FAA Dark Horse for Wimbledon

Meles

Bionic Poster
Thought I'd done thread on this, but must have only been a post.

Here is the case for Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon:
1. Number One are his impressive hard court stats at IW and Miami where he should have made the final after choking serving out both sets in SF against of all people the great returner, Isner.:sneaky: This robbed us off a valuable Federe-FAA encounter.:cry: These hard courts stats should translate well to grass.
2. FAA had high ace counts at some clay tournaments implying an incredibly precise serve. That kind of serving will work big time at Wimbledon.
3. Felix is one of the most intelligent players probably ever at his age. Despite no grass since winning Wimby junior doubles with Shapo, he's up to the challenge.

I can now add to these initial thoughts that at Stuttgart his forehand is a winner machine. So despite not having the power and speed yet on serve, FAA is a legit contender at Wimbledon. His ATP race ranking of 12o_O alone makes a strong case as well.
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Benben245

Banned
Your prediction makes more sense as some implication of equestrian race relations than it does suggesting Felix will win Wimbledon.
 

Goof

Professional
Tomorrow will be great test against a former Wimbledon finalist. Beating Dustin Brown on grass today is a good start. It's also nice that he's very likely to be seeded at Wimbledon.
 
Tomorrow will be great test against a former Wimbledon finalist. Beating Dustin Brown on grass today is a good start. It's also nice that he's very likely to be seeded at Wimbledon.

Dustin chocked that match away. He tightened when serving for it first by missing first serve several times, and then DFing in crucial moment.

:cool:
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
FAA is the new Nadal (the closest we've seen anyway).

what makes him good on grass, at least good enough to win some matches against good grass court players, is his athleticism, heavy strokes, and surprisingly effective serve.

but he has strains of inconsistency, where he seems to just try and hit the ball harder and harder.

if he is going to live up to his true potential, he is going to have to develop more safety in his game, ala Nadal, he already has the physicality and disruption type of game.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Maybe in 2019 FAA might be a favorite for Wimbledon. Now? At 18? Meles... come on and be serious. ;)
30 aces against Dreddy and 16 today and under pressure say yes.;) Felix won 52.9% of points on IW/Miami swing. It learns fast.:eek:
 

Sport

G.O.A.T.
FAA is the new Nadal (the closest we've seen anyway).

what makes him good on grass, at least good enough to win some matches against good grass court players, is his athleticism, heavy strokes, and surprisingly effective serve.

but he has strains of inconsistency, where he seems to just try and hit the ball harder and harder.

if he is going to live up to his true potential, he is going to have to develop more safety in his game, ala Nadal, he already has the physicality and disruption type of game.
Lol no. He is not the new Nadal.

Can Felix win a Grand Slam at age 19?

That's what I thought.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Lol no. He is not the new Nadal.

Can Felix win a Grand Slam at age 19?

That's what I thought.
People that think this need to understand how a slam works. It takes 7 straight matches against the top players in the world on a massive stage in best of 5. He is not even a top 15 choice at wimbledon for me.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
People that think this need to understand how a slam works. It takes 7 straight matches against the top players in the world on a massive stage in best of 5. He is not even a top 15 choice at wimbledon for me.
Let me guess you've got Dimitrov, Tsitsipas, and Kyrgios ahead of him.:sneaky:
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Let me guess you've got Dimitrov, Tsitsipas, and Kyrgios ahead of him.:sneaky:

Fed, Rafa, Djoker, Raonic, cilic, Anderson, Tsits, medvedev, khachanov, isner, wawa, querrey, yes dimitrov, gasquet, Opelka, Tsonga, RBA.

Okay, maybe he has a better chance then a few of those, but until he shows minor success at a slam, I stick by my answer.
 

mightyrick

Legend
Aliassime is not even close to Nadal. And on this surface, he is nowhere near as special as Boris Becker. Becker was the closest thing ever to a grass prodigy in the history of tennis.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Fed, Rafa, Djoker, Raonic, cilic, Anderson, Tsits, medvedev, khachanov, isner, wawa, querrey, yes dimitrov, gasquet, Opelka, Tsonga, RBA.

Okay, maybe he has a better chance then a few of those, but until he shows minor success at a slam, I stick by my answer.
I'm going to do my grasserer rankings thread probably after this weekend so I'm reserving judgement on just where to rank players.

FAA's forehand is a beast on grass and 30 aces in one match last week. Kyrgios, Dimitrov, and Tsits could not break him this week (he's unbroken so far). I doubt Opelka, Raonic, Isner, Wawa, Querrey, Dimitrov, and even Tsonga can break FAA enough to beat him. Anderson and Cilic are very suspect after this week. Gasquet lol, NO though Reechard still has some game but his back will prevent him from going deep on grass. You must be suffering from Frauderista derangement syndrome to have FAA and Tsonga so high right now, but they both definitely have game on grass and lets not forget Goffin who has improved his serve game since his infamous collapse at Wimbledon against Raonic in 2016.:D Your forgot Bendych too.

Berrittini and FAA are pretty much top ten on grass at this stage (an easy call on FAA who is 10 in the ATP race after playing heavily on his worst surface, clay). Unless Medvedev's serve comes out of the trash can, these guys could be 4th and 5th. You need serve efficiency on grass (and all slams) and they have it in spades. They both face one more test before making finals again this week.
 

JustBob

Hall of Fame
A little green to win Wimbledon, but I woudn't want to face him. One match, he can surprise anyone.

But you don't have to sell me on Felix, I've been watching him since 2014, when he joined the National Tennis Center in Montreal.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
I'm going to do my grasserer rankings thread probably after this weekend so I'm reserving judgement on just where to rank players.

FAA's forehand is a beast on grass and 30 aces in one match last week. Kyrgios, Dimitrov, and Tsits could not break him this week (he's unbroken so far). I doubt Opelka, Raonic, Isner, Wawa, Querrey, Dimitrov, and even Tsonga can break FAA enough to beat him. Anderson and Cilic are very suspect after this week. Gasquet lol, NO though Reechard still has some game but his back will prevent him from going deep on grass. You must be suffering from Frauderista derangement syndrome to have FAA and Tsonga so high right now, but they both definitely have game on grass and lets not forget Goffin who has improved his serve game since his infamous collapse at Wimbledon against Raonic in 2016.:D Your forgot Bendych too.

Berrittini and FAA are pretty much top ten on grass at this stage (an easy call on FAA who is 10 in the ATP race after playing heavily on his worst surface, clay). Unless Medvedev's serve comes out of the trash can, these guys could be 4th and 5th. You need serve efficiency on grass (and all slams) and they have it in spades. They both face one more test before making finals again this week.
Look, being from Montreal, I want nothing but the best for this guy, but I need to see results in big tourneys first. Every guy I listed has done something in a big tourney and most at Wimbledon.

Eventually he will rock Wimbledon, just not yet.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Aliassime is not even close to Nadal. And on this surface, he is nowhere near as special as Boris Becker. Becker was the closest thing ever to a grass prodigy in the history of tennis.
Boris has technology change (graphite) on his side ushering out wool pants era.

And Dull on grass at 3 months older than FAA:
25/2005 R64 Wimbledon Grass Gilles Muller Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4

FAA >>>> Nadal on grass at this stage of his career.;)
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Boris has technology change (graphite) on his side ushering out wool pants era.

And Dull on grass at 3 months older than FAA:
25/2005 R64 Wimbledon Grass Gilles Muller Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4

FAA >>>> Nadal on grass at this stage of his career.;)
So we are saying maybe 2 Wimbledon then... :-D
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Look, being from Montreal, I want nothing but the best for this guy, but I need to see results in big tourneys first. Every guy I listed has done something in a big tourney and most at Wimbledon.

Eventually he will rock Wimbledon, just not yet.
Queens/Halle week is now a virtual Masters 1000. Wins Queens and then what?

Seems like you might be guilty of not watching FAA on grass?;)
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Queens/Halle week is now a virtual Masters 1000. Wins Queens and then what?

Seems like you might be guilty of not watching FAA on grass?;)
Watched him play NK... and Tsits, but I have seen plenty of him over the years. He is going to be great, but show me in the slams.
 

mightyrick

Legend
Boris has technology change (graphite) on his side ushering out wool pants era.

And Dull on grass at 3 months older than FAA:
25/2005 R64 Wimbledon Grass Gilles Muller Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4

FAA >>>> Nadal on grass at this stage of his career.;)

I wasn't comparing Nadal on Grass. Just the prodigy status of Nadal to FAA. Someone said FAA on grass is like Nadal. And I don't think he is remotely close to that.

Regarding Becker... Becker on grass was what Nadal was on clay. Becker was the perfect grass player. His serve was just as devastating as Sampras'. His serve and volley game was unmatched. He had the perfect body frame for grass. It wasn't technology. You need to watch his matches back in 85 and 86.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
I wasn't comparing Nadal on Grass. Just the prodigy status of Nadal to FAA. Someone said FAA on grass is like Nadal. And I don't think he is remotely close to that.

Regarding Becker... Becker on grass was what Nadal was on clay. Becker was the perfect grass player. His serve was just as devastating as Sampras'. His serve and volley game was unmatched. He had the perfect body frame for grass. It wasn't technology. You need to watch his matches back in 85 and 86.
I saw Kevin Curren get robbed after doing all the dirty work in 1985. Becker had more time with graphite rackets when he came up. That is just a huge tech advantage. I'd say graphite even helped courier, agassi, chang, sampras et al as they did not develop their games with wood rackets.

Of course now with the grueling poly baseline game, serve and stamina are heavily favored on tour making it very, very hard to break in.

What FAA is doing at his age on grass with the modern reality is just beyond a young Becker's capability. FAA is close to exploding on tour like Nadal did in early 2005 on his favorite surface. Watch and learn through the US Open.;):p
 
If his body holds up through three rounds, I can see him making the round of 16. I expect him to be worn out if he gets there, though. I agree with @Meles that his game is looking good this year.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
Watched him play NK... and Tsits, but I have seen plenty of him over the years. He is going to be great, but show me in the slams.
The number one thing holding back the youngerer players at slams is serve game (and stamina off grass more so). FAA has enough serve efficiency and all the other intangibles to do something great. If he plays Djoko right now in a Final, probably not, but that fanciful dream is 3.5 weeks in the Future and FAA is improving rapidly. I would never go out on limb like this if it were not for his serve plus the more benign grass slam stamina requirements. He mows through serve games and he can go very deep at Wimbledon and then we'll see what happens as his game gets betterer by the day. And remember he played clay last year and no grass. He's also learning at an alarming rate, not just physically improving before our eyes.

I'm probably out over my skis, but if I save you from watching a bunch of Querrey matches then I've done something.:p
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
If his body holds up through three rounds, I can see him making the round of 16. I expect him to be worn out if he gets there, though. I agree with @Meles that his game is looking good this year.
Just played five sets Thursday and came out and slammed Tsits the next day. We'll see if he peters out at Queens where its most likely to happen. I'd have agreed before the Tsits win.
 

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
Thought I'd done thread on this, but must have only been a post.

I posted he was my top pick for Wimby and had a bit of discussion about him, so that might be it.

The biggest challenge is still maturity of play and pressure. He is getting better though and I still think this is a breakout year for him if he avoids injury. Wimby is definitely doable.

Good points [emoji1360]




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I don't see anything wrong with calling him a dark horse candidate. I'd be totally shocked if he won the whole thing, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if - with the right seeding - he snuck into the quarters. Sooner or later, the guy WILL have his breakout performance at a slam. In fact, I suspect it will be sooner rather than later. And Wimbledon is as good a place as any. It's probably the least taxing slam from a physical standpoint, and clearly he's well at ease on the grass. So why not?
 

mightyrick

Legend
I saw Kevin Curren get robbed after doing all the dirty work in 1985. Becker had more time with graphite rackets when he came up. That is just a huge tech advantage. I'd say graphite even helped courier, agassi, chang, sampras et al as they did not develop their games with wood rackets.

Of course now with the grueling poly baseline game, serve and stamina are heavily favored on tour making it very, very hard to break in.

What FAA is doing at his age on grass with the modern reality is just beyond a young Becker's capability. FAA is close to exploding on tour like Nadal did in early 2005 on his favorite surface. Watch and learn through the US Open.;):p

LOL. Oh my god. I really wish we could somehow put posts "on the shelf" so we could remember to resurrect them in the future. I mean some of your predictions and statements are just so laughable. I mean... you surpass any known fanboy-ism.

FAA is beyond Becker and he's going to explode like Nadal in 2005. Oh my god... ahaha... ahahhahahahaha.....

giphy.gif
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
LOL. Oh my god. I really wish we could somehow put posts "on the shelf" so we could remember to resurrect them in the future. I mean some of your predictions and statements are just so laughable. I mean... you surpass any known fanboy-ism.

FAA is beyond Becker and he's going to explode like Nadal in 2005. Oh my god... ahaha... ahahhahahahaha.....

giphy.gif
Honestly, it is not that crazy what @Meles is saying. He is just off by a few years.

In a couple years there will be no one to stop him on grass. He WILL have the full Arsenal to dominate in a FEW years. I could see him winning 5 maybe 6 Wimbledon. But it's not this year.
 

EasyGoing

Professional
Dear Lord, the only thing the OP got right in the title is "dark" :)

He barely scraped past Nick and Dustin, got a W/O against Rao, and lost to Berettini. A seasoned grass player will probably have his way with him.

Before the cheerleading squad gets their panties in a bunch, I'd love to see Felix win the whole thing, but he is years away from doing that. Second week would be an awesome result at this stage. And yes, I have seen a bunch of his matches.
 
I don't see how he will be the favorite against an average grass specialist plenty of whom wake up when grass season starts, given his standard aggressive baseliner game style. Can easily lose to a guy like Stackhovsky or a qualifier
 
Lol no. He is not the new Nadal.

Can Felix win a Grand Slam at age 19?

That's what I thought.
Yes, he can. He has been consistently beating top 20 and top 10 players and should be able to compete with the very best. He isn't a favourite by any means, but a contender, very much so.
 

Meles

Bionic Poster
LOL. Oh my god. I really wish we could somehow put posts "on the shelf" so we could remember to resurrect them in the future. I mean some of your predictions and statements are just so laughable. I mean... you surpass any known fanboy-ism.

FAA is beyond Becker and he's going to explode like Nadal in 2005. Oh my god... ahaha... ahahhahahahaha.....

giphy.gif
Does this mean you have FAA at less than 6 slams?
 
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