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2014 Tennis Clay Court Season Thread
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:28 pm
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:28 pm
The Players
In the shocker of the year, David Ferrer beat Rafael Nadal on a clay court, making me question Nadal's current form and the likelihood he takes home a 9th title at Roland Garros. Damn, he's won 8 French Opens. That's cray cray.
Novak Djokovic was kicking ace until he hurt his wrist, and now he is out until the wrist heals. I haven't heard a timetable on this, but will update when I do. This is BIG, as I would have considered him the favorite at RG until this happened.
Roger Federer is in good form, and went all the way to the finals at Monte Carlo, losing to Stan The Man in the all-Swis final. I still question how his body will hold up after a 5-set clay court grindfest or two. I don't like his chances at winning the French.
Stan The Man quietly wins a Masters 1000 -- his first -- and shows that he isn't slowing down after the Aussie. He has to be considered a contender.
David Ferrer still ain't winning a Grand Slam. Sorry, just isn't happening.
Marin Cilic has been in good form, but how is his clay court game? I would keep him as a dark horse pick.
Andy Murray hasn't been himself this year, and he sucks on clay courts anyway. He's not winning the French.
Delpo is out indefinitely with a wrist injury.
Berdych lost to Guillermo Garcia Lopez at Monte Carlo, who is one of several Spaniards to keep an eye on. Others are Nicolas "the choke artist" Almagro, and up-and-comer Pablo Carreno, a kid whose game I like quite a bit.
Going Forward
Barcelona (500 level)
Qualies going on right now
April 28th
- two garbage 250-level tournaments
May 4th
Madrid (Masters 1000)
May 11th
Rome (Masters 1000)
May 18th
- two garbage 250-level tournaments
May 25th
Roland Garros, baby!
Discuss.
In the shocker of the year, David Ferrer beat Rafael Nadal on a clay court, making me question Nadal's current form and the likelihood he takes home a 9th title at Roland Garros. Damn, he's won 8 French Opens. That's cray cray.
Novak Djokovic was kicking ace until he hurt his wrist, and now he is out until the wrist heals. I haven't heard a timetable on this, but will update when I do. This is BIG, as I would have considered him the favorite at RG until this happened.
Roger Federer is in good form, and went all the way to the finals at Monte Carlo, losing to Stan The Man in the all-Swis final. I still question how his body will hold up after a 5-set clay court grindfest or two. I don't like his chances at winning the French.
Stan The Man quietly wins a Masters 1000 -- his first -- and shows that he isn't slowing down after the Aussie. He has to be considered a contender.
David Ferrer still ain't winning a Grand Slam. Sorry, just isn't happening.
Marin Cilic has been in good form, but how is his clay court game? I would keep him as a dark horse pick.
Andy Murray hasn't been himself this year, and he sucks on clay courts anyway. He's not winning the French.
Delpo is out indefinitely with a wrist injury.
Berdych lost to Guillermo Garcia Lopez at Monte Carlo, who is one of several Spaniards to keep an eye on. Others are Nicolas "the choke artist" Almagro, and up-and-comer Pablo Carreno, a kid whose game I like quite a bit.
Going Forward
Barcelona (500 level)
Qualies going on right now
April 28th
- two garbage 250-level tournaments
May 4th
Madrid (Masters 1000)
May 11th
Rome (Masters 1000)
May 18th
- two garbage 250-level tournaments
May 25th
Roland Garros, baby!
Discuss.
This post was edited on 5/5/14 at 4:47 pm
5
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:35 pm to kidbourbon
Rafa>oxygen for this tourny 
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:37 pm to kidbourbon
Still mad Nadal lost in Australia. That was a GOAT-defining tournament for him, attempting to win the Career Slam twice.
I mean, Wawrinka played like a mad man and might have beaten him anyway, but still.
I expect to see four of the new Big Five (that's right) in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
If we see a Nadal/Djokovic final, Djokovic finally clips him I think.
I mean, Wawrinka played like a mad man and might have beaten him anyway, but still.
I expect to see four of the new Big Five (that's right) in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
If we see a Nadal/Djokovic final, Djokovic finally clips him I think.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:38 pm to BayouBengals03
quote:
If we see a Nadal/Djokovic final, Djokovic finally clips him I think.
If he's healthy, I agree. He nearly beat him last year, and would have if he hadn't gotten into his own head.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 2:55 pm to kidbourbon
Stan was really impressive. He is just so strong and grinds guys down. I didn't think he had the wheels for clay, but sometimes I think the surface helps big strong guys (like Soderling and even Isner) because they can handle high bounces, have more time to get to the ball, and can hit though the slow courts.
I am not feeling Nole this year, I don't know why. The injury just adds to that. He seems tired. Maybe the doping is having diminishing returns.
The only great tournament left before RG is Rome. Madrid is at some altitude and the players don't really like it.
For the first time in years, I really think RG is wide open on the men's side.
I am not feeling Nole this year, I don't know why. The injury just adds to that. He seems tired. Maybe the doping is having diminishing returns.
The only great tournament left before RG is Rome. Madrid is at some altitude and the players don't really like it.
For the first time in years, I really think RG is wide open on the men's side.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 3:17 pm to kidbourbon
quote:
If he's healthy, I agree. He nearly beat him last year, and would have if he hadn't gotten into his own head.
still don't know how the heck he lost that match. He was up a break in the third and had multiple break points to go up a double break and blew them all, he converts one of those and he wins 3-1. Blowing all those affected him mentally and he went on to lose the set. Same story in the fourth, goes up a break early then crumbles.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 3:24 pm to kidbourbon
Watch those pesky Spaniards in this tourney. It would not surprise me one bit if one of 'em snuck into a deep part of the draw.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 3:38 pm to Gugich22
quote:
Watch those pesky Spaniards in this tourney. It would not surprise me one bit if one of 'em snuck into a deep part of the draw.
There's a fleet of them.
Posted on 4/21/14 at 5:06 pm to BayouBengals03
quote:
Still mad Nadal lost in Australia. That was a GOAT-defining tournament for him, attempting to win the Career Slam twice.
It would have arguably ended some arguments.
Posted on 4/22/14 at 2:36 am to kidbourbon
Perhaps I'll try some Tursunov-230 for size.
Posted on 4/22/14 at 8:22 am to Gugich22
quote:
Watch those pesky Spaniards in this tourney. It would not surprise me one bit if one of 'em snuck into a deep part of the draw.
Like the one who has won it 8 times?
Posted on 4/24/14 at 10:10 pm to TotesMcGotes
quote:
Like the one who has won it 8 times?
I was referring to the other ones. He's a given.
Posted on 4/24/14 at 10:17 pm to kidbourbon
I was 4-0 today on my plays with Cilic, Giraldo, Kohl, and Almagro. That merely ended a rather terrible four or five day run. And, unfortunately, the run was so bad that I was overly cautious with today's plays, and went smaller than I normally would have. So, the 4-0 didn't pack as much of a punch as it should have.
Considering Gulby and Cilic for tomorrow, but they would be faint-hearted plays. I don't know what kind of juice Gabashvili's been taking, but he's been balling. That gives me a bit of pause, though I do think there's value with the Latvian.
Cilic would be a faint-hearted play as well. I like Kei, and he's been playing really well, but I think Cilic is the better player. Whether he's better on clay is really anybody's guess. Anyway, Cilic is +145, so it might be worth a sprinkle.
Rafa is now at -1200 against Almagro, which are actually reasonable odds. I'm not messing with it, though. Rafa's done burning this guy for a while.
Considering Gulby and Cilic for tomorrow, but they would be faint-hearted plays. I don't know what kind of juice Gabashvili's been taking, but he's been balling. That gives me a bit of pause, though I do think there's value with the Latvian.
Cilic would be a faint-hearted play as well. I like Kei, and he's been playing really well, but I think Cilic is the better player. Whether he's better on clay is really anybody's guess. Anyway, Cilic is +145, so it might be worth a sprinkle.
Rafa is now at -1200 against Almagro, which are actually reasonable odds. I'm not messing with it, though. Rafa's done burning this guy for a while.
This post was edited on 4/24/14 at 10:18 pm
Posted on 4/25/14 at 1:25 pm to kidbourbon
Wow. Rafa ain't playing well.
Posted on 4/25/14 at 9:05 pm to kidbourbon
Rafas's on the decline. His style has taken its toll on his body. He is no longer invincible to those outside the Big 4.
Posted on 4/26/14 at 12:57 pm to Roscoe
quote:
Rafas's on the decline. His style has taken its toll on his body. He is no longer invincible to those outside the Big 4.
This happened over the course of the last few months? Because he was fairly awesome in 2013, and made it to the finals of the Aussie this year.
Posted on 4/26/14 at 1:11 pm to kidbourbon
Kei is straight balling.
Posted on 5/5/14 at 4:46 pm to kidbourbon
Djoker is out at Madrid.
Posted on 5/6/14 at 8:28 pm to kidbourbon
Posted on 5/7/14 at 12:43 pm to kidbourbon
Juan Monaco is generally a great cure whenever Rafa is suffering from poor form. He just always always beats the living frick out of that guy.
Monaco is one of his best friends on the tour. I wonder if they talk about it. I feel like that'd be awkward.
Monaco is one of his best friends on the tour. I wonder if they talk about it. I feel like that'd be awkward.
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