Talk About Tennis 2.0

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:14 pm @ Aces. Bencic tired? Her last match was last Friday. I mean, if by now professional athletes need a week to recover from a regular three setter on Friday (62, 36, 36 to BHM in 2:11 hours), we are talking problems with conditioning.
And her previous tournament was Lausanne, in mid July. That does not seem to be an extreme load.

I understand that. Her conditioning should be in tip top shape. In my heyday, I was a pretty successful runner. I ran cross country & track & field for my high school and the community college I attended. I considered myself to be in pretty good shape at that time of my life, but there were some days where I just did not have it for some reason or another. It was not for lack of training or being tired, it was just not there that particular moment for me. That could be the case for Bencic.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:36 pm More data points.
Osaka out in 1R at Cincy. Together with the back issues at Toronto, she seems far from the form that could lead to a good USO. Of course, she now gets almost too weeks off, in which to train, and at the USO she can perhaps round herself into form with a couple of easy rounds (although not being seeded, she can draw a seed herself) but at the moment, it looks hard to put any money on her.

Interestingly I saw Osaka walking on court and I thought, in this exact sequence, "wow she's fitter than she has been in awhile" and then "she's going to lose".

Who here thinks a guy like Dan Evans has the make up to go deep at the USO? He did remarkably well in Montreal, and seemingly can play well on the hard courts. I don't know if he has enough to win the title, but he could upset a few of the top players along the way.

AcesAnnie wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:24 pm Who here thinks a guy like Dan Evans has the make up to go deep at the USO? He did remarkably well in Montreal, and seemingly can play well on the hard courts. I don't know if he has enough to win the title, but he could upset a few of the top players along the way.

Sure, he could. He's fit enough, causes trouble for a lot of different types of players. It's always going to be hard, but I think there are more opportunities now for players beyond the top 5, especially if Novak doesn't play.

I don't think the issue is whether he CAN. It's that there are so many players of his ilk who can.

He can beat a top 20 player. I can't see Evans doing much else.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:33 pm He can beat a top 20 player. I can't see Evans doing much else.

He just beat Rublev who is a top 10 player.

AcesAnnie wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:47 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:33 pm He can beat a top 20 player. I can't see Evans doing much else.

He just beat Rublev who is a top 10 player.

Forgot about that. That would be his ceiling.
Rublev is another player that is going nowhere lately.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:45 pm

AcesAnnie wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:47 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:33 pm He can beat a top 20 player. I can't see Evans doing much else.

He just beat Rublev who is a top 10 player.

Forgot about that. That would be his ceiling.
Rublev is another player that is going nowhere lately.

Okay, I don't see Dan Evans winning the USO or anything like that. I just thought he might be able to knock off like two players along the way to like a QF appearance.

Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:53 pm Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

What about Taylor Fritz, another guy he just recently defeated in Montreal?

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:53 pm Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

Why, though? If he can beat one, why can't he beat two? Or three? With days off between?

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:18 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:53 pm Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

Why, though? If he can beat one, why can't he beat two? Or three? With days off between?

I agree, the guy seems like he has a lot of intensity in his game which is a huge asset at the USO. If he gets the crowd going and behind him in matches, anything can happen.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:18 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:53 pm Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

Why, though? If he can beat one, why can't he beat two? Or three? With days off between?

Because he himself is ranked 23, and that means he gets one round of a higher seed (top 16) and then one round of maybe another player around his own ranking.
And, he is still Evans. A fine player, but not a great player. Now, of course, watch him makes the semis.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:46 am

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:18 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:53 pm Oh, not TWO players. He can knock one, for sure. He can take out Shapo, Rublev, RBA, BVDZ, players around there. Those are his peers, and he can play them.
Two such players would be a bit too much.

Why, though? If he can beat one, why can't he beat two? Or three? With days off between?

Because he himself is ranked 23, and that means he gets one round of a higher seed (top 16) and then one round of maybe another player around his own ranking.
And, he is still Evans. A fine player, but not a great player. Now, of course, watch him makes the semis.

You also have to take into consideration what happens within the draw around him. If he somehow gets lucky, then he can sneak through rounds without difficulty.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 1:30 am Swiatek, Osaka, Rybakina, Andreescu if the courts are slow, Leylah and Raducanu if they are fast. Add BHM to the mix ..nobody outside these is going to win!

I'd be willing to bet some money that none of these will win this year. In fact only Swiatek stands a serious chance.