2012 FO Day 7 OoP & Discussion

[Drop-shot]

I hope Raonic himself has higher standards than that. A player seriously hoping to contend for GS titles any time soon shouldn't be content with losing to folks like Monaco at a GS! Juan is not awful, but there is nothing amazing about him either. 28 years old, yet to reach GS QF and lost in the first round here the last two years.

Of course he does, but this is not an upset, not by a long stretch. Monaco is #14 in the world with a great clay record, Raonic is a crazy-tall guy with a weakish backhand for long rallies and no clay record to speak of. Gotta be realistic here, I think top-10 and a GS QF or 2 would be a pretty successful year. That's a big leap over 2011 which was already a huge leap over 2010.

[Ribbons]

He's Anne's brother, right?

Yep. ... in fact, the other day, Anne tweeted:

Just realised it's my brother in the chair for the Isner - Matthieu match. 5 hours and counting, I wonder if he needs to pee...?

https://twitter.com/annekeothavong/s...70835176316929

[jlhct]

The handshake http://i.minus.com/ibhfmf1InmibW3.gif

See...wasn't that stank?

[nelslus]

I hope Raonic himself has higher standards than that. A player seriously hoping to contend for GS titles any time soon shouldn't be content with losing to folks like Monaco at a GS! Juan is not awful, but there is nothing amazing about him either. 28 years old, yet to reach GS QF and lost in the first round here the last two years.

More than I have ever seen in my decades of watching tennis: There are currently two ATP players who believe they can win Slams and can, and one ATP player who believes he can win Slams but can't anymore. The rest would clearly be thrilled to have a career of making their millions and a GS QF now and then. The ATP is pointless right now. (The WTA has the opposite problem. Too many contenders seemingly- albeit of course some will drop out of the contender category any minute now.....It HAD been Sam Stosur's destiny to have a Helena Sukova career.....)

[suliso]

Del Potro is the only player in the top 10 not yet 25. The new generation will have to appear at some point and they don't even need to be better, merely younger. I'm sure during your long decades of watching tennis you have noticed that as well, nelslus.

[nelslus]

Del Potro is the only player in the top 10 not yet 25. The new generation will have to appear at some point and hey don't even need to be better, merely younger*. I'm sure during your long decades of watching tennis you have noticed that as well, nelslus.

PLEASE, we have entered into a new world. With this group of nitwits, remind me of this in about 10 years (assuming I'm still alive in 10 years....)

*Thanks anyways, but I'd rather not have to consider, Ryan Harrison, your 2015 Wimbledon Champion.

[Ti-Amie]

PLEASE, we have entered into a new world. With this group of nitwits, remind me of this in about 10 years (assuming I'm still alive in 10 years....)

*Thanks anyways, but I'd rather not have to consider, Ryan Harrison, your 2015 Wimbledon Champion.

One never knows do one?

Seriously I think that Raonic, and others, as recently as five years ago, would've been left alone to develop at their own pace. Instead any young player with a steely will and a lick of talent is shoved into the spotlight and hailed as the next best thing. Fans are asked to "BELIEVE" and the player is forced to progress faster than may be good for him or her.

I think the next superstars are toiling away in relative anonymity and will surprise all of us. I mean look at Varvara Lepchenko or Sloane Stephens. Neither one of them has been cast in the role of "next best" but somehow they're doing okay for themselves. Varvara is familiar to me because she plays a lot of Challengers gaining experience of winning and losing. I'm not saying she'll make it to the Final but she's got the makings of a good player. Sloane has been dipping her toe in the main tour waters so to speak but she's not there week in and week out. This is why they seem to appear out of nowhere when they've been there all along.

[Charlie02123]

Lepchenko was never hailed as next best because she has her AARP card and switched from a country with a lot of consonants. That said, LOVE her.

[suliso]

One never knows do one?

Seriously I think that Raonic, and others, as recently as five years ago, would've been left alone to develop at their own pace. Instead any young player with a steely will and a lick of talent is shoved into the spotlight and hailed as the next best thing. Fans are asked to "BELIEVE" and the player is forced to progress faster than may be good for him or her.

I think the next superstars are toiling away in relative anonymity and will surprise all of us. I mean look at Varvara Lepchenko or Sloane Stephens. Neither one of them has been cast in the role of "next best" but somehow they're doing okay for themselves. Varvara is familiar to me because she plays a lot of Challengers gaining experience of winning and losing. I'm not saying she'll make it to the Final but she's got the makings of a good player. Sloane has been dipping her toe in the main tour waters so to speak but she's not there week in and week out. This is why they seem to appear out of nowhere when they've been there all along.

Not sure about this one. Who was the last superstar who toiled away in relative anonymity before winning multiple GS titles? There might have been such players, but I have a hard time recalling even one. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray are certainly not from that crowd. Kvitova maybe? Or perhaps Rafter? I guess it depends how one defines relative obscurity...

Lepchenko is a journey woman and will not be much more than that despite her surprisingly good play here. Stephens is likely to be more than that, but her obscurity is only relative. All it will take is one GS QF for the eager American press to be all over her. Might even happen here...

[Ti-Amie]

I remember when Federer and Nadal were being whispered about but not taken as serious contenders for the next best let alone the best. I remember hearing about Federer from people into European tennis and remember the first big interview he did on ESPN IIRC. I was surprised he spoke almost accentless English.

As for Rafa I heard about him because of his Davis Cup debut against the US back in the day. And of course that match in Miami against Federer.

Who saw Kvitova coming? Azarenka was an annoying brat three years ago.
Who predicted Serbia becoming a force?

This is what I mean when I say the new stars may not be on he next best list.

[suliso]

I remember when Federer and Nadal were being whispered about but not taken as serious contenders for the next best let alone the best. I remember hearing about Federer from people into European tennis and remember the first big interview he did on ESPN IIRC. I was surprised he spoke almost accentless English.

As for Rafa I heard about him because of his Davis Cup debut against the US back on the day. And of course that match in Miami against Federer.

Who saw Kvitova coming? Azarenka was an annoying brat three years ago.
Who predicted Serbia becoming a force?

This is what I mean when I say the new stars may not be on he next best list.

As I said it depends how one defines "relative obscurity"

Predicting exactly what's going to happen is rarely possible and those who claim that they did were just lucky. Nevertheless players rarely appear on the scene totally unexpectedly, particularly for those who follow junior tennis at least a little bit. Usually one can make a list of 4-6 players and the next one will be among them.

Regarding the next male GS winner(s) I think there are two likely scenarios: 1)the next one will come from those few 19-21 year old guys already in the top 100 (Harrison, Raonic, Dimitrov, Tomic) 2) the current generation of champions is too strong and the next multiple GS champion will come from those who will debut on the main tour next year or the year after.

As for the current top 3, I can't really remember when I first heard about Nole. Rafa came to my attention in early 2004 and Roger after beating Sampras in 2001. By the way I have that match on my computer and the commentator (John McEnroe, I believe) was convinced that he would win GS titles.

The most unexpected result ever for me was Kuerten winning his first RG title. I'd never even heard about his existence before, but then again I didn't follow tennis quite as closely then as now.

During weaker times some players who would never win slam titles otherwise do so. It's a bit of chaos and predicting who exactly will be the lucky one is very difficult. WTA right now is still in such times (or maybe not anymore if Azarenka, Kvitova and Sharapova take the next 2-3 slams) so we have Li, Stosur and Schiavone as GS champions. Nothing against them, but with a dominant player or two it wouldn't have happened. ATP was a bit like that shortly before Federer took over (Thomas Johansson won a GS!!!)...

By the way do you remember who was touted as the most likely heir to Sampras/Agassi circa 2001-2002? I didn't even have a TV in those years...

And sorry for rambling.

[Ti-Amie]

You're not rambling at all.

I know in the States Roddick was expected to dominate tennis adter he won the US Open in 2001. Juan Carlos Ferrero was hot and Carlos Moya made it to #1. Safin burst on the scene by beating Sampras.

Eastern European women were starting to make their mark and of course Venus and Serena were on the scene.

I mentioned Serbia before but no one thought Spain would become the powerhouse it has. There were US commentators making fun of the system that was just being put inlace back then.

Odd looking back isn't it!

[Ti-Amie]

As for Harrison he's a throwback in terms of temperament no?
Tomic may be hindered by his father like Mary Pierce was.
Rapnic is already carrying the hopes of Canada on his shoulders every time he steps on court.
I don't know about Dimitrov. He's been next best for a couple of years now. Remember the hype around Richard Gasquet?

[Ribbons]

Maybe Ons Jabeur in 2017?

[shtexas]

My .02 cents:

For Raonic and Tomic, right now, I am seeing Berdych/Tsonga type careers. Pretty good. Raonic seems the more grounded, but Tomic the more potentially explosive. If Tomic takes charge of his own career, he can be something more.

Dimitrov: I would love to see him break through, but he hasn't really moved forward in a while. I'm thinking a Malisse type career. Not a bad thing, but not what I think he can do.

Harrison: I haven't figured him out yet. He seems to have the tools. He's seems to be court smart. But, then, there is his temper, which makes him ultimately look stupid. And it seems to be getting worse. The jury's still out.