Running 2020 Tennis Thread

How do you know if the burn to win is there or not?

 

This is inarguable among the sane.

A few days ago the Watson question posed on the U.S. Open telecasts was whether Andreescu would become the next superstar of women's tennis. The answer from most of the commentators was yes -- if...

 

Define "health." She's 20. Does she have a condition or something? Or is her playing style such that it puts a lot of strain on her? (I genuinely don't know.)

 

She's "injury-prone," meaning she's been sidelined or slowed by various injuries for much of the past two or three years. When she plays, she's a flat-out stud. She just hasn't been able to stay on the court for one reason or another.

 

Why that keeps happening, I don't know. But so far, she been unable to avoid injury for long.

 

Hey, @BTExpress, your boy just showed some of that Russian fire, slamming his racket into the court after Medvedev hit a brilliant shot down the line for a 7-6 lead in the tiebreak.

Daniil followed with an ace to win set 1.

 

Medvedev looks like the stereotypical Russian from my youth (70's-80's); expressionless, robotic, devastating groundstrokes. His talent is tremendous.

What a match if he played Lendl, that would've been hilarious. Even more hilarious would've been if McEnroe faced him on the other side.

 

What? When I look at Medvedev, I see a creative, dynamic game and a very fun personality. Remember his reaction when he was booed at last year's Open? And how he turned the crowd around to become a fan favorite by the tournament's end?

 

As a matter of fact, his game reminds me a lot of McEnroe's. Except he hits the ball a lot harder.

 

I guess I haven't watched him enough. His groundies are missiles.

 

Here's a little piece from the ATP website talking about his game and his temperament: Daniil Medvedev Embraces His 'Weird' And 'Sloppy' Tennis | ATP Tour | Tennis

 

Here's my favorite quote from that story, from Tsitsipas:

“He has this completely different way of playing, flat and low, without giving you much angle to work with. It can be very disturbing to play against him. He can make you miss without understanding why you missed.”

Like McEnroe, Medvedev plays the angles, changes speeds and will come to the net. Plus he can hit those missiles. And has a nasty drop shot. His game can change depending on his opponent -- he's very much a student of the game. FWIW, McEnroe seems to love the guy.

This is a great quote, too, from Medvedev:

"I want to make people miss with shots that they’re not used to playing. I’ve won many matches because they don’t ever get used to it. I try to find a weak spot in my opponent and then push to it."