Is this where we talk about Rogers Cup?: The Gay and Tennis 29

I love Roger's Cup.

Word is already leaking that Fed will skip Cincy.

I think Roger is ovah

No, I will vote for Bernie or Warren

"Progressive Retirement" is the term we are trying to keep under wraps....

Will he skip Laver Cup or Fed Cup?

Thiem OUT of Toronto Doubles (maybe singles) with an infection.

An infection of what?

[quote]An infection of what?

viral infection...probably just a cold or the flu

He is going to get into the US Open totally unprepared and it's all his fault. He has game enough to be a threat on hard courts, but he prefered to play safe on clay (with disastrous results). A top player needs to know his priorities

It's hard to take Thiem seriously as a threat with his preparation at this point. His main priority seems to be to accumulate as many points as possible where he's most comfortable and if it leaves him spent or injured by the time a major event comes up, then that's the breaks. Jankovic was the female version of this and look how her career turned out. Nobody remembers or cares she was #1, only that she played a decade or so and has only 1 GS final, a few semis, and a host of early round losses. Thiem might eke out another French final in Nadal's twilight but I don't see him approaching a GS win anywhere else. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

Thiem is playing doubles with lil Diego?

R2, where did you hear this leaking news about Fed skipping Cincy? I guess it doesn't matter. I knew he would not win Wimbledon this year, and I don't give him a great chance at the US Open unless the draw falls apart like it did for Nadal last year. My dream draw would be Djokovic meeting Nadal in the quarters and sending Rafa home.

At Rogers Cup, I suspect a Nadal-Djokovic final or Nadal-Zverev.

[quote]'It's likely I will play in Kitzbuhel every year', Thiem explained to reporters on Monday in the Austrian event.

Insert facepalm emoji here...

Djoko and Anderson are playing doubles together.

R11: Putting his trust on Nadal's decline is not a good idea. Thiem is probably the best young player on clay, but that doesn't mean he can't be defeated by other young players like Zverev showed in Madrid.

Nadal wasn't in his best form this year (i know that doesn't matter that match because defeat Rafa on RG is tough, very very tough even when he is not at his best) but Thiem didn't put him at any danger in the final even when he defeated Rafa in the past. In my opinion that shows that he is not that ready to take the final step

Thiem frequently retires or pulls out of a tournament claiming serious injury only to then enter a small tournament the next week having recovered very quickly. At the 2016 US Open he retires early in his 4th round match against Del Potro claiming a bad injury, has an MRI and then plays a small tournament in France the next week.

Jack Suck loses to Medvedev 3-6 6-3 3-6. He's now on a 7 match losing streak (6 if you only count main draws since he played 1 grass qualifying match). This is also the second time he's lost to Medvedev in this losing streak.

[quote]An infection of what?

Mononucleosis?

[quote]Mononucleosis?

With Kiki being in Montreal perhaps Domi sneaked Rico B. into his hotel room ;)

Sloane and Genie win their first round doubles.

The US Open will be Ferrer's last Slam. He will then retire at either Madrid or Barcelona next spring (along with F. Lopez).

R21 Dream Team

[quote] Dream Team

Team PU

or

Team AYUP

Popsicle is not consistent, but he sure is cute.

Would you prefer a Zverev or a Bryan? Please provide a reason for your choice.

Serena explains Rogers withdrawal.

Roger was in Serena?

Well Roger does not like thin, petite women. Just ask his wife.

I really doubt Roger has been in many women.

R29, Mirka has lost a lot of weight and is showing it off. She looks very rich...check out that diamond ring.

My friend refers to Roger Federer as she. It's kind of hilarious when he does it to huge, straight Fed fans. They look so perplexed.

I get that a lot too.

A non tennis following friend of mine saw Fed keep flinging his bangs over his headband and he was like 'he's a woman'.

I still remember that Gold/lamé outfit at Wimbledon....yikes.

he hardly sweats too..he is so prissy and graceful.

Wawrinka vs. Kyrgios. I have the feeling that we might not see Wawrinka for much longer. I hope I am wrong.

I can't help but be a Kyrgios fan. I know he's not popular on Datalouonge but I love his game when he's playing well and he has a unique look being half Malaysian half Greek. If he had a better body, he'd be hot. Finding out he does a lot for kids with his own charity makes me overlook some of his immature ways too. He's also against Trump

I love Kyrgios. He's not classy or anything, but he seems to do the right thing when it matters (i.e. a charity that actually helps people, realizing Trump is a threat to the world).

Kyrgios was owning Wawrinka until the middle of the second set when his hip injury flared up again. His movement was limited for the rest of the match but to his credit he didn't retire.

Is Grigor still with Vallverdu or did they split up after Wimbledon?

Tiafoe def. Cecchinato

Tsitsipas def. Dzumhur

Nishikori upset in straight sets by Haase

Konta def. Ostapenko in 3

Suarez Navarro def. Osaka

I've looked but no news about Grigor and Dani yet. He congratulated Dani on getting married a couple weeks ago but did not attend. If he wins enough matches this week the commentators will surely mention if there has been a coaching change.

He's still with Nicole Scherzinger though

Wow, Felix Auger-Alassime, 17 years old, ranked 144, straight sets Pouille in Toronto.

Auger-Aliassime is very impressive. He has nice weight-of-shot for a 17 year old and is pretty fit. Pouille was embarrassingly bad but I'm glad Felix won. It's time for some new male blood.

It was so enjoyable last year to see Shapovalov upset Nadal.

Genie Bouchard crashes out first round again. Mertens straight setted her

Sharapova stops her 2 match losing streak and easily sweeps Karatantcheva

Azarenka served Kiki M a bagel and a breadstick 6-0 6-1 (Kiki was really bad)

Azareanka was so injured last Saturday she retired during the QF in San Jose up a set. But now she easily wins a few days later.

I think Azarenka's just happy to be allowed to leave her house.

Karatantcheva is still playing tennis??

Coric now 0-7 against Cilic.

So did anyone watch Grigor's match, was Vallverdu there?

Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn due to a left wrist injury, Youzhny will replace him

R51 I saw part of the match and they didn't show or talk about his player's box/coach.

R52 which is really odd since Youzhny gave a walkover to someone else in the second round of qualifying. I didn't know he was still eligible to become a LL in the main draw after that.

R51 they panned to him in the box. He was definitely present for youngish Grigor.

Ps they also mentioned Grigor and his new girlfriend Nicole Sherizinger

New?

Thanks, R54 :)

and the rain has followed tennis up to Canada this week after almost ruining DC last week.

It hasn't reached Montreal yet where the ladies are but the guys in Toronto have been stopped for almost 2 hours now

Raonic should be thanking the tennis gods for that rain suspension. No return serve ability today. maybe he can "regroup".

Lol, Fognini walks out on court, his gut swaying, cock visibly askew in his shorts... dude has swag!

Fognini and Thiem both out.

Great day for #nextgen bad day for the in-between age group guys

Tiafoe def. Raonic

Shapovalov def. Fognini

Tsitsipas def. Thiem

Paire has thrown his racquet what, three times already in the first set?

There should be a new rule that it is NOT the job of the ball-kids to pick up the racquet and deliver it back to the player, but rather the the player should have 25 seconds to retrieve the racquet(s) or receive a time fault, plus a fine.

Is young Grigor next gen or in-between age group?

Thiem just sucks ass as soon as the clay season is over. He'll probably flop in the first couple of rounds of the USO and do nothing until Australia.

Meanwhile, Sharapova absolutely pasted Kasatkina today 0 & 2. If she beats Garcia she's likely back in the top 20.

Azarenka is getting hammered by Konta. Down 3-6, 0-3 when the rain came.

R64 in-between. He's 27

This is the weirdest case. Peng has been banned for 6 months and fined for "coercing doubles partner at Wimbledon"

What’s a peng?

and Shapovalov and Fognini had a little catfight today. Apparently Fognini didn't like how Shapovalov was celebrating winning points so at 1 changeover (I think second set) he said something like "you're so arrogant" and they went back and forth until play resumed. Handshake was quick and hardly any eye contact. May they play again...at the USO!!

FOGNINI calling Shapovalov arrogant? That's rich, considering Fognini is as arrogant as they come.

Shapovalov is a no saint either.

He shouted: Schiavone banged your wife. Sorry to tell you, mate

Seriously, R70?

Shapovalov is a huge brat. But Fognini is the King of arrogance.

Fognini is clearly not taking the loss well. He withdrew from Cincinnati and maybe the US Open and posted an instastory that says "e parlavano di me a 19 anni " (And they talked about me at 19). LOL!

WHY WOULD FABS withdraw when his ranking is going up? If he played Shap at Flushing Meadow - over 5 sets he'd beat him. Love me some Fogs. He also said he wishes Fed would go away!

[quote]WHY WOULD FABS withdraw when his ranking is going up

Because he's a head case?

So Peng signed up for doubles with Partner 1, then decided she wanted to play with Partner 2, so "coerced" Partner 1 to withdraw? I'm not sure what exactly coercion is here - bribery? Threatening? I'm also not sure (assuming I understand the situation correctly), this is worth a six month ban. A fine, sure, but when the tour can barely get bans to stick for doping, this seems to pale in comparison.

girls, girls, you're both cunts..would seem to apply here.

Can someone explain what's supposed to have happened in the Peng Shuai case?

Apparently Cheatapova found a new PED

When Fognini was whining about nextgen getting preferential treatment at the French, that seemed to be mostly brought about by Shapovalov getting placed on show courts a lot.

Shap has a lot of points to defend and in a year's time he really hasn't advanced much. With DelPo out he could go pretty far.

Murray is doing an AMA on IG

Duck pic

lol so because Fognini lost to Shapovalov he withdrew from Cincinnati and might from the USO too? That makes no fucking sense. What an idiot. It's a shame as he has a fun game and he's so handsome but his personality is horrible.

Then you have Paire who started throwing his racket in the SECOND GAME against Nadal last night. Pathetic

what divas

Misery duck

Did any of you see Murray’s insta stories? He named a player he would date if he was gay and said he could stick 6 LEGO pieces I his ass. He answered some questions from fans

This year, I’m gonna go look for the players, I’ve never bothered before but since I live close to their hotels, I should not waste the opportunity. Gonna get my cap , visor signed.

[quote] He named a player he would date if he was gay

So who was it?

Tiafoe was ahead in all 3 sets but blew his lead in the first and third. He was up a break in the third then 4-2 in the tiebreak but missed a sitter forehand and Dimitrov won all the last points.

Sloane straight sets Suarez Navarro

How much Tiafoe got for throwing the match?

R86, F. Lopez of course

Why “of course”? He does have pretty eyes.

Um, because

R69: Yes, he is, but that doesn't change the fact that Shapovalov body language is annoying as hell. He comes across like a spoiled brat with his celebrations. He reminds me a lot of Hewitt, one of the most annoying players on court wich is a pity because i really like Shapovalov game.

Anyway, veterans had certain tendency to complain about young players when they lose. I remember Verdasco calling Rublev arrogant and Verdasco is not the best example to lecture anyone

an injured Venus def. Cirstea and she will play Halep who just won a long match over Pavlyuchenkova. They play later today

Chrissie, lesbian Renee, and I are doing the commentary in MOntreal this week. No boys this week.

And Djokovic out. Tsitsipas in 3!

And Sasha Zverev is in yet another quarterfinal of M1000 this year, proving his form to be rock solid and raising hopes of his supporters for a decent GS performance, which are bound to be shattered around 2nd round of USO ;)

Zverev pretty much owns the young guys so far except for Coric who can outlast him in rallies.

Hurray!!! Woz down!

[quote] an injured Venus def. Cirstea

Granny!

R98 Her attitude has become downright rancid.

Hasse straight sets Shapovalov.

Who would have thought that Genie would be the last Canadian standing at Rogers Cup?

[quote] Who would have thought that Genie would be the last Canadian standing at Rogers Cup?

Raises pencil.

haha deplorable Isner loses in 2 tiebreaks to Russian Khachanov. Karen is now 2-0 against him. Johnny threw and broke his racket after double faulting to down 0-3 in the second set tiebreak.

Garcia handled Sharapova again. Sharapova was up 2-0 then won just 3 more games...Caroline won 6-3 6-2 double fault by Masha on mp

Bertens is having another good week. She crushed Pliskova yesterday and Kvitova today

[quote] Karen is now 2-0 against him

Isner is in the WTA?

Shopbottom

Nadal wins but Wawrinka played very well.

Very nice match, R107.

I'm going to the Western and Southern draw party this afternoon in Mason Ohio. It was there last year I heard about the crap Murray was going to pull at the upcoming US Open. It's boring to sit in this tent and hear names drawn - instead we'll wander around the grounds to see who is practicing - it it's possible to see. They've tarped screens up over several courts so you can't see some. They do feed us dinner and the gossip is great.

Roger's already there R109 !

Isner & lil' Diego 👨‍👦

R108, do tell the gossip when you get it.

Has ESL returned?

I love Jason Goodall. Cliff just joked about him not wearing a suit and just wanting to show off his guns in a very tight polo. Damn, he was looking fine.

Barty destroys Bertens and Anderson destroys Dimitrov

R96: That will change sooner or later. He is very regular in his game, he plays well week after week getting into the final rounds. Federer had some trouble getting into the final rounds of GS (he even gave some wise advise to Shascha to not pressure himself too much). His results against next gen players are very dominating (that's the reason he is a solid top 10 while the rest are in several phases of rising).

I wanted Nole to win Wimbledon, but i enjoyed him losing here. First because i like Tsitsipas (who seems a nice guy, inteligent and not a brat) and second because suddenly people are predicting Nole to slash in all GS out of the blue wich in my opinion it's absurd. Yes, he is a great champion, but winning Wimbledon is not indication he'll be back in 2011 slaying all the rest.

In my opinion the US open will be very interesting, most young players are very good on hard courts and the veterans are not as clear favourites there

the USO needs a new male slam champ. It will be such a disappointment to everyone except the people who only want "the big 3" to win. I don't understand the people who only want the favorites to dominate everything, especially given how long Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have been doing it

Did anyone see the Djokovic/Tsitsipas match? The write up made it sound like Nole was not playing that great.

I do think the USO is the place where a player from the younger generations could make a breakthrough, but I'm not sure we'll see it this year. Nadal is playing well. I think right now, beating any of the Big 3 in five sets is a tall order. We know A. Zverev can't seem to go five sets over seven matches yet. I'd be really surprised if the USO was his big breakthrough, but pleasantly so. Still, if Federer wins, I'm a fan and would be very happy to see him add another Slam to his pile.

R118: The only thing Zverev needs is winning fast and easy the first matches, winning confidence and not getting tired too soon.

Sloane crushes Sevastova. Surprisingly she has now defended her Rogers Cup points from last year so that has to be a bit of a relief but not too much as she also has SF Cincinnati points and of course the USO win to defend too. She's off to a good start though

R116 Dont get me wrong - I really like him and do agree he is out of reach for next gen and can translate his potential into results much better than Thiem or Kyrgios. I have a feeling his problems at GS might be psychological rather than problems with stamina, but I am hoping he'll do well at USO.

It's unfortunate that the brattiest NextGen'er is leading that pack.

Tsitsipas!

Sharapova OUT of Cincinnati.

R122: He has competence for that and i hope his brattiness will go down with time. It happens most times but not always

R121: I think and easy draw and a good result will be enough to overcome. It's not like he is a top player for that long. It feels shocking that he is failing at GS because he is doing really great at all the rest

Tsitipas!!! Zverev OUT!!!!

WoW! So happy for Tsitsipas. I think Zverev did not care once he lost the second set.

That's one of his big problems, he seems to get out of the match too soon.

Anyway, the third was quite close. Tsitsipas is probably the next gen that is progressing more this year

Love Tsitsipas! Wouldn't mind if Zverev tripped over his smashed broken racket while yelling at an umpire, broke his ankle, and was out until 2019.

R124 why?

Sascha: "I don't think he played well. It was an absolute pathetic match."

How come Murray and Kyrgio become ‘friends’?

R131: He needs someone who tell him to grow up and stop being such annoying brat.

He can be charming on interviews but if he continues to behave this way i doubt crowds will root for him. He is very childish in general, so there's some hope one day he'll grow up and behave well on court

And Stephanos had a draw from hell and he deserves more respect

Zverev's ego has been flattened (flatter than his ass) because someone younger beat him in a masters QF.

Tsitsipas is a talented shotmaker with decent movement and weight of shot. He's only 19 but the next step is to get fitter as he's very boyish/scrawny looking now.

Khachanov demolishes Haase. He'll have plenty of energy for Nadal/Cilic tomorrow

Here's how well Tsitsipas didn't play, R131. Sour grapes Zverev needs to be clocked in the face hard. He's not just immature, he's clearly a POS.

Springfield Lasers team or Philadelphia Freedoms team?

Cincinnati draws out! some real mayhem opening round matches-men and women

Define "Next Gen" please?

Define "Next Gen" please.

Those players eligible for the NextGen tournament in Milan in November.

NextGen criteria: Aged 21 or under and ranked in the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings

and predictably Cilic's forehand has broken down. He played very well in the first set. The second set was a mess from both but he out-choked Nadal. Now the third...

[quote]but he out-choked Nadal.

And that's how Nadal and Murray win most of their matches

Cilic was showing a clinic in the first set. He was belting any weak serves by Nadal. I don't understand why more players have not punished the Nadal and Murray second serves. Theirs are the weakest of the top players yet a lot of their opponents let them get away with it. Khachanov has a great return of serve so he could trouble Nadal if he maintains his good form

That's the thing with Nadal, when he is on beast mode he is terrifying but when he is not playing well he is tough to defeat too because he is way tougher mentally than the rest of players (nobody can match him in that and only very few can endure a close match against him).

I understand that is kind of annoying the fact that he ends winning a lot of matches where he was not better than his rival but that's what made him such amazing player.

^ plus, he’s gay

R148: Who is gay?

R147 is right about Nadal being tough to beat, and that's especially true at the Slams where matches are 5 sets. Currently, only the older generation seems to beat Nadal at Slams. None of the young guns seem capable. The only reason Nadal didn't win Wimbledon this year was because of Djokovic's amazing effort.

Cilic is a veteran and took out Nadal in Australia this year, although Nadal was somewhat hobbled as that match wore on. Young gun Thiem rolled over like a fucking bitch at the French. Federer took Nadal out in the 2017 Australian. Anderson is a veteran, but not the same quality of Fed, Djokovic or Cilic. Anderson's match against Isner was a painful thing to watch, especially when directly followed by the quality of Djokovic-Nadal.

R148- Rafa is gay

[quote] people who only want "the big 3" to win.

[quote] beating any of the Big 3 in five sets is a tall order.

That’s big four. Big four.

I do not know if Rafa is gay or not...but, in his box, there is a new face. A very pretty young man who has been sitting between Roig and Marc. The other member of the group is his "Physio."

Went to the draw party in Cincy and Kerber(looks slim and fantastic) and Raonic were there. Hardly what I'd call a draw party - they just placed the seeds. All the other names were already on the sheet picked by the 'computer' lol. Kerber posed with anyone for pics and got a nice ovation. Milos was less personable but upon close inspection he has some incredible calves.

Murray could play Fed early in the 3rd round I believe. Serena could play Kvitova if she gets past Gavriolova - or if she bothers to play. She's supposed to already be in Cincy practicing but no one has seen her hit the courts.

Who do you think will win the next Serena-Sharadopa match?

I really do hope they would meet again, preferably in a GS.

Interestingly the one place Serena and Sharapova have never played each other at before is the USO.

Raonic does have very hot calves but that's the only hot area about him lol the rest of his body is average and his face is not sexy either (not ugly though)

Halep wins. She is another one that you can only watch on mute. Those shrieks are a turnoff.

R151: They seem to be all gay (Rafa, Thiem, Zverev, .. ) at leats on DL (on real life not that much)

Halep feels the WTA treats her like crap and want her to lose so they give her bad match scheduling!!!!!!

Well, we all know that some schedules are a bit suspicious.

Halep has the same problem Henin had, they are not marketable (even their games are beautiful, Simona would be more watchable without the screams). In general the wta had a lot of problems, they had an out of form granny as big star, the top players are totally inconsistent and unable to play well for three weeks in a row, and they had no new exciting prospects for the near future.

I started tennis watching women's matches but even for me the atp is way more interesting now than the wta

The WTA lacks interesting personalities and rivalries. The closest they have is Serena/Cheatapova, and that's not even a rivalry.

R161: Serena and Justine peaked at totally different times, that would be a good rivaldry, contrast of styles and personalities, and they didn't like each other at all (they were way more friendly when Justine came back to the game after her retirement for a brief period).

The Williams had a a devastating effect on the wta, after them most young players adapted a low cost version of the hard hitting style. That and the emulation of Sharapova's screaming make watching some matches a real nightmare

no one on the men's tour is consistent outside Nadal and Federer right now. Djokovic won Wimbledon but is still not "back" yet. Until someone different wins a slam the men's game won't be compelling either.

Halep is not only talking nonsense but she is lying too. Only reason Barty was scheduled to play her quarter-final match in the morning because she had to play doubles in the evening. The same issue was with Sloane but Svitlonia didn't complain [at least not PMK].

So when she claims that "her opponent reached hotel six hours before her" is a complete lie. After singles, Barty was still there to play her doubles match.

Simon should stop hanging out with people like Caroline Woz

Rafa is gay-gay.

Tsitsipas lost the first set in the tiebreak.

Titsy breaks!

Borna would like to say hello and thank you for your attention!

^ did he and his sweet ass lose early?

R165: With a long time girlfriend. Yes, i know they have a weird relationship and he is way more with his friends than with her but that doesn't change the fact that he had a girlfriend.

My favourite candidate always was Richard Gasquet, but frankly noone of that generation are going to come out even if they are gay

Borna is definitely in the top 5, R168, at least in terms of ATP ass.

Third set....Brad Gilbert is creaming all over Tsitsipas. And the whole stadium is for Tsitsipas. I even feel sorry for Anderson.

well it's hard to get excited for Anderson. He seems like a nice guy and he's solid but his game is robotic and he's no attractive at all. He doesn't have that flashy "it factor".

R173: You are saying exactly what i was going to say. With a totally different style but he reminds me of Davydenko in the sense that there's nothing exciting about him. Nicolai was a great player, and when he was at his best he was very very good but his personality was simply very boring. In Anderson's case it's more his game, he is a classic servebot like Rusedsky or Phillipoussis

Tsitsipas on the other hand has a very nice game, he is likeable but with personality and he even has a one handed backhand wich is a plus for a lot of people

Tsitsipas looks like Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name.

I second Brad Gilbert in what I’m seeing. Tsitsipas is next #1. Mark it. And He and Zverev will be rivals at the top.

R168 Chardy looks like wants to top Borna.

And I would add that Tsitsipas will break through first somehow relieving pressure off of Zverev to come through as well (similar to Agassi and Sampras)

Tsitsipas is much less of a brat than Zverev (except for that incident at Miami with Medvedev).

Tsitsipas is a star

I've fallen in love with Stefanos Tsitsipas!

R179 what happened with them in Miami?

Medvedev was also being an ass.

Is ESL gone for good?

Is he banned or something?

ESL supposedly went all White Power on a few other threads.

Great to see Tsitsipas in the final instead of "I don't think he played well" Zverev. The day when Tsitsipas eclipses Zverev in the rankings and becomes the first NextGen'er to win a Slam, presuming it'll come, will be cause for celebration.

Best contender now for Player You Most Want to Punch in the Face:

lol I hope Zverev and Tsitsipas play each other at the USO. The crowd will love Stefanos

Nice win for Sloane over Svitolina. She now picks up some ranking points as she was defending SF from last year.

Tsitsipas Team

lmfao anyone watching Nadal-Khachanov on espn? Cliffy Drysdale has been in a mood all night long. He told Brad Gilbert to hurry up 1 of his stats talking points and then said "what's your point, Jason?" when talking about forehand spin rates.

Cliff seemed old when I was a kid. He must be ancient now. I’ve always appreciated him.

Khachanov has nice power but his forehand grip causes him to miss too many shots. Wawrinka has this problem too though it was worse in his pre-slam days. If Khachanov can either fix his grip or get more consistent on the forehand side, he's going to be a top 10 player at least. He also had more trouble returning Nadal's heavy spin than he did Isner's monster serves. Weird

I'm with Grandpa Cliff - who needs all these stupid graphs and stats?

Granny Venus has withdrawn from Cincinnati (knee injury)

DL fave Puig! lost in the 1st round of qualies (Feli Lopez too)

R188: I don't think it would be good for Tsitsipas to play against Zverev. Yes, he won, but the truth is the match was really near to be an easy victory for Zverev even when he was not particulary inspired.

Zverev only needs to stop pressuring himself, stop acting like a jerk (smash the racket only make him lose his concentration) and be focused (specially in the first rounds) to be a real contender to win a GS. Because right now he really has the game to defeat anyone.

Stefanos is making a big progression this year, he is getting better and better, but in my opinion he is not there yet. Of course winning a GS sometimes is a question of opportunity (just ask Gaudio and Johannson).

Serena was seen on the practice courts in Cincy, totally overweight and having lots of trouble serving.

R196, why are you such a Zverev apologist? It's become clear that Zverev won't "stop acting like a jerk" because, quite simply, he IS a jerk.

Titsy reminds me of Guga: lanky, easy power, fluid strokes, great 1st serve and lots of grit. And charisma.

R198: He is 21, people change during his life. Maybe you are right and he will be a jerk his whole life but there are examples of people who changed his ways during his (or her) career and i think it's too soon to declare him a lost cause

Nadal has been my favorite player for years. For first time, I would like to see him not win today, only for someone like Tsitsipas to arrive on the world stage. If he wins this by beating world #1, after the other 4 top ten wins this week, it will really be something. And on his 20th birthday no less. He’s got so much charisma and belief. Even what he wrote on the lens yesterday was great and shows his maturity and focus.

R201 What did he write?

“It never gets easier. You just get better.”

Much better than writing: "Domi loves Kiki"

The fuck it is

"Everyone's pathetic"

Also - Jason Goodall could get it.

[quote] Of course winning a GS sometimes is a question of opportunity (just ask Gaudio and Johannson).

And enough to get someone into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

[quote] DL fave Puig! lost in the 1st round of qualies

Nooooooooooooooooooo! Not Puig!

Jesus, Stephens is having a pathetic showing so far. Typical WTA. It's too haaaaaaaaarrrrrrdddd to be consistent from week to week!

R208: Well, let's be fair, Andy was very far from being my favourite player but he was a top player for years and years

Stephens all the way back in the 1st set.

Sloane blew a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak.

Halep! C'mon girl!

Help!

I had no idea Halep was playing so fast. Hardly 10 seconds between serves. She reminds me of Steffi Graf who was always in a hurry between points.

they're having some great points. It's not easy in the wind

third set!

[quote] She reminds me of Steffi Graf who was always in a hurry between points.

Tell me about it.

Dreadfully uneven match so far. Not much fun to watch. I hope Tsitsipas-Nadal is more entertaining.

Nadal seems testy, already grimacing and gesturing at the ball kids when they're not getting the balls to him quickly enough during the warm-up session.

Titsy gets broken 😒

Help convincingly wins and takes the title. I think Stephens was toast at the end by the length of the match and the pace during and in-between points dictated by the Romanian.

R222: And generally that means an easy victory for Nadal. Hold your serve as long as you can is usually the key to challenge Rafa, if he starts winning too soon he gets more confident (and a confident Nadal is the worst rival a young player can get on atp)

Tsitsipas has a one-handed backhand. Nadal will probably destroy him.

Word R222. Now two breaks down.

COMPELLING first set!

Shitsipas rolls over 6-2 in a meek first set effort. Future #1? We'll see.

The Romulan.

Rafa just has TMG

Nadal choke! Tsitsipas has him where he wants him lol

And Nadal wins

Halep-Stephens was a very good match (besides Sloane's poor start).

I agree with what Brad Gilbert said about the US Open, that he'd have to see the draw before making predictions. But I think if Nadal gets another cakewalk draw, he'll win yet another one. I think no matter what, it'll likely take a Herculean effort to dethrone him like Djokovic did at Wimbledon.

Vamos!

Cilic almost beat Nadal this week but predictably choked. He was battering any weak serves Nadal sent his way. Not enough of the ATP guys do that. Khachanov had a shot but his wonky forehand grip cost him too many errors.

I fear we'll get another zzz of a men's USO. Someone has to stop the big 3. It's beyond tiresome at this point that no one can

Tsitsipas definitely impressed this week.

Surely to god Rogers Corporation could come up with a better trophy than that stupid paper-weight!

Canadians pay Rogers enough for godssakes.

Rafa looked unimpressed with that trophy.

He wants his fourth USO, R238.

[quote] Someone has to stop the big 3.

Big 4.

Cincinnati day 1 schedule out and it's loaded.

Link please, R241, if you don't mind.

When is everyone giving up on this side-trip thread and going back to the main tennis thread highway?

[quote]Link please, [R241], if you don't mind

I'm not R241, but:

Centre Court Azarenka-CSN

Mattek-Keys

Isner-Querrey (ugh)

7pm Serena-Gavrilova

Djokovic-Johnson

Grandstand: Nishikori-Rublev

Pouille-Murray

Mladenovic-Goerges

7pm Wawrinka-Schwartzman

Ostapenko-Qualifier

Stadium 3: Gasquet-Carreño

Ferrer-Paire

Tiafoe-Shapovalov

A. Zverev

my post at R244 turned out a bit messy, here's a link to tomorrow's schedule

I supposed Rogers Cup is not all that worthy a thread topic.

[quote]When is everyone giving up on this side-trip thread and going back to the main tennis thread highway?

I believe that his thread is meant to encompass the Canadian Open (Rogers Cup) as well as the Western & Southern.

A new Slam thread will likely be started for USO.

Rafa just pulled out of Cincy.

B. Zverev

Will we be here until the US Open?

C. Zverev

intimacy at the net

Wonder why Nadal pulled out. He will get a week of rest like most players that dont play smaller tournaments the week before.

You definitely don't want Nadal pulling out.

I meant he would get a week of rest after cincy anyway, but maybe he wants more?

[quote]You definitely don't want Nadal pulling out.

I can't even get him to put it in

he probably feels his title win in Toronto means he's gotten enough hardcourt practice for the USO. He's never done great in Cincinnati anyway.

Doubt Rafa wanted to face Novak in r16 at Cincy.

Callate la boca, Xisca. You’re well compensated.

I am not surprised about Nadal skipping Cincy. He played two very tough matches (Wawrinka, Cilic) and night matches also. He has now over 10,000 so why should he? And he was won Cincy already (Novak, surprisingly, never has) and there is very little chance he would win it. And, let's be honest, you hardly hear players rave about Cincy as they do other M1000. The heat, the humidity, and....the location.

Yeah, hardly a surprise that Nadal pulled out of Cincy. It's probably a good strategy. And with Federer skipping Canada and lots of points to defend in the fall, Nadal pretty much has a lock on year end #1 unless Djokovic goes on a tear and Nadal loses early at the USO, which I don't see happening.

Nadal hates hard court tournaments. He wants some of them replaced with clay, so not a surprise he'd skip some.

r263 Sure, he has won 3 US Open, 4 RogersCup, 3 Indian Wells and 2 Beijing.....I wish I hated something so much!

The Cincy Tournament is extremely lame. The players have to eat at Applebees. They should reduce Cincy to a 500 and make DC a 1000.

I expect that rafa's mental preparation to take on Fed, Djoko, and Murray is fairly exhausting, so he did the right thing to skip Cincy in my opinion.

Plus, why would you want to leave Canada in a hurry?

[quote]The players have to eat at Applebees

I think the Applebee's there has closed!

[quote]I think the Applebee's there has closed!

I expect that Roger's personal chef can find ingredients for suitable meals.

Are Ferru and Youzhny both going to retire this season?

Nishikori downs Rublev

Poor Ferru, so pretty, and always a bridesmaid and never a bride!

Azarenka def. Suarez Navarro in 3

I'm very interested in the Tiafoe-Shapovalov match

Roger loves Cincy, so much so he passed over visiting glorious Canada.

R264 he says hard court has ravaged his body. He'd rather they turn a bunch of these hard tournaments into clay.

Tiafoe has a wonderful ass.

R275: He completely dominates the clay season. I doubt atp is on the mood to give him more tournaments to slay

Shapo beating himself again....

[quote] Shapo beating himself again....

That sounds so hot!

Even with that he was able to win the first set. Hopefully Tiafoe has a better attitude in this match. The last time i watched him he was playing like he didn't care at all

Shapovalov was gifted the break back when Tiafoe served like shit at 5-4. They both blew chances in the tiebreak but Shapovalov was more clutch

Kuznetsova survives a third set tiebreak against Voegele

Pouille def. Murray 6-1 1-6 6-4 shame as I was looking forward to a possible Federer-Murray third round match and I'm not even a Murray fan.

I never noticed until today that Pouille looks like he could be Sock's more attractive brother when they both wear a hat backwards

Tiafoe serves for the match and of course it's a break.

I think the next gen is very hyped for their games but some of them show clear signs of mental weakness

13 double faults for Shapovalov in that match. And he still pulled it out. Hope that new serve comes together soon.

R265 you are an idiot.

Nice hug at the net between Tiafo and Shapo

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony.

Tiafoe served for all 3 sets lol he's such a talented headcase. Now he has back-to-back choking losses (last week against Dimitrov). Shapovalov is very tenacious and he got a break that Nadal pulled out, opening up that section of the draw.

Keys avoided an embarrassing loss to Mattek

Mladenovic gets a win after Goerges retires in the second set

Isner is going to drop some points this week as he crashed out to fellow deplorable Querrey and was defending SF points from last year

Chardy smokes Verdasco 6-1 6-2 yikes

Shapovalov got a haircut!

Could pound Schwartzman to the moon!

Serena destroys Gavrilova

Sabalenka def. Konta in 3

Djokovic wins a tight first set.

Jack Sock now on an 8 match losing streak!!! (7 if you don't count his qualifying loss during the grass season(. Chung took him out in 3 just now. Obviously Chung is a tough first round opponent but wow. From winning Paris masters last year to this.

Sakkari def. Osaka

Raonic through comfortably over Lajovic

R294 It looks like 1400 of his 1800 points are from Paris and London last year. There's no way he is qualifying for London this year, so losing early in Paris would drop him right out of the top 100. Is it a complete mental collapse? Or is he injured somehow? I thought he way overperformed by winning Paris, but he was still a solid top 20-30 player before then. Now he's in complete freefall.

Karma’s a bitch.

R296 I don't think he's injured. I do think he majorly overachieved last year and the rest of the tour has figured out how to play him. I also think his problems are about timing, footwork and fitness. While he's fitter than when he first came on tour, we know Sock is not ripped. He has a doughy body for anyone who's seen him shirtless. He chooses to live and train in bbq capital Kansas City and is from Nebraska originally. Sock can hit his forehand very hard but his grip is wonky so if his timing is not perfect, he'll misfire which he's been doing a lot this year. He also likes to run around his backhand and that takes good footwork. His has been sloppy this year too. I guess it's a mix of mental, tactical, physical and technical. I just never saw him as a slam winner or top 5. Now who knows he could all of a sudden start playing much better again but I just don't see it for him.

Pliskova gets her first win over Radwanska

Khachanov wins

Coric wins easily over Medvedev

Kyrgios def.Kudla 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(9)

What are your thoughts about Sock’s body and face from a sexual, rather than athletic, perspective?

I think he's ugly and fat. No sex appeal at all as far as I'm concerned.

R298 take on Sick is accurate- I’ve heard he doesn’t have the discipline to get himself into top 10 shape. He had the talent but this far not the head.

R299: Medveded is probably the most ignored next gen player. Maybe because he is a top 100 player for a good while doesn't seem to have a real progression (or big wins under his belt)

Sock got very lucky in Paris last year too. To play Krajinovic in the final of a Masters was a huge gift and it massively inflated his ranking.

His real talent level is somewhere around 30-5 in the world, not 8-15 where he has been the most of this year. But his very poor attitude, lack of fitness and wonky technique has really dragged him down further.

After his run in Canada las week, will Tsitsipas make this tournament into Tsitsinatti?

Misery or Sick?

Tsitsipas lost the first set and now has been broken. During the changeover, he started slapping his head....

He lost 7-6,, 6-3

I wouldn't mind seeing Napolitano in Coric's box more often. They seem to be good friends.

Garcia def. Azarenka 7-5 6-4 it was their first meeting. Azarenka will obviously be unseeded at the USO. No one will want to draw her even though she's obviously not at her best. I'm hoping she gets Sharapova

Bertens crushes Vandeweghe 6=2 6=0

16 year old Amanda Anisimova continues to impress this year as she straight setted Babos.

Pouille loses in straight sets to L. Mayer a day after beating Murray...

M. Zverev def. Dzumhur in straight sets

Mladenovic on fire! 6-3 6-0 over Kuzmova. Back to back straight set wins for Kiki. Domi must be proud

Who is the hot viking sitting in Kvitova's player's box in the stands?

Borg!

Melo has moved on from Sascha to lil' Diego ;)

That’s quite a contrast, R314.

He heard you, R314

Ay! Zverev!

Kudla team

Serena vs. Kvitova was an entertaining match. Kvitova was more consistent today but there were several swing games that could have gone either way. Both will be threats to reach at least the QF at the USO (even though Kvitova hates heat).

Shapovalov wins late night match over Edmund in 2

Kvitova finally lost that spare tire.

Shapovalov downs Edmund.

Edmund must have attended the 'Genie Bouchard School of Handshakery'

Got a gay vibe from Edmund...he's kind of cute in a bland sort of way

Is this where we talk about Western & Southern Open?

Hasse takes down Sascha Zverev!

A Zverev lost against Haase

Haase def. A.Zverev 5-7 6-4 7-5 apparently A. Zverev is 0-4 at Cincinnati now. He also has back to back close 3 set losses (last week to Tsitsipas). I don't see him doing well at the USO with this lack of momentum

Ciclic def. Copil in 3 sets

Stephens breezes through Tatiana Maria. This is the first time Step;hens won her next tournament match after reaching a final (after she won Miami this year she won her Fed Cup matches but lost her next tournament match)

Sabalenka upsets Pliskova in 3 sets. Sabalenka now 2-0 against her

Does anyone here know how A. Zverev did in his match against Haase?

R328: He won a tittle 2 weeks ago, it's not like he is in a terrible slump.

Zverev is very good on hard courts, and his chances will depend of how focused he start the tournament. If he start losing sets and having trouble he won't reach the second week. If he is expeditive in first rounds he will gain confidence and will be a threat.

His main problem is that till now he doesn't deal well with the pressure. A close match and a solid rival and he'll be out. But unless he has a very tough draw i doubt he'll lose before 4th round

Even so, R330, very inconsistent play for #3 in the ATP rankings.

Oh, wait, #4....he dropped.

yes Del Potro is now up to a career high of #3 hopefully his wrist isn't still hurting and he can build on it this week before trying to defend his USO SF points

Remember though, Hasse is a smart player.

and funny

I love Haase ! So glad that brat Zverev lost his match...Now watching Raonic VS Jaziri. Raonic is showing a nice bulge today and Jaziri has a beautiful bubble butt...yummy

I live for the day that Federer has to accommodate stadiums blatantly supporting his opponent throughout the entire match. I want to see how he would deal.

Jaziri is hot as all hell...that ass...those lips...those biceps...

I suspect Raonic is, um, quite well endowed.

and the ref is a cute bear!

PCB on court 7 is also demonstrating some impressive heft in some nicely fitting white shorts. Let's hope no jockstrap is the ATP new trend.

Yes Raonic has a big fat uncut sausage

R331: But being consistent (and he was pretty consistent before Roland Garros) didn't help him before. Maybe what he needs is something to shake him and make him react (that and a good spanking for behaving like a spoiled brat)

Mugu blows a 4-1 third set lead against duller than dull Tsurenko. The stadium crowd rewards her with tepid applause. Mugu drops out of the top ten.

And it's very deserved, she seems more preocupied on acting like a diva than in trainning and getting herself there for the big tittles. She has everything to dominate the wta but like Kvitova she seems to be more than happy playing well from time to time and winning a big tittle.

I'll be more than glad if a Graf type appears and block all this mediocrity from winning GS

It's amazing how the rain has followed the tour for 3 straight weeks now. It plagued the DC tournament, affected both events in Canada for a couple days and now is still around to hamper Cincinnati. 2 hour delay so far today

Oh amen, R345. I watched all the greats improve over time, some more rapidly than others. Graf started coming on in 1985. In 1986, she was challenging Chris and Martina, and in 1987, she won her first major in a tight match over Martina 8-6 in the third. In 1988, that promise paid off with the Golden Slam. Then Seles started in 1989, and she really sped through her development. In 1990, she was #2 and beat Graf at the French, although had disappointing losses in Wimbledon and the USO. In 1991, she won 3 of 4 Slams and replaced Graf at #1. I've read about Chris Evert bursting on the scene in 1971, and by 1974 she was winning Slams. Serena and Venus had similar progressions, with Serena jumping right out there and winning a Slam at the 1999 US Open, and over the #1 player at the time no less.

The theme was constant improvement and progression to #1 and winning Slams. These days, the theme is make it to #1 but can't win Slams. There is no consistent presence or rivalries at the top of the game. I, too, would be more than glad to see someone "block all this mediocrity from winning GS." That was so well put.

I had the Muguruza match on today, and Mary Carrillo and Tracy Austin were talking about the lack of consistency in the women's game these days. They were trying to assess the reason for it, and one reason mentioned was the players' lack of a plan "b" when their games are off. Tracy also suggested motivation may not be there because of all the money in the sport.

I still contend that it's, for the most part, mental. So I don't think Tracy is that far off. If you think of all the greats, they absolutely *hated* to lose. Evert, Navratilova, Graf, Seles, Hingis (early Hingis), Venus, Serena, Henin, and Borg, Mac, Connors, Lendl, Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic - they all got/get visibly irritated when they're not winning. Where so many more players simply shrug their shoulders and say there's another tournament coming up.

In a word: Hunger. They want it more.

[quote] Where so many more players simply shrug their shoulders and say there's another tournament coming up.

That describes Kyrgios.

Khachanov continues his great form and downs Querrey in straight sets. It seems he loves playing hard hitting players with normal technique but he struggles against Nadal's super topspin forehand

Dimitrov def. M. Zverev in 2 tight sets. Both Zverevs out

Keys def. Giorgi easily

Gasp! Shapo doesn’t know Celine Dion is Canadian!

Kyrgios was an absolute nightmare against Coric... really unpleasant. Coric did what he could but still lost, but I truly admire how he handled the situation.

[quote] Gasp! Shapo doesn’t know Celine Dion is Canadian!

Well to be fair, Celine is more like a citizen of da wurld. She belongs to all of us.

Yeah, I've long thought Raonic has a huge, huge cock. The biggest on tour, I best.

Woz retires with left knee injury.

Rain rain rain the next 3 days in Cincy is gonna cause a lot more pull outs. They'll make sure pussy Fed gets to play though. Halep and Delpo will have to double up today.

I want to brush Haase's curly hair.

The Davis Cup reform has passed at the ITF vote. (End-of-year week-long tournament, no more home-and-away ties)

I don't know how I feel about that but it certainly gives top players much less of an excuse to skip playing due to scheduling

Shapo is not a Justin Bieber fan

Let’s face it - Shopbottom has a thing against Canadian singers.

only an idiot would think Celine is American lol I mean has he never heard her speak?

R361: Having a thing against Bieber is perfectly ok. And let's face Celine Dion glory days were before Shapo was 5 years old

wow played pushed back until at least 3 now. Half the day wiped out. These last 2 weeks have been brutal. DC, Toronto/Montreal and now Cincinnati. Hopefully it won't impact next week or the USO

R364: It seems Nadal took the right decision. You get mentally exhausted just waiting for the sun the whole day

update on their twitter, players heading to the courts now

lol just started raining again

C'mon Shapo! Take down the Giant Serve-bot!

Well that sucks, Raonic takes out Shapolalov.

"Shapovalov"

So much hype for Shapovalov yet the results have been mediocre.

Cincinnati is playing a bit fast so it makes Raonic's serve even harder to return

Keys upsets Kerber 2-6 7-6(3) 6-4

Kvitova def. Mladenovic

Halep def. Tomljanovic in 3

Del Potro destroys Chung who was awful today

If it's possible, Novak is even thinner than he was at Wimbledon. It's crazy how thin he is.

Mertens comes back multiple times in the first set and wins in 2 over Stephens

Sabalenka upsets Garcia who served for the match in the third

I seem to be holding a monologue about Coric and Napolitano but are they sharing a room perhaps?

R371: He is still very young. Nadal seems to think he is the one to watch (of course he is the only one next gen who defeated him)

So Delpo took a 9 minute bathroom break and Kyrgios is so shook by it that he essentially stops playing in the 3rd. As well Kyrgios tells the umpire to shutup, breaks a racket, and receives a penalty.

Well played Delpo!

DelPo team

Dimitrov and Kyrgios are going to drop a lot of points as they were defending champion and finalist points. Isner was defending SF points

There is a black linesman behind Djoker with a huge bulge. Carry on..

I wonder what Djoker will be seeded at the Open if he wins Cincy. (Or is even a finalist.) Cuz I kinda feel like the US Open final should be Rafa vs Djoker, they're both really playing well since May.

Let's hope not. We don't need another big 3 final at a slam

[quote] We don't need another big 3 final at a slam

Big four!

R382, to pull in the viewers (to the extent tennis does this), you do need at least one of the big three in the final.

[quote] one of the big three in the final.

How many times must I correct you queens? I may have to bring in Kevin to give you a good talking to.

Judy, I have as many slams as your dear son. Maybe we should say big 5 then?

Fine. Big five, you pock-marked, cuckolded, misshapen creature.

The ladies semis are set-Kvitova def. Mertens in 3 and will face Bertens who beat Kontaveit in 3 and then Svitolina in 2. Halep also did double duty in straight setting Barty and Tsurenko and will face Sabalenka who straight setted Keys

Djokovic finished off Dimitrov in 3 then def. hot calved Raonic in 3 and will face Cilic who finished off Khachanov and then straight setted Carreno Busta

Goffin swept Anderson and then def. Del Potro in 2 tiebreaks. He awaits the winner of all-Swiss battle Federer and Wawrinka

[quote] He awaits the winner of all-Swiss battle Federer and Wawrinka

I’m indifferent as to which of these two “Big Five” members wins this match.

Federer was 2 points away from losing the match in 2 tiebreaks but hung on and won handily in the third set. Even at 37 he's capable of playing 2 singles matches. Let's see what he has left in the tank for Goffin tomorrow.

Wawrinka is moving pretty well so that's good. I hate when athletes have unsuccessful surgeries

Judy, you dried up old Scottish raisin, shouldn't you be stalking Yoko Ono on twitter?

Speaking of old, Ono is 85??

Khachanov and Coric should be roommates. That would be hot.

I’m jonesing for Misery’s legs.

Why, R394?

It's over for Andy I'm afraid. I'm glad Stan has started to turn it around. He should be very competitive at the open.

Andy barely started to play again after the injury, so unless he is having injury problems again he is far from over. Not over at least till he really try a come back.

Stan had a harsh time trying to regain his level but now he seems in the right path

Haha, I like that idea, R393, but Napolitano is actually quite good-looking, so he will do!

Melo is playing doubles right now on Tennis Channel.

Bertens outlasts Kvitova to reach the final

Should Kubot and Pliskbot marry and make little bots?

Novak is thinner than Pam (pre-match interview)!

Indeed, R402, he seems to grow more hatchet-faced and buzzard-beaked with each match.

Well, I think he still looks good.

What are your thoughts on the Novak dick pics? Real or fake?

I like that green shirt on him. It's a good color in general. He is definitely too thin though. He has been for at least 5 years now.

Where are these dick pics of which you speak?

Nole terrorizing the Cincy ballkids.

Ugh he did his fucking tacky "boobs out", how I pray for him to lose.

Cilic's forehand breaks down again. He lost 2 competitive matches against Nadal and DJokovic so he's certainly a contender for the USO after the big 3

He is getting a little surlier.

I pray Fed takes down Djoko; denies him of the only 1000 he has never won.

Rooting for the elf to beat Rajah tonight.

I would root for the underdog (Goffin) normally but I don't think he can take out Djoko tomorrow.

Djokovic has been a vegan for a couple of years now which explains his thinness.

Poor little Goffin; he's too injured to continue.

Wonder how much Team Fed paid little Goffin to make it look good, then go away. I am out here in Mason watching this and despite Goffin getting treatment there is NO SIGN of an injury. Such b.s.

How does a shoulder injury manifest itself to your eyes, R417? I really like little David.

another big 3 final? zzz

R415, last I heard, the Joker had not only given up the guru, but also the strict veganism. He’s apparently gone back to eating fish, if not mammalian flesh except in small quantities. I wish there were a joke in there somewhere, but I’m truly convinced the man’s a highly strung, high-maintenance anorexic of sorts. And not even that pleasant to watch on a tennis court any more, either.

Djokovic is so skinny because he subsists solely on the tears and fears of ballkids everywhere.

^ lol!

Boobs out to you, R421.

🐐 or 🤡 ?

Misery

If you look at the time spent on court and the road to the final, Federer seems to be the favorite. But, with Djokovic, you never know. He may play poorly in the first set, smash his racket, and then psych himself up and turn everything around with a couple of great backhand passing shots.

Halep!

I hope GOAT, R424.

Help!

Your question is a bit confusing, R424, since Djokovic has a goat face.

And Halep-Martens goes for a third set.....yawn.

It is Bertens

Is this Kiki Domi's Kiki?

No, another Kiki

If his is Kiki VDW, he'd be a lot better off with this one!

If Halep can win the Rogers-Cincy double that will be very impressive. Since Cincy became a premier event for the women in 2009, no one has won both back-to-back. Several women have come close by winning 1 and reaching the other final though.

The last time it happened for the men was in 2013 when Nadal def. Raonic in Canada and then Isner in Cincinnati. Before that it was Roddick in 2003 when he had his summer dream run.

has anyone seen Pliskbot's new tourna grip commercial?

VDW is Coco

Domi's Kiki is Mladenovic

Bertens wins

it's crazy that not only is this Bertens' first hardcourt title, it's her first hardcourt final. Everything else has been on clay for her and of course she did well at Wimbledon last month

Gramps team

Bertens looks like a KLM flight attendant, big boned Dutch women you don't fuck with.

Darren and Brad saying Djokovic has gained about 5kg since March. His current team thought he was too thin earlier this year. He's not still too skinny to them?

oh dear we got Grumps in the house today. He already got a code violation after getting broken in the first set. Now if he can come back in the second we could see a grumpy Nole too

Did Novak pay some supporters in the crowd? First time I recall hearing anyone in the stands chanting "Nole! Nole!" after he won a set

Nole is Decker thin. Scary. Now does anyone have spare HoHos?

Crush him Roger, crush him like a little bug!

Roger is playing angry. Distracted.

If Roger's serve gets even shakier, Djokovic will be running away with this. And rightfully so, since Roger has shown very little in this match so far.

They've played so often, you'd think Roger would have been able to get over how irritating he finds Novak.

Ughh.

Tit toss incoming!

And Poor Roger is stuck in that hideous Uniqlo shirt.

Why would Fed find him to be any less so than the rest of us, i.e. Djokovic is more annoying than ever.

Well, because it seems to affect his game, R453

Match stats are 22/39 for Federer (-17) and 12/16 for Djokovic (-4) not a clean match at all. Federer was abysmal returning serves. Even Djokovic's second serve. He looked every bit of 37 today

He's the champ "for today"

Nole!

So glad Novak won! I went all week, survived traffic on 71 and rain, rain. I HATE Roger Federer and his arrogance. Novak was a brat all week too - but the oohs and ahhs when Fed misses a shot by the crowd is annoying. Novak has all the Super 9's now and he increased his h-h with Fed by two. I never thought he would win the way he played Mannarino or Dmitrov.

*Hoping that Djokovic lands in either Nadal or Federer's quarter and the one who doesn't get him gets Cilic. I'm also hoping that Murray and Wawrinka end up as early round opponents for Nadal and Federer. I want the big 5 all tired out by the SF

Well, I think we can count on Roger getting all night matches, and the totally "random" draw won't have him facing a seed until the Quarters.

it was funny to hear the espn commentators today talk about the fact that Federer and Nadal fans go at each other hard on social media and each side always thinks tournaments are conspiring against their favorite player with draws and match scheduling. I wasn't sure if the commentators paid attention that much to what fans say but they do

So Gramps is particularly grumpy today? Quelle surprise!

The draw is random. The scheduling is not. Expect Federer to play night matches except for the weekend/Labor Day sessions, where they'll want him on in the afternoon.

Fed's boyf, er, coach little Sevrin Lutie (sp) wears a Barilla pasta hat. Enough reason to despise the entire Fed team.

^well, Federer has a $40 million endorsement deal with the Barilla Group

That figures. That asshole closeted fuck can burn in hell with Mirka.

[quote]They've played so often, you'd think Roger would have been able to get over how irritating he finds Novak.

I think what irritates Roger most is that he has a losing record against Novak.

R466, has Roger so much as dated anyone besides Mirka? They appear to have been together since the early days of his career.

he and Mirka met during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and have been together ever since. Both were obviously on the Swiss team

Input needed from tennis fans

R449: Roger never learns anythings, that's the reason he has negative head to heads against Rafa and Nole. He plays always the same way expecting that his talent save his ass. Some GS final could have been wins for him if he dare to have an strategy against his rivals.

Roger is probably the great champion with less extratennistical qualities of a great champion, fortunately for him he is the most talented player

r471 WTF?

Is this where we talk about Winston-Salem Open?

LOL Halep pulled out of New Haven with an 'injury'. Cahill had assured everyone she was going to play. Love the dedication of these players to the tour! CoCo lost again too.

Help!

Halep's mistake was committing to New Haven in the first place. She's #1, finally won a Grand Slam title, been around for more than a few years now, has racked up $26 million in on-court earnings, and had already committed to 2 bigger tourneys the prior 2 weeks. There was absolutely no upside to committing to a relatively small tournament the week before the Open. I don't know if players like Halep are poorly advised or just plain dumb, but she's in a position where she should know from here on out, it's all about putting yourself in position to win the majors.

Why didn't Madison Keys play New Haven? American hard court tourney with a poor US turn out.

I knew Halep would skip but I don't blame her.

Let's speculate on what Rafa and Roger do this week in NYC.

Roger - watching Mirka spend his millions, dealing with Uniqlo reps, schmoozing his way through cocktail parties organized by Anna Wintour

Rafa - gym, practice, physio, massage, dining at Salinas, repeat

I'm sure Halep had a significant appearance fee to sign on to New Haven. Would explain why she showed up on site to announce her withdrawal. If you don't show up to the event, they won't pay the fee. (As it is, I think they only pay a percentage of the fee if you don't actually play.)

The bigger surprise is Wozniacki not playing New Haven. She has a history of doing well there, and she's very light on matches entering the US Open... I think she has won one match since Wimbledon?

The US Open podcast had an interview with Lindsay Davenport today where she talked about playing New Haven every year, because it was more relaxing to prep there, play a few matches, and not have to deal with the NYC traffic and crowds this week. Kvitova has made similar statements in the past. It's always struck me as great preparation. It's a smaller draw, ends on Saturday, and is a 2 hour limo ride (same time zone) to get to NYC once it wraps up. Plus you get some decent match practice on identical courts, a decent sized stadium, and a pretty tough field. I can see not playing if you went deep in Canada and Cincy, but if not you may as well take the wildcard.

There's always about 5 people in the stands at New Haven, and usually four of them are parents of the players.

They’ve come a long way to see their kids, R481.

Is there a US Open thread? Draws are out!

Official US Open Thread

This is where we talk about US Open:

US Open thread Part IV. Continue your foolishness.

New US Open thread. Part V.

Bump.

So Sabalenka, overwhelming favorite in Quebec City, loses her opening round match to Lepchenko in 2 tough sets

Former No.35 Olga Govortsova won her first main draw match since becoming a mother.

Number of news articles or even just *tweets* @WTA posted about that: 0

[quote] Former No.35 Olga Govortsova won her first main draw match since becoming a mother. Number of news articles or even just *tweets* @WTA posted about that: 0

Figures. Not compelling enough.

R490 never heard of her.

Without Nadal i think Spain doesn't have a chance against France (curiously with Nadal Spain was the clearly favourite).

Spanish federation should cross their fingers to wish the young promises (Kuhn, Davidovic) really end being great players because Spain will be out of top players soon

I don't understand why they schedule any Davis or Fed Cup tie right after a slam if they want the top players to play. Now sure, top players don't always reach the last few rounds of a slam but often they do, since they're a top player. Even if Nadal weren't injured, he likely would need to rest and recover as he reached the SF of the USO.

Are any of you on Spain team for Davis Cup?

USTA chief @katadams68 overheard apologizing to chair umpire Carlos Ramos for the fallout from US Open final at the draw for Davis Cup SF draw between US and Croatia in Zadar

How immensely brave from Adams to slander Ramos in public and on TV and then "apologize" privately.

Naomi Osaka announced as new ambassador for Nissan.

As @FortyDeuceTwits pointed out on the latest @NCR_Tennis, Osaka could be on a trajectory to become highest paid sportswoman in the world in the near future.

Wasn’t there some kind of feud between Paire and Pouille?

I don't know about his relationship with Pouille but Paire had not been invited to play Davis Cup until now. He was on France's Olympic team in 2016 but reportedly behaved badly and the federation said he would never represent France again. I guess something's changed since.

Poohey

Paire and Pouille seem pretty chummy now

Kat Adams looks really butch in that Twitter photo.

EVERYONE knows she was a TOKEN hire as USTA President. Zina Garrison was wrongfully fired as Fed Cup captain because the USTA preferred dull as dishwater Mary Joe Fernandez, whose husband coincidentally is Roger Federer's agent. The US never won a Fed Cup under MJF, but did instantly with Kathy Rinaldi. Garrison filed a lawsuit against the USTA and to show diversity - they made Adams the USTA Prez knowing she would be a focal/vocal point. Adams loves traveling the world as prez, all those free dinners(!).

And Adams has done an excellent job of illustrating just how poor a decision that was by the USTA.

Adams should be fired, after she issues a public apology to Ramos.

As expected Spain is tanking against France. It doesn't matter if Bautista and Carreño have better ranking, they are not Davis material, they underperform everytime

Osaka returns to action next week in Tokyo, that has a decent field with Wozniacki, Stephens, Muguruza, Azarenka, Garcia, Pliskova and more. Perhaps most interesting is the 1R match scheduled between the recent winners of the US Open Women's Doubles title, Barty vs. Vandeweghe.

yeah it'll be interesting to see how Osaka handles the pressure being in her "home" country. The media went wild there after she won the USO and she could very likely be the highest paid female athlete very soon.

Cilic imploded against Querrey

Borna-Tiafoe is the deciding match

Federer as GOAT.

While it's not a universal opinion, many (a majority?) of tennis fans consider Federer to be the greatest player ever. So I was researching his records.

PRO: He has more Grand Slam singles titles (20) than any other player. Nadal (17), Djokovic (14) are 2nd and tied for 3rd respectively. He has more weeks at No. 1 (310 total) than any other player. Sampras is 2nd (286), and Djokovic 5th (223), but second among active players.

CONS: Losing H2H records against his two main rivals Nadal and Djokovic, Connors has more match wins and tournament titles (although Federer is 2nd in both categories, and has a slight chance to catch him), Borg has a better match winning (Win-Loss) percentage, Sampras has the most years ending as No. 1 (6).

So Federer has two big claims on the GOAT title, but the truth is, he could lose either or both of those stats to either Djokovic or Nadal, who are currently the hottest players on Tour, and a fair number of years younger than Federer.

So...what's the likelihood Federer loses either of those two claims, and - if so - is he still considered the GOAT?

Parmentier wins Quebec City over Pegula and Hsieh wins Hiroshima over Anisimova

DL Fave Bouchard has qualified into the Tokyo main draw!

Coric vs. Tiafoe was a fun match between 2 young studs.

Argentina, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden, Japan, Great Britain and Serbia won the Davis Cup playoffs

Not that it will make any difference. All the losers today will also play in the qualification round of the new format along with the winners and those who lost in quarter of finals as they are among the 12 best teams not previously qualified with best ranking of their zone

Félix Auger Aliassime's Davis Cup team initiation included playing in his underwear

Coric-Tiafoe was the worst choke fest ever. Coric had played anyone decent he would have lost badly. Tiafoe almost got it done with gifts. When will someone teach him a new forehand?

Funny about Katrina Adams. Apparently her secret gf travels with her - but she won't allow her to sit near her at public events. Who cares in this day and age?

R514 Perhaps she doesn't want to be a "double minority", or possibly her family (or supposed gf's family) disapproves so they're trying to be discreet (if this is true about a secret gf).

Sharapova has withdrawn from all the remaining tournaments she was scheduled to play this year, to 'rest and recuperate' (?)

So will there be an announcement in the next few weeks of her testing positive for something else?

Poor dear. Her heart condition must be acting up again.

damn I was hoping to see her lose some more

R509: I think a big part of Federer is the goat has to do with him being extremely talented and his game being beautiful. Federer fails at a lot of things great champions generally do (he is not good when he is not dominating, he lacks the killing instinct to end matches on a faster way, he seems to not learn from his mistakes and is not good with planning the matches, like playing the same against Nadal showed for years and years) but his inmense talent made him a great champion.

The big problem is that he is not a dominant players, he had trouble against Nadal even when Nadal was not a top player, and he never learned how to defeat him (till very recently). His h2h against Novak is bad too. He should be dominant against both because he played both when he was a top player and they were young novices, so he should have a big advantage on the early matches.

the truth is there are arguments for the goat (against and in favour) of Federer and Nadal (even Djokovic if he catch Nadal's GS numbers). I think it's impossible to dominate all the estadistics, and right now Federer is the best. He has other advantage, he would be a big champion in any era, because his game is timeless (while Nadal's game would be very different even if he was a 90's player) it's the new technology the one that made possible his type of game

Tiafoe had a very dissapointing year. He has a lot of potential (and he is a very charismatic player) but his progression was minimal this year, while other youngsters advanced he is stalled (and showing signs of mental weakness in decissive moments of the matches)

Tiafoe cracked the top 40 and won a title which is a big step up for him. He also started doing better at some of the bigger events. I think he'll continue to progress next year. He's definitely going to the under 21 event in Milan so he can't be doing that badly. Of the others in the top 8 race for that event now, only Zverev and Rublev have at least 1 title (Zverev of course has several).

Genie loses 1st round of Tokyo after qualifying. 4-6 4-6 to fellow qualifier Riske

What are you talking about, R521? Tiafoe is only 20 and is now ranked in the top 40 after winning Delray Beach and making the final of Estoril. Only 3 players his age or younger are in the top 40, and he's now the 4th ranked American. That's pretty damn good for a kid who wasn't coddled through country clubs and tennis academies.

*3 other players

The irony, R514, is that Adams thinks she's hiding anything at all.

[quote] Genie loses 1st round of Tokyo after qualifying

Pencil why dost thou fail me?

Is this where we talk about St. Petersburg?

This is the only "Rogers cup" that I give a shit about.

[quote]Genie loses 1st round of Tokyo after qualifying. 4-6 4-6 to fellow qualifier Riske

Sloane, Coco and Kiki M. were also knocked out in the 1st round again

Has Pat Cash quit as Coco's coach yet? NO way she trains or works hard. She's one lazy dumb player who cops the injury excuse again and again. What a deplorable waste.

Guess what, R529--we don't give a shit what you give a shit about.

'Team Europe' has arrived in Chicago, where the Laver Cup will take place this weekend

Frances Tiafo will join Team World because Del Potro dropped out

Is this where we talk about Laver Cup?

the Laver Cup is the dumbest idea...exo in the middle of the season. Some of these same players will then bitch about an off-season that's too short but they have time to play shit like this because it pays and it's only a couple days

Lahyani has been suspended for his 'pep talk' in the Kyrgios-Herbert match.

R524: Whatever you want. The truth is Shapovalov or Tsitsipas are younger and their progression is way more clear. Tiafoe is top 40 which is good but last year he reached 60, it's not exactly a big leap (and two years ago he even reached the top 100). Anyway the main problem is that he has a tendency to lose the tight matches. In Delray Beach he was only winning but defeating dangerous rivals in tight matches but that didn't happened the rest of the year

R535: They play shit like this because they want the money. Nobody obligues them to play. I find very obnoxious when some players complain about how hard is the circuit or not wanting to play Davis cup because it's exhausting but then they play a good bunch of exhibition tournaments.

Now your priorities and if you want playing exhibition tournaments just do it but at least shut the fuck up

R537, get back to me when you have a decent grasp of basic English.

R539: Probably that'll never going to happen. We spanish are known for our problems with foreign languages.

Have a nice day too

Del Potro dropped out? How are they going to make this competitive? The World team is anchored by Anderson and Isner. That's just pathetic.

Does the "world team" really think Sock will help them win? Unless he's just doing doubles. His singles this year? baby...

I'm attending Laver Cup. I just read that Delpo is leaving. I LIKE Tiafoe very much, but I was really looking forward to seeing Delpo.

Why Europe vs. the rest of the World?

R543, do you like to talk about Laver Cup?

I'm hearing rumours Serena has had a baby.

R544 because Europe has most of the top 50 players in the world. The other parts of the world combined have to join up to rival them.

[quote] I'm hearing rumours Serena has had a baby.

Why I never in all my life!

Serena is the super-ist super-mom of all super-moms; she has a bay AND plays professional tennis!

Where is her bay?

Sharapova must have taken the rest of the season off to work on her "confidence." And by confidence, I mean she's probably in Russia scoping out some new PED that will get past screening.

wow those Tokyo courts are playing fast. The bigger hitters are mostly winning so far. Super-flat hitter Riske just upset Muguruza too

I wish Maria would just go away.

She’s not going to, r553. She’s got too much tied up in lucrative deals to just drop out like that. I tend to agree with r551—she’s doubtlessly working on some new PED that the WTA and other powers-that-be can safely agree to as a TUE. Obviously the last drug they OK’d isn’t working.

She and the WTA honchos are the pits.

R554 I doubt she'd try to use something she could get a TUE for - that would be a matter of public record and would be open to scrutiny.

I think she's realised her body isn't what it used to be, she's lost that aura of invincibility she once had and no-one is afraid of her anymore. She hasn't made any statement about injury so it has to be mental.

Where’s Mirka?

I'm impressed that Roddick isn't completely bald by now. It started going the last 3-4 years of his playing career

The gay? What are we like the Borg collective now?

R556, she's busy counting money . . .

Some Laver Cup bromance

More

"Me. myself and I" pretty much sums up the apparent A. Zverev world view.

[quote] "Me. myself and I" pretty much sums up the apparent A. Zverev world view.

M., M.I.self and I: An Autobiography by A. Zverev with a Foreward by M. Zverev

Hahaha! I do love Diego using this heart filter for Sascha though and Sascha just followed him on Instagram around the same time. Should Marcelo be concerned?

Shapo is fabulous.

Who on DL is attracted to Shapo sexually?

I'd bend him right over.

I'm surprised that Wawrinka def. Khachanov in St. Petersburg

[quote] I doubt she'd try to use something she could get a TUE for - that would be a matter of public record and would be open to scrutiny.

No, r555. TUEs are definitely not public. Remember the Russian hack from a while back that made the Williams TUEs public, and Venus screamed blue murder and violation of privacy?

Mirka was sampling her first taste of Chicago Stuffed Pizza. She won't be seen on tv during Roger's stay in Chicago.

Here’s a good rundown of what happened, r555, from Business Insider.

Team Europe with coach Bjorn Borg (Chardy is an alternate?)

Europe Team or World Team?

Another Team Europe pic.... A variety of suit styles to choose from. Zverev looks the most stylish to me. Sadly, no bulge on any of them.

Great photo, r574.

There are only two sartorial faux pas in the whole lot, but boy are they howlers—the length of Dimitrov’s trousers over a pair of Doc Martens (?!?!?), and Djokovic’s double-breasted suit. You couldn’t get any cheaper if you tried matching a Dimitrov with a Sharapova. Goffin is the most elegant, and even Kyle Edmund looks good. Zverev the Younger could wear a sack and it would look good on his frame, and Federer has obviously spent thousands on that suit. It’s a shame his jacket isn’t complete undone, though, because he’s got the biggest bulge out of that group.

Nadal to miss Asian swing because of injured right knee.

Is this where we talk about Asian swing?

568: Stan can defeat anyone on a good day and it was a close match (Khachanov is a good player but mentally he is not the stronger, in fact most russians are head cases).

Team Europe is way better than team world this year. This is a funny tournament, the type that helps to promote the sport

Should the WTA have a Court Cup?

R578: I doubt anyone on the wta tour wants to play a tournament with the name of that bitch

do we know how Laver feels about gays?

He seems to be very fond of Federer, r580.

R580: If he was a blatant homophobe like Court we should know

[quote] I doubt anyone on the wta tour wants to play a tournament with the name of that bitch

It wouldn’t be named after anyone. It would instead be a tournament named after tennis courts in general. For example one year the tournament could honor inner city courts and be held on such courts. And rather than a Europe vs. the World format it could be Compelling vs. Non-Compelling players. And instead of foreign heads of state and crowned heads of Europe attending, the guests would include a sprinkling of actors of stage and screen, fashion designers and other celebrities.

Federer and Djokovic are playing doubles together tomorrow night against Anderson/Sock

Color me shocked that Roger and Novak are playing together. I think that Goffin looks the best in the suit shot.

Why are we not talking about Laver Cup? Is this not the place?

According to her agent, Maria is retiring after the 2019 season.

At last!

Youzhny has retired after losing to RBA.

Odd question - Should Youzhny have got a code violation for that time he smacked himself so hard with his racquet he cut his head open and blood poured all down his face?

Not racquet abuse per se, r589 (and he was only abusing himself, after all), so I’d say not even the strictest interpretation of the rules would lead to a code violation in that instance.

In Seoul the SF will be Bertens vs. Sakkari and Hsieh vs. Tomljanovic. Defending champ Ostapenko is definitely slumping now and lost in the second round.

In Guangzhou the final will be between Q. Wang who won her first title earlier this year and the always fiesty titleless Putintseva.

In Tokyo the SF will be between (not surprisingly) 4 fast court lovers- Pliskova vs. Vekic and Osaka vs. Giorgi. Azarenka retired with a thigh injury down 3-5 to Giorgi

The Wuhan draw is out. I think everyone of note is there except for Serena, Venus and Sharapova

In St. Petersburg the SF are Wawrinka vs. Klizan and Thiem vs. Bautista Agut

In Metz the SF will be Nishikori vs. a German scrub (Bachinger and Maden are playing now ) and Simon vs. Albot

both Tsitsipas and Shapovalov will go another week without a title. Both lost close matches.

The WTA YouTube channel uploaded a highlight of the Guangzhou semifinal matches. The stadium is almost empty.

Roger's cup, I don't see what the big deal is.

R593 = George Lazenby, the ex-Mr. Pam Shriver

oh Roger you silly boy!

oops! Novak almost rams a ball up Roger's ass!

I am really rooting for Court Cup to be established so we can talk about it.

It's time to take it to a new thread...

That new thread is...

a Domicakes edition...

And you can find it here....