Tennis Thread

[BitterApple]

7 minutes ago, shok said:

 I think they're a big part of the reason NK is such a jerk because he's the sort who loves the attention even if it's negative attention. 

That's a pretty common personality trait for narcissists. You could yell in their face and say a tirade of insulting things and they love every minute of it. Attention is their lifeblood, whether positive or negative.

[TVbitch]

Interesting comments about Kurios! Most narcissists I know are not in that much distress so much of the time. I can't imagine it would be "fun" to be him. I'm going to need a full psychiatric evaluation! 

That Coco/Hercog match was so.... slicey! Girl, you can't be doing that against Simona!

Hubert was impressive against FAA. I had never even heard of him before. I hope he can suprise Dj!  

[BitterApple]

Tsonga's wife is really pretty, but does anyone else think they could pass as brother and sister? They have very similar facial features.

[Crs97]

Kyrgois - I am the biggest jerk at Wimbledon.

Fognini - Hold my beer.

[BlackberryJam]

I wish I seen more of Williams/Murray, doubles duo.

I watched Konta pull it out over Sloane and was happy for her. Konta does seem like she’s got emotional balance out there.

Just tuned into Sousa v Evans. They both seem a little chippy.

Fognini, Fognini, come on, I realize Sandgren is a ..well, and no one wants to lose to him, but find a better way to deal. 

Rafa looked great today as did Roger.

I cannot imagine having the gaping hole of emotional need that Novak has. And people would like him more if he wanted to be liked a little less.

[BitterApple]

Did you guys see Matteo Berretini, Federer's next opponent?! Yowza, that's a nice piece of man-candy. Talk about the poster child for tall, dark and handsome. 

I really enjoyed watching Serena and Andy play doubles. They looked like they were having a great time. Also, when the camera was panning around to the crowd during the warmup, I thought it was adorable how Judy Murray gave a big hug and kiss to the little old guy that checks the badges for the player's box. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by BitterApple

[truthaboutluv]

29 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

Fognini - Hold my beer.

What did he do now? I heard the commentators discussing the potential trouble he could be in, as he's apparently just come off probation but didn't hear what specifically it was he did. I gathered it might have been something he said.

22 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I watched Konta pull it out over Sloane and was happy for her. Konta does seem like she’s got emotional balance out there.

Konta has been a thorn in Sloane's side this year. I think this might have been Sloane's fourth straight loss to her. 

23 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I cannot imagine having the gaping hole of emotional need that Novak has. And people would like him more if he wanted to be liked a little less.

This. Novak clearly never learned the lesson that the more you come across as caring what others think about you, the less they care. I do feel a bit bad for him at times when former players and those in the media make comments like, "oh sure, he may end his career winning more Slams than Rafa and Federer but people still won't like or care about him as much as those two". Like that's just harsh. Is it probably true, yes but damn, you don't have to say it. 

[BlackberryJam]

Fognini said that Wimbledon should be bombed. I don’t have the exact quote, but it was...bad. 

I am not the biggest Sloane fan, so I’m down with Konta continuing to thorn her. It is the fourth straight loss.

Novak doesn’t have the innate charm that makes people like him. Take Stan, he wears ridiculous shorts and people grin. If Novak did that, we’d call him Nole’ Tryhard.

[truthaboutluv]

32 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Fognini said that Wimbledon should be bombed.

Oh...hmm, not good.

[Etta Place]

Man, that Fognini-Sandgren match was one of those where I wish they could both lose. I'll have to look up what Fognini said specifically, even though I hate seeing his annoying face.

I stay out of the Kyrgios stuff mostly because I like the kid, in general. I think he needs a sports psychologist more than a coach, and I agree that perfectionism/fear of failure is one of his major issues. I know that people generally think perfectionism means you try to get everything exactly right, but it can often mean that you just sabotage yourself to avoid having to face not being perfect in some way. I continue to hope that he will grow up and find a way out of it, I agree that it seems very un-fun to be him.

One thing that really kills me about Djokovic is that people used to like him! But that was back when he was the "djoker" and he decided that kind of fun vibe wasn't what he was going for and ever since ... he's been trying to force his way back into people's hearts.

[TVbitch]

First week over, and I can't say I have seen any great matches. Of course I am limited to what ESPN wants to show me. 

Dj did go from doing funny impressions of other players on court to being super serious, so I'm sure people miss fun Dj. I think if he would open up a bit more, people would have warmer feelings toward him. But not everybody has natural charm, and I don't fault him for that.  

I hate that they take Sunday off! It's the one day I could sit around all day and watch tennis. 

[Ohwell]

Krygios is no longer a "kid" and by now he should know how to act like a decent human being. 

I do wish that there had been some way that neither Fognini nor Sandgren won, because I cannot stand either one of them, albeit for different reasons. 

Edited July 7, 2019 by Ohwell
Fognini, not Krygios

[Etta Place]

My son is a year younger than Kyrgios, and he is still figuring out life. I think he's a decent human being, but he makes a lot of mistakes and isn't under the microscope Kyrgios is.

[truthaboutluv]

19 minutes ago, Etta Place said:

and isn't under the microscope Kyrgios is.

Is Kyrgios really under a microscope? Because seems to me people only talk about him when he's being a tool since it's not like his ass ever wins any major titles.

So seems to me, he'd be fine if he just showed up and played some tennis and goes home. But then no one would really be talking about him unless he actually starts winning shit. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[BlackberryJam]

Kyrgios seems to want the attention and yes, if he’s hated by everyone then his failures are not his fault. He clearly needs to deal with that as a mental health issue. Doesn’t mean he’s not a total asshole. 

Sandgren/Fognini, yes a double loss there would have been preferable.

That Sousa/Evans match was exciting. Interesting talk about Evans getting a year suspension for testing positive for cocaine. One of the announcers was arguing that because it wasn’t performance enhancing, it should have been only six months. I’m not sure where I fall on that.

The remarkable parts of week one:

Cori/Coco Gauff. It’s been a long time since there was a young American that likable.

Sharapova bowing out 5-0 in the fifth. She has never been my favorite, but what a dick move.

Murray/Williams playing doubles because what a delight to see.

[dcalley]

8 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I heard the commentators discussing the potential trouble he could be in, as he's apparently just come off probation

I think he's still on probation through the end of 2019, so hopefully this will get him booted from a couple more Grand Slams (see #3 below). And I don't know what the Laver Cup was thinking naming him to the Europe team.

[crimsongrl]

Darren Cahill thought the media was making too much out of Fognini's comments. It seems Fognini was complaining about the condition of the court and said it should be "blown up." I'm not understanding why it's a big deal. He didn't threaten anyone directly.

Don't forget that tennis is on Espn & Espn2 thru Wednesday. Espn2 is also showing week one highlights @ 3am ET for 3 hours so my dvr will be busy!

Edited July 7, 2019 by crimsongrl

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, crimsongrl said:

Darren Cahill thought the media was making too much out of Fognini's comments. It seems Fognini was complaining about the condition of the court and said it should be "blown up." I'm not understanding why it's a big deal. He didn't threaten anyone directly.

The problem is that when you've acted like an asshole in the past like Fognini has, you don't get the benefit of the doubt when something current happens that wasn't so bad.  People think the worst and just go "there he goes again."  Same thing with Krygios.

So, if they stop being assholes, the media will stop hounding them, and people like me will stop calling them assholes.    

[BlackberryJam]

This is the quote I’m seeing

Quote

"I wish a bomb would explode on this club.”

He’s not an idiot. If he was talking about the court conditions, he knew how to make that clear. 

[crimsongrl]

While I understand that Fognini has a history and it was a stupid thing to say, I just feel the media reaction & headlines were over the top. I was expecting some big explosive rant or something. The Italian translation I saw mentioned 'the court was no good' and that's what Cahill referred to on Saturday. I don't even like Fognini but this feels like a nothingburger.

In other news, I'm somewhat surprised that the Halep/Gauff match isnt on Centre Court. I know Konta is a Brit but I'd send her match with Kvitova to Court 1. *Now watch it'll turn into a 3 set thriller! :)

Edited July 7, 2019 by crimsongrl

[TVbitch]

On 7/6/2019 at 4:48 PM, BlackberryJam said:

That Sousa/Evans match was exciting.

So glad you mentioned this! (And did not say who won.) With nothing happening today, I checked ESPNs replay list and there it was. You made my Sunday! What an amazing match!! Such incredible effort. Thrilling throughout and the crowd was INTO it. I was not very familiar with either of these players, but now I am. Thanks!

Why did Sharapova quit? That does seem a dick move.  

[truthaboutluv]

5 hours ago, crimsongrl said:

In other news, I'm somewhat surprised that the Halep/Gauff match isnt on Centre Court. I know Konta is a Brit but I'd send her match with Kvitova to Court 1. *Now watch it'll turn into a 3 set thriller! 🙂

Nah, with Konta being a Brit, she and Kvitova are both seeded and yes, there is  potential for this to be a nail biter, not surprised they put it on Centre Court.

Yes, Coco is the Wimbledon darling story but to be honest, I suspect a lot of people think this may be the end and Simona will win. Coco may surprise and Simona can always morph into an error-prone disaster but yeah I think the odds-makers expect Simona to win. 

Forget the women's match, I wonder how Djokovic feels about his match being the one placed on Court 1. Thing is, one of the Top 3 was going to have to end up on Court 1. But with Djokovic's insecurities, yeah I'm sure him being the one didn't sit too well with him. 

Edited July 8, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[BlackberryJam]

Sharapova claimed injury...

[shok]

3 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Sharapova claimed injury...

Yeah, but you don't quit at 5-0, even if you're embarrassed by the score and want to get off the court - you respect the game and your opponent and play the last game out so the opponent can have a proper victory acknowledged by the crowd. It was definitely a dick move by Sharapova.

[KFC]

On 7/5/2019 at 1:10 PM, Ohwell said:

I've always thought that was Djokovic's problem:  always looking for love.  Which is why I could never warm up to him, no matter how good he is.

That, and his continued support of the violent, homophobic sexual predator Justin Gimelstob/Novak's entire handling of ATP politics has been really suspect. He wants everything done behind closed doors and gets upset when reporters have reported on it/players have spoken to the press, yet it's pretty clear there's a lot of turmoil going on with all these members of the Players' Council (who are anti-Gimelstob) quitting.

[truthaboutluv]

Wow, Riske upset Barty. I think it was Brad Gilbert who actually predicted that Riske could trouble Barty and if she played her cards right on some big points, could get the upset. 

[topanga]

On 7/6/2019 at 4:32 PM, BlackberryJam said:

I am not the biggest Sloane fan, so I’m down with Konta continuing to thorn her.

It's interesting that you say that about Sloane. I've been searching for my next young American player to root for, and I initially thought it would be either Sloane or Madison. I like Madison well enough, but her game remains inconsistent several years into her career. And she has a quiet, non-descript personality on-camera, which would be fine if her game did the talking for her, but it doesn't. 

I really wanted to like Sloane. She entered the pros cocky with a big game. But when she beat Serena in the quarter-finals of the Australian open (I think), her cockiness turned into delusional arrogance. Her post-match interviews weren't about being proud of how her game is developing, or even being happy that she beat a player she grew up watching. It was all about, "I wasn't scared of Serena" "I know I'm better than her." Which, sure, she beat Serena in that match, so she can talk whatever trash she wants. But it made her seem entitled and bratty. 

And when she loses, she also becomes bratty and petulant. 

I was glad when Sloane won the US Open. And I wish her continued success. But I've never been able to warm up to her as a player or a person. 

On 7/6/2019 at 7:48 PM, BlackberryJam said:

Cori/Coco Gauff. It’s been a long time since there was a young American that likable.

I hate to continue the "black player to black player" comparison, but I liked Gauff right away. As other posters mentioned above, she has those long legs and long arms like Venus, and she moves like her when she plays. How telling is it that Patrick Mouratoglou and Roger Federer both identified her as a player to watch when she was really young.  

Cori/Coco (media, please decide!) is a pleasure to watch on the court. When she's losing, you do see your get her get discouraged sometimes--I think she was close to tears during her previous match--but she also has so much maturity and drive that you can't ever count her out of a match. 

And off the court, she's a kid, but a she's mature, insightful, competitive, and still humble kid. 

As for the fellas, Federer is looking great. He plays such efficient tennis these days. It looks like he only expends as much energy as he has to defend a point or hit a winner. 

I'm rooting for either him or Rafa to win it all. 

[BitterApple]

I didn't think CoCo would beat Simona, but she has a great future ahead of her. I like the variety in her game and I'm thrilled to see younger players mixing it up and coming in to net rather than the "bang it out from the baseline" style that dominated for so many years. 

[BlackberryJam]

5 minutes ago, topanga said:

I really wanted to like Sloane. She entered the pros cocky with a big game. But when she beat Serena in the quarter-finals of the Australian open (I think), her cockiness turned into delusional arrogance. Her post-match interviews weren't about being proud of how her game is developing, or even being happy that she beat a player she grew up watching. It was all about, "I wasn't scared of Serena" "I know I'm better than her." Which, sure, she beat Serena in that match, so she can talk whatever trash she wants. But it made her seem entitled and bratty. 

And when she loses, she also becomes bratty and petulant. 

I was glad when Sloane won the US Open. And I wish her continued success. But I've never been able to warm up to her as a player or a person. 

I hate to continue the "black player to black player" comparison, but I liked Gauff right away. As other posters mentioned above, she has those long legs and long arms like Venus, and she moves like her when she plays. How telling is it that Patrick Mouratoglou and Roger Federer both identified her as a player to watch when she was really young.  

Cori/Coco (media, please decide!) is a pleasure to watch on the court. When she's losing, you do see your get her get discouraged sometimes--I think she was close to tears during her previous match--but she also has so much maturity and drive that you can't ever count her out of a match. 

And off the court, she's a kid, but a she's mature, insightful, competitive, and still humble kid. 

As for the fellas, Federer is looking great. He plays such efficient tennis these days. It looks like he only expends as much energy as he has to defend a point or hit a winner. 

I'm rooting for either him or Rafa to win it all. 

Sloane yeah...she's just made some likability missteps. And she doesn't dial back from them.  Sure, I'm happy for her, and I'm happy to have more competitive women's players, but she will never be my first choice.

As to the Cori/Coco and Venus comparisons, I get you on the black girl to black girl comparisons, but every time I look at Corico's (?) legs, I see young Venus, long and...coltish. It's so the legs.

Halep was too much for her, as expected, but she made a great showing. I just don't want her to get overwhelmed with hype.

[truthaboutluv]

33 minutes ago, topanga said:

And when she loses, she also becomes bratty and petulant. 

I remember the saga after she beat Serena years ago at the Australian Open but in the interest of fairness, I do think part of the pettiness started with Serena unfollowing Sloane on Twitter right after Sloane won the match, which many saw as Serena being salty and petty because she lost.

And Sloane was later asked about Serena's unfollowing her in that profile of her in some magazine. The one when she was still dating Jack Sock. I read the feature and she came across very Valley girl, a bit shallow and I do remember there was definite backlash against her after it came out.

As for her being bratty and petulant after she loses, I will say I thought she showed great sportsmanship when she lost the French to Simona, especially as she practically had the match in hand. I thought her speech after the match was very respectful and warm and I thought it was cute when she was telling Simona to raise the trophy because Simona looked confused as to what do and how to react in the moment. 

Not surprised Coco lost but she had a strong run and hopefully this is just a sign of great things to come. Rafa looked amazing today. Surprisingly, at least to me, Rafa is Pam Shriver's pick to win. She said she picked him before the draw came out, when the draw came out and she saw the second round match up with Kyrgios, she stayed with him and thought that especially if he won that match, he would be tough to beat. We shall see. Think Sam and his big serving could be tricky and of course there is the potential golden ticket match of him and Federer in the semifinals. 

[BitterApple]

49 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Halep was too much for her, as expected, but she made a great showing. I just don't want her to get overwhelmed with hype.

I agree. Genie Bouchard is a perfect example of a player who got caught up in her own hype, and crashed and burned shortly thereafter. Hopefully CoCo has a good support system to keep her grounded.

[BlackberryJam]

5 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I agree. Genie Bouchard is a perfect example of a player who got caught up in her own hype, and crashed and burned shortly thereafter. Hopefully CoCo has a good support system to keep her grounded.

Not to be crude, but didn't Genie actually crash? As in fall down and have serious concussion issues, as well? 

[BitterApple]

23 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Not to be crude, but didn't Genie actually crash? As in fall down and have serious concussion issues, as well? 

Eeek! She did, yes. 

[BlackberryJam]

4 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Eeek! She did, yes. 

I looked it up, and she ended up winning her suit agains the US Open. She landed on her back in cleaning chemicals. It sounded bad.

Jo Konta needs to stop losing the first set. I’d love to see her win it all though.

[Ohwell]

I'm so happy that Querrey got Sandgren off my tv screen.

I don't expect Querrey to win it all but I'd love it if he could pull it off.

[BlackberryJam]

11 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I'm so happy that Querrey got Sandgren off my tv screen.

I don't expect Querrey to win it all but I'd love it if he could pull it off.

Sandgren. Ugh. 

Djokovic is through..and somehow he’s still not likable. I mean, he’s got the game. If he would lean into being Beaker from the Muppets, I could like that. 

Jo Konta won as well...and I like Kvitova, but I’m happy for her.

[truthaboutluv]

4 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Djokovic is through..and somehow he’s still not likable.

For me it's not even about Djokovic not being likable and more that I just don't care about his matches because dude hasn't faced a single player I expected to challenge him in any way. So it's all one giant whatever for me. 

I don't have much hope for Goffin against him and then maybe Roanic in the semifinals. I guess anything is possible but the fact is Djokovic has made it to the Quarterfinals playing a bunch of "who"s so yeah, whatever.

Edited July 8, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[Danny Franks]

Chiming in as someone who really only follows tennis when Wimbledon is on, but I hope Simona Halep wins. She's a player I really like, for some reason. I think it's because she has this physical toughness and tenacity, but it's combined with an element of mental fragility that makes her easy to root for.

I was in little doubt that she'd beat Gauff today, and I really hope that the media leaves Gauff alone to develop into the player, and woman, that she has the potential to be. The BBC coverage of her has been overbearing, to say the least (though the BBC's approach to Wimbledon is always to try and find drama and 'stories'. Just look at how beside themselves they've been over Andy Murray playing doubles with Serena Williams), and I imagine American coverage has been even more sensationalist.

It would be nice to see Jo Konta win too, and she often seems the opposite of Halep - starts matches very weakly, but finds depths of belief and confidence as the match goes on.

[Rickster]

Gee, I guess no one noticed that a relatively unknown American woman beat the number one seed?

[topanga]

5 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Gee, I guess no one noticed that a relatively unknown American woman beat the number one seed?

We were waiting for you to bring it up!

Seriously, I was happy to see Alison Riske get the upset and make it to the quarters. But I don't know either player very well, and I didn't see the match this morning, so I didn't have a lot to say about it on this thread.

[truthaboutluv]

42 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Gee, I guess no one noticed that a relatively unknown American woman beat the number one seed?

I posted about it a few posts above, right after the match ended. 

[BlackberryJam]

I don’t know much about Riske. Is she likable? Ash Barty seems like...less of a headcase than many of the other women and I was happy to see her win the French.

Truth be told, I’m just unearthing myself from GoT fandom and feel like I’m finally free to follow other things. FREEDOM!!!

As a rule, I have no faith in the Women’s No 1s to keep the slot for 12 months consecutive. 

[Harry24]

44 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I don’t know much about Riske. Is she likable? 

She may be delightful, but she screams almost as loudly as Sharapova.  Ugh.

[Ohwell]

10 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

She may be delightful, but she screams almost as loudly as Sharapova.  Ugh.

Gaahhh.  Another screamer.  I'll make sure I don't watch any of her matches.

[BlackberryJam]

What a great day of tennis.  Always enjoy the first day of the second week. Lots of matches, good ones.

I can tolerate the screaming depending on the pitch. The higher the pitch, Sharapova, the more painful it is.

Edited July 9, 2019 by BlackberryJam

[Ohwell]

One of the things I like about Coco is that she's not a screamer.

[Gurkel]

4 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

One of the things I like about Coco is that she's not a screamer.

I think younger professional players are being encouraged not to scream or grunt. I’m not exactly sure how that works, though. 

[theatremouse]

14 minutes ago, Gurkel said:

I think younger professional players are being encouraged not to scream or grunt. I’m not exactly sure how that works, though. 

I think it's moreso that a certain strain of coaches for a certain period explicitly DID encourage young players to shriek and/or grunt as a timing mechanism for themselves (plus or minus the handful of very famous players resulting in some young'ins mimicking them), but that has gone severely out of fashion. So younger players don't frequently need to be encouraged not to do it if they were never previously encouraged to do it in the first place.

[BitterApple]

4 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

As a rule, I have no faith in the Women’s No 1s to keep the slot for 12 months consecutive. 

I feel like the lack of consistency and the absence of rivalries has left me ambivalent towards most of the top women players. I don't love or hate any of them, I'm just sort of "meh." On the one hand it's great to see different players winning Slams, but on the other it's a drag because they can't seem to build momentum. There just doesn't seem to be any real front runners who can dominate past one or two tournaments.

[Gurkel]

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

I feel like the lack of consistency and the absence of rivalries has left me ambivalent towards most of the top women players. I don't love or hate any of them, I'm just sort of "meh." On the one hand it's great to see different players winning Slams, but on the other it's a drag because they can't seem to build momentum. There just doesn't seem to be any real front runners who can dominate past one or two tournaments.

Yes, there’s a lot a parity in Women’s tennis. Probably too much. As you’ve said, it’s hard to keep rooting for top players because, with the exception of Halep, Serena, and maybe Kerber, they tend to drop off after winning a few big tournaments. 

And I’d say the men’s tournament has too little parity. For the past several years, only Nadal, Federer, or Djokovic have been winning the Slams. Warwinka was there for a while, but he hasn’t won since 2016. And Murray won a few. But the men’s game usually comes down to the big 3.