Tennis Thread

[byennie]

Yes insane. De Minaur went out today also, leaving Zverev and Auger-Aliassime as the only single digit seeds left on men's side and they haven't played their 3rd round matches yet.  The women are having a much more normal bracket. Perhaps it is the extra sets causing this.

Clay courts have always warped the field more than anything, and you could argue all top 3 (meaning Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic) have either gone down to injuries or the heat. Makes for an interesting tournament for sure.

Anyone remember Thomas Muster? I had to look up some stats, but this checks out.

Clay Court: 426 wins, 40 titles
Hard Court: 126 wins, 3 titles
Grass/Carpet: 55 wins, 1 title
Wimbledon: 0 career wins

[Goldstar88]

Yes insane. De Minaur went out today also, leaving Zverev and Auger-Aliassime as the only single digit seeds left on men's side and they haven't played their 3rd round matches yet.  The women are having a much more normal bracket. Perhaps it is the extra sets causing this.

Clay courts have always warped the field more than anything, and you could argue all top 3 (meaning Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic) have either gone down to injuries or the heat. Makes for an interesting tournament for sure.

Anyone remember Thomas Muster? I had to look up some stats, but this checks out.

Clay Court: 426 wins, 40 titles
Hard Court: 126 wins, 3 titles
Grass/Carpet: 55 wins, 1 title
Wimbledon: 0 career wins

Never heard of him. 

Still a few Americans alive! Tiafoe and Svadja

[Moranis]

There have always been clay court specialists, that is not new, but this year isn't that.  It is just weird. 

Gustavo Kuerten is the guy that comes to mind of fairly recent success.  Won the French Open 3 times, never made it past the quarters of any other grand slam. 

[byennie]

There have always been clay court specialists, that is not new, but this year isn't that.  It is just weird. 

Gustavo Kuerten is the guy that comes to mind of fairly recent success.  Won the French Open 3 times, never made it past the quarters of any other grand slam.

As I said multiple factors were involved (Alcaraz, heat), but this still probably doesn?t happen on hard court or grass. Sinner and Djokovic both lost 5 set matches to guys who would be top-10 if all matches were on clay, and out of the top-100 is none were.

[Goldstar88]

This Ruud/Fonseca match on TNT is incredible.

[Goldstar88]

Serena Williams, after nearly four years since her last match, is officially making her comeback to professional tennis.

Williams, 44, announced Monday that she has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles in next week's HSBC Championships, a 500-level event held at Queen's Club in London.

[Ilikesports17]

There have always been clay court specialists, that is not new, but this year isn't that.  It is just weird. 

Gustavo Kuerten is the guy that comes to mind of fairly recent success.  Won the French Open 3 times, never made it past the quarters of any other grand slam.

As I said multiple factors were involved (Alcaraz, heat), but this still probably doesn?t happen on hard court or grass. Sinner and Djokovic both lost 5 set matches to guys who would be top-10 if all matches were on clay, and out of the top-100 is none were.

Fonseca has a higher ELO rating on hard than Clay.

The guy on the other side of the net had basically nothing to do with Sinner losing, not to mention the Cerundolo he lost to might be best on clay but hes still probably not a top 40 clay court player.

[byennie]

There have always been clay court specialists, that is not new, but this year isn't that.  It is just weird. 

Gustavo Kuerten is the guy that comes to mind of fairly recent success.  Won the French Open 3 times, never made it past the quarters of any other grand slam.

As I said multiple factors were involved (Alcaraz, heat), but this still probably doesn?t happen on hard court or grass. Sinner and Djokovic both lost 5 set matches to guys who would be top-10 if all matches were on clay, and out of the top-100 is none were.

Fonseca has a higher ELO rating on hard than Clay.

The guy on the other side of the net had basically nothing to do with Sinner losing, not to mention the Cerundolo he lost to might be best on clay but hes still probably not a top 40 clay court player.

That's an interesting stat, but he considers himself a clay court specialist, literally being quoted as "I was born on clay". His biggest career wins are all on clay, and he was seeded at the French Open. He just now beat Ruud, who has the most clay court wins of any player since 2020. His hard court success is impressive but it doesn't make him not a clay court specialist.

Cerendolo, I can mostly agree. Sinner had him easily until he folded to the heat. He is definitely a clay court specialist which is why he was there in the first place, but didn't stand a chance prior to 5-1 in the 3rd.

[Moranis]

Fonseca is Brasilian, he basically has to call himself a clay court specialist, but he has had solid success on hard courts. At Indian Wells he beat both Khachanov and Paul before losing to Sinner 7-6, 7-6.  He is a rising star and is still just 19.   That was a tough draw for Novak, but he still should have won after going up 2 sets. 

[Goldstar88]

Fonseca is Brasilian, he basically has to call himself a clay court specialist, but he has had solid success on hard courts. At Indian Wells he beat both Khachanov and Paul before losing to Sinner 7-6, 7-6.  He is a rising star and is still just 19.   That was a tough draw for Novak, but he still should have won after going up 2 sets.

I don?t think he beats Fonseca in a best of 5 even if the temperatures were comfortable. Fonseca is literally 20 years younger and he has more firepower on every shot.

[Moranis]

Fonseca is Brasilian, he basically has to call himself a clay court specialist, but he has had solid success on hard courts. At Indian Wells he beat both Khachanov and Paul before losing to Sinner 7-6, 7-6.  He is a rising star and is still just 19.   That was a tough draw for Novak, but he still should have won after going up 2 sets.

I don?t think he beats Fonseca in a best of 5 even if the temperatures were comfortable. Fonseca is literally 20 years younger and he has more firepower on every shot.

and yet he was losing 2 sets to 0.  Guys like Novak and Sinner should never lose a match up 2 sets to 0.  They are too good to lose 3 straight sets.  Novak is old, but he should have won that, especially since it wasnt like they were tiebreakers.

[Goldstar88]

Fonseca is Brasilian, he basically has to call himself a clay court specialist, but he has had solid success on hard courts. At Indian Wells he beat both Khachanov and Paul before losing to Sinner 7-6, 7-6.  He is a rising star and is still just 19.   That was a tough draw for Novak, but he still should have won after going up 2 sets.

I don?t think he beats Fonseca in a best of 5 even if the temperatures were comfortable. Fonseca is literally 20 years younger and he has more firepower on every shot.

and yet he was losing 2 sets to 0.  Guys like Novak and Sinner should never lose a match up 2 sets to 0.  They are too good to lose 3 straight sets.  Novak is old, but he should have won that, especially since it wasnt like they were tiebreakers.

Sure, but his body could not hold up. Novak can?t play these long best of 5 matches anymore. He is 39 years old. Djokovic is not winning another major.

[byennie]

Fonseca is Brasilian, he basically has to call himself a clay court specialist, but he has had solid success on hard courts. At Indian Wells he beat both Khachanov and Paul before losing to Sinner 7-6, 7-6.  He is a rising star and is still just 19.   That was a tough draw for Novak, but he still should have won after going up 2 sets.

I don?t think he beats Fonseca in a best of 5 even if the temperatures were comfortable. Fonseca is literally 20 years younger and he has more firepower on every shot.

and yet he was losing 2 sets to 0.  Guys like Novak and Sinner should never lose a match up 2 sets to 0.  They are too good to lose 3 straight sets.  Novak is old, but he should have won that, especially since it wasnt like they were tiebreakers.

'

I mean sure, it did seem like the heat was a factor, but it wasn't a stunning turnaround like Sinner's match. Novak is 39 years old, he's playing a seeded opponent, he's great everywhere but clay is his weakest (3 titles in 22 French Opens). Losing to Fonseca is just not that  much of a stretch at this point -- 19 out of 22 year someone beats him here, and he's definitely past his prime despite still being very very good.

[Moranis]

Fonseca out in straight sets today.