Who do you think will win the Australian Open 2017?

  • Jun Mizutani

    Votes: 13 48.1%
  • Koki Niwa

    Votes: 4 14.8%
  • Chuang Chih Yuan

    Votes: 1 3.7%
  • Vladimir Samsonov

    Votes: 3 11.1%
  • Marcos Freitas

    Votes: 1 3.7%
  • Simon Gauzy

    Votes: 2 7.4%
  • Kenta Matsudaira

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yuto Muramatsu

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mattias Karlsson

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Others (Harimoto, Oshima, Mattias, Shibaev)

    Votes: 3 11.1%

  • Total voters
    27
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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"Is Samsonov a great player, with impressive longevity and amazing achievements at age 40/41? Yes! But is Samsonov of 2016/2017 playing as well as ever? Nah"

Okay.

This is what a player at 40+ is generally going to be. A player who is getting older, losing some of his skills, mobility, strength and stamina.

Usually the players in any sport that are doing well at Samsonov's age are doing well not because they are getting better or something like that. They are doing well because, in an occasional tournament, they can put it all together, from a tactics standpoint and pull off some wins against players they really shouldn't beat.

Not many athletes can play at that level or close to it by that age. So, yeah, it is clear that he is older and well past his prime. But it is more remarkable than most people actually realize, how well he plays at that age.


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They should send Vladi's blade back to racket control and remove the grip tape. I suspect there is a warped Mazunov somewhere in there and that Tibhar and opponents will not be happy about that...

Congrats to the man who should have retired long ago...:rolleyes:
 
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
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Not many athletes can play at that level or close to it by that age. So, yeah, it is clear that he is older and well past his prime. But it is more remarkable than most people actually realize, how well he plays at that age.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

At his age you can expect some inconsistency, a lot of it will depend on how he feels physically on a particular day. Some days he will be less mobile and less elastic. On good days he will be as good as he was on a typical day from ten years ago. As time goes on he will have fewer good days. Also, at this time he cannot achieve the level of his best days from ten years ago. He will be more prone to injury also. Older players can maintain strength and endurance, but quickness and flexibility decline a lot.

But even now, if you are not on the CNT and you are planning to beat him you better bring your A game (or hope that on this day his back and knees are really sore and he is not seeing the ball well). Because even now if he is having an unusually good day and you are not on the CNT, odds are he will still beat you.

I hope he plays as long as possible because I love to watch him.
 
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says The sticky bit is stuck.
says The sticky bit is stuck.
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I'll be rooting for Samsonov rising to the occasion.

And rise to it he did! “I'm 41 years old and I think that it’s great that I can still compete!”, yessir and tip-o'the-hat to you sir!
 
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A fantastic performance from a fantastic player. I hope he plays for as long as he wants to.
 
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