Wishing for more...

[Rob ITST]

Better equipment, stronger, bigger, more well-conditioned athletes, longer shorts, etc., etc, blah, blah, blah.

Even the ball-boys are getting better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... gnhIq2pWCg

[Tamthewasp]

Better equipment, stronger, bigger, more well-conditioned athletes, longer shorts, etc., etc, blah, blah, blah.

Even the ball-boys are getting better:

http://www.killsometime.com/videos/8098 ... zing-Catch

He was australian c'mon it's what they do.

[Avinash PatelBANNED]

Yeah, A lot has been said. I would like the courts all too be very different. With grass going back to what it should be super fast,very low bounce.

Young tennis players just want 2 emulate their heroes it's natural. Although the serve and volley play will come back in a big way soon. I have my reasons why I think this


Maybe it would be good if the ball was a little smaller and say lighter/heavier. The tennis bats tweaked a little, say less torque or something.

Something has 2 be done in order for variety too happen.

I think next 10 years we will have an out and out serve n volley gs champ then a few more serve n volleyer players might appear.

Tam.

totally correct

U change the CRTs and balls and u get a return to the era whn there were a lot of diff playing styles.

Tennis today sucks. Diff between courts Is negligible.

[SlicerITST]

Better equipment, stronger, bigger, more well-conditioned athletes, longer shorts, etc., etc, blah, blah, blah.

Even the ball-boys are getting better:

http://www.killsometime.com/videos/8098 ... zing-Catch

He was australian c'mon it's what they do.

Grab balls?

[Ugadalou]

My thought is that tennis has been and still is improving.

I was shocked by the tennis I witnessed at the 2011 US Open final,I think they took the sport to another level.

For example,Federer had to improve to be competing with these guys today.I think 2011's Federer is better than 2005's even though he was more successful then.The level has risen greatly.
Then he had to compete with Hewitt,Roddick,Nalbandian and Blake - now it is Nadal,Djokovic,Murray,Del Potro and Berdych.No comparison.

However watching tennis was more exciting for me 5-10 years ago.
That's because I'm tired of seeing the same players starring in the big arenas again and again.

The sport itself is only getting better,more physical,demanding, it's tougher than ever for an athlete to become a tennis player.

A tennis champion today first needs to be a great athlete,then a great tennis player; for better or worse.They spend as much time working out as much as they spend hitting balls,if not even more time.

But I'd like to see some new faces being under the spotlight.

[Corbon]

Federer isn't a wine, he won't get better with age. I wouldn't be surprised if he would call it quits after this season. It's been like that the past few years when people say he'll be back stronger next year. But time is working against him.

But who is going to challenge Nole? Is this a new Steffi Graf phase where you don't argue whether she wins or not but instead argue who she's going to pummel in the final?

Nadal can't beat him. Murray can't beat him. Federer, see above. The rest of the top 10, forget it. And there's no Sampras in sight.

[Corbon]

Better equipment, stronger, bigger, more well-conditioned athletes, longer shorts, etc., etc, blah, blah, blah.

Even the ball-boys are getting better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... gnhIq2pWCg

If only the linesmen/umpires would show a similar performance. With the exception of Eva Asderaki of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xezt7HUcArw

[Samael]

Federer isn't a wine, he won't get better with age. I wouldn't be surprised if he would call it quits after this season. It's been like that the past few years when people say he'll be back stronger next year. But time is working against him.

But who is going to challenge Nole? Is this a new Steffi Graf phase where you don't argue whether she wins or not but instead argue who she's going to pummel in the final?

Nadal can't beat him. Murray can't beat him. Federer, see above. The rest of the top 10, forget it. And there's no Sampras in sight.

Murray nearly beat him and Nadal nearly beat him. One way or another, sooner or later, he will crumble. There s no way a human body can take so much stress and not crumble.

[Corbon]

Murray nearly beat him and Nadal nearly beat him.

Nuff said.

[edlglide]

Federer isn't a wine, he won't get better with age. I wouldn't be surprised if he would call it quits after this season. It's been like that the past few years when people say he'll be back stronger next year. But time is working against him.

I don't know why he would retire after this year, unless he significantly drops off over the rest of this season.

If anything, he's shown over the past few months that he's still far better than anyone outside of the top 4, and he's still got the ability to beat them when he's playing at his best. Yeah, he lost yet again to Nadal, but as I've said in other threads, that looks to me to be more mental than anything. He goes out there and beats himself when he's making 60 unforced errors, hitting routine forehands into the net. I'm not sure he'll ever beat Nadal in a Grand Slam again because of that -- but he doesn't have that problem with Djokovic or Murray; I think he can still beat either one of them. It's not like Pete Sampras, who at this point in his career wasn't even making it to the quarterfinals of the majors.

Although I will say that if Federer wins the gold medal at the Olympics I could see him retiring....wouldn't have anything else to accomplish.

[VillaJ100]

Well Sampras was still doing well at the USO. Agassi Sampras in 2001 is probably the best 4 set match in history (as in most of the classics are 5 sets).

But i've said it before, but as long as he is playing you can never write off a player of Fed's calibre. If he is a tournament, even at say 34-5, he has a shot at winning. personally, i think at absolute top form he is still practically unbeatable. The only thing is with age the ability to deliver these performances consistently or on tap drops. Its not even a fitness issue, its more to do with the fact the ability to concentrate for such long periods drops, which means errors creep in. But the way it is now, fed is just playing as fed always does.... can you imagine if he went on a 'hot streak' at say wimbledon? There would only be one winner.

[Rob ITST]

The way their bodies are holding up, Fed could just wait for Djokovic and Nadal to retire - I've been saying for years that Nadal would retire before Federer, and I still believe he might.

But really, the retirement talk is ridiculous. The guy is number 3 in the world, reaching the SF's of most majors, still on a streak of QF's, and staying very competitive with the top 2 (He beat Nole in RG last year, was one point away from doing it again in New York, and even came about as close as he ever has at beating Rafa at RG)..... why in Hell would he retire? He's still in a spot that 99.99999999% only dream they were in.

[Cro Morgan]

The way their bodies are holding up, Fed could just wait for Djokovic and Nadal to retire - I've been saying for years that Nadal would retire before Federer, and I still believe he might.

But really, the retirement talk is ridiculous. The guy is number 3 in the world, reaching the SF's of most majors, still on a streak of QF's, and staying very competitive with the top 2 (He beat Nole in RG last year, was one point away from doing it again in New York, and even came about as close as he ever has at beating Rafa at RG)..... why in Hell would he retire? He's still in a spot that 99.99999999% only dream they were in.

All that, and - what if he did retire. He'd be stuck at home with a chunky wife and two screaming brats. My guess, he' ll play until he's 120, or dead, whatever comes first.

[Rob ITST]

Exactly. Considering the alternatives, losing a few tennis matches a year ain't so bad.

[Corbon]

It's better to burn out than fade away.

No one wants to see a Federer in his late 30's getting pummeled in the early rounds of a Slam, and certainly himself included. He doesn't need to prove anything because he's still the greatest.

Steffi Graf retired at 30 when she was still in the top 3 ands shortly after winning a Slam, so it's not about being competitive or not anymore but realizing that there are now more important things in life than tennis. Of course other players like Navratilova won't let go.

He'd be stuck at home with a chunky wife and two screaming brats.

Tell that to him.

Rafa and Nole may still have a few good years. Maybe they won't play until they turn 30, they're still 6-7 years younger than Fed.