Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

October 25, 2023...only two months of shopping left until Christmas

Ahem...be that as it may. Without being political. What exactly does that mean? There is another war that has begun. Just miles from Armegeddon. Well, I was just wondering. Which of the combatants will not be represented by a flag in the ATP and WTA? Palestine or Israel? We all know the answer to that one don't we. Just curious.

But on this day keep in mind what I said about Christmas. Come to think of it...I wonder if there are descendents of Christ left in Palestine. In Israel. I've been reading the Bible all of this year. I read the Bible every day before I turn on any electronic device. It has really helped to survive some of the turbulence. At home. In the world. On this website. It's everywhere!!!

Today we have a rare opportunity. We can observe one of the fundamental difficulties of playing on the ATP tour. The question of preparation. Afterall...the mantra of a tennis player is "preparation, preparation, preparation". Know what I mean? No? Who cares? The question is one of recovery. If a player has been deep in the draw the week before and he travels over time zones to the next tournament...how does he overcome the fatigue. Case in point...first up Ben Shelton. If you follow what young Ben has been through over the past number of weeks you can see he has sort of had a "Meteoric" rise of late. Boy...does that sound familiar. Anyone know what I am talking about? No? Doesn't matter. Ben had his sort of coming out party at the U. S. Open in September then embarked on the Asian tour this month. Interesting results to say the least. Last week he won in Tokyo. The draw wasn't what you call stellar by any stretch of the imagination. But he won. He went the distance after going deep the week before in Shanghai. He skipped Beijing.

Arthur Fils is another case in point. Last week he managed to make the finals in Belgium before losing to a real question mark in Alexander Bublik. Not the most solid egg in the batch. Fils did manage to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas. But nearly everyone manages to beat Tsitsipas in his romantic downturn. Fils plays Daniil Medvedev. A stiff challenge. To say the least. If the legs aren't totally under you. Mr. Pencil will draw a demise for you. He's tactical...if not elegant. I think he is in his own way. Most importantly. He doesn't care what you think. He likes that way he hits his forehand.

Ah...then there is the truly "Amazing Mr. Monfils". Not a word on the forum about this man's victory in my home country of Sweden. No offence taken. Not at all. Not anymore. It is what it is...she said. But Gael...you are amazing. Thirty-seven years old and he wins an ATP tourney. One of the oldest to do such a thing. Ok, the draw wasn't the toughest. The guy he beat in the finals didn't even have a flag to his name. One of those pesky Ruskies. Pavel Kotov. Gael had a couple of three setters during the week. How will he get along this week? It is a question of preparation. Remember? The tennis player's mantra.

Finally we come to Alexander Bublik. I mentioned him earlier as the conquerer of Arthur Fils. You won't find this fellow's picture under the word consistency in the dictionary. But today he live to play another day. He gets to play another huge question mark on the tour. What ever happened to Caspar Ruud? At one point he made one of the meteoric trajectories to the top of the echelon...then it became a struggle. Just to fight his way out of a paper bag it seems. So you see what the question is now. It's all about some of the intangibles. Scheduling. Consistency. Man...Federer knew the answers to these questions. Djokovic and Nadal too. Masters of their domain. The rest of the crew are all struggling with the concept. Is it in the meds? Who knows? Who cares?

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention that Ben Sheldon plays Jannik Sinner today. Should I tell a little story about the possibiliies here? This might be as interesting as it gets today...on October 25. 2023 no less. Just two months of shopping left until Christmas. There's another war going on. Have you forgotten about the other one yet?

[stroke]

I like Monfils, I like Dimitrov. They are both great players and a tribute to the game. I am certainly glad to see them both playing well right now. Their problem was the same as all others was in the wake of the 3. Just abysmal records vs those 3. Those 3 never gave an inch, tired legs or not. They all almost always advanced to the business end of almost all tournaments, and did it again the next tournament. It was something to behold. Now, it is wide open, to an extent.

[don_budge]

A Rematch...Erste Bank Open, Vienna, Austria (Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Sheldon)

I wrote what I thought was a rather interesting post about the Sinner/Sheldon match in Shanghai, but one of the "Big Three" posters immediately posted over my post with two of the usual mundane stuff passing for interesting these days on the forum. Insult to injury...enough is enough. The kids won't play nice. Quite ok. I relegate myself this this thread...Thoughts About Tennis Tradition. Afterall...that's all I really think about now as tennis falls into the mulch pile of sound bytes and sensationalism. Much ado about nothing. Ironically...perhaps the most redeeming aspect of tennis left is John Yandell's website. He manages to stay relevant.

Sinner and Sheldon find themselves in a role reversal next week in Austria. Sheldon is coming off a bit week in Japan and the two are scheduled to face off in the first round in Austria. When the two played in Shanghai, a well rested Ben Sheldon took Sinner down in three tough sets as Sinner ran out of gas from his win in Beijing from the week before. Sheldon seems to gathering momentum at the moment and I wonder if he will have a letdown in the very near future as have every other single one of the young phenoms to break through. Alcarez being the latest after a meteoric run the past year. He seemed to have hit the wall. Rune and Rudd come to mind. Sinner sort of cooled off for a spell too. It is tough to keep up the consistency week in and week out. Ala you know who. Roger Federer. It still isn't a tennis tournament without Roger in the draw which is to say...it's over. Tradition, tennis...the whole shebaang.

This time it will be Sheldon who will be crossing over time zones after a tough week at the office and Sinner who has been sleeping in his own bed and training. He probably is relishing a chance to take on the upstart Sheldon so soon after he lost to him. Sinner knows that the only revenge in life is success and he would love to quickly even the score here. Meanwhile...Sheldon gets a whiff of his first ATP final and he has to deal with a man who doesn't seem to have a flag by his name. The ongoing persecution of Russian players. Guilty as charged...or not. Sheldon beat him in their only other match...at the U. S. Open. Karatzov also went down in flames after a spell of some very tough play. He seemed to have emerged out of nowhere to play tough tennis against the elite a year or two ago and then sort of disappeared. His score against Sheldon at the Open indicates some issues. Has he righted the ship? Can Sheldon sustain his level of play against the bruiser from Russia?

[don_budge]

The Post Roger Federer Era in Big-Time Tennis...October 7, 2023

Tournaments currently being played in China. During the post Roger Federer era. The old standard in the don_budge school of thought was that if Roger wasn't in the draw...it wasn't a tournament. I hate to be the one sounding the death toll on tennis but it has reached a point where there is absolutely nothing entertaining about it. No meaningful rivalries. No single player who can make the draw of any tournament interesting. Nobody with any semblance of charisma. It is only Novak "Novax" Djokovic who remains who can inject any sort of intrigue into a tournament draw. Can anyone actually watch an entire match of this stuff? Yeah...how about two?

Jannik Sinner defeats Carlos Alcarez. Big deal. Big-Time Tennis. Didn't see it. Don't care. Was this the marquis match up that is currently offered up in tennis. Dreadfully boring. Just dreadful. Jannik Sinner has as much charisma as wall paper. Carlos has as much charisma...as Rafael Nadal. In fact...he is sort of like a "Nadal Lite". Except he is right handed. Still yells the trademark...Vamos! Ole! Not buying it. Daniil "Mr. Pencil" Medvedev? Questionable...but certainly not the one to deliver tennis to the promised land. How about that Holger Rune? He was once the up and comer. The next. He was bageled and bye byed in his first match this week. Stefano Tsitsipas? More drama with the girlfriend news and Daddy's departure...and now his reappearance. Not the gritty fighter he was when he first appeared.

It's going to be a tough road to hoe...certainly. Without Roger. The air was sucked right out of the balloon. Just as I predicted all those years. Only Novax is left to inject some interest into the game and that might in itself have to do with his participation in the game with Federer. Glory days. They'll pass you by. They'll pass you by in the wink of a young girl's eye.

Meanwhile on the golf course. don_budge had a momentary lucid moment that lasted nearly a week. Two straight rounds at even par. A third one over. The fourth started even par the first nine and then went somewhat off the track. It has been a tremendous amount of work. I don't seem to be getting any younger. What a surprise. I wonder how many years I have left. I won't do this if the hope for improvement isn't there. But this flash of "brilliance" gave me a tiny hope. Just a little. So the preparation begins for next season as this one winds down. As fall takes that seasonal bitter turn towards winter.

Coco "Hamboiger with your Salsa" Gauff goes down in straight sets to a very determined...Iga Swiatek. Oh well...it's tough in an era of sound bytes to maintain the consistency. Gauff on a hot streak cooled off by Swiatek...revenge is a dish best served cold.

[stroke]

Take care DB. You are a very good writer and I have enjoyed reading your posts through the years.

[don_budge]

2023 U. S. Open Men's Final...ATP 2000...New York, New York USA (Revenge is a dish best served cold...)

Well the forum didn't get much of a momentum going on this year's tournament. Only one of the biggest on the planet. Barely getting four views per post and that is with one unnamed individual packing the ballot box. Doubling and tripling down so to speak. Is the forum in decline? Is tennis in decline? Is mankind in decline? Get the picture? Metaphor. Life.

Personally I didn't take much of an interest. Not like it was when Roger Federer was playing. Then the entire draw became interesting in speculation as to who would be a future opponent of "The Living Proof". But those days are gone and better left alone...as Phil Collins would say. This year the theme of the tournament turned out to be that...revenge is a dish best served cold. Congratulations to this years champions in Novak Djokovic and Coco Williams. I mean Coco Gauff. My bad.

Novak had to wait a bit for this. It must make the taste all the sweeter. He was not allowed to play in the United States of America, the former land of the free, last year because of political football play with an entity called the "Corona Virus". A mysterious agent that continues to confound the masses to this very day. But at any rate...the meaning of the proverbial phrase “revenge is a dish best served cold” is that taking revenge at a later date is more satisfying that enacting it immediately. Taking revenge later means you have time to premeditate your revenge to perfection instead of acting in haste. The saying means that the longer you wait to take revenge, the more satisfying it is when you do. I would say that sums it up quite nicely...wouldn't you say? No response necessary.

I did wake up here in Sweden during the finals a couple of times. Yet...I only turned on the television once to see what was going on. I was actually pulling for "Mr. Pencil" to pull it out. You see...I am very political and sometimes my judgment is clouded with my political bias. Quite unlike every neutral poster here on the forum. I alone have this imperfect status. But denying Russians the respect of having their flags posted next to their names is beyond childish. It is beyond racist. It is blatantly evil. So I rooted for the Russians. Even in the women's final...I rooted against everybody's new media darling Coco Gauff. The media needs desperately to replace Serena Williams. Tennis is the wokest and so is New York. What a place to live in! You'd have to nuts...in my estimated opinion.

But the one point that I turned on the men's final was in the second set and Medvedev was up 5-6 with Novax Djokovic serving. The game went back and forth for what seemed like an eternity. Reminiscent of a few game in the Wimbledon final when Alcarez really extended Djokovic on his service game. One of the best way to take out a players legs is to make him work like the devil on his serve while quickly winning your own serve. A la Federer. Novak eventually won the game to force the second set tie-break. I didn't even see the end of that game. But clearly it was an extremely important game. If Medvedev would have capitalized on just one of the break points he had in his grasp...he may have succeded in taking out Novak's legs. By forcing the match to a fourth set may have made all the difference. Daniil has to be kicking himself in the butt. He knows this truth better than anyone.

So Novak's experience will count until it no longer does. At least it counted for one more Slam. Medvedev did Novak a huge by eliminating Alcarez. Alcarez seems to be the only player that has the Djokovic number. And that my friends, and I use that term loosely, is all she wrote. It's all I wrote. For a long, long time it was fun and mischievous to write up these tournaments. In the days of Roger Federer. All the time I was writing I was keeping in mind that there was going to be a post Roger era to this thing. I was right about that. Maybe about a few other things as well. Who knows? Who cares? At any rate...I wish everyone all the best. No hard feelings. It's only tennis. Just a hobby. That awesome Aussie coach, Brett what's his name, told me that at the Swedish tennis symposium years ago. We had such a great talk. Such good tennis memories.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or...think of this. The only revenge in life is success. I definitely like the second one better.

[don_budge]

Western and Southern...ATP 1000...Cincinnati, Ohio

If these two meet in the finals of the U. S. Open the result is a foregone conclusion as far as I can see. Looking at the draw I can easily project Novak into the finals. Easier than Alcarez. But if both make it to the finals I cannot see how Novak can beat him. Alcarez has gained in experience. It was evident in Cincinnati. He was the superior player...if only in terms of fitness. It doesn't appear to me that a thirty-six or thirty-seven year old Djokovic can match him in the legs.

I wonder if Novak should try a bigger racquet.

The top seeds in the bottom half have quietly exited the stadium making the path to the finals appear to be a foregone conclusion. The one way that Novak can win this tournament is to not waste any time on the court as he has done so far. Plus he needs a couple of players in the top half to step up and collectively drag down Alcarez. Defeat him through attrition. A couple of tough five setter might be enough to equalize the legs between the 36 year old and the 20 year old.

Alcarez is not the old, wizened and experienced one that Novak Djokovic is. Say what you want about Novak...you like him or not. This guy has more experience in Grand Slam tournaments than anyone left. That counts...until it doesn't. So if things sort of equal themselves out, as in the leg department, he can win this. I already had him projected into the finals.

It is interesting what has happened in the bottom half. The top players are dropping like flies. The top echelon of players are noticeably weaker and more vulnerable than years past. The rest of the talent pool is sort of like a mediocre sludge. Nobody able to standout and hold that position. Stefanos Tsitsipas is standing out like a sore thumb. He served for the match yesterday and fudged it up. Who has been writing about the serve all these years? The initial pugnacious attitude he came out on the tour is gone and replaced by this narcissistic sneer. The one he practices in the mirror.

FAA...aka Felix Auger-Aliassime is another case in point. Going the same route is Casper Ruud. Holger Rune. The media is desperately searching for someone to fill the shoes of Roger Federer and keeps on coming up empty handed. This tournament is now officially a snooze fest. It is not really a tournament anyways because there is no Roger Federer. The post Federer era of tennis is bound to disappoint anyone that is not merely trying to fill a void with hope. Hope without merit is bound to disappoint.

How to make it more interesting? Go back to wood racquets. Go back to the traditions. As this thread would suggest. Crazy? You bet.

[don_budge]

Western and Southern...ATP 1000...Cincinnati, Ohio

"Novak Djokovic will simply have too much experience...until he doesn't". (don_budge)

As it turns out nothing could have been more true than that simple statement. Djokovic will simply have too much experience...until he doesn't. "Nadal Lite" aka Carlos Alcarez did what was necessary. He took out the legs of Novak Djokovic. He ran down everything and got it back in the court. He forced Novak to play an extra ball or two or three or whatever it took to finally once and for all...take out his legs. It was the drop shots that got to Novak. It was the hail of bullets he faced off both the Alcarez forehand and backhand. But most of all...there was one problem that put the final nail in the coffin and I haven't heard a peep from anyone anywhere about it. Not from any commentatoe. Not from any forum poster. Not even our Big Three mentioned it. No surprise. Eyes that do not see.

Statistics to me are sort of baffling. They are used when someone has run out of anything meaningful to add in plain language. Then it is time to start regurgitating the numbers. Blah...blah...blah. First serve percentage...ok, there is a pretty meaningful number. Bu the rest of it...a number salad. Ha...there's another original from don_budge. Number salad. Out of all of the garble of numbers there was the one meaningful number MIA. The number? The amount of time each took to serve a game. This is where Alcarez took all of the Djokovic experience and told it to shove it to where the sun don't shine. Talk about maintaining pressure on your opponent. The most sure fire way is to win your own serve efficiently and routinely. But perhaps the most meaningful way you can put pressure on your opponent is the converse...make him work on his own serve. Alcarez pushed Novak beyond his limits by making him work to win his serve in a way I haven't seen anybody else to it. He did it in a way that showed a lot of maturity and experience. He learned something from his episode in Paris. Carlos did it with a combination of patience and courage. He waited for his opportunities and then he threw caution to the wind and just did it. Like that Nike swoosh plastered all over his attire. Just do it!

By making Djokovic work and work and work on his serve he force the Serb into what seemed to be hard labor. Novak struggled to hold his serve like I have never seen him. Not having the great serving motion of great servers...Novak takes care of his serve very efficiently. A deft combination of placement first and foremost and adequate speed and spin has always been what Novak used to "take care of his serve". He does it with amazing efficiency. He serves out sets with the best of them...save maybe Roger Federer. He serves out matches as well. Once he gets into a position to win a Grand Slam final he is usually spot on with his serve and tactics. But Carlos really stymied him on this day. He force Novak to struggle on his serve...and this is something that we just haven't seen. It cost Novak dearly too. I have to be honest...I didn't watch the entire match. I was out playing golf. I don't have time to plunk myself down and watch this most boring show at Wimbledon. It is really amazing if you think about it. It used to be that three out of the four Slams were played on grass and everyone who won the Championship was a serve and volley player. Even dear old Bjorn Borg who had the reputation of being a base liner was a closet serve and volley player.

Then there was "Nadal Lite" Alcarez egging on the crowd when he had Djokovic on the ropes by begging for more love...begging for more applause and noise by holding his ear to them after a great shot. This is something that would have been absolutely frowned upon back in the years of tennis etiquette. Thou shall not take unfair advantage of your opponent and furthermore not do anything to upstage them. Particularly so when you talk about an opponent that has won so much during his career. How about a little respect on your way to the championship? Asking too much? It is all ok though. Modern day tennis fans play right into the nonsense because they are too dumbed down to know any better. So it goes.

Novak Djokovic will simply have too much experience...until he doesn't. Man...if that doesn't ring true nothing does. You heard it from me. Read it and weep.

I think that the analysis that I wrote for the U. S. Open final fits appropriately for the Western and Southern final as well. I watched the match...although I confess with was really the highlights...and to be truthful, the highlights weren't really all that high. It wasn't that great of a match. In fact...in I think it really wasn't that good of a match at all. The match kept turning in weird and often unexplainable twists. Novak up a break. He's broken back. Carlos is up a break. He's broken back. Novak serving for the match. He gets all tangled up in yet another long service game which he loses. It all comes down to a tie-break that wasn't all that well played. Hmmm...was it all about the betting line. It was almost as if Carlos was holding him up in as in that scene in the "Raging Bull" where Jake Lamotta has to virtually hold up his opponent after he "tapped" him. Or was it "On the Waterfront" where the mobster comes into the locker room and tells the fighter, "this ain't your night Kid". Whatever it was...it looked to be pretty hokey to me.

Novak was on rubber legs most of the night. Instead of the "Gumby" like rubber man contortionist making impossible returns from all corners of the court he just looked like he was hanging on. Carlos seemed to have him on a string all night and it was he who seemed to be dictating play. Putting pressure on the opponent. If this match were to be best of five...Novak would have gone into the fifth on an empty tank. If these two meet in the finals of the U. S. Open the result is a foregone conclusion as far as I can see. Looking at the draw I can easily project Novak into the finals. Easier than Alcarez. But if both make it to the finals I cannot see how Novak can beat him. Alcarez has gained in experience. It was evident in Cincinnati. He was the superior player...if only in terms of fitness. It doesn't appear to me that a thirty-six or thirty-seven year old Djokovic can match him in the legs.

Watching the Cincinnati final it was really apparent that Novak doesn't have the knockout capability...going along with the boxing metaphors of throwing fights. Carlos can easily drag down Novak by making him play long and torturous points from the backcourt. Djokovic more or less confirmed this with more than the occasional foray to the net. He was trying to end some points quicker. It was a terrible match. It got off to a bad start. The commentatoe caught on pretty quickly when Novak lost his serve in the second set. He said..."this is not the match we wanted to see". Novak has lost half a step. The thing that allowed Federer to hold off his opponents at the end of his career was his serve. The best serve in the game even at his age. Forget about the serve bots...that isn't really serving. But Novak doesn't have that luxury. His serve is steady and consistent. But it doesn't win him enough points outright. Roger could gun through his serve game in just over a minute when he was guns blazing. Not Djokovic. He is more a win be attrition. Usually he is the one taking out the legs of his opponent. That was how he handled Federer much of the time. ON a slower court and with Roger having a smaller racquet. Roger could make up some of the difference once he switched equipment and on a faster surface.

I wonder if Novak should try a bigger racquet.

[don_budge]

Western and Southern Open...ATP 1000...Cincinnati, Ohio

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/cu...nati/422/draws

The first thing I did when looking at this draw sheet was try to put myself in Novak Djokovic's shoes. The mantra of any tennis player worth his salt is "preparation...preparation...preparation". Being a twenty something time Grand Slam Champion Novak is a breed apart from the rest of the field. He's been there...done that. Over and over and over. He can do it in his sleep. But he has to find a certain level in his form in order to approach the two week journey in confidence at the belief that he can win the thing. His loss in the final of Wimbledon notwithstanding...he is measuring his steps. The question will be...how much of this tournament does Novak need to see before he declares himself fit and ready for fight. Does he need a match with Sinner? Perhaps. Does he need one with Rune? That remains to be seen. But I have a feeling that Novak's departure from this tournament will be on his own devices.s The rest of the tournament is only window dressing. The rest of the field is catching on to this Grand Slam preparation thing. Early and unexpected departures just may become more or less the norm.

Please continue "The Big Three".

[don_budge]

Post moved to correct thread

Aren't we the proper one?

[stroke]

Post moved to correct thread

[don_budge]

Rogers Cup...Not that Roger

Tiafoe from rags to riches to losing to Evans to first round loss at Rogers Cup. It ain't no easy road to hoe. Does Francis have the next level in him? It ain't about celebrity. It ain't no popularity contest. It isn't about how many NBA stars or actors come to your beck and call. The only thing this old world (the ATP tour) understands is hard work. It's evolution baby! Survival of the fittest. Not the smartest. Not the strongest. The one that adapts the best is the survivor. You have to pay the piper. Chrisopher Eubanks down...to "The Amazing Mr. Monfils". No real surprise there. Reality also hitting home with Eubanks now. Wimbledon is in the rear view now. It only serves to make the opponent focus so much harder on the target between his shoulder blades. He also has a tough road to hoe now. The expectations and now an early exit from a big time tournament to the 270 something ranked player in the world. It would have been interesting to see a rematch between Christopher and Tsitsipas, but I have a fairly good idea how that was going to resolve itself as well.

Daniel Evans...fresh off a huge win in Washington (the old Washington Star) must be feeling a bit wobbly. What with all the champagne and hot gal pal. But right off the bat another "David and Goliath" sideshow. His opponent is 6' 8" tall. Where do they grow these guys? That's ok says Daniel Evans...the bigger they come, the harder they fall. Opposite Evans in the draw is a match that is somewhat interesting...Norrie versus de Minaur. Either would make a compelling question mark for Evans.

Match of the Day? I'm going with Evans. This is a much bigger venue than Washington with many more higher ranked players. So anything he might accomplish after last weeks success is a bonus. A test of recovery power. Many tests in the offing with each match for Evans. It will be interesting to see what he has left in the tank.

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...Christopher Eubanks vs. The Amazing Mr. Monfils

The continuation of the Eubanks saga. Monfils a seasoned veteran versus the new media darling. Interesting matchup between two guy with some rather incredible athletic skills. Eubanks is a bit "unbridled" in horse terms. Know what I mean?

[don_budge]

Djokovic seems to be the master of "staying in the zone", but doesn't always adapt quickly when pulled out of it.

Sorry Doc...not buying it. As the Master of Disaster over the course of twenty three and counting Grand Slam titles and countless ATP 1000 and ATP 500 tournaments this gentleman has faced the plethora of conditions and infinite combination of his own psychological, physical and spiritual adversities. I think it was on this forum that someone was suggesting that he has trouble with the wind. I really don't know what planet he was playing on but he has face it all. But he is human. He may have given away a match here or there. Even gifted a few. But when it was on the line he stood up and took the heat. Wimbledon was a different story and his legs gave way to youth. It was simple as that. He matched Alcarez stroke for stroke but in the end it was the demoralizing inability to "take care" of his service game throughout the match.

It will be interesting to see what he does on the way forwards. Does this match spell the beginning of the end? Or is it all over?

[doctorhl]

Djokovic seems to be the master of "staying in the zone", but doesn't always adapt quickly when pulled out of it.