Tennis Thread

[Flash Gordon]

So Murray V Federer in the US Open - anyone giving Murray a chance?

He's got a great chance the way he's playing at the moment. Interesting to see how the British press is covering things - currently he's a plucky Brit epitomising the new winning mentality in British sport. If he loses, he will of course revert to being a useless pict who drinks a lot and starts fights.

[Darce]

Don King calling this one, "The Grapple in the Apple"

Classic King....

[icebaby]

anyone know where it's on tonight? as it is weather delayed it's when it wasn't expected to be

[Donny B.]

anyone know where it's on tonight? as it is weather delayed it's when it wasn't expected to be

Sky sports 1 starting at ten

[icebaby]

anyone know where it's on tonight? as it is weather delayed it's when it wasn't expected to be

Sky sports 1 starting at ten

Grand job thanks

[Hickiefan]

Watched the first two sets - some great points from both of them but Federer was on top.

Well done to Murray for his efforts and a great concession speech. Let's hope the UK media can follow his example. Bet anything he's Scottish again though

[sarah_lennon]

Murray seems to be missing the cohesion to put together a sustained effort. It seems that when he pulls off a great win he follows it up with a poor performance. Like his performance int he Olympics after his Masters win. If he gets his head together he has the game.

Loved the Sky commentator's comments, wondering if Murray's win over Nadal would out fear into Federer. Eh no I'd say he was glad not to have to play him!

[sarah_lennon]

Murray first big seed out of the Aussie Open (Excepting women, and that's only bacause the woman's game has gone completely to pot)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/ja ... s-verdasco

The British media installing him as favourite for this tournament was shameful, not least because he has three guys ahead of him who have the experience of seeing out a Grand Slam tournament. I think Murray can make a genuine stab at a grand slam this year, but a few Masters events does not a summer make.

[tackle-bag]

Andy Murray will win one, maybe two Grand Slams in his career if he's lucky. They will most likely be the Australian or US Opens where he will be far away from the glare of the British media spotlight. Like so many other British sportspeople before him (the English soccer team being the classic example), the level of unmerited expectation placed on his shoulders will prevent him from ever achieving consistent success. The tabloid press have now rendered it almost impossible for any British player to win at Wimbledon.

I expect Nadal to win the current Aussie Open (based on form) and to continue his dominance on clay and grass for the years to come. Djokovic, if he keeps developing, will become the dominant player on hard courts. Federer is well past his best but might yet sneak another slam or two. This doesn't leave much room for Murray especially considering the fact that there is likely to be an entirely new generation of young talent in the next couple of years.

[gfo]

i'll have to disagree there. murray has already shown that he can beat Fed, Nadal and Djoko and reached the final of the US Open, so there's no lack of ability. At this stage, Federer is starting to slip, he's no longer the unstoppable force on grass courts he once was. At the moment, Nadal performs so well on grass because there's no one really to challenge him, but in a year or so, both Murray and Djokovic will reach much better form and start taking grass Slams, especially considering that Murray has so little experience in playing elite level tennis.
But Nadal will be unchallenged on clay for the next five years or so

[tackle-bag]

i'll have to disagree there. murray has already shown that he can beat Fed, Nadal and Djoko and reached the final of the US Open, so there's no lack of ability. At this stage, Federer is starting to slip, he's no longer the unstoppable force on grass courts he once was. At the moment, Nadal performs so well on grass because there's no one really to challenge him, but in a year or so, both Murray and Djokovic will reach much better form and start taking grass Slams, especially considering that Murray has so little experience in playing elite level tennis.
But Nadal will be unchallenged on clay for the next five years or so

Murray's victory over Nadal in the semi of last year's US Open was the only victory he has recorded over a top class player in a grand slam. He then followed that win up by embarrassing himself in the final. He's nearly 22 and he has only reached the quarter finals of a slam twice - by the same age, Nadal had already won 5 slams and been runner up in 2 more while Federer had won Wimbledon and was number 1 in the world. Djokovic is the slightly younger and has two grand slam finals to his name (including one win) and six semis. He has also won 5 Masters Series events to Murray's 2.

Murray's victories over Federer of late have been great achievements, don't get me wrong. I've loved every minute of them because personally I can't stand RF. However, there's no doubting that at present there is a gulf in class between Murray and the top 3 in terms of grand slam pedigree. The point made in my post is that the pressure applied by the British media will never allow him to close this gap - he'll be made a hero while he's winning but ruthlessly vilified when he underperforms. His game is completely unsuited to grass but the Brits will expect him to win Wimbledon every year against all logic and common sense.

He has failed to fire in the slams up to this point and I don't think this situation will change very much as times goes on. As I said, he might knick a slam or two when the others are injured or out of form but no more than that.

[sarah_lennon]

Unbelievabl from Federer today. To totally throw away the final set and then to blub like a baby. Number 14 is going to hang over him till WImbledon and we'll see if he's had the time to get to grips with the pressure

[tackle-bag]

Unbelievabl from Federer today. To totally throw away the final set and then to blub like a baby. Number 14 is going to hang over him till WImbledon and we'll see if he's had the time to get to grips with the pressure

Unless he wins one this year, I would have serious doubts as to whether Federer will ever get to 14. It's going to be very difficult for him to improve much more at this stage of his career. It now looks very unlikely that he will get beyond 14 anyway.

To be honest though, I really don't think that he deserves to take the record away from Sampras. Federer has been a great player, don't get me wrong, but he has also been incredibly fortunate in terms of the period of tennis history into which his career fell. The overall depth in men's tennis for the bulk of his career has been comparatively very poor; until 2006, his only real rivals were a rapidly fading Leyton Hewitt, a sub-standard Andy Roddick and a mentally unstable Marat Safin.

Compare that to Sampras, who's career overlapped with several of the other all-time greats as well as some top-class specialists on every surface - McEnroe, Agassi, Courier, Edberg, Becker, Stich, Ivanisevic, Rafter, Kafelnikov, Kuerten... the list is endless. Sampras had nowhere near as many easy matches in Grand Slams as Federer has done; needless to say, Federer often makes things easy for himself but he has also come up against some seriously weak opponents at the business end of big tournaments. The fact that Davydenko and Ferrer have been number 3 and 4 in the world respectively pretty much says it all.

[gfo]

good effort from the fed. he's obviously severely lacking in confidence, bit late in the day to make a comeback now though

[Isaac4leinster]

Fed only needs Nadal to get knocked out before meeting him and he's set to get 14 at some stage.

[sarah_lennon]

Massive inquest going on on Sky now Re Andy Murray going out to Cilic!!

[gfo]

shame to see Andy Murray losing and then claiming to be injured to cover his tracks. Sky News is going nuts

[tackle-bag]

shame to see Andy Murray losing and then claiming to be injured to cover his tracks. Sky News is going nuts

Murray has claimed to be injured after every game he's lost in the last 2 years. I, unlike a lot of people, don't mind him in general but his whining about injuries is starting to become pathetic.

[gfo]

same here, good player, but poor sportsmanship

[Hickiefan]

Massive inquest going on on Sky now Re Andy Murray going out to Cilic!!

They were so emphatic he'd walk it beforehand.

I have to say I like Murray - I like that he doesn't buy in to the Brit tennis love in with the UK press generally - but he can be a petulant little sod with the best of em.