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French Open Tennis 2016


lichtie23

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It's only debatable if you're a born contrarian. He clearly is.

What a ridiculous statement.

It's really hard to compare different sports over different generations.

Murray has four chances to win a slam every year and has never been No1 in world.

Stephen Hendry for arguments sake destroyed everyone in his sport for best part of a decade.

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Tennis is a second tier sport, Snooker is a third tier sport. I wouldn't say either could claim to have a Greatest Ever Sportsman as both are relatively closed shops in terms of participation. 

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One of the worst performances I've seen from Murray. Far too passive. Even the set he won all he was doing was putting the ball back in play and Djokovic was gifting him errors. Once he cut down on those it showed how badly Murray was performing. Once Djokovic put the ball in play Andy's luck ran out. Djokovic will never win an easier slam final.

Has there been a player that's reached as many semis/finals as Murray yet won so few slams? He seems to have a mental block that he shows no signs of overcoming.

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One of the worst performances I've seen from Murray. Far too passive. Even the set he won all he was doing was putting the ball back in play and Djokovic was gifting him errors. Once he cut down on those it showed how badly Murray was performing. Once Djokovic put the ball in play Andy's luck ran out. Djokovic will never win an easier slam final.

Has there been a player that's reached as many semis/finals as Murray yet won so few slams? He seems to have a mental block that he shows no signs of overcoming.

Have to disagree re first set... thot he was quite aggressive and his serves excellent... agree with 2 3 and most of 4 tho

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Have to disagree re first set... thot he was quite aggressive and his serves excellent... agree with 2 3 and most of 4 tho

He was getting first serves in in the first set. Not in the others. Was about 75-80% IIRC from set 1. Thats pretty much expected at this level and will have contributed to the errors from the other side. Wouldn't say his serving was excellent though. Adequate at best. Neither player hit the heights today but Murray was the more shit.
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One of the worst performances I've seen from Murray. Far too passive. Even the set he won all he was doing was putting the ball back in play and Djokovic was gifting him errors. Once he cut down on those it showed how badly Murray was performing. Once Djokovic put the ball in play Andy's luck ran out. Djokovic will never win an easier slam final.

Has there been a player that's reached as many semis/finals as Murray yet won so few slams? He seems to have a mental block that he shows no signs of overcoming.

What a ridiculous statement.

He was outstanding in the first set but the match swung and he couldn't live with one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

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Djokovic never gets the praise of Federer or Nadal as they always hit more winners.  The genius in Djokovic is the precision.  Even when Murray was serving well he was returning on the base line pushing Murray back.  It is very difficult to continue to be aggressive as he was in the first set as he was constantly pushed back with Djokovic's accuracy.

 

At points Murray let himself down with netting forehands and backhands in the third and fourth sets, but the balls Novak was feeding him made it exceedingly more difficult to continue to play excellent shots.  A poorly placed shot leaves Djokovic with an easy winner opportunity.

 

For me after his win today that elevates him above Nadal and Federer (despite the 14 and 17 slams respectively) the tennis he has been playing for close to two years is almost perfect.  Only five behind Federer, and he was never able to hold all four at once.

 

As for Murray he will go into the grass season on the back of his best French Open display, and looks certain to secure second seeding at Wimbledon.  He will be in a better position to have another crack at Novak in July.

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Has there been a player that's reached as many semis/finals as Murray yet won so few slams? He seems to have a mental block that he shows no signs of overcoming.

 

Murray is 2-8 from his first 10 Slams, and has lost the first appearance in each one. It's not great reading, but Ivan Lendl started 3-7 in his first 10 and also can claim this first-time loser stat. Lendl then went 5-4 in his next 9 Slams. Hopefully Murray can achieve something similar, although I doubt it unless Djokovic picks up an injury or gets caught PED'd up to his eyeballs.

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Murray is 2-8 from his first 10 Slams, and has lost the first appearance in each one. It's not great reading, but Ivan Lendl started 3-7 in his first 10 and also can claim this first-time loser stat. Lendl then went 5-4 in his next 9 Slams. Hopefully Murray can achieve something similar, although I doubt it unless Djokovic picks up an injury or gets caught PED'd up to his eyeballs.

 

Lendl had slightly easier opponents in his Slam finals too.  Micir, Pernlors and Cash.  He played Mats Wilander  in five finals.  If Murray got to play a player ranked lower than him in nine finals I am sure his conversion rate would be better than Lendl. Lendl also famously lost to a teenage Becker at Wimbledon.  I think him and Djokovic will have the longevity that Agassi had, and will be contesting slams for the next three to four years barring injury.

 

Sadly for Murray he has had to play the two best players of the last thirty years in all of his slam finals when they were at the peak of their powers.  But to his eternal credit he gets up and goes again.  I still think playing on grass takes the % that Djokovic is ahead and swings in Murray's favour because of the low bounce.

 

Murray has made improvements on serve in the last year.  It didn't matter yesterday as his serve disappeared, when that normally happens he is protecting his back.  Some more work on the forehand and serve during the grass season and he will have a great chance to win the championship again.

 

Looking beyond Wimbledon The US Open could be a bit of a lottery this year.  You have the North American hard court swing and sandwiched in the middle is the Olympic games.  Players going deep in one tournament could see them getting knocked out early in the next.  I think it goes Canadian Master, Olympic games, Cinci Masters and US Open.

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Lendl had slightly easier opponents in his Slam finals too. Micir, Pernlors and Cash. He played Mats Wilander in five finals. If Murray got to play a player ranked lower than him in nine finals I am sure his conversion rate would be better than Lendl. Lendl also famously lost to a teenage Becker at Wimbledon. I think him and Djokovic will have the longevity that Agassi had, and will be contesting slams for the next three to four years barring injury.

Sadly for Murray he has had to play the two best players of the last thirty years in all of his slam finals when they were at the peak of their powers. But to his eternal credit he gets up and goes again. I still think playing on grass takes the % that Djokovic is ahead and swings in Murray's favour because of the low bounce.

Murray has made improvements on serve in the last year. It didn't matter yesterday as his serve disappeared, when that normally happens he is protecting his back. Some more work on the forehand and serve during the grass season and he will have a great chance to win the championship again.

Looking beyond Wimbledon The US Open could be a bit of a lottery this year. You have the North American hard court swing and sandwiched in the middle is the Olympic games. Players going deep in one tournament could see them getting knocked out early in the next. I think it goes Canadian Master, Olympic games, Cinci Masters and US Open.

Don't forget Nadal who was practically unbeatable for a few years. Murray has had to beat at least two of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic to stand a chance. Ridiculous level of competition.

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