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No Alcaraz who would be his main threat and if course the legend kyrgios
The American he played in the finals of the 250 Aussie warm up looked very good in that tournament though. Sebastian Korda. First time I saw him play. Meant to bet on him at +2000 but oops I forgot.
Oh man what a bummer, didn’t realize Nick wasn’t playing. Love watching him, he’s hilarious. And he’s extra entertaining because he can beat anyone but he can also lose to the #300 player in the world at any time. You never know what you’re going to get. Always root for him to run into Nadal early because Nick vs. Ralph is always super entertaining.
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Guess you didn’t look at the last 10 French opens
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Was gonna say, surely Nadal was a (probably massive) favorite over the field in a lot of those French Opens in the late 2000s and most of the 2010s.
dirt shouldn’t even be a surface, doesn’t count
Federer at Wimbledon in the mid-2000s?
He would have been close but I still reckon over evens. Grass seems a bit higher variance than clay for example due to the speed. Of course this viewpoint is just based on my thoughts and zero actual evidence. Maybeeee he was better than evens pre losing to Nadal in 2008
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Nadal was regularly $1.01/-10000 in matches the first four rounds at French Open and around -1000 for the remaining three rounds. Makes the Soderling upset way bigger than what it was since it was against peak Nadal (unlike some other big 4 losses later in their careers.
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Don’t think fed was ever - odds but who knows
I know Rafa was at the dirt ball tournament
Nadal was definitely hurt and Soderling just hit him off the court. What a match that was.
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Novaxx is such a great champion. I think he’s got a great chance at winning all four slams this year.
If Carlos is out all year and Rafa Isn’t 100% at RG
Seems like a really good shot
Crazy he just curb stomped the field at 35
No match was even close.
Thing I can’t wrap my head around is 20/20 in AO semis and finals. That is totally bananas.
Not that Novaxx has anything to be ashamed of at his US Open performances, but what accounts for the differences in outcomes? Same field, five set matches, both hardcourt. I wonder if there are big differences in how the surfaces play or the balls used? Has to be, right?
I’ve asked this before and I got some long explanation about the small differences between the surfaces in the US open and AO. So at least some people who know their shit think that’s it.
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Googling around, they’re different surfaces and the US Open surface is slower.
Why the faster surface favors a great defensive player like Novaxx is beyond me. But maybe the same thing explains why a scrub defensive player like Sandgren can make the AO quarters twice when he hasn’t accomplished anything comparable in any other tournament in his whole career?
They are totally different. Historically the AO was slower with higher kick but both have changed surfaces so many times and I haven’t kept up with it recently. I’ve hit both balls (not recently) and they are also noticeably different. The red logo US Opens always had a reputation for being lively with a lot of pop but dunno if that’s still true. @Danspartan would have a better idea since he actually still plays.
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I’m not a high enough level player to notice the balls. I do have one indoor place that has a slightly gritty surface that really makes topspin kick up. Gotta be ready to take the short hop or come in and volley.
We used to have outdoor hard courts courts that were slow due to extra cushioning (sand?) below the surface. Sadly they also were inconsistent. They tore them out for pickle ball last year.
So yes “hard” courts vary. I’m sure the balls do as well. I generally just use the heavy duty but but I notice the official USTA provided stuff are the red letters.