what is next for staminal? can he keep this up?
also is he as good or better than Federer now? I know there is a ranking disparity. roger is ranked lower than stan.
what if the two had played the final at the Australian Open? who---in your estimation--- would have most likely won that battle?
can stan make waves at the U.S. Open?
what is next for staminal? can he keep this up?
It's hard to say. After winning his first major he too will become the hunted. Getting his scalp will be a priority for others on the tour, and at age 28 or 29, he will have to endure his sophomore slump. His mental hasn't been that good in the past, even though he's always had the game. So, personally, I don't see him continuing to climb, but I also don't see him descending too much. Much depends on whether or not his improved mental capacity is here for the long haul.
also is he as good or better than Federer now? I know there is a ranking disparity. roger is ranked lower than stan.
No, he is not in Federer's league. He does not have the experience that Federer possesses. He has not dealt with as much adversity and the pressure. He had the luxury of being the underdog. The luxury has now disappeared. Even in the final when Nadal was clearly injured, he suffered from inexplicable blips allowing a player who could barely move manage to take a set off of him. With the state of Rafa's game, that should have been a straight setter. He has a long way to go to be on Roger's level.
what if the two had played the final at the Australian Open? who---in your estimation--- would have most likely won that battle?
Roger. Stan defers to him at almost every turn. He wouldn't beat his buddy if Roger was in a wheelchair.
can stan make waves at the U.S. Open?
Waves, perhaps, but I don't see him winning it. I give him a quarter or a semi at best. By that time he will no longer be seen as an underdog. Blood will be in the water.
Indian Wells should be a good test for him.
lets see how it goes there.
Right now, I'm seeing him not dealing very well with the weight of expectations and additional pressure that came from winning the AO ... I mean the pressure to prove himself (and not asterisked) must be huge and he is losing matches he should be winning actually
Right now, I'm seeing him not dealing very well with the weight of expectations and additional pressure that came from winning the AO ... I mean the pressure to prove himself (and not asterisked) must be huge and he is losing matches he should be winning actually
To me, nothing has changed about Stan at all. He's always had the same talent level. That has neither increased or decreased. During this time I can only think of two matches in the past year that he's pulled out, Gasquet and Djokovic. Other than that, it's been the same old Stan.
And since, like you say, he doesn't deal well with expectations, I see him sliding right back to where he was before. The more they hype him, the more he'll disappoint.
Scorp, I think all of what you say is true to a good extent. A lot of factors have been in play for Stan, many of them mental. He had to get used to the notoriety that comes with winning a major. He had to make the rounds in the media circuit. It's a lot of attention to get used to for someone that was perennially in the shadow of his countryman. A lot of money and more sponsor endorsements came his way. He took some time off as well to heal some niggles and rest from his early season efforts. So when he came back, he had to get back in the swing of things, and deal with the "real world", and the inevitable mental letdown of playing in less important tournaments.
But I see the recent Davis Cup QF as an important watershed moment for him. A win in Davis Cup for Stan has always been his dream, maybe even more than winning a major. He probably puts more pressure on himself there than anywhere else. And I think mostly due to that self-imposed pressure, he hasn't always performed as well as he could in the past.
Now, after winning a major, he even put more pressure on himself, and he had the external pressure from his team, fans, countrymen, that now expected him to play Davis Cup like a major champion and help carry the team to victory. The pressure told. He did not play well in the first rubber against a very good Golubev, on many occasions, impatient, and over hitting, and not serving that well, and played even worse in the doubles, especially the first two sets, where he was outright missing balls he should make in his sleep. When I say missing, I mean swinging and not even hitting the ball, with Federer coming up behind him to hit it after Stan missed, which is how bad it got at one point.
But when it mattered, with his team on the brink of defeat at 1-2, in his second singles match he came through with calmness and courage. He lost the first set tiebreaker to an inspired Kukushkin, but he said he didn't let it bother him as he felt he was playing the right way, and didn't think Kukushkin could keep up his play at that level. Stan's serving was back to where he had it at the Australian Open, and he won an astounding 94% of his first serves and 60% of his second serves, including 25 aces in conditions that were medium pace at best. He played solid from the ground, and hit over 60 winners in 4 sets. But most importantly for him, he came through under tremendous pressure to allow his team to stay in the tie, and give a chance for his compatriot, Roger Federer to win it. Federer said that Stan worked very hard, and it was a matter of getting his emotions under control.
So I think in the end, this experience at Davis Cup will help him mentally in the toughest situations. He has already demonstrated his brilliance, but whether he can show the consistency of form and desire/drive that the very top players have shown from tournament to tournament throughout the year is another question. He might not have that in him. Very few do. The euphoria of winning a major at this time in his career and satisfaction it brings can make it difficult to continue with high motivation. We see how tough it has been for Andy Murray, OBE, since winning Wimbledon, and made even tougher after returning from back surgery. I would like to think as long as Stan stays relatively healthy, he'll have more Stanimal moments. Will one come on the clay this year? He has said it's his favorite and best surface, despite his better success on hard courts. We'll see. I think that he will have his next best chance at the US Open.
Respectfully,
masterclass
what is next for staminal? can he keep this up?
It's hard to say. After winning his first major he too will become the hunted. Getting his scalp will be a priority for others on the tour, and at age 28 or 29, he will have to endure his sophomore slump. His mental hasn't been that good in the past, even though he's always had the game. So, personally, I don't see him continuing to climb, but I also don't see him descending too much. Much depends on whether or not his improved mental capacity is here for the long haul.
also is he as good or better than Federer now? I know there is a ranking disparity. roger is ranked lower than stan.
No, he is not in Federer's league. He does not have the experience that Federer possesses. He has not dealt with as much adversity and the pressure. He had the luxury of being the underdog. The luxury has now disappeared. Even in the final when Nadal was clearly injured, he suffered from inexplicable blips allowing a player who could barely move manage to take a set off of him. With the state of Rafa's game, that should have been a straight setter. He has a long way to go to be on Roger's level.
what if the two had played the final at the Australian Open? who---in your estimation--- would have most likely won that battle?
Roger. Stan defers to him at almost every turn. He wouldn't beat his buddy if Roger was in a wheelchair.
can stan make waves at the U.S. Open?
Waves, perhaps, but I don't see him winning it. I give him a quarter or a semi at best. By that time he will no longer be seen as an underdog. Blood will be in the water.
Some good points made here Lady TT. Stan has always been in the shadow of Federer, much like Rafa's countrymen where many or most have not even won a single match off the top Spaniard, even though they have the ability. I call it the "pecking order" effect.
Anyway, I said most of what I thought about Stan in the previous reply to scorpio. Magnus Norman is a good coach, especially on the mental side, and I think he has helped Stan in that area. But you don't often overcome years of patterns with breakthrough victories. He'll need to repeat in the biggest tournaments to reinforce his advance. In Stan's case, I'll totally agree to a recent Federer comment, where Federer said that Stan is most likely in the two steps forward, 1 step back mode, but as long as Stan continued to work hard and stay motivated, that he would be able to progress - meaning his steps back wouldn't be bigger than his steps forward.
Still, it is not only about Stan. The other top players will want to be in the hunt in the big moments as well. As a top player, you only hope to put yourself in the position at the end to be able to capture the prize when given the opportunity. Other than the big prize, you can still pick up the crumbs, quarters, semis, finals, and those crumbs these days are still laced with a fair amount of gold.
Respectfully,
masterclass