TCU Men's Tennis 2021-2022
- Thread starter Jared7
- Start date
Purp
Active Member
He'd win the match if he could hold his serve better, but he's getting broken a lot bc Alcaraz is sitting on his 2nd serve and hammering them.
Purp
Active Member
Tiafoe has a lot of quality. I think fatigue set in. His first serve was horrid all night, but 20% in the 5th set was a huge sign of fatigue. If he gets in a little bit better shape and tidies up that service game he could be lethal.
Take nothing away from Alcaraz, though. He's got every shot. His lob shots are an amazing defense. He can land them on the line from anywhere and even off balance. Drop shots are stellar. Powerful forehand and excellent backhand. Excellent returner and covers ground like Michael Chang.
Longfrog
Active Member
Tiafoe won 71% of his 1st serve points and 49% on 2nd serves. Both are very close to his 52-wk averages. But he usually makes 60% of his 1st serves--which is not good--and tonight he only made 47%.
I'm sure he was physically tired but it's also mentally draining to be in trouble on every single service game. He had to dig so deep to win the 4th set and then he's right back in trouble. Only had one easy hold in the 5th.
I'm sure he was physically tired but it's also mentally draining to be in trouble on every single service game. He had to dig so deep to win the 4th set and then he's right back in trouble. Only had one easy hold in the 5th.
FrogUltimate
Active Member
Well I did a pretty horrible job. Guessed three of the final 8 correctly. I did however guess the winner correctly, so that's something.
Purp
Active Member
There were a lot of big upsets early. Alcaraz is damn impressive. Kid's gonna win a ton of slams. His game has no weaknesses and seems to translate well to every surface. Nadal is the greatest ever on clay, but just above average on other surfaces. Alcaraz may not dominate a single surface like that, but he'll dominate tennis for a decade if he keeps it up. He's fun to watch.
FrogUltimate
Active Member
Agree to disagree on Nadal being just above average on other surfaces. He's #10 all-time on best winning percentage on hard courts and #12 on grass. Obviously #1 on clay. I'd say he's firmly elite on all surfaces.
Agree on Alcaraz though. Pending health he should have a shot at hitting 15+ GS titles. Only asterisk I've got is that I think Djokovic wins the US Open is he's allowed to play this year. Alcaraz is good, but it didn't look Djokovic good to me. A worthless debate though.
Purp
Active Member
Fair point. Your stats bear out the point I was trying to make. Totally agree Nadal is elite on all surfaces, but not top 3ish on all surfaces. What are Djoker and Fed stats on all surfaces?
Peacefrog
Degenerate
Federer is dominant on terra cotta tile but doesn’t play well on ice at all. It’s well known that Joker’s best surface is shag carpet. Nadal won’t play any tournaments on traditional surfaces like oak or river mud.
FrogUltimate
Active Member
Nadal: #1 on all surfaces, #10 on hard, #1 on clay, #12 on grass
Djokovic: #2 on all surfaces, #1 on hard, #4 on clay, #2 on grass
Federer: #4 on all surfaces, #2 on hard, #14 on clay, #1 on grass
Probably the biggest differentiator here is that Nadal is in a world of his own on clay. Interesting that Borg has a higher overall win % than Federer. Djokovic and Nadal are .03% apart at the top.
Purp
Active Member
Interesting seeing it this way. Makes me feel like the GOAT conversation no longer includes Fed. I didn't realize he was so poor (relatively) on clay. Nadal is similar on grass for Fed on clay, but Fed on grass isn't near the same echelon of dominance as Nadal on clay so, for me, that clearly puts Nadal ahead of Fed along with the number of overall GS titles.
Nadal versus Djoker comes down to personal preference, though. It's hard to argue top 4 on all surfaces and 0.03% away from #1 all time win % on all surfaces isn't the best ever. But the guy 0.03% ahead has more GS titles and is probably the most dominant on a single surface as we'll ever see in the sport. If you prefer consistency the Djoker is your guy. If you prefer other-worldy dominance in one big part of the game the Nadal is your guy.
Back to my original point about Alcaraz, though, I see his career mirroring more of Djokovic than Nadal in terms of win % by surface. When Alcaraz is done Nadal likely won't be top 10 on any surface except clay where Alcaraz could be top 5 on all of them. Thanks for digging up these numbers.
Peacefrog
Degenerate
Your answer was better than mine.
