Week 25 - ATP 250 - Nottingham (grass)

the addict · Tennis legend

RE: Week 25 - ATP 250 - Nottingham (grass)

indiana · Tennis legend

Ratty wrote:
Surely the only real difference between the player ranked 25 and the player ranked 97 is that the former usually wins. I don't think that anyone doubts that Dan can mix it with the best.

Behaving like an adult instead of a teenager helps too. I replayed the code violation incident a couple of times, and Dan's beef seemed to be that (i) he was only swearing to himself (irrelevant) and (ii) he reckoned that Cuevas had also been swearing (unproven, and in any event unlikely to change the umpire's decision). He was lucky that the umpire defused the situation by good-humouredly telling him to shut up and get on with it.

But surface is also a very important factor, paticularly when that WR 25 player has so little experience on grass even if Evo has not looked in his best form this grass season. So yes, over the long run, if there were a number of encounters WR 25 is likely, but far from certain, to win more often. But clearly surfaces and environments change the odds for individual contests to different degrees. We are not throwing dice here.

Absolutely he needs to improve his temparent though more importantly not let incidents have ongoing effects, so at least better channel his anger as the addict said. From memory McEnroe say had his big verbals with officials and moved on, them maybe indeed help firing him up. But if its counterproductive it's a problem.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 22nd of June 2016 11:34:54 PM

Ratty · County player

In principle I accept the point about Cuevas playing on an unfamiliar surface, but one thing which has struck me about grass courts in recent years is that they now play like a medium-paced hard court, albeit with a lower bounce. You now get frequent long baseline rallies, which not so long ago would have been unthinkable. Or is this just my imagination?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Ratty wrote:
In principle I accept the point about Cuevas playing on an unfamiliar surface, but one thing which has struck me about grass courts in recent years is that they now play like a medium-paced hard court, albeit with a lower bounce. You now get frequent long baseline rallies, which not so long ago would have been unthinkable. Or is this just my imagination?

It's true about the long baseline rallies. Which may well be court-related. Although I think it's more likely to be the different sort of balls they use.

But the thing that strikes me (from two days at qualis) is just the amazing improvement in fitness and athleticism - and consequently - defence skills. (Not from last year, as such, obviously, but even over the past 5 years, say, and definitely 10).

Personally, I think that's as much the reason as anything else.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, certainly agree you clearly get many more baseline rallies, probably increasingly so but emphatically more than say the 90s serve and volley zzzz.

So whether court, ball or whatever there is less difference, but still unfamiliarity with grass is probably also linked to a distrust of grass and should be a leveller to an extent.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, agree CD re the improvement in fitness and athleticism.

Just as I look at top football teams of the past, however technically good they were, and think they would get murdered by current teams just by fitness and athleticism, similar with tennis players.

Of course, very different times and your Lavers and Rosewalls or indeed McEnroes and Connors et all and the footballers would be fitter, better themselves if transported into this era.

-- Edited by indiana on Thursday 23rd of June 2016 09:15:34 AM