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Jul/15

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Live: Kyrgios Emotional Intensity is Overwhelming the Raonic Robot

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After the second set, which was won by Kyrgios 75, to level the match with Raonic, I thought to myself: Kyrgios has way too much emotional intensity and adrenaline, this is going to be the difference, he will beat Roanic.

Boom, Kyrgios just won the third set tiebreaker 7-3 and his colorful personality has taken over the court. Kyrgios is a showman who will show you his burning desire, his emotional adrenaline and exactly what he thinks. Raonic, on the otherhand, is the exact complete opposite. He is a robot on the court, a total mechanical, business machine of efficiency and patterns.

Sort of similar to the Borg-McEnroe dynamic and we know how that worked out, Borg the robot initially held the upper hand, but then the colorful, dramatic, emotionally charged McEnroe took over and dominated the rivalry.

Of course, Raonic beat Kyrgios last year at Wimbledon, but like McEnroe, Kyrgios seems to have found the formula to conquer and unfunction the Raonic Robot.

This match is a perfect example of how emotional adrenaline and intensity, passion, fire and desire can make the difference and be the difference in a majorly important tennis match.

16 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 9:58 am

    Raonic is a very good player but like his coach Ivan Ljubicic he lacks emotion on the court, both contained their emotion and desire, which may or may not have limited their success. Fans love emotion and Kyrgios has the crowd on his side. Seldom do you ever see Raonic own the crowd, which as we all know in tennis, can make the difference. Kyrgios is going to beat Raonic.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 10:47 am

    Totally outsmarted and made Robot Raonic look like a big dummy out there. Kyrgios overwhelmed the robot with emotional intensity, that was the difference. Android Raonic showed no desire or emotion, Ljubicic had the same flaw, Loobie never won a big event outside Davis Cup and neither will Raonic. Crowd makes the difference, Raonic has no clue how to rally a crowd to his side. Kyrgios is a master at whipping crowd into a frenzy which fuels his game and momentum. Kyrgios will dominate Gasquet who is also a robot who doesn’t know how to work a crowd. Kyrgios is a young genius and all the astute experts like Cliff know he’s special and respect it. People can complain and criticize Kyrgios but he knows what he has to do to attain historic glory, it’s business, he has to do what he has to do. Kyrgios has the balls to do it. Raonic and Gasquet types don’t have Kyrgios kojones. Raonic would be so much better if he tapped into and utilized emotional adrenaline, but he is at his flatline. He wants to be Mr Perfect and be perfectly behaved out there with every single hair in place, but you gotta get down and dirty to win in tennis, it’s a bloodbath out there. Raonic has the demeanor of a ballet master but that will not work in pro tennis, he’s gotta go Rambo.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    Serena no emotion today so far, she needs to bring out her super beast, down 0-2 in third to Bubbles Watson.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    Serena has invited her super beast to the party, subsequently, it’s now 3-3, minutes ago it was 3-0 Watson.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    Unbelievable. Denis Kudla is up 5-3 in the fifth on Giraldo, for a spot in the round of sixteen. WOW

  • Dan Markowitz · July 3, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Alright, missed Raonic-Kyrgios, but I’m with you, Scoop, I love Kyrgios and I love the bad behavior and the nastiness and his style of play. Raonic has always left me dry. I like Gasquet a little more, but he’s also emotionally unsatisfiable.

    Now Luby did win IW one year, but he didn’t win slams because he wasn’t that good. The same reason Raonic or Dimitrov won’t win slams.

    Serena is a bit too much. I mean she’s fun to watch, but she acts like beating Heather Watson pushed her to her utmost limit. It’s freakin’ Heather Watson, Serena, hold back the tears. You didn’t beat Navratilova at Wimby in her prime.

  • Thomas Tung · July 3, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Looks like a nice little breakthrough in a Slam for Kudla as he takes care of Giraldo in 5 to win it — the statboards say that Kudla’s avg 1st serve speed is 119mph — Denis must’ve really been thumping the ball! Santi’s avg 1st serve speed, in comparison, was a very anemic 109mph — given the disparity in heights and disparity in game, this is a REAL shocker. I’ve seen Santi many a time go for pretty big serves and monster returns …

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    Kyrgios is the rebel and he has a cause Dan. It’s about winning majors and he’s taking the proper attack route to his destination. Tennis is just too competitive and too tough to play it straight, Dimitrov and Raonic play it straight and look at their careers, nothing to show for it. Kyrgios is smart and he’s cunning and he’s doing it HIS WAY. He’s got the cojones to do it his WAY. He’s not afraid to ruffle feathers or piss off the establishment, but at the same time he’s also respectful. I’m all in on Kyrgios, he’s going all the way baby. If not next week then it’s coming soon.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    Kudla finally breaking out, again, remember four years ago he beat Dimitrov and Karlovic in Newport, for his first two ATP level wins. That showed potential and he’s now showing it again, huge win over the always tough Giraldo. Those are big serve numbers for Kudla Thomas, he’s only a small guy too, no more than five ten or eleven, TV makes him look smaller too. He has a lot of natural talent. Don’t you just love when a guy like Kudla just pops out of nowhere into the Wimbledon round of sixteen. Gets Isner or Cilic next.

  • Thomas Tung · July 3, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    Yeah, as much as I dislike Kyrgios’ cockiness (esp. at Wimbledon, cathedral of tennis), it brings a much-needed element of electricity to the game. Maybe he’s no Big Four, but as long as his worst crime is simply ruffling feathers, and he backs it up with big-time results, we could see more folks getting into tennis (maybe even here in the States). And that’s a price well worth paying. (Personally crossing fingers for a Federer 2.0 to appear sometime soon; Grigor just lacks that ability to raise his game and focus harder, which is what separates him from Roger, IMO).

    Yeah, Kudla was great in his win today just as he was against the rising young gun Alex Zverev in the previous round. Took Zverev out in four, very impressive stuff.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    I don’t mind Kyrgios intensity at all. Look at it this way, it’s the hardest it’s ever been to win a major, with Djokovic Murray Fed Rafa Stan playing historically incredible tennis. It’s almost a miracle to win a major now for a first timer like Kyrgios so he has to use all his mental attributes, intensity, cockiness, fighting spirit to make history. The kid is going for it, all in. His confidence and cockiness is not offensive to me at all, I understand it and appreciate it. I don’t think anyone should be bothered by it, he has to bring more intangibles to the table, that’s what it takes now. Kyrgios is in the mold of Hewitt McEnroe Djokovic Serena, great young players who had that special burning desire, swagger and cockiness. The ‘me against the world’ attitude. I love it. Kyrgios has great expectations – number one and many majors – I love it. I wish Dimitrov and Raonic had half of Kyrgios cockiness and intensity.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    If Isner lost today – didn’t check to see who won the fifth set him or Cilic – it’s incredible that Kudla is the last American man standing. Wow, even Nostradamus Coach Skelly or Dan Markowitz could ever have predicted that. How about Hewitt still alive in doubles and mixed, two big wins with Kokkinakis 86 in the fifth over a seeded team and a mixed win with Dellaqua. Hewitt will definitely feed off this wins and his confidence will grow. Just imagine how much fire and intensity he must be playing these doubles matches with after losing in the first round of singles. I like Hewitt to do some damage in dubs and mixed. COMEON.

  • Dan Markowitz · July 3, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Scoop, apparently the Cilic-Izzie match has been postponed deep into the 5th set. Look, I like Kudla a lot. Very nice guy, but I can’t get too excited over him beating A Zeverev and Giraldo, even at Wimby. Now getting to the 4th rd of Wimby is impressive, but he’s had a very nice draw.

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    I’m gonna give all the credit to Kudla, he’s playing his best tennis, he said today he’s never entered a major so confident after playing so many matches as he has in winning Challengers, he earned his WC and he’s proven he can be a top 50 player. Beating young Zverev, who McEnroe predicted will win many majors, and Giraldo, who blasted out Spadea in his final ATP match, are two quality wins. Remember, Kudla beat Ivo and Dimitrov in Newport four years ago. Kudla is not a fluke or a lucky draw recipient, he’s got the goods.

  • Thomas Tung · July 3, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    No knock against his intensity, he’s just a bit, what was the old-timers’ term: “fresh”, but that is to be expected with his flamboyant game. He’s certainly one of the biggest and best talents out there, with some nice scalps (Nadal, Federer) under his belt already. Good luck to him. I still think Alexander Zverev has the greater potential, and will be proven as the bigger talent, IMO. His firepower and steady determination reminds me of a young Robin Soderling, back in the days when Robin was qualifying. I really liked Robin then, thought he was going to be top 10, and I like Zverev now for top 10 sometime in the future.

    Isner and Cilic are stuck in the 5th at 10-all, with play suspended due to lack of visibility; they will resume tomorrow. Kudla’s gotta love his chances of a QF run now. Hopefully Hewitt will hit a rich vein of form at the US Open and get some nice results, or at least a great match. Always really liked Hewitt, he picked up where Chang left off and even improved on the model a bit.

  • Bryan · July 6, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    Is it true Kyrgios abused some ballboy/girls? There was talk of that at Twitter amid the nonsense about swearing. He can swear all he wants but being mean to the kids is a major foul in my book.

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