Tennis Thread

[topanga]

8 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

Bummer, no more Williamses in Melbourne this year. Some of those angles Venus was hitting were ridiculously gorgeous, but the serve just wasn't good enough today.

Hmm. I guess I’m done, then.

[theatremouse]

I think Keys could make a nice run. I find her fun to watch, usually, when her serve is right. She doesn't play til tomorrow though.

[sally-can-wait]

Venus, Sloane and CoCo all lose their opening matches at the Aussie Open. Not a good look for the US Women. Serena can't come back fast enough. 

(I'm secretly thrilled that CoCo lost. Can't stand her). 

[NUguy514]

CoCo lost?

[roseha]

The thing about Coco that's ironic is that ESPN was hyping her chances as usual tonight. When will they learn?  Arrogance doesn't equal greatness.

Good luck Madison!

Edited January 15, 2018 by roseha

[theatremouse]

No, but Coco does have power and has made deep runs recently. She was in the semis last year. For them to go into it acting like she had no chance would've been odd. It's not preposterous to think she had good chances at this tournament.  But her temperment also makes her susceptible to fucking herself over. That point penalty from the code violation near the end isn't why she lost the match, but it not only turns the crowds (and home viewers) against her when she throws these hissy fits, it also shows she's not focused on the current point. She's focused on three minutes ago.

[TVbitch]

I can't stand Coco either, is the match worth watching to see her lose, aka, is there enough drama, pouting and tantrums?

Goodness me. I peeked in on my honey Shapovalov and he was playing some lad I've never seen before who was equally cute-alicious. 

[NowVoyager]

What in the UPSET is going on?!?

I know folks are rusty from the winter break, but Damn!

Serena, out. Venus, out. Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe, John Isner, Sam Stosur, Dominika Cibulkova, Jack Sock--- All OUT! 

I'm exhausted!

[NowVoyager]

4 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

CoCo lost?

So wrong. Soo funny!

[Harry24]

What in the hell is Rafa wearing?  It looks like he's wearing weeks old underwear.  Well, given that Roger was wearing the most hideous kit of his career when he won last year, maybe this augers well for Rafa.

Sure is playing great, though.

What an American bloodbath.  Yikes.

[truthaboutluv]

8 hours ago, NowVoyager said:

What in the UPSET is going on?!?

I know folks are rusty from the winter break, but Damn!

Serena, out. Venus, out. Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe, John Isner, Sam Stosur, Dominika Cibulkova, Jack Sock--- All OUT! 

I'm exhausted!

Well Serena doesn't count since she didn't even play but none of these other upsets truly surprised me. Poor Venus got a horrible first round draw with a rejuvenated and now healthy again Bencic. That match was always going to be tough. It's like two years ago when Rafa drew Verdasco in the first round and well, he lost too. Sloane has been a shell of herself since the US Open win. I think she's going through that slump many players, sometimes even great ones, went through after that first Grand Slam win. Remember how long it took Serena to win another major after her first U.S. Open win and then she just became the dominating machine she's been since then. Same with Djokovic after he won his first Australian Open. Will be interesting to see if she eventually gets it together. 

I don't care about CoCo, so whatever and while she had a good season in 2017, she hadn't exactly been some star on the tour, prior to 2017, which is why I found her arrogance so annoying and off-putting. Stosur, like Venus, got a tough first round draw. Granted Puig hasn't been that impressive since her Olympic Gold Medal run but she's the kind of inconsistent player that on any given day can be really tricky to play. So that match was expected to be tough. Isner, Cibulkova and Sock are hardly players that I would call consistently high performers at Slams so in general, I was mostly whatever about these results. 

 

7 hours ago, Harry24 said:

What in the hell is Rafa wearing?  It looks like he's wearing weeks old underwear.  Well, given that Roger was wearing the most hideous kit of his career when he won last year, maybe this augers well for Rafa.

I didn't think it looked that bad. I just thought it looked like he was playing in his practice clothes.

Edited January 15, 2018 by truthaboutluv

[caracas1914]

  Then there’s the Iva Majolis of the world...  

Serena and Novak were touted as World beaters early on and when they broke through,  they were both still very young. (Serena 17, Novak 21), but yeah both eventually got it together.

Hopefully Sloane can bounce back, because this slump is very bad.  Doubt she will ever be a dominating machine, but I think she is still young enough (24) where she could be a consistent contender for the next few years.

[dcalley]

Hooray for Nicole Gibbs, the only American woman out of the 10 who played Monday to move on!

[roseha]

In regard to the upsets, it's also true that some of the players who lost had little match play coming into the AO (Isner, Venus also I believe).  Sloane being 0 and 8 since the USO is not only sadly mind blowing, but also means that she has played very little.  I guess it remains to be seen how the tournament will go, but Dimitrov and Kyrgios won easily last night as well.

I agree that the pink day-glow outfits are strange, though I did like the yellow/violet day-glow one Jelena Ostapenko had on. It seemed to suit her personality somehow. 

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, caracas1914 said:

  Then there’s the Iva Majolis of the world...  

Serena and Novak were touted as World beaters early on and when they broke through,  they were both still very young. (Serena 17, Novak 21), but yeah both eventually got it together.

Hopefully Sloane can bounce back, because this slump is very bad.  Doubt she will ever be a dominating machine, but I think she is still young enough (24) where she could be a consistent contender for the next few years.

Well yes, I didn't realize I forgot to add the obvious that it is very likely she could, like many before her, just simply end up being a one Slam wonder. 

[dcalley]

LOL

[sally-can-wait]

Gutty win by Halep. That Australian teenager certainly brings the heat but it looked like she ran out of gas. Fingers crossed that Halep's ankle checks out. I would love to see her to make a deep run and finally get that first major. 

And hooray Madison Keys keeps the US Women's hopes alive!

[roseha]

Poor Petra Kvitova lost overnight in a 3 set barn burner.  I feel so terrible for her, she has tried so hard to come back from that terrible knife attack and for some reason she just seems to be under the radar, it's so sad.  Petra seems like such a nice person as well.  I hope it will go better for her when we get to grass season.

Edited January 16, 2018 by roseha

[BitterApple]

Ugh, the coverage of this year's Aussie Open is driving me freaking bananas! I tuned in last night super excited to see Tsonga/Shapovalov and they spent the first hour bouncing around matches, showing two points here and two points there, followed by the announcers blathering on and interspersing their commentary with various highlights. I love Fed, but sorry, I don't need to see Will Ferrell eighty billion times. Once was enough. Wozniacki coming back to win was awesome, but I felt the Tsonga match was the more exciting of the two and should've been the feature. 

[truthaboutluv]

8 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Ugh, the coverage of this year's Aussie Open is driving me freaking bananas! I tuned in last night super excited to see Tsonga/Shapovalov and they spent the first hour bouncing around matches, showing two points here and two points there, followed by the announcers blathering on and interspersing their commentary with various highlights. I love Fed, but sorry, I don't need to see Will Ferrell eighty billion times. Once was enough. Wozniacki coming back to win was awesome, but I felt the Tsonga match was the more exciting of the two and should've been the feature. 

Agreed. I'm also kind of baffled at the Australian Open scheduling Federer's match for the night over the Djokovic/Monfils match. I think that's the far more exciting second round match. I mean I know Federer is deified in so many ways in the tennis world and I'm mostly indifferent to it but that just seems odd. Unless he draws in that much more money than everyone else I guess that no matter what no name he's playing, they figure it'll get high attendance. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by truthaboutluv

[BitterApple]

9 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Unless he draws in that much more money that everyone else I guess that no matter what no name he's playing, they figure it'll get high attendance. 

It must be, because if you were to ask me if I'd rather see a night match between Djokovic/Monfils or Federer/Struff, that would be the biggest no-brainer on the planet. Monfils can be a streaky player, but I'd take him any day over watching Federer play a pedestrian three-setter.

Edited January 17, 2018 by BitterApple

[roseha]

For anyone who can get Watch ESPN, I recommend it if you want to avoid the dull match coverage of ESPN and sometimes also Tennis Channel.  I watch it over my Roku and  it starts live as soon as the matches do.  You can pretty much watch what you want.

I also go on Youtube in the morning and watch the AO's little clips of the matches that ended overnight so I get a quick update on the results by checking out their little clips.  With all the money ESPN and Tennis Channel spend on covering tennis, I see no quick way to get all the results from them the next day.

Edited January 17, 2018 by roseha

[TVbitch]

I watch via Watch ESPN through the computer. Sometimes the announcers are not the top announcers, but you can watch the match you want. Also can watch any replay you want in case you are not up at 2AM! 

Is Maria Sharapova not wearing adequate sunscreen. I like freckles, but girlfriend is gonna need photofacial treatments in 20 years! 

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

 

Is Maria Sharapova not wearing adequate sunscreen. I like freckles, but girlfriend is gonna need photofacial treatments in 20 years! 

I noticed that at the US Open. Her skin looks even more damaged than what you'd expect for a typical tennis player. I'm guessing being a fair-skinned blonde and training for two decades in the sun hasn't done her any favors.

[caracas1914]

Though I don’t trust the ESPN commentators,  (McEnroe, Fowler, etc) they claim that Djokovic requested the day match schedule. Supposedly because he thought that his opponent (Monfils) would be at more of a disadvantage with the heat.  

Does that make sense?

I mean, I suppose it could be true and of course Dojokovic would be assumed to handle the condtions better, but after all these years and a 0-14 head2head record I’m rooting for the Frenchman.  Still haven’t gone over  Novak’s gamemanship in their first match at the US Open.  

[BitterApple]

I heard that and I'm shocked that the players are allowed that kind of input. That doesn't seem fair. The tournament should set the match schedule without taking player preferences into account.

[truthaboutluv]

6 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I heard that and I'm shocked that the players are allowed that kind of input. That doesn't seem fair. The tournament should set the match schedule without taking player preferences into account.

That's not the first time I've heard of top players making requests. If Novak did request the day match, I sincerely doubt he said to the organizers, "because my opponent will probably suck in the heat and it would be better for me" because I would like to believe the organizers would not agree to that. However, I have heard of players preferring to play in the day or night and making that request. Doesn't mean they necessarily get it but yes, the request gets made.

[crimsongrl]

A few days ago Jim Courier mentioned that Halep couldn't come to terms with Adidas last year for a new contract so she brought all her gear online! I wonder if Adidas or someone else will step in if she makes it to the Final. I want her to win it all in her "Amazon" dress.

Speaking of gear, the pale Nike pink doesn't look good on most of the athletes.

[BitterApple]

3 minutes ago, crimsongrl said:

 

Speaking of gear, the pale Nike pink doesn't look good on most of the athletes.

I agree. I think you need to have a deeper skin tone or good tan to pull off that pastel pink. Everyone except Madison Keys has looked completely washed out in that dress.

[caracas1914]

The problem with the player requests is that in this case, Monfils got screwed.   I’m sure nobody asked him whether he wanted a 100 degree weather  day session instead of an evening session.

[dcalley]

2 hours ago, crimsongrl said:

A few days ago Jim Courier mentioned that Halep couldn't come to terms with Adidas last year for a new contract so she brought all her gear online! I wonder if Adidas or someone else will step in if she makes it to the Final. I want her to win it all in her "Amazon" dress.

Here's a little about her dress, which she wore in Shenzhen, China, earlier this month:

Quote

Q. How does it work? If you don't have a clothing supplier, do you go to the shop?
 SIMONA HALEP: No, I ordered. How do you call the ladies that are making the clothes?

Q. Seamstress.
 SIMONA HALEP: Yeah, I sent a picture. Was a site, in China actually, and one of my managers helped me, and in 24 hours I had the outfit, and were perfect (smiling). I was lucky.

Q. How did you find them?
 SIMONA HALEP: On Internet.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

14 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

Though I don’t trust the ESPN commentators,  (McEnroe, Fowler, etc) they claim that Djokovic requested the day match schedule. Supposedly because he thought that his opponent (Monfils) would be at more of a disadvantage with the heat.  

Hmmmm.  Must be some truth to this because in his post match interview with Courier, Roger all but admitted that he requested a night match but he quickly added that "there are 60 other guys asking for things" so he didn't know how much sway his request held.  I think he was trying to keep a straight face as he said that but if he preferred evening and Novak wanted afternoon, it was probably a scheduling no-brainer.  

Why, oh why can't I quit Monfils?  

[mojoween]

WTF ESPN.  Why are you letting Will Ferrell on the court to be so not funny?  I could not change the channel fast enough.

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

Why, oh why can't I quit Monfils?  

Monfils will always be my tennis boyfriend.

54 minutes ago, mojoween said:

WTF ESPN.  Why are you letting Will Ferrell on the court to be so not funny?  I could not change the channel fast enough.

I hope this doesn't become a "thing" where celebrities who attend matches think they're entitled to horn in on the interviews with the players.  No way should (unfunny) Will Ferrell have been allowed on that court.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

Just saw this:

 

CoCo Vandeweghe has earned the largest fine of the 2018 Australian Open so far -- a $10,000 penalty for unsporting conduct for screaming an obscenity at her first-round opponent, Timea Babos.

Vandeweghe said after the match that she was irritated by what she described as excessive celebrating by her Hungarian opponent during their match.

The 10th-seeded Vandeweghe was assessed a code violation for the obscenity and delay of game for insisting on eating a banana during a changeover, getting docked a point in the second set of her 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss.

 

HA!  Love it!  I don't know what her paycheck was for her 1st round exit but I hope it wasn't enough to cover the fine.  Classless jerk.

[TVbitch]

At what point in the match did CoCo did scream at her opponent? I need to watch that!!

This question is in no way meant to be rude, but I am curious if the full sun would be more oppressive to darker or lighter skin people? I was really feeling Monfils pain. I totally give him props for finishing it out, as I thought several times he was just going to collapse. 

[truthaboutluv]

57 minutes ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

Just saw this:

 

CoCo Vandeweghe has earned the largest fine of the 2018 Australian Open so far -- a $10,000 penalty for unsporting conduct for screaming an obscenity at her first-round opponent, Timea Babos.

Vandeweghe said after the match that she was irritated by what she described as excessive celebrating by her Hungarian opponent during their match.

The 10th-seeded Vandeweghe was assessed a code violation for the obscenity and delay of game for insisting on eating a banana during a changeover, getting docked a point in the second set of her 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss.

 

HA!  Love it!  I don't know what her paycheck was for her 1st round exit but I hope it wasn't enough to cover the fine.  Classless jerk.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. 

[SuburbanHangSuite]

I can't believe Halep just erased those 3 break points to win that game.  Come on, Lauren!  

Oh, no...a missing toenail?!!  Ouch...

[theatremouse]

For the past 30 minutes or so they were both clearly running out of gas. Still, that cross-court forehand from Davis we saw a number of times here? Impresses me very much.

[truthaboutluv]

I like Simona. There's something just so underdog about her that it always makes me root for her. So I'm happy she managed to pull this one out. Not sure how much she has left, considering she already had ankle issues coming in to the tournament. And an almost four hour battle could not be great for it. 

[sally-can-wait]

Wow, what a match between Halep and Davis. I'm really glad Simona pulled it out but Lauren played phenomenally and has nothing to hang her head about. 

And how delicious is it that Coco got fined?! 

[theatremouse]

I laughed louder and harder than was appropriate when, during Halep's interview, she said "I'm almost dead". At least, I'm pretty sure that's what she said.

[BitterApple]

So Zverev and Chung are in the middle of a great match and they cut away to let us know Federer is on the grounds and about to take the practice courts? Really, ESPN? I feel like I'm watching the TMZ of sports coverage. Remember when they actually used to show tennis? And get off my lawn.

[caracas1914]

Goodness gracious, on the Osaka/Barty match which Osaka always led with a service break from the start, it seemed Pam Shriver and company couldn’t stop talking and raving about the homegirl Aussie Barty.

The way they carried on you would think Osaka was chopped liver.

Wonderful that Osaka, who has such a beautiful service motion, pulled off the match and shut the commentators’ mouths.

[Ohwell]

Even though I already knew the results from watching Sports Center, I took great pleasure in watching the replay of the match between Dimitrov and Kyrgios, just to see how he lost.  I was cackling with glee.  I've heard from the announcers that "they" like Kyrgios in the locker room.  Now I don't know who "they" are, all I know is that he's an ass on the court.  He kept imploring the people in his box to stand up and, I swear, they looked almost scared not to stand up as the camera kept going back to them.  It was a weird sight.  Also, to be just 22 he doesn't look that strong or that fit. 

[BlackberryJam]

The Nadal/Schwartzman match was some incredible tennis on both sides of the net.

[TVbitch]

Dimitrov is such a gentleman. I could make out everything he said to Kyrgios, but I think the first things was "hell of a game" and just some humble and thoughtful applauding his opponent. Glad he won ... ... but still enjoy some good soapy Kyrgios drama! 

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

The Nadal/Schwartzman match was some incredible tennis on both sides of the net.

Yeah, yesterday had some really good men's matches with Nadal/Schwartzman, Kyrgios/Dimitrov and Cilic/Carreno Busta. Even Edmund/Seppi had some decent moments and probably could have been better if not for Seppi not being a 100%. I'm looking forward to Halep/Osaka (hopefully Halep is fully recovered) and Djokovic/Chung (I think that has the potential to be a really good match). 

[BitterApple]

4 hours ago, Ohwell said:

He kept imploring the people in his box to stand up and, I swear, they looked almost scared not to stand up as the camera kept going back to them.  It was a weird sight.  Also, to be just 22 he doesn't look that strong or that fit. 

I swear I'd rather work five minimum wage jobs than be a paid ass-kisser for a professional athlete. Propping up egos is exhausting work.

[mojoween]

This Hseih/Kerber match was draining to watch.  Can’t imagine being the ladies trying to play two hours in that heat.

I do have to say that I do not like Hseih’s outfit.