USO day 11 08/09

First topic message reminder :

You know the drill,

Same line up as yesterday

Let there be sunshine

Totally passive, waiting for errors, grinding. No initiative taking, no great shotmaking.

That's the weird thing...he wasn't playing like that a few months ago on the clay, his normal game is to play attack but he doesn't seem as hungry as he was when he was taking Nadal's #1 off him.

He's trying again now though, good man!

Come on Djoko, cut the crap, you know we know there isn't anything wrong

ooooo looks like Novak could have done himself a mischief there

cracked toe-nail?

tennis is too physical nowadays.
Toes can't handle friction like that

Metatarsal fracture?.... Cracked toe nail or just stubbed it?

If its metatarsal we'll know instantly. He will hardly be able to run.

I'm sure it'll be one of the latter though....

no visible discomfort so far, so defo not a metatarsal

Djoko runs like a mad man, the toe is OK, like i knew it would

Novak is like Bruce Willis from Unbreakable.. injury-free for LIFE






well since Dr Cetujovic

I am really surprised to see that Djoko doesn't tape his ankles.

Tipsy's done, the power is gone, the speed too. GMS Djoko

Tipsarevic's movement seems more affected than Djokovic's. Not even moving there, and I think we'll have another bagel here unfortunately.

Hope the weather holds up for Roger-Jo; if they play tomorrow they'll have no chance against Novak on saturday.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Novak is like Bruce Willis from Unbreakable.. injury-free for LIFE






well since Dr Cetujovic

must have imagined the shoulder injury which robbed Murray of a chance to win Cincinati properly...

gallery play wrote:Djoko runs like a mad man, the toe is OK, like i knew it would

Something so wrong with MTOs. It's not logic!

Tsip played a good point which forced Djoko to run like mad and take a risk on his body for a single point.

Results? Djoko gets the point, the rest and his opponent's rhythm broken. All that cause Tsip played a good point!

If they want an MTO, they have to buy them with a game....nothing else.

Tipsy looks like he's seriously struggling out there, maybe I've done him a disservice here, doesn't seem to be able to move well at all anymore. Shame as this was shaping up to be a real classic

If the roles were reversed Djokovic would have retired by now I expect...

and Tipsy does indeed call it a day, he clearly couldn't push off on serve anymore and wasn't moving anymore, so he retires. Shame, real shame, this could have been a great match, but it's yet another withdrawal at the Us Open this year. Too much tennis?

Shame.... Amazing stuff for 2 sets.

Too much physical tennis, i think.

must have imagined the shoulder injury which robbed Murray of a chance to win Cincinati properly...

Hate to break it... no 1 really cares about Cincy. Well maybe Fish and Murray!

yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

90% of the mens tour are quite fragile...how many retirements is that now? atleast 11 last 2 weeks i'd think.

emancipator wrote:Too much physical tennis, i think.

Not according to LK!

I wonder who Novak will be rooting for tonight?

Josiah Maiestas wrote:90% of the mens tour are quite fragile...how many retirements is that now? atleast 11 last 2 weeks i'd think.

Over 15.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

I think the physicality is probably more to blame since the tour has always been long. JMac, Connors et al were also playing 80+ matches in the 80's.

When does Fed start?

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

It's been too physical for some time now...When the former number one, the king of physical tennis, is injured 4 times in 7 slams,you know something is not quite right.

emancipator wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

I think the physicality is probably more to blame since the tour has always been long. JMac, Connors et al were also playing 80+ matches in the 80's.

Yes but all sports have got more physical over the years, as the sportmen become more athletic, get better nutrition, better preparation, better recovery, etc. The sport then needs to adapt to these extra demands as there's no way to stop this. Take cricket for instance, England cricketers play far less than they did back in the 80s to avoid so many injuries occuring.

emancipator wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

I think the physicality is probably more to blame since the tour has always been long. JMac, Connors et al were also playing 80+ matches in the 80's.

Of course. If you shorten teh tour, they will work even harder between the tour and will give even more intensity on every match, set and point that counts. In a long season, they have to pace themselves.

.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

emancipator wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

I think the physicality is probably more to blame since the tour has always been long. JMac, Connors et al were also playing 80+ matches in the 80's.

Yes but all sports have got more physical over the years, as the sportmen become more athletic, get better nutrition, better preparation, better recovery, etc. The sport then needs to adapt to these extra demands as there's no way to stop this. Take cricket for instance, England cricketers play far less than they did back in the 80s to avoid so many injuries occuring.

But it's a doomed race...a bit like our economies which require a constant increase in revenue and profitabilty. We know it cannot be sustained, yet everybody wants to believe it can work.

Tenez wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

emancipator wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:yeah I think Tipsy picked up his injury towards the start of the third? Real shame as the first two sets were brilliant, but in the end Tipsy's body couldn't live with it. Hate to say it, but maybe Tenez does have a point? Maybe the game IS becoming too physical? Or at the very least the guys are playing too much tennis?

I think the physicality is probably more to blame since the tour has always been long. JMac, Connors et al were also playing 80+ matches in the 80's.

Yes but all sports have got more physical over the years, as the sportmen become more athletic, get better nutrition, better preparation, better recovery, etc. The sport then needs to adapt to these extra demands as there's no way to stop this. Take cricket for instance, England cricketers play far less than they did back in the 80s to avoid so many injuries occuring.

But it's a doomed race...a bit like our economies which require a constant increase in revenue and profitabilty. We know it cannot be sustained, yet everybody wants to believe it can work.

so what's your solution Tenez, am genuinely curious to hear it. Is it up to the players to realise what's going wrong and try to correct it? How?

I wonder how much $ did Djoko had in the black plastic bag for Tipsarevic to walk off this match

The solution is not easy but the first thing that needs to be done is speed up the conditions. That gives the advantages to players who typically have better hand eye coordination as opposed to those who thrive in long and gruelling rallies. That would really cut the rallies. This is why guys like Stepanek, Gilles can still play ok late in their career.

Ideally allow one kind of strings (natural gut) like in the past or use balls like at the FO.They were pretty hard and didn't stick to the racquet.

And finally for all sports...Instead of having a long, vague and never ending list of forbidden products, we should supply a list of "only authorised products. That is roughly what you and I can buy at Tesco ro Sainsbury:Meat, Fish, fruit etc...Nothing else...why should they? As long as it's the same for everybody.

Just a starting point to work from.

Jahu wrote:I wonder how much $ did Djoko had in the black plastic bag for Tipsarevic to walk off this match

Good point, first time i've seen a comment from you and I am well impressed! Move away everyone, this guy knows it all.

The only problem with gut is that it is costly for the recreational player - could you have one rule for pros and one for amateurs? Could work I guess.

Mad for Chelsea wrote: Is it up to the players to realise what's going wrong and try to correct it? How?

Players will always try to look for advantage. Borg got his pimpled soles for Wimby, Guga go the first luxilon strings, Chang got that extended grip etc...But for all advantage, teh ITF, ATP shoudl keep things in control. However their main aim is to facilitate the success of a charismatic and popular player for money reason.

Normal, in a way but like the USO scheduling, it's getting out of hand nowadays.

The solution is not easy but the first thing that needs to be done is speed up the conditions. That gives the advantages to players who typically have better hand eye coordination as opposed to those who thrive in long and gruelling rallies.

I don't think this will help all that much, as on pretty much any surface I feel Nadal and Djokovic (for instance) would be able to engage in pretty long rallies. All for more varied playing conditions, but not sure that will particularly help with the injuries (though maybe if players couldn't adapt to every surface, they wouldn't do much on their weaker surfaces, thus playing less, etc.)

Ideally allow one kind of strings (natural gut) like in the past or use balls like at the FO.That is prety hard which doesn't stick to the racquet.

Not an expert on these things, how does this help reduce player injury? Do they have to put more effort into each stroke with the heavier balls?

And finally for all sports...Instead of having a long, vague and never ending list of forbidden product, we should supply a list of "only authorised products. That is roughly what you and I can buy at Tesco ro Sainsbury:Meat, Fish, fruit etc...Nothing else...why should they? As long as it's the same for everybody.

Not saying this is a bad idea, but how could you possibly implement it? They are way too many substances to have an exhaustive list of what's authorised I'm afraid...

JuliusHMarx wrote:The only problem with gut is that it is costly for the recreational player - could you have one rule for pros and one for amateurs? Could work I guess.

Yes. Coudl be but not very convenient. Best woudl be to use harder and smaller balls. They woudl shoot through and reward the risk taker. Of course you don;t want to give too much advantage to guys like Karlo and Isner..so it's a subtle thing to keep up with.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:I don't think this will help all that much, as on pretty much any surface I feel Nadal and Djokovic (for instance) would be able to engage in pretty long rallies. All for more varied playing conditions, but not sure that will particularly help with the injuries (though maybe if players couldn't adapt to every surface, they wouldn't do much on their weaker surfaces, thus playing less, etc.)

A slight change of pace makes huge difference in length of rallies. Guys like Nadal and Djoko woudl really struggle on fast conds. You could not have long rallies in Wimbies 90s...not even in USO 90s. They were rare cause there were other better and faster ways to score a point. There was the equivalent of Nadal in the past. Like Bruguera, Wilander, Berasategui, Nystrom, Sundstrom, Carlsson, etc..but they were nowhere to be seen in the later stages of SW19.

Not saying this is a bad idea, but how could you possibly implement it? They are way too many substances to have an exhaustive list of what's authorised I'm afraid...

Not sure it's as long as the forbiden one. At the end of the day what we buy in our groceries can be broken down in lipides, glucides, proteines and some vitamines. The reason they don;t adopt such lists is that it would kill a multi billion pharmaceutical and nutrition business.

Are Roger and Jo playing tonite then or what?

Yep, they're warming up now

Fed looking sharp, gets the break.

First blood spilled.

Sharp. Both men giving the ball some stick.

Damn, it's started raining

Nice quick win. Fed hitting the ball hard like never all this year. The usual silly UE too but going strong. Tsonga totally not firing tonight.