Think ur a smart guy but (given the description of your tennis condition) you really don't have a very clear understanding of tennis or at least estimating edges. For example I think you and I could play every day for the rest of our lives and you wouldn't win a set. That might sound arrogant but I am honestly just trying to be descriptive. I really hope you make me eat those words.

Good luck

P.S I mean I hope I eat the words about u and PA's bet.

Brandon--just re-read my post. That was a bit harsh. I stand by my assessment of your chances against PA. Good excuse to get in great shape and work on your game anyway.

P.S you guys thought about actually making the match interesting and handicapping it. For example you get to start every game 30 love up or PA uses a wood racquet? At least this gives us something interesting to watch.

Unless your Bjorn Borg what were you doing with a wooden racket when Nick was 14 years old? I'm guessing Nick was prob 6 years old when the days of wood rackets ended.

+1 to this, awesome thread. Fair to say high level tennis players are all gambling addicts based on these guys coming out of the woodwork?

i mean i see where you're coming from, and you may very well be correct, but don't you think its a bit silly for so many ppl to be making these grand assumptions without ever having seen either PA or BA play?

I never played tennis but if I were to play and nba player my height and I was given 11-1 odds for a match 6months away. I would do all and everything that I can to win (taking 1000 jumpshots a day,practicing 12 hours perday,etc...) since I will be 11Xing my investment.
not sure if the same thing applies to tennis but I would assume so.

not to be a dick, but that seems like a really really bad way of just saying you think BA is going to practice alot.

http://www.pokernews.com/video/emily...1618642207.htm

im probably way out of the loop, but did this ever go down?

People are coming out of the woodwork here in this thread.

BA, Life is about the minor details and I didn't say that I'm a few years older then Nick which is a big advantage and the reason why it was a cake walk.

As for the wooden racket comment, we were both playing in a junior event, and we found some old wooden rackets in the pro shop. Naturally as a kid your stoked about this find and you go play. It was like 94 95, not 1970.

The fed comment about 99% of his net worth, can't argue that. I'm dying at the pro tennis comment, I remember my first future my college buddy played this asian kid was the worst player in the world. He had a coach, sick gear, who knows what sucker was putting up 100k a year to sponsor this guy. He shanked more then 10 balls over the fence at a 45 degree angle on his own serve, we were dying laughing watching the match as my buddy won like 0 and 1. We still rip on him as that was his only only futures win.

I like what BA said about rainey, he has no shot vs nick no matter what and BA sees this from what I gather. At the open today, I asked a coach that had a guy in the top 25ATP and I phrased the question like this- If an average US d3 player was to play a 5.0 player and they both were 35 years old, what are the odds. He said 8 or 12-1 after a few seconds of thought. If this is a fair assessment of PA's game, then it will come down to a couple key points in each set which you should know. If BA isn't clutch like the past in these moments then its gonna be rough. But isn't this why we live life, its just money and its worth the challenge of putting yourself in this situation and seeing if you can come through.

The line is very thin though between that fair assessment of PA's game and having no chance being outclassed from the start.

ty for takin it ez, and my bball example could be way offf
but Isnt BA asking for more action itt so he can practice more.

what r u trying to tell me?

....im confused what point u r trying to prove/tell me by quoting what i said and making sure i knew kim was playing safina? or what?


huh?

Did any of you guys play on the east coast? I was pretty good at tennis, but by the time i entered highschool i really lost any desire to play. I was on our highschool tennis team, St Johns Shrewsbury, but was only ranked #7 or something on our team. We had the #1 and #3 ranked players in new england. their skill level was absurd. the #3 seed could beat me left handed, it was pretty embarrassing.

My thesis is that Patrik and I have about the same level of talent, such that there is at least a decent chance that I can improve enough to beat him.

I recently read The Talent Code. This book argues that we tend to overplay the role of talent in explaining results and underplay the roles of passion and practice. This runs completely counter to my experience in tennis. I think tennis is almost entirely about natural aptitude.

Apparently, David Benyamine is the most talented tennis player who plays poker. I have never seen him play, but I've heard that he's very gifted.

I've heard that Gus is also very good at tennis, but take a look at the skill differential b/w Gus and a good college player.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOtf...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFgqnrJ0lI

Nick would have been about the same level (perhaps marginally better) as Sasha (1st video, above) in college, though Sasha was ranked #4 in the 18s nationally.

Brandon

To the extent that Brandon is being accurate about his assessment of both of there games I would say it doesn't matter that much. But yeah watching them play would pretty much take all the guesswork out of it.

I think tennis is a bit unique in that the skill sets take an absurd amount of practice to develop. There is also the question of movement which is a factor that is probably a bit undervalued but it incredibly important. Luck is also almost non--existent in a tennis match. That might be an overstatement but for example if PA gets unucky vs BA and loses than the edge was never close to what it seems to be.

gus is pretty awkward in that short clip

+1

Brandon your quote about tennis being almost entirely about natural aptitude is just completely backwards when you compare tennis to most sports. Not saying that natural aptitude is not important in tennis, but if you look at sports like Basketball, football , or track you find that natural ability is a huge factor in the success of the athlete. In tennis you can actually go pretty far just by outworking your counterparts. Golf would be the extreme example of what I am talking about.

I have never read the Talent Code but I agree with the premise of the book from what you describe. As far as David Benyamine goes, I have never seen him play tennis so I can only imagine the physical gifts he possesses

What year were you? my roomate graduated highschool from private school in westchester (we all went to the same HS) in 2001 and played college (missed i think 1.5-2 seasons due to back surgery) from 2001-2005.

I'm not sure where st.johns is and don't recall if my roomate went to state tourneys or whatever so you may or may not have heard of him. he was undefeated as #1 singles for a D3 school in NY (undefeated in regular season play, not tourneys or whatever). feel free to PM me if you want his name to see if you know him.

GL GL

Im down to take tennis bets for the world series, no absurd numbers like 500-1k a match. im between a 5 and 5.5

Do you think his chances of winning a 1 set winner take all over a best of 3 are higher than the probability of a PA injury in a second set?

Fed needed 5 sets today and said afterwards he got lucky.

i don't want to bet but will this be open to others to watch? this has the makings of a legendary bet if BA pulls it out

Simon was playing sick coming into the Aussie open and I think he actually has a winning record against Fed. This was not a lock.

If there was some fun tennis prop bets I would consider coming out for the series. I am game for singles, dubs., handicaps whatever.