The Tennis Thread - Part 2

[Hunter Rider]

I've never liked Djokovic, I've always felt he was a big kid who acted like a spoilt brat when things didn't go his way, but he was brilliant today and I don't think I've seen anyone carry the trophy around so delicately since Agassi.

Djokovic steamrolled Nadal in the first two sets, I've never seen him play better and no one has dominated Nadal like that since Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open in 2007.

When Nadal upped a gear in the 3rd and Djokovic seemed to wilt I thought it would be Nadal's for the taking, as Djokovic looked to have gone mentally, but in the 4th he showed mental strength sometimes missing from his game and played a superb set to clinch the championship.

Btw was that Sabine Lisicki in the crowd?

[Marx]

Djokovic is definitely entertaining.

[Sakuraba]

As far as the most recent "worst" Nadal losses go, I'd put this up there with Djokovic's wins in Madrid and Rome, Federer's comeback beatdown in Hamburg to end the streak, and of course the absolute shellacking Nadal took from JMDP in New York. He had some bad losses coming back from missing the '09 grass season, but he had plenty of matches to get in form for that match.

[Prison Mike]

Loved the match and I'm so happy Novak won. I really like Nadal but since he has won twice before, it was nice to see someone new get the trophy. Now no one will doubt his #1 ranking.

[Sakuraba]

Just to complete my silly reimaging campaign for Djokovic, I want him to be a complete dick to his opponents. No veiled snobbery like we get from Fed, or outbursts like Roddick, just be an honest jerk and make excuses when you lose. We need a villain in men's tennis. We need a brat.

Oh, and I made this crappy MS Paint photochop to show what Novak Djokovic should look and sound like.


Note the evil goutee and personalized "ND" logo.

[Prison Mike]

I loved seeing Novak's family in the audience. Every big point he made, they got up to their feet and gave that arm jester. I laughed every time.

[Sakuraba]

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

I loved seeing Novak's family in the audience. Every big point he made, they got up to their feet and gave that arm jester. I laughed every time.

His family is legendarily obnoxious but there's no doubting their love for him. And I swear that's his twin brother, born like eight years apart.

[Sakuraba]

Let's take a look at the rest of Novak Djokovic's ATP season.

Open Era Record season: 82-3, John McEnroe, 1984. Djokovic sits at 48-1 with these tournaments left to play:

Toronto Masters (5)
Cincinnati Masters (5)
U.S. Open (7)
Beijing (5)
Shanghai Masters (5)
Basel (5)
Paris Masters (5)
World Tour Finals (5)

This is his typical fall schedule, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him drop out of the Basel indoors if he's close to the record. Anyway, there's a potential for 42 matches if he makes all finals. So the best possible record he could obtain is 90-1.

[Hotwire]

This will make the U.S. Open interesting.

Still blown away by Tsonga beating Federer!

[Hunter Rider]

I think Del Potro is one to keep an eye on at the US Open, he looked like he was returning to his best at Wimbledon.

[Ziggyman]

My boy Nole all day baby! I also think the Canuck, Raonic, can do some damage during the US Open...

[Sakuraba]

Say goodbye to Wimbledon being on NBC. The Championship has been on the Peacock network since the dawn of the Open Era. It always felt like the grand stage of tennis was important as Championship Sunday always preempted Meet the Press. I'll miss that.

ESPN will bring more coverage and thus do more for tennis, but the truth is I'm about sick of ESPN. I enjoy the tennis team in place there, but they need to sign up John McEnroe stat. I imagine they'll do so. Not everyone loves Mac but he brings first rate analysis, tells it like it is without being harsh, brings first hand knowledge of the big points, and he delivers it in an entertaining manner. He's become the best color guy in tennis. The only real problem with the ESPN tennis team is Chris Fowler, who is absolutely insufferable in everything he does. More Cliff Drysdale, less of that prick.*

Oh well. It's better to go to espn than Fox, where we'd surely end up with the pretentious and boring Joe Buck on the call. "Eating the grass is really uncalled for here when we've still got the mixed doubles to play. Rah rah rah, Tim?"

[kit1982]

If Johnny Mac leaves the BBC the best us brits will get is John Lloyd, Andrew Castle, Tim Henman, Jeremy Bates and Greg Rusedski. We sometimes get Boris Becker strutting around, but noone brings the passion or the know how of McEnroe. You know what Rusedski said this tournament? "Djokovic doesn't move well enough to win the title". Luckily Mac was on hand to say "whaaaaa?!!!".
You yanks have a ton of grandslam winners from the past to commentate, give us Mac or we'll have to go and dig up Fred Perry......

[Bim]

Originally Posted by Sakuraba

Just to complete my silly reimaging campaign for Djokovic, I want him to be a complete dick to his opponents. No veiled snobbery like we get from Fed, or outbursts like Roddick, just be an honest jerk and make excuses when you lose. We need a villain in men's tennis. We need a brat.

Oh, and I made this crappy MS Paint photochop to show what Novak Djokovic should look and sound like.


Note the evil goutee and personalized "ND" logo.

"If he cries, he cries". Classic!

I dont want Djokovic to become a jerk though i want to like the top two players for a change, it makes it less stressful to watch a final.

[Hunter Rider]

[Sakuraba]

Originally Posted by Bim

"If he cries, he cries". Classic!

I dont want Djokovic to become a jerk though i want to like the top two players for a change, it makes it less stressful to watch a final.

We need a good villain on tour. I remember when Roddick was making fun of Djokovic's proneness to injury at the U.S. Open two years ago, and Djokovic's response was so whiney that he became an instant bad guy in New York, where he had been beloved for his impressions just the previous year. He can do some new impressions like Murray grabbing at his ankle/hip/groin after losing a point, or he can do a Serena by threatening to shove a tennis ball down a linesperson's throat. Good clean family fun.

I own a ton of Federer gear, and I wanted those henley tops he was wearing last spring. I figured it'd show up on eBay so I could get a discount off the Nike Store price. No luck, haven't seen those tops yet. I got the pink lawn polo he was wearing in Toronto/Cincy last year, and those shirts have actually appreciated in value from the original $80 N/S price.

[Sakuraba]

Originally Posted by kit1982

If Johnny Mac leaves the BBC the best us brits will get is John Lloyd, Andrew Castle, Tim Henman, Jeremy Bates and Greg Rusedski. We sometimes get Boris Becker strutting around, but noone brings the passion or the know how of McEnroe. You know what Rusedski said this tournament? "Djokovic doesn't move well enough to win the title". Luckily Mac was on hand to say "whaaaaa?!!!".
You yanks have a ton of grandslam winners from the past to commentate, give us Mac or we'll have to go and dig up Fred Perry......

I was reading about an interview Becker gave to a female reporter, and when she asked him about fidelity on the men's tour he suggested that her husband was probably having an affair too.

"No, he's picking up the kids."
"What about before he gets the kids? There's plenty of time for an affair!"

I got a kick out of his bluntness. But he is a rather bland speaker of the obvious in the booth.

I really am hoping that we can get a J.McEnroe/Agassi booth. Doesn't matter who's on the stroke-by-stroke (don't even really need a third man), just as long as it isn't Chris Fowler. He's such a smarmy cretin. The only potential problem with the Mac/Agg booth is McEnroe's love of Agassi. We shouldn't forget Mac's hero worship of Agassi during his resurgent years. It's comparable to Enberg's adoration of Federer, only without the creepy homoerotic fascination with Federer's swing.

"He's soooo smooth. Never a smoother stroke. How does Roger Federer, who most consider the greatest to ever play the game, ever miss with a technically perfect stroke like that? OH MY, ~THE MAESTRO!"

[Hunter Rider]

Hero's welcome! Djokovic greeted by 100,000 fans as Serbia salutes the Wimbledon champion

[Bim]

Wow, that must have been an awesome moment for him!

[Dr. Evil]

That'll be the last Wimbledon on NBC:

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/espn...-to-wimbledon/

[Sebastos]

Originally Posted by Hunter Rider

Hero's welcome! Djokovic greeted by 100,000 fans as Serbia salutes the Wimbledon champion

Just awesome, Nole deserves everything that's happening to him. He's had an incredible season and I have no doubt it's only going to get better.

[Sakuraba]

I'm predicting that he'll finish with four losses on the year. I want to say that his level of play is unsustainable, but it's not like he really went above and beyond what he normally does to pants Nadal at Wimbledon.

It'll be interesting to see where Federer falls in the US Open draw. There's been a conspiracy as to why Djokovic and Federer always end up in the same half of the draw.

[Bim]

Originally Posted by Sakuraba

It'll be interesting to see where Federer falls in the US Open draw. There's been a conspiracy as to why Djokovic and Federer always end up in the same half of the draw.

I think it comes down to the ranking. With Nadal as number two he should be on Roger's side of the draw, right? Although i think that the only "fixed" positions on a draw these days are 1 and 2, and the rest are randomly assigned by a computer. Hmm i'm intrigued by the process of creating the draw now that we're talking about it...

[Sakuraba]

Originally Posted by Bim

I think it comes down to the ranking. With Nadal as number two he should be on Roger's side of the draw, right? Although i think that the only "fixed" positions on a draw these days are 1 and 2, and the rest are randomly assigned by a computer. Hmm i'm intrigued by the process of creating the draw now that we're talking about it...

1 and 2 are set apart and then it's done by every fourth seeding. So the 1 will either get the 3 or 4, but not both, and then the 5-8 are evenly spread through the quarters, and so on.

When Federer was the 1 or 2, he almost always got the 3 Djokovic in his half, and for the 2 seed Djokovic the same story. It's been five straight slams now, and since the 2008 French Open, they've only been separated once. It's bizarre.

EDIT: The conspiracy theory is that tournament organizers obviously want a Nadal-Federer final, and the best way to achieve that is to put Djoker in Fed's half because Fed has had a historically easier time with Djoker on hardcourts. Nadal has always had a losing record on the asphault against Djokovic.

[jessica001]

Where is Sarapoa?