Your "dark-horses" for the US Open?

I miss the innocence of being a new tennis fan. This was maybe 4 years max after I started watching.

Now it's just:

5g6xhr.jpg
"Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!"

Famous Last words LOL...
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
"Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!"

Famous Last words LOL...

Honestly? Taking off the meme goggles for a second - there are legitimately a lot of intelligent people here. When we can cut out the tribalism nonsense for 5 minutes it is there to be seen in spades. I've learned a lot of useful real world things here.

I highlighted much of it here:

Ever since I joined TTW, I've slowly descended into madness in real life. I will see things that aren't there. Like numbers, geometric means, complex diagrams written...on chalkboards that are empty. I will see weak era mugs at the store have the audacity to be in line paying for stuff before me. I see the ghost of Christmas past (who looks like a young version of PETE), the ghost of Christmas present (Grumpy Bearded Federer) and the ghost of Christmas future (Alexander Zverev in nothing but Tommy Hilfiger and a golden chain). Nobody else sees these people, but I talk to them nonetheless. They tell me things. Important things.

My public speaking skills? Gone. Everything needs to be presented in meme formatting and meme templates. All I can think about are goats, hypothetical matches (think previous era versus current era etc), technology advancements and I feel a constant, crippling apprehension that Murray's bionic hip will fail to install the proper firmware updates to keep him competitive.

When I shut my eyes, all I can think about is TTW. What threads am I missing? What posts of utter genius are being crafted at the very moment I lazily try to sleep? How will we show through complex mathematics that Federer is the 5th or 6th best of his generation, far less of all time?

I peruse the forum morning, noon, and night, eager to uncover the countless gems and pearls of wisdom waiting to be unlocked. TTW is the greatest MMORPG I have ever taken part in. Amazing graphics, gameplay, and lore. The developers are constantly keeping us on our toes with evolving content.

Thank you, TTW.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
LOL; when I joined in 2017, I thought that "Talk Tennis Guru" meant that someone must be very knowledgeable/respected. Had no idea it was based purely on the post count.
Just like age, people ascribe clout to a number you get for free
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Hey guys, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself before making this thread being as that this is my first post and I am excited to be here.

My name is Matt, and by my username you can see my two favorite players on tour :).

Just wanted to say hi and that I thought this looked like a great forum as an observer. Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!

I was wondering who you guys would list as your dark-horses or x-factors for the upcoming US Open.

I've been paying attention to a lot of players, and while I don't expect one of these guys to actually go all the way and win a major, it's neat to think about if any one of these guys can spring a huge upset. Of course, an upset is a lot harder to attain in the best of five set format.

But here are some guys I have an eye on, feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

Tommy Haas: Since beating Roger Federer prior to Wimbledon, Tommy has been playing some high-octane tennis. Took Djokovic to 3 sets in Toronto, fell to Monaco in another final (pretty closely contested). Dropped a tough one to Juan Martin Del Potro :)twisted:) yesterday.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Was gutted when he lost at the Olympics, albeit to my other favorite player, but have liked overall his form and how it has progressed since the devastating wrist injury suffered at the 2009 AO against Gilles Simon. Has a tough match today against Viktor Troicki, will be interesting to see if he can contend for the title at Flushing Meadows again. I would think he would like to avoid Roger, who has owned him since the 2009 loss to him at the USO Final.

Juan Monaco: Now you guys will have to help me out with this one. I've been watching this guy play and am pretty impressed. I am not sure, though, what his best surface is (someone told me clay, is this true)? Recently just cracked the top ten and won his first big tournament over Tommy Haas (his celebration was priceless by the way, went to his box and embraced everyone excitedly).

Of course you also have guys like:

John Isner: Can his serve be enough? Can he salvage enough of a defense and a return game to stun the worlds top guns? We have seen it before (beating Federer at Davis Cup, beating Djokovic earlier in the year as well). Big John always gives the American fan-base a semblance of local hope.

Ivo Karlovic: Last seen/heard accusing the lines-man at Wimbledon of favoring home town favorite Andy Murray, not much has been heard of Ivo since. Was slated to play in the Olympics but dropped out with an injury, where he would have possibly had a showdown with the Swiss Maestro.

The American Hopefuls: What can Sam Querry, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Andy Roddick do? Can any of them make any kind of noise?
Was this in green originally? I vaguely remember reading some posts from a guy who used colourful fonts and thinking "wow that poster sounds obnoxious"
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
Was this in green originally? I vaguely remember reading some posts from a guy who used colourful fonts and thinking "wow that poster sounds obnoxious"

Green text aside I was nicer back then than now.

As stated earlier in this thread:

Sad I've developed into a caricature since then. This place has robbed me of my analytical skills. I was born intelligent, but TTW ruined me.
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
The only relic of the past that remains is Tails himself. Heavily pixelated by the numerous forum upgrades over the years. He has remained my avatar since Day 1 without a single change.

He's all that remains of the Old Fedpo.

 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
As stated earlier in this thread:
Sad I've developed into a caricature since then. This place has robbed me of my analytical skills. I was born intelligent, but TTW ruined me.
Your first mistake was thinking you were born intelligent when you voluntarily signed up to be a member here in the first place

Also, I think the person I was thinking of posted in Courier so perhaps it wasn't you
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster

Tsitsipas legs look like chicken wings. Need to hire @Hitman to fix that.

We all know what his program did for me

Ca8Din6UUAAavhV.jpg


Your first mistake was thinking you were born intelligent when you voluntarily signed up to be a member here in the first place

Also, I think the person I was thinking of posted in Courier so perhaps it wasn't you

Well the original quote, IIRC, is "I was born intelligent, but High School ruined me" - so still valid.
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
It's okay, my first post was like a three paragraph thought out analytical post that took me like an hour to write, and then guy responded with "that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard" or something.

I didn't post for like a week after that.

This place was ruthless in 2012, and barely policed. To my recollection. Teenage Fedpo never had a chance. Poor guy.
 

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
It's okay, my first post was like a three paragraph thought out analytical post that took me like an hour to write, and then guy responded with "that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard" or something.

I didn't post for like a week after that.
My first thread (now deleted lol) was a whole essay on why there can’t be a GOAT.

First couple of replies were about how new users shouldn’t be allowed to make threads.

Overwhelming success, that.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
My first thread (now deleted lol) was a whole essay on why there can’t be a GOAT.

First couple of replies were about how new users shouldn’t be allowed to make threads.

Overwhelming success, that.
Haha. That is great. Ironically mine was to a guy with a username @EasyGoing and he ripped into me.

I was actually saying thiem had a better chance at winning uso than fo.

Now I look back even after thiem won the uso and think what a loser post I made.
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
Haha. That is great. Ironically mine was to a guy with a username @EasyGoing and he ripped into me.

I was actually saying thiem had a better chance at winning uso than fo.

Now I look back even after thiem won the uso and think what a loser post I made.

I hyped Juan Monaco. In Green Text. And then John Isner. My intentions were pure at least. Now I'm just a walking, talking, meme.
 

Third Serve

Talk Tennis Guru
Haha. That is great. Ironically mine was to a guy with a username @EasyGoing and he ripped into me.

I was actually saying thiem had a better chance at winning uso than fo.

Now I look back even after thiem won the uso and think what a loser post I made.
Huh, interesting.

Yeah I think it was Tennis_Hands who made that post in my thread. Probably not the smoothest of starts.
 

Forehanderer

Professional
Hey guys, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself before making this thread being as that this is my first post and I am excited to be here.

My name is Matt, and by my username you can see my two favorite players on tour :).

Just wanted to say hi and that I thought this looked like a great forum as an observer. Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!

I was wondering who you guys would list as your dark-horses or x-factors for the upcoming US Open.

I've been paying attention to a lot of players, and while I don't expect one of these guys to actually go all the way and win a major, it's neat to think about if any one of these guys can spring a huge upset. Of course, an upset is a lot harder to attain in the best of five set format.

But here are some guys I have an eye on, feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

Tommy Haas: Since beating Roger Federer prior to Wimbledon, Tommy has been playing some high-octane tennis. Took Djokovic to 3 sets in Toronto, fell to Monaco in another final (pretty closely contested). Dropped a tough one to Juan Martin Del Potro :)twisted:) yesterday.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Was gutted when he lost at the Olympics, albeit to my other favorite player, but have liked overall his form and how it has progressed since the devastating wrist injury suffered at the 2009 AO against Gilles Simon. Has a tough match today against Viktor Troicki, will be interesting to see if he can contend for the title at Flushing Meadows again. I would think he would like to avoid Roger, who has owned him since the 2009 loss to him at the USO Final.

Juan Monaco: Now you guys will have to help me out with this one. I've been watching this guy play and am pretty impressed. I am not sure, though, what his best surface is (someone told me clay, is this true)? Recently just cracked the top ten and won his first big tournament over Tommy Haas (his celebration was priceless by the way, went to his box and embraced everyone excitedly).

Of course you also have guys like:

John Isner: Can his serve be enough? Can he salvage enough of a defense and a return game to stun the worlds top guns? We have seen it before (beating Federer at Davis Cup, beating Djokovic earlier in the year as well). Big John always gives the American fan-base a semblance of local hope.

Ivo Karlovic: Last seen/heard accusing the lines-man at Wimbledon of favoring home town favorite Andy Murray, not much has been heard of Ivo since. Was slated to play in the Olympics but dropped out with an injury, where he would have possibly had a showdown with the Swiss Maestro.

The American Hopefuls: What can Sam Querry, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Andy Roddick do? Can any of them make any kind of noise?
Hi Matt,
Nice to meet you. Did you find those intelligent tennis fans yet?
 
It's okay, my first post was like a three paragraph thought out analytical post that took me like an hour to write, and then guy responded with "that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard" or something.

I didn't post for like a week after that.


Reading old posts, I am actually surprised my opinions haven't changed much over the years where I was under the impression I saw thing differently back then. :unsure:
Tennis analyst extraordinaire from the first post :D

i am kind of cringing about my low level of english from back then though.
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
I don't even know anymore.
I joined TTW at the start of May 2021.

At the time, I hoped tennis discussions and real-time match analysis would provide ample distraction from the spectre of the online political, sociological, and tech discourse I found myself in during 2020 quarantine. I was nearly at my wit’s end after the election.

In fact, this place takes all of those tribal elements and mixes it with the least earnest posters on the entire internet, and the most complexity-laden, agenda-driven discussion topics.

I could have started watching Alex Jones instead. We all could have.
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
I joined TTW at the start of May 2021.

At the time, I hoped tennis discussions and real-time match analysis would provide ample distraction from the spectre of the online political, sociological, and tech discourse I found myself in during 2020 quarantine. I was nearly at my wit’s end after the election.

In fact, this place takes all of those tribal elements and mixes it with the least earnest posters on the entire internet, and the most complexity-laden, agenda-driven discussion topics.

I could have started watching Alex Jones instead. We all could have.


:-D :-D :-D

I will say the group chats are fun. One of which we are in together and I enjoy your commentary (y)
 

Standaa

G.O.A.T.
Hey guys, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself before making this thread being as that this is my first post and I am excited to be here.

My name is Matt, and by my username you can see my two favorite players on tour :).

Just wanted to say hi and that I thought this looked like a great forum as an observer. Lots of intelligent tennis fans here, I expect to learn a lot about my favorite sport!

I was wondering who you guys would list as your dark-horses or x-factors for the upcoming US Open.

I've been paying attention to a lot of players, and while I don't expect one of these guys to actually go all the way and win a major, it's neat to think about if any one of these guys can spring a huge upset. Of course, an upset is a lot harder to attain in the best of five set format.

But here are some guys I have an eye on, feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

Tommy Haas: Since beating Roger Federer prior to Wimbledon, Tommy has been playing some high-octane tennis. Took Djokovic to 3 sets in Toronto, fell to Monaco in another final (pretty closely contested). Dropped a tough one to Juan Martin Del Potro :)twisted:) yesterday.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Was gutted when he lost at the Olympics, albeit to my other favorite player, but have liked overall his form and how it has progressed since the devastating wrist injury suffered at the 2009 AO against Gilles Simon. Has a tough match today against Viktor Troicki, will be interesting to see if he can contend for the title at Flushing Meadows again. I would think he would like to avoid Roger, who has owned him since the 2009 loss to him at the USO Final.

Juan Monaco: Now you guys will have to help me out with this one. I've been watching this guy play and am pretty impressed. I am not sure, though, what his best surface is (someone told me clay, is this true)? Recently just cracked the top ten and won his first big tournament over Tommy Haas (his celebration was priceless by the way, went to his box and embraced everyone excitedly).

Of course you also have guys like:

John Isner: Can his serve be enough? Can he salvage enough of a defense and a return game to stun the worlds top guns? We have seen it before (beating Federer at Davis Cup, beating Djokovic earlier in the year as well). Big John always gives the American fan-base a semblance of local hope.

Ivo Karlovic: Last seen/heard accusing the lines-man at Wimbledon of favoring home town favorite Andy Murray, not much has been heard of Ivo since. Was slated to play in the Olympics but dropped out with an injury, where he would have possibly had a showdown with the Swiss Maestro.

The American Hopefuls: What can Sam Querry, Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Andy Roddick do? Can any of them make any kind of noise?

Hi Matt, welcome to the forum
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster

I once called my friend unsophisticated for not wanting to watch the Premier League with me. He sent me this and I have probably never been owned as hard as that in my entire life.

:giggle:

That's where I got it from. One of my favorite Parody spoofs.

''He's quick, he's fast, and he's got pace.'' :D
 

Federer and Del Potro

Bionic Poster
You have evolved as tennis has evolved
@Federer and Del Potro When did you start to meme?

The serious answer is that's just kind of the way TTW is. If it was a serious place I could be serious.

To put a modern day twist on an old Fedpo TTW meme:

I'm @Federer and Del Potro , and this is my TTW shop. I work here with Superman, @Poisoned Slice and Jimmy Olsen, @paranoidandroid . Everything on this forum has a story and a meme. One thing I've learned after 9 years – you never know WHAT is gonna be posted on TTW.
 
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