I think Roddick is back in the top 3 in the world. Do you agree?
S: Top 3, that's a tough call. He didn't beat a single guy ranked higher than him, right?.
Right, but he played phenomenally well, and convincingly beat up on the other guys, including the guys who beat Nadal and Nalbandian. And he beat Hewitt straight up on hard court in straight sets. And he took a set from Federer and was 5-5 in the 3rd.
So he gets top three over a guy like Blake or Davydenko? Nadal stays at two right?
I'm asking you, not telling you. Yes, I think Rafa stays at 2. Though if they have head to head by the end of the Masters Series, it'd be a pretty big match to see who's the #2 dog heading into 2007.
Roddick is top five easy, but I don't think he leap frogs Blake or Davydenko. Both were playing well and just ran into the brick wall that is Roger Federer. Maybe he passes one of the two: Blake for not getting into the semis, Davydenko for being unmarketable. It's amazing how we talk of the fierce battle to be called number two. It's like everyones just conceded to Federer.
Yep, it's happened in both the big individual sports (oh boxing, where have you gone?). It's Rafa, Roddick, Blake, Nalbandian, Hewitt, Lubcickcickc fighting for #2 just like Phil, Ernie, Vijay, Retief, Weir, Furyk, Sergio, DL3 and the rest. Are there any other sports like that right now?
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/rankings
I'm not sure how many points Roddick gets for his Finals appearance but look at the the chasm between Nalbandian at 4 and Robredo at 5. It makes it tough to crack that top four, althought ludlajdfeicicic did have a poor open and Nalbandian lost early on to Safin. Davydenko as a semifinalist and Blake as a quarterfinalist are both probably taken over by Roddick.
Nice link. I'd say Roddick is 5 easy, but continues to rise for the rest of the year. He should get head-to-heads with Ljbucicicic and Nalbandian and pass them come the final tournament of the year. That is, unless he runs into Roger before them in any tournaments.
With Andre gone, Blake's my favorite player, at least until Malavia Washington announces his return. Roddick, though, rankings aside, is the 3rd best player in the world. At least that's what I initially drove at when I started this thread. By talent, not by rankings, do you think Roddick is currently a top 3 player?
The way he's playing, yes. He's better than Blake by a lot I think. Blake's backhand is embarassing. I'm embarassed for him. Roddick on hard courts or grass is better than Nadal. Of course, Roddick on clay probably loses to the aforementioned Malavia Washington's talentless brother.
Good forehand and serve, but a terrible backhand. So, what you're saying is, Blake is just like me. I think I picked the right favorite player.
2 comments:
Roddick does have a chance to be number 3 but there are a few players that he might have to get by first. Let's start with Number 1: Federer. No one can beat this guy because his game is too complete. He's got the talent and the mental attitude to carry him through. I followed the US Open 2006 and I saw how Blake and eventually Roddick just crumble toward the end. Blake and Roddick's mental attitude was not there. Did you see how when Roddick lost the third set, he completely gave up. He's not tough enough mentally. The same goes for Blake, he completely gave up after losing the first set. I have to say the Federer vs Blake game was one of the worse match that Federer has played. He lost serve in the first set when trying to close the set out, the third set when trying to close out the set and the fourth set before finally winning. Yet he still manage to win convincingly. Only Federer can beat Federer. Well, onto Number 2: Nadal. The guy is unbelieveable on clay. He does well on other surfaces but not consistently. He can out run almost any guy and even made it to the final of Wimbledon. However, as he gets older, his game will fail him as his game is too physical (too much topspin and running, the body will give out). Number 3: Ahh, this is tough but i think there are two that's fit the bill. Lujbicic would be my bet. He has had one of the better year I've seen him play, consistently making it to the final. Don't know where he's gone lately. Nalbanian is good but hasn't have a good summer. It's a tough call if Nalbanian plays Roddick or Blake. I can't make the call right now. Number 5: Roddick. I've seen Roddick play lately and he's been good. His serve is alot more consistent and winning alot of free points but that's kind of it. There's no special weapon he can beat any one with. Number 6: Blake. Blake has one of the best forehand I've seen. It's flat, powerful and basically can beat anyone off the court. The back hand needs working on but not embarrassing. One aspect of his game he can work on is the mind game. I saw a guy hitting a 130mph serve and Blake swung at the ball just as hard. That's not the way to win. It's not all about power. Federer sliced Roddick's serve back and won the match in 4 sets. That's smart. Number 7: Robredo. Robredo has the game to be at number seven even though Davydenko is higher. Davydenko just play more matches but that does not mean he's a better player. The rest, I'll leave to someone else.
DTL
I thought Tennis folded in 1999...
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