• The KillerFrogs

TCU Men's Tennis 2021-2022

Longfrog

Longfrog

Active Member
You guys could probably say better than me on this since I don't get to watch much of the pros. But I wonder if the backhand is even more of a liability on clay. He keeps it so short and flat that it never breaks down. But on clay where you have more time, it rewards guys that take bigger cuts. I guess I'm thinking about someone like Tsitsipas.
 
Jared7

Jared7

Active Member
Norrie back on serve at 4-all. Yeah, Norrie's flat backhand is what I was referring to when I said that his game is not well suited for clay. His forehand, with it's elaborate overspin, topspin and sidespin is, but not his backhand. If you don't put spin on the ball on clay and you also don't put pace on it, it just sits there and allows the opponent to adjust for a split second more. So Cam's usual advantage of switching styles between backhand and forehand doesn't make the opponent as uncomfortable as "normal." I play a flat game and I'm terrible on clay and know this all too well.

Up a break and serving for the match!

Cam advances 5-7, 6-4, 6-4!
 
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FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Longfrog said:
You guys could probably say better than me on this since I don't get to watch much of the pros. But I wonder if the backhand is even more of a liability on clay. He keeps it so short and flat that it never breaks down. But on clay where you have more time, it rewards guys that take bigger cuts. I guess I'm thinking about someone like Tsitsipas.
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Yeah I think you're dead on regarding the backhand being a bigger weakness/even less of a strength on clay. Also his inside out forehand has been way off and that's a critical shot (see Nadal, R)

But he wins!!
 
Jared7

Jared7

Active Member
Just a reminder that TCU is not only hosting the Big 12 men's tournament this weekend but also the women's tourney as well. The 8th seeded TCU women will open up on Thursday morning against 9th seeded KState. The difference with the regular season is that tickets will cost $5 (cash only). But there will be free pizza.
 
FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Seems like Wimbledon is going to ban Russian and maybe Belarusian players this year. Complete nonsense IMO. Would remove the mens #2 and #8 and whatever Karatsev is in top 20. On womens side would remove #15 but also #4 and #18 if Belarus banned.

www.espn.com

Wimbledon bans players from Russia, Belarus

Tennis players from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the All England Club said in a statement.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Longfrog

Longfrog

Active Member
FrogUltimate said:
Seems like Wimbledon is going to ban Russian and maybe Belarusian players this year. Complete nonsense IMO. Would remove the mens #2 and #8 and whatever Karatsev is in top 20. On womens side would remove #15 but also #4 and #18 if Belarus banned.
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Agree. It makes so little sense that I have to think it's sponsor driven. Someone doesn't want Medvedev holding the trophy in front of a Mercedes logo or whatever.
 
FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Longfrog said:
Agree. It makes so little sense that I have to think it's sponsor driven. Someone doesn't want Medvedev holding the trophy in front of a Mercedes logo or whatever.
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That's my take as well. Medvedeve and Rublev are both easily top 10 contenders for the title... between the two of them probably a 25% one of them wins it. Especially given Djokovic vaccine stuff, Nadal injury, Berrettini injury.

On women's side Sabalenka is probably a top 2-3 contender


Selfishly on the Norrie side, he could see himself as like a #5 seed. Potentially Medvedev, Rublev, Djokovic, Nadal, Berrettinni all out. I'm guessing at least one of those injury/vaccine situations will resolve, but Norrie still likely jumps into top 8 seeds.
 
FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Longfrog said:

There you go. Even if you know it's coming, it's still infuriating to read the thing.
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I don't want to go down the rabbit hole as this is a great thread, but I just can't see this as anything other than total BS. Go ahead and mark a giant asterisk next to Wimbledon. Not to mention all the points those players will lose without ability to replace them is nonsense.

Medvedev and Rublev will lose round of 16 points. Sabalenka will lose a semifinal!

This article is probably most likely reason:
Fears over the prospect of Daniil Medvedev winning Wimbledon and parading one of sport’s most prestigious trophies on Centre Court alongside members of the Royal family has been a prominent consideration in the decision to ban Russian players from this year’s Championships.
 
Jared7

Jared7

Active Member
Yeah, I think a distinction should be made between individual Russian players (Rublev said he was against the war) and what the Russian government and military are doing in Ukraine, which is horrible. In apartheid days, South African teams were banned from international competition, but not individuals like Gary Player. To not make such a distinction muddies the issue. And it removes the possibility of (e.g.) Medvedev winning the title and then making a statement against the war, which would be very embarrassing for the Russian government.

On the USTA poll, I think they're getting it wrong. Hopefully, that view will not affect the seedings and positioning for the NCAA's. If it does, what is the point of the ITA ranking system? Why do we even bother with a regular season if the teams everyone picked in the beginning are just going to stay on top regardless of the results and just because they look better on paper?
 
FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Jared7 said:
Yeah, I think a distinction should be made between individual Russian players (Rublev said he was against the war) and what the Russian government and military are doing in Ukraine, which is horrible. In apartheid days, South African teams were banned from international competition, but not individuals like Gary Player. To not make such a distinction muddies the issue. And it removes the possibility of (e.g.) Medvedev winning the title and then making a statement against the war, which would be very embarrassing for the Russian government.
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Spot on.
 
FrogUltimate

FrogUltimate

Active Member
Longfrog

Longfrog

Active Member
I just have to believe they're able to see that hosting a Russian player in your tennis tournament =/= approval of a Russian military action. Fans are not happy with this decision from what I can tell. Which means it's just an insane level of institutional cowardice. Some stakeholder -- maybe it's the royals or maybe a sponsor -- is agitating behind the scenes and you're not only going along with them, but you won't even make them admit it publicly. Instead Wimbledon takes all the bad publicity for this.

What does this do for Wimbledon? How does it help? I feel like such a cranky old man right now, but you only get so many chances in life to tell a royal or some corporate snob to piss off.
 
Pharm Frog

Pharm Frog

Full Member
Longfrog said:
I just have to believe they're able to see that hosting a Russian player in your tennis tournament =/= approval of a Russian military action. Fans are not happy with this decision from what I can tell. Which means it's just an insane level of institutional cowardice. Some stakeholder -- maybe it's the royals or maybe a sponsor -- is agitating behind the scenes and you're not only going along with them, but you won't even make them admit it publicly. Instead Wimbledon takes all the bad publicity for this.

What does this do for Wimbledon? How does it help? I feel like such a cranky old man right now, but you only get so many chances in life to tell a royal or some corporate snob to piss off.
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Interesting…I get the opportunity to tell a corporate snob to piss off about 3x a day. I take that opportunity about twice a week.
 
E

Endless Purple

Full Member
Last month wasn't there a Russian player who got on the podium right next to a Ukrainian player and proceeded to wear the letter Z in full support of the war. That was not good. So Russian athletes have given a bad example, so I do not blame them for not wanting to have something like that happen in tennis. Plus I also agree with the corporate sponsors. If a Russian won with their company logo in the spotlight as if supporting them, their global sales will drop.

Sucks for the sport, but it has already been shown that the politics cannot be separated out. Plus, without sponsors, there is not much of a major sport.
 

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