Talk About Tennis 2.0

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:35 pm At 40 slams per decade, he was one SLAM SHORT of making tow straight decades of grand slam appearances.
I know, I know, I know. It would be unfair. He is not worthy (I guess ). There are other players to consider. But give him a WC. Let him make it 80 in a row.

JazzNU wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:56 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:35 pm At 40 slams per decade, he was one SLAM SHORT of making tow straight decades of grand slam appearances.
I know, I know, I know. It would be unfair. He is not worthy (I guess ). There are other players to consider. But give him a WC. Let him make it 80 in a row.

Feel like he was a no brainer to give a WC to so this wasn't in question.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 9:01 pm
Is he getting one? He can't now, right? He played the qualies.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:35 pm At 40 slams per decade, he was one SLAM SHORT of making tow straight decades of grand slam appearances.
I know, I know, I know. It would be unfair. He is not worthy (I guess ). There are other players to consider. But give him a WC. Let him make it 80 in a row.

3mlm wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 9:53 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:35 pm At 40 slams per decade, he was one SLAM SHORT of making tow straight decades of grand slam appearances.
I know, I know, I know. It would be unfair. He is not worthy (I guess ). There are other players to consider. But give him a WC. Let him make it 80 in a row.

He actually made two straight decades of grand slam appearances. The reason it's only 79 slams is that there was no Wimbledon in 2020.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 1:51 pm

Deuce wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 11:11 pm

Deuce wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 2:55 am Iga is obviously a very good player...
But WHY is she so good? WHY is she beating everyone - and beating them rather easily?
I don't see that she has one particular or obvious weapon or strength in her game... She's not hitting aces left and right... She's not overpowering anyone... She doesn't have the most variety on the tour...

Maybe she's just slightly better than everyone else at all elements combined?

One thing I do notice with her is that when she wins tournaments, the emotion suddenly pours out of her as soon as she clinches match point. I've seen that a few times now.
And so it seems that she is so focused on the match - and perhaps even so focused on every individual point - that she's not at all thinking of the occasion. Maybe she's not thinking 'If I win this match, I'm in the Semi-Final', or 'If I win this match, I'm in the Final', or 'If I win this match, I win the tournament'.

The way that the emotion is suddenly released and erupts out of her after winning match point rather strongly suggests that she is so incredibly locked in and focused that she isn't affected by the nervousness and anxiety which typically comes with thinking of the occasion, which creates pressure, etc. She seems to be able to put the occasion completely out of her mind and thoughts.
And maybe that's her 'secret weapon'; maybe the primary reason that she is so dominant is because she can do this significantly better than anyone else can.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 2:49 pm Yes, it appears that she is making all the right decisions. She is extremely clear-headed and her mind is in the exact right spot for most of the match, if not all of the match. Her intensity and her strategy are perfectly calibrated.

Also, her defense to offense is incredible. But mostly she's taking the ball early and controlling the court, smothering the opponent. And her forehand is pretty big. She attacks with it extremely well. The weight of her shot might be hard to see on TV, but it's a big weapon. We shouldn't underestimate the quality of her actual game - the stroke production, movement, and anticipation.

On top of all that, now she is supremely confident, at least on slower courts. Might change on fast courts. She might not be able to get her teeth into points as fast.

That may all be so... but I maintain that the reason she is able to execute the things you mention is because she is so incredibly focused and is not distracted by the nervousness, anxiety, and pressure which comes from thinking about the occasion in the way that most other players are.
She might be the best example of a player being in 'the zone' that we've seen in a while.

For sure, this is baked into the focused part. I'm sure she has nerves and anxiety, but she has learned to manage them and use them to her benefit. I'd say the same of anyone who reaches her level.

I find myself wondering if we focus on the mental aspect with women more than we do men. In looking for a reason for Iga's performance, we are focused on the mental/emotional and not the game. Of course they're connected, but people tend to analyze men (first, primarily) based on their games - the body part - and not the head part. With women, I think it's different. You might say that anything a player does with their body is related to what's going on in their mind, and yes, for sure, but we tend to stop at the body (the physical part of the game) when talking about men. We don't put the emotional/mental analysis before the physical.

JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 7:06 pm ^^ No points for the WTA as well. Not sure about WTA events in UK yet, I'll post if I see something from someone reputable.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 7:29 pm Yes. There is something that I don't like about that decision. It sort of punishes more people than what would seem fair.
Now, let's see how many players do not go to Wimbledon. Tournaments outside of the UK will have the longest entry list in all their history, but Wimbledon will be immune to this. Novak especially could not care less about the points. Probably gunning for 22, he would go even if it meant losing all his ATP points.