Australian Open 2018

[stotty]

Hyeon Chung Match Play Record for 2017

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/playe...vity?year=2017

He has had a nice little run in the Australian Open but his win over Novak Djokovic may just be a bit overrated because Djokovic was less than 100%. Taking a look at his 2017 record may give us a more realistic appraisal of his chances of upsetting Roger Federer for a spot in the finals. It will depend a lot on his ability to withstand pressure. I don't think he has known pressure like a semifinal match against the likes of Federer in a Grand Slam. Federer will be looking to applying pressure on Chung right from the toss of the coin.

He's a bit of an unknown. A wild card. But Roger Federer is no stranger to this situation and he will have a game plan and hopefully will not pull a "Goffin" here.

The chances of Chung beating Roger are about as low as they come I would think. The best we can hope for is for Chung to take the first set and make Roger work for it. The problem is Roger is so fast out of the blocks and it's virtually impossible to hang to him once he's in front. The one thing both Novak and Rafa have, in the past, been able to do is peg Roger back and stop him bolting in front. But you have to be darn good to do that and I am not sure Chung is that good, even in his present fine form.

Chung's has a strange serve....narrow base and no weight transfer.

[arturohernandez]

The Self Appointed Commissioner of Tennis...The Great John McEnroe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI-5DRoJpDs

He does a little lambasting of Alexander Zverev. Mats Wilander followed with comments of his own regards the "Golden Child". I wonder if Zverev will ever recover. I think he needs an attitude adjustment.

My feeling is that Zverev is really good but he is just not nimble inside the court to become a multiple grand slam champion. As much as Nadal stays back he would attack inside the court in his prime. He worked tirelessly to improve his net game and so he was able to incorporate this part of his game.

Djokovic was unique. I just don't think that Zverev can physically do what Djokovic did. He is just not mobile enough.

Even Cilic improved his serve.

My bet is on one or more of the guys around 6 feet to be the next great player/s.

It's not mental to some extent. If only Mischa and Sasha could merge into one.

Then we would have a multiple grand slam champion.

[don_budge]

Hyeon Chung Match Play Record for 2017

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/playe...vity?year=2017

He has had a nice little run in the Australian Open but his win over Novak Djokovic may just be a bit overrated because Djokovic was less than 100%. Taking a look at his 2017 record may give us a more realistic appraisal of his chances of upsetting Roger Federer for a spot in the finals. It will depend a lot on his ability to withstand pressure. I don't think he has known pressure like a semifinal match against the likes of Federer in a Grand Slam. Federer will be looking to applying pressure on Chung right from the toss of the coin.

He's a bit of an unknown. A wild card. But Roger Federer is no stranger to this situation and he will have a game plan and hopefully will not pull a "Goffin" here.

[don_budge]

The Self Appointed Commissioner of Tennis...The Great John McEnroe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI-5DRoJpDs

He does a little lambasting of Alexander Zverev. Mats Wilander followed with comments of his own regards the "Golden Child". I wonder if Zverev will ever recover. I think he needs an attitude adjustment.

[arturohernandez]

I watched a replay of Nadal v Cilic. I had watched the first two sets but not the rest. In the first two sets. Nadal was playing so well. His court positioning was far better than usual and he was even returning from much nearer the baseline. Nadal is at his best working inside the baseline rather than defending in my view. Moving his opponent from side to side with his forehand until opponents run out of legs to cover the court. I like this method. Roger dispatches shorter balls but Nadal seizes the rally once inside the baseline and batters his opponents around. Different to Roger but just as effective.

But as the match wore on, Nadal started to stand further and further back to the point where is was ridiculous. He was returning first serves from the linesman lap again. This is why I have questioned Nadal's tennis IQ in the past. Cilic has a superb wide serve as does Roger. Nadal is relying on hope to break their serves. It's suicide. Why, why, why does he adopt this crazy tactic? And, worse, by retreating like this he denies himself the chance to ever work inside the baseline.

I have been thinking about Nadal, Dimitrov, and especially the women. The general approach now is to wait at the baseline and just keep pushing your opponent around. Almost all the players will wait for a ball and then try to move an opponent or wrong foot them.

Fed is the only one who consistently looks to move in and hit the ball inside the court. He can smell a short or a weaker slower ball.

Halep also did this better than Kerber.

My sense is that Cilic did this sometimes but not all the time.

With all the two handers out there it is just not as natural for them to come in and cut the ball off and attack.

Dimitrov and Thiem are interesting because in principle they should be able to do that.

So I just think players are just not as well trained in quick reactions, half volleys, improvisation and all the things that Fed experienced growing up.

He grew up serving and volleying on grass. It is instinctive for him to finish at the net and I am sure he got passed many times.

Nadal did not experience this and my sense is that he just needs more time to hit the ball.

He can improvise like Fed but it is much harder for him.

Under stress he retreats because it is more comfortable for him to play that way.

Most players are these days.

And Fed continues to basically dominate by just taking the oxygen out of the room and creating a vacuum.

Players can't breathe as he is pushing them to react more and more quickly.

His match against Chung should be really interesting.

Chung's serve seems to be a bit weak so I have a feeling that Fed will be exploiting that from the get go.

[stotty]

I watched a replay of Nadal v Cilic. I had watched the first two sets but not the rest. In the first two sets. Nadal was playing so well. His court positioning was far better than usual and he was even returning from much nearer the baseline. Nadal is at his best working inside the baseline rather than defending in my view. Moving his opponent from side to side with his forehand until opponents run out of legs to cover the court. I like this method. Roger dispatches shorter balls but Nadal seizes the rally once inside the baseline and batters his opponents around. Different to Roger but just as effective.

But as the match wore on, Nadal started to stand further and further back to the point where is was ridiculous. He was returning first serves from the linesman lap again. This is why I have questioned Nadal's tennis IQ in the past. Cilic has a superb wide serve as does Roger. Nadal is relying on hope to break their serves. It's suicide. Why, why, why does he adopt this crazy tactic? And, worse, by retreating like this he denies himself the chance to ever work inside the baseline.

[gzhpcu]

Roger is the only player with a complete game. Great, well placed serve, great groundstrokes, solid volleys, tries to keep exchanges short, comes forward on short balls, hits unexpected dropshots. Shame no coming player has his talent.

[don_budge]

He is...exciting. His post match interview after the Djokovic match was a little quirky and fun. I found him modest but also confident and relaxed. I liked him straight away.

He's boring. But he is the "Anybody" versus Roger Federer now.

I hope Roger makes him wish his mother never had him. He's dangerous. Plenty dangerous. Federer knows that and he will not be out there playing cutsies with him. I think this match should inspire Federer more than the match up with Tomas Berdych. How many ways can he annihilate an opponent? But Hyeon Chung is a maiden voyage. Federer has not lost a set and he has yet to get his dander up. He's closing in on the championship. He's long in the tooth and knows there are only so many of these opportunities left. I have a feeling Roger is going to be highly motivated for this and comes out with his game face on. I felt he had a hard time getting his teeth into the Berdych match at first. Motivation has to be a problem at this point. How many times can you get yourself that pumped up? You only have so many trips around the world in you before the body and mind cave and say...that's enough.

Chung is the "Next Generation" all wrapped up into one. The "Old Man" is going to want to take it to him. With a vengeance.

[don_budge]

Rafael Nadal...the self centered SKUNK

Don_budge, you are only demeaning yourself with your comments. If your bias keeps you from recognizing the quality of that match, you should not upset yourself by watching Nadal's matches.

Great effort by both players. Unbelievable level from Cilic.

don

I didn't see the match. As a matter of fact I watched the first set, went to town with my broken iMac and left it with a reliable computer repair dude....did the grocery shopping and returned to my home in the Swedish countryside whereupon I turned on my computer only to witness Rafael flat on his back receiving medical attention from a trainer. John McEnroe was a commentator of the match and he was making a number of comments that were not exactly supportive of Nadal's antics...or perhaps you prefer me to say behaviour. Never mind...it was antics.

This whole business of medical timeouts is a cloudy issue. I don't know what they changed the ruling about this sort of "break in the action" in a tournament tennis match. In my view...in my bias...players should not be given this luxury. If they cannot answer the bell they get the point penalties that accrue progressively.

But speaking of the level of play...Nadal looked very healthy in the first set and he was winning. But between the time I left the match and the time I returned Marin Cilic had turned it around and Nadal was on a tether and Cilic was rocking him with haymakers. Perhaps the court was not to Nadal's liking. Too bad...I know he prefers clay. That is his personal bias...which of course he is entitled to. But as it was the court was pretty fast by ATP standards these days and it just so happens that it might favour the Cilic game more than the Nadal game all things being equal.

The problem is that once Nadal got a sense that he was going to have his ass handed to him none too politely by a surging Marin Cilic he pulled up lame. Was he injured to the point where he had to quit? Well that was a topic of conversation that has been buzzing all over and I heard it first hand from none other than Mats Wilander and his partner in the booth. As you know...being a classic tennis aficionado yourself...there was a time once upon a time where the code of honour was that you finish the match, shake hands with your opponent, give him all of the credit in the world and move on without mentioning your own misfortune. But not Rafael "The Skunk" Nadal...he used the whole situation to bring attention to his misfortune, if he was indeed injured, and took everything away from his opponent Marin Cilic who just may have been playing a brilliant tennis match. The problem is we will never know because Nadal with his antics totally took what you refer to as "the level of play" out of the conversation and the conversation became all about Nadal's injury. Just see and hear this video of his post match interview below. He is just whining and complaining...bemoaning his bad luck and he just barely gives any kind of recognition to his opponent. When he does give some consideration to Cilic he does it in such a demeaning and casual way it is pure disgusting theatre...from my point of view. Perhaps you see it as the words of a great and heroic warrior. That would be up to you and I won't put any words in your mouth. Your keyboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5z4y8JMHtM

This is a disgusting display of the worst sportsmanship that I have ever witnessed. But it is nothing new. Last year on match point "The Skunk" asked for Hawkeye to confirm a clear winner by Roger Federer on Championship Point to steal the Champions his thunder. Just completely ripped Federer off and truth be told...nobody blinked. Except me. That's ok...I stand alone. I'm comfortable with that. It's consoling. If some idiot calls me a dope...I take it as a compliment considering the source.

One of the funny things about this video interview with Nadal is that there was a section that was edited out where Nadal was going off on the ATP and he was full on expressing some grudges about something or other. He mentioned all of the injuries to players. He is just making excuses and blaming everyone and everything except doing the one thing he needs to do...take responsibility. But Rafael Nadal has a long history of injuries and supposed injuries. Absences from the tour that have been questioned by anyone with a reasonable curiosity about the truth of matters.

Nadal is a serial cheater and gamesmanship user. That pre-serve routine that he used for so many years is straight out of "one flew over the cuckoo's nest". His use of the clock and his infinite ticks and seizures that he uses to intimidate his opponents are legendary. He's a skunk alright...but just about everyone is an apologist for him. He's a jerk and I have never witnessed a poorer sport and phoney than him. When he defeated Diego Shwartzman the round before he was so gracious and humble. Giving his opponent a hug and the kindest words you could imagine. But when he is on the other end of the stick he is a whining, complaining coward. Everyone makes excuses for him. Not me...I am going to call a skunk a skunk. If you don't like it...that's alright with me. It isn't a popularity contest...it's about trying to disseminate the truth. It isn't easy these days...everyone tippy toeing around the obvious. John McEnroe wasn't fooled. Neither was Mats Wilander and his partner. Nadal used that whole situation to try and gather sympathy and he demeaned his opponent by not finishing that match...he should have finished even if the score was going to be 6-0 in the fifth.

Novak Djokovic was obviously not happy about his loss to Chung and he may have been feeling some pain in his injured elbow but he manned up and finished. Took it on the chin and gave his opponent what he deserved...a handshake at the net at the end of the match. Tomas Berdych may have injured himself in his match with Roger Federer as he took a medical timeout at one point. But he too manned up and finished and gave it all that he had. Then he managed to get to the net at the end of the match to congratulate Roger. It was what I was trained to look at when a match ended. Thus the bias.

[gzhpcu]

Chung is the new Chang... . His post match interview was a mix of modesty and self-confidence. He said how Djokovic was his idol. When asked how he felt during the critical tiebreak, he replied, that no, he is a lot younger than Novak and was ready to run for a couple more hours...

[stotty]

I love that name somebody came up with for Chung: "Quadzilla." He certainly is exciting.

He is...exciting. His post match interview after the Djokovic match was a little quirky and fun. I found him modest but also confident and relaxed. I liked him straight away.

[bottle]

I love that name somebody came up with for Chung: "Quadzilla." He certainly is exciting.

[klacr]

Berdych-Federer

The first set was exactly how Tomas and I drew it up. Get into great rhythm from first ball and stay on top of it.
He was playing first strike tennis and giving Fed little to work with. Fed was playing entirely defense the first 3 games. Then Fed did what all great players do. He found another gear by finding a way to get focused. He started jawing to the umpire. Releasing some nervous energy while giving him more time to collect himself and get energized. After he walked away from umpire, it was a different player and a different match. Berdych was now in the Federer funhouse as opposed to Federer being in the Berd Cage. Berdych blinked, Fed took opportunity, never looked back. Berdych started on offense, ended on defense. Fed started on defense, ended on offense. It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[arturohernandez]

Oh and Fed has Mirka. Let's not forget that she can tell him everyday how lucky he is to still be playing tennis. It's a privilege not a burden.

[arturohernandez]

Nice to see some discussion around here! Even if it is rehashing of old points. We saw again how variability, movement and balance are so key to tennis.

At certain heights it becomes very difficult to reach the upper echelons of tennis. Kerber and Halep put on a movement clinic making their opponents look like trees.

Sandgryn looked like he was falling half the time.

Federer was looking to attack at any moment. He is so good at reading the ball and being in the best place.

It's not just his movement but it is his anticipation. As Tim Henman noted it is almost as if he has more time than other people do.