Which statement is more absurd? part 3 series - for tennis and IB students (or former IB students)

[Megafanoftennis100]

OK, this thread is meant for people who are knowledgeable about both tennis as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) program.
Maybe the number of people who know all those three may be too rare on tt warehouse, but still, I am counting on the power of probabilities!

So, which statement is more absurd this time, the claim that Djokovic played better tennis in 2015 than in 2011 or the claim that the IB program is easier than the GCSE program?

 

[Sudacafan]

I am knowledgeable about absurdity, and I can't pick any poll option.

 

[Deleted member 758560]

first one is more absurd for sure

 

[Mivic]

Loool I did both GCSEs and the IB. I would say the first is more absurd, though I did much better in the IB than I did for my GCSEs (mainly because I couldn’t be arsed to study properly prior to sixth form). Keep ‘em coming OP.

 

[Kralingen]

Loool I did both GCSEs and the IB. I would say the first is more absurd, though I did much better in the IB than I did for my GCSEs (mainly because I couldn’t be arsed to study properly prior to sixth form). Keep ‘em coming OP.

The gifted kid to TTW pipeline

 

[Mivic]

The gifted kid to TTW pipeline

You’re aware of the IB? Lol. It gets kinda overhyped in terms of it’s difficulty tbh. It’s pretty manageable just like the vast majority of high school diplomas as long as you structure your workload properly and put a bit of effort in, but at the same time it’s true that it’s one of the more work intensive secondary education programmes out there. Still it doesn’t take an outstanding intellect to excel in. Far from it. Actually I don’t think there’s a single sixth form programme out there that will really put your critical thinking skills or fluid intelligence to the test all that much. It’s all about applying yourself so anyone can do well. But yeah, the IB is harder than something like A levels for sure, although it also depends on your subject choices since there’s quite a lot of freedom there relatively speaking when it comes to the IB.

 

[RS]

GSCE. The painful reminder.

 

[RS]

Is this a new series? Since you called it part 3.

 

[RS]

Ok so you must be in the UK. Same here.

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Loool I did both GCSEs and the IB. I would say the first is more absurd, though I did much better in the IB than I did for my GCSEs (mainly because I couldn’t be arsed to study properly prior to sixth form). Keep ‘em coming OP.

Did your GCSEs not go well?
And if given the chance, would you be willing to resit those exams to enhance your scores to more satisfying ones?
Just like, if Federer was given the chance to replay the 2019 Wimbledon final, I am sure he would take the opportunity in a heartbeat.

Because technically, you could resit the GCSE exams at any point in your life, as a private candidate. But of course, you would need to pay.

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Is this a new series? Since you called it part 3.

Yes indeed, it is

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Ok so you must be in the UK. Same here.

No, I did the IGCSEs, the international version of the GCSEs

 

[CoolCoolCool]

The second option is false, but calling it absurd is a stretch. It's not even remotely as nonsensical as saying 2023 Djoker > 2011 Djoker.

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

The second option is false, but calling it absurd is a stretch. It's not even remotely as nonsensical as saying 2023 Djoker > 2011 Djoker.

I agree. Although many would agree that Djoker was a more complete player in 2015 than he was in 2011, in 2011, I felt that he had this special aura of invincibility that allowed him to raise his level to a virtually unlimited degree. In 2011, he was seriously desperate to prove himself to the world, and he absolutely went all out (which, of course, had negative effects on his health at the end of the year).
In 2015, he already established himself as one of the best players of all time, so I think he felt much less pressure than he did in 2011. He didn't have much left to prove, so I felt that he was more conservative throughout the year. He also developed a better serve, better net game and better forehand, so there was no need for him to constantly go "Del-Potro mode" and destroy every single groundstroke to win points.

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

You’re aware of the IB? Lol. It gets kinda overhyped in terms of it’s difficulty tbh. It’s pretty manageable just like the vast majority of high school diplomas as long as you structure your workload properly and put a bit of effort in, but at the same time it’s true that it’s one of the more work intensive secondary education programmes out there. Still it doesn’t take an outstanding intellect to excel in. Far from it. Actually I don’t think there’s a single sixth form programme out there that will really put your critical thinking skills or fluid intelligence to the test all that much. It’s all about applying yourself so anyone can do well. But yeah, the IB is harder than something like A levels for sure, although it also depends on your subject choices since there’s quite a lot of freedom there relatively speaking when it comes to the IB.

I took four HL subjects: Mathematics AA, Physics, Chemistry and Economics, and two SL subjects: English Lang&Lit and German B
I ended up with a score of 45, and it was seriously difficult.

But then, the sad thing is, some people were trying to diminish my success by claiming that I had "easy-ass" subject choices and that my 45 is "not hard-earned". I thought my subject choices were really hard, but according to those people, they were some of the easiest. I felt slighted, but I wonder if they are correct.
Would this be as absurd (or true) as saying that "Djokovic benefitted from a super weak era, which allowed him to stat-pad many Slams and Masters titles"?
I wonder if they were being objective.

 

[RS]

I agree. Although many would agree that Djoker was a more complete player in 2015 than he was in 2011, in 2011, I felt that he had this special aura of invincibility that allowed him to raise his level to a virtually unlimited degree. In 2011, he was seriously desperate to prove himself to the world, and he absolutely went all out (which, of course, had negative effects on his health at the end of the year).
In 2015, he already established himself as one of the best players of all time, so I think he felt much less pressure than he did in 2011. He didn't have much left to prove, so I felt that he was more conservative throughout the year. He also developed a better serve, better net game and better forehand, so there was no need for him to constantly go "Del-Potro mode" and destroy every single groundstroke to win points.

Vast majority of people think 2011 Djokovic was significantly or way better than 2015 Djokovic in 3/4 slams and just slightly worse at one.

And that extends to a hypothetical H2H match too and any flip the competition scenario. If this is all true or false is another story though.

 

[CoolCoolCool]

I agree. Although many would agree that Djoker was a more complete player in 2015 than he was in 2011, in 2011, I felt that he had this special aura of invincibility that allowed him to raise his level to a virtually unlimited degree. In 2011, he was seriously desperate to prove himself to the world, and he absolutely went all out (which, of course, had negative effects on his health at the end of the year).
In 2015, he already established himself as one of the best players of all time, so I think he felt much less pressure than he did in 2011. He didn't have much left to prove, so I felt that he was more conservative throughout the year. He also developed a better serve, better net game and better forehand, so there was no need for him to constantly go "Del-Potro mode" and destroy every single groundstroke to win points.

Grass is the only surface on which he was better in 2015.

2015 Djoker vs 1st half of 2016 Djoker is pretty much the only comparison to which trying to give an answer is a waste of time.

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Vast majority of people think 2011 Djokovic was significantly than 2015 Djokovic in 3/4 slams and just slightly worse at one.

Hmm... "significantly" sounds like an overstatement.
AO - OK, I agree. Beating Federer (still in his 20s and the defending AO champion) in straight sets is a greater feat than being pushed to 5 by Wawrinka
RG - Only slightly better in 2011. I feel like 2015 Djokovic would have done better against 2011 Federer, due to better serve, which would make it harder for him to get broken or attacked so easily. Also, 2011 Djokovic would have lost to 2015 Wawrinka as well. Wawrinka was playing at an unreal level that day, only surpassed by peak Nadal on clay.
WB - 2015 better, agreed.
USO - Only slightly better in 2011. In 2015, the way Djoker completely demolished Cilic, the defending champion, in the semis, and how he beat Federer without getting pushed to 5, was very impressive. I understand that Fed was 34 years old at this time, but he was still playing at a very high level. Look at his demolition of Wawrinka in the semis and also how he had one of the most impressive runs ever at Cincinnati just a few weeks ago. Also, Fed's serve was better in 2015 than it was in 2011.

So overall, 2011 Djoker was slightly better in 2/4 (RG and USO), significantly better in 1/4 (AO), and slightly worse at 1/4 (WB)

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Grass is the only surface on which he was better in 2015.

2015 Djoker vs 1st half of 2016 Djoker is pretty much the only comparison to which trying to give an answer is a waste of time.

AO - 2016 (except for the 4th round)
RG - 2016 slightly
WB - 2015 without a shadow of doubt
USO - 2015 without a shadow of doubt

 

[Megafanoftennis100]

Also, Djoker is not like Rafa, who is willing to sacrifice his body and health just to play at his highest possible level.
If anything, Novak has proven to the world that some things are above tennis trophies to him. Look at what happened last year. He was willing to sacrifice 2 GS and 4 Masters titles on his favorite surface because his principles of decision-making for his body were more important to him than winning trophies. It always has been. All he had to do was take the jab and we would have won so much more, but he refused.
Therefore, I can understand why he played more conservatively in 2015. He wanted to sustain his health and avoid experiencing the dangerous side effects on his body again (like he did at the end of 2011). But if his mentality were like Nadal's (desperate to win no matter what happens to his body), then I am sure we would have witnessed another 2011-like performance in 2015, but followed by another major injury, this time, possibly a career-ending one.

 

[Mivic]

Did your GCSEs not go well?
And if given the chance, would you be willing to resit those exams to enhance your scores to more satisfying ones?
Just like, if Federer was given the chance to replay the 2019 Wimbledon final, I am sure he would take the opportunity in a heartbeat.

Because technically, you could resit the GCSE exams at any point in your life, as a private candidate. But of course, you would need to pay.

They didn’t go badly per se, they were more than good enough for my purposes at the time. But yeah, I did much better in the IB. Secondary school exam results including IB results are kind of irrelevant anyway as long as they get you through to the next step in your education or whatever else you’re planning on doing. My GCSE results were good enough to get me into the IB and my IB results were good enough to get me into the uni I wanted with the desired course so that’s all that really mattered to me. As for the fact that you got 45, that’s obviously very good lol. Your subject choices seem pretty tough as well so I have no idea what those people are talking about, although I don’t know what Math AA is. Back in the day we just had Math HL and SL (as well as studies for those less mathematically inclined) and I did the former, which seemed fairly difficult at the time but definitely not as bad in hindsight. The main obstacle was that the papers were pretty long. I think they’ve made them shorter now because a lot of students were complaining about it at the time.

 

[octobrina10]

Also, Djoker is not like Rafa, who is willing to sacrifice his body and health just to play at his highest possible level.
If anything, Novak has proven to the world that some things are above tennis trophies to him....

Djoko has proven to the world that he is willing to do whatever to outmanoveur the entry requirements of a foreign country ...