RG 2014

[Coolhand Texas]

dimitrov fails to show at the slams again. shocked he went out to ivo in straight sets

[djarvik]

Dr. strikes again!

You can never be really surprised, I mean with his serve he should be causing more upsets, not less.

Feel bad for Dimitrov and more so for Haas

[Corbon]

Dimitrov fail. His returns couldn't handle Karlo's bombs. But Stan's early exit is a real shocker.

Some ridiculous footwork on Nadal's inside out forehands.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... ulbis.aspx

[Lucian86]

A couple of upsets so far. AO winners both out of the tournament at the first round. Wawrinka and Na Li. That means my fellow compatriate, Halep, has a good way to the final.

[BrushedBigJJ]

AO winners both out of the tournament at the first round. Wawrinka and Na Li.

Earliest ever for there to be no chance for the year end slam

[Moralspain]

Thiem, any thoughts on this guy?, Media says he's the new Thomas Muster, he's facing Rafa in the next round I think

[Kono]

Serena is out of the tournament Maybe we will see a new winner, atleast I hope so!

[djarvik]

Thiem, any thoughts on this guy?, Media says he's the new Thomas Muster, he's facing Rafa in the next round I think

He has the same coach as Gulbis - Bresnik. Trains with Gulbis and thinks of him as his mentor.

Gulbis may not know how to WIN Rafa, but he sure knows where it hurts. Should be a great match if Thiem shows up.

[Belonger]

Serena is out of the tournament Maybe we will see a new winner, atleast I hope so!

Usually, when Serena leaves a major tournament early, then Sharapova becomes unstoppable. So maybe Suzanne Lenglen cup will be hers for a second time (which means no new winner, btw).

About Thiem and Djarvik question, I saw a few games of his first match, on French TV web special app (many courts without comments), because he played PHM, a guy I liked because of what he went through in terms of inuries... And Thiem clearly got very powerful backcourt shots (probably why he's compared to Musterminator) and moves very well. Will be an interesting test for Rafa, even if young Austrian is probably not ready yet to beat Nadal on clay in a best-of-5 game in a place where is only lost was vs a guy who played "Playstation" all a match long (BTW, if someone knows where Robin Soderling is, he must say it ).

[VMoe86]

For TS4 Tour matters, Belonger, contact the host of the tournament or ITST Management. I have moved your post to an internal forum which you cannot access.

[Corbon]

Garbi is definitely one to watch. Still a bit green but got a big win now and what a clean one

Sharapova can at this point only defeat herself.

Federer followed Nadal with 60 match wins at RG.

[Amazing Matheja]

Thiem, any thoughts on this guy?, Media says he's the new Thomas Muster, he's facing Rafa in the next round I think

He has the same coach as Gulbis - Bresnik. Trains with Gulbis and thinks of him as his mentor.

Gulbis may not know how to WIN Rafa, but he sure knows where it hurts. Should be a great match if Thiem shows up.

I only saw his match at the French, but his play, his moves, made me think of Muster, yes. Hitting strong on both wings, the way he was a bit "low on his legs" while hitting missiles made me think of muster (or Boetsch also... Haha ! ^^)...
I don't know but without earing/reading about him that's what came to my mind... Is it just because I know he's from Austria ? I don't know, I'm not a big tecnical tennis specialist so maybe it is...
Honestly I was surprised with his power and accuracy but against Nadal on clay at the French... I don't give him a single chance !

[Lucian86]

Nadal beats Thiem easily: 6-2 6-2 6-3

The austrian had some moments but you could see since from the start he doesn't stand a chance againt Rafa today (who seems to be in great conditions).

Thiem is for me pretty one-dimensional. Has very precise and powerful shots from the baseline, especially with the forehand (the backhand is not that great imo) but that's about it. Just like Gasquet, he doesn't hit the ball early enough and stays too far away from the baseline. His shots are powerfull but not that hard to return. His serve also seems to be very powerful (judging by the speed on the screen) but again, it was easy for Nadal to return today and it doesn't have much precision also to do any harm.
That's everything I've seen today basically. No net play, no drop shots, no real strategy except trying to overpower Nadal 3 metres behind the baseline (which is extremely difficult)

[Amazing Matheja]

Ah ! See ? He's somewhere between Muster and Boetsch...

I couldn't have said it better than Lucian... Except that you can't definitely judge Thiem with those 2 matchs. Against PHM it was easy (that's why I though he was powerful and precise, and with more creativity), and against Nadal it was impossible... But it was great lesson for him I hope !

[djarvik]

While the match was dominated by Nadal, I don't agree with your assessment guys at all. (Lucian and Matheja)

First, I find Thiem BH to be the better shot. I find his serving lacking. He does have good foot speed and he did miss quite a few re-drops and touch shots. But to label him one dimensional at 20 y/o playing against arguably the GOAT player and best player to ever touch the clay is just wrong and a bit out there. May I remind you that THE only way to win Rafa on clay is by Force for ANYONE but Djoker at the moment. Thiem had the right plan and you could see it working at times, but he lacked big serve and he did not execute the plan very well. One need to be able to be aggressive and more importantly stay aggressive to execute this plan.

The fact he spend a lot of time far behind the baseline as opposed to closer to the baseline is simply inexperience and intimidation by Rafa. It takes a lot of confidence to take Rafas balls on the rise and for someone like Thiem, young guy playing at this stage against that player - tough ask. (while not impossible)

What I have seen today is a promising young player that (assuming is not injured) is good enough to hang around Top 8-15 in ATP. Certainly not a Rafa/Roger/Djoker caliber player, but certainly capable beating some top guys and on a good days (in 1-2 years) the top 4.