Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ti-amie]

Parks has worked hard to get to the level of play Ashkor is describing. I saw her a lot on her way to her current level. She has taken time to mature and show her real potential but I agree that she can become a "Tier 1 Player" if she keeps working on her game.

[ashkor87]

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/jo ... tie-breaks

To nobody's surprise..but it is no great credit to Isner, actually..what it shows is he cannot break other people's serves, while nobody can break his!

[ponchi101]

But that has been his game all his life. There is no secret to that.
I know he is not liked much, but I give him credit. He has played this sport with two polar opposite qualities: an incredible serve and power, and perhaps the worst mobility ever seen in the sport. And he has achieved a bit. I respect that.
It's like Diego, reaching such great results with no power, only speed and guts.

[Deuce]

But that has been his game all his life. There is no secret to that.
I know he is not liked much, but I give him credit. He has played this sport with two polar opposite qualities: an incredible serve and power, and perhaps the worst mobility ever seen in the sport. And he has achieved a bit. I respect that.
It's like Diego, reaching such great results with no power, only speed and guts.

It might be a tie between Isner and Shriver for 'worst mobility ever seen in the sport'.
With Pliskova in the mix, as well.

[Owendonovan]

I've always found calling Shriver an "elite athlete" difficult to roll off the tongue despite her obvious achievements as one.

[ponchi101]

I've always found calling Shriver an "elite athlete" difficult to roll off the tongue despite her obvious achievements as one.

Whatever opinion anybody may have of the Prince racquets (the first one), you cannot deny that they brought power to a new level. Shriver's BH was a truly awful shot biomechanically, but she got away with it because the racquet gave her the power. If you want to teach somebody how to hit a slice BH, first you show them a clip of Shriver's so they will know how NOT to hit it.
(Then, of course, you show them some grainy B&W clip of Rosewall).

But, in the scale of all the excellent "elite athletes" that this sport has produced, she has to be included with double quotes. Her lateral movement was troublesome (she was fine moving forward, and her volleys were better than average).

[ti-amie]

I was surprised to see/hear Lahyani doing a WTA match. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to wonder about it.

[Deuce]

Lahyani's quite a character. Always animated... Always laid back, spontaneous, and looking quite comfortable up there.
He certainly seems to love what he's doing - it's as if every day is his first day in the chair, and he's giddy.
He's good for the game.

Fergus Murphy is kind of the polar opposite. I've heard that Fergus is a good guy... and I don't doubt that - but he seems pretty uptight and 'by the book', making sure that absolutely every 'i' is dotted, and every 't' is crossed, when he's in the chair.

[ashkor87]

It is always heartbreaking to see someone you know, struggle in qualies and fail ..Ankita Raina is someone I have known since she was a baby...
Equally sad to see a champion like Errani struggle in qualies...

[ponchi101]

It is always heartbreaking to see someone you know, struggle in qualies and fail ..Ankita Raina is someone I have known since she was a baby...
Equally sad to see a champion like Errani struggle in qualies...

Some people will only go so far. It is the sad thing about sports. You can see it in a lot of players that have had very good careers, but always flowing around some level. Federico Delbonis and Carlos Berloq come to mind. Hard working, dedicated pros, that were at best ranked in the top 100 for a few weeks here and there.
Heck, I remember Venezuela's Nicolas Pereira, world #1 junior in 1988. Top rank in the pros? 77. And it was not that he did not put the effort.

[ashkor87]

There is a lovely story about Federer in the book The Master.. cahill finds agassi sitting in the locker room hours after Federer thrashed him..Cahill tries to console him ' you will get him next time' etc. Agassi looks at Cahill and says 'you don't understand. Ge has taken the game to a different level. We will never be able to catch him now' .
So the rest of the WTA may be saying about Swiatek.

[ashkor87]

On Coco...one more reason she is not so great on slow courts: you have to hit 20 shots in every point ..her forehand weakness does tend to show up when she has to hit 20 in a row ..

[ponchi101]

There is a lovely story about Federer in the book The Master.. cahill finds agassi sitting in the locker room hours after Federer thrashed him..Cahill tries to console him ' you will get him next time' etc. Agassi looks at Cahill and says 'you don't understand. Ge has taken the game to a different level. We will never be able to catch him now' .
So the rest of the WTA may be saying about Swiatek.

Let's say that you are "passionate" about the sport. We love that.
But let's not get carried away here. At the Aussie, Swiatek looked like a normal player. Her losing score against Rybakina was a regular loss (4 & 4). I saw the match versus Cami and, although Swiatek won with ease, Cami broke her 4 times.
She has yet to make inroads at both the Aussie and Wimby. Right now, at Doha, she is indeed in a different zone. But comparisons to Roger (and all the other greats) have to wait a bit.
On the other hand: great story about Roger/Agassi. And yet, look how Rafa and Nole eventually caught up with him. Not to mention, time.

[ashkor87]

But nobody from Agassi's generation .it took a new generation..Nadal and Djokovic .

[ponchi101]

Oh, sure. But Agassi was at least 11 years older than Roger. And Agassi was not the choice of his gen; it was Sampras.
I see Agassi's point. Those were those years in which Roger went on court with one set and a break up. But somebody always stands up. We only have to give it some time.