re: The Unofficial 2018 Non-GS Tennis Thread

Bummer that smug is too much of a bitch to play clay

Pretty funny to think about a story where the to two players avoid each other half the year.

Yeah it clearly seems to be more about age and family than ducking Rafa. Now, if Rafa misses RG for some reason, and Fed all of a sudden shows up... that’s a different story.

The thing that's crossed my mind though is has he played his last match at RG? That would be unceremonious if not disrespectful to RG.

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Yup, Joker is close

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watched today's match, and while he's closer, he's still a ways off.

djoker's serve is still an absolute liability and can't be relied upon. his serve just isn't feared and free points on his serve are extremely hard to come by.

the pacing of shots by thiem compared to novak was a huge disparity as well. I get that his fitness isn't there yet but he looked his age at times today.

I would rank RG the 3rd most prestigious GS but honestly I think the French love tennis more than any other country.

I wasn't aware of your stringing expertise or my reply may have been a little different.

Not sure on the pre-stretching. This was my first time doing NG, and I probably won't get it going forward unless there's a such thing as cheap NG.

Never thought of doing two different poly strings at once. And I've definitely never used a 19 gauge string. I don't think I've even used 18 before. Don't you sacrifice something (maybe durability) with a string that thin? I don't seem to have any arm issues with full poly, so I'm open to trying just about anything.

A couple guys in my league use that Pure Strike and love it. Some pros had upticks in their game when they switched to that too. I tried it a couple times and it's way too powerful for my liking.

Do you know of any other frames under 11oz off hand? I've been wanting to try some other brands, but almost everything is too heavy for me. Prince used to have a bunch of light frames, but they weren't solid enough for groundstrokes and net play.

Jesus.

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Do you know of any other frames under 11oz off hand?

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Not anything that I know of that has a low 60's stiffness rating like the one you play...Most folks would consider the light version of the Pure Aero as a similar racquet to the one you are playing. Also, you might demo a Wilson Burn ULS. I think the issue you are gonna run into looking at light frames is that most are going to be relatively stiff, offered in larger head sizes (100 and up) and at least nominally higher powered.

As far as cheaper NG, you definitely get what you pay for. There is some budget stuff, but it ranges from meh to truly terrible. I would only use either Wilson, Luxilon (it is relatively new from them and great stuff) or Babolat VS. It will run you $45-50 for a full set just for the string.

As for the poly "hybrid" setup, I would have scoffed at the idea of putting two different polys in, had I not heard it first-hand from someone who I knew they knew what they were talking about, and with regard to thinner gauge, what you lose is durability, BUT, most people play with poly string beds well past the point where it is dead. I like the feel of the thin stuff, and I break it before it goes dead. Of course, I string for myself and that makes a huge difference in terms of cost and convenience factor.

Do you know your stringer very well? There are some guys who just do it, and there are some that are into the esoterica of strings, tensions and racquets. It helps if your guy (or gal) is someone like this. There are plenty of good rec players I know who laugh off such things, but I think there are some edges to be gained from paying attention to such things even at the rec level.

To have Fed and Nadal in prime form in the same era has been truly amazing. I'm nostalgic for the game in the 70's, but if you ask me, the last 15 years has been the golden age.