Are Raonic and Kyrgios' return games improving?

[falstaff78]

I believe Raonic and Kyrgios were massively overhyped at AO16. Their abilities to beat elite opponents with limited return games were massively overestimated.

I created a thread arguing that Kyrgios cannot be a top player unless he improves his return game. I also wrote a post in the match thread of the Murray-Raonic semifinal, trying to show that Raonic's return game was the reason for his defeat, and not his injury.

Both Raonic and Kyrgios need to improve their return games to live up to the hype that surrounds them. We therefore need a place to track whether this is happening or not.

This thread is that place.

 

[falstaff78]

For the first post, I am sharing this article by the incomparable Jeff Sackmann. The article shows that Raonic's return game in 2016 seems to be better than in 2015.

http://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2016/01/29/is-milos-raonics-return-game-improving/

This is notwithstanding the shocker Raonic had vs. Murray today (26% fewer return points than Murray's average hard court opponent). And notwithstanding a small sample size of only 9 matches in 2016

Enjoy.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Both are getting better if you base it on their ranking! NK will do down for getting back to his 2015 AO performance!

 

[VexlanderPrime]

Kinda hard to say Raonic is overrated with a SemiF appearance and 5 set loss to Andy... I mean, he's not elite but he could win a slam Stan-Style by playing at his ceiling and winning Tiebreakers

 

[Supertegwyn]

Are you gonna do one of those Murray vs Djokovic stat things for the final?

 

[RSH]

Are you gonna do one of those Murray vs Djokovic stat things for the final?

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/inde...1-vs-murray-2-the-final.554192/#post-10002535

 

[Supertegwyn]

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/inde...1-vs-murray-2-the-final.554192/#post-10002535

Thanks fam

 

[falstaff78]

Kinda hard to say Raonic is overrated with a SemiF appearance and 5 set loss to Andy... I mean, he's not elite but he could win a slam Stan-Style by playing at his ceiling and winning Tiebreakers

Good point

Yes he COULD. But after today's match it seems a bit unlikely. Taking out 2-3 elite guys in BO5, without going to a 5 set war will require a lot of luck.

Re: raonic being overrated again i agree. I think Kyrgios is more overhyped among the two. People were predicting he would reach the final. Federer would have marmalized him.

 

[Sir Percival Blakeney]

Judging by their AO performance, yes and no, respectively.

 

[Winners or Errors]

Good point

Yes he COULD. But after today's match it seems a bit unlikely. Taking out 2-3 elite guys in BO5, without going to a 5 set war will require a lot of luck.

Re: raonic being overrated again i agree. I think Kyrgios is more overhyped among the two. People were predicting he would reach the final. Federer would have marmalized him.

Well, Raonic has become much more professional in his demeanor than Kyrgios, and his game seems to have become more smooth and easier to watch. Either that, or I'm just getting used to the big guy's game. Hopefully, his injury heals. I think he will be a real threat at the US Open and Wimbledon this year if he is healthy.

 

[falstaff78]

Well, Raonic has become much more professional in his demeanor than Kyrgios, and his game seems to have become more smooth and easier to watch. Either that, or I'm just getting used to the big guy's game. Hopefully, his injury heals. I think he will be a real threat at the US Open and Wimbledon this year if he is healthy.

Yes. This is what Jeff's data suggests. Although with a small sample. We need to see if this trend holds up for the rest of the year.

If it does I'm hoping for big things from raonic at sw19 and flushing