Tennis Thread

[blackwing]

So disappointing about Brooksby, after such a promising first set.  Here’s hoping that Berrettini can take out Novaxx in the quarters.

[blueray]

Usually I'm often annoyed by sports announcers but the tennis one made me laugh. I put it on in the background as I was doing laundry.

Anyhow, I guess the fans put a Canada flag in a way that was blocking the score board. So they were asked to remove it. But the announcer was just like "... Oh Canada". When describing the situation ;). 

[Medicine Crow]

I didn't stay up for the whole Bianca game, but I can't say I'm devastated because she lost.  (I'm not really sure I like her???)

[Crashcourse]

16 hours ago, blackwing said:

I think medical timeouts should come at a cost, like they lose a point or something.  I watched the end of Berrettini/Otte.  Otte fell awkwardly trying for a ball and landed on his hand badly.  He did take a medical but it wasn’t abusive and when the commentators thought he might take a second medical to get the hand taped, he didn’t.  I think Berry was going to win anyways even before the injury, but I thought it was classy for Otte to want to finish the match as is, without delaying anymore and without retiring.

Yeah, Otte was a class act and Berrettini and the crowd thought so, too.  I liked how he pointed at Otte and applauded him as he walked off the court and the crowd cheered.

[CountryGirl]

I really, really don't like the excessive shrieking or grunting during matches. Seles decades ago and Rafa of late. 

I was already rooting for Leylah but Svotlina's shrieking has gotten on my last nerve. There is no reason for that. 

[emmawoodhouse]

25 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

I really, really don't like the excessive shrieking or grunting during matches. Seles decades ago and Rafa of late. 

I was already rooting for Leylah but Svotlina's shrieking has gotten on my last nerve. There is no reason for that. 

They're both grunting and shrieking.

[Crashcourse]

Go Leylah!

[Spunkygal]

Just now, Crashcourse said:

Go Leylah!

An amazing, darling girl. Rooting so hard for her to take the whole thing!

[CountryGirl]

19 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

They're both grunting and shrieking.

I haven’t watched the entire match as I started watching roughly halfway through but have heard very little from Leylah, except after a point (which is fine). 

In any event, Leylah has done it again and I am LOVING it!

[Spunkygal]

Just now, Spunkygal said:

An amazing, darling girl. Rooting so hard for her to take the whole thing!

She’s so poised and expresses herself well without “like” every other word.

[Crashcourse]

1 minute ago, Spunkygal said:

An amazing, darling girl. Rooting so hard for her to take the whole thing!

I'm rooting for her, and also Raducanu.  Such amazing youngsters.

[emmawoodhouse]

1 minute ago, CountryGirl said:

I haven’t watched the entire match as I started watching roughly halfway through but have heard very little from Leylah, except after a point (which is fine). 

In any event, Leylah has done it again and I am LOVING it!

Leylah was grunting in the second set when she seemed to be really grinding it out. 

I hope she wins it all. She's darling.

[blackwing]

Good win for Leylah Fernandez.  That third set was a nailbiter, she and Svitolina kept trading breaks.

Dream final for me would be Raducanu/Fernandez.  Worst possible final for me would be Pliskova/Krejickova.

[CountryGirl]

And I’m loving that the naysayers, including some of the commentators, thought she shouldn’t or couldn’t be here. That there was no way she would beat Osaka. Then it was there was no way she could beat Kerber. And then, ok, she beat them but she’ll be stopped by Svotlina.

Well, she believed she could and she did.

I am cheering her on to the semis and think she could absolutely take the whole dang thing. 

2 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Good win for Leylah Fernandez.  That third set was a nailbiter, she and Svitolina kept trading breaks.

Dream final for me would be Raducanu/Fernandez.  Worst possible final for me would be Pliskova/Krejickova.

Agree on both final options. I really don’t care much for the latter two. 

[Crashcourse]

And her mom does look like her older sister.

[emmawoodhouse]

9 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

And I’m loving that the naysayers, including some of the commentators, thought she shouldn’t or couldn’t be here. That there was no way she would beat Osaka. Then it was there was no way she could beat Kerber. And then, ok, she beat them but she’ll be stopped by Svotlina.

Well, she believed she could and she did.

I am cheering her on to the semis and think she could absolutely take the whole dang thing. 

Agree on both final options. I really don’t care much for the latter two. 

I wonder if Barbora is going to pull some more crap tonight? Her behavior the other day was very off-putting.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

I really, really don't like the excessive shrieking or grunting during matches. Seles decades ago and Rafa of late. 

I was already rooting for Leylah but Svotlina's shrieking has gotten on my last nerve. There is no reason for that. 

It was driving me batty as well, especially in that final set. 

22 minutes ago, blackwing said:

 

Dream final for me would be Raducanu/Fernandez.  Worst possible final for me would be Pliskova/Krejickova.

I agree. The first two are likeable, pleasant and positive, while the latter are dour and robotic. Like female versions of Lendl.

Edited September 7, 2021 by BitterApple

[TVbitch]

I don't mind an expression of noise naturally associated with a sudden extreme effort, which is perfectly natural and many players do it to different degrees. Some players take it further and project a louder noise because they feel it helps them release tension or raise their energy or what not. Okay, whatever.

Now with both Svitolina and Andreescu, the grunting goes way beyond that and is like a war cry or roar of aggression. Like something that might come out of me if I were in a fight for my life against an attacker. It's like they want the other player to know: "This shot is super ferocious and it will slay you!" To me, it seems like an aggression, and I don't care for that and think it is disrespectful to the opponent. 

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

And I’m loving that the naysayers, including some of the commentators, thought she shouldn’t or couldn’t be here. That there was no way she would beat Osaka. Then it was there was no way she could beat Kerber. And then, ok, she beat them but she’ll be stopped by Svotlina.

Well, she believed she could and she did.

I am cheering her on to the semis and think she could absolutely take the whole dang thing. 

I make it a point to rarely ever listen to the commentators as they are often saying something ridiculous. I don't know why anyone would doubt Leylah's ability to beat any of these women. Much like I said about Angie Kerber, the women's tour has been nothing if not consistently inconsistent for years. The only woman who has truly dominated in the last two decades is Serena. 

So anytime she hasn't been winning, we've seen a plethora of first time Grand Slam champions. Case in point, in the last 2-3 years, we've seen Iga Switek seemingly come out of nowhere and win the French, Kenin win Australia, Krejcikova win the French, Barty come into her own and win the French and Wimbledon, Sloane win the US Open, Simona Halep win the French and Wimbledon, Andreescu win the US Open and of course Naomi Osaka's rise. 

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't be the slightest surprised to see Leylah pull out the storybook run and win the whole thing. I just know I'll also hesitate to see what comes after since as noted above, we've seen many of these first time winners and not much after that. Ostapenko anyone? 

It's also the reason the dominance of Novak, Rafa and Fed is touted so much as well. The way they've managed to seemingly systematically stop so many young guys from having even that one big Slam moment. The women's tour though - that's par for the course.

But props to her. I really enjoyed the match overall. I like the fight that Svitolina showed no matter how many times she was down and the maturity Leylah showed in not getting down on herself after not serving out the match and losing both breaks in the final set. 

[CountryGirl]

I don’t know whom to root for in Carlos vs Felix. I ❤️ them both. 

[BitterApple]

I'd be happy with either winning, but Carlos has come out really flat. It'll be interesting to see if he can get his energy level up or if he's hit the wall. 

[truthaboutluv]

I wouldn't say Carlos is necessarily very flat but more that Felix is serving better and is the far more aggressive player at the moment. He's pressing Carlos and forcing him into a lot of his errors. 

eta: Huh, did I miss something? Carlos just retired even though he barely even seemed injured. WTF?

Edited September 8, 2021 by truthaboutluv

[theatremouse]

His legs are toast.

[CountryGirl]

That’s such a shame but I feared that 18 or not, those 5-setters took their toll. 

[shok]

18 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I didn't stay up for the whole Bianca game, but I can't say I'm devastated because she lost.  (I'm not really sure I like her???)

I know what you mean. As a Canadian I sort of root for her but there's not a lot of conviction behind my cheering. First off, there's just something screwy about all her injuries and her missing months on end from the tour. She's been like that for many years having had back injuries and whatnot since her early teens. Normally, I'd feel sorry for a young girl with such bad luck to always be injured but something just seems wrong to me.

And it would seem that her success has gone to her head. I read an article the other day about all the changes she's made in the last year or so. She's ditched her agent for new reps from IMG who are apparently going to make her super famous in the image of Maria Sharapova. One of their first moves was convincing her to fire her coach who had been with her for four years and to hire Sharapova's old coach. She's also fired her fitness team. She may make a lot of money but is that all there is to a successful tennis career? I think of someone like Rafa who's had the same agent since he was 14 yrs old and his uncle as his coach for a lifetime and the rest of his team since early in his career and they're all like close family for him. He's turned down a lot of lucrative deals because they didn't fit his lifestyle but he still has more money than he'll ever need and is a very happy man. I think Bianca's going to learn some hard lessons in the next few years.

[Crashcourse]

I never cared for Alexandra Stevenson as a commentator because I always thought she came off as kind of an airhead.  A short while ago when talking about Djokovic, she pronounced "epitome" as "eppitoam."  Brad Gilbert's facial expression was "huh?" 

[Medicine Crow]

10 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I never cared for Alexandra Stevenson as a commentator because I always thought she came off as kind of an airhead.  A short while ago when talking about Djokovic, she pronounced "epitome" as "eppitoam."  Brad Gilbert's facial expression was "huh?" 

Prime example of the quintessential airhead showing her lack of ability ... LOL.  (Reminded my of Ramona Singer & her "kadoos"!)

 

6 hours ago, shok said:

I know what you mean. As a Canadian I sort of root for her but there's not a lot of conviction behind my cheering. First off, there's just something screwy about all her injuries and her missing months on end from the tour. She's been like that for many years having had back injuries and whatnot since her early teens. Normally, I'd feel sorry for a young girl with such bad luck to always be injured but something just seems wrong to me.

And it would seem that her success has gone to her head. I read an article the other day about all the changes she's made in the last year or so. She's ditched her agent for new reps from IMG who are apparently going to make her super famous in the image of Maria Sharapova. One of their first moves was convincing her to fire her coach who had been with her for four years and to hire Sharapova's old coach. She's also fired her fitness team. She may make a lot of money but is that all there is to a successful tennis career? I think of someone like Rafa who's had the same agent since he was 14 yrs old and his uncle as his coach for a lifetime and the rest of his team since early in his career and they're all like close family for him. He's turned down a lot of lucrative deals because they didn't fit his lifestyle but he still has more money than he'll ever need and is a very happy man. I think Bianca's going to learn some hard lessons in the next few years.

I agree with all that you said & believe she's chosen the same path as Genie Bouchard (& look how that's turned out ... another airhead commenting on matches in "full hair & make-up" ... hilarious!)

Edited September 8, 2021 by Medicine Crow
Added Ramona Singer comparision.

[theatremouse]

I mean....I really do think Bouchard's concussion had a lot to do with what's happened since. 

[Crashcourse]

Congratulations to Raducanu!  And a qualifier!

[truthaboutluv]

1 hour ago, theatremouse said:

I mean....I really do think Bouchard's concussion had a lot to do with what's happened since. 

Eugenie was already showing a significant slump before the the concussion incident. She had one great breakout year and the following year had multiple first round losses. Now admittedly, she did seem to be turning things around at the US Open, making the fourth round (a first for her at the Slams that year) before the slip and fall happened.

That said, I just find it hard to believe a concussion caused her entire game and career to fall apart, unless there was some permanent brain damage we don't know about. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by truthaboutluv

[Medicine Crow]

42 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I mean....I really do think Bouchard's concussion had a lot to do with what's happened since. 

Maybe, maybe not.  Just sayin'!!

[Danny Franks]

Emma Raducanu into the semi-finals! She plays her first seeded opponent, her first opponent in the top forty, and the result is just the same - a straight-sets win.

It's a hell of a fairytale at the moment, and hopefully the start of a heralded career. She just has such a well-rounded game, not overly-reliant on any particular skill and with time to develop them all further.

Oh, she's also now the British number one and on the cusp of being in the top fifty. Not bad for someone who was #387 in June.

[sally-can-wait]

ESPN's coverage is so annoying. The Zverev match ended a while ago and instead of switching us over to McCoCo taking on Hsieh and Mertens in doubles we have to endure a round table of Brad and the Chris’s talking about Djokovic for 30 minutes. Blah.

Edited September 8, 2021 by sally-can-wait

[Harry24]

Wow, Emma R was so great today.  She certainly looked like the Real Thing. I’d love for her to win it all.  As long as doesn’t ruin her life.

And, just to get super shallow: she and Berrettini or Zverev would make an amazingly hot winning pair.  

[Crashcourse]

4 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

And, just to get super shallow: she and Berrettini or Zverev would make an amazingly hot winning pair.  

Well Berretini has a girlfriend, Alja Tomljanovic (I think I spelled that right) who lost in the third round, so he's out.  😊 

[theatremouse]

And let's keep Zverev the hell away from her.

[CountryGirl]

46 minutes ago, sally-can-wait said:

ESPN's coverage is so annoying. The Zverev match ended a while ago and instead of switching us over to McCoCo taking on Hsieh and Mertens in doubles we have to endure a round table of Brad and the Chris’s talking about Djokovic for 30 minutes. Blah.

[Crashcourse]

While we're on the subject of matchmaking, I'll put Felix and Leylah together.   They'd make a cute tennis couple and they're both Canadian.  😊

[CountryGirl]

39 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

Wow, Emma R was so great today.  She certainly looked like the Real Thing. I’d love for her to win it all.  As long as doesn’t ruin her life.

And, just to get super shallow: she and Berrettini or Zverev would make an amazingly hot winning pair.  

Stupid work got in the way of me watching that match. 😝

29 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

Well Berretini has a girlfriend, Alja Tomljanovic (I think I spelled that right) who lost in the third round, so he's out.  😊 

And after her, I'm next in line so...

23 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

And let's keep Zverev the hell away from her.

[Harry24]

32 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

And let's keep Zverev the hell away from her.

Good grief, I wasn’t matchmaking!  I’m fully aware of what Zverev has been credibly accused of and that Alja T is Berrettini’s girlfriend.  I was just thinking of the visuals.

[Crashcourse]

4 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

Good grief, I wasn’t matchmaking!  I’m fully aware of what Zverev has been credibly accused of and that Alja T is Berrettini’s girlfriend.  I was just thinking of the visuals.

And I was just joking!  😄

[theatremouse]

To me, the reports of Zverev's behavior completely negate any desire I have to look at him at all. But also, if they both win, he will literally be near her, if nothing else for photo ops and I kinda don't want that either.

[CouchTater]

5 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

Eugenie was already showing a significant slump before the the concussion incident. She had one great breakout year and the following year had multiple first round losses. Now admittedly, she did seem to be turning things around at the US Open, making the fourth round (a first for her at the Slams that year) before the slip and fall happened.

That said, I just find it hard to believe a concussion caused her entire game and career to fall apart, unless there was some permanent brain damage we don't know about. 

I feel a lot of the WTA players end up this way, including Ostapenko and even Andreescue.   I know she won the U.S. Open a couple of years ago, but commentators really want to sell Andreescue as this superstar who is unlucky with injuries.  I think that's a stretch.

Honestly, I wish commentators would go easy on the hype for these up and coming young players like Coco.  And very specifically right now Emma Radacanu (sp?).  Her coronation as the new best thing started at Wimbledon and continues now.  Granted, she's kicking butt in New York right now, but I hope she doesn't get put on some impossible pedestal just to come tumbling down.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by CouchTater

[Crashcourse]

12 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

Honestly, I wish commentators would go easy on the hype for these up and coming young players like Coco.  And very specifically right now Emma Radacanu (sp?).  Her coronation as the new best thing started at Wimbledon and continues now.  Granted, she's kicking butt in New York right now, but I hope she doesn't get put on some impossible pedestal just come to come tumbling down.

I agree, and I feel the same way about Leylah Fernandez.  I just hope these young players don't get stressed over the media coverage.  Same goes for the young men.

[CountryGirl]

Matteo - you have ONE job!

Besides looking pretty. 

[Medicine Crow]

I think some players have "lost their way" due to pressure from their people who have grandiose aspirations.  (I'm thinking Bianca's family/team might be depending on her to elevate their standard of living & she knows it.)  This would be a huge burden, mentally & physically, for a young person.  Just sayin'!!!

[CountryGirl]

Stop saying free points when referring to aces or otherwise big serves. 

Those are earned, nitwits!

[emmawoodhouse]

I am not enjoying this match any longer. 🙁

[Medicine Crow]

2 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I am not enjoying this match any longer. 🙁

I have NO idea who will win!!  Do you???

[CouchTater]

The one good thing about Djokovic completing the slam (assuming he does) is that commentators can then remove this narrative from their script.  I'm so sick of hearing about it, much like Serena trying to get slam #24 (although I'd like to see her do that).  Of course, then there'd be some other narrative to replace it, I suppose.  Like Emma Raducanu is a tennis phenom after essentially 2 tournaments (eye roll).

The only player left for me is Daniil Medvedev.  I love his post-match interviews.  I don't have any vested interest in anyone who's left, male or female.

Oh, wait!  Go Team Coco and Caty!!!

Edited September 9, 2021 by CouchTater