59 thoughts on “Clay Season: Discussion Thread”

  1. 31 year old will be back, 36 year old will likely sit it out while the now united fan bases will stroke each other to glory over being Hoodwinked. Meanwhile pain free Djokovic will watch on till I expect his time comes to get one or two more slams to complete his fairytale

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    • I think after the IW defeat, Federer will skip the French Open and get ready for Wimbledon. Nadal will be back. As for Serena, don’t know if she’s playing at the FO.
      Serena is still rusty, her movement is slow at the moment. Yesterday she skipped her press conference, she does not want to face any questions lol

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    • I should think so, he’s played one tournament in 2018 & retired in the quarters. Read on twitter his doctor said a fortnight’s rest would be enough to overcome the injury that was weeks ago.

      Djokovic must be ill, gassed yet again & thinner than Kate Moss circa 1993.

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  4. One thing that really strikes me about Djokovic is the look in his eyes. When he was on the program, he had this really deadly glare. You could tell that he relished beating up on opponents and racking up the wins. Now, his eyes look tired and empty. Makes me think that he wasn’t just using peds to improve his fitness, but his mental game as well.

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    • True, Novak’s eyes look empty. He doesn’t have the same passion or intensity anymore.

      Here’s a recent article about Roger’s secret to success. I didn’t know his fitness coach also worked with Stan Wawrinka.

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    • Yes it’s in the eyes. My guess is that Djokovic is naturally more human than the other two robots, so without his vitamins he is unable to summon the motivation to win to push hard and win. Or maybe something went wrong. He may just be I’ll.

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    • Welllll, he should have won IW, mammoth choke there (served for the match, broken, then df’d twice in tiebreak).

      Miami has never been his best event – indeed for a few years he dropped it entirely. Was too much tennis then, back when he was old (until last year, his previous final there was in 2006).

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    • Really, so early in the tourney??!! Didn’t see that coming! Didn’t see the match. He’s definitely been playing his B game after Oz & still somehow managed to get to IW finals. It’ll be nice to see a new male champion crowned, preferably who hasn’t won a masters 1000 yet.
      @ arf—Lol! Back when he was old… Good one!

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  7. Yes, I think Federer’s level has dropped since the AO. Well, he cant play indoors or in cooler conditions all the time (re: AO)

    It was great to see a young player, Kokkinakis beat him today. Kokkinakis was fearless and didnt choke under pressure.

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    • Yep. That we saw coming. Winning Wimbledon is his top priority after he “refuels.” A script playing out like last year, except somehow Federer bungled up the Masters 1000 events. Just hope Nadal bungles up during clay season.

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  9. Federer was hoping he’ll maintain the no1 ranking but didn’t go to plan. Now let’s see if Nadal dominates the clay court season, I think he might be challenged

    Time for Federer to “rest”, he cannot play too many tournaments in a row nowadays

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    • Nice. Everyone is complicit. Testing tech doesn’t exist, FDA being underfunded don’t see peptides as a priority and some sports authorities turn a blind eye.

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  11. Ferrer appears to have successfully completed his regeneration – he’s 36 next week.

    He looked done last year. Not injured, just old, heading out of the top 40. Now he’s grinding down world number 6 Alex Zverev with endless 30 shot rallies.

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  12. Sloane Stephens seems to be resurrected again beating another questionable Kerber today. I guess Sloane is gearing towards that 1.3 million she heard about. She does love cheques.

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  13. Sloane was struggling to win a match since her US Open win, and now she’s made the Miami Open Final. Del Potro looked exhausted today, winning back-to-back tournaments is hard work. It’s amazing how Federer, Novak, Nadal used to win back to back tournaments regularly.

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    • Sunshine double must be enormously taxing. The conditions at both tournament are so different, only the sunshine is a constant. Djokovic achieved it three times. Federer did it age 35.

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    • Yeah, the Sunshine double is always said to be incredibly tough. You have slow courts at both so it’s a real grind, and the humidity in Miami can be really draining.

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  14. In other news, the Agassi and Djokovic partnership is already over

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  18. I can’t believe Nadal, Federer and Djokovic came out with the joint press statement concerning their “unjustifiable, indefensible chronic doping”! Finally!!!

    -Amy

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    • If I had just come back from a silent ban, was under extra scrutiny, couldn’t dope and realised I wouldn’t win big prize money without dope then I would cut my biggest costs – big name coaching staff.

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  24. Nadal is back and looking good. Easy win over Kohlschreiber in the Davis Cup. Now he’ll probably dominate the clay court season again.

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    • Not suspicious about Isner. He is just able to take advantage of the inuries/Doping of other top players. He has reached 2 other Masters 🌞1000 Finals before getting Miami. Not to see a change.

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  26. Same here, I am not suspicious of Isner. His serve has always been a big weapon and unreturnable when on. And, yes it helps that the big 3-4 aren’t around at the moment.
    Also, Sloane Stephens skipped Charleston this week due to exhaustion, she seems to play whenever she feels like it.

    I am curious to see how Nadal performs against Zverev today in the Davis Cup.

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  27. Nadal will probably play until 40 years old. I don’t know what is going on. What is this guy on? Specifics. I would love to know. Legal, illegal. At this point it’s a profound human issue to unravel the beast.

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  30. This Federer Nadal farce post 2017 makes the Djokovic one seem almost real by comparison. How many times are old players going to come back from injury as emphatically as this before something is questioned.

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  31. The fountain of youth seems to have finally been discovered. We are spending time questioning Federer’s and Nadal’s achievements, but the reality is that across several sports, many top athletes are playing at a level that was not expected, given their age and mileage.

    Ronaldo, Lebron James, Tom Brady and the list goes on and on. They are playing at peak level, just like we have witnessed in tennis.

    At what point does medicine cross the path of doping? Something fishy is going on.

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    • Well he looked more convincing than I’ve seen him in ages. Knowing Djokovic, his every move orchestrated over the last few years has been a ridiculous cover story to explain his success. Perhaps getting back with Vajda is meant to be, “everything is back to normal, hence I win”. It would be interesting to see how he performs. A full form Djokovic (ridiculous as it sounds given how poor he’s been) is bound to piss Nadal off, for one thing.

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