Since when? 6/9 Masters on Hard courts. 2/4 slams on Hard 1/4 on grass 3/4 slams in Feds Favor. Most of the calender is Played on Hard, and Federer is the best statistically on Hard and Grass.
No i mean the actual surfaces (especially Wimbledon) are much slower than they used to be.
No i mean the actual surfaces (especially Wimbledon) are much slower than they used to be.
People have been saying this every year for the past 10 years without any evidence to back this up. This is my summation:
Australia: Slow for years now - I don't know why some people think it was ever fast. It's been slow for a decade now.
French Open: It's clay. It's supposed to be slow. Although since 2011 it seems to have got faster, which some have attributed to the balls rather than the surface itself. 2011 was particularly fast.
Wimbledon: Medium-Fast surface for a good 10 years now. It's really funny how people say every year that it's slowed down but I've barely noticed a difference for the past 3 years, and I've seen it live twice in those years. The changes to the surface occurred in the very early 2000s, so the surface Federer won on in 2003 was after the surface change. Federer even said in 2008 'Well, I don’t think it’s that much of a difference since I played Pete here in 2001 really. '
I've heard Mardy Fish actually talk about the balls having a big impact on the speed. They are particularly heavy at Wimbledon, you'll know if you've ever used the Wimbledon standard Slazenger ultra vis line.
US Open: Fast. No visible slowing to me, the fastest surface.
People have been saying this every year for the past 10 years without any evidence to back this up. This is my summation:
Australia: Slow for years now - I don't know why some people think it was ever fast. It's been slow for a decade now.
I think it was pretty fast when it had rebound ace. Only after the introduction of plexicushion in 2008, the Australian Open slowed down below the level of clay.
People have been saying this every year for the past 10 years without any evidence to back this up. This is my summation:
Australia: Slow for years now - I don't know why some people think it was ever fast. It's been slow for a decade now.
French Open: It's clay. It's supposed to be slow. Although since 2011 it seems to have got faster, which some have attributed to the balls rather than the surface itself. 2011 was particularly fast.
Wimbledon: Medium-Fast surface for a good 10 years now. It's really funny how people say every year that it's slowed down but I've barely noticed a difference for the past 3 years, and I've seen it live twice in those years. The changes to the surface occurred in the very early 2000s, so the surface Federer won on in 2003 was after the surface change. Federer even said in 2008 'Well, I don’t think it’s that much of a difference since I played Pete here in 2001 really. '
I've heard Mardy Fish actually talk about the balls having a big impact on the speed. They are particularly heavy at Wimbledon, you'll know if you've ever used the Wimbledon standard Slazenger ultra vis line.
US Open: Fast. No visible slowing to me, the fastest surface.
And this is the problem, in my opinion. Whether or not the surfaces have recently changed or not doesn't really matter but with the hard courts and grass playing slower than they used to and clay playing faster, the surfaces are too similar. If that's to do with balls then that makes the solution to the problem even easier.
I'm not exactly keen on his sycophantic Nadal tweets:
Totally inappropriate for the number six-ranked player in the world to fawn over another professional like this. This mug mentality probably explains why he has been owned comprehensively by Nadal in recent years.
I'm not exactly keen on his sycophantic Nadal tweets:
Totally inappropriate for the number six-ranked player in the world to fawn over another professional like this. This mug mentality probably explains why he has been owned comprehensively by Nadal in recent years.
Straight out of TalkTennis, Ashnard! Well other than those Nadal tweets, (which i don't see what the big deal is, but i'm a Nadal fan so i'm being biased :P) his other tweets are a bit funny.
Straight out of TalkTennis, Ashnard! Well other than those Nadal tweets, (which i don't see what the big deal is, but i'm a Nadal fan so i'm being biased :P) his other tweets are a bit funny.
Had a feeling you would catch me out . Have you finished your exams yet? Must have been difficult for you trying to revise right in the middle of the clay-court season.
I would love to see how the last 10 Wimbledons would had been if it was still super fast unlike now.
Federer would have won 10 in a row. It's not rocket science really. Slowing down the surfaces have really help pushers like Nadal and Djokovic, as it allows them to retrieve impossible balls like on clay. If the grass was still as fast as the one before 2002, then Fed would have S&V his way to the trophy every year.
Had a feeling you would catch me out . Have you finished your exams yet? Must have been difficult for you trying to revise right in the middle of the clay-court season.
Haha, I always know if it is TalkTennis yeah it wasn't great having the clay season on at that time, I watched mostly highlights of Roland Garros. I finish my exams tomorrow! Went back a few pages and I am shocked by what I saw...did you actually say you don't dislike Nadal? :P
Federer would have won 10 in a row. It's not rocket science really. Slowing down the surfaces have really help pushers like Nadal and Djokovic, as it allows them to retrieve impossible balls like on clay. If the grass was still as fast as the one before 2002, then Fed would have S&V his way to the trophy every year.
'It is not rocket science'? Ok that is some assumption, Federer would win some, but not ten in a row, a player like Tsonga or Berdych probably would win it once because faster surfaces suits their game. People seem to forget exactly when the Wimbledon grass was slowed down.
'It is not rocket science'? Ok that is some assumption, Federer would win some, but not ten in a row, a player like Tsonga or Berdych probably would win it once because faster surfaces suits their game. People seem to forget exactly when the Wimbledon grass was slowed down.
One thing is for certain that Nadal or Djokovic wouldn't make the final, let alone win it. Murray, maybe but Fed's main competition would be guys like Tsonga or berdych, as per your post.
One thing is for certain that Nadal or Djokovic wouldn't make the final, let alone win it. Murray, maybe but Fed's main competition would be guys like Tsonga or berdych, as per your post.
I think guys like Roddick/Isner/Karlovic even would've had a much bigger role to play too. I seem to recall they slowed it down a little largely due to Pistol Pete?
One thing is for certain that Nadal or Djokovic wouldn't make the final, let alone win it. Murray, maybe but Fed's main competition would be guys like Tsonga or berdych, as per your post.
I don't think that Tsonga is all that well suited to a very fast court. I suspect if Wimbledon were very fast then Fed vs Roddick would have been the main story with perhaps somebody like Cilic or Del Potro pushing through in recent years.
I think guys like Roddick/Isner/Karlovic even would've had a much bigger role to play too. I seem to recall they slowed it down a little largely due to Pistol Pete?
I don't think that Tsonga is all that well suited to a very fast court. I suspect if Wimbledon were very fast then Fed vs Roddick would have been the main story with perhaps somebody like Cilic or Del Potro pushing through in recent years.
Tsonga loves to S&V, so would be perfectly suited to the faster grass courts. Roddick was pretty much done by 2005 due to injuries, so not sure how he would fare after that time period on faster grass courts, but one thing is for sure, he definitely would have won at least one of those 4 matches at Wimbledon against Fed, had the courts been faster. Not too sure about Delpo, as he struggles with his movement on grass. Isner, karlovic and Cilic- Absolutely no chance!
Haha, I always know if it is TalkTennis yeah it wasn't great having the clay season on at that time, I watched mostly highlights of Roland Garros. I finish my exams tomorrow! Went back a few pages and I am shocked by what I saw...did you actually say you don't dislike Nadal? :P
'tis true. Definitely the case where I don't find much objectionable about his character (from interviews and the like), but his fanatics (yourself excluded) make me view him negatively at times. Don't like Uncle Toni, though.
Tsonga loves to S&V, so would be perfectly suited to the faster grass courts. Roddick was pretty much done by 2005 due to injuries, so not sure how he would fare after that time period on faster grass courts, but one thing is for sure, he definitely would have won at least one of those 4 matches at Wimbledon against Fed, had the courts been faster. Not too sure about Delpo, as he struggles with his movement on grass. Isner, karlovic and Cilic- Absolutely no chance!
Isner and Karlovic are pretty monstrous servers. I think at a fast wimby they'd have taken some stopping.