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Back in the day, the game was not particularly physical, but more artistic - a gentlemen's game. Think Wimbledon. Classic serve, volley, net play, setting up the point, graceful backhands. It was called lawn tennis for a reason. And it was a bit of an art form. Federer and Edberg in the modern era were closest in style to the earlier players. Both were beautiful to watch.
And then came Pete Sampras - boring as hell - serving ace after ace after ace. Yawn.
Over time the game evolved - hard hitting, powerful serves and rallies, physical fitness, stamina, endurance and strength became paramount. Agassi, Chang come to mind.
Today the game is brutal, for jocks - some of the matches are pure beatdowns. Could any of the earlier era matches be described that way?
There are no gentle wins in tennis anymore. Today's match was relatively tame in comparison to many I've seen. Long, but not nearly as physical. Certainly not epic.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 01-30-2022 at 10:07 PM..
Afraid not. This years Australian Open will always have an asterisk as Djokovic wasn’t allowed to compete.
Except Medvedev beat Djokovic easily 64 64 64 in US Open Final, thereby casting doubt over whether Djokovic could beat Medvedev at hardcourt slams anymore....
Not saying Medvedev would have definitely beaten Djokovic here, but there is tremendous doubt because of that US Open.
Plus its very normal for a defending champion to be absent, as we saw Nadal miss 2009 Wimbledon, 2014 US Open, 2020 US Open etc. and Barty skipped 2020 Roland Garros etc.
I was planning to watch this on demand when I woke up this morning, but then I saw that this match clocked in at 6 hours. No way am I watching something that long. They really need to trim the male matches down to best of the 3. Best of 5 can just become overly lengthy.
If they trim the men's slams down to best-of-3-sets I hope they only do it AFTER Nadal is retired, because I don't want Nadal's slams to be infected by the inferior quality of best-of-3-sets.
And if a player comes along in future to win 25 slams with best-of-3-sets, they'll never get the acclaim that Nadal, Federer and Djokovic got for winning best-of-5-sets slams.
And tennis fans adore best-of-5-sets, as we saw yesterday with one of the loudest crowds ever..... and in 2019- https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nada...endance-record
Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev's instant classic US Open final helped the season's fourth major set a new attendance mark this year. A record 737,872 fans strolled through the gates in New York, about 5,000 more than last year, to break the prior record of 732,663.
In total, during the past three weeks, 853,227 people attended the tournament, including the US Open Fan Week, which includes qualifying matches.
Nadal beat Medvedev in the five-set final that lasted four hours, 49 minutes to win his 19th major title and second of the season.
Back in the day, the game was not particularly physical, but more artistic - a gentlemen's game. Think Wimbledon. Classic serve, volley, net play, setting up the point, graceful backhands. It was called lawn tennis for a reason. And it was a bit of an art form. Federer and Edberg in the modern era were closest in style to the earlier players. Both were beautiful to watch.
And then came Pete Sampras - boring as hell - serving ace after ace after ace. Yawn.
Over time the game evolved - hard hitting, powerful serves and rallies, physical fitness, stamina, endurance and strength became paramount. Agassi, Chang come to mind.
Today the game is brutal, for jocks - some of the matches are pure beatdowns. Could any of the earlier era matches be described that way?
There are no gentle wins in tennis anymore. Today's match was relatively tame in comparison to many I've seen. Long, but not nearly as physical. Certainly not epic.
I enjoy women's tennis much better, especially the games with less power and more strategy setting up the point as you mentioned.
If they trim the men's slams down to best-of-3-sets I hope they only do it AFTER Nadal is retired, because I don't want Nadal's slams to be infected by the inferior quality of best-of-3-sets.
And if a player comes along in future to win 25 slams with best-of-3-sets, they'll never get the acclaim that Nadal, Federer and Djokovic got for winning best-of-5-sets slams.
And tennis fans adore best-of-5-sets, as we saw yesterday with one of the loudest crowds ever..... and in 2019- https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nada...endance-record
Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev's instant classic US Open final helped the season's fourth major set a new attendance mark this year. A record 737,872 fans strolled through the gates in New York, about 5,000 more than last year, to break the prior record of 732,663.
In total, during the past three weeks, 853,227 people attended the tournament, including the US Open Fan Week, which includes qualifying matches.
Nadal beat Medvedev in the five-set final that lasted four hours, 49 minutes to win his 19th major title and second of the season.
When you are paying for tickets, of course you want your money's worth and want the matches to last as long as possible. You make a good point in not comparing records equally if men's tennis goes to best of 3.
Back in the day, the game was not particularly physical, but more artistic - a gentlemen's game. Think Wimbledon. Classic serve, volley, net play, setting up the point, graceful backhands. It was called lawn tennis for a reason. And it was a bit of an art form. Federer and Edberg in the modern era were closest in style to the earlier players. Both were beautiful to watch.
And then came Pete Sampras - boring as hell - serving ace after ace after ace. Yawn.
Over time the game evolved - hard hitting, powerful serves and rallies, physical fitness, stamina, endurance and strength became paramount. Agassi, Chang come to mind.
Today the game is brutal, for jocks - some of the matches are pure beatdowns. Could any of the earlier era matches be described that way?
There are no gentle wins in tennis anymore. Today's match was relatively tame in comparison to many I've seen. Long, but not nearly as physical. Certainly not epic.
I don't understand your concept of the "gentlemen's game"? I think that you are leaning the explanation towards physical side but how does it involved the concept of "gentlemen" like game? How does a player win gently?
I don't understand your concept of the "gentlemen's game"? I think that you are leaning the explanation towards physical side but how does it involved the concept of "gentlemen" like game? How does a player win gently?
Please explain.
I think he means that tennis players used to play less aggressively. Just a guess, so I could be wrong.
When you are paying for tickets, of course you want your money's worth and want the matches to last as long as possible. You make a good point in not comparing records equally if men's tennis goes to best of 3.
And Zverev would probably have a bunch of slam titles by now if slams were best-of-3-sets
Ok if we must keep best of 5, then why don’t they extend the female matches to be best of 5 on grand slams?? Are we insinuating that women aren’t strong and fit enough to play for a longer amount of time like men are??
When you are paying for tickets, of course you want your money's worth and want the matches to last as long as possible. You make a good point in not comparing records equally if men's tennis goes to best of 3.
Can’t say I disagree with that! When I attended the women’s final at the US Open last summer, I really wish the match lasted longer. It was such an awesome experience that I wish I was there longer…
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