Talk About Tennis 2.0

Gauff, who made the Final of Roland Garros last year, and who won there as a Junior, and who generally does well on hard courts, as well, won't do well because the IW and Miami courts are too slow??

Leylah, who made the Quarter-Finals at Roland Garros last year, and only didn't make the Semis because she had a stress fracture in her foot, and who also won Roland Garros as a Junior, also won't do well because the IW and Miami courts are too slow??
Leylah doesn't care about the court speed - she's a tennis player, and if there's a tennis ball and a court, she's eager to play.

Swiatek will do well... Gee - really going out on a limb there!
But she 'wasn't supposed' to do well on the 'fast' courts of Dubai - yet she made some good players look bad there (including Leylah, who is 'supposed to' do well on fast courts, remember), and she (Swiatek) made the Final of Dubai.

Oh, well - so much for the importance of court speed again - and so much for labelling players based on court speed again...

The Djokovic factor. It will depend on IF HE CAN PLAY. if he plays, he reaches the final. But since he will not get vaccinated, it is very doubtful he will be granted entry in the USA.
About court speed. Until the tournaments come up with some index, this factor is so intangible that I can't judge it. Changes of balls are much more relevant (I think). And I really don't know if IW/Miami are the slowest hard courts on the planet.

I say:
Swiatek, of course. Sabalenka and Rybakina too. Badosa has been out too long to come back and make a statement. Raducanu will get injured while lying on her hotel bed, Pegula will do fine.
The men? Medvedev is playing up to level again, FAA will not. It will be a really open tournament, with at least 10 players able to win it.

trust your own eyes!

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 4:30 pm The Djokovic factor. It will depend on IF HE CAN PLAY. if he plays, he reaches the final. But since he will not get vaccinated, it is very doubtful he will be granted entry in the USA.
About court speed. Until the tournaments come up with some index, this factor is so intangible that I can't judge it. Changes of balls are much more relevant (I think). And I really don't know if IW/Miami are the slowest hard courts on the planet.

I say:
Swiatek, of course. Sabalenka and Rybakina too. Badosa has been out too long to come back and make a statement. Raducanu will get injured while lying on her hotel bed, Pegula will do fine.
The men? Medvedev is playing up to level again, FAA will not. It will be a really open tournament, with at least 10 players able to win it.

on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.
If Djokovic plays, replace Fritz with Djokovic.

you dont need data to tell a court is slow, your eyes and ears can tell you. All of us have watched enough tennis matches to know..

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:21 pm on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:49 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:21 pm on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

I will.
I bet three chewed up balls that none of those will win. They could, but this is a fair bet.

About my eyes telling me how slow courts are. ALL courts are playing slower than anything we saw in the 90's. That does not mean (to me) that they are slower when compared to each other, nowadays. The speed differences are basically non-existent to me.

It looks like Alcaraz might not even be there

Actually the irony is RG is playing faster than it used to...soon it will be faster than the USO! It is already comparable to Wimbledon..

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:49 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:21 pm on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

Oh, I wouldn't bet even a dog-chewed ball on it - it is just an expectation..tier 2 players can never actually be relied on ! And Alcaraz may not be fit anyway...

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:49 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:21 pm on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

Even if Alcaraz is fit?

I just took a peek at the MD singles entry lists for IW and there's no change - yet. It's concerning that Carlitos said he felt the discomfort in the same place he felt it before. I don't know if he'll be allowed to withdraw as late as he did for Acapulco.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:24 am I just took a peek at the MD singles entry lists for IW and there's no change - yet. It's concerning that Carlitos said he felt the discomfort in the same place he felt it before. I don't know if he'll be allowed to withdraw as late as he did for Acapulco.

Why wouldn't he be allowed to withdraw late? These players can basically do whatever they want. They shouldn't be allowed to, but they are.

Besides, if he is going to pull out of Indian Wells, maybe he has already made that decision - and in that case, it's very possible that the tournament is already aware of it, but are withholding the public announcement because... well, we know why...

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:12 am

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:49 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:21 pm on a slow court, Alcaraz should be favorite even if Djokovic plays...Nadal would be, but he isnt playing...I dont think 10 players can win - I can name 3, as usual - Alcaraz, Norrie and Fritz.. one of them should win.

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

Even if Alcaraz is fit?

Alcaraz would be a slight favorite with no Djokovic, but really only slight. I'd not take the other two particularly serious given their recent form.

Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:04 am

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:12 am

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Mar 01, 2023 5:49 pm

I'd be willing to be that neither of these guys will win even if Djokovic doesn't play.

Even if Alcaraz is fit?

Alcaraz would be a slight favorite with no Djokovic, but really only slight. I'd not take the other two particularly serious given their recent form.

?
Norrie just beat Alcaraz in the Rio Final.
Fritz just won the Delray Beach tournament.

Actually you're right... I completely forgot about this week. In that case I upgrade their chances for sure albeit I'd still not bet any money on them winning a big tournament like IW.