Tennis

[MU82]

Incredible turn for Alvarez. Not many have dominated a major from start to finish the way he dominated this one. Such a blast to watch, too.

How about Spanish tennis fans getting Rafa for nearly 20 years, followed by Carlos? Amazing.

[MuggsyB]

I never thought I'd say this but I think Alcaraz has the best court coverage I've ever seen, even better than Rafa.  He also has a much bigger serve and more of a complete game.  That said, Rafa was a ball machine on the dirt and Carlos can have stretches where he sprays unforced errors.  What's scary right now is the gap between Alcaraz & Sinner, vs the rest of the field, is massive.  Larger imo than the Big 3 vs everyone else.  Remember Murray snagged a few, and Stan and Delpo had their moments. Maybe a youngster comes along (like a Fonseca) or Shelton develops, but there is nothing I have seen to indicate these two guys won't play consistently in gs finals for the next decade. 

[Uncle Rico]

Incredible turn for Alvarez. Not many have dominated a major from start to finish the way he dominated this one. Such a blast to watch, too.

How about Spanish tennis fans getting Rafa for nearly 20 years, followed by Carlos? Amazing.

I hate Spain for giving us Florida

[MuggsyB]

With today's cool 5 million, Alcaraz has amassed 50 million in career earnings.

[MU82]

Amazing graphic from Yahoo Sports:



BTW, at 22 years, 4 months, 2 days, Alcaraz was the fastest to 6 major titles.

[MuggsyB]

I am trying to go to the Laver Cup next week, but all the lower bowl tix are insane. 

[MU82]

How much better are Alcaraz and Sinner than every other tennis player in the world? This from Yahoo Sports:

The point gap between world No. 2 Jannik Sinner (10,950 points) and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev (5,980) is bigger than the gap between Zverev and world No. 50 Marcos Giron (1,040).

[MU82]

Time for a new year of majors, starting with the Australian Open. On the men's side, does anybody think it won't be Alcarez vs. Sinner yet again?

Just read this amazing stat on The Athletic:

Across 16 head-to-head matches, Alcaraz and Sinner have each won exactly 1,651 points against each other. Truly absurd.

[MuggsyB]

Time for a new year of majors, starting with the Australian Open. On the men's side, does anybody think it won't be Alcarez vs. Sinner yet again?

Just read this amazing stat on The Athletic:

Across 16 head-to-head matches, Alcaraz and Sinner have each won exactly 1,651 points against each other. Truly absurd.

Alcaraz dumping Fererro is interesting.  My guess is Jannik wins in Melbourne. 

[Shaka Shart]

I hope Zverev blows out his Achilles

[BM1090]

I don't know if Learner Tien can win a major at his size, but there's very few people that I watch that impress me more.

[JWags85]

I don't know if Learner Tien can win a major at his size, but there's very few people that I watch that impress me more.

He's not all that short, no more than an inch shorter than Alcaraz, but the stats on players under 6' winning majors, even at 5'11 like Tien, is crazy over the last 25 years.  Though Ive seen numerous people say Nadal is barely 6'.  But how fast things changed...Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Agassi were all under 6'

[Shaka Shart]

Tien is fun but his let ups are a bit frustrating. Hope he gets a little more comfortable on the attack

[MuggsyB]

He's not all that short, no more than an inch shorter than Alcaraz, but the stats on players under 6' winning majors, even at 5'11 like Tien, is crazy over the last 25 years.  Though Ive seen numerous people say Nadal is barely 6'.  But how fast things changed...Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Agassi were all under 6'

Laver was 5'7.  Now he's probably closer to 5'5. 

[BM1090]

Tien is fun but his let ups are a bit frustrating. Hope he gets a little more comfortable on the attack

For sure. I guess I attribute that to age but it's something to watch

[MuggsyB]

Gauff dumps the 1st set.  Her serve and forehand can still go haywire. 

[Shaka Shart]

Once again Zverev has failed to rupture his Achilles for me. Sad

[MuggsyB]

Jovic is playing great tennis.  She coukd give Sabalenka some problems.  Either way she has a super bright future. 

[MuggsyB]

Tien is fun but his let ups are a bit frustrating. Hope he gets a little more comfortable on the attack

He has to get a bit more pop on his serve.  But the kid has potential. 

[MuggsyB]

Sinner is just rolling this poor sap.  It looks like his cramping is no longer an issue.

[MuggsyB]

Fritz got smoked.  Disappointing. 

[MU82]

Fritz got smoked.  Disappointing. 

The better player won. I'm not the least bit disappointed.

[BM1090]

The better player won. I'm not the least bit disappointed.

Yeah. Fritz is out of form and a bit injured. And Musetti rolled him.

Plus Musetti is fun as hell to watch and a really good player. His match vs Djoker should be great TV.

I think Tien's run ends tonight but he's established himself as a legitimate top 20 player. Better on hard courts. And that should be some really good tennis tonight too.

Shelton is playing the best tennis of his life and becoming a real threat but Sinner is the one guy I just can't see him beating.

 

[MU82]

Yeah. Fritz is out of form and a bit injured. And Musetti rolled him.

Plus Musetti is fun as hell to watch and a really good player. His match vs Djoker should be great TV.

I think Tien's run ends tonight but he's established himself as a legitimate top 20 player. Better on hard courts. And that should be some really good tennis tonight too.

Shelton is playing the best tennis of his life and becoming a real threat but Sinner is the one guy I just can't see him beating.

 

Why do you think it would be easier for Shelton to beat Alcaraz than Sinner?

[JWags85]

The better player won. I'm not the least bit disappointed.

Do you not care for Fritz?  Otherwise, despite Muggsy's classic bluster, I think disappointing is fair give his past few years of near misses.  Best American player since Sampras/Agassi (I think he's a better overall player than Roddick and in a far more demanding/talented era than that mini period in the early 2000s before the Big 3 truly got rolling) but can't quite break through in the majors.  FWIW, I think Shelton will take over the best American of the 2000s title shortly, but Fritz has been at it longer.

As far as Musetti, I don't disagree that he's the better player.  He's had a nice little 18 month break out.  Was a pretty consistent top 25 fringe guy who has busted into the top 8, borderline top 5, over the last 6 months.  Kind of wild that Italy went 50 years without a major champion, just the singular Wimbledon final appearance from Berrettini who was never a consistent top 10 player.  Then Sinner broke through and now Italy will have two of the ATP top 5 if Musetti gets past Djokovic