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Reply 140
French Open could be interesting. Federer has had the occaisional result on clay outside of Roland Garros but hasn't been able to replicate it there, I wonder if Djokovic will do the same. I'd say his game is more suited to playing Rafa though.

Is Madrid still playing very differently to Roland Garros? You'd still have Rafa favourite for the FO at this point I would have thought.
I'd say so, so much faster than RG or Rome; I think Federer said he thought it played faster than Miami and Indian Wells, which indicates that they've really slowed the hard courts down in the US.

I'm not worried about Rafa's chances at Roland Garros, but Djokovic was pure brilliance yesterday from start to finish. A much more impressive victory in straight sets compared to Miami and IW where I thought Rafa should have taken at least one of the titles.

Rafa is Novak's bitch atm for sure.
As soon as Murray can put his enjury behind him the better, hope it's not still worrying him for Rome. Would be good to see Belluci push on from his superb result.

As for Djokovic, he's been playing really well, the test will be can he beat Rafa at Rome and then go one sep further and beat him over 5 sets on clay? I have a hunch that Djokovic will win Rome but not have to face Rafa in the final and then they will both go onto meet in the finals of the French, where Djokovic will be on 43-0 for the season and 45 win streak.
Original post by poppy22
I've just got Wimbledom tickets for the last Saturday!!!!! Mega excited but they are really pricey. I haven't been told which seats they will be but I was just wondering how well you can see the tennis in centre court if you were to have one of the seats at the back?


i had row Z seats last year for the men's semi finals last year and had a brilliant view, so there's no need to worry! centre court seems a lot smaller when you're actually there! i'm super jealous - enjoy it! :smile:
Reply 144
Original post by poppy22
I've just got Wimbledom tickets for the last Saturday!!!!! Mega excited but they are really pricey. I haven't been told which seats they will be but I was just wondering how well you can see the tennis in centre court if you were to have one of the seats at the back?


centre court is really good no matter where you are sitting so you should be fine. Have you been to Wimbledon before? Personally i'd rather go when there is more happening like during the first week or the second monday as i think you get much more for you money. Just seems a bit dead towards the end of the week in comparison.

Saying that i'd hardly turn down men's final tickets :tongue:
Reply 145
Hi guys, I wanted to know if there's anyone on here who has done/knows about college tennis in America. What are the requirements to get in? How good at tennis do you have to be? It sounds like a great option but it wouldn't be possible if you have to be like a 1.1!

Cheers :smile:
Reply 146
Novak beats Rafa in Rome, in straight sets. Again.

The winning streak sits at 39 wins (starting from the 2010 Davis Cup Final), if he wins the French Open he'll have matched the Open Era record of 46 wins in a row.

His season opening record sits at 37 wins in a row. If he reaches the Semi Finals he'll have matched McEnroes season opening record of 42 wins in a row.

Even if he can't achieve that, if he reaches the 3rd round at the French Open he'll have matched Federers personal best winning streak of 41 wins in a row.

I had a feeling he'd win in Madrid due to the slightly faster conditions (Federer has apparently said that this year the courts played slightly faster than Miami and Indian Wells). I didn't think he'd win Rome however due to the slower conditions, the final being delayed by rain and therefore conditions were damp (slowing it even further), the thriller he played against Murray yesterday, and finally having less than 24 hours rest between matches (17 hours I believe). But he did.

One final thing, if he does reach the French Open final agains Rafa, regardless of who wins Novak will be the new World #1. Considering that he's defending 1,920 points from Wimbledon and the US Open alone, against Nadals 4,000 points as defending champion of both, I'd say he's in with a reasonable chance of finishing the year as #1 (or at least #2).
It's over.

I'm a huge Nadal fan but I don't see him recovering from this. From what he is saying (Nadal) he has mentally given up.

Beating him on clay (slow paced clay) just proves it.
Reply 148
Seems like Murray should have beaten Djok, which is encouraging.

Served for the match in the 3rd but couldn't handle the pressure, again, which is discouraging.

French Open will be interesting, Djokovic favourite now, although if Rafa's going to beat him anywhere it'll be on clay at Roland Garros. Still only lost once there.
Reply 149
I made this the other day for another forum, but I'll post it here as well. It shows how close Djokovic is to Nadal right now:



Nadal is on 12,070 points right now, and since he's the defending champion at Roland Garros he can't gain anything in this tournament at all. Novak on the other hand is on 11,665 points, and since he lost in the quarter final last year he can start gaining points once he reaches the semis.

What's scary is if Rafa makes it to the final and loses, Novak doesn't even need to win his first round match to overtake Nadal as World #1.
Reply 150
Original post by Louis.
Seems like Murray should have beaten Djok, which is encouraging.

Served for the match in the 3rd but couldn't handle the pressure, again, which is discouraging.

French Open will be interesting, Djokovic favourite now, although if Rafa's going to beat him anywhere it'll be on clay at Roland Garros. Still only lost once there.


Makes you think doesn't it. Murray managed to take a 6-2 set off Nadal in Monte Carlo, and came closer than anyone to beating Djokovic yesterday... could he be the 3rd favourite this year? And not distant either :eek:

SO glad I've booked the semi finals day off work! Just hoping that there's a long rain delay on the Sunday so I might get home in time to watch it :redface:
Reply 151
Original post by Hood_Man
Makes you think doesn't it. Murray managed to take a 6-2 set off Nadal in Monte Carlo, and came closer than anyone to beating Djokovic yesterday... could he be the 3rd favourite this year? And not distant either :eek:

SO glad I've booked the semi finals day off work! Just hoping that there's a long rain delay on the Sunday so I might get home in time to watch it :redface:


Meh, Murray will crumble in the earlier rounds. He's very vulnerable to almost everyone in the top 20 on clay.

He often plays his best tennis against the best players, it's just he can't seem to handle any kind of real pressure. So either the finals of slams (obvious examples) or when matches get really tight (Djok yesterday, Nadal in the WTF last year, etc). Can't think of that many tight matches he comes through actually.
I think Murray will mature mentally very soon. He has most other areas of his game sorted he just needs to get over those mental demons that often haunt him, especially in tight matches. However I expect him to get to the semifinals at RG and from there anything can happen.

He's come the closest to beating Djokovic in half a year and I think he'll win either RG or Wimbledon.
Reply 153
Original post by Louis.
Meh, Murray will crumble in the earlier rounds. He's very vulnerable to almost everyone in the top 20 on clay.

He often plays his best tennis against the best players, it's just he can't seem to handle any kind of real pressure. So either the finals of slams (obvious examples) or when matches get really tight (Djok yesterday, Nadal in the WTF last year, etc). Can't think of that many tight matches he comes through actually.


True, I think he's had some real good chances but not been able to take them. I just can't shake the idea that one day something will give, and it'll happen where nobody expects it :cool:
I love Tennis, can't wait for Wimbledon this year! One of the highlights of my year.
I love Jelena Jankovic, and Maria Sharapova is up there too. I always hope that Baltacha will do well, but my hopes are always dashed :frown::P
hi all ^^

quick question for those in the know who can understand my poor english :'D
what top # ranked players enters grand slam event purely on merit of ranking (not having to go through qualifiers to get into main draw)?

i am fan of ricardas berankis of my home country. he #78 on this week's atp list - is this ranked high enough to automatically enter french open and wimbledon grand slam events for this year? :} yes/no? :}

thankyou :'D
Original post by NOBODY MOVE!
hi all ^^

quick question for those in the know who can understand my poor english :'D
what top # ranked players enters grand slam event purely on merit of ranking (not having to go through qualifiers to get into main draw)?

i am fan of ricardas berankis of my home country. he #78 on this week's atp list - is this ranked high enough to automatically enter french open and wimbledon grand slam events for this year? :} yes/no? :}

thankyou :'D

I wouldn't think so, I think it's top 20/25 from each gender who are seeded/auto qualify for the Grand Slams. Might be wrong though :smile:
Dare I say it ... I make Murray a dark dangerous horse for the FO. Rafa is not very close to 2010 form on clay, Novak is playing crazy tennis and I would put ahead of Rafa for the title, but he's got to burn out some time, surely ? He's played an incredible amount of tennis this year and not all of it came easy. Indian Wells and Miami were very close and Murray I heard should have closed it out the other day. Which, if that's the case means Djokovic is not unbeatable. He's nigh on but if you bring the right game plan it's possible, although don't look to Rafa in that respect. His approach against Novak has been unimaginative and downright suicidal by going to his backhand when the forehand is the side where he'll have more success with. Some of the ****ing moonballs he was putting up with his backhand were embarrassing to watch and Djokovic was just eating them up for winners.

I'm by no means writing him off for the tournament, but he needs to catch up big time to Novak because the gap is getting wider. For example where the hell has his monster serve from the USO disappeared to ?

A very interesting French Open coming up, and I fully expect to see a new #1 after the tournament.
It's top 32 players for both genders.
Reply 159
There's an old Swiss guy who might have an outside chance...

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