A few weeks ago I watched some old matches of James Blake including encounters against Kiefer (Vienna 2002), Agassi (Washington 2002), Safin (Hopman Cup 2004) and Moya (Indian Wells 2003) and it is quite obvious that today's game is far slower than it was then. James was able to generate direct winners off the forehand wing, whereas currently he has to fire his forehand at least two or three times to end the point. I just wonder whether his shots are less powerful now but looking at the shot and serve speeds it is probably not the reason. He uses the same frame as back then in 2002 or 2003, therefore it shouldn't be blamed on the technology of rackets. So what's the main reason - the balls or changes in surface? Or maybe James game is simply slower?
Can this get any more obvious? Let's just make every court Nadal has not won on play to his taste. Why not. However, the court does get quicker throughout the week IIRC, as players play more and more on it.
It's so short sighted. The intent since Fed's level dropped in 2008 was to have Nadull win the CGS and to make their rivalry GOAT. It helps a lot the pull Tony has with the ATP. They're pushing so hard for Nadull to win WTF, it might as well be pro-wrestling.
But what are they going to do in 10 years to sell the sport? Can't have another made up GOAT rivalry right after this one, especially with the lack of talent in the next gen. And if 17 slams is the target (and everyone has to win CGS) it's just going to become more and more ridiculous. Nadull and the ATP have destroyed their own sport, the way baseball did by breaking all of their own records and thereby ruining the reputation of the sport.
Paris court was slowed since 2012 to suit Nadal and he stil failed badly on it. Even though the speed might be slower and the bounce higher, Nadal is still an awful mover indoors.
Just showing this because this poster often calls me as a troll. But like i said, in my trolling is more truth than 90% of MTFers write in what they think is reasonable post
Jimmy Arias (who seems to hate Nadal's game :lol and former Fed coach Annacone went on endlessly about how the slow/low bounce courts here kills the effectiveness of Nadal topspin FH. This should be obvious to any non-troll watching Nadal struggling to push Ferrer and Wawrinka around even as bashes FH after FH.
Federer said after his match to Djokovic yesterday that the court at the WTF was slow. It's going to be very hard for anyone bar Nadal or Djokovic to win the WTF as these two will just get everything back with a large margin for error, and wait for the inevitable UE from their opponent. We can look forward to a complete grindfest in the final.
Wawrinka experienced the same problems he has against Nadal on clay courts, hadto play well behind the base line in order to get waist-high balls that he could push with his BH, each time he tried to take Nadal's FHs from the baseline he could only produce sloppy BHs that Nadal would eat for breakfast or hit an UE. Conditions are definitely suiting Nadal this year.
Wawrinka likes a little time to set up his baseline groundstrokes. It's not so pronounced that it's a career killer like it is for Gasquet, but he's also no Federer when it comes to pushing forward with his groundstrokes. His preference for heavy groundstrokes from the baseline is partly why I prefer him over someone like Fed actually.
I'd say Wawrinka lost today thanks to not being aggressive off the serve and thus allowing Nadal to grind and eventually draw an UE when serving. I didn't see Nadal causing many errors with wicked spin or following up weak Wawrinka efforts with put-aways. It was an ugly win for Nadal, and I say that as a fan. Of course Wawrinka's choking/lack of confidence/whatever during big moments was also critical.
Regarding conditions suiting Nadal, defensively speaking, they do. But he doesn't beat players like Djokovic with pure defense. He also doesn't beat players like Wawrinka and Fed easily without that heavy topspin as an offensive weapon. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go out before the final; even an inspired Fed might top him if they met. :shrug:
To be honest all they need to do is increase the speed at a few tournaments... RG is fine as it is, USO should be slightly faster, WIM should DEFFO be faster then it is, I mean its fast but not fast enough for a grass court(it is meant to be the fastest court/surface) and the AO speed is okay...
The indoor tournaments should be much faster though, Paris and The World Tour Finals look so slow for indoor tournaments... A few hard court tournaments like Miami should also be faster but apart from that I think the speed of the courts are okay!
Lots of people are saying we are currently in the slow court era where nearly every tournament plays at the same speed and plays like clay since 2008ish, around there and also ever since Nadal emerged, so with that said, when will this slow court era come to an end? When Nadal retires?
Will the ATP Tour ever go back to the 90s era tennis where there was much more variety and various speeds throughout the ATP Calendar?
Re: When will the slow court/homogenisation era end?
Probably never. They may speed up the courts a bit to shorten matches if TV channels want that. But they are never going to speed up the courts so much that talented shotmakers could beat grinders.
Re: When will the slow court/homogenisation era end?
Never.
Longer ralleis = better viewing for "most", better viewing = better recognition, better recognition = more money from the recognisers wanting to watch.
It's an entertainment business. If no one watches, the sport dies. (Due to lack of funds)
Longer ralleis = better viewing for "most", better viewing = better recognition, better recognition = more money from the recognisers wanting to watch.
It's an entertainment business. If no one watches, the sport dies. (Due to lack of funds)
Black and white tennis isn't as colourful for "non-purists". Is it an ace or an unreturnable? The returner playing against a decent serve and vollier making a passing shot 2 times out 10? That makes service games predictable and a rolling inviteability....
Re: When will the slow court/homogenisation era end?
There's a bigger picture behind it.
Black and white tennis isn't as colourful for "non-purists". Is it an ace or an unreturnable? The returner playing against a decent serve and vollier making a passing shot 2 times out 10? That makes service games predictable and a rolling inviteability....
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