Next Event You Care About

First topic message reminder :

What is the next tennis tournament* you actually really care about? Where you'll be actually following the results with more than a passing interest, where you actually care who wins, or where you might actually watch a match? Are you all set for Spain's trip to Canada coming up? Or had you not even heard of that and won't bother to watch until the next slam that comes around?

* professional, 250+, men's singles. Before anyone nominates the mixed doubles at their local club next week.

Anyway lets see, if he can play Chile and gets through it that's a very good sign.

As socal says though it is not a good sign at all if it is still troubling him after all this time out and he has yet to start playing again competitively. Fingers crossed for him.

Back to the poll, it's neck and neck for Vina and Indian Wells.

Actually I meant to select IW and clicked Miami by accident

carrieg4 wrote:Actually I meant to select IW and clicked Miami by accident

You traitor! Ditching Murray.

OP please allow vote cancellation, so Carrie can correct.

I don't know how to allow vote cancellation. Not retrospectively anyway.

Oh well, pretty sure I will watch both events closely anyway

carrieg4 wrote:Actually I meant to select IW and clicked Miami by accident

carriege where did you get that lovely smiley from .... I want it

Haddie-nuff wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:Actually I meant to select IW and clicked Miami by accident

carriege where did you get that lovely smiley from .... I want it

If you right click on it you should get the URL Haddie. I just googled free smileys.

No its not working for me . we could do with some new ones on here

Here you go

[img]http://www.booak.com/emoticons/graphics/embarrassed/13.gif[/img*]

Just remove the star from the URL above and it should work.

mmmmmmm yeah get it

http://www.pic4ever.com/

This site has quite a few

Currently bored of active Tennis, I guess the next big tournament that would interest me is IW.

The winner is Indian Wells 7-6. You can still technically vote but don't.

Interesting article here about the Indian Wells prize money.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/02/indian-wells-if-atp-doesnt-approve-prize-money-proposal-well-drop-2011-levels/46336/

Great article, the atp board fighting to keep indian wells from adding money, IW by far the richest paying masters in north america and europe. The most attendance of any non-slam.

socal1976 wrote:Great article, the atp board fighting to keep indian wells from adding money, IW by far the richest paying masters in north america and europe. The most attendance of any non-slam.

When is Ellison filing for bankruptcy?

There is a lot of money in the game laverfan that is because people love the tennis they are watching, fed and nadal deserve a lot of credit for that i am happy about the game.

I agrree Federer and Nadal have brought a lot of money into the game. Tennis can now be sold as "golden" and this is largely due to them. Other players are benefiting from this reflected gold and in truth should be grateful.

What was IMBL saying about Rafa being charitable? That description should be extended to Roger too. Ha ha!

Back to topic. Maybe 606v2 posters have no sense of fun or appreciation of all time greats. Have they no interest in seeing how Rafa plays after 7 months absence? And isn't Roger due to play in Rotterdam next week. He is 31 and a half years old and won't be playing forever. But 7 supposed tennis fans will be keeping their eyes closed until some random hard court tournament in the States. Pfft!

hawkeye wrote:
Back to topic. Maybe 606v2 posters have no sense of fun or appreciation of all time greats. Have they no interest in seeing how Rafa plays after 7 months absence? And isn't Roger due to play in Rotterdam next week. He is 31 and a half years old and won't be playing forever. But 7 supposed tennis fans will be keeping their eyes closed until some random hard court tournament in the States. Pfft!

Or, more accurately, it could be the next event where the result is in question. Is there any doubt that even a 30% Rafa will do well in his comeback tournaments? Of course we are watching with interest but, personally, I can't wait to see Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal all in the same tournament again.

Quite agree carrie.. it has been great watching Rafa and he has performed better than I could have hoped for... hard to see how he will be when he returns the big pond .. but last night he was made to work in the second set .. stretched on a few occasions.. but I was glad of that because that is what he needs to get him back and swimming with the big boys.

Yes it is great to see Rafa back and with the knee holding up well. I suppose the REAL test will come when he goes onto hard courts for the first time.

I personally thing that there should be a measure of control, but mostly independent. If Indian Wells starts offerinng more than Wimbledon or less than a 500 or 250 not so good, (that would be an issue to me), but as long as isn't offering more than a slam, I think they should be free to choose.

By the way IMBL's mysterious sources were wrong!

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes it is great to see Rafa back and with the knee holding up well. I suppose the REAL test will come when he goes onto hard courts for the first time.

Nah! The real test will be RG and Wimbledon. I doubt he'll care about Indian Wells and Miami. I think he's said as much.

Whenever it is though hawkeye it will be on hard court as that, according to Rafa's camp, is what has caused the problem. At the moment, on clay, everything is fine.

But for Nadal there's nothing really important on hard court until the US Open. That's too far off to start worrying about it now. How much of a worry it will be is dependent on how well he does at RG and Wimbledon.

If his knee remains in good nick I would still have him as warm favourite for RG. Wimbledon is a different matter though. The thing is that Rafa will have to play hard court at some point before the US Open to experience the surface and that is when the real test for the knee will come.

CaledonianCraig. "Warm?" No player in tennis has ever been a hotter favorite than a healthy Nadal at RG. If he wins RG (and his knees are OK) he would be pretty hot at Wimbledon too. Wimbledon isn't hard court you know.

I'm not sure we or he should be worried about anything after that.

I used the term warm favourite purely as he has been out for so long otherwise he would have been hot favourite. As for Wimbledon, nowhere near as warm in my eyes as he has been nowhere near as dominant at Wimbledon as he has at RG. Only fair that don't you think?

CaledonianCraig. If we are making the assumption that Nadals knees are OK then by the time RG comes round he should be nicely warmed up. I would say hot. I agree that at Wimbledon he's not quite as hot as RG but he has made the final or won it every year since 2006 (when his knees have been OK) I'm sure you'll agree that's pretty hot?

HE are you sure he said he did not want to play IW & Miami.. I thought I had read the oposite ??

No I wouldn't call him hot favourite or even warm for Wimbledon. If you were to give me money I'd sooner bet on Federer, Djokovic and yes even Murray before Nadal.

Haddie-nuff. I haven't heard anything about Nadal not playing Indian Wells and Miami but he makes it clear that his focus starts at Monte Carlo.

CaledonianCraig. You can put your money on who you want. But on what basis would you favor Federer over Nadal on grass let alone Djokovic and Murray? (Again presuming Nadal has no problems with his knees). I think you may be betting with your heart and not your head.

Federer - multiple titles at Wimbledon. The most successful grass courter of all-time. Say no more.

Djokovic - in a rich vein of form and beat Nadal the last time they met at Wimbledon.

Murray very capable on grass courts and is a totally different proposition to the Murray that Nadal faced in the past.

Top all that with all the doubt about Nadal's knee (bearing in mind it was the grass court that seemingly brought about the injury) then I would say there is good reason to place them in that order.

Ahhh OK HE... Ill look out for that.

CC. Nadal came into Wimbledon last year injured. But were talking about his chances this year if he isn't injured right?

Federer. Look Federer is great. You certainly won't catch me saying anything but that. In fact IMO Wimbledon is probably his best chance of a slam this year. But against Nadal when he is 31 and a half? Oh I don't know... If they both met in the final at Wimbledon I would be so happy I probably wouldn't even notice who won...

Djokovic. Is he in a "rich vein" of form? I'm not sure. Nadal did beat him the last three times they played and Nadal is the better grass court player.

Murray. Murray is the same Murray that Nadal has faced before. Yes he is capable on grass but Nadal has proved he is more than capable.

Please let Nadal's knees be OK so we can have this conversation again after RG...

It reminds me of the days when it was discussed as to whether Rafa would ever win anything than a Clay GS.. he proved then he could. Like you say.. please please let his knees meet the challenge. Remember Queens and then Wimbledon !! ?

If Roger played Rafa in the final my money would still be on Federer despite the age thing.

I would say Djoko is in enough form to not sweat over Nadal just now at Wimbledon. As I said the last time they me at Wimbledon Djokovic won in four sets.

Is Murray the same Murray that Nadal faced before? Certainly not. The last time they played in a crunch match Murray was still searching for his breakthrough and had yet to team up with Lendl. Since then Murray has won the Olympics (on grass), won the US Open and reached the last three slam finals so he his now far better placed mentally and other aspects of his game have been modified.

But don't get me wrong IF and it is an if at the moment, Rafa storms back scooping clay titles and winning the FO I may revise my stance especially if the other three show a dip in form.

CaledonianCraig wrote:If Roger played Rafa in the final my money would still be on Federer despite the age thing.

Depends on the state of Nadal's knees.
If Nadal is fully fit, it's highly unlikely.

I would say Djoko is in enough form to not sweat over Nadal just now at Wimbledon. As I said the last time they me at Wimbledon Djokovic won in four sets.

Yes he did, in 2011 he won both matches on clay vs Nadal. So his form in the grass court season was good enough to beat Nadal despite not moving so well on grass.
A lot depends on what level Djokovic is playing, and Nadal's knees.

Is Murray the same Murray that Nadal faced before? Certainly not. The last time they played in a crunch match Murray was still searching for his breakthrough and had yet to team up with Lendl. Since then Murray has won the Olympics (on grass), won the US Open and reached the last three slam finals so he his now far better placed mentally and other aspects of his game have been modified.

Murray Nadal could be a really exciting rivalry if Rafa gets back to his best.
So far Nadal has won most of the bigger matches, but Murray is improved mentally now so could hope to try and turn it around. Let's see.

I agree IMBL I think Rafa/Murray could be a great rivalry ... Andy is mentally stronger than he was and not likely to be so intimidated by Rafa.. if Rafa gets back to his normal ways then we could be in for some very interesting matches between those two. More that Andy/Novak.. they are not a good mix in my book.

Henman Bill wrote:By the way IMBL's mysterious sources were wrong!

I honestly don't have a problem with them offering more I don't think they are anywhere near yet what a slam offers although southern california is a rich and tennis loving market, and ellison is making a move to make this event the signature non-slam. I hope that they really increse the prize money to the 1st and 2rd for players qualifying and able to win a masters match, I really think the guys outside of the top names are still undercompensated in tennis, ellison is opening up a pandora's box that other masters don't feel like they can match. I think Dubai may be approaching masters level funding and they pay the most in appearance fee, so the actual payday for the stars is higher for dubai than most masters events.

If Nadal and Federer met at Wimbledon it would be a very special match. Because of this form, age, past matches might not mean much.

Djokovic has been to one Wimbledon final and beaten Nadal once on grass. That is a very small sample size to base judgement on. Looking at both players over a longer period of time and also considering their playing styles IMO Nadal is the better player on grass. If Nadal plays as poorly as he did in that 2011 final (the worst I have ever seen him play in a slam final) there would be a whole list of players who could beat him.

I think we will have to agree to disagree about the existence of a different Murray. IMO though the idea that a player could radically transform at 25 after so many years on the tour is gobbledegook that started to be put about about Djokovic in 2011. That was nonsense too. Players can of course play well and play poorly or catch a break or have a bit of bad luck.

It Must Be Love and Haddie-Nuff

Your two favorite players are Rafa and Andy I guess? Of course you would like to see the two play. But it's hardly a rivalry at the moment considering the H2H and lack of finals. Have they played any finals. I can only remember Indian Wells (or Miami?). Well I say I remember but by that I mean the result and that the match was poor. As I said I don't buy into the player mark 2 hype.

Hawkeye I think you are going to be surprised how well Novak will play at wimbeldon this year if he is healthy. His serve to me looks like it is on an up trend again, I think he started serving well at the USO had a disruption in the wind last year, and has comeback this offseason a better server than he was last year. He played 7 sets against two of the best returners on a slower hardcourt and he simply was not broken and didn't even face that many BPs. Other than the Wawrinka match Djoko has been serving lethally since the end of last year.

I think Nadal would start favourite against Federer at any of the slams if he's fit.

The rest test of Nadal's comeback will be:
Can he extend his Monte Carlo streak?
Can he win RG?
Can he win his next match against Djokovic on clay?

At the moment, I would put Nadal as first favourite at the French Open. At Wimbledon I would have him as 4th favourite or equal to the others, but if he can get back to the best form, he could well win it.

Although if you offered for this year:
RG - WIN
Wimbledon - R1

I think you would take it at the moment.

I think Djoko could win wimbeldon this year and be broken less than 5 times the whole tournament maybe 3 or 4 breaks the whole tournament if he serves like he did the last few matches at the AO on grasss good luck!

HB, I want to see how Nadal plays in an open and full field on clay at MC or Rome before I make a prediction who is the favorite at RG. But I am of the mind that Nadal would be back and would be a force and threaten the #1 ranking again eventually.

My mysterious sources were partly wrong.
A few hours after I said that, Nadal did come to an interview saying his knees were hurting in training.... but then he played anyway.

hawkeye wrote:
It Must Be Love and Haddie-Nuff

Your two favorite players are Rafa and Andy I guess?

I'm certainly not.
My favourite player is Nadal. My second favourite player is also Nadal. My third favourite player is Nadal as well. Murray's fourth.

It Must Be Love wrote:

hawkeye wrote:
It Must Be Love and Haddie-Nuff

Your two favorite players are Rafa and Andy I guess?

I'm certainly not.
My favourite player is Nadal. My second favourite player is also Nadal. My third favourite player is Nadal as well. Murray's fourth.

........................ditto..........................