Talk About Tennis 2.0

ptmcmahon wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 4:10 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:14 am Isn't it strange that Pegula had never beaten Mertens before?

Not too strange since it was only 3 matches, one was on clay, and the other two were 2020 and 2021 before she was in top 20.

And not like she was 0-10 or anything extreme

Strange to me..Pegula is never beaten by someone below her, and I always thought of Mertens as that ..a solid mid-Tier 2 player. I use Pegula as a benchmark nowadays because she is so consistent ..

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 12:55 am Chatgpt choices for today are Paul and Pavlyuchenkova

2-0 again today - is Chatgpt going to win the pools?

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 1:00 am
Strange to me..Pegula is never beaten by someone below her, and I always thought of Mertens as that ..a solid mid-Tier 2 player. I use Pegula as a benchmark nowadays because she is so consistent ..

Well in 2020 Pegula was a qualifier and Mertens seeded 14th in Cincinnati.

And in 2021 Mertens was ranked 10th and Pegula unseeded in Dubai.

So in this head to head, Pegula only was beaten by someone below her once, and it was on clay - which is Mertens best surface.

Had Mertens been 3-0 in 2024 matches it may have been surprising, but 2/3 of these matches were quite awhile ago.

By 'below' i don't mean in rankings...which I have no belief/confidence in. I classify players into Tiers...Pegula is top tier2, doesn't normally lose to tier2 players. (Though today she lost to Danilovic!) Maybe Pegula is fading..

All I mean was ... in 2020 and early 2021 where you thinking Pegula was better than Mertens? I think you may be projecting how you feel about her now with back then.

Not believing in rankings is very odd. They are very objective - you win certain round of a tournament and you get a predetermined amount of points. It's like not believing in electricity ))

mick1303 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 10:21 pm Not believing in rankings is very odd. They are very objective - you win certain round of a tournament and you get a predetermined amount of points. It's like not believing in electricity ))

Rankings tell you the past, like financial statements. I am more interested in the present and future, i trust my own judgement for that

In fact Pegula is a perfect example..in 2021 her ranking was low but anyone who saw her play would say she is better than that. Look at Osaka, Bencic etc today - does the ranking make any sense? Rankings take time to adjust, you can see the quality of the player with your eyes, in front of you.

Today chatgpt says Sonego and Paolini. I really wonder why it is so confident Paolini can beat Svitolina. I am not, for sure!

ptmcmahon wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2025 9:46 pm All I mean was ... in 2020 and early 2021 where you thinking Pegula was better than Mertens? I think you may be projecting how you feel about her now with back then.

You may be right but Pegula won the Washington open in 2019, when she first came to my attention...

Watching BHM vs Kudermetova..both struggling to put the ball away..court clearly not all that fast.

BHM has so many shots, great volleyer too..why hasn't she done better at majors?

Kudermetova has enough power to hit through the court, and gets enough time on this court...not surprising she is slaughtering BHM's second serve