An apology...

WeekendTennisHack

WeekendTennisHack

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
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Problem isn't the predictions per se, but you don't learn, especially after the AO injury fiasco.
 
nolefam_2024

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Starting Wimbledon 2018 shortly after Djokovic's surgery, he is 11/17 in grand slams he participated. Federer was 11/16 during his peak of 2004/07.

Ofcourse Djokovic has only 2 finals out of the remaining while Federer had 4. And Djokovic is nowhere near consistent in bo3 anymore. But this Djokovic should never be underestimated. Ofcourse, he is not same guy as 24 year old Djokovic. But he is the one with least drop of form from his peak days.

Alcaraz and Rune are future ATGs but they are just turned 20. Let's give them a year or at max 2 and they will be unbeatable and Djokovic would lose all the time.
 
BeatlesFan

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
vex said:
Everyone gets it wrong sometimes bro. Everyone.
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Yeah, I kept reading this stud was going to win both AO and RG this year.

GQ-ITALIA-Jannik-Sinner-by-Philip-Gay.-Summer-2021-www.imageamplified.com-Image-Amplified6.png
 
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RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
nachiket nolefam said:
Starting Wimbledon 2018 shortly after Djokovic's surgery, he is 11/17 in grand slams he participated. Federer was 11/16 during his peak of 2004/07.

Ofcourse Djokovic has only 2 finals out of the remaining while Federer had 4. And Djokovic is nowhere near consistent in bo3 anymore. But this Djokovic should never be underestimated. Ofcourse, he is not same guy as 24 year old Djokovic. But he is the one with least drop of form from his peak days.

Alcaraz and Rune are future ATGs but they are just turned 20. Let's give them a year or at max 2 and they will be unbeatable and Djokovic would lose all the time.
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That's the main thing. His overall game is very close to his top levels. He hasn't lost much speed, agility, endurance, power, etc, and can make up for these (small) losses with more accurate serving and a (slightly) better net game and slightly better tactics. And he knows how to peak for slams, especially the second week of slams.
 
T

tex123

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
You guys spend a lot of time here and take this forum too seriously!

You do realise he was playing Ruud? A weak opponent can make a Tier 1 player look like god. Carlos' game is still top notch and he can beat the best. Playing poorly with nerves, he still took a set and had the momentum. His mental and physical conditioning needs work.
 
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S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
Nothing to apologize for. A 20 year old full time player (At least in terms of effort) playing lights out tennis and quasi sweeping clay season SHOULD beat a 36 year old Partimer using non-slam events as practice sessions. Garbage era. No better than 2014-2021. I don’t care if djoker is GOAT. He’s not Nadal on clay. Yeesh. No excuse for this generation. None at all
 
Hood_Man

Hood_Man

G.O.A.T.
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
Could be worse, you could have bet money on Ruud winning the final in 4 sets :X3:
 
zvelf

zvelf

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
The ability to admit you were wrong is a credit to you as few here can do it. For all the reasons you mentioned, I too thought Alcaraz would likely win that semifinal, but I didn’t think it was a sure thing. I always figured Djokovic had at least a 1 in 3 chance to take it. Even had Alcaraz not cramped, Djokovic showed he was ON that day and in my mind, would probably have edged a non-cramping Alcaraz because Djokovic was mentally tougher. Alcaraz admitted to how nervous he was after. But the outcome of one match doesn’t mean the reasons to think Alcaraz would win were bad. On any given day, a player is going to play better or worse, regardless of what came before. All of the reasons to think Alcaraz would win are good ones. It just didn’t account for how motivated and better prepared Djokovic was going to be in this match. Alcaraz should be the favorite next year if for no other reason than Djokovic will be 37 and Nadal 38.
 
GabeT

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
So unfair. I was preparing a trolling thread where I was going to make fun of all your wrong predictions. Is this place suddenly going soft? :unsure: :whistle: :cool:
 
A

ABCD

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
It is not what you said, it is the way how you said it. You do not need to apologize, you just need to convey your thoughts politely.
 
Silverbullet96

Silverbullet96

Hall of Fame
Damn, you've really moved me with your post, I must say I said somethings about Djokovic that I want to apologize about also...

connor-mcgregor.gif
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
robthai said:
weak era or not, what Djokovic is doing at 36 is simply incredible and any Fed or Nadal fan that can't acknowledge it is simply being bitter. Fedal were never this consistent at slams when they were 36. And though it is frustrating having to endure year after year of next gen mugs failing to win slams, I do admit I sometimes enjoy watching Djokovic destroy these next gen clowns the same way peak Fed was destroying his contemporaries.
Click to expand...

36yo Fed beat a 30yo Rafa in a Slam Final after being down a break

If Djoko were facing 30yo Fedal, he wouldn't be winning every single Slam
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
robthai said:
weak era or not, what Djokovic is doing at 36 is simply incredible and any Fed or Nadal fan that can't acknowledge it is simply being bitter. Fedal were never this consistent at slams when they were 36. And though it is frustrating having to endure year after year of next gen mugs failing to win slams, I do admit I sometimes enjoy watching Djokovic destroy these next gen clowns the same way peak Fed was destroying his contemporaries.
Click to expand...
Maybe they weren't as consistent, but I definitely see them beating the same guys Djokovic has defeated.
 
T

tex123

Hall of Fame
I must say this is the weirdest thread on a forum of nutters. Post here. Don't live here. More importantly, don't take it seriously.
 
GabeT

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
Rosstour said:
36yo Fed beat a 30yo Rafa in a Slam Final after being down a break

If Djoko were facing 30yo Fedal, he wouldn't be winning every single Slam
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Sure. But Fed, at the same age, was losing to several non ATGs. Novak won 4 slams in row in two different slams in two different surfaces post 30. Without Nadal around he may have made that 4 in a row in three different slams in three different surfaces. That requires an incredible level of focus and training
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
GabeT said:
Sure. But Fed, at the same age, was losing to several non ATGs. Novak won 4 slams in row in two different slams in two different surfaces post 30. Without Nadal around he may have made that 4 in a row in three different slams in three different surfaces. That requires an incredible level of focus and training
Click to expand...

Fed was also coming back from injury

Fed also waxed Rafa like 5 times in his age-36 year

And we can bag on Cilic all we want, but he has more Slams than Cmonderson, Ruud, Kyrgios Tsitsipas and Berrettini combined.
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
GabeT said:
Sure. But Fed, at the same age, was losing to several non ATGs. Novak won 4 slams in row in two different slams in two different surfaces post 30. Without Nadal around he may have made that 4 in a row in three different slams in three different surfaces. That requires an incredible level of focus and training
Click to expand...
Fed also suffered injuries which explained his drop in level. Djokovic hasn't suffered any serious injuries.

We can say he's the fittest of the 3, but that's it.
 
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F

FRV4

Hall of Fame
tex123 said:
I must say this is the weirdest thread on a forum of nutters. Post here. Don't live here. More importantly, don't take it seriously.
Click to expand...
I gotta agree with you. But to see that you need to spend time away from the forum. I'm still spending time away from the forum, I just randomly sign in sometimes and decided to post today cuz I'm in a bit of an abnormal state. But I too used to make apology threads. It was mainly attention seeking for me I guess. I didn't really want attention though, I was just addicted to the interaction, guess cuz my regular life was really lonely at the time. I honestly feel like a bit of a loser whenever I post on here now. I don't know what it is. No disrespect to use @Kralingen , you're a cool dude.
 
TennisFan3

TennisFan3

Talk Tennis Guru
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
Great post. Excellent analysis. I hope Carlitos does next year, what you aspired him to do this year.
 
T

tex123

Hall of Fame
Rosstour said:
36yo Fed beat a 30yo Rafa in a Slam Final after being down a break

If Djoko were facing 30yo Fedal, he wouldn't be winning every single Slam
Click to expand...
Exactly. People are gauging Djokovic's level against Ruud. It frickin' Ruud. This is the same Djokovic that Nadal straight setted.
Alcaraz was leading before he cramped. He did not even face Musetti or Tsitsipas. Even Khachanov extended him.

The only one who made him #23 is Alcaraz. He failed when he mattered. The bookies had him as fav. Everyone did. Because his tennis was that good.
 
TennisFan3

TennisFan3

Talk Tennis Guru
Dominic & Andrey said:
@TennisFan3 was right, ONCE AGAIN.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I don't deserve any credit. I usually back Big 3 players and they are so good, so it's easy to look right.
I used to do the same with Fed when he was dominating and always predict he would win. Mostly it would be right.

Having been burned for the past 20+ years with the lost gen, new gen, next gen etc etc - I am very skeptical of new players unless they have ACTUALLY beaten Big 3 at slams on merit.
I was really excited about Delpo, but then he got injured.

Carlos is definitely the most exciting player in the past 15 years, but I will NOT, NEVER, back him to win UNLESS he actually wins a slam by beating Novak/Nadal.
 
T

tex123

Hall of Fame
GabeT said:
Sure. But Fed, at the same age, was losing to several non ATGs. Novak won 4 slams in row in two different slams in two different surfaces post 30. Without Nadal around he may have made that 4 in a row in three different slams in three different surfaces. That requires an incredible level of focus and training
Click to expand...
Fed was being pressured into reinventing his game by Nadal and Djokovic at that age. That's a lot of pressure from ATGs 5 years younger.
 
K

Kralingen

Bionic Poster
tex123 said:
I must say this is the weirdest thread on a forum of nutters. Post here. Don't live here. More importantly, don't take it seriously.
Click to expand...
Well I had promised to apologize to a few people if he did win so wanted to fulfill that. Good message though.
 
Holmes

Holmes

Hall of Fame
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...
Seems a bit attention getty, but still applaud that you own your boo boo. Some of my fellow Fedfan friends could learn a thing or two from this.
 
F

FRV4

Hall of Fame
Holmes said:
Seems a bit attention getty, but still applaud that you own your boo boo. Some of my fellow Fedfan friends could learn a thing or two from this.
Click to expand...
You could learn a thing or two from Sampras lmao. You seem to care about his status more than he does. My bad if that sounded mean, I was just tryna get back in the groove of the types of degenerate jokes on here. I am a degenerate too so it all works out. I'm not saying your statement was degenerate-like. OK bye.
 
Checkmate

Checkmate

Legend
Kralingen said:
Throughout RG 2023 I was quite outspoken in my support of Carlos and skepticism around Djokovic's ability to win the tournament.

And not just in my own posts, I was pretty cocky replying to others. I even asked for apologies from people who thought Djokovic was the favorite for RG during a Davidovich Fokina match (@junior74)

Well, that was obviously wrong. Took some time to see how wrong I was.

Have fun reading these:

then I asked for apologies:




And finally, the worst post I've ever made, ROFLMAO.

So, clearly I got it wrong this Roland Garros. Obviously, no one saw the cramping coming from Carlos, including myself. But truthfully, I would pick Carlos again for RG 2024.

And the reason is, everything Djokovic did this past fortnight defied what we knew about clay tennis coming into the tournament.

-I thought Masters and lead-up tournaments mattered. Before 2022, every single Roland Garros winner in the 2000s had at least won a clay Masters 1000 or a clay 250/500 before winning Roland Garros. Djokovic didn't even make a single semi-final.
-I thought age and injury mattered - Novak was struggling with an elbow injury clearly in April/May, and his age and stamina were in question
-I thought Carlos's form mattered, Novak flattered to deceive vs. Fokina and Khachanov while Carlos was incredibly dominant, beating Musetti and Tsitsipas one-sidedly
-I thought Carlos had the physical advantage with his experience of 4 5-setters at the US Open last summer
-I thought Novak's clay form in every single match before the SF mattered even one bit.

The truth is, in this era, none of the lead-up stuff matters. Just who can elevate on the biggest stage. And right now, that man is still none other than Novak Djokovic. His spot serving, his ability to read, absorb, and inject pace and spin, his ability to vary his intensity, his tactical solutions on-court, his clutch play, his strategy and mind for tennis still allow him to win even without his old athleticism. I thought he had declined a lot, but ignored that he has never thought through matches better, never hit a serve better, he truly just gets it in a way that can't really be quantified.

So apologies - mainly to @TennisFan3. For 2023 at least, Novak is the man of the moment, and the man to beat. Wimbledon here we come.
Click to expand...

Kralingen, edit your OP and mention me. Thanks.
 
F

FRV4

Hall of Fame
christo said:
Go to YouTube and watch the Tennis Channel interview with Joker and you might just learn a few things about this
phenomenal player. Just one quote from him which I wrote down for for future reference.
" energy flows where attention goes" Let that sink in for a moment.
Click to expand...
I'mma take this advice and get off of here. It's been real. Will be back for Wimbledon perhaps, but not likely. Maybe after. Sorry, on drugs.
 
Cortana

Cortana

Legend
I wonder: when will tennis get exciting again? I used to watch every masters tournament and the WTF. So I watched tennis basically the whole year. Now I‘m only interested in the 2nd week of slams and the WTF. Which gives me 5 weeks of tennis per year.

It feels like the sport is dying. That nothing matters anymore. It‘s just about the quest of Djokovic to further cement his GOAT status by amassing more GS titles.
 
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Rank the levels of the last 10 Grand Slam Champions
Replies
41
Views
1K
fishpiefriday
fishpiefriday
Leandro2045
[Historic] Nadal is the bookies underdog in a Clay Court match tomorrow
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45
Views
1K
D.Nalby12
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UnforcedTerror
No tennis player believes in himself like Djokovic does.
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30
Views
760
mahatma
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Backspin1183
Toni: thought Rafael could go as high as #6 or #7, maybe become like C Moya
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42
Views
3K
furryballs
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