ATP Tennis/Non-India Davis Cup

[jai_in_canada]

I am starting to think that Berretini and Medvedev are going to make deep runs this Wimby.

[PKBasu]

Federer too beginning to find some form. He was scintillating in the second set against Gasquet, and won in straight sets in the end.

Alcaraz is still a bit raw (albeit with some great volleying ability, apart from fine groundies, but lacking a bit in court-craft/judgement) so I don't know how much we can conclude about Medvedev's form based on that match.

[Sin Hombre]

Welcome back, Sin Hombre. Don't worry, Nadal's place in the pantheon of tennis gods is secure. He is the GOAT in his own way. Unmatched and likely never will be matched when it comes to exploits on the red clay. Tremendous athlete, court artist, professional and a human being with rock solid values. Tennis is blessed to have him.

Regarding Nadal skipping Wimbledon this year, that FO semi against Djokovic seems to have done significant damage physically and mentally. Usually Nadal out intensifies any and all opponents. But Djokovic took it physically and mentally to a whole new level. Nadal tried to keep up but seemed visibly broken in the fourth set. I couldn't believe what he looked like then. Had never seen him like that. He'll heal and hopefully be back for the USO and continue fighting for the big trophies.

PS - The scheduling of the middle Grand Slams sucks this year. The pandemic and the Olympics made it that way I suppose.

Hey jic, good to see the SI crowd healthy and active as always.

I agree with you on the impact that match had on Nadal, and something that won't be easy for him to come back from at age 35.

[PKBasu]

The decision to delay the French Open by a week -- thereby reducing the short grass season even further by a week -- was quite extraordinary, especially after the French Open was bizarrely scheduled in cold September last year. There appears to be an extraordinary effort to accommodate the interests of the French Open to the exclusion of everything else. It was a bit cynical of Wimbledon (All England Club) to cancel last year (and pocket all the insurance money), but this year's scheduling was definitely unfair to Wimbledon (and the whole grass-court season).

[PKBasu]

Denis Kudla put up a good fight against Djokovic in the third set, but his nerves got the better of him. Up 4-1 in the tiebreak, Kudla played a couple of very weak points, dumping one in the net and hitting a simple volley wide of the sidelines. Eventually lost it 7-9.

Shapovalov has taken a 2 set lead against Murray. The roof has now been closed. Let's see if that gives Murray a lease of life.

Shapovalov wins easily in straight sets. Good to see Rohan Bopanna in Denis's player's box.

[PKBasu]

Cilic vs Medvedev could be very interesting tomorrow. Federer should beat Norrie quite easily.

[PKBasu]

Cilic vs Medvedev could be very interesting tomorrow. Federer should beat Norrie quite easily.

Djokovic has had an easy draw, and it is easier still in R4, against the claycourter Garin.

[sameerph]

So, Federer loses tamely against Hurkacz. Did not expect it. Is it the end of road for Roger ?

Novak continues unchallenged and I doubt if Shapavalov will challenge him in the SF.

In the meantime, Augur-Aliassime is trying to become Second Canadian to reach SF against Berretini.

[sameerph]

Berretini gets better of Augur-aliassime.

So it will be Novak vs Shapavalov and Berretini vs Hurkacz.

We will have a first time grand slam finalist but do not see anyone other than Novak winning the title.

[prasen9]

Djokovic suffered due to the era of the big 3 because he was the youngest, meaning that he had to slog it out with the best for each slam. Now, that youth is paying off because he is the only one left standing with Federer and Nadal pretty much gone and no true next-gen in sight except maybe in hard courts. Time for him to grab a whole bunch more now and become the undisputed GOAT.

[Ullhas]

I tend to defer on the point "Djokovic suffered due to the era of the big 3 because he was the youngest". He's less than a year younger than Nadal, so don't think it makes considerable difference at least between him and Nadal. It was just that Nadal peaked very early and became instant sensation while Djokovic took time to peak (may be he would have found success earlier if they wound have detected the gluten element earlier). But once he did he simply owned everything. If he would have peaked earlier, stats would have been completely different today.

[prasen9]

True that he is only one year younger. But, also because he peaked later, maybe he has more left in his tank. And, he can capitalize now that the others have faded.

[PKBasu]

Sasha Zverev ends Djokovic's Olympics run, and with it his dream of a Golden calendar-year Grand Slam. (The correct way to refer to one of the majors is "Slam"; "Grand Slam" implies winning all four; sadly the common usage has devalued the meaning of the term "Grand Slam"). He can still do a Grand Slam by winning the US Open, of course. Sasha won today 16 63 61. Clinical at the end, like he rarely is at a Slam.

[prasen9]

Thanks PKB. I knew this but have lapsed with the common usage and use GS tournament, etc. We should fix it.

[prasen9]

So, now, it is Djokovic vs Medvedev, Tsitsipas,