Running tennis thread for 2023

I'm kinda partial to Coco simply because I saw her in person last year but I also like Sabalenka from seeing her on the Netflix show.

Coco can cover the court but if she hits groundies like she did against Medhova (sp) Sabalenka is going to feast on those weak, short shots. I'm afraid that Sabalenka is going to roll 6-4, 6-2 after a little tightness at the start of the match.

 

Went to Novak-Shelton. Was hoping for a little tighter match though the third set was fun once Shelton finally broke. I was too high up to really see Djokovic doing the hang up the phone celebration after his victory so was catching up on the (dumb) controversy on Twitter. Seems pretty harmless to me, always kind of like when someone's celebration gets tossed back at them.

Felt like Alcaraz would be a pretty big favorite against Djokovic in the finals, but just checked his score (thank you, Spectrum and Disney for forcing me to follow live stats instead of live video) and...hmmmm.

 

I just finished watching the Medvedev-Alcaraz match (started a little late 'cause I had to make dinner).

Wow. That was fantastic. Once Medvedev settled in he was downright clinical on his serve. Alacaraz lost his composure in the second set and let it get away, but after that it was a slugfest. Alcaraz just made too many mistakes while Medvedev was rock solid, and that was the difference.

After two lopsided losses to Alcaraz, this was a big win for Medvedev, who again can stake a claim as the world's best hard court player with another win over Djokovic.

BTW, Medvedev has my favorite moment of this tournament, which came when he called for a medical timeout after dropping a set to Chris O'Connell in the second round. When the doctor asked Medvedev if he had any symptoms, Daniil said, "Yeah, I lost the set. Give me whatever you gave him."

Well, no surprise -- straight sets. But Shelton did make that third set fun -- broke Djokovic twice, showed some great skills and got the crowd roaring.

 

The best part of Medvedev's match was how relaxed he looked start to finish. He never got angry, flustered or frustrated. Never got too high or too low -- very calm and all business. He'll need that again Sunday.

 

Medvedev is just so clinical; he’s literally the new Lendl, just an economy of everything, strokes, serve, movement. But make no mistake, I am I’m awe of his consistency and talent. Look at the difference between his service motion and Alcaraz’s, he spends half the energy and hits it 15% harder.

Great match to watch, great play, especially in 4th set.

H obviously took down Djoker I’m final before but I don’t think Novak makes nearly the amount of errors as Alcaraz.

 

That unlocked something I hadn’t thought of in more than 30 years. Of all the things one could be in Podunk, Tenn., there was a girl I went to school with who was a massive Boris Becker fan, to the point she could spend an entire bus ride breaking down his game. She used to hold Lendl in the same regard Rocky fans held Ivan Drago.

 

I’ve no interest in the final. In my perfect world, the ball crosses the net on the first point of the match a thousand times and they both retire from exhaustion.
Coco can’t let Sabalenka stand in the middle of the baseline and fire away. That’ll be a quick two-set rout.

 

As I recall, Lendl was everyone’s villain back then.

 

Maybe the most misunderstood top player during his prime. Definitely the most underappreciated.

 

Medvedev was surely the better player last night, but Alcaraz still hit the most insane shot of the match (he always does). The point starts at 8:47 of this extended highlight video:

Alcaraz slips, then comes racing across the court as Medvedev tries to hit a passing shot down the line. Alcaraz overruns the ball but as he flies past, he turns his body while in the air and reaches back to hit a crosscourt winner. The kid really is Gumby -- just amazingly flexible. That shot reminded me of Patrick Mahomes' ridiculous off-balance, across-the-body passes.

 

The IBM Match Index shows Coco with a 60% chance to win. For reference, last night it gave Medvedev a 19% chance of winning.

 

Sabalenka's little dink in that last game of the first set was classic -- made me laugh. I mean, hey, if you've been dumping your overheads into the net, why not?