Re: The official Tennis thread

[Blue]

Alcaraz will break all the records set by Novak, Roger and Rafa.

The only thing that can stop him is the emergence of two more players of that caliber to split the success with, like those 3 had to.

So young and so good already.

Those guys constantly beat the field though, even if Alcarez doesn't have other goat to contend with it is far from given he can constantly beat everyone else.

Djokovic wins his 24th, he is just unbelievable and still doesn't look like slowing down. If he plays until 40, he is going to get to 30 GS, unless he has a sharp decline.

Alcarez is definitely the toughest match up for him, because of his athleticism and legs.

[The Madrid One]

My hero.

Decided not to watch and to not use the internet for a few hours during the match because of the anxiety. Was so happy when finally after 3 and a half hours I decided to check Nole's Wikipedia page and saw the "W" for the 2023 US Open in the "Career Statistics" section.

Last time I pulled this stunt off I had checked Google during the 2023 Wimbledon final and it was Alcaraz's match point.  

Very highly doubt Nadal will win more than 1 GS if any during what is supposedly his last year next year.

As a massive Nole fan I just want him to reach the 400 weeks at world #1 mark, win his 8th year end #1 trophy, a 40th Masters 1000 to at the very least make it even and 1 more GS to stand alone and over Margaret Court (her record has a lot of holes to it anyways).

I think Nole maybe plays 2 more years, not more than 3. That's 8-12 more chances at Grand Slams.

I predict 26-27 perhaps.

My thanks to Nole for the good moments.

Records are there to be broken, but I think Nole will be able to always have the honor of being the greatest amongst Tennis' Greatest Era (big 3). And... his career and achievements have a great tenacity, integrity, and dignity to them.

[Vibe]

You have to wonder what prime Djokovic would have done to these players if he's doing this at 36.

[El Gunner]

probably similar to what Roger did to men in 2004

[Blue]

I don’t even know why Venus Williams and Margaret Court even talked about when talking about Men’s Grand Slam, or women’s tennis is brought up when talking about achievements and records in the men’s game.

The achievements is not comparable.

[Vibe]

Because of the men and women are equal in every possible way false narrative that is being pushed worlwide.

[Blue]

Shit is getting ridiculous, rolled my eyes when Novak was getting interviewed by ESPN, and the second question was about Coco being the youngest GS in the US Open.

[Vibe]

WTF is going on.

Is Djokovic entering a new prime?

That was a masterclass. Pls don't jinx the final, I always jinx it but I have to.

Novak usually comes back far more prepared after a loss against anyone so I expect him to beat Sinner.

[The Madrid One]

I've followed Novak's endeavors more closely since around late 2020 and since then this match against Sinner at the final of the ATP finals 2023 is probably the greatest match that I've seen of him since then.

- Astonishing serve performance
- Devastating forehand that mixes control, depth, consistency, flexibility, and booming power at will when needed
- At age 36 still floating around the court like a dancer (even if he's lost some physicality, when he's fit he still has the needed mobility)
- Incredible returns being returned to Sinner's toes
- Palpably smooth grace of mind, the guy could not miss

What he did today and what he's done this year... especially considering the shit he's had to go through...

He is inevitable.

Reckon he can win 2- 4 more grand slams if he manages to hold this general range of mental, physical, and technical fitness for two more years.

Today's win has contextualized the tournament as the moment Novak collected the final infinity stone and snapped his fingers (unlocked a guaranteed record 409 weeks at world #1, a record 8 year end #1 designations, the record of holding the #1 ranking in 13 different years, and a record 7 ATP finals).

The grand master.

[El Gunner]

imagine still hyping Djokovic this much in Roger's retirement

[Vibe]

imagine still hyping Djokovic this much in Roger's retirement

Man is performing at peak levels, his tennis at the moment is some of the best he's ever done and should be given his flowers.

I have a great deal of respect for Roger but he's no longer in the conversation, because the conversation is over.

[Myesyats]

Iga Swiatek would beat him

[The Madrid One]

Djokovic with a horrible AO 24.

Sinner the unofficial but true current world #1.

Couldn't see the final due to the ungodly AO schedule in the states but I got to see the Djokovic-Sinner match and Sinner did indeed look like a mirror image of a younger Novak.

Having said that though, Djokovic was sick and out of form the whole tournament. Dealt with a wrist injury from the start, as well as with some kind of rough cold and his form was disappointing throughout. It was weird to see Djokovic so calm during the match, and by calm I mean resigned. You could feel it and see it in him and in his team.

Still, suspicious of Sinner to lose two sets in the final and a set against a dead, nonexistent Djokovic. The Djokovic of AO 23 or even US Open 23 still takes it imo.

Djokovic is virtually 37 and it is annoying to see the amount of problems he's having with his body and form every tournament now.

I'll be satisfied with him at least winning one more GS.

Not impressed with Sinner as much as others will be, especially the Fedal lovers.

But he's damn good, and I like him.

Right now the best in the world.

[El Gunner]

Djokovic is virtually 37 and it is annoying to see the amount of problems he's having with his body and form every tournament now.

welcome to Federer and Nadal fans

[The Madrid One]

Well, Alcaraz played a great match to win Wimbledon 2024. If he stays healthy and motivated and unless actual competition eventually arises I can see him win 30 grand slams.

As for Novak, that was one of the worst performances I've ever seen from him. Very similar to the 2024 AO semifinal where Sinner played well but was no doubt flattered and helped by the fact that Djokovic as we know him was nonexistent in mind, body, and spirit. Similar story today. Easier for someone to gain so much momentum, clarity, rhythm, and confidence when their opponent is a shell of a player.

Djokovic is 37 years old and 16 years older than an Alcaraz who is in his physical prime, and he's also coming off a month old knee surgery and a 2024 that will go down as his worst year since 2017. A combination of old age, lost motivation, injuries and ailments, mental blocks, and good performances by the up and coming elite have resulted in what we have this year.

As a fan, I would just wish he wins one more GS and makes it 25 and retires by the end of 2025.

Djokovic himself could have won 30-35 grand slams even with Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka, and Murray as competition, but the COVID restrictions and defaults of the 2020-2022 years, shoulder, wrist, and elbow injuries and loss of motivation between mid 2016-2018, and avoidable losses to Murray, Nishikori, and Wawrinka in particular from 2012-2014 all halted him a bit.

Looking back, even at the time it happened I knew and felt the 2023 ATP Finals victory (and the whole of the 2023 season actually) was a perfect culmination of sorts for Djokovic. A clear mission accomplished.

Even if he goes on to win 1 or 2 more grand slams, we are now in the denouement.

[El Gunner]

Djokovic himself could have won 30-35 grand slams even with Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka, and Murray as competition, but the COVID restrictions and defaults of the 2020-2022 years, shoulder, wrist, and elbow injuries and loss of motivation between mid 2016-2018

lol

and avoidable losses to Murray, Nishikori, and Wawrinka in particular from 2012-2014 all halted him a bit.

how many avoidable losses did Federer have...

[Vibe]

[Vibe]

Incredible tennis.

Alcaraz massacred him last time.

And when I think it's finally over... Djokovic does that. GOAT. How can anyone deny it is beyond me.

Call me biased, but not only is he the tennis goat, but has a claim for the greatest athlete of all time.

[El Gunner]

just pure skill and mastering the game, Djokovic is the tennis GOAT indeed. But if you factor in artistry, personality and impact on the game, Federer is the GOAT.

ESPN recently released this:

https://twitter.com/ValaAfshar/status/1817995239132467250

personally, i would re-rank it:
1. Messi
2. Tiger Woods
3. Steph Curry
4. Usain Bolt
5. Michael Phelps
6. Serena Williams
7. Roger Federer
8. LeBron James
9. Cristiano
10. Michael Schumacher

[futbol_bill]

Incredible tennis.

Alcaraz massacred him last time.

And when I think it's finally over... Djokovic does that. GOAT. How can anyone deny it is beyond me.

Call me biased, but not only is he the tennis goat, but has a claim for the greatest athlete of all time.

I may be biased as well, and obviously of a different generation, but when I think of tennis legends, I think of Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Raphael Nadal, Novak Djokovic. There are others, but I think these guys stand out as something special, not just good but great. I don’t think you can make comparisons except for McEnroe / Borg as the time frame needs almost same timeframe and that doesn’t exist except for those two. I suspect we will soon add Alcarez to the list as well.

[Vibe]

Alcaraz is so good. I have no idea how Djokovic prevailed.

He also won my respect when he agreed with Djokovic that Novak's serve was good when the arbiter said it wasn't, that was great sportmanship.

[The Madrid One]

Novak completed Tennis today. He could retire today and it'd be all good.

I personally would like to see him win one more grand slam so that he can hit the nicely round and symmetrical #25. If he were to win his next title in general with his next grand slam that would also be his 100th title. It'd also be nice to see him with the 25th because of the draw he's in on grand slam count with Margaret Court, but that's minor and her count is also a bit mickey moused since a lot of her Grand Slams were not during the Open Era and there was very weakened competition, as I understand.

With this victory he recontextualized everything yet again. He made it evident that his Wimbledon loss against Alcaraz this year was definitely with an Asterisk and he beat the next Tennis generational great (21 years old) at 37 years old at the final to end all finals.

Novak as the once and future king.

I think Nadal may retire this year, next year tops at Roland Garros I'd think, and Djokovic might keep going for a few years still but if he wins the 25th between now and the end of 2025 then I wouldn't be surprised if next year was his last.

Even if his records are broken someday, there's plenty of context to nevertheless argue that his climbing of Mount Everest... is the greatest ever.

Today, Novak won.

[Arquitecto]

Accepted Nole as the all time great a while ego, shedding my opinion of it being Fed and I prefer that given the Serb is based af and isnt a servant to ATP and their mewling politics like idk..that cuck Andy Murray is.

And the actual truth is he is the greatest in his game by the distance and this is coming from a massive Nadal supporter.

[The Madrid One]

Equal parts kitsch, over the top, and joyfully brilliant, this is probably the most creative and impressive media thing that I've ever seen in Tennis, makes you realize how vanilla, flat, and uninspired most of the ATP & Grand Slam media packages are. The sport as a whole could get an image boost the way F1 got once Liberty Media took over. They're trying. But this is something else.

Closest thing in Tennis history to the footy Nike & Adidas World Cup ads.

- Alcaraz as the "made in a lab", modern cyborg of a player
- Sinner as the Italian, aristocratic and entitled establishment prince, Tennis' version of Michelangelo's David
- Rune as the viking sea captain on a turbulent pursuit to find land
- Medvedev as the wall that lets nothing through, mounted on his comrade Russian bear
- Nadal as the Clay deity, one of the Tennis gods, has to be awaken from slumber (near retirement) so that he may, dressed as a gladiator, hit his "out of this world" topspin forehand

and finally...

- Djokovic as the Grand Master, the key to the puzzle, the only player capable of manipulating the Tennis ball's final destination by will alone. The final frontier. The final boss.

I will definitely be on the lookout for the illegal streams of this exhibition.

[The Madrid One]

Nadal retires.

It's rare in sports for careers to end in "perfect" winning circumstances... that's real life, and if anything the narrative of one's story can have an even more interesting or instructive character to it with an "imperfect" ending. Depends on the events and the contextualizing of everything.

Considering their profiles as two of the three greatest players of all time, I think Federer's retirement at a very manufactured and arguably gaudy exhibition tournament and Nadal's retirement at Davis Cup are not the best contexts to retire in, in Nadal's case I would say that even if Spain does win the Davis Cup, but the pathos and character of their last professional singles matches, losses at the center courts of their most emblematic tournaments is... narratively interesting.

Still though, for an injured Federer to be retired at Wimbledon by Hubert Hurkacz and for Nadal's last match at Philippe Chatrier to come as a loss at the hands of Djokovic of all people... that's all more dire and sombre than what their fans could have hoped. Exhibition matches and ceremonies have been and will be done to help beautify things but that's something else.

It's hard for careers to end in "Kroosian" fashion. Hell, even in Kroos' case, he lost his last match, a controversial one at that.

I would think that if/when Nadal is asked about his last singles professional match at Phillip Chatrier or about his timing with his retirement, he'll frame it all within the passive aggressive framing of things that he was even criticized for by some of his fans earlier this year. Or not, maybe he'll be more at peace going forward now.

Definitely one of the Tennis gods, only Laver distantly is seen as much of a legend as the Big 3.

Sampras was always prosaic and is now seen as a bit of a relic of his time, Agassi is seen more as a drug addict who didn't hit his full potential more than anything else, and similar case with Borg but not even the what if's in his case are good enough to move him above from the general consensus of his ranking amongst the Tennis greats.

Last words on Nadal:

Looking at the timeline below, even with physical problems considered, he never could escape the "clay specialist" profile. He certainly padded his stats with clay Slams and Masters and was otherwise not very prolific outside of that. His 2017 and 2019 US Opens are often brought up, with statistics and analysis to back it up, as some of the easiest and clearest processions to slams possible, and the 22 AO also has a clear asterisk considering the missing player in that Slam and the context behind that. Those are the 3 non clay slams he was able to gather in the last 10 seasons of his career. 4 in the last 12. Same consistent patterns across the Masters tournaments and ATP finals.

Au revoir.

[El Gunner]

eh nothing bad with going out injury-ridden after you gave your all to the sport... like you said, it's very rare for athletes to go out on a high-level (performance and achievement-wise) like Messi or Kroos. Even the great Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods went out sad.

personally, i don't think Nadal should be classed on the same level as Federer and Djokovic. Hands down the best clay player of all-time, and it's not even close, but overall just a level below them.

[Sponsored content]