Topic: Tennis League All Thread - page 14. (Read 202242 times)

hard question to be answered... It wouldn't surprise me if some specialist on this surface would be able to win...
Certainly Alcaraz is one of the favorites (last year's winner). I would also tell you Djokovic, but there is doubt about his physical form.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Zverev and Medvedev at the end of the tournament.
Berrettini "the hammer" could have his moment of glory again...and last but not least Sinner but here we don't know how he will react to the "grass" surface and physical condition after many games he had this year...
@aoluain a satoshi for your tought on the same question?

I wonder as well who would be your favorite then. Alcaraz is the same thing, it is not his best surface but by all means could he win the tournament. I have quite often counted on Djokovic in the recent past, but I think his career is slowly coming to an end the same way Federer's and Nadal's came to an end. Doesn't mean he can't win it either, but I noticed that it is not the same frequency anymore with which he is a reliable bet. Sinner has become very consistent and hence I think he is always a favorite from now on. One of the favorites so to say, like Alcaraz. I wouldn't know who else would have much bigger chances and be a standalone favorite. Djokovic not anymore.

Who would be your favourite for Wimbledon then bitbollo?

this is not Sinner favorite surface but he achieved his first trophy here!
Getting a win in this tournament and against an opponent of Hurkacz's caliber (he didn't lose a set throughout the tournament) shows how much he deserves this record in the ATP. I personally doubt that he can win Wimbledon, but he can reach top 4/8 for sure.

A great win today for Sinner at Halle, he beat his good friend Hurkacz in two
tie break sets.

Hurkacz was playing great tennis himself to beat in form Zverev in his semi final
but Sinner seems extremely comfortable on grass. Big expectations for him going
into Wimbledon in just over a week. He has to be favourite?

Over at Queens it was Paul who triumphed against Musetti in 2 sets. Overall
4 players to watch going into Wimbledon

In fairness though Sinner has been playing really well at Halle. I think his confidence
on the grass court is growing. I'm not sure todays match against Struff was going to be
easy but he made it look so in the first set, winning it in just over half an hour, but Struff
came back into it and Jannik found a way to get it to a tie break and win it. He plays Zhang
next while Zverev plays Hurkacz. Its looking like a Zverev v Sinner final.

Over at Queens Alcaraz was beaten by Draper ... in 2 sets! thats the defending champion
out of the running and points lost, Sinner could widen the gap between himself and Alcaraz
in the rankings by winning Halle.

funny match by Sinner today.
The first set was really easy... but in the second and third set he suffered the match against Struff.
Probably today he has shown what means be the number one. Keep calm and follow the target... now there's the semi-final with Zhang. Unpublished match... the Chinese player demonstrated that he is no weak at all...

am i missing something? I dont see the issue, there is always going to be an immediate
switch from Hard to Clay to Grass back to Hard court.

...also at Halle this week in the mens doubles Sinner and Hurkacz are playing together.
They beat the #3 seeds Withrow and Lammons yesterday and play Reboul and Doumbia in
the quarter finals today. There is definitely a ramp up of activity in doubles this year
prior to the Olympics but I dont know who is playing for sure yet.

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We all know Medvedev isnt really that effective on grass, Zhang beat him yesterday in
three sets. Also big names through, Zverev, Berrettini, Tsitsipas and Sinner.

While many players are trying to get a place to play at the Paris Olympics, there are at least two female tennis players who have stated that they will not play at the Paris Olympics. The surface for the Paris Olympics is clay but after it is finished, all tournaments will immediately switch to hardcourt which makes some of these players need to skip the four-year tournament to avoid injury, or like Aryna Sabalenka who wants to focus on preparation on the hard court.
Tunisia's Jabeur to skip upcoming Olympics, concerned with change of surface
Aryna Sabalenka to skip Paris Olympics to focus on hardcourt swing
However, for Iga Swiatek it is clear that the Paris Olympics will be her favorite place, she has a very big chance of winning a gold medal here. Several top players have confirmed that they will play at the Olympics, such as Novak Djokovic and also Carlos Alcaraz, he is even reported to be playing doubles with Rafael Nadal, but I doubt there will be anything good they can produce because players who are used to playing doubles will have a better chance of winning gold.

Yea the first set was great tennis by both players but Sinner only got better as
he quickly got ued to the grass. He made a fantastic shot in the 3rd set, people calling
it the shot of the year. After making that diving winning shot his confidence grew
even more.

Other top seeds as expected won today, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Bublik but the upset of the
day was Rublev losing to Giron...in 2 sets!

He needs to try and manage his mentality, he was so angry and hard on himself
during the match.

Nice match by Sinner today. Odds sky rocket after first set arriving up to @1.90 --> Initially it was @1.15
I think it was a real crazy value since Griekspoor is a nice player but not able to fight for a whole match against the 1st player of ranking.
In second and third set there was no match... let's see how the Italian player will perform next, this is not the best surface for him so "surprises" are behind the corners....

Finals today at Hertogenbosch

Mens final: De Minaur v Korda, 6-2, 6-4
Womens Final: Andreescu v Samsonova, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7

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Next week Alcaraz is playing Queens, Sinner, Zverev and Medvedev are playing Halle,
Looks like Carlos could have it all his own way at Queens but even if he wins that and
Wimbledon he still cant catch Sinner at no.1

Mens Quarter finals are set for today in Rosmalen, s Hertogenbosch.

Korda v Paul - paul to win here, he is seeded 2

Griekspoor v Vukic - defending champion to go through

de Minaur v Raonic - this could very well warrant an under or over bet, Raonic is actually
playing great tennis.

Humbert v Brouwer - havent seen either play, probably fancy the number 3 seed that is Humbert

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On the womens side I am delighted and excited that Osaka is playing Andreescu
later today in her quarter final and is big favourite to win @ 1.24 v 4.00

Can totally understand that decision, its a very busy schedule anyway, they need
a break every so often and manage the injury risks.

I'm following the new grass season at Hertogenbosche in The Netherlands, defending
champion Griekspoor is into the quarter finals after beating McDonald in 2 sets, he
is looking good for the title again.

Other top seeds he may have to meet are Korda, Paul and de Minuar...

Yes, I have quite high expectations that Naomi Osaka can become one of the challengers not only for Iga but also for other top players in the remaining two Grand Slams, especially the US Open, especially as a former champion at the US Open, she knows very well how to handle the pressure in this big tournament, and she is experiencing very good development if he continues like this, no longer hampered by her mental health as soon as possible she can return to the position of a top player and compete even more because of course she will get easier draws at the start of big tournaments.

Alexander Zverev withdrew from Stuttgart due to fatigue, and I think that's normal after the long schedule since Mutua Madrid got to the French Open, especially since he reached two finals in Rome and the French Open which obviously took a lot of energy, and many top players chose to skip the opening two events of the grass season.
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/zverev-stuttgart-2024-withdrawal

On clay Iga is just too strong, its a pity in a way that Sabalenka got injured but I think she
was the biggest challenge to Iga, no disrespect to Paolini or any other of the players.

I think if Osaka continues to improve ang get up to speed she will be am even bigger challenge,
she cam close to beating her in Clay which is not her favourite surface. Obviously the US open
later in the year is probably what she is targeting but it will be interesting to see what happens
on Grass - neither player has won it - looking forward to this actually, hopefully they meet
each other at some stage . . .

Iga Swiatek's biggest challenges on clay were Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina and when both of them lost in the quarterfinals, it strengthened Iga who would become champion again. Carolina Muchova, who was her opponent in last year's final, might be one of the challengers, but unfortunately, a long injury means she cannot participate in many tournaments and there is currently no sign that Muchova will return to playing.
There are many predictions that Iga Swiatek can match Nadal's record at the French Open but I think her career journey is still too long and many unexpected things can happen, but after the French Open and entering the grass seasons Iga has never been a favorite

It is very impressive to see that Carlos Alcaraz was able to win the French Open, meaning he was 100% in the Grand Slam final that he went through, and at his current age he has quite a long career ahead of him, if he can experience fewer injuries he is predicted to be one of the players who can win many titles Grand Slams.
There is a GS title he has to defend after this which is Wimbledon and Sinner is also quite good on grass, so both of them will compete again, then what about Djokovic? not very clear about him even though the grass is one of the surfaces where he performs very well.

As expected, Iga Świątek won the Women's single title of French Open 4th time, 3rd consecutive.
On the Men's single, Carlos Alcaraz had his first ever French Open title after the defending champion Novak Djokovich withdrew due to injury.

Men's tennis would be a highly competitive ground when and if Novak Djokovich retires. Djokovich has been the unchallenged power for a while. And there are no clear stars like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal at the moment.
For Women, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka has some lead and younger players are too coming up for challenge and it would remain a challenging competition.

As predicted it was an "easy" win for Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev can't keep the pace of Carlos.

Next appointment is for next month in Wimbledon and there it should be a different story.

Alcaraz now can challenge for the Number one ATP Sinner.


It will be a fun race until the end of the year between these 2.

Alcaraz simply has an extra gear when needed. He played a really good tournament and deserves the title, he'll be the biggest favorite for the upcoming Olympic games as well.
Would have been interesting if Đoković didn't forfeit, but probably wouldn't end differently.

Swiatek on the other hand made an already boring sport barely watchable.