On Roger's movement - I saw him doing sideways vine steps on his way to practice on grandstand at the US Open, and the security detail could barely keep up with him while running normally! He truly looked like he was floating along the pavement. He moves more like a dancer than an athlete, and I think it's just a level of unique skill involved that a club player can't just "learn."
Just a short comment on the physicality aspect: I think not even a lot of people that play tennis appreciate how physically challenging tennis can be, because they themselves aren't even close to being able to produce the kind of game (i.e. hitting the ball hard enough _and_ keep that ball in play for multipel journeys over the net) to experience what's essentially multiiple rushes per point.
I'm curious about Iga's year. She looked good in United cup so far. Almost like reinvigorated, like 2022 Iga. We'll see. Season is long, lots of things can change and well, other players improve too
@@dariusz_darson_8968 I would say as Gil, Iga has a lot of room for improvement and according to me Saba is now in her prime , peaking in her possibilities. Ryba will unfortunately be injury prone as you can’t compare her overall athleticism to Iga or Saba. For me, Iga will take no.1 back rather sooner than later.Hope the current “injury” doesn’t get worse.
38:51 There actually was one on the ATP side! Marcelo Rios got six weeks at world no. 1 in 1998 without ever winning a Slam, and he actually got past the quartefinal only once.
Gil, I am a huge tennis fan and watch quite a lot of tennis podcasts and UTube channels. To me, you are one of the best thinkers and commentators out there in all things tennis. I do hope in 2025, you’ll incorporate more of WTA season. I think you’ll bring such great mindset and healthy criticism to it and I truly would appreciate if you could do more or any of WTA. Thank you and keep doing what you’re doing.
Re Federer movement. Not sure if you'd agree Gill but I think Fed read the game so well and anticipated really well as a result. Some of that graceful movement was because he knew where to be ahead of time. That's something amateurs could learn from. Read the game better and you won't be out of position so often.
Happy New Year Gill. Re: the lower number of questions, if anything like me, not everyone feels quite ready for the new season, it barely seems 5 minutes since the last one wrapped.
Time limit for appealing Swiatek's case is over wada didn't appeal but they want 1-2 yrs ban for Sinner despite accepting inadvertant contamination . They have also amended their rules stating from 2027 contamination will not be reprimanded what are they upto . palomino and santos were acquitted for contamination why on earth they want such a long ban this is a paradox .
@elumazhais9865 yes it was a slightly weird one with Swiatek..her appeal was initially rejected as she hadn't identified the source. Apparently she sent the results of the tests she had funded herself to the ITIA just as they were about to announce the suspension. Although they didn't lift it immediately they held off the announcement while they confirmed the tests. I am not sure whether this was a slight fudging of the rules or not but I suppose it is fair enough if the player has sent evidence in that time frame. Re: the WADA appeal, the full ban for none intentional contamination is 2 years so 1-2 years does seem excessive considering Sinner did not ingest or apply anything himself. Maybe they are concerned about precedent due to the negligence in the team..or maybe they expect to be bargained down (?). I just hope CAS take a fair approach.
@@elumazhais9865 Also the head of ITIA, Karen Moorhead, said recently that WADA are more likely to appeal 'no fault or negligence' than 'no significant fault or negligence'. I can't help wondering if they would have bothered without all the furore surrounding it however 🤷♀️
@@joannemoore3976 WADA appealed on the exact same ground in Gasquet's case asked for 2 yrs but Gasquet was completely acquitted by CAS and more recently NADO appealed against Palomino everyone predicted a long ban but cas completely acquitted him so Jannik shouldn't lose hope and he has hired a great lawyer let us see what is coming .
@elumazhais9865 Jannik's own mantra- Let's see what's coming🙂 I would like to have 1 tenth of that young man's mental fortitude! I just looked at the CAS website and the WADA appeal is registered against 'Jannik Sinner, the ITIA and ITF' which is interesting. They are making this a matter of application of case law. It could be quite a pivotal case. Hoping for the best.
I would say Iga will have a better year if she performs better in the non-clay slams. She is the most consistent player in the last 3 years with the best win rate %.
I think people confuse beauty of technique with movement re Federer. He always looked graceful vs Novak, Murray, or Nadal among others but all those guys actually had better court coverage side-side
Berdych would have been a tier 2 player to me. Top 10 player, threat to beat anyone, frequent appearance in later rounds of masters/majors. Tier 3 would not be a legit threat to win a masters event every time they enter.
Berdych will have a better career in this era. Considering Taylor Fritz who's a worse player and drops the ball against old Djokovic and Nadal still has a respectable career.
Very few people inherit the extreme level of athleticism that allowed Federer such perfect timing & co-ordination of his movement. The result was incredibly graceful, apparently effortless motion. But his gifts were also sharpened by countless hours of training & combined with an excellent strategic mind.
I think if Iga develops as much as she's supposed to in 2025, she will reclaim #1 at some point. Sabalenka improved a lot last year after taking time off, and she copes with pressure much better during matches. But I'm still not convinced about her dealing with the pressure of being #1 -- once she secured year-end #1 and made those statements (at WTA finals) about wanting to dominate the tour for as long as possible like Iga did, she played kind of weird... It remains to be seen how she's going to navigate this territory.
Iga can get back to no.1 after Australian open itself. If Sabalenka loses in semis or earlier, then there is a possibility Iga can get back to no.1 within 4 weeks.
@@coolyoutuber6237yeah I think it’s going to be between the two throughout the year. I am not convinced about Sabalenka as Gill is, or I have more confidence in Iga for 2025.
Microdosing is mostly based on endogenous steroids, have nothing to do with clostebol or tmz. Top players are tested 1/2 times x months so it's quite difficult; as WADA general director said, it was easier ten years ago because the tests were less sensitive. Also with biological passport is very hard to do something like that
@@newhealthbreakthrough8 While that's hard to hear, in my personal opinion, Rybakina is the best talent in the game. So, I expect that to show out at some point; hopefully, it's this year.
@@AtlasPharaohRybakina's talent is undeniable, no doubt about that. Her groundstrokes are effortless and her serve is one of the best, she is also pretty good at the net too. But I think it takes more than talent alone in tennis, staying strong physically and mentally week in week out is not easy, having the consistency...
Regarding college - 1) some sports have age restrictions. Basketball used to have people coming out of HS 2) The college system is an American feature and therefore central to American sports. Do soccer players go to college?
Gill, a few thoughts. 1. Dinara Safina was world no 1 without winning a slam. 2. Regarding the draft, I think you are missing an important fact: basketball and football are US-dominated sports, tennis isn’t. Soccer players worldwide don’t go to college. Swimmers worldwide don’t go to college. Skiers don’t go to college. If a European junior starts playing full-time at 18 or 19, an American player wouldn’t necessarily want to delay his or her career (although it works for some). 3. Regarding the physical aspect, again, I think your perspective is very American-centric (even though I really love your channel). Swimmers are beasts. Cyclists are beasts (in a different way). Cross-country skiers are beasts. Look at Jessie Diggins, Tadej Pogacar, Katie Ledecky. I do agree that tennis players are very athletic and well-rounded, but there are many other sports where the athletes are simply incredible.
Thanks Gill for your understanding of the Sinner fan view of Kyrgios at the moment. Objectively I can concede he's an insanely talented player. Emotionally I can't watch him at the moment.
He insulted integrity of a women then most recently called Boris a criminal such a great person is this legendary Kyrgios and Djokovic and his fans like this gentleman a lot .
Just shows that Serena was always a classless individual. No amount of success will give that to you. Player don't create the ranking system, should they refuse the rank?
Also Clijsters and Mauresmo both reached number 1 B4 winning a major but both ended their careers with multiple majors. Pliskova and Safina reached multiple major finals but never won any.
@@DaveOwen-vn6ie If you mean without winning a major over the course of his career (retrospectively), then yes. But if we look at the moment of reaching #1, then Lendl reached it before winning his 1st slam.
well, to me I.Swietek is the best player in WTA - IF that ' drug issue' last fall hadn't happened She would have won more matches, more points. from what I understand that was a pretty near phony 'event' blame the bureaucraats who need to change their rules so that IF , IF there is a glitch, test more for say a month ( telling NO ONE ) to see IF , IF the result is real. call it the S. Halep rule, and give Her a %.
Hoping for. K. Muchova , But... to me the soft floaters are a disaster, IF the other player is quick and has good racquet skills , the 'ole. side to side , lose the point is 80 % . then C. Gauff , She is still very young. obviously - improve a couple shots Forehand & serve is the issue. do that OR maybe just one of them. She'll be pretty unbeatable.
I played collegiate basketball and I can tell you that Singles tennis is a much harder sport. First of all when it comes to physicality, you can be on the court for 4 hours without many timeouts or breaks. But the biggest physical separation is there is no substitution. And you don't have help on the court.
Happy New Year, everyone! Like and share on Facebook!: facebook.com/mondaymatchanalysis
I’m just going home and 😊😊peace of
After recording this last night, shocked at this morning's news that Stefano Vukov is back on Elena Rybakina's team.
Yeah, this take didn’t age well 😂
He is there to ”support her”. So means they are in a romantic relationship maybe?
WHA ... I'm just learning this.
@@winterbird4447 Bad coach good lover maybe. ick. Sorry, lol.
and Iga is injured, probably ' minor' but.... great effort last night by both players.
On Roger's movement - I saw him doing sideways vine steps on his way to practice on grandstand at the US Open, and the security detail could barely keep up with him while running normally! He truly looked like he was floating along the pavement. He moves more like a dancer than an athlete, and I think it's just a level of unique skill involved that a club player can't just "learn."
Just a short comment on the physicality aspect: I think not even a lot of people that play tennis appreciate how physically challenging tennis can be, because they themselves aren't even close to being able to produce the kind of game (i.e. hitting the ball hard enough _and_ keep that ball in play for multipel journeys over the net) to experience what's essentially multiiple rushes per point.
I'm curious about Iga's year. She looked good in United cup so far. Almost like reinvigorated, like 2022 Iga. We'll see. Season is long, lots of things can change and well, other players improve too
@@dariusz_darson_8968 I would say as Gil, Iga has a lot of room for improvement and according to me Saba is now in her prime , peaking in her possibilities. Ryba will unfortunately be injury prone as you can’t compare her overall athleticism to Iga or Saba. For me, Iga will take no.1 back rather sooner than later.Hope the current “injury” doesn’t get worse.
38:51
There actually was one on the ATP side! Marcelo Rios got six weeks at world no. 1 in 1998 without ever winning a Slam, and he actually got past the quartefinal only once.
Gil, I am a huge tennis fan and watch quite a lot of tennis podcasts and UTube channels. To me, you are one of the best thinkers and commentators out there in all things tennis. I do hope in 2025, you’ll incorporate more of WTA season. I think you’ll bring such great mindset and healthy criticism to it and I truly would appreciate if you could do more or any of WTA. Thank you and keep doing what you’re doing.
No we don’t want that
@@rublo1
YOU don't want it
Re Federer movement. Not sure if you'd agree Gill but I think Fed read the game so well and anticipated really well as a result. Some of that graceful movement was because he knew where to be ahead of time. That's something amateurs could learn from. Read the game better and you won't be out of position so often.
Agreed.
Happy New Year Gill. Re: the lower number of questions, if anything like me, not everyone feels quite ready for the new season, it barely seems 5 minutes since the last one wrapped.
Time limit for appealing Swiatek's case is over wada didn't appeal but they want 1-2 yrs ban for Sinner despite accepting inadvertant contamination . They have also amended their rules stating from 2027 contamination will not be reprimanded what are they upto . palomino and santos were acquitted for contamination why on earth they want such a long ban this is a paradox .
@elumazhais9865 yes it was a slightly weird one with Swiatek..her appeal was initially rejected as she hadn't identified the source. Apparently she sent the results of the tests she had funded herself to the ITIA just as they were about to announce the suspension. Although they didn't lift it immediately they held off the announcement while they confirmed the tests. I am not sure whether this was a slight fudging of the rules or not but I suppose it is fair enough if the player has sent evidence in that time frame. Re: the WADA appeal, the full ban for none intentional contamination is 2 years so 1-2 years does seem excessive considering Sinner did not ingest or apply anything himself. Maybe they are concerned about precedent due to the negligence in the team..or maybe they expect to be bargained down (?). I just hope CAS take a fair approach.
@@elumazhais9865 Also the head of ITIA, Karen Moorhead, said recently that WADA are more likely to appeal 'no fault or negligence' than 'no significant fault or negligence'. I can't help wondering if they would have bothered without all the furore surrounding it however 🤷♀️
@@joannemoore3976 WADA appealed on the exact same ground in Gasquet's case asked for 2 yrs but Gasquet was completely acquitted by CAS and more recently NADO appealed against Palomino everyone predicted a long ban but cas completely acquitted him so Jannik shouldn't lose hope and he has hired a great lawyer let us see what is coming .
@elumazhais9865 Jannik's own mantra- Let's see what's coming🙂 I would like to have 1 tenth of that young man's mental fortitude! I just looked at the CAS website and the WADA appeal is registered against 'Jannik Sinner, the ITIA and ITF' which is interesting. They are making this a matter of application of case law. It could be quite a pivotal case. Hoping for the best.
I would say Iga will have a better year if she performs better in the non-clay slams. She is the most consistent player in the last 3 years with the best win rate %.
Player will have a better year if they perform better.
That makes sense.
That will require more confidence and clear headedness than she has shown the last 2 years.
I think people confuse beauty of technique with movement re Federer. He always looked graceful vs Novak, Murray, or Nadal among others but all those guys actually had better court coverage side-side
better?
Berdych would have been a tier 2 player to me. Top 10 player, threat to beat anyone, frequent appearance in later rounds of masters/majors.
Tier 3 would not be a legit threat to win a masters event every time they enter.
Im so happy he answered my Berdych question. I love Berdych!
Berdych will have a better career in this era. Considering Taylor Fritz who's a worse player and drops the ball against old Djokovic and Nadal still has a respectable career.
Very few people inherit the extreme level of athleticism that allowed Federer such perfect timing & co-ordination of his movement. The result was incredibly graceful, apparently effortless motion. But his gifts were also sharpened by countless hours of training & combined with an excellent strategic mind.
And he apparently had no sweat glands.
Thnaks Gill for anwsering
Rybakina new year is already shattered, Vukov is coming back
I think if Iga develops as much as she's supposed to in 2025, she will reclaim #1 at some point. Sabalenka improved a lot last year after taking time off, and she copes with pressure much better during matches. But I'm still not convinced about her dealing with the pressure of being #1 -- once she secured year-end #1 and made those statements (at WTA finals) about wanting to dominate the tour for as long as possible like Iga did, she played kind of weird... It remains to be seen how she's going to navigate this territory.
Iga can get back to no.1 after Australian open itself. If Sabalenka loses in semis or earlier, then there is a possibility Iga can get back to no.1 within 4 weeks.
@@coolyoutuber6237yeah I think it’s going to be between the two throughout the year. I am not convinced about Sabalenka as Gill is, or I have more confidence in Iga for 2025.
Happy New Year Gil. Do you think sinner and all these professional players could be microdosing performance enhancing drugs?
Microdosing is mostly based on endogenous steroids, have nothing to do with clostebol or tmz. Top players are tested 1/2 times x months so it's quite difficult; as WADA general director said, it was easier ten years ago because the tests were less sensitive. Also with biological passport is very hard to do something like that
Completely agree about Coco and Lena, Gil.
Sabalenka and swiatek AT the same level but Should go for IGA will end up 2025 as well
I understand the natural focus being on the top two players in Sabalenka and Iga, but I think Rybakina will end up having the best year.
With her health problems? And toxic Vukov back😮
I think I would chose Coco before Rybakina.
I was hopeful of Rybakina until she rehires her ex-coach again 😮
@@newhealthbreakthrough8 While that's hard to hear, in my personal opinion, Rybakina is the best talent in the game. So, I expect that to show out at some point; hopefully, it's this year.
@@AtlasPharaohthe best talent? I like her but her biggest weapon is serve. Without big serve she is lost…
@@AtlasPharaohRybakina's talent is undeniable, no doubt about that. Her groundstrokes are effortless and her serve is one of the best, she is also pretty good at the net too. But I think it takes more than talent alone in tennis, staying strong physically and mentally week in week out is not easy, having the consistency...
Regarding college -
1) some sports have age restrictions. Basketball used to have people coming out of HS
2) The college system is an American feature and therefore central to American sports. Do soccer players go to college?
Gill, a few thoughts.
1. Dinara Safina was world no 1 without winning a slam.
2. Regarding the draft, I think you are missing an important fact: basketball and football are US-dominated sports, tennis isn’t. Soccer players worldwide don’t go to college. Swimmers worldwide don’t go to college. Skiers don’t go to college. If a European junior starts playing full-time at 18 or 19, an American player wouldn’t necessarily want to delay his or her career (although it works for some).
3. Regarding the physical aspect, again, I think your perspective is very American-centric (even though I really love your channel). Swimmers are beasts. Cyclists are beasts (in a different way). Cross-country skiers are beasts. Look at Jessie Diggins, Tadej Pogacar, Katie Ledecky. I do agree that tennis players are very athletic and well-rounded, but there are many other sports where the athletes are simply incredible.
K. Wozniacki was # 1 for a couple years Before winning Her only slam
How is the calendar slam more valuable than winning all 4 slams consecutively in any other order?
What am I missing?
Thanks Gill for your understanding of the Sinner fan view of Kyrgios at the moment. Objectively I can concede he's an insanely talented player. Emotionally I can't watch him at the moment.
He insulted integrity of a women then most recently called Boris a criminal such a great person is this legendary Kyrgios and Djokovic and his fans like this gentleman a lot .
@@elumazhais9865 He is now upset because Cruz Hewitt practised with Sinner - He has problems.
safina was laughed by serena in an interview about her getting the no 1 spot with winning only madrid and rome lol
Just shows that Serena was always a classless individual. No amount of success will give that to you. Player don't create the ranking system, should they refuse the rank?
Marcelo Rios was ATP number one without a Slam, Aussie Open final, and Sunshine double got him there, even if only for four weeks!
College vs direct is the difference between team sports and individual sports
Is Zverev's career already better than Marcelo Ríos?
Yes
I would say so
Jelena Kankovic & Karolina Pliskova reached #1 without a grandslam. Simona Halep was #1 before winning her first slam.
And if I'm not mistaken, Marcelo Rios
Safina also reached #1
@@jjhmurray
He did indeed
Also Clijsters and Mauresmo both reached number 1 B4 winning a major but both ended their careers with multiple majors.
Pliskova and Safina reached multiple major finals but never won any.
Kyrgios will be lucky to break the top 70. Hes older and his fitness and motivation are always sketchy bets
Did Berdych beat Nadal at a Slam?
@@TennisFreakHD 2015 Australian Open
Marcelo Rios was nr. 1 without winning a slam. I'm not sure, but I think he's still the only male player to do that.
You are correct! He remains the only male player to reach Number 1 without a major win
@@DaveOwen-vn6ie If you mean without winning a major over the course of his career (retrospectively), then yes. But if we look at the moment of reaching #1, then Lendl reached it before winning his 1st slam.
Just watched Mensik vs Perricard. I really dont think Mensik has the attitude to reach the top 5.
well, to me I.Swietek is the best player in WTA - IF that ' drug issue' last fall hadn't happened She would have won more matches, more points. from what I understand that was a pretty near phony 'event' blame the bureaucraats who need to change their rules so that IF , IF there is a glitch, test more for say a month ( telling NO ONE ) to see IF , IF the result is real. call it the S. Halep rule, and give Her a %.
Hoping for. K. Muchova , But... to me the soft floaters are a disaster, IF the other player is quick and has good racquet skills , the 'ole. side to side , lose the point is 80 % . then C. Gauff , She is still very young. obviously - improve a couple shots Forehand & serve is the issue. do that OR maybe just one of them. She'll be pretty unbeatable.
They're both dopers.
Nick is a disgrace to the sport and i don't rate him against the top 10.
Neither on grass. Saba on hard. Swiatek on clay
Tennis is not an American sport for crying out loud! That's why no players go to college...
I played collegiate basketball and I can tell you that Singles tennis is a much harder sport. First of all when it comes to physicality, you can be on the court for 4 hours without many timeouts or breaks. But the biggest physical separation is there is no substitution. And you don't have help on the court.
did not see the mailbag community tab🥲