The Gays and Tennis 30: Is This Where We Talk About Laver Cup?

OP....WTF? Link relevance?

We need to discover some new cakes for future threads.

Murray's ending his season after Beijing to concentrate on his fitness.

Next year should be interesting on atp (on wta not so much, wta really needs new rising stars as soon as possible)

Porna in Shenzhen

I was at the Laver Cup night session yesterday. Great match between Schwartzman and Goffin, actually more compelling than the Federer/Djokovic doubles match. The two of them looked like they just couldn’t get in a rhythm.

I thought it was really cruel of the organisers to put Schwartzman next to Isner in that publicity photo. It made Schwartman look like a child.

Damn Porna is hot!!

I had a good view of the players’ couches from where we sat. Team Europe was very restrained and low-key, Team World was all over the place. Also Isner has absolutely ENORMOUS hands. Every time he started clapping they were all I could focus on.

That kid Jary from Chile is pretty!

Jack Sock & Lil' Diego

Guangzhou: Q. Wang def. Putintseva to win second title of career and year

Seoul: the final will be between Bertens and Tomljanovic seeking her first title

Tokyo: Osaka will face Pliskova. Nice to see Osaka has kept her USO momentum going

St. Petersburg: Thiem will face Klizan who upset Wawrinka today

Metz: Bachinger upset Nishikori and will face Simon for the title

I think Osake is going to be a nightmare for most top players. She has the big weapons but at the same time she has the defensive skills and she seems able to keep calm on court

I really like Osaka but just can't see her dominating. There's something missing but I can't put my finger on it.

Anyone else feel this way or am I just a dreadful pessimist?

She’s already doing much better than other first-time GS winners.

Europe Team or the rest of the World Team?

Europe team is way better.

With Osaka is difficult to know. She did fantastic at IW, she wasn't even nervous in the final, but she didn't rise her game till the US OPen. Next year will be useful to know if she is really going to be an amazing player or simply a good player who shows her skills from time to time like all the other top players. If she is comfortable being inconsistent like Kvitova or Muguruza or if she really wants to be one of the greats. In my opinion she has some advantages over most top players. She has weapons, a good serve, but she is able to defeat and even better she seems able to keep calm in the big matches. Of course you need some killing instinct, a hunger for winnng to really get into the next level (the young Monica Seles is a perfect example of that) and i don't know if she has that. But i will be surprised if she won't win at least a couple of more GS

Osaka always had a big forehand and decent first serve. Her backhand will always be her weaker side though it's improved. The 2 biggest improvements she's made under Sascha are improved movement and consistency. She's getting to more balls which allows her to set up better and be more patient. I was very eager to see how she'd handle the fast and powerful (but inconsistent) Giorgi in the SF and she almost breezed through the match. Osaka won most of the longer points and wasn't bothered by the pace Giorgi was throwing her way.

Osaka has been dominant all week long whereas Pliskova has gone 3 sets in every match. The last time they played in IW Osaka won handily too. The final should be interesting

Nadal sits it out. So I will too. And I love tennis.

Genie Bouchard, clearly out of the goodness of her heart, decided to give someone else a chance to win Wuhan this week. She instead chose to enter Tashkent, where she is the CLEAR title favorite

To whom does A. Zverev appeal?

I am most definitely not one of the whoms, R22, given AZ's arrogance, petulance, and overall assholery.

And yes, you are a dreadful pessimist, R15. Osaka is one of the few from the WTA whom I enjoy watching any more--crafty, nimble, understated, professional and seemingly effortless.

Coric needs a thread gathering all of his shirtless and ass pics. I don't understand why Thiem is the DL tennis poster boy instead. That ass is outweighed by the Keebler elfishness and his beard.

Chengdu and Shenzen draws out too.

Lots of opportunity in Chengdu with someone unexpected to win the title as unreliable Fognini (who has just 1 hardcourt title he won this year) and titleless Chung as the top 2 seeds.

Shenzen has the better field including WC Murray. Goffin and titleless Tsitsipas are the top 2 seeds.

*Lots of opportunity in Chengdu FOR someone

Smoldering.

R22 His appeal ends at his hair.

it's so weird seeing Roger and Novak acting like bffs during the Laver Cup. They've been seen talking to each other for long periods of time and laughing, cheering each other on etc. just weird!

Pliskova def. Osaka 6-4 6-4 for the Tokyo title. For the first time all week, Osaka was visibly nervous and frustrated. Her backhand was too flat and she made a lot of unforced errors off that side.

R27 I'd say Z's appeal ends at his personality.

Kevin’s Anderson’s wife was just on Instagram and she was showing all the swag they received from the Laver cup! She’s real sweet and very attractive!

Bertens wins Seoul in 3 sets

Thiem wins St. Petersburg easily

Simon wins Metz in straights

Simon will never fade away

Simon is a vulture. He takes advantage of when top players (in this case Nishikori) get upset. Simon and Gasquet are small-tournament whores as that's all they can win.

I think Zverev could be a fan favourite, he is quite handsome and he knows how to be charming when he wants. Unfortunately he is arrogant and his behaviour on court is far from being the best. If he is able to start to behave on court and downs the ego a bit it could work (but i don't have high hopes about that). And right now he is clearly the best young player (in fact he is the only one who is a top player) but i don't know how he'll react when the rivals start to catch him, specially if he didn't reach the next level on GS soon

A. Zverev is a poor loser and has already set a precedent of being a jerk to umpires, linespeople, the press, and pretty much everyone else. Let's hope he's overtaken soon by the likes of Tsitsipas, Auger-Aliassime, Coric, Tiafoe and others who may not have reached their potential as quickly but at least know how to be gentlemen on the court, even if they have the occasional broken tennis racket.

R36: You have a very loose concept of gentleman. Maybe none of them has reached the Zverev levels of assholery but most of them had their moments of bad behaviour in their short career. Even a nice guy like De Miñaur smashed a raquet on the US Open.

Most young players seem very nice outside court (in fact even Zverev seems nice most of the time even he can't hide his big ego) but on court they are generally very aggressive and they seem to have some problems when things don't go their way. It's true that Zverev behaviour should be corrected as soon as possible, but the rest are no angels (not even Tsitsipas who seems a very nice and inteligent guy).

And i hope Felix problems on the US Open were not important, that guy has a lot of potential

man, that Coric has a cock on him... whew

He pulled out of Laver cup.

Shapo's idol is Vladimir Putin and he dreams of the possibility of meeting the Russian president.

R40 did he really say that?

He even wants to move to Russia.

wow. I wonder if he even pays attention to the news. I'm sure they're as hard on him in Canada as they are here.

Then again, Shapo had no clue Celine Dion is Canadian so he's quite ignorant.

I mean if he supports the way Putin rules Russia with his corruption, money laundering and crackdown on human rights, that's problematic.

When you want to please the audience on a tournament things like this can happen and i don't know if his comments will be that popular on his own country He doesn't seem particulary bright (which is not rare on profesional sports)

I am not a fan of Laver Cup, which is just a glorified series of exhibition matches, but I do like seeing Isner lose.

I think the Laver is fun.

Yes, R37, it's a low bar: Don't scream invective at umpires and the crowd, don't roll your eyes and walk out of press conferences when asked questions that aren't adulatory, and don't yell "this is my fucking court" when you win a match. The younger Zverev doesn't even get over the low bar, whereas the others do. A broken tennis racket doesn't mind getting abused.

Roddick

His sculpted brows....

Genie Bouchard put up a valiant effort but lost 3-6 3-6 to World #1 dominant player Nao Hibino in the first round of grand slam Tashkent. Bouchard has been so unlucky this year drawing Hibino 3 times, including just last week and lost all 3 times.

Team Europe with the Laver Cup

What do we think will happen to the Laver Cup when Fed retires (sooner rather than later if I had to put money on it)? Will he take over as Team Europe captain?

R52, Fed will be assimilated into the Borg collective. Resistance is futile.

Carlita shows her pussy

[quote] Carlita shows her pussy

Who’s that?

[quote]Shapo's idol is Vladimir Putin and he dreams of the possibility of meeting the Russian president.

[quote]He even wants to move to Russia.

Nonsense. I suspect the article is concocted by Russian media, and we know Putin controls that... in other words, I speculate that it is Putin who would like to meet Shapo, and offer him citizenship. Shapo is fluent in Russian, which is rare on the world-stage.

R55 Carla Suarez Navarro, Spanish tennis player. Last seen losing to Madison Keys in the US Open quarterfinals.

[quote]Last seen losing to Madison Keys in the US Open quarterfinals

CSN actually played in Wuhan today, but lost to Sabalenka

Carlita has a beautiful pussy.

And it's quite obvious that Federer has a thing for bad guys, he really seems to care for Zverev (and Kyrgios) and the advice he gave Sascha was really good

Shapo said it all. If you read the Russian interview he says that he has a "Russian soul" and that he's annoyed that Anglophone Canadians still can't say his name properly.

R60: Great way to become a fan favourite in your country

Canadian press I would think is against Putin too...I hope Shapo gets destroyed for these comments. What an ignorant brat. I hope he never wins a slam

Bieber is also very ignorant too.

[quote]Osaka is one of the few from the WTA whom I enjoy watching any more--crafty, nimble, understated, professional and seemingly effortless.

Couldn’t agree more, r23.

Is this where we talk about tennis death? If not let’s make it so.

Tennis Star's Ex-Husband Killed Their 2 Children as They Slept Before Turning Gun on Himself

On September 21, Stephanie Reece received a call that no parent wants to get. Her two children, Harrison, 15, and Shelby, 13, had not shown up to school.

When the former pro tennis player — who competed at Wimbledon and in the US Open in the Nineties — could not get a hold of her children or her ex-husband, Michael Hunn, she drove over to Hunn’s house in Zionsville, Indiana but the doors were locked and secured and nobody answered.

She knew something was wrong, so she called the police.

Officers entered the home around 10:30 a.m. and discovered Shelby and Harrison in their beds, fatally shot, and Hunn, 50, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Wow I guess no one cares about the much vaunted Asian Swing.

Help lost 06-, 5-7 today to Cibulkova.

R66 I'm following it. A lot of upsets so far in Wuhan

btw a rumored #nextgen couple is Michael Mmoh and Fanny Stollar

[quote] Carla Suarez Navarro, Spanish tennis player. Last seen losing to Madison Keys in the US Open quarterfinals.

I don't know her.

Puig! def. Wozniacki 7-6 7-5 in Wuhan. Kvitova and Kerber also lost, so none of the top 10 seeds reached the QF

Shapovalov & Tsitsipas both lost in Shenzhen

Puig!

Serena's pulled out of the China Open.

[quote] Serena's pulled out of the China Open.

Fortunately her husband pulled out so she never had a baby.

Puig is great but frustrating to root for, all the ingredients are there, but wildly mentally inconsistent. In many ways, she's Sloane Stephens without a major.

I wish the Asian Swing kicked off the year, leading up to the Australian Open, and the season just ends after the US Open. The top players are done, hurt, or going through the motions, opening the door for the Jack Socks and Caroline Garcias to get an inflated ranking for a year that doesn't really reflect their playing level.

The 'Asian Swing' has never really taken off.

As R74 says, the top players are done for the year and the spectator numbers are embarrassing.

Puig doesn't have as good of a serve as Sloane

Muguruza just lost to Siniakova (who defeated defending champ Garcia the other day in rd1)

Auger-Aliassime lost in the final round of qualifying but as a lucky loser is now into the QF of Chengdu after defeating Chung in 3 sets. He'll have a good shot at reaching the SF since his opponent will be Tomic

Félix!

Coric just lost to Norrie in straight sets. For someone whose game is predicated on consistency, Coric sure is inconsistent.

Mugurutha

The Lavatory Cup

The Asian Schwing

Muguuruza should focus on her tennis and not on red carpets. She has everything to be a multi GS winner but sometimes she seems that she doesn't care

So a WTA Tier I, with most of the top players present, and the draw cut-off at No. 48, is down to the eight remaining players ranked 17, 20, 27, 31, 34, 39, 47, and 51.

Is it any wonder stands would be empty? These aren't bad players - all but Puig are top 50 - but if you don't follow the sport closely, you're lucky to know one of the remaining 8 players. Will the casual tennis fan decide to attend even if they don't know *anyone* on court?

last 8 in Tashkent

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova

Mona Barthel

Kateryna Kozlova

Fanny Stollar

Dalila Jakupovic

Vera Lapko

Anastasia Potapova

Margarita Gasparyan

Draw for Qualifying round of Davis Cup 2019 (to be held on 1-2 Feb)

Brazil-Belgium

Uzbekistan-Serbia

Australia-Bosnia

India-Italy

Germany-Hungary

Switzerland-Russia

Kazakhstan-TBA

Czech Republic-Netherlands

Colombia-Sweden

Austria-Chile

TBA-Canada

China-Japan

The TBA will depend on the regulation play off of group 1 to be played next month. It is either Portugal, Slovakia, Belarus or South Africa depending on the ranking after these matches

The equivalent would be a Tier I Men's event that saw all the top guys lose early: Nadal AND Federer AND Djokovic AND Murray AND DelPotro AND Wawrinka AND Zverev AND Thein AND Cilic AND Anderson AND Dimitrov AND Isner.

I think the closest we saw was Paris last October, which had the final eight as :Nadal, Krajonovic, Del Porto, Isner, Benneteau, Cilic, Verdasco, Sock

to be fair, Serena, Venus, Sharapova, Azarenka and Osaka all withdrew from the tournament.

the Thiem brothers in an elevator

Murray will face Goffin today...should be an interesting match

[quote]Murray will face Goffin today...should be an interesting match

Judy's excited

Thiem Thiem team

I am on Thiem team too.

[quote] Murray will face Goffin today...should be an interesting match

I am on Misery team.

Would be so fun to be double Thiemed

[quote]Fortunately [Serena’s] husband pulled out so she never had a baby.

But I heard somewhere she HAD A BABY!!! and was the only woman in the world who had won a tennis match after having A BABY!!!!, r72.

Is Serena going to play the YEC?

Porna's basket!

Hadley Freeman in the Guardian has written a rather ill-advised article about how Serena is representative of all women (?). The 800-plus comments are not very Serena-friendly.

R97 she hasnt qualified and wont

I think Serena's days of playing the Asian Swing are over unless she does it as part of a farewell tour. She's in it for Grand Slam titles only. I mentioned it on another thread but I think at most it will be the 4 GS, one tuneup tourney before AO, French and the US, and maybe Indian Wells or Miami but not both.

The latest Beyond the Baseline podcast has Wertheim and Annacone gushing over The Laver Cup, culminating in Wertheim suggesting the event could challenge The Grand Slams in popularity.

Discuss.

Is Wertheim heavily medicated? Or am I missing something by thinking of Laver Cup as a glorified exhibition?

[quote] culminating in Wertheim suggesting the event could challenge The Grand Slams in popularity.

Puhlease.

if they want to hold that Laver Cup shit DO IT IN THE OFF SEASON. Stop acting like an exho is more important than a real event. What a dumbass thing for them to say

Laver Cup appeal comes from an opportunity to see players who normally fight against each others as a part of one team - it worked great with Rafa and Roger last year, not nearly as good with Djok and Roger this year though. Another pairing people were hyped about was Zverev & Roger as the representation of two distinct generations. If Laver Cup can guarantee the line up of charismatic players it will survive, but without it the Europe- rest of the world rivarly is not enough to make people that interested.

Well Misery beat Goffin and will face Vedasco again.

Misery team

US Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier has stepped down after 8 years

R108, is he going to coach young Grigor?

I was watching a rerun of a Hopman Cup match between Federer and Sock. I knew Sock had a big ass but I never noticed it was that huge. It’s probably bigger than that of Domicakes Thiem. Thoughts on Sock’s ass?

Zverev and Melo are having fun in Beijing.

I'm watching the Shenzhen Open quarters with Ramos-Vinolas and Herbert. Ramos-Vinolas is showing a nice package in his white shorts. Herbert's trim-fit blue shorts are cute as well. Both guys look like they can use some sleep and a cheeseburger though.

Popsicle

The final day scheduling of the tacky Laver Cup was designed for Roger's ego. Scheduling him in the 1st 2matches of the day - back to back - he could clinch it with 2 wins. Leaving Novak to play the final match would have put the pressure on him if it had come down to a live final match. As it turned out Novak didn't get to play. Roger is such an asshole and if anyone thinks mental midget Bjorn Borg set that schedule, well......

The Laver Cup has been a huge success but it is still a glorified exho. It's a good chance for the relatively lesser known players to raise their profiles and of course there's loads of money in it for everyone.

There are tournaments out there that could only dream of attendance figures like those.

Mmmm, I like a furry Popsicle.

Would suck him dry on Centre Court 😋

Serena to take the rest of the season off.

I didn’t realize Popsicle had chest hair. Surprised.

[quote] Serena to take the rest of the season off.

Is it because she had a...?

So will he come out now, r108?

[quote]Is it because she had a...?

a hangnail, r120?

Verdasco beats Andy Murray 6-4 6-4 to reach the Shenzen SF

God, Popsicle is yummmier than before with his chest hair. I was losing interest in him, but schwing, he's got my attention again.

yeah, that chest is droolworthy

Murray had already lost that match when he said he was pulling out for the rest of the year.

Tomic having one of his few good weeks. People like Tomic are the reason Roger, Novak and Rafa's career are lasting that long. It's not the same playing with 33 when you know you only have a little odd of winning a GS that playing when you are one of the big favourites. There were a couple of generations who had the game but not the mentality to dethrene the big three. And the next gen is probably the same but they had the big advantage that now Roger, Nole and Rafa are old, so it's only a question of time

Diva Verdasco.

Is this where we talk about Ryder Cup?

R128 Ugh Verdasco is disgusting.

yay new titlist! In Tashkent, Margarita Gasparyan (who became top 50 a few years ago before injury) def. rising 17 year old Anastasia Potapova 6-2 6=1

in Wuhan, Sabalenka wins her second career title def. Kontaveit 6-3 6-3

in Chengdu Fognini def. Fritz in 3 sets and will face a resurgent Tomic who def. Sousa in straights

in Shenzen we're guaranteed a new titlist! yay! Nishioka won a third set tiebreak over Verdasco and will face Herbert who also won a third set tiebreak over de Minaur

Beijing and Tokyo draws are out. Women's action in Beijing has already started with Kvitova getting crushed by Gavrilova and Svitolina choking to lose in 3rd set tiebreak to Krunic

As expected, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Serena and Venus aren't playing. Azarenka and Osaka have both withdrawn again too

Please anyone! What's next WTA final to pencil Genie Bouchard into? Asking for a friend.

TIA

Svitolina's days in the top 10 are numbered if she can't even successfully vulture the Asian swing.

By the way Marcelo Rios called Federer Mrs (señora in spanish) supposely to show (with some misoginy included) that he is too polite for his taste. He called Sock a clown (i don't know what Sock did to upset him) and Sampras was boring to him (i suppose not winning any of their matches made him more boring).

Ríos was a very talented player but he always had a big mouth. He is probably the worst number one ever, slamless (he lost his only GS against Korda bordering ridicule) and his other highlight was when he spend a press conference crying because his girlfriend dumped him (if my memory doesn't fail he cheated on her). As i say he was talented but not a champion by any means (very weak mentally)

The attendance for all these Chinese events has been pathetic. (Japan has had typically great crowd numbers). Even the Murray/Verdasco match, held on a Friday night, in Shenzen (a very large city) was played to a mostly empty stadium.

Only in tennis do you have 12 year old kids running around the work place, taking care of the needs of millionaires, fetching them their soiled towels, holding umbrellas over their head, picking up their trash, giving them water bottles and going unpaid.

Rios made Nastase look like Kim Clijsters. What a surly motherfucker.

God, I love Pospisil. Thank you forever, R113.

[quote}in Wuhan, Sabalenka wins her second career title def. Kontaveit 6-3 6-3

Sabalenka with her coach Dmitry Tursunov

If Sabalenka is able to control her nerves and keep the focus she will be a top player in no time

Tomic and Nishioka wins Chengdau and Shenzen. Both in 3 sets

[quote]Tomic and Nishioka win Chengdu and Shenzen

Tomic looked really happy with the win, he's back in the top 100 again

Scone Stephens just won her 1st match on the Asian Swing in 3 years

happy to see another first time ATP winner. Nishioka in particular. He was rising quickly in 2017 but then ruptured his ACL.

I hope Sloane can qualify for the YEC but there are several contenders who have a chance as well

Don't tell Serena, Martina Hingis is going to have a baby!

whoa i've NEVER seen Sloane get so angry before

Pavlyuchenkova called for the trainer just before Sloane was serving for the second set I think it was 5-2. Sloane went on to win that set 6-4 (and the third set too). She was having words with the umpire for allowing it when Pavlyuchenkova overheard the conversation and came over to call Sloane "disrespectful". They went back and forth before the umpire had them both go back to their sides. Then after in a point, Pavyluchenkova tried to hit Sloane with an overhead. Sloane won the point and as she turned around said "this fucking bitch tried to hit me" lol drama!

Jack Sock will be defending 1,545 of his 1,850 singles ranking points from now (China Open in Beijing starts tomorrow) until the end of the season

Poor, adorable PHH :-(

....

ATP service for the AZverev-Melo fan

after winning back-to-back challengers, Mmoh has now debuted in the top 100 at #96 !!! Looks like he'll at least start next draw in several main draw ATP tournaments

R150 we no longer have a Melo-Zverev fan here. Was it ESL?

I'm a Melo/Zverev fan, R152, and not ESL, but it seemed to me that nobody was that interested in them here, so I mostly stopped mentioning them.

Embarrassing outdoor hardcourt loss for Coric to 37 year old #71 Lopez!

Is Rafa injured are just relaxing?

he had that knee injury at the USO so he's out for now. Not sure when he'll play again

I don’t think ESL has gone far.

Rafa didn't want to play Davis Cup indoors vs. France, hence the 'injury'.

Please, no more homo fanfic for Zverev and Melo. It was nonsense to wade through that shit.

Zverev and Melo is very difficult to believe, they are even clearly joking about it.

An openly gay tennis players shouldn't be that hard to find but i suppose we'll have to wait some years

maybe if we dig hard, we can find a gay in the top 500. somewhere

[quote] maybe if we dig hard, we can find a gay in the top 500. somewhere

In the WTA they’re everywhere!

R161: There's probably more than one gay player in the top 200 (simple estadistics) but i doubt they'll come out in a near future

yup all we have currently is retired former top 15 Gambill and retired journeyman Vahaly

Gasquet is obviously gay tho.

R165 It's not true. I've kissed him

Was Gambill journeyman?

^ yeah. A hot one, though.

Rafa is gay.

I rubbed one out to that pic of Porna. Damn.

^TMI

"Beginning in January 2019, the Tennis Channel will be the U.S. television and digital media home of the WTA, featuring Premier and International tournaments as well as the WTA Finals."

That’s compelling, R170.

Truly compelling, r170.

thank you

Noone but the tennis channel would have the WTA. Tennis Channel must’ve received quite a discount from the WTA to unload all their tournaments onto them.

The ball kid pings (the sweat of male tennis players, indeed), and says a lot of interesting things about being a ball kid.

What shocked me, though, is that the ball kids are told to expect abusive language from players and to stand there and take it. Players who behave like Verdasco should be fined, and NO player should think of ball kids as their personal slaves and towel-bearers. Players never used to ask for a towel after each rally until about ten years ago, and now every player seems to be using that offensively off-handed palm-hovering-around-face gesture, sometimes without even looking in the ball kid’s direction, when summoning a towel. Ugh.

Ostapenko was double bageled by some random Chinese player.

Such depth of the WTA tour!

R175 and I don't understand why the ballkids don't get the same respect as the chair umpire. I agree it should not be OK to be rude or verbally abusive to a ballkid/adult

R176 she's not random. She's currently having a hot streak and recently broke into the top 30 with 2 titles this year. Ostapenko shouldn't have been double bageled by her Qiang Wang is not some random scrub

how about Cilic choking a 6-5 in the third set lead to lose to journeyman Struff?

R166: It's funny that the kiss excuse is the one Shawn Barber used too (he came out months later)

Apparently Sascha has a girlfriend now...

Btw., I was rereading old threads and there seemed to be some speculation about Djokovic being bi? Does anyone still think that?

What girlfriend? Did Melo wear a dress??

A girlfriend is almost mandatory if you are prominent enough (unless you don't mind gay rumours).

Anyway, Sascha is like a typical straight teen with a big ego. I find curious that he has gay rumours at all (his relationship with Melo seems similar to what he had with his big bro, and Melo seems to have a teen mentality too)

[quote] his relationship with Melo seems similar to what he had with his big bro

M. Zverev?

R182 some athletes are very immature as they didn't go through the whole school process. I'll never forget Jankovic complaining a few years ago that a lot of them "have never seen the inside of a classroom". You don't have to be that mature if you're an athlete or entertainer.

R184: True, if you are not bright and you don't have a real interest in knowing what's happening around you you can look dumb as a rock in interviews.

That's not Zverev case, he simply looks very inmature, he has a lot of teenage traits and an ego difficult to hide. He can be charming too when he wants.

I think the Federer/Nadal strategy to not get themselves in hot waters keeping the conversation focused on tennis maybe make them less interesting as characters but in the long run keep them for putting their feet in their mouth more often.

AT least in tennis being well spoken, like to read and arts and being smart is not something that makes you suspicious like in soccer (they seems to like their idols the dumber the better)

According to rumors, it is Ivan who pushed Melo out of Sasha's life.

Rumours where? And any source for the girlfriend news?

Didn't someone post that Melo and Sascha were together in Beijing just this week? So he's hardly been pushed out?

Someone posted a photo of them alone at a restaurant together but they were not sitting next to each other as straight bros do.

Melo is in Sascha's story from a few minutes ago. The alleged gf was at his 1st round match.

Well, to be fair, an athlete (or an actor, singer) doesn't need to do anything to "have a girlfriend". He only needs to be seen in public with an appropiate girl to the rumours spread like butter. PDA is not needed and he can even go full Shawn Mendes and saying she is just a friend, the rumours will spread if his team wants (or even if a journalist wants).

I always cringe when some (not all) sport journalist ask about the dating life of an athlete. And they sometimes are very eager to spread gay rumours. Italian journalists seem to be very pressed about Marc Márquez sexuality, everytime there's a conflict with Valentino Rossi, you have the "Marquez likes to go to gay bars" in the italian press.

Saying that, Zverev needs to make some changes in his life, i don't know if he is too focused on his career not focused enough, but he needs to find a balance between his job and his personal life. Right now he has in a position of advantage, he is a top player for some time, the other young players are not there. We'll see if hitting machine Djokovic last or he'll be erratic again, but if Zverev is not the first young player in winning a GS the pressure could be too much for him

Richard Gasquet def. Nick Kyrgios 7-6 7-6 to reach the QFs in Tokyo. Alex De Minaur will be the new Australian number 1 on Monday

Aryna Sabalenka comes back from 5-7, 3-5 to beat the defending champion Caroline Garcia 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0 in Beijing and make the QFs.

Keeps her Singapore dream alive.

A. Zverev looks awful under artificial lighting.

Maybe Goffin is gay..he kind of pings

Sabalenka has played an awful lot since the Open. She better hope to win Beijing otherwise she has to fly to Moscow and win a few rounds there to qualify before flying back to Singapore. She might not have anything left. She's quite a bit out of the last spot. Even a runner-up finish in Beijing leaves her at #10 in the Singapore race, roughly 200 points from the last spot. Halep has a herniated disc so I assume she will bow out, or show up and get bageled again before withdrawing. Alternates likely will play.

Probably the best point of the season

BTW Sasha lost to Malek

“Al” Jaziri

Is Lendl there with A Zverev?

Yes, R199.

Dimitrov and Sock's rankings are going to take major hits after the WTF as neither will qualify

Same with Venus for the YEC

Qiang Wang def. Pliskova for the second week in a row

[quote]Sabalenka has played an awful lot since the Open. She better hope to win Beijing otherwise she has to fly to Moscow and win a few rounds there to qualify before flying back to Singapore

I think she's playing in Tianjin before Moscow as well...it's only an 'International' though, so she'll probably withdraw if she wins Beijing

R195: Goffin has a gilrfriend and i think she is previous to his rise on the rankings

sometimes it's hard to tell with Euro guys. "Euro or gay?" is a common question

[quote] sometimes it's hard to tell with Euro guys. "Euro or gay?" is a common question

Does the same apply to Euro gnomes?

Dimitrov will be a dangerous floater at the Aussie Open-- his ranking is going to sink. Sock's will too, but he's less dangerous. And Stan is playing well again--it's only a matter of time before he starts beating the big guys again.

Agreed, R203. Lots of pics of them together online.

Local favorite Qiang Wang ends Aryna Sabalenka’s winning streak with a 7-5, 7-5 win to reach the last 4 in Beijing. I don't think Sabalenka is able to make the WTA Finals after this loss

Beijing WTA SF:

Anastasija Sevastova vs. Naomi Osaka

Wang Qiang vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Beijing ATP SF:

Juan Martín Del Potro vs. Fabio Fognini

Kyle Edmund vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili

Sabalenka could be an alternate and play if someone like Halep, who is injured, retires.

Halep will probably pull out of the YEC and Kerber, Osaka, Kvitova and Wozniacki have qualified. If Halep doesn't play, that leaves open 4 more spots between Stephens, Svitolina, Pliskova, Bertens and Sabalenka. Mertens had a shot but lost early in all the Asian events so I think she could only be an alternate at this point.

'Moni' (aka 'Money') Halep seems pretty determined to play Singapore

Does Halep need help?

Halep does a lousy job of managing her schedule and taking care of herself. Playing through back injuries?? Ask Tracy Austin how well that worked out. Or Tiger Woods if you want a recent example even though he's older. Just because both tours insist on prolonging the season beyond the point it makes sense doesn't mean you have to play. Kudos to Nadal and Serena for recognizing this.

Should they get rid of the much-vaunted Asian swing and move the “year-end” championship to October? Shout there even be a YEC?

Sabalenka should take some time to adjust after becoming a top player out of the blue and work in improving her mentality. She has potential but given that she never was a top junior player i doubt she thought she could get that high so soon (and right now her level is better than her ranking)

They only play the Asian Swing because the Chinese government subsidizes the tournaments on the WTA side to a huge degree. The WTA's contact for the year end championships which will be moved to China is enormous even though ticket sales won't pay for it at all.

Shanghai draw out. Nadal isn't playing but I think everyone else is

Who is everyone?

I wouldn't be surprised if Simona is just concentrating on making as much money as she can, while she can. Perhaps she considered surgery and decided 'You know what? Fuck it! There's no guarantee surgery will work so I'm just gonna turn up and get paid"

C'mon, Frankie, this is no Legends Tour!

Wozniacki-Sevastova final in Beijing. Both semis ended in 2 sets

Nishikori-Medvedev in Tokyo

R221: Not very exciting finals. Medvedev is playing better lately but i doubt he'll be able to defeat Nishikori. Kei maybe is unable to step up and win against top players (at least no in finals) but he is like a wall when he plays younger players.

Osaka is struggling a bit to capitalize the good result in New York. She is not losing in the first rounds but she is unable to win either, and frankly Sevastova should not be that difficult to defeat right now

and also in Beijing Del Potro got a walkover from Fognini and will play Basilashvili who def. Edmund

Medvedev rolled over Nishikori

[quote]Medvedev rolled over Nishikori

wow, I think Kei lost his last 8 finals

Poor Kei, but it's good that Medveded after so many time without improving is showing signs that he could be more than a journeyman.

But with russians you never know, they are headcases most of the time. No matter how much talent, they had a tendency to blow their chances. Even Safin who is by far the most prominent is an underachiever (that AO against Johannson was clear sign that no matter if he was able to defeat Federer, he was able to lose against an inferior rival at a big final too)

Wtf? Halep is still playing Moscow and Singapore after announcing her serious back injury.

Basilashvili was on fire this week. He wins Beijing

[quote]Basilashvili was on fire this week. He wins Beijing

that's one big ass trophy he won

[quote]Wtf? Halep is still playing Moscow and Singapore after announcing her serious back injury.

Back pain? We've heard it's a serious side effect of straight sex but for some reason never goes beyond 9 months.

Jack Sock is in danger of falling out of the Top 100 by year's end with all the points he needs to defend from Paris and YEC.

and he just lost yesterday first round in Shanghai. Soon he'll be playing ex doubles bff Pospisil in challengers

While I'm not a Sock fan, I'm very interested in this train wreck of a season. It's easy to forget he was Top 25 for about a year before winning Paris and launching into the Top Ten. Clearly, if he wants to continue to play singles, he needs to return to the Challengers to rebuild his ranking. Or, will he stay on the main tour and focus on doubles? He's still very capable of winning at top level doubles, and players can make a nice living by succeeding in doubles only.

If he did want to focus on rehabbing his singles, he should have probably dropped down to Challengers after Wimbledon or The US Open, because the longer he waits the more this will eat at his confidence. I can't help but feel he's getting some bad advice from his coach, family, and/or management team.

Raonic should be ashamed of himself.

R234 Why?

He lost to some turkey burger from MacDonald

If this is a turkey burger, I'll order a dozen.

R233 Or he might be too stubborn to take advice. And to be fair to him, many of the matches he has lost have been in 3 sets, so it's not like he is getting routed and has completely forgotten how to play at ATP level. He might be hoping to turn it around in ATP tournaments as long as he can enter them without having to qualify. Iirc he tried to qualify on grass and lost there too... Apparently Paris counts in the points race for the Aus Open wildcard for Americans, so if he finds some form there, he could conceivably get the WC. And he can probably count on WCs for American tournaments as well. (Not a fan either, and find the whole thing interesting too)

Sock's ego is enormous. I doubt he'll drop down to challengers; instead he'll beg for WCs at tournaments.

Sock is #157 in the Live ATP Race provisional rankings.

R233: More than rebuild his ranking he needs to rebuild his confidence. He was a trainwreck the whole season.

When you start losing sometimes it's better to down your expectations and play some minor tournament.

It happens all time. Nicola Kuhn was getting into the top 200 at 18, suddenly he had an injury on a toe and spend a bunch of months without playing. He returned on the same kind of tournaments he was playing and it's not working at all. But instead of playing some 25k to try to win some matches and gain confidence he is sticking in the kind of tournaments he was playing before the injury. That and some back luck in the draws and he will probably end the year outside top 300 even when he has no points to defend

David Ferrer just won a challenger title.

Over Ivo Karlovic, too. #geritol

Yes Sock is stubborn. At the start of the season before 1 of his matches aired I saw a segment about his regimen. He lives in Kansas City, originally from Omaha. He refuses to move or at least spend a significant amount of time training in Florida or California where the majority of American and a good number of other professional players are. Clearly his diet is shit as he's flabby. He's fitter than when he first came on tour but it's clear he enjoys a "middle American" diet. You can't out-train a horrible diet either. He was doing more stretching and preventative work from what I saw. I saw a similar program for Isner before that. They don't go as hard at training as someone like a Thiem

Kyrgios is also fat and lazy but he's taller and a better athlete than his friend Sock. He also wears a girdle like shirt to hide his flab.

Sock is journeyman.

We never talk about Roberto Bautista Agut anymore since he came out as heterosexual. What does our Spanish poster think of him?

I am also interested in how Jack Sock went from a solid top 25 player to an unexpected top 10 player and now dropping out of the top 100 player in a year. Winning the Paris Masters seems to have had a huge detrimental effect on his career. For comparison, John Isner has only played better since he won his Masters earlier this year.

Game-wise Sock's forehand is massive with tons of spin but because of his wonky grip, he can litter errors off that side if his timing is off. There's more of a chance that his timing goes off because of the big take-back and weird grip. If you rush him on that side and he doesn't have time to set up, he's fucked. His backhand is more compact but that side is always error-prone, more so than his forehand. His volleys are pretty solid which makes sense as he's had a lot of doubles success

Recently Cilic and Del Po turned 30. and now first time in the history of ATP we don't have any active grand slam winner under 30.

Forget about winner we have only 2 active players under 30 who have reached a grand slam final Domi and Kei.

And Kei is turning 30 next year

ohh sorry Milos is third one.I completly forgot about him.

How long before Tiafoe is US no. 1?

JM Gambill went to see Keith Urban with Coco (and Shelby Rogers)

And then?

R247: I think our future is very dark when Rafa retires (unless Kuhn and Davidovich are able to translate junior success into pro stardom). We have a good bunch of good journeyman (Carreño, Bautista Agut, Munar) but absolutely nobody to really fight for big tournaments (and our top 100 players are very very old). After Rafa is dark dark void

In 5 years, Kyrgios and Sock will own a tennis academy and sit around drinking beer. Both are barely athletes. More like frat bros who don't know when it's time to stop hanging out with the undergrads.

The ATP failing to sell tickets in China.

Federer's had 2 consecutive 3 set matches...rusty or losing his touch?

Year-End Championships

Nole.

Boobs out.

JMG bought a shirt!

I’m glad the women’s events are coming back to the Tennis Channel. The BeIN tennis coverage was embarrassing for both the network and the WTA, which deludedly believed it was their ticket to stardom and respect.

Federer is having a very nice draw (no matter the three sets matches). Djokovic-Zverev should be interesting

Porna legz

Porna is going to face 🐐 again. Will he prevail for a second time this season?

Porna needs to sit on my face.

I see Federer going into decline this next year. I highly doubt he will repeat in Australia unless the draw falls apart and he's the last one standing. He always has a shot at Wimbledon if he catches fire. Djokovic looks like he has the desire back, so watch out ATP. Nadal is the big question mark for me. He played remarkably well this past year. He would have won Wimbledon if he'd gotten by Djokovic, but as we've seen many times, his knees started to give out by the US Open.

The Young Guns of the ATP are still a question mark. Thiem came so, so close to beating Nadal at the US Open. I think that's a match he should have won. Zverev needs to figure out how to play best of five. But there are a lot of young guys who could mature and really become the next #1--Tsistipas, Coric, Khachanov, Shapavalov--the list goes on, but like Zverev they seem to struggle in five set matches.

As for the veterans, Del Potro--I don't know. I think his body is too fragile for him to ever really make a breakthrough and win multiple Slams, but I could see him adding another one or two before he calls it a day. Cilic has played well the last two years, but mentally he'll never be the strongest. With Murray, it's all about his body and whether it can take any more. Like Cilic, Anderson has had nice results the last two years, but it's hard for me to see him ever winning a Slam--maybe one only at the most. Wawrinka is always a threat if he gets his game back. Nishikori is too fragile.

We'll see what 2019 brings us. By the end of this year, though, I think Djokovic will be back to #1.

Thank you, R268, for naming all the Big Four.

Atp is interesting right now, they could end being like wta at the end of the 90's with a good bunch of veterans and new players fighting for GS.

On the other hand wta is on a slump, the big names are near to retire, the top players are not consistent and there's no teen prodigy to catch the attention of fans. Even rising stars like Osaka or Sabalenka don't look like a sure shot for the next year

"ATP is interesting right now" huh? with the same damn people winning all the slams that's interesting to you? There are always young players coming on tour every year. It seems like we have a good bunch now but until 1 of them wins a slam the ATP won't be that interesting.

R271 so true

R271: Atp is interesting right now because it's the end of an era. I doubt Djokovic will dominate as he used to do, and Nadal and Federer and near retirement, and there's a good bunch of new player who could be the next best thing (or ending being journeymen)

Well, the WTA has the opposite problem. Every tournament is open and no one is consistent. None of the recent slam winners have star power (Kerber, Wozniacki, Halep, Stevens) that will draw in new fans or the consistency to win a large number of slams. Osaka is still relatively young, so she may develop into something, but we'll have to see if she survives the post-slam slump first.

Venus, Serena, and Sharapova are the only big names that the general public would know. Once they retire, the WTA will struggle mightily.

and in the late 90s/early 2000s critics were saying the opposite. You never knew who was going to win any ATP event during that period and a lot of people said "that's exciting". Conversely they said the WTA was boring because it was usually the same handful of players winning the big events. Now the situations have reversed yet the men are still being praised.

R247 and in the ATP? Federer and Nadal are the only superstars. Djokovic is a superstar in tennis but not that popular outside of it. Murray has the benefit of being British so he's the 4th best known even though he's far less accomplished. If Federer and Nadal left the game right now, the tour would be in trouble.

Both tours need to develop new stars. At least people like Sloane and Osaka have won slams and have the potential for more but we need to see how consistent they will turn out to be. The ATP is in worse shape as no one under 30 has a slam! How is that interesting?

[quote] Murray has the benefit of being British so he's the 4th best known even though he's far less accomplished.

But he’s a knight!

“Interesting”. What does that word mean?

R276: Right now the popularity of atp and wta are not even in the same league. I think americans don't have a proper perspective because they don't have a star on the atp and they have the biggest star on the wta, but the USA is very far from being the only important market

Atp has a good bunch of consistent players. Maybe they are not superstars but they are able to perform week after week. You don't have that at the wta, not even their top players are able to play well more than a couple of week in a row

[quote] but the USA is very far from being the only important market

Quite. That’s why there is the much-vaunted Asian swing.

With the WTA, the quality players are mental midgets and have been for years. Also, there are too many highly ranked players who just aren't that good or exciting to watch. The players who should be consistently winning Slams based on their abilities (e.g., Kvitova, Mugurutha) just shit the bed after winning big. Kerber is consistent, but frankly I'm surprised she's one French Open away from a career Slam. Pushers like Wozniacki have won Slams, and other pushers like Svitolina are highly ranked (Top 5). Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys should be challenging for Slams at every tournament, but Sloane's interest seems to fade in and out (although she was a bit more consistent this year), and Keys is a head case. Halep makes and unexciting #1, and she only won the French this year because Sloane imploded in the final.

The ATP seems to have more quality young players, but they struggle in 5 sets in the Slams. Players like Zverev, Thiem and Tsitsipas can win important non-Slam tournaments, but at the Slams they consistently disappoint. Thiem did well to get to the French final, but then folded like a hand of cards against Nadal in the final. It was a poor effort. Then there is the mid-to-late-20s Lost Generation like Dimitrov et al. Then of course we have the veteran Big 4, which is now a Big 3, who are tenaciously holding on to the biggest prizes in tennis.

It does ebb and flow between which tour is the more exciting. Right now, I'd give the edge to the ATP. In five years, who knows? I hope Osaka lives up to her promise. I've just seen too many WTA players these past few years fade after a breakthrough.

ATP is boring right now. Chinese are only showing up to watch Roger. Everyone else its an empty stadium, even worse than Dubai

[quote] Then of course we have the veteran Big 4, which is now a Big 3

I should wash your mouth out with soap, young man.

uh you want to talk about lack of mental toughness? The ATP lost generation fits that bill completely. Dimitrov? Nishikori? Raonic? Those were supposed to be the big challengers to the GOAT generation but all they have is 2 slam finals between them. Dimitrov after having his best year on tour last year with Cincinnati and the WTF wins was a COMPLETE FLOP this season. Nishikori doesn't have enough power and Raonic doesn't have that intensity if you can get back his serve and forehand.

You think fuckin' Isner having his best year this year by winning Miami and reaching the Wimbledon SF at the age of 33 is a good look for the tour? I don't mind Anderson because he can serve, return serve and has good groundstrokes but Isner is unwatchable. Most tennis fans don't like Isner either because of how dull he is (even if you ignore his deplorable-ness).

I want this guy's job lol

There's something swollen high up on the thigh!

I'm encouraged by Osaka and Sabalenka.

Osaka really came through in a US Open final even though Serena tried every trick in the book to throw her off. And she's done pretty well in Asia, not winning events, but not flaming out in the first round either (see: Stephens, Sloane). She could be a huge draw internationally, too.

Sabalenka has also looked strong in the last few months. Obviously, she needs to maintain next year, but she certainly has the game. It's between the ears for her. But I like what I see.

I think Stephens is probably the other biggest potential name to lead the tour if she can rack up some major titles. No offense to Halep, Pliskova, Svitolina, Kerber, and Muguruza, but they all appear to lack the "it" factor. Even if one of those players could win 2 or 3 majors next year, I suspect it would be met by the general public with a collective yawn.

The criticism of the ATP is fair, but at least the old names (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic) are still winning when it matters. Contrast with Williams x 2 and Sharapova, who just haven't been able to win. That's a big difference in the last 2 years.

Djokovic is playing at such a high level now. Really enjoying watching him.

I worry about Del Potro dealing with pain next year from his existing injuries, and Roger dealing with back issues.

Djokovic just sent A. Zverev home 6-2/6-1.

Pique is also there in shanghai. Probably trying to get Djokovic and Federer onboard with his Davis Cup reform plan.

R290: Try to convice Federer is just a waste of time, Federer never cared about Davis cup, only when he thought he was going to retire without winning it started to care about it. And frankly he won it because Stan was there. So no matter is he thinks is ok the new davis cup or not, his opinion doesn't matter at all.

Djokovic is a totally different story, if Pique is able to get Djokovic and Nadal on board it doesn't matter if people like Zverev say they don't care about the new Davis Cup, the problem is Nole is not convinced at all, and trust that Nadal will be perfect by the end of the year is a question of faith

R285, the line starts behind me, bitch.

As I have said before, I really like that these two seem close

Porna should just play naked. His body is a thing of beauty.

Coric is playing well, but Federer is WAY off his game today. He's gone back to the inconsistent Fed we saw from 2013-2016, playing brilliantly one day and serving up a shank-fest the next.

Porna has done it again!

Amazing reversals during 2018 from Federer and Djokovic.

Federer started hot, winning his first 17 matches this year to take the Aussie Open and Rotterdam titles before losing the Indian Wells final to Del Porto. Since that time, he's lost in 6 of the 7 events he's played, and the one win (Stuttgart) was an event that featured no other players in the Top 15.

Djokovic started the year playing .500 tennis, and hit the low point losing back to back opening matches at Indian Wells and Miami. Started to recover his form on clay, and now since Wimbledon has gone 27-1, winning 2 more majors, and the one big title he had never won in his career (Cincinnati). He'll pass Federer to reclaim No. 2 this week, and if he wins Shanghai tomorrow, he'll be just 50 points in back of Nadal in the 2018 Race.

The last six months have just been a huge turnaround from how this year originally was shaping up.

Love Novak. He makes you play so many extra shots that Zverev just cracked.

Fed please retire before it starts getting embarrassing. I know he wants to win 110 titles to pass Connors but I think it's gonna be hard unless he starts playing mostly 500 events.

Boobies, boobies, boobies!

I'm watching the Coric/Federer match now, on a replay since I'm in California. Why is Borna's thigh wrapped? Lots of very pleasant close-ups of his thigh. New tattoo?

A slight injury, R300. If you want to watch him receive treatment...and more, check out this account

Zverev has definitely hit a wall so far. He's unable to defeat Nadal, had no answer for a much-better-playing Djokovic and still struggles at slams. I realize he's young so he's got plenty of time to improve but his level this year hasn't been better than last year.

I had a feeling Federer would have a tough time today. He wasn't having an easy time at this tournament except for the Nishikori match (Kei seems to have regressed himself). Coric is improving which is nice to see.

Now we'll see Djokoivic vs. baby Djokovic. I expect Djokovic to win in straights but it'd be nice if Borna could surprise us

Qiang Wang continues her hot streak in Asia and reaches the Hong Kong final by defeating Muguruza in a marathon 3 setter after having defeated Svitolina easily in the previous round. She'll face 18 year-old Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine

In Tianjin, Pliskova will face Garcia

In Linz, Giorgi has continued her resurgence this year by reaching the final and will face Alexandrova.

Zverev was bulging the entire match--I've never seen him bulge before. It was nice.

Yesterday Zverev and Tsisipas both wearing the same tennis shorts. Tsispas looked much bigger than Zverev though

If Djokovic recaptures No. 1 at Paris (a very real possibility), he'll probably finish out the year at No. 1, tie Federer for the most year-end No. 1s (6), and would be 78 weeks behind Federer for total weeks spent at No. 1... Would need to spend 18 more months at the top to pass Federer. And while Federer has six more Slam titles than Novak, I'm guessing that could shrink to three or four in another year.

I don't think I'd say it's likely, but it's a very real possibility Novak passes Roger in those categories, which would leave Federer very little claim on the title of GOAT. Mirka's probably sewing a Djokovic voodoo doll as I type this.

A. Zverev should never play in indoor arenas.

Hopefully Djokovic will be challenged next year or the atp will be very boring.

In WTA world boring = compelling.

The ATP has interesting players (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Del Porto, Zverev, Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Fognini, Coric, Tsisipas, etc.), but relatively dull and predictable results.

The WTA has interesting results, but with the exception of the Williams sisters and Sharapova, dull and bland players (Halep, Wozniacki, Pliskova, Svitolina, Kerber, Kvitova, Garcia, Keys, Muguruza). Hopefully Osaka can turn the tide.

Haha, r308, in his (solo) podcast this week, where he’s interviewing the great Judie Hellman (daughter of Gladys Heldman), Ben Rothenburg actually says, sans irony, that the WTA tour is so great today as the number 5 playing the number 35 would be a “compelling” match.

I looked up today’s WTA rankings, and that very compelling match would be between Svitolina and Pavlyuchenkova. I could skip my sleeping draft with that match and still get a solid night’s sleep.

ova, pavlyuchenk

[quote]Ben Rothenburg actually says, sans irony, that the WTA tour is so great today

I think he believes if he keeps saying it, it will come true. The harsh reality is that 90% of the tour is void of personality. And tennis is a sport that sustains itself on personality.

Yastremska demolished Wang

Garcia beats Pliskova

[quote]Yastremska demolished Wang

apparently Justine Henin is Yastremska's 'special consultant' (she trains at her academy in Belgium)

Yastremska was always a top player on u14, u 16 and juniors but she is rising her level really fast. She'll be top 100 next week

Porna lost. I volunteer to console his sweaty ass.

R305, Federer was year-end Number 1 five times, not six. If Djokovic finishes 2018 as #1 on the ATP, which I fully expect him to do, he will tie Pete Sampras, who finished year-end Number 1 six times in a row from 1993-1998. Federer, however, has the most total weeks at #1 and the most consecutive weeks at #1, so odd that he doesn't have the most year-end Number 1s. But there you have it.

Djokovic is looking very much in form again. He beat Coric easily and looked like he had an extra gear or two that he didn't have to reach for.

Djokovic was playing well the whole year, but he lacked confidence so he lost some important matches. Wimbledon changes everything, now he is confident and rose his level. In tennis sometimes a win can make a big difference (specially for the younger players)

Humbert beats Herbert to win Ortisei challenger

Humbert Humbert?

It looks like at a minimum, Djoker will hold all 4 slams again and possibly have a calendar year slam as well. Poor Roger will be lucky to stay in the top ten next year and will likely retire after the 2020 Olympics (as Venus likely will too).

R322: Sorry but everytime people predicted that kind of dominance in the past there was a change of cicle.

Djokovic always was amazing in Australia so i wouldn't be surprised if he wins there, but i doubt he'll dominate clay season, we are not in 2011 anymore. And he always (even in his most dominant years) was vulnerable at Roland Garros

Giorgi wins Linz for her second career title

Bouchard has reached the final round of qualifying in Luxembourg!

This week's draws are out-Moscow is the showdown between the final contenders for the YEC and alternates. Svitolina and Sabalenka aren't playing but Pliskova, Stephens, Bertens and Mertens all are. Shockingly, Halep with her back issues is there too.

Kyrgios took a WC into Moscow

Isner is the only top 10 ATP player in action and there are 3 men's events this week

Del Potro has a fractured kneecap.

wtf how did that happen

When is year end championships?

The ATP Finals are November 11-18, R327.

Del Potro had a bad fall in his recent match against Coric, but I don't know if that's how he fractured his kneecap.

Thank you, R328.

Really bad luck for Del Potro.

JMDP had just reached his highest ever ranking at #3 and has been in great form this year...I was thinking he might have a chance next year at the AO or the USO again...this really sucks

I read that with treatment, a fractured patella bone may take 6 to 8 weeks to heal

That's two months without proper training. He's back to square one.

God DelPo should just throw in the towel...what a bummer

even if he fully recovers, his movement will be compromised. Look how long it took him to try doing a 2 handed backhand consistently again in matches. He said in 2017 he was avoiding it out of fear. This year he uses it a lot in big matches but in matches he expects to be easy he'll mostly do the 1 hander. I bet he'll be moving very gingerly when he first comes back.

[quote]Del Potro had a bad fall in his recent match against Coric, but I don't know if that's how he fractured his kneecap.

I think that's when it happened, here's some footage of it

DelPo team

Team DelNO

Update for the YEC as the new rankings came out tonight:

Halep, Wozniacki, Kerber, Osaka, Kvitova and Stephens have all qualified.

Svitolina, Pliskova and Bertens are up for the last 2 spots. Svitolina isn't playing this week. Bertens must reach the SF in Moscow to qualify. If both Pliskova and Bertens reach the SF, Svitolina will drop from #7 to #9 (first alternate).

The second alternate spot is also up for grabs. Sabalenka is not playing this week but currently is #10. Mertens, Sevastova and Kasatkina all have a shot but they have to go deep in the tournament.

As for the ATP, Nadal, Djokovic, Del Potro, Federer and Zverev have qualified. There are several contenders for the last few spots. Del Potro obviously won't play so that opens it up further

you gotta think that Novak will really be gunning for a second French Open title next year--something that Federer could not accomplish. Might mean more than a seventh Australian...

I agree, R341, that Djokovic winning a second French Open would be an important accomplishment, one of the most important reasons being to stop Nadal from winning another one! But seriously, Djokovic would have at least two of each at that point, something neither Nadal or Federer have accomplished (Australian for Nadal, French for Federer).

We desperately need someone NEW to win a slam on the ATP side next year. If Djokovic dominates again or Nadal magically recovers again and dominates that would be beyond boring. I don't think Federer will win any though.

yes, good point R342, I always forget Rafa only has one Australian... for Novak to have two of each, does anyone else in the history of the men's game have that? I remember when Graf had 4 of each and it just amazed me. She was so awesome.

R344 here. I looked it up, it's Laver and Emerson:

Laver: 3 Aussie, 2 French, 4 Wimbledon, 2 US - two calendar Grand Slams are part of this Emerson: 6 Aussie, 2 French, 2 Wimbledon, 2 US

So for Rafa to get that second Aussie or--even more--Novak to get that second French, would be quite the accomplishment.

Nadal should have been a much more dominant player considering how much they've slowed down the courts at every other major.

Nadal can get hit off the court if he runs into a zoning shotmaker/power player. Obviously he still wins more often than not but it does happen. His serve can be attackable too and he gets aced a lot. Dustin Brown is very talented but a journeyman because he's so inconsistent. He is 2-0 against Nadal though because he didn't allow Nadal to get into a rhythm on grass.

To no one's surprise, Halep has withdrawn from Moscow due to back injury

[quote]To no one's surprise, Halep has withdrawn from Moscow due to back injury

Compelling.

The WTA's exciting!

Help

Will she play in Singapore? Whoever is the first alternate should feel pretty confident that they'll play.

Halep will probably try to play, get her clock cleaned in her first match, then withdraw. It looks like Kerber could end at #1 for the year if she goes undefeated in Singapore and Halep doesn't play which is probably her misguided incentive to show up. Wozniacki can't catch her since she's defending her points from winning last year, but Kerber has no points to defend.

Kerber's just split with Fissette for some reason. Seems a strange time of year for it to happen.

Lil' Diego doing yoga (?)

Tennys Sandgren def. Pouille, 6-4 6-4 in Stockholm 👀

R354 she's been losing a lot lately

Nadal is vulnerable (well maybe that's a excessive word given he generally ends winning) to players with big backhands. Players who use only one hand to hit the backhand generally struggle because their backhand generally face his huge left handed forehand and the ball gets very high which is very uncomfortable is you hit with one hand.

And yes, his serve is not huge, but his return to serve is very good, so breaking his serve generally doesn't mean being in control of the serve. Anyway what makes Nadal the exceptional player he is is his mentality, he is mentally stronger than anybody on the circuit. He was able to win a lot of matches that he should be lost

Genie gets her first win over Babos (she was 0-2 before)!! She's BACK!

Halep leads Kerberos by 1500+ points in the Race rankings, so I think she's locked in as YE No. 1.

She will soon move to No. 10 all-time for total weeks at No. 1. More than Venus, Clijsters, Davenport, Capriati, or Sharapova.

We're in a most compelling era of women's tennis.

Vamos Kerberos!

if Genie wins 1 more match in Luxembourg she'll be back in the top 100 (she's playing CSN next)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got his 1st win since February

^ dafuq is going on with her top lip?

R361 until today Tsonga hadn't won a main draw match since Feb? wow

Tsonga had a knee injury R363 , so he hasn't played that many matches (his ranking has dropped to #75)

Lots of injuries/comebacks from the 30+ crowd. Tsonga, Murray, wawrinka, berdych.

No. 101 Ons Jabeur def Sloane Stephens in Moscow, dropping only five games.

If the players don't care, why should you?

Eh, maybe that's harsh, and better applies to Nick Kyrgios. But once I heard Stephens had qualified for the YEC regardless of how deep she went, I predicted (another) early loss.

I saw part of it...Sloane was pathetic. She made Jabeur look like some GOAT.

Pliskova got destroyed 1-6 2-6 by Zvonareva! whoa

Bertens also lost in 3 to Sasnovich. That means now the YEC is set. the final 2 spots go to Svitolina and Pliskova who join Halep (if she plays), Wozniacki, Kerber, Osaka, Kvitova and Stephens

meanwhile, Genie wiped the floor with CSN, winning 6-1 6-0 that was quite unexpected

Poor Carlo.

Popsicle

Is Rafa supposed to be ready for Paris and the YEC?

I am not a fan of Jack Sock's ass, but his ass is scrumptious.

LOVE ME SOME POPSICLE

R372 = Bill Taylor

Interesting Beyond the Baseline podcast, an interview with Mats Wilander. While he doesn't write off Federer and Nadal's chances in 2019, I got the sense that he expects much less from them. I was a bit surprised that when Wertheim asked about young guns that would win majors, he didn't go to the knee-jerk response of "Zverev" that many give. He seems to think that middle generation (Nishikori, Raonic) might be able to win a few majors before the "Next Gen" takes over.

I remember when I started following tennis in the mid 80s, I thought that players like Mandlikova, Shriver, Sukova would take over the top of women's tennis once Chrissie and Martina left the scene. But before you knew it, up come Graf, Sabatini, Seles, Sanchez Vicario, and they just ran past that middle generation. I think the same will happen in the men's game.

Rafa and Novak are getting crucified for playing that exho in Saudi.

Halep withdrew like i expected

There should be a rule that Popsicle pics must show some state of undress.

For the first time in 12 years, neither Venus nor Serena will have won a WTA tournament this year

R375 when is it? if they haven't already played, then yeah I get the backlash

R378 understandable at this point given their ages though Serena reached 2 slam finals

[quote][R375] when is it? if they haven't already played, then yeah I get the backlash

22 December

I suppose it's the situation right now, the truth is top players play that kind of exhibitions all the time, curiously some of them use the excuse of how tough is the circuit when they don't want to play Davis Cup.

I don't think the middle genreation will dominate, not even for a year. Some of them could win a GS like Cilic did, but i think it's the next gen who will dethrone the big tree, and it will be better if the do before they drop the level. Of course i find difficult to believe that any of them will be as dominant as Nole/Rafa/Roger were

Exhibitions are glorified practice sessions. They put very little effort in and get a ton of money back. Of course they will play them. They have nothing to do with the regular tour grind at all.

I've been thinking about the whole Nadal and Djokovic playing in Saudi thing. They could argue that tournaments are played in Qatar or Russia for example and they have very questionable human rights records.

But what gets me is that it's not as if Nadal or Djokovic needs the money. Yes it's easy money for a glorified practice session but they can't even say Saudi is an important country on the tour or anything like that. They can't justify it in any way apart from greed.

Is there no Middle East Swing?

Shapovalov is criminally overhyped.

Genie Bouchard STORMS her way into the Luxembourg semis! She defeated Petkovic 4-6 4-0 ret.

Pencil at the ready.

Verdasco served at 6-4 5-4 even saved break point to get to match point and choked to lose to Kohlschreiber 6-4 5-7 6-7(5)

[quote]I've been thinking about the whole Nadal and Djokovic playing in Saudi thing. They could argue that tournaments are played in Qatar or Russia for example and they have very questionable human rights records.

We could also point out that there are large tennis events played every year in United Arab Emerites (Dubai), a country that restricts homosexuality, continues to discriminate against women, and has had multiple "disappearances" over the years. In addition, there are players - including Federer - who are part-time residents of Dubai.

I get the impulse to call for Nadal and Djokovic to cancel the exho. But if the tennis community is being genuine about this and wants to stand on its soapbox, there are A LOT of similar changes that should be made.

Fifth set tiebreaks to be introduced at Wimbledon from next year.

Twitter is reacting like it's the End of Days but how many matches really go to 12-12 in the fifth? They're only remarkable because they don't happen very often but when they do they fuck up the scheduling.

The WTA Finals players in Singapore

I see blonde people.

Sloane is so pretty

Genie MASSIVE choke against Goerges! She was ahead 7-6(3 ) 5-4 and was just 2 points away from victor...then lost 7-6(3) 5-7 1-6

The pencil has failed again.

Monfils now a perfect 5-0 against Pospisil. He owns that ass!

Gulbis def. Sock to reach the Stockholm SF

[quote]Sloane is so pretty.

She is fucking gorgeous!

She is gorgeous and her game is different and very interesting. If only she could keep the focus for a while she could be the dominant player on the wta. I miss the times top players were consistent now a surprise is not a surprise anymore because because they are losing all the time

Singapore groups:

Kerber, Stephens, Osaka, Bertens

Wozniacki, Kvitova, Svitolina, Pliskova

play starts Sunday

What would happen if some players boycotted tournaments in the U.S. because the U.S. has Central American migrant families in concentration camps?

Capriati is in Singapore as well (as one of the 'Legend Ambassadors')

Tsitsipas to face Gulbis in Stockholm final.

Gulbis' first final for four years.

Gulbis is usually good for two or three decent results every year, but I figured beating Zverev at Wimbledon would have kept him content for a bit. While he does have some holes in his game, it was only 4-5 years ago he was beating the likes of Federer, Murray, Del Potro, and reaching the Top Ten. Probably one of the biggest underperforming players of the last decade, along with Tomic and (lately) Kyrgios.

R404 or perhaps that brief spell where he beat the top players was over-achievement?

R405, I think of Gulbis as underperforming because when he does apply himself, he's a decent player. But then he loses interest, gives partial effort, and doesn't seem to care. That explains why he goes up and down and back up and back down. At his best he's beaten all the bigs except Nadal, at his worst, he loses to anyone.

I'm not suggesting he should have won a Slam, or spent his career in the Top Ten, but for him to have a ranking of 100+ for the last two years (and no major injuries) is a waste of his talent.

Petra cleans up nice too. She is really pretty.

Who is the female equivalent of Gulbis?

R401 they would then boycott the Chinese tournaments for locking up Muslims in the western portion of their country and the Russian and Middle Eastern tournaments for state sponsored homophobia.

Steffi Graf vs Kimiko Date 1996 Fed Cup Highlights

Gulbis has a great first serve and backhand. He moves decently. His 2 biggest problems are his wonky forehand grip/swing and his fitness. He's also a spoiled asshole but he has talent. I hope Tsitsipas can win his first title.

In Antwerp, Edmund will also be going for his title and will face Monfils. I'm fine with either winning but it'd be nice for Edmund to get that first title finally.

In Moscow we had some drama. Ons Jabeur's dream week ended with first a choke and then a thigh strain. She was up 6-2 4-1 before choking and then lost to Kasatkina 6-2 6-7(3) 4-6 . This is Kasatkina's 2nd title (her 1st was last year in Charleston).

Khachanov will face Mannarino who will again try to win his first title. Mannarino is 0-5 in finals.

In Luxembourg, Goerges def. Bencic for the title.It's her 6th overall and 2nd of the year.

Basel and Vienna draws are out too

[quote]Who is the female equivalent of Gulbis?

The entire WTA.

R405: No, in fact he is talented enough to be a top player full time, but he was filthy rich even before starting his career, he has a very hedonistic personality that makes him not be focused on the game and of course he is very fond of prostitutes. He seems to be a jerk too but that doesn't change the fact that he is very talented

Titsy!

Mannarino is the new Bennetteau

we got 2 more first time titlists! Tsitsipas def. Gulbis 6-4 6-4 to win Stockholm

Edmund def. Monfils in a nail biter 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4) to win Antwerp

Khachanov gets his third title in Moscow

In Singapore day 1 action we have 2 upsets

Svitolina def. Kvitova 6-3 6-3

Pliskova def. Wozniacki 6-2 6-4

Pliskbot

Happy for Stefanos

Mannarino now 0-6 in finals and not getting any younger

Young Grigor's going bald

Is that young Grigor on the left? Looks kind of old to me.

If it's a WTA match, can it really be called an upset? Their draws are like random results generators.

R422: We can't expect the regularity of Graf, Seles, Navratilova or even ASV, Sabatini or Conchita with so many brainless ballbashers (in a good day they can defeat anyone) but the top players right now are the worst ever. A surprise is not a surprise anymore because they have no plan B so when they have an off day they are totally lost

Monfils is 7-21 in ATP tour finals. I didn’t know he has made into so many finals! Yes most are 250 titles but still.

Yeah, Grigor's looking kinda rough.

Where'd Grigor's hair go?

Same place much of your ass went, Rafa.

Grigor, I still have some of my trucker hat/wig combos left from the early 90s if you need them. They go really well with fluorescent Nike garb.

I told you Sharapova was a carpet muncher. She munched the carpet on the upper floor when she was withdrawing so bad from the real thing!

Well, the matches today at the WTA Finals were competitive at least, unlike yesterday. But all four matches have been "upsets". Anyone could win the tournament and it wouldn't be a surprise.

Based on recent form I didn't think Sloane would have defeated Osaka today.

Sloane only cares about bigger tournaments. Even then she is streaky. Her grand slam record this year is 1st rd, Final, 1st rd, quarterfinal.

R432: It's the same with Kvitova and Muguruza, they don't realize that they results at big tournaments would be better if they were focused on every tournament

ATP race update, we have the smaller Vienna and Basel events and then the finale in Paris next week. It seems like Cilic, Anderson and Thiem will get the lost few spots though Del Potro will likely withdraw, leaving open 1 more spot. Isner and Nishikori are in 9th and 10th place with just 20 points between them. It will probably come down to Paris for them as only 500 points max could be gained this week.

Coric, Fognini, Edmund and Tsitsipas would all have to do very well this week and then come close to winning Paris next week to qualify though if Del Potro withdraws 1 of those 4 will be at least 2nd alternate behind either Isner or Nishikori

Coco has dropped out of the top 100

with Shapovalov's loss to Cilic today, he will remain titleless unless he has an unlikely breakthrough next week in Paris.

obviously I mean this year not his whole career.

It's just interesting to see some others in his generation get there faster so far.

Shopbottom is titless?

R436: The guy is 19, it's too soon to pressure him to get titles when he usually plays tournaments with players way higher in the ranking

LMFAO Raonic loses 6-7(6) 5-7 to fucking Jurgen Melzer who is 37 years old and has struggled in his comeback. He's currently at #426 in the rankings.

R449, should Melzwr be caked Gramps.

R449, should Melzer be called Gramps?

Coco and Jack Sock are the same person.

Federer has been dealing with a hand injury since this summer. That explains his wonky forehand. That's probably why he was so off during Wimbledon and the US Open. If he gets his forehand back, it should make for more interesting showdowns with Djokovic.

Watching Isner and Norrie play in Vienna. Isner is showing his package, a very small package.

It’s HUGE, R446! King sized!

Fuck Mrs. Federer and her hand injury. Such b.s.

R446 as you would expect of republicans

in Singapore, Svitolina is in prime position to reach the SF as she just defeated Pliskova in 3 sets (and Kvitova in 2 the other day).

Wozniacki is now 1-1 as she defeated Kivtova in 3 sets.

Pliskova is 1-1

Kvitova is 0-2

Of course the irrelevant Svitolina suddenly cant lose a match. If she wins the whole thing than this tournament is a joke.

What is wrong with Kvitova? Wozniacki was struggling with her movement and she still beat Kvitova? Kvitova has won 5 tournaments this year, but she's bombed out of all the majors.

Is Rafa healthy and fit to compete in Paris and in London? I thought two spots might open up in London if both RAfa and Delpo are injured. I agree that Singapore is a joke if Svitolina wins there. It must be a slow court if Kvitova and Ploskova are losing

The courts in Singapore are on the slower side despite being indoors. Kvitova has had an AWFUL fall and has struggled to win matches. Svitolina hasn't been doing well lately but she likes this slower court.

R445: Sorry, but that sounds like a lame excuse, specially because it's not true. Federer was playing well at Wimbledon, he has his match against Anderson under control and suddenly he tanked, it was mental, not physical

Federer usually has a bullshit reason for why he's not playing well. Could it be because he's almost 40?

And that Paire twitter has any reason or he just had a gossip girl flashback out of the blue

So who’s the cutie-pie Kyle hugs at the end of the match? Could be his brother, I suppose...

Physio/trainer

Thanks, r459!

Rafa's saving whatever he has to play in Saudi Arabia.

Are Nadal and Djokovic still silent on whether or not they are playing the exhibition?

Btw, why would Federer choose to live in Saudi? He’s already Swiss!

Federer lives in Dubai, not in Saudi Arabia. He claims to enjoy practicing in the very dry heat over there but of course that didn't help him when it was super humid at the USO this year

Dubai is tax free for foreigners I believe, too. Plus winter there is better tennis weather than in Switzerland.

How are the snacks in Dubai?

Sascha Zverev playing Robin Haase tomorrow in Basel. Haase has beaten Zverev the past two times they've played. Sascha decided to play Basel this year after his negotiations with Vienna broke down ( tournament director said they couldn't afford his appearance fee).

[quote]How are the snacks in Dubai?

Pretty scarce the last couple years, for some reason. Apparently the local shops are frequently running low.

R448, R455 and R456 are Rafa and/or Nole fans.

There's no way Kerber is not a lezzie right? Has she ever officially had a boyfriend?

What's this now, R469?

Kerber d. Osaka. Which means if Bertens can beat Stephens in the next match, she will be the first to qualify for the semis, despite being the lowest ranked and last to qualify for the event. Welcome to the WTA.

Stephens def. Bertens. She's up 2-0 now with Kerber and Bertens 1-1 and Osaka 0-2. Nothing is certain yet though as far as who qualifies.

Bertens really deserved that match but threw it away with some bad shot selection, exhaustion, and too many double faults. Most importantly CONSECUTIVE double faults. She was up a break in that final set. I hope she can still make it through because she has been the player of this group (alongside Stephens) and plays a more interesting style of tennis on these shiteously slow courts than some of the other girls.

All 8 can still qualify or not qualify as R472 said, which at least keeps it exciting. .

the 2 most improved ATP players of 2017 continue to struggle:

Dimitrov loses in 3 sets to journeyman/indoor specialist Kukushkin

Sock loses to Gulbis in consecutive weeks. Sock is now 7/20 in main draw matches this year

Is Sock journeyman?

No. Sock has 4 titles including Paris masters. Even if he just had a fluke overachieving year in 2017, He was top 10. A journeyman would be someone who never cracked the top 20 and either has 0 or a couple small titles.

He's a journeyman with one overachieving season, by the looks of things.

Thanks, R476.

R468: Sorry to hurt your Fed fan feelings, but what i said is totally right, he was playing very well, he was dominating and he tanked big time. Roger and Rafa are legends but they have the bad habit of making excuses when they lose. Hey, no matter how good you are, sometimes the rival is better that day

I doubt Hasse will defeat Sascha today

I liked Jack Sock better when he was rumored to be dating Pospisil.

the 'WTA Legends' in Singapore

Who’s the tall hunk in blue?

hilarious to see Davenport and Capriati standing next to each other. In their playing days they never cared for one another as their personalities were so different. Capriati also hated the fact that even though she started off as the teen phenom, Davenport would go on to have a winning record against her

Graf predictably never shows up to these things.

Where's Tracy?

R482: Oh come on, it's Lindsay

Did any of them win a major? If so they are International Tennis Hall of Fame worthy.

If Davenport played today she'd have about 10 majors. Ditto Capriati.

R486: And she is right, she was better at bashing the ball than most and she was not a mental case and far more consistent than top players right now.

As expected Zverev won this time

I'm not sure Davenport would be at the top if she were in her peak and playing now. She was a bad mover. A great ball striker with a good first serve but her movement cost her. Especially with the slowing down of most courts in this era, she would have trouble.

[quote] She was a bad mover

Because she was fat then.

I can't see any player on the WTA consistently beating prime Davenport besides Serena.

R490: Exactly, most of them are ballbashers without a B plan (and that's the reason of the many one sided matches between players who have similar level)

R479, no, that's your opinion. That doesn't make you right. And I have no hurt feelings. But it was obvious since Wimbledon that something with Fed's forehand was off. I don't doubt when other players are injured and think it's ridiculous when at the US Open people were saying Nadal made up the injury. That's so not Nadal's MO. But continue to believe what you will.

R492: No, it's not my opinion, he was playing well, it's a fact. He was totally dominating the match till suddenly he choked.

And Nadal had problems with his knees the previous matches, and had tough matches against Khachanov and Thiem, it's not the same case at all.

But it's a fact that Roger and Rafa always have a mysterious injury everytime they lose (because come on, they can't be defeated if they are healthy), and maybe the injuries are true all the time, but it's pretty lame blame on injuries. If you are not healthy you don't play, and if you play, you accept the result. When a player it's really injured he retires from the match

I don't know if Roger had an injury at Wimbledon or not, if he said so it's because it's true, but it's pretty obvious that his problem in his match against Anderson was not physical, he simply was unable to take his chances

So you know for a fact, R493, that his hand had nothing to do with it all. You KNOW that? You know that as the match wore on, his hand didn't become more of a liability? You KNOW that? My, you must be a doctor or some type of medical professional who can discern whether or not an injury affects a player while watching a match on television. I wonder what it's like to live in a world where "facts" are things you believe rather than independently verifiable things. This is why we have Fox News and President Trump.

Fed's history is that he keeps his injuries under his hat until he's had time to deal with them, then he discloses them rather than reveal to other players that he's physically impaired in some way. In fact, that's what most top players have done throughout the history of the game.

Also, Rafa and Roger always accept the results. They are two of the best in history of moving on from losses, whether it's an injury, not-so-great play on their parts, or simply getting outplayed. That's why they are the two all-time Grand Slam title leaders.

[quote] That's why they are the two all-time Grand Slam title leaders.

“Ha!” I say to that.

[quote]Fed's history is that he keeps his injuries under his hat until he's had time to deal with them, then he discloses them rather than reveal to other players that he's physically impaired in some way.

Why disclose them at all, at this point? It comes off a little gross to me, as if to insinuate he never would have lost to Anderson if he was healthy, and thereby detract from Anderson's win. To me, it doesn't seem sporting, and I wish he wouldn't do it.

Federer struggled in his opening match yesterday. Even though Basel isn't a big event, it's Federer's hometown and he HATES losing there. He'll have to pick his form up though because the field is pretty good

R494 is completely right. Players like Rafa and Fed don't go around whining and bellyaching about injuries during a match or before a tournament. That would give strategic info to their opponents, worry fans, possibly affect attendance, and perhaps affect their sponsors.

When asked following a loss, they're up-front about when something's not right. When something is off, sore, or injured, it affects their play. Injuries are not excuses, especially at their level and with their bodies being their moneymaker.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are guys like Kyrgios, Murray, and Sock who throw tempter tantrums, smash racquets, and act the fool when they're injured, upset, or have a hangnail.

Surprised Capriati's parole officer let her go all the way to Singapore.

Davenport would actually be less successful today, because they have slowed down all the courts to favour the pushers. Having great movement is more important right now than being a great ballstriker, look at the success of Kerber, Wozniacki, Halep, Stephens lately. Although she was a little unlucky to come across peak Williams sisters etc. so many times.

Tbh I think all the other girls hated Capriati at the time. She was antisocial, kind of an asshole, and always arguing with the umpires in their matches. She was more popular in her 'first' career when she won the Olympic Gold and made the Roland Garros semifinal at like 6 years old.

[quote] Tbh I think all the other girls hated Capriati at the time. She was antisocial, kind of an asshole, and always arguing with the umpires in their matches.

She always did have the best coke though.

[quote]She always did have the best coke though—Gigi Fernandez

You are joking, right? That ho always cut her shit with baby talc and weed killer.

I get what you're saying about the slower courts RE Lindsay. But she was mentally tough. Only prime Venus and Serena had her number. I was never a big fan of hers during her prime - I'm a Venus stan - but I so appreciate her now.

Remember when we had Serena, Hingis, Venus, Capriati, Henin, a young Sharapova, Clijsters, an older Graf and Seles all battling from mid-90s to mid-00s? I loved the WTA back then. And the second tier would be be the first tier today: Pierce, Mauresmo, Martinez. Alas.

Lindsay was VERY mentally solid until GS finals. :( I've also come to appreciate her more than I did at the time. Another thing that would work against her now is the extended clay court season, and the almost abandonment of the European Indoor season (hard AND carpet) which is where she really played her best tennis.

It really was a prime era. Even the players who only peaked every once in a while or had short careers, such as Anke Huber, Iva Majoli, Alicia Molik, Jelena Dokic, Dominique Monami, Elena Dementieva, Nathalie Tauziat, Ai Sugiyama, Mirjana Lucic, and Chanda Rubin were very entertaining when they were on. The final years of the likes of Novotna, Sanchez Vicario, and Amanda Coetzer who were all still dangerous floaters in any draw. Kournikova too was quite fun in retrospect and never reached her full potential - she's much made fun of but she retired at only 21.

I like you R504. If Dementieva could land a damn serve she'd have won a few Slams. And my teenage self had a soft spot for Novotna. Her Wimbledon win was epic in '98.

I agree, R504, about Lindsay Davenport being mentally tough UNTIL she got to the GS finals, and I'd say semi-finals, too, as her career went on. Davenport is one of those players who I think should have about 3-4 more Slams than she does. But Lindsay could go on a walkabout in the middle of a match. She could be destroying the player across the net, then suddenly she couldn't get a ball in play, would get down on herself, and it would all fall apart from there.

Marry me, r504! Those were the days!! I don’t get why the WTA seems to be hell-bent on enabling the frankly unappealing, shrieking baseline bores that have become the norm, almost a sort of identical, factory-made product. It’s killing women’s tennis. If the WTA only had the courage to really speed up at least the hard courts, it might encourage a few of the younger players to start working on an attacking game, sorely needed in the women's game.

[quote] Those were the days!!

So true. Martina and I would mentor those young fillies. We’d train them in so many ways. And the men! Oh so hot! Those were real mens. Anyway enough reminiscing. Ah. Good times.

Svitolina goes through. Hope she loses her semi.

Pammie, simmer-dimmer!

Kvitova is the first player since Bouchard in 2014 to go 0-3 in Singapore

Wozniacki gets so much shit but at least she was number 1 and won a major. Despite getting into the top 5 Svitolina is one of the most average players.

[quote] Wozniacki gets so much shit but at least she was number 1 and won a major.

Hall of fame for sure!

With the watered-down criteria over the last 10-15 years, Wozniacki is a lock for the HOF. The only question is whether she gets in her first year of eligibility.

I was at the HOF several years ago and the process was clearly a lot different back in the day. Maureen Connolly, for example, dominated for 3-4 years in the early to mid '50s, winning all the GS tournaments she entered before a non-tennis injury ended her career. She wasn't inducted until nearly 15 years later. Now a player just has to pull 2 championship-level weeks together and they are likely to get in.

R513 Better than most!

R514 There have been several one-slam wonders who haven't made it in, though: Conchita Martinez, Myskina, Novotna, Bartoli, etc. I don't think Mary Pierce is in and she won two slams!

Wozniacki did reach #1, though, so she has done much better than just getting playing well for two weeks.

Novatna has bageled in the hall of Fame.

Svitolina should never win a slam or reach the #1 spot but remember that Wozniacki didn't win a slam until several years after she became #1. She also got lucky in the AO final that Halep was wiped out from that brutal SF against Kerber.

Kvitova just hated the slow Singapore courts. This was her first loss to Pliskova

Wozniacki also got lucky at the AO with that Jana Fett match where Fett had match point and hit an ace, but didn't challenge when it was called out. Hawkeye showed anyway that the serve as good. She had won the match (if she had only challenged). And then proceeded to completely choke a healthy lead and let Carowhine back in. I will NEVER forgive Jana Fett.

Kvitova has been so bad at the big events this year. She had a leading H2H against all three players in her group. She can grind her way through a Prague Open draw but the moment there's pressure her game becomes a mess of errors.

It's ridiculous that Mary Pierce isn't in the HoF. In addition to her 2 slams she has another 4 runner up finishes and a further 18 titles. Was one of the first 'big babe tennis' pioneers, one of the first to get interesting with on court fashion, one of the first with a psychotic father (which became the biggest trend of all), and had a great off-court persona.

I still remember that RG 1994 run where she only dropped six games in her first FIVE matches. She then flogged Steffi Graf in the semi finals 6-2 6-2, but then too jittery in the final where she lost to Sanchez Vicario. Another one who probably should have achieved more than she did.

[quote] Wozniacki also got lucky at the AO with that Jana Fett match where Fett had match point and hit an ace,

Jana Fett is just a simple woman trying to make her way in the universe.

R519 and now Fett can barely win a match so..... I'm sure she would've went on to win the whole tournament lol. Get lost Wozniacki hater!!!

R521 You need to work on your reading comprehension dear. Nobody said Jana Fett was a great champion or destined to win the Australian Open. But she beat Wozniacki in that match, fair and square. Caroline is so bad she even needed that piece of EXTRAORDINARY luck to get through her ITF Djibouti draw. And lucky enough to play an exhausted Simona Halep in the final. Who gets Elise Mertens in a slam semi final other than her?

It's very telling that despite winning 3 big titles, she has only even had to face TWO top 10 players this year before the finals. By comparison Kiki Bertens has not only faced but BEATEN 11 of them. Wozniacki is a fraud of a top player.

Popsicle playing

R512: Woz won her GS years before being number one, in fact if my memory doesn't fail she only reach one GS final during her reign.

And i wasn't implying that Federer or Nadal weren't great, they are legends, but i find irritating the fact they always come with an injury after they lose (and like in this case not in the press conference after the lose but months after). I understand not wanting to give advantage to their rivals and even more when you are a player who has a clear advantage because a lot of players are intimidated to play against them.

But i got the impression that people tolerates a lot of things of those two that would be criticied in others. They have fame of praise their rivals but the truth is they are very generous in their praise when they win but not when they lose (and frankly being generous when you won is way easier).

Of course the good press has a lot to do not only with the fact of them being amazing players but with the fact they barely say anything controversial during their whole career (even when they do they seem to get a pass, Rafa said almost the same than Nole about women being payed the same but he didn't receive the backlash Nole received).

Nole

R522 So you're just going to discredit years of being a top 10 player and her decently long reign as world number 1? Ok makes perfect sense. Also you play whoever is across the net. It's not her fault other top players lost early. A weak draw is a bullshit excuse.

Wozniacki is a great player with a solid game but nothing about her game except for her movement is outstanding. Her backhand is nice and consistent and she can hit it anywhere but it's not a knockout shot.

R526 Years of being a top 10 player is more a reflection of the era. I mean Pliskova was #1 last year. Both last year and this year, Kristina Mladenovic went on the longest losing streak in tennis history and was in the top 10 for most of it. I agree that you play whoever is across the net. In her case she happens to have a lot more luck with who is across the net than other players do.

Her game is dire. She runs well and has a consistent (yet thoroughly soft) backhand. Sometimes will hit less than 5 winners in an entire match. She outlasts her opponents, more than I can say she actually 'beats' them. In fact her biggest weapon is probably all the gamesmanship (whether delay tactics, arguing with umpires, mocking her opponents, taking well-timed medical time outs - including in the other day's match vs Kvitova, all the drama with her father, threatening to sue Marija Cicak, asking them to delay the match to the next day when she's down a set and a break at RG this year, making up death threats from the Miami crowd this year....).

I'm not denying her successes. But a great tennis player? Nope..

Well, there's a difference between a tennis player with a great game and a tennis player with a great career. Woz has clearly had a great career. Radwanska has an interesting game, but her career pales in comparison.

Anyway, I was looking at the list of tennis HOF members and there are some odd choices. Kafelnikov won 2 slams and reached #1, but he's missing. Sabatini and Chang made it in without reaching #1. I guess they do a lot to promote the game in South America and Asia? But Kafelnikov must have pissed someone off to not be included.

[quote] Kafelnikov won 2 slams and reached #1, but he's missing

He’s not there because he’s an overachiever. Not cool, bro.

Monfils team.

at least for now Nishikori moves ahead of Isner in the race as Kei won today and John lost

Coric is in 11th place and a long shot though he could close the gap if he keeps going this week and does very well in Paris next week

Do we know if Rafa is playing Paris? I so want him to get his fifth year end number 1 ranking. But it doesn't look good. Nole has zero points to defend as playing like it's 2015.

The further Isner keeps getting pushed down the better.

Roddick’s looking very poofy in that photo, r531.

Yes! In Vienna, Thiem knocked off Querrey and Monfils knocked off Isner, both in straight sets. Go Europe over American deplorables!

All top 4 seeds knocked out in round robin at wta finals.

Kerber just struggles SO much with Stephens. Can't hit through her at all, and she really tried a lot of different tactics today. This court seems tailor made for the Sloane Ranger.

Bertens, Stephens, Pliskova and Svitolina are through to the SF stage. Which makes sense as they've been the best players of this tournament by quite some margin.

Hope Sloane takes it all.

Impressed with Sloane this week given her Asian swing and Moscow losses.

The SF are

Svitolina vs. Bertens

Pliskova vs. Stephens

Nishikori walked over Thiem

It is the good week of the year for Kukushkin and Copil

Zverev is coming for Federer's hometown title!

Federer needs to defeat Tsitsipas or Medvedev first. He is struggling a bit, but i won't be surprised if he ends winning anyway

Federer finds a way to win 90 something percent of the time even if he's not particularly playing that well.

Looks like Fed might even win this evening’s match against Gilles Simon. Federer is playing the worst I’ve ever seen him play—he looks like some grumpy old man complaining about the unseasonably cold weather and his chilblains. Simon, on the other hand, is playing his little heart out and, though he’s a loathsomely sexist Cochin, I’m mesmerized by the outline of his permanently semihard dick.

(Cochin is autocorrect for cochon, obviously.)

I just can't get behind Sloane when she tanks her matches for 90% of the year. If it's not a major, or an American event, she's just there for the appearance fee lol.

Right now Federer is barely getting through Gilles Simon. Even with his ability to still get the job done even not at his best, it doesn't look good when facing Tsitsipas/Zverev/Medvedev etc.

Here's a pic of the WTA 'legends' (some more than others but okay). Monica looks good!

[quote]Do we know if Rafa is playing Paris?

This article says he will train in Paris and accordingly on how he feels both physically and tennis-wise will take a decision. Del Potro is out obviously and Federer will decide after Basel

Who are the two women to the left of Davenport and the two to the right of Clijsters?

Also, I can't believe that Monica struggled with her weight during her entire post-stabbing career. But as soon as she retired, she dropped the weight and looks great. Was it all mental scars from the stabbing? Or is she just much happier in retirement?

In Vienna we had 2 retirements today.

Coric retires against Anderson with foot blisters, obviously saving himself for Paris. Anderson got a walkover from Melzer in the previous round

Monfils also retired against Verdasco

Paris draw is out. Nadal is entered in it for now

[quote]Who are the two women to the left of Davenport and the two to the right of Clijsters?

I think the two on the left are Yayuk Basuki & Alicia Molik and the ones on the right Iva Majoli & Tamarine Tanasugarn

Thanks, R553! I never would have guessed any of those names, but I do vaguely remember three of them from their playing days. No recollection of Yayuk Basuki at all, though.

[quote]I can't believe that Monica struggled with her weight during her entire post-stabbing career. But as soon as she retired, she dropped the weight and looks great.

Ikr?

[quote] But as soon as she retired, she dropped the weight and looks great. Was it all mental scars from the stabbing? Or is she just much happier in retirement?

She’s now married to a billionaire.

I remember Basuky! She was from Indonesia

Medvedev def. Tsitsipas in 3 sets.

Basel SF:

Zverev vs. Copil

Federer vs. Medvedev

Vienna SF (no one under 30!)

Nishikori vs. Kukushkin

Federer vs. Anderson

oops Nishikori is 28

Billionaire semen really agrees with Monica.

Martina and Chris also look great.

[quote] Billionaire semen really agrees with Monica.

So did stainless steel.

Are any of you on Thiem team?

Majoli has either had a lot of work done, or just has one of those faces that look like it. Much was made of her high society jet setting back in the day. I agree that Monica has controlled her weight and appearance a lot better, the cushy lifestyle obviously agrees with her and she has a private chef. Actually, Davenport doesn't look too bad either considering she's had like 5 kids. She was probably a bit bigger during her playing days. Capriati looks decent too considering her 'choices' throughout the years, although she's still quite young. Clijsters has ballooned but she always had the kind of body that was going to. She was already very thick during her playing days and her game was VERY athletic to be that size.

Federer's Paris draw is (finally) not very generous to him. First round against Tsonga/Raonic. Kevin Anderson, Fognini, Nishikori, John Millman all floating in his quarter. If he loses in Basel there's no way he shows up to this.

Rafa

Basuki and Tanasugarn are odd choices to be there, unless it's just because they're both from that region. They were solid players, spending much of their careers in the Top 50, but neither reached the top Ten, and I can't remember either reaching a Grand Slam quarterfinal. They were both at their best on grass and at Wimbledon, so I'm sure they're not enjoying the slow courts here.

One piece of trivia I always remember about Tanasugarn is that she was the first player to win a match on Arthur Ashe stadium, 1R in 1997 over Chanda Rubin.

Svitolina d Bertens in 3 sets to reach the Tour Finals.

I've been seeing/hearing a lot of comments recently about how often the matches at the Tour Finals go to three sets, and isn't that great for women's tennis. Well, it's not a bad thing, but I don't know how the media and tour executives keep missing the point: We need to give a shit about the players. We need personalities. We need rivalries. It's great that they're playing competitive tennis, it's great that there's depth in the game, blah blah blah. But if that's all we needed, we could watch college tennis.

When Svitolina (or Bertens, or Pliskova, or Wozniacki) is met with a collective yawn, it's not a good sign. Maybe I'm in the minority, but every Svitolina match could go to a tiebreaker in the 3rd set, but if I'm not emotionally invested in Svitolina, I really won't care.

I feel like there's a couple of players on the verge of becoming personalities, so there is hope. And pay attention, ATP, because this could be you in a couple of years if you're not prepared.

R564 ... GGGGGay!

R566: But to get rivalries you need consistent players who play against each other on finals or semis, and that's exactly what we don't have right now.

And most players seem to have the most neutral personality, i don't know if it's the lack of culture, they being training since very young and not having interest in other things or what, but apart of bitching on court most of them seem lack of charisma.

It's not it's that different in male tennis, most young players doesn't seem that interesting either but the truth is Roger and Rafa have no interesting personalities either (at least that's what the show, because they are probably very worried in their public image) but both have tons of charisma on court, their games are what attract people

Glad to see Sloane Stephens come back and beat Pliskbot in 3 sets. I wish Sloane was more consistent throughout the year. She really should have won the French this year.

Nishikori vs Anderson for Vienna title

Copil ousts Zverev in Basel to face Federer

Zverev looks like it's almost there but he never reaches the objective. He is way ahead the next generation players but if he doesn't step up soon he is going to lose all his advantage

By the way a popular tv personality (he has shows about animals on tv) shamed Rafa Nadal for playing in Arabia Saudi (it's not the first time, he did the same when he played in Thailand). He said something about expecting backlash because being critic with Nadal in Spain is like being critic with God in a church but he is not known for keeping his opinions to himself

would be hilarious if journeyman Copil won over Federer for his first title in Federer's home event

Is Copil journeyman or veteran or both?

(R565), yes Tanasugarn and Basuki are definitely there because they are from the region.

Tammy actually did make the QF at Wimbledon once - i think it was 2008 or 2009. And as a side note, I have worked with her on a number of occasions and she is absolutely one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, not just compared with other tennis players, but generally. She truly is an absolute sweetheart.

That's nice to hear re: Tanasugarn. It's tougher for players like them from more remote regions (such as Ons Jabeur and Malek Jaziri from Tunisia) to break through because they don't have the funding, coaching support, facilities, or the local ITF tournaments to develop that the American/Russian/Czech/Australian/German (and now Chinese) players do. You basically have to be VERY good and VERY lucky and find a way to pay your way to international events. Which is why if they're rich they get sent to those tennis facilities in Florida.

I am rooting for Copil! It would be a nice story for him.

The most basic ass pro tennis player just won the year end championships.

Holy fuck! What the hell happened to Sloane? R577 is so right. Svitolina is a crashing bore to watch. Now she's the Year End Champion? Women's tennis is in the grave. Wake me when it resurrects.

Nishikori loses Vienna final. What is track record in finals?

[quote]What is track record in finals?

I'm not sure but he lost his last 9 finals. Anderson qualified for the ATP Finals in London for the 1st time (at 32 yo).

Federer just won his 99th title

So glad Federer won his 99th title!! Copil played a good match until those last Hawkeye challenges. Why is he ranked in the 60’s? He has a top 20 game. Luckily for him he’ll move up to the 30s tomorrow.

Sloane had her leg strapped under her skirt and I think it affected her in the second and third sets.

Will Svitolina follow this up next year and win a major like Wozniacki?

If Svitolina plays a match and no one shows to watch it, will she still be considered to be playing tennis?

I must be the only one who doesn't dislike Svitolina's game.

Of course with that kind of game you need a strong mentality and fighting spirit (and she seems lacking that) to get the best results, but her game is not that terrible. In fact i prefer watching her than most brainless ballbashers on the circuit

Its gonna be hard for her to win a major with that game, but Wozniacki did it. However, she is mentally quite strong and known to fight for it. Svitolina usually gives up but this week she didnt so maybe this will be a turning point for her.

I still think the WTA will be a free-for-all for the next few years. I still don't see anyone with the skill/mental toughness-combo to be a consistent factor in the big tournaments. Any of the Top 20 could win a Slam, any could go out in the 1st round. Remember that while Wozniacki followed up her Singapore win with her first Slam win, her immediate 2 predecessors - Radwanska and Cibulkova - weren't able to use it as a springboard.

Realistically Svitolina only has a shot at the AO or RG. I don't think her game works as well at Wimbledon or the USO

Is ESL back?

Svitolina is just mentally so hopeless at the slams. She's had ample opportunities, HUGE leads in quarter finals (that RG where she had Halep totally on the ropes only to choke hard), plenty of soft draws. Still has never made a SF. Maybe this will help her, maybe not. But she's always going to be vulnerable to a big hitter. She didn't have to face any this week.... well Kiki Bertens has a nice heavy stroke but it's pretty much neutered by that slow ass Singapore court.

Has Agassi joined Dimitrov’s team?

[quote]Has Agassi joined Dimitrov’s team?

Looks like it, for Paris at least....where is Dani V, ?

it all comes down to Paris for the last WTF spots...there are some long shots but they'd have to reach the SF/F or win the title. It looks like Nishikori and/or Isner (if Del Potro withdraws) will get the last 2 slots

New thread, bitches!

Dimitrov team

She’s so fat. So very fat.

But she’ll do well at Skagen I predict.

The problem with Agassi coaching is that he's unwilling to make a full-time commitment. I guess it's fine if it works for you, but I think Dimitrov needs someone more dedicated for constant encouragement. He seems to get down on himself pretty quickly.

Also, Agassi is pretty untested as a coach. Not saying he's bad, but we haven't seen successful results yet, and the Djokovic experiment wasn't exactly a success.

Give me a call, Grigor!

Svitolina press conference transcript.