Tennis Thread

[emmawoodhouse]

I thought I heard Rafa had a foot injury and that he's soldier through Indian Wells. He's skipping Miami and headed back to Europe to rest and prep for the clay season. 

I was surprised that he got to the finals at all.

[truthaboutluv]

Just now, emmawoodhouse said:

I thought I heard Rafa had a foot injury and that he's soldier through Indian Wells. He's skipping Miami and headed back to Europe to rest and prep for the clay season. 

I was surprised that he got to the finals at all.

Yeah he said the foot started acting up a bit during the Opelka match but it was manageable and then he had some rib situation from the Alcaraz match that was worse during yesterday's match.

Again, hopefully it's just general fatigue and some solid rest will get things back on track. And yeah Rafa's skipped Miami for the last few years particularly because of his fitness and wanting to be as fresh and physically ready for the clay season. 

[theatremouse]

Yeah, many players are terrified of Djokovic coughing on them. 😉

[Spunkygal]

Ash Barty announces retirement:

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2546898/world-no-1-three-time-grand-slam-winner-ashleigh-barty-announces-retirement

For real this time!

[emmawoodhouse]

I was just coming here to post about that. I'd forgotten that she quit before. 

[shok]

Rafa went straight to his doctor in Barcelona when he got home to Spain today and the news isn't good.  😪 He has a stress fracture in his rib and will be out of action 4-6 weeks. How in the world he played a Masters 1000 final with a cracked rib I don't know. He'll miss at least Monte Carlo and Barcelona, two of his favourite tournaments.  ☹️

He doesn't often express his emotions like this but he tweeted:

"It's not good news and I didn't expect this. I'm down and sad because after the start of the season that I've had so good, I reached a very important part of the year with very good feelings and good results. But hey, I've always had that spirit of struggle and improvement and what I will do is be patient and work hard after my recovery. Once again I would like to thank everyone for their support".

His trusty constant sidekick Titin better work his physical therapist magic on him and get Rafa all fixed up as quick as he can so Rafa can get out there on his beloved clay and do his thing. He must be so disappointed as he was having such a good year and clay season was so close. Damn Rafa is so unlucky!  😡

[theatremouse]

I don't know why, but I'm surprised about Barty. I shouldn't be. She clearly has a good head on her shoulders and when she doesn't want to do it anymore, she doesn't. But it still throws me off. Plus I'd rather watch her than a lot of other players on the women's side. For example, all the shriekers.

[shok]

Here's excellent info from genny_ss who does so much wonderful translating for Rafa fans. It's not good news so far as Rafa's injury is concerned but it's good to have full and accurate information instead of all the rumours and wild tales that were floating around.

 

See this thread for a summary of the most relevant comments Rafa's doctor, Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, made in multiple interviews for Spanish radio stations once the statement about Rafa's injury was published.

This injury was totally unexpected and, as has always been the case w/1st time injuries, Rafa'll go thru 3 stages: letdown, acceptance & overcoming. He's gone thru this situation before & knows the process. Dr. Cottorro's sure Rafa will have best attitude & feel OK in a few days.

This kind of injury can happen in tennis, not as often as others, but it's not an isolated case. It's not an acute injury, but progressive & it appears when there's a cumulative overload on the bone. When the stress the bone's subjected to surpasses certain limit, it fractures.

The injury showed up during the SF match against Alcaraz, when Rafa first felt the pain, but it started well before (at beginning of the season). Coming from 6 months out of the tour likely to also be a factor, as the body is less ready & more prone to injuries.

There was no time to make tests to pinpoint the injury before the final. For him it was difficult to diagnose from the distance. There were also other options (dorsi muscle or an articular issue) and he was hoping it wasn't the injury it finally turned out to be.

Rafa never thought of not playing the final. He thought he could endure the pain, though then during the match he really had a hard time. Tho Dr. Cotorro has made it clear that playing the final didn't aggravate the injury, as the fracture was already there & couldn't get worse.

Once the pain goes away, Rafa will work to keep his fitness, but he'll only go on court when the rib's healed. Otherwise, the issue could come back. They'll make an intensive treatment, evaluate the evolution closely & plan things accordingly, always being cautious & w/o risking.

Rafa's foot has held well, especially in AUS & Acapulco. In IW it bothered him a little bit, but it must be kept in mind that he was playing on HC, the most aggressive surface also for his foot. On clay things should be better. So, for now, they're happy w/ how foot's responding.

 

[theatremouse]

I noticed sometime this week that the Miami Open's logo is backwards and now I can't stop thinking about it. Did anyone else see the little animation? The "m" looks the way it does because it's a tennis ball bouncing. But it bounces from left to right. And the right side is higher. That's not how conservation of energy works!

[roseha]

I've been watching Miami also and while I realize that the logo is supposed to be a bouncing tennis ball, it keeps reminding me of a Slinky.  Yes I'm old.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to watch Iga vs Naomi, but I just can't make myself shell out for Tennis Channel these days, though they have some good commentators.

I'm sorry for tennis that Barty has retired but I hope she will be happy with her life.  And of course the travel has been much worse for Australians, especially with Covid.

I'm sometimes resistant to all the hype new players get, but I will say that Carlos Alcaraz just plays one exciting match after another.    How dominant he will turn out to be, who knows but he definitely brings the drama, and in a good way.

 

[nittany cougar]

Alcaraz and Tsitsipas in Miami was a very entertaining match.  I look forward to many more matches with those two.

Poland's Iga Swiatek to become world number one this week after beating Naomi Osaka to win the Miami Open.

https://news.yahoo.com/iga-swiatek-beats-naomi-osaka-102646686.html

Swiatek takes the number one spot at 20 years old and with one French Open title.

Edited April 3, 2022 by nittany cougar

[Medicine Crow]

When I see Carlos Alcaraz on my screen, "Coyote Ugly" pops into my head.  Just me?

[Crashcourse]

The kid can use some Proactive, but I think he's kinda cute, pouty mouth and all.

And he just won the Miami Open, so good for him.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Crashcourse

[Crashcourse]

Watching the awards ceremony right now, and Casper Ruud seems like a nice guy, too.  

[roseha]

Yes it is amazing how quickly Carlos has come along.  Again, he's certainly exciting to watch, though I have to feel a little sorry for Casper.  But they do both seem to be nice guys.

 

[theatremouse]

I think Alcaraz might be my new fave. I hope he doesn't turn out to be an ass.

[Crashcourse]

Regarding the youngsters, I like Alcaraz and Sinner.  They both seem to be pretty nice and I hope they stay that way.  I have a feeling that they will.

[truthaboutluv]

While all the tennis media was going on about the exciting potential QF meeting between Djokovic and Alcaraz, as soon as I saw who Djokovic was playing in the first round, I had a feeling he wouldn't even make it past that match. 

Davidovich Fokina is one of those tricky players that can always trouble his opponents, especially on clay. And considering I knew Djokovic, no matter how talented he is, would be rusty coming in, I knew this was going to be a tough match up for him. 

I will say, Djokovic's loss is all the more sweeter, coming on the heels of Patrick Mouratoglou's moronic comments about Djokovic really being the best on clay.

Now granted he's been resoundingly mocked for these comments and everyone knows it was just another attempt to kiss Novak's ass in the hopes he'll add him to his team. Because that's the kind of opportunist Patrick is. But yeah, makes it all the sweeter to see his supposed "real King of Clay" out of the tournament. 

Edited April 12, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[emmawoodhouse]

I was just coming by to have a good laugh at Novaxx's expense. 😁

[kittykat]

Regarding the trouncing of Novaxx.

 

 

 

[theatremouse]

It's always delightful to see Djoke knocked out of any tournament.

[Spunkygal]

Wimbledon’s statement on excluding Russian and Belarusian players.
 

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2022-04-20/statement_regarding_russian_and_belarusian_individuals_at_the_championships_2022.html

[JustHereForFood]

I don't watch any sports, but I feel the need to say somewhere that Novak should shut his damn mouth.

[TVbitch]

vak or no vak, that was a very entertaining match against Djere with some great hitting. (The ending could have been better, though. : D )

 

[NUguy514]

If you hate Wimbledon's decision so much, Djoker, you should boycott the tournament!  Forever!  That'll really show 'em!

[shok]

Hah, so Djerk is now blaming some mysterious illness he picked up a couple of weeks ago for his defeat today (and last week at Monte Carlo). Wouldn't it be a hoot if he really did have COVID now but can't tell anybody what it is because he already used the COVID excuse for getting into Australia.  😏

[TVbitch]

I thought for a minute he was going to quit that match. He was gassed. The announcers made it sound like he had not done enough fitness preparation. 

 

[emmawoodhouse]

Can we give Alcaraz some love? The kid is on a TEAR. I think I heard that he's up to #3 in the rankings, but I might have misheard. I do know for sure that he's already in the top 10. 

[truthaboutluv]

7 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Can we give Alcaraz some love? The kid is on a TEAR. I think I heard that he's up to #3 in the rankings, but I might have misheard. I do know for sure that he's already in the top 10. 

He’s number 9. The number 3 comes from the list of players with the highest probability to win the French Open. Rafa of course is number 1 but interestingly they still ranked Tsitsipas above Carlos, even though Carlos just beat him in Barcelona and now has a 3-0 H2H lead on him.

But Stefanos did defend his Monte Carlo title and I guess they’re taking into account his making the Finals last year and coming close to a win before he decided to have an epic choke.

Carlos is certainly the real deal. There’s the natural talent but he’s also clearly hungry and has A LOT of confidence. He also seems to have a strong team around him, led by Juan Carlos.

Definitely interesting to see his journey from here on out. It does suck that the media will be the media and so the Rafa comparisons are constant. Okay yes, it was almost eerie that 17 years to the day, he cracked the Top 10 at the same tournament that Rafa did in 2005. But they really need to stop with the next Rafa stuff. 

Let the kid forge his own path. Also, those are some heavy shoes to fill, seeing as Rafa is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. And he’s still competing and winning.

Edited April 26, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[mojoween]

Boris Becker was my very first tennis boyfriend and when I saw the alert come across my phone today I thought it said he was sentenced to 25 years in prison and I was like damn those Brits take breaking financial laws seriously.  Still sad for him to go to jail for any length of time.  He sounds a little … icky … tho from some of the stories I’ve read.

[Crashcourse]

The headlines I'm reading say 2 1/2 years in jail.  It's still sad, though, that he's gone down so far. 

[emmawoodhouse]

@mojoween's article probably read 2.5 years. 😀

[emmawoodhouse]

I just read a couple articles. Boris is pretty sleazy. 

[mojoween]

35 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

@mojoween's article probably read 2.5 years. 😀

It said 2.5 and I totally missed the decimal, heh.

[Crashcourse]

I know Tiafoe likes to pump up the crowd, but now he's become insufferable.   In his match today in Portugal, at one point he went over and grabbed the line girl and hugged her with his sweaty self.  She was a good sport about it, but he should have gotten a penalty for it.  Unfortunately, he won.  I used to like him but he tries sooooo hard to likable that I now can't stand to watch him.  

[truthaboutluv]

31 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I know Tiafoe likes to pump up the crowd, but now he's become insufferable.   In his match today in Portugal, at one point he went over and grabbed the line girl and hugged her with his sweaty self.  She was a good sport about it, but he should have gotten a penalty for it.  Unfortunately, he won.  I used to like him but he tries sooooo hard to likable that I now can't stand to watch him.  

Frances has been obnoxious like this for awhile. And yeah he won today but I maintain that all his peacocking and posturing in matches have at times been to his own detriment. Because he spends so much energy posing and playing to the crowd that he's often gassed quickly. 

Meanwhile, in more important matters...yay! Rafa's back (*small voice* hopefully, fully healthy). 

[Crashcourse]

23 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Frances has been obnoxious like this for awhile. And yeah he won today but I maintain that all his peacocking and posturing in matches have at times been to his own detriment. Because he spends so much energy posing and playing to the crowd that he's often gassed quickly. 

Yes, that bolded part is so true.  Also, I think he's trying to become the next Monfils, but Monfils was never insufferable.   

And yay, Rafa!

Edited April 29, 2022 by Crashcourse

[emmawoodhouse]

Is Rafa going to play in Madrid?

[truthaboutluv]

8 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Is Rafa going to play in Madrid?

Yup, already there and practicing. Allow me to share some lovely videos courtesy the official Madrid Open twitter account. 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[emmawoodhouse]

Great news! Vamos! 

[shok]

Did you see Rafa's draw?????  😨  Geez he's unlucky when it comes to draws. The only saving grace is that inevitably there are some upsets along the way and the higher seeds are knocked out before they get to Rafa, but c'mon, both Alcaraz in his quarter and Djokovic in his half??

[TVbitch]

Just watched Goffin/Nadal. Heartbreaker since I really like both of them, but great match! 

[truthaboutluv]

The kid proves he's ready for the big time. Takes out Rafa and Djokovic, back to back - impressive. Call me stubborn though, I still think the French Open is going to come down to the old guys.

Because it's one thing to win Best of 3 at a Masters and another to prove it in Best of 5 at a Grand Slam. Although I do think Carlos will go deep at the French Open, just not sure I believe he's going to win. But hey, he may prove me wrong. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by truthaboutluv

[Harry24]

I’m looking forward to watching the whole match.  From what I saw Djokovic was much nearer his usual level than in previous tournaments.  I thought Rafa was far rustier than Djokovic, so have hope that he has several more levels available to him, health permitting.

Whatever their levels, it’s incredibly impressive for this kid to take them out one after the other, and with the pressure of the home crowd.  (We’ve seen so often how a partisan crowd when it’s just for an individual and not in a team situation can actually make nerves worse for players.)

Back to Rafa, I don’t recall hearing him reference his age and chronic physical issues quite so often in previous pressers.  I don’t always read them, though.  Is this something new?

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, truthaboutluv said:

The kid proves he's ready for the big time. Takes out Rafa and Djokovic, back to back - impressive. Call me stubborn though, I still think the French Open is going to come down to the old guys.

Could be but I'm hoping for a repeat. I'm also calling now, if he doesn't win RG this year, he will soon. I know 5 sets is different but I think he's got it in him.

[truthaboutluv]

31 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

Back to Rafa, I don’t recall hearing him reference his age and chronic physical issues quite so often in previous pressers.  I don’t always read them, though.  Is this something new?

Well to be fair, it's because he's being asked about it a lot. The fact is he is almost 36 and did just come off a month-long injury break. As he himself said, not the preparation he hoped for heading into the clay season. So yes, it will get brought up often and he will have to talk about it often. 

1 minute ago, theatremouse said:

Could be but I'm hoping for a repeat. I'm also calling now, if he doesn't win RG this year, he will soon. I know 5 sets is different but I think he's got it in him.

I don't think anyone is questioning Alcaraz eventually winning a Grand Slam, so yes, I'm sure he has it in him. Just not sure it's this year. But of course, I may be proven wrong. 

[shok]

I can't deny Carlos is very talented and he's surely been doing everything right the last couple of months but I'm sorry, he bugs the heck out of me with his grandstanding and fist shaking and yelling and staring at his box. And the media is making me crazy. The more they fall all over themselves to proclaim him the best tennis player evah!!!! just makes me dislike him more even though I know the media part isn't his fault.

Any tennis player who encourages the crowd to clap for him when he hits a good shot is in my bad books, and I don't care if Carlos is beating Djerk (a very good thing), his antics on the court are not endearing him to me at all. There's a big difference between a vamos fist pump after a particularly good shot and shaking your fist at the other player trying to emphasize your superiority over him. I don't like that at all and Alacaraz does it a lot. Ugh. I just can't cheer for him.

[CouchTater]

6 hours ago, shok said:

I can't deny Carlos is very talented and he's surely been doing everything right the last couple of months but I'm sorry, he bugs the heck out of me with his grandstanding and fist shaking and yelling and staring at his box. And the media is making me crazy. The more they fall all over themselves to proclaim him the best tennis player evah!!!! just makes me dislike him more even though I know the media part isn't his fault.

Ugh, the media drives me nuts with all the premature hype about certain players, and it makes me (irrationally) not like the player as much.  Emma Raducanu is the latest example of this.

I rolled my eyes last year when they were hyping Carlos up as "the next big thing."  But he doesn't bug me and seems to be living up to the hype.  I like his excitement after well-played points.  Versus someone like Tiafoe, who preens too much and can't back it up.

I'm Team Carlos today.   I hope he sends Zverev packing!!

[Crashcourse]

I've seen a lot of players do fist pumps and encouraging the crowds to root for them, so Carlos doesn't bother me. 

However, there are some players who take things too far like Tiafoe, who thinks his antics like grabbing and hugging people and ripping off his shirt to show his muscles, somehow makes him adorable.  He's not.

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

However, there are some players who take things too far like Tiafoe, who thinks his antics like grabbing and hugging people and ripping off his shirt to show his muscles, somehow makes him adorable.  He's not.

lmao... 

It's a pity that Rafa, Djokovic and Carlos were on the same side of the draw because either the Quarterfinal or yesterday's Semifinal would have made a better Final than that hot mess I just watched. 

Carlos was amazing yes, but Zverev didn't exactly pose much of, if any kind of threat. Dude was just out of it today. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by truthaboutluv