RG is a 2 horse race

[Halba]

I cant see any of the other players winning. this is a BO5 tournament. Guys like Rune, Tsitsipas, Medvedev are more comfortable in BO3 tournaments. Rune's fitness isnt good enough to last 7 BO5 matches. Tsitsipas backhand isnt good enough to win major titles. Medvedev worst surface is Clay. Zverev isnt even at top 20 level still. Thiem, who funnily enough is a tenth contender, is still at challenger level. Sinner- i dont rate this player at all, his trajectory is steadily down hill. Injuries and ill health have declined him. Other nextgen Guys like FAA or Korda are done in their early 20s, due to injuries. Rublev is a fairly generic ball basher/baseliner with little variety.

It'll boil down between Djokovic and Alcaraz. Alcaraz has more off days than the Big 3 did, and is fairly unpredictable, he can smash it out of the park one day, only to lose a total rank qualifier the next(!). Djokovic is nursing an elbow niggle, but he won the AO with a leg injury, so is used to playing with injury, however the elbow resulted in a form slump in 2017. Djokovic is the quintessential 'bo5' specialist however, with the best 5 sets(when the match gets to 5 sets) record in tennis history.

The main threats will always be the Qualifier type and clay court specialists that can have a good day. E.g. Marco Cecchinato or Marozsan type, not the above 'top' players. Hopefully the above two guys can avoid such guys in the draw, then they should progress to the final in a straightforward fashion(djok is #1 seed and alc the #2 seed so can only meet in the 'dream' final). Djokovic also needs to avoid Rune who is a bad match up for him, But Rune can also lose early on any bad day too.

Hoping for that dream final..

 

[Deleted member 798069]

Rune's too focused to lose now, its become his motto, he uses the word "focused" in interviews constantly.
Also, David Ferrer said Rune is the best mover he's ever seen on clay other than Nadal.
Rune may prefer hardcourt, but I think he'll win a truckload of French Opens, and he might as well begin now.

 

[Picmun]

 

[Halba]

Hasnt done much at GS level so far. best is a QF last year and lost to Ruud.
Some people over rate based on BO3 play.

 

[Picmun]

Hasnt done much at GS level so far. best is a QF last year and lost to Ruud.
Some people over rate based on BO3 play.

 

[Halba]

RG is a different court to rome, much higher bouncing, best of 5 sets format, Djokovic has won there twice and runner up so many times. what has rune done?

The draw is the key, obviously the first guy Novak will look at will be Rune, and hopefully can avoid #7 Rune in his half or quarter, if he can then he should make the finals, he was OK in Rome.

 

[FeroBango]

One day he goes on a 12 match streak this Alcaraz, only to lose to a zoning pro player. One year he goes 30 wins up only to lose 3 matches in that same time span.

 

[Picmun]

RG is a different court to rome, much higher bouncing, best of 5 sets format, Djokovic has won there twice and runner up so many times. what has rune done?

The draw is the key, obviously the first guy Novak will look at will be Rune, and hopefully can avoid #7 Rune in his half or quarter, if he can then he should make the finals, he was OK in Rome.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Would love a final between them! Let’s see what happens.

 

[James P]

I think Tsitsipas, Sinner, and Rune are serious threats, but yeah I'd rate Alcaraz and Djokovic as the two most likely champions.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

I think it’s a 5 horse race. I put alcaraz, Djokovic, tsitsipas, ruud and rune in same category. Then Meddy in the next tier just behind them as outsider.

 

[Tennfan123]

Rune, Ruud and Alcaraz makes 3.

 

[ND-13]

I think it’s a 5 horse race. I put alcaraz, Djokovic, tsitsipas, ruud and rune in same category. Then Meddy in the next tier just behind them as outsider.

Medvedev is a contender for RG ? I think Marco Cecchinato has better chances.

Ruud being a set from becoming world No 1 is the era we live in, so anything can happen , is it ?

 

[a10best]

Djokovic isn't 30 yrs old and Ultron. He's 36 and he's had a lot of nagging injuries.
He's not going to last in long 4 or 5 setters on red clay. He would need a sweetheart draw to win it.
His chances are better AT Wimbledon with short points..

I think fans make the mistake of believing their ATGs are still playing in their glory days.

 

[Krish872007]

Alcaraz's C game is his issue. He needs to learn how to pull out matches despite playing like crap, that's what will get him closer to the Big 3 and achieve concentrated dominance.

Most winning streaks in excess of 30 or 40 involve at least a couple of scrappy encounters

 

[BeatlesFan]

Hoping for that dream final..

The dream final is Alcaraz-Rune though I agree that Holger isn't mentally or physically ready to win a slam yet.

Djokovic has been in countless RG finals. The sport needs new names and faces to move forward.

 

[Sampras-Bruguera 1993]

I'll stay with Sinner/Djokovic being the 2 main favorites. Can't trust Rune in a best of 5 and Alcaraz remains a question mark as well from one round to the next especially if he has a draw of big hitters

 

[SonnyT]

I hope you're right, but don't think so. The finalists of Rome, Rune & Med, will have something to say.

 

[Airspun]

I’m taking cressy at 1000/1 odds

 

[BauerAlmeida]

I think it’s a 5 horse race. I put alcaraz, Djokovic, tsitsipas, ruud and rune in same category. Then Meddy in the next tier just behind them as outsider.

Sinner has better chance than Ruud and as good as Tsitsipas.

 

[T007]

RG is a different court to rome, much higher bouncing, best of 5 sets format, Djokovic has won there twice and runner up so many times. what has rune done?

The draw is the key, obviously the first guy Novak will look at will be Rune, and hopefully can avoid #7 Rune in his half or quarter, if he can then he should make the finals, he was OK in Rome.

Djokovic is lucky to have cakewalk draws everywhere in last 5 years. Only exception was USO 2021

 

[mike danny]

Djokovic is lucky to have cakewalk draws everywhere in last 5 years. Only exception was USO 2021

RG 2021 wasn't cakewalk.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Sinner has better chance than Ruud and as good as Tsitsipas.

To be fair I forgot about sinner. Yes, he deserves to be in mix as well.

 

[Milanez82]

The dream final is Alcaraz-Rune though I agree that Holger isn't mentally or physically ready to win a slam yet.

Djokovic has been in countless RG finals. The sport needs new names and faces to move forward.

The sport needs a proper passing of the torch

In this case a new contender beating Rafa or the next best thing Djokovic.

 

[socallefty]

Hard to think of Djokovic as one of the two favorites after the way he has looked all clay season.

 

[DSH]

I cant see any of the other players winning. this is a BO5 tournament. Guys like Rune, Tsitsipas, Medvedev are more comfortable in BO3 tournaments. Rune's fitness isnt good enough to last 7 BO5 matches. Tsitsipas backhand isnt good enough to win major titles. Medvedev worst surface is Clay. Zverev isnt even at top 20 level still. Thiem, who funnily enough is a tenth contender, is still at challenger level. Sinner- i dont rate this player at all, his trajectory is steadily down hill. Injuries and ill health have declined him. Other nextgen Guys like FAA or Korda are done in their early 20s, due to injuries. Rublev is a fairly generic ball basher/baseliner with little variety.

It'll boil down between Djokovic and Alcaraz. Alcaraz has more off days than the Big 3 did, and is fairly unpredictable, he can smash it out of the park one day, only to lose a total rank qualifier the next(!). Djokovic is nursing an elbow niggle, but he won the AO with a leg injury, so is used to playing with injury, however the elbow resulted in a form slump in 2017. Djokovic is the quintessential 'bo5' specialist however, with the best 5 sets(when the match gets to 5 sets) record in tennis history.

The main threats will always be the Qualifier type and clay court specialists that can have a good day. E.g. Marco Cecchinato or Marozsan type, not the above 'top' players. Hopefully the above two guys can avoid such guys in the draw, then they should progress to the final in a straightforward fashion(djok is #1 seed and alc the #2 seed so can only meet in the 'dream' final). Djokovic also needs to avoid Rune who is a bad match up for him, But Rune can also lose early on any bad day too.

Hoping for that dream final..

Joker won't make it past the semifinals.

 

[T007]

RG 2021 wasn't cakewalk.

Barring Nadal I don't think any other player had the mentality to beat Novak. You know how pathetic tsitsipas played in the last 3 sets of the Final. Musetti tanked in set 3 and 4 with the onset of some injury.

 

[mike danny]

Barring Nadal I don't think any other player had the mentality to beat Novak. You know how pathetic tsitsipas played in the last 3 sets of the Final. Musetti tanked in set 3 and 4 with the onset of some injury.

But Nadal saves it.

 

[DSH]

Barring Nadal I don't think any other player had the mentality to beat Novak. You know how pathetic tsitsipas played in the last 3 sets of the Final. Musetti tanked in set 3 and 4 with the onset of some injury.

 

[NeutralFan]

Did you forget Swagrev?

 

[Deleted member 798069]

Rune just eliminated the 2nd best player in the draw