Tennis League All Thread

[aoluain]

Sinner was not able to close the match and Rune has been able to win... each time this player is strongly unpredictable at least to me

well in the second and third set the danish player was playing again at high level and not like the first set where he was a "ghost" with a lot of unforced errors.
Sinner has been able to recover a break point but against player of this rank he need more for a win... lets see an interesting final between Rublev and Rune!

I got to watch parts of both semi finals, Rublev did unbelievably well, he left the
court after losing the first set in a rage but came back on to blast through the second set
6-1, that is an indication of what he can do with the right mentality, he did well to overcome
his negativity and go on to win the match, I hope he wins today but I fear Rune will be just that
bit more effective.

He showed serious fighting spirit against Sinner. Sinner was unbelievable in the first set,
almost perfect Tennis, but second and third sets he had way to many unforced effors.

[Party24*7]

I got to watch parts of both semi finals, Rublev did unbelievably well, he left the
court after losing the first set in a rage but came back on to blast through the second set
6-1, that is an indication of what he can do with the right mentality, he did well to overcome
his negativity and go on to win the match, I hope he wins today but I fear Rune will be just that
bit more effective.

He showed serious fighting spirit against Sinner. Sinner was unbelievable in the first set,
almost perfect Tennis, but second and third sets he had way to many unforced effors.

Rublev was really unbelievable in the last two sets. He made a great comeback in this match. Actually, I thought he might get the second set but he will probably not get the last one. But he proved me wrong.  Now he is going to play the final against Rune. This is going to be one hell of a final. The odds say that Rublev is highly favored in this match. And if we look at the number of men's singles titles, Rublev has 12 and Rune has only 3.

[rdbase]

Sinner was not able to close the match and Rune has been able to win... each time this player is strongly unpredictable at least to me.
well in the second and third set the danish player was playing again at high level and not like the first set where he was a "ghost" with a lot of unforced errors.
Sinner has been able to recover a break point but against player of this rank he need more for a win... lets see an interesting final between Rublev and Rune!

Holger Rune has really become a comeback kid in this event. It was looking like Sinner was just going to streamroll over him but then this player just kept coming back with some remarkable shots to finally win it in the end.
Knowing Rublev and his short temper I will say this will be his downfall for him in the finals today and Rune will be the winner for this Monte Carlo Masters.
There is still time to place your bets on either player:
https://sportsbet.io/sports/tennis/atp/atp-monte-carlo-monaco-men-singles/matches

[aoluain]

Big congratulations to Rublev!

He finally has his Masters 1000 title. He said after the match that his mental attitude
was different now than it was in previous 1000's tournaments, it really comes
down to belief and to never give up until the last point is scored, for or against.

It shows because he came back in that last set from 4-1 down to win 5-7!

Thats the belief and never give up attitude, delighted for him and his new team.

[Zackgeno96]

Big congratulations to Rublev!

He finally has his Masters 1000 title. He said after the match that his mental attitude
was different now than it was in previous 1000's tournaments, it really comes
down to belief and to never give up until the last point is scored, for or against.

It shows because he came back in that last set from 4-1 down to win 5-7!

Thats the belief and never give up attitude, delighted for him and his new team.

Rublev is a good player, but he has the misfortune of having to play tennis in a world with Djokovic who normally shows him every corner of the court. And then there is no start for anyone. I think Rublev falls just short of being the best in the world. He will probably also have a hard time on Gravel. Nadal Rublev would normally be an ear wash, but Alcaraz is also very good on gravel. And we are all looking forward to the Paris open. Everything is now in preparation for this tournament, in which we will see the entire world top tennis and Djokovic still hungry for records.

[Trofo]

Big congratulations to Rublev!

He finally has his Masters 1000 title. He said after the match that his mental attitude
was different now than it was in previous 1000's tournaments, it really comes
down to belief and to never give up until the last point is scored, for or against.

It shows because he came back in that last set from 4-1 down to win 5-7!

Thats the belief and never give up attitude, delighted for him and his new team.

Must admit I did not think he has it in him to take a big tournament. Yeah he has the quality and he can win against anybody on his day but over the course of 5 or more matches he usually has a bad day sooner or later. And Rublev on bad day is not even top 50 player, he just doesn't have plan B if his shots aren't doing it.

[aoluain]

Big congratulations to Rublev!

He finally has his Masters 1000 title. He said after the match that his mental attitude
was different now than it was in previous 1000's tournaments, it really comes
down to belief and to never give up until the last point is scored, for or against.

It shows because he came back in that last set from 4-1 down to win 5-7!

Thats the belief and never give up attitude, delighted for him and his new team.

Must admit I did not think he has it in him to take a big tournament. Yeah he has the quality and he can win against anybody on his day but over the course of 5 or more matches he usually has a bad day sooner or later. And Rublev on bad day is not even top 50 player, he just doesn't have plan B if his shots aren't doing it.

Yes thats what my wife said yesterday, he is kind of one dimensional, the main issue
until now was his mental strength. Maybe and hopefully his new team will be able to
help him develop his play and his head.

The Barcelona tournament starts today and for either today or tomorrow I dont see
him listed to play. He did say right after the match yesterday that he didnt want
to think of Tennis, he was so tired...

[Strongkored]

Big congratulations to Rublev!

He finally has his Masters 1000 title. He said after the match that his mental attitude
was different now than it was in previous 1000's tournaments, it really comes
down to belief and to never give up until the last point is scored, for or against.

It shows because he came back in that last set from 4-1 down to win 5-7!

Thats the belief and never give up attitude, delighted for him and his new team.

I think he will still be an ATP 500 specialist because his ability is good but often not enough to give him many wins because his mentality sometimes has problems when facing tight matches. But what you're saying is true this time he deserves this major title, has been able to come out of tough times several times and what his opponent came up with was pretty much the same when he was able to beat him at the Australian Open earlier this year, a few times the winning chances were wasted because Rublev was able out of this great pressure.
Rublev will not be playing at the ATP 500 Barcelona and will be a competitor to Djokovic at the ATP 250 Banja Luka Open.

[RealMalatesta]

I think he will still be an ATP 500 specialist because his ability is good but often not enough to give him many wins because his mentality sometimes has problems when facing tight matches. But what you're saying is true this time he deserves this major title, has been able to come out of tough times several times and what his opponent came up with was pretty much the same when he was able to beat him at the Australian Open earlier this year, a few times the winning chances were wasted because Rublev was able out of this great pressure.
Rublev will not be playing at the ATP 500 Barcelona and will be a competitor to Djokovic at the ATP 250 Banja Luka Open.

This mentality case is not alone with Rublev I watch in few other players as well mostly after having one big win they face issues like this which hurt them badly sometime it ruin their career because I am also involved in tennis for 20 years and many players which have potential to win big events fail to do this just because of mentality issues or having enough money which hurt them and then not able to perform like they started.

Now as he has done in this event we can expect things could be changed for him, and he will overcome this problem which will help him for having good wins in near future now after big 3 I have feeling most chances we will have some issues like we have in WTA no player will be able to hold spots for long time, and we will have too many winners in one year.

[n0ne]

Rublev have shared his best on Twitter. He deserves the win and many congratulations have stated his improvement taking place in a stable manner. The win has got delayed, and now he had got into the masters champion list. He had been playing for a long and his first win is much celebrated and Twitter shows Rublev having good number of audience who helps him in his ups and downs.

[Ratash]

Barcelona atp main tournament started today and it seems that it will be as exciting as monte carlo it seems that djokovic and the finalists of monte carlo will not be participating which is gonna be disapointing but with alcaraz coming back after the loss in the previous tournament he should be motivated which will make the tournament even better.

[Strongkored]

Barcelona atp main tournament started today and it seems that it will be as exciting as monte carlo it seems that djokovic and the finalists of monte carlo will not be participating which is gonna be disapointing but with alcaraz coming back after the loss in the previous tournament he should be motivated which will make the tournament even better.

There are three tournaments taking place at the same time so the top players will be split across the three tournaments, Djokovic and Rublev will play in the Banja Luka Open and Monte Carlo finalist Holger Rune will play as the first seed at the Munich Open, after which all the top players will return played in one major Mutua Madrid Open and several other tournaments before the French Open, and it looks like it's going to be very busy. https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments
Alcaraz who is in the Barcelona Open will probably only take part in big tournaments because of course the French Open is his biggest target especially since it is his favorite surface.

[shogun47]

Six weeks to go for Nadal to recover before the French Open start, but this comeback will be even harder. He has close to zero serious competition before that. The last tournament with serious competition would be the tournament in Rome, but if he is not fit enough to play anything before that, it would probably be even a risk to go to Rome if he wants to play the French Open so badly. I know for us outsiders it is hard to understand what keeps him from playing for so long, but in soccer you usually know a concrete diagnosis. Nadal often disappears for a couple of months and it is hard to know what he actually has. Is it still his hi injury? Or is he being overly careful and will French Open be his last grand slam?

[Juggy777]

Six weeks to go for Nadal to recover before the French Open start, but this comeback will be even harder. He has close to zero serious competition before that. The last tournament with serious competition would be the tournament in Rome, but if he is not fit enough to play anything before that, it would probably be even a risk to go to Rome if he wants to play the French Open so badly. I know for us outsiders it is hard to understand what keeps him from playing for so long, but in soccer you usually know a concrete diagnosis. Nadal often disappears for a couple of months and it is hard to know what he actually has. Is it still his hi injury? Or is he being overly careful and will French Open be his last grand slam?

@shogun47 he has tried a lot to return but those injuries keep coming back which has effected his return, and I too believe that he’s targeting one last glory at the the French open before he calls it quits. Lastly if he continues to play it would be a very bad decision, but I can understand why he would be keen and it’s because of his strong mentality which convinces him not to give up despite these recerinng injuries.

[shogun47]

Six weeks to go for Nadal to recover before the French Open start, but this comeback will be even harder. He has close to zero serious competition before that. The last tournament with serious competition would be the tournament in Rome, but if he is not fit enough to play anything before that, it would probably be even a risk to go to Rome if he wants to play the French Open so badly. I know for us outsiders it is hard to understand what keeps him from playing for so long, but in soccer you usually know a concrete diagnosis. Nadal often disappears for a couple of months and it is hard to know what he actually has. Is it still his hi injury? Or is he being overly careful and will French Open be his last grand slam?

@shogun47 he has tried a lot to return but those injuries keep coming back which has effected his return, and I too believe that he’s targeting one last glory at the the French open before he calls it quits. Lastly if he continues to play it would be a very bad decision, but I can understand why he would be keen and it’s because of his strong mentality which convinces him not to give up despite these recerinng injuries.

In the end it is also about the records that keep pushing him and as much I think he would deserve to be the guy with the most GS titles, I believe that Djokovic has enough resources left to take him a couple of additional GS titles himself. Even if Nadal were to win the French Open and despite Djokovic having some surprising issues in less important tournaments, I think that is a record that Djokovic won't let go. Even if he can't play 15-20 tournaments a year, he will still focus on the GS and I think he is still a favorite. Since the beginning of 2021 Djokovic won 5 GS titles out of 7 tournaments. In 2 he wasn't allowed to play, so 5 wins, one final and one quarterfinal. It's quite likely that he will win more. So far this is actually his strongest performance ever statistically. Even without the two tournaments in Australia and the US where he wasn't vaccinated, these three years could become the best he ever had.

[aoluain]

Barcelona atp main tournament started today and it seems that it will be as exciting as monte carlo it seems that djokovic and the finalists of monte carlo will not be participating which is gonna be disapointing but with alcaraz coming back after the loss in the previous tournament he should be motivated which will make the tournament even better.

Sinner is playing Barcelona tomorrow as well as Tsitsipas who also plays tomorrow,
this should be another chance for a final appearance for Sinner and maybe take the
win from Alcaraz or Tsitsipas.

Six weeks to go for Nadal to recover before the French Open start, but this comeback will be even harder. He has close to zero serious competition before that. The last tournament with serious competition would be the tournament in Rome, but if he is not fit enough to play anything before that, it would probably be even a risk to go to Rome if he wants to play the French Open so badly. I know for us outsiders it is hard to understand what keeps him from playing for so long, but in soccer you usually know a concrete diagnosis. Nadal often disappears for a couple of months and it is hard to know what he actually has. Is it still his hi injury? Or is he being overly careful and will French Open be his last grand slam?

@shogun47 he has tried a lot to return but those injuries keep coming back which has effected his return, and I too believe that he’s targeting one last glory at the the French open before he calls it quits. Lastly if he continues to play it would be a very bad decision, but I can understand why he would be keen and it’s because of his strong mentality which convinces him not to give up despite these recerinng injuries.

Thats a possibility for Nadal to play his final match at the French Open, He is certainly
targeting that one, maybe he will in future only play the GS's or only play the Clay courts?
It will be difficult for him though not to be playing full time but the body will dictate what
he will be capable of doing and how far he can puch himself to remain competitive.

[Trofo]

Sinner is playing Barcelona tomorrow as well as Tsitsipas who also plays tomorrow,
this should be another chance for a final appearance for Sinner and maybe take the
win from Alcaraz or Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas is not in good form and I don't think he has it what it takes to get to the final. On the other hand Sinner is in the form of his life but clay was never his strongest surface. This one should be for Alcaraz to defend the title.

What is strange for me is that Djoković decided to play a smaller tournament in Banja Luka and what is even more baffling, Monte Carlo winner Rublev joined him there.

[shogun47]

Thats a possibility for Nadal to play his final match at the French Open, He is certainly
targeting that one, maybe he will in future only play the GS's or only play the Clay courts?
It will be difficult for him though not to be playing full time but the body will dictate what
he will be capable of doing and how far he can puch himself to remain competitive.

I think that Nadal will be very cautious about his decision and about his final appearance in tennis. I believe it is even possible that he won't return to the tennis stage like Federer did not go for his last match at Wimbledon. Federer back at the time said that he didn't want to take away the focus from all the other players only because everyone knows that it is his last game and I feel that Nadal is the same kind of guy.

So either Nadal is 100% healthy and believes he can win it, or he will step down like a gentleman like Federer and not take the focus away from any players, but instead use the Laver Cup as well to say goodbye. For now I am not very optimistic that Nadal is still convinced of a comeback. This time it is a bit different from the past recoveries he had.

[wildan88]

Thats a possibility for Nadal to play his final match at the French Open, He is certainly
targeting that one, maybe he will in future only play the GS's or only play the Clay courts?
It will be difficult for him though not to be playing full time but the body will dictate what
he will be capable of doing and how far he can puch himself to remain competitive.

I think that Nadal will be very cautious about his decision and about his final appearance in tennis. I believe it is even possible that he won't return to the tennis stage like Federer did not go for his last match at Wimbledon. Federer back at the time said that he didn't want to take away the focus from all the other players only because everyone knows that it is his last game and I feel that Nadal is the same kind of guy.

So either Nadal is 100% healthy and believes he can win it, or he will step down like a gentleman like Federer and not take the focus away from any players, but instead use the Laver Cup as well to say goodbye. For now I am not very optimistic that Nadal is still convinced of a comeback. This time it is a bit different from the past recoveries he had.

Nadal and Paris open is actually something unthinkable that they won't be together in the summer. But yes, injuries and age. That could be a problem for Nadal. He is no longer fit. He doesn't play much now, maybe he wants to risk everything to be there in Paris. A nice finish to win the tournament at Roland Garros would be great. But the competition will be huge this year at Paris, and I don't know if he will be physically strong enough either. Gravel is of course his substrate, but Alcaraz is probably stronger than Nadal at the moment. A dream final would be Nadal against Alcaraz.

[aoluain]

Sinner is playing Barcelona tomorrow as well as Tsitsipas who also plays tomorrow,
this should be another chance for a final appearance for Sinner and maybe take the
win from Alcaraz or Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas is not in good form and I don't think he has it what it takes to get to the final. On the other hand Sinner is in the form of his life but clay was never his strongest surface. This one should be for Alcaraz to defend the title.

What is strange for me is that Djoković decided to play a smaller tournament in Banja Luka and what is even more baffling, Monte Carlo winner Rublev joined him there.

is Djokovic prioritising the GS's and not putting too much into focussing on the minor tournaments
but using them for match fitness and if he wins its a bonus....just my 2 satoshi's.

On which tournament to play, when do the players notify or accept they will play?
I'm sure they all check out their potential opponents.

Tomorrow Tsitsipas plays Cachin and Sinner plays Schwartzman and today Alcaraz
beat Borges 6-3, 6-1. I agree as would many that its Alcaraz' tournament to win/lose