The Gays and Tennis 33: To the Aussie Open and Beyond!

Great pic, OP!

Looks like he’s using that luggage cart for dat booty

To continue on from the last thread, I actually found Bencic less impressive this year. Last year she went 3-0 in singles in the RR stage, was returning the Zverev serve with interest, and only fell to Angie in the singles final. She had won three big ITF events in a row beforehand and was on something like a 20 match win streak heading into the AO, where she got that big 'upset' (depending on how you look at it) win over Venus.

This year she's been all out of sorts. Absolutely useless in the mixed doubles, and the only singles match she won was against world #100 Katie Boulter, getting thumped by Angie again, Serena, and Maria Sakkari. She was really held up by Roger this week, and even in their winning speech she accidentally said "Thanks to Roger for playing for me..... I mean *with* me" lol.

On the other hand Kerber was playing well. Impressive like she was last year and took her all the way to a Sydney title and an AO SF.

This girl Andreescu seems so unstoppable, beating Venus/Wozniacki/Hsieh, all of whom have entirely different styles of play. I'll be watching the final tomorrow against Goerges (who I think will finally end her run). Hopefully it's as entertaining as the Shenzhen one, Sabalenka truly is the next big thing. I'm less interested in the Nishikori v Medvedev / Pliskova v Tsurenko finals in Brisbane.

Here are some short highlights from the great match Bautista Agut played to beat Novak. I'm sure the latter is still the favourite for the Australian Open, no matter how much special treatment Federer gets this year, but wow the Spaniard hasn't played nearly this well in a long time.

Bautista usually plays Djokovic tough. The H2H was 7-1 in favor of Djokovic, but the three times they've played in Slams have all gone 4 sets. I was expecting it would be close, and wasn't completely surprised by the win.

I actually think that Djokovic, while he is the favorite for AO, is being over-estimated. I wouldn't be shocked to see a new Slam winner at AO.

He really does have a nice arse.

Anderson edges Karlovic in 3 tiebreak sets to win Pune. Karlovic seemed like he was ready to retire last year after falling out of the top 100 and playing a lot of smaller ATP events with numerous losses but this week he almost wins a title.

I'm gonna miss me some popsicle this year. :(

One more of VP. Love him!

Well next week starts the real thing. Every year someon impress in the previous tournaments just to fall hard on the Australian Open.

I hope things change on the wta and on the atp. Wta needs new starts and the top players being more regular. Atp needs new faces challenging Nole, Rafa and Roger, it would be terrible for atp if noone dethrone them before they retire

Zverev definitely wanted to win against Federer. He threw his racket in annoyance. If he were just treating it like an exho he wouldn't have cared.

Interestingly, Federer had the toughest time against Tsitsipas with 2 tiebreaks, then Zverev, then Tiafoe and he demolished Norrie 6-1 6-1

Popsicle! I hope he recovers. I'd hate to think he's a part of our ATP experience for a few more years.

Guillermo García López got in main draw because of Popsicle's withdrawal

GGL has nice legs too.

Here’s him training shirtless.

Auckland doubles final: Bouchard/Kenin def. Townsend/her partner 1-6 6-1 10-7(tiebreak) it's the first doubles title for both. Genie now has 1 singles and 1 doubles

Homophobe Sergiy Stakhovsky is back on the ATP players council. It looks like someone stepped down and of all the people the ATP could've chosen they picked him.

They're going to make Gimelstob the honorary chairman now.

So happy for Julia Goerges. That male Australian commentator (on Tennis Channel) was so over the moon gushing and rooting for Bianca A, it made me want Julia to win.

Goerges always had a nice forehand serve and volleys but her backhand is inconsistent and she's not a great mover.

Why isn't Pablo Andujar more of a DL fave?

R17: Gimelstob is way worse than Stakhovsky, at least Stakhovsky has the excuse of coming from a very homophobic country and he even make an effort to understand why people reacted so bad to his words (and in my opinion there's a good amount of misoginy in the male's council that goes way beyond him)

Another DL fave, at least one of mine, Noah Rubin, lost in the final of an ATP minor event. Usually, these events can bolster a player's ranking and sometimes get him ranked high enough to make main draws. The minors helped Popsicle last year. The problem is for Rubin, though, is that he actually WON this event last year, and I expect his ranking to drop about 10 spaces in the 145 range. It must be so tough on the players like him to progress up the rankings to a safer spot. For Rubin, and others like him, it's off to the AO qualifying. Rubin lost in the first round last year, so there's an opportunity.

Tiafoe, much higher ranked, is also trying to get some traction in Australia. He did poorly last year down there.

Nishikori finally wins another title

RBA wins Doha!

10th time lucky! In all seriousness i'm really happy for Kei, he's had such a tough run despite really improving since the injury. Last couple of months is the best he's played in years. And RBA was definitely the player of the week in Doha so good that he won the title.

I too got a little sick of the commentators talking Bianca up. She was truly impressive this week but we've seen huge breakthroughs before on the WTA and a lot of them amount to nothing. The way he was talking reminded me of Venus making the USO final on debut at 16 lol. I'd like to see her in the draw but i'm thinking it's just as likely she fails during qualifying to some random scrub.

Australian Open Men's Singles seeds:

and the Women's Singles seeds

Interesting that the Top 4 seeds are the current Slam title holders (Halep -French, Kerber - Wimbledon, Wozniacki - Aussie, Osaka - US). Also, with Sharapova seeded 30th, she'll be drawn against one of those four in the 3rd Round, and with Serena seeded 16th, she'll be drawn against one of those four in the 4th Round.

Didn't realise some of those men like De Minaur and Medvedev were already such high slam seeds. Poor Hyeon Chung has barely gotten any matchplay since he got injured in Melbourne last year (he was playing so well too). Looks like he's going to see a giant tumble down the rankings unless he miraculously makes the SF again. Same for Cecchinato after the French Open.

Also, it's crazy how I can't even pick a favourite for the womens draw, looking at the top seeded players. Will Serena make it through to the final again? And can she overcome the pressure this time? Is Angie Kerber in good form? She looked good at the Hopman Cup but on the actual tour she's been playing awfully since winning Wimbledon.

There are always random threats like Muguruza (who is trash 98% of the year but sometimes peaks randomly) or even Madison Keys who is perennially injured but has the power game to go deep at almost every slam. Will lazy Sloane Stephens or slam finalist Sloane Stephens show up? This isn't an American tournament so it's hard to say.

Halep has been injured and out of play for months (plus no coach), Wozniacki has been playing like shit and needed *insane* levels of luck to win last year. Osaka is still very young to win two slams consecutively and she feels the pressure a lot. Svitolina and Pliskova are always good for a QF run but nothing better. Kvitova hasn't been good at the slams since she last won one, and she always struggles with the conditions in Australia.

Kiki Bertens too doesn't fare well in the heat (though her game is quietly good enough to win a slam, even if her mentality isn't). Daria Kasatkina can win a few rounds but her pusher game will be neutered by the first quality hitter she runs into (Kaia Kanepi? Camila Giorgi?). Sharapova is over, Azarenka has no momentum for a strong run (although she loves this event), and even Venus will need her serve to TRULY be firing to get through even a few rounds, even if she was the runner up just 2 years ago.

The one who stands out *slightly* to me is Sabalenka. She already looks fearsome from Shenzhen, but if she goes deep in Sydney she'll probably be exhausted (even if she IS built like an ox). Plus she's still so inexperienced at the slams, having only first played them last year when she was still a developing teen for much of the season.

[quote]Looks like he's going to see a giant tumble down the rankings unless he miraculously makes the SF again

Tennys Sandgren has quite a few points to defend as well, I think he lost to Chung in the QF?

R31 that's right. And I can't wait because he's such a horrible guy. If I remember correctly he had never won a single slam match before the AO last year, but oddly collected some big scalps too... Chardy, then Wawrinka, then Marterer, then Thiem. Chung beating him in straight sets was a real 'good def. evil' moment.

Milos Raonic's girlfriend had a bunch of pics leaked. Among the pics was a spectacular pic of Milos' ass.

Thanks for sharing - wow I'm very impressed despite myself!

quite big buttocks

lol I wasn't expecting that! He does have hot calves but his upper body is decidedly average and I never paid attention to his butt or quads/hams

I've always thought his legs were his best feature... I guess they extend upward a bit...

R37 Me too! Just thinking about his hot calves gets me all hot and bothered.

R30 So what you're saying is -- what everyone who's been paying attention knows -- that the WTA is and has been a disaster for about a decade. Thanks.

Don't see Maria getting past any of the top 4, except Woz. Hope all-business Serena shows up. You know being seeded 16th is going to motivate the hell out of her.

I just hope Serena and her baby don't get yet another free pass to the final. So much coddling! How is it that even though she and Madison Keys are tied in points, Serena gets ranked 16th and Madison is bumped down to 17th. Shouldn't they favor the more active player? It never ends.

Wow we've barely heard at all about the baby these last couple months.

Which baby, R42?

R43, the baby Serena ALMOST DIED giving birth to!

Thanks, R44. I didn't realize she'd had a baby much less almost died.

R44 Nice try. I think if Serena had had a baby she'd have mentioned it at some point.

lol!

Ebden

Ebden looks like Clive Owen

Shapovalov lost to Sousa

Thanks R33, I had no idea that Milos has such fine ass . You got any more nude of him?

Ebden is beautiful. Seems like a good bloke too.

Sousa sure cleans up nice.

R50: I'm starting to think that Denis is one of those players who show great promise very young but never reach even remotely their potential. He didn't progress that much last year

Zverev might miss AO due to hamstring injury

Hahah to be fair Madison Keys is so frequently injured that she's basically on the same limited schedule as Serena. She's equally likely to (a) walk all over her opponent with her ridiculous power, (b) hit herself off the court with her ridiculous power, or (c) retire from the match and not appear again for another few months.

The tennis players need to reduce their schedule Specially Simona, Svitoline, Kerber, Wozniacki, Garcia, Pliskova, Kvitova, Sablenka, Sasha, Thiem

Am I being overly cynical to wonder whether it's a handy way to lower expectations and take the pressure off?

R58: That would be a smart move. The worst thing he can do is put too much pressure on himself. For him semis would be a great result, it would be breaking a barrier. The worst thing it could happen to him is another early defeat

[quote]The tennis players need to reduce their schedule Specially Simona, Svitoline, Kerber...

Huh?

In 2018, Halep played in 15 WTA events.

In 2018, Svitolina played in 19 WTA events.

In 2018, Kerber played in 18 WTA events.

Why on earth would you suggest they need to curtail their playing schedules?

Coco Vandeweghe has pulled out of the Australian Open

I played 28 tournaments

But I lost in first round in 13 of them anyway

[quote] Madison Keys is so frequently injured that she's basically on the same limited schedule as Serena.

Did she have a baby too?

Who had a baby? Serena? I didn't know that. They should really mention things like this in the media.

[quote] Coco Vandeweghe has pulled out

She must have used what those horrid lesbians call a “strap on”. THEY use them to simulate normal heterosexual sex. They’re all lesbians including this Coco!

I WISH I pulled out.

[quote] Zverev might miss AO due to hamstring injury

Which one?

[quote]Zverev might miss AO due to hamstring injury

[quote]Which one?

The right hamstring.

[quote] The right hamstring.

Thanks so much. That answered my question perfectly.

wtf so the AO has a new scoring rule for the final sets of matches (3rd set for women 5th for men). There will be a 10 point tiebreak, not the 7 we're used to seeing. So no more final set marathons until someone breaks and holds or holds and breaks. Not sure why they're doing a 10 point tiebreak rather than 7 points.

lmao Sloane just won the craziest match over Alexandrova 0-6 7-6(3) 7-6(3) she was down in the second set but turned things around during a rally when her opponent was at net and Sloane hit a ball behind her. Alexandrova fell and then lost her momentum. Alexandrova was up a break 2 times in the third. Then Sloane served at 5-4 but got broken easily before closing it out in a tiebreak

Any more pics of Borna's legs and ass?

Match highlight - Kvitova vs. Sabalenka

Hyeon Chung lost to local player Rubin Statham (ranked #360) in Auckland

Nobody Hueong Chungs tonight 😞

Wow surprised Kvitova beat Sabalenka..I guess she isn't invincible after all. I like Petra too! She seems like one of the good ones.

She looks a lot leaner to me than in previous years.

R76: I'm not, Kvitova can beat anyone when she is on, and Sabalenka needs a lot of improvement when the match is tight

Not sure why the Sabalenka loss would be a surprise. She just won a tournament over the weekend in China and 3 days later is playing against a top player in Australia the week before a Grand Slam. Rarely does anyone play well 2 weeks in a row anymore, especially right before a Slam, and when they do, they're usually physically compromised at the Slam. Witness Halep's 1st round US Open loss right after back-to-back finals in Canada and Cincinnati. I read nothing into Sabalenka's loss. The days of playing deep in consecutive tune-up events are long gone. She may still crap out at the AO but I don't think this particular loss foreshadows it.

Auckland: young daddy Fritz def. Trump/Fox-loving Isner 7-6(3( 7-6(5) !!!!!

Yay!

Young loses in AO qualifying first round and implodes, pulverizing his racket and damaging part of the court.

that DeMinauer is so so so cute

Why was Young so pissed? I don't mean this in a snarky way, but he should be used to losing these days.

Interesting article on why there are no openly gay ATP players when there are several on the WTA. Brian Vahaly says several have privately told him they are gay.

Marcelo Melo, a DL Fave, says a gay player would be fine but he would need to respect the heterosexual players in the locker room or something. "If they keep respect with the players, I’m not going to stop talking to someone who says they’re gay. But he has to have respect a lot, this is the most important thing. I think you have problems when they don’t respect each other." What the fuck does this mean???

Et tu, Marcelo?

R85 That's rich

Sabalenka also played her SF and F on the same day in Shenzhen and the conditions are so different. I'm surprised she even played Sydney, but yes Kvitova looked super skinny. Tonight she plays arguably the skinniest (and most entertaining!) player on the WTA, Hsieh Su Wei.

Also what a ridiculous statement from Melo. I can't believe in 2019 straight guys still think they're going to be molested by a sensitive gay player in the locker room. It's not even like a football team situation, usually it's just the one or two players lol.

R88, Maybe after getting so much flirtation from a top and rich player like Sasha, Melo may develop a false sense of superiority complex about his looks. That he is so attractive that even straight guys like Sasha not only flirts with him but also carries Melo' s ass around the world in his private jet on ATP tour

So now he thinks that a gay player will certainly not able to control himself after seeing his pimple ridden skinny ass in locker room shower

I am quite disappointed in Marcelo. I wonder what Sascha would have to say about this topic...but maybe it's better not knowing at this rate.

Perhaps a closeted player tried it on with Melo thinking he was family after his and Zverev's constant gay-baiting.

It's so stupid to have this shower conversation again. I don't know what straight players do in the showers because i thought they just do that, shower and go the the interview after the match.

Secure straight guys don't have a problem, but insecure ones, even if they are ugly as hell fear to be harrassed or something like that. And i don't understand why they ask Marcelo, is not that he is an important player

R83: De Miñaur is shy and nice on interviews, but he throw some temper tantums and raquet smashes on court. Hopefully he will be able to control himself when he matures

R90: I'm not sure Sascha will do better is he is quetioned. He seems to have a very very high self esteem, he probably think he is irresistible.

People can say whatever they want about Andy Murray, but if there were more players like him on the circuit gay players could come out without a problem

Just goes to show most tennis players aren't too bright.

R84, I didn't see most of the Young match, just the last few games. He had quiet words with the umpire after the match, then sat in silence. His opponent left the court, and then the viewer starts to hear the unmistakable sound of a racket hitting the court. The camera returned to the court, and there's Young, violently yet eerily calm. The commenatators noted that he'd be fined and that the next match would be delayed because the gashes in the court needed to be repaired.

Punk.

R94: everytime and articulate athlete appears is like a shooting star. They are few in every sport, but at least there are a good bunch who know to keep their mouth shut to not say something stupid (Melo is the typical case the more he talks the worst)

Nicola Kuhn and Alejandro Davidovich won their first matches on a GS. Spanish federation should pray for them to make it because Spain could be in a very bad situation when the veterans start to retire

lol! Have those Saschelo fangurls seen these comments yet?

ESL is back!

We have...well I have and others I know of, haha, R97. As I said above, it's disappointing and makes me think it's probably better not knowing Sascha's opinion. I doubt he'd be outright homophobic, but I can see him saying something stupid...sadly.

R99: Sascha can be charming when he wants, and i think he is inteligent to not put his foot in his mouth like Melo did (because Melo is really really threatened by male intimacy lilke he likes to show on instagram) but who knows. It seems a couple of gay rumours were enough to make Melo very worried about gay eyes can see his dick

Besides Young there were a handful of other notable first round AO qualies losers:

Lisicki

the promising Casper Ruud

Wickmayer

Escobedo (seems to have stalled)

Robredo!!!!

Davis (who almost beat Halep at the AO last year)

Fett (who almost beat Wozniacki at the AO last year)

Zvonareva

Baghdatis

Mahut (lost to Troicki!!! can't believe both are in qualies)

Bolelli

Bellucci

most of them shockingly lost to no-names, both up-and-comers and journeymen/women who barely won main draw matches in their careers

Wow, r101, I did not know that Zvonareva was still on the tour.

Journalist are very ridiculous sometimes. I read and article of an spanish sport newspaper that praise the incredible surprise of Nicola Kuhn defeating a guy who is 20 years his senior. I really like Nicola and he deserved a lot of success after the recovery of his injury (he had an injury on a toe just when he reached top 200 last year) but it's absurd consider that win a big surprise when his rival is 38 and barely 50 positions higher in the ranking. Stephane Robert was briefly top 50 (to be fair he reached his higher ranking at 36)

R102 IIRC she reached semifinal last week in one of the three tournaments

I'd say the Aussie Open is too tough to call on both sides. For the men, I'd say Nole is still the favorite despite his loss at the tune-up tournament. The last couple years, Federer has been playing the best of the top players at this time of year. We'll see if he can do that again. With Nadal, it's hard to say. I have to think 5-setters in the Australian heat will likely break him down like it did last year. Then again, Nadal could walk away with the whole thing if the draw falls apart like the 2017 US Open. I'd like to see a young gun from the recent crop break through, but I've been waiting for over two years for that to happen. I doubt it will happen here, but you never know. This younger generation seems to struggle at the Slams, probably because of the 5 setters required (see A. Zverev).

The women. Meh. I kind of don't care. R30 does a good job of expressing what I think. The mental midgets of the WTA makes it stand for Worst Tour Around.

Fuck. Bolelli is hot. Hopefully he plays dubs with the Fog.

Bolelli is one of the most handsome players on the tour, it's curious that he is not more popular.

R105 5 setters take more mental strength to get through than 3 setters, which the younger players struggle with. While the big 3 dominant mainly due to how determined and mentally strong they are.

r108 don't think so, it's more of a fitness and strength problem, endurance and strength actually strengthen in mid 20s and late 20s, if practiced hard enough, maybe the younger ones also do and get done less doping

I don't know, R109. You may be right, but the matches I've watched make me think it's mental. A. Zverev in particular has underperformed. He's making stupid errors in his Slam matches and has lost early several times. Both Thiem and Khachanov should have beaten Nadal at the US Open last year, but they both tightened up at the worst time. Contrast that with Nadal who fought through the whole of each match and never gave up. Of course, Nadal is probably the toughest player mentally who ever played the game. But still, you'd think these younger guys would power through those opportunities. I see more brain farts happening than being worn out physically.

No, in my opinion is not a fitness problem (at least not in most of the cases). At 21 you have more energy than at 35.

The problem is mental strenght and the fact that Nole, Rafa and Roger (apart of being beasts and tough as rocks) have very different games. You need not only to defeat one of them (which is hard enough) you need to defeat at least two of them, and there's a high probability that your game is not equally suitable for that matter.

In Zverev case, with some exceptions, he tanked his matches. Most of them were tight matches against players with lower ranked, but he felt the pressure and was unable to win

With Zverev, I have no doubt that it's been nerves.

Titsy!

Seppi

[quote] While the big 3 dominant mainly due to how determined and mentally strong they are.

Tsk. Tsk.

titys needs 2 cut his hair short.

When is the Academy announcing that Tommi and Gio are hosting the Oscars??

"Hello gays are you ready for me to win my 7th Australian Open?"

Aussie Open 4R Draw:

Djokovic-Medvedev

Fognini-Nishikori

Zverev-Raonic

Coric-Theim

Cilic-Khachonov

Tsitsipas-Federer

Anderson-Isner

Edmund-Nadal

Halep-Serena Williams

Kasatkina-Pliskova

Osaka-Sevastova

Martens-Svitolina

Kvitova-Sabalenka

Barry-Wozniacki

Stephens-Bertens

Goerges-Kerber

Before you get excited about the potential Halep v. Williams 4R, note that Halep opens against Kanepi who beat her 1R of the USOpen four months ago.

Think Murray might pull out.

No! R121 please don’t Andy!

Almost all the teens lost in the second round of the qualification (including Felix). Rudolf Molleker won. Rudolf is a curious case, he was always one of the top players born in 2000, have a good career on u14 and u16, but his junior GS results are awful (but he didn't play in his last year as junior). He is doing quite well on pros, i think he is the second player on the rankings born that year after Felix

Poor Granny Vee once again set to run into her sister early. And once again both in the Halep/Kanepi section at the top.

Meanwhile on the bottom half of the draw Kerber seems to have a very generous path to the finals. I can see her winning.

Sup with Granny Vee anyway? She can't really believe she has much chance of winning. Does she just like traveling with the tour, or doesn't she have anything better to do? Is she required to play by her sponsor contracts?

I don't think she cares too much about the travelling after 25 years on the tour.

Re: sponsors, she's more focused on her own businesses (EleVen, VStarr interiors).... her main endorsement deals are with Jamba Juice and American Express which she doesn't actually advertise during her matches. But as was posted in the last thread, she got rid of her coach, hitting partner, and boyfriend at the end of last year rather dramatically. So it seems she either wants to make one last push (she still says her goal is the Olympics - whether in singles or doubles I don't know), or she's just taking it easy for her last go around on the tour.

She was playing rather well in Auckland until she ran into a hot Andreescu (who has continued her run and is storming through qualifying at the moment). Lost some weight at least. It will be interesting to see how she does, but I hate the way she rolls over for lil' sis. She used to FLOG her but their US Open match was an embarrassment. She always does better on the other side of the draw.

Kvitova's looking good. Just beat Kerber.

R125: The truth is Venus really has chances. Top players are so irregular right now that with the right draw she could be a threat. Yes, she is an underdog but nobody expected Ostapenko or Osaka to win before their GS

My practices at the australianopen are underway 🎾🇦🇺 Check it out on my YouTube channel !

I think Venus is still playing because she believes she can still win. While her level may not be what it once was, she still does display flashes of brilliance and she's still mentally tough. She's not lacking for money but she's still a crowd favourite so I wouldn't be surprised if she's getting appearance fees.

Vee will always have her chances if she's serving well. Nobody played better tennis in 2017 than she did in the Wimbledon run. The Jo Konta match (despite the scoreline) was total domination and basically ended Jo's career as a top player. She just kind of shit the bed after she flubbed set points against Muguruza in the final. Even at the US Open she was only two points from beating Sloane before she hit a purple patch, and Madison Keys was so bad in the final she would have won. As long as she doesn't face her sister, she can always be a 'threat' (the extra day off in slams helps so much).

Kvitova really IS looking good in Sydney. She's moving better than ever (the weight loss probably is a result of tonnes of cardio). Once she gets to the SF or F stage of the tournament she usually has it in the bag, she has one of the best w/l records in finals. But we've seen her win these tournaments and then flop out in R1 of a slam so many times. For a great player she really is so dreadful at *all* the slams outside of her few big runs half a decade ago+.

She gets Sasnovich in her Sydney SF (who beat her in R1 of Wimbledon when she was the odds favourite). A final against Kiki Bertens could be interesting, their match last year in the final of Madrid was one of the best and most competitive of the year. Although they're both stronger on clay.

Why Millman was rubbing his crotych openly for a longtime during last changeover?Was he he hurt there?

I’m guessing most of those 4R women’s matchups won’t be taking place.

[italic]Spanish police have broken up a tennis match-fixing ring that is alleged to involve nearly 30 professional players, including one who played in the last US Open[/italic]

R133: You can bet on that and be sure to win

[quote]A final against Kiki Bertens could be interesting,

Bertens faces Barty in the semis; she has beaten Ostapenko, Halep and Mertens (all in straight sets) and has never lost to Bertens. I'd give the edge to Barty.

Titsy

[quote]Spanish police have broken up a tennis match-fixing ring that is alleged to involve nearly 30 professional players, including one who played in the last US Open.

It doesn't mention the "one" that I could see. (I only read the first 8-10 paragraphs before The Guardian wanted me to pay for access.) My guess is it's a name few of us will recognize, who played a round or two in qualifying, or maybe a doubles event.

I'd be rubbing my crotch if I had Simon in front of me.

Could it be Cecchinato back up to his old tricks? Before his successful French Open run, he had an 18 month suspension and heavy fine for being involved in match betting and fixing.

Wouldn't it be funny if it was Kiki Mladenovic? Would explain a lot of her embarrassing losses.... but sadly I think that's just her.

It's probably some doubles player you've never heard of, though.

I don't mean that in a snarky way, sorry! Read it over and realised it could be read as such

If the seeds hold, Federer would get Tsitsipas in the Round of 16, Cilic in the quarters, then Nadal in the semis. Tough draw. Nadal's draw looks like an easier path to the semis if he gets past De Minaur in the Round of 32.

You know you got an easy draw when the biggest threats to you getting to the quarters are Bouchard in R2 and your sister in R4 (walkover!). Sadly, it may even be lamer than that. It'll probably go Maria, Peng (coming back), Carlo! (pathetic), then whoever the qualifier is that Kenin will play. Kidding about the last one, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me in the least. Vomit.

Kvitova has the worst section and because she's going deep in the lead-up tournament (with a tough draw) she'll almost certainly lose early. Too bad.

I'd say Azarenka has the second worst section with Siegemund, Hsieh, then Osaka R3. She can't seem to get a break with her draws lately.

^^^^^^^^^

Whoops! All of my round designations turned into post links. I'll do the number first in future posts...promise.

I take that back. Halep has the second worst part of the draw. Azarenka third, R144.

Help

Any opinions on whether the draws are fixed?

Fixed for who? Serena?

Tennis Australia is the organizer. So if they're fixing for an easy draw, I'm putting the player in the Wozniacki quarter, who is in the worst form of the Top 4. Serena is in with Halep.

The typically did the draw ceremony live, which makes it tough to fix. (Not sure if it was live this year.)

No, I don't think it's fixed.

Murray announces retirement is imminent. Hopes to play until Wimbledon while at the same time acknowledging the Australian Open could be his final event if he can't play with the continued hip pain.

If he's in so much pain, why play? He won't have a good shot to win. If you want to play for the love of competition (like Hewitt), that's great but then you don't announce you'll be done in six months. I just don't see an upside to him playing the next six months if he's miserable and in constant pain.

Forgot the link.

So what does this mean? Will Wimbledon be his last tournament?

There was a guy on DL who predicted this as early as Sept 2017 when Misery pulled out at the last moment in US open 2017. None of us believed him.[at least I didn't].

I am wondering from where he got this inside information so early?

Australian Open thread linked below. Let’s use this current Gays and Tennis thread until the tournament starts. A lot to talk about until then: match fixing speculation, Misery Murray’s retirement, etc.

Look at the last paragraph of this story:

Goolagong Cawley praises Clijsters on the mother of all achievements

EVONNE GOOLAGONG CAWLEY didn't get to watch the moment when Kim Clijsters emulated her achievement of nearly 30 years ago - winning a tennis major after having a child.

While Clijsters was winning the US Open, and celebrating on court in New York with her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, Goolagong Cawley was busy working in Sydney with the next generation of potential tennis stars she is mentoring.

But the last person to win a grand slam singles title after having a child was nonetheless thrilled from afar for the Belgian comeback star.

'I was so very excited to hear that Kim won, and I'm so happy for her,' Goolagong Cawley, who won Wimbledon in 1980, three years after having daughter Kelly, said yesterday.

'Go Mums. How gorgeous that she brought her daughter on court to celebrate. Please pass along my congratulations to her for such an amazing win.'

Goolagong Cawley said one of her biggest memories of her 1980 win was being told by a Wimbledon official how long it had been since a mother had last won at the All-England Club.

'It was funny, because as soon as I came off the court, the first thing the official said to me was, 'Do you realise you are the first mother since Dorothea Douglass Chambers in 1914 to win here as a mum?'.'

Douglass Chambers beat Ethel Thomson Larcombe 7-5, 6-4 that year. It was easier to win back-to-back titles then - the defending champion merely had to play in the final after a challenger tournament was held.

Alicia Molik watched the end of her old friend Clijsters' fairytale triumph yesterday from Darwin, the off-Broadway tennis venue where she is about to launch a lower-key singles comeback of her own.

'I thought it was absolutely fantastic,' said Molik, who will today meet unseeded Emily Webley-Smith in the first round of the $US25,000 ($29,000) Northern Territory International. 'But when she stopped she was in a different league to me: when I stopped I was ranked around 100; when Kim stopped she was No. 1 or 2 in the world, so it's no surprise she comes back and wins the US Open.

'I've known Kim for years and years. She's gone off and had a bit of time out and I think she's enjoying her tennis more than she ever did, and not putting as much pressure on herself as she did before, and that's playing a big part in her success.'

Organisers of the Medibank International are already hoping to get the immensely popular Clijsters back to Sydney in January. Clijsters won the Medibank International in 2003 and again in 2007, the year she left the tour to venture into motherhood.

With rumours of Justine Henin also eyeing off a comeback after her shock retirement last year - she was just 25 years of age and still ranked No.1 in the world - the Sydney tournament is set to boast a grand slam-quality field.

Medibank International tournament director Craig Watson will also be throwing a wildcard at Bernard Tomic after the 16-year-old's win in the final of the US Open boys singles. Tomic claimed the Australian-US Open boys double by thumping American Chase Buchanan 6-1, 6-3.

Tomic was the sole Australian winner at the US Open after No.3 seeds Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs bowed out in the semi-finals of the women's doubles. They succumbed 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to American Liezel Huber and Zimbabwe's Cara Black.

■ Serena Williams has been fined $US10,000 ($11,600) for her menacing tirade against a line judge at the conclusion of her US Open semi-final loss on Saturday and may face more penalties. 'While I don't agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me, and as a result handled the situation poorly,' she said.

I've been critical of women's tennis in recent years, but I'm watching and really enjoying the Barty v. Bertens Sydney SF. Here's what I like:

Both women are playing thoughtful, positive tennis. Some errors, but not silly, brain-dead errors. A racket toss here or there, but not a lot of bitching and moaning after every shot.

Both women are all business. They're not going to the towel after every point. They're not looking to their coaches constantly, looking for signals. It's moving at a nice clip - deep in a 3rd set, and 2 hours played.

The silence. I'm not normally an anti-grunt person, but it is refreshing to have a match with no grunting and (even better) no shrieking. Especially the phony gamesmanship grunting that suddenly surfaces at 4 all in a set.

If I'm going to nit pick, I'd love to see a contrast in styles, but it's very similar (baseline hitting, two handed backhands), but at least they're showing some variety with slices, net approaches, etc.

Now a fan of both of these women.

I think that was me R153. I commented when Murray finished his long match at the Citi Open in DC that went into the wee hours of the morining, he had a breakdown and was sobbing. I felt like he knew it was over then.

I like Barty..she is a scrapper.

Misery :-(

Yeah the Barty / Bertens match was really good. Super competitive from start to finish, both have an interesting game, and no drama. No surprise that they're both considered two of the nicest girls on tour. Very workmanlike way they go about their matches, with a positive sporting attitude. Just trying to problem solve and play their best tennis. At the end I just think Kiki was playing with slightly more margin for error, and her serve was not *quite* as tight as Ash's (at some points last year it was a real weapon so hopefully she can get it back to its glory soon). Happy for Ash to come through and win.

Would love for Ash to win one more match and take the title in front of the home crowd! After all it would suck to lose the same final two years in a row. But Kvitova is always so dangerous once she reaches the business end of a tournament. I hope Ash's slice can draw the errors but it's usually less potent against a lefty, especially one who hits that hard (and now has added athleticism after the weight loss!).

Re: draw fixing, I do think sometimes (where possible) they will pit two marquee names against each other earlier in a draw just to try draw the crowds to a tournament earlier in the week when the tickets aren't selling. I can't remember which WTA tournament it was last year where the draw was done in private (not at a ceremony/public draw) and it was a pretty weird one.

Venus vs Serena constantly being in the same section is a little suspicious (such an easy marketing opportunity), but I think that's more coincidence than anything. The 2017 US Open round 1 with Sharapova against world #1 Halep, who she always dominated, felt a little bit strange as well with the way the tournament was promoting Meldonia's return like crazy.

Reading the tributes to Murray brought a tear to my eye.

One thing I've never really understood though is how people see him as 'Misery' since he's always been funny to me. Perhaps it's the British sense of humour and delivery and the rest of the world doesn't get it?

I don't know, he is bratty on court, he is always talking to himself, but off court he is probably one of the most articulate players. He seems to have sense of humour and his inteligence is way over the average of the circuit (to be honest, that doesn't seem too difficult)

R161, as R162 indicated the nickname Misery refers to his on-court behavior. He was always so hard on himself and full of self recriminations. He was his own worst enemy.

Murray made me cry. He is such a good guy.

I prefer Murrays personality or at least what he shows through interviews and social media than the big 3. Nadal comes a close second. Not a fan of Federer and Djokovic but I admire their tennis skills.

I agree, R162. His on-court behavior was always negative and bratty. He was always bitching about one thing or another and he was a sourpuss. But off court, he was deadpan and really funny in press conferences and with the media, not to mention a champion of the right thing to do.

I think if Murray had been more positive on court, he may have bagged a few more Slams. No matter what, I'm sorry to see his career derailed by injury.

[quote]Venus vs Serena constantly being in the same section is a little suspicious

But really, they're not.

Random chance dictates they would be in the same half of the draw 50% of the time. In the last 20 Slams that they've both played (2013 Australian Open - 2018 US Open), it's been 12 of 20 (60%) instances that they're in the same half.

Of those 12 times they were in the same half, exactly half of those (6) have had Venus in the same quarter, and they other half (6) in opposite quarters, where the earliest they could meet is the semifinals.

So only six times in the last 20 Slams (30%), have Venus and Serena been placed in the same quarter of the draw, which is just slightly above the average chance of 1 in 4 (25%).

I love Andy. Such a great player and such a sensitive guy. I love a man who isn't afraid to show how much it all means to him. And he's funny as hell, very self-deprecating. I cannot imagine tennis, really, without him.

If you had said Murray would be the first of the Big Four to retire, it would have have seemed highly implausible. I really think Rafa's next. Then DelPo, then Federer. Wawrinka will just fade away over the next 3-4 seasons.

It clears the way for Novak, if he stays healthy, to add to his major total. I am really wondering now if he can break Roger's record?

I was on Misery team, but now I’m on DelPo team perhaps even Stan team.

amazing how andy could be a foul mouth brat on the court, but the complete opposite off the court...

bets on who wins the women's title at the aussie? better luck in choosing what color of outfits the top players are going to wear each day then picking the winner!...

what's the latest on stan and his preparation for the aussie?..

R153 that was ME. I live in Cincy and at the Western and Southern that year it was mentioned through insiders Andy was going to pull out - and then WAIT to pull out of the USO until the draw was made so Fed and Nadal ended up in the same section. Andy wants to be a BBC commentator and the next British Davis Cup captain. NONE of this surprises me and the only reason I'd say he wants to play to Wimbledon is sponsors/money etc.

notable qualifiers:

Men: Kokkinakis, former top 15 Troicki, trashy Daniel Evans, 2 up-and-comers: Eubanks and Kecmanovic

Women: Andreescu, —Anonymous

Sofia Kenin easily beats Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0 to win a first career WTA title in Hobart.

It's been a great week for the US.

Top 40 debut for Kenin on Monday.

Up to #37!

ugh well everyone, alt-righter Sandgren is now a title winner. He swept Norrie in Auckland just now

Sofia Kenin easily beats Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0 to win a first career WTA title in Hobart.

It's been a great week for the US.

Sandgren up to a new career high #41 on Monday

Norrie up to #68.

I guess Sharapova is going to retire this year too. Maybe next year.

Odd how Sandgren peaks in Australia. Let's hope this time it's over a precipice.

R160 I don't think they're on the same side an inordinate amount. What I don't get is why they always hype their matches as if they're going to be good. They're usually awful. No sane tennis fan has any desire to see that matchup.

R149 Halep will be out way before she gets anywhere near Serena. And if by some miracle she gets that far, she'll be tired and her back will be hurting again. She probably won't make the second round.

R179 What makes you say that about Halep? Is she still injured?

R180 She may be fully healed now, but she has a difficult first three rounds: Kanepi (who beat her at the US Open), in-form Kenin (who just won a tournament), and then Granny V. You know she'll tweak something!

Of course, Sandgren plays his best in white settler societies like New Zealand and Australia.

The Williams matches were great back in the day when they were the fastest and most powerful players on the tour by a long shot. It's still amazing that they played 4 consecutive GS finals, and despite the whining most of those matches were good. They also played well at night matches (there was one HUGE one at Miami). But after their great competitive battles in the late 00s (mostly in the Middle East, and at the YEC) it's just been Granny Vee rolling over for lil' sis. Short points, lots of double faults and nervous errors. The US Open match last year was cringeworthy to watch, with slow post-pregnancy Serena absolutely crucifying an injured and not-even-trying Venus.

Having said that their Australian Open final in 2017 wasn't terrible. Most games were close and there was a lot of tension, even without the great rallies and tactical play of their younger battles.

But yeah i'd be happy if they never played again. Unless Venus wants to bring her A game.

[quote] post-pregnancy Serena

?

R182 lmao

Qualified

Ito (Japan)

Eubanks (USA)

Fratangelo (USA)

Evans (Great Britain)

Laaksonen (Switzerland)

Gunneswaran (India)

Sakharov (France)

Travaglia (Italy)

Molleker (Germany)

Kokkinakis (Australia)

Harris (South Africa)

Vanni (Italy)

Krueger (USA)

Troicki (Serbia)

Majchrzak (Poland)

Keomanovic (Serbia)

___

Sharma (Australia()

Doi (Japan)

Golubic (Switzerland)

Muchova (Czech Republic)

Swiatek (Poland)

Kudermetova (Russia)

Kalynskaia (Russia)

Badosa Gibert (Spain)

Dart (Great Britain)

Zhu (China)

Lepchenko (USA). beating McHale

Ponchet (France)

Bonaventure (Belgium) beating the out Lesbian Dutch

Vikhlyantseva (Russia)

Haddad Maia (Brazil)

I was team Misery because he's intelligent and funny off-court, he has a great sense of fairness, and I want his body. He was often miserable on court and often looked like he'd rather be getting warts removed by the doctor.

Now I'm team Titsy.

R172: And Molleker. I think Molleker is now the younger player on the draw

R175: Sofia Kenin was treated like a child prodigy when she was very young, fortunately that didn't last and she could progress at her rhythm without feeling that pressure. I remember the mean comments about Gabriela Price on Les petits as a couple of years ago when everybody expected her to be way better because she was overhyped (probably by her family)

Kenin looks a little soft too. I wonder how good she would be if she were in top shape? Is she a Russian expat?

Kvitova has lost a ton of weight. Her arms look ridiculously thin.

Titsy team!

Titsy is ready!

Titsy needs to cut his hair short. This whole Guga look doesn't suit him. It certainly didn't suit Guga[He looked better in short hair too]

BTW any gay rumors regarding Tiutsy?

Damn. Titsy has kinda a body on him don’t he???

I read that yahoo article earlier in the week on him that he really is kind of an anomaly on tour. The other plays his age think he’s “different,” Krygios makes fun of him, etc. He’s more into spending time in nature and traveling and philosphizing. I find that a breath of fresh air. Also - you get the feeling he is secure enough in himself already at 20 that he just don’t give a F. Future -#1 and will win a slam this year.

#195,.... ripped detailed abs but that's about it...krygios is the last person to make fun of anyone i might add.. has nick seen a "head specialist" yet?

Nice trophy

He's as ugly as his politics.

Stefanos is probably different from the rest of tour, but i think if you are not into videogames and you read a book from time to time you'll be weird for most of players.

Kyrgios probably make fun but in a friendly way. Nick act like a jerk on court but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy off court.

And yes, Tsitsipas would look way better with his hair short

And i don't know about him being gay (unlike Zverev, this is the only place i heard someone mention that) but he is the only greek tennis player to be top 100, the eyes of the country are on him, so i highly doubt there will be a remote posibility of him coming out anytime soon if he is gay

I feel bad for Barty. She came SO CLOSE to winning a title in her home country but got tight in the 2nd and 3rd sets. Kvitova even began cramping at the end of the 3rd set but still pulled out a hard-fought victory

There isn't anything to suggest Tsitsipas might be gay, the only reason it's mentioned here is because some of us (me incl) get a 'ping' from him - which of course could well be only our imagination. And he's still so young that even if he is gay, he would likely be a long way from accepting it enough to the point of coming out. BUT he does have a bit of a righteous, preachy, independent-minded persona so if he were to be gay AND fully accept it, I feel like he'd be the type to want to come out and speak about it. As opposed to others who might be reluctant because they don't want to be bestowed the mantle of GAY TENNIS PLAYER LET'S THROW RAINBOWS ALL OVER HIM AND MAKE HIM CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT ALL GAY EVERYTHING EVERY DAY (because that's what would initially happen in the media if an ATP player were to come out).

Barty has really impressed the last few weeks. I kind of wrote her off when she left tennis to play cricket but watching her lately I can see she's one hell of an athlete.

Her identifying as Aborigine as her grandmother was one or something is a bit ridiculous though.

Btw if you were too lazy to register a Telegraph account to read the "Why no openly gay male tennis players" article linked a few days ago, it is also available here:

Kvitova will probably tank in the first week like usual.

Petra looked like she was going to retire, she could barely run and hit so many double faults towards the end. Sad for Ash but it's her own fault for not taking advantage of her MANY opportunities. She was up 3-1 in that final set and serving for 4-1. I know Petra is basically unstoppable in finals (She has the highest Final win ratio of any current players who have been in the top 10 - even higher than Serena and Vee - apart from Svitolina who hasn't played nearly as many finals), but when you watch a match like today you realise that number is a bit inflated by the luck of how her opponents roll over for her lol. Ash really needs to work on her mentality when closing out a match.

I still think Barty is likelier to win a match at Melbourne though. I'll be genuinely shocked if Petra makes it to the 3rd round. Her match last year against Petkovic was like pulling teeth.

I do kind of think Tsitsi pings but he's also part of the YouTube generation who are all very extra and open and 'philosophical', plus the way Greeks speak can sometimes be very effeminate too, a lot of emphasis on the letter 'S' etc. (i'm Greek myself lol). I'm sure if he ever came out he would do it on his channel, but yeah maybe he just pings because he isn't a dumb jock like the rest of the tour. He is still so young. There was a LOT of chemistry between him and Sakkari during the Hopman Cup, many people are thinking they're together. Which I have to admit would be a cute coupling.

And hopefully Sandgren loses out in the first round to Nishioka in Melbourne. It's insane that he's still got such an inflated ranking from his QF points last year. Norrie is hopeless for playing well all week and not putting him away.

R203 some of these players are quite inarticulate.

Melo's quote simply doesn't make sense. And Gimelstob's one either (talking about girls and beers is not homophobic.....well, maybe if you think gays don't drink bear is but that's a different story....)

Gimelstob quote is not even new, it's the same he said a lot of years ago.

Melo is overcompensating.

I understand why a gay player is reluctant to come out. At first it would be a circus (just think on Wimbledon with all those awful tabloids) and a young player could lose the focus on the game. But if a player is sure, he is out to his family and friends, i doubt it'll be a problem. Yes, some players will avoid him (but even them will be careful because the bad press could cost them a lot), if the player is good he will get a lot of sponsors (and if he is handsome even more), and i don't think most people on the circuit are homophobic. He'll be supported for some players (there are a bunch conservative players who are gay friendly, Juan Carlos Ferrero is pretty conservative and he was always very pro gay rights) and the players who have a problem will get used to him.

I think in 5-7 years will get at least one or two openly gay players. A lot of people come of the closet very younger now, so there will be new players who will be out when they get into the circuit. Of course sports and even more tennis (which is a sport that needs a lot of money to launch a career) makes things more difficult but i think it will happen sooner or later

[quote]I think in 5-7 years will get at least one or two openly gay players.

Get back to me when that happens, lol.

It's self-exclusion: when you are a young gay and closeted, and are approaching or have the potential to get to the international level of your sport, you start to realize the scrutiny you will be under, and that's even before you 'come out' to be the 'official poster-boy' for elite gay athletes (there are almost none that are subject to constant scrutiny btw, olympic athletes are only thought about every 4 years....). So you make a decision as to will all be worth it or not .... why bother with the constant stress .... you decide it's not worth it in the end.

R200 Both Barty and Kvitova are scheduled to play on day 1 too. Who does the scheduling at these tournaments?

R205 You say "even higher than Serena..." talking about Kvitova's finals success and then have the nerve to mention that it's inflated because she's lucky that her opponents have rolled over for her. Jesus Christ! That's Serena's entire career.

I don't get the Titsy love. I find his game incredibly irritating to watch (he's like a gnat) and it's probably even more annoying to play against. He also looks like a little weasel and seriously needs to cut that damn hair.

I'm in the Zverev camp. He'll most likely be the first slam winner/No.1 of the new generation (unless Thiem can sneak out the FO this year).

nice to see another #NextGen win a title. De Minaur. Now most of the promising ones have at least 1 title.

Yes, R211 because arrogant self-absorption, screaming obscenities at umpires and routinely smashing your rackets, pathetic wimp-outs in Slams, and taunting your audience with pseudo-homobromances are so much more attractive characteristics and behavior.

R208: Frankly, i doubt the constant scrutiny will last more than a couple of month. Tennis players don't suffer that kind of scrutiny, not Federer, not Nadal, and not Djokovic. Coming out will make you the flavour of the month, after that period it will depend of your results. And no, there will not be more interest in his private life than the life of other players, unless he is dumb enough to give headlines.

We see that constantly with actors and singers, they come out, there are headlines and them they are treated the same than the rest (or even face less scrutiny in their lives). The behaviour of the audiences in tennis is very controlled, so after a period people will get used to him, like they got used to Navratilova in the 80's, with the difference that the public displays of homophobia won't get a pass this time

Titsy has a gorgeous BH, a solid forehand, a good net game, and he's a great mover esp for his size. He's young and he should get stronger, which will help his game. I think he's great to watch. Just because you love Sascha doesn't mean you have to hate everyone else R211.

To be honest none of the new players is specially remarkable, probably Shapovalov game is the most interesting (but in my opinion he will never develop his full potential). A lot of them have weak serves, and it will be the one who develops a real mental strenght the one who will take the throne after NOle/Rafa/Roger step out (and in my opinion only Nole looks like someone who could be there for some time right now).

Of course having a great game doesn't mean a thing, just ask Dimitrov

Borna has a new tat

Is that a date below the quote? Anyone bothered enough to try to zoom and read what it says?

Here, R218

Thanks R219 that's kinda sweet even if I'm not really a great fan of tattoos.

You're welcome and I agree, R220!

I dunno, he's kinda creepy close to his sister

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

R215 How did you jump to me 'hating' everyone else when I was only speaking about Tsitsipas' game?! I don't hate Tsitsipas, and I don't love Zverev. I just happen to find ST's game particularly annoying to watch. Rogers Cup last year put an end to me ever watching him again. No thank you! He should have lost 3 matches in a row before the final, but managed to garbage tennis (and luck) his way out of each. Glad Nadal righted things in the final.

Maybe Zverev can use some of that garbage tennis and luck to find his way into the real depth of any Slam. Tsitsipas made it to a Slam 4th round while still a teen, a feat unreached by Zverev, who has yet to eke it out past the quarters.

Borna and Bruna are a little too close..

Who is that at R223?

R227 Brazilian football player Neymar and his sister

R227 Sorry didn't realise the whole post was redacted. I was saying that Borna and his sister seemed close, but Diego Schwartzman and his sister even more close (to the point where maybe it is unusual, if you see them on social media). The person in the photo is soccer player Neymar Jr, and that is a picture of *his* tattoo of his sister, which I always find a little weird with her looking all sultry with her fingers around her mouth. Unlike most of DL I actually like tattoos but a picture of my sister's face? Yeuch.

Disturbingly close

I'm not a huge fan of tattoos, but anytime I see a portrait tattoo of someone's face, I find it particularly horrifying. Those *never* look good.

Holy smokes! Finally somebody noticed Coric and his sister.. I thought I was the only one. And now a tattoo?!?!? It's just a bit too cuckoo bananas. I feel like it's that Friends episode where Rachel goes to her date's apartment and meets his sister..I feel like scenes would be like that hanging out with these two lol

R225 Seems to work for Serena every damn slam. Maybe he should rub her ass to absorb some of it.

It's called a favorable draw, genius. 2 Qualifiers and Tsitsipas barely got past Donaldson (who?) in five sets to get to the third round. Call me when he reaches a semi or a final.

We can set up a conference call when AZ reaches his first GS semi, R233.

R233: Tsitsipas is not a grass specialist. He did a great season last year, climbing from 91 to 15.

Everybody know Zverev was the first next gen on winning big, the problem is that in GS he didn't capitalize that advantage and with his bad results he is pressuring himself way more that needed to get that semis, final or title. And the more he fails, the more pressure, and the moment one young player gets a final or a title before him it would be even worse.

If he is smart he will translate the charm he shows on interviews to the court and maybe with some crowd support he'll do better

Granollers is playing double with his brother. I don't think brother has ever played a Slam before

Sock is playing with Jackson Withrow

Kubot plays with Zeballos

On Ladies side we have

Hradecká/Makarova

Chans are back together

Hsieh plays with Abigail Spears

Srebotnik is with Atawo

Matteo plays with Demi Schuurs

Bencic-Vekic

Sabalenka paired with Mertens

Ostapenko paired with Cirstea

Townsed with Sasnovich

Petkovic and Puig

Azarenka with Barty

Zvonareva with Bacsinszky

Pavlyuchenkova with Sevastova

[quote]Matteo plays with Demi Schuurs

Mattek-Sands

Where's Popsicle?

[quote]Where's Popsicle?

He's still recovering from a back injury

Thanks, R240.

It's starting. Let's switch to the Aussie Open thread.

New Australian Open thread:

In Newport challenger, Bouchard and Canada's future Andreescu are facing off the QF!

damn that was quick.

Andreescu def. Bouchard 6-2 6-0 in 53 min 50 sec

Pencil stop fooling me this way!

Borna at Bruna's graduation

creepy

There's nothing creepy about that pic

Rafi’s Ass makes up for his nonexistent lips.

The St. Petersburg draw is loaded! Just about every Slavic woman of note is there except for Pliskova and Svitolina.

Defending champ and #1 seed Kvitova is there as well as #2 Bertens, #3 Kasatkina, #4 Sabalenka, #5 Goerges, #6 Ostapenko, #7 Cibulkova, #8 Vekic, last year's runner-up Mladenovic, Sharapova, Azarenka, Pavlyuchenkova, Bacsinszky, former top players Zvonareva and Makarova as well as everyone's favorite, Putintseva

There's also an event in Hua Hin, Thailand with an OK draw. Muguruza is top seed and has drawn former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki, #2 seed Garcia, and Hsieh is also there

Hall of Famer Andy Roddick will compete against his thin wife Brooklyn Decker in Thursday's episode of Lip Sync Battle.

“Actress and supermodel”

"supermodel" hahaha

That term gets thrown around too much when describing models. Few of them are "super".

so Dustin Brown is dating Nick Kyrgios' sister

Regarding the draw fixing conversation a few weeks back, today St. Petersburg changed their draw. The photo below is the one originally released (where Sharapova was set to play #2 seed Bertens in R2), but they have now changed it around to have her facing Gavrilova etc. in a much easier corner of the draw (you can now see the revised draw online). They claim the reason for the change was a chip missing, but there are still 5 Q/LL spots in both draws. So no chips missing.

Notably Azarenka's spot hasn't changed and she is still drawn to play Petra in the 2nd round.... Is it just me or is this whole thing a little suspicious? There is some commentary about it on twitter and tennisforum.

Another cringeworthy Osaka interview but this time the fault of the interviewer.

R257 I knew something was up. I looked at the draw when it first came out and then later I saw it was changed. Very bizarre. Sure, if a seeded player withdraws then some players move around and 1 non-seed becomes a seed but you don't randomly move a few non-seeds around for no reason

The St Petersburg tournament is a bit of a change of scene after Melbourne.

The tunnel the players use to walk onto the court looks like a strip club complete with dancing 'models' in glittery leotards and whore make-up.

Never change, Russia!

Watching this Hsieh v Niculescu match in Hua Hin and the rallies are predictably wild and weird. They're slicing and dicing each other to death out there lol, also both serving terribly (only 5 holds in 14 games) but entertaining to watch their wizardry.

The crowd aren't being shy about who they favour in the Sharapova/Gavrilova match. Whenever Gavrilova wins a point there's deathly silence and when it's Maria there's practically a ten minute standing ovation.

R262: Given Gavrilova was a promising junior who decided to play for Australia instead of Russia i think it's quite understable that she is not a fan favourite there

that's true but a lot of the casual fans don't understand why players like Gavrilova or Putintseva switched countries. It's solely because they didn't get enough priority and funding from Russia. Russia had so many other players coming up at the same time who they thought were better.

It's like Osaka is American and was going to play for the US originally but the USTA overlooked her and focused on other players so Naomi's family turned to her mother's native Japan and the rest is history.

Some of the federation staff who judge which juniors are better than others obviously make mistakes. Some players are much more developed as juniors than others and some are late bloomers.

Well, that's the reason why Alex de Miñaur is playing for Australia and not for Spain.

They worship Maria in Russia, even though she now speaks English better than Russian. I'm still shocked though that she still lives in California; I would've thought she'd have moved to Monte Carlo by now.

I remember Svetlana Kuznetsova saying that Maria "doesn't even speak Russian that well..."

Honestly I don't even think she meant it to be shady lol.

My favourite fans are those that go deep into conspiracy stories. Check out the writings of this Penko fan)))

But Maria showed commitment with the Fed cup and that helped a lot

I've heard Maria speak Russian. I dont so I'm not sure how good it is.

tomorrow rd1 Ostapenko and Mladenovic will face off. 1 of them will have to win a match! Both are 0-3 on the year. Mladenovic is defending runner up points so her ranking will further tank if she crashes out again. She seems to love the St. Petersburg courts though as she also won the title in 2017

But Mldenovic is happy on his relationship with Domi, at least the spell Garbiñe put on her after their RG match didn't affect her happiness (becaues it was very effective on her game)

Speaking of Garbine's witchcraft, these two would make such a hot couple. I don't know if anyone else is getting vibes but they've been doing a lot of media, photos and practices together for Hua Hin this week as the top 2 seeds. Honestly they both need to fire their coaches and elope with one another.

The grunting/shrieking in the Sharapova/Gavrilova match was absolutely ridiculous

R274 Hideous! Like a parody of WTA grunting.

Is that Nick Jonas on the left st R273?

Gavrilova doubled her grunt to try and compete with Maria lol, she's NEVER been that loud. Even on the slice? Pathetic.

Also even the bagel set took more than an hour (final score was 6-0, 6-4). Meldonium Queen hit three DFs in the last game ALONE. Even with them rigging the draw for her and facing such trash opponents, I don't see her lasting much longer. But she should destroy Kasatkina in the next round.

Definitely click to see the full pic!

R273 I've been wondering if Garcia might be a lesbian for several years now. She's attractive but has masculine facial features IMO

Not sure if there are vibes but that’s certainly a lot of gorgeous in one picture.

The St. Petersburg draw is fascinating. A number of the entrants could win the title. If Kvitova plays as she did in Australia she should win but who knows what her mental state will be like.

If Sabalenka regroups from that lopsided beatdown she got from Anisimova, she should also win the title but she's not 100% mentally tough at this point.

Sharapova hasn't played much in Russia and when she did, she never did well but she's always a contender for any tournament.

Will Azarenka finally start winning matches?

Georges loves playing indoors but she choked against Collins at the AO so who knows what her play will be like.

Kasatkina is in poor form now but she did win Moscow last fall

We interrupt this thread to announce Serena Williams is a mother.

NO, R282! You're shitting me!

The moment of the photo in R278 is captured in this video at about the 10:30 mark, although the video only shows the top part. I'm not sure why Rafa felt the need to give Djoker's djunk a squeeze.

[quote] I'm not sure why Rafa felt the need to give Djoker's djunk a squeeze.

He mistook it for an ass crack and felt compelled to pick.

Bacsinszky has such a hunched back. I don't know if it's part of her injury or not but that posture can't be good for her long term tennis career.

God St. Petersburg is the funniest tournament. The giant cat mascot wearing a miniskirt who does the coin toss, the choreographed dancing ladies in whore makeup with the neon tennis racquets, everyone trying to get used to the indoor conditions, the ballkids dropping things in the background, all the blaring disco music, nobody in the stands.... the perfect MM for the messy WTA.

R286 It's the most Russian thing ever.

Those dancing girls were picked up in a hotel bar.

R287 last year before the final they did a full on Paula Abdul-esque routine on the courts with those racquets. It was hysterical.

....

Sorry, I know you'd prefer pictures of his ass, but this one is pretty cute as well

Azarenka gets her first win of the year. Tomorrow she takes on defending champ Kvitova

Garcia officially in trouble...straight setted by Brady in Thailand

I wonder if that back injury is still plaguing Caroline Garcia. She retired in tears at one point last year because of it and her serve hasn't been the same since. It's an odd case because there's no reason she shouldn't be at least a top 15 mainstay (strong serve, big power on both sides, good netplay from winning doubles slams, a very fit physique and courtspeed, and a good record in 3 setters). It's more the mental game where she's regressed.

One thing's for sure, she could use a new coach. I watched some of the match with Brady and though Brady was good, Garcia's tactics were very poor and she looked terrified whenever her father came on court to yell at her, just frozen there, zombie-like, while he went on and on.

Garcia's old frenemy Mladenovic is on against Ostapenko right now, fighting to stop their losing streaks. Mladenovic just got broken in the opening service game of the match lol, she's defending final points here so this could be disastrous for her ranking. I hear Benneteau is already trying to coax Garcia back to Fed Cup.

So Murray's had that hip operation.

The outline of his dick is visible in the x-ray they've been showing all over the news here in the UK.

The operation to extend his career further but delay a return this year?

Link please, R293.

He had the same surgery as Bob Bryan - saw off the hip joint and replace it with a metal socket. He might be back for the US Open but unlikely Wimbledon.

Thank you, R296. I’ll make good use of that.

Where are his balls?

The aim was that he'd have the surgery now in order to be able to bow out at Wimbledon, even if it were a first round loss.

[quote] Where are his balls?

I have them on loan from his mum.

lol this Ostapenko-Mladenovic is nuts. 6-1 for Ostapenko then 6-0 for Mladenovic. Who knows what the hell will happen in the third set. ONE OF THEM will have to win this thing and get a W for the first time this year lol

Allez Ostapenko!

Is penis really visible under X-ray? I have no idea!

The double faults alone are through the roof.

Mladenovic will take a huge tumble down the rankings if she loses here.

ostapenko up 4-0 in final set lol

this match is channeling Dementieva...she used to have wild score lines with certain players like Jankovic and Bovina

omg bye bye Mladenovic's ranking. She's going to have to start qualifying soon for events

Ostapenko wins 6-1 0-6 6-0

Peak WTA score line: Ostapenko wins 6-1, 0-6, 6-0

Kiki now has 16 first round losses helping to make up her ranking. She's probably only ranked so high because she enters so many tournaments and vultures the measly points you get from losing in R1. Nothing has been more sure than the fact she was going to double fault on match point. What a shit show of a match... it was funny though, and when Jelena hits those patches where she's just smacking winners left and right she can be entertaining to watch.

Mladenovic is weird. I never thought she was that great of a player when I first saw her several years ago. She has nice hands at the net and can hit drop shots and lobs and slices but her backhand is attackable and her movement is mediocre. She always did her best indoors. Then suddenly for the first few months of 2017 she became a top player doing well indoor, outdoor hard and clay. Then she started losing often and has done so since except for last year in St. Petersburg. I don't understand how someone can rise so quickly and fall just as quickly. She's not injured as far as we know and nothing traumatic that we know of happened to her. She seems to be happy with Thiem too

I saw Mladenovic at Indian Wells last year. Yes, her movement is fairly poor and she could be a lot stronger. Her serve should be better at her height too. She does try to play creatively and I give her credit for that but her lobs, drop shots, net play and slices are frequently poorly executed. She's just in the end a middling player that should be ranked around 50-80 in the world.

Mladenovic is a doubles player who had a good streak in singles out of nowhere. That's about it.

Her future looks like it's going to be the same as her partner Timea Babos'. Solid doubles career, but a massive string of first round losses every year. Both have aggressive game and 'kind of" weapons, but frequently execute poorly, and have no tactics or mental fortitude out there (Kiki's double faults on game points, break points, and match points is getting out of control - it has even plagued their doubles). Should be able to hover inside the top 100, win a round at a slam here and there with an easy draw, and maybe make the finals of an International every couple of years.

Looking back on when she had her good little streak (St Petersburg 2017, Madrid 2017, RG 2017) she was barely scraping through a lot of those rounds. Her draws were very easy. She sometimes has days where she's not 'beating herself' so to speak (with errors, DFs, etc.) and even then she's still very beatable. I would feel bad for her but she's such a horrible person.

I’d forgotten about Babos.

[quote] I'm not sure why Rafa felt the need to give Djoker's djunk a squeeze.

"This is what it takes to win a slam, no?"

Mladenovic will drop to 62.

[quote]Peak WTA score line: Ostapenko wins 6-1, 0-6, 6-0

That looks [italic]compelling[/italic]! Sorry I missed it.

So what do we think of Thiem and Mladenovic's relationship? Mladenovic gets a lot of hate from fans for her combative and unfriendly demeanor on court and in the press room. Thiem doesn't show that much personality in general, does he?

I am deeply suspicious of any relationship paraded on social media.

She'll probably be suspicious of the relationship herself when she finds out his farts smell like cum.

Babos is down to 98 after losing first round in Hua Hin. She's just ahead of our favorite cunt, Vandeweghe.

Vandeweghe herself is set for a huge drop in a few weeks time, with most of her points coming from being a runner up in Stuttgart.

According to Hola! Magazine Nadal and Xisca/Maria/Mery are getting married

Sharapova has pulled out of St Petersburg with a shoulder injury.

Since Nadal was injured in the final, the final is still a moral victory!

Kvitova is playing some insanely high quality tennis against Azarenka.

Was it really worth them rigging the draw in her favour? God she is hopeless. I guess Russia is still the beneficiary, because with Maria's walkover, Kasatkina is now automatically through to a Quarter Final (despite not winning a match since last year). Pathetic.

Kvitova is really giving Azarenka a beatdown. I don't know how she has any energy left after 3 weeks non stop in Sydney and Melbourne, but if she can keep this form up for 4 more matches she will probably defend her title. These fast indoor courts are her bread and butter.

[quote] According to Hola! Magazine Nadal and Xisca/Maria/Mery are getting married

¿Que?

Thank goodness she's finally finished her studies and is ready to be a real wife to Rafa. I'm sure their wedding night will be special for both of them.

"Do I look pretty?"

No.

shame that Sharapova pulled out. I was hoping to see someone beat her this week

Stefanos looked way better when he had shorter hair.

And i don't kknow why nobody doubts about the love between Thiem and Mldenovic, they are the second most loving couple on the circuit after Zverev and his discreet and modest girlfriend

He likes in "raw" apparently.

"I like me better naked. I don't mean that in a vain way... When you put clothes on, you immediately put a character on. Clothes are adjectives, they are indicators. When you don't have any clothes on, it's just you, raw, and you can't hide."

upset of the day Zvonareva def. Goerges. Didn't see that one coming.

I hope Zvonareva can beat the overrated Kasatkina next, too. I still think it's ridiculous she's in a Premier QF without having to pick up a racquet. She's moving pretty well for her age!

I think Tsitisipas may be trolling us. He tweeted the other day asking for recommendations for a desk with a cable tidy.

R329 R330

My question is: has Nadal's physio - Rafael Maymo - who Nadal has written about as "depending on him more than anyone else" - EVER had a girlfriend?

That's the smoking gun.

No-one has ever investigated. Stupidly.

Below: Rafa and Rafa (and some New York schlub in the way...)

Tsitsipas will change his mind when he encounters the effects of gravity, R335.

[quote]According to Hola! Magazine Nadal and Xisca/Maria/Mery are getting married

I hope Xisca is careful. The streets in Mallorca is slippery this time of year.

Awww Wawrinka and Vekic sent Murray a giant Get Well Soon teddy bear

That was very sweet.

And it's nice to see that Stan and Donna are still together (no matter what Kyrgios or Khokhinakis think)

[quote] Awww Wawrinka and Vekic sent Murray a giant Get Well Soon teddy bear

Awwwwwwwww.

well Wawrinka has a bearish body so it makes sense

Stef is plagiarizing Padma Lakshmi about his love of being naked.

Same with this one, the quote is from Ted Grant, a Canadian photographer. Has Deepsipas run out of inspiration to come up with his own pseudosophical crap??

He's just fabulous with a camera.

Congratulations Raphael and Xisca on your upcoming nuptials!

R345: In fact Wawrinka has a great body. It's the type that surprise you when the t shirt is off.

Someone posted this clip of Iva Majoli on tennisforum. She's apparently one of the organisers of St Petersburg and admits the main goal was getting Maria. Also seems to indicate they knew she wouldn't play more than one round and kind of accidentally implies they just gave her massive appearance fee and perks to show up and do media and meet fans lol.

Regarding the draw-fixing conversation, this is about as much proof as I need, given that there's still no explanation and Iva is admitting they were doing everything they could to get her.

Funnily enough Iva also says it might be Maria's last year on the tour.

I find Wawrinka rather sexy, even with his acne scars.

He seems a really good bloke too, though obviously his ex-wife wouldn't agree with that.

I'll leave this here too

i'm not seeing what's so great about Stan's body

Tsitsipas thinks an avocado is a vegetable.

R353 What point are you trying to make?

[quote] i'm not seeing what's so great about Stan's body

His ass.

Naked titsy

R356 Just light-hearted insinuation based on very thin evidence, isn't that what we do here?

R359: But what was the insinuation? because i don't get it

R360 Me neither.

That Stef is a dive loving homosexual

diva *

[quote] That Stef is a dive loving homosexual

Of course she is. They all are! Her marriage to Andre is a scam. He dated Barbra Streisand after all, and she’s a gay icon. Turkey-baster babies contrary to the Lord’s will.

If the rumours spread he'll get a girlfriend in no time. Hopefully he'll avoid us the experience of cheesy videos, with Zverev we have more than enough.

Anyway, the rumours about Zverev were based in his gaybaiting non stop for a good while. Stefanos is clearly different from most players but i don't follow his life enough to guess his sexual orientation (and it's curious that Zverev speculation went so far when the truth is most of the time he gives straight douchebro vibes)

There will be speculation about anyone gay guys and/or slash-loving fangurls find attractive. Iirc the thing with Zverev was based on his flaunting his friendship with Melo and not much else (but I didn't/don't follow him closely possibly there was something else?). Stef's mom said in some recent interview that he hasn't had a girlfriend yet and will hopefully get one soon.

R366: Zverev flaunting his frienship was obvious enough to be questioned way beyond gay sites. In fact that first time i heard anything related to his sexuality was an homophobic insult on youtube.

I think here people switched Sascha for Stefanos because he is simply a more pleasant and interesting person.

And about all the girlfriend stuff, i think it's quite normal that people who are so focused on their career since very young have very little dating experience. In fact most teen players who have a girlfriend, she is a tennis player too. Teen years are very dangerous on a tennis career (even i think it was more difficult in the past than now, because players tend to bloom later) so people with raging hormones tend to be more distracted and sometimes a win or a lost can make a lot of difference on the early stages of a career

The whole Zverev thing is a bit complex and weird. In the defence of those who thought he was gay (and in a relationship with Melo) there were a lot of signs that pointed toward that conclusion.

There was never any evidence of Zverev (or Melo) having a girlfriend, Z and Melo only ever went on holiday together, they seemed happy enough to post 'intimate' photos of them spending time alone, it's slightly odd for two men with a ten year age gap to spend so much time together and be 'just friends' and Zverev has a POODLE FFS.

I do think there was a lot of wishful thinking going on, in hindsight. There was a lot of excitement that we finally had a top player who was not only gay but flaunting his relationship with a top doubles player.

Wow. Iva Majoli has not aged well. All those years on the party circuit, I guess.

When did the Australians become the bullies of the ATP tour, they're always mocking Stef.

R370 Umm Hewitt, Tomic, Kyrgios.................... with a few exceptions like Pat Rafter and John Millman, they've never shown the most decorum or respect to other players.

Rafa is angry the news of his wedding are on gossip magazines. Watching him in the cover made me belive he sold (or at least consent) the news to the magazine but it seems it's not the case at all

Muguruza's vulturing attempt failed in Hua Hin. Yastremska beats her for a 2nd time now, 7-6 6-1 and outwinnering her by 27-5.

Muguruza doesnt hit the ball as hard as she used to. I get shes putting more top spin on the ball but shes not hitting as big.

Nadal is engaged!

Yastremska is certainly a young promising talent but it's shocking that she is now 2-0 against Muguruza and won in straight sets both times. She's also the only semifinalist at this tournament who has won a title before.

Over in St. Petersburg, 2 more upsets. Vekic def. defending champ Kvitova 6-4 6-1 and Zvonareva def. Kasatkina 6-3 7-6(3). Kasatkina is now 0-4 this year. Sabalenka won comfortably and Bertens won in 3 lopsided sets over Pavlyuchenkova

Does this guy post on the DL? It seems like it.

" But tennis is a sport where even one great rivalry can change everything. Women's tennis is not delivering like it has in the past.

Men's tennis is hot, hot, hot thanks to the Big Three. Women's tennis is lukewarm because the leading players - Serena the Screamer aside - are simply not household names anymore.

American Osaka, who represents Japan, seems to be a news magnet so perhaps she can help change that."

DL or not he is totally right.

Wta needs a good rivaldry. Even something so antagonistic as Serena-Henin failed to deliver its full potential because those two never were at their best at the same time (most of their matches at GS are in Qtr and not in the finals).

I remember two years ago where a bunch of players battle for the number one, some commented that there were amazing that so many players were on the verge of being number one, but the truth is all of them seemed unable to give a fight and continue to lose matches when they have the opportunity to be the number one. It was not a real battle to be number one, but who was not the worst headcase.

I'm not surprised about Muguruza. She has everything to be a dominant player, but she just don't care. When she is on she can defeat anyone, and she showed in the past that she is a player who is up for the big matches (her two GS are against the Williams sisters) but it's been a while that her game is subpar and she was vulnerable to lesser players even at her best because she only peaked at GS.

I hope Osaka makes impossible to this kind of irregular players to win a GS unless they really up for a fight the whole year and not only two weeks

R377 that guy sounds like a moron. I think more and more fans are sick of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic winning. The only ones who want to see them continue dominating are the fair weather fans who always cheer for the favorites or stat kweens who like seeing records get broken. The rest of us want a mix of guys to start winning slams.

The men's final was a fucking beatdown and a bore

Osaka is definitely the current star and future of the sport. Who could be a rival to her? Sabalenka?

Yeah I havent even watched highlights for the mens final. Dont care at all plus I read it's a terrible bore of a match.

R379: Yes, there are people who wants new faces (i'm one of them), and i think the circuit could be amazing if some youngster will rise his game and challenge them, but most fans love the big three (four). In the past it was very usual crowds cheering for the underdog against a top player, but that's a rarity right now. People want Roger, Rafa and Nole in the finals, and that won't change unless new players show they are worthy of the big titles

R380: Till now, nothing makes me believe that Sabalenka is different from other big hitters. Osaka showed that she is able to keep calm and play her best in difficult circumstances. Sabalenka is great when she is on, the same that Pliskova is great when she is on. Of course Sabalenka is a new adition to top players, and maybe she will need her time to really show what she is made of

The WTA is always messy but compared to the ATP right now? I think it's much more exciting. The top 100 is filled with fierce young players coming through.

Sabalenka (who is actually more than just a big hitter) and Yastremska are currently playing semifinals in the two running tournaments, Anisimova went to the 2nd week at the Australian Open (she's only 17), and of course you have Osaka, Barty, Sakkari, Qiang Wang, Danielle Collins, Kenin etc. who are only getting better and better every season. Even some mid-career players who have been on the tour for years like Kvitova, Bertens, Hsieh, and Sevastova are finding their best form, and/or proving that they're not just a fluke slam run here and there.

And that's in addition to all the big names (Williamses, Sharapova, Vika, Wozniacki, Kerber, Halep, Stephens) who are still intriguing to watch, even if it's sometimes to hate-watch.

I'd also argue there's a far greater variety of playing styles on the WTA. Massive power hitters like Camila Giorgi, Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka, and Sabalenka, and then slice and dice finesse players such as Barty, Krunic, Kasatkina or Sevastova, you have the servebots, the baseline counterpunchers, a few pushers, and even a couple of banana-skin players with bizarre, indescribable games such as Monica Niculescu, Ons Jabeur and Hsieh Su Wei who keep it fun to watch and can always challenge the top girls.

I think the rivalries will come eventually, but even if they don't it's certainly more exciting to watch right now than the ATP.

For those loving the rivalry between Nadal and Djokovic...it's really only a competition at this point on clay. Nadal has not beaten Djokovic off of clay since the 2013 USO. Except for their Wimbledon match last year (when Djokovic was still rediscovering his form), Djokovic usually wins in straight sets too. He has not dropped a set to Nadal on hardcourts (indoor or outdoor) since losing the 2013 USO final to him. So this AO was rather predictable when they set the final up. Not sure how that's so exciting to the NZ paper writer

Nadal didn't beat Djokovic because they didn't played during Djokovic slump.

Now Djokovic seems unbeatable, but i highly doubt it will last. Hopefully there will be more players on competition soon.

And no, i don't find the wta exciting at all. I always was way more into women's tennis, maybe because i became a fan with women's tennis and the drama is always on. But i can't stand this kind of players who play well two weeks per year and are GS champions.

Maybe if Osaka becomes the champion it seems destined to be and we add to the mix some exciting new players like Kostyuk or Anisimova it would be a different thing

Yeah, R384, I'll be curious to see if Djokovic still has a bit of a mental block at the French or if his 2015 beatdown of Nadal in the quarters and eventual title in 2016 got him over it. Nadal is the best clay court player of all time, but if Djokovic is on, Nadal can't even beat him on clay. That's probably the biggest storyline coming up--whether Djokovic can keep his form through the clay season and if he does, whether Nadal can even challenge him.

I'm with you, R385. The WTA is so boring right now, and I can't get behind these players who peak two weeks per year either. I hope Osaka turns out to be the real deal. At least according to interviews and insiders, she's hungry for more Slams. That's a very good sign. The last thing I want is a damn Svitolina GS win!

It would be really interesting if Osaka and the younger generation like Anisimova started winning regularly, with Serena desperately trying for that 24th title while they stand in her way. I've been waiting for the ATP young guns to rise, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, or at least not this year. Yet is seemed the most likely back in 2014 that the ATP would have younger players rise. That never materialized. It would be quite the thing if the WTA younger generation broke through before the ATP equivalent. With Osaka winning two in a row, with one win against Serena and the other against veteran Kvitova, I'd even say that's already happened.

On Roland Garros Nadal is better than anyone. He can lose on Madrid or Rome, but if he is healthy he is better than anyone on Paris, if there's someone who can beat him is Nole, but he failed in the past being the favourite

And i'm curious to see if Djokovic can keep his level. He was quite tired by the end of last season and he was not very good during the first half of the season.

Some would probably like to see Djokovic get 4 in a row this year but not me. It would be a bore and mean the ATP truly is incredibly weak.

It won't happen, he had his chances in the past but even he seems incredibly dominant right now it won't last.

I wouldn't be surprised if a random player with big serve wins Wimbledon this year

Some would probably like to see Djokovic get 4 in a row this year but not me. It would be a bore and mean the ATP truly is incredibly weak.

I think Tsitsipas will be a big factor at Wimbledon and the USO. Tiafoe has shown vast improvement too and can challenge at the slams. Their AO runs will inspire the rest of their age group to beat the top players too

Titsy!

R391: The only thing that can inspire the rest of youngsters is Nadal and Djokovic showing clearly signs of not being unbeatable. Nadal was just out of an injury and beat everyone without a problem till the final.

And i won't put Tiafoe and Tsitsipas at the same level. Stefanos show constant improvement since last year, Tiafoe has potential and he showed it in Austrlia but he needs to show some regularity first to become a real threat

[quote]The only ones who want to see [Federer, Nadal, Djokovic] continue dominating are the fair weather fans

But nobody but their stans want them to continue dominating. What [italic]tennis[/italic] fans want is for there to be great players that others continue to aspire to beat. That’s the current state of the ATP and, until this boring interregnum, was also the way the WTA worked—there were indubitably great, dominant players (Navratilova, Evert, Graf, King, Seles, the Williams sisters 1.0, and going further back Lenglen, Mallory, Moody, Connolly, Goolagong, Court...) that other player had to be extraordinarily prepared to face and beat. Now any WTA match is a toss-up, from first round to final, and not because the players are equally great, but because they’re equally weak—tactically, technically, mentally. I really hope that Osaka is the real deal, and the beginning of a return to the real WTA we all grew up loving, the beginning of the end of this all but unwatchable phase of joyless, mindless, tactic-less ball bashing from the baseline.

I'd argue tennis is in a great place at the moment.

The household names are still playing but we have a lot of interesting players in the mix who can "on their day" beat anyone. The younger players are finding new fans through their social media and even if they're not winning Slams yet, they're still generating interest. They're a bit more interesting than the Big 3. There are a lot of 'feel good' stories on the women's side bringing something different to the game. I'd love to see Zvonareva have a good year - even armchair fans will know she used to be No.2 in the world.

Naked Titsy!

Sablenka or Bertens?

Sabalenka certainly looks like a future champion.

The St Petersburg tournament has been a great example of how the WTA is made up of six foot players who look like they were born to play tennis or else would have become supermodels.

I'm not that sure of that. Sabalenka progression is impressive, but she showed several times that she chokes under pressure which in my opinion it's not a good sign for a supposed future champion. You can say whatever you want about players like Kvitova and Muguruza, but when they have an opportunity they go for it

Vekic continues her good form and easily beats Zvonareva. She'll face Bertens who straight setted Sabalenka.

In Thailand, Yastremska def. Linette and Tomljanovic (Kyrgios' gf) def. Zidansek. to reach the final.

Montpelier and Sofia draws are out for next week. Dimitrov never plays in his birth capital!!!

[quote] Tomljanovic (Kyrgios' gf)

didn't she dump him after him cheating? Are they back together?

R401 I didn't know they broke up but I think they're together now based on the Aussie papers during the AO

Nice to see Felix pull it out for Canada--check out his workout link on the ATP site. This is a nice new chapter after his USO hiccup.

The WTA has sold the New Haven event, it will now be played in September, in China.

Depressing news. Typically China events have empty stands, but I did notice the same in New Haven in recent years. When it first moved to New Haven, it got great headliners like Graf, Seles, Venus, Capriati, Davenport, etc. Then over the years, once the top players became Wozniacki, Kvitova, Halep, Radwanska, etc. the stands started to empty. Serena (0 years) and Sharapova (1 year) almost never played, and it got increasingly hard to promote - despite having a bunch of Top 10 players, they were no longer "name" players. The tournament lost their title sponsor (Pilot Pen) and never could attract another.

So now it's bye bye, and another US event bites the dust, follows the green to China, who continue to push for big sporting events even though the have little history and limited ability to draw fans.

Felix is in very bad form this year and his results are dissapointing. I suppose it's a nice thing to win, specially when you are not the host, but Shapovalov was clearly the best player of the bunch and Felix won the last point against Gombos who is 255 of the world

WTF ANOTHER WTA event in China? They have more than enough. The New Haven event was a good one. So there won't be that last tournament before the USO now?

Brazil-Belgium 1-3

Uzbekistan-Serbia 2-3

Australia-Bosnia 4-0

India-Italy 1-3

Germany-Hungary 5-0

Switzerland-Russia 1-3

Kazakhstan-Portugal 3-1

Czech Republic-Netherlands 1-3

Colombia-Sweden 3-0

Austria-Chile 2-3

Slovakia-Canada 2-3

China-Japan 2-3

Switzerland must have some problem to find players when they used 15 yo Jerome Kym on the doubles match (Jerome is numeber 21 of his age on the itf ranking so not exactly a child prodigy)

that's because I retired

R409: That explains everything

Patsy: I think Osaka is tremendous.

Fleur: Yes! But don't you feel her hair smells of patchouli oil and weed?

Catriona: Weed? Weed??? Are we in Wimbledon?

I was watching the teams and apart of Germany and Canada nobody went there with their A teams (or something similar)

That's now NINE events in China for the WTA calendar, including Shenzhen which has two (one of which is the WTA finals). Ridiculous.

This is getting a little embarrassing. As someone who actually watches these tiny tournaments like Nanchang (and even the other small Asian ones like Seoul and Hiroshima), Steve Simon's selling the womens tour to China for $$ is simply not working out. The stadiums are dead empty, there is no atmosphere, and a lot of the outdoor tournaments are hugely affected by weather. Not to mention a lot of the top players do not want to fly back and forth to China 9 times a year, so the fields are largely local girls getting massive ranking points boosts, the cutoffs are sometimes beyond the 100th rank.

Some of these tournaments are the same week too, and with already an influx of players like Zheng SaiSai whose rankings are hugely inflated from receiving local wildcards and benefiting from the pathetic competition, it looks like we'll see even more of it.

Why no South American swing on clay courts? What happened to the fantastic European indoor season we used to enjoy in the 90s? And if we must taint the quality of womens tennis tournaments just for Asian money, why not some other countries? There's more to Asia than just Eastern Asia.

R412 I would say Kachanov-Medvedev is the top Russian team right now. But yes, for the rest.

R414: And you are totally right.

They weren't very resolutive (both had trouble in their individual matches against way lesser players) but they are Russian A team for sure

Are you always such a wet blanket buzzkill, R405? He's at his highest ranking ever, and it's still early in the year. He's also far and away the highest ranked 18-year-old.

R416: Yes, he has the best ranking, but Rudolf Molleker was able to pass Australian open qualies and Felix lost in second round. And the following week he lost in his first match of the challenger he played.

It's pretty clear he has a great potential, but he seems to be in bad form.

Young players tend to be very irregular, you need to be really extraordinary to have some consistency at that age

Yes, R13, nine WTA events in China, which doesn't even include the Hong Kong event, so you could argue that there are 10. More than any other country, including the US. It would be one thing if the Chinese events were a huge success, but I don't think we can say that they are given the attendance and sparse media coverage.

We've bitched about the WTA players a lot on this board, but not the WTA as a business, and to me there is a direct relationship there. One point I've made in the past is that I think it was a bad decision to combine so many of the events with the ATP. The novelty is cool, but basically you're reducing the promotion you can do with your product, because your top players are now fighting for court assignments and TV coverage against top guys like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, etc. How often will a Pliskova or Svitolina get to play in the main stadium with those guys around? Perhaps they needed to combine with the ATP for revenue purposes, I don't know; but the end result is they sell their product short.

I'm also pretty firmly in the camp that on-court coaching has developed a generation of players who have become mental midgets that can't problem-solve mid match, but that's a feeling and not based on any data.

I think this push to China is going to have some real damaging effects on the tour long-term. Time will tell.

Osaka certainly looks like she has the makings of a star so that's one thing looking good for the WTA in the near future. But if she's going to follow the pattern of Muguruza and Stephens (and herself so far) where she's only good/great at the Slams and not much of a factor elsewhere, it's going to be of limited help to marketing the tour.

The problem with China is that the money is there but interest is not. If China was going crazy about WTA, it would help with generating buzz elsewhere as well. But the stadiums are largely empty.

R418 I completely agree. You can tell there's a problem when the Tournament of Champions in Zhuhai (supposed to be prestigious in that only accepts players who were next in line to make the WTA finals and is based on points accrued throughout the year) now needs a *local Chinese wildcard* to sustain public interest - and still doesn't draw good ratings or audiences. It's embarrassing. They have already tried working Li Na to the bone in promoting all the events but she's got kids now and has already done enough.

They will honestly have a 5th slam in China in a few years, the way things are going. And Wang Yafan will be the top seed.

The OCC has resulted in nothing but embarrassment for the tour. The tantrums, the fights, the bad attitudes (Muguruza saying 'get the fucking camera away' is the biggest example), and all the girls who are overly reliant on it and can't compete in the slams. When I see someone talk with their coach and suddenly come into great form and take the match, it feels less like a win for them. I know the argument is that other sports allow coaching but the optics of old men yelling at young girls are just bad. I don't even find it entertaining from a 'getting an inside look' perspective. It's boring and unpleasant to see.

It's probably only a matter of time before Osaka turns into another Muguruza/Stephens. The relationship between her and Sasha Bajin is already running a bit cold, and when we come to Indian Wells she'll have more of a target on her back as #1 and defending champion. Long gone are the days of Hingis and Davenport battling it out every week in tiny tournaments all over the world for supremacy (and still bringing it to the big events). With the money laid out the way it is, I don't really blame them for slacking off once they make about 10 million (in the space of a two year period!) at their young age.

Does anyone remember the days when Philly hosted the week before the WTA Championships (when they were at MSG)? The stands were packed, and top players showed up (one year, I took a sick day on Wednesday, and watched Monica Seles pummel someone like Amy Frazier in her first match). MSG was always packed, too.

Yeah, tennis is more global, blah blah blah, but the WTA fucked up hard taking these tournaments people actually went to and moving them to China, where no one goes (but they sell corporate whatever and so the tour makes its money).

[quote]the WTA fucked up hard taking these tournaments people actually went to and moving them to China, where no one goes (but they sell corporate whatever and so the tour makes its money).

I partially agree. I don't think that people were actually attending the tournaments at the levels they once were. Certainly that was the New Haven issue. In 2000-2001, New Haven had top players that attracted fans (Venus, Davenport, Seles, Capriati, Clijsters, Henin, Mauresmo, etc.). Fifteen years later, New Haven was still featuring top players (Kvitova, Halep, Radwanska, Kuznetsova, Wozniacki), but those players couldn't draw the same attendance. So I can understand that the WTA/New Haven had to take some action. But I don't know how anyone could believe selling it to China is even remotely a good idea.

Honestly, I believe the problem they face is that tennis has become, or is becoming, a marginalized sport. Aside from Serena, Venus, and Sharapova - all on the verge of retirement - the general public doesn't know any players. (And I believe this is true with Men's tennis as well; there's no player recognition outside of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, and maybe Del Potro.) There are still the fans, the small and dedicated base that will watch almost any match they can. But tennis has lost the casual fan that might tune in on the random Sunday to watch a match, or buy tickets if an event is in their area.

But taking events out of the US won't increase its popularity here. If they wanted to grow the sport here nationally, they need to continue to hold events here, get the players out in the community, or even create exhibitions or team tennis to spark interest - just like the women did when starting their tour in the 70s. But that's not likely to happen, and my guess is that as this generation (Federer, Nadal, Serena, Venus, etc.) hangs up their rackets, you'll see less publicity and exposure from the sport. But the tennis media will continue to crow about how positive the globalization of tennis is, even though it will be harder and harder to experience it first-hand.

R421 it was held at Villanova and yes it had buzz. I saw the year Steffi beat Lindsay.

[quote] Why no South American swing on clay courts? What happened to the fantastic European indoor season we used to enjoy in the 90s?

I’m curious about both these things too.

You guys are forgetting about Danielle Collins. She is fierce. I can see this year can be a very good year for her

Bertens def. Vekic in 2 tight sets to win St. Petersburg. This is her 8th title. Bertens has a very heavy ball that jumps off the court. She doesn't hit with the most pace but she's definitely top 5 on tour for most weight-of-shot.

Yastremska continues to impress as she wins her second title already in Hua Hin over Tomljanovic. They went to a third set tiebreak

And the flip side of that, R417, is some young players' (Tomic, Gasquet and Monfils all multiple junior Slam champions come to mind) periods of early great consistency that faltered in their professional years into maddening inconsistency for their fans. The pressure of prevailing in a Davis Cup tie match is a lot to bear, and FAA delivered. That in itself is cause for celebration.

[quote]You guys are forgetting about Danielle Collins.

I have [italic]chosen[/italic] to forget Collins. I’ve rarely seen anyone less likable on a tennis court. She makes me want to stop watching tennis.

R427: Felix was winning his match against Klizan, and then he lost (quite clear) his last two serves.

And both, Felix and Shapo are really good at hitting hard the ball, but their touch is not that great on the net or trying drop shots.

The potential is there but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Gasquet was amazing till things became serious. To be fair with him he had several injuries on his early years (but that happened to Nadal too)

Buzzkill.

R430: It's not buzzkill, it's the reality of how he is playing now. By the half season he should be at a totally different level.

But you never know with young players, sometimes you watch one play and think he is going to be great and two years later he is still the 250 of the world.

It seems Kyrgios is angry with Yastremska for some medical time out or something like that

Bertens wins St.Petersburg over Vekic in 2 tight sets. Bertens has 1 of the heaviest balls on tour. She doesn't have the most pace but she's definitely top 5 for weight-of-shot. You can see it just explodes off the ground.

Yastremska impressive to already have a second title. She won Hua Hin over Tomljanovic in a third set tiebreak

What's the difference between a "swing" (e.g., Asian swing) and a "season" (e.g., grass court season) in tennis? Is it that the former is geographic and the latter surface based?

[quote] Bertens has 1 of the heaviest balls on tour.

See - they even want to have the same genitals as men!

Yeah Yastremska took a suspiciously timed MTO right before Tomljanovic was to serve for the match at 5-2 in the third. Of course she came out running like an energiser bunny after the knee massage.

Having said that though, Ajla is known as one of the biggest chokers on the tour (like most Croatians lol). She of course didn't close there at 5-2, but instead of righting the ship at 5-4 she served two double faults and some stupid unforced errors to choke that away too. While she managed to lose four games in a row, she did get it back on even terms and take it to a tiebreak. Where she was ALSO up on the scoreboard with a minibreak (maybe 2?) and guess what happened? Double faults, unforced errors, and another choked lead. That's at least three times in the one set she could/should have closed it.

So Nick is right to be pissed at Yastremska for her gamesmanship (she has a history of this, and will even retire on MP down sometimes), but maybe Ajla should be more pissed at herself for being so horrible at closing out matches. There is a reason she still doesn't have a single WTA title and Yastremska at 18 already has two.

Apples and oranges, R431--I'm joining in celebration of an accomplishment rather than your glass-half-empty dissection of his barely nascent professional career.

R436 oh wow I didn't know that Tomljanovic served for the match TWICE but still lost somehow. Sure Yastremska could be criticized for her medical timeout but she's still new on tour. The more experienced Tomljanovic should have closed out a match. No excuse for fucking up a double break lead

[quote] So Nick is right to be pissed at Yastremska for her gamesmanship

That's rich.

R437: You can still celebrate whatever you want, he won, no matter he is in bad form

It seems Yastremska has already a bad reputation.

I have to say i'm not surprised, watching Les petits as matches in recent years the behaviour of the girls is frankly dissapointing, sometimes is just a little over the top drama, like Lopatetskaya (now Lopatetska) crying during the whole match, or Cori Gauff on her knees after losing the match (in both cases the handshake was beyond reproach and it was just some antics on court), but sometimes the sportmanship is hideous and some handshakes are on Snyder-Conchita level. The boys sometimes have the usual agressive demeanor on court, but after the match its all handshakes and hugs.

Well, this week Paula Badosa had some bad behaviour too, leaving the match without aparent reason (she is the queen of retirements). And i find incredibly that someone like her (with potential but without results) acts that way. It's not like a top junior unable to adapt to profesional tour, in fact she never was a top player of her age (not even in Spain).

The behaviour of some top players with their coaches is very far from the derised one

In the cases of Gasquet and Tomic, their forehands are wonky and break down under pressure. Neither is the best mover either. Great backhands, decent volleys and OK first serves.

Monfils is the bigger disappointment because he is 1 of the best movers on tour, good first serve, big forehand and he can hit winners off the backhand. He chooses to play defensively and hurts himself by repeatedly going for impossible-to-reach-balls.

Donald Young is the biggest disappointment though. He also had a great junior career but went pro too early, was too stubborn as he didn't want outside coaching (until his later years) from his parents and didn't get super fit until his mid 20s. He's got a nice forehand, decent first serve, nice volleys and movement. His backhand can be a liability under pressure and he's a nervous wreck too often in the big moments.

Since it’s so cold in Europe right now it’s nice to remember the Australian sun

Apparently Zverev left Ball of Sport with some athlete from Germany called Lena Gercke.

Donald Young was a midget in tennis terms. All the touch, talent in the world wouldn't help him.

Donald Young had several problems. First he won Australian Open jr with 15 years which is an unusual age for boys, but Australian Open has the weakest draws of any GS junior by far.

HIs parents thought they could cash on his sudden popularity too soon. They accepted a lot of wc to pro tournaments, and he was simply not ready. Not ready mentally, but furthermore, not ready physically. He was a player with an aggressive game on juniors who suddenly had to change his game because he was unable to compete with the strenght of pros.

Apart of being precocious he was black, so the hype was even higher and of course that means more useless pressure. After a couple of bad years, he played juniors again and he won Wimbledon. By that time the hype was partially gone.

He still plays like a junior, with some billiant moments and total unconsistency. So when he is on he is a good player to watch, and when he is not he is a total disaster.

It must be tough to be the chosen one to fail big time. Of course there are worse cases. Carlos Boluda results as u14 where better than Nadal's. He was a great U16. Unfotunately their parents believed that hype, change the coach and all went down. He was too short, strong but very short, so it was pretty obvious that he was going to face some trouble to become professional. But with all the changes and some injuries he started to lose matches and lost his confidence (he was incredibly strong mentally as a kid but not anymore).

The result, he never reach top 200. He keeps playing, and i find very sad when he said that he knows that a lot of people go to his matches to watch how low he got

On the women's side probably the 2 biggest disappointments in the last 20 years would be Sesil Karatantcheva and Michelle Larcher de Brito. Both were considered teen phenoms and debuted on the tour very young. They both immediately made an impact and got into the top 100 before they slid backwards. Both relied on sweet backhands and decent movement but had weak serves and inconsistent forehands. Each has some top player wins. Karantantcheva of course would be set back further when ITF found she was using PEDs. Neither won a WTA singles title but won ITF singles titles. I don't even know if Larcher de Brito is still playing

Karatantcheva never recovered from her PED ban, so I have a hard time sympathising with her and don't know how talented she would have been without them.

Last I heard Larcher de Brito was running a pet hotel to try and save up for her return to tennis. But she was certainly talented, and memorable for having *GENUINELY* the most obnoxious grunt on the tour (and there's a LOT of competition), see the video below. Sadly Portugal hasn't produced another good player since her.

Last match by Larcher de Brito is March 2018 when she lost to Salome Devidze in Tampa

But both had some big problems in their games, starting with their serves.

They were successful too soon and that was a big problem, because they needed to work on their obvious flaws before enter on the circuit.

Michelle had some good results at Wimbledon, but both had potential to way more

By the way, MIchelle has the same age Garbiñe or Mldenovic, so it's not too late for her to come back. Mirjana Lucic did it way later and she did quite well for a while.

Why does anyone even discuss the women's tour? It's Serena and the chorus. There is no there there.

I'm not quite sure how to break this to you, R451, but Serena hasn't won a slam in over two years...

My point exactly, R452

I'm on Choinski team.

Wawrinka loses in 3 sets to Copil rd1 in Sofia. Copil squeaked out the second set tiebreak and then got the lone break in the third set.

Wawrinka is not even seeded at these events any more. He'll be 34 next month.

The clay court in Cordoba looks to be one of the slowest on tour. And the court looks like mud.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

'I miss my boobs too!' Brooklyn Decker says her kids 'sucked the life out of her body and left behind a bag of bones' as she hits back at cruel body-shamer who criticized her 'gangly' frame

Brooklyn, 31, tweeted about her postpartum body on Thursday, saying: 'My children sucked the life out of my body and left behind a bag of bones'

The mother-of-two added that she misses her old curves as well

Brooklyn was responding to a Twitter user who claimed to be 'confused' because she 'looked so good' in her 2011 movie Just Go With It but 'now looks gangly'

Many mothers flocked to the comments section of Brooklyn's tweet to come to her defense, with some sharing they've gone through similar experiences

Brooklyn Decker has hit back at a body-shamer who said her post-pregnancy figure looks 'gangly' while revealing that she misses her old curves too.

The 31-year-old Grace and Frankie star took to Twitter on Thursday to make it clear that she is tired of people commenting on how her appearance has changed since she became a mother of two.

'For the umpteenth time — because people love to comment on my body (or lack thereof) my children sucked the life out of my body and left behind a bag of bones,' she wrote. 'I don’t know what else to tell you. I miss my boobs too — I don’t even know what to call them now.'

Brooklyn was responding to a since-deleted tweet that read: 'What happened to @BrooklynDecker [?]She looked so good in "Just Go With It" … Now she looks gangly and where did her body go?? I’m confused.'

Many mothers flocked to the comments section of the post to come to Brooklyn's defense, with some sharing that they have gone through similar experiences.

One woman named Shae agreed that she too feels 'like a bag of bones' every day, prompting the actress to ask her for advice.

'Did it ever change?! Did you go back to "normal"? Or did that become your new normal? That's how I feel... This is just who I am now! Brooklyn tweeted.

Another woman named Shelly said she also wondered where her breasts went after having two kids.

'The funny thing is I haven't had the time to buy new bras, so they are like empty shells of their former life. A daily reminder of what once was!' Brooklyn replied.

The model and her husband Andy Roddick are parents to two children, a three-year-old son, Hank, and a one-year-old daughter, Stevie.

Brookly does her best to keep her children out of the public eye, often placing emoji over her kids' faces when she posts pictures of them on Instagram.

In August, the tech entrepreneur spoke to Dannijo about how life has changed since she has become a mother of two.

Brooklyn and Andy, who have been married for nine years, share their parenting dutie '50/50,' which she admitted sometimes makes her feel guilty 'because usually moms are doing 80 per cent and dads are doing 20 per cent.'

In addition to her work as an actress, she recently launched the Finery app, a wardrobe operating system she co-founded with Whitney Casey.

Naturally, with so many things going on with her career, Brooklyn works hard to juggle life as a working mother, wife, and businesswoman.

The tech entrepreneur admitted that she struggles with constantly feeling guilty, no matter what she is doing.

'It’s super exhausting. The biggest thing — and I’m trying to be more forgiving of myself and this may not be everyone’s experience — but as a mom, you constantly feel like you’re letting someone down,' she said.

'Either you’re letting your kids down because you’re working or you’re letting your co-workers down because you’re with your kids, or you’re letting down your husband because you have to travel, and he’s there manning the children.

'You constantly feel like you’re letting someone down, and I don’t think that mom guilt goes away from what I’ve heard from friends.'

Nando in Sofia...

How does having children deflate your boobs?

I thought they got bigger.

Nando is such an arrogant priss, but damn, he's consistently smoking hot.

HOF hot.

They got bigger when you are pregnant and when the kids are lactating, after that the effect is usually the opposite (but it depends of every woman).

Gilles Simon always has a bulge, but today the bulge is out of control. Probably NSFW!

Tell me about it!

Seems like Simon chose to wear briefs with the fabric cock ring that lift and push. Not a bad look.

^^^^ We need photos!!!!

Stuttgart tournament director says Alexander Zverev is asking for much money to play the event. The tournament will only try to get him if Federer (their priority) doesn't want to play

Stuttgart TD says the tournament budget is around 8 mlillion euro and 2 million is reserved for appearance fees (in Federer's case nearly the entire sum goes to him).

Following successful surgery on Monday to repair torn ligaments in his finger suffered as a result of " off-court activities, " four-time major champion Jack Sock (ATP #2 in doubles and #109 in singles) is expected to be sidelined as of now for at least two months.

That Socks.

Consipricay theorist are saying that the "off court activity was " Jaco Sock was fingering Vasek Pop.'s butt"

Off court activities?? Poor Katie Boulter. :(

I wouldn't mind if Sock takes a few extra months to rehab his fingers. Come back next Fall, Jack, so we can enjoy a summer without you.

What off-court activities was Sock doing besides eating?

He ate his finger

He was like really into finger banging. Maybe that's why?

The whole appearance fee thing is huge joke and almost no one talks about it. All the 500 and 250 tournaments now secretly offer appearance fees to their top seeds instead of raising the prize money across the board.

Pity poor Guillermo Vilas from the 80's = all those guys were doing it and they made him the sacrificial lamb. Next time the Woman Federer acts like he's so charitable, remember his demands. Fuck that swiss fag.

I understand Zverev is currently the most titled young gun but he needs to realize he can't command the same kind of money as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. He doesn't have a slam or even a SF at a slam yet.

There's nothing secret about it, (R478). You can bet that pretty much every top/high-profile player playing in a 250 or 500 is getting an appearance fee and the fees themselves have gone through the roof in the last 10 years. Events like the Laver Cup where Kyrgios got 750K for competing have just further distorted the situation. When I was a tournament manager a few years ago, we'd get agents contacting us saying that player X (who might be barely ranked in the top 25 with virtually no name recognition in the market) "wants to play your event and would be willing to for $X.

R481 which players were too outrageous for their ranking/fame/accomplishments when you were a tournament manager?

I remember a few years ago Berdych withdrew from the tournament in Washington DC but for some reason still showed up to sign autographs. I thought it was a kind gesture from him considering he withdrew late and was the top seed. Then I learned he only showed up for that day to collect his appearance fee. I thought it ridiculous to give him money for this (the DC tournament is run by a non-profit) and secondly who the hell shows up (outside of the Czech Republic) because Berdych is playing. The top players are definitely abusing the system and all those players 40-100 are being screwed over. The winner of a 250 gets something like $85-125,000 but a top five player who loses first/second round in the same tournament might end up with more money.

I know some of you hate Federer but I can kind of understand why tournament directors pay so much for him. I was at Wimbledon, us open and Laver cup last year and he puts people in the seats and that generates a lot of dollars. The seats at laver cup where ridiculously priced but he filled up that arena and people love him. I suspect he’ll stick around next year especially for the olympics and then call it a career. Probably will become first billionaire tennis player.

Check that maybe tiriac is the first tennis billionaire I know he has boat loads of money. My point is Federer is a cash machine like no other.

One more thing about Federer he always comes to win the tournament not to just a appearance fee. So tournament directors know there getting there money’s worth.

He should play doubles and mixed doubles after retirement from singles

With Mirka, R487?

Not a bad idea look at all the coverage he and Serena got when they played mixed doubles at hopman cup.

(R482), off the top of my head i remember having agents for guys like Tomic, Troicki, Fognini, Kohlschreiber asking for fees to come when their rankings were somewhere between 15-30. We said no, and they mostly came anyway.

The only player i can recall who was top 10 at the time and signed up for the event without getting, or asking for, an appearance fee was Simon. And he was always one of the nicest, most co-operative (as in doing sponsor/fan related activities) players i ever dealt with.

And on the point about Federer above, as much as i dislike his prissy attitude, the poster is right in saying that when he takes a fee and comes he really tries to win the tournament. Certainly not true of many top players.

R490 your one of the reasons I like coming to datalounge. I’m r484 r485 r486. I feel like sometimes the tennis threads get off track about disliking players and just plain bitiching about stupid things. I personally am a huge Federer fan but can see why people might not like him. I’m just curious you called Federer prissy did you have a bad experience with him? again really appreciate your insight you’d probably be fine to set next to at a dinner party.

^shoild be fun not fine though your probably both lol!

(R492), I've told some of my Federer stories on here before, about both him and the wife - Orca as we used to call her. I've told this story before on here but there was one particular occasion where Fed had agreed to do this sponsor activity - and let me add that he is usually fantastic in doing the sponsor-related stuff - on one of his non-playing days. Usually you try and schedule any off-court activities on days when they're not playing. This was one of our biggest sponsors, a big electronics company, and it was a meet the VIPs, take photos, and they wanted to present him with their brand-new model mobile phone, etc. for about 15 minutes. The time and venue had been pre-approved by Fed's people and he was up in the players lounge hanging out having finished his practice session. So we ask him to come down to the sponsor lounge where their top brass are waiting but he wasn't really in the mood, and Orca was starting to get grumpy because we are standing there waiting and trying to get him to move. She asks us (again) what the activity involves and we explain, again: shake hands, take photos, get a new mobile phone. She umms and aahs like we're really putting them out, and then finally says, "Can we get two?" "I'm sure that will be fine." "Ok, we'll do it."

In general, I totally get that Federer has earned the right to preferential treatment (as have Nadal, Djokovic, etc) and it's completely unrealistic to think that tournament directors and tournaments in general are not going to do all they can to accommodate the top guys' requests (demands?) because they are the ones that fans are coming to see. Suffice to say that in Fed's case, if he doesn't get the court scheduling he wants, or someone else kicked off a practice court because he wants it at that time and doesn't want to share (as they all do at smaller tournaments) then he gets very pissy.

so Mirka is like the Kris Jenner in terms of managing Federer?

R494, she’s more like the Rob Kardashian, the fat son.

Nobody likes Mirka. Remember when Wawrinka had his on court fight with her because she kept interrupting him during his serve and then started calling him a baby?

Federer has had the red carpet rolled out for him for 20 years. I volunteered at Miami a few times back in the day at Key Biscayne, and I remember Venus doing a meet and greet with fans. He was supposed to be next and was getting disgruntled with the waiting because it was taking her such a long time to get to everyone (she was a Miami native and had already won the tournament 4 times, the line to get a photo with her was long). I remember us reassuring him that it wouldn't be much longer and he was sulking like a baby with a big dumb frown on his face. He said he would leave if she wasn't finished soon. Venus gestured for him to come join her at the table but he refused. I assume he only wanted to do it alone.

This was at a time when Venus had 4 slams and he had 0 or maybe 1.....

There were worse attitudes to deal with (including stressed out tournament directors and other top players with obnoxious IMG management), but 'prissy' definitely describes him.

I think of the superstars who put tennis on the map - Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Agassi - and yes they benefited (and abused) perks along the way. Connors and his original manager Bill Riordan probably invented it. You never hear The Woman Federer laud any of those players for creating seismic interest in the sport. He takes the 'safe' route and mentions Rod Laver, someone who was done winning pro titles seven years before he was born. Who did Fed really idolize? Sampras and Edberg seem likely, but no he goes for the I'm so perfect political yak.

And for those who talk about his prickly behavior, it's that asshole Tony Gosdick who does his dirty work. All the while, his Stepford wife Mary Joke Fernandez props up both Roger and Serena on tv whenever she can.

Berdych was a loser before and he is a loser now

The goddamn Federloons are enablers. They're worse than Trumptards.

So Pouille choked against Baghdatis yesterday

Monfils just straight setted Tsitsipas

and Herbert def. Shapovalov

Not Titsy!

Not Shopbottom!

Monfils is tricky when he is on (he should have a way better career but he seems one of those players that doesn't care too much)

Monfils is Troicki.

Monfee!

Clownfils is one of those frustrating players who always had all the tools to be a great player and slam contender. Incredible athleticism (was arguably the best mover on the ATP for many years, still top 5), a powerful and accurate serve, lots of touch/improvisation/variety, some solid netplay and a monstrous forehand especially DTL. I can't stand Marion Bartoli but she was right when she said if he had taken his career more seriously he could have accomplished a lot more. But he seems happy doing cutesy shots for the highlight reel, banging blonde WTA players, retiring when the heat gets too much for him, and starting his GEMS instagram with Svitolina.

I just watched Baghdatis' next match after defeating Pouille in the marathon. He lost to Albot in a 2nd set tiebreaker but it was good to see him again, he actually still has all the shots and tactical skill. Just that the body isn't really holding up as much at his age, understandably. Very warm exchange at the net afterward.

Shapo has a great backhand and a very good forehand but on the net he is clueless. He good groundstrokes made him rise on the rankings very fast, but he needs a lot to improve to really reach his potential.

He throw his racket on the match (what a surprise) but at least the handshake was nice

[quote] Shapo has a great backhand and a very good forehand but on the net he is clueless

He’s clueless in general.

Baghdatis is one hairy guy.

R509 Huh? There's not much there and it looks pretty natural. For a Cypriot Greek he's almost bald...

R490 is also one of the reason I like coming back to the tennis threads.

But this below was the reason I *started* coming to the tennis threads on DL. It might even be the reason why I discovered the DL.

[quote]Back in 1989 I was at a Women's Tennis Event in D.C. working as a volunteer. I essentially just refilled the water cups for the players on the court. Martina Navratilova was playing that event, and though I had never been sexually attracted to her before, I have to say that in person, she is mesmerizing. Kind of like Nancy Kulp meets Kiki Dee. Anyway, I was filling up Pam Shriver's water when she asked me if I could run into the locker room and get her Movado watch that was lying on a towel on a bench next to her locker. So I ran in there, feeling a little bit funny in my downtown lips at the opportunity to see "backstage" of the Women's tennis tour. And let me tell you right now, it didn't disappoint, as I walked in there was Chris Evert doing lunges in the buff. The only thing I can say is that it looked like she was hiding a bear cub down there. I was just about to suggest that she take some Nair to her whisker biscuit when out of the shower she came. Yes Martina Navratilova!! Wow, I had never felt so funny down in my grey clam in my life. She had a great rack, maybe a 34 C but the best was her porkchop sandwich. She had trimmed it ever so fine and it was actually in the pattern of a rooster! Martina could tell I was checking out her goods, and she winked at me and pulled at a little string hanging from her nice piece of hair pie. She then said to me, "Do you want to earn your red wings?". Not knowing exactly what she meant but willing to do anything to be closer to this icon I nodded in agreement. Well, the next thing you know I found out exactly what she meant, Martina's girl was bleeding like the Serenghetti and my face was slopping it up like Hattie McDaniel at an all you can eat jumbo fried shrimp buffet. I earned my red wings all right, the sides of my mouth to my cheeks were crimson with her rotted girl eggs. Wow Martina!

Tee hee!

Hilarious, R511. I actually “LOLed”.

[quote] Huh? There's not much there and it looks pretty natural. For a Cypriot Greek he's almost bald...

I’ve seen him play at Wimbledon, and he was really then. Some kids were even heckling him about being so hirstute.

So at the press conference I was asked to sum up the match against Stefanos.

I obliged:

"Tsitsi passed."

[quote]Next time the Woman Federer acts like he's so charitable, remember his demands. Fuck that swiss fag.

Tell you what, r479, if you stop using “woman” and “f*g” as insults then people might take you seriously on this board. You sound like a deplorable homophobic woman-hating het. And yes, all those epithets [italic]were[/italic] all intended as insults.

Calm down R515! If you put R479 on your ignore list, you'll see is definitely one of us. And surely we don't care all that much being called a fag by another fag. But I guess he'll explain it all better by himself.

Ziggy is not like the other guys

Every night he takes me dancing to very very gay venues where he has a lot of friends

Yes I know he loves boys and I should get over it, try to forget him

But Ziggy, his name is Ziggy, I'm crazy about Ziggy

But I'm in love with him, that's not my fault,

Even though I know that he'll never be in love with me

whoa Rotterdam draw is packed. No Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or A. Zverev but a lot of the other top players. The qualie draw is even loaded

Such as, R518?

In order of appearance in the draw: Nishikori, Herbert, Shapovalov, Chung, Bautista Agut, Raonic, Kohlschreiber, Paire, Wawrinka, Berdych, Pouille, Goffin, Monfils, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Tsonga, Khachanov.

Whoever goes on to win the title is not going to have easy matches.

Monfils is indeed frustrating. He rotates between shameless pushing and trick shots.

R515 = The Woman Federer's Dubai male lover.

Herbert is in the white. I don't know who the other two are.

And as expected Monfils' level dropped drastically and after a great match against Tsitsipas he lost clearly against Medveded.

Medveded is solid, but if Monfils played this way against Tsitsipas the result would have been very different. But i suppose that's what we can expect from Gael, on a good day he is a fantastic player to watch on a bad day you feel the need to slap him.

Medveded served really well when it mattered. His backhand is a weakness, it's solid, he made few mistakes with it but it's not an offenssive weapon

It's curious that two or three years ago i thought Rublev was by far the most promising of the Russian but injuries and irregularity made that he is now very far from Medveded and Khachanov.

So Pierre-Hugues is not far off huge by the looks of it [R523]....

Doha, Buenos Aires and NYC draws all up now.

PHH is majorly hung, yeah. Like a lot of French guys.

Tsonga wins Montpellier. Medvedev wins Sofia.

Halep won over Pliskova in FedCup. Czech and Romania are going to the double

I'm liking Medvedev's game more and more. He builds the points carefully, he doesn't go for the winners as much as other players, but he has a good server and forehand, and his backhand is way better than i thought the first time i saw him

Me too, R529. When I first watched his matches a couple of years ago, I saw nothing special. Late last summer, however, I started to appreciate his grit and craftsmanship.

I'm confused why R524 kept calling him 'Medveded' though

Medvedev was the only one who could go toe to toe with Djokovic in Melbourne, which is no small feat. Granted, he couldn't sustain that level of play throughout the match (at this moment, almost no one could challenge Djokovic in a 5-setter), but he played really, really well.

I like Medvedev's game but his weird-shaped head is such a distraction.

R531: Yes you are very confused because there's no mistakes in the whole thread, but thanks for add something to the conversation

Rotterdam draw is really strong.

Osaka dumps her coach Sascha Baijan. If Keys had anything resembling a brain, she'd be on the phone right now

[quote]PHH is majorly hung, yeah.

*swoons*

Why did she dump him, R536?

Kerber, Puig, Keys, Muguruza, and Genie all rushing to their phones right now!

Actually it was rumored at the AO.

R538

Twitter +the boards say it could be:

1). Personality clash 2). Naomi's family are cheapskates and don't want to pay Sascha what a top coach deserves 3). Sascha got Naomi on PEDs 4). Naomi's just a big idiot

Yeah there was something very off about them at the AO. She said they weren't talking much before matches, they were unfollowing each other on social media, very muted reactions between the pair, her suggesting that they had fights, all the media scrutiny on them....... i've even heard the rumours of romantic involvement between them (although I don't believe that for a second).

To be honest Keys is the one who could benefit from him the most, given that he's mostly a hitting coach who improves consistency in groundstrokes and teaches them how to rally well. With her power and the kind of consistency he got Naomi/Vika/Serena/Wozniacki? She could become a monster lol.

Venus is also coachless at the moment and can afford his rates. I wouldn't mind seeing her have one last hurrah, and go out with a bang. She didn't win a slam in 2017 but no player was better on the bigger stages (she won the most prize money that year too). I honestly believe that if healthy (a big IF), with the days off in slams and Miami/IW that there's no reason she can't nab another big title.

[quote] 4). Naomi's just a big idiot

Thanks, r541. Seeing her interviews, reason 4 seems the most likely.

wow that's surprising. Osaka had a dream last 12 months with her first 3 titles being IW, USO and AO, all quickly after hiring Big Sascha. I hope someone else picks him up soon though as he's hot to look at. Great body

R541 Which boards?

Is Sascha Bajin what DL refers to as “white adjacent”?

All the players Sascha has worked with later dumped on him after they fired him. Serena, Woz, Vika all said he was just a hitting partner, not a coach. Osaka has barely thanked him and said her success was due to her father.

So what’s the truth: coach, hitting partner, or somewhere in between?

Surprising. Guess we'll see if Osaka can maintain her level without him.

I know Naomi isn't much for words, but her announcement of their split was curt even for her. This does not look like an amicable parting at all. She's a very gracious person, so I imagine she would've been a lot more effusive in her thanks to him if they were parting on good terms.

Rumours of PED use

Last night at Pairville

told you he's difficult! That's why I advised Serena to dump him!

It is a little odd she pulled out of Doha/Dubai with a 'back injury' that i'm sure will be mysteriously better by Indian Wells... you can't serve the way she did at the AO with even a slight back niggle.

Also strange that she ditched the Fed Cup team. This was a very winnable tie for Japan (as they were playing Spain sans Muguruza or Suarez Navarro), and it would have been her first time on the team since becoming a local hero.

[quote]Last night at Pairville

I think he's tremendous!

R553 Osaka not playing Fed Cup isn't particularly strange. She wouldn't even be able to talk to her teammates.

Bajin is a glorified hitting partner. I do agree it's odd the way she announced it but she had to acknowledge it as he's so well known in tennis circles.

And with this...

Serena Williams, having played just seven tournaments since giving birth, will return to the WTA Top 10 on Monday for the first time since July 2017

Latest update on Dominic #Thiem's coaching situation: Günter Bresnik is looking into a few different options for a touring coach, Nicolas Massu being one of them. Bresnik doesn't plan on traveling to all tournaments with Thiem, as in the previous years.

Caroline Wozniacki will drop to #14 in the WTA Ranking, leaving the top 10 for the first time in almost two years.

She was the world number one exactly a year ago.

Hey everyone, I will no longer be working together with Sascha. I thank him for his work and wish him all the best in the future.

Monfils is going to get himself killed on the court

Sascha Bajin does seem to get dumped a lot. I wonder what his deal is? If he is just a glorified hitting partner, how did he win coach of the year? If he really is just a glorified hitting partner, you'd think people who vote on these awards would know that and not vote for him.

Where are these supposed rumors of Osaka taking PEDs coming from? PEDs in tennis is one of those things where I'm not sure what to believe. No top player who has had rumors swirling around them (Nadal, Serena, Justine Henin) has ever been caught, or at least publicly acknowledged. But in other sports, rumors swirled for years before the perpetrators were caught (Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones). And although it was recreational drugs he got caught for, the ATP bought Andre Agassi's flimsy excuse that he accidentally drank out of his friend's drink containing the drug and never publicly disclosed Andre's positive test. I always wondered if the ATP was willing to suppress stories of an top player testing positive for recreational drugs that are not performance enhancing, what would they do if a top player tested positive for PEDs? But then Sharapova got banned for meldonium. Although that's the WTA, not ATP, there have been rumors that Serena dopes, so why take down Sharapova, an international star, especially when the WTA was (and still is) relatively weak at the moment and needs those established stars to draw crowds? It's all a head-scratcher.

[quote] Serena Williams, having played just seven tournaments since giving birth

?

She’s played eight tournaments by my count (IW, Miami, RG, Wimbledon, two US summer events, the USO, AO).

Still impressive.

R555 The reason I find it strange she missed Fed Cup is because Japan was banking on her, and because at this point she has to play almost every upcoming tie if she wants to play the Tokyo Olympics (and you can tell she does, she will also be the centre of their marketing for it).

I think she still has THREE Fed Cup ties to play to be eligible according to the ITF/IOC rules. There are a few others who are running out of time too, including both Williams sisters (with only one tie each so far from last year in Ashville), and Sloane with also one tie (remember that the USA only has 4 singles spots too at first). Wozniacki is another one who cannot possibly make up enough ties to play Tokyo. Although her career is basically on the skids anyway, she's one of the few players who i'm sure can complain her way into the event if she's still around.

Guessing game: which fanciful player on the tour just decided to switch from THBH to OHBH at the ripe age of 32?

Answer: La Monf! Who else?

R561, there's a fascinating documentary about PEDs on Netflix called "Icarus." It starts out as the story of a gifted amateur cyclist who sets out to duplicate Lance Armstrong's doping regime. In a fairly subtle way, the film shows that PEDs are decisive if you already are a great athlete. You still have to work incredibly hard, and if you do not have the absolute killer instinct, the ruthlessness, of a champion, the drugs can't give it to you. (Implicitly, if you ARE a great athlete, PEDs can make you close to unbeatable, but, again, you have to be great to begin with.

I think that there's a bit of evidence that both Nadal and Serena have, at least at one point in their careers, used PEDs, because both seem to have tried to evade testing at least once. (Early in his career, Nadal claimed that he was never connected to the internet on Mallorca and therefore unable to log on and provide testers with his location.) I think Sharapova got into trouble because she blatantly tested positive, despite having been warned repeatedly to stop using meldonium. The WTA was forced to act.

Despite not playing enough Fed Cup matches, the ITF gave Woz an exception in 2016 and let her play in Rio. I'll assume they'll do the same for Serena and others. But Venus is the 5th ranked American woman, so she wouldn't even make the team for Tokyo even though everyone assumes that's the main reason she's still playing. Granny V needs to start playing better because Kenin and Anisimova are right on her heels too.

R567 True. I don't know the exact rules about the 4 spots, but Venus better be hoping Madison Keys gets one of her monthly injuries lol. If there IS a player who they could make an exception for, it could be her, given that she has more Olympic medals than any other tennis player alive. But as you said, Anisimova gets more and more dangerous by the month, and Nepotismya Kenin is finding her consistency. Not to mention Collins who - when on - is always dangerous. Riske isn't really a threat for a spot but she has been playing some of her best tennis the past few months too. And then of course Serena, Madison and Sloane.

2020 is a while away and even some of the younger players like Bellis, Osuigwe, and Gauff may have risen up the rankings by then.

I'm assuming she and Serena will get in for doubles as long as they fill their commitments, but re: the singles I think everything from the French Open onward counts. So she better hustle and at least get in the seeding zone for easier draws.

Oh and there's also Colleen Vandeweghe, but she has a long way to go re: rehab.

R568: Gauff will be 16 on 2020, i know she is precocious and Lopatetska showed you can rise on the rankings at a young age even with the new rules, but i don't think it would be a good idea to rush her.

Gauff junior career it's really good, but even at that young age the truth is she is very tall and even has some advantage over older players, that'll be gone at pros, and starting too soon could even damage her confidence. That's one of the problems when you win a junior GS too soon, continue to play junior could be counterproductive specially if you are unable to back your previous success, but going on the pro tour too soon didn't worked for players who won GS juniors at a very young age, Michaela Krajicked, Pavlyuchenkova or Laura Robson, are examples of that, even Barty had to take a break because her career was tanking (fortunately for her she made a great comeback)

[quote] Oh and there's also Colleen Vandeweghe, but she has a long way to go

So she’s not on the Virginia Slims tour yet?

R564 you must be kidding.

565 I mean

I bet Ms. Colleen really porked up while on injury leave.

Today's prediction Berdych may dominate Dennis initially but at the crucial points, he will choke like he always does.

Dzumhur in 2019: 1-6, 2-6, 0-6, 4-6, 0-6, 3-6, 2-6

Dzumhur’s last win? Against Tsitsipas in Paris

My main remaining ambition in life is to marry Dzumhur so his collapse in form is massively vexing me.

You big dzummy.

Damir did it! He did it for me! Titsy is undone!

When are you guys getting married?

As soon as he hits the ATP Top 20 (the 12th of Never)

Allison the loser. I am excited about her

Titsy is doing exactly same thing with Damir what Sasha did to him in Rogers Cup

Titsy comment about Damir

Tsitsipas not very impressed by his opponent is seemed...

“He didn’t do anything on court. Just put the ball inside the court. All by my mistakes. He played very simple tennis. Nothing crazy. Nothing special."

“It’s very weird playing this kind of players. You find no rhythm. It’s a weird vibe that they give to you. It feels like if you really want it badly you can beat them any time. At the same time it feels like they find a way to do some stuff you don’t expect."

More from Tsitsipas, who said Dzumhur “fooled” him, but at the same time did not surprise him:

“That’s how he always plays. He waits for your mistakes. He stands 8 meters behind the baseline. He tries to pass you. I lost to myself today. I didn’t lose to him.

Well, it seems like Sasha has rubbed all his cuntiness on Titsy

I agree R584, That was a very Sasha response.

I'd be disappointed in Stefanos, but i've been waiting for him to put his foot in his mouth for a while now. His English is great, but not *perfect*, and he's too forthcoming and unfiltered in the press conferences. Just word vomits all his very real thoughts about the match. Sometimes being diplomatic is better (or playing your cards close to your chest and not saying much at all).

Sounds similar to what Ostapenko said about Radwanska.

Has anyone been to the NY Open? Is it worth leaving Manhattan? I had been looking forward to going but there is an amazing lack of eye candy, I'm not in to giants/republicans. I would like to see Tiafoe/Albot if they get that far.

[quote] Has anyone been to the NY Open?

Yes. My partner and I travelled to NYC from Toronto every Labor Day weekend for 3-4 years, specifically to go to the US Open. Every time we had tickets for a night session on Ashe, we ended up being rather frustrated: you pay top dollar prices for seats (OK, not as much as for the second weekend) and you end up with the audience who know nothing about tennis, except for Federer, Serena, MAYBE Nadal, and whichever American du jour gets hyped by ESPN and Tennis Channel commentators. They walk between the points, leave the stands to get snacks, beer, yammer endlessly about college football - basically they are there, not because they particularly like tennis but to buy some RF merch, humblebrag to their suburban friends and neighbours that they saw Federer or Serena and little else. On the other hand, if you get a day session pass for the outside courts, it may turn out to be fun: you get to see tight matches, see the up-and-coming players, other people are there in the stands because they are true tennis fans, instead of watching Nadal or Djokovic destroy some poor qualifier in front of an uninterested audience munching on hot dogs or nachos.

R588 he's talking about the NY tournament this week, no t the USO.

R588, do you attend Rogers Cup? What are your thoughts about it relative to the US Open?

Some one needs to start a new thread soon.

Also, Shapo now meets Stan in the Rotterdam QF after taking out Berdych 6-4 6-3 in the second round.

[quote] Some one needs to start a new thread soon.

I’m one of the usual tennis thread OPs. DL seems to have wiped my slate clean earlier this week and I now don’t have sufficient “visits” to have thread starting permission. I hope someone else starts one or that DL corrects the settings/permissions.

[quote]Allison the loser. I am excited about her

poor A. Riske, nobody ever talks about her

For anyone that subscribes to Tennis TV, observe Joao Sousa's blatant crotch scratch, grope and flaunt just before the coin toss.

Sandgren and Harrison losing to Lorenzi in 2019 on hard court

Where is Sasha and his beard valentine day video? You know he going to release it

"I hope the draw next Saturday will help him because if he reaches the final and wins it, it will be the number eight title for him in Dubai and that will also be the 100th title of his career" -- Dubai TD Salah Tahlak on Federer.

R596: Just thinking on the possibility of that video and the level of sugar on my blood rise

The Fognini - Munar match is a pure example of talent not being the most important thing to have a good tennis career. In every game is obvious Fabio is way more talented than Munar, his tennis is cleaner, his shots are better, he is able to do way more things with the ball), but of course he lost. Munar is a low cost version of David Ferrer, he is not the most talented young player, but he has focus and determination. He wanted to win, and against all odds he won (of course Fognini being a headcase helped)

New thread!

Thanks so much, R599!