Yeah, a 3, 3 and 4 W over Coria has moved Cam into the third round of a Slam for the first time ever. He's now into the Round of 32 and being ranked 76th, this means that he's bound to move WAY up in the rankings and the money list. With Wimbledon cancelled, this is probably the biggest tourney of the year and he's making a deep run. Next up is Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat Novak and 24-th seeded Hurkacz to advance. He's ranked at ATP#99, with a CH of #81. Cam should be favored again on Friday at 10:00 a.m.
question for those who follow tennis
seems to me the men's game is not based upon every tall guy who can't hit a 3 picking up a racket and trying to bomb serves at 130+
hyperbole i know, but does seem like there is a height requirement to be on the men's tour
Your second sentence makes zero sense
Yes - being tall is very important. That being said - it's not like basketball where it's virtually impossible to even make NBA if you are under 6'3". The four best players of all time are either 6'1" or 6'2".
The odds are certainly stacked way against you if you are much under 6'0". #13 Schwartmann (who Norrie just beat) is about only guy I can think of well under 6'0" and in top 25.
just commenting that it seems every time my wife is watching tennis they cut to some 6'6" guy who pretty much bombs serves and is trying to crush forehands standing 10+' behind the baseline
definitely i could be very, very wrong on this and clay tends to even things out, but there seems to be more tall guys than i can remember playing men's tennis
There's no doubt the sport has trended tall the past 5-6 years. I'd say it's about 50/50 that a match will end up being two tall guys smashing serves and trying to end the point as quickly as possible. I generally don't watch those matches and always root for the super serve bots to lose (Isner and Opelka are the main ones)
Andy Murray plays Auger-Aliassme(sp) tonight. There will be some smashing of the ball, but you should see tons of decent rallies.
My view is that, as racquet technology has increased, the tall guys have been given a big advantage in the service game. But you still have to be able to move, and the big guys usually DON'T actually win the tourneys although their advantages allow them to go deep. Neither Rafa, Joker or Fed are that tall and they're at the top of the sport. And even guys like Zverev (6'6"), who combines height and mobility, haven't broken through yet. Schwartzman is tiny -there really isn't anyone quite like him. But Goffin is small, Thiem isn't that tall and some of the Asian up-and-comers aren't very tall either. Smaller guys can still have success, but they need to have weapons that can minimize the taller guys' natural advantages. It may seem a big guys' game to Americans, because "our" best players are mostly tall and "we" tend to play mostly only on hard courts, which emphasizes the service game. But clay and grass are entirely different (as we will see in the upcoming rescheduled French) and you certainly won't see Isner or Opelka winning that.