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Anyone else watching the Laver Cup?  I caught most of the matches today and thought it was fun.  I loved seeing Roger and Rafa coaching their younger teammates, and each other.

And even though they're over-the-top sometimes, it's fun to watch the World Team celebrating just about every winning point!  Jack Sock was dancing at one point (flossing).

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I can’t imagine that Kim is hurting for money. She was (and still is) WILDLY popular in Belgium and had tons of endorsements. She seems to keep busy with a number of things related to the sport, including her academy, and on top of all that I think she came from a pretty wealthy family to begin with—her late father was also a successful sportsman. I think she’s a competitive person and being around tennis makes her want to play. I’m just highly skeptical about her chances at this point.

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Tomorrow is the big day for Rafa and his lovely fiancé! I’ll be toasting their long happiness and health  with a bottle of Chardonnay tonight! I can’t wait to see how gorgeous they both look. She is such a natural beauty and sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7587693/Rafa-Nadal-set-marry-Mery-Perell-Saturday-opulent-British-owned-fortress-Majorca.html

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Just now, Spunkygal said:

Tomorrow is the big day for Rafa and his lovely fiancé! I’ll be toasting their long happiness and health  with a bottle of Chardonnay tonight! I can’t wait to see how gorgeous they both look. She is such a natural beauty and sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7587693/Rafa-Nadal-set-marry-Mery-Perell-Saturday-opulent-British-owned-fortress-Majorca.html

Took him long enough. Said with love, lol

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Rafa posted this pic of the wedding site at sunset. Looks absolutely gorgeous. It's supposed to be a lovely sunny day too. Very anxious to see pictures of the beautiful couple.
 
The paparazzi are out in full force getting pictures of all the rich and famous guests - the king and queen are supposed to arrive by helicopter just before the ceremony - so as private as they're trying to keep it, I think we'll get some photos.
Edited by shok
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So apparently Kim won't compete in January, because she's had some physical setback and has to have physical therapy. However, she's still insisting that she will compete again and it won't derail her. 

*le sigh* I am all for people pursuing their passion and not putting limitations on themselves but I'm sorry, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I just don't see this going well. If Kim wants to remain in the tennis world, I say stick to the Legends circuit and maybe look into becoming a coach to some up and coming player and let that be it.

Kim had an awesome career, best to just leave that legacy alone. This is why I've always said I so admire how Steffi Graf left the game. Literally just decided she was over it, didn't want to do it anymore and just said deuces and never looked back. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
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On 11/5/2019 at 10:18 AM, truthaboutluv said:

Kim had an awesome career, best to just leave that legacy alone. This is why I've always said I so admire how Steffi Graf left the game. Literally just decided she was over it, didn't want to do it anymore and just said deuces and never looked back. 

I feel there are certain players who keep at it just because they love to play so much, and certain others who seem to wake up one day and say okay, I've had it.  I put Roger in the first category, though with his growing family and all, who knows.  But I don't think he would be around even now at 38 if he didn't love the game so much.  I could see him showing up at Wimbledon to play mixed doubles some day when he's officially retired.  If not with Hingis, maybe with his other compatriot Belinda Bencic.

6 minutes ago, roseha said:
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Yay, ESPN is covering the Nittos Finals! Does anyone know how this tournament works? Is it a regular draw or a round robin kind of thing. 

I gotta root for my man, Medvedev. Let's hope we get the Medvedev of the US Open final and not "know when you sleep tonight, I won because of you" Medvedev ...although I still crack up when I think of that. 

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1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

Yay, ESPN is covering the Nittos Finals!

They've been showing it for at least the past decade. 

And yes, it's a round robin where the four players in a group all play each other. The two players with the most wins in a group advance to the semi-finals, where they play the top two players of the other group. And the two who win the semifinals, play in the Finals. 

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Well, well...this is a surprising turn of events. The Big 3 all potentially in trouble of getting knocked out in the Round Robin round.

Federer and Djokovic are in a do or die match that either has to win or they’re out. Go Thiem. Kicking ass and taking names.

Rafa has to win tomorrow against Medvedev or he’s out and I gotta say, not feeling so optimistic after that performance on Monday night. Especially because Medvedev is such a tricky player.

Edited by truthaboutluv
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Thiem/Dj was really an excellent match ... ...excepting for Thiem's huge orange headband. Who told him that is his color?!?! Really wasn't sure he was gonna hold it together. Huge win for him! 

Surprised Medvedev lost to Tsitsipas. Daniil did not seem as sharp as he usually is. Looks like Stefanos bulked up just a bit.

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2 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

! Really wasn't sure he was gonna hold it together. Huge win for him! 

Yeah when he blew his service game so badly, while serving for the match and then quickly went down the break in the tiebreak, I thought for sure this would be routine for Djokovic. So huge credit to Dominic to dig deep on that one. 

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Wow, Medvedev just totally melted down that match away. After Rafa went down that second break in the third set I was sure this was over. But it's almost like Medvedev has some type of mental block against beating Rafa and so once he got so close, he just seemed to do his best to ensure he wouldn't win.

Credit to Rafa though for digging deep and fighting till the end, especially since it's obvious he's still not playing at his best. He says he's fine physically, so I'll take his word for it but he's definitely not full throttle Rafa so far.

Will be interesting to see what happens against Tsitsipas.  Depending on how tonight goes, Stefanos may have nothing to lose in the match or it'll be a do or die match for both. 

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That was painful to watch. First Rafa goes into the weeds, then Daniil goes on walkabout! Maybe Daniil needs to channel a little "evil Daniil" to push him through. He seemed to get some energy after he got barked about Rafa's bathroom break, but once he got well out ahead he just checked out. Then he serves a near all aces game to start the tie-break. Dude, where was that at 5-2!!

I hope Stefanos wins this afternoon so Daniil gets to play another match. That would be a tough way to go out. 

Good on Rafa for working through his lull and seizing the opportunity. You can NEVER count him out.

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Wow, did Novak just decide "fuck it, I'm over this season"? Because that was a rather um, uninspired performance. Good for Federer I guess and Rafa securing the year end number 1.

But wow, if I had been someone who'd paid to see that match, I think I would be a little bit ticked off. Although the way the crowd was chanting for Federer like he was God, they probably didn't care how quick it was. 

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I was only popping in here and there. I did see he had (or was pretending to have) an elbow injury. And he was probably sick of all the Fed cheering. So  I thought maybe he was throwing it at the end. Was he like that in the first set as well? Huge difference from when he played Thiem.

I'm not sure who we are gonna see in the final. It could be  Sefanos or Rafa against Thiem or Fed. 

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Thanks a lot Medvedev, lol. You had one job. In all seriousness, I was wondering when all those tournaments and match play would catch up with Medvedev and I think this was it. It started in Paris, with his early exit and he definitely wasn't full throttle in London. 

I'm glad Rafa at least got to leave on a high and of course ended the year number 1. No clue who's going to win this. I'm sure the tennis media is hoping it's Federer but I don't know, other than his match against Djokovic, where to be fair, I'm not sure Novak was even fully present for that match, Fed hasn't looked that invincible. 

And Sacha seems hungry to repeat his win and Stefanos too looking like he has something to prove. As for Dominic, as much as I like him, I have learned to temper my expectations with him. Because he can show up and just play some amazing tennis and other times, it's just not great. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
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At this point I would be on board with a Thiem or Tsitsipas win. It's time. 

Yeah, Med definitely was not able to summon up that inner will to win that he has been able to do before. He looked detached. So did Dj. I'm sure they are all tired, but some have played more than others. 

I hope everyone gets a nice long rest before AU Open! 

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That was a near masterful performance by Stefanos. Especially the way he showed some nerves of steel under pressure serving for the first set and serving for the match.

And boy the crowd sure tried HARD to rattle him with the Federer chanting and love but dude said, "not today". Good for him. That's how you show up for your first ATP Finals. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
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I was channel surfing and decided to watch the final of the Davis Cup in Spain.  I had never paid much attention to Davis Cup before, so I was surprised at the level of noise that was allowed at the venue.  Spain was playing Canada, and between every point there were horns blaring and the crowd was raucous.   

Of course, Spain won the Cup, with Nadal beating Shapavalov in the final match.  The Canada team probably couldn't wait to get the hell out of that stadium.  I wonder if there are any Davis Cup rules about noise?  I have never seen a tennis match where there were horns. 

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The whole noise issue has always fascinated me. Tennis is the ONLY sport I can think of with a large crowd audience where they force the crowd to be silent during play. People say the players need quiet to hear the ball strike and to concentrate, but I'm sure boxers and quarterbacks would also benefit from being able to hear themselves think and hear the sounds of the game. 

According to the internet, the quietness is a holdover from the days when tennis was mostly a genteel country club sport, where cheering was seen crude.  

I just hope it continues, cuz it makes for pleasant viewing. 

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On 12/6/2019 at 3:39 PM, Ohwell said:

I'd throw Venus in there too.

Oops, forgot Sharapova.  She needs to go too.

I agree about Maria. She hasn't been the same since 2015. Venus will make me sad when she retires. Caroline is not shocking. To me she has been hinting for a while she will retire. 

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I'm probably repeating myself here but I wish Venus would switch to being a doubles specialist.  I think she could easily be the number 1 doubles player in the world and extend her career a bit.  With the right partner (maybe not Serena) she could win a Golden Slam next year.

Not surprised about Wozniacki retiring.  Very surprised that Sharapova isn't, especially since she doesn't appear to be in line for the Olympic spots.

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20 hours ago, Bewitched said:

I'm probably repeating myself here but I wish Venus would switch to being a doubles specialist.  I think she could easily be the number 1 doubles player in the world and extend her career a bit.  With the right partner (maybe not Serena) she could win a Golden Slam next year.

I agree. Venus would be able to play at a high level for several more years. 

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More hardware for Rafa! He won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award (voted on by the players) and also was named the ITF World Champion for 2019 today. Dayum he's having a great year. He's going to have to enlarge the museum space at his Academy.  🙂

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Rafa has posted pics of himself with the trophy from the championships he won this past year and this was his last post. So sweet that he puts his wedding above all his tennis achievements. 🥰

Translated it says: Now to say goodbye to all of you I leave this last great memory of 2019 and take the opportunity to wish you all the best for 2020!

Edited by shok
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Here's a link to a video of the 60 Minutes feature (I hope it works here). It was surprisingly good. Coming from Wertheim I was sure it was all going to be about Federer but it wasn't too bad. Both Rafa and Mallorca look really good. 🙂

(The second link is material that didn't make it into the telecast. Some of it's better than what did!)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rafael-nadal-on-his-island-home-his-rivalry-with-roger-federer-and-his-family-60-minutes-2020-01-12/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rafael-nadal-still-really-likes-playing-tennis-60-minutes-2020-01-12/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7d&linkId=80518181

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It's pretty shameful that the Australian Open qualifiers are being played out in the open right now while citizens of the city are being told to stay inside because of the air quality. From what I'm gathering a lot of the players are complaining, with one player having to give up because of a coughing fit caused by the air quality. 

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Yep, and I really wonder how things would be different if the main draw were taking place right now instead of the qualifying. And it's not just the players breathing hard in that muck, but the ballkids, too, and they are children! And they're not getting paid.

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1 hour ago, theatremouse said:

Is there any reason to believe the air quality will be better in a week?

I highly doubt it but the organization claims they can play all games indoor. They probably should have done the same for the qualifiers.

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9 hours ago, galaxygirl76 said:

I highly doubt it but the organization claims they can play all games indoor. They probably should have done the same for the qualifiers.

Apparently that's not turned out to be possible. They have eight indoor practice courts that they were hoping to use but the air conditioners recirculate the air from the outside so it's just drawing in the smoke and they can't use those courts either.

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