Board 8 > Australian Open 2018 [tennis][#RF20]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh my God, this match.
---

Anti-jinx WORKED YESSSSS

Caroline <3 FOREVER
---

So very impressed by Simona, how hard she fought throughout the whole tournament, to get so close after the injury and marathon match. But god damn it, I'm so fucking sick of watching her lose finals. Congrats to Wozniacki though. That was an outstanding final, and credit to her for pushing Simona out of her game.
---

that was an awesome match

pleased for wozniacki, both of them deserve to be grand slam champs and i have no doubt halep will grab one soon (french?)

men's final that good tomorrow please
---

good job woz

I think Im glad she win because simona will almost certainly have more chances
---

yeah that was exactly my thinking, found myself cheering for wozniacki with that in mind
---

Stupid Cilic denying Fed a perfect slam AND making me stay up later. Fucking ass.
---

**** this. Cilic is gonna win.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

**** this. Cilic is gonna win.

K, let's not go nuts.
---

Well that's no good.
---

Fucking Federror coming to play now. Fucking awful.
---

20!!!!! Outstanding!
---

It's really funny how we used to actually debate Nadal vs Federer
---

XIII_rocks posted...

It's really funny how we used to actually debate Nadal vs Federer

No-one with a brain ever did this.

Federer was the best tennis player in the world and Nadal was the best tennis player on clay and that's been obvious for basically the entirety of their careers.
---

Well I mean I knew that I was talking about Anri
---

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

**** this. Cilic is gonna win.

My anti-jinx worked.

couldnt win without dropping a set?

time to retire
---

Disney has been pushing the Brady vs Jordan debate lately.

But Federer is 100% the greatest white athlete I have seen in my lifetime.

In fact, his actual athletic ability gets underrated, since his skill level is so high. Some players have had better individual years during his run, but that happens to just about every top athlete with such a long career.

If Federer was american, I think he would be a billion dollar athlete by now.
---

These young guns need to step up. The tour is literally being owned by someone 3 years shy of 40. I really hope we see someone like Zverev or Chung win a slam this year.

Zverev, in particular has all the tools but somehow manages to tank literally all his grand slam matches.

Chung looked promising this tournament, but needs to work on his conditioning.

Zvarev needs to get an attitude adjustment before he starts winning slams.
---

I used to call Cilic the worst Slam winner by a mile in the Big Four era. But the guy played like a champ today. The 4th set display was just insane tennis.

He has definitely paid his dues and someone I'd finally call a worthy slam winner.

Unless Delpo does more, he might end up as the least worthy slam winner in the Big 4 era.

Players who won slams in the last decade other than the big 4

Stan Wawrinka - 3
Marin Cilic - 1
Juan Martin Del Potro - 1

Might be the most ridiculous stat in tennis. Literally 3 other winners in 40+ contested slams.

delpo has been plagued with injuries his entire career, so hes only worst by default. I have no doubt he would have won more if he were able to stay healthy.
---

voltch posted...

Some players have had better individual years during his run, but that happens to just about every top athlete with such a long career.

I don't think anyone had a better individual year than Fed's 2006. 92-5 Win Loss Record (4 of those losses were on Clay to Nadal, the other to a young Andy Murray as an upset). 3 Slams (Runner-up at FO). WTF Finals winner. 11 Titles. World no. 1 with the highest accumulated points in history. Too many records that year.

Djokovic's amazing 2011 would probably rank a distant second though.

I wasn't saying players had better years than Federer at his best.

I'm saying for a few years some players were better than him.

2011 Novak for example is bettrr than 2011 Federer.

If Federer was World Number 1 for 14 straight years he would have 40 grand slams by now.
---

So is Federer the ATP #1?
---

No, hes 155 points shy. If he plays Doha and does well he could take it, but then he has two wins in Indian Wells and Miami to defend, so prospects for that are tough.
---

Yeah Federer has some big points to defend in March so even if he does take number 1 in February he'll likely lose it. Even winning both Indian Wells and Miami may not be enough if Nadal also does well.

The silver lining is that Federer took off the entire clay season last year so if he decides to compete this year he may take number 1 (Nadal had a very good clay season last year, his only major blemish was the Italian Open quarterfinal loss)
---

I think Federer probably skips clay again to stay healthy for the tournaments he has a shot at.
---

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Players who won slams in the last decade other than the big 4

Stan Wawrinka - 3
Marin Cilic - 1
Juan Martin Del Potro - 1

Might be the most ridiculous stat in tennis. Literally 3 other winners in 40+ contested slams.

Never mind the last decade, it's actually the last 13 years now (Marat Safin, 2005 Australian). 52 slams, only 7 winners.

The crazy thing to me is how weak the generation after Delpo/Cilic/Murray/Djokovic is. All those players are born in 1988 or earlier (which yes, means they'll all be 30 by the year's end). I certainly have some hope for some of the younger players like Zverev, Chung, Shapovalov, Kyrgios if he gets things together, etc. But among people who are currently aged 24-28... man, that's an underwhelming group. It's entirely possible none of them ever win a slam. Raonic and Nishikori and Dimitrov are decent but they should not be the top players of that age range.
---