re: The Unofficial 2018 Non-GS Tennis Thread

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(his logo should be a butt pick, to be honest)

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That actually would be pretty awesome.

I saw a t-shirt with a Nadal butt-pick logo on it some time ago, but it was either out of stock or not available in my size....I actually don't remember, to be honest, but there was some reason I didn't buy it. And I've subsequently had no luck finding one online.

If anyone knows where I could get one of these, kindly provide a link please pretty please.

Super brief roundup:

Hertogenbosch:
-Bernie Tomic won a tennis match!!!!!!!!!
-Muller, normally solid on grass, got dropped in straights by Matty Ebden
-Verdasco routined Daniil Medvedev. This surprised me. I expected a bit more from the young Rooski.

Stutgart:
-El Shapo gets taken down in three by some Indian dude I've never heard of. I guess the jury is still out on how his game is going to translate to the cowfield surface.
-Felpez gave Troicki a scrumptious breadstick before Troicki called it a day. Felpez is a good grass court player historically, though his game as a whole has fallen off this year, so I'm not as bullish as i might have been when he was sub-35
-Rising start Max marterererer wins in three. Does he have grass court game? Too early to tell.
-Gizmo's boy Benny P is quietly putting together a decent little 2018. Takes out the dreamy Taylor Harry in three.
-The Canadian Servebot gets a "basic" straight set win.
-The mighty Istomin takes out the ugliest man on tour, Forian Mayer.
-Smug gets pushed to 3 by Mischa "check out my 4.0 level groundstrokes" zverev. Hey, last year he lost to a 40 year old, so this is arguably a better showing.
-Pwee routines some dude I've never heard of.


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*dots not feathers.

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If Pwee is Pouille,

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It is. Went with the phonetic spelling.

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Molleker, who is a young German player. He recently won a clay court Challenger right before the French Open, so he definitely can play, did well to beat Struff in the First Round.

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Awesome. That's useful information. I always enjoy learning about up and coming players. Bayou seems to get annoyed when I post about them, but then again Bayou also gets annoyed when I post about Fed or Nadal. *


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*Which actually makes it tricky to synthesize a unifying rule. I mean, what should one discuss if not for young studs and established greats.**
**Perhaps Milos Raonic? Okay...Milos Raonic blows. So tell me more about this Molleker kid ;)

Honey nut v Smug tomorrow should be fun

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That said, I think the current setup of the tour prevents younger players from climbing the ranks and benefits guys like PCB and RBA who play every damn tourney but are boring as hell to watch.

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This reminds me of a ranking system I ran across the other day for the first time. I haven’t read all of the details, but the word Elo makes me think it’s similar to Jeff Sagarin’s power ratings for different sports.

I guess what they are trying to achieve is the idea that, if #1 played #2 on some mythical “neutral” surface tomorrow, #1 would be favored to win. If this is the case, then these rankings would seem to have more value than the standard ATP rankings.

Elo Ratings

Jack Sock at #54 makes a lot more sense than his current ATP ranking.

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It just seems like you have a tendency to overreact to young players with “big” games who play well for a few weeks but aren’t able to sustain it.

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Oh, I don't think I bias my overreactions stylistically. I also don't know that I have a habit of jumping on the bandwagon of guys who aren't going to be able to sustain it. But even if I did, who really cares?

I'm just of the mindset that the very disappointing lost generation of baby smug and garbage raonic is, well, very disappointing. And though the days of 18-19 year olds quickly rising to the top 3 (Agassi), or winning majors kind of out nowhere (Sampras), or basically taking the tour by storm all at once (Nadal) appear to be numbered, they might just be winning majors or rising up the rankings...in a few years. And I think it's fun to try to identify the young guns who are going to be holding the hardware in the coming years, because at some point it's gotta be somebody other than Fedal.

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Considering you post about Rafa almost daily, .

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You mean TGGRN? Yes, I do post about him a lot. He's my homeboy.* I think he should be your homeboy too.

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I just don’t like when any mention of one of those two inevitably turns into a GOAT discussion,

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Fair. It gets a bit tired, but I don't shy away from it, so I can't really complain.

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There’s no way to arrive at a correct answer, and there never will be, no matter what anyone says

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That's why the debates rage on. I'm not arguing that it doesn't get a bit exhausting. Because it does.

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Milos Raonic

GOAT

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#fact



In sum: we cool brah. I just couldn't help but needle you a little when it seemed like you were maybe wearing your grumpy pants.


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*The only athlete I would say I've really gotten behind as fully would be Randy Moss, but for different reasons than Nadal (304 4 life).

Oh yeah, I actually came here to post about TGGRN.

In news that should shock zero people, he withdrew from Queen's: LINK

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t's easy to say, "Well he's not in his prime anymore", but is this true? You could make the argument that, while 2018 Nadal isn't as physically gifted as say, 2008 Nadal, the current version may actually be a better tennis player. An improved serve and more aggressive groundstrokes should translate over to grass in theory.

So, what is it? Lack of motivation? Lack of grass court preparation? Hangovers from putting so much effort into the clay season in recent years?

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I don't know. It's a really good question. I've heard that the way he has to position himself to hit the ball on grass bothers his knees, but it would have bothered his knees in 2011 as well.

Last year I thought he was actually in decent form, and came up against a tough grass court player and lost a well-played match that could have gone either way. And Kyrgios was young at the time, but he was still Kyrgios.

There's no excuse for Darcis, Rosol, or Dustin Brown.

It might be motivation. Of preparation via motivation.

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Fritz

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Just got rolled by Bhambri in London qualies as a -250 favorite