TCU Men's Tennis - 2020-2021

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Jared7

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It sure is nice to hear commentators like John McEnroe, Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Chris Evert and James Blake saying good things about Cam's W. And what's really nice is that, after 6 months of COVID, we actually have Frogs to follow in actual sports competition. TCU has been favorably mentioned a few times. But it's the British press that is (arguably) going overboard, saying that his W "defied belief," was his greatest W since his Davis Cup debut when he similarly came back from 2 sets down to beat Roberto Bautista Agut, that it was "shocking" and "stunning" and that saving 2 match points and fighting back from being down 3-5 in the 5th showed the "greatest grit and determination" that he's ever demonstrated. They've lauded his strategy change in the 3rd when it was clear that he couldn't overpower Schwartzman from the baseline and he didn't have the consistency to win the long rallies that he switched to dinking and slicing and drop shotting (kind of like what jake forecast a couple of days ago) and how he threw Schwartzman off balance by coming to net. I could go on. Schwarztman has only lost to one other player at the U.S. Open ranked outside the Top 20 - Delpo (er, Juan Martin del Potro).

He better beat Coria now - I hope he doesn't read his press clippings and gets the big head. It'll probably be Wednesday - the top of the draw is playing today; the bottom tomorrow.
 
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Jared7

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The Norrie-Coria match is currently scheduled for 2:45 (CDT), but scheduling is always tentative in tennis, so it'll actually be whenever... If you've got one of them fancy, new-fangled machine thangs, there's an app for streaming it. I'm here now, but I've got to go to work shortly. I want them to start right now! What's the hold up??!! Cam (now #76th) is favored against Coria (#103). They've never played.

Now showing 3:05 (CDT). [ What the heck? ]??!!
 
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jake102

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I show the Harris/Goffin match ahead of Norrie on court 5. That match is only in 2nd set.... and they are about to split those two sets....

They may have super bungled the times
 

Jared7

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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.
 

jake102

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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.

It will be a pretty tough match, but I think Norrie should be very slight favorite.

Surprisingly, he's only moved up 9 spots, tight cluster in his range. If he wins his next match he will move up another 9 spots. But at this point he's earned $163,000 and will improve that to $250,000 if he wins Friday
 
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Eight

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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
 
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jake102

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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.
 
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Eight

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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
 
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jake102

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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.
 
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Jared7

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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.
 

Jared7

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Norrie and Davidovich Fokina have split the first 2 sets - 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 - and it's on to the 3rd set at Flushing Meadows.
 

Eight

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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.

murray got blown off the court with the way felix served and was simply overpowered by his forehand.

i agree a-a has a much better all around game than the bigs i referred to before, but andy was simply overmatched
 
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Eight

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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.

thanks for the response and it seems to me the difference in surfaces does allow success for those will all around games and a more defensive approach to the game

the big serve game to me is akin to the basketball player who only shoots 3's with no mid-range or the baseball player who tries to pull everything and hit homeruns instead of putting the ball in play and situational hitting

truly elite players seem to me to have a diversified game such as roger, novak, murray when healthy, and rafa. additionally you have guys like stan who has had a great career, but the rackets and the emphasis on power seems to allow players who don't have complete skills to carve out decent money and as much as a guy like isner is physically limited i look at a guy like cressy who has had success in the ncaa's without developing a diversified game
 
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Jared7

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Well, I liken the big serve game by big guys to Shaq dunking all the time but not being able to dribble or shoot foul shots. But the point is the same.

Looking at our team (this is a "Frog" forum), they don't call Gray "Big Al" for nothing. And Fomba isn't short either although I think it's his agility that makes his game so dangerous. Kruger's not small either, but the remainder of the team seems more average-sized. Roldan is kind of short but he's very competitive. The Buckeyes' J.J. Wolf is still in it at the Open, and he's a short guy whereas Torpegaard, who I thought would be a lock in the pros hasn't done much as yet. Cam is 6'2"; Rybo 6'1".

Meanwhile, things have gone south quickly and Cam trails 2-5 in the 3rd...
 

Jared7

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Cam falls apart and loses to Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 2-6, 1-6 at the Open. It was a good tourney for him (especially the upset over Schwartzman) and his best Slam ever, but he ended up losing to someone who he should have beaten, which is never good. Next up for him will be the rescheduled French on clay for which he should receive an automatic berth in the main draw in about a week.

Meanwhile the new ITA Fall Circuit will be starting in about 2 weeks in the college ranks.
 

Jared7

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Weird doings at the Open as Joker is defaulted after hitting a lineswoman with a ball. So it's wide open for the first non Big 3 player to win a Slam for the first time in years.

Davidovich Fokina ended up losing to Zverev, as (probably) would have Norrie. I think Zverev, Thiem or Medvedev are probably the favorites now. But it could be anyone left.