Pat Cash : Are Rafael Nadal Nadal and Novak Djokovic boring?

[Wim]

The Federer-Nadal matches have the same old play patterns...High bouncing ball to Federer's single handed backhanded to draw an error or weak shot...

With Novak the match is very balanced and neither has an advantage. Their matches come down to how the conditions are and who is in better shape on that day...

The problem is that Nole isn't very popular. Many find his play a bit boring since he doesn't have any very specific mind-blowing shots.
Rafa has his spin, Federer bh. Beautiful.
Maybe it is something to do with the personalities? Don't know.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/09/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-serena-williams-espn-stars

 

[Bdarb]

The problem is that Nole isn't very popular. Many find his play a bit boring since he doesn't have any very specific mind-blowing shots.
Rafa has his spin, Federer bh. Beautiful.
Maybe it is something to do with the personalities? Don't know.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/09/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-serena-williams-espn-stars

Djokovic is like a robot to me. His strokes are classic, and I want to like him. But he just bores me to pieces..

 

[Wim]

Djokovic is like a robot to me. His strokes are classic, and I want to like him. But he just bores me to pieces..

Specially sitting court side.... Even worse than on tv. The sliding he does is just an odd thing, nothing really powerful.
Rafa Roger are much better watching live with good seats.

 

[Omega_7000]

Djokovic is like a robot to me. His strokes are classic, and I want to like him. But he just bores me to pieces..

I think the same way about Nadal...No variety...Only high topspin shots. That's how the game is played now...At least Novak is more aggressive between the two.

Murray has more variety but lacks a good personality.

 

[Wim]

I think the same way about Nadal...No variety...Only high topspin shots. That's how the game is played now...At least Novak is more aggressive between the two.

Murray has more variety but lacks a good personality.

So why isn't Novak more popular? he has been number 1 for 2 years now, and people hardly know about him.

 

[Omega_7000]

So why isn't Novak more popular? he has been number 1 for 2 years now, and people hardly know about him.

He will be more popular when he wins more slams (or get closer to) than the ones he is chasing...His time will come...

 

[Wim]

He will be more popular when he wins more slams (or get closer to) than the ones he is chasing...His time will come...

He has to hurry then He is only 11 months younger than Rafa.
I bet my liver on that Andy will become far more popular than Djoker. It has just started here in UK. People love him more and more now when he shows more of his funny ant intelligent personality. He is the funniest guy in the top now for sure. And he is respected from the other players..that helps a lot.

 

[degrease]

Slower surfaces and polyester have changed the game to wat it is today for better or worse. It is the reason the nadals djokovics and murrays have such similar styles and traits. FootSpeed and super spin are THE most successful way to play the current game.

 

[degrease]

It is an oncourt personality thing. Fed was/is like the suarve artist. Nadal burst on scene like some red indian,sleeveless warrior machine..murray and novak dont really stir such emotions.

 

[tennissportsrog]

Yes, Boring as hell.

 

[Start da Game]

i don't care about djokovic but pat cash can bet his arse that any slam final not involving nadal will see a drop in viewership......nadal missed the wimbledon, us open and australian championships in 2012-13......everybody including nadal's haters were missing nadal......

what federer, murray and djokovic were doing on court wasn't sufficient to keep the fans just as interested......nadal plays a unique brand of tennis and needless to talk about his fire, hunger and magic on court......

 

[godtennis]

Pat Cash

 

[Sentinel]

Obviously compared to suresh, Nadal and Djoko (and even Feder) are certainly boring. But otherwise, i think they are very interesting.
The comparison to the POobah is a tad unfair.

 

[Zoolander]

Obviously compared to suresh, Nadal and Djoko (and even Feder) are certainly boring. But otherwise, i think they are very interesting.
The comparison to the POobah is a tad unfair.

Wow i could sit here and watch Sureshs badly mis-hit lollypopping groundies all day. Poetry in motion, that man amoung men .
Like a graceful gazelle, a crouching tiger.

 

[Sentinel]

Wow i could sit here and watch Sureshs badly mis-hit lollypopping groundies all day. Poetry in motion, that man amoung men .
Like a graceful gazelle, a crouching tiger.

Welcome to the Official Suresh Tribute Thread / Club. You've earned a free life-time membership
Congratulations !



@stringertom

 

[zagor]

Pat Cash

Is this the tenth thread you resurrected in the span of a day? Must be a long time lurker I guess.

 

[gut wax]

Wow i could sit here and watch Sureshs badly mis-hit lollypopping groundies all day. Poetry in motion, that man amoung men .
Like a graceful gazelle, a crouching tiger.

. . . a lunging Walrus

 

[ProStaff forever]

Novak will be the dream student of every teaching coach: textbook strokes (except for that dodgy smash), immaculate food work, all court coverage and mobility, mentally solid. But world no.1? His tennis lacks soul for the entertainment of the game.

 

[stringertom]

Wow i could sit here and watch Sureshs badly mis-hit lollypopping groundies all day. Poetry in motion, that man amoung men .
Like a graceful gazelle, a crouching tiger.

The Poobah has mastered crouching, just not on the tennis court hopefully!

 

[Sentinel]

The Poobah has mastered crouching, just not on the tennis court hopefully!

Sometimes the "Like" button is not enough. There should be a "Loved this poast" button, too.

 

[Sentinel]

Is this the tenth thread you resurrected in the span of a day? Must be a long time lurker I guess.

zagor, do you remember, there was once a poster with God in his name, who took the forum by storm a few years back. Created a bunch of crazy threads. Got banned pretty fast. Oh YES .... GODERER. Was that it ?

 

[stringertom]

Sometimes the "Like" button is not enough. There should be a "Loved this poast" button, too.

Thank you! Tip jar is over in the corner.

Here's a kernel that may earn a bit more...I've heard dung courts are prevalent in India; did Crouching Poobah schedule his recent pilgrimage to Chennai to assist in re-dressing those courts?

 

[zagor]

zagor, do you remember, there was once a poster with God in his name, who took the forum by storm a few years back. Created a bunch of crazy threads. Got banned pretty fast. Oh YES .... GODERER. Was that it ?

Yeah I think I remember. Regardless, it is sad to see the quality of this place being dragged down by troll accounts.

 

[morten]

The artistery and cat and mouse game of strategy and using the whole court is gone. I used to have to play after watching tennis before.. Not anymore. .

 

[IamGroot]

Djokovic is not boring, especially when you have seen him live. His ROS is breathtaking, as is his backhand. His forehand is a monster, and his movement is jaw dropping. He has the perfect balance of aggressive and defensive. His sliding backhand is astonishing to watch.

Nadal is boring to me. I have seen him live and I felt the same. He always plays the same way and is way too reliant on opponents UE. He rarely plays with any kind of variety, just baseline stuff but not even aggressively. His forehand is good when he unleashes it, but that's not often. His backhand is a very dull and safe shot, in fact none of his shots are anything special.

But it just proves how subjective this is. I don't understand why anyone would find Nole or Andy dull to watch but some do, the same way Rafa fans probably don't understand the criticism of his game. Each to their own.

 

[morten]

Tennis may not have lost popularity yet but i think that has to do with markering and hyped superstars like Nadal and Federer... But in my opinion the actual game is so much more one dimentional now and i dont think people in the stands enjoy the actual play as much as before. Tennis has become easier and more powerfull but less of everything else. . Like a grindfest, sort of goalkeepers in a penalty shoot out in a hit and run kind of way. In fact i even think the players get bored too.. and some of the real natural talents ala Mac and Fed may quit the sport before they get mature.. As many other have suggested i think speeding up the courts, even bring restrictions to the equipment(max 90sq.in and ban poly) is the only way to go.. Everything now favours the baseliner and kids dont learn much more.. i am afraid tennis will suffer greatly if nothing is done. .

 

[norcal]

Is that really Suresh?

 

[Sentinel]

Reminds me of the 'Nadal finds Sampras et al boring, not fun' thread

Thank you! Tip jar is over in the corner.

Here's a kernel that may earn a bit more...I've heard dung courts are prevalent in India; did Crouching Poobah schedule his recent pilgrimage to Chennai to assist in re-dressing those courts?

There were some technical and aesthetic issues. Firstly, the ball did not bounce at all. Second, the Duke and Duchess of Chennai could not take the smell. Balls shanked into the crowd created an uproar with the very conservative upper-class Brahmin crowd. The practice of hitting balls into the crowd after the game did not go too well. Spectators stampeded out of the arena to avoid them. No one signed up as ball boys.

 

[6august]

It is quite boring, Tsonga, Stan and Federer are exciting players.

But what Wawa does all the time is punching from the baseline. No tatic, no strategy... Does hitting hard mean exciting?

If yes, F. Gonzalez is much entertaining than king Roger.