2016 Olympic Games...Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[stotty]

Del Potor has a really good chance going into the final if he keeps this run of form up. He will be likely to employ the same big hitting to avoid the longer rallies, which he must do I guess. I think the courts are perfect for him. The ball is just sitting up nicely once he gets a player defending.

[don_budge]

Juan Martin Del Potro stands between The Gold and Andy Murray

The big man did well. He has the right idea. Nadal and Djokovic play the consistency card every time. Del Potro blasted straight through them both. I think he hits the biggest forehands I have ever seen. Boring as hell to watch but at least he can play the top four and and keep the outcome in doubt.

He's a tough bastard Nadal. He is 80 percent or less than the player he was yet still manages to compete. You have to admire his steel, his stomach for a scrap.

Stotty

I think that is safe to say about Nadal. I don't care for him at all but he does bring it. Whatever he has got at his disposal...he brings it. He doesn't leave anything in the bag. My question is does he have the stomach for losing and I suspect that he doesn't. He doesn't like to lose and this is going to wear thin with him. In fact...it already has.

Juan Martin Del Potro is a breath of fresh air to the game. He eliminates both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and now he has the opportunity to eliminate the final cog in "The Big Three". Boring? Not quite so as the other two because he is on the attack and maintaining incredible pressure on his opponents with that thunderous forehand. He would do well to go to the net more as he could conclude things even quicker. The net tactics throw off the rhythm of his opponent as we saw Nadal look a bit flustered on passing attempts.

Once that ball is on Del Potro's forehand he is dictating the point. A real Dictator as a matter of fact. I wonder if he has what it takes to take on the "artful dodger" Murray. Murray's game is a bit more flexible than the other two but he has some of the same limitations. If Del Potro can dictate the tempo and the forehand side he just might have a chance...for the Gold. I really hope so.

Del Potro is a wonderful argument against the big racquets and modern day tennis. I can just see this big lug with a one hand backhand and a wooden racquet against the rest of the riff-raff...it would be wonderful to say "Game On". He hits his slice very effectively since he had to vary his game because of his injuries.

[klacr]

What a match! Del Potro charming the socks off everyone in Rio. Incredible story. What a joy to watch the big man thump the forehand.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

One set to Murray. What a pedestrian game. Del Potro is playing at an horrendously slow tempo; like he's trudging through the desert without water.

Murray should carve him up from here. He has much more to hurt Del Potro than Djokovic or Nadal.

Stotty

[stotty]

One set each. Not sure I can watch anymore. Del Potro has been taking up to 40 seconds between his service points at times and not been pulled up once. He took up to 50 seconds after some of the longer rallies in that second set. Ridiculous in my view. What's the umpire playing at!

I wonder how fast some of those forehands of his are going? Some look colossal.

Bedtime for Stotty....

[don_budge]

The Gold Medal Match...2016 Olympics

One set each. Not sure I can watch anymore. Del Potro has been taking up to 40 seconds between his service points at times and not been pulled up once. He took up to 50 seconds after some of the longer rallies in that second set. Ridiculous in my view. What's the umpire playing at!

I wonder how fast some of those forehands of his are going? Some look colossal.

Bedtime for Stotty....

Nature call at 3 AM here in Sweden (10PM in Brazil). I sat down at the computer to check on a few things and while I was at it I was looking for the score to the Gold Medal match. There wasn't any, so lo and behold I checked the streaming site and they were still at it. Two sets to one for Murray and 5-4 Del Potro serving for the third set. I watched the remainder of the match and was dreading the thought of a tie-break and a possible fifth set. The pace of the match was pathetically slow. Constant toweling off and fussing over the balls. What a production...what a show.

Juan Martin is a big lug. He moves around the court with the pace of a big slug. But when the ball is in play he all of a sudden becomes nimble as a cat and frisky as a spring Texas pony. At the point where I picked up the action he was on fumes and Murray had virtually taken his legs out from under him. Andy plays the modern game with a twist...a classic twist as a matter of fact. Instead of relying solely on speed to win he does it with control...that delicate balance of speed, placement and spin. He makes his opponent do a lot of running and sort of kills them by death of a thousand cuts.

They had a couple of pretty long points towards the end of the match and at this point it was Murray who was winning them. He had control. Control is power. If you can control the ball and at the same time gain control over your opponent...that's power. It doesn't have to be solely about power...you hit him with combinations. You move him here and move him there...keeping him off balance. There comes a point in the match when you have him...he capitulates. At the end of his rope there is nothing left to do. That's Andy Murray for you. He too would probably have been a great classic player with a wooden racquet.

But personally he is approaching the limits at zero. He has zero appeal to any discerning human being. His grimacing and constant verbal engagement throughout the match wears thin early on. Particularly because we all know it is coming. It's predictable. So he has his second Gold Medal and in his mind that makes him a legend. By the way...Justin Rose won the Gold Medal in Olympic Golf so Great Britain retains the bragging rights of their very own best contribution to society...tennis and golf. Neither one of these sports is truly an Olympic sport and it sort of goes against the nature of the games to watch them. The REAL Olympics have gone the way of the REAL Paris and REAL tennis. It's a virtual reality world and it's virtual morality time. Stay tuned. The next shoe to drop isn't going to long in the offing. That is the one thing we can be certain of. This whole Olympic thing is one gigantic distraction.

[stotty]

By the end of the 3rd set I had simply lost the will to live. Some points were lasting just a few seconds. Then between points we had to wait up to fifty seconds for Del Potro to deliver his next serve. At the start of the match I was welcoming Del Potro back to the game as he is one of the few who challenge the top four. By the end of the third set I wanted to send him on a one way trip to Mars.

I think it would do an awful lot for the game if time wasting were eradicated. No hanging around....Sampras, Federer, Borg spring to mind. Just walk up bounce the ball once then hit it.

[don_budge]

It's All in the Game...you know who

By the end of the 3rd set I had simply lost the will to live. Some points were lasting just a few seconds. Then between points we had to wait up to fifty seconds for Del Potro to deliver his next serve. At the start of the match I was welcoming Del Potro back to the game as he is one of the few who challenge the top four. By the end of the third set I wanted to send him on a one way trip to Mars.

I think it would do an awful lot for the game if time wasting were eradicated. No hanging around....Sampras, Federer, Borg spring to mind. Just walk up bounce the ball once then hit it.

If you truly love the modern game of tennis you should have not problem embracing the whole thing...even the sheer and utter nonsense. "...I had lost the will to live"...well maybe it wasn't all that bad. You just lost the will to remain conscious and sleep was the better option when push came to shove.

One other bone to pick with the "Jolly Green Argentine"...way too much love for your opponent. The big bear hugs have to go. A simple handshake acknowledging a match well played will do. After he beat Nadal he put on a big show by laying down on the court and made Nadal wait at the net. It's only fitting I guess because Nadal makes everyone wait...before the match for the coin flip, before he delivers his serve after his 50 tick pre-serve routine, before he good and damn well ready.

The commentatoes were gushing as well...modern day aficionados. Such drivel. "He's such a warrior...a real gladiator!" Sometimes I wish that they would just shut the fuck up. Noise...noise...noise. Well it's all in the game...that was the title of a book Bill Tilden wrote that I have. It's all in the modern game of tennis.

[klacr]

Murray wins 2nd gold medal. Pretty damn impressive. Say what you want about Murray (I'm not as huge fan of his game) but he is a helluva player and competitor.

Del Potro slings that racquet and crushes that forehand with the power that few players before him have ever achieved. When he lines it up and has time it is a weapon of mass destruction. Credit to Murray for absorbing the pace and weathering the storm.

Djokovic won the Aussie Open and French Open. Murray with Wimbledon and Olympic Gold, It comes down to the US Open, winner will lay claim to the better year.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

It's All in the Game...you know who



If you truly love the modern game of tennis you should have not problem embracing the whole thing...even the sheer and utter nonsense. "...I had lost the will to live"...well maybe it wasn't all that bad. You just lost the will to remain conscious and sleep was the better option when push came to shove.

It would have been far more watchable had the game been sped up by the umpire....or whoever. When having to wait so long between points even a decent match can become hard work for the spectator. A decent match should wake you up rather than send you to sleep. Last night was the last straw where time-wasting is concerned.

It's time for a BIG clock. Twenty seconds should be the maximum from the last ball struck to the next one being hit. I really think it would work a treat and add a welcome dimension to tennis.

[don_budge]

It's time for a BIG clock. Twenty seconds should be the maximum from the last ball struck to the next one being hit. I really think it would work a treat and add a welcome dimension to tennis.

These guys are really working the clock. They are working those towels and the ball kids. It falls under the category of gamesmanship.

Twenty seconds is a great number. It would be fun to see that rigidly adhered to.