Curious if any of you see it the same way?

[tennis_chiro]

I wonder if any of you see the "State of the Game" as far as who is ready to dominate or even emerge right now anything like I do. Please check it out

http://www.10sballs.com/author/don/

There's two articles up there on this week and before the night is out there should be a third.

The season is heating up again!

don

[GeoffWilliams]

Tsonga is too heavy. Delpo is coming on. Those are the only guys other than Murray who can win a slam. Joker could win 3 of 4 again.

Murray: his mains are alu, crosses are vs team. Joker/fed are the other way around, and M. needs to follow suit for more power/offense, as that's what fails him in the big matches. His total mass is also 347g, and Fed: 365g, delpo: 361g, Joker: 359g, Tsonga: 361g. See the pattern? Only Nadal is at 341g, a junior weight in mass.

[tennis_chiro]

the haircut didn't help!

Tsonga is too heavy. Delpo is coming on. Those are the only guys other than Murray who can win a slam. Joker could win 3 of 4 again.

I've often thought the same thing. He actually looked pretty fit today...for him. Maybe it's just the Mohawk (what was he thinking?!). But the shots he misses are balls he is in position to hit. He makes more than his share of balls when he looks out of the point. Certainly fitness would get him in better position more of the time, but it doesn't look like he loses because of fatigue. If he could get into the superlong battles like the top 4, maybe it would matter. But he beat Federer from 2 behind at Wimby.

He's down 2 breaks in the second as I write this. Clearly, it looks like Del Potro, with his win over Berdych 2 weeks ago in straight sets, is the "real" #5 about to challenge the top 4. He needs just 2 out of the next 6 games to earn another chance at Federer. Federer not only didn't face any break points against Youzny today; he didn't even allow any deuces on his serve! Should make for a nice weekend with Murray and Djokovic through on the other side.

don

[stotty]

I see it similar to, tennis_chiro. The top four have a stranglehold on things and it's hard to see anyone making a dent in the status quo. Del Potro is the best bet and is improving all the time, and a serious challenge to any of the top four...but he is still firmly at number 5 for me. Tsonga is too thick to be other than a occasional threat...the same goes for Monfils...who is even thicker.

The new kids on the block: Tomic. Dolgopolov, Raonic are miles off the mark for me, and will be a dire replacement for what we have now. Contrary to popular belief, standards don't always continually rise, they can actually go down too. There are highs and lows between tennis eras and always has been. In the first two or three years of Federer's dominance standards were the lowest for years.

Three of the top four are still young, so we have years to look forward to yet...let's hope the standards in the lower ranks goes up in the meantime ...boy, we're gonna miss Federer when he finally bows outs.

[vrc10s]

Andy vs Novac

I started watching the match at 3-0 Murray in the second. A couple of quick observations:

1. Murray was much less emotional the usual. When he missed or hit a winner he showed very little emotion.

2. I didn't see the first set and a half but for some reason Novak was coming to net more than I had ever seen. Maybe the Murry defence was frustrating him.

3. Murray got tight serving at 5-3 but pulled it back together after that.

4. Novak was a gracious loser, talking to Andy and smiling at the net.

Maybe this will be the start of something big for Murray!

[GeoffWilliams]

He won due to Joker lack of energy and greater offense. Maybe he listened to me and added mass! Hitting harder more aggressively was the solution. He missed an easy bh net sitter, and exploded, but Lendl is trying to get him to calm down. Those only help the opp.. Joker better watch his energy levels this year. He needs Igor back with his scio machine.

[tennis_chiro]

Djokovic/Murray match

This was the key part of my take of that match:

So while Murray looked great showing flashes of the brilliance he had in the Tokyo final against Nadal last fall, Djokovic’s camp is going to brush this off as “just a bad day” and redouble their efforts to be better next week. But if you watch a few of the points a little more carefully, you can see that Andy’s tactic of playing the ball earlier than he has in the past combined with an improved serve has really made him a much tougher “out”. If you DVR’d or otherwise recorded the match, take a good look at the 15-40 point of the first service game for Djokovic in the second set. Murray demonstrated his absolutely awesome defensive skills; and he did that on a number of occasions throughout the match. I think that had a lot to do with Djokovic having a bad day. Another point to check out was the first point Djokovic served in the 5-6 game of the second set.

you can see the rest of my thoughts on the semis as well as a link to my charts at

http://www.10sballs.com/2012/03/03/the-state-of-the-game-part-vi-murray-steps-up-against-nole-federer-rolls-on/

I have to agree with Geoff. He was definitely more aggressive than in the past and it is paying off for him. Novak was definitely off, but I think Murray threw him off.

But today, it was amazing how much trouble Murray had with Federer's slice. I still feel there is plenty of room for the Rosewallian slice in the game and actually think a complete player needs both, but after watching and charting Roger's matches with Murray and Del Potro carefully the last few weeks, I see better how much he messes them up with that slice. At one point I almost got the sense Murray was more comfortable hitting to Fed's forehand. He was just shanking off the slice. I expected to see a lot more patience from him, but Federer didn't really allow him to get into many long rallies; he was attacking as soon as he had any chance. Murray never seemed to get comfortable on the baseline. It was such a complete change from yesterday with Novak.

I also agree with vrc10s. Murray is on the upslope. But he needs to practice against someone with a good slice. And he definitely was frustrating Novak with his defense; it's phenomenal; probably the only guy covering more court is Monfils. I don't remember when we've ever has so many guys at the top of the game who are the best defenders and cover so much of the court. Tsonga and Berdych are not that fast, but even they are surprising with what they can get to and hurt you with. The rest of the top 10 are all quick. Even Del Potro reaches a lot of balls with his height and reach. It's not enough to be big; you have to be fast too!

In any case, it looks like it is going to be an exciting month in Indian Wells and Miami and I am going to IW next weekend!

don

[GeoffWilliams]

Well thought out interesting comments. Thanks.