking Andy to snatch the Wimbledon crown.
this painting of Rafa sold for $35,000.00. all the proceeds went to the Rafa Foundation:
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/cool40/Rafa__zps49bcf1fb.jpg) (http://s1322.photobucket.com/user/spartacus120/media/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/cool40/Rafa__zps49bcf1fb.jpg.html)
interesting and informative stats and read:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-thorny-subject-competitive-eras-170300220--ten.html
more bad news for Lance Armstrong:
http://tracking.si.com/2013/12/13/italian-cyclist-says-lance-armstrong-paid-him-off/?sct=obnetwork
that whole 2013 u.s. open match was special. nole would catch on fire.
it took a lot to break his will and his spirit.
that whole 2013 u.s. open match was special. nole would catch on fire.
it took a lot to break his will and his spirit.
Yes, but break it he did.
I am still trying to figure out Nole's foibles. When I watch his matches I always get the feeling that something is missing, but I can't tell just what.
Here is a part of my half baked theory.
Novak can get extremely hot and run off a blistering array of winners, but then he can just as quickly dissolve into a one man wrecking machine making dubious decisions and losing heart.
His patterns are starting to look a lot like Federer's. If he can't overwhelm you, he gets frustrated and sulks for a bit before he comes roaring back, but lately, he's been staying in a funk a little too long and you can't do that against Rafa, because he senses that and become even more aggressive.
At least, that's my take.
that whole 2013 u.s. open match was special. nole would catch on fire.
it took a lot to break his will and his spirit.
Yes, but break it he did.
I am still trying to figure out Nole's foibles. When I watch his matches I always get the feeling that something is missing, but I can't tell just what.
Here is a part of my half baked theory.
Novak can get extremely hot and run off a blistering array of winners, but then he can just as quickly dissolve into a one man wrecking machine making dubious decisions and losing heart.
His patterns are starting to look a lot like Federer's. If he can't overwhelm you, he gets frustrated and sulks for a bit before he comes roaring back, but lately, he's been staying in a funk a little too long and you can't do that against Rafa, because he senses that and become even more aggressive.
At least, that's my take.
good to see you around lady TT.
that is a great post. I would have to agree.
nole is an awesome talent and he is nearly impossible to beat on the hard courts. especially in the best of 3 sets formats.
he has been in 12 slam finals already if I am not mistaken and that is impressive.
he can find himself in a zone at times like he did at WTF and also at the china open.
So am I oh man of many names, DM, CD, and herc, ha ha ha.
Rafa is looking good. Not at his optimum, but looking dang determined to get there.
I am loving his new aggressiveness that he manages without an abundance of errors.
Eight more days. Woohoo!
I can think of a name & it's not DM/CD or Hercules.
I can think of a name & it's not DM/CD or Hercules.
I can think of a name & it's not DM/CD or Hercules.
I think he'll pick his level up for a major, especially one that he wants so desperately. I'm also sure that he'll work on that serve. Winning a title for the first time before the Oz should have him feeling pretty confident.
Now he can go home and prepare. It's good that he didn't play as well as he can. This gives him room for improvement and it also prevented him from peaking too early. The Oz is where he needs to peak, and I hope he does.
Federer is ready for the Australian Open:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/01/federer-eager-attack-australian-open/50152/#.Uss4z50o59A
Reading this article, Hewitt doesn't sound too encouraging. To admit to being tired from Brisbane and only playing an exhibition match, I dunno!
here is the big question sports fans:
are the big 4 back in business? I think they are back in business but what is your own take? they have 34 of the last 35 slams.
will they take everything this year?
and what about nole? he is not going to have it any easier at RG and andy is going to be back in business on grass at Wimbledon.
in fact I am predicting another Wimbledon crown for andy this year. I think he is making steady progress.
he could be back stronger than ever at Wimbledon.
what happens with nole now? will this loss shape his year or will he quickly overcome it? he is part of the big 4 so he is going to get his share of the wins but is it possible for him to be shut out of the slam picture this year? especially with roger and andy being right back in business again.
here is the big question sports fans:
are the big 4 back in business? I think they are back in business but what is your own take? they have 34 of the last 35 slams.
will they take everything this year?
and what about nole? he is not going to have it any easier at RG and andy is going to be back in business on grass at Wimbledon.
in fact I am predicting another Wimbledon crown for andy this year. I think he is making steady progress.
he could be back stronger than ever at Wimbledon.
what happens with nole now? will this loss shape his year or will he quickly overcome it? he is part of the big 4 so he is going to get his share of the wins but is it possible for him to be shut out of the slam picture this year? especially with roger and andy being right back in business again.
here is the big question sports fans:
are the big 4 back in business? I think they are back in business but what is your own take? they have 34 of the last 35 slams.
will they take everything this year?
and what about nole? he is not going to have it any easier at RG and andy is going to be back in business on grass at Wimbledon.
in fact I am predicting another Wimbledon crown for andy this year. I think he is making steady progress.
he could be back stronger than ever at Wimbledon.
what happens with nole now? will this loss shape his year or will he quickly overcome it? he is part of the big 4 so he is going to get his share of the wins but is it possible for him to be shut out of the slam picture this year? especially with roger and andy being right back in business again.
That requires caption. Here I go...
Oh Good Lord! ... have things come to this?? Do I now have to use big head racquets to beat Rafa, Nole, Andy? I remember the days when I used to beat them with 'tiny' racquets. Sometimes, just my quiet and yet long look was enough. And there were times when I'd tell them "you f***ing stopped' and they'd lose sets! Ahhhh I can't deal with this anymore...na na..
(http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u572/spartacus120/spartan%20images/this%20is%20sparta/sparatus-1/cool%20pix/leonidas-1/federer-1_zpsdee7ff42.jpg)
I have good news. Christti sent me an e-mail.
she is fro tennis warehouse. she said she will be stopping by when the time permits.
she is a great person and a great poster.
que pasa sports fans.
let the good times roll.
borg number one turned out to be a flake emma darling.
he/she came here and sent me 2-3 pms to inform us that he/she was here.
he/she posts away at tennis warehouse but did not have the guts to make one lousy simple post here.
did not even care to say hello to anyone here. that is pretty pathetic if you ask me.
I am done with flakes. I saw enough of them at tennis4you and at MTF.
anyway I think you are right. I don't have the time or the patience for mindless endless debates and discussions on who the hell is the greatest.
I don't give a damn. I just want to relax and I want everybody else to relax and have fun.
like our mission statement says, we are here to facilitate and promote experiences and interactions that entertain, inspire, enlighten, and even educate if possible.
we are not here to make people miserable.
the word on the street:
rafa's back is not ok. he will hit the practice courts on Thursday and then take it from there.
no decision yet on the argentina event.
congrats to gulbis and his fans.
gulbis takes his 5th title.
Nole says he dropped 2-3 titles he could have won:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/02/djokovic-i-dropped-two-or-three-titles-i-could-have-won/50730/#.Uw1YJWeYapo
is it time for the Miami Masters thread yet?
time seems to be flying this year.
Andy and Lendl have ended their coaching relationship.
I can't say I'm too surprised General Hercules.
I think Ivan Lendl and Andrew Murray, OBE, accomplished the primary mission - get Andy to overcome the hurdle of winning a major, which happened. And then Wimbledon was the real icing on that cake. I don't know that Ivan could do much more for Andy and it seems that Ivan wants to focus more on other projects of his own.
Here is the article from AndyMurray.com
Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl announce that they have mutually agreed to end their two year coaching relationship.
News - Wednesday, March 19 2014
The partnership between Murray and Lendl brought an Olympic Gold Medal, US Open title and Wimbledon Championship.
“Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me”, said Lendl. “He is a first class guy. Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying. I will always be in Andy’s corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career.”
Murray, who is returning from back surgery and preparing to defend his title in Miami, said “I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far. As a team, we’ve learned a lot and it will definitely be of benefit in the future. I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here”.
Andy will lead Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup next month against Italy.
Lendl has recently played exhibitions in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Charlotte and London. He has also been giving clinics in the Canary Islands as well as opening new courts in Bluffton, SC at the Ivan Lendl Junior Tennis Academy.
Respectfully,
masterclass
Lady TT, I'm not privy to his thoughts on the matter, but my guess is that he'll have a go with the remainder of his team for now.
I think he has to sort out his goals for the next year or two, then decide who the best available person is to help him accomplish those goals.
At this point he probably just wants to get back to his form prior to his back surgery. Obviously, I think a good Miami, or Davis Cup showing would help his confidence going forward into the clay season, though my expectations for him still won't be higher for him until the grass season and summer hard courts.
Respectfully,
masterclass
I can't say I'm too surprised General Hercules.
I think Ivan Lendl and Andrew Murray, OBE, accomplished the primary mission - get Andy to overcome the hurdle of winning a major, which happened. And then Wimbledon was the real icing on that cake. I don't know that Ivan could do much more for Andy and it seems that Ivan wants to focus more on other projects of his own.
Here is the article from AndyMurray.com
Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl announce that they have mutually agreed to end their two year coaching relationship.
News - Wednesday, March 19 2014
The partnership between Murray and Lendl brought an Olympic Gold Medal, US Open title and Wimbledon Championship.
“Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me”, said Lendl. “He is a first class guy. Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying. I will always be in Andy’s corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career.”
Murray, who is returning from back surgery and preparing to defend his title in Miami, said “I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far. As a team, we’ve learned a lot and it will definitely be of benefit in the future. I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here”.
Andy will lead Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup next month against Italy.
Lendl has recently played exhibitions in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Charlotte and London. He has also been giving clinics in the Canary Islands as well as opening new courts in Bluffton, SC at the Ivan Lendl Junior Tennis Academy.
Respectfully,
masterclass
If you think Andy has it bad, recovering from his surgery... look at the case of the unfortunate Mr. Juan Martin del Potro. He is having surgery on his other wrist (left) on Monday.
He is going to be completely out of action waiting for the surgery to heal for at least 8-10 months. :'( One has to feel very sad for the big guy.
He rose up to take the tennis world by storm in 2009, winning the US Open defeating the 5 time consecutive champion Roger Federer.
He's one of the only players who is able to beat all of the top players when he is playing well.
It took him about 2 years to get back his game after his right wrist surgery in early 2010 after the Australian Open.
His prime years are slipping away. Simply devastating news for Juan Martin. Let's wish him a successful surgery and a good recuperative period.
Story: http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Breaking-Season-Ended-for-Juan-Martin-Del-Potro-Wrist-surgery-for-the-Argentine-yet-again-articolo16801.html (http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Breaking-Season-Ended-for-Juan-Martin-Del-Potro-Wrist-surgery-for-the-Argentine-yet-again-articolo16801.html)
Respectfully,
masterclass
3 more titles and the bryan brothers will have hit 100 titles milestone.
unbelievable stuff. these two have made millions and millions just playing doubles.
and they have carved out their immortality in the process.
and did I mention that they will be both 40 years old before long.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2641090/Is-former-Wimbledon-champion-Amelie-Mauresmo-set-Andy-Murrays-new-coach.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co
stan is taking the wildcard at queens:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/05/wawrinka-takes-wildcard-queens-club-after-french-open-exit/51601/#.U4lb2WdOV9A
stan has the same problem every other single hander has on the tour in modern tennis in my estimation:
single hander has too many variables. it is not consistent enough for the modern game. roger did well with it because every other aspect of roger's game was world class. his serve was among the biggest in history for example. his forehand was one of the greatest ever. and so on.
you can do well here and there with a single hander and even have a great tournament but you cant consistently dominate with a single hander in modern tennis.
stan had a tournament of his lifetime in Melbourne and now its over. it will be very difficult to repeat that success and that type of performance.
big day for federer and baby federer.
both snatch titles.
congrats to them both and their fans at Camelot.
It's done General. It is truly a visionary thread from a visionary poster. Even Federer fans have to be embarrassed at their ridicule early in the thread where many were saying 80-82 tops. He'll be retired by 32, etc, etc. You said he'll play to 37 - 40 if he doesn't suffer a major injury.. They laughed. He'll turn 34 this year, and shows only few signs of age, which he has countered with good tactics and scheduling. I think he'll pass Lendl by the end of 2016 or early 2017 and start going for 100, then maybe even Connors at 109. Laver won over 50 titles over the age of 30, Rosewall 40 something I think. If Federer stays fit as he is, hungry, motivated, he'll outlast many others even younger than he is. I'd say the Kyrgios, Coric, Kokkinakis 18-20 year olds will eventually take over the tour, but I give them about 4-5 years for that to happen. Not many of the Raonic, Dimitrov, Nishikori generation are going to trouble their elders. Until then, the tour is wide open.
Respectfully,
masterclass
Andy slipped a little bit after Cincy but I think he will bounce back.
he has to fix his serve.
Nishikori attacked his 2nd serve no less than 39 times in that match at Flushing Meadows.
you just cant allow that to happen if you are a top player and if you are nearly 6 foot 4.
Andy slipped a little bit after Cincy but I think he will bounce back.
he has to fix his serve.
Nishikori attacked his 2nd serve no less than 39 times in that match at Flushing Meadows.
you just cant allow that to happen if you are a top player and if you are nearly 6 foot 4.
If Mugray had a good serve (especially second serve) he would have many more slams.
But he's also a mental midget a lot of the time. And he doesn't have the mental stamina that it takes to get to number 1 and stay there like Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have.
He'll still probably be number 1 someday just be default, when Djokovic fades out, since there is no one else on the horizon.