Tennis

Isn't Henman infamous for falling to pieces under pressure? A constant source of disappoint when he buckled at the last hurdle. Basically the equivalent of mens England football team, you knew they'd get far but never ever win. Anyway, that's all I remember of Tim growing up.
 
This one was always a tricky tie for Emma. Alize Cornet is known as a giant killer. She beat world number 1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon this year. She's beaten peak Serena three times in a row in one year previously. If she had a proper serve she'd be a nightmare.

Raducanu really needed to punish that serve and mix up her own serve more, she didn't. Cornet was excellent throughout. Some really deft touches, and was able to outlast Emma in the longer rallies.
 
Tim was playing at a time of some real great tennis players. It was also a transitioning era from playing largely at the net to the baseline that disadvantaged his main skill set. Can’t stand him as a commentator though.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Tim was playing at a time of some real great tennis players. It was also a transitioning era from playing largely at the net to the baseline that disadvantaged his main skill set. Can’t stand him as a commentator though.
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Pfft, that era wasn't a patch on the last 15 or so years. Murray should be applauded for going toe to toe with the likes of peak Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Henman was a decent tennis player but never truly world class compared to the best of his day. Murray certainly was.
 
fez said:
Murray should be applauded for going toe to toe with the likes of peak Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Henman was a decent tennis player but never truly world class compared to the best of his day. Murray certainly was.
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Agree about Murray, disagree about Henman.

To win three slams, make eight more finals, win Olympic gold twice, the end of year tour finals and to be ranked world number 1 in this era is absolutely absurd. The only thing stopping him winning more, in his prime, was his mentality imo. I don't think he was as mentally strong as Djokovic, Federer and Nadal and he ended up beating himself more than once from winning positions.

As for Henman, given he was ranked and reached world number four in a sport that's literally played by millions around the world, I'd say he was very much world class. The very best? No, but I don't believe you need to win a single thing in sport to be considered world class. You just need to be one of the best at any given time and he was.
 
Bear in mind Greg Rusedski also got to #4 and IIRC a US Open final.

Anyhow back to current times and Iga's domination continues. She is a machine. Love watching her demolish opponents. I did fear for Ons when Iga when 3-0 up in the first set of US Open final. Ons fought back, but the first set was still over and done with within 30 mins. Both really likeable players, but women's tour needs a strong challenger. Iga has more than double the #2 rank player's points now. Ok it's a bit of a one off this season as Barty retired and no points were awarded for Wimbledon, but still. She's won 7 titles this season, the last time that was done was Serena in 2014.

On the men's side things are looking interesting. With Djokovic unable to play in various places and Nadal's body catching up to him we are now guaranteed to have a grand slam champion born after 1990 for the first time (correct me if I'm wrong). And also a new number 1.
 
Pigeon_Killer said:
As for Henman, given he was ranked and reached world number four in a sport that's literally played by millions around the world, I'd say he was very much world class. The very best? No, but I don't believe you need to win a single thing in sport to be considered world class. You just need to be one of the best at any given time and he was.
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Thats just semantics really. Anyone in any sport who competes at an international level is in theory world class. In football when we talk about world class we usually mean in the top few in their position in the entire world. Tennis doesn't have anywhere near the number of elite players as football so when I say world class, I mean the few people who are consistently winning things and considered the best of their generation. I don't think Tim was ever in that category personally.
 
englishpremier said:
On the men's side things are looking interesting. With Djokovic unable to play in various places and Nadal's body catching up to him we are now guaranteed to have a grand slam champion born after 1990 for the first time (correct me if I'm wrong). And also a new number 1.
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Both Medvedev and Thiem are 90's vintage (they won the ’21 and '20 US Open respectively).

But I agree, things are getting very interesting. Thiem finally made the breakthrough for the generation after the Big 3 but following injury he's out of contention for now, and Zverev hasn't reached his potential and now has his own injury set back. With Djokovic and Nadal towards the end of their careers (though I expect more slams for both, with the former missing out due to well known reasons) and Federer with at most a farewell season to come, the time for the young guns to stop forward seems to finally have arrived.

Alcaraz and Sinner seem likely candidates for multiple slam wins, but then we could see another Stan Wawrinka situation where an established and talented player finally gets the right people around him and the belief, and racks up a few Slams. If Kyrgios maintains his focus and composure he could be one. Or it could be a free for all.

I'm rambling but again, I agree, it's an interesting time for sure.
 
fez said:
We love you Roger!

Best tennis player ever in my eyes. Certainly the most graceful to ever step onto the court.
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Agree, kind of gutted he didn’t get a fair well at Wimbledon but he started the laver cup so it’s as good as any to bow out in.

Didn’t quite reach Connors record of 109 singles titles.
 
I'll still never forget, who is this long haired scruffy guy that won Wimbledon back in 2003 and how he became the most loved classy smooth cool player.



 
His impact on the sport was tremendous. He may be beaten in pure numbers in some areas but his game was probably the most beautiful the sport has ever seen. He set the bar so incredibly high.

A true sporting legend.
 
A sad day for tennis but he is retiring at the right time if his body is telling him that he should stop. I will miss him playing as he was incredible to watch. He really danced like a ballet player around the court.
 
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