ATP M1000 WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open 3/8 - 3/19 2023

[ashkor87]

Tiafoe vs Norrie tomorrow is intriguing..Both playing well,. Both have the right kind of game..I would bet on Norrie but would be pleased if Tiafoe wins through..
Sakkari vs Kvitova..wel, Pegula is better than Sakkari so ...
Gauff hss no more than 10% chance against Sabalenka...Rybakina will find Muchova tough but should be able to overpower her ..

[ponchi101]

That was a tough loss for Paul. Very much in his hands and then, nothing.
If he wants to enter the realm of top players, he cannot lose matches like this.

[ponchi101]

'I know what is hard court,” he told Lichtenstein, “I’m a specialist at hard court. This is not hard court.” Medvedev complaining about the slow court! Told the umpire he would take his time walking slow to the bathroom because it is a sloooow court !

This is for those on this forum who don't believe IW is the slowest court on the planet! Actually, I think Miami may be even slower..we shall see!

So, we are supposed to take the word of a famous complainer like Medvedev at face value? It is not as if he has never complained about "anything" about a court.
(Remember when he threatened to sue the Canada tournament because of the position of the cameras? After he ran into one because he was so far back).
And we are not saying courts today are not slow. What some are saying is that it is not the determining factor that you claim they are. Medvedev may have been complaining about the court, yet he still won the match.

[ashkor87]

I never said they are the determining factor, they are simply an overlooked factor especially at the highest level, where margins are anyway so thin

[ashkor87]

Sinner's win over Wawrinka surprised me..did he play that well or was Wawrinka tired?

[ponchi101]

It was a slugfest, and Jannick was able to keep the ball in a bit longer. If you are into power tennis, catch the replay. There were some points in which, if you were seating at the very edge of the court, you would whiplash your neck.

[ponchi101]

I never said they are the determining factor, they are simply an overlooked factor especially at the highest level, where margins are anyway so thin

C'mon, Ashkor. You frequently post predictions about who will win, who will do well, who will not, and you usually claim some court speed factor.
It is your most important factor. You even recently claimed that Wimbledon is close to playing slower that RG.

For me. This court, and all courts in the world, are becoming too slow for the combination of power and speed the players and the new racquets are bringing. Medvedev and Zverev were ripping the ball yesterday, yet we had a lot of long rallies. Sinner/Stan was the same. It was almost impossible to hit a winner.
So, I agree. Courts today are slow. TOO slow. But all players are playing well on them, so it is (to me) not an important factor.

[ashkor87]

That was a tough loss for Paul. Very much in his hands and then, nothing.
If he wants to enter the realm of top players, he cannot lose matches like this.

True, but he is not really that good anyway, not that complete a player, FAA is a 'higher class' player..if Paul weren't American...

[ashkor87]

I never said they are the determining factor, they are simply an overlooked factor especially at the highest level, where margins are anyway so thin

C'mon, Ashkor. You frequently post predictions about who will win, who will do well, who will not, and you usually claim some court speed factor.
It is your most important factor. You even recently claimed that Wimbledon is close to playing slower that RG.

For me. This court, and all courts in the world, are becoming too slow for the combination of power and speed the players and the new racquets are bringing. Medvedev and Zverev were ripping the ball yesterday, yet we had a lot of long rallies. Sinner/Stan was the same. It was almost impossible to hit a winner.
So, I agree. Courts today are slow. TOO slow. But all players are playing well on them, so it is (to me) not an important factor.

Which doesn't prove I think it is the determining factor. I venture to submit that nobody except me even thinks it is a factor, which I am interested in correcting.

[ashkor87]

But enough of this! I will stop writing about court speed if people on this forum aren't interested. I have made my points often enough!

[ponchi101]

No need to go that far. We are here to TAT. And that is one aspect.

[ponchi101]

That was a tough loss for Paul. Very much in his hands and then, nothing.
If he wants to enter the realm of top players, he cannot lose matches like this.

True, but he is not really that good anyway, not that complete a player, FAA is a 'higher class' player..if Paul weren't American...

Ah, another disagreement brews!
I actually like Paul's game a lot. The strokes are solid; you don't see any biomechanical flaws in there. He is solid at the net, the serve is good. What I am not sure is if he has a weapon to dominate. A "Rafa's FH" or "Novak's BH". I don't know if he is going to be like a Berdych or a Ferrer, good enough for a very good career. But he may be missing that final something.

[dryrunguy]

Honest question... Why would a young tennis player choose to have a really high ball toss on their serve? With so much of the season played outdoors, I am a bit mystified why someone would choose such a toss. If conditions aren't perfect, things can go horribly wrong very quickly.

(This is not intended to advocate for the other end of the spectrum--like a shoulder-high Conchita Martinez serve.)

[JazzNU]

That was a tough loss for Paul. Very much in his hands and then, nothing.
If he wants to enter the realm of top players, he cannot lose matches like this.

An excellent (and very dramatic) win for FAA. A much needed one I'd say as well.

And I wouldn't say it was in Paul's hands. FAA was down 3 match points in that final game and then down 3 more match points in the tiebreaker, but almost all were on FAA's serve and he came up with the goods. There was one shot that FAA got lucky on in the 5-6 game that was unlucky for Paul that it managed to land in despite being (expletive), but that wouldn't have been Paul winning it there, but an FAA error.

I thought Tommy would win this on a slower court, but not because I think he's a better player. I agree that he can't lose matches like this, but I also haven't felt like he has the tools in his game to take control of a match like this the way FAA did on his end. I think Tommy might be on the losing end of many matches like this against top 20-ish talent if he leaves it for the end, assuming his game stays this way.

[ti-amie]

Tiafoe just took Norrie out in straights 4&4