French Open 2015 (24 May - 7 June).

Djokovic breaks on the second of them and leads 2-0 in the fifth.

Muzza. :doh:

Break point for Djokovic. :rose:

Stunning hitting.

Djokovic breaks again and will serve for the match.

Djokovic wins 6-3 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-1 and plays Stan in the final!

As fantastic a player Murray is, he just can't compete regularly at that even higher level Djok and co have created over the past decade. At any other time he'd be dominating the sport. Too many slow starts and missed opportunities at key moments means he blows big chances. Fantastic play from him to pull it back against Djok who is monster mode again but hopefully he'll nick at least one more Grand before the next batch start to take over.

What next batch?

Nick Krygios looks to me the only viable youngster coming through at the moment

Whatever we say about Murray and what he should be achieving, the likelihood is that after tomorrow we will have seen three players still in the game who have completed a career grand slam. For me I always thought that level of competition would see Murray falling short of winning a major full stop.
Clay court is not a good service for Murray it's taken him years to perfect his movement on it, Djokovic and Federer before him were gifted Clay Court players who would have both dominated the French Open if not for Nadal.

Djokovic hadn't dropped a set or even been taken as far as a tie breaker before playing Murray.

Murray couldn't even engineer an opening until the third set and he took it and gave the Serb a bloody nose.

Of course for a player of his quality it's always disappointing not to win, but I think he deserves credit for making him sweat when the best clay court player of all time (albeit out of form) could not.

That said I think Wawrinka will be a big test for Nole tomorrow, such a big hitter....the kind of player Djokovics return game struggles against.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

What next batch?

Nick Krygios looks to me the only viable youngster coming through at the moment

Whatever we say about Murray and what he should be achieving, the likelihood is that after tomorrow we will have seen three players still in the game who have completed a career grand slam. For me I always thought that level of competition would see Murray falling short of winning a major full stop.
Clay court is not a good service for Murray it's taken him years to perfect his movement on it, Djokovic and Federer before him were gifted Clay Court players who would have both dominated the French Open if not for Nadal.

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Of players? I don't think Muzza will be top five material in four years time. We're not going to see another batch of players like this, but there will be those who will be competing regularly for the slams. I'm not sure I've suggested Murray should be achieving anything, merely that he's a great player but just not in the same bracket of the other three most of the time. No shame in that, as most players in the history in the game haven't and won't be either. This set of players are unique to game, we'll be unlikely to see another group like it for at least a couple of decades.

Serena took the first set 6-3. Safarova has just broken back to level at 4-4.

Safarova. :doh:

How has she hit the net there? Relatively simple one down the line.

She nailed that one though. :lol:

Serena is serving for the Championship, 30-30.

Jesus wept, what a shot down the line.

Tie-break time.

Four set points for Safarova!

Safarova takes the second set 7-6 (7-2)! :bow:

Safarova breaks and leads 1-0 in the third set!

Safarova double faults to give the break back.

2-2.

Serena breaks again. Tennis. :lol:

Three Championship points. :sick:

Serena wins 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 and with it her 20th Slam.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kano

Of players? I don't think Muzza will be top five material in four years time. We're not going to see another batch of players like this, but there will be those who will be competing regularly for the slams. I'm not sure I've suggested Murray should be achieving anything, merely that he's a great player but just not in the same bracket of the other three most of the time. No shame in that, as most players in the history in the game haven't and won't be either. This set of players are unique to game, we'll be unlikely to see another group like it for at least a couple of decades.

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I agree but there is no talent waiting in the wings either, all the current second tier players like Berdych, Wawrinka, Cillic, Nishikori, Del Potro, Tsonga etc are all in and around the same age.
The supposedly new generation like Janowicz, Dimitrov and Raonic are not even consistently making it to the second week of Grand Slam Tournaments.
For that reason I still say Murray has plenty of time on his side.

Djokovic and Stan are coming out on court now.

I'm saying Stan in four.

Wawrinka belting down the winners early on. :lol:

Break point for Djokovic. :rose:

Saved.

Good god, what a rally!

Stan hammers the forehand down the line. Stan holds!

Break point for Djokovic again.

Big backhand hitting manages to save it. Deuce.

Stan holds on, Djokovic trails 2-3.

Three break points for Djokovic. :rose:

And Stan gives it up with a double fault. Djokovic leads 4-3.

Stan gets a correct call overturned in to an incorrect one.

Umpire. :doh:

What a shot up the line to save the first set point!

And what a backhand straight at Djokovic to save the second! :bow:

Break point for Stan!

Deuce.

Set point for Djokovic.

Djokovic takes the first set 6-4.

Stan can feel a bit hard done by there.

Stan took the second set 6-4. :bow:

Stan raining down the winners. :bow: