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Andy Murray Latest and General Tennis Chat


Bryan

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A great effort by Murray last night. I think Murray vs Nadal will be a good rivalry for years to come. He played well in the 1st set especially on his serve and stuck to his game plan of serve and volley and cutting down Nadals passing opportunities. Murray had it all in his hands while 4-1 up in the 2nd set and completely blew it. He was holding the right hand side of his stomach alot when Nadal started fighting back and if he did feel like something was niggling him then why did he not call for the trainer? In the 3rd set when he started playing better again he seem to not worry about his supposed injury :unsure: . In the 4th he went away from the tactics that he was using in the first 1 and a half sets and never really came to the net as much.

In the 5th Nadal pulled through in fitness and physical strength and experience and cruised through. Murray was basically beating himself out there at times aswell. Whats with him yelling at his corner all the time? He should probably stop that as it wont get him anywhere because Brad Gilbert his coach is only trying to help him and knows what he is talking about being ex-coach of Agassi and Roddick.

Nadal nows faces the mammoth forehand of Fernando Gonzalez of Chile next and it should be a real tough match for both.

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Guest The Phoenix

Great to see the medication is working Bluenose - I don't agree with all your points but at least there is a streak of sanity running through your post. ;)

Keep up the good work :D

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Guest Tomsk The Beano
Tomsk - Yer talking pish. :lol:

Name a player outside the Top Ten who doesn't struggle against a Top Ten Player? :unsure:

Nae idea, don't watch or follow tennis. Only interested when I can make a wee wedge at Ladbrokes, like yesterday.

The only current tennis players I can name are Federer, Nadal, Sharapova and the Williams sisters.

Edited by Tomsk The Beano
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Maybe you're correct, but I don't think Nadal will be world number 2 at this point next year. He had a start to the season last year, he won everything on clay but once the season turned away from clay he struggled.

He is young and will only get better on grass and hard courts, but is a player who has a decent ( but no better ) record on the non-clay surfaces really be consisdered world number 2?

Well, he reached the final of Wimbledon did he not?

Nadal will really push Federer this year.

I've never seen a tennis player so erm, muscly!

As for for Murray, I think next year will be his big breakthrough.

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Guest thefamousphilosifer
Well, he reached the final of Wimbledon did he not?

Nadal will really push Federer this year.

I've never seen a tennis player so erm, muscly!

As for for Murray, I think next year will be his big breakthrough.

That was the last final he played in supposedly.

Maybe I'm doing Nadal a disservice by comparing him too much to Federer who is just on another level compared with everyone else on the tour. To be that consistenly good is unbeleivable.

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Maybe I'm doing Nadal a disservice by comparing him too much to Federer who is just on another level compared with everyone else on the tour. To be that consistenly good is unbeleivable.

The thing is, when Federer was the age Nadal is now, he had won ONE career title.

Nadal has won 17, including two Grand Slams and six Masters titles.

Nadal also has a 6-3 head to head record with Federer.

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The thing is, when Federer was the age Nadal is now, he had won ONE career title.

Nadal has won 17, including two Grand Slams and six Masters titles.

Nadal also has a 6-3 head to head record with Federer.

And has managed all that while Federer has been at his peak......

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And has managed all that while Federer has been at his peak......

Yet Nadal is still a mile behind Federer in the rankings.

He has produced flashes of being able to compete at that level, and is clearly the Clay Court Number 1, but Federer does it week in week out.

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Yet Nadal is still a mile behind Federer in the rankings.

He has produced flashes of being able to compete at that level, and is clearly the Clay Court Number 1, but Federer does it week in week out.

I think the obvious point is he is miles ahead of what Federer was like at the age of 20.

Whether he'll take that to the next level, no-one knows, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a World top 5 of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Blake, and Roddick in two years time.

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Whether he'll take that to the next level, no-one knows, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a World top 5 of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Blake, and Roddick in two years time.

I wouldn't be surprised - I'd be amazed.

It is irrelevant what Federer was like at Nadal's age. Roddick also had a faster start to his career than Federer did - so did Hewitt.

Neither Hewitt or Roddick could kick on from there. Players peak at different times.

Federer will be looked on as a freak in 10 years time - the best player of the last 30 years and probably of all time.

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Thats what they said about Sampras 10 years ago. ;)

He never enjoyed the complete domination Federer has, and never had the all court game Federer has.

He also never looked remotely like winning the French Open - Federer is getting closer every year and will IMO complete the Grand Slam if not this year, next year.

There may be a better player than Federer emerging in the next few years, but I think it is unlikely. I certainly don't think it will be Nadal - he doesn't have the game to dominate on all surfaces.

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Sampras won plenty of ATP titles on clay. Just never the 'big one'.

Same as Lendl, who was one of the greatest players of the early 80's, but is never thought of as being as good as McEnroe and Becker for example just because he never won Wimbledon.

I'll stick my neck out here and say that Roger Federer will NEVER win the French Open.

This will probably come back to haunt me, but hey, thats predictions.

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Guest thefamousphilosifer
Sampras won plenty of ATP titles on clay. Just never the 'big one'.

But thats the measure of how good a player is on those surfaces. All the best clay courters will play in the French where as our ATP events may have weakened fields, whether the events Sampras won contained weakened fields I don't know, but he never got past the QF at the French so I don't think he can be considered as dominant as Federer.

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Sampras won plenty of ATP titles on clay. Just never the 'big one'.

:huh:

No he didn't - he only won 3 in his entire career! One Masters Series, one in Austria and some dodgy american clay court tournament where he beat Jason Stoltenberg in the final!

Federer has already won 5, including a hat trick of Hamburg Masters series.

Edited by Hieronymous_Bosch
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Fair enough, I thought he'd won more.

The point I was making though was no-one thought they'd ever see someone like Sampras again after he won his 7th Wimbledon, and beat Laver's grand slam record.

Federer is clearly better, but that's not to say someone like Nadal won't dominate more. After all, he's got almost the perfect clay court game, he's world class on hard court, and reached the final of Wimbledon on his least favourite surface. All before his 21st birthday.

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After all, he's got almost the perfect clay court game, he's world class on hard court, and reached the final of Wimbledon on his least favourite surface. All before his 21st birthday.

To dominate though, it's not good enough just to be World Class - you have to be significantly better than all your opponents.

Nadal is on clay - he isn't on any other surface. Federer is significantly better than the opposition on grass, indoor and on hard court.

I think his age is irrelevant. As I said, some players win Slams at 20 or 21 and never again. Lleyton Hewitt for example peaked at that age - he will never win another Grand Slam.

Nadal will win the French a few more times and pick up the odd US and Aussie when Federer moves over the hill. A great career, but not a generationally defining one like Federer. IMO of course.

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Everyone is going on about how Nadal is only 20 and has won 17 titles and comparing him to when Federer was that age, the thing is will he continue this form consistently every year for the rest of his career? Federer has been there done it (except for the French Open, which i do think he will win) whereas Nadal has'nt and who is to know if he ever will, Nadal may be at his peak right now and burn out in later years. People say how in 5 years time they reckon it will be Federer, Murray, Nadal, Roddick and Blake ranked top 5 but they tend to forget that there is some really good youngsters like the Serbian lad Novak Djokovic, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet that will be up there.

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People say how in 5 years time they reckon it will be Federer, Murray, Nadal, Roddick and Blake ranked top 5 but they tend to forget that there is some really good youngsters like the Serbian lad Novak Djokovic, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet that will be up there.

Actually I didn't forget at all. Of the players you mention, I can see only Djokovic challenging for a top 5 place by that time, and even then I doubt it.

Gasquet has been playing for years (despite being only 20) and is too inconsistent, and I don't think Monfils has the correct temperament for the big occasion.

It's not to say they wont be good tour players, because they will, but I don't see either of them being top 3 material.

Of course, there may well be a relative unkown just now who in 5 years will be top dog. After all, three years ago neither Murray nor Nadal were anywhere close to where they are now, so it's very possible a young challenger will break through.

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