Tennis

Soldato
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I fell asleep last night during Novax match.

Backed him at 2 down. One of the most obvious things in sport when he pretends at the start. Builds up the aura but I can’t believe people still buy it. The commentators were pathetic.
 
Soldato
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I fell asleep last night during Novax match.

Backed him at 2 down. One of the most obvious things in sport when he pretends at the start. Builds up the aura but I can’t believe people still buy it. The commentators were pathetic.

Thinking he intentionally goes 2-0 down is just plain daft. Especially considering the schedule and additional wear and tear on the body.
 
Soldato
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Thinking he intentionally goes 2-0 down is just plain daft. Especially considering the schedule and additional wear and tear on the body.

All mind games at this early stage. It’s build up an aura that he can’t be beaten, even if he goes 2-0 down. He knows he can smash these guys easily in the first week without a second thought.
 
Soldato
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After 75 weeks, they'll be a new Women's #1 at the end of the US Open.

Really wanted to see the Iga vs Ostapenko match but given the time of night it was on, it wasn't feasible. When Amazon had the tennis I'd just watch a replay on Prime. Not possible on Sky Sports for some reason. Really not happy with their coverage at all. Iga's loss means Aryna Sabalenka will take the #1 spot. Likely to be short lived though.
 
Soldato
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Shelton is interesting - not many players go two sets and a break down to Novak and then start turning on their best tennis. I'm a big believer that tennis is more mental than technical, and he's got a real head on him
 
Soldato
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Well the big upset (which shouldn't really be an upset), is Medvedev beating Alcaraz to book his place in the final against Djokovic.

It's a loss for the fans as an Alcaraz - Djokovic match up is far more entertaining, but this will be a different kind of tennis. Medvedev is actually a bad match up for Djokovic, and did beat him in straight sets in the 2021 US Open final.

On the women's side, Gauff vs Sabalenka will be interesting for American fans. Guaff has improved a lot in the last 6 months. Still only 19 too (feels like she's been on tour for ages). I feel Sabalenka might just have a bit too much for her though, but there is the potential for it go either way.

One thing for sure though, if Sabalenka is playing, you'll need to turn the volume down/off so your misses doesn't think you're watching porn.
 
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Well the big upset (which shouldn't really be an upset), is Medvedev beating Alcaraz to book his place in the final against Djokovic.

It's a loss for the fans as an Alcaraz - Djokovic match up is far more entertaining, but this will be a different kind of tennis. Medvedev is actually a bad match up for Djokovic, and did beat him in straight sets in the 2021 US Open final.

On the women's side, Gauff vs Sabalenka will be interesting for American fans. Guaff has improved a lot in the last 6 months. Still only 19 too (feels like she's been on tour for ages). I feel Sabalenka might just have a bit too much for her though, but there is the potential for it go either way.

One thing for sure though, if Sabalenka is playing, you'll need to turn the volume down/off so your misses doesn't think you're watching porn.
Alcaraz lost? :eek:
 
Soldato
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Alcaraz lost? :eek:
Medvedev is arguably the best hard court player on the tour, barring possibly Novak, so it's not a huge shock.

Two really interesting finals. Gauff and Sabalenka are both playing great tennis - I think it'll basically come down to which of them chokes less badly in the atmosphere.

Novak has been unbelievable this tournament and I think he's favourite against Medvedev, but it's a really tricky match up for him. Medvedev is such an intelligent player.
 
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Soldato
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Of course the people online (and especially Americans) are going crazy. "19 year old wins first slam", "it was stupid to ever write off someone so young etc.."

They are forgetting that the US Open is often the most random slam due to its position in the calendar. Raducanu, won it at 19 a couple of years before, and people are happy to write her off despite the young age. :p

Guaff's improvement over the last few months has been fantastic. She deserved this win, even after getting blasted off the court by Sabalenka in the opening set. Sabalenka though is her own worst enemy. She doesn't have great rally tolerance, mostly due to her footwork, and hitting with little margin. Her net play is worse than Daniil Medvedev's which is saying something. She had the opportunities to win this, which I think she knows, hence smashing her racquet back in the locker room.
 
Soldato
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I think in general women’s tennis gets random winners right across the board.

Last 2 wimbledon winners are out of the blue, Ostapenko, Andreescu, Kenin and Stephens have all won slams in recent years as well and not kicked on.

Crazy to think it was 2 years ago that Raducanu stormed to the title, both of them in the final both looked amazing like they’ll kick on and potentially dominate. I had to look up Fernandez but I’ve never seen her name mentioned since - as harsh as that sounds it’s backed up by her results sadly. IT’s brutal because they looked so good when on song.
 
Soldato
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I think in general women’s tennis gets random winners right across the board.

Last 2 wimbledon winners are out of the blue, Ostapenko, Andreescu, Kenin and Stephens have all won slams in recent years as well and not kicked on.

Crazy to think it was 2 years ago that Raducanu stormed to the title, both of them in the final both looked amazing like they’ll kick on and potentially dominate. I had to look up Fernandez but I’ve never seen her name mentioned since - as harsh as that sounds it’s backed up by her results sadly. IT’s brutal because they looked so good when on song.

There is massive money in Tennis so it creates a very deep talent pool who are capable of streaks of form well above their ranking.

Serena did mostly dominate for a long time but i think she was a very rare athlete who wont come along very often.

The next woman to dominate like that will likely be similar stature to Serena in my opinion, not overly tall, extremely strong but fast with incredible endurance and very hard and accurate shots that will be a nightmare to return.
 
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