Talk About Tennis 2.0

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 2:56 pm ...

Aren't you dismissing Sabalenka and Rybakina prematurely here? Both will be favorites in the final no matter what happens in this match.

I'd take Swiatek over them, on winning mentality/fight. Maybe not Rybakina, I don't know... but Rybakina is inconsistent. I still think Swiatek is better in big moments and under pressure than Sabalenka. Sabalenka has the tools to win but she still loses big matches more than Iga does.

I still think Jabeur can win the title if she plays her best. I'd love to think Keys could.... she is playing great... but mentally I don't know.

I find it hard to take anybody over Rybakina in the nerves' department. The woman makes Borg look jittery.
And anyway, I have written my opinion about "mental strength". You hit a good shot and it lands in, you have guts and are mentally strong. You hit the same shot and it lands out, the nerves got to you and you are mentally weak. Tough game, isn't it?

Nerves are what held Svitolina back in those slams. She played with much less aggression than in regular tourneys.

My prism for the WTA for years was Halep because I watched every match she played that was televised, and Svitolina owned her in their earlier matchups. Then she blew that 5-1 lead in the second set of their Roland Garros quarter and gave up in the third set, showing her fragility.

I always thought she was slam champion material on clay and possibly hard courts, but I gave up on her years ago. Maybe she has newfound toughness considering everything that is going on around her.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 3:05 pm

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 2:56 pm ...

Aren't you dismissing Sabalenka and Rybakina prematurely here? Both will be favorites in the final no matter what happens in this match.

I'd take Swiatek over them, on winning mentality/fight. Maybe not Rybakina, I don't know... but Rybakina is inconsistent. I still think Swiatek is better in big moments and under pressure than Sabalenka. Sabalenka has the tools to win but she still loses big matches more than Iga does.

I still think Jabeur can win the title if she plays her best. I'd love to think Keys could.... she is playing great... but mentally I don't know.

I find it hard to take anybody over Rybakina in the nerves' department. The woman makes Borg look jittery.
And anyway, I have written my opinion about "mental strength". You hit a good shot and it lands in, you have guts and are mentally strong. You hit the same shot and it lands out, the nerves got to you and you are mentally weak. Tough game, isn't it?

see, I don't consider missing by a bit as nerves. That's just tennis. Maybe making those shots is a product of nailing all the tiny bits of technique and footwork, plus some luck. Nerves, to me, means missing badly, slowing down the feet and racket head, not taking your chances...

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 3:55 pm ...

see, I don't consider missing by a bit as nerves. That's just tennis. Maybe making those shots is a product of nailing all the tiny bits of technique and footwork, plus some luck. Nerves, to me, means missing badly, slowing down the feet and racket head, not taking your chances...

Then you analyze the situation as I do.
But you are a journalist; you should know where my quote came from. That was Roddick talking precisely about the label that most people slap on the "not mentally tough" area. How you get labeled by the result, not by the execution.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 4:11 pm

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 3:55 pm ...

see, I don't consider missing by a bit as nerves. That's just tennis. Maybe making those shots is a product of nailing all the tiny bits of technique and footwork, plus some luck. Nerves, to me, means missing badly, slowing down the feet and racket head, not taking your chances...

Then you analyze the situation as I do.
But you are a journalist; you should know where my quote came from. That was Roddick talking precisely about the label that most people slap on the "not mentally tough" area. How you get labeled by the result, not by the execution.

I didn't recognize the quote! Journalists aren't walking libraries! I think champions are distinguished by how often they don't miss in the big moments, which I guess isn't luck when it happens over the course of a career. I'm not sure i agree with him about the "mentally tough" label.

Two predictable men's matches. Six men standing - seeds 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and Eubanks.

Wil Ander.. we never knew why he never missed and then he started missing.. we don't know why that either! It is a game of such fine margins...