2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships...ATP ???...London, England

[don_budge]

2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships...ATP ???...London, England

In spite of two earth shattering news events the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships are being played as scheduled. I am speaking of course of the coronation of the new American King Donald Trump and perhaps more importantly...the absence of one MIA Roger Federer. While America becomes embroiled in a color revolution of their own (think "The Color Purple") Roger is nowhere to be seen or heard from. Andy Murray is the new King of Tennis and Novak Djokovic can take the crown away from him in the first tournament past Murray's coronation. What's with my fascination with kings and coronations. It's funny isn't it?

This is a sad tournament this year. At least for me. I am reminded of years gone past when Roger was competing for the title. Without him...it marks a culmination point. The post Roger Federer era of tennis. A one dimensional game with whole parts of the original classic game engineered out of the equation. It is a game where Andy Murray has wormed his way to the top and where Novak Djokovic has reigned supreme even though if he had to serve and volley if his life depended upon it...he would not be able to do it. How strange is that?

Eight players. Eight serving styles...eight basically identical forehands...six two handed backhands...two one handed backhands. Not a lot of diversity. Liberals will be gnashing their teeth. Or would they? Nope...tennis is a homogenous proposition and any movement in a different direction is met with stiff opposition. It's boring. Endless baseline rallies without any real attempt to mix it up. But let's not be too quick to judge. Let's let things play out...into a Djokovic versus Murray final. It can't be any other way...can it? Stan Wawrinka interested enough to compete the whole entire week? But even so. Well...it is what it is. It's boring.

Here's the draw...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/score...nals/605/draws

If you get bored...listen to this. This is rock when rock was rock and roll. Before it was dumbed down. The Who were kicking ass back then...without any apologies.

Who's Next...The Who (1971)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iA_rOcn9Y

We won't get fooled again...will we?

[stotty]

I heard Djokovic has never lost a match to anyone in his group?

Murray seems to have the tougher group in my view. Murray and Cilic are arguably the only two players in full form going into the event so it's ironic they have play each other first.

It's a shame Roger and Rafa aren't playing. Both are immensely popular in London and will be missed.

Could there be and upset? Cilic maybe if he can negotiate his way through his group? I think Djokovic really wants it again but I am not convinced he is the kind of player who can step out of the game and then step back in it as easily as Roger does. It may take a couple of months to get his form back. Anyway, let's sit back and see. Let the games begin.

Stotty

[klacr]

No Federer. No Nadal. No Berdych. No Thank You.

If Cilic gets his form, and he has Jonas Bjorkman there this week, he could do some damage. Wawrinka, a big match player could do the same. But Djokovic is going to pull out al the stops, and if Murray wants to truly cement himself as world #1 in the eyes of his fellow competitors and send a locker room statement, he'll have to beat Djokovic, which he has not done since his ascendency to #1 post French Open.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Thank You Very Little...

No Federer. No Nadal. No Berdych. No Thank You.

If Cilic gets his form, and he has Jonas Bjorkman there this week, he could do some damage. Wawrinka, a big match player could do the same. But Djokovic is going to pull out al the stops, and if Murray wants to truly cement himself as world #1 in the eyes of his fellow competitors and send a locker room statement, he'll have to beat Djokovic, which he has not done since his ascendency to #1 post French Open.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iA_rOcn9Y

Gonna buy a tank and an aeroplane
When she catches up with me
Won't be no time to explain
She thinks I've been with another woman
And that's enough to send her half insane

Read more: Who - My Wife Lyrics | MetroLyrics

The above song dedicated to Novak Djokovic and to his victory over Dominic Thiem. Thiem won the first set in a tie-break but that was his undoing. Novak unleashed (read he pulled out all the stops) and put a hurt on the young Austrian to the tune of 6-7, 6-2, 6-0. Next up...Milos Raonic and "The Amazing" Mr. Monfils.

[stotty]

Court speed of the ATP 1000 events.....

Stotty

[don_budge]

Court Speed...and the "Spin of the Ball"

What difference does it make to these guys? Not a single one of them is equipped to take advantage of a faster court...as in getting their carcass to the net. Do any of them even know how to approach the net? Do they understand the percentage play moving forwards? John McEnroe certainly did. So did Roger Federer...at least he did when he was 19 years old playing Pete Sampras at Wimbledon. What has happened to tennis?

It has been engineered beyond recognition.

Here is the World Tour Finals and we have the eight players in the world who have qualified. One group is appropriately or inappropriately named the "Group John McEnroe" and the other "Group Ivan Lendl"...depending upon your point of view. What a classic confrontation that was back some time ago. Ironically...tennis was in the midst of a revolution of its own. More like a coup d'état. But nobody made a peep. Well almost nobody...you could have heard me screaming somewhere on the courts in SouthEastern Michigan. I must admit that I became a bit unhinged. It was good for my soul I maintain. No regrets. Ahem.

But the "John McEnroe" group has Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. None of them would know what the net looks like if it hit them in the ass. Two matches played...Andy Murray defeats Marin Cilic straight sets in a snoozer. Kei Nishikori beats Stan Wawrinka likewise. Please...somebody tell me that they watched either match and the performance was scintillating...like a McEnroe or a Federer.

In the "Ivan Lendl" group...Novak Djokovic has defeated Dominic Thiem 6-7, 6-0, 6-2. Heavy emphasis on the middle bagel. Novak just showing the kid who's boss. Milos Raonic defeats Gael "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" Monfils in straight sets as well in a match that pitted perhaps the most laconic personality in tennis versus the most entertaining*. The (*) denotes when "The Amazing One" feels up to it.

Looking forwards there isn't much to look forwards to. Except a final between Andy Murray (the least compelling character to be number one in the world) versus Novak Djokovic (the least compelling character to be number one before Andy Murray became number one). Neither one of these players will be caught dead advancing to the net unless it is to retrieve the drop shot which has been rumored on this forum to have been resurrected. Really? Now we had to resurrect the drop shot. Have we fallen so far?

It's boring. It's stupid. But here...take a listen to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iA_rOcn9Y

Keith Moon knocks it dead on the drums..."My Wife". He just kills it. Dedicated to my wife...God Bless her. The kindest woman on the face of the earth. Then there's me. Poor thing!

[stotty]

What Raonic would have given for a volley in that first set against Djokovic. He missed a bunch of sitters where just a nudge over the net would have done the job and won the point.

Djokovic got very tentative here and there in that match. He was a set and a break up and then got really nervous...strange.

Stotty

[klacr]

I watched that first set. I are with you Stotty on Raonic volleys. Oh boy he has some work to do. Some volleys he hit almost made me want to join Gardnar.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

tennis_chiro, klacr and Stotty on Serve and Volley tactics...Dust in the Wind. Yesteryear.

What Raonic would have given for a volley in that first set against Djokovic. He missed a bunch of sitters where just a nudge over the net would have done the job and won the point.

Djokovic got very tentative here and there in that match. He was a set and a break up and then got really nervous...strange.

Stotty

Up a set and a break and then got tentative? That's a sign...quite possibly and not a good one for Djokovic. One of the most singular things that a player on top of the game has going for him is his ability to close things out. Djokovic has been a great closer ever since he went "Meteoric". Has he lost his touch...a bit of confidence? We shall soon see. It looks as if he is on track to make the semi's and once he is there he may get some pretty stiff challenges.

Milos Raonic? I remember his serve being dissected on the forum here way back when too. John posted video of his motion and there was a lot of oohing and ahhing but there was one dissenting voice in the matter...guess who? I was wondering if his motion was conducive to him following it to the net instead of blasting and retreating behind the baseline. He is going to the net more often and he is trying to convince himself he has the gonads to do it but years of inactivity has rendered him a bit neutered in this regard. It takes a lot of balls to go to the net and win or lose it there. That is one of the reasons that I LOVE the great John McEnroe. He went to the net like a kamikaze ace. No fear.

One of the poignant observations that tennis_chiro has drummed home on us over the years is the amount of training it takes to acquire this ability to make your living at the net. It must be done in the construction of the player. Wait...maybe it is me that has drummed that into us. Ha...tennis_chiro are usually on the same page and most of our difference is in delivery or style. Or something. But Milos was going side to side for so many years. Grinding it out with the likes of Djokovic and all of the rest when he should have been engineered to get his high pockets ass to the net. His legs appear to be disproportionately long to me and this only suggests that he would find it much easier moving to and fro instead of here to there. I believe that all of this side to side has had a negative effect on his conditioning and it is only a matter of time before he won't be able to answer the bell. As it is now he is constantly rehabilitating or pulling out of tournaments.

Milos Raonic looks as if he is trying to incorporate the front court game into his game but there are times...at crucial times, when it just doesn't happen for him. He looks fine up to a point...up to the culmination point. The point where it is time to seal the deal and close it out against a Novak Djokovic on a big stage. With that serve he should be dominating his service game to the point where it allows him to take chances or to whittle away at his opponents service game. He missed some sitters? It seems strange but there is a logical explanation for it. Sort of like Donald Trump. Just like don_budge.

[don_budge]

2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships...ATP ???...London, England

Without Roger Federer...it's a different world. Tennis world that is. I watched some of the first set between Stan "I am not certain that I care or not today" Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. I beat Stan to the punch and became disinterested. Andy Murray beat Kei Nishikori in three just how scintillating could it have been sets. I couldn't care less. I can only imagine the baseline duels and the endless comparison of whose backhand is better. Dumbed down tennis to say the least.

Entering the post Roger Federer era of tennis. Culmination point 2016.

[klacr]

2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships...ATP ???...London, England

Without Roger Federer...it's a different world. Tennis world that is. I watched some of the first set between Stan "I am not certain that I care or not today" Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. I beat Stan to the punch and became disinterested. Andy Murray beat Kei Nishikori in three just how scintillating could it have been sets. I couldn't care less. I can only imagine the baseline duels and the endless comparison of whose backhand is better. Dumbed down tennis to say the least.

Entering the post Roger Federer era of tennis. Culmination point 2016.

I've watched less of these ATP Finals than any other in my tennis viewing life. I hate to admit that. The times they are A-changin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsV3wwx6SNo

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

I've watched less of these ATP Finals than any other in my tennis viewing life. I hate to admit that. The times they are A-changin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsV3wwx6SNo

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Murray versus Wawrinka
Nishikori versus Cilic

[stotty]

I think the times changed quite some time ago.

bobbyswift once said that the only chance a player has of coming to the net and winning points is if they are in an overwhelming position. He's right....but it was always the case anyway when you think about it. I know suppa duppa strings and rackets have made it possible to hit aggressively from extreme positions, but the net player still holds the upper hand if he has a player hitting from extreme positions. It was always the objective anyway.

Raonic made Djokovic hit an amazing backhand from an extreme position which the commentators raved about. They missed the fact Raonic had it covered easily and fluffed an easy volley!

There are definitely gaping opportunities for players to come to net in every match played. Players have the powerful groundies to put themselves in an overwhelming position....but they balk at golden opportunities to come to the net. It's actually hard to understand. I think the tennis world has talked itself into thinking the net game is dead when it actually isn't....or at least shouldn't be.

Fluffed, easy volleys has been the overwhelming theme of many of the matches at the O2.

At least it will be psychologically interesting if Djokovic and Murray face off in the final.

Stotty

[don_budge]

2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Championships...ATP ???...London, England

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...snooze alert. Without Roger Federer it has become a virtual snooze fest. Look for tennis to take a dive in the ratings.

[klacr]

Murray-Raonic
Djokovic-Nishikori.

Raonic only one of these players willing to go forward and attack on a consistent basis, but still looks awkward rip there. Beggars can't be choosers.

Djokovic-Murray final is what everyone wants to see. A victory overDjokovic is what everyone wants to see and for many, a win for Murray would further legitimize his #1 ranking as he has not played Djokovic since French Open final.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton