Tennis League All Thread

[laurenB7742]

By the way, what do you think about these predictions of former famous tennis players for 2022:
''Martina Navratilova explains why she thinks Garbine Muguruza will have strong 2022''
Source: https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/107008/martina-navratilova-explains-why-she-thinks-garbine-muguruza-will-have-strong-2022/

''Pam Shriver: I'd be surprised if Emma Raducanu is still top-20 at end of 2022''
Source: https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/107002/pam-shriver-i-d-be-surprised-if-emma-raducanu-is-still-top20-at-end-of-2022/

Do you agree with their opinions?
What do you think about the women’s competition in world tennis in 2022. Who will be at the top and whether Serena can go back to the top and win a record GS?

I think I agree with Pam Shriver.

Emma Raducanu got a headstart in her career but we are yet to know what she is capable of in this crowd of young and talented players.

I wouldn't say that she was the most inconsistent player or one of them, but I can surely say that she has the potential to be better. She is still new to the scene and maybe if she's given 2 or 3 more years, we'd be able to determine her actual worth. And Martina Navratilova also has a strong point. Muguruza is ranked no. 3 right now and I have a feeling that she will win at least one Grand Slam this year.

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[Kemarit]

^
Ah I would love to see Osaka going far and taking the title for the second year.
Hopefully she is in a good place mentally and can manage the pressures that
came up last year.

...but we have to give consideration to Muguruza, Barty, Halep and others in
the top 10. Its a difficult one to call, the womens side is very open and competitive.

Same here, with Serena out of the Australian Open, I think Osaka if going to be one of the favorites to win the title. We all know what her problems is, and hopefully she has overcome it already and will perform on the highest level just like what we have seen from her when she has a break out here like 2-3 years ago. Another name is Barty and Halep, if they two become healthy not just in Australian Open but throughout the year and be consistent, these ladies are going to fight it out for the top 1-3.

[Jating]

That's a big prediction against Emma, does Pam saying that she is just a one hit wonder? (well this was the case in women's side though, there are some who after winning a grand slam suddenly drops out of the top 10 and was never the top player they are).

But we can see that after the changes coach, her game has deteriorated. But we will have to see, hopefully she can still compose herself and still be like the player that suddenly break into the limelight last year specially winning the US Open.

That are strong words from Pam Shriver but as you say, we will need to wait and see how Raducanu continues to develop this year. She struggled in the tournaments after her US Open as there was a lot more pressure on her (before she was always in the underdog position). Changing her coach was maybe not the best idea, but only time will tell.

Maybe it was just me, or Pam is a hater of Emma because of her recent success but then again, she is trying to shoot here down with that negative comments of her against the teenager? Or she is just trying to keep the fire burning inside of Emma to really go and strive for more in 2022?

In any case the ball is on Emma here, to prove her critics and detractors by winning another grand slam or at least a tournament and break into the top 10 this year, that will be her goal.

[Ratash]

^
Its amazing how a significant injury can set a player back. Thiem will have a tough
road back especially if he is not ready for the AO, the main concern will be not to get
injured while pushing to get back to top form.

Ah Tsitsipas is a great player with so much potential but 2021 was a frustrating
one for him I recon and for us who lost Satoshi's with him.

Yes disapointing year for tsitsipas i too lost some money on him right now we have two top players medvedev and zverev i hope tsitsipas and thiem get their previous form back so we can see more competition than the big three era.

[Cnut237]

That's a big prediction against Emma, does Pam saying that she is just a one hit wonder? (well this was the case in women's side though, there are some who after winning a grand slam suddenly drops out of the top 10 and was never the top player they are).

But we can see that after the changes coach, her game has deteriorated. But we will have to see, hopefully she can still compose herself and still be like the player that suddenly break into the limelight last year specially winning the US Open.

That are strong words from Pam Shriver but as you say, we will need to wait and see how Raducanu continues to develop this year. She struggled in the tournaments after her US Open as there was a lot more pressure on her (before she was always in the underdog position). Changing her coach was maybe not the best idea, but only time will tell.

Maybe it was just me, or Pam is a hater of Emma because of her recent success but then again, she is trying to shoot here down with that negative comments of her against the teenager? Or she is just trying to keep the fire burning inside of Emma to really go and strive for more in 2022?

In any case the ball is on Emma here, to prove her critics and detractors by winning another grand slam or at least a tournament and break into the top 10 this year, that will be her goal.

I don't think Pam Shriver is being objective, there's something else going on, maybe she just dislikes Raducanu, or resents her early success? Or - more likely - she is thinking of her own career, where she reached the US Open final as a 16 year old, and then never ever reached another slam final again (see image below).

To be ranked in the top 20, you need to accrue around 2500 points over the calendar year. Given that Raducanu will be seeded in a lot of tournaments due to her current ranking, this doesn't seem a huge ask. The US Open wasn't a one-off, you don't win these things just by being lucky. Remember this was actually her second ever slam, in her first one, Wimbledon last year, she got through to the last 16 as well, and could quite easily have made the quarters if it wasn't for her medical issue.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Shriver#Career

[Daniel91]

More tennis news and predictions:

''Pam Shriver doubts Naomi Osaka can dominate anywhere outside hard court''
Source: https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Tennis_Interviews/107009/pam-shriver-doubts-naomi-osaka-can-dominate-anywhere-outside-hard-court/

''Rafael Nadal stronger than the virus: in shape for Melbourne?''
Source: https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Editors_Thoughts/107006/rafael-nadal-stronger-than-the-virus-in-shape-for-melbourne/

''Roger Federer recalls: 'My knee was hurting, but pain went away and I will practice''
''Federer did not look good on the court and headed to Melbourne for the Australian Open with many concerns. Roger could not find the rhythm on serve and return against the Argentine, earning only one break chance and losing serve four times as he did not move or serve as he would have wante''
Source: https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Roger_Federer/107059/roger-federer-recalls-my-knee-was-hurting-but-pain-went-away-and-i-will-practice-/

It seems that Pam Shriver has really had some very controversial thoughts and analyzes lately. What do you think?
I'm glad that Nadal is slowly recovering and returning to tennis, but the question is how ready he will be for Australia.
What about Federer? I think it’s very hard to expect him to ever go back to the old level of tennis and win some GS again.
What are your thoughts?

[Cnut237]

Pam Shriver [...] Nadal [...] Federer
What are your thoughts?

My thoughts on Pam Shriver are as per my post above, I think she's reflecting on her own career a bit, and assuming erroneously that anyone who does very well at a young age will then fail to build on it.
Nadal and Federer I think are both nearing the end of their careers, and won't really threaten to win slams again... the only exception being Nadal on clay, where he is still superb.

[aoluain]

That's a big prediction against Emma, does Pam saying that she is just a one hit wonder? (well this was the case in women's side though, there are some who after winning a grand slam suddenly drops out of the top 10 and was never the top player they are).

But we can see that after the changes coach, her game has deteriorated. But we will have to see, hopefully she can still compose herself and still be like the player that suddenly break into the limelight last year specially winning the US Open.

That are strong words from Pam Shriver but as you say, we will need to wait and see how Raducanu continues to develop this year. She struggled in the tournaments after her US Open as there was a lot more pressure on her (before she was always in the underdog position). Changing her coach was maybe not the best idea, but only time will tell.

Maybe it was just me, or Pam is a hater of Emma because of her recent success but then again, she is trying to shoot here down with that negative comments of her against the teenager? Or she is just trying to keep the fire burning inside of Emma to really go and strive for more in 2022?

In any case the ball is on Emma here, to prove her critics and detractors by winning another grand slam or at least a tournament and break into the top 10 this year, that will be her goal.

I don't think Pam Shriver is being objective, there's something else going on, maybe she just dislikes Raducanu, or resents her early success? Or - more likely - she is thinking of her own career, where she reached the US Open final as a 16 year old, and then never ever reached another slam final again (see image below).

To be ranked in the top 20, you need to accrue around 2500 points over the calendar year. Given that Raducanu will be seeded in a lot of tournaments due to her current ranking, this doesn't seem a huge ask. The US Open wasn't a one-off, you don't win these things just by being lucky. Remember this was actually her second ever slam, in her first one, Wimbledon last year, she got through to the last 16 as well, and could quite easily have made the quarters if it wasn't for her medical issue.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Shriver#Career

I'm not really familiar with Shriver, it may indeed sound like she holds some resentment
towards Raducanu or indeed is applying her own career results to Raducanu's.

I think 2022 could be tricky for her, I think she is still in a development stage given
the fact that a lot changed for her after her GS win last year and couldnt really build
on what she achieved, maybe thats just what we expected though.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Pam Shriver [...] Nadal [...] Federer
What are your thoughts?

My thoughts on Pam Shriver are as per my post above, I think she's reflecting on her own career a bit, and assuming erroneously that anyone who does very well at a young age will then fail to build on it.
Nadal and Federer I think are both nearing the end of their careers, and won't really threaten to win slams again... the only exception being Nadal on clay, where he is still superb.

We can safely say that Nadal is recovering quite well so far. But I cannot surely say that he will be fit enough for Australia.

I think he can still make Australia if he rehabilitates well and does the things needed accordingly for him to return. I can say that the big 3 eras have almost come to an end and Federer was a part of it.

He has aged and age will get the better of him in terms of his strength, endurance, and pace. He is still one of the best players out there, but I think that he has left his golden times way behind him in the past.

[mv1986]

Pam Shriver [...] Nadal [...] Federer
What are your thoughts?

My thoughts on Pam Shriver are as per my post above, I think she's reflecting on her own career a bit, and assuming erroneously that anyone who does very well at a young age will then fail to build on it.
Nadal and Federer I think are both nearing the end of their careers, and won't really threaten to win slams again... the only exception being Nadal on clay, where he is still superb.

We can safely say that Nadal is recovering quite well so far. But I cannot surely say that he will be fit enough for Australia.

I think he can still make Australia if he rehabilitates well and does the things needed accordingly for him to return. I can say that the big 3 eras have almost come to an end and Federer was a part of it.

He has aged and age will get the better of him in terms of his strength, endurance, and pace. He is still one of the best players out there, but I think that he has left his golden times way behind him in the past.

That is not all too surprising, but I would still count him as a favorite for the French Open, for example. If he can play a whole tournament without pain, I think he is still able to win any of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

I am curious what's going to happen with Djokovic. Hours ago they said that only vaccinated or players exempted from it for medical reasons can participate, no exceptions are going to be made. If Djokovic presents medical proof that is supposed to exempt him from vaccination, I guess the whole world would like to know what that reason could be. The guy is probably so well connected around the world, even within the tennis associations, that it is going to be exciting over the next couple of days.

[laurenB7742]

I don't think Pam Shriver is being objective, there's something else going on, maybe she just dislikes Raducanu, or resents her early success? Or - more likely - she is thinking of her own career, where she reached the US Open final as a 16 year old, and then never ever reached another slam final again (see image below).
To be ranked in the top 20, you need to accrue around 2500 points over the calendar year. Given that Raducanu will be seeded in a lot of tournaments due to her current ranking, this doesn't seem a huge ask. The US Open wasn't a one-off, you don't win these things just by being lucky. Remember this was actually her second ever slam, in her first one, Wimbledon last year, she got through to the last 16 as well, and could quite easily have made the quarters if it wasn't for her medical issue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Shriver#Career

You do have a valid point about Pam being harsh on Emma. Emma is one of those players who seem to have the potential to be the very best one day. But whether Pam is jealous of Emma or she is protecting her - that we don't know.

All we know is that Emma is a phenomenal player so far and hope she can hold onto her consistency and maybe break into the top 10 this year? Only time will tell.

I think we won't be asking too much from Emma if we demand a tournament or two wins from her?

[LittleBitFunny]

^
Ah I would love to see Osaka going far and taking the title for the second year.
Hopefully she is in a good place mentally and can manage the pressures that
came up last year.

...but we have to give consideration to Muguruza, Barty, Halep and others in
the top 10. Its a difficult one to call, the womens side is very open and competitive.

Same here, with Serena out of the Australian Open, I think Osaka if going to be one of the favorites to win the title. We all know what her problems is, and hopefully she has overcome it already and will perform on the highest level just like what we have seen from her when she has a break out here like 2-3 years ago. Another name is Barty and Halep, if they two become healthy not just in Australian Open but throughout the year and be consistent, these ladies are going to fight it out for the top 1-3.

You know, Women's tennis has been quite competitive in the past few years.
We haven't had only one or two women dominating, Actually, this is good for the future of women's tennis in my opinion.
I think Osaka will have a great 2022 if her problem doesn't come back to her again. Barty and Halep are also in good form lately. Overall I'm hoping for a competitive 2022 in Women's tennis .

[Cnut237]

Nadal on clay, where he is still superb.

I would still count him as a favorite for the French Open, for example.

TBH I can imagine Nadal at the age of 80 standing with a walking stick on the baseline, and still making it through to the second week at Roland Garros. He's an absolute phenomenon on clay. I shared Pam Shriver's slam record earlier. Here's Nadal's. His record at the French is one of the most ridiculous things in tennis. If he's fit he certainly has to be considered one of the favourites for the 2022 French Open.

It's why the GOAT question can't ever really be answered. You can say Federer or Djokovic is the best of all time, but it depends on the surface... on clay, no-one can touch Nadal.

[mv1986]

Nadal on clay, where he is still superb.

I would still count him as a favorite for the French Open, for example.

TBH I can imagine Nadal at the age of 80 standing with a walking stick on the baseline, and still making it through to the second week at Roland Garros. He's an absolute phenomenon on clay. I shared Pam Shriver's slam record earlier. Here's Nadal's. His record at the French is one of the most ridiculous things in tennis. If he's fit he certainly has to be considered one of the favourites for the 2022 French Open.

It's why the GOAT question can't ever really be answered. You can say Federer or Djokovic is the best of all time, but it depends on the surface... on clay, no-one can touch Nadal.

You say Nadal's performance on clay (and especially in Roland Garros) is one of the most ridiculous things in tennis. So let me ask you: could you mention something that is even more ridiculous or equally ridiculous in tennis?

I think reaching 20 Grand Slams at a time when there are others playing who can also do that is also ridiculous. I guess by now the most versatile player ever is probably Djokovic, but no doubt when you consider a specific surface, I guess it will be impossible to beat Nadal's record ever. I mean, sure never say never, but what the heck is another player supposed to do in order to beat Nadal's record? Just doing the maths makes it seem impossible. There is only one way out I guess: as people get older and healthier, they might also be able to play longer. This record, however, could stand for centuries clearly.

[aoluain]

^
Ah I would love to see Osaka going far and taking the title for the second year.
Hopefully she is in a good place mentally and can manage the pressures that
came up last year.

...but we have to give consideration to Muguruza, Barty, Halep and others in
the top 10. Its a difficult one to call, the womens side is very open and competitive.

Same here, with Serena out of the Australian Open, I think Osaka if going to be one of the favorites to win the title. We all know what her problems is, and hopefully she has overcome it already and will perform on the highest level just like what we have seen from her when she has a break out here like 2-3 years ago. Another name is Barty and Halep, if they two become healthy not just in Australian Open but throughout the year and be consistent, these ladies are going to fight it out for the top 1-3.

You know, Women's tennis has been quite competitive in the past few years.
We haven't had only one or two women dominating, Actually, this is good for the future of women's tennis in my opinion.
I think Osaka will have a great 2022 if her problem doesn't come back to her again. Barty and Halep are also in good form lately. Overall I'm hoping for a competitive 2022 in Women's tennis .

Yes the competitiveness in the womens game is exciting, a good number of players
have the potential to win any competition, not so predictable for betting on though.

Venus and Serena have pretty much dominated the womens side but the
competition has changed.

[Woodie]

^
Ah I would love to see Osaka going far and taking the title for the second year.
Hopefully she is in a good place mentally and can manage the pressures that
came up last year.

...but we have to give consideration to Muguruza, Barty, Halep and others in
the top 10. Its a difficult one to call, the womens side is very open and competitive.

Same here, with Serena out of the Australian Open, I think Osaka if going to be one of the favorites to win the title. We all know what her problems is, and hopefully she has overcome it already and will perform on the highest level just like what we have seen from her when she has a break out here like 2-3 years ago. Another name is Barty and Halep, if they two become healthy not just in Australian Open but throughout the year and be consistent, these ladies are going to fight it out for the top 1-3.

You know, Women's tennis has been quite competitive in the past few years.
We haven't had only one or two women dominating, Actually, this is good for the future of women's tennis in my opinion.
I think Osaka will have a great 2022 if her problem doesn't come back to her again. Barty and Halep are also in good form lately. Overall I'm hoping for a competitive 2022 in Women's tennis .

Yes the competitiveness in the womens game is exciting, a good number of players
have the potential to win any competition, not so predictable for betting on though.

Women's tennis are really difficult to categorize on whether they are competitive or just a whole different mix that goes on with them on game day.
I always see matches of unseeded players winning games against seeded players as if they are among the top 10 on the WTA ranking which shocks me and this always happens with women matches  and for someone like me that gambles on such games sometimes, I feel head to head or form means nothing which questions the authenticity of these games...but if these games are unpredictable then I guess this makes them competitive

[Kemarit]

^^ True, that's the nature of women's tennis in the last 5 years or at least 10 if my memory serves me right. Champions are very inconsistent, up to the level that there are a lot of upsets. And then this new names comes along, but they are not able to sustain it. And then obviously, injuries sets in, and when they come back, it's a total different player and probably this is what Pam is seeing at Emma right now, the inconsistencies and such.

[aoluain]

Anyone watching the ATP Cup?

There were some good games yesterday and a bit of a shock defeat by Medvedev by
Humbert. Medvedev made up for it though by playing a great doubles match to win.

The doubles matches were a bit of a mixed bag, Germany ^{Zverev / Kraweitz} beaten by
U.K ^{Murray / Evans} and Italy ^{Berrettini / Bolelli} beaten by Australia ^{Peers / Saville}

[Trofo]

Anyone watching the ATP Cup?

There were some good games yesterday and a bit of a shock defeat by Medvedev by
Humbert. Medvedev made up for it though by playing a great doubles match to win.

I watch matches which are at the end of the program like Tsitispas - Schwartzman just now. Just won my bet as well on Schwartzman to take a set which I placed in Tie break of first set when Tsitsi had mach ball. He is definitely not in his top form and I except him to struggle in AO.

Free tip, Gonzales/Molteni should destroy Pervolakis/other Tsitispas and odds are @1.45 for match line and @2.2 for straight set victory. Just hope there will not be a player change since that will void the bet. I prefer when bookies list doubles in competitions like this as Greece vs. Argentina and then it does not matter if there is player change.

[Cnut237]

I think reaching 20 Grand Slams at a time when there are others playing who can also do that is also ridiculous. I guess by now the most versatile player ever is probably Djokovic, but no doubt when you consider a specific surface, I guess it will be impossible to beat Nadal's record ever. I mean, sure never say never, but what the heck is another player supposed to do in order to beat Nadal's record? Just doing the maths makes it seem impossible. There is only one way out I guess: as people get older and healthier, they might also be able to play longer. This record, however, could stand for centuries clearly.

Yes, the fact that we have 3 active players who have each won 20 slams is absurd. If the others weren't playing in the same era, then it is quite conceivable that Federer and Djokovic would each have won 30 slams. Nadal less so, as he's not quite so brilliant across all surfaces.

I think we have just got used to it, but I don't think there has been a tennis era like it, with such sustained excellence from multiple players. It is coming to an end now, and these three are a tough act to follow.