it’s been absolutely spectacular. working from home FTW!
My wife and I were glued to the TV watching. The level of tennis was unbelievably high with each player hitting winners that his opponent somehow not only got a racquet on the ball but hit a winner of his own in reply. The third set was outrageous with how good the tennis was.
Congrats to Djokovic on winning over Rafa on Nadal's favorite court. Especially impressive in that he did it after losing the first set.
My god, what a riveting start to the 4th set
Fuck, why do I have cable? I was just perusing the “Sports Zone App” menu by using the C-button. Nothing good was on the “Watch Now” menu, so I was watching golf. And missing tennis. Thanks for posting or I would’ve missed it. I’ve noticed this has happened before, but my wife will never let us cut the cable so I’m screwed
It has been a great, great match.
But the announcers saying it's the best match they have ever seen, come on- getting caught up on the moment a little bit. The first set was very blah.
I don't think, at least for me, anything will ever top the 08 Wimbledon Final. Some of my bias is built in because I think the French is the worst of the 4 by a long shot- but yes, this has been very good so far.
borg - mcenroe, wimbledon final, 1980. i was playing HS tennis at the time and forfeited a summer league match to watch it all the way through. 34-point tiebreak in the fourth set and 8-6 (borg) in the fifth to win it. obviously, totally different playing styles and personalities, and and they really didn’t like each other.
I watched that special on HBO about those two- I was getting into it even with the highlights.
One of my sneaky favorites that doesn't get mentioned that much in the pantheon of greats is the 2005 US Open- Blake v Agassi.
I have just never really gotten into the French that much; they feel like so far behind the times with tennis. Ending the matches at 9 PM (before they finally got a stadium with lights), the slowwwww surface, the chair umpire getting out of his chair to look at a mark (which has been a HUGE issue this tournament), and the overall environment. Top level matches at the US Open are infinitely more electric than the French.
Borg v McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1980 and 1981 is what made me a tennis fan. My 11 year old self kinda teared up when Borg failed to win number 6 in a row.
I'm not sure if I ever had a "moment" where I became a tennis fan. Of all the major sports in this country, in terms of sheer drama, it is WILDLY underappreciated.
I had a very odd attachment to Santoro when I was younger in terms of just pure enjoyment; I knew the dude wasn't very good and would never win a major, but I began pulling for him big time. And he had an AMAZING 5 setter with James Blake in 2007; getting that quality of match in the 2nd round of a major is just hard to beat.
Yes, the sheer drama of tennis is wildly underappreciated in the USA. It sort of ebbs and flows, but on the men's side it has been an afterthought for the better part of 20 years. It can come back, but it will take a great champion with some charisma (not a Sampras type) to again enthuse Americans.
Santoro? I had to look him up. It's good to have someone to root for who is not one of the top players. I was a Yannick Noah fan in the 80's.
Rooting for Djokovic but man what a match so far.
I'm watching the English broadcast (no commercials). They're also talking about it in historical terms. A classic.
If Joker goes on to complete this in the 4th, then no, it's not a classic.
Very, very high level of tennis. But an all-timer? No chance.
Fair enough, if it has to go five to qualify. But beating Nadal, in Paris? And that third set was ... I can't imagine a higher level of tennis than that.
That third set was no doubt an all-timer on its own merits.
I have no problem putting that set as an all-timer.
But I think people (mostly on the broadcast) are getting WAY out of control with this being an all-timer. It's really good. Not quite ready to put it on that elite mantle.
It doesn't have to go five to be a classic.
But, if Novak closes this set out, we are talking about 2 really good sets of tennis. That's not a classic for me. The first set, IMO, was kinda putrid.
And to be honest, it doesn't matter who is in the semis or finals to make it a quality match- you could put two decent players out there who have a classic.
Uncle Leo - Hello!
Agreed. Nadal’s looked flat the last few games. Needs to come back and win this set to cement it as a classic.
Yep. That completely petered out.
Really good set and a half.
Great match. Wish I could gush over it as much as the NBC cats.
yeah, the fourth set was honestly kinda flat…nadal was even up a break to start.
Absolutely an incredible match. Rafa might be in trouble with his foot right now but I wouldn't be surprised to see him will this to a 5th Set.
Djokovic played near flawless tennis. And one of the biggest stories of Nadal's career, his body seems to fail him from time to time. Usually the knee, the wrist has been an issue before and this time it seems to be the ankle.
In other news, anyone else expect to see a women's final of Pavlyuchenko vs. Krejcikova? Anyone even know who they were before the semis?
Pavlyuchenkova has been a top 25-50 player for awhile now and she has had some good wins. I won't say I had her in the finals or even semis, but she's always a threat to make the second week, so far from an obscure player.
It is amazing how women have been so inconsistent specially at Roland Garros.
Except for a few players like Serena, most top seeds drop out early and there hasn't been a really dominant player since the Williams sisters.
Men, have a few cinderella stories from time to time, but almost always only the top seeds are left standing at the latest rounds. This year, 1, 3 5 & 6.
For sure. When you watch a major, you can assume that when you get to the QFs, you'll have 5 to 6 of the top 8 seeds with the men. There is always a guy or two that sneaks through, maybe knocks off a few seeds and gets a great run. In the French, you had Davidovich Fokina assume the mantle this tournament.
With the women, you can basically take a dartboard of names and throw them against the wall to see which 8 will remain in the QFs.
BOOM!
I'm not a fan of either player, but what an epic match. The quality level was high and there were twists and turns a plenty.
Now we'll see if one of the "next gen" players can finally break through, but I'm not holding my breath. The odds for an easy Djokovic win in straight sets in the final is very high. After that semi-final, that might be appropriate.
Novak Djokovic!
The 2nd set and especially the 3rd set was on another level.
There was a moment in the 4th set (when Djoker was down 0-2) when his face became taut and I saw him subtly change mentally because it was reflected on his face. I remember thinking "Oh my, Terminator Djokovic reboot complete."
Djoker went on to win the next 6 games in a row to win the set and the match.
I'm with Uncle Leo, high quality tennis, but all time great? Nah. I'm a 5 set snob. If it's not all on the line for both players, one set for it all, then I don't consider it an all time great.
Roger and Djokovic played a better match than this just 2 years ago in the Wimbledon Final. Even the bad rule change (tie breaker after 12-12) didn't diminish how great that match was. Nadal might be the grittiest s.o.b. to ever play, but his grit today couldn't make this a classic. Indeed, though, it is a privilege to live through the greatest era of men's tennis.
The problem is that during these broadcasts, the announcers create a narrative about it being an all-time great because they are simply caught up in the moment. I think the drama with the fans being allowed to stay also played a big role in it.
While I do not think it is a REQUIREMENT it goes 5, that definitely helps the cause. The problem with this particular match is that 2 of the 4 sets were really not that entertaining; the 3rd was obviously fantastic.
Hell, I was just as riveted, if not more, by the Zverev v Tsitsipas right before it; I personally thought that was just as good as this one.
I haven't watched Zverev/Tsitsipas yet, actually in on the Tennis Channel now. But, I saw Stefanos let him back in it. Had him down 2-0, and it still went 5 sets. Tsitsipas was my upset pick at the start of the tournament. I'm going to stick with him! He'll thrown a monkey-wrench in the 21 in '21 plans. Young and hungry... but, it's unlikely that he breaks through in his first Slam Final, and against Djokovic nonetheless.
The overall match wasn't quite an all-timer, but the third set was. That was spectacular.
The 3rd set reminded me of the ‘85 Hearns - Hagler fight. Toe-to-toe. Great point after great point. I think Nadal pulled a Tommy Hearns laid everything on the line to win that set but didn’t have much left in the tank after that.
If Novak wins on Sunday, then the slam race gets real interesting with it being 20-20-19 for Fed, Nadal and Djokovic. Novak will be favored heading into Wimbledon. If he were to win that then now we go into the US Open at 20-20-20 and Djokovic playing of the calendar grand slam. Wow.
Yeah, the race for 21 at US Open '21 would be epic. I'm team Federer, but there is a likelihood that Novak finishes 4-5 slams ahead of Roger.
Yeah he will. Novak probably has like 4 elite years left. I wouldn't be surprised if Roger called it quits after this year; his body is breaking down.
You know, I think if Roger gets through the rest of the year healthy, he'll play again in 2022. The next season that he finishes on IR may be the year he hangs it up. It'll be a sad day when he does walk away. The beauty of his game, we may never see the likes of it again!
I've expected Djokovic to finally wind up on top on the Slam race, but Nadal has been holding serve in Paris all these years, keeping him at arm's length. And then Nadal got a big break when Djokovic was DQ'd in the USO last year. But this is a big turning point. If Nadal no longer has the edge on clay, that might be it for him in the head-to-head series, and the Slam race.
(I love Fed but have come to accept that he's not going to win another Slam and will get surpassed.)
Don't forget that Wimbledon was cancelled as well.
Jimmy Connors on his 39th bday defeating Aaron Krickstein in the 4th round of the US Open in a 5 setter before a crazed crowd.
Connors went from being a jerk in his younger days to an old man fan favorite ( sort of like rooting for Phil Mickelson now) and had one last magical run. A2 born, Krickstein had a very nice career. His sister Kathy, who won a Big10 title for UM, tragically died of breast cancer just days after her 39th Bday. She was the mom to LPGA's Morgan Pressel.
LOL Connors and Phil, an apt analogy.
Old lefties. One with a T 2000 and with a Scotty Cameron putter.
I like the old guys but Tsitsipas and his VLogs on YouTube are pretty entertaining.
Just for fun because I don't want to start a new thread on this, how would you fellow tennis fans rank the four majors? For me:
1- US Open. This isn't some bias towards me being an American; I just think this is the most electric of all the tournaments and I like the court the best. I like faster courts much better than the clay.
2- Wimbledon. Love the tradition and some of the best all-timers have been played on these courts. The only reason that it doesn't get the top billing for me is that it gets TOO stuffy sometimes.
3- Aussie. I feel this is the poor man's US Open. I WANT to like this tournament more, but I think the fact that the western hemisphere basically misses the entire tournament unless you set your alarm for 4 am sucks.
4- French. Bleh. The slow clay, the umpire getting out of his chair to look at marks when we have the technology, the fact that it took them decades to FINALLY get a court with lights and not have to stop play at 8 PM- I just never cared for it.
The French Open has definitely taken a long time to get up to date (it also took forever to add a retractable roof). France tends to be slow to embrace change in general, and then the Roland Garros complex is in the stuffy 16th arrondissement where the locals have fought against renovations for years.
But I like clay tennis a lot. It's harder to dominate with your serve. The slower surface produces longer points. I also think it's kind of cool that you can see where the ball landed on the clay.
I like the French and Wimbledon the best. I associate tennis with the summer months and like the quick turnaround between them. The US Open is fun also, but I wish it started a couple of weeks earlier. By September I get distracted by other sports and don't watch as much of it until the final rounds.
The Australian is honestly way off my radar, happening in the middle of our winter and with matches at weird times.
I can understand wanting to see longer rallies; I just don't care for the fact that it greatly reduces a lot of players who rely on power. Sometimes the court gets so slow that points go on WAY too long- it just feels like a slog to me.
1)Wimbledon
2) US Open
3) French
4) Australian
Just watched Denmark -Finland Eurocup match live.... hard to think clearly now...