Andy Murray Latest and General Tennis Chat

[Lex]

30 is way out of reach, tbh I think he will finish on 23-24.
And sue barker so unprofessional with question re. Football. Joker made her look like an idiot although not that hard.
And please can Andrew Castle stop commentating. Brings absolutely nothing but suspicion

He’s just turned 34 and he’s won four grand slams in a row. It would surely have been more had either Wimbledon happened last year or if he had aimed that ball away from the line judge at the US open.
He could have 25 by the end of next year at the rate he is going just now. The hard court is his best surface and the next two are on that at the US and Australian - where he always wins.
Rafa used to be able to beat him at Rolland Garros but even he couldn’t stop him winning that this year, and now the Spaniards injuries seem to be getting worse and I suspect he has won his last major.
I don’t know who knocks him out in the next two years. It needs to be one of the guys in their mid twenties who should be peaking about now. Can you see someone like Zverev or Medvedev beating him in a grand slam? It’s just hard to picture. He’s got them all on toast.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Federer injured and out of the Olympics.

Konta out too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/57825935

 

[GordonS]

On 12/07/2021 at 09:29, Lex said:

 

He’s just turned 34 and he’s won four grand slams in a row. It would surely have been more had either Wimbledon happened last year or if he had aimed that ball away from the line judge at the US open.
He could have 25 by the end of next year at the rate he is going just now. The hard court is his best surface and the next two are on that at the US and Australian - where he always wins.
Rafa used to be able to beat him at Rolland Garros but even he couldn’t stop him winning that this year, and now the Spaniards injuries seem to be getting worse and I suspect he has won his last major.
I don’t know who knocks him out in the next two years. It needs to be one of the guys in their mid twenties who should be peaking about now. Can you see someone like Zverev or Medvedev beating him in a grand slam? It’s just hard to picture. He’s got them all on toast.

 

Thing is, as you say he's just turned 34. His game heavily relies on his athleticism and in particular his incredible flexibility. At some point soon his muscles are going to start tightening, his ligaments lose their elasticity. It may start to be noticeable next year, it may be 5 years away if he's very lucky. But it's in the post, and when it comes, the main source of his advantage over the chasing pack will be gone.

He could average 2-3 slams a year for four years and make 30, but I don't think he will. It's incredibly hard to stay at the top for that long and Djokovic's slams have come in waves. After his triple in 2011 he only won one each year in 2012, '13 and '14. From Wimbledon 2014 to RG 2016 he won 6 out of 8, then none for over 2 years. He could have another dip at any time.

Of course, if he does dip he doesn't have a peak Federer, Nadal or Murray waiting to scoop up the prizes. But the younger lads are slowly getting better all the time and who knows which of them could make it all click, as Djokovic did in 2011, and start winning big things. Players often have a moment in their career where they unlock the level above them.

My guess is that he'll probably break Margaret Court's record, but 30 would be a huge stretch. 

[Distant Doonhamer]

Dan Evans out of Olympics. Positive Covid test.

Covid Dan

[Distant Doonhamer]

15 hours ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

Dan Evans out of Olympics. Positive Covid test.

Covid Dan

Replaced in squad by Jamie Murray who will partner Neal Skupski in the men's doubles

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57791318

[GordonS]

4 hours ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

Replaced in squad by Jamie Murray who will partner Neal Skupski in the men's doubles

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57791318

Pleasing news all round.

[Loki]

The real GOAT stepped up today:

 

The absolute king of the drop shot.

[Loki]

Andy Murray to open his double Olympic defence against Felix Auger-Aliassime.   Possible Carrena Busta in the last 16, Medvedev in the QF.  Tsitsipas in the SF and the man chasing the Golden Slam in the final.

Has to really play well in his first match, and if he does he’d have a good chance of making the quarter finals.  Best of three sets with a day off in between, it might just be a format that works for Murray currently.

[GaryMc93]

29 minutes ago, Loki said:

Andy Murray to open his double Olympic defence against Felix Auger-Aliassime.   Possible Carrena Busta in the last 16, Medvedev in the QF.  Tsitsipas in the SF and the man chasing the Golden Slam in the final.

Has to really play well in his first match, and if he does he’d have a good chance of making the quarter finals.  Best of three sets with a day off in between, it might just be a format that works for Murray currently.

Tough draw in the doubles too where Murray and Salisbury play 2nd seeds Mahut and Herbert. Although decent chance to make the SF if they could get through that. 

[GordonS]

Rough draw for Andy. Is he fated to get drawn against every rising star? 

Mahut and Herbert are class doubles players, it would be quite an upset for the Murrays to beat them. 

[The Moonster]

On 19/07/2021 at 16:29, Loki said:

The real GOAT stepped up today:

 

The absolute king of the drop shot.

Watched this like 6 times now and still don't get it. He's broken physics. 

[GaryMc93]

Andy and Joe Salisbury's doubles match is 2nd match on court 5 tomorrow. Jamie and Neal Skupski are 3rd on court 11. Heather Watson also in action and is first up on the opening day.

Play starts at 11am in Tokyo (3am UK time) and looks like the tennis will be on Eurosport 3 (983 on Sky). No idea what courts that will actually cover though.

[GordonS]

10 hours ago, GaryMc93 said:

Andy and Joe Salisbury's doubles match is 2nd match on court 5 tomorrow. Jamie and Neal Skupski are 3rd on court 11. Heather Watson also in action and is first up on the opening day.

Play starts at 11am in Tokyo (3am UK time) and looks like the tennis will be on Eurosport 3 (983 on Sky). No idea what courts that will actually cover though.

Can't find this match live. I've only got Eurosport 1 and 2, and the website is no help. You'd have thought it might be on the BBC somewhere.

[GordonS]

Ooft! Murray/ Salisbury won 6-3 6-2. Herbert & Mahut are the real deal, career grand slam winners. This is one of the biggest results of Andy's entire doubles career.

[GaryMc93]

22 minutes ago, GordonS said:

Can't find this match live. I've only got Eurosport 1 and 2, and the website is no help. You'd have thought it might be on the BBC somewhere.

Face German pair Krawietz and Puetz in R2.

Yeah even the channel I mentioned only appears to show centre court. Finally activated my free 12 months of Discovery+ through Sky so managed to get it on there.

 

[GordonS]

 

[Loki]

Yeah supposedly the BBC can only show a certain amount of sport simultaneously, so haven’t shown tennis yet.  I bought a month of Discovery Plus just for the tennis.  Woke up nice and early for the Murray match.  He’s withdrawn.

A quad strain and has been told he can’t play both singles and doubles, so he withdrew from the singles as the doubles gives him the best opportunity of getting a medal. 
 

 

[jaggyness]

Murray withdraws from the singles

[GordonS]

I wonder if a good run in the doubles might hasten his move to that format. He can't have enjoyed being spanked by young, in-form players that he would previously have beaten 19 times out of 20 and he knows all about Bob Bryan. He's extremely unlikely to compete for major singles titles again, but he could win doubles slams.

I've jinxed him now, haven't I.

[Fuctifano]

I don't know if this helps anyone who hasn't paid for discovery plus but if you've got eurosport as part of sky package, pretty sure it's part of signature package and not sports, then the other eurosport, channels are 983-989, the Tsitsipas match was on there earlier.