Tennis Thread

[doodlebug]

I think Serena is one of the most competitive players ever and, over the course of the years, her main competition has been herself. She's played so well for so long; she's in a class by herself. If, after the baby comes, Serena decides that she wants to prove to herself and the rest of the world that she can give birth and return and dominate the opposition, then she will make it happen. She's a force of nature.

i am happy for her that she seems to have a lot of happiness and fulfillment in her personal life.

[NUguy514]

I kind of want her to come back and win two more Slams to surpass Margaret Court's record, mostly because I really hate Margaret Court.

[dcalley]

Another person to hate is Ilie Nastase. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2017/04/22/ilie-nastase-calls-anne-keothavong-johanna-konta-fing-bitches/

[NUguy514]

Gross.  Cirstea didn't cover herself in glory either.

[caracas1914]

Several things are really bugging me about the Maria Sharapova situation as it's unfolded.

1) The way Maria has handled the ITF decreasing her banned status from 2 years to 15 months.  Her public statements basically saying that she was a "victim" and a target and that she's been exonerated .  SHUT THE FUCK UP.   Melonium, whether it was legal or not, was used as a performance enhancer as she took it, there is no dispute of that.  IT was not used for the ostensibly medical reasons the drug is available.  She was not , and is not, a victim of anything but her own stupidity and hubris.

2) The chicken Shit way she's getting wild cards into tournaments for breaking the rules.  It's hypocritical and abhorrent because it takes the teeth out of their official stance against illegal drug use.  The fact that Stutgar extended the wildcard when she was technically still under suspension( when the tournament began) make it even more of a joke.   Maria is getting an artificial boost, and at the least will get a wild card into qualifying at the French Open.   What is the point of having someone work back from penalties/sanctions if they are being softened by the same organization that imposed them.  What the Fuck.  If you say she can come back in 15 months, fine, but actually make her come back on her own.

3) The fawning press that is already starting to swirl about her comeback.  

I need a drink.

[topanga]

How did Serena become #1 again? Yay for her, but can someone explain how the WTA point system worked in her favor?

[dcalley]

I shouldn't try because I don't fully understand it, but your points total is for the past 12 months, updating every week (mostly). If you don't do as well in a tournament as you did last year, you fail to "defend your points," and your points total drops. Kerber won Stuttgart last year but lost in the second round this year. The points for her win in 2016 went away and were replaced by this year's lower points, and she dropped below Serena (who didn't play anything for about a month in the spring of 2016 and thus had no points to defend, keeping her total the same).

[shok]

Rafa with his Decima x 2. Wow!!! What an achievement. Many players don't even make it to one particular tournament 10 times and Rafa has WON two of them 10 times each. I know he loves Monte Carlo and must have been thrilled to win it but to win his home tournament and have them name centre court after him and put on such a rowdy cup presentation in front of so many family and friends must have been awfully special for him. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with the rest of the clay season. Just stay healthy please Rafa.

[topanga]

Francis Tiafoe is funny. And he's a great up and coming player. 

Loud match

[caracas1914]

Well, we should get a better idea how Rafa and Djokovic both stand for the FO after tomorrow's Semifinals at the Caja Magica in Madrid.  Rafa has been looking very good but the huge psychological hurdle of actually beating the Joker in one of these matches still looms...

[truthaboutluv]

19 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

Well, we should get a better idea how Rafa and Djokovic both stand for the FO after tomorrow's Semifinals at the Caja Magica in Madrid.  Rafa has been looking very good but the huge psychological hurdle of actually beating the Joker in one of these matches still looms...

Guess he got that monkey off his back. Honestly, I was a little surprised that so many were predicting a Djokovic win. Yes, he had a winning streak against Rafa but they've also not played since Djokovic's form dropped significantly, coupled with the fact that he's playing right now without a coach and hell his entire team who he parted ways with.

Not saying that Rafa cannot beat Djokovic when in form because he's proven many times he can but just based on those factors and Rafa finding his form again (though still not exactly where it needs to be if those losses to Federer this year is anything to go by) I actually felt pretty confident that Rafa was going to win. 

My concern for Rafa right now regarding the French is his health. I have to assume he's consulting with his trainers and team because I don't want a repeat of last year where he played too much coming into the French and then had to pull out of the French due to injury. Let's face it, dude has the worse luck with injuries. Personally, I think if he wins the title tomorrow, he should just skip the Italian Open and spend the week preparing for the French. He'd have won 3 out of the 4 clay warm-up events and I just don't think it would be that important to play the Italian Open. YMMV of course. 

[Avon.Blakes7]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 11:35 AM, topanga said:

How did Serena become #1 again? Yay for her, but can someone explain how the WTA point system worked in her favor?

The point system is calculated for a calendar year! Since Kerber won the Australian last year, the points she earned was taken off in January! Visa versa with Serena winning "down under" adding points which zoomed her past Kerber! Kerber is defending more points and if she doesn't win the same tournaments to keep up, she was destined to fall in the rankings! - - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_WTA_Tour#Singles - -

[sacrebleu]

Quote

Rafa has been looking very good but the huge psychological hurdle of actually beating the Joker in one of these matches still looms...

I'm an unapologetic Rafa fan, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he looked. Although admittedly, Novak is not at his best right now. I saw much eye rolling and pouting when he missed shots or got passed-- very Djoker circa 2007-08. 

I don't know what it means for the French-- but it seems like the narrative for the French is going to be 'will Rafa get the Slam Decima?" 

I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this, but is anyone else a little bummed at the very real possibility that Serena might not come back after the baby? She's 35-- and coming back after that involves an awful lot of work. I'm not sure she'll have the drive to put in the kind of hours needed to get her body back into shape. No slam on her work ethic-- but as we learned from Kim Clijsters -- having a baby pretty much means you have to build up your core from scratch-- and Kim was about 10 years younger than Serena when she made her post-kid comeback.

[topanga]

9 minutes ago, sacrebleu said:

 

I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this, but is anyone else a little bummed at the very real possibility that Serena might not come back after the baby? She's 35-- and coming back after that involves an awful lot of work. I'm not sure she'll have the drive to put in the kind of hours needed to get her body back into shape. No slam on her work ethic-- but as we learned from Kim Clijsters -- having a baby pretty much means you have to build up your core from scratch-- and Kim was about 10 years younger than Serena when she made her post-kid comeback.

I hear you, but Serena deserves an on-court send off. She and Venus changed the way people play and watch tennis. 

[caracas1914]

With Rafa it's important to get all these clay court victories before the French because his confidence soars and he gets the monsters belief back we've seen on clay.  When he gets that and his opponents sense it, it's almost worth  a set a match alone.

Having said that, I cringe every time because his body (closing in on 31 ) is again going through 4 grueling tournaments before the French Open.

However, the naysayers have been both right and wrong when it comes to Nadal.   He has broken down due to his grinding style of play and yet, like Serena, he has come back every friggin time and his career has virtually outlasted in length of time everyone not named Federer or Connors  in the Open era as far as being a top 4 player  (2005-2017 is 13 year span).   

Who knows, with Rafa, Federer, Wawrinka, Murraya and Djokovic, 30 is the new 24.

Edited May 15, 2017 by caracas1914

[truthaboutluv]

Just now, caracas1914 said:

Who knows, with Rafa, Federer, Wawrinka, Murraya and Djokovic, 30 is the new 24.

It really is. I was actually surprised to realize Murray was already 30. Granted I'm not sure how old I thought he was because Murray is usually persona non grata to me but I was taken aback slightly when I saw the video post from the ATP, wishing him a Happy 30th. The video messages from the other players were nice. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[mojoween]

According to Twitter, Roger is dropping out of the French to concentrate on grass and hardcourts.  I suppose that's smart, why not drop the one you struggle the most with to try to keep on playing in the successful ones?

[truthaboutluv]

33 minutes ago, mojoween said:

According to Twitter, Roger is dropping out of the French to concentrate on grass and hardcourts.  I suppose that's smart, why not drop the one you struggle the most with to try to keep on playing in the successful ones?

It does make sense because let's face it, at this point, with Roger's age and physical condition, it's no longer about chasing #1 but actually winning titles for however long he can. So if he thinks he's not likely to win, why bother putting his body through the strain and only to have to turn around three weeks later and play Wimbledon.

Edited May 15, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[shok]

15 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

However, the naysayers have been both right and wrong when it comes to Nadal.   He has broken down due to his grinding style of play and yet, like Serena, he has come back every friggin time and his career has virtually outlasted in length of time everyone not named Federer or Connors  in the Open era as far as being a top 4 player  (2005-2017 is 13 year span).   

 

 

Why is Rafa always blamed for being responsible for his own injuries (not griping at you in particular, just the general tennis world)? I don't hear a single soul saying Novak's injury (and otherwise) problems are a result of his dogged baseline style of play, or Delpo's wrist problem blamed on him hitting the ball too hard. The major cause of Rafa's injuries is a genetic defect in a bone in his foot. The treatment of that defect (which allows him to play at all) throws his body slightly out of alignment and has caused the knee and back injuries that he's had.

The length of his career achievements is just as impressive as Federer and Connors in some areas so in spite of his injuries, he actually hasn't been outlasted. I've read (although I just wasted 30 min googling and can't find the damn stats) that he and Fed are tied at 12 consecutive years of being in the Top 10. Fed's string was broken last year so if Rafa ends this year in Top 10, he'll hold the record alone. I also read that with his Madrid victory, he's now tied Jimmy Connors at the top for having won at least 3 championships for 13 years. And of course he's the only player to have won at least 1 slams for 10 consecutive years. Pretty impressive records for a guy who's missed so much time. Imagine what they'd be like if he'd been able to be healthy his whole career. :-)

[selkie]

And the French Open will not give Maria Sharapova a wild card entry to this year's event. Because a gap in play due to a doping suspension does not justify such an invitation to their major. 

[SoCal Mema]

3 hours ago, selkie said:

And the French Open will not give Maria Sharapova a wild card entry to this year's event. Because a gap in play due to a doping suspension does not justify such an invitation to their major. 

AMEN - “She has handled her suspension with dignity and respect,” said Giudicelli, who announced the decision via Facebook Live. “But nonetheless, though there can be a wild card after an injury, there cannot be one for a return from doping. So it is up to Maria day after day, tournament after tournament, to find alone the strength she needs to win the big titles without owing anything to anyone.”

And Justin is just a tool IMHO - “I believe every tournament should give her a main draw wild card, and I think the safest play is to give her a wild card into the qualies,” Justin Gimelstob, a Tennis Channel analyst and member of the ATP board of directors, said on Monday. “I’m very concerned this new president is going to try to make a statement and shut her out of the tournament. If he does that, it’s a huge travesty and a mistake.”

THIS - Novak Djokovic, a longtime friend of Sharapova’s, said, “Whoever, you know, runs the French Open is in charge of the French Open, and they can make a decision that they think is the most appropriate.”

[truthaboutluv]

8 minutes ago, SoCal Mema said:

Novak Djokovic, a longtime friend of Sharapova’s, said, “Whoever, you know, runs the French Open is in charge of the French Open, and they can make a decision that they think is the most appropriate.”

Wow Novak, way to say nothing and pretty much stay as in the middle as possible. Not that I think he has to comment but why bother if you're only going to say something as basic as that. 

eta: And in other news, this continues to not be Murray's year at all. It's like getting to #1 has been a curse for him.

Edited May 16, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[theatremouse]

I mean, if they ask him in the middle of a press conference, it probably comes across worse for him to say he has nothing to say. Somehow that's harsher than just going ahead and commenting in a manner that is effectively a nothing statement. If he'd said no comment or ask me something else etc people would try to read into it. So by saying their tournament, their rules, he gets to sound neutral.

I am glad to hear Serena repeatedly saying she has every intention of coming back, and I truly hope she does because while I am glad she's experiencing a lot of personal happiness, and hope she continues to have much more, I'll admit I was sad when I heard the news because my first thought was that tennis is going to be a lot less exciting to watch for the next year. I won't be shocked if it turns out she decides not to come back, but I very much hope she does. I think she could probably win another major or two. Certainly she's older, and pregnancy puts your body through the ringer, but she was gone for a year with the foot injury/lung issue, so I suspect she could do it again and come back from the same amount of time off.

Also, yeah, shut up, Gimmelstob. I think the WTA (and ATP for that matter) would be well served to just make a universal rule about wildcards post-suspension. I don't think it should be tournament by tournament. Part of the point of suspension surely must be that when you come back you need to earn your way back. The French's reasoning was the most reasonable thing I've heard. If your ranking is down due to injury, sure a wildcard makes sense. But if you're down because you were suspended, you have to earn your way back all the way. I always thought that was an intentional ramification.

[caracas1914]

Lost all respect for Gimelstob, he was virtually foaming at the mouth at the outrage of Maria not being given a wildcard into the French Open.

Loved Pam Shriver's comment at ESPN:

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/19395832/tennis-was-denying-maria-sharapova-entry-french-open-right-decision

Quote

I can't say it was the right decision, but it certainly wasn't the wrong one.

In all fairness,the ITF needs to get both the ATP and the WTA on board that players suspended for doping don't get WC into tournaments , because the temptation is too great for these tournaments not to red carpet a big name.

Sharapova  can get by her current ranking into the Qualifying  of Wimbledon, and the BLTA would do well in not rocking the boat and WC'ing Sharapova into the main draw.

[SoCal Mema]

9 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

Lost all respect for Gimelstob, he was virtually foaming at the mouth at the outrage of Maria not being given a wildcard into the French Open.

Loved Pam Shriver's comment at ESPN:

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/19395832/tennis-was-denying-maria-sharapova-entry-french-open-right-decision

In all fairness,the ITF needs to get both the ATP and the WTA on board that players suspended for doping don't get WC into tournaments , because the temptation is too great for these tournaments not to red carpet a big name.

Sharapova  can get by her current ranking into the Qualifying  of Wimbledon, and the BLTA would do well in not rocking the boat and WC'ing Sharapova into the main draw.

I have not had any respect for Gimelstob for a very long time.  He also has a history of being an overflowing word toilet.

I agree with your commentary 100% about the rank and file getting in alignment over a return from doping.  Pam is spot on in in her assessment that Sharapova has not shown humility and/or deference about this issue.

[NowVoyager]

Roger looking sharp in his formal morning suit at Pippa Middleton's wedding:

Mirka looks stunning!!!

Edited May 21, 2017 by NowVoyager

[Ohwell]

She looks nice but my feet hurt just looking at those heels!

[BitterApple]

Wow, Mirka has lost a ton of weight. She looks incredible. God love anyone who can walk in those shoes, I'd break my ankle and face plant on the asphalt. Roger looks very handsome.

Regarding Maria, the French Open made the right decision. Whether the substance she was taking was legal at one point and not another or whether she was *allegedly* taking it for medical reasons, the point is she broke the rules and doesn't deserve to be rewarded. It would be unfair to take a Wild Card away from another player just because Maria has more star power. 

[Ohwell]

I forgot Roger.  He does look handsome in his outfit.  I love how his suit is tailored and it's not too tight like the hipsters like to wear nowadays. 

[truthaboutluv]

Well this is interesting. 

Agassi will be coaching Djokovic at the French Open.

It's not a long term commitment and I guess they'll just see how things go during the French. I love Andre dearly, so it'll be nice to see him again but I never have and I never will root for Djokovic and definitely not at the French, especially when Rafa is trying to make history with his 10th French Open. 

[BitterApple]

I remember watching footage of Djokovic leaving the All England club after his loss to Querrey in 2016, and Marian Vajda was shaking hands with all the staff members and thanking them before he got into the courtesy car. I don't know what his rep is on tour, but I thought that was really classy. Maybe the relationship got stale, who knows, but that's interesting Novak gave him the boot. Hopefully the wife isn't next, lol. 

Edited May 21, 2017 by BitterApple

[Gurkel]

6 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Well this is interesting. 

Agassi will be coaching Djokovic at the French Open.

It's not a long term commitment and I guess they'll just see how things go during the French. I love Andre dearly, so it'll be nice to see him again but I never have and I never will root for Djokovic and definitely not at the French, especially when Rafa is trying to make history with his 10th French Open. 

It's interesting to me how much Agassi stays in the tennis world, even though in his memoir 'Open,' he couldn't stop talking about how much he hated tennis, even when he was at the top of his game. And Steffi Graff said she felt the same way. But both of their kids play tennis, and I believe they run a youth tennis academy. 

[truthaboutluv]

Actually Agassi always made it clear that by the end of his career he grew to love and appreciate the sport a lot more. Also, Agassi's issues were less about the sport itself and more about feeling forced into it. But he always had a deep understanding and wealth of knowledge about the game. Also, my understanding is that their children have played around with tennis but nothing serious and in fact Jaden has become more focused on baseball as he's gotten older.

And unless they have another academy, which is entirely possible, the academy I know about isn't really a youth tennis academy per se and more just an education academy for under privileged children in Las Vegas. It's a charter school that provides for students from kindergarten right up to high school. They apparently have a very impressive graduate record and many of the students have gone on to Ivy League schools. 

[Gurkel]

42 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

And unless they have another academy, which is entirely possible, the academy I know about isn't really a youth tennis academy per se and more just an education academy for under privileged children in Las Vegas. It's a charter school that provides for students from kindergarten right up to high school. They apparently have a very impressive graduate record and many of the students have gone on to Ivy League schools. 

I thought that in addition to their Charter school, they did something with kids and tennis. But maybe that was just on the tv commercial with their own kids. 

[Dejana]

Hmmm, is Agassi working in conjunction with Djoker's guru or replacing him? 

Sascha Zverev wins Rome, cracks the Top 10.   

Edited May 22, 2017 by Dejana

[roseha]

2 hours ago, Dejana said:

Hmmm, is Agassi working in conjunction with Djoker's guru or replacing him? 

Sascha Zverev wins Rome, cracks the Top 10.   

I'm just a tiny bit annoyed that Djoker chose to break the Agassi announcement as soon as he lost to Sascha.  Sascha gave a brilliant performance to beat Nole for the Rome title and it would have been nice if that had remained today's headline, not the hiring of Agassi by Nole (neither of them a fav of mine to be honest).  However it's great to see Sascha break through.  I was wondering if there would be anyone for me to watch after Roger finally retires, but it looks like the new generation is in sight.

Glad to see there are folks here who feel as I do about the Maria situation.  I was appalled at Tennis Channel's rah-rah-ing, though this weekend it seemed that Paul Annacone and Tracy Austin were suggesting that Maria's statement that she wasn't going to ask for a Wimbledon WC was damage control, since her agent had likely been told she wasn't getting one.  Really the whole Maria WC incident has been a farce, and a shameful one.  It's not supposed to be about the ticket sales.

Edited May 22, 2017 by roseha

[theatremouse]

If it makes you feel any better, I have zero doubt this will be the only time Zverev beats Djokavic, possibly not even the only time this year. Kid's going to win slams.

[roseha]

5 hours ago, theatremouse said:

If it makes you feel any better, I have zero doubt this will be the only time Zverev beats Djokavic, possibly not even the only time this year. Kid's going to win slams.

Ha, thanks theatremouse, it sure looks that way to me too.  I only first noticed Sascha earlier this year when he played a very close night match against Nick Krygios (I think it was Indian Wells?) and I thought at the time that he just needed to mix things up a little more.  Now he's doing that and improving in many other ways as well.  Maybe his brother Mischa has helped him with learning more net play.  Anyway it's good to see a really talented young player making a move like this, I'm a diehard Fed fan but it will be interesting to see the next wave after the Big Four (or really Big Five with Stan) eventually retire.

[theatremouse]

Of the youngerish guys, I know Thiem gets a lot of props, Zverev is getting more attention now too. I think Zverev and Coric will probably be big contenders for quite a while. Thiem is solid, but I almost wonder if he mightn't track more like Berdich.

[NowVoyager]

Is it me? Or is the crowd looking kinda sparse at Roland Garros?

[theatremouse]

I think it generally is when it's this early.

[roseha]

I was able to watch Petra Kvitova's first match back at the French Open, and what a wonderful moment for her.  She came out so strong and was so emotional after making it through.  I would just love to see her win a major again.  if she could pull off Wimbledon it would be so great.

[truthaboutluv]

Julia Boserup, who she beat, wrote a sweet tweet to her after the match. Stories like that always get me emotional. Like when Corina Morariu came back after being diagnosed with leukemia and made the doubles finals of the Australian Open with Lindsay Davenport. That was one of the most emotional trophy presentations. All the four women were crying. I also got teary when Serena came back after the clot issues that almost killed her and started crying when she won her first round Wimbledon match. 

[theatremouse]

I would not mind if Kvitova won RG next week.

[BitterApple]

9 hours ago, NowVoyager said:

Is it me? Or is the crowd looking kinda sparse at Roland Garros?

I guess today was the French version of Mother's Day. The announcers mentioned it as a reason for attendance being so low, but yeah, I was really surprised to see the stands so empty.

[shok]

On 5/28/2017 at 8:47 PM, BitterApple said:

I guess today was the French version of Mother's Day. The announcers mentioned it as a reason for attendance being so low, but yeah, I was really surprised to see the stands so empty.

The day crowds for Philippe Chatrier were sparse because everyone was trying to get into Suzanne Lenglen to see Kivitova and Rafa. That stadium was jammed and people were sitting in the aisles and on the stairs. The audience got better for the night match on Chatrier because there was an interesting matchup of Zverev and Verdasco.

[sacrebleu]

Quote

I'm just a tiny bit annoyed that Djoker chose to break the Agassi announcement as soon as he lost to Sascha.  

But... then he would have missed a chance to make Zverev's win about him.

[NowVoyager]

I must have selective amnesia. I'd completely forgotten that the major networks no longer show Roland Garros during the weekdays. Meanwhile, I'm sure this isn't the first time they've pulled this crap.

Soo bummed.

Boooo!!!!

[Spunkygal]

6 hours ago, NowVoyager said:

I must have selective amnesia. I'd completely forgotten that the major networks no longer show Roland Garros during the weekdays. Meanwhile, I'm sure this isn't the first time they've pulled this crap.

Soo bummed.

Boooo!!!!

That's why I won't pull the plug on the ridiculous expense of DirecTV. I love all the extra channels they open up to show every minute of every court beginning on day one of each of the majors. Okay, maybe not every court, but they usually have six courts at one time, which is great.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Spunkygal

[caracas1914]

Zverev's loss.

That was quick.

 

 Coric:

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/Tennis/2017/05/31/Poor-Sport-Borna-Coric-obliterates-racket-at-French-Open/8211496286812/

ugly..