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Originally posted by stroke
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Thiem seemed to be overhitting in that first set but he didn't seem to be concerned. He has settled down and found the range and mostly it is directed at Federer's backhand. Thiem is just pounding away...forehands, backhands and serves. If Roger can somehow find his way out of this...I will be surprised. -
HIs best bet would seem to get to the tie-break and eek it out there. 4-5...Federer on serve.Originally posted by don_budge View Post
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That was so impressive by both in the 2nd set. Roger is playing a highest level clay court match as I have never seen. It has not been war of attrition that clay always is. It was just Roger doing something no one else ever has, but Thiem to his huge crediit stayed strong and pulled out a 2nd set tiebreak that obviously could have gone either way. As you say, Thiem is finding a rhythm now with his pounding ground strokes. But who knows with Roger, if anyone can do it, he can.Comment
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Well, that was my match of the year so far.Comment
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Yeah...Thiem really showed me something. Ok...I had a feeling he was going to win after the tie-break. Young legs you know. But what really impressed me was his demeanour when he ended the match. No hysteria...just a walk to the net and a nice firm handshake. A brief wave to the crowd and then he is preparing to leave the stadium. In this manner he shows the proper respect that a player and a man of Federer's stature deserve. Very, very impressive. Real sportsmanlike. Great match.Originally posted by stroke View PostComment
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Tsitsipas is so good, particularly on clay. Thiem if he does become the man on clay will always company with him.Comment
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Great performance from Thiem. I expected him to win. Playing well, he's a tiny bit better that Roger on clay. But he really ought to be winning that match on clay at this stage in Roger's career. And yes I loved the understated way Thiem celebrated his victory. That was respectful and how it once used to be, how it should be. I will certainly be in his corner from now on.
His next match will be interesting and important to both men. I wonder how Novak will cope with Thiem in such fine form.StottyComment
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Surprised Roger made it that close. Had match points. Credit to Thiem, he will be a French Open champion one day. One day.
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca RatonComment
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The best tournament this year to me. And what a blockbuster final 4. 2 of the best ever, the king of clay forever Nadal, Novak(who has done what he has done vs the 2 best ever) and 2 great rising star clay courters, Thiem and Stefanos. Very intriguing.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas versus Rafael Nadal...a chance to back up the words
Tsitsipas said this and again and again drove the point home..."Nadal has a talent for making you play poorly."
Stefanos had the balls to call out the skunk for all of his obnoxious gamesmanship. Anyone who sees this idiot as a sportsmanlike character...I won't finish that thought. It's inappropriate. People just see things differently. But Tsitsipas was on the court with him and he knows what the experience was like. I'm liking Stefanos more and more. He slugged it out with Alexander Zverev yesterday and he wasn't shy about it. He's looking for the fight and he is taking it to the opponent. I missed the handshake. Tsitsipas isn't big on all that hugging and kissing nonsense after the match. He is filling out physically and getting rougher and rougher. He may not be rough enough for Señor Skunk but it will be interesting to see if he has made any progress since the Australian Open semi where he caught a whiff of the foul scent of gamesmanship.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/inde...ad-idk.635723/
Originally posted by don_budge View PostStefanos Tsitsipas...In His Own Words
Thanks so much for posting this interview stroke...I looked for it on youtube and came up empty.
Once upon a time...when Johnny Tango was working down in the bowels of the Rouge Plant as a technician in a Quality Control Laboratory in the Steel Division. Trying to figure a way out of the rut...to advance to the next level. One thing that he realised that if he had any kind of suggestion...any kind of proposal to improve the environment or the function of the department that he must submit it in writing. The reason being he surmised was that as soon as the air stopped moving that was created by his lips flapping most of what he had said was either forgotten or misunderstood. If it is in writing then the listener can go back and read word for word exactly what it was that they heard.
So I submit to you to the best of my ability a transcript of the Stefanos Tsitsipas post semifinals match interview. The interview is strangely revealing. The young man is an ultra charming personality in that he is totally unfazed with the situation and he is equally unfazed by his accomplishment. He wants more. He wasn't satisfied. He was merely in the process of sort of lazily "processing" his thoughts with the press corps after a crazy week of the Australian Open tennis tournament that he rather took by storm.
Stefanos impresses me as incredibly thoughtful and confident. He may have been disappointed...he certainly was tired. But already he is getting ready to get back on that horse. He is in the process of development and he seems to have his head in the game. All of the attention hasn't either sunk in or it hasn't impressed him. I am guessing the latter. There is so much to be gleaned from this sneak peek into his thoughts as he goes from answering to playfully teasing. I really, really like his attitude above all else. You see...ladies and germs...it is all about attitude. He lost the biggest match of his life but what the hell. We are all losers in the end. The question is not one of losing...it is one of being defeated. Two entirely different things.
Was Stefanos defeated by Rafael Nadal? Not one little tiny bit. Yes...he got his ass handed to him. But next time I will bet my bottom dollar he is saying to himself..."I'm going to beat this guy". I love this guy...Stefanos Tsitsipas.
R for Reporter...ST for Stefanos Tsitsipas
R: Do still feel like the happiest man in the world? What do you think is the most important takeaway from this match?
ST: Honestly I have no idea what I can take from that match. It’'s not as if I was even close to get something. I only got six games from that match…...and I don’'t know, I feel very strange…...I feel happy with my performance in this tournament but at the same time I feel disappointment. I feel I could do a bit better today...…I don’'t know. That’'s how I felt…...but it’'s a very, very weird feeling. It almost felt like I couldn’'t just play better.
R: Stefanos…...you look a bit dazed. Did he surprise you in any way or is it because it is right after the match and you just haven’'t processed it yet?
ST: Yes...…he did surprise me. HIs serve is not...…it’'s not the biggest serve on the tour. It’'s a pretty average serve. It’'s annoying to not getting close to breaking him at all. He’'s just very aggressive from the baseline...…that’'s just pretty much it. But I’'m...…I mean…...I don’t know. I really can’'t think of something positive from that match. Probably the second set, which is the one that I got closer to. The rest...…it kind of felt in a way as if it wasn'’t tennis so much like the other matches I played. It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely. He gives you no rhythm. He plays...…just…...a different game style than the rest of the players and he has this talent that no other player...…I have never seen a player have this…...he makes you play bad. I would call that a talent.
R: Stefanos...…though this is hard as you said. You only took six games, you were not even close, I understand that. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a weeks time, but maybe in a few months will this defeat help you maybe?
ST: I hope so. I really don’'t know. That’'s definitely not the way I wanted to leave from the tournament. At least I wanted to fight…...maybe a fourth set. You know…...get something out of it. Not just leave with only six games from that match. That’'s what I meant in the previous interview. I just felt I could do better...…but I just couldn’'t today. The angles he was using...…my brain was used to a certain rhythm of the game...…the right handed players that I had played all week. And to him it felt that I was always...…when he was playing always on the wrong foot. Never really...…didn’'t check properly…...felt very slow today. I feel pretty fast when I am on the court...…I mean...…I have really improved in that part of my game. Today I felt like a two meter ten guy that cannot move on the court and that’'s definitely not me. I don't know. It just felt weird. The whole match felt weird from the very beginning. My body was stiff. I wouldn’'t say I was serving very well.As I said before he just has a talent to make you play bad.That’s it.
R: Do you feel at all tired? You'’ve played a lot of tennis these past two weeks. Did you feel fatigued at the start of the match at all?
ST: I felt a bit...…I was a bit...…I would say that I was not mentally in the match so much. I felt kind of empty in my brain…which is strange because I never feel like this when I am in the match. I really wanted badly to wake up. I felt a bit...…I felt my reaction time was very slow. I felt like everything was not that alert...…like it usually is. I felt a bit down...…just a click worse than I am usually and I really don’t know how to explain this. I guess from the match I played before...…the whole week that I played here. Trying to understand what was going wrong today.
R: When was the last time an opponent made you feel that way on the court?
ST: I probably say that the last time I felt like this...…good question…...in Paris Rolex Masters. I felt pretty much the same when I lost in the second round I think. I felt really not in the match. I felt like I was somewhere else. I was trying pump myself up a little bit…...just give a reason to be on the court but still couldn’'t find one. That was also a bad match that I played there. Actually I practiced with him...…I practiced with Rafa the day before I played Dhamir Dzumar...…and, I mean practice is different. But that was the tournament that Rafa had to pull out. We had the practice and after the practice he had to pull out...…the very next day...…I don’t know...…I felt…...I was playing horrible on the court. It wasn’'t me. That’s what I am thinking. That’'s what I said before.
R: Inaudible…
ST: Yea…...his game style makes your other half of your brain work more than it usually does. I don’'t know but I cannot find an explanation for that.
R: Stefanos…...you had a big week off the court as well. You got a lot of attention and everything for coming through and beating Roger. You did earn a trophy this week because you hit a hundred thousand subscribers on youtube…...but I am curious how much all that other outside stuff…...do you feel maybe effected this match or just made this whole tournament something that you have never experienced before.
ST: This match?
R: This whole tournament with all of the growing and growing attention. It was something new for you I would think.
ST: For sure...…for sure, I mean this tournament kind of changed and gave another dimension to my career. I’'m really happy I got some good wins this week. Against Roger…...again I will stick to that match because I did play very good tennis against Roger, against Bautista-Agut and also Betitinni in the first round match who is a great player in my opinion. I had good matches but I’'m really disappointed in today because I felt I could get closer and improve myself a little bit more and not let him dominate the entire match. It just felt wrong.
R: Do you think that the occasion was a factor? Being in your first Grand Slam final was a factor?
ST: Maybe...…I hope that it doesn'’t happen again. I really hope it doesn't because it'’s nice to have wins against these kind of players...…top four. It’'s not that I don’'t want it...…I really want it badly, but I got to want it even more than I want it at the moment.
R: Stefanos…...do you think this loss, even though disappointing, will motivate you to work even harder?
ST: I mean I’'ll try. Hopefully I’'ll get closer next time. I have been working really hard and it seems that it is even going worse than before. Against Rafa…...in Toronto I did play a good match against him. I had my hopes high for the next time. I said to myself...…I remember saying to myself I’'m going to beat this guy next time I play him. That’'s why I am so disappointed today because I wasn’'t even close. But again I am going to try work hard…...aim high...…hope one day maybe I can get a win against him.
R: I’'d to congratulate you. I saw Roger Federer beating Pete Sampras in 2001 and everyone thought he was going to win the tournament...…or could possibly win the tournament...…then he lost to Tim Henman in the quarters. Then you know what Federer did after this so you shouldn’'t get depressed. You lost one match. You are twenty years old. You are only twelve years less than Nadal.
ST: I agree with you. I don’t know. I’'m just trying to figure how Federer beat him so many times because he has a similar game style like me. I am just trying to understand how to...…I mean I don’'t want to lose to Rafa ten times in a row.
"Nadal has a talent for making you play poorly."Comment
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I wouldn't put it past Dominic Thiem to take a huge step forwards today and beat Novak Djokovic and to tell the truth nothing could be better for the game for that to happen. The other half goes without saying. The best thing for tennis at this point in time and space would be a Stefanos Tsitsipas versus Dominic Thiem final. Two of the most beautiful one handed backhands in the game today.Comment
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What a win for Tsitsipas, and obviously the crowds adore him. At one point in the 3rd set as he was seizing complete control of the match, the crowd actually started chanting his name. I do not think I have ever seen that. I like Alex also and almost felt sorry for him out there. He does that typical try/demand the crowd get behind him/more applause thing, no big deal, almost all do. Not Tsitsipas. They cheer wildly for him of their own volition. He is a rock star out there. The rock star is a heavy underdog vs Nadal. Nadal is 1/6 to win the match. Novak vs Thiem is practically a pick em. Novak is favored by a whisker. No upsets yesterday. The odds are so close on Thiem and Novak that there is no upset possible. Both matches look great, but I want to see Tsitsipas more take on the toughest ask in tennis, Nadal on clay.Comment
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Love the handshake here. A couple of things...Tsitsipas makes certain that he is on Zverev's side of the net to shake. A little bit of an aggressive move...subtly letting Zverev know further who is the boss. The chanting is rather mind boggling. Spanish crowd loves the Greek. Next up their own prodigal son. The heavier the underdog the better of Tsitsipas. He needs to know that there is nothing to lose and to do the impossible is what super heroes are made of.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Zverev is way too enthusiastic about his own flashy shots. There is no sense in applauding yourself and trying to get the crowd to go along with it. The Federer/Thiem match was absolutely void of any sort of faux pas in this regard. Played out perfectly. Both competed masterfully and neither did more than a bit of a fist pump and a "come on". I have always liked Thiem and I am liking him more. That win over Fognini was huge as klacr it was what he was supposed to do. Once you start living up to the expectations as if it is normal taking care of business you have arrived...not to mention being ever vigilant.
I like Zverev too and hope that he gets his head on straight. Emotionally he is not ready I don't believe. He needs to lose that jewellery too. Too much vanity...as Solomon said forever ago. All is vanity.
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