A bit disappointed with the youngsters

[albatros_forehand]

Baby Fed, Nishikori, Berankis, Dog (was he even playing?) Raonic (ok he was injured), JJ and Tomic-could they have done better? What's your view? . Looks like it's gonna be another year of top 4..

[90's Clay]

Been disappointed for a long time in these young bucks. If they haven't done much now, I dont expect a majority of them to do anything any times soon (2-3 more years)

Nole, Murray and perhaps Nadal got ALOOOTTT of slam opportunities left. Lots of slams to grab for these guys

[pound cat]

Federer encouraged by Raonic attitude


After his match v. Raonic Federer had this to say about Raonic and Tomic. And Federer's the boss!

Fed was asked to
compare two of the ATP World Tour’s rising stars, Australia’s Bernard Tomic and Milos Raonic of Canada, at the Australian Open on Monday. Federer beat both players en route to the quarter-finals.

“They’re totally different,” said the Swiss. “What I like about Milos is he seems very committed and seems like he has his team set up, travels every week with the same kind of guys. You feel like he's focused on the matches and the practice. The rest is sort of taken care of, which is the good thing, the business side, all the PR. He seems like he's in a good place where he can just really focus on tennis.

“Whereas I think Tomic still needs some time to figure out his team, figure out all the other things that are happening. Obviously Milos has a bit of an advantage because he's been at the top now for some time. This is where it's interesting to see what direction they go, where they practise, who they work with, so forth.

“They are totally different sort of characters it seems like as well. But both tall and strong and obviously with great potential.”

[The Bawss]

Dimitrov - sucks

Berankis - sucks

Dolgopolov - mostly sucks and really isn't that young

Raonic - mostly sucks

Harrison - sucks

Young - sucks

Tomic - sucks

Nishikori - mostly sucks

Kudla - sucks

These guys are going nowhere fast. Glad we cleared that up.

[pound cat]

Originally Posted by The Bawss

Dimitrov - sucks

Berankis - sucks

Dolgopolov - mostly sucks and really isn't that young

Raonic - mostly sucks

Harrison - sucks

Young - sucks

Tomic - sucks

Nishikori - mostly sucks

Kudla - sucks

These guys are going nowhere fast. Glad we cleared that up.

Tell that to Federer...see above

[pound cat]

[The Bawss]

Originally Posted by pound cat

Tell that to Federer...see above

Like Fed's going to speak his mind and say: "Look I am 4 years post-prime and I have whipped this guy 4 consecutive times and today wasn't even close. The guy sucks, he would be better off flipping burgers at Wendy's."

PR and sponsorship deals means Fed is very restricted in what he could, in principle, say.

[heninfan99]

What were you expecting exactly?

I'll always watch Dolgo. He's one of my fav. players to watch. He may never win seven matches in a row for a slam but he'll play the top guys tough. I think he's an amazing athlete & talent.

I wouldn't cast aside Raonic just yet. He seems the most intelligent of the lot and might figure something out. Like how to return serve better.

The whole Tomic thing amuses me. People assume that slicing and mixing speeds & junking is "talent". Almost all the guys can play this way but choose not to. It's just strange to see a 6'5" guy do it. You go this way when you don't have weapons.

[papertank]

I like to split the youngsters into a few tiers.

First tier is Nishikori and Raonic, who have already broken through and have shown they are not just hype. They are hard workers, and it's just a matter of time before these guys are top 10 players. I think Nishikori is a potential slam winner, but I haven't seen that in Raonic yet.

2nd tier would be Tomic and Janowicz. They have had some great wins, but can't seem to string together good performances consistantly yet like Nishikori and Raonic can. Also seems like they haven't really matured mentally yet, and when they do they will be that more lethal. However, it's still unclear if they will ever truly utilize their potential.

3rd tier you have Dimitrov, Harrison and Goffin. They have occasional flashes of brilliance but haven't had any really impressive wins yet. Not as naturally talented as Tomic/Janowicz, it's unclear if they will ever be more than top 20-30 players.

4th tier would be the names that you've heard occasionally but haven't really done anything worth talking about yet. People like Steve Johnson, Kudla, Jack Sock, etc.

[tacou]

Originally Posted by papertank

I like to split the youngsters into a few tiers.

First tier is Nishikori and Raonic, who have already broken through and have shown they are not just hype. They are hard workers, and it's just a matter of time before these guys are top 10 players. I think Nishikori is a potential slam winner, but I haven't seen that in Raonic yet.

2nd tier would be Tomic and Janowicz. They have had some great wins, but can't seem to string together good performances consistantly yet like Nishikori and Raonic can. Also seems like they haven't really matured mentally yet, and when they do they will be that more lethal. However, it's still unclear if they will ever truly utilize their potential.

3rd tier you have Dimitrov, Harrison and Goffin. They have occasional flashes of brilliance but haven't had any really impressive wins yet. Not as naturally talented as Tomic/Janowicz, it's unclear if they will ever be more than top 20-30 players.

4th tier would be the names that you've heard occasionally but haven't really done anything worth talking about yet. People like Steve Johnson, Kudla, Jack Sock, etc.

Where would rank JJ without his Paris win?

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by The Bawss

Dimitrov - sucks

Berankis - sucks

Dolgopolov - mostly sucks and really isn't that young

Raonic - mostly sucks

Harrison - sucks

Young - sucks

Tomic - sucks

Nishikori - mostly sucks

Kudla - sucks

These guys are going nowhere fast. Glad we cleared that up.

Don't forget Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish..... :-l

[beast of mallorca]

If Nishikori......... wasn't injured, he could do a lot more.
Goffin, Badene and Janowicz.......they should be contending for the
top 15 soon, a year or 2.

[papertank]

Originally Posted by tacou

Where would rank JJ without his Paris win?

4th tier for sure. His paris run is obviously his main claim to fame right now, but so far he seems to be holding his own with his ranking and on his way to validating the hype. We'll see how he does this season.

[rajah84]

Originally Posted by The Bawss

Dimitrov - sucks

Berankis - sucks

Dolgopolov - mostly sucks and really isn't that young

Raonic - mostly sucks

Harrison - sucks

Young - sucks

Tomic - sucks

Nishikori - mostly sucks

Kudla - sucks

These guys are going nowhere fast. Glad we cleared that up.

You should work for the ATP.

[axel89]

Originally Posted by rajah84

You should work for the ATP.

i hope that's scarcasm because if you agree that nishikori sucks well you're psycho nishikori bageled raonic someone that hold over 85% of his service games

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

Originally Posted by heninfan99

What were you expecting exactly?

I'll always watch Dolgo. He's one of my fav. players to watch. He may never win seven matches in a row for a slam but he'll play the top guys tough. I think he's an amazing athlete & talent.

I wouldn't cast aside Raonic just yet. He seems the most intelligent of the lot and might figure something out. Like how to return serve better.

The whole Tomic thing amuses me. People assume that slicing and mixing speeds & junking is "talent". Almost all the guys can play this way but choose not to. It's just strange to see a 6'5" guy do it. You go this way when you don't have weapons.

mostly agree with all this except the Tomic comments.

did you watch the Federer game? 'no weapons', hmm, I don't think you are seeing the whole picture.

[SwankPeRFection]

Why the disappointment? Look, to make it big like the famous people of tennis you need to either be gifted or have a ton of experience. Without years of matches under their belts they're stuck with needing to be gifted in the sport. Most aren't... why? It's nature. Out of all the pro tennis players out there 99% of them are better than you and I and 2-3% of them are special enough to be #1-4 in the world for years back to back. That's a huge margin and can only happen so many times. You're not going to have that level of turnover each and every year or each and every decade even. It's rare. It'll happen, but who know at this point who it'll be. Novak finally found his special abilities how many years after turning pro? Just saying... come back down to earth people.

[Amelie Mauresmo]

People love to attack Milos Raonic but they do not realize how hard it is to be top 20 in the world! It takes hard work and dedication. Also, very few players beat Federer in slams so no shame in losing to Roger in this one.

Milos also had a fever and foot problems he thought about giving Federer a walkover but chose to play his match.

Being top 20 in the world and the first Canadian to do is impressive. We never had a top 20 player before someone who is not a traitor that fled to England over a decade ago.

This is a USA board but in Canada, Milos Raonic is a star and he is very well respected up here. We like Milos attitude he`s a hard worker and he is going to get to the top 10.

[SwankPeRFection]

It's actually better Milos played. The few times that Fed has had a walkover in slams, he's lost in the match right after that. Too much time off for him makes him relax too much.

[slowfox]

Not too disappointed with the WTA youngsters. (And please spare me all the poo poo about women's tennis.)