CarlitosWay
Semi-Pro
Did Novak face "bad" competition from 2016 to 2024 as well?
Indian Wells 2026 - Men's Singles Discussion
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tennis24x7
Hall of Fame
All 3 are not that solid so I am surprised that you are surprised. Infact I won't be surprised if all 3 exit in Miami too. Especially Bublik and Fritz.Wow, THREE top #10 players out in the 3rd round: Fritz, De Minaur and Bublik to Michelsen, Norrie and Hijikata respectively. Who would ever have expected any of them to lose to those 3 guys??
Lack of water or something in the water???
tennis24x7
Hall of Fame
Not all hair transplanters are good. He should have gone to the one Musk uses.
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
The problem with transplants is you have to keep getting them done. Your hair continues to fall out. And you need to be on a Fin + Min combo which can have hormonal side effects.
Incognito
Legend
Incognito
Legend
Is the pope catholic?
Genie Of the Bank
Hall of Fame
EddieChang
Semi-Pro
he was ok he still beat djokovic twice in slams and the five setters against med? Nadal lost so much speed but he made up with his offensive tools. Alcaraz doesnt even need to do that
EddieChang
Semi-Pro
so what exactly is a good competition is 2000 to 2007 good competition. Is like 2012 the only year in your mind a good compeititon lmao
Tallawah Tennis
Professional
Yah man, Carlitos! What a display of seizing the initiative! He's got gears aplenty!
Enjoyed the match, excellent stuff from Rinderkneck in the 1st set / 1st game of the 2nd set, glimpses thereafter of his abilities. Dude can serve/volley; approach to intimidate at the net and has a powerful, attacking game. Not one of the walking dead. Like his demeanour. As for Carlitos, fascinating to see him adjust, reset and go for the momentum shift when needed. Seems the dude decided after getting broken in the first game of set 2 that it was time for business, allowing AK only 4 further games. Wowsers!
Novak continues his quest to astound all and sundry. Dude is enjoying his continued status as a top player, and enjoying showing the bright young things how it’s done. It isn’t just the dude’s unmatched historic achievements, but his current relevance on the tour. Into the last 16 again at IW. Noteworthy that having won a 3 setter in the singles. Novak went on to beat a seasoned, top dubs team with Tsitsipas, looking like he relished the extra court time. Just amazing. Kovacevic played very well and put up an excellent contest. Haven’t taken much notice of him before, but he caught my attention in this match.
Michelsen got the better of Fritz, watched some of it. Outcome arose because TF was more error prone than AM, and AM served better. The break in the 3rd game gave AM the edge in the 1st set, TF has a set point in the 2nd set tb and had a serve to close it out but…..
Upcoming matches of interest: Fils / FAA; Tien / Davidovich; Jannik / Fonseca; Carlitos / Ruud; Novak/Draper.
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Pheasant
Legend
Alcaraz adjusts well when it comes to the return of serve and court-positioning. It’s the sign of a great champion. He’s more than just a guy that has rocket sneakers, 110 mph FH smashes, 135-140 mph serves, incredible instincts at the net, and an ATG drop shot. He makes incredibly good adjustments. No lead is safe against this guy. He solves his opponents’ play during the match.
Another thing that he does that I love is that when he’s on the run, he will go all offense on his return shot. He’d rather go for the offensive shot that gives him a shot of winning the point instead of the defensive return that he knows that will allow his opponent to gain a massive court-position advantage.
There’s honestly no where to go against this kid. He can out-grind anybody, out-hit anybody, out-finesse anybody, and out-smart anybody when he’s on. An announcer said late in the match that Alcaraz had won 80% of his drop shot points. This kid will figure out the player during a match, then level up 2-3 notches.
Another thing that he does that I love is that when he’s on the run, he will go all offense on his return shot. He’d rather go for the offensive shot that gives him a shot of winning the point instead of the defensive return that he knows that will allow his opponent to gain a massive court-position advantage.
There’s honestly no where to go against this kid. He can out-grind anybody, out-hit anybody, out-finesse anybody, and out-smart anybody when he’s on. An announcer said late in the match that Alcaraz had won 80% of his drop shot points. This kid will figure out the player during a match, then level up 2-3 notches.
Incognito
Legend
No, but by the time Rafa and Novak hit 30, I expected some new people winning at least some of those majors.
Like how Safin, Hewitt Ferrero, Fed took over after Sampras-Agassi. Without Federer, Aggassi could have won 1-2 USOs in his mid 30s. But that generation shut him out at slam competition. But instead of Safin, Hewitt, Fed, Ferrero you got guys like Berretini, Zverev, Tsitsipas etc.
Incognito
Legend
I don’t know if true, but he didn’t lose a point on serve in that third set against Rinderknech.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Fils looking pretty comfortable in winning the first set against FAA 6-3.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
FAA seems oddly pensive. Fils up a break in the second already.
KennyoFatoBoiyo
Semi-Pro
Yessir.
Alcaraz is the master of executing multiple game plans within the same match.
He has so many tools at his arsenal which allows him to develop multiple game plans that he can fall back on when plan a isn't working. Not too many players out there can do the same.
He's the best.....AROUND! ( Cue the cheesy Karate Kid music)
KennyoFatoBoiyo
Semi-Pro
Fils is legit.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
FAA broke back and now held his serve. On serve in the second set; FAA up 5-4.
Pheasant
Legend
I read that somewhere too!
NachoGPT
Professional
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Fun tiebreak. Some bad misses (as well as understandable misses), but still fun.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Excited about Fils and Fonseca (finally, based basically on just this tournament), and Tien, and some others - all young and talented, all fun to watch. But, can they do anything against Alcaraz and Sinner - the eternal question. Fils got beatdown by Alcaraz a few weeks ago, but is is still coming back and Alcaraz did play incredibly well, so there's that. Not that players have to be top level Slam champions for me to enjoy them or think they're great players. But it would be nice to have at least a dash of uncertainty in the mix and somone else who can win Slams.
The transplanted hair does not fall out
Rosstour
Talk Tennis Guru
Right but the real hair does
Rattie
G.O.A.T.
This is a match thread!
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Medvedev said he thinks the courts are faster this year.
Has anyone caught them showing the CPI number during the broadcasts? Because that is the definitive market.
Has anyone caught them showing the CPI number during the broadcasts? Because that is the definitive market.
sortof
Hall of Fame
Fritz´ decline began after last years Wimbledon and there seems to be as yet no light at the end of the tunnel for him.Wow, THREE top #10 players out in the 3rd round: Fritz, De Minaur and Bublik to Michelsen, Norrie and Hijikata respectively. Who would ever have expected any of them to lose to those 3 guys??
YellowFedBetter
Hall of Fame
Not as much of an atrocity as Fognini having as many as Delpo.
Vincent-C
Legend
Hear, hear!
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - as a Tiafoe fan. He has the WORST "leave-dar" of any player I've ever seen. He was in position to hit the volley on Zverev's passing shot, possibly get back to deuce and avoid the break, but he let it go thinking it was going out. Sure it clipped the line; it's not like it was six inches in - but he just can't leave that in that situation. Though in his head, he probably thought it was going to be comfortably out. He's done similar many times before.
NachoGPT
Professional
Fognini is much better than Norrie
Winners or Errors
Legend
Flipping Felix... Every time I'm ready to see him take off he goes on a walkabout. Yes, I know Fils is capable, but Felix should be winning these matches.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Seems to me that Zverev is a little slower at changing direction than he used to be. I think he's still fine once he's off and running but those twitch muscles seem a little past their very best to me.
CarlitosWay
Semi-Pro
Tien will probably lose also. The Americans have been garbage.
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Crazy point there between Zed and Foe.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
Michaelson, Tien, and Tiafoe went further than their seed (or non-seed in the case of Michaelson). That may not be spectacular, but that's not garbage.
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Hitman
Bionic Poster
Why does it surprise you? It's Felix and this is outdoor tennis.
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