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2019 Nitto ATP Finals...ATP 1500...London, England
Plays like an "exhibition format". Still...there will be takeaways. Stay tuned. Stay focused. Roger Federer in the house and in the same half as Novak Djokovic which may turn into a blessing of sorts.
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Let the Party Begin...Novak Djokovic versus Matteo Berrettini; Roger Federer versus Dominic Theim
Let's get this party started. 2019 ATP Finals about to commence. Matches of the day are the two drones Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini. What a whale of a name...Matteo Berrettini. The last name difficult to spell...stroke? Just think two e's, two more e's, two t's and two i's. That sort of helps to simplify matters doesn't it. Always looking for the LCD...the lowest common denominator. Then there is Roger Federer versus Dominic Theim...common denominator? The one handed backhand.
Some might say to me...get a life. Haven't you got anything better to do than write commentary on a sport that is headed head first for the mulch pile...they might say. Well, I say to such a person...no. I don't have anything better to do or I would be doing it. As far as my comments about a certain SKUNK who happens to be in the draw here in London...I am going to say what I think and feel and don't care what others think. They have thoughts of their own and they are entitled to them as well. No matter how convoluted and off the mark they might be. After all...I am here and you are there. Could it be a matter of perspective. After all...we both see the same thing but from different points of view. Have at it.
In the other half of the draw...the other being the one that doesn't have Roger Federer...is going to be a donnybrook. I hope. Two players that detest Rafael Nadal more than I do. Because they have had a whiff of him close up and have learned to hate him. Which is fine. I don't think either are afraid of him either. Daniil Medvedev is the more dangerous of the two Nadal haters...Stefanos Tsitsipas hasn't shown that he is man enough to take it to the great imposter. Slick up the court just a tad and we see just how vulnerable "Mr. Muscle Head" really is. You can only go so far back to receive serve and if he pulls that stunt on a fast court he will be toast.
Which leads us to the question of the day...just how fast are the courts? But all in all this tournament comes at a great time in the year here in Sweden. The weather has been rather gloomy...rainy November days. A snow dusting last night left the fields in a thin blanket of white. A large bull moose in the back field flirting with our two beautiful ladies (the Arabian mares) in the adjacent field. Mother and offspring deer frequently appearing on the property. It's a no hunting zone.
Get a life? Give me a break!
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Like everyone else I suppose, I am looking forward to Roger vs Novak. Nadal in the other side vs Medvedev and Stefanos is pretty interesting. If Nadal should lose his first match, it will be interesting to see how he responds.Comment
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One thought regards the price of admission. Whatever it is this match probably was grossly overpriced. A terrible performance by B-E-R-R-E-T-I-N-N-I. Novak? Just as boring and as effective as ever. Obviously against Novak you have to have some sort of capacity of taking time away from him. But B-E-R-R-E-T-I-N-N-I doesn't have the necessary options. A real shame because all in all a real piss poor performance. Novak at match point here...yep. Over and out...6-2, 6-1. If I would have paid for admission I would have been very disappointed. But that would never happen. I would never pay to see either of these play...even if it were free and at the end of my driveway I think I would rather walk the dogs. I watched maybe 20% of this. Enough to know better.Comment
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I agree. I really do not understand how they sell so well on these tournaments. Bang for the buck, 2 or 3 days at a Masters such as Cincy is the way to go, seeing almost all the matches(just not Stadium) up close. And before Friday. At that point, Stadium is only option.Comment
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Bang for the buck. That could be my mantra when it comes to separating me from my money. Sixty percent off is great...seventy is better. Buy in quantities at that point. Never run out. You've heard me write of that day at the U. S. Open...1984 men's semifinals. That was a freebie. The best of all. But nothing in London could ever compensate for whatever they charge for that ticket.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Even that match with Dominic Theim and Roger Federer. You know they paid top dollar for that. I paid top dollar for a ticket at the French Open and by the luck or unluck of the draw I "got" to see Novak Djokovic against the lumbering Milos Raonic. Six cups of coffee was all it took to stay awake.
Back to the match at hand...Theim repeatedly got the quick drop on Roger. Federer slowly but surely giving way to age. At thirty-eight you just cannot summon the dragon at will like he used to. There were times when Roger had Theim seemingly on the ropes when the "youngster" came up with the goods and surprised Federer. It's the legs. Roger almost trudging around the court. Measuring his steps and sometimes they just don't measure up now. Not to the youthful legs of a Dominic Theim.
It will be interesting going forwards in the venue if it can keep up the momentum should Federer become an also ran this year. I must say that I am looking forwards to Medvedev and Nadal. Hoping for the only outcome that will satisfy the tennis Gods.Comment
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Db, age certainly creeping in on the great one, the gold standard of playing tennis. Folks will be studying him forever.Comment
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That is a good way of putting it. Creeping in. It started to creep in on me and some of my friends. But Roger has done a great job of holding it off. He has treated his body like a temple and it shows. Even now he can hang with anyone. Dominic Theim has just really come of age himself. He is so much stronger than even a year ago. Five tournament wins is his best so far and the way that he plays now is overpowering. Too bad he doesn't have something a bit more subtle to fall back on when the big stuff is not there.Originally posted by stroke View Post
It is going to be interesting to see if age is creeping in on the other two vets as well. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are no spring chickens either. The rest of the field are all young guns. Zverev, B-E-R-R-E-T-I-N-N-I, Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Theim. It seems like only yesterday that they were still wet behind the ears. But time is creeping...creeping.
Stefanos Tsitsipas scored his first win over Daniil Medvedev today in straight sets. Medvedev showing some signs of weariness after the incredible run he had throughout the entire year. A little later tonight it will be interesting to see if Alexander Zverev deserves to be here. Zverev has two of his least friendly rivals in his section as well. Neither Medvedev or Tsitsipas have any love lost for him.
Yeah...time marches on and it creeps in on everyone.Comment
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Good stuff db. Age is finally creeping on Fed, but at a new gold standard of creeping. So true on Thiem, but he to me still has the toughest ask in sports, showing his arrival by taking out Nadal at FO. I am on vacation right now and not watching things unfold here as I usually do, but I did see that Stef had taken down Medvedev, and that is huge for Stef. And I saw that Alex beat Nadal, which I was not shocked at after watching Nadal at last hard court tournament. We will see if he even stays in the draw here.Comment
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Thanks for dropping in on your vacation. If I was a betting man I would bet you are having fun...enjoy! The rest of your life is going to be one big vacation! But good observation regarding El Skunko...Rafael Nadal. He didn't look like what we have come to expect. Perhaps it was creeping in on him. He is human after all.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Settling in for an afternoon with Roger Federer and Matteo Berrettini. Federer needs to make a statement here with a match in the offing with Novak Djokovic. I hope he manages it because that could be interesting if the court is quick enough for Federer to get the quick drop. Berrettini is the perfect match to warm up for Djokovic.
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Enjoyed watching Federer win vs Berrettini. It looked to me as if Berrettini hurt himself on first point of his serve at 5-6. Top of right leg/lower abdomen??Comment
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I actually saw the end of the Novak Thiem match. Just luck as I was out and about and the bar I was at had it on. Theim if course served for the 3rd set and was broken and had to go to tiebreaker. Forged by steel time, and he answered the bell. Too good. That is how it is done. Of course, more work to be done here. We will see. No easy askOriginally posted by don_budge View PostComment
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...and I actually watched the first set. A disappointing loss for Theim but as I said Dominic Theim is a different animal these days and "tough asks"? There always are but he is rising to the occasion. So now he has taken out two of the Big Three and the third is cat food. He's off his meds and looking human...whether he likes it or not. Remember that comment in the article about his not being human. He's on drugs. No question. He started to believe that he was superhuman. He will come down to earth...gravity is like that.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Roger versus Novak becomes even more dramatic and Roger has been saving up for this one for a long time. They have been ducking each other since Wimbledon and it won't be long now. That should be interesting. Look what is up today...Nadal and Medvedev. We didn't have to wait long for this. As tired as Medvedev is he should be able to get up for this one. Good stuff going on here. The old guys are barely holding on. The young guys are chomping at the bits.Comment
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Love him or hate him, Nadal is a great fighter! Down match point 1-5 30-40, missing his first serve and battling back to win the match in a tiebreak is incredible. And against Medvedev!Comment
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It's nice to watch some tennis during a dreary November rainy day...rainy days. When we get a reprieve from the rain for one or two days then comes another deluge. Or a projected one that doesn't materialise. But you know what? It's only weather. Put the right clothes on and nothing can stop you. Or go pick your spots and walk between the raindrops. Take your pick. You've got options. Or just stay inside and bitch about things. Life in general.
A couple of entertaining matches yesterday. At least to a point. It was thoroughly entertaining watching Stefanos Tsitsipas pinning the ears back on Alexander Zverev. Zverev coming off a big win over Rafael Nadal. I sort of see a pattern here with Zverev. Obviously he has talent. Even potential. But it seems like if he has a big spike in his expectations he has difficulty dealing with it. Here is a perfect case in point. An unexpected takedown of "The Skunk" and then it is a matinee opportunity against one of his most terrible and taunting nemesis. He and Tsitsipas have had some nasty little back and forth...obviously they don't like each other. Why should they? There isn't any reason to. But he just got rolled by Tsitsiopas. So now the shoe is on the other foot for Stefanos and it his turn to take on Nadal.
Daniil Medvedev forgot to get the horse in the barn yesterday. But he looked great getting to that point. Nadal did not. Even when he came back it was almost more the case that Daniil just ran out of gas. Mentally. That seemed like a bit of a burnout moment to me. He is going to get some serious rest now and next will be the Australian Open where he is going to pick up where he left off. The kid is tough and yesterday wasn't the end of the world for him. The end of the tournament but that came to an end with his loss to Tsitsipas.
Stefanos Tsitsipas on the other hand is granted another opportunity to put up or shut up. He made some squeals about Nadal's "talent" to make you play poorly. Now it is time to reverse the trend. Nadal looks vulnerable. Beatable.
But today Dominic Theim will continue to dominate the other side of the draw. Which side is it anyways? It is the Great Imposter's group...Andre Agassi's. I have about as much use for Andre Agassi as I do for Fafa Nadal. Two splendid imposters. Two self centred beyond egotistical monsters who need to have a wooden racquet put into their inflated ego hands to bring them down to earth. Poster boys for the big shiny graphite bazookas in my book. Dominic should have his way with Matteo Berrettinni. Matteo the man with the two letter trend down to perfection in his name. No less than five letters of the alphabet repeating in his name. That's almost twenty percent of the alphabet. That should count for something. Big forehand Matteo. That's his nickname.
The match of the day? Well...you know who. It's Roger Federer versus Anybody. In this case it isn't just anybody. It's none other than the most boring Meteor to ever hurl itself through space. Get the coffee ready Novak Djokovic. That's his new nickname. But today it is a different story. Federer makes everyone look exciting. There isn't anything boring about his matches. The last of the Classic Game. The Once and Future King. The Living Proof. I have to believe that Roger would like to have this one. It has been awhile and the last meeting was in London as well. Interesting enough that that match with Novak was a match that I couldn't wait to end. Novak Djokovic...the one player in the world that can make a Federer match boring. The stuff that sleeping aids are made of.
But let's just see. Wait and see. Time is marching on. All three of the old Daddy's are looking rather vulnerable. Maybe with the exception of Novak. Let's see if Roger can neutralise him somehow. I haven't got a read on the court speed. Federer has to get up on that baseline and go forwards. He has to be aggressive. Relentless. Because Gumby is on the other side of the net. Novak absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs...and absorbs. Well...I guess you get the picture.
Get a life he said. Yeah...this is your life. Isn't it?
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