Tennis Discussion Thread

Yeah, just saw him clinch his place in the final. Could he be the third man after Wawrinka and Del Potro to win a slam as opposed to 'the big four'? He certainly stands a hell of a chance in this form. Congratulations to him...

Marin Cilic leads Roger Federer 6-3 2-1 with a break in the second semi final.

Make that two sets to love.
6-3 6-4.
Federer did come from two sets down against Monfils and will need to repeat this feat to progress to the final.

Maria Sharapova - SELF 2014 -
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Cilic wins in straight sets against Federer so we will have our second maiden grand slam male winner of 2014

Federer never really got into that match.
Too many unforced errors. Allowed Cilic to maintain his momentum too easily by not taking his opportunities to put sufficient pressure on his groundstrokes.
It was very poor from Federer imo.
Nishikori should hopefully not allow Cilic so much comfort and force a long match in the final.

who predicted this final then? is there a changing of the guard or is it just a one off?

In the case of Nishikori I think it may be a sign of things to come.
He has always had talent but physical stamina has always been the worry over 5 sets.
His coaching team have clearly worked wonders in this regard and he has lasted the course in some brutally tough matches extremely well in New York.
With Cilic I have my doubts.
He is serving well and hitting powerful groundstrokes right now but I have doubts as to whether this us a sign of more consistent grand slam final appearances to come.
I worry more in his case it may be a flash in the pan type scenario.

(07-09-2014 01:40 )snookered147 Wrote:  In the case of Nishikori I think it may be a sign of things to come.
He has always had talent but physical stamina has always been the worry over 5 sets.
His coaching team have clearly worked wonders in this regard and he has lasted the course in some brutally tough matches extremely well in New York.
With Cilic I have my doubts.
He is serving well and hitting powerful groundstrokes right now but I have doubts as to whether this us a sign of more consistent grand slam final appearances to come.
I worry more in his case it may be a flash in the pan type scenario.

I'm going to stick my neck on the line and go for Cilic to win the final. I personally Joey don't think it is a changing of the guard, more of an aberration before a return to Nadal/Djokovic dominance next year. Of course Nadal first needs to overcome the injuries that have hindered him this year though. I take your point about Cilic though snookered, we will have to see how he performs. For both men though there's big pressure for me as this may be their only chance to win a grand slam.

I'm not saying Cilic won't win the final, he may well do.
It is a tough one to call because winning a grand slam would be new territory for either man.
Important to play the match and not the occasion. It may well be won in the mind.
I just think that Nishikori has more potential for improvement going forward and imo will stand a superior chance to consistently pushing towards the very top.

Moving on to the ladies final........
On form Serena should win.
On paper she should win.
On ranking she should win.
But you just never know. Serena has pressed the self destruct button enough times to always allow that little bit of doubt to be in the air.
If Wozniacki can unsettle Serena mentally and make Serena play the extra ball time and again then maybe just maybe the American may crack.
Clijsters and Stosur worked that particular trick brilliantly in previous US Open finals .
Serena got frustrated and cracked.
So essentially it boils down to can Serena keep herself under control mentally.
If so I expect her to win convincingly.
If not.......................... the door is ajar for Wozniacki.

Being a snooker fan you will understand this comparison: Serena reminds me of Ronnie O'Sullivan, in the sense that at their best they are unplayable but both are extremely emotional characters that are prone to moments of vulnerability under pressure. So in that sense, Wozniacki needs to be like 'stickability Selby'.